Hasse Wind

That's the whole beauty of flying DiD - it puts you as close to the real situation as possible. The first thing I did when I got OFF was to turn off the labels - it completely kills the immersion for me to see those flying blocks of text up in the sky! Without labels, you really have to get close and take full advantage of the flak bursts to spot enemy aircraft, you won't recognize them miles away. I'm not an expert bomber, but what experience I have tells me you have to order your wingmen manually to attack the target if you want to see any results. And unfortunately you can't give the orders without TAC. But most of the time you can fly without it. The black/orange is better. It symbolizes the powerful Imperial German turnip industry much better than turquoise. Who needs gay Paris with its debauchery and bad wine and music when we have all the turnips we can eat, and then some? Edit: Forgot to say the skin looks great!

Leutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Roeder reporting for duty, Herr Staffelführer! (I don't mind doing some of those English landing & take-off practice manoeuvres though - I'm not that familiar with the DFW yet!)

Definitely the DFW - it's more fun to fly as a bomber with that bombsight and it's safer and easier to land than the Roland. And like I mentioned earlier, the improved Pfalz is now a viable choice for a campaign plane. In fact I'd rather fly in the Pfalz than the Alb D.V/D.Va, because they are such disapppointments after the excellent D.II and D.III and have weak wings. I shouldn't have any problems with full DiD - the only thing I've been using is warp, and I figure I can live without it for this experimental campaign. I've never used labels and TAC only when giving attack orders to wingmen - very useful when flying bombers.

I've been studying the DFW C.V in a desperate attempt to possibly improve my chances of survival. It's an interesting two-seater that performed very well in every front that it was in use in reconnaissance, observation and bombing missions. The DFW C.V was produced in greater numbers than any other German aircraft of WW1 (this was news to me) with over 3200 planes built. It was used by the Austrians and even the Ottomans in addition to Germany. After the war Finland, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands also operated the DFW. Now I'm going to create a test pilot flying the DFW.

I've been using only auto mix for a couple of months - it gives a more equal flying experience with the AI planes who are always able to make the maximum use of their planes' abilities in each situation.

The Pfalz flight model was considerably improved in the latest (?) patch, so there's no need to avoid the plane in campaign mode anymore. If the weak wings of the Albs D.III and D.V/D.Va are causing trouble, the sturdy Pfalz is a great choice. I wouldn't mind having to fly it in this experimental DiD campaign. Not that I have much hope of ever getting enough hours in the DFW to be able to transfer to a real Jasta. Better just get used to being a career Bombenflieger.

Okay, sounds very good to me. Looking forward to November then. (But why do I have this strange feeling that I'm going to need a lot of pilots before getting enough hours to transfer to a Jasta?)

Count me in. I'm not particularly fond of the DFW and I completely, totally, utterly suck as a bomber pilot, but what the heck. It might be fun doing this, though I'll probably won't have time to fly long missions every day with my current awfully busy work schedule, and the worsening influenza pandemic isn't helping at all (I work in a hospital).

Well I'm using XP on a PC with enough power to play OFF on quite decent settings and I'm definitely seeing those missing medals sometimes. Not a big deal, as long as they keep coming back in the end.

I have no problem with somebody collecting such things, but it would be really strange if he or she were to actually wear those real medals (not replicas) they haven't actually earned themselves. Before this whole western system of medals and awards was invented, the rewards for distinguished service in the military used to be much more practical, ie. land or money or something like that, and not just a small piece of metal hanging from a ribbon. But the medal system is a lot cheaper for the state, and as Emperor Napoleon I himself said, "'soldiers will do crazy things for a piece of coloured ribbon".

I've also seen this problem, and I've had French, British and German awards. I always thought it was some small glitch on my computer, because the missing medals always return sooner or later. I guess some comrade-in-arms borrows them occasionally to impress the local ladies. I don't mind it, as long as they return them.

Widowmaker, that picture you have in you signature box is great! 'Bottle of Britain', brilliant. Does it taste good? (Sorry for going off-topic in your off-topic thread.)

