Bisch

Post sucks, they just don't get it. I have to wait another day for my new HDD as they were to silly to follow easy instructions. Then I ll test it on Win7 too. However, don't know if I should test it wit Win7 32 bit or 64 bit. I only have 2GB of RAM so Win 64 bit doesn't make sense. On the other hand, 2 GB RAM don't cost a lot anymore. But I should buy the same outdated DDR2 Ram I have right now which doesn't make sense when I want to buy a new PC as soon as Armed Assaul 2 is out. The copy protection is another thing that makes lots of tests with different OS, use of Betas and stuff sophisticated. Don't want to waste a lot of de- and reactivations (beside the fact that de-activation didnt work for me, consuming an activation) As Squidgyb said, the MS FFB2 should be no problem under Win7 64bit as it works under Vista 64bit for him and about the X36: There's Vista 64 bit driver on the Xhotas-Page....I really believe it works and I deeply believe such a driver is fully compatible to Win 7 64. Update: LOL, just saw the prices for DDR2 Ram... 20 EUR for upgrading from 2GB to 4GB at my local store ^^ Do you know what's the max size of Ram the M2N-E can handle and which PC2-Level / Timing?

Thanks Tailor, very very interessting! Astonishing similar config now. I also have a motherboard M2N-E and and AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (it's a bit above 3,1GHZ per core) But I have lower Ram... 2GB instead of your 3GB. My GPU is a ATI X1950XTX with 512MB Still waiting for the used HDD a friend did send me. As soon as it will arrive I ll also give Win7 including affinity trick a try (never touched Vista though) Did you install Win7 32 or 64 bit beta?

Tailor, I can't find any infos about the drivers provided on the XHOTAS page. Can you use the lite and pro drivers for X36 too? Will the pro drivers be free or commercial?

I use Microsoft FFB2 (for X/Y Precision and X/Y FFB) Saitek X36 (for many Button, Axis and scripting) Saitek Rudder Pedal ... for ermm well... ;) FFB2 and Saitek Stick are mechanical and electronical merged. The handle on the MS FFB2 base is from X36 for example I never switched to X45 or X52 because I don't like both

@Tailor Yea, Dhauzimmer did a great work already since the "Allegiance" times. Very good drivers which never caused trouble when installing - other than the various Saitek drivers. Scripting was a bit tricky (first you had to create profiles as plain text in notepad!) but with HazardScript and another one I forgot it became very comfortable. I especially liked the possibility to calibrate my X36 in a way more precise way including rotarys. Didn't know the site you linked though. Very interessting. Is it Dhauzimmers page? He only had a dynamic DNS page with directory listing active to download. Another great link in this thread. And Im really glad there aren't only X52 users out there! Haven't seen X36 users for a long time PS: Deactivation What a crap. Did it according to the guide but it just activated the game once again, costing one activation. Although it never was de-activted. I did it because changing CPU exceeds copy protection limits. I was fed up and simply replaced the CPU ready to waste another activation. However, BS still did work without reactivation. Very bad system What are your performance experiences with BS and Win7 tailor? Especially when comparing with your preceding OS. @SquidyB Lol... same here... no profile yet.... very few flight hours... only lots of reading and posting. But somehow I need to close the gap to the hardcore simmers :) Im way too much interessted in other genres which distraced my very often from more simming. About performance. Found out that I could also use triple or quad core CPUs with a recent bios for my M2N-E but I decided against because it would be a downgrade for the single core. I had a 2x4,3 and comparable or better CPUs with triple or quad cost a lot and I dont want to put it into my old system. I ll wait until I ll buy everything new. But 78 EUR for a 6000+ duo seemed to be a fair deal. So single core went up form 2,3 to 3,1 I made some measurements: I took a training.miz linked in the SimHQ forums. We use it to practise flying and weapon employment. Before the upgrade I had 20-21 when standing still and starting. 20-40 when flying and after crashing you see a civil plane flying. Looking at it directed to sky I got 80fps, fully zoomed out 50. The values after the update: 20-21 -> 25-26 20-40 -> 30-50 80 -> 120 50 -> 63 Still not much more fps when standing and if there would be action I guess but looking on the relative improvements you can see the difference is really made by CPU. Next step will be Win7 and some tools I saw here. Even just reinstalling my OS could help as it is quite spamed by all kinds of applications and don't know what. Last step will be replacing my 1950XTX with an 4850. Still no hardcore gamer setup but I hope to be able to fly in low settings smoothly most of the time.

