Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) (Dec 2013)

[DoctorQuest]

$60?  I think I'm glad my rig may not be able to run it  ???

Agreed. I'm good with OFF and I don't have enough time to fly that as it is. Don't get me wrong. The OFF team does excellent work but I have not exhasted by enjoyment of OFF (much less First Eagles 2) quite yet.

[Tuna]

60 dollars for a game whose engine is so old it uses CSF3!!!? Who do they think they are Matrix!!!

[Grim.Reaper]

Of course if people are.ranting and raving it will be harder to resist.

Yep, that usually pulls me in as well.....people must still be downloading, fairly quiet on the official boards.  Need to hear some impressions before I consider jumping in.

[Gusington]

Yeah its quiet. In the meantime I did find a few copies of the DVD version of CFS3 over at Amazon if anyone is interested. I have a copy in my cart if the din of praise becomes too much :)

[Grim.Reaper]

Yeah its quiet. In the meantime I did find a few copies of the DVD version of CFS3 over at Amazon if anyone is interested. I have a copy in my cart if the din of praise becomes too much :)

Bought mine the other day and it arrived today:)  It would be a shame if I wasted my DVD purchase and not pick up this game.

[Gusington]

I lost my CD copy of CFS3 :(

[Nefaro]

I've been getting some ground and/or cloud flickering in the game.  It's not happening all the time, but still noticeable.  I stopped using my TrackIR and it doesn't happen as often now.  S'ok as the TIR head movement was giving me a headache anyway.  Luckily this game looks to have a Padlock toggle.

I'm quite stumped on how to advance the game time smartly without having to fly while in accelerated time.  The autopilot doesn't seem to do much of anything so I hesitate to crank the time accel up while still flying the stick.  There is also a "Warp" key command but it also doesn't do anything.  I must be missing some extra steps or something..

As for the graphics, they certainly aren't anything to write home about, but they're okay (other than the occasional flicker).  I am using 4xAA at 1680x1050 screen resolution and I'm still seeing more jaggies than I'd like in external views.  No jaggies in cockpit view, however.   ???  Must be the old gfx engine.  I turned it up to 8xAA and it still ran well but there would be a split second hang whenever I moved my head from the forward view.  My gfx card didn't make a peep and I have everything turned up all the way in the game's settings so it's not taxing my machine (although it is quite new). 

[Nefaro]

Some screenshots as promised.
(on a GTX760 2GB card with maximum settings and 4xAA)

[Gusington]

Thanks! Keep'em coming if you can.

[Grim.Reaper]

Would love to hear about the dynamic campaign features and its immersion.  I don't expect much out of an older game's graphics so not too concerned if not the best in the world.  But it seems most people praised its campaign system so would love to know more about it and what was so great.  Its that aspect of the game which would sell me on it.

Thanks again for posting your initial findings and pictures.

[Toonces]

I didn't want to say $60, but that also wouldn't surprise me.

If they go $60 the focus of the forum discussions will be the price point.  I can already hear the posts (yes, I can hear written words).  If they go $40 (maybe $50) the discussion will focus on the game.

It is what it is.

8)

[Toonces]

I'm gonna head over to SimHQ and bask in the glory of a good ole fashioned forum flame war over this...  8)

[Grim.Reaper]

I'm gonna head over to SimHQ and bask in the glory of a good ole fashioned forum flame war over this...  8)

Not much action over there yet....also haven't seen any major complaints on pricing unless I missed it.  I think most people knew what to expect already so no major surprises.

[Toonces]

Yeah, totally lame.   ::)

[Nefaro]

Is it worth $60 for WOFF and whatever else for a copy of CFS3?  I dunno yet.  For me, it may well be since I enjoy the period and simming in it. 

WOFF has a couple good things going for it.  The flight model seems pretty good and it doesn't have any insanity like the massive nose-up tendency in ROF yet the aircraft still have their quirks and you must use them to their limits without overdoing it.  I'm finding that despite being a little bit easier to fly than ROF, it's still difficult to get kills.  Especially since you have to submit actual Kill Claim forms to get official ones!  :D  This brings me to the campaign..

I'm starting to see why the campaign system has been touted so much.  Not only are all the pilots and aircraft conditions being tracked, the landscape is alive.  You can see some examples in the following screenshots.  There are actual troops on the ground battling it out and I got to witness artillery barrages landing around some.  The feel of the battle area is pretty good, including the behavior of enemy flights (they're doing actual missions).  I believe part of the reason the requirements for this one are higher is because of all that's going on in the background.

In this series, I was flying my Sopwith Strutter over our side of the front line and we soon happened upon a flight of German Albatros D.IIIs.  I heard some whizzing bullets at one point but clung onto one Albatros, got a few rounds into him, but he turned to run after I did so.  My slow-ass Strutter couldn't close the distance so I turned home after poor attempts at long-range burst fire had nearly depleted my ammo. (I scored 20 hits to no avail - mostly when we were dogfighting.)  My kingdom for a Camel!  :D
















Note:  WOFF has been easy to deal with regarding situational awareness without using my TrackIR.  After turning on the 'Tactical Display', you get a top-down view of whatever's within about 1/2 of a mile and ID them a bit under that.  I have seen their indicator disappear off that display, briefly.  That must be due to G-forces or blind spots.  Combined with the enemy selector and the padlock toggle, it suffices.  So if you don't feel like screwing up your neck any more than it already is, this one is SA-friendly with a good amount of view & indicator options that are individually switchable.