Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) (Dec 2013)

[Grim.Reaper]

Logitech Extreme eh?

I have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro and it's gimbals are crap.  The latest version anyway.  ALL MADE IN CHINA!

The older Logitech Extremes had better precision (also have an old worn-out one of those).  With my newer one, I had to put a good amount of dead zone on it because the left/right axis was so loose and often leaned more towards one side than the other.  Maybe I just got one of the poorer examples, but I was never happy with it.  She said her name was Lucy but they all called her "Loose".  Picked up a relatively inexpensive Thrustmaster T-Flight X HOTAS last year and it made a huge difference just due to how much tighter the stick was. 

While the Logitech Extreme sticks are popular for their inexpensiveness and having rudder controls, I would only recommend them if you can't afford a nice tight stick for better control and less settings tweaking (not necessarily a HOTAS).  Just make sure you get something with rudder controls either way, as they're essential in these old WWI birds. 


As for having problems flying the aircraft in WOFF, I suggest two things to make it easier. 
1) Use the Trim controls.. they're in there and you can see their exact settings with your TAC display open and the 'Z' info data block hotkey on.   It may not be historical but it'll save you some stick whipping when you're trying to fly straight & level (also use Autopilot often to avoid same).   
2) Adjust the axis sensitivity to your liking.  I had to lower the Pitch sensitivity on mine, and others have mentioned doing the same.  I think the default pitch rate is too high.  Just select the pitch axis in the Workshop's (aka Settings menu) ReMap Keys section and click advanced.  The value on the left is the sensitivity and the one on the right is dead zone.  I ended up dropping both settings on numerous axes but you can tweak those bit by bit to your liking.  Just make sure you click SAVE after your changes!  After lowering the sensitivity on the pitch, I had an easier time aiming since I didn't oversteer as much in turns.


Be aware that you can and will tear up your wings with high-G pulls and extremely fast dives.  As with any sim, it comes down to getting a feel for what you're flying and pushing those limits as best you can.

That's interesting....I was reading reviews in a number of different places and most of them seemed to be favorable, at least for a simplistic and cost effective joystick.  I am not a hardcore flight simmer, so I was thinking I could get away with it.  But maybe I will have to think about it a bit.

[Grim.Reaper]

^That is $%^#ing awesome.

+1....time for you to jump in Gus:)

[Gusington]

I don't have the time to dedicate to it if its overly complex...that's really the only reason I have not jumped yet. If it is a sim I feel I can grasp by putting, say, 90 minutes into it at a time, then I will jump. Probably later tonight :)

[Nefaro]

You may only get 1 or 2 missions in for 90 minutes of play time.

It took me a bit to remap & write down the key commands and do the usual sim tweaking.  But it didn't require as much of this tweaking as I did for Rise of Flight.  I also tried starting a campaign that included the training mission series start but quickly found that I was fine flying the things and didn't need the long boring training missions.  So my future campaign starts have all been sans training (which is default anyway).

After turning on the automatic Fuel Mixture option, it's just been a matter of flying stick, rudder, throttle, and blip switch.  About as simple as it can get although each aircraft has it's own handling characteristics so you'll be using plenty of the stick and rudder when not on Autopilot.

To save time I always check the "Start In Flight" box on the mission screen.  You have to check it before you start each mission, and it will reassign a new mission, but it will save you a lot of dull time climbing up to 10 to 12 thousand feet.  In those old crates, it took awhile.  Turn on the TAC display (Shift+T) and keep an eye on it for enemy aircraft approaching nearby while you use Autopilot and Time Compression.  As always, be ready to hit the Normal Time key when they show up on your Tac display.  You must switch the Autopilot off via the key... moving your joystick doesn't disable it.   You must hit Ctrl-Q to bring up the quit mission option.  You can do that while still in the air.  I suggest you land the aircraft yourself, if you've been damaged, otherwise there's a higher chance you'll be killed if you exit early and the AI botches it.  Fortunately you can land at any friendly airfield and you get back to your own in no time when you're damaged.

I wouldn't say that you're gonna be good at WOFF in a short time.  I'm still getting shot up plenty after flying about 15 missions in various aircraft.  Even getting shot up has been very enjoyable.

[Grim.Reaper]

You may only get 1 or 2 missions in for 90 minutes of play time.

It took me a bit to remap & write down the key commands and do the usual sim tweaking.  But it didn't require as much of this tweaking as I did for Rise of Flight.  I also tried starting a campaign that included the training mission series start but quickly found that I was fine flying the things and didn't need the long boring training missions.  So my future campaign starts have all been sans training (which is default anyway).

