Hellshade

It certainly has my vote. I would even go so far as to say that the people in the forum are 1/2 the enjoyment of the flight sim itself. Being able to exchange ideas, not to mention humor, stories and mods, does wonders to deepen an already immersive and exciting sim. I have no doubt I get more out of OFF:BH&H simply because reading this forum illuminates many aspects of it that I might otherwise miss or not understand. Come to think of it, this Forum pretty much serves as the "Pilots Pub" that the real WWI pilots used to retire too in the evening after the missions were done. United in a common purpose and experiences, they shared their thoughts and feelings on everything from tactics and adventures to the loss of good friends. If OFF is a tribute to the Great Air War, the Combat Ace Forum is most certainly a tribute to the pubs the pilots socialized in after the days work had been done. I count myself lucky to have found people of such good company. Hellshade

There is just no way to get all of the features and addictiveness of OFF:BH&H into just one video but here is my first real attempt. It starts slow and builds to a crecendo. I tried to capture as best I could some of what makes OFF:BH&H so different from any other combat flight sim experience. I hope you all enjoy it. The Over Flanders Fields Experience (5:07) 1080HD Hellshade

An outstanding chart indeed. Homeboy has been MIA for some time now. I hope all is well with him. He contributed a lot and always seemed to be a decent fellow. Hellshade

So what do you do when you suddenly find yourself at a low altitude going head to head with an enemy aircraft and you don't want to pull up because you know you'll be in his gun sight longer than he'll be in yours? <click video link below to find out> (0:12) 1080HD Hellshade

Elephant, I would order Over Flanders Fields:Between Heaven & Hell and the Hat in the Ring expansion all over again at full price if for some reason I lost my copies. Of all of the many PC games I have ever played, OFF:BH&H with HitR definately ranks in the top 3 of games I have spent the most time playing. The top two would have to be World of Warcraft 1st and then Everquest (way back in the day) 2nd, which are both time sink MMOs. They are designed to have you spend months playing them just to get anything accomplished. OFF keeps you playing because you never know what will happen next. What will the weather conditions be like on this flight? When do we get new planes? Recon, Bombing, Balloon busting & defense, Arty spotting, trench straffing, attack or defend airfields, patrols behind enemy and friendly lines, fighter sweeps, etc for mission types. Multiple, historically accurate enemy squadrons that can show up at any moment while you are on any part of a mission. Friendly squadrons that can show up to help you! Face off against genuine Aces of the Great War in historically accurate planes and paint schemes. Moving front lines! It's a real war out there. If you don't like your mission or if you just get lost from your flight, you can fly in any direction and the war will still be going on with bombers and two seaters crossing the lines regularly and fighters on patrol looking to stop them (and you if they spot you). Hundreds of historically accurate squadrons to choose from on hundreds of dates from 1915 to 1918 to fly with for the Germans, French, British or Americans. Theres just too much replayability without the novelty ever wearing off. Hellshade

I was poking around and saw that yuplay has updated Wings of Prey (WWII flight sim) to 1.0.3.2. Among the updates included in the patch is that it looks like they took a page from OBD Software and added a lot more options to control the flight experience. It used to be you had just 3 choices - Arcade, Realistic and Simulation. Now there is a Custom Options setting that lets you change a bunch of different aspects, such as blackouts / red-outs on or off, damage model type, a ton of HUD options, etc. While still not as good as the options in OFF:BH&H, after loading it up and giving it a try I found it to be a real hoot. I'm actually playing through their Campaign (which is not dynamic - Boo) and having a lot of fun. If you already have it but haven't patched it to 1.0.3.2 lately, you might want to give it a try again. Here are a couple quick videos I made of some of the fun to be had in this WWII game. Wings of Prey Dover Defense (4:48) 1080 HD Wings of Prey Coastline Ship Attack (1:44) 1080 HD Supposedly they added a whole German Air Campaign as well. I haven't seen it yet though. Enjoy Hellshade

