coolts

Well, let’s hope that with the release of the new HOTAS, Thrustmaster; · Learn from Cougar manufacturing mistakes, (misaligned switches, etc) · Carry through the rugged cougar build, (mine is ancient and still going strong with a little maintenance). You can’t beat metal though. · Maintain the unequalled software flexibility, (with whatever they replace Foxy with) I must say though, that I am looking forward to this and, (unless they balls it up), will replace my Cougar as the throttle itself looks leagues ahead of any others. like the majority I suspect, I don’t have the time or space for a full on pit project, so am not bothered about modding with extensions or whatever, but there are loads of mods for the Cougar so I am sure the new stick will deliver in this area too. I am a little worried about the whole hall-effect thing as I haven’t had any experience with them. I like my stick to move! (Apologies if I have the wrong end of the stick here, but It’s a Friday and I am at work with a hangover!):cry:

okay, to summarise; joystick look NICE :thumbup: me WANT :joystick: reading manuals on screen BAD :cry: I blame feuerfalke, he started it! Besides, we are 'on' topic. But its a large and complex topic.

At the end of the day there is more opportunity for sim developers to broaden their market because of several factors which have changed the whole scene since 2001; · A much larger potential user base, (even peoples grandparents have PC’s now) · A more connected user base due to global fast internet connectivity · Quicker sales opportunities with Steam, etc and paypal type online payment schemes · A more tech savvy populace than 2001, (relatively anyway) · A focus on easy to setup multiplayer to drive sales interest (no more null modem cables, mathcing services, etc) Bearing these points in mind it seems short sighted of companies such as MS (closing down Aces), when all that is needed is a newer sales model embracing change rather than sticking with old methodologies. ED are ahead of the curve here. For example I haven’t bought the boxed DCS or FC2, having downloaded both. They are backed up on my USB pen! The steep learning curve and real need for a big printed manual are the only sticking points preventing sims really kicking off big time IMO and these issues can be addressed by offering printed manuals online (TFC, etc), and including “game modes”, like BS and comprehensive training vids as in FC2.0. Overall I feel more optimistic about the future of our hobby than I have done for a long time!

Surely standard exchangeable sticks on a well featured base are a great thing. Depending on what “DCS:” module comes after “A10”, and how well the sticks sell, and how TM predict sales of separate, cheaper sticks for specific aircraft and how well DCS sells plus additional sim sales,(BOB for example when it ever comes out), TM may release interchangeable sticks for the base. At least they are keeping their options open by doing things this way. A very smart strategy in this economic climate.

That's us told! Good on you mate. I would be prepared to pay for something that provided sufficient entertainment value or got us nearer the promised land of fully dynamic persistent campaigns. As homer Simpson said, "money can be exchanged for goods and services". Looking forward to your app. Meanwhile, I shall be in the parlour preparing my mission! ;()

As I mentioned in my “FC2.0 first impressions” post, here; http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=863143#post863143 IMO, RamGen, or something like it would be a really good project for modders to finally give us the Falcon-like dynamic campaign we have been after for years since……..Falcon. A dynamic campaign is not on the ED roadmap for understandable reasons, so it’s up to the modders in the interim. Not easy to do, but with RamGEN surely we are halfway there? [EDIT: RamGen http://www.lockonfiles.com/ is a RAndon Mission GENerator. ]

Find the bits you want; http://cougar.flyfoxy.com/warranty_parts.php and.. http://www.thommos.com/miscfiles/Parts_Cougar.pdf Register yourself here; http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=creg_1 And send a parts request from the Thrustmaster website. Dont worry about warranties or any of that. My Cougar was 2nd hand and wobbly as hell. Like new now. It takes about a day for a reply. A guy called Augustin sorted me out. Very helpful. Delivery takes 5 weeks though from Canada to UK. Parts were very cheap. It pays to get a few as you pay about $6 delivery regardless.

Right. Done it. Simple really :doh::doh::doh: A picture is worth a thousand words... REDTIGER - Dont worry about there being no "box" for the assignemt. Just click where the box should be and the ADD button should become active. Clear the original assignment first. I could kick myself! Ouch, i just did. :thumbup: oh, yeah, and if you can't see the TRACKIR column, use the scrollbar.

I had the same issue with IL-2. Take off, Point in right direction Autopilot Time compression to max Panic Turn compression off Game begins. Basically 95% of war/life is boring. Luckily the front lines are always close in FC!

