Flyby PC

It wasn't the effects. I backed up my OFF effects and replaced it with the MAW effects and still got the squares, so the effects wasn't the glitch. Went back to MAW, and copied all the dr- based effects and fire based weapons and effects and copied everything across. If it asked for an overwrite I said no to keep everything OFF intact, so I'm guessing I'd missed one of the fire effects in the FXtextures folder. Be nice to know the actual folder so my OCD over dysfunctional files cluttering up my OFF doesn't keep me awake at night, but at least it's working now.

Got it. Oh yeah......

Happened to me Dej. Don't panic. It may not be your passwords hacked but a worm or trojan in your machine. Update your anti-virus, double it up with a second anti virus, and download a trojan killer. I was recommended Malwarebytes, Trojan Killer and Spybot, and those on top of AVG seem to have done the trick. The invasion of privacy still makes you very angry however. Beware downloading Spybot. The real Spybot is good and completely freeware, but I had some useless piece of junk trying to pass itself off as spybot on a google search. This is the proper Spybot -. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

On the subject of unlucky lights, I reckon I'll hold off buying my holiday flat in Dubai. I don't think this should have happened.... http://gulfnews.com/gntv/news/building-blaze-in-sharjah-1.1014783 No injuries to anyone, but 102 flats damaged by fire. (It's not Dubai, but the Arab Emirates).

I heard the third shot was unlucky too, but I don't think it was luck. The glow from lighting a cigarette or pipe was quite visible at night. The first light or 'glow', the sniper saw a target and raised his rifle, the second light he found his range and bearing, and was ready to shoot at the third light. If you took the third light, you really did take your life in your hands.

Yes, or at least I think I have. The flare gun is a facility, built up with a flare cannon vehicle, so there is a facitly, a vehicle, a weapon file and effects file, and lines to add into the main effect.xml file. i think I've got all the folders and files, but the needle in the haystack is the effects.xml. I've read the folders and searched for text lines which mention flare etc, but I've obviously missed something.... I don't think its a duplicate effect because I don't recall being asked to overwrite anything. - but I could be wrong. I haven't buggered about with files for 3 years plus, and wasn't especially good with them back then, but I've forgotten what little I did know. I don't want to copy the MAW file as such, just deconstruct it and understand how it works and have a bash at my own flare, giving to due credit to MAW for the original. (Cough, cough. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but what I'm really hoping for is a Dev to say Oh Flyby, don't go bothering your fluffy little head about this flare business, just wait and see what P4 has to offer.... ) Edit 2, and yes, there was an fx texture file I copied too

I know there were night missions flown, but does anybody have ideas about what type of missions these were? I'm very curious to know whether night time over the trenches is being re-vamped, something along the lines of MAW. Their flaregun facility made the MAW night missions spectacular, and it got me wondering what the trenches would actually look like at night with the flares and star shells etc. It's not specifically a P4 request, but the flaregun in MAW was just a simple little thing you could build in to a mission as a facility, with a line in the effects file but the effect on the night time ambience over the targer was pure genius. Less convincing perhaps was the altitude the flares reached, but I wondered if anybody had ideas about what the pyrotechnics over the trenches and no-mans land might have looked like in WW1. It's been a long time since I opened up an XML file, but I might have a little tinker with my flareguns in MAW, but wondered whether anybody might know the height flares and star shells might reach, and what type of ordinance they would burn?

It could be for anything, but if I had to make a guess, the pencil line might be the proposed flightpath, and the two red lines the 'strip' of land subject to aerial reconnaisance. Back at HQ, the pics would be combined into continuous images, with each flight required to photograph a certain designated flight path with some awareness of where the edge to his sector was. That's just a complete guess, but it would make sense. Just bad luck his sector has an enemy airfield in it. Edit - It's all subjective, but the area contained within the red lines is roughly equal to the area you see in a typical aerial photograph.

