Herr Prop-Wasche

Also, what aircraft were you flying? I edged up the engine hit points for most aircraft, but particularly the two-seaters and the German scouts so they are closer to the Allied scouts. One problem, I think, is that the CFS3 damage model is proportional--the greater the proportion of hit points used up, the worse the performance of the component. Thus, an aircraft engine with only 100 hit points operates at 90% with only 10 points of damage and so on. Bumping the number up a bit makes the dogfights a bit more challenging, IMO, while still rewarding you for precise shots.

One reason I like 3P is because it gives people like me who are not usually that imaginative some creative ideas for some stories. I agree with you about the aircraft destroyed message, although it is sometimes difficult to tell whether you crashed because your aircraft was so shot up or because you pranged the landing. For me, it's usually both. I also like your idea for some extra points for every non-target balloon shot down during balloon busting missions--but only balloon missions.

Interesting! Ha ha! Who, me?

I trust that the contents are as lovely as the covers!

To give anyone who is interested a feel for how 3P works, I have put together a description of the career so far of Sgt. Philippe Fromage, assigned on July 9, 1917 to Escadrille 152, currently located at Chaux airfield in Alsace, near the front lines. Italicized portions represent 3P pilot classes, events, and instructions. Start of New Campaign I. Generate your pilot class from Table 1. Early in the morning of July 9th, my character is dropped off in front of the office of the C.O. for Escadrille 152. Based upon a dice roll (you also have the option to select any pilot class you wish), my character is determined to be a Dreamer (DR). In general, Dreamers get along with Intellectuals, Musicians, Obscure Hobbyists, and Romantic types. Dreamers don’t get along too well with Bullies, Pranksters, or Killer types. Certain 3P Standard Events also may trigger positive or negative interactions with non-player characters (NPC’s) of other classes. II. Introduce yourself to the new squadron i. Determine field condition ii. Meet Adjutant and learn pilot class of 0-3 squadmates.* iii. Determine squadron morale and default attitude of squadron towards you.* iv. Attempt to meet the C.O.* v. Find your lodgings.* vi. Meet your roommate (if any).* Looking out on the field, I notice that the field appears to be in fair shape. In other words, I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse. The condition of the field will probably not have much of an influence either positive or negative in terms of my ability to progress during the campaign. However, I have faith that the groundskeepers will work diligently to improve the condition of the field, forthwith (field conditions can improve after a period of thirty days). Although I observe several ground personnel, mechanics, and riggers, I notice that all of the squadron’s pilots appear to be out on patrol. Taking this opportunity to introduce myself to the Adjutant, I sit down and wait for him to process my paperwork. A genial but mostly quiet sort, he makes some small talk and tells me a little about the Escadrille. Curiously, he does not mention the C.O. Instead, the only fellow he mentions is another pilot with the rank of Adjutant who goes by the name of Bernard Romanaise. Apparently, Bernard is quite the fighter, brawler, and drinker, whose family comes from a mountainous area not too far from the current location of the aerodrome (pilot class determined to be Frontiersman). Stepping into the mess for a quick drink, I can begin to see that the morale and esprit-décor of the unit appears to be excellent (unit morale determination, modified by squadron rank from OFF duty board). Although the Adjutant lets word slip that he feels that the overall flying skill of most of the pilots in the squadron only appears to be average, the unit has had a lot of success recently against the enemy and that spirits are quite high at the moment. Perhaps because of this recent success, the Adjutant ventures the opinion that almost everyone in the unit will probably take an immediate shine to me (default outlook towards player = Like in squadrons with excellent morale). However, he also warns that he has seen the morale in other squadrons deteriorate over time if losses begin to accumulate. At this, he gives me a bit of a wry, but also curiously tired and weary smile. However, before I can ask him to explain a bit more, the slow and steady drone of aircraft engines—along with the occasional sputter—slowly grows into a roar as the squadron returns from its most recent sortie. I am about to ask him about the C.O., but before I can say anything more, he is quickly out the door—no doubt to run back into his office before the C.O. sees him hanging around the mess instead of finishing the great stack of paperwork I noticed earlier on his desk. After a few minutes more in the mess, I wander over to the C.O.’s office to introduce myself. Unfortunately, I must have rushed things a bit, as the Adjutant tells me that the C.O. is not currently in the mood “to see some whelp who is still wet behind the ears.” Feeling a bit stung by this apparent snub (loss of 2 campaign points), I decide I will try again in the morning to meet with the C.O. In the meantime, I will go to find my billet and discover if I have a roommate. I am highly disappointed when I discover that instead of the requisitioned mansion the flight instructors had promised all new fliers would be billeted in, that the Escadrille is currently housed in some rather new, but still flimsy looking tents. “At least they don’t appear to be old and leaky,” I grumble to myself as I walk into the tent I have been told I have been assigned to (quality of lodgings, ranging from leaky tents to mansions, determined every thirty days). When I enter, I notice a pilot who must have just returned from the last sortie, lying on his cot, having a smoke and apparently reading a book. Surprisingly, he barely acknowledges my presence, until after what seems—at least to me—a very long and awkward silence, I clear my throat, stiffly extend my hand, and introduce myself. He grunts, and almost reluctantly tells me his name his Lucienne Boucher. “I guess I’m supposed to be your wingmate,” he says, without much enthusiasm. “Perhaps people are a little apprehensive about new arrivals,” I think to myself, as I sit down and stretch out on my cot in my new, and suddenly not so warm and friendly home (pilot class determined to be Introvert, with initial Standard Encounter deemed to be a “wincing embarrassment” resulting in decrease of Outlook/Attitude of NPC towards me from “Like” to “Neutral”). “Ah well, he’ll probably warm up to me in a few days,” I tell myself as I drift off to sleep. (to be continued)

