Huge RoF sale

[Toonces]

RoF is having a sale in celebration of their latest version release.  It's 50% off most airplanes, field mods, etc.  A few of the planes aren't marked down, but most are.  A lot are only $3. 

If you're looking to flesh out your hangar, this is a good time to do so.  I spent $46 and got almost everything on the menu except the big ones or the really pricey ones.

[Staggerwing]

I quite literally just bought the E-III, Gotha, and DFW C.V. and just tried a quick flight in each. I tried a quick scramble in all three
and face planted the latter two before I could cop any real air. This learning curve is gonna suck...
I'm looking forward to the flying boats as I've always had an affinity for amphib planes since my dad owned a Republic SeaBee
when I was a youngster. Hopefully the price tag won't be too high.

[Greybriar]

In case anyone is wondering, RoF = Rise of Flight.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The new patch, 1.026, is freaking awesome!

Features list of version 1.026

MAIN FEATURES:
1. Weapon modes for 23 planes. Technology includes unguided rockets, auto guns, manually operated guns.
2. Community historical skins pack vol.12 was approved
3. Community fictional skins pack vol.12 was approved
4. Fuel load option is available now on Quick Mission screen
5. "Sharpen image" post-effect was added (option is available only in launcher tool)
6. Heat blur effect was added on fires (vehicle fire, signal fire, building fire and so on)

GUNS FEATURES:
7. Synchronizers now have new detailed model, different planes have different Synchronizers now.
8. All guns now have historical rate of fire, which is dependent on gun type, muzzle booster installation and on Synchronizer type
9. "Nose guns fire", "Wing Guns fire", "Upper guns fire", "Forward-Looking guns fire" commands were added (check for keys mapping)
10. Consequent reloading of plane guns
11. Charging operations now are correct and dependent on gun class now. Bolt, cocking handles, ammo belt and so on animations are correct now.
12. Outer gun sound is depending on rate of fire now
13. Misfire (gun snapping without shot) sound
14. Guns on moving mount now may be inclined/declined
15. Guns on moving mount which are necessary to incline for reload are declining now in case of recharge/rearm
16. Inclined guns providing more drag
17. Gun magazine reloading
18. Reducing of magazines/shells in storage
19. All guns (pilot guns and turret guns) have historically-correct dispersion now which is increasing with gun overheating
20. All guns have correct bullet muzzle speed now which is decreasing with gun overheating
21. All gun overheating and cooling is dependent on plane speed now
22. Parabellum iron sight was changed to another (more usable) type

TURRETS FEATURES:
23. New gunners commanding functionality (Check for hotkeys mapping, also you may use widget menu for it)
24. Gunner's snap-views and center position storing is independent on Pilot's snaps now. Also they're stored individually for each turret type now.
25. "Nestle to gun sight" view was redesigned

Change list of version 1.026

CAREER CHANGES:
1. AI RTB Decision now is applied not only to player's flight, but to every AI plane in Career
2. Undefined pilots in reinforcement message were fixed in Career
3. Incorrect DFW skin in Career was fixed
4. Take a Photo attitude and altitude restriction in case of simple gauges turned off was fixed

GUI CHANGES:
5. Plane Skin description now is displayed in preview
6. MP Server selection now is not switching while you're entering password
7. ESC now is correctly closing all dialogs while you flying (options, statistics, widget menu and so on)
8. Widget menu now may be closed when statistics dialog is displayed
9. Manage Crew Positions dialog opening by Space key was fixed
10. Aiming Helper and Simple Gauges on/off state storing was fixed in MP

OTHER CHANGES:
11. F2 camera now is attaching to Plane's Center of Gravity.
12. Issue with infinite bombs/rockets deploy when using Drop All bombs and unlimited ammo was removed
13. Falling out gunners in planes of other players in Multiplayer were fixed
14. Pilot's head full-turn and stuck while you have switched to gunner was fixed
15. Pilot's scarf to left/right wind reaction inversion was corrected
16. Spawn distance of Balloons in QM was increased
17. Snow precipitations are presented now in winter missions in Quick Mission
18. Fuel and Ammo fire/explosion possibilities were corrected, fuel explosion possibility is dependent on remained amount of fuel (less fuel - more possibility)
19. Plane now explodes when hit the ground on high speed
20. Plane is no more explodes when falling in to water
21. Server Remote Control special chat messages now are showing correctly (to all, to country, to coalition, to user)


IMPORTANT NOTES ON 1.026

1. If your guns don't fire on ground - don't hurry to worry. It's new model of synchronizer gear - nose MGs will not fire until your propeller is spinning.
2. Pay your attention on new gun controlling commands. Check for this thread (last part of Jason's post) for detailed notes. Take in attention - these commands have default mapping only in default input profile. If you're using your existing non-default input profile from previous version (1.025 or earlier) than you need to map these new commands by yourself.
3. Please take in attention: selecting and de-selecting of pilot guns weapon modifications is causing the full replacement of plane payload variants list. So, when you are selecting / de-selecting your pilot guns variants on weapon modes tab - this will reset your payload selection on the payload tab.
4. Important to know: Additional over-wing gun of all Albatros planes (D.II, D.III, D.Va) and of R.E.8 are not aligned with nose guns convergence point even in default position. This is like it was in real. So, "Forward-facing guns fire" command will not affect upper gun on these planes anyway. Use "Over wing guns fire" command for them.
5. Some of over wing guns are required to be elevated (happens automatically when you hit "Recharge/Rearm" key) to be rearmed or recharged, some guns are not. This is depending on gun mount construction and height.
6. Blowback bolt guns like Lewis and Becker can't be re-charged when they're charged allready, while recoil-operated guns (Vickers, Parabellum, Spandau) can be re-charged in this case. This is historicaly correct.
7. We strongly recommend you to read this thread to know more about new gun mechanics and controls.

