Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) (Dec 2013)

[Nefaro]

To each his own.  I would never fly one of those huge lumbering hulks.  Hell, I only occasionally fly 2-seaters.

Not that I don't think they're cool.. just that I enjoy dogfighting and most notably the strategy and tactics related to it, in all eras.   I do enjoy some ground attack in some modern era sims but that's probably more due to the varied weapon systems and the strategy behind their employment. 

I may not be supertastic-wonderful at such tactics but they hold much of my interest when it comes to flight sims.  Also.. if History Chanel could produce a steady stream of new 'Dogfights' shows, I'd have them all permanently saved on DVR.  Etc.  ;D

[Grim.Reaper]

Might be reconsidering my stance on the add-on aircraft skins and actually getting them....over 4500 come with the add-on and then combine with the number you get with the game, that is over 6000 skins....found out today these skins get applied to all the squadrons and aces in the game automatically so that is pretty cool to see a bunch of unique aircraft out there....just further adds to the immersion.

[Gusington]

I would attempt to fly a Gotha or Handley Paige, but I sure would like to attempt a mission to shoot one down.

[Slick Wilhelm]

I'm installed and ready to configure my HOTAS(CH Pro Throttle, CH Fighterstick, Saitek Pro Combat pedals, Track IR5).

So far, I'm impressed with the user interface. Things are clearly labelled and easy to change. We'll see how I feel about that after I program my hardware.

Two things about WOFF that convinced me to bite:

1) The AI. If it's true that the AI enemy pilots will range from suicidal behavior to knowing when to call it a day and run for home, that alone will be huge. I'm very much looking forward to facing an unpredictable foe.

2) Random mechanical failures. This is something I've been clamoring for, as an option, for years! These crates were not reliable in general, and it was fairly common for mechanical problems to crop up from time to time, turning a promising mission into a desperate glide home to a safe landing behind friendly lines.

Regarding the question of whether WOFF needs access to the CD-ROM of M$CFS3 when it boots up... it depends. If you did a full install of M$CFS3, you have the option of pointing WOFF to the directory where M$CFS3 is installed, or you may choose to have it access the CD-ROM in the drive. There is a screen in the install wizard of WOFF where you may make this choice.

Wifey is off to a friend's house today, so it's just me, the boy & the dogs at home. It's going to be a big gaming day at my house!

[Grim.Reaper]

I'm installed and ready to configure my HOTAS(CH Pro Throttle, CH Fighterstick, Saitek Pro Combat pedals, Track IR5).

So far, I'm impressed with the user interface. Things are clearly labelled and easy to change. We'll see how I feel about that after I program my hardware.

Two things about WOFF that convinced me to bite:

1) The AI. If it's true that the AI enemy pilots will range from suicidal behavior to knowing when to call it a day and run for home, that alone will be huge. I'm very much looking forward to facing an unpredictable foe.

2) Random mechanical failures. This is something I've been clamoring for, as an option, for years! These crates were not reliable in general, and it was fairly common for mechanical problems to crop up from time to time, turning a promising mission into a desperate glide home to a safe landing behind friendly lines.

Regarding the question of whether WOFF needs access to the CD-ROM of M$CFS3 when it boots up... it depends. If you did a full install of M$CFS3, you have the option of pointing WOFF to the directory where M$CFS3 is installed, or you may choose to have it access the CD-ROM in the drive. There is a screen in the install wizard of WOFF where you may make this choice.

Wifey is off to a friend's house today, so it's just me, the boy & the dogs at home. It's going to be a big gaming day at my house!

Look forward to your impressions....I do like the fact you have the random failures, plus in order to claim a kill you have to go through a review process, pretty nice touch.  However, those are optional and for now I have turned them off until I get a better feel for the game:)  I am having a hard enough time staying alive as it is right now.  The environment/feeling is top notch and really enjoying that part.  Now I just have to actually get better at flying and tactics.

[Slick Wilhelm]

Now I just have to actually get better at flying and tactics.

Well Grim, WOFF has some great options that you can use to help you stay alive while you learn the ropes. You may want to consider making your guns more powerful, or if that's not enough to keep you from dying so much, you could go with "Pilot never dies".