After turning on the automatic Fuel Mixture option, it's just been a matter of flying stick, rudder, throttle, and blip switch.  About as simple as it can get although each aircraft has it's own handling characteristics so you'll be using plenty of the stick and rudder when not on Autopilot.

To save time I always check the "Start In Flight" box on the mission screen.  You have to check it before you start each mission, and it will reassign a new mission, but it will save you a lot of dull time climbing up to 10 to 12 thousand feet.  In those old crates, it took awhile.  Turn on the TAC display (Shift+T) and keep an eye on it for enemy aircraft approaching nearby while you use Autopilot and Time Compression.  As always, be ready to hit the Normal Time key when they show up on your Tac display.  You must switch the Autopilot off via the key... moving your joystick doesn't disable it.   You must hit Ctrl-Q to bring up the quit mission option.  You can do that while still in the air.  I suggest you land the aircraft yourself, if you've been damaged, otherwise there's a higher chance you'll be killed if you exit early and the AI botches it.  Fortunately you can land at any friendly airfield and you get back to your own in no time when you're damaged.

I wouldn't say that you're gonna be good at WOFF in a short time.  I'm still getting shot up plenty after flying about 15 missions in various aircraft.  Even getting shot up has been very enjoyable.

Nefaro, about exiting the mission without landing.  When you use the CTRL+Q option, do you lose anything by doing that versus landing?  Do you have to be over a base at the time you do it as well?  Landing is not one of my favorite things to do:)

[Nefaro]

Nefaro, about exiting the mission without landing.  When you use the CTRL+Q option, do you lose anything by doing that versus landing?  Do you have to be over a base at the time you do it as well?  Landing is not one of my favorite things to do:)

No penalties.  You just need to accomplish whatever mission you were set to do.  If you are supposed to patrol a certain spot for at least 21 minutes, and you exit beforehand, then the mission isn't considered finished.

I've not exited a mission on the other side of enemy lines yet, so there may be some chance of bad things happening there.  I'm not really sure.  I do know that if you're hit & damaged that the outcome can be worse if you quit while still in the air.  I always land my plane when damaged, fearing that it'll consider my pilot killed if I do not. 

Landing in WOFF is pretty easy as long as you avoid hitting any fences or trees and keep it running straight on the way in (which is pretty easy unless you got some serious damage).

[Grim.Reaper]

Thanks Nefaro....I am dealing with an issue that has taken my attention away from actually playing the game.  It seems like my system will not allow the game to be played in anything but 16 bit color mode, versus the full 32 color mode.  Whenever it starts, always forces the 16 bit mode.  I have been working with support, but no luck so far.  They are thinking maybe something with my monitor, but I have an HDTV monitor that supports 1920x1080 mode and would be shocked if it couldn't handle beyond 16 bit color.  When I look at the device options for my monitor and video card, it says it is using 32 bit color.  Other games I play seem to support it just fine.

So kind of bummed right now that my graphics might be far less than what others are enjoying:(  These little things always distract me.

[Gusington]

1-2 missions per session is fine. And becoming really good at the game is not necessary, but having fun is.

[Grim.Reaper]

1-2 missions per session is fine. And becoming really good at the game is not necessary, but having fun is.

Agree with this.....I'll never be great at flight sims, but I want to be immersed and have fun while I am dying:)

[Gusington]

^So are you currently immersed in fun? We seem to be on the same page as far as skill and what we want, so if you're getting it and having fun I will feel more secure in dropping 125.00 on this.

No pressure though :)

[magnus]

 What is the DRM or is there any?

[Gusington]

It's a mod so the only DRM I could think of is if you are using a CD copy of Combat Flight Simulator 3 which has to be in the drive when you play. If you get a DVD copy you can avoid that.

[Tuna]

All this Flander's field talk, make me want to start up a RoF campaign!.. yeah.. I know not as immersive.. but I don't have 60 dollars to share from my FSX fund right now!

[Nefaro]

All this Flander's field talk, make me want to start up a RoF campaign!.. yeah.. I know not as immersive.. but I don't have 60 dollars to share from my FSX fund right now!

ROF is a fine game.  I have few complaints about it, despite my frothing about some of the excessive nose-up tendencies in all it's aircraft and the resulting issues of trying to adjust for it in the settings.

If it were down to plain 'ole flight modelling, I'd still prefer ROF.  I still want to play ROF.  But right now I'm enjoying the war environment of WOFF.  It has a hard drive footprint just a bit over 21GB.  I'm sure a sizable chunk of it is dedicated to the campaign and the goings-on down below you.   They're both immersive sims, just in different ways. 

[Nefaro]

Did you see that the 1.4 patch is out?  There's some fixes for various TV issues in there... dunno if yours was one.