Fortiesboy

Agree wholeheartedly!

That website is actually very much one inclined to the modding of IL2, so it's natural for them to do this IL2 WWl mod. As you say, if it has the replay facility that IL2 has, then I'll fly it now and again, for that reason alone. But I don't think it can, nor is meant to, oust OFF from folks' hard drives.

It's always a good idea to use back up, for most computer changes that you may do. In the case of these DMs, most folks will know whether they are running the Devs Normal or Hardcore DM. So- a suggestion. If you have plenty of Hard drive space - ( many have an external hard drive ), Copy the "aircraft" folder from the installation into a folder named as appropriate Eg OFF3 Hardcore.. Change the DM to Normal ? Make another copy of the aircraft folder. ( I know that at the moment the devs have a much quicker way to change between these TWO DMs, but my suggestion is if you want to go further and use other DMs etc ) You can do the same after any alteration ( e.g. Intermediate DM- or changing some xdp files of mine in the hardcore DM ) So, you may finish up with 4 or so "aircraft" folders- No problem, if you have the space. If you are ever confused as to what you are flying , just copy one into your CFSWWl folder -lol

Just to update you guys fully on the possibilities of enhanced visible damage. Yesterday I submitted to Polovski a set of xdp files for the Hardcore DM model. These files increase the visible damage to the enemy aircraft. As Polovski says above, because the files are for "squad" aircraft, the devs are able to use a tool to make all the planes of those models which use those xdp files. Thus, it should be possible to use them in Campaign as well as in QC. I have asked Polovski to evaluate them and to consider issuing a patch for download and install in a manner similar to how the Normal and Hardcore DMs are installed now. I appreciate that some may have refrained from using the QC xdp files, previously made available for download, because they fear messing up an already "good" installation. But if the devs can kindly see their way to issue this download, it should be as simple as swapping between the Normal and Hardcore DM versions, as is done now. To clear up any possible confusion as to the versions done by Prop-Wasche and myself, the position is that both he and I have been modding the OFF damage. It was initially intended to produce a joint enterprise, but our different ideas could not be incorporated into one endeavour, so we each have prepared our own. Prop-wasche has altered the DM so that his becomes a third DM, an Intermediate, with some enhanced visible damage. Mine is where i have created enhanced visible damage to the Hardcore DM as issued by the Devs. Prop wasche and I have become mates during our many PMs in these endeavours, and we both hope that you chaps out there will have the choice to use one or more of our DMs. In fact, as the devs now give you the ability to swap back and forth between Normal and Hardcore DM, so it is hoped that you will be able to do that with ours If anyone wants any clarification, he or she is welcome to PM me. I'd just like to add that it has been long drawn out testing and amending -testing and amending.etc Good fun, but very time consuming. It has made me appreciate the terrific amount of work and hours which must have been put in by Winder,Polovski et al, to create this sim in the first place. It is, and always will be, a Classic. I also want to thank them for allowing us to "play" with their sim- to indulge our "tweakitis" Lol cheers FB

Winder My mate is using this set up - I'll get in touch this evening and get the details. IIRC you have to set something like 3860 X whatever - i.e 3 times the usual res. 1280 or thereabouts. He did get it working . Thinking of getting one? He's seen my projector and wants one of those instead!

Yes, that seems about right. As views in RL would be a lot easier, I wouldn't describe it as "cheating" . Mind you, once you know what it is, you turn TAC off? Seeing what's behind you in combat, with TAC, is going too far, IMHO. Also, it destroys immmersion. That's why I say that to survive - you against two Aces in "full real"- is extremely difficult in this brilliant sim.

As it was to me, too --- Thanks Pips!

And do you ever!! But don't look back over your shoulder to see where ROF is - 'cos you won't see them. They are so far behind you.... Sorry, no insult to ROF intended, but it's just such an obvious fact--- Having read this thread reinforces it Ref. the "weight of the AI" aspect. Thinking aloud here. Could some weight for them not be introduced in the xdp files.or the air cfg files? There are some values there- does increasing those values not do anything?

