The OFF DiD Standard.

[Siggi]

This is intended for the added enjoyment of those vPilots who choose to make the OFF experience as realistic as it can be. "Realistic experience", in this case, will be my interpretation of it, as I apply that to the standard I created many years ago for RB2-3D, a number of other sims subsequently and a one-year+ online war...DiD (Dead is Dead).

Some of the settings are open to debate. Mostly ones I've had in my own mind. Others may have differing opinions on them, and I'm open to consideration of those, but they will most likely make no way. This is not an expression of contempt, just that experience has shown that 'Rule by Commitee' doesn't work for DiD.

DiD is also not intended to express contempt for those who play the sim by a 'lesser' standard. People play the game in whatever way they like, for whatever reasons they like. And their reasons are entirely valid for their own private purposes. But (BUT), if one wishes to express one's prowess in the public arena (for fun, ego, bragging-rights, light-hearted competitiveness etc) one should rightly be held to a common standard, otherwise the expression has no substantive meaning or value. DiD is intended to provide that standard, to put all those of a like mind on a level playing field as it were.

So...OFF DiD:

Workshop:

Auto Mixture: Users' choice. Not all a/c of this period had a manual control, it doesn't significantly affect the player's ability to kill and with that in mind not all players can or need to be arsed with it. If you choose to enable it you are DiD+, but it's a very tiny weeny little plus.

Auto Rudder: Users' choice. It should be OFF, but maybe you have no pedals and your stick doesn't twist. In fact, with it ON you suffer a disadvantage in combat.

Invincible: OFF.
Unlim Weapons: OFF.
Unlim Fuel: OFF.
Sun Glare: ON.
G-Effects: ON.
A/C Stress: ON.
Force-feedback: Users' choice.
Flight Model: Realistic.
Weapon Effectiveness: Realistic.
Claims: Normal.
Ground Fire: Normal.
Death: Normal (Die Roll).
Main Guns: Normal.

Rear Guns: Wide. The choice here is between ALL gunners having, potentially, preternatural abilities vs ALL gunners having generally average abilities. I've been very nicely plastered under wide, by one to three 2-seater gunners I tried to approach, so it does NOT make 2-seaters a turkey-shoot.

Wind effects: ON.
Weather Mode: Historical.
Weather Dynamics: Dynamic.
Campaign Mission Frequency: Historical.
A/C Spawn Control: OFF Campaign.

Parameter Editor Panel in CFS3 Config (via button in Workshop).

All settings in there are at users' choice EXCEPT:

Targetting Cone: Disabled.
HUD: Disabled.
Simulation Warnings: Disabled.
Time Compression: Disabled.
Advisor Messages: Disabled.
Chat: Disabled.

In-Game Functions:

TAC: Allowed. Rule: It must be switched OFF as soon as a/c spotted on it turn to red, irrespective of whether or not you have visually acquired them. It must not be turned on again until you are 100% sure combat has ceased and you are unlikely to be re-engaged by those same enemy a/c.

Labels: Not allowed.

MAP: Allowed. The game map, real maps and the landscape over which you fly are not sufficiently corrobative of one another to make real navigation more than an unrealistically difficult and hazardous chore.

Auto-Pilot: Allowed. It's a straight & level device, use of it will put you at a disadvantage in fact.

Visual Zoom: Allowed, it's binoculars.

Trim: Allowed. Rule. Only at the very beginning of a flight (on the runway) and not to be touched thereafter. It's use simulates a pilot and his fitters setting up his a/c on the ground to his liking. Fly your a/c in QC, find out how many clicks of each put your plane as you like it, then apply those same clicks to your a/c on the runway in campaign before each flight.

Real Time: All campaign missions must be flown in real time. To do otherwise gives a pilot an unrealistic advantage in terms of fatigue and attentiveness thereof. It also de-values the stock you invest in your character, which itself tends to lead to unrealistic behaviour in combat, which can skew combat-results.

That's it. If I've missed anything please advise.

Oh yes...resurrecting your campaign character: Allowed, but only under the most STRINGENT of circumstances. If your character dies as a result of something OUTSIDE of the game's natural environment (major FPS lock-up/stutter/freeze, kids jumping into your lap, wife/GF clapping you upside of the head, you get the picture...) feel free to make things right. You'll know if you've done a dirty and your achievements will be tainted in your own mind as a result, so don't go there.

