ARM505

If I had to have a plane in my hangar to throw around the sky over weekends, I know what it would be... (Clue: NOT an F22 ;) )

Having just got GRAW (a frustrating game if ever there was one) I read some tweak guides since I couldn't get anti-aliasing to work (turns out it doesn't, and never will in GRAW). In one of them they mentioned that frame rates would actually DROP with the physics card! The theory went something like this: More pieces of debris etc would be allowed and calculated for, BUT these objects would then have to be displayed: therefore extra work load for the gfx card! Doh! And it's not like GRAW isn't a crushing system hog as it is - it's harder to get playable fps in that than in Lock On! All it seems to do is relieve the CPU of some newtonian physics type calculations - I'm not really sure how much a flight sim could make use of it, unless you want to blow up buildings brick by brick. But what developer is going to code that level of detail?

The pics of the F15 in the air are from a documentary on the incident - it was on the History channel. They are obviously edited as a recreation of the incident. There are no inflight photo's of that incident that I am aware of.

Imagine a gun that fires a millions rounds a minute...... Now imagine how long it's ammo lasts....doh! Reload!

Sims, and the real world can run into problematic differences here. The thrust output of an idling turbine may be small in relation to it's maximum thrust, but it can't be dismissed during ground operations. I can't speak for fighters, having never flown one, but most airliners will maintain a taxi speed at idle, after having 'breakaway' thrust applied to get them rolling. Logically, fighters would be even more prone to moving at idle thrust, given the higher thrust to weight ratio (even at idle, relatively speaking). Where sims and the real world often differ, is the amount of 'breakaway' thrust required. In sims, the ground is a perfectly flat plane, with none of the ripples and bumps found on normal aprons. Tyres are usually modelled only in a simple form, and hence one finds that sims have to make simplifications that manifest themselves in situations like taxiing, and some slow speed or odd flight conditions. MSFS2004 has often gotten a pasting for the odd and unrealistic results of thing like these. Witness how proud some people get when the flight model of their B7XX actually performs the same as the real one, ie requires a certain amount of thrust to get moving, but then keeps rolling nicely at idle thrust.

I still think LO's explosions are better than IL2's. IL2's seem more like 'movie' explosions (lots of fire) whereas LO's are blacker, with a rolling sort of mushroom cloud (the ground ones at least) - they tie in with what I have seen IRL. But thats just my opinion. I've seen people complain about LO's explosions, I've always wondered why - I thought it had the best explosions of all the sims I've used! Just shows you the varied opinions one gets... Plus, I would imagine LO's simulation of the electronic world, with it's associated LOS calculations etc make the behind the scenes work more demanding. Still, IL2 does seem more efficient gfx wise somehow.

Maybe the Su25T's airbrakes are like the 737's - lots of rumbling, but not much else. At least at approach speeds!

You do realise that we now all know you have the script for Topgun somewhere on your HDD? Dont deny it! {shakes head}... :) :)

I'm still looking for one that does 'whiny compressor noises' + wind (with no jet noise) inside ONLY, and thundery turbojet outside ONLY. I don't think LO can do this though, since it blends the inside and outside sounds, it seems.

Now that I run that ejection sim, it's great! Thanks FF, brilliant watching the different seats go off, and nice to see it looking realistic for a change!

From F4, to LO, and even the WWII sims such as IL2, bailing out/ejection has always been modelled very badly (or worse). IL2 has the 'fall through the plane' trick, F4 and LO have the 'instant open and stop' canopy etc etc. Thats apart from the dismal seat systems modelling etc etc. I've whined, but hey! It's a pity, since I tend to do so much of it! (Ejecting that is, not whining! ) Nice link FF, interesting.

Well, it's an improvement on Battlefield 2, where you can 'fly' (I use the term loosely) from one end of the map to the other in 15 SECONDS!

Ahhhh, the successor to the legendary Operation Flashpoint.....beautiful.

Just reading Yeagers autobiography, I think he mentions that it did have a conventional elevator, but with an all moving horizontal stabilizer actuated for trim functions. They discovered that approaching the sound barrier, when shockwaves started to form over the surfaces just prior to breaking the barrier, only the trim (therefore the movable stab) remained effective. It was then modded to allow the whole stab to move with with primary flight controls. Something like that. Supersonice shockwaves start to form just before the sound barrier as airflow is accelerated over the surfaces of the aircraft, and airflow behind the shockwave is unable to be used for control as easily (VERY generalised, and I'm on VERY shaky ground here, passed my subjects a long time ago, and it's not like I use supersonic theory too much in a 737!) I await the forthcoming corrections :)

I wonder how long the cabling for what must be temperature sensors or strain gauges lasted? Looks like it's on fire now!

