jet_spud

hi, i'm used to playing a modded il-2 using my logitech X3D joystick, utilising the hat button on top to look around the cockpit, check my 6 that sort of thing. trouble with il-2 is the MB - i find i spend too much time building missions and not enough flying them! i've got the complete set of thirdwire sims; FE, WOV, WOE and WOI (cos i like them so much - haven't had so much fun in a long while, love the random mission generator too), but i can't get the hat switch to work on any of them? i've customised the controls to match il-2 as much as poss, but the only way i can look around in the cab (aside from keys) is via the mouse, am i missing something?

thanks for that.

has there ever been a malta map? the air campaign for malta (the most bombed place in history) lasted for the best part of 3 years continously, but has never featured in any combat flight sim that i know of. its been modded over at il-2 because OM was just as shortsighted as every other sim producer! most think that malta was MORE intense than the BoB, simply because it was an island that was being beseiged by the luftwaffe (at a time when they were supreme) and the Italians. if you're talking about ww2 heroes then the poor sods who had to fly worn out hurricanes against bf-109f's must have been at the front of the queue, specially wen you remember the RAF hardly ever had enough warbing as sicily was so close, and usually had the 109's and mc.202's above. cant understand why this place hardly ever gets a mention, even the USN had some involvment as the CV Wasp ferried spitfires to the island, also some americans flew spits from the island as part of the multi national RAF.

thanks very much, your detailed and helpful post is going to spur me on to do the necessary research here to learn all about it. I've been looking at various ww11 aircraft at diferant sites and there seems to be a pretty good selection out there, including some not available in other ww11 sims. the modders out there are doing a great job too. it seems the obvious thing to do is retro-date SFG back to 1936-46 say, thanks for the warning on patches!! i'm really enjoying the new challenges of a differant game engine, must admit WOV and WOE are FUN, after il-2 these games seem more fun somehow? guess its partly a fresh challenge, but there's something about them that reminds me of the fun i used to have with combat flight sims around a decade ago. okay i'll start reading up on it now and if i have any questions i'll post here,m cheers.

okay, WOE installed and patched and running fine - until i installed NATO 1 then all weapon loadout options dissapear!now a big jet without missiles or bombs ain't gonna last long or be much use is it? except to the enmey perhaps. uninstalled and reinstalled and running fine (without NATO 1). next installed WOV, tried to play it and got message "unable to authenticate original disc within time limit". whaaaat the heck is that about! any ideas guys or does it have to go back to amazon uk? i tried launching it every conceivable way i could; desktop shortcut, file menu, program list, autorun and even double clicked the EXE in the game folder, no good.

okay guys all sorted and working properly - WOE with NATO fighters, which is awesome by the way. and WOV works perfectly too once i patched it up to oct08 version. thanks again,

bombsawaydave; we have success - nobbled a MiG-21 with a sidewinder thingy too just to prove it!! man things happen a lot quicker in these planes than WW11 aircraft that i'm used too. all those sights you have to keep switching, wow! Thanks for your help. daddyairplanes; thanks for the tip, i'll try patching WOV upto 08 as well, after i've returned to the real world and take mutt for its walk, then there's dinner etc. cheers anyway.

so ; 1. install WOE 2. add o8 patch 3. add NATO 1-4 - all in one go run game?

hi everybody - first post on this forum; i've just discovered the thirdwire combat flight sims, been a hardened il-2 series fanatic but fancied a change in aircraft type and game engine. so got FE, WOV and WOE. fortunately had only installed FE when i discovered the column 5 website as a link here, wow! have downloaded all 4 NATO expansions for WOE, then upon reading the manual with WOE it said that WOV and WOE can be installed and combined into one game WOV first then WOE second. but the NATO 1,2,3 & 4 advice only mentioins adding these free expansions to WOE? before i start installing should i keep the 2 games apart or can the NATO expansions be added to a combineds install of WOV-WOE? thanks.

okay no probs - i've read the patch info and know the score, cheers.

gotcha - SF2 E is primarily for vista users to stop them going ga-ga trying to run it! thanks. i've installed WOE now i think i need to patch it, i've got v08.30.06. presume just the latest available patch will do as they're normally cumultive right?

what's SF2:E ? another question while i'm here - see there is a "wings over israel" too, presume this is the latest one, can't find it on amazon uk or just play. how do i purchase it? thanks.

you mean keep WOV and WOE as two seperate games as i thought, should i also do a copy of SOE as well in case of problems with the freebies from column 5methinks? or are they problem free? thanks.

wow you've been bringing WW11 to thirdwire flight sims - i never knew that, i've been so focused on il-2 & cfs3 with MAW & PTO & ETO that i didn't even know this existed till i got FE the other week!! i've now got SFG, WOV, WOE and FE. i'm gonna keep WOV & WOE (with NATO expansions) just to cold war stuff, obviously FE stays WW1, but that leaves SFG (SF 1 series i think you call it here), big question; can i alter SFG into a pure WW11 sim? if so how the heck di i go about it? anyone recomend a tutorial for a SF newbie please. the thinks that spring to mind for me; how to use more than one side, how to add new scenery, weapons that kind of stuff. thanks. :yes:

hello everybody - first post. just been checking my version of FE and see its v11.08.06, so then i checked to see which patches i needed and they seemed to be numbered differantly? not sure whether 11-06-08 is 11th june 2008 or is it the other way around as they do it across the pond - so it would be in 2006? i think i purchased the game in 2006. i'd like to put some mods in but need to sort out patches first i think. thanks.

cheers mate!