Baggy MacDouche

You know, I was just recalling the days back in the mid 90's when I first started playing the online WW2 combat sim, Warbirds. That was using good old fashion dial-up and telneting to the server. Then it was $2.99/hr to play. Many of us would easily rack up monthly charges of at least $150 or more. I knew people who were easily up around three bills or more. That's insane! And I was just a poor shlub working my way through college at the time. :D

I won't dare to speak for anybody else, but imho $60 for this sim is el cheapo! Like Wildfire said, the hours upon hours of enjoyment far exceeds what you would get in many other similarly priced games. Add to that the continued support and updates, as well as the fact that the study sim is a very niche market, so it's not like they are raking in EA money. I enjoy this game so much that I shelled out 8x what I paid for it to get the Hotas Warthog, even though work & life severely limits my play time. When I'm not playing, I'm thinking about playing, or I am browsing the forums for the latest info. I would seriously pay for this game at least once or twice more if it meant that there were a full-fledged dynamic campaign with a persistant battlefield(like Falcon4). IMO, that's the one big thing that is missing from this sim. Single missions, strung together campaign missions, and multiplayer are all well and good, but I definitely crave for something a bit more grandiose. That is my dream for A-10C. In the meantime, it would be nice to see complete loadouts. :D

Ok, I have now modified my personal startup procedure which seems to work fine and gets me in the air much faster. Basically, it's: Batt on Inverter on fuel pumps on APU on >100% then, APU gen on AC gen L/R on Oxygen on Bleed air on Main Air Supply on Temp Norm CDU/EGI on(INS ground alignment begins) SP switch>flight plan Radios on Lights on(pos>flash, formation/interior as needed) Contact twr for engine startup(optional) Left eng start Right eng start APU gen off APU off SAI uncage CICU on IFFCC to test Initiate Bit test SAS on and trim set Exit Bit test and/or make custom adjustments, then DTS load all IFFCC to on Right MFCD to CDU(I usually go to MAV first and set slew to 2.0) Left MFCD to TAD(I go to STAT first and adjust slew to 7.0, then configure DSMS before switching to TAD) TGP on Laser arm Gun/Pac arm CSMP on>semi INS to NAV(usually ready by this time) NMSP to EGI JTRS on EAC/Radar Alt on Anti-skid on Nose gear lights to taxi Flaps>10% NWS on Seat arm Canopy close(if not done earlier, or wait until taxiing) Request taxi At threshold: Nosewheel to Land Pos lights to steady Anti-Collision on Pitot heat on May not be 100% correct, but it works for me.

Well, I tried the mod and even just did a clean install to the 11.5 drivers and was still getting the white boxes. :( I really like the look of the hard HDR effect. Wish this could get figured out.

I'm still a bit confused due to others comments about startup. Is it possible to start EGI alignment as soon as the APU/APU gen are powered on? Do you need to wait until the engines are running? I've seen startup procedures that have you turning on the L/R AC gens on before engine start and after engine start. Then the EGI/CICU to start alignment. What is the true proper order as well as the quickest way to get up and running(and aligned) without any problems?

I'd be interested in that setting too. Now, I'm one of those ATI 69xx card users that get the flashing white box when HDR is turned on. I only had a few minutes this morning to install and try out the patch. I turned on HDR normal setting and saw the white box. I have not tried the hard or soft settings yet. Since the normal setting is the same from 1.1.0.7, is there a chance that the new settings fixes this issue? I've been looking high and lo for any solution to this problem but have been unsuccessful. Is this at least being looked at by ED or is this purely a card driver issue or something?

I think it is pretty safe to say that if you are here on the forums and the patch has been released...you wouldn't have to ask. ;)

So if the baby is born on the same day as the update then it gets a cute nickname like Patch or Bugfix. If the baby happens to be born on exactly 11:08 am/pm then it gets stuck with the unfortunate name of Warthog Thunderbolt. It's in the EULA, I swear. :D

There seems to be a lot of different methods to startup and I noticed a few omissions or things out of order from other startup procedures. For example, you didn't turn on the battery inverter. I've also seen it where the APU power is turned on first and then, after it reaches 100%, you turn on the APU gen. You also waited until after the engines were spooled up to turn on the radios which would have prevented you from requesting startup permission from the tower. A few other things too but I guess I'm just nitpicking too much compared to other procedures I've seen. It is always interesting to see how others are doing things.

Any word on if the flashing white box for ati 69xx users when HDR is turned on, will be fixed in 1.1.0.8.?

Confirmed this last night as well. Cold start from ramp with selector in Flight Plan mode the whole time. Created several mark points and when I switched the selector to Mark, they did not show up. I then created one more new mark point and there they all were.