To be completely honest, I wouldn't pay $50 for Wings of Prey, even now with the 1.0.3.2 patch that improves the quality of gameplay. The Campaign is fun (and there is a Luftwaffe Campaign for an extra $15) but really because it's totally scripted, it's only fun once. Yes there is on-line play and the ability to do training "Quick Combat" type missions, but given the limited number of maps and limited campaign replayability, I couldn't recommend it for the full $50. I think $30 is a much more reasonable cost given what you get and I would recommend it to anyone at that price if they enjoy the WWII setting. It's a genuine blast to play, don't get me wrong...but once you start looking for something with more depth WoP just doesn't have the long term sustainability that only a historically accurate dynamic campaign can provide. WoP is a damn fun distraction. OFF is a genuine addiction. As for the gold or platinum addition, I think they only add ons they have are some historically accurate skins for the planes and the Luftwaffe Campaign. If they bundle all of that for $50 then it might be worth it. Just my 2 cents. Hellshade

Now he starts a new career disseminating Misinformation to the Huns! "The Spad XIII goes no faster than 70Mph and can carry only 25 rounds of ammo due to weight restrictions! I swear it!" I hear they will make that a part of P4. Prison camp interrogation and escape mini-games. (not) Hellshade

Quite right sir! The decision to follow the second Hun down was a cinematic one though, not target fixation per se. I just thought diving down behind him between the clouds might look beautiful...so even when the bullets wizzed by my head I decided to say "damn the torpedos!" and follow through with my plan, hoping to get lucky and survive. Once in awhile, fortune favors the foolish...but not often. Hellshade

I would be extremely interested in seeing this flight sim take on the Pacific Theater of Operations. I believe the Marines mastered close air support when straffing and bombing japanese positions that were literally mere yards away from American ground forces. Those would be intense missions indeed, not to mention attacking aircraft carriers, destroyers and intercepting fighters. Maybe even some sub hunting. Any idea when they might release it? As for revamping things, I would highly recommend they take the OFF approach and allow you to make a virtual pilot to try and survive the war with. It would really add a lot of emotional connection to the game. Right now the missions are very cool, but there really isn't any consequence if you fail or get shot down. You just refly it. In OFF, no matter what the mission is you don't take it for granted because in a dynamic campaign, anything can happen and if you get shot down, chances are your pilot dies. It adds an edge to every mission you fly knowing that you could be jumped by enemy fighters at any time, no matter what you are doing, not just when the script says they will be showing up. Hellshade

Javito asked how authentic it felt when set to max realism settings. Wings of Prey "Realistic Settings" (3:20) 1080HD The main differences you will be able to see when you switch everything to realistic are: 1. No HUD aids at all. You are on your own up there to find and see everything, including little speck sized fighters against the backdrop of the city below you. That's a real pain. (It's Berlin down there, btw) 2. Black outs and hard breathing from G forces. Also you'll notice that the sounds change and seem muted or distant. A nice touch to help make you feel like you're losing touch with reality as the blood drains from your head. 3. Red outs from negative G forces as I push the nose of my P-51D down too quickly to try and catch a 109 4. Torque effects and stability issues when trying to push the plane too hard, causing the nose to bounce around a bit or even make the craft fall into a spin 5. Damage effects. The first kill was Pure Damn Luck to be so fast and brutal. Most of the time, like with the second plane, you put some holes in them and they lose control or perhaps you shoot a wing off. Here is the Replay video of the mission. Playing that back I can flip between cockpit and external views of the plane so you get a better idea of what the FM is doing. Hellshade

Wings of Prey is a very enjoyable experience and I am having a blast, but it doesn't have what it takes to replace OFF as my primary flight sim. Wings of Prey has a brand new flight sim engine to give it better visuals than OFF, however even there the screen shots of P4 look to close the distance in that gap too. OFF just has too much attention to detail and history where as WoP, while certainly difficult to master, is all about immediate gratification from exciting visual feedback. It works beautifully for what it is, but other than being a combat flight simulator, the similiarities between the two end very quickly. If you are looking to create a pilot to try and live through the war, WoP just doesn't have the depth to support the emotional attachment to a pilot that OFF does. In my opinion, its that personal attachment to our pilots in a historically accurate world that lends tremendously to the addictiveness of OFF. Essentially, with Wings of Prey you are trying to finish a Mission. In Over Flanders Fields you are trying to survive a War. The difference emotionally can be quite significant, in my opinion. Hellshade

