I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. And if there is no right direction to be pointed toward, then I'd like to request the following features. I'd like to point out, too, that my intention is in no way to complain or be negative here. I just want to increase my enjoyment of this wonderful simulation.

The Nieuport 11 is my favorite plane. I've been enjoying its quirks for a while through Rise of Flight, but last year I became more and more interested in Wings Over Flanders Fields (mainly for its fantastic single player possibilities). However, Wings Over Flanders Fields' Nieuport 11 leaves a lot to be desired.

Its shortcomings are as follows:

1. A lack of a compass
2. A lack of an altimeter
3. Reversed throttle and fuel mixture levers

For me points #1 and #2 are the ones that bother me the most. I am the type of flight simmer who loves extreme 1:1 realism when flying. I don't like to fly with any kinds of labels or on-screen pop ups or anything else of the sort. I love using the plane's gauges as a real WWI pilot would have, and I especially love plotting my courses myself and then using the plane's compass to follow them.

(I'm not really going to address point #3 in this particular post. The Nieuport 11s had a major quirk in that their throttle and fuel mixture levers were reversed, meaning they were increased by pulling them toward you instead of away from you. I'd love to see this modeled in the game, but if I have to, I can look past it.)

WOFF's Nieuport 11 - for some inexplicable reason - seems to be missing a cockpit compass. Am I missing something? Is there a way to enable the compass in game? Rise of Flight has a feature where you can enable the gauges you would like before flying. Does Wings Over Flanders Fields have a similar function that I somehow have overlooked?

Of course, you can enable on-screen gauges. I know this, but as I said I'm into extreme realism, and having compasses and altimeters mysteriously floating in front of me isn't my idea of realism. I want to look down (using TrackIR) and actually see my plane's compass (and other gauges).

It would also be nice to be able to enable an in-cockpit altimeter in addition to the compass. I do not know why this is not included in the Nieuport 11 in the game. The other Nieuports all seem to have full gauges and compasses. I don't know why the Nieuport 11 has been overlooked.

I have noticed a general misapprehension about Nieuport 11s and their gauges. A long while back there was a discussion on the Rise of Flight forums arguing that the Nieuport 11s should be flown with no gauges at all to realistically mirror how real pilots actually flew them. But this argument seems absurd to me. Why would a pilot choose to fly without potentially life-saving gauges? This is especially absurd when most other planes at the same time (and before) used these exact same gauges.

From research it seems like the Nieuport 11's cockpit was highly customizable, and it was up to the pilot to add or remove whatever gauges were available. The Nieuport 11s had horizontal bars stretching across them where the gauges the pilot wanted could be attached.

I did a little photo research and I was able to find a lot of pictures of Nieuport 11s with gauges clearly in the cockpits.

This is a Nieuport 11 where you can see some gauges. (This pilot even added a rear view mirror to his Nieuport!)



Here's another Nieuport 11 with visible gauges. This even has a map positioned in the center.



The tops of the gauges are peeking out of this Nieuport 11.



This Nieuport 11 is very interesting. The pilot or his mechanic has fashioned an instrument panel (as well as another rear view mirror).



Here a gauge is visible in this cockpit.



This is yet another Nieuport 11 with clearly-seen gauges.



The following picture isn't a Nieuport 11; it's a Nieuport 10. But this is the only picture I could find where a compass is visible. The Nieuport 10 is very much the predecessor to the 11, so I find it strange that it would have a compass but that would be discarded for Nieuport 11s.



Finally, this last picture is a reconstruction. This is taken from Osprey Publishing's wonderful Nieuport 11/16 Bebe vs. Fokker Eindecker: Western Front 1916 book. Here they show the cockpit of a Nieuport 11 with all its possible gauges including compass, altimeter, and airspeed indicator.



I'm sorry to be so pedantic about this, but I wanted to try to prove my case as well as I could.

So is it possible to add a compass and gauges to the Nieuport 11 in game? If not, is it at all possible these could be added by the Devs? (The answer to this is probably a big, dramatic "No!".) And if neither of these two things are possible, can they be modded into the planes by someone who has the talent and ability to do so?

Thank you very much for anyone who can provide help here.

Yes, it is possible, but it could be added only by the Devs (it is a part of 3D model) but with regard to their huge amount of work with WOTR I do not see it real in the very next future. Although I would like to have it either.

Many Nieuports did not have many instruments and certainly from the factory.
That RNAS twin lewis gun picture has a description with it you didn't post, in Windsock.

"...instruments appear to be grouped together on a panel in the cockpit, which was not the case on early Nieuports when
they left the factory."

Some pilots had personal compasses (that's what F5 is) some fitted other instruments.

If you don't know how high you are flying by looking there is no hope

Maybe in a future addon we could do a version with more custom fitted instruments but it's not a "bug". We chose the hard to deal with ones not the easy ones !

Oh! I certainly didn't mean that it was a "bug". Obviously this was a conscious choice. I'm not criticizing you as the developers. You've done magnificent work.

I did see that quote from Windsock, but I took it as meaning not that they didn't have instruments at all, but that the instruments the planes did have were not grouped together in a panel.

