Aether Chronicles: RCAF Last Organized Dogfight

Aether Chronicles: RCAF Last Organized Dogfight


"....Due to the Open Space issues in Second Life, today marks the last of Royal Caledon Air Force's weekly organized dog fights. As I joked today with Zoe Connolly due to my performance in the skies above Lovelace this morning I wouldn't be missing them very much. That of course is not true...."

Read the rest of Aether's essay here: Aether Chronicles: RCAF Last Organized Dogfight

Our Last Scheduled Dogfight is Today....(Dec 28)

This is it. Our last scheduled Air Combat in Second Life...

This doesn't mean that we will not be dogfighting again, this only means we will no longer schedule our dogfights during the week. Pilots are free to use Extropia Defense Force (EDF) or Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF) group chat to arrange 1-on-1 dogfights or even up to 4 fighter pilots depending on sim-load. All of that is up to you now. Experiment, Have Fun, and Chalk Up The Kills ;)

We'll begin a new era of EDF and RCAF with more emphasis on roleplay and your own individual dogfights.

Our last scheduled dogfight....

Sunday 28 December 2008
Any aircraft you wish to fly....
9:00 AM SL time
Location: Lovelace Liberty



Clear Skies with love,

~ Zoe Connolly ~

Our Last Scheduled Dogfights....

Here we are at our last scheduled Air Combat in Second Life...

This doesn't mean that we will not be dogfighting again, this only means we will no longer schedule our dogfights during the week. Pilots are free to use Extropia Defense Force (EDF) or Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF) group chat to arrange 1-on-1 dogfights or even up to 4 fighter pilots depending on sim-load. All of that is up to you now. Experiment, Have Fun, and Chalk Up The Kills ;)

Now on to the weekend schedule....

Saturday 27 December 2008
World War 2 aircraft only per sim rules....
9:00 AM SL Time
Location: Aeronautica

Sunday 28 December 2008
Any aircraft you wish to fly....
9:00 AM SL time
Location: Lovelace Liberty

It's been a great pleasure arranging all this. Some of my best friends in SL are here in these aviation groups. There's something special about pilots ;)

Now we'll begin a new era of EDF and RCAF with more emphasis on roleplay and your own individual dogfights.

I love you guys and gals!

Clear Skies with love,

~ Zoe Connolly ~

The OpenSpace sims of Extropia are gone....

More sad news for aviators in Second Life as 3 more OpenSpace sims disappear from SL and the map of Extropia.

I have many fond and fun memories flying there and chatting with friends. Several of my machinima were captured there and the old sims can be viewed in the background.

I should note that one of the old OS sims was converted to a full-sim and it promises to be a spectacular place, but for those of us in the aviation community, it means there are 3 less places to fly.

Zoe Connolly's Christmas Party

An invitation to all my friends in Second Life, including members of Extropia Defense Force, Girls with Guns, Royal Caledon Air Force, and the Second Life Bloggers.

I'm throwing a Big Band/Swing Party featuring both Christmas and non-holiday tunes from the 30s and 40s as well as "new school" swing from a more recent era ;)

7:00 PM (19:00) SL time Saturday December 13th
Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance

Radio Riel DJ (Sir Lordy Sir) Duke Edward Pearse (RCAF Vice Air Marshal and splendid SL Blogger within the Victorian Steampunk Community) will be spinning the tunes Saturday evening.

EDF/RCAF Air Combat for December 13th and 14th

For the weekend of December 13th and 14th:

Our scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 13th of December at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 14th of December at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

A report from Karl Reisman (thanks for the email Karl)....

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

Text and Photos below by Mifune Thibaud:

Wrapup of AAA's first combat event - Success!
Thank you to everyone who came and participated, moderators/instructors and visitors!

