Herr Prop-Wasche

Good luck on your first day, Widowmaker!

Thank you, Lou, UncleAl, and Pol!!

Have a good trip, and try not to think too much of Albatri, Fokkers, and Camels!

Dear fellow OFFers and BOC members, I am pleased to announce that pending approval from my "army" of testers, I am about ready to release BOTH a completely new DM AND a modified FM (for a selected few aeroplanes). Although either can be used separately, the DM and the FM are ideally designed to be used together to hopefully heighten and intensify the experience of WWI flying combat. Briefly, the DM represents a totally new approach to the damage model, originally suggested independently by Hellshade and Creaghorn, two fine denizens and contributors to this forum and OFF BHaH. As you probably know from watching any of his videos, Hellshade is a crack shot and was interested in a somewhat "tougher," and more realistic, damage model. I humbly believe that this mod may help to accomplish this purpose. The main difference between this DM and my previous incarnations is that the hit points for the critical components on these planes (engines, wings, etc.) have been substantially increased, while the "failure level" or "break" values, have been proportionally reduced to roughly coincide with the 2.5 version of the DM. This results in longer and more intense dogfights in which minor damage to you or your opponent no longer causes you to become almost totally incapacitated, but hits to critical areas (UncleAl's "meat or metal") will almost certainly spell you, or your opponent's, doom. (Primary benefits of the new DM are engines that no longer lose significant power until nearly at failure level and wings and other components that retain maneuverability until nearly the breaking point). The FM (which will come in an "Allied FM pack" and a "German FM pack"), consists of changes to the following aircraft: all Albatros versions, the Pfalz DIIIa, the Sopwith Pup, RAF Re8, and the Sopwith Triplane. With the FM, I attempted to adjust speed and drag factors so that each aircraft cruises and dives at speeds a little closer to the historical reality, while still retaining most of the OFF flying characteristics that are already there. Another main purpose of the FM is to attempt to fix the tendency of some aircraft--notably the Albs and the Pfalz--to perform swan dives, or stalls, right in front of your guns, making the AI easy prey, especially at low levels where they often drift tail first into the ground. By slightly adjusting the settings for center of gravity and center of lift on these planes, i think I have made significant steps toward solving this problem. Both mods will be ready for release after I hear from my testers that they haven't had any problems with installation and I have written more detailed readme files to go with each of the mods. Until then, I will be more than happy to answer any questions people may have about any of these mods. After release, I hope to use this thread to continue to answer questions and listen to any comments and suggestions for further development of either the DM or FM mods. As always, thank you to the developers of OFF and all of the reader's of this forum, to whom these mods are dedicated. Happy flying!

Ow, ow! :lol:

Well, if their parachutes are invisible, then maybe someone can make THEM invisible as well?? Then the question becomes: too many jumpers, or no jumpers at all? "GET back in that plane. I know you can do it!!"

Yes, an unappealing side-effect of CFS3. I searched for a way to eliminate the "jumpers" but could not figure out how to do that. I'm afraid we are stuck with them as a side-effect of a more realistic DM.

Glad to hear you are back in the "game," as it were, and that it hasn't affected your spirits. It helps that everything is running faster, doesn't it?

I dunno, Lou. Have you been to any Kindergartens in the 'hood? Yikes!

I vill, I vill, hee hee! Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens-Schuckert!!

I have a similar issue also with my Saitek Evo joystick, but mine occurs when in the heat of a dogfight, I jam on both of my rudder pedals at the same time. My throttle instantly reduces to 50%, but I am able to restore full throttle by jiggling the throttle control. I actually use this sometimes to make my opponent overshoot, so it's not all bad!

I'm sorry, I just saw your thread. gaw. Even if I am here before you have reinstalled OFF, I don't know if I can give you an answer. I can start with a question, however. Before you deleted all of your Jonesoft files, did you remember to de-activate all of the mods so the original files were put back? They need to be in there or your game will get knackered.

If we don't get one of those aircraft, we will have to start a campaign like Widowmaker did to get his Snipe! Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens-Schuckert!!

Thank you for the information, Lima. I can use the Guynemer quote to further tweak the Spad and Halberstadt (if needed) in order to reflect his opinion. Yes, the 150 and 200 versions can give you more of a fighting chance if you are still flying a DIII early, or DV respectively.

Absolutely right, HW! The Spad VII and the Spad XIII aircraft come to the front when the OFF Manager dictates when they come to the front, and not before. In the game, the earliest Spad VII to be delivered to a squadron is in September of 1916, I think, and the first Spad XIII is delivered in December, 1917. Of course, it is then up to you to activate the Spad VII 150 HP or the Spad XIII 200 HP version (or other version of your choice) at those times. Note that you can activate the early Spad versions at any time before the above dates and it will have no impact on your game. Just don't forget to "upgrade" when the approximate time for a new engine arrives.

I win! You said it would only take five posts before someone questioned me about the service dates for the Spads. Since it was the sixth post, you owe me a virtual beer! Of course, the fact that your reply to Olham was the fifth post, making Hasse Wind's post the sixth, only adds a delicious element of irony to the tale.

Did you get answers for your questions yet, Sir? The text file will not show up in the mods folder unless you also copy it and place it there. It sounds like you have the Spads in all the right places, though. And Panama Red is correct, you can only have one version of the Spad VII and one version of the Spad 13 activated at one time. (You can have both one Spad VII and one Spad XIII active at the same time, of course). For when which versions were used when, please refer to the readme file.

