Revvin

So any artistic types fancy knocking up a nice CD label for the digital downloaders?

I'm buying, just not decided how yet. Will likely be the digital download though I did toy with buying it from Simware but is that just their own CD pressed version of the digital download? Had no issues with Starforce on my system after installing SHIII,GTR and the Lock On 1.1 demo so I may just end up downloading it.

One more to add to the 'comic' then :D

They did? missed that

Yup I seem to be missing this little box too?? The forums remember my login just fine but the main page does not

It looks ok to me although it is a pain that it does'nt remember my login from one visit to the next.

Rgr, done as requested

Just wondering if it's a good idea to leave his mother's e-mail in an open forum? a lot of spam companies use software that can scan forums like this and harvest e-mail addresses. Perhaps we could leave comments here and then pass on the url to his family?

Thats a real nice touch to make Nic Cole a pilot in LOMAC, I have his manual sat on my desk it's a quality piece of work <S> to him and to those that worked on it with him, it made LOMAC more enjoyable.

Just figure a little extra security by making the download secure would'nt hurt but as long as there is a choice to download without installing Bittorrent then I'll be a happy sim pilot.

I'm not denying that but there is no need to make it easier for the pirates to get their hands on the files in the first place. Do you lock you car and take your keys indoors with you or do you lock the car then hang the keys outside just out of arms reach somewhere? The theif could still break the window and steal it if you protected the keys by taking them with you but it's harder for him to steal the car than if you left them hanging up outside for him, not much but enough to deter the casual car thief.

No the download would be protected by Starforce anyway, the secure download is just another level of protection. If the download is offered up on Bittorrent you're just giving easier access to the files for the pirates to crack. Security is a concern for me so I don't want install anymore programs than necessary that can be exploited.

I would rather seen them offer a secure download link once you've paid than let any tom dick or harry download it and get a crack to play it. Don't have Bit Torrent on my system either and don't want to.

Hmm think I'll hold off buying BiA as I've read a few other less than complimentary comments about it so I guess it's back to the ocean for me! Gonna keep an eye on these forums though as I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on Lock On v1.1.

I'm sure it will be worth the wait, until then I'll be playing Silent Hunter III and considering picking up Brothers In Arms.

The trouble is the more things you have to simulate either the development time goes through the roof or short cuts are taken on. I'd rather see a detailed sim containing a few planes with AI tanks, ships etc than a watered down 'jack of all trades' sim. I don't know what publisher would want to fund that kind of lengthy development either as they can make more money developing half a dozen console games in the time it would take to create a complete electronic battlefield. Maybe I'm being pessimistic or maybe just realistic but I'm fed up of seeing publishers (not developers) push products out the door that are not ready.

I would imagine if ED went through the hoop Starforce would not have a contract to keep so could set the protection on their servers to allow all licenses requests to pass through un-challenged? If Starforce went through the hoop ED could either use a different copy protection or just release a patch to take out the copy protection. It seems the only question left is what happens after 5 activations? so what happens ED?

If the price is right then put my name down for one. I think I paid about the same for Nic Cole's manual as I did for the game which was worth it IMO for the quality of the printed version. Something that we could keep updated as new planes or avionics are improved would be great. I'm sure you'll get a few gripes about not paying more for something that should be in the box with the game but the days of a nice thick printed manual are long gone and it is a shame because it takes the edge off a sim a little for me so if someone can fill the gap then great!

I wonder if it would it be viable for ED to produce a printed manual much like Nic Cole (RIP) did for the original release? Maybe a four ring binder with the manual covering the release version then maybe have PDF updates you could download and insert/replace to keep the manual up to date as Lock On evolves?

