Friday is the day to start your serious GAMING!

[Nefaro]

Now that I've jumped through all the extra controller setup hoops with my new hardware, I'm back at Wings Over Flanders Fields campaigning.  Most likely dying within two virtual weeks with each pilot. 

Gonna try weening myself into going full real for spotting purposes, ditching the Tac window when fighting.  Although it's even more difficult in WOFF due to the darker earthy ground colors and lack of bloom.

I get the impression that the next big WOFF expansion is due out by the end of the year.


May give Endless Legend another go.  Maybe Xenonauts or even X-Com since I picked up the X-Com expansion a short time ago.  Need turn-based strategy fix whether it's these or something RPG like Wasteland 2.

[PanzersEast]

May start a new AAR for Cards of Cthulhu or D-Day Dice or Victory Denied.. may ask the community.

I lost my logs off B-17 community AAR, so I have to start over.....

Play will be continue my ATW flights and try out the Aerosoft A318/319, EU IV, CK 2, Distant Worlds STM.  Space Hulk Ascension is in my card.  Asid I am sure is wondering where I am so if I can, I will try and hook up with DOW.  My Saturday I am mostly out of town, so we will see.

PE

[sandman2575]

Now that I've jumped through all the extra controller setup hoops with my new hardware, I'm back at Wings Over Flanders Fields campaigning.  Most likely dying within two virtual weeks with each pilot. 

This is exactly why I've had to put WOFF aside for a while. The constant pattern of (1) start new career, (2) fly a few missions, get a few kills, start to feel confident, followed invariably by (3) get killed -- really started to get discouraging.  It's hard to get invested in your career when in the back of your mind is the thought, "yeah, I'll be lucky if this pilot lasts a month." After running a dozen pilots into the ground, a few on their first or second mission, I've kinda thrown up my hands with a "why bother?" attitude toward the game...

Course, that's how it really was in WWI. But man, WOFF is ruthless. Career mode in ROF is way, way easier (also, way less interesting, for other reasons).

[BanzaiCat]

^ I was thinking my career in Wings! is pretty damn similar to the above posts.

Even more reason why there needs to be a Red Baron remake.

[Nefaro]

Now that I've jumped through all the extra controller setup hoops with my new hardware, I'm back at Wings Over Flanders Fields campaigning.  Most likely dying within two virtual weeks with each pilot. 

This is exactly why I've had to put WOFF aside for a while. The constant pattern of (1) start new career, (2) fly a few missions, get a few kills, start to feel confident, followed invariably by (3) get killed -- really started to get discouraging.  It's hard to get invested in your career when in the back of your mind is the thought, "yeah, I'll be lucky if this pilot lasts a month." After running a dozen pilots into the ground, a few on their first or second mission, I've kinda thrown up my hands with a "why bother?" attitude toward the game...

Course, that's how it really was in WWI. But man, WOFF is ruthless. Career mode in ROF is way, way easier (also, way less interesting, for other reasons).

I kinda enjoy getting killed off reguarly. 

The few times I actually get a longer streak, it's all the more satisfying.  Plus, if I end up dying quickly, I can switch to a different squadron and/or aircraft type if I feel like it.  There are so many to choose from, it makes my alt-tasticness thrive.  Probably also why I enjoy roguelikes.

I do turn on the manual time advance option, however.  Anywhere near the time periods for historical offensives, you will usually be flying two missions a day.  That lowers your life span quite a bit.  I will often just do one per day or skip a day here & there.  Give myself a week off every once in awhile.  That tends to slow the action down enough so that every month of the war isn't as deadly as Bloody April historically was for the British.

I've played some ROF campaigns lately, but you know how ROF's single-player is.  The official Beta Campaign has such repetitive patrol routes, and even worse the AI pilots just fly in a flat circle most of the time when they're on the defensive.  ::)  The AI pilots in WOFF are far more varied, with more maneuvers at their disposal.  More fun to dogfight against by magnitudes.  The enemy aircraft generation, in the middle of the 'dead world', also makes it feel too artificial.   I'm sure you're familiar with the comparisons.

The PWCG is great for what it does, but the AI pilots and 'dead world' issues are still there from the core ROF.  The majority of my time in ROF has been spent in multi-player (by now) and much of that is just flying around looking for targets and checking my six.   Which is fun but I don't always want to MP. 


I suggest using the Manual time advance option to lessen the rates at which you encounter the enemy since we end up running into them so much, especially at two missions a day.  You can also adjust various accuracies (like backseat gunner accuracy) if those bother you.  Fortunately there are lots of options that can be adjusted.  It's single-player so set it up however you want.  O0

[sandman2575]

Good points all, Nef.  Completely agree with you about the "dead world" feel of SP ROF, which PWCG helps with but can't eliminate. There's nary a dogfight against ROF AI planes that I don't feel in control of. Such a different state of affairs in WOFF. Getting bounced by WOFF bandits can be genuinely frightening. There are times when you genuinely want to *avoid* combat, whereas in ROF, it's always "look, enemy planes! let's go get 'em!" 