File Name: HPW_Spads File Submitter: Herr Prop-Wasche File Submitted: 05 August 2011 File Category: Aircraft Models Readme File 03/08/2011 HPW_Spads for OFF BHaH HITR Full Campaign and QC Battles v1.0 by Herr Prop Wasche Zip file contents: HPW_Spads zip file containing five folders named SpadVII_150, SpadVII_180, Spad13_200, Spad13_220, and Spad13_235 with appropriate aircraft folders and aircraft.cfg and .air files. HPW_SpadsFM_readme.txt INSTALLATION: IMPORTANT! INSTALLATION OF THIS MOD IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM MY OTHER MODS! First, download the mod to your desktop or other preferred location. Then, open the zip file and open the HPWSpads file folder. Select ALL FIVE Spad folders and copy to your OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields\MODS folder. DO NOT install the mod unless JSGME has already been installed into your CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields game folder. The mod is correctly installed if you see this readme.txt and the following folders inside the MODS folder: SpadVII_150, SpadVII_180, Spad13_200, Spad13_220, and Spad13_235. To load your desired aircraft, simply run JSGME, highlight the appropriate folder, click on the top button, and then start your game. That's it! NOTE: In order to see the aircraft skins of any Spad aces while using this mod, please see the first post of Panama Red's thread titled "Guaranteed Method to See Ace Skins Using HPW's FM" at the Over Flanders Fields Forum at combatace.com for instructions on the easy work-around. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial release 1.0 Thank you for downloading HPW's Spads FM Pack 1.0, a revised flight model for FIVE different Spad series aircraft for use in Hat in the Ring, the official extension to Between Heaven and Hell, the WWI flight sim modification of CFS3 by OBD Software. This revised interpretation of the Spad VII and Spad XIII flight models was made to represent the different engines used by each aircraft and to better reflect the evolution in performance of each aircraft during the course of the war. See the following chart for a summary of some of these differences. (Maximize window if chart is difficult to read). Aircraft Speed @ 3,000 m Speed @ 2,000 m Speed @ 1,000 m Speed @ 500 ft. Ceiling Spad VII 150 114.00 mph 118.25 mph 122.00 mph 119.00 mph. 16,500 ft. Spad VII 180 125.25 128.25 132.00 130.25 20,000 Spad XIII 200 129.25 133.25 129.75 124.75 18,500 Spad XIII 220 133.25 136.50 130.50 125.00 20,500 Spad XIII 235 137.50 139.50 134.00 128.75 21,250 The most noticeable changes using these mods are reflected in the speeds of the early and late models of each aircraft. Compared to the Spad models in the stock game, the Spad VII 150 version is generally slower at all altitudes, while the Spad VII 180 is slightly faster. The same applies to the Spad XIII 200, 220, and 235 HP versions, with the 235 HP version being about 2 mph faster than the standard OFF version. The maximum ceiling is also different depending on the engine used in each aircraft. Dive speeds were also adjusted in order to better correspond with the historical record. Finally, rudder responsiveness was reduced somewhat to reflect the small surface area of the rudders on the Spad series, as compared to the other aircraft in the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------ As an *approximate* guide to when each aircraft and engine upgrade entered service, please see the following chart: Aircraft Entered Service Spad VII 150 February 1917 Spad VII 180 June 1917* Spad XIII 200 January 1918 Spad XIII 220 April 1918* Spad XIII 235 August 1918* In order to simulate when a particular squad might have recieved their engine updgrade, I recommend that on the first of each month marked with an asterik, the player should roll a six-sided die. If you roll a number equal to or higher than the following guide, your squad gets the upgrade and you can install the newer engine. If not, at the beginning of each following week, roll the die again until you obtain the upgrade. (If you wish, you may add +1 to each roll if you are in an elite squad). Week Roll One 6 Two 5,6 Three 4,5,6 Four+ 3,4,5,6 ------------------------------------------------------------------ I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to OBD Software for their help in the making of this revised version of the flight model. As always, with the exception of the tweaks contained herein, all work on the original flight model remains the sole work and property of OBD software. I would also like to thank Panama Red for the inspiration, development, and testing of this mod. Finally, if you have any questions or experience any problems with the installation of this mod, please contact me on the Over Flanders Fields forum at www.combatace.com. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the new FM's! HPW Click here to download this file

As promised, I have another FM addition to share with all of you OFF'ers. This FM mod is for the Spad VII and XIII and contains not two, but FIVE separate Spad FMs--one for each engine variant of each Spad model. This allows you to fly with and against the following Spad models: Spad VII 150 HP, Spad VII 180 HP, Spad XIII 200 HP, Spad XIII 220 HP, and Spad XIII 235 HP versions. Up until now, only the Spad VII 180 and the Spad XIII 235 HP versions were available in the stock game. This helps to even out the historical score somewhat and better reflects the back and forth nature of the battle for aircraft and air superiority between the Allied and Central powers during the course of the war. The following is an excerpt from the readme file for the FM mod. Please note the installation instructions for this mod are slightly different from my other mods. The full readme contains more information about the performance of each of the five models and some brief guidelines for when each Spad model and engine variant made its appearance over Flander's Fields. The FM has been uploaded and should soon be available for download.

Welcome back, Ras.

Ooh, I can't wait for the next installment, L! For those who have not seen this before, you are in for quite a treat!

There's more to that interesting site, including a history of the 20th Recon/Bomber squadron. Here's an excerpt: Sort of sums up the whole enterprise of war, doesn't it?

I think they do--that is, they stop firing--but it seems very difficult to do. Maybe if I mess around with them in the damage files....?

I think I will take you up on that! Thanks.