SirMike1983

While you need to buy an underlying Valve Source SDK 2007-based game of some kind, The Battlegrounds Mod for the engine is free. The betas are open source too, so it's free to test the coming version too. http://www.bgmod.com/

OFF Phase 4: Developer Vacation Deferred "OFF: DVD"

I still cannot figure out why there are people so patently opposed to OFF. I start to get the feeling it has a political dimension of sorts-- that is that once you become a backer or emotionally invested in a sim, you want it to crush all other simulations. Whatever you back has to be the best, so to speak. That's a somewhat poisonous attitude, I think. It's a closed-minded way I think. I will say, from what I've seen folks here have been somewhat less hostile to RoF than some of the folks at the RoF forum have been towards OFF. I'm certainly open to RoF and I look forward to giving it a try. Hopefully I'll fly it a fair bit and mix it in with my OFF games for some variety. This isn't the Highlander-- where there can be only one. But I will add, I think OFF will come out the better of the two, since OFF is so comprehensive and attuned to history. I'll also say, that while I look forward to RoF, I look forward to nothing more anxiously than the arrival of the OFF Nieuport 24, to complete the old RB3d trifecta of v-strut Nieups.

About the people from 1900 being smaller-- the truth is that they were indeed, often, noticeably shorter (if you encountered them in-person) than people today would be. However they wouldn't be THAT much smaller. Maybe 2 inches shorter on average. So yeah- a couple inches, but not enough to justify making a pilot model "smaller" by anything you could notice. I don't expect RoF to be as good as OFF. But I will give it a try, despite some serious potential issues. I'd kick myself for not trying it in the end-- I really do like WW1 flight sims.

I've decided to put in an order for the game, despite my strong reservations about the online single player requirement. The way I figure it-- I didn't spend money on flight sims very much between Red Baron 3d and OFF Phase 3. I did buy CFS 3 (CFS, CFS2, FS2004 I got as gifts). But besides that one purchase plus the gifts, I waited patiently for an upgraded WW1 sim to come along. OFF was it, but RoF has also come onto the scene. I figure, well if things work out for RoF-- then great. But regardless I'll always have the quality OFF product. I figure not having bought much in the way of sims for all those years, I will play a little gamble with RoF and hope it pans out as a quality sim in its own right. I am a bit uneasy with the online bit, but I have had success with the Steam platform so far, and that's much more intrusive than RoF stuff is. I'll give it a shot, while at the same time having some reservations about it.

It's flammable as all hell. It's a nitrocellulose product.

Would there be a way to get a personal aircraft to carry through the war with you, like in old Red Baron? In the French squads, they eventually swap over to the Spad VII, but in many instances I'd like to keep the N.17 as my own plane.

I like the looks of the game, but I'm in the wait and see crowd as well. The graphics look great, but it doesn't see as comprehensive as OFF. I also agree with OvS: that online requirement is highly suspect to me. Those familiar with the Steam games platform are familiar with lots of online requirements. Recently Steam has also set up "online for single player" modes of games. Empire Total War comes to mind. I wonder if this kind of "online at all times" stuff is going to become the norm rather than the exception. Anyway, I think it's suspect. Why does anyone need to know what I'm doing as an end user playing the game? There is the piracy issue, but then again there are ways even around the set up being used here. Turning into Big Brother in a vain attempt to crack down on a narrow class of pirates is beyond what is needed. There are those who will say this kind of apprehension stinks of tinfoil hat behavior, but I disagree. I think there legitimate privacy concerns present.

Bump maps are a great tool for upgrading skins, but not in all games. They work well in some platforms but not others. I do work for an historical HL2 mod, and we just did a series of bump maps for weapons. They kick the weapons up a notch, but have to be done carefully. However in other games, I've seen bump maps make a mess.

They are out of order, but I'm willing to overlook that, considering the gameplay itself is so good. A lot of work is in Phase 3, to make the flying experience so good. This game is a gem on the whole. Sure, it isn't perfect, but that imperfection is something the developers share with the rest of mankind. These are people who do good work, though we have to remember they are people still.

