Thanks Nats I'm sure with a bit of tweaking and a few of the suggestions it will be almost where you would like it to be. We hope to have new features in the future - we have kept adding to OFF, WOFF, WOFF Expansion so as long as we get support through sales, we can carry on adding.

16:10 monitors are what you want as they have the exact same vertical as a 4:3 while extending the horizontal out,though not as much as a 16:9.

Hello!

"Limited view in planes - some of the planes are very difficult to fly due to their limited view - like the Sopwith Pup which was my favourite plane in Rise of Flight. The viewpoint seems to be pressed right up against the dash and you can see anything much of the ground around you."


You mean like this?



And this?



And this?



And this?



That's the way it was! I see screenshots from guys with the POV zoomed back so far it seemed as if they were sitting back by the tail. If people want to fly that way, they have that choice. But as you can see, with the Sopwith Pup, SPAD VII, and many, many other planes, you were in a cramped cockpit with eyes outside.

I do have one more issue then that will be it for now till I gain more experience. I have a MS Sidewinder FF2 Joystick. Usually the only force feedback effects I get in games is the forced centring which is fine. In this game I only get ttwo options - no force feedback at all (which doesnt centre my joystick) and force feedback for guns, landings etc. Now I actually like the guns etc that great but the landings seem a bit rough! Anyway to modify the FF settings at all using a settings file or something? I cant modify them via the joystick settings because the joystick doens have official drivers anymore - its supported in Win 7 and I can calibrate it but thats it.

I bought WOFF last autumn after being a massive ROF supporter for a couple of years. In ROF I was disappointed by the campaign, although I later discovered Pat Wilson's excellent campaign generator. But the community became dominated by complainers and trolls and the whole ROF experience suffered.

When I installed WOFF I found the graphics lacked the photo-realistic quality of ROF, but the historical accuracy and depth of campaign made for an overall more realistic experience. And the community was mature, supportive, and genuinely devoted to what was being simulated. Then the developers blew me away with their improvements, expansions, and commitment to the consumer. The graphics are now on par (but different), but the immersion is without parallel.

Stick with it, read up on your tech problems, which are all solvable, invest in TrackIR, and enjoy. If you really love the period of early flight, there is no other sim, and I doubt there will ever be a better.

Hey nats, hang in there man! The first thing I do upon loading up is to hit the left bracket back twice to pull my view back. While JFM's pictures above do show how close up the pilots were, of course your FOV in real life is much wider than your view is in that mode. I do sympathize with it making the whole world smaller though! If you can get your hands on a webcam, you can try head tracking for free using
FaceTrackNoIR as explained in this thread. It works pretty well for free

Also, try watching some of the videos in the video threads and tell us what you like about them and maybe we can get you there!

Nats, I also use a MS FFB2 stick. I have been able to reduce some of the feedback when flying by changing the Force Feedback settings in the flight FM files. The files can be found here:



You can open the files in Notepad!
The fields you want to change are "FFB_ElevatorForce="**" and FFB_AileronForce="**", where the ** is actually a number. If you reduce the number, you reduce the ForceFeedback.

You will have to play with it until you find the level you want. Unfortunately it doesn't solve the heavy vibration on landing, so what I do is make sure my fingers don't wrap fully around the stick when landing. I don't know if you are aware of this, but there are two holes in the handle where your fingers go and if you cover these up the force feedback is activated. Keep your fingers off the holes and you have no force feedback. It's a good solution to your problem.

Best Regards;

It is interesting to read these kinds of threads as it provokes a certain thought process where you try to answer your own question of why you like playing WOFF more than any other (flight) game.
Some people here remember the debates on the Alb FM when WOFF was released, then bug reports, AI refinements, OOB/two seaters, historical encounters, wind effects, etc… and look at WOFF now after roughly 31 patches, it is what it is today… and a much better game than it was in December 2013. So, the point is that constructive criticism will help this game develop even further. My opinion is that there is no harm in pointing out faults in a game as long as it’s kept civil.

Now, the other point I want to make is that it’s very unwise to go into WOFF and expect to see RoF/First Eagles… it’s not going to happen. Have an open mind but leave the RoF/First Eagles baggage behind. WOFF may need a bit more tuning for some people to get it to work smoothly – just look at the technical thread to see for yourself.

Try these suggestions to fix your stuttering issues:
1.Completely uninstall CFS3 and WOFF. Then do a Full installation of CFS3 patch to 3.1a and install WOFF. You are safe to remove CFS3 if you want after that.
2.In the WOFF root folder (where WOFF.exe is present) set NoMultisampling=1 in the d3d8.ini file. According to AnKor, this will offload some process to your GPU.
3.Follow the WOFF FAQs on this subject especially close some running background programs.

If you want the ultimate experience for flight sims in general, you’re going to have to invest in upgrading your hardware. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is right now. You’ll get much more enjoyment out of all your flight games by buying TrackIR, a better monitor/graphics card and maybe pedals…. hat switch/padlock is not nearly as fun.

You’re in the WOFF world now and I think you’ll enjoy the game once you get your issues resolved.

