Jimko

A few more aerial shots...

I am not, by any stretch, an experienced OFF pilot, but since OFF is the only sim I fly, almost all my flight time is in the Camel...my favourite. It has to be flown with a delicate touch and proper control in tight turns. I really think that Pips gave a very good synopsis of handling the Camel and I can't think of much to add to what he said which was in this post: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showt...=38234&st=0 Much of what he suggested is what I had already learned to do by experimentation and by keeping in mind some of the original comments about flying the Camel.

Macklroy, Olham, RAF_Louvert.... Thanks for the kind words re the screenshots; I'm very glad that you enjoy them. It's particularly gratifying to hear that some are being used as desktops, etc! These pics are an important part of my personal enjoyment of OFF. I have to also acknowledge, though, the OFF team who gave us this spectacular flight sim, who ultimately are the reason that these screenshots are possible, and who really deserve a great deal of credit for this kind of happy immersion! Many thanks to all of you!

Thanks Lou, They are some of my screensavers...

Some of my personal favourites...

Hi all, I have the Ubisoft CFS3 DVD which I have used for OFF with no problems in the past. The reason for the DVD is so that I don't have to use the disc each time I run OFF. I just wiped my system clean, formatted the HDs, etc as I was having a lot of crashes, blue screens and "corrupt system config file" messages as well as some strange multiple os occurences. I'm just reinstalling all my apps with no problems EXCEPT when I now install CFS3 from the Ubi DVD, I can't run the sim without the disc as I keep getting the "No disc in drive" message and it won't load the game until the DVD is in the drive. Yet this same DVD has always installed and CFS3 ran without it, before, as it should. So I haven't installed OFF P3 again since I can't even get CFS3 to run without the DVD. I have uninstalled CFS3 and reinstalled with the same results. Am I forgetting something...?? Am I having a senior moment? Puzzled, me... Suggestions...

Thanks for the replies! I have this one solved thanks to Parky who first got back with the same advice as I had posted this in the General Discussion forum, since this one didn't get noticed for a while. I thought that I had read somewhere that CFS3 had to be installed first and then a mission had to be flown before installing OFF... I don't know why I thought that, but it had worked before. Foolishly I didn't pay any attention to the first step of the installation procedure so I was dumbfounded (or just dumb) to find out that I could install OFF P3 using the CFS3 DVD just for the required files. It works like a charm! In retrospect, I guess what I remember may have been instructions for those who have CFS3 installed and are using it on it's own... and then want to add OFF. In my case, I don't care about CFS3 as a stand alone, so this installation is perfect. Cheers!

Hi all, I have the Ubisoft CFS3 DVD which I have used for OFF with no problems in the past. The reason for the DVD is so that I don't have to use the disc each time I run OFF. I just wiped my system clean, formatted the HDs, etc., as I was having a lot of crashes, blue screens and "corrupt system config file" messages as well as some strange multiple os occurences. I'm just reinstalling all my apps with no problems EXCEPT when I now install CFS3 from the Ubi DVD; I can't run the sim without the disc as I keep getting the "No disc in drive" message and it won't load the game until the DVD is in the drive. Yet this same DVD has always installed and CFS3 ran without it, before, as it should. So I haven't installed OFF P3 again since I can't even get CFS3 to run without the DVD. I have uninstalled CFS3 and reinstalled with the same results. Am I forgetting something...?? Am I having a senior moment? Puzzled, me... Suggestions...

Thanks Parky...You're right, of course, to my embarresment! I didn't even look at the FAQ for the install, as originally I had installed CFS3 before OFF (which I thought was correct procedure), and since everything ran as expected, I didn't even think to look closely at the install procedure this time. I'm just leaving for a couple of days so although I can still check the forum, the re-install will have to wait untill I'm home. Appreciate the help very much!

Whaaaat?? Parky, you have really made me sit up in amazement... I thought that CFS3 HAD to be installed FIRST for proper operation of OFF...?? You mean I can install OFF P3 first and then run the CFS3 DVD when prompted to extract the files that are required? I can try that, but I still wonder why I can't run CFS3 without the DVD in the drive...not that I care about CFS3, that's for sure! However, neither do I want to have to run with a DVD when I didn't have to before.

