#4568529 - 05/15/21 03:42 PM
About Early Victories
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
I began my first career, as I often do, in Jasta 2 on 1 September 1916 and noticed "no operations scheduled". No problem, I'll just see if I can get myself and my shiny new Fokker D-II into some trouble on my own. Well, no problem there, either, as three Nieuport 17's crossed the middle of Bertincourt airfield before I could even start my engines. My first thought was, "This should be fun", and my second was, "If I live through it". Being either very brave or very foolish (that's a good line, someone should put that in a movie), I took off anyway. I broke away from the Nieuports to try to gain some altitude, and predictably they turned and headed back towards me. To make an already too long story shorter, I managed to shoot one down, which crashed just off the airfield, and chase another one away before the third put a couple of holes in my fuel tank and a big old crack in my goggles*. I landed safely, although thankful that WOFF hasn't yet incorporated a dressing down from the CO about discretion being the better part of valor or angry looks from the chief mechanic. When I exited the mission I didn't see any "Congratulations on your claim(s)" in the debriefing, and in the details I was shown how many rounds I fired and how many were hits, but it didn't show an airplane shot down, even though the mission review clearly indicated that I had shot down the Nieuport and where it crashed it should have been seen by the entire squadron. A couple of 'days' later I had a similar occurrence with a BE2 that had bombed Bertincourt after I took off. I even filed a claim citing a nearby (less than two kilometers) observation balloon and ground troops as possible witnesses. And although that regularly worked with PE this claim was rejected due to lack of witnesses. Which brings me to my question. Is it even possible to have a recognized victory if you're on a solo flight? Or was the fact that the squadron wasn't flying actual missions yet the reason they didn't register? I like the idea that if you enlist in a squadron before it's fully operational you don't have any missions assigned. That seems very realistic. But if it's not possible to score a victory during that period, no matter where it's shot down, there's no point in engaging if you do run across an enemy. You risk everything with no potential reward...other than the deep satisfaction that you have served the Fatherland. (ooo, that's another good line...I'm going to have to write these down before someone steals them ) *I really like the goggles (as well as the new terrain, and many other things which I've seen others comment on). I was afraid they'd have that cheesy, movie binocular look, but these are beautiful. Very much like wearing heavy-framed military goggles...only really noticeable if you look for them. The bulge at the nose reminds me of how much farther I'd have to look down to see my altimeter on HALO jumps than sport jumps. It might be interesting if they could be made increasingly dirty the more one fires his machine guns. And/or random oil or coolant smears, particularly when one has engine trouble.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
|
#4568536 - 05/15/21 04:51 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 795
Albert Tross
Flight Sim Nut
|
Flight Sim Nut
Member
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 795
UK
|
Hi vonBaur,
Did you have claims set to normal or easy in settings?
If normal, you don't see 'congratulations on your claim' in the debriefing screen or numbers of aircraft shot down.
These are only visible with the setting on easy.
If you're on normal settings you have to enter a claim in the normal way but in your case select 'no witness's and hope for the best.
I've had claims accepted when flying on my own and the squadron is non operational.
Cheers
Albert
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
|
|
|
#4568542 - 05/15/21 05:26 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: Creaghorn]
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
Dirt does increase within time but currently not because of shooting the guns. Smears because of broken engines are in. Not always though but it happens, that suddenly your vision is obstructed by large smears if your engine is damaged Ah, thanx. I haven't had an engine failure...yet. But I'm sure it will happen. I just checked, Albert, and I had them set to 'normal'. I had them at 'easy', in PE because I got tired of having claims denied for lack of witnesses when I cited a nearby pilot in the box and one or two more, along with nearby balloon observers and ground troops in the body of the report. I'm ok with requiring more than just my say-so to have a claim approved, but I think requiring a general or above to sign off is a bit much . I've switched it back to 'easy', and hopefully that will do the trick.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
|
#4568568 - 05/15/21 09:35 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
So the 'normal, easy. easiest' has nothing to do with whether or not a claim is confirmed? Because it seemed that I had many more rejected when it was set to 'normal' even though my claim forms were filled out basically the same on both, as far as the crash site and extra witnesses.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
|
#4568570 - 05/15/21 10:01 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 936
VonS
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
|
WWI Flight Sims on a Mac
Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 936
|
@OP, as far as I know, setting claims to "easiest" does not require filling of claim reports and should (always?) result in a confirmed victory (good for lone wolf missions). "Easy" requires that a claim form be written up, but claims go through more frequently than if claims are set to "normal." "Normal" claims require not only a written claim report but there is greater chance, if all details are not included in a report - that the claim will not go through. We casual campaigners swear by the "easy" setting - works nicely for immersion and still results in a few rejected claims, for historical frustration. To be on the safe side when "lone-wolfing," maybe switch claims to "easiest" for that particular run, then go back to "easy" for regular missions, etc. Good luck getting claims confirmed if you are "lone-wolfing" with claims set to "normal." Personally I like the "easy" setting best, for balance, but tweak to taste and as per level of desire for self-punishment vis-a-vis claim reports. Cheers all, Von S
~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile ( https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
|
|
|
#4568573 - 05/15/21 10:15 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Fullofit
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Ajax, ON
|
Claims on “normal” are neither logical nor fair. They’re random. We do it to make the sim more challenging. We’re not logical nor fair.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."
