Beowolff's informal review (with pics & guncam)

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:31 am

Nieuport 17 and victim:

Beo

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:32 am

Albatross looking good and gaudy:

Beowolff

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:35 am

Sopwith Tripe, looking good:

Beo

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:38 am

and finally, the Great Spad 13:

and that's plenty... to give you an idea of what OFF's about. of course that really only scratches the surface. plenty more.

Beowolff

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:21 am

guncam footage (not made by me) nicked on another site.. lol.

Allied Zeppelin attack with rockets: http://media.putfile.com/Zeppelin52" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bomb Run (a really exciting one!): http://media.putfile.com/Bomb-Run76" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice Formation Flying: http://media.putfile.com/O-1-Driver-Formation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Combat! (the BEST one yet!): http://media.putfile.com/Hossman-Vs-Albatross" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beowolff

:FI:Sneaky_Russian · Post by **:FI:Sneaky_Russian** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:37 am

Very Tasty !

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:03 am

great multiplayer game in OFF tonight with a nice fellow named, O-1 Driver, hosting the Zeppelin Shed Raid coop mission.

lots of slots and several players filling them, all of us flying Sopwith Camels.

it was my first MP game with REAL humans in OFF and thankfully, i didn't frak up too bad and humiliate myself... LOL!

the game was great (great mission by the way) and very smooth for me except in the very thickest of the swirling dogfight...(by the way, i have EVERYTHING in the game maxed out on my new Dell) dozens of planes going at it full bore! there was a little jerk/lag at that point, but nice and very playable the rest of the time.

i spawned and latched on to some guy named, Firebird's, wing to follow him in as a wingie and get the lay of the land, so to speak, but soon lost him in the mad swirl of the savage dogfight. i picked up an errant DIIIa and swooped down on him, letting him have some good bursts, then lost him in a high pull-up. next latched onto a DVA and kept pounding him until my ammo was exhausted... finally he went in and "ka-blooie!" blew up. sizzle, sizzle, swonk!

then, out of ammo and low of fuel, i headed towards the coast and then turned south. by then, we'd (Allied) swept the skies of all enemy AC and were landing in a large group landing at a nearby Allied airfield.

lol...i was nervous as hell thinking i'd botch it all and crackup on my first MP landing...but it was perfect...

all in all, a good, fun experience.

PS, i learned something tonight... in OFF/CFS3, it is possible (according to how many slots open in the game) to die and respawn BACK into the fight...even COOP missions. say if they're ten planes total on your side (say British) and only four of those slots are human and six AI, if you die, you can decide to come back in and take up one of the AI slots...pre-empt him out so to speak and take his place. cool.

i didn't die in the game, thank dog... but one of the other guys did and mentioned it. ya learn something every day, eh? that's a feature i wish IL2 also had.

Beowolff

:FI:Scott · Post by **:FI:Scott** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:56 pm

Ok Beo, I cant believe Ive just gone and bought CFS3 !!!!!. Please don't tell anybody.

I got it cheapo on Amazon and will download OFF tonight. Goggles and Scarf me up m8!.

:FI:Falcon · Post by **:FI:Falcon** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:44 pm

If ANYTHING would make me go buy CFS3 THIS would.

No one could accuse me of making gaudy skins for an Albatross!

...

maybe.

Thanks for the heads up Bey!

F

Beowolff · Post by **Beowolff** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:16 am

no shame in buying CFS3 now, Scott! OFF makes it a BRAND NEW game! really! basically EVERYTHING in the game is brand new, using only the most basic of CFS3's inner workings, game engine, settings, etc. and besides, as i've discovered since my delve into this project, even old CFS3 really wasn't that bad anyway. but besides that, when you add the fantastic OFF mod and IT'S a whole NEW ballgame

here's some helpful information that might save you some time.

Install CFS3 first thing. Go here and get the two CFS3 patches: http://www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs3/downloads.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

install both patches.

run the game (CFS3) at LEAST ONE time... and set up your settings in game per your taste...ie, sound, vid card, realism, etc, etc. THIS IS IMPORTANT! just to be sure, go ahead and run a couple of quick flights or missions to make sure CFS3 is running correctly on your machine and to allow the settings to take hold. then exit the game.

next, go to Over Flander's Field site: http://off.oldbrowndog.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; read up on everything, then to their download page to get the goodies.

here: http://off.oldbrowndog.net/downloads.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! start your downloads from the top of the page down...and install in that EXACT same order.

1: Over Flanders Field, Phase 1 version .03 (download and install)
2: Over Flanders Field, Phase 1 Super Patch 1.00 (download and install)
3: Over Flanders Field, Phase 1 Quick Patch for multiplayers only. download and install.

misc or extra files possibly needed. after everything is downloaded and installed as per instructions, read the READ ME files to see the BEST setup/config to use for the game. next, loadup OFF and try it out. if you get a runtime error trying to start up the game, you will need the misc file: VB Runtime Error file near the bottom of the OFF download page. (download and install it per instructions included.) you should now be good to go to try out the game.

