von Baur

I had the same thing happen several months ago. Sometimes the actual flying time was nearly twice what I was credited in the log. Upon that pilot's death I reinstalled OFF and the problem disappeared. On my most recent pilot it started happening again. After three mis-timed missions the fourth was exactly what I flew, so I don't know that the reinstall was necessary the first time around. And, of course, now I know it's not just me. I'd love to figure out what causes it, because it's frustrating to fly for an hour or more and be told on landing "Congratulations! Your flying time was 28 minutes.", particularly with 17-hours being an unofficial 'atta-boy' mark. But I just remind myself, it's only a game. *edit* And, Olham, in my experience the credited time does not always match the time alloted in the briefing.

Another point regarding knowledge of the other aces of any nationality is that, as the old legal saying goes, you can't unring a bell. We already know who the top-scoring and most influential pilots were. And that knowledge can't be taken from us regardless whether OFF includes it or not. What I'd like to see in this regard is intel about opposing aces in my sector. Who are they and how can I identify them? Maybe the duty room could include some descriptions (I would shy away from pictures) of their airplanes. For instance, "Manfred von Richtofen: top living German ace..normally flies Albatros D-III that has been painted over in all red, such that the German cross is just visible through the red paint at close range." Or, "Edward Rickenbacker: rising American ace..flies SPAD-XIII with 94th Aero Squadron's Hat-in-the-Ring insignia and a number '1' on the fuselage and the top wing." They would have to be timeline and area controlled so as to stay current with both the player and the enemy pilots' careers, which might be tricky and/or time-consuming, but I would guess that that information was available to most pilots, or at least squadron commanders.

In Olham's thread about German family names NS13Jarhead mentioned the use of comical pilot names. Rather than muck up that discussion I thought I'd start a new one for that. Here are some that I made up my throw-away pilots (quick combats, etc.). Different names for different nationalities, of course: British-Percy Goodfellow is a long-standing favorite, although sometimes I'll use Edmund Blackadder. And when I don't feel like flying Sgt. Lawrence (Larry or Lorry) Driver will fire up the Model T or hop on his bicycle. German-I currently live in the rural south and thus was born Fritz Gritz. Say hello, Fritz..."Guten tag, y'all." French-Pierre le Poo-poo, after what my first wife called Pepe le Peu when she was a child. American-Captain Peter "Worng-way" Peachfuzz, and a tip of the hat to the first person who identifies the origin of that one. How about the rest of you?

Was, sadly. Victim of driving drunk. BTW, the third monkey in the Nairobi trio, the one with the oversized drumsticks, was Jack Lemmon (some rumors, unsubstantiated afaik, of Frank Sinatra on at least one occassion). And the song played behind his blackouts was "Mack, the Knife" in, I believe, Hangarian. *edited for spelling*

Shhhh. No one's supposed to know about that, especially INS. Didn't it ever seen odd that home computers started really picking up about the same time the Keebler elf ads started tapering off. Cheap labor. And yes, that's why they call them 'cookies'. I use a Sidewinder FFPro2 and the stick programming functions quite nicely, thank you. But I'm also using XP. I understand that wouldn't be the case with W7.

Welcome to the wonderful world of very up-close and personal aerial combat, Hunter. You'll find we're a small but fanatical group and always happy to include a new member. Lots of helpful, informative people here, not only about WWI (all aspects, btw, not just aviation), but also about how to get the most out of your computer gaming experience. Be sure to visit our Knowledge Base; many of your as yet unasked questions have already been answered there. Should you spring for TIR5 or will TIR4 still work? I can't really say, considering that I'm doing fine with a TIR3 Pro/Vector upgrade systen that's three or four years old. But then again, if I'm still doing well with that I guess TIR4 will be , too.

Looking at some stories from the US Library of Congress and ran across this.

