ChromeWasp

I think it is a very interesting helicopter but it is a very heavy and powerful I would also like to experience a smaller lighter helicopter in an urban environment eg a (weaponized) LAPD police or medivac helicopter simulator flying between buildings is no joke! I read the EC-335 autopilot is designed to handle autohover near buildings (it can overcome the turbulence from its own mainrotor) which is why the police like it also very fond of orbiting targets - trying to combine trimmed bank ap mode with Turn-to-target to achieve that semi-automatically is coming along slowly ...

competition racing and aerobatic glider pilot plus more than half way through PPL for light aircraft plus been in and controlled a handful of different light aircraft some on cross-european trips only been passenger in helicopters a few times but had a couple of minutes on the controls of a jetranger once of course i have never commanded anything weighing > 10,000 kg

I put my system back to 1680x1050 and now it runs at 20-32 fps plus I can read the instruments and the hud now much better :-)

that aerobatics was very impressive now I want to see that combined with weapons ...

hi i read the manual and searched about for this the inu alignment in the manual uses a single reference point which I think means it only fixes lateral coordinate drift every flight i have ends up with the aircraft flying sideways even in route + hdg hold mode etc. plus it won't hold its autohover heading either is this caused by inu misalignment? and if so how can a single reference point realign it completely? ps oh yes - and is it a laser gyro or an actual spinning gyro?

bouncing off the deck doesn't happen in real mode: All real settings except Immortal/Fuel/Ammo till I get better Have you got game flight mode on as well? No it is unusable why the switch from $ to £ ?? I paid $ for the game but I live in UK BS to run on the 1 core not the 0 core ? since applying the patch BS uses both cores

Thanks for the tracks I will watch them tomorrow It is a great sim - just wish it was perfect is all I got my helicopter model running in my game now tomorrow will add instruments, weapons and autopilot Here is a track of my "progress" now you can LYAO at me http://forums.eagle.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=41580&d=1281491374 I can either upgrade my machine to i7 for £350 or get an i7 laptop for £850 I want a laptop with 2 hard drives and 2 digital video outputs - not easy to find

thanks for the pointers here is a track of me learning the hard way my recoveries from errors are getting better i thought there would be a library of good tracks somewhere?

Hi I've tried googling and searching the forums but no luck .. I am looking for some classic Black Shark TRK files that really show it off formation attacks, tactical flying, high speed targetting and engagement etc. Where can I find these? PS is there a way to search for trk attachments?

a reasonable technique is to trim the helicopter for hover then switch FD on and HOVER off for manoevring then as you pull up into a hover turn FD off and the AP will mostly take care of the rest you can use shkval to designate and scan then ... once velocity vector is zero activate HOVER and confirm holding then ATTACK! that is 2 button presses to exit hover and 2 to regain (the other technique is that I learn to fly better) BS is the best simulator i have :) (re:cpu I am ashamed to name it) where can I find some good track files?

