Obiwan

Background: My rig is not the most modern. It's a Dell XPS M1730 laptop (dual-core 2.8 GHz) with 4 GB of RAM and Nvidia 9800M GTX, but it runs all my games great (high FPS in Crysis on Ultra-High). OS is Windows XPsp3. BlackShark 1 always ran great. And I was drooling over BlackShark 2 new look and features. I bought the full version (not the "patch"), but am having nothing but problems. Instant flight works fine, but whenever I'm close to an exploding vehicle (car or train/boxcar), BS2 crashes. I can start the "Death Valley" mission, but as soon as the AI launches air strikes, it crashes. Loading "Clear Tkvarcheli" or "Convoy Hunt" missions causes a crash on mission load, before I even see a cockpit. I'm not sure if I'm doomed with my rig/OS. XP sees 3GB available and uses PAE by default. Adding /3GB to the boot.ini causes the desktop to crash immediately upon loading. Add /3GB and /PAE to boot.ini get my tothe desktop and lets me at least start BS2, but I never see the load-screen. Music starts after a bit and then the system locks up hard. I'm not sure it's a memory issue though, perhaps a bug in the BS2 effects module? The reason I'm posting is to ask for your suggestion to either a) uninstall BS2 and ask for a refund because my rig just sucks, or b) leave BS2 sit for a while and hope that future patches may address the problems I'm having. Seeing how a lot of people seem to be able to play BS2 just fine (no doubt under Win7 64-bit), I'm not convinced that efforts will be made to get BS2 playable on XP. My rig certainly matches the minimum requirements of the game, so I hoped it would run. Should I wait for patches? Is there some sort of deadline until a refund may be issued? I'd love to play BS2, mainly for the graphics enhancements. However, BS1 still gives me pleasure so having BS2 is not critical. So, is my rig just too old, or is there hope that BS2 may be patched to run on it? (Sorry for the "odd" post, but after spending hours of "down-tweaking" and trouble-shooting, I'm just at a loss on how to proceed.)

Never mind, that would cause a crash from a distance too. It's only when being close. My guess is that it is related to an explosion effect. Please let me know if you want a copy of my config or other debug info. I'm more than happy to test and supply what you guys need. Thanks! PS: This is with BS2 full version on XPsp3 with 3 usable GB of RAM. Bsaed on my free memory display (game panel), it's only using about 68-70% RAM, so I doubt it's a memory problem.

And again. Got close to a tank on the Shooting Range. (Told the friggin wingman to stay behind this time :) Tried to hit with missles, but missed. Missle launches and impacts are fine. Switches to gun. Gun impacts in the ground and on the tank are fine. Hit some more, tank was starting to smoke. Then it started to explode and BS2 promptly crashed. This was again with: ["HDR"] = 0, ["cockpitShadows"] = false, and ["shadows"] = 0, Instead of a sound problem, could it be a scoring issue?

Just did. HDR and Shadows disabled. Restarte the Shooting Range. On approach and quickstop, my stupid wing man clipped me, busting his rotors. As he impacted the ground, BS2 crashed again. However, one round earlier (to confirm it's still crashing with HDR and Shadows on), I was able to hit a car with a missle from a distance, and it exploded fine. It was only after getting up close and hitting it with the gun that, when it exploded, BS2 crashed. So it doesn't seem be caused by HDR or Shadows. Everytime I'm close to something exploding, BS2 crashes :(

I saw that in the installation notes too. I assumed that's for XP installs that only see 2GB of usable memory. On my (4GB) system, XP sees 3GB without any switches. Just got my joystick buttons reassigned. First test flight was okay (with HDR and Shadows). Now, off to the shooting range...:)

I'll disable and see if that makes a difference. But that was the reason I bought BS2. I surely hope that I can use those. I got 3 usable Gig in XP. :(

I did the same thing. I loaded my old BS1 joystick profiles, and several things don't work. It seems that the "action codes", or whatever they are called, have changed on some items. For example, the code for the collective axis seems to have changed. I also can't get the trimmer to work. It's probably best to start with a clean profile and just reassign the settings in the Options menu. (That's on my ToDo for this afternoon.) BTW: I'm running BS2 on XP. I did not have an option in the menu to turn on HDR, nor is the Cockpit Shadow option enabled. However, I can modify the options.lua file by hand and enable those settings. Everything appears to be working. My only problem at the moment is that BS2 crashes, apparently whenever it is playing an explosion sound. I managed to get one vehicle to explode in the Sukhumi free flight instant action. I think I was too far away. When I had tried another vehicle earlier in that mission, I was almost on top of it and it when it exploded, BS2 crashed. Also, in the Shooting Range instant action, it crashes apparently on any explosion sound. I'm suspecting the sound since this one vehicle exploded nicely, and the graphics (which have improved) work fine. Speaking of graphics, they are awesome. Fly through the harbor and look at the coastline farther away. The haze/fog/spray/whatever really immerse you. The lighting and shadowing make the whole experience more realistic. I also like that staring into the sun for a while makes your vision slightly blurred for a few seconds. Now, if I can only figure those crashes out so I can play the game... :)

Thanks for the quick reply. I was afraid you'd say that. It sounds like BS1 and BS2 are more like two different products then (rather than an upgrade), requiring new mods and add-ons for the BS2 branch. Hopefully this won't splinter the modding community or reduce add-ons since they now have to be made for either one (I can't see folks making mods for two different branches... but I'd love to be proven wrong!). Then again, I can't see why I should keep BS1 around then. Perhaps time to delete it and just install a fresh new BS2 and hope for great add-ons and repaints for it. Cheers!

