themightysrc

"It seems to me most people hardly know what WW1 was" As a general comment, that could hardly be more true. I live in North West England - an area redolent with the memories and memorials of WWI. Everywhere you go you'll find plaques to the menfolk of X, Y or Z who laid down their lives, etc, etc. This is the land of 'Pals' battalions, and the roots run very deep indeed. The only problem with this evocation of a people cherishing the history and feats of its forebears is that it's mostly bollocks. WWII was a 'good' war, because it involved defeating fascism - simplistic, I know, but bear with me. WWI is still not seen as anything like a 'good' war because (a) lots of our brave boys (fill in your own personal choice of flowery language) got killed, (b) it's always argued that WWII was ineviable anyway - thus ignoring the actual history of the period 1918-1939 and © well, it was just so awful wasn't it? What's conveniently forgotten are the *facts* of WWI, which unfortunately don't actually gel with the dark mythology of lions sent to slaughter by donkeys, and why the war was actually fought. I could go on about it at length (pages, days, etc), but you probably get the picture. I recommend Huw Strachan's excellent single volume history from about 3-4 years back.

"For all of Spielberg's talents, he has a tendency to the overly saccharine or maudlin at times." Spot on that man. Spielberg's films are inevitably spoilt by his inability to make a point without drowning it in pink icing. And for everyone else who's been saying that SPR is such a superb war film, may I suggest you dig out a copy of Come And See - now *that* is a war film.

Hi Vasco, I think you've probably nailed all the major gotchas in one there, as well as providing an interesting structure for a mini campaign on a monthly basis. Bravo. May I make a plea that we don't fly aircraft with difficult flying characteristics? If you want plenty of new players who've not cut their teeth on OFF (or MP) may I suggest aircraft with benign flying characteristics be considered? If there's any way I can help out to make this a success - please let me know. Cheers, Si

"I know you guys probably won't like to hear this but, in my opinion we should probably go back to our damage model that was provided to us by Matt until the new Superpatch comes out." Hi Ax, I wouldn't be particularly upset by that. I'd rather have reliable and identical setups to everyone else if that ensured clean, trouble free play. It seems to me that the problems from Sunday just gone occurred mainly because of two factors: - People turning up weren't configured correctly, had mismatches, etc, etc. If we're all on the same files and versions, that would surely be far less of an issue. I didn't mind the time spent sorting it out, but obviously it ate into the time left for flying. I still maintain that asking new players to either pretest during the week (which admittedly requires the commitment of people like SD and Vasco), or turning up maybe 30 minutes early to check these things out is the best option here. - The other issue was the bloody aircraft! I've never tried Camels before, and still haven't had a go in a Dr1, but I found the Camel to be a bugger to fly without stalling - I kept checking my mixture but eventually gave in to the urge to trade height for speed, with the inevitable consequence that I ended up crashlanding in a wood (yet another bloody stall). Please, if we're going to MP, let's go for planes that don't have razor's edge flying characteristics. Sopwith Pups versus Albatros DIIIs anyone? I'll be back for more, but we do need to tighten up on the preparation a wee bit more. Having said all of the preceding, I'd like to say how much fun I had, even if only 2 of my bullets registered as hits!

I'm on TS now, and can hear the conversations, but I'm still sort of waiting for the IP address of tonight's server. Can some kind soul oblige?

When's that in London time?

No volunteers for Tommy Sopwith's finest? They're mad. OK, I'll finish me ironing and get the Camel fired up in QC. Hurrah and huzzah! Let's show the Bosche what for, what?

Hi, Any news on who's hosting this evening? Also, what aircraft are we in - is it still Camels and Dr1s?

"You either arent a fan of saving private ryan and band of brothers, or you think watch such movies is disturbing, I dont know which." Best not to confuse the two. SPR was cack, BOB was excellent. Films rarely disturb me, and certainly neither of those did.

"I wish Tom Hanks and Spielberg would do a WW1 movie" Bloody hell, just read that and it sent shivers down my spine. Frankly, I'd rather disembowel myself with a potato masher than have to sit through such a film - wasn't WWI horrific enough? Downfall, by the way, is a splendid film. Claustrophobic, but brilliant.

Hi Vasco, Simple as that eh? That's what I like to hear. Cheers, Si

Stapme, Very pleased that you've managed to crack the problem. Whilst this thread is getting some attention, I thought I'd just ask if people here get good FPS with Radeon cards, or whether I should think about nVidia for my next machine (whenever that is...)?

I'd just like to record my ongoing appreciation for the work that all OBD peeps are doing. Quite astonishing that you can do all of that and still have other jobs and lives. I am assuming you still have lives outside of all these commitments! And on top of all that, you find the time to post here and at SimHQ, taking suggestions and comments for new features - that's simply the best customer relations I've ever encountered with any firm, not just a software company. I rarely do it, as it feels a little cheesy but..... S! (big time). Cheers, Si

Beautiful stuff. I would love to actually fly that there Pup. Looking at the vid, I was suddenly struck by how far there still is to go with WWI flight sims - can you imagine a game where you look down at planes flying below you with an urban or rural background and have that amount of detail and activity?

