Hellshade

Our good friend Mr. Louvert essentially spells out the challenges all too well. A small player base with limited time needs more compelling reasons to check this forum other than for the mere purpose of keeping it alive out of nostalgia. Without regular contributions of compelling content across a variety of WOFF UE related subjects (mods, patches, history, community campaigns, etc), this forum will be unable to persuade folks to choose to spend their limited time here as opposed to the SimHQ forum. I'm afraid "checking in" more often won't do it. Even 100 people a day "checking in" would do very little if when they check in, they don't see anything interesting to read and comment on. They check in, see nothing new and check out. Doesn't take long of not seeing anything new that they just stop bothering to check in anymore. Developer interviews? New Flyer Questions & Answers? A non-DiD community campaign so it's easier for more people to feel included? Interviews with Modders? - what they do and why? What are they working on next? History Corner? What happened this week (or at probably this month) in the Great War and maybe which squadrons you can fly to experience it? Skinning tutorials? Survival in the Air series? There was a great series long ago, but WOFF UE has many changes to the FM and DM since that time, not to mention numerous new aircraft have been added. What it here is due for a major refresher. WOFF UE player reviews? Find out what people think about the Ultimate Edition. Reading player reviews might help others to decide to join in.

Well, I am sorry to say then (with a bit of gallows humor) that everything is probably just fine. The last thing anyone can accuse OBD of is "making money" on a WWI flight sim. It's not like literally everyone else left the market because they were tired of making so much money. LOL

Yes, legal purposes do transcend what can be done practically. That is why (in my opinion) the website still says that CFS3 is Required - even though for practical installation purposes it is not. Yes, you can take a loaf of bread without paying for it, but obviously it's still illegal. You can also install WOFF UE without CFS3, but it's still illegal to do so - hence the still posted requirement for CFS3. OBD is trying to make sure new purchasers know they are legally required to own CFS3. I don't see that as fishy. I doubt seriously that a licensing fee has been paid. If it had, they wouldn't still be posting that CFS3 is a requirement.

OBD has made it clear they were in financial straights until MFair came along to be their official sponsor. I find it unlikely (but possible) MFair paid the licensing fee after he came on board and well nigh impossible that OBD paid it before. I stand by my utterly unproven, purely speculative theory that WOFF UE uses enough heavily modified CFS3 code that they have incorporated into the sim that, for practical purposes, WOFF UE can be installed and run all on it's own without a CFS3 disk, but for legal purposes, WOFF UE "requires" CFS3. That would explain why they wouldn't remove the MS CFS3 component from the list of requirements. They certainly aren't going to put a post that says "You need to buy it even though it works without it." And as you said, if someone did pay the licensing fee, I would think that would be shouted from the highest rooftops. I think that theory explains why they are tight lipped about it. They can't legally say it doesn't require CFS3 even though it works just fine without it.

I stand without excuse, good sir and have amended my list of modders appropriately. Please forgive me!

Multiple people have done fresh installs with no CFS3 installed and it doesn't ask for the CD. My guess is that for practical purposes, it isn't required, but some of OBDs code is a heavily modified version of the CFS3 code so for legal reasons it probably should be. Pure speculation on my part. I do notice at the bottom of the wingsoverflandersfields.com/requirements website it does still say CFS3 is required.