British-- You say you were pounded in the initial attack? Where did they get you--aileron cables or engine damage? Those seem to be the most sensitive to early attacks, in my experience. If you don't want the full damage mod, I can suggest how to fix those areas. Bletchley-- "Bad landings" seemed like the perfect place for a Tyrannical Leader or Bully to take the opportunity to put a pilot in his place: "That's government property you've so carelessly destroyed. Next time, I'll have your stripes!"

Glad you like it. Speaking of bad landings, I thought of another addition to Table 6, listing end of mission events. Something that would be really nice is a computer program that could tally and keep track of pilot classes, events, goodwill, and campaign points. That would be a pretty large project, though, I'm afraid.

Allo' Bletchley, I took a good look at 3P last night and am very impressed. The new stuff on training missions, leave and promotions are nice additions! The only problem that I noted was that it is hard to keep track of what you have to do and when. To that end, I put together an additional appendix that lists both the scheduled and non-scheduled events that take place in 3P. For instance, what steps to follow when you start a new campaign, what needs to be done at the start of every day, etc. I have included these instructions as an attachment to this message, so anyone can use it. I took the liberty to add just a few minor items or options: 1) For English pilots with > 200 campaign points, I added the option to return to active duty after 6-12 months with a die roll of 1; and 2) for non-English pilots, a +1 modifier for every 5 kills your pilot has to the dice roll that determines length of leave. Let me know what you think. HPW

Bletchley-- I love your pilot personality profile! Funny that I never saw it before when I was flying RB3D and helping Bluevoss (I wonder what he is doing now and whether he still has his model trains) with his FM's. Your profiles must have taken a long time to put together, but I bet it makes your squadron and your mates really come alive. It's really too bad that CFS3 took the lazy way out and randomly generates results for you wingmates instead of keeping track of their successes and failures. How did you come up with all 36 personality types? I especially like Alpha Male, Bolshevik, Frontiersman, and Obscure Hobbyist. Very atmospheric to have Field type, Adjutant, CO, Morale, Lodging, and Roomates settings. Also love the work you put into the "Standard Encounter,' and "Goodwill" tables. And then the Advanced Rules! Parties and possible negative effects from breaking formation! Fantastic! This may become a required mod for me. Thank you very much!

It is a miracle! My wingmate indeed did survive, as he leapt out of his burning aircraft and luckily fell straight into a bale of hay that had been gathered in the field just adjacent to the airfield. Fortunately, he was only a couple of hundred feet off the ground and he survived with only a broken ankle and moderate burns to his hands.

Will voting yes or no have any effect on the release date of P4? I imagine that adding the graphics files for in-cockpit pilots for every plane type might take up a bit of time.

Apparently, all of your wingmen do NOT need to surrvive in order to generate a claim form. In one of my last missions, my plane was shot up and I had to land at a friendly airfield. While on the airstrip, I paused to look around at the fight still going on above me. Unfortunately, just as I was about to hit escape to end the mission, my last wingmate got shot down and crashed. I was still presented with a claim form. Maybe he survived the crash?