Using that setup myself for Lock On, combined with the TrackIR3 Pro it can't be beat IMO

Did'nt seem any worse than the reference to plastic in your reply before his, at least his carried a smiley face. To simply call them plastic disregards CH's 25 year experience in producing industrial strength components in their OEM division. They have taken this knowledge and applied it to their PC/MAC flight sim products which is clear to see to anyone who has used the CH gear for more than 5 minutes. As for the Cougar in my experience, well there are some very nice mods available, all within my budget when I owned a few Cougars but there was the problem...I owned a few because they kept failing. One was dead on arrival (suspected PCB) the second developed a fault on the throttle PCB while the third had a few throttle axis issues but also developed a broken speedbrake switch which makes you wonder about the care Thrustmaster are putting into this project as it was a fault diagnosed quite early in the life of the Cougar but it appears that users still have to do this 'fix' themselves. The fourth Cougar I sold because while I liked the spring tension and the programmability was great (since been equalled by the CH Control Manager software) I lost all faith in the hardware. Even if I did spend on one of the mods which was inevitable I still had grave doubts over the wiring quality and the PCB's as they had failed me already. Maybe if thise faults had not manifested themselves I'd be playing with a Cougar with HALL sensors and Evenstrain gimbals but it ruined my enjoyment of the sims I played as I calibrated, re-calibrated then wondered what was going to fail me next (I only calibrate my CH gear when I install a new version of Control Manager, other than that they go months without ever needing to touch it) The guy that bought my Cougar told me he had done so because the one shop he was planning on buying from where he bought his other flight sim gear did'nt have any in stock and were uncertain if they were going to continue selling the Cougar due to the number of returns they had. The shop I bought my Cougars from was very understanding and helpful but when they tried to repair the Speedbrake on my third Cougar themselves to save sending it back and causing me and Thrustmaster further bother they actually had to buy the part from TM even though they were trying to save them money! On top of the electronic problems I regularly wiped down my Cougar to get rid of the flecks of black paint that began peeling off around the handle of each of hte Cougar's I owned and each in time developed centre play though not as much as my well worn Saitek X36 it was more than I expected from a piece of kit costing so much. This however could have been fixed at my expense with one of the mods. I was surprised that even though the paint peeling problem was reported by a number of users in varying degree's it was never fixed by Thrustmaster in the 18 months that I used these sticks and received new ones each time they failed, I expected them to have cured this by perhaps changing the paint or improving the curing process. As you can see I was rather dissapointed by my Cougar experience as I'd bought into the hype and waited patiently for my Cougar even when the dates slipped (but then how many products make their release date these days?) The stick and throttle felt nice, I'd hoped they would produce more handles for the Cougar which was the idea behind the detachable handle but how commited are Guillemot/Thrustmaster to this product when years later there is still no sign of these handles and a lot of the original design team appear to have been laid off. I hope their PC flight controller division are not just in maintenance mode, the more competition for Saitek and CH the better for us consumers. Take that however you want, it's just my honest experience of long term use of two of the PC's high end controllers.

It seems they have releaxed the license thing a little with LFS, they give you new unlock codes each month it seems, a lot fairer perhaps though what would happen to games like this if LFS or ED went out of business where would we get unlock codes then?

I'll buy online as long as it gives me the option to back up the files to CD/DVD. I won't buy any further installments of Live For Speed while it still counts the number of installs you do so would'nt want to see a similar system used for Flaming Cliffs. Most copy protection is cracked within days, I'd love to see ED find a way to protect their product but not at the expense of the honest players who will gladly pay for this add-on.

At the LAN parties a friend organises we use Teamspeak2, we've tried Roger Wilco, Ventrilo etc but always end up coming back to Teamspeak2 for VOX.

It's every bit as programmable as the Cougar, the CH gear has it's own logical programming language (CMS Scripting) which allows for very complex commands to be produced although the GUI will cover just about everything you need without going into CMS scripting. Bob Church continues to work on improvements for the software and utilities so it's just going to get better for CH users 8) The spring tension is a lot lighter but I found that made my flying a lot smoother than the Cougar's I owned, it also seemed to aid my gunnery too as I was only fighting the virtual aircraft around me not the spring tension :)