But was that from the "free camera" bit or for the A-10 specific? I think iI may have been farting around in the wrong area. Can your z-axis move properly? (ie. have a good close up look at your HUD?) like this (from Beach's post)

Cheers for that! Someone had to do it and yours looks a lot tidier than mine. +1 rep (I think it worked anyway) ps. Have you done a FSX one? A few of the guys here have been after a pre-made one of those for a while.

Heh, I guesed that. But for me, tweaking a .lua is preferrable to buying a £1,000 30" monitor. Or strafing a dot. ----------------EDIT------------------------ Arse biscuits! :doh:

"Absolute Longitude Shift Camera View", is a none starter as well. It’s functionally the same as "zoom" as far as results go. About 1 inch head movement either way. Its as if the pilot is wearing a head brace or has been to a motorhead concert the night before. My point is that this works fine in BS with the same engine. I will do some screen grabs later and hopefully get some answers as I am strafing like Mr Magoo at the moment This looks more like it to be honest. It just "smells" like a config limit rather than a bug.

I will try tonight and get you some screengrabs, but like I say, it works fine in TrackIR and DCS:BS. I only use one TrackIR profile, (set to "exclusive" in TrackIR app).

Guys I can’t get TrackIR to move the Z axis properly. Default settings move about an inch forward or backwards. Changing the default axis assignment to “zoom” makes no difference. It’s not a profile thing as it works fine in DCS: BS, LOMAC, FC1.12b, (insert flight sim here). I have tweaked the TrackIR profile to make Z-axis moves more aggressive but that just makes my head move that one inch a bit quicker. The in-game axis tester for the TrackIR z-axis is fine and showing full axis travel so it’s nothing to do with admin/win7/vista palaver as I killed UAC and install nothing in the default folders anymore. I have followed a few threads in order to fix this and ended up….here again. Either; · I am being dense · It’s a game engine limitation · Its fixable through .lua · It’s a bug I favour the former and am starting to lean towards the second point. Maybe the devs did this to stop people breaking the “limited 6DOF”? I really need to be able to have a good close up look at things whilst strafing, etc. Pressing the / and * keys works fine but isn’t the reason I shelled out for TrackIR. Mapping zoom to a rotary isn’t an answer as they are all taken, and in any case, that defeats the purpose of having TrackIR. If it’s a .lua coded limit, then I can tweak that. Has anyone got this working as it did on FC1.12b as I really need that functionality. :helpsmilie: Or a 30” monitor?

Doh. I was just creating a new thread about this and read your answers. Cheers guys. I will try this tonight as i gave up the other day and just started changing the in-game keys. Bad idea when you have 8 or so separate sets to do now.:doh:

"Remember that you must edit Zoom View in every plane to work correctly" I have only flown the A-10, (and only modified its setup), so far. Could this be it? Change EVERY plane?

axis is fine in the "axis tune" screen. I even made the trackIR Z axis profile more agressive. It goes from max to min in the "axis tune" screen with only a small movement of my head, but in the game it moves about an 2cm both ways. I have tried assigning the trackIR z axis to zoom and longtitudinal....thing.

Cheers Crunch. To be honest, I haven’t taken FC online in any way shape or form yet, (DCS:BS either for that matter), apart from home LAN. I plan to, once I have mastered SP, as the standard of the guys who fly online squadrons, etc. seems very high to me, and I don’t want to be the elephant in the room ;) The shimmer thing isn’t cloud shadows as they are fine. It’s more like flickering vertical rainbow effects over distant mountains (sounds more exciting than it looks) ------- pps. Thanks Konovalov!

Yeah. I've done all that. Changing from, "TrackIR Absolute Longitude Shift Camera View" to "Zoom View" made no difference. If it works on yours in that exact way, then it must be something daft i am doing. I will have a look tonight. ( I dont use the BS profile, I have set up my own. All axis working fine)

Did this work properly for you? When i assign Z azis to "zoom" i get only minimal movement, (same as if i had left at default). Its not HW as my trackIR works perfectly in BS and LOMAC.