Learning to fight is mostly knowing the strengths & weaknesses of your aircraft versus the same for whichever plane your adversary is flying. An example of this would be you flying a Sopwith Camel against an enemy pilot in a Pfalz D.IIIa.

The Camel can turn on a dime, but to the right only(due to the torque of its rotary engine). The Pfalz is not a great turn fighter, and would be best using boom & zoom tactics. Therefore, it would behoove you to try to sucker the Pfalz pilot into a turning fight to the right. You will win that fight every time.  :)

[Grim.Reaper]

Now I just have to actually get better at flying and tactics.

Well Grim, WOFF has some great options that you can use to help you stay alive while you learn the ropes. You may want to consider making your guns more powerful, or if that's not enough to keep you from dying so much, you could go with "Pilot never dies".

Learning to fight is mostly knowing the strengths & weaknesses of your aircraft versus the same for whichever plane your adversary is flying. An example of this would be you flying a Sopwith Camel against an enemy pilot in a Pfalz D.IIIa.

The Camel can turn on a dime, but to the right only(due to the torque of its rotary engine). The Pfalz is not a great turn fighter, and would be best using boom & zoom tactics. Therefore, it would behoove you to try to sucker the Pfalz pilot into a turning fight to the right. You will win that fight every time.  :)

Thanks Slick....that is awesome if it takes all that into consideration, but boy am I in trouble then since I know very little about WW1 planes and their strengths and weaknesses as you outlined them.  I would have never known what you stated just with those two planes alone.  Guess I might have some reading to do.

I have most of the newbie settings turned on, I am not afraid to admit that:)  I haven't really figured out how to master shooting at other planes yet...try to use the sights of the given plane and always seems like the bullets don't go there.....I am sure it will just take practice.

[Slick Wilhelm]

It sounds like you need to practice something called "deflection shooting", also known as "leading the enemy".

Unless you are absolutely dead center behind an enemy plane, you need to place the nose of your plane(and thus your iron sights) slightly ahead of the enemy plane, in the direction he is flying. You shoot at the air in front of the enemy plane, and it flies into your stream of bullets. If you are both in a right hand turn and you shoot at the enemy's cockpit, your bullets will most likely pass behind the plane.

The tricky part is judging how far out in front of the plane to shoot at. That part takes practice, and experience.

Yes, by all means, it's time to read up on the fighters of WWI. There are basically two types of fighter planes in WWI, turn fighters and boom & zoomers.

Boom & zoomers, like the Pfalz D.IIIa, rely on speed to "Boom" down and fire, then "Zoom" climb back up to a higher altitude than their intended victim.

Conversely, most turn fighters, like the Sopwith Camel and Fokker DR1, rely on their maneuverability to score kills. Most turn fighters are not as fast as most Boom & Zoom fighters, hence the use of different tactics.

And then there are fighters that could do it all, like the Fokker DVII. That aircraft was so good at everything that the Allies demanded that the Germans turn over every Fokker DVII to the Allies at the end of the war.

Start reading, my friend. :)

[Grim.Reaper]

The game has a nice write up on each plane, although it falls short in describing it's strengths and weaknesses......do you recommend any single book that has all the WW1 aircraft for all the nations and for each one does a good job in specifically describing the strengths and weaknesses?

[Slick Wilhelm]

The game has a nice write up on each plane, although it falls short in describing it's strengths and weaknesses......do you recommend any single book that has all the WW1 aircraft for all the nations and for each one does a good job in specifically describing the strengths and weaknesses?

For a detailed analysis, this site is pretty good. It's provides charts & graphs, but is not extremely technical. http://home.comcast.net/~clipper-108/AIAAPaper2005-119.pdf


In general, I can list the major planes of each era. In WWI each side enjoyed periods of air superiority as new and better machines were produced.


The Fokker Eindecker E.I to E.III reigned supreme during August 1915-June 1916. It was the first airplane equipped with a synchronizing gear, allowing it's machine gun to fire between the propeller blades. This was a huge advantage. This period was known as the "Fokker Scourge", as the Allies had nothing comparable until 1916. While the Eindecker was nothing special in the maneuverability or speed dept, the synchronizing gear allowed it to dominate.