As suggested by Womenfly2 in an earlier thread by Prop Wasche, I have started this thread so that Prop Wasche and I can post xdp files for you to download and try in Prop wasche's Intermediate DM, as posted by him earlier. ( I have every reason to believe that they would work in either the Normal or Hardcore DMs for 1.30c install ),as well. ) As you may know, Prop Wasche and myself have been working on xdp file mods to try to make the damage of the EA planes more apparent. At the moment, the planes seem to go into the ground, obviously damaged to the extent that they give up flying, but there doesn't seem to be much apparent damage effect-, i.e Wings coming off, or fire etc. These mods are an attempt to create more of such effects. PropWasche and myself have got to the point where we differ slightly ( in an extremely friendly way ) as to what is the best thing to see. ( I have a belief that it may be, to some extent, dependant on your computer specs, because I don't see as much "damage" as Prop Wasche does, on his mods. Thus you will have a couple of mods supplied by me, and a couple supplied by Prop Wasche ( in a few days time ), and you are invited to use them and try them out and give an assessment in this thread as to what you think. To start, there are two files supplied by me. They are for the AlbDlll_OAW_QC1 and for the Nieuport 17_lewis_QC1 Each of these files have a txt suffix. When you have downloaded these files to a folder , you will need to rename them and replace the txt suffix with xdp . When you do that, there will be a "warning" that changing the suffix will blah blah blah... Just answer yes ! You will see the icon will change and they are then shown as xdp files. They are then ready for installation into OFF. Installation of the files. The files should be installed into your OBDSoftware/ CFSWWl/Overflandersfield/aircraft/ xxxxxx folders, where xxxxxx is the name of the model of the aircraft, e.g. AlbDlll_OAW_QC1, corresponding with the name of the xdp file. Obviously, first make a copy of the existing xdp file as a backup somewhere. IMPORTANT- Having installed the xdp file into the folder, you will see in the folder a file with the suffix BDP. Repeat, BDP. You should right click this file and DELETE it. Don't worry, when you start OFF a new BDP file will be created. If you don't delete that file, then the values of the new xdp file will not take effect. I have created my files to (sometimes ) give wings coming off; or fire in the cockpit; ( I even had the pilot jumping out one time when the cockpit was on fire ); and sometimes explosions - as well as just going down intact with a smoke trail. These mods relate only to QC aircraft, and so they should be tested in QC only - either ordinary QC, or, in Workshops, CFS3 QC. You obviously fly your sims with your individual settings, but it is true to say that if you use all the aids, and strong weapon settings, against Rookie EA, then it will be quite easy to blow things up nearly every time. If you fly with labels on, outside views, enemy cones on etc then it may seem like arcade damage. Let me tell you how I fly. I fly One on One at 10000 ft , against Ace EA, low skill groundfire- In Workshops my flight model is realistic and my gun strength is normal. I fly always in the cockpit; No labels; No HUD; No external views; No cone; NO padlock except as follows. (As soon as I am flying, I bring up the TAC, I select the EA and padlock him on a toggle switch.. Before engaging I toggle off padlock and switch off the TAC. Then I dogfight. Now, at a point when i think i have damaged the EA, I use the button F4 on a joystick button to select one external view after another of my own aircraft until I get the "Player to Aircraft" view of the EA. I can then see what damage is showing.) Please fly up to ten times or more in the same scenario etc , so that you get a chance to see the differing outcomes which should result from your different rates of hits etc. Sometimes concentrate fire at the wings - then the engine etc- you get the idea. If, after flying in such "realism", you think that downing the EA was easy, try it again with such settings against the EA - and now a Wingman. It is hard- and IMHO, equates with conditions you would find in RL in Campaign dogfights. In such circumstances, it has always been my opinion that in RL the difficult part must have been in getting behind the EA whilst keeping him or his mate off your six. Having done that, putting some bullets into the EA must have resulted in some observable damage. And it could/would have been done without having to use all your ammunition quota on one plane. Anyway, try the xdp files and in a few days ( because of RL issues ) I'm sure Prop Wasche will post his. I would like to say that i am indebted to Prop-Wasche for his Intermediate DM, which I recommend, and to Polovski and the devs for their allowing (encouragement even ) PW and myself in these mods. cheers FB Nieuport_17_lewis_QC1.txt Alb_DIII_OAW_QC1.txt

Pol S! sorry for late reply - I've been away for a few days. In changing the TVs, I haven't necessarily used symmetrical values on all planes, so some wings may be more vulnerable than others. I was trying to make it so that not all planes reacted the same -lol I note what you say about too many effects at the same time, but my thinking was/is like this. In RL a burst of bullets would hit the plane, say, and cause an effect- fire in engine. In RL the fire would progress and then cause more damage and then likely an explosion. Those things would happen, in turn, as a result of the fire "progressing", without any more bullet hits , yes? However, in computer terms, if the fire effect happens at say 45, and the explosion and "break" effect is set at 100, then the computer will not activate the effect which is set at 100, unless and until some more bullets make more hits, enough hits, to register that 100 level? So, IMHO, I've made the last few TV effects in a component all with the same value, so they all happen together- It would be strange, would it not, to have a wingbreaking sound effect come in without also a visual effect of a wing breaking? ( which the computer would cause to happen if the threshold value of the former was lower than the threshold value of the latter?) In RL, they happen together- cheers

