Olham

If you have OFF still installed, and it doesn't work properly, you should try the easiest way first. That means: Go to "Workshops" and try "Reset/Install OFF" (top right corner). If that doesn't work as expected, you should also "Reset CFS3". You will lose any old pilots doing that, but it might save you a new install.

Meanwhile I have tried Lothar's new mod a little bit, and I must say, it is very nice. It adds the "between the missions"-parts of the pilot's life, which was so funny in old sims like "Wings of Honour". Only here it is interactive - it will be different for each pilot - according to the character you chose to play (there are more than a dozen choices for that). You can go to the mess or to the Adjutant's office, to the CO, or to your quarter. When you talk to a person, you have again choices, in which direction the talk goes, and what the outcome will be for you (you may gain more respect or a better reputation, or the opposite - lots of possible ways again surely). I have only just touched it, but I guess, that Lothar's "OFFbase" will compile the experiences with you, and will shape a persona, a character from these inter- actions and talks. You may not always like what you get, but that's like real life then, isn't it? Lothar wasn't sure, if it would perhaps mix up existing pilots you already have. Well, in my case, that did not happen. Only that one pilot was used by OFFbase, and the others remained as they were, and intact (I use Win 7 - 32bit). If you miss life at your homefield between the sorties; or you don't really know your own pilots too well - then try OFFbase - it could be what you were missing.

Meanwhile I have tried Lothar's new mod a little bit, and I must say, it is very nice. It adds the "between the missions"-parts of the pilot's life, which was so funny in old sims like "Wings of Honour". Only here it is interactive - it will be different for each pilot - according to the character you chose to play (there are more than a dozen choices for that). You can go to the mess or to the Adjutant's office, to the CO, or to your quarter. When you talk to a person, you have again choices, in which direction the talk goes, and what the outcome will be for you (you may gain more respect or a better reputation, or the opposite - lots of possible ways again surely). I have only just touched it, but I guess, that Lothar's "OFFbase" will compile the experiences with you, and will shape a persona, a character from these inter- actions and talks. You may not always like what you get, but that's like real life then, isn't it? Lothar wasn't sure, if it would perhaps mix up existing pilots you already have. Well, in my case, that did not happen. Only that one pilot was used by OFFbase, and the others remained as they were, and intact (I use Win 7 - 32bit). If you miss life at your homefield between the sorties; or you don't really know your own pilots too well - then try OFFbase - it could be what you were missing.

Interesting points, Capitaine - that war certainly ploughed not only Flanders' soil, but also the crusts of social classes in several ways. Black men from America met white women in intimate ways for the first time; and handcraftsmen without A-levels (Abitur) could for the first time achieve to become officers - at least in the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Forces). Nobility lost even more of it's status; Kingdoms became Republics. The American Civil War, and the Great War in Europe were the doorsteps for modern industrialised, democratic societies, IMHO.

I'll have to try it yet. I'd recommend to you, to post an own thread about it, Lothar. You had it announced in another thread, where it may not get seen by all people. Maybe some detailed description would also do it good. So far it sounded to me rather like I had to allow access to my computer, which would be asked too much IMHO?

The sim is running fine and high-res my end with an ATI RADEON HD 4870 (1 GB). This card might be available cheaply meanwhile?

Hey, OvS - boredom was a word I thought you wouldn't know. Your job, family, old car and skinning I always thought would fully keep you occupied and busy. But I guess I know what you mean. Sometimes I need to just play around with something, that is neither needed nor expected by anyone. Unfortunately, the video is blocked for me because of the content owned by WMG. There was a way to work around this and get the videos, but I forgot - can anyone help?

Jasta 32, La Jolie Ferme, Spincourt - 5. Mai 1917 Today, we made our transfer to La Jolie Ferme in the Verdun area. Flying by map, I followed the railway line to Spincourt, over Metz and Jarny. Then I saw the two airfields: Spincourt, and my new home, La Jolie Ferme. The whole flight had taken half an hour - no enemy activity in the whole area.

Good tips there, Bullethead - all very useful for those, who will try "flying without crutches".

Lothar, you could zip your files and upload to the Download section: OFF User Mods.

Welcome back, Lothar! Could you tell some more details? Edit: Ah, now I saw the link - and there is all the detail then!