So Percy Goodfellow was previously taken? I didn't know that, at least not consciously, though it may have been rattling around in the back of my noggin somewhere. Actually, Duce, the name is a composite. Percy comes from Ernie Kovacs's fruity poet, Percy Dovetonsils, and Goodfellow is derived from hearing the phrase, "there's a good fellow" in so many British movies. And I agree with you that all campaign names are serious...von Baur (German) or Bower (English or American) and either my father's (for bomber campaigns, as he flew B-17's and B-24's in WWII ) or my first name. Haven't flown any French campaigns yet, except LE, so I used my American name. Anyone know the French word for "farmer"? Lou, leave it to you to be the first to ID Capt. Peachfuzz. I don't see a *tips hat* smiley over there, so . Used to love Rocky and Bullwinkle. Fortunately Cartoon Network ran it until they went modern (meaning crap), so I was able to introduce my son to "moose and squirrel" before the movie (also crap) came out. Although I could never figure out whether the line was "There's something you don't see every day, Jonesy" or "There's something you don't see every day, Chauncey". Hey ! Another name...Chauncey Jones! British, I think. To go with the new American pilot, Rocky N. Bullwinkle. Now if OFF can develop a Russian campaign I can use Boris Badenov.

Olham, as always, you seem to enjoy enhancing other people's fun. Truly noble, sir. Thank you. My flying name is what I believe to be a Germanification(?) of my surname, Bower. My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Schultz, which I would imagine will draw several hits since Americans consider it to be one of the iconic German surnames (she remarried a man called Oberdorf, btw...no blood relation but Grandma Oberdorf was always my favorite). My own mother's maiden name is Richenderfer (she said spelled Richendrfr by a couple of her uncles) and her mother's was Brennar (possibly Brenner) with some Bredbenners hanging off one branch of the family tree. While you're at it, could you confirm something for me? I use my own first name, Thomas, but I'm not sure of the German equivalent so I just drop the "h". How far off am I?

Not being a programming whiz, it seems like it shouldn't be that hard. If the game represents a three-dimensional world (such as most computer games do these days) as opposed to a two-dimensional world (early arcade games like Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, etc. where the only travel was up/down and left/right) all the software would have to do is assign each screen a different point of reference approximately 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart and the game itself would take care of the rest. My dream is a head-mounted display coupled with an inertial head-tracking system. Of course that would probably lead to our wives taking videos of us wearing these visors and twisting our heads around like mad men and posting them on You-Tube or somewhere . Some of these offer excellent field of view both horizontally and vertically coupled with significant overlap for true binocular vision (depth perception). Unfortunately, I haven't hit the lottery yet .

My son's computer has died and until we can get a new one I have two19-inch flat panel monitors available. Though the optimum arrangement would be three I thought I'd try running OFF on two just to see what it's like. unfortunately, I can't seem to get a resolution bigger (wider) than 1280x1024 in workshop and whenever I set one to that the other resets to 800x600x16 and I end up with that resolution on only one monitor, the other displaying my desktop. I've got a Radeon 4670 video card and each monitor is connected to its own output (one DVI and one VGA). They both work and I can get OFF on either one, but as stated, only one at a time. Any ideas? Bear in mind I can't afford a new video card or a third monitor, so I have to make it work with what I've got, if possible.

carrick, I know you said 'dream', but Heath Ledger?? I don't think he could fit it into his schedule as he's contractually bound to being dead for the rest of eternity. Although they are doing wonders with CGI these days.... Maybe the same people who finagle that could get James Mason to come back as the Field Marshall. And Peppard as Herr General. But if we stay in the land of the living, how about Sean Connery as the general? Hellshade, interesting idea having Jackson as Stachel. I can think of two reasons why it wouldn't work, though (and no, that's not one of them). First, he's too old. Second, can you imagine the dialogue? scene: Stachel cuts the id # from the downed British two-seater's wreckage, revealing the bloody face of the observer. He walks back to where Hauptman Heidemann is standing over the pilot's body and tosses the fabric on the ground. Stachel Con-m*****f******-firmed, M*****f*****! scene: Stachel flings the monplane all over the sky, stressing it ever closer to its limit. Cut to the flight office where Sean Connery as the general stands at the desk while Heidi Klum (keeping the theme of a German actress in the role) as the countess sits nearby. Outside, over the roar of the monoplane's engine is hear a loud crack followed by general noises of shock and terror from the crowd. Faintly at first and growing steadily louder can be heard, Stachel M*****f*****-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Hmmmm. All things considered, I'll stick with the original. Although I like catch's idea about dispensing with the tape on Miss Andress's towel.