I've found that the more hardcore simmers tend to go in heavily on the historical accuracy details. But it seems everyone is a little different. What are the "little things" you look for to be accurate in a sim that really draw you into the game? I tend to be big into the aircraft details and flight models, myself. I've played a number of sims over the years and found that often the in-cockpit details lack true accuracy. For example, Red Baron 2/3d stock out of the box seemed to have just a couple generic panels they used in the cockpit. Often they'd look nothing like the real thing. I think OFF has truly succeeded in this regard. I'm especially happy with the Nieuports and Spads. These planes used somewhat unorthodox cockpits and OFF really seems to have nailed them-- N.11,16,17; Spad 7, 13. With new aircraft on the way, I'm hoping the N.24 and the like continue that detail in the cockpit. I think they will-- good stuff on the way. What do you look for in particular, besides basic realism on the whole?

Nice skins shown here. I like the Sandbagger SE5 skins especially. Can't wait to see the N.24 shots too.

I would follow the story of one particular pilot who joins the war fairly early on. He joins with his friends early in the war in the army. After having numerous friends and comrades killed off or maimed, he joins the airwar to escape sharing his fate, naively thinking that the airwar is "above it all". Although a decorated infantry officer, he thinks he can cheat death by joining the airwar. As he becomes more and more enamored with this thought he becomes more and more remote and withdrawn from his new comrades in the trenches. His evolving attitude gradually damages the unit he's in and the new people begin to die off in greater numbers as a result. He earns admission to the air service, thinking he's escaped the trenches and that he is largely now above death. He proceeds quickly through training, and meets new people and makes some new friends. He continues to think this is the better path, and that death will not catch him, despite the loss of several friends to training accidents. He survives several brushes with death, though he attributes them more to divine protection or fate than to sheer luck. As a combat pilot he excels almost immediately, quickly becoming obsessed more and more with being a the top scorer in his squad. He strikes up a friendship with several pilots, but also becomes bitter enemies and rivals with several other high scoring pilots who are ahead of him in kills. Several of these older pilots have more kills and act as tutors to him while he learns the tactics. Gradually, several friends are killed off and some of the higher scorers are too. However he continues untouched by death or injury and eventually becomes a top scoring ace and leader of the squadron. Once at the top he becomes even more obsessed with scoring, refusing to be satisfied until he is the top scorer of all pilots at the front. He clips newspaper articles of aces from both sides, often drawing bullseyes around their faces, including even aces on the same side. He has all but forgotten the tutorial attitude the older pilots took towards him. He does not help new pilots, and they die off in numbers. Eventually he takes to lone wolf missions, as he thinks the other pilots are holding him back. He eventually becomes numb to the concept that he is causing death to others, even though it might in some way be justified. He always justifies himself by saying "it's war, someone must die" or the like. He becomes the top scoring ace at the front among all pilots. But has no one to celebrate with because he's aliented everyone. There is no love story present, but rather the story of continuing alienation, sheer luck, life and death. But what also is taking place, is the fact that the main character's mind is completely oblivious to the brutality of the war due to the fact that he himself has become brutal. Although thinking that in the air he is "above" it all, he in fact has merely descended to the war's level brutality. He is a supreme hypocrite, citing the war as his grand opportunity to succeed and make a mark for himself, all while being immune to the death and misery of the trenches. He has no awareness that he in fact leads a miserable existence, brought about as much by his own doing as the war itself. In the closing weeks of the war he flies a lone wolf mission and downs a number of allied fighters alone. Thinking fully that he can cheat death and is above the war and all others he turns to fly home. Several lowly ground gunners open fire, and an AA shell hits his plane. Both pilot and machine are obliterated on the spot, proving he was never above death or anyone else, but that even the lowly ground gunners through cooperation, patience, and some luck have bested him. He is wiped out as his friends and enemies were, but with no moral resolution. He is unrepentant to the end, though no one will mourn him outside of hollow propaganda put out by the government. Where he believed himself a supreme ace and master of the skies, he has become a mere pawn for propaganda.

