dotChuckles

Never mind that... the new motion blur effect on the prop is astounding!. Updated water shaders too! But what about the frame rates? Will this run on my 486? Otherwise it's just lazy programming! ;-)

I would be very interested. Obviously dependent on final price. :-)

Hi Bahger, Great mission! Played it as an SP mission, solidly good fun. The only thing I noticed is that the drone on 130.00 didn't start reporting targets until after TF THUNDER was in the town. But otherwise... perfect, just right length for a quick afternoon mission. Really liked the voice coms, especially the UK pilot :-) Bravo!

Tornado GR1 :-)

+1

I think it's more the case that certain submunitions, like air dropped AP mines can stay in the ground for years after the conflict which then can be set off by civilians ploughing fields, kids playing etc. You just have to look at the effects of land mines in SE Asia, children being blown up by 30 year old munitions aint exactly good.

Have to agree with Mower here... Xplane is a brilliant simulation platform but sadly no great add-ons. Although I do hear Aerosoft have something in the works for it. But with FSX coming to the end of it's maturity cycle (IMHO) and MS:Flight still being some ways off if Xplane 10 makes it out... who knows? Maybe more developers will adopt it. Which would be good because the flight dynamics are great. Id love to see a PMDG 747/J41 or LDS in Xplane.

I suggest getting yourself over to http://www.creativecow.net/ There are plenty of tutorials there, but the real gold is in the forums. It's where most of us creative professionals ask questions and a lot of newbies as well. Good friendly people there with a wealth of knowledge. You're will get all your questions answered there. Also if you're looking for some good beginners material, the Adobe Classroom in a Book series is excellent at getting you up and running. They're not too expensive and cover pretty much everything you will need for every day stuff. Also check out the Sams books. I've been using Photoshop, After Effects and FCP for ten years now in the video industry... I started by hitting the books and using google. There's plenty of stuff out there, you just need to search. Also the Adobe help centre that come with the apps, is not a bad place to start either. You'll get there... It's like eating an elephant... take it one bite at a time.

The throttle plugs directly into the PC

Wow that's a pic full of memories right there... Spotting the Dog Fight box there brings back great memories of flying the Harrier over the Falklands listening to Megadeth. I long for the days when the Amiga500 was the cutting edge and all I had to worry about was my mock Standard Grades.

Thanks Krebs, I had gone down a similar route as your last example and found the same thing. It only seems to do the first action assigned to the button. This might need tome input from ED as to if this is possible. Appreciate you having a look for me though. Thanks.

Ahh! Hadn't thought of that. Will have to see if it will work with using a continuous signal from the toggle... will have to experiment when I get done with work.

Hey guys, I tore apart an old game pad and turned it in to a switch box with some toggles. It was kind of a proof of concept for me. I will expand it, but at the moment I have limited switches. My question is... is there some kind of clever LUA scripting I can do in the controller file that will let me flip all four fuel pump switches when I flip one toggle switch on my frakenpanel? Thanks!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9432232.stm While we're at it... why don't we just give the drivers clown cars and guns... that would be entertaining. Or maybe have the drivers judged by a panel and TV phone in before each race with daily eliminations... of course the public get the final say with a phone in which results in putting Keith Chegwin & John Sergeant in the cockpit for Red Bull.

To be honest whatever we get... if it can carry the AGM-88, I'll be happy.

Maybe I'm weird... But the F-15C would bore me to tears, and on the face of it, it seems to be the most likely candidate unfortunately. F-15E however, that's a different story. Would be very happy with the F-16 or 18 though.

This is going back a few years now but I'm sure that in the 80's the RAF used to keep jets on 30 second alert status at the end of the runway with the engines running and crew in the pit. If the order to scramble was given the GC would unplug the fuel lines that was constantly hot fueling the aircraft, close up the filler caps and off they went. I'm sure that's what the small hard standing just off to the side of the threshold you sometimes see at RAF stations was for. Further aircraft were on 4 minute alert on a hard standing near the runway that were in a similar condition but with only the APU running. Although I could be mistaken about all this.

The hung store is a safer scenario then a weapon dropping with incorrect or incomplete targeting data in an uncontrolled manor (given that you are not using CCIP). Weapon could potentially fall off course on to civilians or friendlies leading to uncomfortable questions on RTB.

You need to hold down the pickle button for longer. IIRC In the case of GBU it takes time for the data to be handed off to the weapon before drop, if you release the button too soon the process is interrupted and results in a hung store. If you use the search function there is quite a lot of discussion on how to remedy a hung weapon.

I just read all 37 pages of this thread in one go... My head now hurts.

