Wayfarer

Back in the '70s they built a new residential area on the edge of Birmingham UK, not far from us. The queen came to open the shopping centre and, because the new turf had gone brownish, they sprayed that green before her visit!

I have just had OFF crash 3 times in succession when performing the same action. I use a button on my joystick to to cycle Iron Sight/Instruments/Pilot views. As usual I have used it to cycle to Instrument views, then use the the joystick switch to lower the view to the altimiter. At this point OFF crashes - giving me a 'CFS3 will have to close' message, although it actually goes back to the initial campaign screen. One curious point is that, usually, I have to press scroll lock to to change from snap to scroll view, but it seems to be functioning as scroll view (for a second or two before crashing ) without having to do this. I have rarely had any crashes at all with OFF, which I have run for virtually a year now, neither have I updated any drivers. The joystick is a Saitek Cyborg Evo that I have been using all the time with OFF. I did alter some of the display settings in line with Olham's guide, but that was some weeks ago and it has been fine until now. Has anyone else ever had any crashes associated with this particular action?

Ok, this might not mean so much to most of you, who fly in later periods. I have had OFF for nearly a year now. I started my campaign in January 1915 and have dutifully carried out over 50 reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions. At 10:01 22nd September 1915 I go to the briefing room for another valuable intelligence gathering mission ... and get 'scramble inbound enemy aircraft approaching'! Wife and middle daughter are startled by loud exclamation, and possible expletive - have I been transported 25 years to BoB!? I had never seen this before and I was completely stunned. 5 minutes later my BE2 has ploughed its own airfield with its starboard wing and my pilot is hospitalised for 20 days. I know flying repeated reconnaissance flights isn't many people's ideal way of enjoying OFF, but it certainly makes things like this all the more dramatic when they do happen. You may be able to tell I'm still in Sim-Shock!

Ironically, I actually managed to get the old Quirk off the ground and score a few hits on one of the attackers. Whilst taking off, I cunningly kept an eye on the gaggle of unidentified aircraft approaching our airfield. This explains why I didn't see the Eindecker which attacked from the opposite quarter and peppered my fuselage. Even that wasn't what brought me down. I had just registered a few hits on another Eindecker, a very rare event for me, when my engine was hit and I got the 'stones in a tin can' noise. With the throttle at full and the revs at nil (or almost) I thought I had better try and land immediately. Being already over the airfield, however, gave me a glide angle of about 89.5 degrees! Hence the resulting hospitalisation ( I actually managed to level out about 20 feet off the ground - but at a 90 degree starboard roll). Mightysrc, I don't know about sweating yet, but swearing apparently. I often use OFF with earphones so as not to disturb wife and daughters' viewing of NCIS...CIS...ICI... or one of the various perm any three letters from C,S,I,N programmes. The last mission I flew, I got what Bullethead described - the stalking Jasta which follows you all the way home. They held off right until I was approaching landing, just at the point where you have to be low, slow and straight, or the Quirk's undercarriage will come off. Then one of them zoomed in and opened up. Apparently I said, out loud, a rude word, I think it must have been the rude word. It seems that there was a gasp from middle daughter (who, at 19, has been known to mutter the odd curse under her breath herself) but, with all senses isolated in my OFF world, I carried on oblivious.Fortunately this was amusing enough not to earn me too much censure from my wife, although my daughter made the most of being able to be shocked at Dad. I think the strain must be getting to me after all. Maybe I'm due a couple of nights in Paris. Another testament to the realistic atmosphere of OFF! TaillyHo, I am flying in 2 Squadron RFC. My plan, at the moment, is to carry on through the whole war in this squadron, then I think I'd like to go back and try a German fighter squadron starting with Eindeckers. As computer time is at a premium, I only manage about one OFF session a week. This is why I time advance roughly a week after each mission. I think this gives me a sense of the developing nature of the war, and some hope of getting to 1918 before Phase 11 comes out! I have grown quite attached to the old BE2s really, there's something about an aircraft with it's own 'chimney stacks' puffing away, but it will be interesting to fly something different when new machines are delivered (some time to go yet). Incidentally, I came across a history of 2 RFC on the internet quite by chance. It mentioned how the squadron transferred from Merville to Hesdigneul, exactly as you do in OFF! A further example of excellent research by the developers.

Mightysrc, how are you? Would I be right in guesssing that the BE2/RE8 swap is a short while after Bloody April? I have wondered when the change over would occur.

Well, I suppose could give it a go for one of the more 'dramatic' (in 1915 terms ) missions. I think I'll browse the reports a bit to profit by good examples!