All of the WOFF modders I know of are on SimHQ. An incomplete list from memory includes: RAF_Louvert (aka chopped liver) Olham OldHat JJJ65 Robert Wiggins Panama Red AnKor ArisFuser There are a few others but I am not at home to look at my mods. The hard part will be finding a way to entice them to post over here. It would seem likely that nearly any incentive we could give them to create a strong modding community here on CombatAce also exists in SimHQ, plus the devs are there. :( Not at all trying to douse the fire with a cold bucket of water...just trying to realistically understand the hurdles that would seem to need to be overcome. I also wonder if it wouldn't help to trim some of the "dead leaves" in the forum? OFF BH&H is no longer being sold and there are meta-topics in the forum (OFFice, OFF / WOFF Phase 1 & 2, Multiplayer, etc) that literally haven't had a new post in years. If we want the forum to be alive, perhaps trimming stuff that instantly looks dead would be a start. It's like when people show up to a party and see there's hardly anyone there - they leave because they don't see any activity. Maybe also rename it from Over Flanders Fields to Wings Over Flanders Fields. Remove the long unused stuff and narrow it down to a few specific Meta-topics that reflect the current status of the sim. Maybe something like: WOFF UE - News & patch info WOFF UE General Discussions WOFF UE Mods WOFF UE Mission Builders - focused on JJJ65's Mission Building Mod. WOFF UE DiD Campaign (or whatever weekly check in event you can come up with) OFF / WOFF Archives (everything that got trimmed) The Archives section keeps the old data some people may still want, but you won't have meta-topic after meta-topic showing no activity for 2 - 4 years the moment a visitor enters the forum. Get some folks who prefer this forum to commit to contributing articles or posts at least once a week. Start some general discussions on AI, sim Features, how historical events are portrayed in WOFF UE, etc. It would be a lot of work and there's never a guarantee of a good pay off, but I think it's fair to say the current trajectory of active membership and participation isn't on the rise and isn't going to be if things are kept as they are. Maybe even skip all of that and create a Poll of what people would like to see in the forum and focus on making that happen. Just spit-balling, sir.

They have evidently been hard at work on it for over a year and still have no ETA (that's standard for OBD, though). They have stated that improvements to the sim engine for Wings Over the Reich will get ported back into WOFF UE at some point, so that would certainly be a pleasant bonus. I'm certainly looking forward to what they come up with. I'll pay an extra $50 if I can import a Spitfire from WOTR into WOFF UE and terrorize the huns for awhile. ;)

That, essentially, sums it up quite well. Additionally, as OBD focuses more of their time launching their new WWII sim, the pace of Add-on releases for WOFF UE might likely slow down. New content and patches are usually a forum draw for folks, so that incentive to check any forum will likely de-escalate. IMHO, since the devs post "official" news on SimHQ, if you want folks to show up here, there needs to be some other form of incentive besides "I prefer the features of the CombatAce forum." For most people, information and interaction are a bigger draw than features and functionality, it would seem. By all means, feel free to disagree. But if one were to subscribe to that belief, in whole or in part, then I would say it would be up to the creativity of the folks who haunt here to come up with a new draw. Some possible ideas might include: A DiD campaign here, but there would need to be some kind of advantage to it over the one on SimHQ. Something that makes it more interesting. You could get one or more people to be WWI contributors - maybe do a "This Day / Week in WWI history". As an extra step, you could tie the DiD campaign to the "This Week in History" thread. Create a "Modders Mecca for WOFF" where there are tutorials on modding and begin creating new content that is hosted exclusively on CombatAce. I have no idea on how realistic any of those or other ideas might be. I'm just thinking that without something that naturally draws people to this forum, keeping it active becomes more of an act of will than a natural outgrowth of interest. Hopefully I have not offended with my thoughts.

Just a few screenshots on Facebook from the beta version of the upcoming Wings Over Flanders Fields Ultimate Edition. https://www.facebook.com/groups/616373985096671/ Two new planes: French Two Seaters! Breguet 14 and Caudron G.4, new shader updates and more. :) Hellshade

Here is the thread on SimHQ, Worth going through and seeing them all. http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4296311/1/WOFF_UE__Screenshots

I believe 1.47 is the latest patch for OFF:BH&H. You can find the patches at the link below. http://wingsoverflandersfields.com/previous.html

They have produced two WWII flight sims since RoF and have now announced a third. Unless someone hands them a wheel barrel full of cash to further develop RoF, I think the only active development of that sim will be whatever Mr. Wilson is able to accomplish with his very fine PWCG mod. I don't imagine any official development will be forthcoming again, barring said unexpected cash infusion. Yes, it's a shame because RoF has some wonderful features and, IMHO, still has a lot of unexplored potential but ultimately theses kinds of decisions to cease development are economic in nature. WWI sims just don't generate income like WWII and so we will simply have to enjoy what we have. The fact the the underlying engine for RoF is still being used (albeit in a heavily modified version) for their WWII flight sims, so that also makes it unlikely 777 is going to open up the code for modders to have the ability to make deep changes to RoF, such as in it's AI, FMs, DMs, etc.

