Fliegenhund

I have been gaming on the PC since around 1998 and have been active on forums for ALOT of games. The one thing that always seemed to be lacking was any input from developers on a forum. People would be screaming for a fix to a glaring problem and there would be no response. OBD has numerous devs posting on here in almost every thread that pops up. They release a huge patch and then do 3 hotfixes in under 2 weeks. You are not going to find that support with bigger companies and companies that just want the initial sale money and could care less after that. That being said, game forums always have the minority who do nothing but gripe and bitch on ridiculous issues that are usually rooted in their own inability to setup their PC or game properly. Keep up the good work OBD.

I have noticed that a few times too bullet. I have followed before and then been pounced on by the culprits wingmen who are far from disabled. Gotta love this game and its sneaky AI.

Just loaded up the patch only had time for a few quick dogfights before I go out. The landscape has much more color to it, and the shadows off of hangars, houses, etc seem sharper? The flak was really nice over my airfield during the dogfight. They seemed to be laying it on thick and it looked and sounded amazing. Cant wait to play more later. Thanks again OBD!

I just started a new pilot flying the Airco in 1916. Flew my first mission and we engaged 5 EIII of Jasta 10 shortly into the flight. We shot them down and continued on. Almost to the patrol objective there were two more EIII of J10 that had a good 2-3k height advantage over me and my two remaining wingmen. We attempted to climb to them but the Airco is not a very good climber so we were struggling and the EIII kept their height and continued to cruise along. We flew into some thick fluffy clouds and my wingmen and I got seperated from the other remaining pilot. As we circled to let him catch up, I got seperated by about 3500ft from both of them after flying into some fluff myself. The EIII were still cruising along upstairs and lo and behold, they saw me seperated and began diving on me. I luckily outturned and shot them both down and reunited with my wings by home field. It really struck me as amazing that the AI knew they were outnumbered and kept their height, then saw a single target and jumped on the opportunity. Another one of those tidbits in this game I though I would share. Carry on!

The claim form is another immersion factor in this sim. It can be frustrating to get alot of rejections, but it was terribly hard to get them in the "real" war, for an authentic sim such as this it should be so. It is another added challenge to make sure you have wingmen who witness kills and if not making the best descriptive report you can. Can you imagine the real pilots fighting for their very lives and earning a kill then getting the red stamp REJECTED on their claim form? It must have been crushing.

Glad to hear there are other homebrewers lurking on here. I now have my own brew closet for my supplies and have collected quite a collection of glass carboys. Going to brew a nice pumpkin ale in 2 weeks that should be ready to drink by october just in time for the leaves falling. Only problem is my pregnant wife has little tolerance for that wonderful smell of my boiling wort! I am a huge Sierra Nevada fan and strongly urge our German members to try their new Keller Weiss if it is available in Germany. It is the best American Weiss I have ever had!

Nice shots Olham, glad to see you are giving it a go. Just stay high and keep some speed and you can dominate in that plane! My next try I need to work on my claims, I had alot of rejections in my last one and with my wingman right with me witnessing the majority of them, I dont know how they got rejected. Horrido!

Got to 24.5hrs and 11 kills (28 claims) with my Jasta 1 pilot in 1915. Flying his last mission I was turning right to take out a BE2c and heard that dreaded ripping sound, and the screen went red. Either I or my wingman flew into the other and now he is gone. Oh the humanity!

I have been flying 1915 for Jasta 1. Most craft we engage are bristol scouts and BE2c two seaters. I have downed numerous of these "drones" as they never take evasive action, nor return fire. Was this craft typically armed with a rear gunner, and why do these just fly straight and level as I pick them apart? Thanks! I am flying 120% DiD as well, not an easy mode.

Thanks for the kind words Olham. It was a very active area and the only aircraft I encountered were Bristol Scouts and the very easy BE2c's. I always made sure I kept altitude and didnt commit until I was sure of a safe avenue, then I would climb after striking (scouts that is). That is why the collision was so sad after protecting him, but such is war. I really grew to know that EIII though, could even use it in turning fights with some play on the rudders and keeping the nose just so. It is a challenging plane to fly but with practice I grew fond of it. I imagine after the "Fokker Scourge" period it would be quite frustrating. I have flown other campaigns in the Alb.III, SE5a, etc and the aircraft do most of the work for you. The Fokker III is a challenge and I think I shall make a new pilot and try to keep him alive even longer!

