Hasse Wind

I just did a similar test with the Nupe - a steep dive followed by some crazy turns. The results were pretty obvious - I lost all kinds of parts from my plane, and the lower wings were the first to go. I'm at maximum realism and currently using the intermediate damage model. I've had similar experience also with normal and hardcore damage models, the Nupe just isn't built to tolerate that kind of stress and loses its wings very easily. Seemed quite realistic to me.

Enjoy your time as a sergeant, themightysrc. You'll be a major in a couple of weeks game time, if you complete missions succesfully and most importantly, stay alive. And then you'll join those stuffy upper class crumpets and get your share of luxuries. Am I the only one who thinks the promotions system in OFF could use some work? Start a career as a Flieger and see how long it takes to become a Hauptmann! Not long at all. What I call the Pfalz mentality, ie. avoiding battle at all costs if the odds are not favourable, is what keeps my pilots alive longer than 17 hours. Of course not all of my guys make it, but some do. (Ironically my Pfalz pilot who was instrumental in teaching me to use that tactic was shot down some time ago for not being careful enough with some Camels - he had almost 50 hours!) I hope to cross the magical 100 hour line some day, but I still have a long way to go...

I haven't tried the Tripe yet in OFF (shame on me, but there are only so many hours in a day!), but is the special version with 2 MGs slower or clumsier than the normal 1 Vickers version? Because that must have been why the British didn't make more of those Tripes with extra firepower - at least that was the case with the Pups and Nupes, which would have lost their advantage in manoeuvrability if given an extra gun.

Pips, these extracts are currently the most interesting reading here, in my opinion. Mr Tallman makes some fascinating observations, and they must be pretty accurate too, considering the planes he flew were the originals. Too bad his book isn't available anymore, at least not with reasonable price. But please keep posting these extracts if you can!

I think it would definitely be worth the effort to try to get some OFF videos there. Many serious flight sim players use Trackir, and I'm sure quite a few of them visit the Naturalpoint site at least occasionally.

Yeah, it would be great to have more models of the same planes with improved engines - now we have such variation with Albatrosses and also some SE.5's. That 180 hp Spad VII would be a nice addition, as I like the VII more than the XIII, and it was also in common use. I know nothing about making new FMs and such, but I imagine it would require less work than making completely new plane models from scratch. Who knows what we'll have in the future... I hope we'll see many new add-on packs! :yes:

I must say that N.24 looks REALLY beautiful in those pics. Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.

I can also recommend this zooming in with Trackir in use. It does make the game run better and also improves visibility.

Interesting that you have encountered such strong Nupes and Albatrosses. I know I've lost a wing or two many times when flying the N.17, and even without performing any extremely quick dives - a too harsh turn is usually all it takes in my case to lose wings in the Nupe. And I've occasionally lost the lower wing in the Alb. D.V, which seemed very realistic to me, considering I was doing some hard moves with my plane in combat. If these planes had any weaker wings, I wouldn't be able to use them in battle!

I'd like to see this activation code be similar to the keys Matrix Games uses. They are not restricted to any particular PC configuration, so you can install the game (or add-on in this case) with the same key into a completely different rig than you had previously. It is a very customer friendly copy protection.

Happy Independence Day from me too. I know from personal experience how valuable independence is to a nation. Many people just don't seem to realize it and take all the good things for granted.

When you use warp, it always brings you closely together with your wingmen. But I've always had the "follow me" option selected in the settings, so that I won't have to follow the silly decisions of the AI leader. Though I'm more than capable of leading my flight into trouble all by myself...

The wasp forgave you and you became friends?

That weather should look very familiar to anybody who flies near the North Sea in the winter months in OFF. But now as we are going to get a fix to the cloud problem (thank you very much developers!), I can try to fly more missions also in very bad weather, as the risk of turbulence shaking my plane to pieces should be more manageable. I think it would be a good thing to give users the option to make the turbulence scaleable. One of OFF's greatest strengths is that you have a chance to tailor almost everything to your liking.