Sure enough, first day out of hospital - another scramble. after all your comments I had no qualms about time advancing.

In game time I fly roughly a mission a week so I am always advancing time, but I was so surprised that I just didn't think of advancing to another mission! An airfield attack didn't seem too unreasonable, especially as I had never experienced one before, but I probably would be more judicious about flying any future scrambles. I don't know the answer to Lewie's question about whether an entire Jasta was involved in the attack but, for the first time, I actually tried ordering my wingmen to attack an enemy machine (I usually try to lead them away over our AA if I can). I ended up turning the TAC on for this - and there seemed an awful lot of red squares! Though it was probably about eight, really.

Olham, this is one of the reason's why I have so much respect for those who did reconnaissance work. They knew they were going to be particularly vulnerable at times, but still went on with the job. I read that there was some denegration of MvR's ace status after the war as so many of the aircraft he shot down were, frequently obsolescent, two seater reconnaissance machines (not sure if this is actually accurate.) That seems to miss the point that that was his job - to try and prevent the enemy gaining intelligence that they could use to their advantage. Although extraordinary actions might be performed, I don't think anyone was under any obligation to be any more heroic than sticking at the job they were given. In OFF, I fly my BE2 now with the TAC set on 'ships' just to show the direction to the next waypoint. I fly as straight and level as my clumsy handling will allow most of the time, and try and make all the waypoints. I weave for AA ,and take evasive action when I realise I am under attack from enemy machines - if they get me before I spot them that seems wholly realistic. It would be interesting if it was a requirement for completeing the mission to fly straight and level over a certain area of ground, but I imagine that might be complicated to set up (I'm presuming this doesn't happen later on, as I am still flying in 1915). I would be happy to fly that way - doing the job, and would accept enemy pilots taking advantage of it as just doing their job. I guess the big trick is avoiding ever having to send anyone out to do those sort of jobs.

I realise I just said that myself in another thread. Thanks to everyone involved in the development of OFF.

On holiday, when I was young, at the end of the pier, was 'Tailgunner'. Not the later, blue, angular sci-fi 'Tailgunner', but the fuzzy browny-grey one. In the centre of the browny-grey background, the slightly lighter silhouette of a fighter, seen head on, jiggled about. If your six year old hand held the thin metal 'gun' steady enough, so that the bright sparkles that appeared when you pulled the trigger stayed on the fighter long enough, suddenly - and dramatically - the silhouette dropped down! The score at the top advanced by one - and the whole thrilling process started again until the time ran out. Then your dad explained that this was like the men that flew in the bombers during 'the war' - and a small bit of your mind was entranced forever. Later, you had the one in colour. A film strip showing actual WW1 aircraft moved up and down and, if you kept the two bright flashes that converged from the sides on the central picture long enough, suddenly - and dramatically - it dropped down! I was older, however, and wanted something which I imagined to be more 'realistic'. Later video games seemed too 'comic-bookish' in atmosphere. With the advent of flight simulations for PCs I though that if anyone developed a decent WW1 game I would buy it. I saw some early ones that seemed a bit 'arcadeish', but when 'Flying Corps' came out that seemed to be what I was looking for, and I happily played that until we got a new PC with XP and it wouldn't work any more. I still had MiG Alley, Battle of Britain, B17: The Mighty Eighth, IL2, CFS3 MAW and EAW, but no WW1. I was looking for a worthy successor. I managed to miss Red Baron, that everyone else seems to have played, but it's possible I didn't see it as enough of an advance on Flying Corps to seem worth it. I would occasionally do an internet search for WW1 fliying sims and became aware of OFF as a game that was praised for it's authentic period feel. The more I read, the more I became convinced that the game would repay trying to take time to fly in a 'realistic' fashion, as I saw it, rather than just trying to blow things up in quick games, which I tended to do with the other sims. I did look at RoF. With the IL2 engine it has some nice graphics, but I didn't think it would have the right 'feel' for me. I am now flying my BE2 in August 1915. I put completing my reece./spotting missions first, protecting my flight members second, and firing at any enemy aircraft (with a gun with no sight) a long way third. I have flown 50 missions and was once told I had downed an enemy aircraft, but it was so long after I'd fired at anything I had no idea which one. I have never had a claim - and I am very satisfied with OFF. It feels just right!