I've had this happen to me multiple times and always figured I was doing something wrong. This sim is so complex that it can be hard to know if what you are experiencing is a bug or user error. I know that I have somehow fixed it mid-flight, but not sure what I did. Lots of knob twisting and button mashing. For some reason I have reason to believe that clearing it up might have had something to do with cycling Master Modes and/or weapon profiles via the HUD and DMS L/R.

Heed what WarriorX and others have said since you can't always rely on getting a data link target from JTAC. Manually inputting UTM as well as L/L coords is essential, especially in multiplayer. You should also be comfortable with making mark points(one of the most valuable tactical tools in your arsenal). For example, if you are making a new WP by inputting in L/L coords into the CDU, you may find that your TGP will be looking at a point in space rather than at the ground. If you want to quickly translate that into a ground point you would then switch your steerpoint selector to mission, hover over the WP with the TAD cursor, and then make a mark point with TMS Right Short. Switch Steerpoint selector to Mark, cycle your steerpoint to the mark point you jsut made, and slave the TGP to the steerpoint(China Hat Aft Long).

If you own a hotas, I highly recommend mapping the UFC Steer Up/Down rocker to somewhere on your stick. I have it as a shifted(w/modifier) DMS U/D. One of the best things I ever did. This has helped me when making run-ins on multiple targets. I've gotten quite good at launching up to 6 mavs on a single run. With the steer rocker mapped directly, you can easily cycle mark points without having to make the HUD the SOI, or having to use the mouse to click on the rocker.

Interesting to know as I always assumed that the hawg was designed to be down and dirty, especially with that GAU which has no use at alt. I think what's missing is support. Flying NOE missions would require extensive battlefield coordination between elements like JTAC, etc. and even other flight elements. For example, have a wingman or flight element at high altitude spotting targets and sending info through data link to a hawg flying NOE. That way you wouldn't need to find targets yourself and you could easily use terrain to mask an approach on a SAM site and be on top of them before they knew it. I wouldn't want to fly NOE any other way, and this setup would certainly be fun to try in multiplayer. Man I need to join a squad. :)

Yup, came to the same conclusion. My initial approach was to see if you could double up commands for coolie hat L/R with the corners as well, but of course it won't let you. :p I try to avoid using T.A.R.G.E.T. at all costs(it scares me :)). I've thought about moving it to another hat like the mic switch hat, which I find I have better control of directions. The purest in me would rather stick to the default layout though. Let me know if you do find a way, T.A.R.G.E.T. or not, to essentially turn it into a 4-way hat.

I almost never fly NOE. Maybe it is because I rely too much on leisurely spotting targets with the TGP up high so as to be outside the threat envelope. How does one find and prosecute targets while flying low and without labels?

I've had my WH for a little over a month now and I've been finding that many times when I want to select one of the MFCDs to SOI using the Coolie Hat Long press, it will just keep cycling modes instead of making it SOI. It's like it isn't giving the hat a chance to give the long command. Overall, it just seems overly sensitive and I find I have to hold the hat direction very carefully or it won't let me make SOI.

+1

While the terrain looks stunning and I can already imagine what it will be like to fly over that, especially with the new cockpit shading. Cool. But I'm still trying to wrap my head around why Nevada? If work is going to be done by anybody on a whole new terrain, why not make it an area with relevance(Afghan, Lybia, etc.)? Seems like kind of a waste to have it just for training stuff and it would be hard to swallow some kind of fantasy conflict taking place on US soil, let alone out in the Nevada desert. I guess mission/campaign builders can pretend it's Afghanistan/Pakistan or something, I hope.

OK, I'm a world class idiot. I could have sworn that I changed the config/graphics.cfg>sync=0 to 1, but when I looked again it was still 0. Changed it and no screen tearing anymore. Woohoo!

That's just evil dropping a nugget like without backing it up with a list, knowing full well that you are muzzled. ;) I'm assuming that like the last patch it will be released as an update first and then a full install some time after, correct? After the previous patch, I had to reinstall fresh. Do you recommend patching first, or fresh install(kind of a pita)? Can't wait for this patch though. Cockpit lighting and surround sound are almost enough for me. This is a complex piece of software and I think it is unreasonable to think that everything is going to be fixed by the "next" patch. Everyone has their pet peeves but I trust that ED has to prioritize the way they do for good reason.

Anyone have any other suggestions for my screen tearing problem. I've tried everything suggested here so far. I know vsync is turned on everywhere that it can be. I'm running the latest 11.4 catalyst drivers after doing an uninstall/driver sweeper cleanup. No amount of changes in video options ingame or through CCC seem to have any effect on it. I haven't noticed this problem in other games.

I have an ATI 6950(shader unlocked) w/vsync turned on both in-game settings and CCC. I too have the screen tearing and no matter what I do I can't seem to get rid of it. I also thought it might be my monitor but it has a 2ms response time so that shouldn't be an issue. At some point I'll try and capture it with some video but don't know if it is something that will translate.

Committing the Cardinal Sin How's 1.0.0.8 coming along? :D