Bullethead

Once you get used to it, you should feel invincible in the Pup. Damn, that's a fine machine for its day, even with only 1 gun. If you take any air-to-air gun hits, you're just not paying attention. But you'll probably suffer a lot of collisions because you have to be in very close to do major damage.

Sorry for your loss. I drink to his shade So this was your 1st RFC pilot after all this time? Damn, you've been missing so much fun! I hope your next RFC pilot will be with me in 20 Squadron starting at the time this guy bought it. Then you'll really have a VERY interesting time . Of if you've got a real death wish, try 24 Squadron instead. When 20 Squadron switches Fees for Brisfits, 24 switches DH2s for DH5s.

I've used just about every brand on the market but have been a Saitek guy for the last 12 years. I've been using the X52 for the last 2-3 years and have no mechanical or electrical complaints with it. And for me, that's a LONG tine for a joystick to last. I usually wear them out, no matter who makes them, in 2-3 years but my X52 is still going strong. And in terms of functionality and ease of use, it is BY FAR the best bang for the buck out there. My 1 major complaint with the X52 is that it abandoned the best rudder control ever invented (Saitek's unique under-throttle rocker bar, used on the X32 and X45 which I had previously) for the absolute worst (the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned twist stick). The only saving grace here is that the X52's twist can be physically locked off and you can use rudder pedals instead (mediocre option--costs more, takes up space, can't fly with your feet propped up on your desk or legs crossed anymore). HOWEVER, as far as pedals go, the Saitek pedals are better than those of CH and almost as good as my ancient serial port Thrustmaster RCS from like 20 years ago. I've attached my profile for OFF (includes those for both pedals and X52) should you decide to purchase this excellent system. OFF-X52.zip

Is this a cut scene setting the stage? I mean, tanks overrunning airfields isn't in the actual BoB script and from what I understand, the outcome of the battle won't change in the campaign.

Wow. Take a weekend out of town and when I come back, here's this. Looks very nice. I'd like to see some of the new 2-seaters though :) I know, there's no pleasing some people.

So, how'd it work for you?

I assume you're talking about a situation where the fuselage is painted, not natural wood. Thus, you're concerned about boot heel scratches to the right rear of the cockpit, from swinging the right leg over the top from the ladder on the left side, and toe scuffs around the steps on the left side. For this, I create a tan color suitable for the underlying wood. Then I draw short lines 1 pixel wide in the desired area, angled as the heel and toe would strike. I then put a gaussian blur on them, to make them look narrower, like scratches instead of gouges.

As I consider this forum too classy to say such things as "Hi, Mom!" and (even worse) "IBB&", I'll pretend I didn't notice this thread

I've rammed quite a few balloons, but it's always killed me immediately unless I'm in a DH5

I don't so much zone out as pass out drunk at the controls.....

Jutland 1915 Expansion (just released today--shameless plug) Civ V Fields of Strategy (hey, it's free!) X-Com Terror from the Deep (it's only like $2 on Steam) Fallout New Vegas (still) NOT playing Shogun 2 Total War because it won't run on 1 machine and won't install (thanks to Steam) on the other.

Actually, it was Bombay Sapphire gin . But honestly, I stole the idea for the above story from that old "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip. Calvin's dad once told him a similar story when Calvin (a 5-year old kid) asked why old film was in black and white. They're coming to take me away, haha! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0QND_24DE He got sent to a padded cell shorlty before 20 Squadron transitioned to Brisfits. He's my only pilot ever to retire, not be KIA or POW.

Actually, black and white film is a very recent invention. Color film came first. It's just that back when cameras were invented, the world itself really was grayscale, so that's what showed up on the color film. Over the last 150 years or so, however, the world gradually shifted into the full spectrucm of color we see about us today. This process wasn't uniform or constant. Certain parts of the world grew colors before others, and some of these places alternated between color and gray scale several times during the transitionary period. But eventually color spread everywhere, even to oil paintings several centuries old, which of course had originally been painted in grayscale tones to reflect the reality of that time. This outbreak of color was very confusing to the people alive back then, especially to people in places where their surroundings were flashing between grayscale and color between different people taking photos. By the time of my childhood in the 1960s, however, most of the world was permanently in color, except for the insides of TV studios and certain 3rd World countries. It was about this time, too, that black and white film was invented. It was used for nostalgic purposes by those who missed the comfortable, less glaring grayscale world of their youth.

There's also the Survival in the Air guide on the beast, which I think is most excellent (plug, plug, plug)

I've used the short AI gun range setting since that long-ago day when, despite being in a hard turn, I was shot completely to pieces in a split-second from over 400m. IMHO, if you're maneuvering unpredictably all the time, and the AI is still nailing you with no problem from 200m and beyond, you need to tweak your settings. I'd start with range and if you're still having the problem, then adjust accuracy. NOTE: by "maneuvering unpredictably", I mean going left, right, up, and down and at varying rates, either to make yourself a difficult target or while chasing an enemy who's a difficult target. Turning at a constant rate in the same direction for a long period is no harder to hit than if you're fliying straight and level, so that doesn't count.

