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2012 ROF User Manual is now available!

Posted By: 777 Studios - Jason

2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 03:42 AM

Pilots,

It's easy to underestimate the amount of work it takes to write, edit, illustrate and localize a user manual for a complicated combat flight-sim like ROF. Hence, we have never had a big manual due to resource restrictions and language barriers.

Our manuals have always been just enough to get a player started and cover the basics. Plus with all the changes to ROF the manual quickly became obsolete and we know that was frustrating for new users.

So, in the second half of 2011 I recruited four ROF community members to write a new ROF User Manual that is more useful and in-depth than ever before. We certainly think it is and we think you will too.

This manual is too big to be printed and stuffed in a box, but it will be included on every disk we make in the future and available for download on our website.

This manual will be updated over time and more sections will be added to as we go. We already have several sections identified as needed additions. It will evolve as ROF does and it will also eventually be localized into other major languages. For now it is just in English.

This manual is the culmination of many, many hours from LukeFF, Charlo, Zoring and Squid. They deserve huge kudos and appreciation! Everyone did marvellous work, but I want to single out LukeFF especially, who wrote the vast majority of the text. A herculean effort for sure. Charlo, Zoring and Squid added their own expertise and artistic talent to put it all together. I hope you'll enjoy their work.

And a special thanks to ROEN911 for his permission to use his beautiful ROF inspired artwork as the cover.

As you explore this document you will no doubt find errors, ommissions or other areas that can be improved. Feel free to post your thoughts in this thread. Please, please, please be kind and respectful to the team who built it.

In the future I may tap others in the community to contribute their talenets to updating the manual.

Download 2012 ROF User Manual (English)



Regards,
Jason
Posted By: LukeFF

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 03:53 AM

My appreciation and thanks goes out to Jason for allowing me to work on this project and for trusting me to see the task through to completion. What you guys see here is the culmination of many, many hours of work and collaboration with the other team members. Plus I got to hang out with Jason a couple of times. smile

This is actually the second user manual on which I've played a part (the first being the Real U-boat Mod for Silent Hunter 4), but this one goes far above and beyond that. I've always enjoyed writing, and so I jumped at the chance when Jason approached me about this project.

Beyond that, much thanks is also due to Charlo, Zoring, and Squid. This manual wouldn't be complete without their input and work.

Enjoy guys! I hope you all like it. smile
Posted By: ArgonV

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 04:51 AM

Great work gents!!
Posted By: Avimimus

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 04:51 AM

Wow! Thanks guys. What a wonderful idea!
Posted By: Murph

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 06:29 AM

Thanks so much for all the hard work.
Posted By: Reverend

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 06:46 AM

Hey Thx
Thats what we need bottles
Posted By: Freycinet

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 07:42 AM

Fantastic on so many levels:
1) This is what a complex flight sim really needs. And not all have it, because of the huge work involved.
2) Because Jason leveraged a tremendous resource, which entails its own set of problems but which can ultimately contribute a lot.
3) Because it seems that it will be continually updated.

I think that there should be a link to the manual from inside the sim, because the people who'd look for answers in a manual before asking in a forum are typically the people who'd also just look for a manual inside the sim and not on the interwebs... :-)
Posted By: Smosh

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 08:22 AM

Thank you all for your time and effort!
Posted By: BD-123

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 10:04 AM

Jolly good show....thanks awfully
Posted By: Smithcorp

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 10:33 AM

That's great, thanks!
Posted By: LeazesNDR

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 11:09 AM

Posted By: msalama

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 12:57 PM

Thank you good Sirs thumbsup Gonna start reading it straightaway when I get home from work. Salud!
Posted By: Trooper117

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 01:24 PM

Absolutely top hole chaps.. thanks for all your hard work, it is much appreciated!
Posted By: Relix

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 03:48 PM

Great stuff, thanks for all the hard work!
Posted By: flying-hamster

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 05:28 PM

thumbsup

Thanks guys for the time and effort,really appreciated.

pilot
Posted By: dude163

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 05:38 PM

Thanks, seems like I bought the sim at the right time smile
Posted By: elephant

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 06:03 PM

Great work! thumbsup
Thank you all guys! notworthy notworthy notworthy
Posted By: DaveP63

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 09:22 PM

Great! Thank you!
Posted By: Tbag

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 10:20 PM

Great manual! Kudos to everyone involved!
Posted By: Tbag

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 10:33 PM

Just flicked through the entire manual and I have to say I'm in awe! This is so beautifully done and very comprehensive. Especially all the plane explanations and the table with information regarding the control of each plane - very useful also for those who own the sim for some time now.

Thanks once more!
Posted By: Nimits

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/21/12 10:52 PM



Awesome work.