How do you do this? the default zoom controls, (/ and *), on the numpad, dont have a trackIR slot next to them to assign an axis to. Assigning an axis in the "axis" section doesnt Do the trick compared to presing the keys. Weird

Good work! Glad to see one of your reports again. Reading through them taught me how to fly the su-25t ! Onto mission

After 3 days with this sim I have barely scratched the surface of all it has to offer but feel that I have had sufficient flight time for some impression to begin taking shape which will hopefully stand up to scrutiny by my peers; Value for money & first impressions · We were promised an expansion to FC at a cut down price. This price increased as the time taken & features included by the devs were higher than they initially estimated. This caused some feather ruffling amongst the more impatient within the community, but as many of us pointed out at the time, quality costs money, time costs money, and experience costs money, and we would rather have devs working to higher goals to give us a richer, more immersive experience. If that costs an extra $15, then here is mine! · What we actually got was, IMO, way more than expected. I have spent the weekend just getting used to the A-10 and it will take me months to get the full measure of the reworked plane roster. · The separate control schemes are a masterstroke. Yes they will take time, but once set-up will offer a much tighter control than a one-size-fits-all-profile which we have been using. With all the plane specific controls, profiles were creaking at the seams. · The whole new interface brings the sim much more into line with DCS which is a good thing going forward. The mission planner & load out screens are much faster to navigate than before and the DCS control mapping is much more intuitive. · The game engine upgrades are a revelation! Improved in every way, this game is now back to where it belongs, at the cutting edge of sim technology. It’s a real eye opener and all the mods I used to use to bring FC1.12b up to scratch are now not needed. It’s beautiful out of the box and is a real technical achievement. When you think that what the devs have basically done, this would be the equivalent of MS bringing out a patch that turned XP into windows 7! This is evidence of the consistent coding practices at ED, (as the software dev who sits next to me at work explained). Depth · I have begun the A-10 campaign and flown a couple of standalone missions and now feel much more connected to the virtual battlefields than before. More comms, more scripted speech, the vastly more complex threat environment, the improved cockpits, all combine to generate a much firmer feeling of immersion then before. We still don’t have the oft asked for F4 style dynamic campaign but I would suggest that the mod makers get on the case there. After all, the F4 DC was smoke and mirrors to a large extent and a further development of the excellent RamGen mod could work wonders here. · Working through the new campaigns & missions, re-learning the aircraft systems and their tactical employment in the new environment, creating specific control sets, multiplayer refuelling (yay! *EDIT: apparantly*), all this is going to take a while and promises to be a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. Difficulties So far, I’ve only had a couple and they are mostly either third party specific of a case of RTFM. · The key command changes have thrown my Cougar profile a few curveballs. I couldn’t get the trim to work (is ‘Rctrl+;’ the same as ‘;+Rctrl’ ?), so I ended up changing the key bindings. Sorted. I have a new rule. If I can’t get the default key mapping working on the Cougar in 5 mins because of Korgy, etc, then I change the damn key. · The DCS “shimmer effect” on mountains / distant terrain. I seem to recall that this was driver related on Black Shark and I am sure will be easy to sort out. Not a game breaker. · Sound level issues. The plane sound effects are muted, (flare dispensing, etc). Posts suggest this can be resolved by tweaking the in game sound sliders. I am experimenting with this as I like to hear my gears/ flaps retracting. · trackIR Z-axis / zoom. This is a pain and I will do some more forum trawling later. Basically, I can’t get the trackIR Z axis to control the in game zoom properly. I desperately need this for strafing. I have set it to “zoom” in the control screen but is still doesn’t work properly and instead it does a weird “matrix” camera pull-shot thing, whereas pressing “zoom” on the numerical keypad actually zooms. (I am admin, trackIR is admin, FC is admin, everybody is admin). ;) This may be a .lua limit put in place to prevent exessive zooming breaking the reworked 6dof cockpit module. · The thorny subject of the missing training content. I can see where Ed acre coming from here. To badly paraphrase Wags, the track file playback in LOMAC was badly flawed and broke all the time. Rather than being flamed by countless posters, they have chosen to link to video content instead. Fair enough. I would suggest adding an explanation to that effect on the training screen because, as it stands, its looks broken. The training videos are great however, and releasing them early on YouTube was a very good move. So far…. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with this release. There are always going to be a few teething problems at first, but nothing major to report. The upgrade has breathed new life into FC and this will re-invigorate the community and keep us engrossed, allowing ED to shift resources onto DCS:A10. With this release, ED have given a massive shot in the arm to our hobby and the genre, which was sorely needed. They have shown the way for independent self publishing studios to move forward without the monolithic restrictions and pressures dictated by out of touch and paranoid publishers, (yes UBI, I am looking at you), obsessed more with crippling DRM and treating their customers as criminals, than they are with quality and commitment to their craft. Well done ED! See you in the skies. :pilotfly: p.s To celebrate the release of FC2.0 I am now turning labels off! (he said sheepishly):music_whistling:

uTorrent spiking at 300 kB/s and averaging about 200 kB/s. Check your port forwarding.