Broadside uda Barn

Hey! :yes:

Bah. I must say I'm very happy with OFF as it stands now, and I appreciate the vision that OBD has put into this sim. I look forward to additional amplification of OFF, both user generated ideas and Dev. Sometimes people forget the effort that goes into support of software....and especially mods. Often, many are quick to demand, not necessarily knowing the full picture of why things are the way they are. Or even, why things become what they become. I'm ready and willing to ante up for phase 4, because I thing the devs have the right vision. It's their game after all. This sim is amazing, as is the community. .....We all have our bad days....and sometimes we post on them. 3 emails stating that they have given up on OFF and moved on? That's a ROFL if ever I saw one. People move on when they are fed up. People email or post in a thread that they are moving on when they appreciate the product and are frustrated. So leaving OFF because of development decisions? Again I say "Bah". or for our German viewers: Bahhcht (hard to spell that). And a final note about a modern-not to be named-alternative to OFF? heh. It just doesnt match up.... Hard to illustrate...but maybe this will help:

Goose....er....HomeBoy, Someone posted a link to the cfs3 dvd within the last couple of days....for $10 you wouldnt have to do anything with your cd/dvd ever again. Those goose eggs just started appearing within the last couple of weeks, right? Any other nuances that you can think of that appeared about the same time (not just in the game, but in the pc/os itself?

Thanks Shred! Great reading and actually good information. After flying the camel exclusively for the last while, I've instinctively avoided right turns whenever possible....interesting that this is directed in the instructions...

Thanks Barnstorm! Always glad to hear from another Barn! Gonna record it...I wonder if they will show that the real person who shot down MVR was RNS 8 pilot Archibald B. Wellington...?

I have a legit copy of cfs3, and no cracking patch or anything else like that, and I had at least one mission lately that didnt record, vaguely remember another or two in the past. I'm keeping an eye on things, but it's not appearing lately (played about 37 PND missions in the last few days and they've all recorded). Hope you got it sorted out condor. Did HB use the same crack? (OK, that sounds bad)

Winston, I dont agree with the sentiment behind some of these posts like the one quoted above. I dont want to see you go, and especially not because of some people saying "like it or lump it" etc. Winston has added a lot to the community, and at least for me has given some very solid and informative responses. I'm with Big Jim on this one. Have a cold one, better yet, have Bullethead buy you a cold one. He's had enough free alcohol lately anyway.

Hasse, there is a HUGE difference between PND and Invincible pilot. Invincible means you cant be hurt. PND, means you get shot down and destroyed, just that your pilot escapes. If you are invincible, you dont take damage, which means you stay in the air and can do amazing things that are not otherwise possible. PND means you have to fly well, fly defensively, and fly smart to get anything done....you just dont have to pay for your mistakes by creating a new pilot. PND is not Invincible. Lou--PAD? Pilot Always Dies! ROFL! Great one!

Check this out. Here's a pic of his plane and something that fell out, close up of the object shows it's his motor! I really peppered this guy, and I saw something come out, I thought it was the pilot since the plane was on fire. OBD, did you make the DM so that even the engine could fall out? simply WOW!

After downing the Richtofen brothers, the good British hierchy transfered my squadron to the other side of the english chanel! I've flown 10 missions with no sightings of the enemy, even tho many of my squadron pilots are dying and getting victory claims entered and confirmed. Very odd. Is this a bug? Were there ever squadrons assigned to dover/london area, who werent there to fight the Gothas? Since there are no Gothas in OFF campaign, what's the point of being on this side of the war? Or am I just hitting a dry spell of activity (It is March of 1918)? That might make sense...but I know very little about this side of the chanel.... Also, in case no one has noticed, there's an airfield in the middle of the English chanel! There are trees also, in the chanel along with hangers! I thought this might be a naval base, till I saw the trees pics:

I'm back in France and it's April 2...MVR is going down, for good this time. The air is HEAVY with AC, but I'll find him...3 weeks to go and I can finally end this controversy. Not Brown, Not The Aussie, its going to be Flight commander Archibald B. Wellington!

It's not the landing, it's the engine hitting you after you make it safely to the ground!

quite.

Apparently these two programs will shut down all the non essential processes on your system when you start up your flight sim. Sounds like an amazing product. Here's the link: http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/ Anyone using this and have any observations? I see that HomeBoy wrote a manuel for it...

Maybe you shouldnt be flying atm.... ...or better yet, the Germans are looking for a few good men! heh!

ROFL! If it keeps up, I'll need pontoons on my Camel! --edit-- I spoke to soon. they transferred me to my new home field at Teleghem...I guess we got a couple of months back in London for R & R. As it turns out, Bullethead had drank all the beer, so our squadron was forced into service to brew at the pubs to make up for the shortage! Comon Bullethead! set a limit dude!