I've flown the Camel in this sim quite a bit, yet it still catches me out- because, I think, I don't understand, or misunderstand, how it should be flown, combined with whether it is modelled correctly in the sim.? It's the part where it rears off to the left when I am wanting to turn right, and thinking i am doing the right thing, i.e using the correct inputs, in order to make the plane turn right. I read back along, that new Camel pilots were strongly advised not to try to make a right turn when below 1000 ft, because a right turn in a camel is difficult to control and the plane would violently turn in and crash. This, combined with other stuff I read, which said that turning left needed some left rudder- and turning right should also use LEFT rudder, led me to believe that the Camel wanted to spiral dive to the right if you made to turn right ( without care ). IOW- in other planes, start a right turn and you would turn right as expected. In a Camel, start a right turn and it could viciously turn right - culminating into a spiral dive to the right. I'm not sure if my understanding of that's how it happened ( in RL ) in a Camel, is correct. If it is, then how does that relate to the modelling in the sim, because, in the sim, the Camel wants to rear up and LEFT, into a stall, whereas I thought I should be ready to prevent it wanting to go RIGHT and down too quickly. This view is, IMHO, reinforced by the RL requirement to use left rudder when turning either left or right? So, are there any experts on RL Camel FM, (WMF2- you know about full size WW1 planes?) who can tell us definitely as to which way the camel would "go in" if left to it's tendency? Left and up into stall?- or down and right into a spiral spin? cheers

Mr Lucky S! I note you are flying in campaign. I take it your post is not commenting on my xdps uploaded above? If you are referring to using the above xdp files, then the problem is you won't see their effects, because they are only for aircraft as used in QC ! To evaluate them, you have to do the testing in QC. Preferably uisng the CFS3 QC as found in Workshops. There you can select and change your location, weather etc. Flying in campaign will not test the xdps which I have submitted above for download.

OvS S! Sent you some via PM cheers FB

It's because i wanted a "nice balance" that I did the modding. On my set up I found that I could down the EA almost all of the time, one on one. And every time, the plane would go in, spiral, wallow, etc, but every time it would go in, INTACT. Unless you emptied your ammo into a Turkey. Not my idea of a nice balance, It could be that some are getting some visual damage, and others, ( like me) are not, because of the differences in the computers specs and/or settings? Or maybe because they really are special shots who choose exactly which part of the planes to hit! IMHO.the two DMs, Hardcore and Normal, showed differences in the point at which the computer decided the EA,( which the player was playing against, not the other EA ), would go in. That is not the same thing as the point at which the visual damage is manifested. Each DM will take the modded visuals without making the damage happen any sooner than it would if left in the original. It's fully explained in my thread on this subject. In that thread I do outline also how i fly the QC sorties, i.e the "full real" scenarios which I use- just in case you think the mods make it too easy in OFF- which, if flown " realistically", it isn't. Also there, one or two xdp files have been uploaded for guys to try. These change the amount of visual damage, not necessarily the point at which the plane behaves as if damaged. The contrast is there for you to sample , if you are curious enough, but it isn't going to cost you anything to try except a few minutes - and it's easy to go back to what you have now. That's the main thing There have been some who have downloaded them, but there hasn't been much feedback of what they found. Anyway, OVS, I'm sure the guys realize that this is an optional mod. And Polovski was open minded enough to kindly give his permission. I'm sorry if the thought of your skins being all burnt up upsets you

That's right- going low in OFF has always amazed me at just how brilliant it is. The one thing about flight sims that was guaranteed was that, even though the terrain looked great from high up, when you got low - the pixels won. Even FSX, unless it was an airport etc. Except OFF - when you got low, well, you got low ! still brilliant graphics and perspective. Dogfighting low is almost like Bruno's first dogfight amongst the trees in Blue Max.. I know you guys mostly like the campaign- but you may know me as a QC man. To survive, say, a 3 v 3 dogfight and then look around for some enemy troops or trucks and then go and use your remaining ammo on them, naturally flying low , and finish with a good landing - well - two or three of those in an evening, and I'm well pleased. E.g - other day, survived the fight, but the engine gave up . First time I'd noticed the slight wind noise as i looked for a land-out spot. Talk about immersion! Love this sim!

I have modded the TVs in OFF where planes are shot down in flames regularly, or wings come off ( in some cases as well), even explosions in mid air. in Hardcore DM. Your sentence suggests it doesn't, or rarely , happens in OFF- and I agree, - until it is modded. :yes: It's a WIP, to include all the OFF planes - post 1916 -

I take it you chaps are talking about first person shooters? Something i've never really tried. But the other day I went round my daughters and my son in law has got one of these Wll (pronounced Wee ) things that you hook up to the telly and play the golf swing or tennis or whatever? Well, this time he had a plastic sub machine gun thing and was shooting all sorts of baddies in the telly, lobbing grenades. medal of honour or something like that. It seemed positively dangerous in there, so I went to the kitchen for a coffee. Where is this technology going ?