my system specs are well above *minimum* and all well above *recommended* except for cpu I have 4gb physical 3.25gb available to winxp gpu is GTS250 with 512 at 1024 it is mostly ok - but still dips to 10/12 fps regularly I wrote black shark startup script that shuts down all non-essential services and system trays etc. nothing is interfering yes i have debug version of dx as i am dx programmer no it doesn't make any difference unless i use dx control panel to activate it using av8r-01 joystick with trackir 4 pro i don't like heavily sprung joysticks as i am used to flying with finger pressure av8r lets me adjust the springs (couple of cable ties do it nicely) yes i understand the old and new (central position) trimming system and its problems yes i have set adequate deadzones to avoid locking issues yes i have tested what happens if I don't return to center I understand how the autopilot works I understand the difference between active trim (fd off) and passive trim (fd on) I know when the AP trys to maintain airspeed versus pitch I know when the AP trys to maintain heading/track versus bank I understand the autopilot has only 20% authority from the trimmed positions I have tested all my assumptions and the AP works as expected EXCEPT I believe there is a bug related to auto-hover, here is the simple proof: - if I activate auto-hover with fd *on* and I follow the guidance, I will return to hover point quickly and easily and with nowhere near 20% deflection - if I activate auto-hover with fd *off* the AP *should* follow the same guidance but it does not - in fact it cannot overcome even a 5 kph velocity vector now that could be due to wind - so I tested it on a mission with 0 wind further proof - when the auto-hover is holding the hover point - you can FEEL and SEE the AP working with changes in attitude but when it is drifting - you can feel NOTHING - it simply isn't trying now if it tried and failed to overcome the trim or wind or whatever - I could accept that why would you spend millions on developing an attack helicopter optimized for a single flight crew and then create such a weak auto-hover? that is precisely the feature that allows the pilot to handle the workload NEXT POINT about "realistic" simulators using computer monitors and trackirs isn't the same as reality many things are different - in reality I would glance at a switch and then my hand would find it with trackir i have to stare at it, hold my head still, and carefully guide my mouse more importantly you can not feel any forces in your body and also the resolution is never as good this means that to make a computer simulation feel realistic - it has to depart from reality to overcome the differences a crass example is the size of doors in video games - they are 10 feet wide and 16 feet tall! if they were sized like real doors you couldn't walk through them like real doors because in the simulation your senses are DULLED this applies to this case - maybe the auto-hover specification is *exactly correct* but then that is the mistake - as we will never have the same sensory information as a real pilot the simulation now STOPS being realistic and starts being PEDANTIC in real life I should be able to come to a hard tactical stop - down to *almost* zero and engage auto-hover and concentrate on my weapons - that is the whole point in the aircraft this simulator fails to simulate the most important feature

ok - I will post my dxdiag if you can explain this line: d3d9d.dll: 9.18.0944.0000 English Final Debug 9/5/2009 02:01:28 3083592 bytes (problem)

Condor is calculating a large scale wind and lift model, convection, ridge lift, wave effects, cloud formation and dissipation Condor has GPS, navigation, flight computer, moving maps, radio Condor supports > 60 way multiplayer (eg. 60 gliders on screen at one time - in same thermal) reliable enough to be used in major online gliding competitions with almost no glitches And runs perfectly well on a Pentium M with Intel graphics I see nothing in BS that requires much cpu and gpu resources except the graphics - in fact the physics belongs in the category that nvidia say "will run slower on a hardware accelerator" does BS use the PhysX on my GPU ?

so I double checked my system health and specs health is A OK all my components are well above spec except my weedy cpu so I am a noob with a rubbish pc - that would explain alot

"After all, in your last track you were seen to be manipulating the throttle in flight" ha ha ha I was doing that to show somebody I had followed their advice I knew everybody would jump on it Anyway the AP control authority during autohover is INCREDIBLY weak look the autohover can't even overcome a 5 kph drift - if the AP followed the directors advice it would hold with only 1% or 2% authority But there is NO REACTION at all - it doesn't try and fail - it doesn't even try I have read all these posts about it and I understand perfectly well the relationship between trim and the auto pilots authority and the fact you can have this situation: |---------0-----------| ^ holding at edge of authority - all seems ok until a tiny gust requires this: |---------0-----------| ^ and it runs out but that is NOT what is happening here I understand perfectly well the relationship between the FD and the AP and the collective position and the control authority You are all treating me like a total noob and not realising I am a PILOT and have been flight simming for DECADES and I know when something is broken to put it to rest - I know somebody who works with "real" apache simulators and someone else who is apache engineer - I will show them this and see what they say - if they tell me attack helicopters handle like paper bags blowing in the wind and their APs have control authority of a budgie I will accept it!