I concur... As someone who has worked with photoshop for a living in a post production environment for over 10 years. I can conclude that this is not a fake. Trust me... I have done some very convincing photoshop fakery for campaigns in the past - but this is not one of them. The noise and grain across mid-tones are a perfect match between the building and the aircraft. Aliasing on the railings of the balcony perfectly integrate with the background and show no signs of cloning or any artifacts that would indicate the insertion behind of a background plate. The edges on the Hornet are perfect, no feathering from cropping out. Also, difference analysis across the whole image fail to show up any feathering in the sky gradient from an inserted plate. This combined with the providence of the journalist and publication... I conclude the image is genuine. And all that analysis certainly provided a great way to kill a few hours on a slow afternoon at work while waiting for beta 6. ;-)

Was reading over at SinHQ that the flight manual has been declassified. Don't know if it's old news or not. http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3169494/declassified_Harrier_flight_ma.html#Post3169494 Might be of interest to ED or other peeps here.

I think you're right with that Puma.

Wags, if Beta 4 is anything to go by... You are on your way to creating it's equal or better. Thank you all for your kind words :-) It was a great time back then for games. I just think it's a fantastic thing to be finally flying something that captures my imagination and interest in a way that games could before I became old and cynical.

Dear ED. I have been an avid simulation enthusiast since before the PC existed as a home gaming platform. Beginning way back in the 80's with my fathers prized possession, a Commodore 64 which cost him a small fortune at the time. Once he had taught me how to boot from the tape drive, he never got a chance to use it again as it was impossible to get me off it. I remember when I was first allowed to get the bus into town by myself at the age of ten , I would, on a Saturday - once I had at least watched the Raccoons and a good dose of Trevor and Simon on Going Live - with my very carefully calculated pocket money (set at an amount that would let me buy a new budget C64 title every two weeks) toddle off in to town. There I would spend hours carefully flipping over the cassette boxes on the shelves at the Virgin Megastore on Princess Street while listening to the music on the in store PA (usually always played a loop of Adamski, Madonna and Snap for some reason). Only once I had spent a suitable time, perused every box and debating for an eternity... this one has arcade quality graphics... but this one has realistic sound... but oooh, this one has a big spaceship on the box... I would select my game, hand over my three one pound notes and quickly jump on the Number 5 bus to go home and jam it in the cassette deck and see if it would load. Frequently, they wouldn't. But, back then really does seem like a simpler time. I remembering playing games like Castle Master, Ghosts 'n' Goblins and the classic Ghost Busters game. Arcade games were a big part of my childhood too. Going to Megabowl with my Dad, throwing a couple of frames, having a hamburger from Wimpy and then emptying his pockets of change playing Gauntlet and Golden Axe. It genuinely brings a tear to my eye when I think about it, and how the world will never be quite as colourful, the music as good or the feelings as carefree. But this was not intended to be a nostalgia piece about being a kid in the late 80's... there is a point coming. I promise. Indulge me another paragraph or two if you will... A few things occurred shortly after this time... The first was being taken to the Leuchars Air Show. Aircraft before then didn't really mean much to me, they were big things that flew over our house, made lots of noise and took people on holiday. After the Leuchars show though... they were powerful, roaring machines of excitement, carving graceful arcs in the sky before plummeting down towards me and splitting my ears open in a high speed pass... Ever since then the whine of a turbojet still sends shivers of excitement down my spine and raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The second, was the Gulf War. My room was full of posters of Tornado's, Harriers, Tanks and IFVs. I had a map on the wall where I had carefully drawn in the positions of all the major forces that I had managed to glean from the news papers. Models of the F-117 hung from my ceiling beside Mig-23s, Jaguars, and a wonderfully detailed GR1. Now lets be clear here... war is an awful thing, it brings suffering to millions and should always be the last resort... but to an 11 year old boy... It's about as exciting as anything can ever get. Even more exciting then my increasing curiosity with Sarah Green and her very thin shoulder padded T-Shirts... Phew. The Third, ok ok, I know I said indulge me another two paragraphs... but hear me out. The third thing was the UK television première of Top Gun. Now this was before VHS machines were affordable, or any kind of fancy TV recording... if you missed it, that was it. Films like these were event telly. Everyone watched it, and everyone was talking about it in the playground the next day. It's impact on me was epic. These three things had created a perfect storm in my head... I knew what I wanted to be, without any doubt in my mind, I wanted to be a pilot. Specifically, I wanted to be a Tornado pilot. Unfortunately I had a whole lot of growing up to do and quite a bit of school to go through first... By this time, technology had moved on... we now had a CBM Amiga. I had never seen graphics like it. 16Bit colour, amazing sound. But no good flight sims yet unfortunately. Once I had my epiphany about being a pilot, all the games I bought were to do with aviation. On the C64 I particularly enjoyed F-16 combat pilot and F-19 Stealth Fighter. They hit the spot and further increased my drive to get into