If you turn off all of the arcade features and set it to realistic, it feels quite realistic indeed. I'll try to post a video with the blackouts, stalls, etc. That's what I love about the 1.0.3.2 patch is now it is a lot more like OFFs wonderful Workshop settings. You can custom tailor it to your flying preferences. Unfortunately it is not a dynamic campaign. Not much approaches OFF in that kind of quality. Hellshade

Hellshade

Wings of Prey Sicily Campaign Fighter Sweep (3:26) 1080HD Little bastards came out in force to defend their airspace. At one point I looked behind me to suddenly discover I had what appeared to be an entire squadron on my tail! Rather intense. Hellshade

I did pay the $15 for the Luftwaffe Campaign, but I am still busy working my way through the Allied campaign at the moment. Even though the campaign isn't dynamic like OFFs and you are essentially flying in a "fishbowl", I must say they do a pretty good job of giving a variety of different missions. Destroy AA guns around an airfield, intercept german cargo aircraft at night, destroy tanks on the streets of Stalingrad, intercept huge waves of bombers, protect ships from Stuka dive bombers, destroy enemy ships off the coast, etc. All in all a lot of fun, although why the voice actor for the Russian missions sounds like Rocky Balboa is beyond me. I don't think it has anywhere near the historical accuracy or open ended appeal that OFF has, but taken for what it is I find it quite enjoyable. It's definately a challenge trying to line up enemy aircraft at speeds nearing 350 Mph. Head to head passes are over in a split second and its very easy to lose track of your target when you fly with all HUD info turned off (as I do). At any rate, for those who took it off their HD, like I did, you may want to think about reloading it and updating it. It's a better experience than when it first came out. Hellshade

Olham and Uncleal both have it correct. The closer you are to your enemy, the more damage you will do. And as Uncleal says, aim for the cockpit or the engine "meat or metal" for maximum effect most times, although some planes do have weak wings that seem to come off more easily then others. I made a little Air to Air Tactics video if you'd care to see my strategies explained while in action. My guns are set to Less Accurate, normal strength which is another reason why I like to be so close I can almost see the color or my opponents eyes before I shoot. My saying is "If the enemy plane is so close he takes up 100% of your forward view, you can be sure 100% of your bullets will hit. Then it just becomes a matter of knowing exactly when to pull away so you don't ram the fellow." Air to Air Tactics (9:15) - 1080 HD Hellshade

Air Combat Video #30 "Red Devils" (4:49) 1080HD Hellshade

Air Combat Video #28 (5:32) 1080 HD My OFF installation got corrupted so I had to re-install it all and am still in the process of getting all the video settings back to "ideal". Fun fun. In the meantime, I'm having fun flying QCs. Air Combat Video #29 "Hornets Nest" (4:31) 1080HD Hellshade

Air Combat Video #26 (9:58) 720 HD Miniscreen It started out looking like it was going to be a relatively easy 6 against 1, but early on in the fight I suffered structural damage to my lower left wing (due to a mid air contact, imagine that) and that changed the situation significantly. Unable to turn hard left without potentially falling into an unrecoverable spin (considering my altitude) and right hand turns could no longer get inside my opponents circling to bring me in on their tail, I still had multiple huns to fight off. Olham thinks I have an Angel that protects me against collisions. She must have blinked this mission. Enjoy, Hellshade