A great topic! Besides dying in OFF, I like to: - read a lot, mostly non-fiction, especially history and astronomy - cook - drink whisk(e)y, rum and beer (this can be an expensive hobby - beer is usually cheap, but quality rum and whisk(e)y ain't!) - ski in winter, jog in summer (my desperate attempt to win my very own battle of the bulge - unfortunately the bulge is winning) - wander in the wilderness (nothing beats the sights and sounds of the far northern environment)

I'm hoping to see bomber/recon careers improved in P4 to make it more exciting and enjoyable to fly those two-seaters in career mode. Recon missions are currently quite boring, but bombing is often great fun (not that I ever hit my intended targets, but who cares - explosions are cool in any case!) There should be a different awards system for two-seater pilots, not based purely on the number of enemy aircraft shot down.

I have an Nvidia card and I have no problems with OFF. But I haven't updated my drivers for a LONG time - my card performs well in every game, so why should fix something that ain't broken? It seems lately there have been more problems with Nvidia drivers than there used to be in the past.

Wow, that sounds like a dangerous profession! I've never heard of any postmen or couriers being killed by dogs here. Sometimes I've read about crazy, vicious dogs attacking people (especially children), but it doesn't happen very often and I rarely see any people bitten by dog(s) in the hospital I work in. What kind of idiots order packages and then make it as difficult and dangerous as possible for the couriers to deliver them? It's not very thoughtful to surround your house with killer beasts and expect people to come and visit you...

Sounds promising... looking forward to it.

It's amazing just how many different jokes have been made using this same scene from Der Untergang. I guess I'll never be able to watch the film again without thinking about all these. The Win ME part really made laugh. I remember all too well that awful POS...

Great! I have a feeling P4 is going to be something extraordinary when it some day emerges from your R&D facility. I really appreciate all your efforts to improve OFF.

Everything would be easier if I never had to use warp - then I could easily follow the A flight wherever they decide to fly. But things can become problematic when after warping the other flight is nowhere to be found and I see superior enemy forces approaching. Not using warp at all is clearly encouraged here, but I'm afraid I simply don't have the time to always fly every mission completely in real time - it can consume a considerable amount of time when I'm given a target somewhere far away and I have to fly there at the typically slow speeds of WW1 aircraft. I just can't do it most of the time with work and other real life issues that everybody has to deal with, except maybe rich pensioners. That's why it would be great to have the A flight stay with me when I warp. This is not a game-breaking issue, but something that would be really nice to have.

*Note to self: Don't get shot down in Widowmaker's sector.

The Pup is a wonderful little fighter, and it was historically one of the most beloved British fighters of the war. It's extremely easy to fly and when mastered, can be deadly in the right hands. I've had some of my most successful OFF careers flying the Pup. And you're probably a much better pilot than your wingmen, especially if you're flying in a not-so-elite squadron. Have fun with the Pup!

I'm fairly sure that was one of the fortunately rare glitches in OFF. I've once had a similar tail-first spin flying the Pfalz. It's a very deadly situation, because I was unable to have any control of the plane at all - nothing seems to help when it happens. But when I had it on the Dr. I, I was trying to see what the crate can and can't do and the spin happened after a particular fierce looping session. If it had happened in the campaign, it would have been annoying.

I know how it feels to lose such a long-lived pilot. The lure of fame and awards is great, but actually it would be best to forget about the medals and just try to survive from one mission and day to another. It's a long war (if you don't start your campaign too late!), so if you can stay alive, the kills will come and the medals too. It's just so hard to learn to be less aggressive...

What seems to be the biggest (and most fascinating, IMO) mystery is the combat use of the E.V/D.VIII. Some sources claim the planes saw some action, while others deny it or leave the question open because there doesn't seem to be enough evidence available to give a definite answer. They were used in training in preparation for actual front service, that much is certain, but did they really fight against Entente air forces and even shoot down enemy planes? I have no idea.