it's a tough transition from brass to wind even though I haven't played in years. I'm getting there though
Hey guys, since WOTR doesn't get a lot of attention online, I'd love to spread the word a bit.
I started flight sims around three years ago and Wings over the Reich has been a mainstay on my hard drive for over two years at this point.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with WOTR, it's a single player Combat sim placed in the Battle of Britain with the first expansion adding the early defence of France before the battle transitions to the channel.
The developers are OBD Software, a tiny studio of two extremely dedicated enthusiasts. They started out with their WWI sim 'Wings over Flanders Flields' which is much better known around the community. Also take a good look at WOFF if the old kites are your thing. The variety in flyable aircraft and mission types along with the mindblowing attention to detail, amazing AI and campaign system absolutely make it one of the great sims out there. And I haven't even mentioned the damage model.
It all started out as a mod for Microsoft Combat Simulator 3 and just kept growing and growing. Today WOFF and WOTR offer hands down the best single player combat AI I have ever experienced, and dynamic campaigns which can absolutely compete if not surpass Falcon BMS in terms of fidelity.
Given the dated underlying tech both titles are of course graphically dated, and the flight model can feel stiff at times. Those points are more than made up by the realism and immersion though.
AI pilots all act independently of each other and will use period correct manouvers and tactics in different match ups. They will get tired by manouvers, G-Loads and fighting, take a hit to their morale seeing a friendly go up in flames and maybe start to mess up and react erraticly. Sometimes they will fail to spot a friendly in a tight situation and cause a collision. They will make decisions to increase their chances of survival, keeping track of damages, fuel capacity, ammo stores and morale and will dip in a fight if they are in danger. All of those factors come in to play to various degrees, depending on each pilot's skill and experience.
The campaign is very similar to BMS. All flights on the map are dynamically created and follow their own mission, no enemy spawns to accomodate the player. All squadrons are placed on their historically correct bases in the correct periods and squadrons will participate in the type of missions historically assigned to them at a given point in time. Disrupting supply lines will make a difference in enemy restock and repair times.
Each mission genuinely feels different than the last.
I will be honest, the selection of flyable aircraft in WOTR is very limited. You get the Hurricane MK I late, Spitfire MK Ia, MK Ib early, MK Ib and MK IIa, Curtiss H75-A for the french and the BF109 E3 and E4 on the german side.
Personally that doesn't bother me and seeing that there are over 80 flyable aircraft in WOFF it's clear that OBD has the potential for so much more.
I think this is a funding issue more than anything, another reason why I'm trying to drum up support for these lovely titles.
Currently both titles don't offer VR support, but very nice headtracking implementation. I know this is controversial, and VR is great but without the proper funding it's not feasable to achieve for such a small studio.
Do us single player nerds a favour and check them out and take a look at the Features pages. There is so much to love about these sims which I haven't even mentioned yet.
https://wingsoverthereich.com/
https://overflandersfields.com/
The titles really aren't expensive, especially considering the variety offered and the work these guys put in.
In closing a quick thanks to both Marks primarily developing those beasts. You guys absolutely rock and please, take your sundays off. My E-Mail to support isn't that important ;)
And no, I'm not affiliated with OBD Software. Just a big fan who is sad to see the titles not getting the love they deserve so much