SquidgyB, you can be even more happy. Nice post as always ;) Bodnars devices are really cool. My friend and I also love his devices for racings sims as we love "live for speed". We started to mod our sticks for IL2 but they are still unfinished in several ways. But now with DCS the motivation to continue modding is back ^^ I found some PICs I uploaded long time ago. Just for you as a quick impression. No good pics and no OMG-Homebuilt-Cockpit but I am really happy with it, it's unique and there's still much room for improvements. You can see the both X36 X/Y Axis potis on the base, the X36 handle on the FFB2, the hole for the FFB2 light barrier and if you have good eyes also the poti next to the trigger (FFB2 twist poti) We still need a cover the three potis or maybe replace them completley and to built the FFB2 grip fire buttons / coolie contacts into our setup. Here's a better pic showing the place of the twist poti: I wonder which layout you fly? As Im still very noobish it's hard for me to find a good button layout. However, without proper button layout it's difficult to leave beginner stage ^^ ----------- About Performance: Today I ll buy a new CPU today to get more FPS in BS. Upgrading from Athlon64 X2 4800 to the best available for AM2 (not AM2+) which should be the 6000+ (2 x 3,1). Much much of an upgrade but at least a quite cheap one At the weekend I ll try Windows 7 including the optimisation hints and within the next two weeks I should be able to replace my ATI 1959XTX by an ATI 4850. Im curious how this all will turn out. Perhaps Im going to buy a complete new setup in summer if Arma 2 will be better coded than Arma 1 I guess you are right about the trim video. I should force myself to watch it finally... will do so later ^^

Awesome work! Very nice system!

About the trimming hints... shouldn't you distinguish between player who have an FFB-Stick and an Non-FFB-Stick as trimming procedure shoule be completley different as far as I understood. I could be wrong though (still problems with trim myself)

Hello SquidgyB, very very interessting answer! Great reading, thanks for that. Better than 100 cockpit builder forum pages for me. About FFB2 on Vista/Win7: Great to hear you have no problems and the proper FFB settings for BS! However, there's no way to determine FFB power and return to center power in the game controller settings, right? Couldn't this be a problem in other games? I don't worry about my X36 because I ll use a USB controller like you did if necessary as the X36 has no FFB. (BTW: The controller you linked is the best I ve ever seen! Great link!!!) I guess using such a controller board for the MS FFB2 would cause some trouble because you would lose FFB, right? Another question: Can you still use the mode selector of your X35T as mode mode selector or is it some kind of persistant button now? Wouldn't be a problem for BS because you can definde switches and modifiers but this is a rare luxury function. But you could compensate that with a 3rd party joystick programming probably, eh? ------------------------------------------- About my Saitek / FFB2 history as background info if you are interessted: Started with a X36 gameport around the year 2000. Quickly hoped over to the X36 USB as it came out. Didn't move on as I didn't like the design, found no addiotinal functions and hate the sping tension. Two of my friends bought the X45. For IL2 we bought the MS FFB2 as we love the FFB and the precision. Now we all have combined sticks. We all use the Saitek throttle, the saitek stick/grip on the MS FFB2 base. Basically we only use X/Y axis from MS FFB2, the rest often stays unassigned. Will change for BS I guess. The twist potentiometer we took out of the MS FFB2 is now a rotary next to the X36 trigger for the right thumb (pitch control in Il2 f.ex.) The two potis from X36 X/Y axis were moved to the base of the MS FFB2 next to the 4 four MS FFB2 socket fire buttons (4,5,6,7 ?) PS: I have the same trim problem like you ^^ Finally got it how it works and read everything about it but I fly better without it which says to me that I can't fly / use trim properly

