JimMack

A personal opinion: For those buying a new PC, and are wondering which OS. I would suggest XP and not Vista for running DCS:BS at max performance, at least until a Vista SP2 or whatever is released. DCS:BS runs OK on Vista, see my specs below. Note my XP Desktop has option of 2 graphic cards, and the ATI 9800 Pro is not adequate, I am using it to define a minimum spec. I will need to upgrade the desktop to 2 GB. When we go code final, and only then, we will post minimum and recommended PC specifications.

For the sake of historical accuracy! Flanker 1.0 (Windows) was released in USA and Europe in November 2005. There was a DOS version released in 1996, as a result of massive user demand. It was a waste of development effort, as everyone moved to Windows! I should know, as I was the European Development Director at Mindscape and was responsible for the project. It took a lot of effort to convince the US board of Directors (Mindscape = Chessmaster, Mavis Beacon typing etc) to publish a flight simulator, and for a Russian aircraft!

I noticed at the SimHQ show last November that the quickest newcomer to helos to learn how to fly it was a 10 year old, beating several veteran fixed wing flyers!

For those in the UK. There is a new TV Channel - Military. Showing is JETSTREAM. This is a 6 part series on training F-18 pilots. Very instructive. F-18 take off checklist is 100+ items. Makes Black Shark simple!

Hi JEFX, Very many thanks to you and RATCATCHER for this post, it will be a great help for all moving to Matrox TripleHead2Go. Jim

We will not be at the Games Convention, but will be concentrating on more flight sim orientated events later in the year.

Very many thanks. The link is only downloading 292 bytes, so is corrupt. I'll contact TomKatz directly.

Congratulations, that is one of the best, if not the best singleton airdisplays in LockOn that I have seen. If you add sub-titles in English, it is a definite for Youtube. By the way, what mod did you use for the spectators?

In the UK, I am using a DELL XPS M1730. It is fine for Flaming Cliffs, and testing DCS:Black Shark.

At dawn and dusk, trees appear unnaturally dark against the terrain. Those who live in high ground overlooking low ground, check it out.

In your first OPTIONS screen, you can choose SIMULATOR or GAME. If you choose GAME, then you can fly as a typical Playstation/Xbox game. I am testing using a Saitek game controller. You can play as you would an Ace Combat game. No need to worry about start up procedures, clickable cockpit, ABRIS etc! However, you can then adjust all the settings if you wish, as suggested in your post.

You are going to need a long lunchtime! On my home printer it took 2 hours and consumed 2 black ink cartridges and the best part of 1 colour print cartridge. At UK prices for print cartridges that has cost me £79 = $150. It will be a lot cheaper to buy the printed manual when we have it available.

Rich - as usual, a brilliant tutorial, should be shown to all military pilots under training, so much more useful than the usual "chalk and talk" and powerpoint instruction that they get. Now, how about a tutorial on fighting in the vertical?

Black Shark

Another falcon

If it is of interest, here is a picture I took at the LLTM of a Falcon pit, another to follow.

EagleEye: It is OK to upload to another source. JIM TFC/ED

That is a brilliant find!

Pity - whoever wrote the preshow press release did not watch the show! It was all about the P-47 and not the A-10!

For UK members - tonight at 20.00 hrs, History channel, Dogfight, A-10 in air-2-air combat Jim

No surprise, an excellent post by EricJ. To be a beta tester you need to be: A SME (Military jargon for a subject matter expert) on a particular military area of knowledge - preferably you are ex-military. Very knowledgeable about all flight simulators. their strength and weakness. A proven track record to make a long term commitment of giving up your time to do a beta test. You need to be prepared to give up weekends and evenings to carry out your beta test task. We have been testing Black Shark for 2 years, with new builds every 3 weeks. This is not a 6 month commitment. Once you are a beta tester, it does not end there. If you do not pull your weight, you are chopped. So - being a beta tester is not an easy way to get experience of a new title. Jim

We would love to do a French version, but we need volunteers to do the French translation of both software and manual. If you think you can help, and have a very thorough knowledge of military technical terms, then please contact Wags. Under current French law, we can not publish Black Shark in France unless it is in the French language. Jim

Hi TT - I've sent a PM

Excellent movie - congratulations

Actually you can do it now in Flaming Cliffs in multiplayer. Place an object on the ground, allocate observer to a player, player chooses object, CTRL F11, and you have the view from the object and can move around. What you do not have is the kit that the FAC has, binos, laser desig, wands etc etc, but it is enough to call in an airstrike in the old fashioned way.