Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) (Dec 2013)

[sandman2575]

Enhanced career sounds very appealing -- but given the $ I've sunk into ROF, I should probably spend more time with it before I jump ship for WOFF --

[Grim.Reaper]

Enhanced career sounds very appealing -- but given the $ I've sunk into ROF, I should probably spend more time with it before I jump ship for WOFF --

Always room for more spending:)

[sandman2575]

Always room for more spending:)

ain't that the truth. 

still, the ~$70 price-tag for WOFF (+MSFS3) is high enough to give me the willpower to hold off, for now -- esp. since ROF w/ the many aircraft add-ons was hardly cheap --

still, the good word of mouth for WOFF in this thread and elsewhere means I'll probably cave at some point --

[Grim.Reaper]

Always room for more spending:)

ain't that the truth. 

still, the ~$70 price-tag for WOFF (+MSFS3) is high enough to give me the willpower to hold off, for now -- esp. since ROF w/ the many aircraft add-ons was hardly cheap --

still, the good word of mouth for WOFF in this thread and elsewhere means I'll probably cave at some point --

Yep, that is understandable.....I initially invested in ROF, but gave up trying to keep up with all the planes.  Haven't had much time for WOFF lately, but that single player campaign was the best I have seen in a long time.  Just wish I was better at flight sims(

[Toonces]

I did play some RoF this weekend in between WOFF missions. 

RoF looks way, way better.  And, I don't know how to quantify it, but RoF just "feels" more like flying.  Between the water droplets on the goggles going through clouds, to the crisper aircraft textures, the more intiutive feeling of flight, and the view out of the cockpit, RoF is a great flying experience.

However, WOFF just pisses on RoF in the single player campaign.  Also, it comes with so much content out of the box that you truly get your money's worth from the get go.  The entire Western Front is mapped out with 55 aircraft to fly, from the EIII all the way through the 1918 birds.  The campaign selection screen just oozes possibilities, fighter or bomber, with squadron, region, plane, era, it's all selectable.  And when you select a squadron, you'll have a historic roster and the CO's plane will be leading you with the appropriate skin...it's just amazing how much detail has gone into that part of the game. 

I bought the base game and skin pack, download only.  That's about $85.  I'd say that the base game is underpriced for what you get, and with the skin pack it's still a very good value.  Up to $100 would be very fair, IMO.  I've barely scratched the surface of the game and I've already logged about 25 hours of flying time.

And, in case you're wondering, I was in the mood for some multiplayer which is why I booted up RoF.  I logged onto the most populated server- about 13 people on.  Flew around for 15 minutes, finally came across a bomber and shot it down, and then landed and logged off.  Unless more people are online, those maps are way too big for 6 people per side.  What a waste of a great game.

[sandman2575]

Wow -- a shame there are so few RoF online flyers.  I'm still too timid to get online with RoF or CloD, so SP is generally where it's at for me.

I fired up RoF for the first time in a while last night, although crying infant 'round 11PM cut short my Albatross sortie.  It is a beautiful game, no question, and very immersive. I've been fiddling with the Career beta mode, and actuality find it pretty compelling -- but that may be because I don't know what I"m missing with WOFF.

...re: Toonce's avatar -- RIP Egon Spangler   :'(...

[Gusington]

I can't believe there are so few people online for RoF...

[Nefaro]

Patch 1.19 is out for WOFF with some small fixes.


I enjoyed ROF but never played it online.  Each aircraft really takes a lot of practice to be able to fly properly in combat so there's a time investment for familiarity needed.  Otherwise I'd feel rather worthless.

I also don't look forward to searching around for a server that has some of the difficulty settings I prefer.  I really don't want to jack with the fuel mixture or toggling the radiator open/closed.  That engine management minutae just isn't fun and not something I want to dawdle with in a combat sim.  I'm sure the server rulesets vary quite a bit so it'd probably be some digging before I found one at about my preference.  I still plan on doing it sometime but my flight simming habits have only been to jump right in without a fuss so single-player has kept me content and WOFF's campaign & variable AI pilot behaviors make it feel like a living world.

[sandman2575]

PI really don't want to jack with the fuel mixture or toggling the radiator open/closed.  That engine management minutae just isn't fun and not something I want to dawdle with in a combat sim.

Engine management really is a b*tch ... glad to hear someone else thinks so!

As a relative newcomer to combat flight sims, I've taken the 'baptism in fire' approach to RoF and CloD -- diving in with 'full real' settings in hopes of avoiding forming bad habits.

But engine management continues to be my stumbling block (...in addition to spotting and situational awareness.... full disclosure: i'm not a very talented pilot). 

I think I may try to make things easier by turning some of the hardcore engine settings off.

[Nefaro]

PI really don't want to jack with the fuel mixture or toggling the radiator open/closed.  That engine management minutae just isn't fun and not something I want to dawdle with in a combat sim.

Engine management really is a b*tch ... glad to hear someone else thinks so!

As a relative newcomer to combat flight sims, I've taken the 'baptism in fire' approach to RoF and CloD -- diving in with 'full real' settings in hopes of avoiding forming bad habits.

But engine management continues to be my stumbling block (...in addition to spotting and situational awareness.... full disclosure: i'm not a very talented pilot). 

I think I may try to make things easier by turning some of the hardcore engine settings off.

To make it worse, things such as adjusting the mixture can be even more of a pain in the ass because you kinda need an extra throttle axis to properly model it.  Otherwise you're jockeying buttons or keys for what is really an extra slider lever, complicating things more than they should be. 

