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Think this next update is something many will really enjoy. Along with a complete font overhaul to make spending time OFFbase and OFFworld more pleasant, version 1.1.0 includes CaptSopwith's mix of the soundtrack to Red Baron 3D, along with a mix of the soundtrack from the old Amiga classic Wings as suggested by Creaghorn ages ago. These make for amazing retro experiences that will take you right back to those glory days of the 1990's. FYI: Wings, the major inspiration behind OFFbase, is graciously available as a free download for the Amiga by Cinemaware, who reserve all rights. AmigaForever is an officially licensed Amiga emulator that will let you play Wings on your PC. Digital joystick recommended. Look at all these music options to suit any mood. Try them all! Additionally, the installer can now extract music & sound files at different levels of quality, providing low-def versions for old, slow computers with crummy onboard sound that suffer FPS hits under all the fancy high-quality stereo sounds. So get OFFice 1.1.0 today! And as always, if you're interested in joining and contributing to OFFworld, the kick-ass multiplayer version, send me a PM.

Hey folks. Version 1.0.8 of the OFFice incomparable campaign engine for OFF is now available at Combat Ace! Here's the full change-log: OFFworlders can play their Injured characters for encounters in the Infirmary, interacting with visitors, other patients, and of course the doc. Duty roster now shows claims as well as kills. Fixed 1.0.5 bug updating kill tally on duty roster--should sort itself out after your next mission. By default now disables promotions by OFF Manager in exchange for extra OFFbase Prestige from completing missions, based on your pilot's Aerial Skill and Professionalism. If you prefer the old system of rapid promotions from OFF Manager, you can disable this on the OFFbase page in OFFramp. OFFice includes the custom skin pack 'Skin in the Game' with historical skins by Bullethead, nbryant, Olham, RAF_Louvert, Robert_Wiggins, and UK_Widowmaker. Made a historically-appropriate campaign aircraft skin you think should be included? Contact Lothar of the Hill People at Combat Ace or SimHQ. Still working on posting a smaller update for just the software, but to make sure you get the skin pack and Olham's airfield imagery from 1.0.7, just download the whole thing. If you're interested in joining and supporting OFFworld, the multiplayer version in development, send me a PM.

Hey folks! Quiet around here so maybe this'll give reason to get back up in the air. The latest version of OFFice incomparable campaign engine including the OFFbase role-playing simulation is now available at Combat Ace! Download the full package, or the smaller update if you have OFFice 1.0.2 installed. Most noticeable improvements are the many more dynamic encounters for more unique and interesting ways to interact with and manipulate your squadmates and learn more about them, as well as more illustrative descriptions of characters to bring their unique personalities to life. Thanks to JamesL for major contributions on both these fronts. Here's the full change-log: AI improvements, most noticeably to encounter selection; internal 'Initiative' Attribute helps determine which party chooses the encounter, and AI is more deliberate about picking an encounter to reach its goals. Simulating the squadron is a bit slower however. Character Illustration system by JamesL and Lothar dynamically describes higher-level aspects of personalities. Just as Attributes summarize individual combinations of traits, Illustrations summarize combinations of Attributes. The dynamically-generated descriptions really bring unique personalities to life so you can more easily remember them and manipulate them socially. Currently Illustrated are characters' motivations and use of language, with appearance and mannerisms under development. Descriptions of individual attribute levels have been also been added to the pool of observations available to describe characters in encounters. Lots of small bug fixes and some major internal refinements and restructuring. Some things like startup should be a tad faster. Overall OFFbase is a little more processor-intensive, but much less aggressive in writing to your hard drive. Squadron and pilot personality data now stored as compressed binaries with additional info to make squadron campaigns fully persistent. Now squadron campaigns can be continued with a new character even after the last player pilot has been deleted or transferred out, so a failed pilot never ends your ongoing campaign. Can create new pilots to join existing OFFbase campaigns from within OFFbase itself, removing need to launch OFF Manager to make replacement pilots. Includes random name generator as well. British, American, and French airmen generated by OFFbase will sometimes include a middle name (already built into German namelists). Supports characters with quotes in their name for nicknames. FA(A) Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) squadrons are no longer assigned Scramble missions. Exiting OFFbase stops any music from playing. OFFice user settings are now also available on the OFFice page in OFFramp. Refinements to Infirmary screen, including an estimated release time for each patient. The togglable encounter help info credits the author of the encounter. More revised and expanded encounters by JamesL and Lothar that yield unique insights into the characters of the parties involved, playing out differently each time. Even the venerable "A Salute" gets a small make-over. Added "Mixer" trait to complement the "Introvert" and "Husky" trait for those 'big-boned' airmen. Preloads Andy73's sounds for improved performance on low-spec machines. The reason for some of the major under-the-hood restructuring will be clear soon, but new bugs may crop up so as always I appreciate reports of problems. Please copy&paste the text or take a screenshot of any errors in the 'REBOL 3 Alpha' console. And have fun!

