Well, I haven't finished out a "full" career in Phase 2 (courtesy of friendly planes flying into me or unrealistic crashes landings), but I really like what I see... for the most part. But I have some issues with it, and I'm wondering what is fixed or changed in Phase 3. Just a note: I worship the ground that Knights of the Sky (MicroProse ~1992; not the new add-on that seems to be floating around) was coded upon and I base all opinions on that. Sadly, I never thought Red Baron even came close to appealing to me when it came down to the gameplay. (I still play text-based games. Graphics aren't going to impress me. Although, now that I'm mentioning it, it seems that the anti-aliasing doesn't seem to work in OFF... Talk about really hard to find foes when the terrain and clouds blink more than a casino in Vegas.) Also, I wanted to say that I really haven't played much CFS3, since I bought it with the intent of playing OFF. So, if an issue I mention is based on CFS3's engine and cannot be changed, feel free to point that out. And btw, I'm going to state my experiences with the Esc. 3, unless otherwise noted. 1 "Bullet issues") First thing I noticed is that I was set up with something like 146 bullets in my Nieuport 11. Who sent up a pilot with that few bullets? Seriously. After encountering numerous EIIIs, I could easily plow all 146 bullets into one plane (trust me, I carefully made sure I was less than 20m from these planes anytime I'd let a burst go) and it'd still fly away seemingly unharmed. Frustrated, I turned infinite ammo on, despite that I really hate using features like this. Now that I have played a bit more -- and started up a few pilots later in the war-- I see that some other planes go down a bit easier. But, those darned EIIIs still can hold hundreds of bullets without being affected. And on top of that, after I turned on infinite ammo, I've shot at least seven planes to a point where they caught on fire. So for the first few, I figured that was good enough and sought out other targets. But I soon learned that these flaming Fokkers were seemingly unaffected by their apparently unaffected condition... one of them even shot me down once. Talk about seriously frustrating. And, it's also frustrating since I seem to get a bullet to the gas can anytime I forget to check my six. But anyway, I've yet to see a plane break apart, except for the numerous times my teammates flew into me. I know this isn't a CFS3 issue; I shot apart planes constantly. Also, I've never had my guns jammed. I'm not trying to ask for a jinx, but I'm about realism. They did jam back then... but apparently someone forgot to include that in the game.
2 "Gas and bullet issues 2") And in regards to that gas can and bullets... my gas tank is constantly being punctured... I'd say out of five times I get strafed, four times result in gas loss, and two to three also in oil loss. Granted, I get hit maybe every third or fourth dogfight, but seriously. Why aren't the guys I'm pumping full of lead going down as quickly as I do? (I'm namely talking about the EIIIs and planes of '16). Is this "fixed", or at least, can I damage the enemy as well as they seem to get me? And don't they run out of ammo too? I can't say I've noticed a plane not shooting at me, but all the ones who managed to get into my six never seem to be deprived of bullets. Hello, let's keep the realism even?
3 "Ace planes") Now here's the only non-gameplay issue that bugs me. My squadron always seems to come with a few aces included. So, they get a fancy Spad 7, while I'm stuck with the Nieuport 11 or 16. That's all fine and dandy... until I've got more kills than the leading "ace". So where's my Spad? Does Phase 3 supply ace planes to all true aces, or just the ones with "ace files"?
4 "AI and a 'term of WWI flight tactics I cannot remember'") The enemy AI issue is mentioned in other posts around here, and it's supposedly phenomenally better. But I still need to know: do all the pilots still pull back on the stick to slip to the side when they stall? (You know, my KotS manual stated a whole lotta great flight tactics from WWI, including both the Immelmann turn and this "stall/slip" move, but it's at my parents' house and I cannot remember what it's called.) I thought it was just a clever tactic the EIIIs were using in my first few runs, but as soon as I joined Jasta 2 in late '16, the Allies were doing it as well. That also reminds me, do your teammates actually do anything? In Phase 2, they hang around, they do moderately shoot at enemies, but they're not pulling all the clever manoeuvres the enemy does... until you join the other team. >:( Actually, they tend to "hang around, moderately shoot at enemies, and die if you can't kill the opposition quickly enough".
5 "Balloon verification") 'Nuff said. I've seen posts regarding this, and they all say to make sure your wingman is close enough to verify the kill. Except... mine was listed at about 70m away when I made a kill, and I still didn't get credit. Does he need to be sitting in my plane to see it or what? I mean, let's be realistic. Are they claiming the kills as well? Otherwise, someone's gonna be in the area of the balloon (since they're pretty easy to spot from a distance) and can verify that it is no longer there. Is this fixed?
6 "Follow the leader") This is sort of related to #4. All the enemies seem to do the exact same things. Is this also fixed in the whole "enemy AI is definitely improved"?
7 "Futility") Mkay, you know it was possible to down planes (and in my case, be downed) without crashing and dying. Seriously, the landing in this game is erratic and retarded at best, unless you're at full health and your aeroplane is untouched. Being the hardcore sort of gamer, I turned on the "dead is dead" option, since I'm looking for a WWI flight simulator, not a WWI flying nanny. When my wing crumbles and I spin out of control into the ground, I ought to be dead and not resurrectable. But also, I realise that often pilots' crafts were damaged but not to the point of imminent death. Unfortunately, for both my squad and my valiant enemies, I've yet to see one land. Same with me; like I said, if I'm not fully healthy, I crash-land. With that "dead is dead" option, I was dying faster than Europeans during the Bubonic Plague. Does Phase 3 level the differences out a bit? Do pilots actually try to land their crafts when they cannot continue flying as expected?
