Getting ready to fire up my 48 squadron career in March 1917.
Do observers have experience levels rated like the pilots in a squadron?
Does higher experience make them shoot better or be more "alert"?
Is it possible (maybe through file manipulation) to always have the same observer?

Edit: Just got back. Would have bet money I would be filling out a claim form for a Alb DII but WOFF thought otherwise.
Also the Brisfit seems much more handy then the Alb DIII (early) in a turn fight. Fast too.

When I look at the dossiers of the pilots and observers in my squadron, I notice that each observer has a unique description ("a keen observer with excellent moral" etc). This makes me suspect that observers are not generic but (like the AI pilots) they have ratings for things like observing and shooting.

Cool thanks.
I will take a look at the squadron files and see what I can find out.

Okay I looked at the four files pertaining to this career.
3 are in plaint text and had nothing like you mentioned. In fact they didn't have too much at all.

The big file that looks chock-full of information is in hexadecimal I think. Is this where you found that information?
And what (hopefully freeware) program did you use to read it?

I do it in game via the duty room


Then I move my mouse to the list of pilot names, the observors are the lower group, and left click. Then one by one I click next. Must click thru pilots before coming to observors. Then I see my guy.

oops wrong second pic....

Duh. Got it now.
Thanks MudWasp!

Any tricks to always having the same observer?

Don't kill a good one...IDK...they do on leave once in awhile.
Other than that you're stuck with who ever you get, as far as i know.

Actually the description can change if you go backwards and forwards through the pilots..so I think it's just random.

Hah! Never noticed that. That shoots my theory down!!

There are different levels of skills for the observers. But the several descriptions for each level can vary. That means an observer with skills xy will be described in different wordings, which more or less mean the same. A better or worse observer will also have his level and several descriptions about him.

In looking at MudWasps's pic above I see the words "Assigned to the player" next to one of the observers names. Didn't catch that in my cell phone screen earlier.
Guess I better get in their and check out these screens.

I have flown two missions in my current 48 career and had the same observer both times..
In a previous career it seemed like I had different ones...hmmm...maybe this is something new or my observer and wounded and I didn't notice.

Looks like all is right in my WOFF world.

As Creaghorn, says observers and pilots do have individual skills - and morale. The descriptions vary but are based on their stats.

The more you find out tabout how it works the less fun you have (why developers often get fed up playing their game no mystery).

Yes I remember having this discussion years ago. Knowing too much about the number crunching behind the magic must make things a little less "fun."
So in that regard I feel for you.
I like to make minor tweaks to suit my preference of "real" but the less I know about the nuts and bolts of WOFF the better I feel.

They get wounded, go on leave, die... If you have a good one, try to keep him alive.
I don't know if an observer's skill can change over time.

Thanks MudWasp.
So in most respects, it seems, they are treated just like the pilots.
Always learn something new.

EDIT: Was it like that in OFF? This attention to the observers?

Thats my philosophy aswell..never understand those who want to know every little bit of code in games and analyse them in great detail..for me this just ruins the experience as you'll learn all about the game restrictions that previously you where unaware of and it kills off your imagination.

I find these days the magic has gone out of games for the player because games are explained in great detail on how they work all through it's development on gaming websites. Back in the eighties games where a thing of wonder where your imagination would be let loose and you think all kinds of things are going on and anything could happen (even though they would have been highly restricted on what they could do.

With my favourite games I stay away from any threads on forums or articles that go deep into it's mechanics\workings.

Well, looks like WOFF managed to assign me one of the better observers in the squadron.
And born in Scotland just like my dad's family.
We should get along just fine I reckon.

Knowing the technical details of how a game works can destroy the mystery, but learning that a certain real-life factor is modelled does not. Knowing that the observers are not just generic clones makes them more real to me (but I don't want to understand the code that controls them).