FAQ for the OFFice incomparable campaign engine and the OFFbase role-playing game at its heart. Do I need an internet connection to use OFFice or play OFFbase? Nope. Select ‘Solo Mode’ in the User Settings to stop OFFbase and other OFFice programs from going online for any of this stuff: Selecting an account at Combat Ace or SimHQ in the User Settings configures access to support, mods, documentation, and other links in the forums from the OFFice interface. OFFbase 0.8.6+ checks online for newer versions Posted at Combat Ace, and adds a tip to the status bar to alert you. See the question below for what to do. Future versions may include additional online features, such as multiplayer OFFbase campaigns. I get a VBScript error when I try to run the software. How do I fix it? If you’re running Windows XP, make sure you install Service Pack 3 to get Windows Script Host 5.7. You can also install it from here: http://www.microsoft...ls.aspx?id=8247 If you’re running Windows Vista or later, most likely the problem arises from 3rd party anti-virus software not properly uninstalling. See the fix in this post: http://combatace.com...ds/#entry613019 See here for more information and the source of the fix: http://www.sevenforu...tml#post1396118 How do I update OFFice / OFFbase? If you see a tip in your Squadron HQ’s status bar about an update, just “Change Squadron” to return to the main menu, hit the “About” button, and click “Update” to download the latest update. Close OFFbase and run the new OFFbase.exe installer. Which OFF pilot Dossiers do OFFbase/OFFice modify? The program won’t touch OFF pilot Dossiers in squadrons you don’t play OFFbase, so you can safely try it without risking your long-standing pilots. Just create a new pilot in a new squadron, which is the best way to start an OFFbase campaign anyway. All active pilot Dossiers within a squadron are synced to the active campaign date when you “Play Pilot” to join an OFFbase squadron and when you return to your current OFFbase campaign. Do I have to play all my OFF pilots OFFbase? Nope, as above pilots in non-OFFbase squadrons remain untouched. You’re free to launch OFF by itself, setting JSGME mods manually, to play the original OFF:HitR the old-fashioned way with these pilots. You should first deactivate the Advanced Ammo system in OFFramp and Save your changes to restore stock guns, ammo, and tracers for non-OFFbase squadrons. After exiting OFFbase, launch JSGME and be sure to deactivate any OFFbase-specific JSGME mods along with your other choices. Then quit JSGME and launch Over Flanders Fields manually. How do I uninstall OFFice and OFFbase? Because of the complete integration with OFF and extensive, dynamic modification of game files (far beyond just JSGME mods), OFFice cannot simply be uninstalled or deleted like a stand-alone product. If you truly wish to roll back your OFF installation to a pre-OFFice state, restore it from backup. Your best bet’s just to stop using it and go back to managing JSGME and launching OFF manually. See the above FAQ question for playing without OFFice and OFFbase. You may also wish to run OFFset and recover your pre-OFFice Workshop and CFS3Config settings. Can I use OFFice for Quick Combat (QC) or Multiplayer? In short, it’s best to use a different pilot for QC and multiplayer flights, flying configuring JSGME mods and launching OFF manually as in the above FAQ question. Pilots launched from OFFbase can indeed enter and user QC, but the mods and settings it configures are only appropriate for your actual campaign and specific aircraft. Other aircraft aren’t properly configured, and switching aircraft in QC may confuse OFFbase. So if you insist on launching QC from OFFbase, do so only with your current craft. Also, OFF Manager continues to advance time and generate mission results for your squadmates while you QC. Best to be a part of the campaign while this is happening! How do I play as an American pilot in Escadrille La Fayette née Escadrille Américaine? It’s a French military unit with French ranks and uniforms, so start a campaign for France in Esc LaF. The other pilots in the squad will have American names (and maybe French mustaches), while the Ground Crew will be France-born or Colonial. You can eventually transfer to other French squadrons as many American pilots did. Perhaps future versions of OFFbase will allow transfer into American squads once the USA joins. What happens if my initial transfer mission is canceled due to weather? That’s fine, just keep trying and letting time advance in OFF Manager until it clears up enough for you to fly and join your squadron. How do I join an existing OFFbase campaign with a new pilot? A squadron is converted to an OFFbase campaign when you first join OFFbase with one of its pilots. To join this same campaign with replacement or other pilots, it’s critical you create a new pilot Dossier in OFF Manager for the existing OFFbase squadron before the date of your most recent pilot in that squadron. If you fail to heed these instructions and join with a newer pilot it, will overwrite all your old AI squadmates. It’s easiest just to create new pilots at the first date given for the squadron by OFF. They’ll automatically join at the later date, so you don’t need to page through time in OFF to join the squad with subsequent pilots. Why can’t I reuse the