Interesting Blog on the subject - http://nineteenkeys....gnominy-of.html To quote the Captains Granddaughter - Thankyou Bob for your comments, but Captain Martin then went on to become Commadore at the Naval base in Durban South Africa. He was awarded the DSO in Oct 1941, CBE in Jan 1944 KBE in Jun 1946, He was the Admiral in charge of the landing Force in Rangoon in the Burma Campaign. Tell me where in these honours and further commands does it relate that he was a discrace to the Royal Navy. My father received a letter from a Bismarck survivor many years later,having nothing but praise for my grandfther and the way they were treated on board Dorsetshire upon their rescue. To his credit, the author of the blog admits he's German and was indeed seeking to portray martin as a murderous monster, but despite his personal prejudice, he acknowledges the truth that this was not in fact the case. -"I must report to you now, that much of what I have learned has been personally explosive because it has compelled me to reassess long-held views and to re-examine that which, to my mind, was established as correct to a moral certainly."

Tough to call as I say Shiloh. There were two ships picking up survivors before the alarm, and both moved away to avoid being torpedoed. Co-incidence or not, there was at least one U-boat in the area close enough to pick up survivors who might have been just as keen to avenge the sinking of Bismark. I'm not going to second guess the mind of the Captains concerned. They made the judgements they felt appropriate, and afterall, they had stopped in the first place. I recall Jack Hawkins in a B+W film,( the Cruel Sea was it?), when he had to depth charge a U-boat target close to British sailors thus killing them. He did what duty required, and had to find a way to live with it. That was just a film of course, but it certainly happened at war.

This thread chimes with other one about the flares. When flying at night, I'd love to see signs of activity on the ground consistent with Very flares and star shell illuminating raiding parties in no-mans land etc. It's difficult to gauge from written recollections how prevalent these night time pyrotechnics were, but the effect in OFF P3 or (P4 hint hint), scenery would be mind blowing. I don't think it's hard to do, but reckon it'll be hard to get the ambience just right.

WW2 Hurricanes had similar issues with their own exhausts. They had shields fitted to the fuselage so the pilot's night vision wasn't compromised.

I think a contributing factor with TrackIR is that it lets you see things from viewpoints which objects were not meant to be seen from, and they run into issues of planes and renders not quite matching up. I've seen it in lots of games, and quite often, you can also get your character 'stuck' in that part of the scenery. Fallout New Vegas had lots of gremlins like that. Jump around the hillsides or collapsed buildings looking for good sniper shots and sooner or later you'll find yourself stuck and unable to move. If you're lucky, there arent any enemies near and you can quick move to another place, but if you can't you're stuck there. It's also quite similar in having issues over perspective, where big 'barn sized' objects suddenly appear out of nowhere. I personally don't have a problem with it. When everything has multiple renders and every piece of geometry worked out 100%, it can really slow down the game. I remember flying multiplayer missions with the old CFS3 planes, and when some of those user built planes appeared in view, your framerate just collapsed. I seem to recall a corsair being particularly FPS hungry. If those were around, I had to fly with full Zoom on to keep these aircraft out of view or my FPS became a slideshow. If they happened to be the target, then that was game over for me. I'd rather have a smooth running game where from time to time I can see the edges, than a fully resolved and perfectly rendered world with 2 or 3 frames per second.

Sgt Ray Homes of 504 squadron famously rammed the tail off a Dornier over Buckingham Palace during the Battle of Britain and survived to tell the tail. Tee Hee - just googled more info - When he got out of hospital, guess where he was sent. - Murmansk, to teach the Soviets how to fly Hurricanes!!! It's a funny old world isn't it?

Yes, those are the ones, very lights I think they're called. I know about the light in immediate peril, but further back in the trenches, out of snipers sight or range, I don't know whether they'd have a formal blackout or not. I've heard nothing either way.

What I'm really after is similar flares, but smaller perhaps, and in keeping with activity in the trenches rather than lighting up the sky as the MAW flares are intended. Sentries hearing noises in no-mans land might send up a flare, or perhaps a trip wire might set them off too. I fairly sure such ordinance did exist. They were just rockets really. When Very lights are shining Sure 'tis like the morning dew, And when shells begin a bursting It makes you think your times come too. And when you start advancing Five nines and gas comes through, Sure when Very lights are shining 'Tis rum or lead for you. In fact, come to think of it, i wonder if the trenches had blackouts, or whether you'd see lamps and lanterns flickering at night too. And if it's a texture issue, wouldn't I get the big yellow smilie rather than a white box?

