Celo63

Must admit, I've seen these kind of redundant remnants in the sequels of various games/sims before. I know its probably a pain to track em all down and weed em out but they really should. Its sloppy programming (IMHO) to leave all that stuff in there if it isn't used or needed.

Kinda begs the question - what does the graphics.cfg file do then? Seems to be redundant and is just excess baggage...

Bugs we've noticed in V1.0.1a:- (Patch 1.0.1a applied over a fresh install of 1.0 from original disk) Frame rates varying randomly between 30 and 60 whilst sitting on the runway doing nothing. Frame rates randomly variable under all conditions for no apparent reason. In game options menu, language selected to english but wingmen now communicating in russian. No idea what they are saying.. lol Dual view (2 monitors, no phantom) now seems to require that monitor 1 is on the left of monitor 2. This makes using DickDastardly's (DD) touchbuddy profile problematic as desktop is on monitor 1 and so is the touchbuddy panel. Alot of game menu optons are unusable in this configuration as they seemingly conflict with touch screen areas and can't be clicked with mouse. Can be fixed with an update from DD I guess (move TB panel over to right mon) but for now its a pain. Conclusion = going back to V1.0 until next patch Computer specs:- ----------------------- Intel i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz Sapphire 4870x2 (latest ATI catalyst drivers) 6 GB Corsair DDR3 1600 memory 32" LCD TV @ 1680x1050 (on HDMI cable) 15" LCD monitor @ 1024x768 Windows Vista 64 Ultimate

Forgive my ignorance but I don't follow you exactly. Remember I don't have the sim yet and I'm trying to do all this just by reading and without anything in front of me to play around with. Its difficult to follow if you describe things generally and don't use specifics. Sorry if it seems like I'm gnit picking. Just trying to understand is all. The more specific detail, the easier it is for me to follow. I assume "Separate ABRIS and skval" means {three monitors} and "three external views" means {one monitor, 3 views}? Sorry for being difficult and thank you all for your help and patience. I do appreciate it greatly.

Thanks for confirming that phantom monitor issue PlainSight. They really should have put that info in the patch readme, but I guess they just overlooked it with all the other stuff goin on in there too. Easily done. I'm trying to help a friend set up his computer with the dual view, but always over skype - I'm not in front of his PC while doing all this and I don't have BlackShark myself yet. Adds a fair bit of lag to the process. We had it going on version 1.0 with DD's touchbuddy profile and all, but the 1.0.1.a patch screwed it all up. Just a couple things to iron out and we'll be good to go again. I have limited programming skills but a fair understanding of logic and plenty of patience. I will get this sorted out soon enough but like I said, it doesn't help to see so many differences in peoples methods, scattered over so many threads. Its like reading through somebody else's college notes instead of the official text.

You fly the escort, we'll haul the grunts. Fair deal? We can all be happy :D

I'm a "yes" vote for support roles. I'd happily run "bullets and beans" missions from time to time. :thumbup: Types:- Chinook, CH-53, MI-24 and Puma would be nice but I'll gratefully fly anything that comes our way.

All joking aside - current home user computing power isn't enough to combine fully realistic flight sim dynamics with fully realistic ground based FPS action. Couldn't happen now even if they wanted to. Its bound to happen when computer power increases though. It is inevitable - resistance is futile. :D I can see the appeal in blending flight sim and FPS genres. Would be fun to fly various missions in support of and against real human ground forces and not just attack missions all the time. Variety is good and it would certainly increase the overall immersion factor plus the "pucker" factor. Comes down to what you personally want from your sim experience at the end of the day I guess. I'd like to see the blending of the genres but I hope it doesn't take too long in coming. I don't want to require assistance getting my weak and infirm body into the cockpit and bi-focals to see anything in there. loool