I also agree with almost everything SirMike just said. I just finished reading a book about Al Qaeda and the 9/11 plot called, "The Looming Tower." This book was written by a man who interviewed hundreds of individuals, both Muslim and non-muslim, including several past and present Al Qaeda members. He traces the history of the extremist movement, from the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood and the writings of Mohammad Qutb, the so-called intellectual inspiration for Islamic extremism, to Osama Bin laden. Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremism groups are almost exclusively headed by Arabs, many of them Egyptian and Saudi Arabian. Originally, they were founded as an attempt to overthrow the "corrupt" governments of Egypt and other middle-eastern countries (the near enemy). They later became focused on America and Europe (the far enemy) partially because of the free and open societies we enjoy here that make organizing and carrying out acts of terror easier here (at least before 9/11) than in their own countires. Ironically, many of the top leadership of Al Qaeda have never even visited the United States or spent only a very little amount of time here. Most have a deep and fundamental misunderstanding of western societies, believing that our concepts of freedom and free-speech are just convenient phrases that are not truly adhered to by the vast majority of citizens. Osama bin Laden even believes that one consequence of the war on terror will be the ultimate breaking up of the united states into the individual 50 states, much like the dissolution of the former Soviet Union! These extremists also believe that Islam is incompatible with all forms of democracy, as democracy puts the law of men over the law of God. In turn, this justifies them in killing not only non-Muslims, but also Muslims who vote or otherwise take part in the democratic process! In my opinion, a majority of Muslims strongly disagree with the views of bin Laden and his fellow extremists. Howevver, many are afraid to speak up, especially in their home countries, because of fear of being labeled an apostate and getting killed as a result. I think that is why we in the west seem to see so little support for our side in Arab countries and are instead much more likely to see the screaming crowds burning effigies and the American flag. Unfortunately, extremism always tends to drown out the voices of those who are more moderate. That was true in Nazi Germany, as it is now in many middle-eastern countries.

Speaking again of claims and the need to list a witness: If we are unable to get a drop-down list of available squadmates, it would still help if the devs could make the claims window movable, so we could move it out of the way of the roster screen that sits underneath in order to read the names of our squadmates and type one of their names into the claims form.

I had a similar experience last night. It was the first time I was able to shoot down two aces (from Jasta 14) in one mission. Unfortunately, all of my sqaudmates were shot down, so the "goals failed" message displayed, and the manager would not let me make any claims for my kills! Bummer indeed. All of the action took place over the front, so surely someone in the trenches must have seen my act of valor? Therefore, one of my wishes for P4 is the ability to name as a witness a ground observer and still occasionally get credit for the claim, instead of being refused by the manager to even allow you to submit one.

Thanks, Olham, I will give Jasta 1 a try--perhaps as a journal of a very young pilot who is so green that he is adopted as the squadron mascot by the more experienced pilots--probably due to the laughs his flying skills give to the other pilots!

Congratulations on the birth of your son, Creaghorn. Any news on when you and your wife might start work on your next little "mod?"

If I may speak for everyone who has made an additional contribution to OFF, thank you very much, Spitfire.

I also tend to like the early years. It's just that I'm not very good at actually flying the early-war planes!

I am currently involved in a campaign in July 1917 with Esc. 152 in Alsace, flying N24's. So far, all I have seen are Albatros varients. It's still exciting, but it would be more interesting if there were some two-seaters around besides the Strutter. I also generally like to fly the mid 1917-1918 planes. I'm too impatient with the under-powered types.

After seeing Olham's excellent poll, I was inspired to come up with my own (although not as excellent). This one asks about the frequency in which you like to fly for one side or another and whether you fly both scouts and two-seaters or only one or the other.

Hmm, $15 isn't too bad--especially when it is loaded with all those articles. Stolen by a WWI fanatic?? Is there no honor anymore?

Hi, just saw your query. I am unaware of any conflicts between JSGME and OFF. Still, OFF occasionaly "hiccups" and seems to lose track of a file or two, including the config overrides file. First, do as BB suggests and see if you can find a copy of the config overrides file. OFF stores two or three copies of several important files in different locations on your computer. The second thing to do is to restart OFF and go to Workshops and reconfigure your graphics settings. Don't worry, you don't have to actually change anything, just click on the graphics config button and then save your current settings and exit. Then see if the game works. The third and last thing to do is to reinstall the game, which should take care of your problem. Finally, I also wrote a batch file program that automatically stores a seperate copy of several important OFF files, including the config overrides file, on the main drive of your computer. When you get OFF running again the way you like it, run my batch file to copy the files so you can easily find them later without having to reinstall OFF. You can get the backup program here: http://combatace.com/files/file/10890-offuserbackupfiles-program/

Cool find, Rabu! How much for ordering from the states? I look forward to hearing your review of the article.

Thanks, British_eh.