Revvin

I thought the CFS series had been shelved though?

I wish MS would add the capability to add bullets, bombs and missiles etc so that we could have air combat add-ons

Happy New Year!

No matter how you mod it that sim is dated and not very complex.

Thats its exactly, it's the same old quote of "graphics aren't everything" trotted out again and again as new sims come out and the genre moves forward. It's the same in the WWII sim genre as it is in the jet sim genre. Graphics go a hell of a long way to increasing the immersion. Too many 'accountants of the skies' out there who prefer pressing buttons and clicking switches in their cockpit to worry about actually flying or looking up from their MFD's to look at the outside world.

The Ka-50 will be released in another add-on pack, search the forums for references to 'Black Shark' for more information. The cockpit for that aircraft looks to be one of the most detailed seen in a combat sim yet and works with the TrackIR and is clickable (i.e you can move your mouse and click on a button in the cockpit) Personalyl I'm not that bothered about the clickable ability of the cockpit but understand its a big deal to others <shrug> I have Falcon 4, and Falcon 4:AF and prefer to play Lock On: Flaming Cliffs. I like the feeling of flight better and the graphics are more immersive. It would be great to have a dynamic campaign but I never found the Falcon 4 as enthralling as some would have you believe. The poor TrackIR implementation in Falcon 4:AF was also a big turn off for me. Just my take on the subject anyway <S>

I'm sure 531_Ghost said something a while back to me about using rudder springs in his Fighterstick, at least I think it was 531_Ghost. I did like the spring strength in the Cougar and wondered if I'd like the lighter springs on the CH gear when I first switched but now I prefer the lighter springs for a smoother flight and a little better gunnery as I'm not fighting the spring tension just the planes around me (though a mod to make them stick to my gunsight would be nice!)

Ulf is a grown man and has his own opinions and nobody will change those but he joined the forums and agreed to the same principles that every other member who has joined. Ulf has posted a very helpful beginners guide to CMS which has been welcomed by those who have read it, the CH Hangar site is frequented by many experienced CH users who are happy to help others and despite being new to CH controllers himself Ulf has also taken the time to try and help others as he learns himself which is appreciated. Whatever problems there are between James Hallows and Ulf are for them to sort out between themselves. Swingkid> I don't speak for CH but I think the issues seen with the Cougar would say it's a risky move with very little benefit to create a metal stick especially when CH's sticks are already well known for their durabilty. With their 25 year history of making industrial grade control's I would'nt expect anything less from them. BTW if you'd like to see a replica F18/F15 stick/throttle then there is a poll on the CH Hangar web-site that mirrors one asked in the forums by Michael from CH Products. The poll requires no registration so for a few mouse clicks you can register your interest.

I don't believe he was defending CH, no need. I believe he was defending the implied prejudice by you a few posts ago.

I'd go with a HOTAS first then TrackIR, you need all the buttons and axis you can lay your hands on with sims such as Lock On or Falcon 4. TrackIR is a massive immersion booster IMO but not as necessary as a good HOTAS of which I'd recommend CH Products.

LOL who needs potentiometers or HALL sensors when you have leaf switches!

That's a bit of an oudated notion, the German transator of the Cougar manual 'DonUlfonso' who also has gone pretty deep into the Cougar's programming had this to say after recently trying out a CH HOTAS: No need for logical flags when you have CH's CMS scripting ;)

If it did'nt cost so much to design and create a new stick I'm sure we would have a stick for every occassion :) This questio was raised by CH Products staff in the CH Hangar forums so they are interested in your input, the poll on the front page allows those who don't want to sign up to the forums the chance to vote and add their two cents.

F18 style stick for me please :cool:

You really want to see Lock On go through the same troubled histroy as Falcon did? your view on Falcon 4 seems a little revisionist. As britgliderpilot says the source code only became available when Microprose/Hasbro went bust and it was'nt simply released which makes it sound as if it was done in a controlled manner it was leaked. Move on a year or two and then we had half a dozen different groups all hacking the source code to pieces to improve it, and they did but then Falcon 4 was horribly unstable and buggy anyway so they could only really improve on it. Various 'factions' grew around each mod group because generally speaking each mod was incompatible with the others so the community became splintered and in fighting began over whose mod was the best way forward to Falcon. Eagle Dynamics are still around and still developing their code just as well as Mr Carmack and that is evident if you've played the Falnker series from the beginnign to what we have now. Each new sim has been an evolution over the last. Let Eagle Dynamics control their own product, I don't want to see someone's hack job.

I've owned Saitek, Thrustmaster and Microsoft sticks but they are not in the same league as my current CH Products USB gear in my opinion. In two years this rig has not let me down once and all the buttons and axis feel just as they did the day I took them out of the box. CH Products has a 25 year history making industrial and aviation controls so I guess it's no surprise their kit is so durable and reliable. It costs a bit more than some other brands but in my opinion it's worth it as they are a long term investment.

CH Products has released Control Manager v4.0, it has a new install package which now includes the Control Manager Utility Pack which was previously released as a separate download, there are plenty of new updates and tweaks (including support for the left and right Windows keys), you can read more here and download it at the following locations: CH Products FTP CH Hangar Mirror

The problem I have with people holding the Falcon 4 DC as some kind of benchmark (not talking about this thread, just some over at other flight sim forums) is that it's still buggy and took years to even make it anywhere near stable. I'd like to see more time spent on AI and flight modelling, whats the point of having the best DC around if the AI around you behave's like artificial stupidity?

Agreed! with so much confusion over which version is included with Lock On Gold, and who publishes what I think it's only right that Jason tries to clarify this point. Why should Naturalpoint potentially lose sales through this possible confusion?

Really cool shots there, the series sure has come a long way. Perhaps I'll install it and dig out my old gameport Force FX :D

I don't think CH are stopping production of the USB Pro Throttle, they have done so with the Gameport version which they themselves were selling off cheap at their web-site.

You can also find some here as well as many more for a variety of sims in the profile library at The CH Hangar.

Awesome! thanks for sharing the link <S>

Clickable cockpits are overrated, I'd rather see time spent on making a dynamic campaign. I use a full HOTAS and nothing ruins the immersion more than leaning forward to grab the mouse and click on a graphical representation of a cockpit button.

With a little more maturity you might come to realise there is a time and a place to post such political beliefs however much misguided they are.