Interestingly, after restarting OFF (had to get a beer, and move the cat who was attacking my rudder pedals), I saw this message as it started: Current Status- in 8 RNAS We are currently enjoying a well deserved break back in ol' blighty. We now have a chance to freshen up our tactics, fly routine patrols and repair our battered craft. The date is 10 March 1918 and ther seems to be no sign of ... " Wow, did they retire me? rofl! I'm thinking of trying to make it across the chanel back to the front for some action...Richtofen is back in the air, and he knows I'm after him!

So in "Pilot Never Dies" (PND), you can get shot down, have your wings sheer off in a dive, crash into another plane, fail missions, etc, and get to continue your pilot's career, though losing time due to captivity, wounds, etc. You still have to learn to fly (tho you'll likely already be quite adept) and earn your victories, but you wont have to keep remaking pilots, choosing their squadron, dates, etc, etc, ad infinitum.

Two other opportunities for the PND pilot: Hunt the aces! Hunt down MVR, LVR, Boelke, Rickenbacker, Bishop, Guynemer, Mannock, Ball, etc. Find them, and see if they really are THAT GOOD! (Ok, they were THAT GOOD, that's why they're aces, however, see if YOU are THAT GOOD!) Find the region they fly out of, the squadron they are flying with, raid their airfield a few times, and when they show up, engage them. Perhaps on THE DAY that they ended their career, you'll be the one who ended it.... Show the world your exploits! Ace hunting makes for some great stories, and better yet, an opportunity to get FRAPS ready to chronicle your dogfight in a movie! Push the envelope and see what you can do!

well, just wow (again)! Great work OBd (again)! Anyone shot the wheels off of a plane, or had them shot off?

Fawlty and Salty: Welcome to the front! Watch out for Archie, take good notes, and be ready to share your victories! ...and yes: New guys buy the drinks!

...are no more! On 11/22/1917 at zulu tme 1:39, about 2 miles SW of Roucouet my flight of camels was on a routine mission behind enemy lines to destroy a train station when we were jumped by none other than the flying circus! As they dove on us, I turned slowly on the outer wing of the furball and noticed one plane higher than the others and so I climbed toward him as the other planes dove past me. He dove on me and we exchanged fire head on, and as he passed I noticed his all red albatros! Pause. Label check...sure enough it was the Baron himself! and Lothar was not far behind. I turned hard as he was coming around on my 6 already. Full rudder and turning as hard as I could I finally got a bead on him and hit his rudder momentarily. We turned and flipped and his flying was amazing, but my incredible turning camel kept bringing him into my sites again and again. I must have hit something on that initial pass as he couldnt quite keep out of my sites, tho I couldnt quite get more than 1 second bursts on him at any given time. We got lower and lower, and my wings were scraping the dirt, when finally he crashed....Archibald B. Wellington of the RNS8 Squadron shot down the Baron! and none too soon, as his brother Lothar had shot down my wingman and was close behind me. I turned on him and we turned for a long time, me trying to gain altitude at every chance, when he pulled up into a stalled wing slip, and he was one big target in my gun sights. There were bits of his plane all over when I was done with that burst. He couldnt recover and crashed near his brother. I downed another one of their aces before finally running out of ammo. However, by that time the lone remaining Alb was all over me, like white on rice, like stink on a dog, like the cookie monster on an oreo. I couldnt shake him. I started pressing the H key repeatedly, and sure enough, here comes my two remaining buddies out of the mist. It sounded like "flight of the valkyries" was playing but I could be mistaken. That last Alb turned to meet them and I nosed down and headed for the front. Later, over fine double malted Scotch Whiskey (balvenie double aged in port and sherry casks), we lamented that we came home a man short today...but the scourge of the skies and his brother will be drinking their Whiskey thru straws for the next few months! (unless MVR actually died on 11/22/1917?)..... Belly up to the bar, boys! Wellington's buying!! (in my excitement I forgot to take a screen shot of Manfred, but I got Lothar here):

Thanks everyone! When I shot him down, my second thought was "I gotta exit and hit the forum and share the story with everyone!" (my first thought was: Uhhh, did he just crash?") This gives me a whole new idea for PND standard: Hunting the aces! Just think, you could make a list of the aces you want to tangle with, note the region and squadron they flew with, and then go after them like a hunter. To dogfight (and hopefully defeat) Boelke, MVR, Rickenbacker, etc, would be great, and to make it even better: Try to engage them on the day they died in flight! Make it YOUR victory that ended their career. PND standard makes that possible. and...I have GOT to get FRAPs up and running for just this type of situation. Now that's some home movies I'd want to watch and share over and over!

Winder, Pol, OVs, anyone? is that an engine?

Augh! So if I'm there in 5 months, flying over that region and find him...and shoot him down on THAT day, he stays down? When I got back to the squadron hq and got the final report, there was no fanfare, not even a mention! That would be awesome if such a rare event would trigger something a little different. Even a message like "so you tangled with X today, we've just heard that he survived that crash, he's not very happy about you...good hunting!" heh. That would be unnerving, but for MVR, Boelke, etc, a small trigger wouldnt be too hard. Maybe in phase 4?? hint hint, nudge nudge...