Guys, My apologies, I did nto read through all 65 pages of this thread (passed out around 25-30). The videos looks nice, and the new features sound great. My question is: Will the existing add-ons through Modman work on BS2.0? For example, cockpit enhancements, aircraft repaints, etc? Thanks!

You can find the FAA handbooks at http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/

Merry Christmas to all! May your holidays be filled with joy and peace, your stockings filled, and your landings uneventful.

Not when your close to the ground, usually below 10ft. Now granted, he said 7-8 meters, not feet. My comment was most in jest (hence the smiley). However, There's nothing wrong with hovering auto-rotations. Part of any training and check ride.

Or enter a hovering auto rotation :)

As you can see from the second image, I barely made it on it. Tire teeters on the edge. But hey, the things you do to travel a longer distance while preserving precious fuel.... :D

If the drag of the nose wheel bothers you, do what I did. (See attached image) :D

If it's not running already, manual start-up. Goes faster than auto-startup.

After posting about that easlier, I tried to do exactly that. I've been sucking dust for 5 to 10 minutes, but the engines didn't fail. Although I think the average temp went up just a little bit. One thing I noticed doing that is that when you set down or hover over dirt, the blown up dust eventually disappears, like the surface is blown clean! Had to move a bit to get the dust back. I thought that was neat.

I'm undecided yet. There a couple occasions where the trimmer didn't give me aircraft control until I moved the joystick some more and then back to center. I'm almost tempted to go back to 1.0, but I do remember the jerking, which seems less with the new trimmer. I shall vote once I have made up my mind :)

Ah, sorry. I misread his post then. But why does one need random failures if there are plenty of bullets whizzing around that can create them :)

Awesome! Thanks for the note. I can't fly without enbseries (which I have on in my FS2004). Too bad it didn't run in fullscreen with 1.0, but now I'm happy! I use a different bloom setting. If folks find the posted one too dark, feel free to try mine. It's a bit more subtle, yet still still effective. Here the bloom section: [bLOOM] BloomPowerDay=10 BloomFadeTime=1000 BloomConstantDay=5 BloomQuality=0 BloomScreenLevelDay=60 BloomCurveDay=5 BloomPowerNight=15 BloomConstantNight=5 BloomCurveNight=5 BloomScreenLevelNight=20 BloomAdaptationScreenLevel=80 BloomAdaptationMultiplier=20 BloomAllowOversaturation=0 BloomMaxLimit=100 Cheers!

The chaotic nature comes with combat. The Ka-50 is harder to hot start than, say, a Bell 206 (where you have to keep the starter pressed until you reach about 60% N1). As far engines overheating, that does happen. I dare you to hover for a prolonged time with a good wind coming from one side. I was suprised when my engine overheated and failed. Loved it though! Tire pressure? I don't think you'll find another flightsim where your tires pop on a hard landing! Foreign object ingestion? Try some freezing rain or snow and see how your engine holds up without anti-ice. I haven't tried to suck in enough dust in a hover over a field to see if the engines would fail without dust filter, but somehow suspect they will. And to Rhino4: I know you are referring to older versions of the Hind. Newer ones do have more power and are lighter (fixed landing gear vs retractable for example). But also the Ka-50 has just enough power to hover fully loaded at low altitude. Try a hover at high altitude (try that high altitude mission) and you won't be able to hover her OGE either. Also, on only one engine, I always find myself jettison rocket pods and discharging Vikhers just stay aloft. I think the realism and game elements are excellently balanced in Black Shark.

No problem. I'm used to being ignored ;) Right. By default, that's probably adjusted with rigging or center trim offset (if there is such a thing), just like disymetry is adjusted with a tilted mast or cyclic rigging. My point was that without such adjustment, the torque forces are not equal. Grrr... right, my bad. I meant the angle of the airflow to the cord line is greater. Bad terminology on my bad. With cord line drawing and head-on wind pictured in mind, the angle of attack is indeed very negative. Agree, though, that is a great discussion! /me goes back to lurking

I think the issue is way more complex than what's currently being discussed. Drag most certainly plays a role. My theory: In forward flight, the air entering the upper rotor has a lower angle of attack. The air gets pushed down, increasing the vertical component, and it hits the lower rotor with a higher angle of attack. Also, the pressure difference needs to be considered. The air pressue above a rotor (single rotor) is lower than the air pressure below. So in a two rotor setup, the air pressure above the lower rotor is higher than the air pressure above the upper rotor, caused by the pressure increase underneath the upper rotor. In a stationary hover (no wind), I don't think the torque forces will be exactly even either. You again have the pressure difference, creating more drag on the lower rotor. However, since the total column of air is flowing down vertically, you have the same angle of attack, so the torque difference is small (but not zero!). The induced drag should be about the same, except that the air is denser for the lower rotor so you have more drag there. Once you move into forward flight, the induced drag of the upper rotor system dimishes. I'm a bit fuzzy on how much that changes on the lower rotor though. But your total parasitic drag is much higher on the lower rotor than on the upper rotor. Thus the torque difference is higher. That's all arm-chair physics though, so I may be completely off base :) While roll is explained with the height/arm etc, I believe the yaw is more a result of drag difference than anything else.

I once hovered too long in a cross-wind. My left engine overheated and died since the wind blew the exhaust back in. The other engine was fine, thankfully, and I was able to limp back to the FARP after jettisoning rocket pods and dumping Vikhrs. I'm sure you can hover way longer when pointed into the wind, but that's not where the enemy was. (another lesson on positioning for an attack :)

Has anyone done any comparison between HE and AP rounds against enemy choppers? I tend to use HE for light armor, trucks and MANPADS, and AP for artillery and APCs. However, I haven't found a "favorite" bullet yet for helicopters. My first guess would be to use AP first for aircraft.