WynnTTr

I would much rather the attention to the actual heli be lavish than the campaign. If there was a scale or whatever, I'd weigh in on the heli model every single time. If that meant sacrificing other aspects, it's more than a worthy sacrifice. In that aspect, ED has delivered and more. That's my opinion, and it's just as valid as yours. Cos you know the old saying - opinions are like ....holes, everyone's got one.

where's my coffee... er vodka cup holder. dammit. Didn't get my $50 worth, so close yet so far.

You made a mistake here. It should be total screen width + phantom, so 1024+1680+1024

Melbourne, Aus. $15 is about the price I pay for a 6-pack of premium beer.

Lets put a little perspective into this. Dunno where you're from, but where I am, dinner = $10, movie ticket = $16, popcorn+coke = $8, beer = $15, total for a cheap night out by myself = $49. This sim has provided me with many, many hours of enjoyment and will continue to provide many, many more.

Put them in your multiplayer folder and start multiplayer BS. Start a server and choose the missions.

LALT - C

Mate, we got Dundee, crocs, sharks and... drop bears! Killer kangaroos hop through our streets at night regularly. Tourists have been warned. :smilewink:

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but ever since I've started browsing these forums, (which isn't that long, but as any with any new forum, I click and read everthing), I haven't seen a thread actually complaining about the BS SF. Sure there are concern threads such as the OP, but every person (that I've seen) that has the game or is posting about the game has not posted any negative effects of SF. The only threads about SF that I've noticed are the ones come from those that haven't bought the game and who rely on past reputations. Granted, it was a deserved reputation, but I gotta admit, SF has learnt and evolved - it isn't the same copy protection it was. I was one of the crowd (like everyone else) that thought SF was sh*t, but didn't think twice about installing BS. And since BS comes with it, then that's the price I pay to play this amazing sim. OP - if you really intend to not give BS a go based on past reputation, then it really is your loss. If you're any type of simmer, then you cannot afford to pass this one up. Tell me, did the old SF actually do anything to your machine, or did you just hear it through the grapevine?

There is a learning curve, but the difference with this game is that it's part of the fun. Besides, it's not as steep as some people would think. But these types of games require a time commitment and a bit of patience. You can't expect to load up and then after half an hour, fly around popping over hills blasting tanks. This is probably the most realistic heli sim in the mainstream market - expect a learning curve. But as GGTharos stated, unless you're totally incapable of absorbing new information, then, after a lot of practice, you'll be flying quite well. In fact, I guarantee you that you'll be laughing at yourself when you think about how you flew starting out. Hope you find a good south paw HOTAS - unfortunately I don't know of any. You'll probably have to look at some custom mods. No doubt they'd cost more than a standard HOTAS, but having one will certainly increase the immersion factor. In fact, after getting mine, I dont' know how I flew without one.

If your HOTAS can support it, why not? Have you seen the programmability of a modern HOTAS?

Flying combat missions with NVG's on. The whole point of HOTAS is to minimize kb use, and if you can put a function on the HOTAS, why not?

Here's what I did - map the actual keys to your rotaries using SST, then adjust the deadzone for the rotary so that it doesn't adjust brightness as soon as you move it in either direction.

It does happen. I was playing with my bro and we were playing follow the leader. I slowed sharply and he went under my chopper. We were fairly low (sub-40m) and he lost it as soon as he went beneath me. He didn't lose control, he just dropped like a brick. The only explanantion we could think of was the downdraft from my rotors disrupted his air. If that's the case, it was a 'that's pretty cool' moment.

If you're upgrading to an i7 soon, or thinking of getting more than 4Gb RAM in the next few months, get Vista 64. Or, if you can wait a year, go for Windows 7 - it's far superior to Vista.

Feel around where your left middle finger sits. You'll feel the ridges of the mouse wheel. Push in for mouse right click.

Next study aircraft they're doing is the A-10. After that the AH-64A is scheduled. Why no D version? Well ED have already stated that they're only going to do aircraft that have full data available to them - no guessing how it might fly in a given scenario, no guessing what that switch might do in the cockpit. Given the quality of BS, I can't wait for each new module.

Playing the game is possible with just a kb/mouse, but it'll be very difficult for you to fly properly. Think of it as trying to bowl with a tennis ball - entirely possible, but is that fun for you? This game is a study sim - it's probably the most realistic simulator out in the market (game) today. Ultra realistic flight model with ultra realistic ka-50 dynamics. You don't need to read the manual from cover to cover - but it is necessary for you to understand the systems and how to operate them properly. Just read up on the components when necessary. For me, I started with learning on how to start up the chopper (got that from the game tutorial), next how to fly properly (trimmer) then how to fire weapons properly, then how to use the datalink properly, and finally how the ABRIS/PVI works. Take it in stages and you wont' be overwhelmed. The game is incredibly rewarding and immersive. I still remember the first time my wheels left the ground - I promptly crashed about 5 secs later. Now I'm doing hammerheads and landing on buildings for fun. The only problem I see is that this game will suck you in - you'll probably feel the urge to get a proper HOTAS setup with TRackIR. I had neither of them before I started, now I have both and getting 2 more 27in monitors so I can get TripleHead2Go. I've never felt the urge to do that before, ever. But imo, this game is worth it.

Consider that your 32bit OS can only handle about 4Gb RAM total - this includes your GPU RAM. It's not Microsoft's fault, but rather an x86 hardware problem. Vista SP1 recognizes more than 4Gb RAM, but doesn't actually use anything past the limitation. So in fact, your 1GB+768MB card is already eating into the limit, add to that all your other memory mapped devices, and Vista itself (resource hog that it is), I wouldn't be surprised that you're getting abysmal fps. EDIT: you've obviously spent some time and cash getting that setup properly - and it looks fantastic. Why not just invest a little bit more for TripleHead2go. With that setup, TH2go is a must.

There were Thrustmaster flight systems before the Cougar. Cougar = weak parts ruined what could have been the best stick on the market. If you want to spend extra $$$ to mod it, you'll have the best stick money can buy. CH = works right out of the box with high quality components. No need to mod anything.

I agree completely. I am more than willing to support ED and pay for this game - and would do it again willingly. In fact, if they offered the game for free, I woul have paid at least the $50 as a donation to show appreciation. But a part of me is still irked that pirate versions has none of this starforce bs and, that as someone who is willing to part with money to support the developers, we have to put up with this limitation.

Can't load up missions either. Stuck on loading screen.

If you're new to sims, then you're about to plunge into the grand-daddy of realistic flight sims. Thankfully the gaem does have easy flight/avionics and I suggest you start off with that - get to know helicopter dynamics. Once you're comfortable, then switch over to full realism. Do your research on how to fly the Black Shark - read everything you can about the trimmer, read how co-axial helis operate. For this sim, you NEED to study up a bit. You'll get frustrated, but if you stick to it, this is one of the most rewarding sims out there.

One thing to remember with the pro setup - the throttle isn't automatically mapped to collective, the slider bar is. You have to go into the game key mappings, under the 'ALL' dropdown, select 'Axis commands' (shown in red). You have to map Joy Z to collective there. And personally I don't have any x52 pro keys mapped in game - it's all SST for me. This is because I use different modes and latches, eg, I don't want Fire A to exclusively fire cannons.