[11-30-08]
Our first event was a big success! We had a respectable turnout of pilots, many of whom stayed all the wayfrom 12:00 - 2:30 SLT! (the event was only intended to be 1hr long, but everyone got very involved in the battles)

For this event we organized team based combat, using VICE. We split the pilots up into two teams, [AAA] for the pilots that would fly out from Aeronautica, and [URI] for those that would fly from the Undinian Rebel Island. We had a best 3 out of 5 competition where our pilots engaged in 3vs3 and 4vs4 combat. Scarlet Flak's URI wound up winning the event that day, but the AAA pilots put up a hell of a fight, with the event going all the way to 5 rounds. It was a good day and everyone had a lot fun.

We will be having another event next week, and we will try something new to keep things fresh. If you missed out on the event today, try to make it to the next event and invite some people!

Our events are always free, and they are not just combat related. Come join us
-Mifune Thibaud



Click the link for more photos and text...

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

EDF/RCAF Dogfights - Our final scheduled weeks

Please read my previous post "RCAF is here to stay."

Our Organized Dogfighting Days will come to a close in January 2009. Come out and celebrate our last few weeks of air combat. We will still engage in one-on-one dogfights and with the growing number of super-villains, our roleplay within Caledon will most certainly increase ;)

The following list is our remaining scheduled dogfights for 2008. Times and locations are subject to change....

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For Sunday November 30th:

Our next dogfight will take place on Sunday the 30th of November at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.



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For the weekend of December 6th and 7th:

Our scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 6th of December at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 6th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 7th of December at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

**********************************************

For the weekend of December 13th and 14th:

Our scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 13th of December at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 13th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 14th of December at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

**********************************************

For the weekend of December 20th and 21th:

Our scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 20th of December at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 20th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 21th of December at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

**********************************************

For the final weekend of scheduled dogfights December 27th and 28th:

Our scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 27th of December at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 27th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our last scheduled dogfight will take place on Sunday the 28th of December at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Please read my previous post "RCAF is here to stay."

A few reminders....

1) We will no longer schedule multi-aircraft air combat (known as dogfight furballs) in SL after the New Year. This is the biggest change in what RCAF does, but please note that the change is only in SCHEDULING MORE THAN TWO AIRCRAFT to dogfight. Let me repeat a keyword in this....Scheduling Scheduling Scheduling...whew!

2) Pilots are always welcome to use group chat to find one another for a dogfight anywhere they wish, so long as it's allowed by the sim owner(s)/manager(s).

3) Air Combat will still be a viable option for the foreseeable future in Aeronautica owned by Mifune Thibaud.

RCAF is here to stay!

Some clarification is in order as rumors seem to spin out of control like a Biplane in a stall ....



The Royal Caledon Air Force is NOT...I repeat....RCAF is NOT leaving Second Life or our beloved Caledon.

We will continue our role among the leaders within SL Aviation and related Caledon roleplay.

RCAF is changing only a few things we do within SL.

1) We will no longer schedule multi-aircraft air combat (known as dogfight furballs) in SL after the New Year. This is the biggest change in what RCAF does, but please note that the change is only in SCHEDULING MORE THAN TWO AIRCRAFT to dogfight. Let me repeat a keyword in this....Scheduling Scheduling Scheduling...whew!

2) Pilots are always welcome to use group chat to find one another for a dogfight anywhere they wish, so long as it's allowed by the sim owner(s)/manager(s).



3) Air Combat will still be a viable option for the foreseeable future in Aeronautica owned by Mifune Thibaud.



4) Hard-Core flight simulator pilots interested in a different air combat experience may join us using IL-2 Sturmovik 1946, but this is NOT a requirement.



5) Many of our pilots are content to roleplay or do scouting missions in balloons or airships, never participating in our weekend dogfights anyway. This is all part of a dynamic and inclusive group as I've always intended. We're not ALL about dogfighting ONLY. We love to do many things within Caledon and SL.

6) When I began RCAF in conjunction with starting Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance, I could only dream of flying the planes I fly now. My previous computer would not allow me the luxury of the flying experience I enjoy today. I made adjustments then.... and I'll make adjustments in the future as my flight experiences decline thanks to the loss of Openspace (VOID) sims. Do I like it? Hell no! But whining and complaining won't do a frakking thing.