[Gusington]

I should have known this was going to happen. Someone needs to add a few hours to the day.

[meadbelly]

I fear the learning curve that Staggerwing predicts.

For us dangerously inept virtual fliers, does RoF have a casual mode? Can flight models/complexities be toggled a la IL-2?

Have I ever been in a Turkish prison?

[Gusington]

^

[MengJiao]

RoF is having a sale in celebration of their latest version release.  It's 50% off most airplanes, field mods, etc.  A few of the planes aren't marked down, but most are.  A lot are only $3. 

If you're looking to flesh out your hangar, this is a good time to do so.  I spent $46 and got almost everything on the menu except the big ones or the really pricey ones.

Sadly, I'm about to go on a long vacation so no ROF for me for a month or so.

[Toonces]

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about RoF is how whenever it updates it completely breaks the game.  Like, first, you can't fly the sim at all until you update it...no option there.  It checks, sees an update is available, and then you can't fly until you patch the sim.  I hate that.  Second, when it updates, like this one apparently does, it can initialize all of your controls back to default so you have to re-map everything.  That is a real pain!

The sim isn't all that hard, really.  I mean, it's WW1.  You start the engine, stick back- trees get smaller, stick forward- trees get bigger, point the nose at the bad guy and pull the trigger.  This isn't Falcon 4 or DCS. 

I like all of the details here, but honestly, I'd rather have the old guns and have them devote a LOT more time to the beta career mode.  It is boring.  I'm seriously considering reinstalling OFF simply because the offline campaign in RoF sucks.

I installed Wilson's campaign generator on Monday but I haven't had a chance to mess with it yet.  Really it's a random mission generator.  There is nothing in RoF that is even remotely equivalent to OFF's campaign.  It's very frustrating.

[Father Ted]

Sadly, I'm about to go on a long vacation so no ROF for me for a month or so.

Interesting priorities there, chap!

@Meadbelly, despite Toonces' assertions, I think RoF is quite tricky.  There are "easy" options, but the standard wisdom is that you won't learn properly like that.  I personally think it's a very good sim, and I like the satisfaction gained from clawing my way up that learning curve.  I do, however, base my judgement solely on what I've experienced in simple quick battles (to learn the planes) and multiplayer.  I'm a piss-poor combat pilot, but I enjoy MP because the atmosphere is more realistic than SP, to my mind.  Basically, I'd heartily recommend it for MP, but if you're not into that, then I can't say either way.

[meadbelly]

^I'm going to put high on my consider list. I've enjoyed a couple of "realistic" combat flight sims in the Wayback, but really had to put the time into learning them (Microprose's Gunship 2000 + F117 Nighthawk, Jane's Longbow AH-64D). I don't have the same kind of time these days, and those were so long ago that whatever "skills" I developed are long gone. Now the best I can do is something like OpFlashpoint's (the original) helos. . . using the H button for hover! (Seriously, they ought to consider installing those on actual helicopters.)

"Point down, trees bigger" / easy flight mode might be just what I need to scratch the flight itch, while flying poorly.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

What's to consider?  It's free to play.  Give it a whirl and if you like the two free planes, fling money at the company to buy more.  I'm just waiting on the next sale to get me some sweet, sweet rockets and upward firing Lewis guns.

[CptHowdy]

forgot this was free to play. downloading now. will see if i can get one of these things airborne for more than 10 seconds!

[Toonces]

When I say easy to fly, what I mean primarily is that there aren't many buttons/systems to have to learn.  I contrast it with something like DCS:A-10, a sim I bought on sale a while ago but I simply do not have the time and patience to learn the plane's systems while simultaneously relearning my muscle memory on my HOTAS. 

For RoF (or OFF for that matter), you really need two or three buttons on your stick to work- trigger to fire all guns, a button to cock/cycle the guns to clear jams, and well really that's it.  I have the cooler and fuel mixture also mapped to my stick and a button for the map...and I think that's all.  Pretty straightforward.

Now, actually FLYING the planes proficiently is hard.  And getting kills is hard.  You really need to put your pipper on the bad guy and hold it there for a while in the early planes before you get incediary bullets.  If you're going to start with a plane, fly the German ones.  I find the German planes overwhelmingly easier to fly than the Allied planes.

If you like the free demo, definitely keep your eyes open for the Iron Cross Edition; it goes on sale for $10 pretty frequently and comes with a very nice planeset.  I bought my copy at fspilotshop.com or something like that but I've seen it at other places on sale from time to time (Amazon, etc.).

Finally, I wouldn't be surprised if 777 has a big sale for July 4th, so definitely keep your eyes open on that.

[CptHowdy]

did some quick missions. start out flying so i could keep it in the air at least! couldnt shoot anything though, hard to get on someones tail and stay there. not bad for firing it up for the first time