TaillyHo

Absolutely, Olham!

Not on'y 'survived', Olham, but actually 'destroyed' the Albartos - according to this account. Given this was in 'bloody April', I'm sure the Brits would've seen this as verging on a miracle! Little wonder someone was moved to poetry in response.

Hear, hear! Ye of bad warp experiences. Take Brother Lou's advice if you need to save real-time without losing control (of your kite ... or even, your pilot!)

Whoopee, Smiley - a wonderful day for you, indeed! Take a moment to follow the installation instructions - it can save frustrations later! I found doing so had me up and running in no time. Good luck!

Hey Cody, great that you can now get OFF up and running. In 1916, if you try a Strutter as soon as they are available (April-May I think), you will mostly be fighting Eindeckers for the next few months. The Strutter is faster and turns better + you have a rear gunner to watch your 6 (and he's a good shot!), so you can better concentrate on staying out of the trees!

It wasn't me, Sir! (pissing ... or any of that other lewd stuff that went on down Sodom and Gomorrah way). oh, and you forgot to mention the locust plague too (seriously) ... but of course, all that stuff happened on the 'north island'. We don't do that sort of thing here in Tasmania!

So you are creating custom profiles already? Very good - and a useful hands-on way of occupying your waiting-for-OFF time, as a TrackIR profile that works well for you in IL2 should also work well for OFF! I've settled for using the "Smooth" default profile for now, as it gives full and (you'll be suprised to hear) smooth movement to see all around the plane, but I may need to quicken up the rotation 'speed' once I've had more dog-fighting experiences using TrackIR. Saw some wild water footage from Ipswich yesterday - hope things don't get too bad for you there in Brizzy, mate.

Hey Smiley, sorry to hear you are still without. Easy for me to say I know, but I'd be inclined to 'give peace a chance' until the end of this week. I'm pretty sure mine took nearly 3 weeks to arrive, and if you take out the week between xmas and new year (when nothing much happens anywhere), and then allow for extra mail slowing things up pre-xmas, it's probably only just been 3 weeks of workable time to get your copy to you. Fingers crossed your's will arrive in the next day or two - if not, I'm sure you will be looked after one way or another. <BR><BR><BR>ps. good that you have TrackIR to be getting used to in the interim, at least!

Thank you for the clarification, Sir. My hat was off to your creativity - whether it be at your writing desk, or in the cockpit. In this instance, it would seem it was both! Well done.

Thank you for the calculations, Olham. I follow that aspect fine, but I still wonder whether sticking to a resolution setting that more closely reflects default screen ratios shouldn't be a first priority. I know when I used to spend all my time running motor racing sims, that I would chose a resolution setting that not only optimised frame-rates, but that also represented the cars in perspective - based on what I knew they should look like on a race track from real life. For a long time I used 1024 x 768 because that gives a 4:3 ratio (and it 'looked right' in terms of perspective) With OFF is, I have no real life experience to draw from in terms of what a WW1 plane should look like relative to its environment, so I can't see one on my screen and say, oh no that looks a bit too wide, or that looks too squashed. On the numbers alone, I'm wondering whether 1920 x 1080 isn't 'flattening' everything a bit - whereas 1680 x 1050 would give a truer perspective. Of course, running with TrackIR for a few minutes starts messing with your sense of perspective anyway!

Herr Olham, This is very timely advice as I have recently replaced my ye olde 19" CRT monitor with a 24" LCD. Now I've simply put OFF on the max setting for my new monitor (1920 x 1080) and all is wonderful - but reading your OP I wonder whether I shouldn't go with 1680 x 1050 as it more closely matches the 16:10 default widescreen ratio. Is this why you use this config?

