Dear friends,

My FM and empty weight is finally now available in the downloads section of the CombatAce forum.

The mod primarily addresses three issues: the AI crashing on takeoff problem, the AI's relatively poor performance at low altitude (the roller coaster at low level problem), and the AI's tendency in some aircraft to hang unnecessarily long at the top of a climb in dogfights (the Albatros series seems to suffer from this problem, in particular).

Although much improved, I can't say the latter two problems have been totally cured. The fix seems to vary from aircraft to aircraft, so please consider this as you evaluate the mod. In many ways, I still consider this to be a work in progress!

I will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you have about the mod. Install and use instructions are contained in the readme file located inside the zip file.

Thank you, and I hope that you enjoy the mod!

Hi, thanks for the mod. Can you be a little more specific in getting the skins to work? In campaigns do you mean "Fly Last Mission"? I do not see a "Replay Mission." When I do that it seems like the same skin with a different logo on it is all I get. Is this correct? Also, is there a workaround for QC? Thanks, Wiiired.

I don't use mods it a personal thing is all

But the amount of skins available in the plain vanilla version boggle the mind as it is

Everything has been tested for it's effects by the Developers before we ever see it

I question how far are you along in the update department, as if you don't say version 1.46 in Workshop

Many things can differ

Notably: Without Hat in the Ring as soon as the manager declares your aircraft is unflyable ( POOF ) mission over

With it you can take a Dirt Nap

Thanks, Wiiired. Yes, I guess the readme should say click "Fly Last Mission" instead of "Replay Mission." The skins that are affected should be the ones of your squaddies and any aces you come across during the mission, not your own aircraft, I believe. I am not a skinner, and don't use a lot in my setup, so I'm afraid you will have to ask someone else for full confirmation as to what shows up or does not show up with the mod.


No sure what you are asking. Do you mean custom skins in QC? TBH, I haven't checked to see if custom skins do not show up in QC with the mod. If they don't show up in your first QC battle, you might try the same workaround for the campaign--exit the QC screen and go to main menu, re-enter QC, select skin and try again.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Although this is in reply to UncleAl's message, it is meant for other players who may have questions based on what UncleAl said, since he does not use mods.

The version of OFF that I used to develop the mod is completely up to date, all the way through HiTR 1.47 (base HiTR with both patches 1.46 and 1.47 installed). ALL modded aircraft have been tested to insure that they are compatible with OFF and OFF manager, so as long as you have properly installed the mod, OFF will NOT declare your aircraft un-flyable and refuse to load your mission.

BTW, this is determined before your mission even begins, so there is no such thing as a mid-mission CTD because of aircraft incompatibility. In other words, no "poof mission over," as UncleAl warns may happen to you if you dare use something as exotic as a mod!

Is the issue being solved in the up coming WOFF????

which issue you mean?

I'm just NOT a Modder in OFF. No reflection on your capabilities

OFF is tested for all eventualites prior to it's release

and the support is second to none

I feel it's my responsability, if I have a problem that it be in the plain vanilla version

CW3SF . . Nobody but the Developers know the particulars of WOFF . . anything by anybody is just a educated Guess

CW3SF:
If you are talking about using modded FM's in WOFF and Aces skins, yes, the Devs declared over at CombatAces months ago that there would be no conflict in WOFF and using modded FM's (Uncleal would not know since he was banned from CombatAces some time ago).

Yes, Pol has said that this issue has been dealt with and eliminated in WOFF.

Originally, I included a statement to that effect at the end of my readme file. For some reason, I forgot to include it in the latest version.

Mods on the whole are what I love about PC gaming. SO much has been added to games over the years through Mods. SO big thanks Herr pro. Never had any issues whatsoever with your Mods and also have HITR and am upto date.

Maybe installing mods is too complicated for some..who knows. I've never come across someone adverse to Mods before. If the mod has been tested I see no issue. Check out MoDB and see all the goodies out there for games..Mods are amazing.

