Noon416 (OFPEC)

#2 looks like a good choice to me

MarcusJClifford, The Kiowa Pack (v1.1) has been re-uploaded to the OFPEC Addon Depot and is now a working ZIP archive again. Enjoy

I'll look to reuploading the Kiowa (I have it stored away somewhere) as we hadn't realised it was a corrupt archive. Will sort it out later today.

Mirrored @ OFPEC now as well. BAS Delta/Rangers 1.55 Patch BAS Delta/Rangers 1.55 Full

Name: Total Annihilation Platform: PC Game type: SP Skirmish vs CPU # of hours: 51 hours (essential food & loo runs excluded). 5pm Friday to 7pm Sunday Explanation: Very, *very* bored one weekend and stuck on base, so I just played and played and played. Ended up only being a 3 matches across a custom 40x40 map (which for those that know, are stupidly huge and take hours upon hours to conquer). Would I do it again now? Not if my wife has anything to do with it.

remcen, OFPEC welcomes all tutorials, we don't discriminate on what's submitted and we certainly don't try to snub or ignore anyone trying to. I can't see your Tutorial in the Editors Depot pending or main content. Have you submitted it? If not, feel free to try again or simply email me (Noon416@hotmail.com) the tutorial & relevant details and I'll drop it in there for you. Regarding the topic at hand... From Pathy Respect is earned, not a right. Trying to force someone to give you respect only achieves the opposite effect, you end up being seen as egotistical. I'll tell you what this all looks like to me: What I see is a few addonmakers seemingly in fear that with this tool, those learning model-making might not come to them for help as much, and hence the addonmaker's  status might reduce in the community. From TJ Pffft, thats a bit naive isn't it?If addonmaking is *never* done for admiration and prestige, then the only other logical reason is that its done to better the game and community. So if you go with that reasoning, whats wrong with sharing with the community? Why should someone have to spend a week or two trying to get hold of one MLOD when they're simply learning and want to test a theory/method ingame to do with that model? As I've stated, if someone plans to edit for release, then yes, permission *is required*. No two ways about it. But when a person is at the learning stage, why should they have to go through the rigmarole of the above? Wouldn't that be a case of you hindering the community simply because you demand respect?

"The sky is falling, the sky is falling! We're all doomed!" :rolls eyes: Come on people, how about we all grow up and realise *nothing* has changed, and nothing will. Just like last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, ad nauseam... As denoir so pointedly stated, we went through this with O2, and I would have thought people would have learned from that time. I've seen many addonmakers today state (directly or implied) "I used tools like this in the beginning to crack open models and that was fine to learn ... but new addonmakers shouldn't be allowed to do the same, they *have to ask me* first". Its good to see those addonmakers still aspiring to such community-focussed ideals. And they wonder why they get backlash from the community in general, seems pretty damned obvious to me. Thankfully, the majority of our community see this all for what it is ... "A storm in a teacup".

As much as I was looking forward to the licence stating ownership and IP of models made stays with BIS, the licence does actually state that the IP for the models and such belongs to the author... The licence (put very basically) says, "We own Oxygen and you can't change it, but we let you retain your normal IP rights for models you create with it" So if you modified one of BIS's models, as far as I can tell you don't get to claim IP rights, but if you make a model from scratch in Oxygen, normal IP rights apply to the author. That still doesn't change my stance , but I thought I'd clear that up for ya.

What I find amusing is that it seems that certain Addon Makers are under the impression that: 1) The moment they release unencrypted addons, there's going to be a massive and overwhelming flood of theft and ripping of addons, and; 2) That they think this method is genuinely secure from being cracked open. *chuckles* Building on point 1: I could swear that before you had the option to encrypt the addons, things were pretty damned quiet in regards to addon theft, in that its was practically non-existant in our community. So if there wasn't a problem before, where is this "Siege mentality" coming from? Common sense & the history of our community dictates that nothing for Addon Makers will change if people can access your addons. Except that you might draw less animosity for what appears (based on what I state above) to be a completely pointless move. Clarifying point 2: Have any of you thought about the historical precedents in our community? "Necessity is the mother of invention" - Demo addons were locked away, they got cracked/opened. - CWC addons were locked away, they got cracked/opened. - RES Â addons were locked away, they got cracked/opened. - This new locking method ... it will get cracked/opened (hell, it already has been). So all this locking business seems to be good only for one thing ... Bad community PR. I know what I would do if I was an Addon maker... ;) edit: removed too general a reference

Just to clarify for the people suffering slow speeds @ OFPEC: The problem is with some of our ISP's backbones, not OFPEC itself. If you get one of the good backbones, you join the people doing 10, 20, 30+KB/s. But if come in thru one of the slower backbones, thats when you end up with the problems being reported. So again, this is not a capacity issue with OFPEC, we have plenty to spare. ... And now, back to the Pavehawks.