Wow, we had a tough fight over your airfield, TaillyHo. Escadrille 88 were in the area, and their yellow-black bands, and the yellow snake suit their aggressive fighting style. Man, we have been curving high and low, round and round. But then I got mine down.

This is a smaller Jpeg of the map - I have added the main city names in red here (not so in the download maps). The maps are useful for all flyers in the Argonne area east of Reims, in the Verdun-Metz-Toul area, and in Alsace, all down to Colmar. I have added most airfields (here RAF_Louvert's maps were very helpful - thanks, Lou!) The four parts should be cut out with a sharp cutter. They can be glued together, or they can be used as single, letter-size sheets. If you put them into a strong sheet protector, you can draw your course on with a waterresistent red or blue felt pen. This can be removed with pure cleaning alcohol, maybe benzin too. The lakes and the railways are quite accurate in the OFF landscapes, so you can really use them (the black lines in the map are railways, the blue are roads) to navigate via map. And for to find back to your airfield, you may still use the ingame map at the end. Enjoy!

I can also not do it all the time, Scout - but it's great, when I have the time to do so. The new maps (4 parts) are available in the download section now..

View File Reims to Colmar - Part 4 This map was made after an American WW2 map. The railways were pretty much the same, and the map works fine for OFF. I have added many airfields. The map consists of 4 parts, which can be used as single letter sized prints, as well as glued together to one bigger map. Submitter Olham Submitted 10/29/2011 Category Maps, Missions, and Campaigns  

View File Reims to Colmar - Part 3 This map was made after an American WW2 map. The railways were pretty much the same, and the map works fine for OFF. I have added many airfields. The map consists of 4 parts, which can be used as single letter sized prints, as well as glued together to one bigger map. Submitter Olham Submitted 10/29/2011 Category Maps, Missions, and Campaigns  

View File Reims to Colmar - Part 2 This map was made after an American WW2 map. The railways were pretty much the same, and the map works fine for OFF. I have added many airfields. The map consists of 4 parts, which can be used as single letter sized prints, as well as glued together to one bigger map. Submitter Olham Submitted 10/29/2011 Category Maps, Missions, and Campaigns  

View File OFF Reims to Colmar - Part 1 This map was made after an American WW2 map. The railways were pretty much the same, and the map works fine for OFF. I have added many airfields. The map consists of 4 parts, which can be used as single letter sized prints, as well as glued together to one bigger map. Submitter Olham Submitted 10/29/2011 Category Maps, Missions, and Campaigns  

If you need to add something new to your OFF experience, you should try flying by map. You could easily do that in the Alsace region in late 1916/early 1917, as the enemy air activity is not so bad there. You may think, you could be surprised too easliy by enemy craft, if flying without TAC? The opposite is the case. Flying over own terrain, you will always get warned by Flak or Archie. You can see an enemy aircraft spec EARLIER than the white "Bogie"-Label would appear. And you can scan the skies, cause you're not forced to check that TAC constantly! I have checked the lakes and some railway lines in that area today, and they were damn precise. You can easily do that yourself: fly your craft over a lake or rail crossing, pause the sim, and then check the Latitude and Longitude in the red text (press "Z"). Note those numbers, and check in Google Maps later; you can type in for example: N 48 57 6 E 6 38 57 and you will get the lake "Etang de Mutche" - which is next to my airfield Morchingen. I have flown from Morchingen to our neighbouring field Buhl-Lorraine by just following the lakes there. On the way back, I followed the railway - and it worked fine! And as for the waypoints: if you are the leader, you can fly your own route. Just make it close to waypoints, but following railways or lakes, and you will be fine. And for finding your own airfield again, you could still use the ingame map, which also shows your course - if you think you must do that. After some time, you won't need to do so anymore - you will know where you are. There are various maps of that region already for download, but I will also upload 4 new parts of a map for the whole area. You can glue that together, or use the single parts. Throw away all crutches and go a step further - navigate your ways yourself. It is much easier than you may think!

Anyone playing "RAGE" here?

LOGITECH have this wireless trackball - at least in AMAZON Germany. http://www.amazon.de/Logitech-910-002090-M570-Trackball-schnurlos/dp/B0043A1F4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319894758&sr=8-1