This ties in with a particularly clear memory from when I was about three, around 1964. My dad and I were in a local newsagent/toyshop, with one wall that seemed to be covered in Airfix kits from floor to ceiling. My dad suddenly hoisted me up and asked which one shall we make. I instantly chose what seemed to be an enormous box which almost certainly was a Sunderland. I can remember dad laughing and explaining that we couldn't have one that big. The smaller kits were still in the plastic bags then and I was attracted by by a 'red' kit, which was the Fokker Dr1. It was the first construction kit I had ever seen made. As I got older, I made them myself of course and read my dad's books on aerial warfare (Full Circle, The Fledgling, Bloody April among them). He had had a job as a commercial model maker and been in the RAF in the late forties for his national service, and was always telling me about aircraft and boats. One of things particular that attracted me to WW1 was definitely the individual markings af the German pilots. Some weird psychological quirk means I am always fascinated by depictions of similar objects in different sets of colours; medieval heraldry has alway held an interest for me, probably for that reason. In the seventies, 'Military Modelling' magazine ran articles on a WW1 wargame setup which used 1/72 models on poles with stands. This resulted in a frenzy of building WW1 models with the intention of using these rules. Unfortunately, as a kid, I couldn't seem to get hold of the necessary stands and poles and the project languished, as do some of the models still in my mom's loft! There was something of a hiatus then, after leaving school, but as more realistic flight sims were developed for PCs I kept an eye out and got Flying Corps. It has been the the quality and atmosphere of of OFF, however, has really rekindled my interest.

Now, our new laptop has W7 ... I wonder? I confess that when I first beheld the back of the MiG Alley pack and realised you could go after B29s in your MiG something clicked in my little head and I really wanted that game (no offence intended to any B29 crew I hasten to add!) . The PC we had wouldn't run it but eventually I bought it anyway for fear it would disappear before we got a PC that would cope. When we finally did, it had xp and the game wouldn't run; I could have cried! After researching into the small hours, however, I realised there was a patch and was saved ... and took the regular mid game crashes philosophically. I also liked Rowan's Battle of Britain. When you saw the German bombers advancing en masse, in column like the Old Guard, and the fighters started to manouever above them, and you knew that in a minute they would be after you - it was very atmospheric. Did anyone play B17: 'The Mighty Eighth' much? I also found that quite exciting, when you were under seige from the fighters. Then a couple of Me 262s would appear streaking along and you knew you had virtually no chance of hitting them but just had to keep ploughing on and hope for the best. I haven't ever tried loading that onto our latest PC so I don't know how it would handle Vista.

I almost always visit The Aerodrome after the OFF forum, and the gallery certainly has some superb artwork. Glad they've sorted your access at last.

Does anyone have any recommendations for cleaning monitor screens? Having reached September 1915 I am well into Eindecker season, and a number of marks on our screen are causing me momentary alarms. Amongst them are the tiny black 'Eindecker in the distance' speck, the whitish semi-transparent 'allied flak burst marking presence of Eindeckers' smudge and, not least, the 'incredible shape changing mark' (how is that possible!?) which can take on the shape of an Eindecker viewed at various angles. Of course they're in fixed positions on the screen but, as the view sweeps around, every now and then I lose track and have a second or two of panic - especially with the one that changes shape - I'll swear I have watched it do it! Do people generally use a purpose made screen cleaning product to clean screens, or are there other more general cleaners that are safe to use?

"And, while I'm being honest, there were a few games that didn't work: ... MiG Alley." I miss MiG Alley. Are there any games out there that cover Korea well? I haven't looked for a while.

Thanks for your advice everyone. Hoping to have cleaner skies shortly!

Please could anyone tell me how you include screenshots in a post? I have something I want to show in General Help. The Insert Image icon asks for a URL. Does this mean using an image sharing site?

Ok thanks.

I should really have said is the only way by uploading to an image sharing site. I'll just need to sign up to one if it is.

I have a few instances in the squadron and Quick Combat screens where the options boxes obscure a little of the text, e.g. I get Principle Role: 'Reconnaissance or ...', or 'Season Overrid ...' . It's no problem but does it mean I should be tweaking the graphics somewhere? I am running at 1280 x 1024 screen resolution if that makes any difference.

Ok, next dumb question. I've never posted a screenshot before. The Insert Image icon asks for a URL. Do you use a photosharing site?

Thanks both, I'll take a look.

Sorry for being dumb, but in what should I be searching?

He still flying a BE2 in 2 squadron RFC. I deliberately started as early as possible, in February 1915. I have got to late July. We've only been encountering enemy aircraft since June, so you can see he's in far more danger from me than from the enemy!