"3. Both teams will setup on seperate TS channels for comms during the missions. At the end of each mission we will all revert to the main channel for debrief and the setting up on the next mission." <pedantic mode> Point of order, chair. I've got TS working quite happily on my rig, however I don't have any instructions on how to set up separate channels, or join separate channels - I go in and I just appear along with everyone else. Can you please let me (and other interested bods) know how we do either of the above? I've had a quick squint at the otherwise excellent MP tutorial and couldn't find this info. with regard to TS. Whilst I'm at it, there are a few minor instructions that might be added to the MP tutorial WRT setting sound levels and choosing your side and slot once you've accessed the host server, but they can probably wait. </pedantic mode>

On my way!

Quick one from me - if I download DM1.2 now (it's 9.35pm BST) are you around to ensure that I'm sorted? Cheers, Si

Sounds reasonable. I'll be happy to upload 2.1

If you're looking for an interesting read, I can strongly recommend Tom Holland's 'Rubicon', which covers the end days of the Roman Republic - absolutely fascinating stuff; quite unputdownable. For a non-depressing and highly illuminating series of reads about WWI in general, make your way over Hugh Strachan's excellent single volume history. That chap can certainly write, and is an excellent historian. Also, make room in your bookcase of Gary Sheffield's 'Forgotten Victory: 1918', which goes a long way towards explaining how and why the war ended as it did, and how it ended in victory - a fact seemingly often overlooked by some writers. Certainly, both books are quite rigorous, and actually explain why it is that the war occurred, what the stakes were for the participants, and why victory for the Entente side wasn't the calamity that it's sometimes made out to be. Read those three and you'll pick up some new and very interesting views.

"O.K I can say its not additional craft blink.gif , cos we still hope to sell them for huge capital gains and retire :-)" Ha! A rouble millionaire eh?

Hi all, Just thought I'd place on record my thanks to Vasco, who spent time yesterday evening patiently introducing me to the ins and outs of MP - success at last, and my first introduction to fiddling with me mixture! You don't have to bugger about with that on SP... Thanks Vasco - I'm sorry my flying was abruptly terminated: my dear wife accidentally pulled the plug downstairs as I couldn't hear her asking me whether I was finished on t'interweb! If I get a "quiet" moment over the next few days, perhaps you can take me under your wing again? Cheers, Si

"Also I think some axis v allies (all humans) might prove to bring a bunch over to fly, I know most of you like the coop style but I think a mix might work well." I'd guess that this would probably be contingent upon having sufficient numbers - unless some sacrificial lamb would care to show a bunch of OFFers in DVIIs what he can do in an RE8!

"This is why I suggest tuning into turtorial missions. They are there to discover and weed out problems before scheduled flights." A great idea, so long as these are well signposted to newbies and that someone is willing to give up the time to do this during the week or whenever. The reason I suggested 15-30 prior to the main session is that the host is already committing time at that point and wouldn't have to put aside time elsewhere. But, I'm agnostic about when it happens, so long as it does, and that clear instructions are included prior to sessions (as I was rambling about above).

"I see RoF following a similar path with the costs. At least they're keeping the planes at what $7.50 a pop? That's not too bad, but after 10 planes, you're already at $75 plus $50 for the game." This is one of the issues (and gawd knows there are numerous others) that mean that I am quite unlikely to purchase ROF in its current incarnation. I've spent enough time lurking at SimHQ to understand that there is the kernel of a superb game there (although many players don't seem to like it being called a game, but I digress), but there are numerous issues which the bravest amongst them seem to be gritting their teeth and hoping for the best, whilst exhorting people who haven't bought it to go out and join the merry band of, er, beta testers, for want of a better phrase. I hope ROF survives and prospers, even though the online thing sucks donkey dick and the restrictions on use are, at best, farcical, but I will only consider it when it has a good (ie, rivalling OFF) campaign for SP, has in excess of 20 planes as standard and offers some of the flexibility and immersion that we took for granted in RB3D, let alone what came out of OFF. Still, I'm happy to let other people prove or disprove the concept at their leisure and own cost. I'm happy to wait and see, and, perhaps, wait for OFF phase 4, finally divorced from the CFS3 engines and paraphenalia.

"ax was the only one that gave any answer to my original question...("half hour is too much") can we agree on a format that determines when we start scheduled games..." Obviously, you must have a set start time. I think that people who have already figured out how to set themselves up and join games will have no problem with turning up at the alloted time, and off you go. I would strongly recommend that any new MPers - such as me - be requested to turn up 15-30 minutes earlier to ensure that their setup is correct and that everything is in place. If any issues can't be resolved in time for the start time, then they will have to sit out the session. Of course, if they're interested and on TS, they can always listen in! And to soothe themselves there's always the option of bobbing off and playing SP - which is what I ended up doing on Sunday night. Another dead pilot, dammit...