I so badly want this sim to work properly I set it up at 1024 single full screen and I get avg 25 fps and I run a whole set of tests on autohover etc. and I believe it is just buggy sometimes it works perfectly - other times not sometimes you are floating away from the hover point with the smallest hud velocity vector you ever saw and ... it ... just ... keeps floating away other times you can knock it off center and it pulls right back sometimes you activate it at 30 kph and it pulls right back to the point other times you activate at 0 kph and never makes it turn to target - sometimes just does nothing what I am finding is that if I just waggle the controls or fly somewhere else it starts to work again it isn't a trimmed-to-the-edge-of-20-percent issue as I can see the trim point in the red box - and it is fine i tried switching to game flight mode but copy the control profiles from real and see if that works but now turn to target is unservicable something isn't right - if you say these forums are full of people complaining about these problems ... that backs up what I am saying

you are a good bunch and I appreciate your posts I'll try it on my friends i7 rig before I bin it take care

and condor will run fine at 30 fps on my old pentium m laptop with intel integrated graphics! now *that* is high quality graphics and physics programming i have a feeling the sim is going wrong for me due to lack of horsepower and I am bored of 12 fps and watching helicopters crashing into the ground for no good reason its disappointing - I'm going to do something entertaining instead

I found a good technique - especially when high up - perform manual hover as best you can - watch HSI - activate autohover - use HSI deflection to maintain hover once achieved and deflection velocities are ~= 0 then relax what is odd is that i can activate autohover at an indicated 20 kph and sometimes it will aggressively hold the hover point (cyclic back etc.) other times it does nothing could be trim settings I suppose criticism isn't flaming - wanting a product to be better isn't flaming people who say "it is the best" are its biggest enemy - because BS has egg on its face and not telling them doesn't help

thanks for your help - and that track (I don't need red msgs I am not a troll and have not flamed)

it is possible to write a simulator with the same physics and less graphical luxury - by doing so they will massively increase their potential market this kind of small-scale physics is really not taxing for a pc I run BS now on a single monitor at 1152x8?? with all settings on LOW and still at crucial moments it sits at 12 fps if I need to buy a new pc that means BS is no longer $40 but $2040 and my pc has ample power to run a helicopter simulator ... if the sim is designed with the right approach Dump the gimmicks - give me the FPS - if I want to look at paintings I will go to an art gallery anyway here is a track showing autohover not holding position (gradually creeping forward until i can't release weapons any more) i hope somebody can show me my mistake(s) (edit) i attached screenshot of one of my games that uses my flight sim engine - on my pc that will run at 240 fps with global scenery and 100 alien AIs plus 1000s of bullets and explosion fragments etc. on the xbox360 it runs at 110 fps - yes the clouds are cheap - by design - they function as clouds - fly to cloudbase and you will know it! I don't waste time, energy or clock cycles on gimmicks because I realise that FPS is more important - plus this uses no more than 10% of a single core to run and to help answer a forum question about helicopters i wrote a working but basic helicopter model for this game in 20 minutes and I will bet the BS programmers are much cleverer than me

"You are comparing table simulators with a simulator that is doing real-time physics" the physics involved in this simulator could run on a bbc micro or your mobile phone easily you can write the physics code for a passable helicopter in about 20 minutes the only thing stressing out my PC is unnecessary graphical gimmicks, too many triangles, too many "nice bits" and not enough efficiency they should focus on the important things first it is a very rare developer who can pull off both performance and gimmicks but what is the point in those gimmicks if: - it makes the game uncomfortable - limits your market - annoys me just look at games like Just Cause 2 on a weedy xbox360 - first of the 8th generation gpus with only 48 cores - terrible unified memory bandwidth and cheap-as-chips cpu // running at 30 to 60 fps with 200 mile draw distance and about the same level of AI as BS my PC is at least 4 times more powerful than an xbox360 and has 8.5 times the memory! rockstar made same mistake with GTA4 - too many clever tricks = end result = unplayable garbage the most enjoyable heli-sim is the apache missions in GTASA sure it is a simplified flight model but you have to fly it like a helicopter and chasing people around skyscrapers, inside tunnels and shopping centers takes lots of skill - plus you can earn over $20,000,000 if you are good enough - if it gets too easy just use the cannon only and that runs on a PS2 with simpler flight model but much superior contact physics