What do you mean "person"? This is obviously the work of aliens. Probably marking the best shopping mall in the area.

The ability to preview weather before committing to a mission. Alternatively, the option to scrub a mission within the first minute or two without it counting in your log as flown. Currently one doesn't know whether or not it's raining or snowing or the visibility is crap until he gets to the field (and if there is a way to check that please let me know and disregard the rest of this post ), at which point it goes into the log as a mission flown. It would be nice if we could decide that the weather was not suitable for flying without being saddled with a 'ghost mission'. Weather conditions were a major factor in flying until the advent of radio/radar-based navigational equipment and even as late as the 1950's and 1960's could halt operations, particularly ground support missions. As dire as the situation was during the Battle of the Bulge, no air ops were launched until the weather cleared. While I won't dispute that there were probably many missions flown in poor weather conditions I maintain that OFF has us flying, on a regular basis, in much worse than would have been normally acceptable. Also, flying being halted for days due to poor weather was a theme that was recounted in memoirs of pilots from all nations. And it makes sense, when you think about it. No radios, no advanced navigational equipment, rain smearing your windscreen and/or goggles (not to mention rain hitting your face at 80+ mph in an open cockpit airplane stings like hell...try sticking your arm out your car window next time you're on the highway and it's raning) would make effective flying next to impossible under any but VFR conditions. And while a bomber or recce mission might be able to be carried out with visibility less than three miles or so (if the pilot was skilled enough to find the target) CAP missions would be like playing "Blind Man's Bluff" with your arms tied to your sides. I'm not asking for the game to automatically advance until the next 'clear and a million' day. I'd just like to have the option, particularly if I'm the flight leader, to choose whether the mission was worth the risk or if it might be an exercise in futility.

I've recently gotten back into campaign flying and would like to address a couple of pet peeves. As I've posted elsewhere, my wingmen are truly Hell's Angels when it comes to enemy scouts. They watch each others' backs (as well as mine), double-team them if there aren't enough teabags to go around, and basically no Bristol Scouts that have come close enough to engage have made it home, but they remain absolutely indifferent to two-seaters. On my latest mission the five of us approached four BE2's from below and behind. I lit up the leader and as I swung around I could see two other of my flight closing on two of the remaning enemy aircraft. To my dismay they completely ignored the buf's and it was left to me to down all four. On the one hand I feel as though I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth complainig about having the easy kills basically handed to me, but on the other hand it does fly in the face of immersion and unrealistically inflates my kill tally (and ego). Somewhat on the same subject (wingmen's kills), although they've taken down more aircraft than I have their tally doesn't seem to change on the kill board. I've received confirmation after confirmation and my fellows must feel like Stachel (not our beloved Otto von, rather his lesser-known brother Bruno). Still on the subject of wingmen's kills, can there be a way to credit a wingman with a kill. Yes, I know, you can't confirm for someone if you don't know who it is and the only way to know is to have labels on and yes I fly with labels but they're my modified labels that don't distinguish friend from foe by color and are just barely visible and I do it so I can tell (if I get close enough, fly steadily enough, and stare hard enough) who's who just as they could irl, btw ***takes deep breath***. I'd love to have a form to say I saw Leutnant Hammhocker shoot down a DH2 east of Douai or something to that effect. Finally, and this is by far the least important, pilot rosters. I've restarted my June 1915, FA62 E-III pilot for the third time now (no deaths, just ideas that pop up, "Hey! This would be a neat thing to do with the next pilot" turn into "Screw it, I'll just start over and incorporate it now.") and while Boelcke, Immelmann and Parschau have remained constant the supporting cast is always different. And I'm guessing the English, French and American squadrons are the same way. I imagine it would be a somewhat daunting task to have a fixed starting roster of extras for each squadron, so that this doesn't happen, but it would be nice to see the same names, IMO. Just tossing it out there. Thanx for a great game, guys. Don't misunderstand, these aren't knocks, just suggestions for tweaks.

