Zomba

Fastfed, I'm happy to train you a bit in multiplayer. This is how I've trained mostly as it's how I learn fasted with this sort of subject. We have a semi-permanent server up. It's in Australia, but we get a few American players jumping in a bit and they don't seem to have much in the way of ping problems. We also have our own TS server. No way am I going to take money from you. I and a few others train whoever asks for it. A-10c and Ka-50 have a pretty steep learning curve that can put some people off early before they can appreciate what an awesome sim this is if they prefer to have tuition rather than manuals and vids. If you're interested I can pass on the server details and take it from there.

Unfortunately people don't learn that way. You don't do a PhD before a Masters, you don't run before you walk, you can't expect to win the Formula One before you learn to drive. Treating a spec map as a colour gradient is the easiest way to grasp how it applies to the engine. The method works, it's very fast, the engine processes it with workable results if all you want to do is add a uniform spec to a texture. Going through the tedious process of working out multiple levels of specular shine for a surface isn't the sort of thing that would tend to excite someone new to this to stick at texture mapping. It's not an elite and exclusive club. If someone wants to have a go at it then they should just go ahead and dive straight in with a few simple pointers to get them going.

I realise they are multichannel maps, but I was trying to keep the workflow as simple as possible for those that are new to this. Consolidated channel editing in RGB is fine for this sort of level of mapping. Have you ever tried to walk someone through the process of multichannel spec editing who has never done anything even remotely approaching that level of editing? It's not fun and I found it tends to put people off a process that can be quite fun to do.

http://youtu.be/rUl6XlvRgwk Another thing I forgot to mention as aircraft textures typically look better once in the air verses on the ground. Bare metal tends to look more dull and blush than airborne for whatever reason.

I'll make a vid tutorial if I get time today. I was going to type something out, but it just gets too long and boring to read,

Playing around with custom painting and the spec maps to make the paint less shiny than the bare metal.

Very nice disciplined and precise flying. You make the P-51D seem well behaved and easy on takeoff and landing.

I have the brakes on the linear thumb slider on the throttle. On mine it only locks you out when deploying brakes. On brake retraction things still work. Which is handy when landing as I tend to land with a fair bit of air-brake and when retracting them on the runout I don't have to let up on the wheel brake. But as above my zones are 10-80-10 with the dead zone occupying 80% of the sliders range. I've found that the least likely setup to incur accidental manipulation.

Would be great in multiplayer if the next aircraft is compatible with SADL.

Just as a bit of a side note. IRL is the F/A-18c able to datalink with the A-10c?

I'm probably a bit of a youngin at 32! Not a plane enthusiast at all. Certainly didn't know the fundimental rules of airmanship. So not only did I have to learn the details of the A-10c, I had to learn the basics of flight as well. I've been flying the sim consistently since B1 and It's been awesome.

Plus also it's just polite to ask permission. I'm sure ED will be pretty cool about it, they seem pretty open towards oddball things like this.

I'm probably way off here, but isn't DVADR the hud video camera? Does that mean this patch implements HUD recording?

Awesome. Donation coming your way.

I'm not really convinced piracy would be much of a problem for A-10. It requires decent hardware investment and energy to learn it. The cost of the title itself is probably the lowest order factor in the whole deal. The real long term return customers are the ones that spend the cash. I reckon most people that pirate this wouldn't stick to it or even buy it in the first place. The real money is voicing their appreciation of this sim in the forums here.

Would you include Australia, being geographically close?

1. The external tanks use bleed air to slightly pressurize themselves when you are flying. Your engines still take fuel from the internal tanks. What fuel they consume is replaced with fuel from the external tanks due to the bleed air pressure in them forcing fuel to the lower pressure internal tanks. All you have to do is ensure the tank is selected on the fuel panel. All other pumps that you associate with the internal tanks have to remain on as well as these are your primary feed pumps to the engines regardless of where the fuel ultimatly comes from. Think of the internal tanks as the Mob, everything must pass through their hands before it gets to you. The flow rate is as slow as economic recovery. Just set up a mission with external tanks and 10% internal fuel and watch how fast the fuel transfers to the internals. Hardly exciting.

$60 steep? Average PC game here in Australia is between $80 and $100. I thought it was too cheap.

I stick with the repetition thing. Just learn a small task or step and repeat doing it until it sticks. Then move on to the next step.