same name for multiple pilots? OFFbase personalities are assigned to pilots, both player and non-player, by name. In the case of player pilots, this is also used to sync to their OFF pilot Dossiers and CFS3’s unlimitedpilots.xml. For two OFFbase pilots with the same name, one may end up overwriting the other. You don’t want to corrupt your pilot files, do you? As per above, duplicate names are just fine for your old non-OFFbase pilots as their Dossiers are ignored. To help avoid duplicate names for AI pilots, which just causes confusion as they try to share the same AI, use Lothar of the Hill People’s expanded names mod, linked above in the Mods section. When is it safe to delete an OFFbase pilot’s Dossier in OFF Manager? Only with another Active player pilot in the same squadron! Seriously! Each squadron’s campaign continues until the end of the war (or the squad itself terminates in which case you can transfer to another). Deleting the last pilot in the squad will break this system. Active: In Service, Returning, On Leave, Injured, Hospitalized Inactive: Deceased, Captured, Disabled Deleting an Active player squadmate creates an AI squadmate (see FAQ question further below). Deleting an Inactive squadmate is generally unnecessary and even detrimental, but sometimes you may wish to free up the name (see FAQ question below) or photo. Even after your pilot’s career has ended, your deeds OFFbase and in the air continue to shape your ongoing campaign as part of your squadron’s institutional memory. Their journals remain in your squadron’s Memorial, where their records are listed for posterity, but it’s more than that--the hole they leave behind can affect how your replacement pilot is received by those in grief. Once an Inactive player pilot is listed as “Forgotten” in the OFFbase Memorial, it’s safe to delete them in OFF. This means you can quickly clear out rookie pilots who died after not making much impact. How come my changes in the OFF Workshops or CFS3Config keep getting reset? A number of mods and features of OFFice and OFFbase work by directly controlling these settings. Much of this is configurable however, and many options can be returned to your control. See the options in OFFramp, particularly the Realism Profiles. Sometimes OFF Manager seems to take a while, or CFS3 even crashes, while launching a mission from the Campaign Briefing Room. What’s up? OFFramp dynamically rebuilds OFF aircraft source files for Advanced Ammo, OFFfov field of view management, etc. Compiling new binary aircraft files can take a while for hundreds of aircraft, and CFS3 originally only had two dozen to worry about. So should CFS3 crash when launching your mission, just close it, go back into the Briefing Room, and try again. The binaries should be finished compiling by now and your mission will start in short order. I’m not interested in all this role-playing stuff; can I still take advantage of the mod management, injury system, custom missions, expanded post-mission options and reports, advanced ammo, realism profiles, field-of-view management, medal upgrades, transfers between squadrons, etc.? Sure, gameplay has been designed with you in mind as well. Having a personality and some basic relationships are required for some of these advanced features to function (hence why you cannot access OFFramp until you reach Squadron HQ), but you can minimize your exposure to the role-playing elements. After the initial introductory sequence, just stick to the Adjutant’s Office and your Hangar and avoid the bulk of the encounters. You will still receive one encounter with a member of your flight prior to each mission, but this is by design. Just click through without reading if you really don’t care. Having a labeled picture of a flightmate flip by for a second on the way to your Hangar acts to quickly teach you the name of those in your formation. You’ll soon have no problem listing witnesses for claims, even getting the spelling right for those kooky Germans. Your claim confirmation rate will rise thanks to these “flash cards”. The Adjutant will let you know if there are encounters waiting in the Mess, but just avoid them. Not everyone has a roommate, and this is only one encounter per day, so you can often access your Lodgings without bother to further edit your Journal or nap/sleep to advance time to schedule your own missions. Even better, make your character an introverted slob loner killer and no one will want to bother him anyway. You’ll be exposed to much less of the social component of OFFbase, which rewards even this kind of anti-social role-playing. But if you want to play a more socially-skilled character and micromanage your squad’s morale and social networks, you’ll more often have access to detailed info on your squadmates, receive more encounters per day in the mess, and have more tactical and strategic options to employ those encounters. How come the clouds outside my Hangar never move? Because they don’t in OFF! I just parked a bicycle outside a few airfields (careful to avoid any identifying aircraft), turned on time acceleration, set FRAPS loose to take time-lapse photography, applied a simple film grain filter and resized. But there’s a solution if you can do better... There’s no snow / the topography’s not quite right / I know that random crate wasn’t historically there on date