Doc. Caliban

I'm full of fail today: I launch the track and watch the chopper flop onto the ground after a few minutes and just sit there. I'm not giving it any input unless it's picking up something from the HOTAS. (if that makes any difference) I'm also assuming the whole thing needs to be left at the default cockpit view as changing views would ruin the benchmark. Help! -Doc EDIT: Hello?

Being a gamer of 20 years, I knew what 'bench' meant without pause, as I'm sure everyone else here did. And yes, I agree that it would be nice to have one. However, wouldn't one of the included tracks played in a certain default view function as a benchmark? All we need is something that everyone can run in the exact same way save for graphics settings. Then we can get some tangible results to compare to. I've never run any of the included tracks; can someone suggest which one might be hardest on the system run from the default F2 view? -Doc

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that the CPU speed is much more important with FPS in this sim than multi-core... correct? So a faster dual core may be better than a slower quad. Can someone confirm or dispel that? -Doc

Thanks for the response! I agree: I'll pass on it. -Doc

Dumb question: What is padlocking, and should I use it? I play with a TrackIR 5. -Doc

I played Gunship 2000 and the Jane's Longbow titles all the time. This sim was the perfect ending to a LONG dry spell for heli combat sims. Never having been much of a fixed-wing enthusiast, I was absolutely ecstatic when I found Blackshark.

Thanks, Butcher. I figured it was in there, but I had no idea which entry it was. I appreciate your help and will report back once I get a chance to try it. (probably this weekend) -Doc EDIT: Why do they carry the decimal places out so far?

I'm sure this can be done in a similar way that the positioning for the helmet mounted sight can be changed. I use a cougar and the Antenna wheel for zoom. I like the zoom to be a tad less than the default, but leaving the wheel in any position other than centered causes the view to jitter every now and then. Any help would be greatly appreciated! -Doc

When you get into your car and your first thought is, "batteries 1 & 2, ABRIS, Weapons Control System...." When you can't figure out how to get out of your car other than going through the sunroof. When the 'Service Engine' light comes on in your car and you think, "Which one?" When you get cut off in traffic and your trigger finger twitches on the stick shift knob. When you're driving at night and shut off all of your lights as soon as you leave your neighborhood. When you spend your whole day in this forum instead of doing your work. When you DO work, you control your computer entirely with your flight system controllers. When you pull into the full-service pump and the gas station and ask for a fill-up, NVG's, and a weapons load-out change. As for the A10, there are plenty of fixed wing sims in general, I love the KA50 because it's a slick, and when I get tired of it, I'm going to want another heli to fly, not a plane!

I remember seeing a cockpit video from an Apache during the first Gulf War where they lased the tank, the hatch popped and everyone bailed out of the tank, then the missile hit.

Or as soon as you lase a tank, it stops and guys flee from it on foot. :-)

Whenever I have a premature explosion, I just say, "Sorry baby, it happens to all guys. It's just poor damage modeling." On a serious note, the OP has a point, and no matter what your *personal* feelings are on the importance of the issue, it's still valid. Trying to invalidate it by saying, 'It doesn't bother *me*' is of no value in the thread, really. My lest favorite kind of answer in a forum thread is, "Why would you want to do *that*?" Just my 2 cents.

How can you make it stop doing it so that you can just freely hat it around looking for more targets?

If I lock a moving target, toggle the ground-moving option, and then launch on it, sometimes after the hit the now-unlocked targeting reticule will continue moving in the same direction and at the same speed as it was when it was locked onto the target. As I manually move it around, as soon as I stop giving it input, off it goes again. Nothing I do makes it stop other than re-centering or re-caging, neither of which are the least bit convenient in battle. What dumb thing am I doing? -Doc

I like going to F3 view and trying to aim the helo at the camera, then launch the pilot right at the camera. Well, It's not so much that I *like* to do that so much as I was just bored.

You mean you miss with the first rocket? Just kidding. :-) -Doc

I see them running around a lot in the Clear What's-It mission. They run in agonizingly slow motion animation, but they do move around. Apply rockets as needed. All gone.

I did the change of water setting in the options file from 2 to 1 and that helped even more.

The key with the Windows logo and the word 'Start' on it (the one of the left) and the 'home' key near the insert / delete / end/ page up / page down keys. Hold the Windows key down and tap the Home key.

I tried medium visible range, but it makes enemy units too easy to spot. Playing with low visible range must not be challenging at all as nothing can hide from you.

SLI is simply the paraleling of multiple GPU's, no matter what kind they are. It's the simple principle of "If n is good, then n*2 is better." And it is. GPU's are used for much more than video processing now, as the OP is pointing out. Unfortunately, this sim, and it sounds like others as well, are not written to take advantage of that power. Another way to think of SLI is to say, "Now that I have a faster, newer CPU, why should I bother having more than 1 core?" Same idea. Faster, better, AND multiple cores. That's SLI / Crossfire.

The only time I really seem to take a big hit is around buildings of any number.

I heard the rumor, but I think it's just so much hyperbole. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I OC'd my i7 920 to 3.6 just for this game. No other title benefits from the bump. Oh well.

DOES SLI kick in? My 3 280's don't seem to make much difference. On other, true SLI games, it scales almost 1:1 in performance and makes a HUGE difference. -Doc EDIT: I've also noticed that moving down to 1920x1200 makes little difference.