8 "Claim timing") I know there've been at least 10 claims I should have had, except that my plane went down and I ended the mission. So suddenly, I get no credits for claims, just because I've exited my plane. A few times I'd be quite sure that eventually the planes I'd hit earlier would down, so I would land and let the game keep running... and get the credits when they crashed. And then, once upon a time, I was forced to land, and I had a few bullets in a few planes. So, I left the game running but I shut the engine down and as a result, I added three more kills to my original one that I obtained before I was downed. Then I exited to the mess hall (after seeing four downed planes in my summary) and read that I only had one claim. I didn't realise that claims only counted when your engine is on... >:( Ummm... I was under the impression that if I shoot an enemy and he eventually falls courtesy of my bullets, I should get the credit. (Whether or not the claim is accepted isn't the issue. And by the way, I LOVE how not all my claims are verified! I think that's a great realism issue that hasn't been addressed in any of the prior WWI games I've played.)
9 "The weather sucks") What is up with the snow wall? I'm highly irritated when it's snowing because it looks like there's a sheet of snow falling about two centimetres into my screen (when I'm stationary). If I could look past that, it seems that the rest of the "world" is un-snowy at all. And seriously, I've had encounters with both snow and rain where I flew up to a point where there were no clouds above me. And it kept snowing/raining. You know, when you travel about 50km, the weather often changes, especially in Europe. Is the weather doohickey changed at all?
10 "Controller elevator cable") Okay, I realise the wings are a very real and large part of the aeroplane's structure. But seriously, I get pounded like crazy in them. Yet, *I* have never actually been shot. I don't know, I've only seen WWI flying in movies (okay, in movie... "Flyboys"), but it'd seem a bit more realistic if pilots were actually hit by bullets. And maybe the tail. I really hate losing agility in any part of the plane, but I don't think I've ever lost anything except the turning ability (ailerons/flaps or "controller elevator"). And, cables are quite thin... I'd think that the chances of hitting them would be minute in comparison to having your wing's cloth covering torn up, or like I mentioned before, being shot yourself. I know that regarding those EIIIs I first became aquainted with from behind, I'd put at least 20 bullets at the pilot from a distance so close that I thought I'd be colliding with the enemy plane before I could pull away. (And once, I did collide.) Yet, the pilot never slumped, the plane never righted into a default flight due to operator failure, or anything of the sort. I know this isn't a CFS3 thing, because I never had an issue with limited ammo. I've left numerous dogfights in WWII because I was out of ammo, but it was after wasting numerous enemies and after watching their crafts crumble or plunge in firey flames.
11 "Time warp") I'm not talking about Rocky Horror . I know that it's been set up a bit more properly in Phase 3, but I was wondering if it's offered to go places other than just the next waypoint. Seriously, that'd be a nice addition. And, it'd also be nice to just accelerate the time, instead of taking over complete control of the plane. Once again, I think the acceleration was an *EXCELLENT* feature of KotS.
12 "Where's the party?") And now, to my last and most important complaint: I think this may have to do with CFS3's engine and not OFF... but I'm going to mention it anyway. I think the #1 reason I loved Knights of the Sky over any other WWI flight sim I've encountered is because I can randomly fly around and encounter the enemy. That was my biggest peeve of Red Baron; Dynamix flight sims always had pre-programmed encounters set up (I'd previously played Aces Over The Pacific and Aces Over Europe and noticed the exact same setup). If you ran into a squadron that was going to kick your backside back to last week, you simply flew around the area you discovered that area to be, and you were kosher afterwards. But KotS allowed you to encounter numerous enemies; granted, I will admit that it was a bit gaudy with how many enemies you'd find -- especially when you hung around an enemy aerodrome. But I can't really understand how after I've completed a mission in OFF and decide to fly around on the enemy side a bit, I never find anyone (because they haven't been "programmed" to be there). I'm trying to wean myself off of the radar and have already removed the little labels that show bogies and how far away they are. I really want a realistic sim. And while I understand that often there were missions that offered no encounters with the enemy, if you go off looking for them in enemy territory, I'd kind of expect them to show up once in a while.
Well, these are the questions I have come up with after playing OFF Phase 2 for the past two weeks off and on. (Mostly off the first week, and a lot of on the second.) I do like the game, but I would not want to pay $40 for what I currently have. The graphics are really the only thing it has a 1-up on the Knights of the Sky, and like I said, I still play text-based games. So, KotS wins. Actually, I'd gladly pay the $29.99 that KotS is costing on Amazon and have the manual again, then pay for OFF Phase 3 right now. I'm not trying to disrespect OFF, but to me these issues aren't negotiable.
Anyway, if anyone can answer or rectify the questions/issues I've asked about, I will be greatly appreciative. Thanks in advance!
Btw Sitting Duck... thank you SO MUCH for sending me a copy of Phase 2. :D