XYZ... How do I make my own imagery for my Hangar? The cool thing is, it’s easy to make the view from your Hangar anything you want. In the OFFice\images\field you’ll see folders for different OFF Airfields. If the name matches your squadron’s actual location, it will take the appropriate imagery, otherwise choose one of the existing image sets at random. To make your own imagery, first just make a folder with the exact same name as the location of your airfield. Next, onto the images themselves: The recommended size is 300x357 pixels. The file type and suffix doesn’t matter (.jpg, .bmp, and .png should all work). To just show a static image of your airfield, maybe from historic photos or an in-game screenshot, copy the single image into your airfield’s location folder. Viola! To show dynamic images that change over time of day, look at one of the included imagesets. Within each location folder is a series of time-stamped images. Again the type and suffix don’t matter, but the base file name must be a four-digit military time. Beware you cannot use colons (:) in the filenames, just numbers! The first must be 0000.xxx where xxx is your file type. Then add images that will appear at the named time and show until the next image’s time. For example, 1845.bmp will show for fifteen minutes until 1900.png, though you have to move in/out of the Hangar or encounter the Munitions OFFicer to advance time and the image. Also note that those times are just references. OFFbase adjusts the time of the image it requests to account for seasonal variation. For example, an 0600 dawn photo will show at 0800 in the dead of winter. Keep this in mind if developing different sets for different seasons. If people actually go to the trouble of making the images, I can extend OFFbase to choose from different seasonal image sets automatically based on absolute time across seasons. To make sure your time-sensitive images match the description in the text with the current system, here’s the rule that classifies the seasonally-adjusted times. So your “dawn” photos should start at 0530.xxx and by your 0630xxx the sun will be up, though you’ll actually experience this “dawn” later when closer to winter. case [ time < 3:30 ["late at night"] time < 5:30 ["pre-dawn"] time < 6:30 ["dawn"] time < 7:30 ["early in the morning"] time < 9:30 ["morning"] time < 11:30 ["late morning"] time < 12:30 ["around noon"] time < 14:30 ["early afternoon"] time < 16:00 ["afternoon"] time < 17:30 ["late in the afternoon"] time < 18:30 ["early evening"] time < 20:00 ["evening"] time < 22:00 ["late in the evening"] true ["night time"] ] And yes it sucks the Germans don’t get a bicycle aka exploding tripod. Still, OFFbase image packs can be shared, and even installed and activated with JSGME. How do I create/customize my AI squadmates? Create a new pilot with the name you'd like in your squadron before your current pilot's date (see FAQ above) Play the new pilot in OFFbase, choosing his Archetype and other traits by rank and go through the intro sequence Change Pilot back to your primary character Delete the new (still Active) pilot's Dossier in OFF next time you Fly Mission with your primary Viola! The AI given to the new character will take over his virtual career with the name, rank, picture, and personality you chose, and you get to know him OFFbase and fly with him in the air. Your OFFbase Adjutant may not assign you to the same flights right away, but it's cool as OFF will still simulate missions for the second flight and after some additional turnover flight assignments get shaken up. All part of the drama.

The long-awaited unofficial community expansion to OFF is now available at Combat Ace. See the posting for the full list of contributors. This is a complete package--no other mods or downloads required. It's designed to be easy to use for everyone, with no hassle. But give it plenty of time to install and configure itself on first run as it's 1.7GB of stuff all together. Notice it's not quite version 1.0. This is a first public beta. With extensive changes to flak, guns, ammo, balloons, etc. it would benefit from testing and feedback from experienced flyers. The incendiary ammo and balloon system still experimental, so consequences for mis-use still are not in place during testing. You're on the honor system for now. If you go ahead and test how effective it is against airplanes, let us know on the support page, or if you experience bugs or run into other problems. If you don't want be a part of such experiments, wait a little bit for further refinements. As always, read the fine print (backup your pilot files--they're now easier to restore than ever). And have fun!

Hey folks. Finally got an update out for the OFFice suite, including the OFFramp mod manager, OFFset settings manager, and OFFbase role-playing game. The changelog tells the story: mostly updated support for recent releases by OFF modders and inclusion of new mods implementing the deep institutional wisdom of the OFF community, as well as fixes for reported bugs. Links to the supported mods are included on the OFFbase download page. Here are a few OFFramp screenshots showing off some of the new mods: Version 0.8.4 is available now at Combat Ace. Hopefully this will breathe a little life into OFF while we wait for WOFF. And I suppose I should wait for the bug reports...