I wonder if anyone's considered that BIS might simply be looking to ... a) migrate away from www.flashpoint1985.com (which is only relevant to OFP1) b) centralise all their OFP & VBS sites into one easy location ... all to modernise their site & URL for when OFP2 comes out, and VBS2 comes into fruition? Or am I not being conspiratorial enough for you all?

I agree with Dinger, and would add: Given the age of the game now, why don't we all just be appreciative of the page we got. Wouldn't want to be seen as an ungrateful community now, would we...

Hey all, OFPEC has finally returned to the land of the living! So feel free to make a join the mad-rush to our doors and re-acquaint yourselves with services that we once again offer the community. www.ofpec.com

We're well aware of the situation in the Addon Ideas board, and its by no means what we'd call a spam and/or flame fest, let alone even relevant to this topic. So given that your statement is untrue and damaging, I expect to hear nothing more regarding it. And how about talking to us first, instead of criticising your fellow staffer's behind their backs.

Alrighty, Shadow: Yes, the BI Forums have definitely changed for the better since the last time I spent any decent time here (about 10-11 months ago). Obviously, measures put in place are working. Next, the sticker/banner reply: This won't work. Why? Because flamer's love nothing than to get any rise from their target. Posting any 'angry' pic in answer to a flame is only going to encourage a nasty pic in return or continued misbehaviour. So what to do about the problem? Quite simply, each addon-maker/mod-team has to deal with it in their own way. Its not going to be as easy as the community simply saying "Flaming is bad, m'kay!". Flamer's know the rules but ignore them. They know what they're typing will be offensive. That sort of mentality doesn't conform even in the face of community solidarity. That's the way it always has been on the 'net, and that's the way it always will be (increasingly so in this day and age). Look at the various communities past... What I would suggest for a team that is as well-known as BAS, is that they invest in a forum of their own or at least find someone willing to host a BAS board, where BAS staff can: 1. Attract 99% of conversation about their addons into a domain under their control 2. Take a hard line on flaming, etc 3. Impose effective punishment 4. And never have to lower themselves to the flamer's level The example I would use (obviously) would be OFPEC. OFPEC has maintained our 'friendly, helpful & polite atmosphere' because: 1. We impose an effective level of punishment 2. We only allow 1 to 2 transgressions maximum. More than that, and you're gone. No second chance, no redress. 3. We come down hard on anyone trying to breach bans, etc Due to this hard line, anyone causing trouble has flamed once but after being threatened with complete removal from the site, have decided either decided that good behaviour is the best bet, or have pushed their luck and been removed. Either way, the goal is achieved and the majority enjoy the benefits. This hard-line method has been proven historically over the years to be what keeps OFPEC as it is now: focussed, freindly and polite. Even those that continually try to work around the bans and flame some more eventually get bored with having their posts removed everytime and their accounts banned. Persistence & self-determination is what wins in the end. Plain and simple. Whether its persistently ignoring, persistently explaining or persistently banning, you simply have to have thicker skin. Easy for me to say, indeed. But true? Historically, very much so. Oh, and one last thought. Without the sites & staff to host addons, and to spread the news about them or offering the knowledge to make them, and how to enhance OFP, would there be a community as well? Just offering the thought that maybe we should change these "solidarity pictures" to say "Thanks to the mission makers, addon makers, OFP enhancers, advisors, news gatherers, addon reviewers, mission reviewers, forum moderators, admins, site hosters, OFP help sites, etc etc etc .... YOU keep OFP alive". And before anyone bites my head off, this is merely to put this whole situation in perspective. I see everyone heaping praise on the addon makers as if they're all about to up and leave. They're not. What about everyone else that makes this community? We certainly get our fair share of "fan mail" and unwelcome public comments. To answer DM's first post: The truth is, all areas of OFP are well respected by the majority, and the majority are well respected by the people I've listed above. Together, we all make the OFP community what it is, and collectively we all have a lot of respect for everyone else. The lack of respect is only a small but vocal minority. A way to deal with it, I offer above. Just bear in mind that we all do it for the *majority*, not the minority who can't appreciate what it is that this community provides to each other. PS: DeadMeat Im sorry? A spam & flame-infested board? Hardly! We're not a home for either spam-fests or flame-fests, and you, as a staff member of OFPEC, know better. Don't post false & disparaging comments like that again, even in "the heat of a discussion".