That's the DiD standard, open to modification for a very limited time subject to persuasive proposals. But please don't hold your breath (for anyone who gives a hoot). If you wish to be regarded by it you are on your honour to observe it faithfully and may indicate your desire to such end by the inclusion of the acronym "DiD" anywhere you bally well please.

I'll finish with the usual elitist bit..."DiD, sorts the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff, the real vAces from the arcade wannabes!"

[hispeed]

Thanks for posting and well done there.

I think I'm mostly in compliance, gotta check the CFS3 settings, as I'm new to both OFF and CFS3.

Plus, some good info there, as I was trying to get a handle on the trim issue when taking off, b/c my plane always veers to the left during the take off roll, very annoying.

The only thing I would comment on are the ones where you allow latitude to turn settings off and on again according to the stated criteria...when developing something for public consumption, I'd recommend giviing it your best judgement, on or off and clearly state it, otherwise, there will ultimately be heated rhetoric about you did such and such, no i didn't ,yeah you did, etc... :argue:

I found all of it to be roughly in accord with clan standards I've adhered to in diff places, except like I said, just go with on or off, no in-betweeners. :woot:

[Winder]

Oh yes...resurrecting your campaign character: Allowed, but only under the most STRINGENT of circumstances. If your character dies as a result of something OUTSIDE of the game's natural environment (major FPS lock-up/stutter/freeze, kids jumping into your lap, wife/GF clapping you upside of the head, you get the picture...) feel free to make things right. You'll know if you've done a dirty and your achievements will be tainted in your own mind as a result, so don't go there.

I can encrypt the dossier and associated log and claim files and then this will no longer be able to be done - say it and it will be so.....

TBH P3 almost had encrypted dossier files.......


WM

[Siggi]

I can encrypt the dossier and associated log and claim files and then this will no longer be able to be done - say it and it will be so.....

TBH P3 almost had encrypted dossier files.......


WM

I would say a very big no to that. For the reasons outlined above I think a player should have the option to resurrect his pilot under certain circumstances IF he is playing in such a way (real time mainly) that he accrues a significant stock in his character and the loss of it was entirely beyond his control and in no way realistic within the mission environment.

To those who don't care it's not an issue, either way. To those who do, it is. And if they do care that much they will be regulated by their own conscience. I well remember blatantly cheating my own DiD rule in the early days of RB2-3D and it so tainted my character in my own mind that I got no further pleasure from him. Cue flying him vertically into the ground. And that was in private. The thought of obtaining some public measure of regard in similar circumstances seems equally unlikely to me, though there are always grey areas in which an individual will feel justified. Once. Possibly twice. Until it becomes too much for him, unless he is a certified sociopath.

Hispeed, please mention a specific item, I'll clarify.

[Giant2111]

Got to check the guns,.....after that I will be DiD! I use the TAC as an exchange for the map. Known to have problems with the ingame map. I think DiD should rely to guns and flightmodel, cause this is the real skill needed in this sim. Visual aids should be allowed. As far as I know, pilots of that era used binoculears in the pit, to spot the enemy.

Regards

[ZoomZoom]

Great outline Siggi. I fly at these settings already, save two. I do use warping and TAC.

I would argue for allowed use of warping, but I do see a valid point in injecting the realism of fatigue into the mix with denying it. Is this your rationale?

And secondly, I feel the TAC (if by TAC you are refering to the radar with little dots on it for planes in area) makes up for not having Trakir-Ir, which I think may be an unfair advantage over those without it.


Other than these...no sweat!

Often the TAC is more trouble than its worth, as there are usually a bunch of airplanes not in my fight (often off in the distance), that I have to cycle through with the "select next target" button first in order to get to the ones near me!! its cost me a few times!!

Just some suggestions, your DiD is good! Quite challenging.

ZZ.

PS. I didn't even know you COULD ressurrect dead pilots. Youuuu sneeeeaks!!

[Winder]

I would say a very big no to that. For the reasons outlined above I think a player should have the option to resurrect his pilot under certain circumstances IF he is playing in such a way (real time mainly) that he accrues a significant stock in his character and the loss of it was entirely beyond his control and in no way realistic within the mission environment.