He was an outstanding pilot flying a plane of superior manueverability...and though he was valiant and skilled, he died. I would agree with Olham. I think he fought the battle because he had too. With SE5as flying high cover and being in a slower machine, he was forced to fight in the middle of them and duke it out, relying on superior marksmanship and the ability to out manuever his foes as his best defense against being overwhelmed.. There was no way he could out run, out climb or out dive that many foes without leaving himself dreadfully exposed to enemy fire. Having a plane of considerably superior manueverability made fighting the lesser of two evil choices. The Alb DV doesn't enjoy that much of an edge over the Spad XIII in my opinion. Olham has spent far more hours in the cockpit of one than I have though so I would defer to him as the expert in this particular matchup. I am glad you enjoyed the video. No editing, but hopefully it demonstrated the technique well enough. Oh and Olham, I flew it over Frescaty. It is indeed a beautiful area. Hellshade

The Spad XIII has a higher top speed and can dive faster than you, plus they out number you. A straight dive to the deck is likely suicide. First, they will probably catch you and get on your tail (as they did with you) and second, you'll rip off the lower wings off your Alb DV long before they will. They are built as energy attack fighters. The Alb DV is not. It is, in my opinion, more of an all around, well balanced fighter but without any glaring strengths or weaknesses (except perhaps hard and fast dives that might rip off your wings) You may or may not have a slight advantage in tighter turn radius against Spad XIIIs, but it certainly isn't so significant that you can sit in the middle of a swarm of Spads and expect to fight them all off. You are not Voss in a DR1 against SE5as no matter how bad you want to be. My solution is to turn towards them to reduce the time they have to line up a shot, but not directly into their flight, of course. 1. After the first pass, begin a controlled decent by alternately switching to moderately hard turns (left and right) long enough to let the closest Spads harassing you fly past. 2. Then, depending on where you see the next closest Spad at, turn in the other direction. The goal is to reduce the amount of time you spend in their gun sights to the briefest possible amount while safely descending to tree top level. 3. Watch them carefully. Usually not all of them are immediately aggressive. One or two will generally break off from their flight to pursue you. Focus mainly on avoiding them while keeping an eye on the rest of their flight as you continue to descend with unpredictable left and right turns. Make sure your constant descent is gentle enough that you aren't over stressing your aircraft wings in your haste to get to tree top level too fast. 4. Forget kills. If you have a rare chance to take a shot of opportunity to damage them, go for it, but not if it requires you to climb or turn so hard that you lose significant airspeed. Your goal is kill them some other day when you aren't massively outnumbered. In order to do that, focus on getting home alive. Don't let them sucker you into combat. Every second you take to line up a shot, 5 other guys are using that same time to line up their guns on you! 5. Once you are down to near tree top level, it's all about heading for the closest german front lines that you can find while avoiding any Allied airfields (which are always heavily guarded with AA). Keep looking around you constantly and keep jinking your plane left and right as needed to throw them off. Again, you can't out run them, but if you are constantly popping over and down behind tree lines, they will have one hell of a time getting a shot off on you. Even if they do hit, your chances of landing safely are greatly improved over suffering control surface damage at 10,000 feet. If you can, follow roads or train tracks that wind through the trees heading back to your lines. It will make it even harder for them to get a clear shot off at you. This is one of those times where flying smart to live isn't filled with glory. I've said it before. You usually get killed when you think you are the hunter but really you are just the prey. Know when you are the prey and escape the situation in the most advantageous way possible for you that nullifies their advantages. Constant in-turning towards them in a controlled descent reduces their ability to get a clean shot off on you and is less likely to result in you losing your lower wings than if you tried a steep fast dive. Here is a quick and dirty video that shows how a lone Alb DV can evade multiple Spad XIIIs. Outmatched (3:50) 720 HD Try it out and let me know how it works for you. It has saved me on several occassions. Hellshade

Wow! Everything looks just amazing, but most especially is the scenery which just jumps out at you with how organic and lush it is. And the Gotha bombers look incredible! What else can I say but keep up the great work. Those cockpits looked so detailed it was mind blowing. Hellshade

At least he said "yet". Hellshade

Stunning work gentleman. I know it's going to be some time but my credit card is locked and loaded, ready to order. Big Bombers (Gothas, HP 400s), improved scenery and terrain, improved cockpits, re-worked medal system and God knows what else. I know Christmas of this year is out but hopefully before next Christmas! Hellshade