Don't forget the quirk about CFS3 and thus OFF. The higher the resolution, the BETTER it runs. ( Normally the rule is opposite !) So, if your monitor and card etc will support say 1600x etc then run the game at those settings.

As mentioned in the other thread re DM , here are some more XDP files for you to try. Reminder. First, back up the appropriate planes xdp files These files are for use in the Hardcore DM. Use "Rename" when you right click these files and remove "txt" suffix and replace with "xdp". You will get a warning re re naming them . just say "yes". You will see they have become xdp files. Copy them into the appropriate plane folder and say yes to overwrite. Now, before leaving the folder, delete the bdp file. ( if you don't, the new xdp file won't "take" , Don't worry, a new bdp file will be created when you start the sim.) Close the folder - don't use the X in top right corner- use File/close. Here they are. camel_QC1.txt Alb_DIII_QC1.txt FE2b_QC1.txt Pfalz_DIIIa_QC1.txt Re_QC1.txt Se5a_QC1.txt Sopwith_Tripe_2G_QC1.txt hannover_QC1.txt cheers FB

PW has done a lot of work on his intermediate DM whereas most of my recent mods have been carried out on the Hardcore DM. I have grown to like it so much since I started to use it a few days ago that I have restricted my changes to the threshold values and i have left the Damage Boxes of the hardcore DM alone. ( except in only changing one value in each of two models.) The reason I want to keep the Damage Box values of the Hardcore DM unmodded is the brilliant way in which it allows you, the player, to sustain some hits, yet still fly enough to land safely, or in some instances carry on fighting. Example - This morning I was testing whether one of my modded planes ( DVll) would still retain this hardcore ability if hit- so i allowed it to be so, by a Pup, and then i carried on fighting although black smoke was pouring from my plane. I followed the Pup Ace down and i was getting behind him to give him some back when my engine spluttered, and then stopped. No wonder, no oil left I suppose- I managed to land out and as i did so he found me and started to clobber me again, but my wheels got safely on the ground and so he chivalrously broke away .! What a sim, eh ? So PW's and my efforts are really taking different paths, it seems. I am concentrating on modding the TVs of different planes in the Hardcore DM, and i hope to do most if not all of the QC ones. They all have different TVs, in some the wings are damaged more than others, and in others there are more instances of fire. I shall submit them to Polovski, who may or may not wish to incorporate them into some sort of patch. or offering of some sort. Some of you may wish to stay with PWs DM- He is more than welcome to use my TVs if he wishes- but it seems that with his work, and my efforts, you have got quite a choice . You may of course stay with the vanilla Hardcore or Normal DM - You're spoilt for choice! In the meantime, I will post in my other thread some more xdp files for you to try, including a couple of rear gunner ships. I've tried to make the rear gunners less Uber ( by making them more vulnerable to your fire ).. Anyway, have a go- no obligation. But I know PW and myself would like some feedback - favourable or otherwise, on what you find. if using our efforts. cheers FB

I think the problem may be emanating from your settings in CFS3. Go into Controls and look at your joysticks sensitivity and the null sizes in the Axes sensitivity section. You have to get these to your liking. I find the default null sizes make the joystick do weird things like not controlling , then suddenly over controlling.? Once you have things set up right, you should be able to fly OK , if you have flown RB all right. HTH

Hellshade S! Please read my posts which should say that IMHO,the Hardcore , Normal anf Intermediate DMs do not necessarily SHOW the damage any differently. The differences are how soon the EA go down. It is the Threshold values which cause the damage to be shown Try the xdp files I refer to in your Hardcore DM and you will see the damage manifested when you fly against those planes in QC. My earlier thread shows a step by step guide on how to make more damage effects for any plane. in QC It works whichever DM you want to use HTH

Here are two xdp files for you to try in hardcore DM installs They are here in txt format. Having downloaded them, just rename them with xdp suffix to replace the txt and install in the appropriate aircraft folder. Nieuport_17_lewis_QC1.txt Se5a_QC1.txt

Further to my earlier, I have done a brief test of two xdp files with the Hardcore DM. All seemed Ok and the damage seen included fire in cockpit, explosion, and wheels off, or wings off. Sometimes just some debris . All planes went in. I will put the xdp files with the TVs only modded up in this thread for you to try with your hardcore installs, if you wish. The install instructions ( very simple ) are in that thread. http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=41821 cheers FB