Does anybody know from what version of LO this graph was made?

It's true that the maintenance/engineering personnel will have a more intimate knowledge of what actually happens under the hood. For example, I am aware of what happens in the airconditioning packs on a B737, and the theory behind it, as well as the general layout (from schematics) and the appearance of the equipment installed in the aircraft - but obviously the people who actually work on it will be aware of the nitty-gritty details. There's absolutely no way a line pilot will be able to top an experienced techy for detailed systems knowledge, but then again there's no way he'd need to either - you do what the QRH says, and thats pretty much it. Obviously depth of knowledge and experience helps, but there's only so much you can do or need to know when working from the cockpit - thats just the way it is. I remember reading an article by a B744 line Captain. He said when the time came for checkrides, the got the maintenance engineers to quiz them out about systems for part of the test - he said to not even bother to try and show how clever you were to these guys since they could have built a B744 from parts - just show them you were competent and knew what you needed to know! Likewise, pilots will have the needed grasp of aerodynamic principles, including transonic theory for high speed flight etc, but they won't (in general) give a proffesional aerodynamicist or aeronautical engineer a run for his/her money either! It's just a question of knowing what is necessary for your particular role. Operating any modern aircraft is a very complex and highly team orientated operation in my opinion, with highly specialised individuals working together.

Is it just me, or did the music from that video TOTALLY sound like some of the music from the utterly classic game Starcon2?????? Spathi, Ur-quan, Umgah, Arilou etc etc...Showing my age here....

I installed Archers sound mod, which I thought was nice. However, his 'cockpitsystems.wav' is waaay to loud for me, and also has jet noise thrown into the mix. This sound cannot be lowered without turning all the other sounds off too, and results in a thundery cockpit, which is not realistic IMHO. So I reverted to the original cockpitsystems.ogg, which is smooth and quiet. I also could not achieve a realistic balance between effects/engine noise and cannon noises heard from inside the plane - ie I don't want to hear loud explosions/engine noise from enemy planes exploding nearby, but I DO want to hear my own cannon, which would vibrate through the whole airframe. So now I have a 'silenced' cannon, from inside the cockpit! I also reverted to the original 'planewind.ogg' since Archer's wind noise is actually jet noise. It sounds excellent in external view, but then results in that same 'ripping' turbojet noise in cockpit, which is very unrealistic in my opinion.

So is the solution to this problem solved on a 'per user' basis? Is there no patch or something that anybody can dl to cure the problem, or must everyone affected contact starforce to solve it? Thanks!

*cough* Fire extinguishers *cough*.... (sorry, my pet Su25 hate!)

No. You would need to get out, then climb into the MiG29 parked next to it first.... ;)

As Nate has mentioned, I would say it's the visibility range - I had exactly the same thing when I changed 'Near Clipping' from 0.2 to 4 (medium to low) using Modman, under the gfx config advanced settings. Make sure this is set to medium or high (they both give 0.2), and problem sorted.

Ok, I must apologise for the post here then. Any Admins, please feel free to move it. I forgot to include that I have already tried what you suggested - the only difference that makes is in how long it takes AFTER having been dropped until dumping me back to the debrief screen. And I would be inclined to say it isn't the modem/router at fault, since I can host with no problems, as well as play IL2, BF2 etc online without a hitch. Thanks anyway.

Hi all, I have an odd problem when connecting to one of the guys who hosts down here. Nine out of ten times I am dropped after about 45 seconds to one minute. My aircraft will just disappear from his perspective. I can continue to fly for a little while (it varies depending on the timeout settings under network/config.lua), but all the other aircraft will just proceed along their last vector, and I am then returned to the debrief screen. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Why am I able to *sometimes* connect? My pings are in the 100 region, and very stable - we've had several other guys join, all with no problems at all. Why am I the only one who gets dropped the whole time? One guy even has very erratic pings, sometimes in the 1000's! Yet he stays connected. And why am I always kicked at such a specific time (I'm guessing about 45s to 1 min, I haven't timed it)? If I make it for longer than that, then I'm in with no problems. Please tell me somebody has some ideas! I'm using a 192kbps ADSL connection. Port 10308 has been opened for my machine, both TCP and UDP (not that it needs it for me to join as a client). When I host, this guy can join my machine with no problems, and he of course stays connected. I have also allowed Lock on as an exception in windows firewall, and opened port 10308 TCP and UDP, again, not that it was necessary, but I did it while trying to solve the problem. No joy. Help!