The Fee has better characteristics than the Quirk in many respects. It's stronger, faster, and more maneuverable, you can see where you're going MUCH better, and has IMHO the best forward-firing weapon in the game because you don't have to get perfectly lined up to shoot. Plus, it has the 2 essentials of any well-appointed cockpit: a pack of cigarettes and a pin-up photo of Mata Hari. The cigarettes are quite useful because they slide along this little shelf in front of you, making them a completely functional heads-up display slip indicator. I've only been reduced to a flaming bathtub that one time. Most times, I don't lose any parts, just my engine dies. It might be on fire but it's behind me so I don't feel the heat and I'm too busy looking for a place to land to see if there is fire back there. You should be reassured, however, that it's possible to fly the Fee even if you lose a lower wing. It takes about 5000 feet to get the thing out of the spin and leveled off, but it can be done. Problem is, you're stuck going around in a very big circle, gradually losing altitude, unless a strong crosswind happens to be blowing in just the right direction, If that's the case, then you can fly a reasonably straight line in approximately the desired direction until the wind changes. Normally this isn't the case, however, so you're stuck circling with the controls held all the way over as hard as you can. However, by relaxing just a bit on the enemy side of the circle, you can tighten that arc, thus getting through it faster, so you spend more time pointed towards home than towards Hunland. In this way, you can very gradually inch to the west. This will make a difference if you were just barely across the lines start with, but it's better than most other planes . Landing with 3 wings isn't much of a problem as far as speed, sink rate, and levelness go, but you don't have any real control over where you ultimately come down, so you have to hope for a smooth spot.

Welcome to the unfriendly skies, Gunz and Adger I look forward to reading tales of your adventures when the disks arrive.

I thought it was pretty funny. Especially because I lived through it. I guess the nacelle came down in a treetop and thus the fall was cushioned. Only a couple weeks in the hospital. I decided right then that this pilot was going to have a few personality quirks as a result of his experiences. He's the one who ended up being a hopeless morphine addict in the Reports from the Front thread long ago

It was only the 2nd time for me. The first was soon after I got OFF and was flying a Fee in Bloody April. We'd just formed up and were heading for the lines, still at very low altitude, when the Ace Flight of Jasta 11 bounced us. At that time, I still had the original default settings in OFF so this was hyper-aggressive AI that was deadly accurate at 400m or more. Karl Almenroder chose me as a target. One moment I was doing a hard turn to the right to meet the attack, well beyond what I thought was effective range, and the next I was in a flaming nacelle sans wings and tail. As I tumbled down (the Fee in this condition doesn't pull enough G to black or red you out), I caught glimpses of most of my flight suffering similar fates. All this happened in practically the blink of an eye. That was like on my 2nd or 3rd sortie ever. What a welcome to OFF . I'm not kidding, when I reviewed the mission, despite clicking on the "so and so of Jasta 11 hit an FE2b of RFC-20" as fast as I could, it still took like 10 minutes to get from the point the 1st of us was hit to when I hit the ground, which was about 5 seconds of game time.

I think I should qualify this.... The DH5 definitely isn't bulletproof, but YOU are while flying it. No matter how horrific your crash, you always walk away unharmed (often into a POW camp, though). For instance, just this afternoon I went out strafing in the Passchendaele area. I've done this many times and it's been no big deal, ,maybe 2 or 3 MGs in the target area. They hit you a few times but you can usually cope with it aerodynamically, although your engine might pack in quickly. But this time I must have stumbled upon the main German redoubt in the trench system. There must have been 20 or so MGs in it and they all opened up at once, AFTER I was well within their range so I couldn't escape quickly. I've NEVER seen so many AAMGs in 1 place before--the sky was completely full of tracers. My trusty DH5 lasted a total of 5 seconds under their concentrated fire, at which point it lost various important parts. The tail went first, then at least 1 wing, then the screen went mostly red so I couldn't see much after that, except I think I caught fire, too. Anyway, looking throgh my tiny peephole in the otherwise red screen, it appeared that I did forward sommersaults into the ground from about 500 feet up, landing inverted. I walked away unharmed but was taken prisoner, and that's with it set for Dead is Dead. <BR><BR>Now, apart from such overwhelming numbers of bullets, the DH5 is pretty sturdy compare to other planes. For instance, I've destroyed more than 1 balloon by ramming it while swimming in the ground fire, and have safely returned to base. I've usually crashed on landing due to an inability to keep the thing level when it slows down, but any landing you can walk away from :)

Well, it rather depends on whether you're a scout or a bomber/recon type. If you're a scout, most of your missions will be patrols looking for trouble. If you're Entente, most missions will be over eneny territory but usually no further out than the lines if you're German. Another common scout mission is bomber escort. Then you have airfield attacks, balloon-busting, and the odd scramble thrown in. Sometimes you also get ground attack missions. The mix of these things depends on when and where you fly. If you're bomber/recon, most of your missions will be recon and arty spotting (amount to the same thing), usually at or near the lines. You also get bombing missions fairly often, and sometimes scrambles. There's also something common to both that happens occasionally: moving to a new airbase. You have to be alive at the time the squadron historically moved to get one of these. It's just flying between 2 friendly fields, but of course you might meet the enemy en route.