Interesting topic, Olham. I wonder whether 'aerobatics' are used more for evading or attacking? Hellshade's video (above) makes the pertinent observation (for me!) that throttle control is as important when pursuing/attacking as stick and rudder. Certainly in my 'usual' Strutter vs Einie battles, I spend too much time 're-acquiring' my target because I've had to swerve away to avoid running into the slower Fokker. Maybe that full-on/ full-off 'switch' (rather than a graded throttle 'lever') was precisely what was needed for dog-fighting. I've been judging my improvement in OFF by my accuracy % average for each pilot ... but Hellshade's challenge of seeing how long you can simply stay tucked in behind an EA would be a whole new ball-game!

"Quieter" (than 1917 or 18) it maybe, but "quiet" ? Not very often ... and sometimes, very 'loud'!

Another excellent installment, Lou. Tell me, on a technical note, how did you get the Strutter to land intact? I've been trying to shoot down opponents that have been deemed 'dead' by the OFF manager (and turn black on the TAC if you check) - some have crashed, but one of two appear to have landed relatively intact (and in one such instance, my 'claim' was unsuccessful - tho this may have had more to do with no immediate witness!?!). Your story suggests that accurately firing to damage the enemy's engine will result in a dead-stick landing (which makes sense), but can you know they will always find a suitable place to land under these circumstances, and then be able to pull off such a landing (particularly on a snow-covered field?). I suppose what I'm wondering, if you don't mind my asking, is whether you flew the mission, got that outcome and created a good story to match what OFF generated - or whether you really entered that fight with the intent to 'capture' the EA?

Don't know about warp (folks round here say bad things can happen when you warp), but using time acceleration you only get pulled up ('can't leave') when there are enemy planes in the vicinity. 'Friendly' white dots can appear and disappear on your TAC and there's no message or interrunption to your acceleration. What I've wondered (but haven't got round to trying) is whether the 'can't leave' messages come up when you are using time acceleration irrespective of whether you have the TAC up or not. Can't think why they wouldn't, in which case this would be a good interim step if one is trying to wean oneself of using TAC. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, chaps!

In IL2, I think there are a few 'old' Russian planes that are early 30s - and at least one that is a biplane. Chose one of those and then fly it at no more than 3/4 throttle - so you get used to not having much power. That will be about as close as you can get to the OFF planes. For landings you could try shallow approaches, shutting the engine off and gliding in - that seems to work well for the OFF planes I've been in so far! Hope you don't have too much longer to wait.

Hey Smiley - Merry Christmas! You are doing all the right things there, mate. First and foremost, being patient; ordering TrackIR (I ordered mine from the States as the exchange rate made it possible to get version 5 shipped for only $20 more than version 4 costs locally - had to wait nearly 3 weeks for it, but was going to have to wait til tomorrow before I could 'receive' it - as a gift - anyway); and doing a bit of 'flying' in another sim. Re: the latter, if you're talking FS9 or FSX (?), grab yourself a WWI-era bi-plane (the Curtiss 'Jenny' in FS9 would do nicely) and do plenty of take-offs and landings - in fact any aerobatics it can manage in between would help too - but mostly work on landings, ideally on relatively short grass runways. Oh and use virtual cockpit view!

Merry Christmas to you too Polovski - and many thanks to you and your team for the wonderfulness that is OFF!

Hear, Hear. Capital fellow that Slarti (even if he does like a bit o dodgy kit from time to time ... s'all fair in, er ... war, wot!) Your good health, fellow Strutter-driver - and Merry Christmas all round!

Geez, Olham - just coz I live on an island doesn't mean I can't get off it! Went to Canada back in '93 combining some research (for my never-completed PhD) and sightseeing. Now I'll really knock your socks off and tell you I have actually been to Berlin too! Aeroplanes, don't ya know - wonderful things! They tell me you can even get software to simulate flying planes right on your computer .... Merry Christmas!!!!!

Festive Greetings and thanks,Olham. Nice sentiments expressed here. Merry Christmas to all.

Ah Lou, good to see someone's finally found a task that is not beyond the B.E2.s capabilities! Merry Christmas to you, too!

No. 15 - Oooh, I think I've been there! - looks very much like Lake Louise, Alberta.

Congrats, tranquillo!