Robert, After using the MS FFB2 for years, I've recently switched to a Logitech wingman force stick. I've found that the MS stick will not maintain the force feedback during evasive flying/fighting. So far, the Logitech has always maintained the force no matter how rough I bank/turn. It even will let me feel the wind resistance. I think the MS drivers are very poor with force feedback and often fail in windows 7, while the Logitech drivers are strong and function as intended.

Once, I took an N11 to about 2,000m and left the Logitech stick alone to observe the effects. The stick just wouldn't stay still even for a minute and I nearly had a stall. I had to literally hold the stick in place and fight the wind to stay level.

Precisely my experience, Raine.

Nats, I know nothing about your financial constraints, of course, but you can pick up a TrackIR 5 on eBay for about €100. It is game changing (pun intended).

R

Thanks for you comments I didnt know about those holes in the MS Sidewinder I assumed it was pressure! So I will try that for the landing. Its actually the landing that is the only bit where the forcefeedback is a bit off. The rest is very good - although it going to take a bit of getting used to I havent had to combat FF forces like this whilst flying for a while!

I am sure the graphics part of the game will continue to improve, I do like the new reflections that are being worked on now. I think if head bobbing was added to reflect the plane forces in the cockpit sometime it would make the 3d cockpits come a lot more alive. But yeah I have managed to get the game looking pretty good now with some dedicated Nvidea Control Panel settings.

I will try that stutter solution thanks, once I get my replacement CFS3 disk through the post - then I will start getting into the game properly. I think most things can be sorted but stuttering can be a killer if you cant get rid of it. Unfortuntely there arent many settings in the game that can be changed to change the graphics level. I will have to start looking at the config files obviously.

Another question what res level for plane textures do people use here - it says the higher res ones dont have bullets showing? Bit they do show other damage it seems?

I go Normal textures for the bullet holes and, based on past threads on this subject it seems about 75% of the folks here do so also.
As for "Head Bobbing" in the cockpit view that would probably be the absolute last thing I would want OBD to devote time on.

If you go to external view you can see the pilots head bobbing, so when you are in the cokcpit view just bob your head up and down and that should rectify the problem!

Yeah, this fixation on "head bobbing" is is a head scratcher. I can't recall any sim I played with that option selected. Meaning if it was indeed an option, I disabled it. It never registered as either realistic or adding to my flight sim enjoyment. But I'll be the first to admit I'm biased.

Nats, hang with us. This Sim and community grows on you. 10+ years now and still going.

Everyone has the things that matter most and that don't matter at all to them. For me, the FM, AI, Damage Model and quality of the scenery & aircraft is what matters most. I want to feel the exhilarating thrill of combat. All of the stuff about squadron transfers and putting in proper claims is nice but it just isn't high on my list. For other people it may be the exact opposite or something entirely different, like head bobbing.

I can appreciate entirely nats seeming "fixation" (if I may use that word, respectfully) on head bobbing, because for him, that's what puts him in the experience, just like the AI, FM etc do for me. I sincerely hope that he does stick with WOFF and that he gets the V2 expansion, if he doesn't have it already, because this sim is constantly growing and evolving. Between dedicated modders and a highly active, talented and creative Dev team who genuinely loves their product WOFF is, IMHO, the most alive WWI sim out there and has the brightest possible future. It will never be all things to all people but it's one hell of a start and it's only getting better so that why it's my go to sim of choice and has been for a very long time.

Welcome to the community nats. I sincerely hope that you stick around sir.

Yep, we are all different.
We should be encouraging people to 'stick with it' and give them help and advice where needed.
What should not happen is people 'gang up' on people who have complaints... seen it happen so many times on various sims because fans feel a need to 'defend their game' ...
Telling people they should move on to other games because they are new and trying the game out doesn't really help if you want people to stay and support future sales.
But I'm sure nats knows we are happy to help him out and get the same experience we all share

Well of course we are different, have different preferences, different proclivities, even different tones of expression. All while not implying condescension nor expressing a mindless adoration of a piece of software. It is unfortunate that with this limited form of communication some easily infer insult where it is neither implied nor intended.

Y'all have a nice day.

Hellshade, Trooper, Busdriver;

All well said matess!!

God I dont want everyone to think I have a fixation with head bobbing lol. I have played a massive amount of sims from the ZX81,Spectrum. Amiga 600 and PC incl Red Baron, Gunship 2000, EAW, B17, EF200O, Tornado and a lot more besides. I am sure all the earlier sims didnt have any 'head bobbing' you were stuck in front of the cockpit with no movement. And no it didnt hurt the immersion one bit because I didnt realise what I was missing. But now when you play the latest sims like BOB2 WOV, Elite Dangerous, RoF and FE2 they all have this head bobbing and god does it make a difference - but you still dont notice it! Until you come back to a sim that doesnt have it! Then you notice it.

But hey its a very small point to make and I dont really mind too much about it. I am enjoying my first forays into the game training with a FE2 at the moment and really enjoying the feeling of flight this game has. In fact it has to be said this is the only sim I have played (that I can remember) where the rudder is so important. I always heard how important the rudder was in slow planes during a turn but in this game its essential! So yeah I am learning a lot.

At the moment the biggest issue I have that I am trying to sort is the constant stuttering. Once I get that issue sorted I will be very happy. But that may not be solved until I can do a full size install of CFS3, at least I certainly hope that sorts it!