Welcome aboard, Gunz! New guy buys the drinks . Anyway, yup, there is time compression. However, it has several bad traits that limit its usefulness. The worst of these is that while using it, your plane only gains altitude at waypoints, so it's like going up a flight of stairs instead of a ramp. Thus, if you get attacked prior to reaching your full mission height, you'll probably be much lower than if you'd flown the whole way in real time. This is often rather disadvantageous for you. But OTOH, if you fly something like a Fee that doesn't climb very well, it really doesn't make much difference

Yup, Archie can be a real bother. In 1918, you don't even have to cross the lines, just patrol up and down on your side, and you'll be constantly under fire. The worst case I know of is flying for Jasta 4 right after they get the D.VII. Their airfield is directly ON the front. Shells burst on the runway, gas clouds drift between the hangars, and sometimes an MG rakes the field from a nearby bit of high ground. The flak at least has the decency to wait until at least 1 member of your flight leaves the ground before opening up, but you'll be under its fire nonstop from before you clear the trees until you end the sortie. But then again, for Jasta 4, every sortie, regardless of the type of mission, is effectively a scramble so the flak is usually the LEAST of your worries. I get so I hardly notice it there . In less extreme situations, however, flak does add to my dread because it's the only thing going on prior ot combat and I can't make it stop. So there's nothing to do but worry about it. And this is especially true if you're playing observer so you can't even zig-zag. You can, however, make yourself harder to hit. The easiest way to do this is to avoid flak-infested areas. I have no problem turning on TAC and setting it to ground targets. These appear in a scattering of dense red clumps, and most of the targets in those clumps are flak guns. So on deep penetration missions, I just weave my way along between the clumps on TAC. I figure in real life, pilots would mark the local hot spots on their maps and do the same thing, and if I live long enough there, I get so I can recognize the danger spots from the air and no longer need TAC. There are, of course, 2 places where this avoidance tactic doesn't work: at the lines and at your distant target. At the lines, whether you're crossing them or patrolling along them, you have to zig-zag as Olham says. I've had great success with this and can't remember losing anybody to flak at the lines if I was zig-zagging. But at the target, you usually can't zig-zag if you're bombing, and to be realistic you shouldn't if your observing. If you're fighting there, then of course you're maneuvering. Anyway, where I lose people to flak is at the target. I've done several DFW bomber careers where flak at the target has taken a deadly toll. For some reason, it doesn't seem to lead the flight enough so if you're leading, you're usually OK. You take a few nicks and dings, but your wingmen suck it up. It's always a sickening feeling to see one of your long-time buddies take a fatal hit and slowly roll over and dive away trailing flames, or flutter down slowly with a broken wing. I'd rather they were obliterated by a direct hit. Oh yeah, on such occasions I kiss the dirt shown on my monitor, even if it's behind the lines

I get very mentally "into" my sorties. As I approach the lines, dread begins to build up as the rumble of the constant barrages gets louder. The whole time I'm on the other side, I feel like I'm walking in a minefield, and it's always a great feeling of relief when I get back to my side. I find that just flying along is usually more noticeably stressful than the actual combat. I'm always worrying about when I'll meet the enemy, what the odds and situation will be, etc., and praying I see them before they see me. I find it rather unnerving to see a streak of smoke plunging down in the far distance when I can't even see the dots of the planes, and not knowing whether it was friend or foe, only that there are definitely enemies over there and wondering if there are enough of them left to come bother me. But once a fight starts, everything is instinct and the habits of decades of simming. I don't think, I just act. That's not to say combat isn't stressful, it's just that I don't notice it until afterwards, if I survive. Then I realize how sweaty my palms are, that I feel exhausted, etc. During fights, I often notice, in a detached sort of way, that I'm tensing up my belly and grunting during high-G maneuvers. I also mutter under my breath a lot, mostly urging my kite to produce a bit more performance, to hang on her prop just a tad longer, to come out of a spin despite the shot-off wingtip. "Come on, bitch, FLY FOR ME!!!" I also curse when bad things happen, like when I get hit or I see a wingman die. And I cackle evilly when I shoot down an enemy, especially if he burns. Assuming I make it back safely, I find it difficult to fly another mission immediately, even if it's supposed to be the same campaign day. Each sortie makes me rather tired and I like to take some time off between them. So normally, 1 sortie per night is enough for me. I thus found the DiD thing rather trying, because I HAD to fly 2 mission in a row (weather permitting) to keep myself in time with the campaign date.

I'm one of the thousands of people who gets a BSOD upon launching the game.