Answered my own question, was typing it into search engine and BC2 and getting nothing. Once corrected I found this link for a plastic model that had a very good description on this piece of "Fokker Fodder" lol. Thanks. http://www.modelingmadness.com/reviews/w1/previews/426.htm

I think BoB only touched on a few because it is so difficult to touch on all. It took a well documented training-end of an elite unit and kept it very close to authentic by following the book. I think it touched on the comraderie that any unit whether elite paratroopers or dogfaced grunts. As far as the opening scene in SPR, anyone who was not blown away in the theater by that must be emotionally detached. I also thought the cemetery scene was quite authentic. There are tons of videos and pictures of vets in Normandy, Arlington, Vietnam wall that fall to pieces when they get there. It carries them back to a time in the past that they cannot put into words for someone who has not experienced it. That is why I found the old man with his family being overcome by seeing his dead Captains gravestone after 50 years to be quite touching and very real.

So I started flying for Jasta 10 in 2/1917 (thanks for tip Olham). I am now 5 missions in and have 8 confirmed kills with a total of 13 claims, I have had two flights where I have gotten 5 kills. I think this Alb. DII should be outlawed, now I know why they called it Bloody April! The two MG's absolutely shred the N17's and Spad VII I run into if you get close enough. My last spad vii encounter the top wing flew off and the pilot leapt to his death (nice touch OBD). The lucky portion was getting caught low and slow on my third mission engaging 5 N17 with my 4 wingmen. I shot 1 down and found my self alone with 2 N17. They latched on and I could not shake them because of no speed and height, once I was damaged that was it. I set down East of Paris (deep behind lines) and the landing gear broke. At 120% DiD I thought, well thats it. It sent me to debrief and said I was captured and escaped after 20 days! Need to be real careful with this pilot!

I just had a third promising pilot killed by a head on Kamikaze. It was an N17 I saw it coming and went up and left to get out of its way, it deliberately came right into my nose and blammo. This is the third time this has happened, has anyone else had this problem? I would chalk it up to myself if it weren't for the fact that I always try to avoid H2H passes in WW1 sims. Thanks for any input!

Launchbury I am truly impressed by your screen. Surviving that long in the EIII at 120% is no easy task. I have tried twice and as soon as I get low and slow in that plane, I lose it in a turn and bite the dust. Good luck, keep it up!

You either arent a fan of saving private ryan and band of brothers, or you think watch such movies is disturbing, I dont know which. Either way SPR was alot of Hollywood but BoB was outstanding, either way they open alot of peoples eyes to the horrors of war as close as a movie can be.

That will be the last time I post good progress on a career as it is a jinx. I was jumped by an N17 on the flight after I posted and tried to set down on an uneven hill behind our trenches. Rolled right and I swore I heard some fat lady singing from the British lines. Frustrating, but thats how it happens. Momentary inattention and you are dead. Well, time for another go!

It can be related to any business where someone busts their butt to make a finished product. Imagine putting your expertise and passion into building something for someone and after months, maybe years of your time, they get to pick it up and walk away and you get nothing. One cannot blame a software company for implementing a feature to protect what they made whether it is buggy or not. I shudder to think how much money companies have lost (OBD software?) to these people literally stealing a product because they are too cheap and unethical to pay for something someone else has crafted. I hope the feds can crack down on this software piracy, it will only get worse.

These bastards are what is killing the PC gaming industry, and apparently consoles now too. Winder has it right, as much as people are upset by companies using authentication when using the product, it is a direct result of this.

The History Channel dogfights series was great. I particularly liked the one on the Grumman Hellcat. My Grandfather flew one off the San Jacinto and I remember his amazing stories of men trying to turn with zeroes in them and getting shredded, including himself! Parachuted out and swam to an island called Babelthuap where he was picked up by Naval personnel. I still have the reserve chute he gave me when I was 10 and will always cherish it, R.I.P. pop-pop.

I found an interesting series of videos on WW1 aces on youtube. The one I am adding a link to says werner voss shot down a two seater and after it crashed, he strafed the wreckage? I have read quite a few books on the topic and have never heard that. If anything I have read that it would have been almost unacceptable to strafe wreckage of a plane you had shot down. Has anyone heard this before? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN84DyCYXV8...feature=related its around the 1:00 min mark.

This is the reason gamers should only do game developing, not corporations. Awesome!

The acting I was referring to was in the link I provided which is the movie "Passchendaele". I have not seen the Hitler movie but being American do find the parody hilarious. I imagine understanding his German lines would be quite distracting.

Thanks for the input guys. As I said I dont do H2H passes in WW1 sims due to the fragility of the engine and the vulnerability of the pilot. I was in 2/1917 and every mission head rain, strong wind, and huge fluffly clouds. By the time I saw this flight coming they were out of a cloud bank and figured I would pull away as the leader passed on my right. I would think diving in these crates would be asking for your head to be removed by mg fire, at least up and away there is some wood under you :p

Have seen trailers for that movie and some of the battle scenes look really good. Reviews I have read stated the acting is atrocious and it is not historically accurate. I suppose it is good that I have never seen it for rent in the US, NY area. I wish Tom Hanks and Spielberg would do a WW1 movie, there is so much that could be done and it is ancient history to younger people even more so than WW2.