Javito1986

There's some great trailers for Diaspora (the upcoming BSG mod for Freespace SCP) on youtube, just run a search. Trailers #3 and #4 are amazing. Also, this one's for Widowmaker since he mentioned not having played ARMA 2:

If you check the second of the three videos I posted you'll see there's cockpits now. Basically all new fighter models are being built with cockpits and they're going back and adding them for old models last I checked (a few months ago). Cockpit clearly distinguished here:

That's really great stuff. The potential for this engine kills me. If only the creators would allow modding... grah! I'd love to see a big community build up around the CoD engine and go to work on it a few years. Wonders would be the inevitable result.

Not to mention this FS2 video I uploaded last year:

I for one can't think of another game with such a huge mod community. Maybe Freespace 2? They've done AMAZING work with the source for that game. Freespace 2 footage from 1999: Freespace 2 footage from 2010:

Holy hell I wasn't aware I44 was out already. I remember when I first played that in 2004, blew me away. If my gaming life wasn't so busy with my RFC campaign / Crysis 2 multiplayer / Urn of Sacred Ashes quest in Dragon Age I'd give it an install right now.

I've been an avid Flashpoint fan since 2001. I own ARMA 2 through Steam, don't have it installed right now though, but I'll put it on whenever the next big mod is released. I used to have so much fun with Liberation and FDFMod in OFP days.

It's all pretty, but I'm a bit of an eccentric and the prettiest thing to me is the dirt on those clocks, maps, and instruments inside the cockpits. It has that lovely "used" look that exudes personality and immersion. One of my biggest gripes with other historical sims is that everything is just too damn pristine and shiny!

Honestly this all reminds me of the initial release of Rowan's BoB. That one came out in a horrible state, the worst I've seen really. Nobody could make it work, was critically maligned, bombed commercially. It was patched to a playable state but too late to save Rowan Software from bankruptcy. It really wasn't until they released the source code and the BDG went to work on it that it became amazing. In the end it all worked out for the best for the flight sim community. BDG became Shockwave, released Wings of Victory which is stellar, then became A2A which is today easily one of the best in the business. The level of detail they put into their planes for FSX is stunning. Anyhoo, I don't know what will happen with Cliffs of Dover but I'm not terribly phased by this mediocre release. The fact that it's not moddable is far more likely to kill the sim IMO. Hoping they see the light and change that in the near future.

100 missions in those monstrosities? You need a medal

You know, really, there have been enthusiasts and historians of WW1 aviation for decades now, many of whom have passed on. It's one thing to read about it and see old pictures and even films, but good lord how they would have loved to see Flanders Fields in 2011/12. It would have absolutely blown them away.

I enjoy the quiet bits. Actually I love me a good, quiet patrol. I'm very happy if I make it home with no enemy contact, that's like a freebie for me. Seeing Albatros D.Vas swooping down on you, their elongated wings giving them the look of birds of prey... that is the part I don't like! It's a different sim once you survive past the 17hr mark, you really don't want to die and learn to deplore all the things on the Western Front trying to kill you. I feel like Yossarian sometimes.

I've had my fair share of close shaves with Joyce too now that I think of it. Shot down on the first mission like I said, it took me about two in-game weeks to get used to flying the SE5 and about a month to fly it well. So I've been shot down I think... twice. The first I mentioned, the second when I just wasn't looking and got 'bounced', ended in a hospitalization (didn't last even a week though). Have been hit by flak that stopped my engine over No Man's Land and had to make a hasty landing behind British trenches. Have had a fuel leak over German lines but was at high enough altitude I coasted back across the front and landed in a cozy field near Ypres. Yep, good times

it really is an accomplishment. Living that long in OFF? Good lord, imagine how careful/skillful you have to be. It's so easy to get shot to pieces by enemy fighters you never saw, or bite off more you can chew and be overwhelmed, or suffer a midair, get hit by random flak, take one in the fuel tank on the other side of the line, random engine fires, put your plane into an unrecoverable spin, sheer off a wing, lose a wing for no reason at all... basically there's thousand different ways to die up there and this chap defied them all for three years!

Ah that's a good idea. Will give it a go!

Joyce here joined the Flying Corps in February 1917. Served in the Battle of Arras, now active over Passchendaele. Started out as a rookie, green as grass, couldn't even make my SE5 stay on an enemy fighter's tail and was shot down on his very first mission. Now he's a flight leader! One in-sim month until his RFC tour of duty ends, though it'll possibly be extended if the current battle doesn't go well.

Yea I bet it is nice down Ohio way. Grass up here is still a bit yellowish but it turns a lusher shade of green every day.

Ok seriously we need to put up an OFF Pilot Hall of Fame around here and put Creaghorn's pilot at the top. Incredible achievement and quite a realistic campaign. 41 kills in 3 years and 450 missions is fantastic. I'll feel pretty sad when my own Casey Joyce punches his ticket. Still chugging along in the middle of Passchendaele, if he makes it to the 100th mission I'll make a little commemorative post on the Reports thread.

No Albatros I'm afraid, but there are chapters on flying the Fokker Triplane, D.VII, and Pfalz D.XII. Also the book itself has a very thick smell of cigarette smoke! Wonder what old badger's home it's been sitting in all these years?

Good to practice spin recovery though. Give it a readthrough in SIA, pretty sure they mention it in their manual for the Camel. Camel is most dangerous at low altitude. Very, very tempting to get too eager chasing down a bad guy and throw yourself into a stall and spin. Down you go...

Arrived today, been reading it in between homework and laddering in Crysis 2. I really like the description of flying the Berliot. It sounds genuinely freaking terrifying and I would never be caught dead flying the damn thing, but it's very interesting to read about. Again, thanks for the heads up Lou. $10 for this puppy is a steal. I can't wait to read the chapter on the tricky beast called Sopwith Camel.

Lemme know what you think src, I'm interested in that one too

Screenshots or it didn't happen

Welp, finished Crysis 2 I did. Spent the last 8 days on it, Supersoldier difficulty, took about 12 hours total. I'd give it a 4/4 if I had to rate it. Fantastic, loved the story and action and soundtrack. Certainly one of the best first-person shooters I've played in a long time. Recommended! I'd like to try it again this summer on my new PC after the Dx11 patch is released. And now that that little interlude is over, back to the Royal Flying Corps. Too bad these chaps didn't have XBoxes and Playstations in 1917.

Print Screen button and paste to Paint, or use Fraps. You really need to get in close to shoot down planes. I mean damn close, to the point where you feel like your propeller will chop off his rudder. Recommend you see Hellshade's video about aerial gunnery and maneuvering here. He makes it look easy the way he brings down enemies with just one or two bursts. I've been practicing it for months and I'm still only getting about 20 - 30% accuracy, I'm sure Hellshade's is higher still.