OFFbase: The Barmy Automated Squadron Experience for Over Flanders Fields

Author: Lothar_of_the_Hill_People

Version: 0.9.1

File Size: 937kb

Description: OFFbase isan immersive role-playing simulation of life between flights for Over Flanders Fields. See this post for a quick tutorial / example of gameplay. More screen-shots are available here.

OFFbase focuses on squadron-based play. Take turns flying multiple pilots in a squadron while sharing the same roster--and more. Separate wingmen are assigned and flights split as much as possible. See your other squadron pilots in the duty roster with you! Fly as a rookie pilot in your favorite squadron while taking your long-time veteran out on the occasion you work up the nerve. If your pilot dies, you can start a new pilot to take over for him with the same squadmates and everything, and continue your squadron's story throughout the war.

OFFbase puts you right in the Squadron HQ, where you can visit the Adjutant to manage your career, kick back in Lodgings that you may share with a roommate, go down to the Mess for food or drink and see how your squadmates are doing (and listen to the squadron band in the evenings), head out to the Airfield to fly campaign missions, or reminisce over fallen heroes at the squadron memorial. The quality of your squadron's facilities develops over time.

OFFbase implements and expands Bletchley's Pilot Personality Profiles (3P) to give each pilot in the squad individual personality that informs how they behave and relate to each other. Engage in many different types of social encounters, mediated by personality traits. Personalities are composed of unique combinations of character traits, summarized by Attributes that rank characters in the following dimensions: Aerial Skill, Aggression, Charisma, Intelligence, Physicality, and Professionalism. With hundreds of billions of possibilities, the character's you'll meet in OFFbase are complex, distinctive, and completely individual in their behavior.

OFFbase builds on 3P with academic game theory to make social encounters richer, more intuitive, and open to different styles of play. Will you try to out-do other pilots, enhancing your short-run prestige at their expense, or try to build both your reputations through long-run friendship and social support? Your success at playing different strategies depends on the rank, personality, and social skills of your pilot character, as well as who the other player is and what they're trying to achieve. Over repeat encounters you'll come to know how different characters react in different situations, and what strategies work for your character. The result is a natural learning process on both sides.

OFFbase makes complex yet intuitive social encounters possible by giving characters in your squadron artificial intelligence (AI). They remember how you and other pilots have treated them in the past, learn from their mistakes, and form social strategies to pursue their own goals based on their own rank, personality, social skills, and history. Some may try to boost their careers by bullying subordinates to make themselves look better, others may focus on building peer networks, while some may do a bit of both depending on who they like and who they don't.

OFFbase features a full dynamic squadron simulation: Non-player pilots have daily encounters with each other, developing their own prestige and goodwill to develop their reputations and earn their own promotions, while periodically going on and returning from leave. All this goes on even as you advance or skip time due to weather, injury, whatever. Watch non-player pilots in your squadron share a drink, talk politics, make friends, get in fights--building relationships that affect how their careers develop, and yours.

OFFbase introduces Ground Crew, support officers or enlisted such as the squadron Adjutant, Chief Medical Officer, Chaplain, Munitions Officer, and even the Chief of the Mess Hall. Encounter and build relationships with them as well, which can affect your career, and your life, through gameplay. They may serve as stabilizing forces in dark times, or if a bad fit for a squadron disrupt morale.

OFFbase makes completing missions more rewarding, with additional benefits and costs to your career from shooting down enemy aces, friendly fire, pulling a hat trick by shooting down three or more enemy planes, and taking out ground targets and balloons. If a fellow pilot steals your kill, you can chew him out once you're back at HQ and try to take back some of the prestige he earned instead of you; or apologize and give back prestige if you steal someone else's kill. Some mission results may even affect the development of your pilot's personality by earning additional traits.

OFFbase brings additional features to the game such as transfers between squadrons, player input on promotions, funerals for dead pilots, and tracking of mission results for your squadmates. Yes that's right--what actually happens to your squadmates in the air while they fly beside you matters now, dependent on and influencing the development of their characters. A Frontiersmen also trained in first aid is more likely to make it home after being downed behind enemy lines, a Cowards more likely to surrender, and a Weakling more likely to be permanently maimed by injury--especially if he's on bad terms with the Chief Medical OFFicer!

OFFbase accelerates immersion with a built-in mod manager that automatically orders and activates JSGME mods appropriate to your campaign, if installed. See notes on mods below.

The deeper investment in building the career of your pilot and developing relationships with squadmates not only further customizes and enriches the campaign experience, but makes death in the air all the more terrifying, and thus OFF even more fun. Who'll carry your casket to its final resting place? How will your squadron remember him? Play OFFbase and find out!

Installation: Install the OFFice folder outside your main OFF installation. Anywhere else on any drive should do.It is fully compatible with all other mods and add-ons for Over Flanders Fields.

Mods: The JSGME must be properly installed to utilize this feature. Install JSGME in your root folder (usually "ODBSoftware") alongside your "CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields" and "WW1Scenery" folders, not inside either one.

The following mods are currently supported. Just follow the links to download, extract them into JSGME's MODS folder.

Grand Bundle Sounds Mods JSGME Enabled 1.5
Great Bundle Realism Mods JSGME Enabled 1.4
Ultimate Bundle Damage Models JSGME Enabled 1.0
HPW Combined FM and AI EW Mod 2.2

OFFbase will give you a choice which mission and damage model mods to employ.

OFFbase is part of the OFFice (OFF incomplete campaign editor) suite of tools and mods for Over Flanders Fields. Also included so far is:

OFFset - the OFF settings manager. Backup and Restore all of your OFF settings (including system registry, OFF workshops, and the CFS3 config), either in full or in part. Easily restore your OFF experience if you need to reinstall the game, update graphics drivers, or quickly switch back and forth between different settings profiles for different play styles (multiplayer, campaign, DiD, etc.).

This software is classified as Alpha, so your mileage may vary. Likely plenty of bugs but I need feedback and testing. READ THE INCLUDED README FILES!!!

Discussion: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3575157

Link: http://SimHQ.net/downloads/air_combat/off/OFFbase_0.9.1.exe