By summer of 1916 the British introduced aircraft like the Airco DH-2 and the Sopwith Pup, both of which were turn fighters. The French introduced the Nieuport 11, also a turn fighter. These three aircraft help end the Fokker Scourge and introducing a period of Allied air supremacy. The Pup was highly maneuverable, but was underpowered. Likewise, the Nieuport 11 was nimble, but suffered from a weak lower wing, which had an alarming tendency to break off in a steep dive!

During this time, the Germans introduced the Halberstadt D.II, which was an improvement over the Eindecker, but was still out-classed by the Allied machines listed above.

By the fall of 1916, the Germans rebounded with the Albatros D.II. The Albatross was fast, maneuverable and was armed with two Spandau machine guns. Meanwhile, the French introduced the SPAD S.VII and the Nieuport 17. The SPAD was very fast for its day, but was not very maneuverable. It was the first Allied "Boom & Zoom" fighter. Conversely, the Nieuport 17 was an improved turn fighter based on the Nieuport 11. Like the 11, pilots learned not to push the 17 too hard in a dive, lest the lower wing depart.

In late 1916, the Sopwith Triplane was introduced for use by the Royal Naval Air Service. It was immediately successful, with good maneuverability. Poor bracing, however, limited the steepness of its dive, and it was equipped with but a single Vickers machine gun. Still, until the advent of the better aircraft like the SE5a and Sopwith Camel, it was an excellent aircraft for its time.

With the introduction of the Albatros D.III in late 1916-early 1917, the tables once again swung back to the Germans. This aircraft was the one with which Manfred von Richtofen scored the majority of his kills. With most of the Allied fighters from the early 1916 becoming obsolete, the Germans had a field day in April 1917, known as "Bloody April" due to the large losses suffered at the hands of the Albatros D.III.

An improved version of the D.II, it was a capable fighter and the Allies had nothing comparable with the exception of the Sopwith Triplane, which were in too small of numbers to overcome the Albatros' domination.

Moving ahead to early summer of 1917, the Allies finally wrestled air superiority back from the Germans with the introduction of two aircraft: The Sopwith Camel and the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a. The Sopwith Camel was powerful and nimble, but also inherently unstable. Until fledgling pilots learned its quirks, it killed almost as many pilots in accidents as were killed in battle. This instability was also one of its key strengths,  allowing pilots to the strong torque of the engine to provide almost instantaneous turns to the right. The Camel was also the first Allied fighter plane equipped with twin synchronized Vickers machine guns mounted in front of the pilot.

The SE5a was the first effective British "Boom & Zoom" fighter, with the fastest top speed of any fighter airplane of either side until late 1918. The SE5a was not a great turn fighter, but could climb and dive its way out of trouble with virtual impunity. It was also a stable gun platform, mounting one Vickers machine gun on the cowl and a single Lewis gun in a swivel mount on the top wing.

Arriving on the scene in the summer of 1917 as an answer to the SE5a and Sopwith Camel, were the Albatros D.Va and the Pfalz D.III. The Albatros D.Va was a minimal upgrade of the D.III, and was considered by many pilots to actually be inferior to the D.III. Consequently, the D.Va would have a rough time fighting against the likes of the SE5a and Sopwith Camel.

The Pfalz D.III was strong and fast, but not as maneuverable as the Albatros D.III. It was a capable "Boom & Zoom" fighter.

Arriving in late 1917, two very effective planes arrived in increasingly large numbers. The French SPAD S.XIII and the German Fokker DR.1.

The SPAD S.XIII was a beast. Very fast, sturdy and great in a dive. It was not a turn fighter per se, but could turn relatively well when it had to. It was primarily a B & Z fighter, however. It's twin Vickers machine guns made it more than a match for all German fighters of early 1918. It was considered to be the best French fighter of the war.