[steve58]

WOFF is on sale this weekend!  $10 off base game only.

http://www.overflandersfields.com/BuyNow.html

Interesting, don't remember OFF going on sale so soon after its release.  Wish I could take advantage of it, but don't think my current rig would run it very well and I'm still eyeing the new nVidia GTX750Ti cards...

[Father Ted]

PI really don't want to jack with the fuel mixture or toggling the radiator open/closed.  That engine management minutae just isn't fun and not something I want to dawdle with in a combat sim.

Engine management really is a b*tch ... glad to hear someone else thinks so!

As a relative newcomer to combat flight sims, I've taken the 'baptism in fire' approach to RoF and CloD -- diving in with 'full real' settings in hopes of avoiding forming bad habits.

But engine management continues to be my stumbling block (...in addition to spotting and situational awareness.... full disclosure: i'm not a very talented pilot). 

I think I may try to make things easier by turning some of the hardcore engine settings off.

To make it worse, things such as adjusting the mixture can be even more of a pain in the ass because you kinda need an extra throttle axis to properly model it.  Otherwise you're jockeying buttons or keys for what is really an extra slider lever, complicating things more than they should be.

What you really "need" is a throttle quadrant, then it all becomes pretty simple, especially for RoF.  I fully appreciate that not everyone wants to splash out for a sideline part of their hobby, both in terms of cash and time.  I do, however, think that to get the best out of "proper" combat flightsims you do need extra gear (specially head-tracking).  Each time I've added something to my pooter (Freetrack, quadrant, pedals) it has improved the experience of virtual flying.

It is a shame that RoF MP is so under-populated.  For some reason the situation is slightly better in Europe than the US  - there are often 20-30 people on one of the "realism" servers and the same number on  one of the "air quake" servers of an evening here.  Not huge numbers, but enough to have a game.

Breaking into MP is tough, I agree.  Paradoxically I would suggest starting with a "realism" server once you're happy with the controls.  The reason I suggest this is that you have more time to find your feet than in the quick-fire dogfight servers.  I fully agree that it can be dull. I  actually enjoy just pootling about enjoying the scenery, but with the constant frisson that you might wander into a fight.  Those fights nearly always end with me getting shot down (sometimes there isn't even a fight per se) and then I usually log off.

Doesn't sound like much fun I know, but I find RoF to have the best sense of a virtual space and time of any game I've played - I love just being "in" that world.  I also think that the feeling that you could get shot down at any moment by an actual person gives a better sense of the real thing than you can get from playing against the computer.  Those are the reasons I play exclusively MP in RoF.  My K/D must be about 1/10, so it's certainly not about me being an ace or racking up stats!

[Nefaro]

Breaking into MP is tough, I agree.  Paradoxically I would suggest starting with a "realism" server once you're happy with the controls.  The reason I suggest this is that you have more time to find your feet than in the quick-fire dogfight servers.  I fully agree that it can be dull. I  actually enjoy just pootling about enjoying the scenery, but with the constant frisson that you might wander into a fight.  Those fights nearly always end with me getting shot down (sometimes there isn't even a fight per se) and then I usually log off.

Doesn't sound like much fun I know, but I find RoF to have the best sense of a virtual space and time of any game I've played - I love just being "in" that world.  I also think that the feeling that you could get shot down at any moment by an actual person gives a better sense of the real thing than you can get from playing against the computer.  Those are the reasons I play exclusively MP in RoF.  My K/D must be about 1/10, so it's certainly not about me being an ace or racking up stats!

ROF multi-player has always sounded enticing.  Especially the hosts with open air to fly around in.

As I may have mentioned, I've not bothered trying it out yet because most of the regular hardcore pilots are probably flying on servers with engine management turned on.  After spending about $200 on flight sim gear last  year, I don't want to buy another throttle and jockeying such things just isn't high on my 'fun' list anyway.  I'd feel like I was being forced to buy an extra piece of equipment for something I'm more than happy to turn off in the settings anyway.  ;)

[steve58]

Just saw this in my inbox.  WOFF price reduced to $50.

Our special offer last month was very popular so we have decided to make that offer a permanent one!

If you just missed out on the offer, now you can get your copy of WOFF from $49.99* (digital download)  too.  Considering the huge amount of content, long playability, comprehensive AI and historical detail it's well worth adding to your collection.

http://www.overflandersfields.com/BuyNow.html

Also looks like a new release coming out today:

Update V1.20 will be released today.

We have added various items after feedback from WOFF pilots out there.

For example we have increased the 2-seater OOB (Order of Battle) weightings so you should see more 2-seaters in the air  compared to fighters!

We have also adjusted some flight models, especially Albatros fighter series so they should be a little more stable.

Formation flying in the Sopwith Triplane - now formation flying should be better.

There are also some improvements and fixes to some models and to WOFF.

Keep an eye on the forum and website for when this is available.

There are more updates in the pipeline hopefully to be released soon.

*sigh* really wish my rig could run this puppy  :(

[Redwolf]

That, and its under 10.00 almost everywhere.

My copy of CFS3 arrived from Amazon pretty quickly, last week.  It was $5 and shipping was negligible since I ordered it was some other stuff.

I figured that I'd toss it into my cart in order to be prepared.  Not sure if I'll get WOFF on day one - mostly because I've rarely been playing computer games lately.  But that may push me.

What kind of authentication does it use? I rather not re-activate my old PC that had 7 CD/DVD drives in it.