By the way, the Vintage Aviator website lists a lot of information about their own Nieuport 11 replica. They take it upon themselves to build replicas exactly as they were built in the day from the factory.

They have this quote on their web page about the Nieuport:

"The cockpit is noticeably diminutive and simple, with only a tachometer, Zenith height gauge and an airspeed indicator for instrumentation. The lack of instrumentation seems to bother more modern pilots; I prefer to say there is less cause for alarm."

There were few instruments, but not no instruments.

Anyway, if by some unlikely turn of events you the developers suddenly find yourselves with an unexpected surfeit of time, please consider adding a gauge or two. I, for one, would be delighted!

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T3G, I've always thoroughly enjoyed flying the N11 as well and like you I would appreciate even a basic complement of gauges. That being said, I've learned to fly without instruments and now seldom look a them even in aeroplanes fully outfitted with such. From my readings over the years of many firsthand accounts written by Great War pilots a fair number of the instruments in the early kites were notoriously unreliable, in particular the compasses. For this reason a large number of our RL counterparts flew by map, sun, and Eyeball 20-20.

Also, let me welcome you to the WOFF virtual skies and to our forums, you'll find us a friendly and helpful lot. By the way, and this is most important - new lads buy the drinks!

Lou



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My 11 had crap in it for gauges. Brand new out of the factory, some of the first on the line but missing gauges, so my mechanic and I made a few trades and installed a couple (on screen gauges positioned in the cockpit).

At's what I'd have done, at's how I looked at it, and history apparently proves that pilots did such things, so I thank you guys for the info.

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Absolutely Blackard, field modifications were a common thing on these planes as pilots would tweak them to fit their own personal flying style and needs.

By the way, as I don't believe I've done so yet, let me welcome you to camp as well Blackard, glad to have you with us. Looks likes another round of drinks are on the immediate horizon.

Happy flights!

Lou

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Well, beats the heck out of standing on top of a barrel and singing...so set em up lads.

Do you happen to like root beer? And do you happen to be a young French lass wearing a beret?

If so, I heartily offer a drink! (And if not, that's okay, too!)

Welcome T3G,

I'm not quite the stickler for 1:1 realism as you so you may be more or less comfortable with this approach. In planes like the N11 I do use the pop up compass, with a HOTAS button to bring it up as necessary. I just tell myself that I'm looking down at my personal compass that I brought along as some pilots surely must have done. By linking it to the HOTAS, you can look into the cockpit, take a glance, then click it off. Minimally immersion breaking I know. But better than the "ghost of compasses past" floating around the screen.

It would be nice to have field mods in some of the WOFF planes. But it would be a fairly monumental job to do so for the near hundred flyable planes in WOFF.

Deacon,

Ha! I had exactly the same idea! (Great minds think alike?)

I use a Saitek throttle attached to the left side of my computer desk simulating the throttle controls of real WWI planes. There are some button toggles at the bottom of it where my hand easily rests. I set one of these up to bring the HUD up on screen. Then I removed the two other gauges, so that only the compass appears. Like you I imagine I've brought my own compass with me and I'm pulling it out to look at. I can bring it up and take it away at an instant's button press. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

By the way, I can get rid of the other two gauges on the HUD, but I can't seem to get rid of the text description of the engine state, rpms, pilot health, and so on. I've moved this to the corner of the screen, but the "eng" of engine still peeks out. Is there any button press or command that will get this off screen permanently?

Thank you!

I did one better Deacon. I got my real personal compass out to use it. Only problem was it always pointed Northwest!

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Where ever you mouse pointer is behind the scenes on the monitor, as you pass over the instruments, it will show the text.

Move your mouse pointer off the screen to the right side every time your CFS3.exe starts and it will solve this problem.

I'm sorry. That's not what I meant.

When you bring up the HUD (F5), at first there are three on-screen gauges and to the right is some text information about your engine and pilot health. That's what I want to get rid of. You can move this text around just as you can the gauges. You can get rid of the gauges with Crtl+Shift+1/2/3/4/5. Nothing I tried gets rid of the text, though.

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T3G, simply grab the text with your mouse pointer and move it all the way off screen. Just remember where you left it if you ever want to bring it back.

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I think he's saying that even if he does that the text still peeks out.

Isn't there a way to not have that show up? Maybe select "Hardcore" HUD mode in the workshop?

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Deacon211, when it peaks out like that you can let it go and then grab it again by the edge and move it entirely off the screen.

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If you never want to see this text, you can edit the ViewUI.XML file and change this line

<Gauge6 Type="HUDText" pos="0.83 0.2"/>

To

<Gauge6 Type="" pos="0.83 0.2"/>

The file is here.
"C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Roaming\OBD_Games\OBDWW1 Over Flanders Fields\ViewUI.xml"

Thank you, Louvert and Stache. You've both been very helpful.

I'll try editing the XML file as you mentioned, Stache. I'll never fly with that onscreen prompt, so it'll be best to just get rid of it.

I appreciate all the help!