Hi, I'm a newcomer to CA with the OFF gang and I have two issues that puzzle me: I don't get anything at all in the "Options" drop-down menu for a forum topic and the same for the "Forum Options", so I can't subscribe to a topic, email it, etc. There is text under my avatar info that reads "Warn ****". Have I been bad? Thanks for any help!

It works! Excellent! Thanks Fates!

Hear hear, Pips! That's a very good synopsis of flying the Camel. I use rudder pedals and it takes some time to get the hang of it, but I'm starting to make the kind of turn adjustments you described without having to think about them too much. The Camel definitely takes some practice to fly with authority, but being my favourite kite I devote all my time to flying her, and as Victor Yeates stated, if you master her, you can pull turns that are hard to follow. And yes, you aren't going to outrun or catch many other ac if they're fast!

Since I had requested changes to the Camel FM before the 1.26 patch, I found that the new FM was much more like the Camel as has been reported in original accounts. I'm quite happy with it's new characteristics...I think that flight modeling it to the nth degree of original specs might make it extremely difficult for many sim pilots. Many of the comments about flying it in the sim that have been posted in this thread are quite right according to what I've found, particularly managing rudder in turns. I think that the OFF team have done a great job in making the Camel's flight model representative of the traits that the original had, and what is more important is that it has to be in balance with the other ac in the sim so that it maintains those important "relative flight characteristics". In other words, it is neither advantaged nor disadvantaged but is flying realistically when compared to the other ac. The two traits that I hoped to see incorporated into the FM were the role rate, which I thought was sluggish for the Camel and the COG changed to make it more tail heavy, and both of these were done in 1.26 to my great delight. At the risk of boring everyone, I have copied the following from my original post: Quoting myself: Victor Yeates, the author of "Winged Victory" gave some good impressions of what flying the Camel was like. It is generally accepted that although his book is fiction, not only did he choose to write a fictionalized account of WW1 flying experience rather than a biography but he also drew heavily upon his personal experiences as a Camel pilot. So I take what he has said about flying it to be a valid, honest description. Many of us have read his book, but I'll quote a few of his comments here about flying the Camel: Re training: "Camels were wonderful fliers when you had got used to them, which took about three months of hard flying. At the end of that time you were either dead, a nervous wreck, or the hell of a pilot and a terror to Huns…" Re turns: "And in the more legitimate matter of vertical turns, nothing in the skies could follow in so tight a circle..." Re the half-roll (Split S): "The same with the half-roll. Nothing would half-roll like a Camel. A twitch of the stick and flick of the rudder and you were on your back. The nose dropped at once and you pulled out having made a complete reversal of direction in the least possible time. Thomson, the squadron stunt expert told him that it (half-roll) was just the first half of a roll followed by the second half of a loop; the only stunt useful in fighting. If you were going the wrong way, it was the quickest known method of returning in your slipstream." Re the loop (he didn't like looping a Camel) "But a Camel had to be flown carefully round with exactly the right amount of left rudder, or else it would rear and buck and hang upside down and flop and spin." Re general flight: "...a Camel had to be held in flying position all the time, and was out of it in a flash. It was nose light, having a rotary engine weighing next to nothing per horse power, and was rigged tail heavy so that you had to be holding her down all the time. Take your hand off the stick and it would rear right up with a terrific jerk and stand on its tail." Re ground strafing (which he hated due to ground anti-ac machine gun fire): "Unfortunately, they were good machines for ground-strafing. They could dive straight down on anything, and when a few feet off the ground, go straight up again." Re speed: "...a Camel was a wonderful machine in a scrap. If only it had been fifty per cent faster! There was the rub. A Camel could neither catch anything except by surprise, nor hurry away from an awkward situation, and seldom had the option of accepting or declining combat…You couldn't have everything."