See that you've gotten a new experience. I'm curious why you've never heard of anyone with my outlook of MODS, am I that rare, or is it rare that I speak of same

Brief update (and also because I'm not sure I want to have UncleAl as the last post in a thread devoted to mods) :grin:

Working on additional tweaks to MOI values, which seem to have some effect on the AI's behavior in a dogfight. If these values are not set correctly, the AI tends to "forget" to use roll-overs and rudder turns and instead tries to use loops--usually unsuccessfully. I've also made some minor adjustments to the Alb DII and Nieuport 28 to make them less nose heavy. If you haven't tried my version of the N28 in an American campaign, I really recommend you give it a try! In general, it is much easier to fly than the original OFF version. The same thing applies to the Pfalz.

My next update will also contain a small change to the Hannover in order to improve its roll rate slightly. Currently, it takes about 12 seconds to complete a barrel roll. I aim to take off about 3 or 4 seconds from that to align it more closely with the other planes currently in OFF.

BTW, if you like the OFF FM for a particular plane in OFF or HiTR and do not want either you or the AI to use my FM for that plane, simply delete all eleven folders named for that particular plane from the HPW FM and EW Campaign Mod\Over Flanders Fields\aircraft folder. Or, if you want to use the OFF FM but force the AI to use my FM, simply delete the QC1 and the Sqd folders for each plane in my aircraft folder.

Herr_Prop_Wasche;

I am having trouble unzipping your mod. I have tried "Jzip" and "7zip" to no avail.

Would you kindly let me know which freeware program to use to unzip it.

Thanks in advance.

7 Zip foe me please

carrick58;

what does "foe" mean?

"Foe" must mean "for," I believe...

Strange you guys are having trouble unzipping. I used the Windows zip program, so it should be universally compatible. Maybe the problem is that the mod contains more than one folder. Don't try to unzip the "HPW FM and EW Mod 3.0" file into the MODS folder--instead, open up the folder and copy the three sub-folders (one campaign folder and two QC folders), into the JSGME MODS folder.

BTW, I've noticed a slight problem with the N28. It appears I somehow included an earlier version of the N28 in the zip file which does not fly much better than the stock version. I'll upload an improved version later tomorrow.

Both 7jip and Jzip fail trying to decompress your file. I'm using the latest versions. Suspect your compression software is somewhat proprietary or very new.

I did some testing of HPW's mod and highly recommend it.

On a wider note, it's important not to exaggerate the extent to which WW1 pilots were influenced by 'Top Gun' terms or concepts such as Bullethead is describing - or even in terms recognizable as early equivalents. Mannock's and Boelcke's tactical precepts were not aeroplane-dependent!

Instead, WW1 pilots give many examples of flying combats in apparent breach of such precepts, whether they were understood clearly at the time...or not. For example, AG Lee (in 'No Parachute' probably, tho it might have been 'Open Cockpit') describes a combat in his 46 Sqdn Pups aganst Albatri where the latter 'have a go' regardless of the fact their planes were visibly floundering at an altitude at which the Pups were still fully controllable, the Germans putting and keeping themselves in a position where the supposedly 'turn fighter' Pups were able to 'boom and zoom' them, 'energy-fighter' style, to use the modern term. So much for what was, or was not, drummmed into any V-strutter driver, or what was, or was not, an energy fighter, period.

I don't see the frequent AI 'pull up' tactic as the latter cleverly exploiting an 'energy fighter's' strengths, not least as it is also frequently employed by planes that are not energy fighters in any man's lexicon. If the player FMs were less sluggish (eg if they were as I find them in RoF and stock or modded FE2), it would (and I think should) be a suicidal move mostly, presenting the player with a target more-or-less hanging in front of his guns. In OFF, as has been observed, one of the best strategies for getting a kill is to anticipate such a move and be ready to punish it.

HPW's mod tames some of what I find to be the less convincing AI behaviour and makes some player FMs somewhat less sluggish, especially the Pfalz, which to me before felt like a carthorse but now - tho no Frankel! - performs quite well, most importantly more like the way it's described in real-life accounts (eg Mannock against that 'brown' Pfalz). She's also now quite strongly remimiscent of the RoF DIIIa, not quite so responsive perhaps but with stall recovery much easier and a worthy foe for the OFF SE5, for example. If you're a fan of the Baviarian plane but have been put off before, this mod is a god-send.

As you can see from my previous post, some of us are having problems unzipping this mod using freeware 7zip and Jzip. What are you using?