I remember a post a short while ago on the subject of sounds, with specific reference to the sampling of sounds for OFF. It suddenly occurred to me whether it might be worth approaching the Vintage Aviator Company and quite literally asking them to sample the actual sounds needed from whichever actual aircraft and engines they might have. I'm thinking of sound samples through the various phases and revs etc. They can only say no, but they also might be quite keen ..... Edit - they might even fire off some guns...

Thing that gets me about Bismark is she was sunk on her maiden journey, but the King George V who was instrumental in sinking her was even newer than she was. I don't mean that in a "Mine is bigger than yours" context, merely the amount of money invested in such large battleships was a truly massive gamble just in terms of money alone. For all the tragedy of Hood being sunk in the manner she was, she left a a fine history behind her. I suppose Bismark's was no less remarkable, however short it was. There's something about the war at sea you don't get in any other context when these witheringly massive ships, each weighing thousands and thousands of tons start knocking seven bells out of each other. I forget the exact numbers, but from the 1400 men lost with Hood there were 3 survivors. I believe there were around 1900 men lost with the Bismark. Whenever I see pictures of these massive wrecks, I always find them very haunting. With Bismark, there are 1900 stories of how men died, most of which nobody will ever know, whether men died instantly in a blast, or suffered the rasping agony of drowning in complete darkness. I think I could cope with war as a soldier or an airman, but think I would struggle to cope with war at sea. Edit - Expat Shield assigns anybody a UK IP address, but I don't think it will help Olham this time, because my UK IP address gets the same message. Edit 2 - Bismark from a crew of 2221, there 115 survivors. There could have been many more, but the ships picking them up had to get underway after submarine reports, and 3 survivors were indeed picked up by U-74. Tough call, but that's war I suppose. 3 survived, but 1415 men went down with Hood, and some say there were no bodies recovered, not one. They all went down with her.

I was thinking the illuminations might be nothing to do with the flight itself, but flares over no-mans land spotting for infantry patrols and raids etc.

Yeah. Wicked stuff that Spitfire Ale if you have too many.... Never heard them called paint tins before. Great idea to have the dog come and fetch you when your tea is ready though. :lol:

Cant wait for this to come out. It looks so ready.... Can't be long now..... Love the planes, love the damage, love the scenery, love the skies.....

Think the US Marines have had a love affair with Harriers for some time, to the extent I'm sure they have their own. Criminal the UK scrapping Harriers. They have years of service left ahead of them. When I think, I'm sure that pre-Falklands, when the Task Force was still on its way, lots of people were worried the Harrier wasn't fast enough to do the business and protect the fleet. They reckoned it would get a bit of a doing up against the Argentinian fast jets. In the event, the Harrier served us proud, being more than a match for the Pucharas and the like, and way too manouvreable for the faster jets to engage. I don't think a single Harrier was lost to enemy action. 2 were lost in accidents, but sure I remember none were shot down in actual aerial combat. I also seem to recall the Harrier pilots stopped counting kills with sidewinders as proper kills. Guns were adequate and took more skill. (That wasn't flippant arrogance either, the UK pilots deeply respected the bravery and ability of the Argentinians, but using sidewinders was no contest and akin to murder). Not bad for 1970's aircraft fully expected to get its arse kicked since it was only designed to hide in the bushes once the Ruskies had cratered all of NATO's runways. Brilliant piece of kit way, way, way ahead of its time.. Part of me likes to think there's a big secret bunker somewhere in the UK and under some massive big tarpaulin in a dark and shady corner there are half a dozen harrier shaped lumps with all their electrics disconnected and fluids drained, and their ignition keys in six break glass in emergency boxes fixed to the wall. Just so the UK can save a few pence and give it to some fat sleazy greasy banker for a Christmas present. Shameful.Thats bean counters for you. Count them all out, and count them all back in again.