OFF was really specifically made to play in campaign mode with... and the guys that made it, are STILL working hard to bring more to the game in what is called, Phase 2... there are NO single play or multiplay missions included with the original OFF phase 1 download or super patch...you can get some good ones from the addon page here:

http://off.oldbrowndog.net/historical.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

install according to included instructions inside your OFF game/missions folder.

remember, per the READ ME, you WILL need to set up a pilot in the OFF workshop before you can play the game! very important---because you can't fly without setting up the pilot first! you'll see how to ENLIST and start your pilot from the workshop once you get in there.

after you get the pilot set, go into the hanger and your game will start loading. from there, you will go into the OFF version of the CFS3 loading screen where you can choose what you want to do; fly quick combat, fly mission, fly campaign, fly multiplayer.

you will also have to RESET your original CFS3 settings in the OFF settings box...ie vid card, sound, realism, etc...

you're now ready to fly whatever type of game you want.

if you want to do multiplayer, you'll have to remember that at the present, OFF does NOT save any sort of multiplayer settings... you have to do it manually each time you play. this will be fixed with the next installment of OFF.

things to remember: OFF is a complete and seperate install of CFS3...in its own folder under Microsoft Games. changes you make to OFF will not effect CFS3 just as changes made in CFS3 will not effect OFF.

OFF is VERY different from CFS3, nearly a complete rebuild. Some things that work in CFS3 (and vice versa) will not work in OFF. communication for instance. the old kites in WW1 didn't have two way radios...and though CFS3 has them for its ww2 planes, OFF does NOT have them. there are several little differences like that.

the box for setting up your config (named CFS3 Config) is in both game folders... OFF has its own CFS3 Config inside its own folder, there you can make special settings to help your game run smoother...read the READ ME for that. but this is VERY important to remember; OFF is VERY intensive... a graphic setting of two in OFF is almost the same as a graphic setting of four in CFS3... so you may have to play with those slider settings to get the game to run the best and smoothest for your own personal machine. my Dell runs it wide open, on settings of 5 across the board...but be warned, most people's machines have to be set at 3 or 4 to run smooth.

as far as multiplayer goes: when you get into the multiplayer screen, to host or join games, you will have to create and log in to CFS3 multiplayer. no big deal, its merely a playname and a password, nothing else...just remember it because OFF will not. and you'll need it everytime you want to play multiplayer.

in the mp screen, you will see games listed from all over the world...most of them are for CFS3, even if they do not say that in the mission or game descriptions. in OFF mode, you CANNOT join or host a CFS3 game... OFF is completely different and want match up. neither can CFS3 gamers join an OFF game.

look for games that say, OFF in their description somewhere.

most of these games you should be able to join. and of course if you try hosting a mp game...be sure to describe it as an OFF game so everyone will know.

now, on joining an OFF multiplayer game... EVERYONE that joins MUST have the SAME OFF version to matchup. if a version is out of date with the host...they cannot join. simple as that. also, if you have addon planes in your OFF folder (downloaded from elsewhere on the net) more than likely your host will NOT have them (or if you're hosting, the other players trying to join won't have them.) if you've added addon or thirdparty planes to your OFF folders, this will create a mis-match error and big problems. best to leave the OFF game completely as is...and do not add any new addons to it EXCEPT official addons from the OFF crew.

(by the way, this also goes for cfs3)

for additional OFF help, go here for the OFF faq: http://www.polovski.com/OFFFAQ.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

for additional OFF and CFS3 info:

http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb ... forum;f=82" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb ... orum;f=148" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/f ... ay.php?f=8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

well, i know that all of this sounds like quite a bit, but actually, easily done and WELL worth the effort for a, on the cheap, WW1 combat flight sim. well worth it.

i hope this info can be helpful to any and all that might want to try this out. you won't be sorry.

Beowolff

:FI:IceFrog · Post by **:FI:IceFrog** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:43 am

you got me......... i be looking for one to pick up

:FI:Scott · Post by **:FI:Scott** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:39 am

Thanks Beo, thats really helpfull.

:FI:McBiggles · Post by **:FI:McBiggles** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:30 pm

Alright dammit! I'm off to get it. Got my disguise all worked out, and a few chaps to create a diversion...just hope nobody sees me....

M.

Skipper · Post by **Skipper** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:21 pm

You've also persuaded me Beo

I'm off to take a look asap....perhaps we could get soemthing going online together....no TS ofcourse....realism and all that

I'm ready to "go sick" as soon as you give me the signal McB.For christ sake watch out for those ferrets!(not the furry kind either)

Skipper

:FI:Dex · Post by **:FI:Dex** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:17 pm

Those still look fab! Just having a look at the footage now..You may have another convert right here!!!