There are two big problems with mp, DL. One is a phenomenon in which aircraft in tight turns such as would be used in air-to-air combat point in directions other than what they're moving. For example the plane will be standing on its tail but the exhaust/damage smoke will be coming off straight out the bottom, and testing indicates that the smoke appears to be right. Of course we're conditioned to use the visual reference of the aircraft itself to lead our shot resulting in a lot more air being shot up than usual. The other is an incredible amount of lag that exists regardless the connection speed. It's not uncommon to be well between 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock to someone and take damage from him. And both of these only come into play when going against enemy aircraft piloted by humans. There is some stutter that occurs against AI aircraft but that usually clears if you can just wait it out a few moments. I flew with Vasco's Volunteers and it was fun. But it was all human-v-AI, which really got to feeling like a bunch of human players ganging up on the already disadvantaged AI. What I believe raises the bar in mp is taking on living, breathing, thinking opponents instead of automatons with preprogrammed and predictable responses. As good as the AI is in OFF (and it's the best I've run across) it still falls short on intuition, innovation, and adaptability. And these qualities make human opponents considerably more dangerous than the computer generated variety, IMO.

Truthfully, Barkhorn, I hope it isn't. I'm a multiplayer nut at heart (part of why I like seeing who I'm flying with and against) and there seem to be some serious game-based problems with human-v-human action online. If the devs do choose to find a new engine I hope they pick one with good mp support, because there are a lot of people who are into it in a big way and they deserve a product as good as OFF.

Okay, so the italics thing doesn't work in the topic . So sue me.

Don't know about the 'unlimited pilots' file, but what I've done is: Go to your OBDSoftware/CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields/campaigns/CampaignData/Pilots folder Save all three files PilotXClaims, PilotXDossier, PilotXLog (X being the number...and note that the first pilot in your game is Pilot2 in the folder, the second is Pilot3, etc) After you've reformatted and reinstalled the game you manually enlist the pilot again then replace the new files in the Pilots folder with the saved ones. If you decide not to carry any over make sure you rename the files appropriately (i.e. if you decide not to bring back your third pilot and move your fourth up you'll have to rename the Pilot5 files Pilot4). There may be a quicker way that doesn't require you to re-up each pilot, but I've used the above method and it works.

I find the first report very interesting, and somewhat vindicating. Much has been made by von Richtofen's detractors about him taking credit for others' kills and/or others 'softening up' opponents and von Richtofen popping a few rounds in at the end so he could claimthe kill. My stance has always been that that couldn't have been the case given the overall success and the high morale of his Jasta and Geschwader. And this claim clearly shows two instances in the same mission in which he backed off and let another pilot finish and take credit for...in fact gave credit to...the kill.

I'm starting to think they don't even go to the bathroom.

Not so fast, there al. Pol and Winder both stated that the smoke is in a fixed direction and not subject to the wind http://forum.combata..._1entry301210. I haven't seen any update on that, although I'll admit that one may easily have slid by me. Pol? Winder? Ruling from the referees? can we get an instant replay? *fumbles for red flag*

Final version out. http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/radeonx-xp

Congrats, Dudley. And I agree, a BIG thanx to Vasco.

Congratulations, Roter Hund. Pictures asap. After all, as Willi von Klugerman said, "You must have WITNESSES."