It would be nice if there was one clear cut and difinitive answer to this question. As far as I can tell from reading all the scattered posts on multi monitors and also the VAAF Wiki, people are having mixed results with this. According to the Wiki, one guy spent 2 weeks banging his head over this and eventually got it working by editing the options file that was in the virtual store. Editing the one within the game directory didn't work for him. Another thing mentioned on the Wiki page was that one guy opened his options file once with Openoffice and it buggered the file. Very strange. I can't see how such a thing could happen just by opening a file with a non "code aware" program. If you don't save the file with that program, it can't alter anything. I've opened heaps of code files in the past just to have a look at the contents and never ended up buggering a single file. Perhaps his Openoffice program had a very short "autosave" time interval set? I use Notepad++ to edit BS lua files btw... I've also noticed other differences between the way people set up their options.lua file. Some people put "resolution" as the full multi monitor resolution and "aspect" to suit that. Others put "resolution" as simply their main monitor resolution and "aspect" to suit that. They both say they got their own different method to work. For me the former didn't work but the latter did. Used DickDastardly's files with his touchbuddy profile. Its a bit confusing when there are alot of differences in people's methods and makes it hard for others to pick out the one(s) they need. Old news I know, but still frustrating sometimes. End up having to trial and error everything to confirm anything. :cry: Worth the effort in the end though, for such an awesome sim. :) Stuartaston - you say V1.0.1.a does not render a phantom monitor under Vista/Win7. Is this official? I haven't had chance to trial and error my own confirmation on that yet. There is no mention of this in the patch readme file, yet they do say they fixed the CPU multi core afinity. Again, more confusion. Would be nice to know for 100% sure is all... Finally - point taken on the virtual store duplicated files. I wasn't aware of the reasoning. Still seems a bit weird that they should have to duplicate so much to do so little. Must be more efficient ways to achieve added security. Microsoft coders need to get outside the box more. lol

Roger that Snacko. Thanks for clearing that up. One more fly picked from the ointment, so to speak. :D I'll ask about the phantom monitor in a more relevant thread. Cheers :thumbup:

Thanks for the info there Snacko, I thought something like that was probably going on. Glad to hear you'll be back up soon. :) Got a couple questions - wonder if you can clear this up for me? Does DD's BS profile work with the new 1.0.1.a patch or does it need tweaked? We've had a bit of trouble getting it to work with the patch but not sure if we missed something. Didn't have long to play about with it tonite over at my friend's house. Would help to know if its us or the patch. Also, I saw a post in one of the other multi monitor threads saying BS version 1.0.1.a no longer renders a phantom monitor. I couldn't see anything covering that in the patch readme though. If no phantom monitor is rendered then options.lua will need tweaked for reduced width. I can go trial and error to find out but it would be useful to know for sure. Thanks in advance for your help.

Never mind, got hold of a copy from a friend who downloaded it a month ago. Phew. Followed your instructions to the letter DD and its up and running like a dream. Used same res and monitor positioning as you did. Fantastic setup - respect :thumbup: Big thanks for sharing your superb work with us. I'm looking forward to any new profiles you might share in the future. PS. Touchbuddy site still dead today. Any ideas whats goin on with them? I hope its just weekend maintenance. Would be a real shame if they disappeared.

I really like the look of the profiles you've made DD and I'm wanting to help my friend get them up and running on a normal monitor using mouse instead of touch screen. I presume we'll need the touch-buddy software to get it working for mouse so tried to download it from their site. Unfortunately their entire site seems to be dead today. Don't know if its a temporary thing or not but I can't get hold of the software and struggling to find it elsewhere. Any help or suggestions?

Yep, I guess the old trial and error approach will do it. Just wondered what ppl were doing with the other file... I really hate the way windows makes seemingly un-neccessary duplicate folders for so many things though. Whats the friggin point I ask??? Just takes up extra disk space as far as I can tell and complicates tasks like this dual monitor setup procedure. The mind boggles as to their logic, or lack of.. lol

Quick question about duplicate options.lua files. In Vista32 my friend has an options file in a "Virtual Store" sub folder and another in a BlackShark install subfolder, which one is the sim going to use and what do you do with the other one? Delete it, rename it, leave it there unchanged? This is not made clear in any of the info I've found so far. I'm trying to help my friend with his dual monitor setup but no joy yet. I've read all the posts and the wiki and have a better handle on it but there must be a simple thing still out of place somewhere. Gonna go through the files and the procedure again (and again.. lol) until I can weed out the error. Just wanted to clear up the duplicate files thing to be sure. ------------------------------ Seems overly complicated to get dual views working at present. A bit like trying to crack a safe. Miss one click of the tumbler and you're back to square one, lol. Maybe some kind soul will write a utility to take the hassle out of it, like DCS MAx did for processor cores? That would be pretty cool.