Currently I run a merged setup: MS FFB2 Joystick (for precise X/Y-Movements and FFB support) with the Saitek 36 Handle (better grip and more buttons) and the Saitek X35T (original X36 Throttle). So I need to plug in two USB connectors and I need both drivers installed to run my new combined HOTAS. In addition to that I have the Saitek Rudder Pedals and Track3 with Vector Expansion. All this runs under Windows XP 32bit. BS runs rather bad. 25fps if nothing happens. 15fps in flight and 5fps (!) when artillery starts to shell my airport. I use native resolution (1650x1050; otherwise I can't read instruments) but everything on low. For a IMHO medium setup (AMD x2 4,6GHz, 2GB RAM and ATI x1950xtx) quite disappointing result. Perhaps my system need a proper re-install. I want to try Windows 7 but Im afraid I ll run into some problems: The X36 support was canceled long time ago (although it used the same drivers then the X45 and it has the same functionality) and I only got the sidewinder software running by using a modified driver. I fear losing functionality for one or both sticks. For example the FFB settings of the sidewinder software. I need to be able to disable return to center forces, otherwise the trim function won't work properly. So I'm looking for people who have experiences with one or both sticks under Vista oder Windows 7 Additional question: I dont want to keep XP. Do I need to deactivate the key or can I use an exported registry key?

True the A10 is beatiful and I really look forward to it. Haven't played a A10 sim since "A10 tank killer" on Amiga ^^ But flying A10 against human controlled ground targets is way better than flying A10 against AI controlled ground targets ;) You are right about the communication...the modern setting of DCS and the electronical warfare makes a multi-plattform-simulation even more interessting. Teamplay possibilities would multiply themselves

I got your point Mogster and I understand it. But there's at least one real great flight sim - otherwise you wouldn't be here ;) (and there are great games like Lock on, Il2 etc) But there's no such combined arms game on sim level. However, I did talk about the (far) future of DCS. When we ve got our AH64, our A10 and perhaps a figher plane or whatever.... then there should be enough to fly around to start creating controlable vehicles. This would attract additional customers too. Those who like the specific vehicle (tank simmers, ships simmer or whatever) and those who like a game that simulates land, air and see units

Well, next units should be released faster than the Ka50. They already have put a lot of work into organisation and basic code which will also be the base of future releases

Putting work into controlable surface units would reduce work on better AI. ;) At least for those few guys like me who prefer multiplayer sim gaming. PS: It's possible. Already the very old "WWII Online" had inf, planes, vehicles and ships on a large scale battlefield with focus on realismus. It even already had a persistant campaign and hundreds of players in "one world". Could have been better but it was the same concept and it was working.... despite the hardware and network limitations compared to today

First of all, I love BS and made two friends buying it. It'll take months to get good at it I guess. But being interessted in multiple ways of gaming and sim gaming I ask myself if DCS will release player controlled, fully simulated non-flyable units like ships, tanks, anti-aircraft-units or maybe even infantry (I ve read you even can walk home after ejecting). So far I only know that A10, AH64 and a Hind is planned. But looking on the very generic name DCS and the layout of the homepage makes me think DCS will go this direction. At least with 3rd party support. Even if there would be units I don't want to play or buy (but I guess I would buy all) it would be great to play against human controlled surface units. So some kind of Dangerous Waters concept - just better and larger. Perhaps a high fidelity hardcore "Armed Assault" (without it's bugs) I haven't found any infos about the DCS concept concerning this point. Are there any infos somewhere out in the web. Perhaps an interview, posting of a DCS employee or sth else?