I only have one quibble -
Originally Posted By: 777 Studios - Jason
This manual is too big to be printed and stuffed in a box


I'd definately pay money ($10-$30 range, anyway) for a printed version of this . . .
Posted By: LukeFF

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 02:48 AM

Thanks for all the compliments! smile The manual will definitely be updated over time.
Posted By: -Avatar-

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 05:23 AM

Excellent! Thanks to all involved, looks to be a great read! thumbsup
Posted By: intramile

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 05:32 AM

A quick but very enjoyable perusal suggests a quality effort, and one that took a lot of dedication and time.

Now printing .... in color!

Splendid, & very handy, muchas gracias chaps ... LukeFF, Charlo, Zoring, Squid, Jason and the RoF team!

thumbsup thumbsup thumbsup

Posted By: Freycinet

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 01:31 PM

Had a good read of the manual now, and it is really terse and matter-of-fact. More for consultation than for "enjoyable perusing", which is just fine for a manual, I guess. I personally would have enjoyed a fun remark here and there, maybe some WWI quotes sprinkled throughout the text, but then again, I am not a very serious person... wink

Huge effort and super-useful. An example to follow for other sim makers, and yes, 1C, I am looking at you!
Posted By: Cold_Gambler

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 09:14 PM

Great job! Very nice presentation and useful information.

I haven't had a chance to look at through it thoroughly but I know I'll be using it when I finally start using my bombers.
Posted By: RocketDog

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/22/12 10:33 PM

Absolutely excellent job. Well done, guys!
Posted By: letterboy1

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/25/12 08:01 PM

Thanks!!! smile
Posted By: Slap

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/25/12 10:13 PM

Dammed good show! Many thanks chaps!

S!ap thumbsup
Posted By: Johan217

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/25/12 10:52 PM

Originally Posted By: Freycinet
Had a good read of the manual now, and it is really terse and matter-of-fact. More for consultation than for "enjoyable perusing", which is just fine for a manual, I guess. I personally would have enjoyed a fun remark here and there, maybe some WWI quotes sprinkled throughout the text, but then again, I am not a very serious person... wink
Personally, I prefer it like this. All too often I find that fun remarks etc aren't much fun (could be my sense of humour, or lack of it biggrin ) or that they are just taking up space that should have been used for vital information. Another thing I dislike is when a flightsim manual lists pages of "historical background" or useless stuff about ground objects that you can find just as well on Wikipedia. Very happy to see that RoF doesn't go that route!

I perused the manual a bit and already learned some things (e.g. I never realised that the "Forward" command actually means "Attack" blush).

Since there will be revisions, one minor request if I may: could the "best climb speed" be included in the aircraft performance tables?
Posted By: Calavera

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/25/12 11:19 PM

Really cool!!! thumbsup Thanks!
Posted By: wheelsup_cavu

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/26/12 06:36 AM

Very well done. thumbsup


Wheels
Posted By: Trooper117

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/26/12 12:56 PM

I can't see any point in a printed manual when it will be constantly updated with content from future patches, new aircraft etc..
Posted By: Nimits

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/26/12 03:28 PM

Originally Posted By: TROOPER117
I can't see any point in a printed manual when it will be constantly updated with content from future patches, new aircraft etc..


Because

(1) I hate and almost never read online manuals/books/etc.

(2) I can peruse a printed manual away from the computer.

(3) I'd easily buy an updated manual every year or two if they kept updating info (or, alternatively, a supplemental "aircraft handbook" or whatever).

(4) Printed manuals are just cool.
Posted By: cichlidfan

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/26/12 05:57 PM

Originally Posted By: Nimits

(4) Printed manuals are just cool.



Indeed.

Posted By: Freycinet

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/26/12 09:14 PM

I printed it out in B/W, but man, that looks cool!
Posted By: fafnir_6

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 02/27/12 08:41 AM

Hahaha Cichlid, you have the same keyboard as me smile.

Cheers and nice printout,

Fafnir_6
Posted By: Darren

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 03/24/12 12:37 PM

Nothing on configuring controllers.

My Cougar is stuffed with the new updates.



The new input files have killed the Cougar.
Posted By: LukeFF

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 03/25/12 08:52 AM

Originally Posted By: Darren
Nothing on configuring controllers.


Yes, there is.
Posted By: Broadside_Uda_Barn

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 03/25/12 10:26 PM

Well done on the manual Luke!
After seeing the pics above of the printed manual, I dl'ed it and started reading. Interestingly, I learned something about tracking my purchases.
2.5 Track Purchases: In addition to purchasing items in the ROF Store you can also track the purchases you have made by viewing the licenses you currently own within ROF. All items you purchase come with a unique identifying code that is stored in our database. You can view all of your purchases and corresponding codes by clicking on the Profile button and then the License button.

I've had times where I wasnt sure if I had everything and all the field mods, but this shows exactly what you have and when you bought it. Very nice!

I'm jealous of the manual above smile I miss the old days where you got a decent manual with your purchase.
Posted By: Ajay

Re: 2012 ROF User Manual is now available! - 03/26/12 04:07 AM

Awesome work guys smile
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