I must say I also prefer more open sights than the Aldis, but I've gotten used to it in the Brit Nupe. And the one they have in SE.5 isn't too bothersome either. Haven't tested the later versions so can't say much abot them. But the German cockpits give the best overall visibility most of the time, and they don't have any telescopes dangling in front of my eyes. That being said, I think the German planes in OFF are missing some of the gunsights they used historically during the war. At least I've seen them in pictures and some replica WW1 fighters.

Once again, excellent work Widowmaker. I think those diamonds look great on that Dr. I. All the talk about the stuffy old Prussians has no basis in reality, just compare those colours to the dog's vomit the Entente uses to paint their crates.

Luftstreitkräfte's newest recruit, Leutnant Mahlo, 12 years old. (Sorry, I don't mean anything bad with this comment, just joking!) Olham, I think I liked your old avatar better, but that may be just me. I'm known to be rather conservative in these things. I've been looking for a picture to use as my own avatar, but I've yet to find anything I'd want to use. It's not like having an avatar next to my message is going to improve the quality of its contents in any way. :yes:

I haven't tried the multiplay in OFF yet, but I can say with absolute certainty that you won't find a better single player campaign system in any other WW1 sim ever made. When you start a career in OFF (for France, USA, Britain or Germany, either fighter or bomber pilot) you quickly become so immersed in the world of this sim that I've had comparable experience only in RB3D. It's a living world out there in OFF, you never know what will happen when you take off from your home field. I had similar suspicions about the CFS3 engine when I first heard about OFF, but all my suspicions and fears have been proven totally wrong. It's not CFS3 anymore, but something very much better and more immersive. OFF is also very customisable to your liking - you can made it extremely hard and challenging with all the hardcore settings, but if that's not to your liking, difficulty can be toned down considerably. And this is far from a dying old game or community - on the contrary, new content (planes, squadrons etc.) are currently under development. So my advice is, buy OFF as soon as possible!

The DH2 is one of those crates that seem to want to kill their pilot as soon as he stops being extra careful. The Eindecker is another such killer. After flying the super-stable Be2c for some time, you couldn't possibly have chosen a more difficult scout with which to start your fighter pilot's career. But you'll get used to it in the end - and dying, too. Good luck!

Imagine shooting in that position at attacking German scouts at 10000 feet. I've always thought there were no cowards among the men who were willing to do that.

Great pic, Venator. I've always thought this photo about the FE.2d shows the Lewis Guns nicely:

Hah! I have a pilot in the elite MFJ I in December 1916, flying the Alb D.II. I admit I've shot down a few Nupes too. MFJ I is based at Mariekerke and we always have to fly in the terrible North Sea weather. But the scenery is beautiful, and all those dogfights going on over the coast. Cpt. Sopwith, the year 1918 is great for any country if you want to see plenty of action, but the real challenge in those days is to fly in a German Jasta and go up against overwhelming odds.

Ah, Jasta 10! I had my longest-living pilot with them, and he was flying the Pfalz D.IIIa. Good squadron with good wingmen. It's very easy to recognize those beautiful Jasta 10 Pfalz scouts with their bright white and yellow colours. But I never lived long enough to get the D.VII.

If you like flying for France, Escadrille 3 (the famous Storks) is always a good choice for somebody wanting to see plenty of action with good wingmen. I've had the most fun with them in the latter half of 1916 when they rule the skies with the Nieuport 17.

It's quite easy to lose the order number from Avangate, fortunately I've printed the e-mails I got when I bought OFF. But I understand the need for such registration, and this method is much, MUCH more preferable to having some of those new DRM thingies at least one other flight sim is currently using. Good to know you can do something to the cloud problem. It's quite annoying to lose pilots because of the crazy turbulence. Hopefully some of your coder gurus can also change the AI bionic vision!