The legendary Fokker DR.1 Triplane had similar performance to the Sopwith Camel, and could turn on a dime. It was slow, however, and you could not easily run away from a fight.  It's most famous exponent was the Red Baron, of course. Von Richtofen would die at the controls of his DR.1, victim of an Australian machine gun company on the ground.

Mid 1918 saw the introduction of arguably the best fighter plane of the war, the Fokker D. VII. This plane could do it all. It was easy to fly, relatively fast, and could turn well. Pilots could fight in the D.VII in many different ways.

In mid 1918, the British replied with the Sopwith Dolphin, a fast, maneuverable plane that was popular with its pilots. It was not the match of the Fokker D.VII, but was a welcome addition to the Allied stable of fighters as the Camel and SE5a aged.

The Germans introduced the Pfalz D.XII in the summer of 1918. While it was an improvement over the Pfalz D.III and Albatros D.Va, it was considered to be a "Poor Man's Fokker D.VII" and was mostly relegated to quieter sectors of the front.

Late in the war, the Sopwith Snipe - an improved Camel - was introduced to popular acclaim. While not a fast aircraft compared to the SE5a or SPAD S.XIII, it was nevertheless a powerful climber and could turn effectively. The Snipe was a match for the Fokker D.VII when in capable hands.


Hope that helps, Grim. I left out many other less well-known aircraft, but I'm getting anxious to get flying, so you'll have to read about them yourself.  ;D

[Nefaro]

  I haven't really figured out how to master shooting at other planes yet...try to use the sights of the given plane and always seems like the bullets don't go there.....I am sure it will just take practice.

I've noticed a fair bit of 'play' in the gun accuracy in WOFF.  Sometimes, after firing the initial burst or two, it will start consistently firing a bit off to one side.  I wasn't sure if it was intentional and posted a report in the tech issues forum.  I believe there is supposed to be a cone of fire, of sorts, and the dev said to check it out over a period of time and see if it sticks too consistently to one side.  It may be an overly eager wind issue, gun mounting quirks, or just right.  Or even some side effect of having different widescreen ratios. I dunno.

So you'll have to watch where your tracer fire is going and adjust as needed.  It may only end up shooting a degree off in one direction, but it can be enough to be noticeable.  Often I don't even use the sights and just move my tracers where I want them.

[Grim.Reaper]

Wow slick, thank you so much for all the detail....now go enjoy the game yourself.

[Gusington]

I had no idea Slick was a WWI aviation guru! On my lap here I have a book I bought from Amazon last year that is an update to a pocket guide I had as a kid. It's called The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide: Aircraft of World War I. It's a nice hardbound guide with a narrative on the evolution of air combat and planes from 1914 to 1918, with great color profile drawings of probably every plane involved on every front of the war. It was a bit pricey (about 25.00) but it can come in useful for research in WOFF. I know I am going to be using it when Slick is not around :)

[Slick Wilhelm]

I had no idea Slick was a WWI aviation guru!

I not an expert on each plane, but I've flown every WWI sim known to man. My all-time favorite computer game is the original Red Baron, from 1990. I had brown hair back then, lol.

I'm also a complete WWI history nut, so I know more about WWI than any other war.

Anyway, I've put in about two hours into WOFF, mainly quick combat fights. Something feels off with the aileron controls in the planes I've flown so far(Eindecker, Halberstadt D.II and the Albatros D.II).

I expected the Eindecker to fly like a pig - which it does - because of not having ailerons, instead using wing warping. But the two other planes do not have smooth aileron function. I'm not sure if the problem is with the game or maybe I am supposed to calibrate them inside the game somewhere.

I tried doing a fast scenario flying in a squadron of Eindeckers vs. a squadron of DH-2's. Wow, did we get pwned in a hurry!

Gunnery is suitably difficult, barely being able to see where my rounds are going. You really have to get in close to make good hits. Just be careful to break away before collision!

[Toonces]

As SW says at the end there, one of the keys to knocking down targets (IMO) is to get very close before you start lighting the guy up.  These guns weren't accurate enough and didn't have the hitting power to go knocking down aircraft at 500 yards like .50 cals.  Try to get really close, like 50 yards or less, and when you are getting hits just hold the trigger down.