the cockpit for real. However, one month Amiga Format ran an article... It was about an upcoming flight simulator. Tornado by Digital Integration. I couldn't believe it... there was going to be a sim about my favourite aircraft. I couldn't wait. I counted the days. I would phone up Special Reserve once a week and ask if it was out yet. Then one Monday morning a parcel arrived in the post. It was here. It had cost me weeks of pocket money... but IT WAS HERE! I ripped open the brown cardboard box. Inside was the sexy black packaging, the top down shot of three Tornadoes over a landscape and the raised text with gold edging. TORNADO. I can still recall the feel of that box in my hands now. I opened it... inside was the thickest manual I had ever seen. It smelled fantastic... of fresh print and glossy paper. I flicked through it. Full of facts and figures and pictures. It made my 13 year old heart leap. I was going to fly my Tornado. I wanted to boot the disc up then and there... however it was Monday morning School was here and I had to get through it. It was quite possibly the slowest day I have ever experienced. But you know where this story is going... I got home and got to fly my Tornado. I spent hours and hours with it. I learned loft bombing techniques, how to use terrain, deploying J233, everything. I soaked up every technical detail and system I could. I knew it inside out back to front and sideways. I may have only had a two button digital joystick (no ability to control roll rate) but I made that aircraft go exactly where I wanted it to. In my mind, I was John Peters, thudding towards an airfield to hand out payback with John Nichol in the back. I was stopping the Russian hordes on the East German border. I was there, everything about that sim put you there, from the photography in the menu screen to watching the MFD in the rear cockpit as you pin-point struck another target with a Paveway. It was golden. I was flying the aircraft I was obsessed with and it just felt right. Every element was there. I flew that sim all the way through school. I had the Gulf add-on too. And while I was flying Tornado, I was pushing towards my RAF career. I joined the ATC and I had already soloed in a glider and a Bulldog by the time the Amiga was in the attic and we had bought a PC. Of course I re-bought Tornado for the PC, and using a COM port had successfully managed to go head to head with a friend. Around the mid to late 90's other sims came and went, but nothing ever matched the feeling of playing Tornado. They never felt like I was there. Eventually the time came where I had to put my money where my mouth was and attempt a career in the RAF. I will cut the boring bit and just say that I did extremely well, performed excellently at the aptitude tests... I think it was all the simming, and gave a good account of my self in the interviews. It was just the medical that I failed. Fast Jet career over. I got over it -- Eventually. Life moved on, I kept simming, and now I have a job in the media which I love, so it all turned out ok in the end. But with the blow of never quite making it... I found sims just never quite did it for me again. A few came close, Janes F/A-18 and F-15 deserve a mention, Falcon 4.0 of course too. Even when LOMAC came out... they were all great... but they weren't Tornado. Black Shark certainly engaged my brain... but it didn't have the DI Tornado factor. So we arrive at DCS A-10 (see I was getting to the point eventually). The A-10 has never held a special place for me... I've always thought it was cool, and A-10 Cuba! was fun back in the day, but for me it was always just an aircraft. However, knowing the level of detail and accuracy that was put into Black Shark and respecting what ED were doing in the industry, I thought I would give it a go. So I jumped in a few days ago at Beta 4. It downloaded, the shaders compiled, it ran, buttons could be clicked, systems programmed, aircraft flown. Then something strange happened. It was about my third day with the sim and I was just taxing on to runway 31 at Batumi. I was looking around tracking the centreline as I took the turn, I quickly looked down, flipped the Anti-Col lights on and the Nav to flash, looked back up and my virtual eyes adjusted to the new brightness after having looked into the dark cockpit. I adjusted the HUD, hacked the clock and advanced the throttles... and there it was. A little feeling in the pit of my stomach. A little flutter. Could it be? No, of course not. I climbed out and proceeded with my custom mission, a little target practice with a trainee FAC. I hit the CP and checked in for my 9 line... but there it was again. WTF? A while later while orbiting the range looking down at smoking vehicles, a GBU-31 hung up on a pylon and being given the all clear to depart, I was slightly sweaty with an elevated heart rate from trying to remember all the check-lists for prepping stores delivery in DSMS... it was there again... a feeling that just couldn't be ignored. This was as good as Tornado. I immediately felt guilty. It was like I had just been unfaithful to my partner. No... it couldn't be as good. But it was. For a moment I had felt as if I were there... and the part of me that is an excitable 13 year old with an imagination and dreams of being an RAF pilot surfaced for the first time in nearly 20 years. Coming back round the headland to Batumi, lining up for a visual approach, flaring and almost feeling the A-10 settle into the ground effect, I greased it right between the touch down markers. Yes... yes... this felt as good as Tornado. I taxied off and parked up, turning systems, TACAN and radios off I reflected. No, DCS A-10 hadn't just unseated Tornado as the best simulation of all time in my mind... but bloody hell... It's right there next to it. PS... As a foot note to all that if you ever did decide to do a Tornado GR1... you can have my first born. I mean, I have even considered my options for espionage in order to get you the documents that are still classified... Well, a man can dream.