Really interesting thread. As far as accessability is concerned for newcomers I suppose I would be a good example. I had zero understanding of flying, let alone flight sims at all. A very brief spell in BS, but I didn't really know what I was doing and was on my own mainly. Again no background in flight, no real prior interest, no real prior interest in the military either. I got involved with an Arma group when Arma 2 was released that sort of forced me to understand simple ground tactics, but that is about it. It was more of a social thing. I'm about as far removed as someone could be who could pick this sim up and run with it. At first I struggled, I just didn't understand the logic of why things were the way they were in the aircraft. It all seemed completely alien and unintuitive. I was fortunate enough to have a discussion with someone that understood the systems, but more importantly understood the logic behind the design. The importance of integration and how to use it. That was all I needed, it was a 'I see why they designed it like this' moment. After that it all made sense. I joined a squadron that is more like a very informal IP environment. A number of the members have military/airline backgrounds and understand a fair bit about how things are typically done. We all concentrate on a particular aspect that interests us and once it is understood we teach the others in the group how it works. Like syncing the collective knowledge base. The end result is everyone is more or less at a very similar level. If someone is away for a bit and on coming back there is a gap in their knowledge anyone of us will jump on the server with them to bring them up to speed. I have yet to read the manual, yet understand quite a bit about fighting the aircraft to the point that everything tends to be muscle memory now. I very rarely think about what I am doing with the controls or systems, but am normally thinking about the target, tactics and terrain. I'm not bragging about my skills, but just illustrating how a good learning environment can take a completely ignorant newcomer like me and in a relatively short time turn them into a reasonably proficient A-10c simmer. I went from thinking this thing is just far too complex to thinking what a well thought out design and no wonder it scares the shit out of the enemy. My recommendation to newcomers that find it all too daunting at first is to find an online squadron. Most are very helpful and patient if you ask for a bit of help. I always take the time to help new pilots as I see it as an investment. It spreads the good word about EDs work. Some people prefer to plow through manuals, I prefer to watch someone who knows what they are doing and copy them. When just buzzing around on the server it is like flying with a bunch of IPs that will walk you through something at anytime if you get stuck on something. Problems only remain a problem for a minute.

I was wondering as well as I would like to do a clean install.

At first I was always lucky to get more than 5-10 seconds on the boom until I changed the way I went about things and now can hang off the tanker for as long as I want filling from almost empty to full internal and 2 external tanks. I use a standard x52 that's a little bit tired, so if I could do it on that then so can anyone. First really match the tanker in flight. Not just zoom up, throw out brakes and somewhat join him in a drunken Waltz over Georgia. Get right up underneath and very close and setup so that you will stay there with minimum effort on the stick. I often just sit there for a minute or two just matching the tanker before moving over for a connection. Listen to the engine, after a while you will get an ear for the sweet spot that seems to be natural neutral for matched speed. I imagine an invisible glide scope projecting out from the boom at the same down angle. This is the glide scope that I am allowed to move on. So, along with roll to remain aligned, I can either go in/up or down/back, and nothing else. Move up this glide scope to connect to the boom. You will find there is this sweet spot where throttle and trim just match to make you neutral to the tanker. Once you find this spot it's really just using the throttle to move up/forward and move down/back. Using the throttle like this and nothing else will naturally cause the aircraft to stick to the allowed glide scope. After a bit all you are really doing is just twitching the throttle infront of and behind the neutral spot to keep the boom in the green. With throttle and roll the main thing is to anticipate the corrective action needed. Things seem to happen with a fair bit of lag so making the corrections early work better. Another thing I found helps is don't look at any one thing in particular. There is no single spot on the tanker that can give you all the information your brain needs to maintain position. With TrackIR I just look up a little and stare out to infinity and letting your whole vision get everything your brain needs. I found this helps to kill of the dreaded pilot induced oscillations that creep up on you as soon as you hook up. Don't stare at the boom, it lies to you. Have fun. :)

I find the A-10 to be a real stick and rudder aircraft; There is no fly-by-wire system to counter adverse behaviour. I see this as a good thing as it really lets you know if things are amiss with how you fly it and it makes you consider more carefully about how you are going to maneuver. One of the best things one can do is not get buried inside the cockpit staring at displays, it makes you keep one eye outside the cockpit at all times and I've had many occassions where doing this has let me spot things that I might ordinarily not have seen. Most of the high-end electronics are weapons orientated. Take those away and it is still a very simple aircraft relative to most other things in the air. It's one of the things I like about it.

I was thinking the same thing. An AC-130 in a high threat a2a environment is a complete no no. It would be completely outmatched in such a situation. It's an impressive aircraft well suited to it's intended role: ground support.

Thanks GGTharos.