BBushe

I have an X800Pro Vivo running as an XT PE after a bios flash. Seems a fairly safe bet the Pro will do this, but it has to be a Vivio. They may be getting under 200 quid now.

my guns attack friendlies too, but it must be someone elses fault!

yeah, it's a bit harsh criticising his English, which is better than my anything else. I dunno about the people who are so keen for the CD version. You still have to have starforce, and that means you have to have the CD in the drive, which for me is the worse aspect of copy protection. I hate having stacks of CDs around, as my four kids will eventually some of them. Pity paypal didn't pan out: I was one of the lucky few and appreciated having a game on my PC a hour after its release...

there's plenty of dicussions about EULAs, mods and legal issues in the racesim world at the moment. currently FIRST-racing (who own the Nascar 2003 code) are suing an individual who refused to withdraw his mod from his website. Many other mods where also killed.

I got my x800pro vivo running as a x800 XTPE via a bios flash. Only issue is I get a funny flicker in the top right hand of the screen in FB/PF. It's not a huge issue, everything else seems fine. info is here: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/100

oh, don';t get me wrong, I've no problem with paying for the stuff, but I do worry that I won't be able to activate FC after a new install in five years time ! oops, forgot EECH, as I uninstalled that a few months back... I will take the time to do a manual activation!

Grand Prix Legends, Falcon 4, Red Baron II, much older than 5 years. Only now do I have something more fun that GPL (n2003 + GTP mod). At the rate the sim world is going, they (plus il2 and lomac) may never be actually surpassed... offers prayers for rFactor, Lomac v2, BOB (maddox version)...

It occurred to me during the process that this is an uneexpected benefit of buying online vs buying from a shop. During the order process the EULA was displayed, and as I was just about to spend money, I actually read it for a change. I read it had starforce...and I serioulsy considered not buying it. In the end my love of simming won out, just. I doubt I'd buy other games that had SF in them (though now I have it, I guess it's a moot point...) When buying a copy in the store you don't see the EULA, usually until install time. In the US the courts kindly ruled that you don't even need to click 'accept' but that the initial purchase counts as accepting the EULA...

great stuff! ED should really see this as a tribute to their perseverance, when all those others have foundered at the wayside. We may not be patient, but we're here for a reason...

yes, I have funds available in my paypal account. The transaction was nearly instant, the download quite a bit longer! it would have taken me a lot longer to get to the shops, and they wouldn't have been open anyway. Paypal can also be linked to your credit card and/or bank account, if you trust them... this is a great way for developers to go, cut out the middlemen and get the cash quick. The only problem is the loss of casual sales at the shop. Once we users get more used to buying games online, I think this will be the way of the future.

logged on last night with no expectation, and didn't even notice the front page had changed till I read a couple of forum posts. dilemna, I'm against Starforce, but I'm definitely pro-Lockon....saving roll against willpower...fail miserably... lucky for me I have just recently installed winXP, so no issues at all with installation. Paypal worked fine too. This is a great way to buy software, less than an hour to download the base product (installed fresh lomac while waiting), play the game while downloading the rest of the product... Pity about the starforce... I have a server I use to host games, runs as a dedicated server for IL2/FB/PF and N2003 (gtp mod!). Used to use it as a non-playing host for LAN and internet games. Can't do that now I guess (haven't tried) so need a dedicated server asap please! ED I hope you make lots of money and can do a LOMAC 1.2, and even 2.0!

unless you have the vector expansion you should only use one spot -spot, not dot, the spot could be a larger one made out of several dots. Mind you, I've never found the need for more than one dot. but other light sources are your enemy, be they lights or strong reflections. TIR3pro is much better than previous version for this someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think for the vector expansion to work you need the dots spaced at the correct distance, as per the metal frame. I think you need a license for it too.

unless you have the vector expansion you should only use one spot -spot, not dot, the spot could be a larger one made out of several dots. Mind you, I've never found the need for more than one dot. but other light sources are your enemy, be they lights or strong reflections. TIR3pro is much better than previous version for this someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think for the vector expansion to work you need the dots spaced at the correct distance, as per the metal frame. I think you need a license for it too.

yeah, four of them!

as much as I hate any restrictions placed on legitimate users, and the massive problems I had with Raven Shield (I have two copies, often I could not log on for multiplayer thanks to the authentication servers having issues) I think online authentication is the way to go. Of course this is usually only any good for multiplayer. Steam showed it can work, but having a game that only works if you are connected to the internet sounds like commercial suicide to me. I know there are ways for non-connected people to play, but having read through them I would have taken the game back if i had to work that way. disk protection does little to solve piracy issues, and just annoys the hell out of legitimate users like me. Once you annoy us enough then there'll be no one buying the products, cept the pirates to crack them. The international version of GTR just came out: I bought it as usual to support a serious sim developer, even though N2003 with the GTP mod is better fun, and much better online. a crack was available online before the game shipped in the UK. so much for that starforce protected game. so what can the developers do to make the game more a must buy rather than just a must have? proper printed manual perhaps? codes for registration that provide something to the user? maybe just make the game cheaper, possibly by missing out the middleman distributor and publishing online? suggestions on a postcard please...

yes, or any suspicious log information, like umm, that guy who tried to donate money on the British Telecom tsunami server using the Lynx browser, and got arrested by armed police for it...

I had my original cougar for quite a while, then added the uberNXT mod and cub pilots hall sensors. very smooth, very precise. flaw in the poll though, I have the cougar, and the CH Propedals, and can't vote for both. I have to say I never had any trouble with the original bits of the cougar, I just like to have the best...

I knid of assumed from the first post and title that the whole thread was less than half serious :lol:

These are the issues that concern most of us. Starforces answers have been largely unsatisfactory. However they DO provide an uninstall utility, which you should use to remove the product after removing the demo. I was amused by their defense posted on the website, regarding the vulnerabilities. Their first defense was 'Oh, another company has/had the same vulnerability'; ok I won't buy from that other company either. The second defense can be paraphrased to ' it'll only affect those who are concerned about security, and don't run as admin on their own machine'. As for your comment on AudioCD, that for me is the worst example of corporate greed and the best example of why anti-piracy measures don't work: they only inconvenience the ligitimate user. CD-checks that don't work , having to have a bundle of fragile CDs to swop in and out when you play different games, and now CD protection that spies on you. I looked up GTR and Colin McRae 5, both recent Starforce protected games, and there are cracks freely available on the web. Just like any other CD-protection scheme. The pirates just crack 'em, and the people who actually buy the stuff have a miserable time. :roll: But you have to have sympathy for the authors of the software: they spend their time making the best product they can, endless hours researching baffling technical documents full of jargon, have to pay now to license anti-piracy software (that won't work for long), have to pay to license the aircraft from the manufacturers (who don't like free advertising I guess), and then they get to read endless post after endless post about how crap their products are...

these sims do not model the ability to eject, skydive down to another plane, punch the enemy pilot out, and take his seat, all so you can infiltrate his airfield. cue bond theme. nor do they accurately model the flight of a person hanging onto the tip of a sidewinder, like the terrorist in True Lies. how can we take this sim seriously when they details like this out :wink:

joint exercises are a bit like computer sims. You never know if the rules of the game really reflect reality. At least the pilots don't have to wonder if the fm is accurate afterwards though... or maybe they do? possibly they are not allowed to exceed limits that they migth exceed if necessary in a real engagement? there you go, we can't even be certain of that! What I'm sure of, is that in any joint exercise neither side will be showing their full hand.