To those who don't care it's not an issue, either way. To those who do, it is. And if they do care that much they will be regulated by their own conscience. I well remember blatantly cheating my own DiD rule in the early days of RB2-3D and it so tainted my character in my own mind that I got no further pleasure from him. Cue flying him vertically into the ground. And that was in private. The thought of obtaining some public measure of regard in similar circumstances seems equally unlikely to me, though there are always grey areas in which an individual will feel justified. Once. Possibly twice. Until it becomes too much for him, unless he is a certified sociopath.

Hispeed, please mention a specific item, I'll clarify.

Then alas this whole DiD thing is pointless and it is much as what I felt when I was contemplating encryption during P3 - you see you or I have no control over that 'ressurrect function' and so anyone can rack up impressive scores and hours on..... 120R....

I will still contemplate this carefully as I am convinced that encryption is the only way to make the 17 hour 'ladder' and 'kills' of a player's virtual pilot meaningfull and we have some ideas about this 'ladder' in the future....

No I cannot be swayed.....





WM

[Winder]

Great outline Siggi. I fly at these settings already, save two. I do use warping and TAC.

I would argue for allowed use of warping, but I do see a valid point in injecting the realism of fatigue into the mix with denying it. Is this your rationale?

And secondly, I feel the TAC (if by TAC you are refering to the radar with little dots on it for planes in area) makes up for not having Trakir-Ir, which I think may be an unfair advantage over those without it.


Other than these...no sweat!

Often the TAC is more trouble than its worth, as there are usually a bunch of airplanes not in my fight (often off in the distance), that I have to cycle through with the "select next target" button first in order to get to the ones near me!! its cost me a few times!!

Just some suggestions, your DiD is good! Quite challenging.

ZZ.

PS. I didn't even know you COULD ressurrect dead pilots. Youuuu sneeeeaks!!

Well fortunately he did not say how - but trust me its not so much 'how to' but for 'how long'......muwahahahahaha

Hell I might even allow a 'resurrection' internally in OFF if I encrypt but then it will be known and stated in logs and how many times the pilot was resurrected....




WM

[Siggi]

Then alas this whole DiD thing is pointless and it is much as what I felt when I was contemplating encryption during P3 - you see you or I have no control over that 'ressurrect function' and so anyone can rack up impressive scores and hours on..... 120R....

I will still contemplate this carefully as I am convinced that encryption is the only way to make the 17 hour 'ladder' and 'kills' of a player's virtual pilot meaningfull and we have some ideas about this 'ladder' in the future....

No I cannot be swayed.....





WM

Then encrypt it. Let death by an uncontrollable PC event be the random structural failure of a plane's airframe, or a sudden fire, as happened in reality.

There, encompassed. :ernae:

[Giant2111]

i would vote for "encrypt it" cause it refers most to DiD.

[Winder]

i would vote for "encrypt it" cause it refers most to DiD.

Yes and we will post more on the OFF global 'ladder system' that I want to put in place once we are sorted Updates wise.


WM

[Giant2111]

It is not to immersive, but shall we make a new pilot, according to the forums nick? Or will we be free to choose our pilots name? Giant is not most suitable for a german pilot, eh? Will the ladder work due to screenshots of your logfile? Do any participant of "DiD" set it in his profile, like Siggi did.

[Siggi]

Great outline Siggi. I fly at these settings already, save two. I do use warping and TAC.

I would argue for allowed use of warping, but I do see a valid point in injecting the realism of fatigue into the mix with denying it. Is this your rationale?

And secondly, I feel the TAC (if by TAC you are refering to the radar with little dots on it for planes in area) makes up for not having Trakir-Ir, which I think may be an unfair advantage over those without it.


Other than these...no sweat!

Often the TAC is more trouble than its worth, as there are usually a bunch of airplanes not in my fight (often off in the distance), that I have to cycle through with the "select next target" button first in order to get to the ones near me!! its cost me a few times!!

Just some suggestions, your DiD is good! Quite challenging.

ZZ.

PS. I didn't even know you COULD ressurrect dead pilots. Youuuu sneeeeaks!!

