Cichlidash

If the same graphics engine is still in use in yet another 9 months time wont these products start to look seriously dated? Not that I know of anyone who is developing anything with the depth of what ED seems to be doing with the DCS series but the fact that flight sims are not released that often now should not mean that ED should relax on not keeping up with utalising the latest hardware or even windows for that matter. Missing out on the use of Multi-core Cpu's and even full vista compatibility with the initial release of Black Shark is maybe understandable given how long the sim took to develop. The same engine as we have now in 9 months time will end up with the product looking as dated as falcon 4 does today.

This does look amazing but I would guess that it is very arcade like even in the pro flight mode. Still the graphics kill the screen shots from the current DCS Black Shark. I guess that it comes down to graphics vs flight model and sadly I think that Hawks will sell way more than what DCS ever does just on the strength of the graphics. Still it shows the level of graphics that can be done now so hopefully once DCS does bring in its new graphics then it will be at least as good as Hawks and maybe even better.

The flightstick pro costs £100 here so around $145! :mad: Statek Cyborg is about £30 so about $44 Not that I am saying its in the same class but the price difference will put it more into my budget range. The pound has lost so much against the dollar at the moment thats why I was wondering how much the dvd release would be over here as the IGN review mentioned how cheap the game was compared to normal game releases but at the moment the game is actually more expensive than a standard game. Not that I actually mind paying £35 for it, if its anywhere near as deep or as well developed as the reviews are saying but if its released over here for say £25 then thats an extra £10 for the joystick I will need to invest in. Is their many online players at the moment I can make a fool out of myself in front off? Online play is free right?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4RITbQHLLhU&feature=related It would seem the KA-50 can loop just fine.

The Hotas really is nice but very ouchy in the price department that things almost as costly as my graphics card (4870) also the big let down for me is that its for right handed people. I would have to be very into flight sims to want to spend that on a joystick but it does look to be really good quality. I guess that its going to be a Statek Cyborg of some version as they seem to be the only joystick I can spot at the moment that allow for left hand use. I might wait and see about getting both the game and joystick around the same time as I need to wait for a couple of checks to clear first. This would give me time to see if Black Shark does get a Steam release or not. Oh well gives me time to read the manual :)

Man those drop bears are so cute I just love those things and was amazed to hear about them dropping on peoples heads, still dont know if I actually belive that one though. I think it could be one of those urban myths that Austrialians play on us Brit's. Another quick question before I purchase is this game I hear was ment to be a bit cheaper than normal games but it works out at £35 under the current weak pound to dollar conversion which is about £5 more than normal games especially on shelf prices. Is the game going to be cheaper when released on Dvd for Britain? Not like £35 is a bank breaker or anything but also have to factor in trying to locate a joystick :joystick: to go with it. Then again I do have to think do I want to wait too March to play when a few other good (hopefully) games come out. Either way hopefully I will be flying (crashing) soon

I must admite that a lot of the references of Star-Force is based on earlier versions but once bitten twice shy and really I have to seriously think about allowing anything with the reputation that SF has onto my computer anything that installed without users knowledge or permission alters the way that peoples OS works and seems to have caused a lot of issues with computer hardware perhaps even destroying optical drives and even remained unknowing behind after the product it came with was removed sounds and is acting in the same maner as a maleware so I pick to call it maleware this is not buying into some rumor spread on the internet it is how SF acted. Now we have a none driver version which maybe does not have the same issues I would say that Black Shark is a bit new of a game to know if their is issues with it yet or not hopefully not. Wombat788 seems to hit the head on the nail with his post in that it is almost impossible to deal with companies that have not done some questionable things in the past, especially for us with windows based OS. I am also sorry if bringing SF to the forum if it has been spoke about in length before as I am new here I was not in on any conversations on the past to do with this and am not in the positon to start replacing hardware because of copy protection causing harm to my computer.

Their is a huge difference between Steams copy protection and SF and while I can totally respect any company wanting and needing too protect its game I am very reluctent and so is a lot of people to ever allow SF to be installed on their computers. SF has a reputation of being Malware with good reason (because it is) and has in the past caused a lot of issues with peoples hardware and been blamed for causing hardware to even fail. Even without all the technical issues associated with SF the companies buisness practices of posting links to other peoples software for illegal download because they did not use their copy protection system does not sit well with me and would hate to be responcible for helping buisness to continue to function even if they sorted out all the issues they have had in the past with the way their system works. While very tempted by this product I think I can resist purchasing for now and hope that in the future you will be able to find a copy protection system that works for both you and us end users with a company with a much better reputation and buisness practices than SF.

Thanks for the replies guys I am so tempted to get this game right now but I will wait and see how you work the Steam version I hope you go for their copy protection as I really dont want SF on my system and am a bit shocked that you would feel the need for SF and Steam. The Dvd version I would expect to have come with SF but if it came down to the choice of download without a manual or retail with a manual then I would go for the retail product I remember just how good some of these manuals used to be to read like what you got with Falcon back in the Atari St and Amiga days. Not such a fan of Pdf kind of hard to take that to the reading room :D. I would expect flying to have a learning curve to it, in fact I would be disapointed if flying was too easy more of a issue would be finding the helicopter almost impossible to fly after a lot of practice. I will also have to look into finding a good left handed flight stick at a reasonable price as well which might not be such an easy find. Still I really do like the level of development that seems to have gone into this product and if its half as good as it sounds it would be a most worthy investment I just hope that SF would disapear in the steam version but you make it sound like it wont :cry:

Hi congratulations on producing what looks to be a fantastic flight simulator. I am thinking about buying this product after it becomes available on Steam as I wont have anything to do with a product that uses Starforce unless I can really help it. I was wondering though does this game use Dx10 at all and will their be an update in the future to make use of multi core cpu's? I am also wondering just how playable this simulator actually is I know you have an easy mode but in the normal setting is this beast of a helicopter actually flyable to anyone other than the hardcore enthusiast? Also if I wait for the boxed version will it come with a printed manual? Will we get old school cardboard cut out keyboard overlays :)?