i hope i'm not a troll i know that one button wrong can cause chaos i will check out that power settings thing i will make a track just don't want to upload a long one with something going wrong at the end condor made me think of something - there is no wind noise in BS and combined with very light windcocking forces gives the heli a very light feel i did a bunch of low figures of 8 - good way to tidy up turns as if you don't balance the forces properly - you hit the ground ... i guess my frustration comes from behaviour that wouldn't make sense IRL why would an autopilot activate itself knowing it has insufficient inputs throw the helicopter into a wobbly and then turn off stability? common sense would say the AP would simply refuse to activate and put up a warning light the kinds of mistakes i have made (and see the sense in them) - trying to fly away with Q turn to target still on - activating hover with flight director on - activating route autopilot in wrong mode and flying into a hill - pressing designate instead of lock with turn to target on etc. etc. etc. don't get me wrong - I am enjoying it - just think I could enjoy it alot more plus irritated i can't easily use it with my 19" touch screen, that with a bunch of FSX panels on it is fantastic - although I could use it as primary with trackir - look with head and touch with finger ... hmmmmm

put simply - i know loads of people who would love to fly a helicopter sim but they know a) it will be a pain to setup b) it will be annoying to use and they will be right i mean how can it be sensible to give people a choice of 1 monitor or 3 monitors but not 2 monitors? 2 monitors is easy to setup, 3 requires 2 gpus or special jizzy wigs why did I have to download and debug a LUA file for that? why can I not put clickable instrument panel sections on my second monitor? why are there no "function on" "function off" control options? almost everything is a toggle - so you need to either check the state before pressing, or check it after ... even with trackir it is a pain the closest thing to reality is to let people glance at the controls quickly in FS4 my 777 has two 1680x1050 monitors filled with clickable panels it works really well - just like real life I can see and manipulate anything quickly what about FPS! if I play apache air assault i get less sophisticated but very nice graphics and a very high FPS - even in rain, fog, long draw distance etc. in BS I get 12 to 32 - on low the point here isn't "get a bigger rig" it is "frame rate is king - anything below 30 fps shouldn't be on sale" this software should be able to maintain 30 fps on my pc they should do as I do - develop and test on old rubbish computers that way you end up with tight efficient performant programs instead these guys probably had 16 gb quad cores with 4xSSD in raid0 and "it works ok for me oh look how nice it is ..." i would be willing to swap alot of gimmicks for a higher frame rate and a sensible UI I just wish it worked properly and wasn't annoying

it just seems that everything i try has a problem i was practicing landing and taking off - the grass in that location has some kind of coefficient of friction problem resulting in ridiculous acrobatics (helicopter actually spinning around 720 degrees or flipping upside down) i went somewhere with different grass - it worked ok as for the physics - sure my turns could be more coordinated etc. but at 200kph any aircraft of this design should have serious trouble flying sideways! the weathercocking forces are tremendous at that airspeed yet this helicopter will not only easily yaw at that speed - but hold that attitude! no complaints - no wind noise no way is that right there is also something strange going on with the gyroscope / inu because sometimes it works ok, other times it just drifts for example: I come to a manual hover, maintain zero vertical and air speeds for a few seconds, then press auto-hover - all the indicators are correct - but it just drifts off - so I turn off auto-hover - fly somewhere else and try again - works fine the HUD - the symbologies come and go randomly - one second have a hover point marker - next its gone sometimes i get heading, sometimes i get 30------|------30 or 180------|------180 couple of minutes later it is fine now this could be accurate modelling of a Ka50 - but i find no mention in the flight manual - so I can't tell if its a Ka50 bug or a BS bug it could be me pressing the wrong button etc. there is also if i land (nicely) then take off (nicely) and get up to 40m then activate autohover - sometimes it violently raises its nose / the 3 ap lights flash - i turn off autohover asap - now the 3 ap channels are deactivated - i am at 25m flying backwards (thanks ap) no choice but to fly unstabilised to a safe height to turn the ap buttons back on the reason i say "nail in coffin" is exactly because this is the best sim available i am an avid flight simmer (big gpus, trackirs, lots of input devices etc.) and i frustrated with the low quality fragile software and the time it takes to configure things there are lots of good things about Ka50 but flying the helicopter isn't one of them i still can't believe that message "training not available because patch is applied" that is the kind of thing that makes people hate flight sims the only sim I have that impresses me is Condor not perfect - but a lovely chunk of high quality intelligent software that is a joy to use in every way - and doesn't have grass with a coefficient of friction of 99999999