Cough, cough. Sea Harrier. Cough, cough. Correction, make that now retired from service Sea Harrier. 1993 to 2006. (1993 was when the Sea Harrier entered service, but the Harrier itself was 1978). They punched well above their weight in the Falklands and took off a ramped flight deck to save fuel rather than rely on VTOL. (But they could have if the flight deck was damaged) http://en.wikipedia....ace_Sea_Harrier

Don't have time to check, but your flight log might be suspect too. Sure I remember somewhere that Mannock kept a diary, but the practice was frowned upon and he'd have been in trouble if caught. I don't think notes in a pilots logbook would be so lengthy or subjective. Sooner or later these would be checked by a senior officer who would appreciate something a little more concise. Another thing occurred to me about the wrong word in the right circumstance and why it can matter. In the Falklands War, the press made a big issue of the British forces "yomping" across the island. Yomp they did, but "Yomp" is Royal Marine terminolgy for a Para's "TAB" Tactical Advance to Battle. Once you realise the feasome rivalry which exists between Marines and Paras, you suddenly realise the power behind a simple word. Just ask a veteran Para from the Falklands if he liked his time "Yomping" about the islands and see where your beer ends up.The word is "Tabbing".

More strength to your elbow, but I think you're walking a tightrope Captsopwith. I'm not going to soft-soap you, you want an opinion I'll give it, but hopefully constructively. I'd like to make you a better writer, not make you cry. I'm not a literary critic, but I've trained my share of stonemasonry apprentices, and if something isn't right, it never gets better until you say so. There is depth to what your writing, such as the odd naval rank 'Squadron Commander' being quite correct as an RNAS rank, but as others have picked up on, there's some inconsistency in there too. You refer to gasoline, but I'm almost certain the Brits would be calling it petrol. I stand to be corrected, but even nowadays, gas in the UK is propane or butane, gas or gasolene are thought of as American words for petrol. Similarly, I'm less sure about it, but I think kerosene would also be called paraffin. This isn't just a word issue, it makes me question the depth of the authors knowledge. I suddenly wonder whether 'Squadron Commander' does reflect a depth of detailed understanding, or whether is it just a lucky guess. If you want to put that amount of detail in your text, you've a big job of research ahead to get it right, looking for inconsistencies which you yourself won't see. You need a proof reader to check for typos and grammar, but also context. For every one fact you get wrong, you undo the kudos of ten you get right. This isn't nitpicking either. I'm reading text which screams at me it was written by an American. That's nothing against Americans, but simply that I'd rather not know the nationality of the author if it isn't pertanent to the story. It's distracting. It's like watching Braveheart with an Aussie lead. You can't lose yourself in history when constantly reminded you're watching 20th century foreign actors in film. (You can't really lose yourself in history watching Braveheart anyway, but that's another story). Not sure about the burning Scout either. Hearing a man scream all the way to the deck from another aircraft is just not going to happen. Even if you cut your own engine, in a 70 or 80 mph wind you'd struggle to hear your observer sitting beside you. It's a graphic incident, and certainly must have happened. It's appropriate, shocking, and fully deserves to be written in, but your witness viewpoint is just too implausible. Follow me? You either change the witness to someone who could have heard it, or your pilot didn't hear the scream, but imagined he did. My final criticism has already been said too. You repeat a lot of things, especially if the pace is slow. It reads like you're padding out text for volume rather than content. It's not just text but imagery too. At the start of four paragaphs of your sample, our pilot Will is sat at his desk. Next papagraph he is grasping the handle of desk drawer. A couple later he is stiffening in his seat, and next paragraph he is sitting back in his wooden chair. Youve now told me 5 times in 7 paragraphs that Will is sat at his desk in a wooden chair, - I got that picture in the first paragraph, and it's just not impotant enough to repeat for half a page. Too much of that, and suddenly your book isn't slow paced which is fine and what you want, it's boring, which is a disaster and you have to mix it up a little. It reads much better when the action picks up, and noticeably when you switch to first person too. I like to think advice should be harsh but fair, but this advice really isn't fair. I can't advise you on good writing, because I don't know what good writing is. All I can see are 'niggles' that in my humble opinion stop it being good writing, and what I'm doing is flagging up these niggles. Because of that, this looks like negative criticism, but it's really not meant to be. You don't need my advice to fix the good bits, so in that respect this is not balanced criticism, but fix those niggles, and stop repeating them throughout the whole book, and people can then judge the text and story on it's merits. That's my honest opinion. It's a worthwhile subject to write about and you're intelligent enough to do it justice, so keep going and don't be put off by criticism. Take it on the chin, ignore cruel remarks from idiots, but listen to the constructive advice, and whatever you do, don't feel hurt, shut down and go defensive. Work at it, and like I say, do the real pilots justice.