7) We will get through this together. We are a creative bunch of pilots and SL residents. I'm sure we'll all take stock in what we have here in SL and what we can do in the future (both within SL and using other platforms). Most things will remain in SL. Only a handful of things will move to other virtual worlds or gaming platforms.

8) As angry and sad as many of us are, Linden Labs will do whatever it does regardless of any of our noisy selves. I agree with Eladrienne. Caledon may change but we WILL survive as a nation. And Caledon WILL have the Royal Caledon Air Force as part of her protection and defense.

9) Whether this Openspace fiasco was a conspiracy or some messy accident, I have little trust in Linden Labs. Perhaps this will change over time.

10) As I've stated before.... my activities in SL are a hobby.... and I can take my money elsewhere if and when the time comes. For now, I remain.... And if I choose to leave SL forever, there are people I trust who will carry on RCAF and my vision for as long as SL remains a viable virtual world.

~ Zoe Connolly, RCAF

RCAF Pilot Briefing - Changes in January 2009

Attention all Royal Caledon Air Force pilots:

I will hold a pilots meeting at the Connolly Aerodrome following Sundays Dogfight (November 16th). All concerned SL residents are welcome to attend.

Reason for the meeting:

Due to upcoming changes to OpenSpace (VOID) Sims, our Organized Dogfighting Days will come to a close in January 2009. Come out and celebrate our last few weeks of multi-aircraft combat in November and December. I plan to capture as much video of our dogfights as possible between now and the end of the year.

We will still engage in one-on-one dogfights -- and with the growing number of super-villains, our roleplay within Caledon will most certainly increase ;)

We will also discuss our plans to use IL-2 as an offGrid air combat game platform for our dogfighting.

Air Combat for November 15th and 16th

Please note: Our Organized Dogfighting Days will come to a close in January 2009. Come out and celebrate our last few weeks of air combat. We will still engage in one-on-one dogfights and with the growing number of super-villains, our roleplay within Caledon will most certainly increase ;)

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 15th of November at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 15th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 16th of November at 9 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Air Combat for November 8th and 9th

Please note: Our Dogfighting Days will come to a close in January 2009. Come out and celebrate our last few weeks of air combat.

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 8th of November at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 8th at 6:00 PM (18:00) SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 9th of November at 9 AM SL time will use the VICE Combat System, Location: Aeronautica Sea Base.

Dogfights Past (Part 2)

Catching up on some air combat photographs from earlier this month....

Air Combat for Weekend of October 25th and 26th

Please note: This weekend we expand from 2 scheduled dogfights to 3. Two TCS dogfights on Saturdays and 1 VICE Dogfight on Sunday morning.

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 25th of October at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the 25th at 10 PM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

Our dogfight on Sunday the 26th of October at 9 AM SL time will use the VICE Combat System, Location: Aeronautica Sea Base.

Mifune Thibaud's response to my VICE vs TCS post

The following is a comment from Mifune Thibaud in response to my TCS vs VICE (conclusions from recent engagements) post of October 19th.

I'm happy to present his thoughtful response and wish to make very clear to him and my readers that I am very supportive of VICE as a combat system. I believe it's the best and most dynamic system in Second Life. I will continue to use it personally and with others who also enjoy a more realistic inworld battle experience.

VICE combat will continue to be scheduled for my aviation groups, although less often than our TCS dogfight furballs that most of our more casual pilots are accustomed.

Mifune writes....

"VICE is a more realistic, free combat system that uses real bullets and gives builders many many options in the way they engage in combat (numerous types of units: infantry, air, sea, land, various armors, weapons, and bombs) and the freedom to choose the way their scripted object reacts to damage, being destroyed, etc...multitudes of possibilities in configuring it. It is vastly different from TCS and CCC which are sensor based combat systems, with a single type of damage model, limited to virtually only planes, and have an instant-hit cone/area of 23.5 x 23.5 @ 80m. TCS/CCC are better suited for very casual SL users and for sims that have 'no build'. VICE includes TCS/CCC compatibility for those areas.