|
|
|
#4568578 - 05/15/21 11:02 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Fullofit
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Ajax, ON
|
At normal setting you can put whatever you want in the claims description, even your grandmother’s favourite cookie recipe and it won’t make any difference. It’s random I tells ya. Random!
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."
|
|
|
#4568579 - 05/15/21 11:14 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 4,879
RAF_Louvert
BOC President; Pilot Extraordinaire; Humble Man
|
BOC President; Pilot Extraordinaire; Humble Man
Senior Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 4,879
L'Etoile du Nord
|
.
I agree with you Fullofit. Over the years I have tried typing anything, everything, and nothing in the claims form descriptions on "normal" setting and there appears to be no difference whatsoever. So yes, random. As a matter of fact, in the current DID campaign for my second pilot I have been entering only the witness, (or lack of same), and the plane types, and nothing else, and there has been no significant percentage difference overall when compared to my first pilot where I was filling out complete descriptions of the encounters.
.
Three RFC Brass Hats were strolling down a street in London. Two walked into a bar, the third one ducked._________________________________________________________________________ Former Cold War Warrior, USAF Security Service 1974-1978, E-4, Morse Systems Intercept, England, Europe, and points above. "pippy-pahpah-pippy pah-pip-pah"
|
|
|
#4568580 - 05/15/21 11:18 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 238
NotRelevant
Member
|
Member
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 238
|
Still pretty fun to fill them out though, eh?
"Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet you do, too, Buddy."
|
|
|
#4568581 - 05/15/21 11:22 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Fullofit
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,696
Ajax, ON
|
Lou, I really wish there was a better mechanism for claims in WoFF of BHaH2 for that matter. Show us a map. Ask us to place a pin on said map to show the location of the kill - the closer to the actual place the plane went down the better the percentage of a successful claim. Ask for time. Give us a choice of different witnesses for each kill. TaKe into consideration which side of the “fence” the kill occurred and adjust probability of a successful claim. Let us call balloons and infantry as witnesses. Is it so much to ask? Heh heh! Thanks Lou I needed to vent.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."
|
|
|
#4568584 - 05/15/21 11:51 PM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,827
Panama Red
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,827
Irmo, SC, USA
|
RAF_Lou: I agree that OBD should bring back the Motel T that they had in the original BH&H, that way we could drive it around like back then (even though "J" almost does the same thing though).
CPU = i9 11900K GPU = RTX 3080 Ti Monitor = ASUS ROG Swift PG32UQX 2160p G-sync
|
|
|
#4568590 - 05/16/21 12:52 AM
Re: About Early Victories
[Re: vonBaur]
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
vonBaur
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,921
|
Regarding claim forms, I fill them out the same, give or take, all the time...crash site as near as I can judge, witness box if I could identify a nearby flight member, and ground witnesses (nearby balloon observers and nearby ground troops with approximate distances to the nearest town or airfield, railyard and/or airfield personnel, as appropriate) in the body of the claim. And as I said, I've had several rejected due to lack of confirmation on 'normal' even with plenty of witnesses around, while on 'easy' they go through sometimes with even fewer flying witnesses. I don't think it's random, by any means. I do think that 'normal' is unrealistic. But that's just my opinion. Plus, everything I've heard indicates that confirmation from outside the squadron carried far more weight than your flight mates. Who, realistically, probably would have been a bit too busy to notice who shot down what in most cases.
And as I also said, I got hit stats (assuming you meant number of bullets fired and number of hits) even on 'normal' setting and my hits and the kill showed up in the mission review. I did notice that there was an 'N/A' in the claims column. Maybe that's what you meant by hit stats, Pol. And the claim form didn't show up without my prompting it, unlike what I was used to in 'easy'. I just put that down to the N/A.
Anyway, I'm about to restart my career with it set to 'easy'.
**edit** On 'easy' there were 0's in the claim column. Can't speak to any of the rest because I'd turned off 'forced encounters'. I'll turn that back on after a couple more flights, unless I get some action without it. I've got 'regional activity' set to historic, so 1916 might be a little slow.
@Lou: Just make sure you sign it out and drive it yourself. The enlisted men have better things to do with their time.
Last edited by vonBaur; 05/16/21 01:19 AM.
SALUTE TO ALL!
|
|
|
|
CD WOFF
by Britisheh. 03/28/24 08:05 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|