The warping issue isn't just one of fatigue, it also has a direct effect on how you regard/value your character and how you fight him. Both can corrupt your character's achievements in relationship to how others do with theirs.

It also corrupts one's own enjoyment of the sim. I'll offer a simple analogy: Imagine a box of fine chocolates. You scoff them in one sitting. By the fifth or sixth or whatever chocolate you're starting to feel a little sick. By the end of the box you feel quite ill and never really want to see another box. Now imagine eating one or two chocolates a day. You enjoy each to the fullest, and by the end of the box you're looking forward to the next. Delayed gratification.

The chocolates are the combats and the kills, and ultimately the campaign characters. By warping to each one you are scoffing the chocolates.

And when he achieves something it's of little value. And when he dies it's of little concern. The whole experience is cheapened by over-familiarity. And we all know what familiarity breeds.

The TAC is of zero worth in actual combat. The red dot behind you, it could be high, low, chasing another target. Labels, on the other hand, give a huge advantage, for obvious reasons. But both serve to give that initial visual warning that would be present to a real-life pilot following sound observational procedures, something that is lacking on even a very hi-rez PC monitor. Thus they are both allowed under the rules outlined above for their use. A person can cheat of course, but it's on his own conscience and he will know, in his own mind, that his achievement is tainted.

[Winder]

It is not to immersive, but shall we make a new pilot, according to the forums nick? Or will we be free to choose our pilots name? Giant is not most suitable for a german pilot, eh? Will the ladder work due to screenshots of your logfile?

No not screen shots - you will need to send in files - I will not go into too much detail as its still coming up - but hang in there.

Any name you want but only one 'live pilot' at any given time - all the hooks and grabs for this are already built into OFF P3 but not the encryption.

Even the Realism Rating is easily extended to cover ANY setting.

I also know when a pilot has been warping .... ahem.....

WM

[Siggi]

In actual fact, upon reflection, I can see no reason to allow both TAC and labels. They both perform the same function, but one is far more advantageous than the other (labels) and one is far more realistic (TAC).

I'll amend the rules accordingly.

[Giant2111]

Fine, so we will have time to practice **DiD**!

[Siggi]

Keeping a forum diary or journal also adds to the experience. Anything that puts flesh on your character's bones and makes you care more about him adds to the fun.

Conversely it also adds to the pain when he finally succumbs.

[Interlocutor]

Main Guns: Normal

Today in a QC I switched my main guns setting in Workshop from "Normal" to "Tight", and much to my surprise my "Realism Score" went up by 10%, from 90% to 100%.

Is that the way it's supposed to be?

[Dantes]

Winder, I really like the idea of the ladder system with players providing files to see how they fare against others. Encrypting the files would keep the comparisons honest and personally rewarding.

I look forward to seeing the development of this idea.

S!

[Rooster89]

Siggi: Thumbs up on the DiD outlines. Thats exactly how I fly. Au Naturale! I also second Dantes thoughts on the whole ladder thing. This will be fun! As always WM will keep us posted and I cant wait to see how this develops.

-Rooster

[Red-dog]

Great idea , how about doing a patch which would be able to set the settings so every one,s playing with the same ball?

[Siggi]

Got to check the guns,.....after that I will be DiD! I use the TAC as an exchange for the map. Known to have problems with the ingame map. I think DiD should rely to guns and flightmodel, cause this is the real skill needed in this sim. Visual aids should be allowed. As far as I know, pilots of that era used binoculears in the pit, to spot the enemy.

Regards

Thanks Giant, I forgot about the zoom. Added as allowed, constitutes binoculars.

[Siggi]

Great idea , how about doing a patch which would be able to set the settings so every one,s playing with the same ball?

If people adhere to DiD they will be (playing by the same rules). As none of it's verifiable it's down to trust anyway.

[Red-dog]

Siggi i've set up the settings for "DiD" now my realisum is showing 110 is right?

[Siggi]

Siggi i've set up the settings for "DiD" now my realisum is showing 110 is right?

Mine's at 100, so I think you've got auto-mixture set to OFF? 110 is fine though. If you're playing DiD you have OFF about as hard as it can be and still be fairly realistic (fairly as in fair, not rather).