This is awesome guys. More static models is a good thing. It helps breathe even more "life" into the sim. I can't wait to see your finished products. You can check out some of the new images of WOFF UE if you've got Facebook. Aside from new planes, they added in "winter trees" that I think makes a hell of a difference in winter immersion. https://www.facebook.com/groups/616373985096671/1164823143585083/?notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1475159079292133

There is an option that reduces the AIs skill level once certain damage conditions occur, effectively reflecting the AIs inability to control their craft as well due to damage controls, etc. He may not have had any options left. Spads try to turn fight a bit early in the video and those are the ones I was able to take out. Those making Boom & Zoom attacks on me generally had much better success as you saw. They slowly picked me apart. I presume the AI skill level has something to do with their attack methods but I couldn't say for certain.

I was suffering from horrible gum jams. They just wouldn't clear. And yes it was the same guy, It wouldn't have been if my damn guns stopped being jammed! LOL 5 THINGS I LEARNED IN A VERY LONG 8 MINUTES AGAINST SPADS 1. Spads suck. By which, of course, I mean they are awesome opponents even as I curse their existence. Incredible how well they would dive attack me, often in unison! Sure, I start off okay but it doesn't take them too long to start turning the tables on me and gain the upper hand. Teamwork & tactics. I hate them. Where is my Fokker DVIIF? 2. The DM in 3.0 is incredible. I left that fight like a DR1 - Swiss Cheese Edition. Holes in wings, guns, cockpit panels and gauges. Watch to the end. You'll get a great look at everything. 3. The AI is just plain better than it was in 2.0. The dogfights - time after time - are outstanding! They shoot more often and get both more hits and more near misses that make you cringe in your cockpit. I haven't had a bad dogfight yet since 3.0. There's one point where you see several streams of bullet trails whistle past my top wing from the Spad behind me. I thought I was dead. 4. You know a sim is great when just 8 minutes of combat feels like a half hour and your brain in glazed over from the stress of using every trick you have just to stay alive and maybe get some good shots in now and then. 5. I couldn't go back to WOFF 2 now that I've spent some serious time in the cockpit with 3. The upgrades to the total experience are just too essential.

Stunning pics guys. I always love your custom paint jobs Olham. They are so beautiful I don't think I would dare put holes in them. Maybe you should paint all the German planes. LOL

It's awesome. Here's a few various campaign videos to see it in action, if you choose.

Great screenies LIMA! I have flown a couple of BrisFit careers and I have to say I feel very comfortable flying over enemy lines in them. I'm certainly not indestructible in one, by I feel very certain the Germans have a healthy respect for the machine I am in and rightly so.

I voiced this exact concern about this forum. Since OBD moved their "official" forums to SimHQ after a mishap here, this forum has gotten very quiet and can easily give the impression that OFF / WOFF is no longer being supported or flown by players. Nothing could be further from the truth but I worry we may lose good players from time to time who don't realize that a new official forum exists.

As JFM kindly points out, most of the official responses and action now happen over at the SimHQ forum. There is a lively and very helpful group of folks over there. In answer to your question: Install OFF. Superpatch to 1.32 minipatch (g)? Hat in the Ring 1.47 patch I hope that helps. You may want to consider looking at WOFF. The upgrade to DX9 shaders take some of the workload off of your CPU and put it on your GPU.

Thanks Jim. You rock. :) And you're right. The DX9 shaders take some of the work off the CPU, so it's easier to run WOFF than OFF.

I realize that these forums don't get checked daily, but for those who have posted links to give away HitR, please remove them as soon as you can. OBD still owns the rights to the software and giving it away free may stop someone from spending money on buying WOFF, which means money out of the developers pockets. I get and appreciate the positive intent of sharing, but it's not really legal and for all OBD has done to give us the best WWI flight sim possible, the least we can do is make sure that they get paid for their work. Thank you.

I believe "L" toggles lables on and off sir. There is an OFF manual buried in the directories somewhere but I forget exactly where and I don't run OFF anymore. OFF and BH&H are no longer sold so I'm not sure where best to post however this forum has most of the old hands hanging around so they might be able to help with questions too. FYI, WOFF 1 & 2 are on sale for $44.99 total for a Christmas special. Not sure if that's within your budget but it's a huge leap over OFF:BH&H if you can swing it. The AI alone is worth the price of admission. Hellshade

Polovski posted a thread asking members if they would like to see a "WOFF GOLD" edition. Head on over to check it out and be sure to vote. http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4187250/1/WOFF_GOLD