Once again, thx for all the info guys. All very helpful. GGTharos, you said - "If you're not using trim you're not doing it right, that's all I can say." Problem is, I'm not doing anything at all yet - still have to upgrade my PC and buy the sim. lol :D Just trying to get a head start by working towards understand the systems a bit before I am up and running. :book: You also said - "Unless you really want to feel the pain..." Is that the pain of physically resisting the forces building up on your stick, or the pain of becoming a smoking hole in the ground when you run out of control authority? :cry: My stick would just flop over if I let it go btw. I'm considering adding some light centering force with rubber bands or something so I can let it go if I want to. Bit of a pain having to keep hold of it constantly. I get by but its not ideal. So, I kind of understand the trim system and its usage now. Next thing I need to look at is the autopilot and its relationship with the flight director, but I guess this isn't the thread for that discussion. Can anyone point me to the best info available on that topic? Much obliged :thumbup:

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated. Clears that up a good bit but I'll still have to get the sim and play around with it before I can fully get to grips. I'm hoping it won't be too long before I'm up and running. GGTharos - I'm more familiar with lighter civilian helos I must admit. Ones that don't have any kind of autopilot systems installed. They tend to use hat switch for trim I believe. I'm assuming that once a full multi-axis autopilot system is in place along with the stabilisation and hold functions, this other type of trim system becomes neccessary to cover all situations? Seems logical in that respect. I'm interested to find out if most people with FFB sticks use trim and those with non-FFB sticks don't use it as much, if at all? I built a flight chair a while ago using an old Saitek Cyborg as a donor stick - chopped it into bits, extended wiring to get cyclic and collective in the right places and lengthened the cyclic a bit. As such I removed all springing from the cyclic so essentially I have no forces on my cyclic at all. Works great for a cheapo flight chair though and its so nice to have all controls in their proper places (I got CH Pro pedals as well). Couldn't go back to a regular stick on the desktop. I'm assuming that with this setup I'll not have to use trim much, if at all? I like to fly manually most of the time anyway as thats the fun part really. I'd only consider auto hover for engaging targets perhaps, if even then. Again, I'll have to get the sim first and get my teeth into it before I know for sure. Looking forward to the day...

Why no simple pitch trim on a hat switch? Hi everyone. I'm newly registered on the forum but have been following this awesome sim for some time now. Haven't got it yet myself as I'm saving up to buy a new PC - my current clunker would choke on this sim.. lol I have a private helicopter licence and I'm a keen helicopter buff. I don't get to fly much for real but I fly alot in X-Plane and I know a fair bit about modern civil helos. The trim method in Black Shark seems to be very strange and overly linked to the autopilot systems. Perhaps this is true to life in the real Black Shark, but I can't help wondering why you can't assign "Pitch trim up/down" to a hat switch and use it incrementally as required - which is how its done in the vast majority of helicopters that I know about. Push the hat forward in stages when transitioning from hover to cruise - pull it back in stages when transitioning from cruise back to hover. Very simple to use and very effective. Due to the twin coaxial main rotors and the absence of a tail rotor, one shouldn't really need trim in roll and yaw axis in regular flight. Pitch trim would do fine for most cases. Autohover will take care of any crosswinds if you use it when engaging targets. Since this is a "study sim" and acurately modelled in every detail I'm assuming that the real Black Shark does not have a hat switch for trim? It is not evident in the pictures of the cyclic in the flight manual anyway. Seems strange that they would choose such a seemingly complicated trim system on an aircraft where the pilot workload is already pretty heavy. Can anyone clarify this for me please? Its all a bit weird.