I have a few old WWI aviation books around (say, 1918 to 1965). They actually agree with your point on the MvR flying qualities-- namely that Voss and Udet were more talented in terms of raw flying ability, but that MvR had a stronger tactical eye. The view that MvR was somehow superior in ALL regards to everyone else was entirely a myth. Fonck was the better marksman, Voss the better aerobat, Boelcke the better tactician. But MvR rather was a well-rounded mixture of qualities that made for an overall great talent. As for the Dr.1: in a 1-on-1 level dogfight, it's superior to the SE 5. But in numbers, with the SE 5s from above, it's a deathtrap-- you can't dive away and you can't flat run. You could try to climb, but since the SE 5s are coming in with greater energy, they can zoom and put bursts into the Dr.1. The only hope is to damage the opposing aircraft sufficiently to slow them down or frighten them off. I suppose if you could put a burst in the radiator or fuel or oil lines of each, then you could disable them enough to escape. But that's asking a lot.

I get an error 527 ALL the time, except when I use a proxy service. What's up?

I've found the oddball "crash on touching down" thing that was in some P2 planes is gone in P3.

What I see taking place most rapidly in the US is the attempt to move toward a "use-based" billing system. The provider companies really would like to bill based on how much you use the internet, rather than the current more flat fees. In some test markets they've tried to bill people who use more of their service. It hasn't been popular, but I have to imagine if they'll eventually be able to make it stick. This would primarily impact people who are downloading many movies or watching a lot of TV videos via the internet. I suppose it would grab high impact gamers at some point, though I guess it depends on just how much information is going back and forth over the net for the particular game you're using. I won't speculate as to what Rise of Flight will use though, since it might be efficient in net use, might not be. I don't know. I'd still certainly consider getting the game, though that single player net requirement is in the negatives column in my book. I haven't decided for sure which way I'll go with it. I have mixed feelings and am undecided on it. But I will add, I don't think this is a pure troll thread, though it does have some negative tones. It has some redeeming value in my book-- highlighting why a more traditional local machine-based single player system is probably still is the better path. But I would also say, we shouldn't make it our purpose to bash other WW1 sims. I like my OFF experience, and will continue to like it as long as the game is good, regardless of what Rise of Flight does. I may try some RoF, but I'm not sure yet-- I'm waiting to see.

Should the lift difference between the two sides be much greater than that? That is, how is it the controls can compensate for such a difference in the lift between the two sides? Perhaps the wing is pretty small, but still-- in theory that plane should spin severely, shouldn't it? Maybe, maybe not, just some thoughts that come up.

Auto update has become a mainstay on bigger platforms like the Steam platform. Though Steam is also a bit customizable too. I'll look into RoF more-- it looks good, but from what I'd seen the flight models were pretty weird in the test version. Maybe they got that straightened out though.

What is the link to the page? Never mind, I think I have it: http://www.flightsim.com/file.php?cm=SEARC...=nieupt17-1.zip

Good video, except the Dr.1 they show doesn't actually have a rotary engine in it.

Guitar, bass and keyboard here.

I think the comparison OvS was making was primarily an issue of egotism getting in the way of his being able to form a better bond with some of the other squad members. Fonck was a notorious braggart. In terms of method, you're correct-- Fonck was incredibly cold and calculating in the air. He also was known to take few unnecessary risks. However both pilots were excellent shots, though Fonck had more a "sniper's" mentality, whereas Luke had more a "high speed and hit them hard" approach. I still think Luke is a topic worthy of research (though the book is overpriced). Just what makes a man so reckless that the behavior actually verges on suicidal? Certainly many of these aces had a certain high amount of courage just to battle in these conditions, but Luke seems to go the extra step of actually putting himself, alone, into the most dangerous situations possible. I don't doubt his talent, but I wonder what makes someone go out of their way to get into the most danger possible. I think it goes beyond mere daredevilry. It almost seems suicidal at times.

I also think literature about Frank Luke is worth a look, though I do think the book's price is too steep. Luke was certainly not a "team player", but I do think he was a talented pilot and shooter. To me he actually is a bit of a mystery from the standpoint of just what was going through his mind during his flying career. He seemed to be a bit of loner, but capable still of high aggression attacks in the air. He seems like a good case for analysis of just what was causing this behavior.

Has anyone else noticed this: I'm flying a Nieuport 17 campaign in the fall of 1916. I've found that for some reason that some of the aircraft in the squadron being flown by AI are British N17s with Lewis Guns and British colors (including the Nungesser aicraft, which has his colors but is an N17 Lewis rather than Vickers). Is the game loading the wrong planes or is that put in by design, or historical?