The scripter's level of knowledge for thorough implementation and installation only requires that the scripter know how link messages (sending and receiving) work. We even include many working examples of various vehicles and weapons for people to dissect and learn from.

We are constantly updating the system and improving documentation to make it easier and in understandable in layman's terms. We are available and online to give advice and support on how to implement certain functions.

I don't want to sound like an elitist, but people who are selling scripted objects should obligate themselves to understand, to an extent, how the scripts in their very own products work. VICE doesnt use any new technology for configuration and installation, it simply uses link messages.

Zoe, I personally feel that this blog post might be giving the wrong impression to your readers; from the title "VICE vs TCS" and statements and wording such as "frustration", "issues", and "difficulty" it makes it seem like VICE is a flawed system, where it really is not. TCS and CCC have not been updated since late 2006, support and configurability...very limited.

VICE is a combat system that we are developing for free. It expands and pushes SL's technological boundaries, and we are hoping will change people's perceptions of what is possible in SL. It is freeing combat from being exclusive to only planes, only boats, or only infantry, and allowing all of these units to intermingle.

This kind of technology and technological advancement in SL should be promoted, especially by bloggers who are heavily involved in the SL community...builders and scripters should be encouraged to push their own limits and understanding of things in SL. Rather than encouraging them to be content with the status quo, with no explanation of what exactly the issues were, or seeking to clear up any misconceptions and educate people on an issue, open discussion and suggestions should be made and questions asked to see how it can be made to fit for your group.

With that said, I do believe RCAF would be better off staying with TCS, as one of the users mentioned that the majority of RCAF members are very casual users, and making things "easier to hit" is actually a plus, since most of their time is spent doing RP and not combat.

If anyone has questions about VICE, feel free to IM me inworld."

-Mifune Thibaud

Maximize Second Life Settings for Flight

This video illustrates the Second Life Client Graphics settings I use for better flight across sims. These settings lower graphics detail and increase draw-distance. I also recommend using the heads-up mini-map.

As in RL flying, you need as much visual information as possible while navigating in 3 dimensions.

Please note: Depending on your computer and graphics card, your mileage may vary.

TCS vs VICE (conclusions from recent engagements)

I schedule regular weekend air combat for pilots of the Extropia Defense Force and Royal Caledon Air Force. For several months we've tried both TCS and VICE Combat systems in a few sims.

We gave VICE Combat System a shot in our weekend dogfights, but next week (October 25th and 26th) we'll return to TCS as our primary combat system.

Individual pilots can always enjoy a 1-on-1 dogfight using VICE combat system, but our regular weekend air combat furball will use TCS.

A few thoughts....

As stated in the original RCAF mission statement on the CaledonWiki, EDF and RCAF as groups are all about flying and having fun. The EDF sister-group follows the same course as RCAF. Official motto: Altitude with Attitude. Unofficial motto: FSFP (Flying, Shooting, Fencing, Partying).

Recently, I've noticed a decline in participation among my regular pilots after using VICE. I understand their frustrations with VICE and will respond accordingly.

I've heard frustrations from builders on converting their aircraft to VICE. It takes alot of tweaking to make it all work. I greatly admire builders and scripters and respect their expertise and opinions.

As I stated before, individual pilots can always enjoy a 1-on-1 dogfight using VICE combat system if they require a more realistic air combat experience, but our regular weekend EDF/RCAF official air combat furball will use TCS.

Machinima from the EDF/RCAF Dogfight of October 5th 2008

EDF/RCAF Dogfight of October 5th 2008. Pilots of the Extropia Defense Force and Royal Caledon Air Force engage in Air Combat exercises in Extropia.

Pre-Production, Camera, and Video Capture by Zoe Connolly.

Post-Production by Phineas Messmer

Air Combat for Weekend of October 18th and 19th

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 18th of October at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 19th of October at 9 AM SL time.

Combat System: VICE

Location: Aeronautica Sea Base.

Dogfights Past

While looking through the most recent Air Combat photographs from Sunday October 12th, I realized I had totally spaced and forgotten these from a September VICE Combat dogfight....