Burning Beard

Very nice job. Beard

If you want to fly "full realistic" you need to fly safe. I learned this flying team play in the "Over Flanders Fields" online war in the Red Baron 3D. In that campaign if you were shot down, killed, or just plain did not land at a friendly base you were out for the night. Online squadrons often do not have another pilot to take you place. Red Baron wars often had a limit on the number of pilots that could fly at one time or how many planes a side could put up in a session. So if you did something stupid like get killed you let down your whole squad. So if you have high realistic settings, fly like your life depends on it, because your virtual life does. By the way, the original Red Baron game also did not have a save. Good Luck, Beard

When working with paint schemes it is sometimes very difficult to get the lines to warp from one face to another. Quite often they do not line up, I took a tip from Olham long ago and make a grid on the surfaces so you know exactly where to place a line from one surface to another. The Spad is not to bad, though there are some rough spots around the guns and cabane struts, and seems that the cowling has some issues lining up also. If you are using a regular camo pattern or a "sand" paint it isn't really difficult. The Nieuport 17,17bis and 24 etal are a real problem, nothing lines up gracefully on them, so it you are new at this approach them with great trepidation. I am sure all of the planes have anomalies that require special attention, seems to me there are some problems on the Pup tailplane, I also noticed that some attention was needed lining the EV/D8 tailplane (lots of stuff you don't need there from the DVII). Another thing you will notice is sometimes thing are reversed on the final product, just mirror that image. Anyhoo, the idea is just to take your time and work in layers so you don't have to paint the whole plane each time. You can always make that grid layer into its own layer and just don't show it when you print it out. For weathering, I tend to paint on a layer over the top of the finished "pristine" aircraft and add dirt, grease, soot wherever it would seem to occur naturally. Beard

I was in the US Army from 1969 to 1979 and never saw a "military" watch. That includes a tour in Viet Nam. If a guy wanted a watch he went to the PX and bought one. Beard

Were you at Kadena? I was at Torii Station from 1974 through 1977. I lived off of Kadena Circle for the the first six or so months, all my neighbors were Air Force, I was the onliest Army guy in the area. Beard

Did almost the same thing Louvert, but I was Army, 1969 thru 1979, but instead of being a Diddy Bopper I was an Analyst. I worked with your guys at NSA and on Okinawa, never ran into them in Viet Nam. Beard

My fear is that people confuse the "War Games" with War. I also grew up in the 50's and spent time in Viet Nam, and was lucking being in a not a very good place at a very good time. Thankfully my unit saw very little action, but were very effective in our mission, which was basically save as many friendly troops as possible while inflicting as much damage as possible on the enemy. These games do not instill the mind numbing sameness and frustration that makes up a war. All they do is show action, and teach no respect of emotions that individuals are subject to after such an engagement. If you lose in a FPS you regen and start again, you don't have to amp up your courage to get out from behind that safe position to expose yourself to harm or death. You don't have to expose your friends or buddies either. Anyone who thinks that these games give anywhere close to an accurate account of the experience of war is kidding themselves. My fear is that people think they have a skill at fighting while never having to do it. They also do not give the individual enough sensory input to appreciate the experience. The ever-present dirt, the cold, the heat, the dust. Bad food, long hours, day in day out with out any time for yourself. Never having the luxury of being truly by yourself or being able to only worry about yourself. Having the mission being the only thing that matters, and having that mission meaning literally life or death for someone (in my case someone you don't know and will never meet). Beard

Very nice Olham, I'll have to rush over there and download them. Beard

Sorry Winston, I cant make this, it is Round-Up after all and that is is the Kick Off weekend which is shepherded in by our annual Chili Cook Off. I have been a judge for the last 15 years or so, so I must attend. Really the only reason I do it is I get to dress up in my buckskins and scare the tourists (local color, lol). So anyhoo, have a good flight and I'll catch you in a couple of weeks...... Next weekend I get to sell beer to drunk, but fine, cowgirls...hehehe. Beard

Winston, Sorry, I couldn't make it last weekend or next weekend or the one after that. If you at all heard of or remember Red Bluff, that is Rodeo season and I'm the guy doing most of the arena signs. I'm booked in until the 16th or 17th. Will get my easter eggs after the last bull has bucked. Beard

Actually Catch the same thing could be said about the government. Beard

I had never heard of "Docs" until my daughter wanted some. I grew up in serious logging country where you went for White's if you could afford them or Santa Rosa's if you couldn't. But you definitely need "Corks". Beard

After you get one to open you can use your arrow keys to cycle through all of them. Beard

But, I have found that flying against AI has an advantage in multiplayer in that you don't have guys picking on that weak newby. The better the AI the more I like it, and face it Von Baur, we have all been shot down by AI online. What I really like about the online experience in the interaction of the guys. Somebody in command and wingman covering you. That is superior to some fanboy that has a zillion hours in a DVII jumping you when you are in an N11, which was a standard scenario in Red Baron. Beard

I'm running 197.15 without problems. Beard

I may be a little late today Winston. I have a guy coming to pick up a sign at the shop around 9 this morning. Lets hope he is on time. Beard

I tried with the 8 bit and got some color distortion and graininess. Actually they were saved as 24 bit, so I guess we can all be confused by the magical world of Corel or computers in general. Beard

I'm sorry that download is so big, but I tried to make it as easy for youse guys as possible. I have included the default maps as an automatic back up (like Winston did). All you should have to do is just unzip it to the WW1 Scenery File and you are good to go. Beard

File Name: New Map Grids for Western Front File Submitter: Burning Beard File Submitted: 14 Mar 2010 File Category: Maps, Missions, and Campaigns This set will replace all the standard in-game and briefing maps. The grids cover the entire front to include west to London and south into Switzerland, and are based on the same grid sizes developed by Reddog. The grids are consistent from map to map and should make it easier to navigate with other flight members when flying online. Beard Click here to download this file

Its there, got it downloaded. Beard

I am currently on my second set of rudder pedals, so I guess that answers the question. The first were game port (thrustmaster elite, I think) and second are Saitek. I prefer the Saitek. I did have a hotas stick that had a rudder pedal rocker on the throttle (I think an x45 has this also) and that worked almost as well as the "real" pedals. By the way my wife bought the first set of pedals for me.....that was before I got the funny hat TrackIR. Beard

Basically it is like the original OFF Quick Combat (which was similar to CFS3). Using it you are able to fly some of the "non-standard" aircraft, the ones that are available in the Combat Ace Download section. You can easily change sides and aircraft, and it also gives you instant stats like you used to see in the old Quick Combat. It is a really handy way to test different types of aircraft. Beard

Face it guys, we are gonna be thrilled with anything they give us. We all have our preferences but the mods haven't let us down yet. As it is now nobody has time to fly all the planes to a point of proficiency, ya picks a fave and fly it. Don't get greedy. Beard

Yep that has been my experience also. The skins do look much better, especially in the VC view. Beard