Its a problem that involves your SoundBlaster Live! Card, Windows XP and OFP. Had exactly the same problem before I got rid of the SBLive card. I can't find the article that helped but it relates to your Hardware acceleration settings. Jump into the "Sound and Audio Devices" Control Panel, then under Speaker Settings, click Advanced. Click the Performance Tab. Here, you'll find your Hardware Acceleration setting. Drop it one notch at a time until you find the setting where the crashing stops. Hope this helps.

Shock horror! All these posts and only a couple of brief mentions about concept-5/OFPEC. I remember joining the OFP Community thru OFPEC back in Nov 2001, and watching OFPEC grow thru incarnations from a basic editing site, to a hoster of addons/missions, to the uptake of the TAG system by BIS, to the site it is today ... obviously excluding our soon to be resolved downtime. Maybe one of the really old grandad's can enlighten us on concept-5's basic history.

Just to clarify, I'm ex-AirForce myself (7 years). I left with the flood of resignations that occurred when the Combat Wing was disbanded. And yep, 8 years to train pilots up to a minimum but acceptable level. But it's estimated it will take at least 20 years to get back the vast pool of experience that we had prior to that decision. At least Australia and Britain are smiling about the skilled pilots they picked up from us. In a sense, this Labour party has only continued what both Labour and National have been doing for years anyway. The difference is merely that what National (which never delivered on major purchase promises, only minor ones) did in 10-12 years, Labour did in 2 (both times in Parliament, early 80's and now) So by that logic, Helen isn't directly to blame, but she hasn't done herself any favours politically nor has she done this country a service with her decisions. And being the "head of our nation" and leader of the Labour party, its understandable that people look to her to accost blame. RE: Welfare The biggest problem we have here in NZ with welfare is that we're too generous with it (sounds silly, I know, but keep reading ). at the expense of education, health and law enforcement. Because we're too generous with it, we create a large group of unproductive people that have no incentive to work because they can comfortably live off the benefit while not contributing to society and hence aren't paying the taxes that are needed to fund the economy/govt budget. So due to gutless political decisions, we're very slowly heading to the point where there will be too many beneficiaries and not enough taxpayers. And because the welfare budget gets bigger each year and takes more money from other critical areas, it has become a leading contributor to major deficiencies in education, health and law enforcement, the first area of which is needed to help create workers, and the second area to keep them healthy, and the third to keep them safe. Its a vicious circle that no political party will ever have the courage to solve, and I dread to think how it will unfold when it becomes completely unmanageable. *Wonders how he managed to get off-topic in an off-topic forum*

RE: Retiring ALL combat aircraft ... We have to fund our bloated Welfare systems and "Treaty Industry" somehow, and guess one of the places that the Govt can take money from without having to ask? Yep, the Military. That, and Helen Clark still states her belief that we live in a "benign strategic environment"

There are currently numerous & large flaws in the govt decision to buy 105 LAV-III's... 1. We don't need 105 LAV's to support two understrength Battalions. 2. We're purchasing the LAV's .... with no spares of any type. And I'm deadly serious when I say it. We're not buying spare parts with the LAV's at all. 3. The Army is having difficulties recruiting and training enough personnel to drive and maintain that number of LAV's. 4. We don't have any sea or air heavylift ability to move them out of the country (or even just across the Cook Strait!) 5. LAV's are wheeled vehicles designed around European/American terrain. Its been shown that in NZ/Asian environments, wheeled vehicles are at a very large disadvantage in our envronment verses tracked vehicles. The only reason to buy wheeled vehicles is the running cost per kilometre is less than tracked. 6. The money could be better spent elsewhere. We currently have no air-defence capability so the LAV's become great big sitting ducks (OK, we've got 2-3 deployable Mistral MANPADS systems, but they're a drop of water in a desert), we have no airstrike capability, our maritime reconnaisence is at a disadvantage through old equipment, etc, etc ad nauseam. I could go on for hours, but I won't bore you any further. Lets just say this Kiwi is a little jaded about the govt's military spending priorities... ;)