Well well, it has been a while, hasn't it?

Hi gang! Hope everyone has been well since I last checked in... probably more than a year ago now... I thought I'd see how everyone is and ask a few questions, if that's alright with the group.

So it looks like, finally, after eight years, I'll be getting a new computer! The order is being processed by Dell and should *fingers crossed* ship to me in a few weeks. I think of it as an early, but not quite graduated yet, gift for grad school. Well, in reality, it's to replace my aging Gateway FX7024 which finally broke down beyond repair after limping along for the last two years.

The new rig is a Dell XPS 8700, and I'm excited to finally own one again. My first major computer - the one I grew up playing Red Baron II / 3D on back in 1998, was an XPS R400. In an odd way, it sort of feels like coming home.

As does returning to the boards! I have missed OFF more than I can tell you and while I won't be able to afford WOFF for a while - I'll have to pay off the $1000 I just put down for the PC (Pol, does OBD offer a student discount? )

So the new specs are:

4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 processor (8M Cache, up to 4.00 GHz)
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx4)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB DDR3
1TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
Windows 10 Home (64bit) English
Integrated 7.1 with WAVE MAXXAudio 4

I'm hoping this will be more than enough system to enjoy WOFF - on a grad student (with debt) budget.

At any rate, I wanted to ask... and I'm already reading up on the WOFF site: how is everyone enjoying WOFF? It looks like we're already up to 2.0... man, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do! What are you liking about it so far? How different is it from OFF - it looks like a massive amount has changed and improved! Any suggestions on where to start if/when I can finally get my hands on it?

I'm in the last stages of my PhD now - working away on my dissertation (about WWI pilots no less) and man... getting to play some WOFF on this new rig would be just the morale improvement I need at the moment.

Hope everyone has been well. OvS, Olham, Pol, Lou, Hellshade, Sandbagger, Duke, Robert, and the rest of the gang, looking forward to talking with you guys again soon! How have you all been!? What's new in your lives? How are you enjoying yourselves these days? My apologies for being absent. Without any way of actually running WOFF, and with grad school eating up all my time, I'm afraid I didn't have much to contribute. Hope that will change - I do miss submitting those after action reports.

Nice to be back! Now, fingers crossed for a smooth delivery in a few weeks!

And as always, to the OBD guys - incredible work! I've been trying not to look at WOFF too much - the pain was too much to take. How on earth you've accomplished such a feat this time around, I don't know. You never cease to amaze me! My compliments to the entire development team.

CaptSopwith;

Well, Well, Welcome back Sir! Glad to have you aboard! That rig should be more than sufficient and if the opportunity arises consider dropping an SSD drive in, in the future. It will significantly improve load times all around.

Best Regards and look forward to more posts by you.

Cheers

Hiya Cappy!

Good to see you're still working at that ultimate goal! Amazing so many years have passed, and we're all still at this.

Keep up the great work!

Talk to you soon.

James
'OvS'

Gateway!
Ain't heard that brand mentioned in a loooong while.
And your new system is roughly on par with mine. OFF/WOFF won't give you any trouble.
And welcome back!

Welcome back Capt.S!

What is the title/premise of your dissertation, if I can ask?

Your weak point in your rig will be the GTX 745, when it comes to WOFF. In 1918 (depending on your Workshop settings), it may tax your card more than you suspect.

Several other people who had a GTX 745 found out that they had to upgrade to at least a GTX 970 to max out their settings and remove their stutters in WOFF 1918.

Hi Captain,
Great to hear from you and to know all is well and you're looking forward to getting back in the air
Life rolls on for us all as does WOFF - you will not regret installing WOFF, as I imagine you already know.
Keep in touch,

Mike
'Sandbagger'

Hi CaptSopwith, glad to have you back. I hope all is well in life

It's always good to have a familiar face back on board! Welcome back, sure glad to hear you're still at the PhD!

You will find WOFF 2 to be an order of magnitude more amazing than OFF. I've never been in a sim that gave me such a feeling of actually being in the air - the visuals are stunning. I hope you can upgrade right off!

Capt! Long time no see sir. As I recall, it was you who sent me the OFF P2 disk that got me started. Thinking back, I also forgot to mail you back the money that you spent sending it to me. Unforgivable.

So...repayment with interest is in order! How about I buy your WOFF V1 for you sir? Then you can run WOFF V1 on your new machine and still look forward to upgrading to WOFF V2 when time and resources permit. PM me with where to send the CD and I'll order it and get it in the mail to you.

Hellshade

Welcome back home, Cpt.Sopwith - good to see you again.
And with those system specs, all you have missing is WOFF.
It is quite a step forward; the new AI does act more human, with different decisions
depending on fatigue or aggressiveness, patrol length, advantages etc.
That's only one - but big - point.

Another is the new shader/lighting which was integrated by AnKor: see yourself;
these are screenshots I made for a competition (and these didn't even win).

.

Well hellooooooooo Soppy! Good to see you are still about, Sir. You are going to love WOFF and in particular on that new rig you've described. Once you are up and running be sure to post screenshots, and reports, and stories, and adventures - you get the thrust of it. Stop by the club bar and I'll stand you to a drink, or two or three. Great to have you back in camp.

.

Hellshade, that is incredibly kind of you, sir! I had long forgotten bout the P2 disk from way back when. I'll send you a PM this weekend with the necessary information.

Hiya Olham! Glad to see you posting your amazing photos again! I'm hoping to get my new rig in the next week and thanks to the very kind offer from Hellshade, I'll at least have WOFF 1.0 to start out with! Looking forward to it!

Hi guys!

Great to hear from everyone again! Sorry for my delay in responding. RL as always has a way of keeping me incredibly busy these days - far more than I ever imagined possible!

James! How have you been my friend! It has been many many years since we started this. Still remember sending you that ridiculous history of Red Baron that you still very kindly keep hosted on the old HA site.

And Robert, HD, Lou, Creaghorn! Man, it's great to see so many names I recognize. I'm sorry for not posting in so long. With no suitable rig to play WOFF - heck my old one could barely keep up with P3 once 1918 hit - I didn't have much to talk about. Looking forward to getting caught up with WOFF and hopefully get WOFF 2.0 soon in the future! I miss posting those after action reports and I can't wait to see what kind of magic the devs worked up this time.

Windingman, Pol, and the rest of the gang, I don't know how you've done it all these years, or how you managed to put so much life into such an old engine, but it looks remarkable. Reminds me of the first time I saw the magazine ads for RBII back in... what was it? 1997 now? And waiting with baited breath for our new Dell to arrive so I could try it out. Thanks for bringing so much joy to us all - it's been sorely needed on my end, let me tell you!

Cheers guys! Will keep you posted on the new rig and, hopefully soon, some WOFF stories!

Woff stories??? Bring 'em on mate