Safari Ken

On the PVI, on the bottom row of buttons, right in the middle, is one that will give you the wind speed and direction. Also you can look at the nose of the aircraft; there's a sort of telltale at the tip (the three fins) that moves with the wind. I don't know about the save button problem you're having, but I never had to save my settings. I think that's simply so you can save a template, so you can choose it from the drop-down box for later missions you create. Remember also that after you choose a template from the drop-down, you need to click the Load button to actually make it effective. But if you're just making a one-off weather setting for a mission, just enter your settings and save the mission, and it should be fine.

As I understand it, that's the big advantage of the TrackClip Pro, that it actually emits IR light, rather than just reflecting it. I use the regular clip without issue though, as I wouldn't ever voluntarily put a window at my back while I'm on the computer. Speaking of which, Vapour, your answer to your wife could be something like "Why do I need curtains, you ask? Because the glare is killing my eyes! I'm used to only being blinded by your beauty, and now I wonder how much longer I get to enjoy it!" You should have curtains the next day... :thumbup:

I've never had to use it, but I think the TrackIR control panel has a Threshold setting (forget what it's called, and I'm at work so I can't check) that's specifically used to filter out erroneous IR sources. Of course it won't fix a big open window behind you, but like Ethereal said, that's not really the unit's fault. The only issue I've ever had was lighting cigarettes, but that just lasts a second and goes back to normal.

Well yeah, that's why I mentioned about the declutter option on the debriefing screen. Just choose your name (or anyone else) from the "Initiator" drop-down box, and voila, no more punishment! Well, unless you're like me, in which just reliving that last mission sometimes counts as punishment. :smilewink:

It should show up at the end of your mission debriefing, in the line-listing of events. One of the last entries should show your death and the weapon that caused it. If you don't see it, change the "Initiator" drop-down box to your name, to declutter the display. There's also a third-party program called TacView that records your mission and gives you a really nice, very detailed 3D graphical debriefing. I have TacView, and it's very well done, but I don't use it too often. I figure I don't need some fancy program to tell me that I died because I did something stupid. :D

Seems like the main advantage the TIR 5 over 4 would be for people who sit close to the camera. The wider field of view will make it so you can move further from side to side, without losing the tracking. That's probably not a reason to upgrade if you already have a 4, but it's still a nice improvement.

It could also be that you're too close to the target after awhile. The missiles have a suprisingly long minimum range. A couple of kilometers, if I'm not mistaken. Sometimes I'll drift into that range during an engagement, without realizing I'm so close. You'll know if your laser is burned out, or turned off, if you lock up the Shkval on something, but you don't get the numeric range info at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes I'll go into battle and forget to turn the laser on, and the lack of range information is what clues me in on my mistake. :doh:

If you're literally wondering what killed you, the debriefing should tell you. Just scroll to the end and you'll find your death. Also, there is a 3rd-party program called TacView (I think that's what it's called) that provides VERY detailed graphical debriefings of your entire mission. That can give you some good insight on just what went wrong.

You forgot Storm of War: Battle of Britain, the MUCH awaited follow-up to the IL-2 series. It was originally supposed to come out in June 2003, but lately signs have been pointing to it getting close to being, you know, actually released. Looks fantastic, too! Also, this is pretty close to the same topic: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=40160

Flipping on the blue light just gives you lighting that's good when you're wearing the goggles, it doesn't turn on the goggles themselves. Like has been said, you have to request them from the ground crew before takeoff (though I've heard that if the mission begins at night, you have them by default). They take the place of the helmet-mounted sight. So if you hit the "h" key and you see the crosshairs come up, you don't have the goggles.

As with so many things in life, that can only be accomplished by diligent practice. You can only learn so much by reading. I like to practice flying the Ka-50 with no enemies, like you're saying, just to get over the "thinking about it" stuff. (Also because it's a blast to fly.) I'll go real fast, stay real low, then do a hard flare and try to go into a hover as smoothly as possible, then use the rudders to spin around like a top, etc. Just whatever I feel like doing at any moment. I have no goals when I do that stuff, except to get the controls to be as second-nature as possible. Then when I'm in combat, it makes a huge difference. HUGE difference. Things seem to slow down, and I can concentrate on the important stuff. My sight-seeing expeditions, as described above, have paid huge dividends in my missile evasion, in particular. Some of the maneuvers I do to get away from a SAM actually make my roommate a little airsick if he's watching. :thumbsup:

Agreed. TrackIR is way more immersive than a touch screen. On a side note, TrackIR also limits the awesomeness of multiple screens. I used to really want wrap-around viewscreens (I've wanted that ever since Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, which supported up to 8 monitors iirc), but TrackIR has made me revert to just wanting to play on one huge screen. I actually don't like the touch screens. It's no more immersive to touch a flat piece of plastic than it is to click something with your mouse, in my opinion. What would be immersive would be a fully physical cockpit, a la what Oakes is building in that thread over in the Cockpit forum.