I'm a long way from worrying about how the claims process works. I'm just really getting into the sim while I'm still fine tuning and flying when I can, but at each turn I discover more incredible detail and great surprises. This is truly a masterwork, at least in my experience in the combat flight sim world. Thanks for the great sim and the excellent support, and looking forward to your future endeavors!

Ok "Thick"...eh, I mean Erik... You've solved it! That's exactly what it is...Groan! I never would have guessed, so thanks a lot! Another problem solved...Good Work!

Erik, Thanks for the comments. However, I just tried accessing CA from my wife's home/office pc and still the same result. She has a different os (XP pro, IE 7, etc) so it's hard for me to accept that my pc is causing this problem. And again, I can access any other sites just fine from either pc including other sim forums, all the drop-downs, etc. I will try and test from another completely different pc site (my daughter's) just to confirm this, but if it also refuses to work from there, it has to be a more central problem.

You might be right Eric, although I can't find anything. I don't, however, have this problem with any other site, sim forums included and there are many drop-down menus on all sites. I wonder if I can get my account here removed so that I can re-register with my current name and pw, just to ensure that something didn't corrupt when I first registered. I haven't been here long so I wouldn't really lose anything by trying this.

I have tried the Options drop-down with the pop-up blocker turned off. I use Eset NOD32 for the antivirus...turned it off as well. No change to the drop-down menu. In fact, as I mentionned in my last message, it won't even open the drop-down box any more whereas before it at least did that. It's a puzzle! Not the end of the world, but it would be nice to have access to the functions.

Hey Erik, Roger that re the "Warn" thingy...I understand now! Java is enabled in IE 8 Tools/Options/Advanced...set to allow JRE 1.6.0_12 which is the Java download I installed. I tried setting the security from default medium/high down to medium but no luck. I also found that since my last message to you, I can't even get the drop-down menu box to open at all anymore, and I haven't changed anything since the Java download at which point it would drop-down the box but it was still empty...?? I tried using Firefox as the browser (I have it on my pc but don't often use it) and the drop-down still won't open the box at all. Looks like it's getting worse...oh well...

Hi Erik, I thought that you had found the answer as I have just rebuilt and reloaded my pc and forgot to install Java. But, I used the link you provided to reinstall Java and it hasn't changed the drop down menu. I have rebooted to make sure and verified that Java is installed with the latest update. Still nothing in that "Options" menu box. I am using IE 8. And that "Warn" thing is still under my avatar info although as a user, I don't see it on others' avatars, just mine. Maybe administrators see it on all the users, but regular users don't?? Any other ideas?

Hi Fates, I'm using IE 8. I don't see the "Warn" under other users' avatars, just mine. It doesn't seem to show up for most people who log in as users. Maybe you can see it for all the users as administrator.

Since I have only recently started using OFF P3, and never having used CFS3, P1 or P2 before this, I wonder if there are some general instructions or guidelines for flying OFF campaigns? Are these documented somewhere, or are they the same general instructions contained in the CFS 3 guides that are in the Help menu? I would like to find some kind of general info about flying waypoints, mapping, etc. in OFF P3. Here and there I've seen posts where others refer to things like dragging aircraft into positions and I have no idea what they are talking about. I hope that the question isn't ridiculous... but I can't find any concise information on how to properly fly OFF campaigns. Thanks for any help!

Ok...no wonder I didn't remember seeing a "blue" line on the TAC that so many of you described. On mine it's green...I must have the cheap version...it must be the same thing. I was a bit confused about which TAC display works best for a campaign but now I set it for "air" as suggested in "Tips and Cheats". The other TAC settings such as "all" don't seem very useful to me unless I'm missing something important about them. If those are the main issues in flying campaigns, I'm good to go. Thanks a lot guys!

Ohhhhh....of course! I followed the suggested instructions for setting up the CFG and forgot that "Disable HUD" was in there! Good man! What a silly thing to get caught on...that's what happens when everything is so new, I guess! Thanks a lot. I re-installed OFF because of the sound issue just to see if it would change and I hadn't really bothered looking at the F5 problem very much, but you've saved me time chasing it down! I've been out all afternoon but now I'm going to carefully check out the TAC display as applied in campaigns.