I particularly love the "just you and your wingman" patrols in WOFF.  They're a cruel invitation to an early grave.  I try to skip those.  But sometimes when your squadron/jasta has been whittled down to like 5 active pilots, it's kind of a "Ok, I'm screwed no matter what now" situation.

OK, now I've talked myself into giving WOFF another go this weekend   8)  Must be the masochist in me...  But I'll take your advice about using the 'advance time' feature to see if I can manage to survive more than a week or two...

[Gusington]

I smell freshly baked Zeppelins. Once that WOFF expansion comes out I may disappear and go underground for a while, doing nothing but play that expansion :)

[Nefaro]

Good points all, Nef.  Completely agree with you about the "dead world" feel of SP ROF, which PWCG helps with but can't eliminate. There's nary a dogfight against ROF AI planes that I don't feel in control of. Such a different state of affairs in WOFF. Getting bounced by WOFF bandits can be genuinely frightening. There are times when you genuinely want to *avoid* combat, whereas in ROF, it's always "look, enemy planes! let's go get 'em!" 

I particularly love the "just you and your wingman" patrols in WOFF.  They're a cruel invitation to an early grave.  I try to skip those.  But sometimes when your squadron/jasta has been whittled down to like 5 active pilots, it's kind of a "Ok, I'm screwed no matter what now" situation.

OK, now I've talked myself into giving WOFF another go this weekend   8)  Must be the masochist in me...  But I'll take your advice about using the 'advance time' feature to see if I can manage to survive more than a week or two...

Use the time advance liberally, if you feel the need.  Not like anyone's gonna complain.  Since you end up encountering enemy flights in most missions, I think this is a good way of skipping days where your flight historically shouldn't have.  It puts things into a more historical time scale regarding enemy encounters.  Otherwise, you'll get into constant dogfights - almost every day - and that wasn't often the case.  I'd still rather have the missions often end up finding something so there is less time wasted patrolling about in time compression, and just skip day(s) in between missions that do.


Unfortunately the WOFF 'workshop' is making me tear my hair out.  I've followed the FAQ setup guide and got my rudder pedals, throttle, etc all working in the Quick Missions.  But when I start a campaign mission, nothing works but the joystick.   After spending a lot of time re-setting and re-testing, I'm gonna get away from this computer before my frustration comes out. 

[W8taminute]

Well Judge it seems we have another childhood sweetheart in common.  First it was Blondie then for me too it was Nena.  Here's a song (about a lighthouse) that particularly got me going when I was a young lad:

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/9205989/Nena_Leuchtturm


Couldn't find a high quality version of this rare video on YouTube but it's worth checking out if just to see Nena back then!

[Huw the Poo]

This could be an interesting weekend of gaming for me.  Warthunder finally got a Linux version so I'm definitely going to jump back into that for a bit.  I need to decide whether this will be the weekend I learn OOTP15 after buying it earlier this week.  Also I've discovered that rarest of things - a MMORPG that is compatible with Linux - Wakfu.  I'll probably give that a shot this weekend too.  Oh, and I might continue my campaign in The Last Federation.

[Father Ted]

Well Judge it seems we have another childhood sweetheart in common.

Neunundneunzig Luftballons...Works for me as well.  Was in my late teens then and the song's prominence in the charts coincided with a school trip to Vienna which promised...Ahem, suffice to say, good memories.  The irony is that the track is  an archetypal example of the synth-led songs of the time, which I hated.  If you can take your eyes off Nena, check the way the band play their instruments, the instruments they play  and even how they are dressed - it's like an early-eighties theme park.  I loathed all that stuff at the time, yet now it's nostalgia.

[Tuna]

Well Judge it seems we have another childhood sweetheart in common.

Neunundneunzig Luftballons...Works for me as well.  Was in my late teens then and the song's prominence in the charts coincided with a school trip to Vienna which promised...Ahem, suffice to say, good memories.  The irony is that the track is  an archetypal example of the synth-led songs of the time, which I hated.  If you can take your eyes off Nena, check the way the band play their instruments, the instruments they play  and even how they are dressed - it's like an early-eighties theme park.  I loathed all that stuff at the time, yet now it's nostalgia.

Remember Flock of A$$holes (I mean Seagulls) with the dork hitting one key at a time.

[BanzaiCat]

[JudgeDredd]

Well Judge it seems we have another childhood sweetheart in common.  First it was Blondie then for me too it was Nena.  Here's a song (about a lighthouse) that particularly got me going when I was a young lad:

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/9205989/Nena_Leuchtturm


Couldn't find a high quality version of this rare video on YouTube but it's worth checking out if just to see Nena back then!

Aw man I loved that song!  O0

Good call!

Here you go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfMYNpg2NM0

Modern day - but still looks hot, hot, hot.

[Gusington]

Dude...I Ran is probably my favorite song.