Hey, I think you hit it right on the head there! :thumbup: A twist stick is "normal", in that you twist left to yaw left, but it's also "inverted", because in a way, you're pushing on the right side of the stick. That's exactly why I had trouble with the conversion, I realize, now that you've said it. Your whole body becomes a surrogate for the missing twist handle, and inversion feels perfectly natural. I feel like pointing out that I've never actually set my rudders to be inverted, just that I had a little unexpected trouble converting from a twist handle to the pedals. After a few sessions it wasn't an issue, however.

I have to admit, I never considered inverting the rudder control, but when I graduated from the twist-handle to actual pedals, it took me a little while to get used to it. In a plane, it makes perfect sense, but in a helicopter, especially rotating in a hover or near-hover, it really does seem more natural to have it inverted. Of course, it was just a matter of getting used to it.

Trying to learn this sim on Easy is like trying to learn how to swim by standing in a puddle. :D

Elite was a great game! I played on my Apple //e. :) I forgot all about the X series! X3 is a fantastic game; one of my favorite space games ever, for sure.

Check out the producer's notes in the video section of the web site. They're incredibly informative, and cover most aspects of using the various systems. You'll go crazy if you try to go by the manual alone... Stick with it; the feeling of satisfaction is enormous, once you get the hang of things.

Be careful where you put those boxes. It's okay to cover up something Hawx or CoD4, but don't hide the FSX boxes. FSX doesn't really compete with DCS, and don't we want to encourage people to dive into flight simulation in general? Today's purchase of FSX may be tomorrow's purchase of DCS... Stick them side by side. In fact, expand the whole flight sim area to be as large as possible! :thumbup: Better yet, get a job at Best Buy specifically to manipulate their flight sim marketing. And any time a customer says they're looking for a game for their kid, say, "I got just the ticket!" and hand them a flight sim. Then, when you have the shelves organized correctly, try to get them to put a flight sim on one of those big TV's they have in back. Pipe the rotor sound from DCS into the biggest stereo you guys carry. Any time anyone asks you a question about anything, preface your answer with "Have you heard about DCS: Black Shark?" Go, flight sims, go! :pilotfly:

It's good that they made him a toggle; pretty hard to do a cold start with his fat arms blocking things. :)

Good point. That little tadpole line in the HUD (which shows which way you're moving and how fast) is key. When I first started with the game, I didn't realize what it was. Now that I do, I love that little fella! :thumbup:

It's true; I go there to get blu-rays sometimes, if I want them on the day they get released. There's not much alternative to Best Buy for me, if I want to get there on my lunch break, and yet each time, I walk out of there irritated that it took so much effort to get a new release product. They ALWAYS have trouble finding them! They always have them, but they're never where they're supposed to be, and it takes three employees having a conference to figure it out.

You'll never get that skill if you keep using auto-hover. :smilewink: I myself am a passable pilot at best, but I force myself to try a hover landing every time. It takes a long time sometimes, but I get better every time. That skill then transfers to other flying situations, and I find myself with much more control in general. As for the tipping over on landing, I do that sometimes when I don't realize I've touched the deck, and so don't lower the collective all the way. In those cases, any cyclic movement to the side comes real close to capsizing me. Good lord, I've broken a lot of rotors that way. :doh:

For BS, I leave V-Sync forced, with 4x AA and 16x AF. Pretty much everything else (I think) is still at default. But you have a better card than my 9800GTX+, so I think PoleCat is right, set the AA to 8x.

Ah, the charms of beta software... :joystick:

I tried the mission again this morning, keeping to around 200kph. I got up most of the way normally, but needed a little boost at the end, so I pitched up and traded some of that speed for the last bit of altitude. Worked like a charm, though I didn't do so well once the shooting started. Oh well, at least I got there this time. Thanks! :pilotfly: