SimFan

AI, DC and other stuff won't sell ! - Making LO/FC into a ground sim won't sell (there is enough of that around) - New AI, DC alone won't do it either (no new customers) - New planes, helo's (will not create a new customer base) - Debugging, optimizations: necessary, but again no new boxes - Selling over the internet. Good idea. If only more people knew this great sim existed. - In the end, the only rational thing to do after FC and/or 1.2, IMHO, is making a NEW title, boxed. - A couple of years from now I believe simming/gaming on the PC will become an even smaller niche. - ED needs to make money, as we all do. They unfortunately can't live on charity and will adapt to the the new (market) situation. I hope ED 'lives long and prospers' though. Thx for FC !

Other Download sites I hope it can also be distributed by other web shops based in other countries besides CIS, like Simware (http://www.simw.com). That way we already have a number of options for payment automatically (by s-mail, download using credit card paypal, money order etc. etc.). It woud be nice if those shops-websites would be allowed to distribute and send it on CD as well (no-documentation either of course). I won't send my credit card info over the web. Since I don't use Paypal either it is the only way I could get FC otherwise.

Paypal I won't buy it if Paypal is the only option either. I will wait till it pops up in a web-shop elsewhere ! Don't mind *whatever* the cost is though. ED deserves that much. :!:

If FC is also sold by other websites/shops, ED can save on the overhead involved with setting it up alone. :wink:

Bank Account. I would personally prefer a Bank Account to which we can simply tranfer the money (with mentioning e.g. the unique customer ID number, which was supplied by the Ru ED website when we ordered on-line). Once ED receive payment on their account, our unique IDs would then be activated and can be used by us, customers, to download FC-1.1 ...). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Better still, I hope it will be available on Website-shops all around the world (like at http://www.simw.com ) - and/or of course published abroad. :wink:

Skywall, sorry, thought you were talking 1.1 entirely (since you mentioned supposed performance of it). FC will be stable according to so many reports. It would amaze me if it wouldn't. But, ED will not dissappoint us, I'm sure. :wink:

Will look for the WMP10 update. Thx.

SLI ? Talking about 6800GT SLI - the firingsquad review has a test rig with a 4000+ CPU. Maybe it is still CPU limited with LockOn and 1 GT card ? We know LO simply eats CPU power (as most/all sims do). However, even the 6600 SLI has a very limited gain in MAX FPS - compared with non-SLI. Strange. So, it seems for LO the best choise would be a single 6800GT/U, X800-850XT (PE)... and the best AMD64 CPU money can buy. My 6800GT-AMD64 3500+ setup is still way too slow @ highest res (which is not surprising because of the incredible eye candy etc. etc.). So don't make that mistake: you simply can not possibly buy fast enough, only too slow. :wink:

Thx. Biolog, yes thx. Also off topic. I know 61.77 is OLD and slow. However, I tried with several newer driver versions, but, since the computer is used for (many) other purposes aside from sims I got some other problems with higher versions (like the FULL screen video playback bug in v66.93). I am waiting for the next official release. Would you think that would solve the freezes I sometimes get ?

1.1 memory leaks ???? Skywall states that 1.1 is still in unoptimized state, with possible memory leaks. The game does not unload textures/objects after a mission ? Where did you get that information from ? From (or being one of) the beta testers ? That would be unthinkable. I read some info from Beta testers saying that now the sim no longer crashes AND that it is more fluent. Who is right here ? :?:

CPU ! CPU is indeed THE bottleneck. Even an AMD64 3500+ (+GF6800GT) is not capable enough to run with all settings high. But I sure don't complain. If you like -a.o.- the eye candy (like me), that's what is to be expected. NO other sim (that I know of) looks like LO. Those trees !! Those planes !! Those lighting/weather effects !!! I repeat, never saw the above all TOGETHER like that in any sim. But still, I hope ED can optimize code further in 1.1. Thanks ED.

Same for me. I (still) have exactly the same problem with LockOn. Sometimes the game freezes for no apparant reason. (mostly in F15 campaign). Can mostly exit LO with ctrl-alt-del as well. I am running XP SP2 - AMD64 3500+ - GF6800GT@350/1000 - driver v61.77 - 1GB RAM dual channel. No OC. LockOn - most settings on high. Don't think it has to do with SP2. No other app or sim crashes on my rig. LockOn up, at least up till v1.02, has a problem, I am afraid to say. One important thing I should mention. Most, if not all postings (with this issue), I saw were people running in 1600X1200@32bit (like I am). Maybe it is a driver problem @that res - and LockOn, somehow. I also hope a patch and/or add-on will fix this !

SLI tech It's not the Direct3D based engine that is the problem, it the SLI technology itself. SLI, IMHO is a technology demo/gimmick, rather then a mass market product. I know many people won't agree, but SLI will create more problems than it solves. Take e.g. PSU requirements. Marketing wise it's a great idea though (benchmarks). But, I believe it will/may slow down driver development. Nvidia seems to have a difficult time making new drivers availabe because of the Unified Driver Architecture and now... SLI. BTW, I am a very happy owner of a 6800GT.

DirectX As has been explained to us above, this is due to DirectX being used for all screens. And DirectX tends to absorb CPU cycles as much as it can. The games you refer to may have '2D' and no '3D' menues (?). IE, MS Word or Excell also only uses very little CPU (in idle state). I think that's (3D) may be the best way to go if you want to support all resolutions. Unfortunately it seems that full screen @ 1600X1200 crashes the sim (from second mission on). I have to use 'windowed' mode for the menues.

first, but not last A second add-on may depend on whether or not the first add-on is a financial success. The best way to accomplish this is IMHO being able to also sell a new 'full version' to new potential buyers, in Russia AND abroad. (to me it still seems like a miracle that an add-on will be available, after Ubisoft dropped out of the equation - Thx ED).

That's right. Yes you are right, Redbear, However I got a reply from Simware that simply stated that more information would be 'revealed' on the website... later on. This does not make me too confident. May only mean 'the downloadable' version (or even nothing, depending on the goodwill of ED). I believe a simw customer will be visiting that shop to pick up an item on order any day now. Maybe he'll ask about it. :wink:

Jan 15 If the website 'simw.com' is to be believed, the English boxed version will be available around jan 15 (2005!). But that date can of course also be 'old news'.

thanks. That would be good news !!! I read about the company being based in Belgium. If that is true and they are selling it, I can simply pick it up at the store and let you all know (in Januari). If that European company sells it it sure will be sold the same way (boxed version) in the US. That's what puzzles me. I thought that there would be NO English boxed versions of Flaming Cliffs !!? An English version can't sell that good, if at all in Russia. I also hope ED will either confirms or deny this ASAP. Also, I will call 'simware' on Monday and if you are interested I will let you know. For me (and all LO addicts) this would be too good to be true. I don't really care what the cost will be, as long as I can buy a boxed English version of 1.1. Maybe ED realizes it won't be selling much on the website alone. Come on ED, spread the word.

appreciated I really appreciate all these ideas. Since I didn't run anti-virus software on the gaming rig, this can/could have been a plausible explanation. But now I tend to believe (and of course hope) this is perfectly normal, and that with an AMD64 it should be like that. Buzz, I just brought up the HT issue, not knowing whether or not you actually have such processor. I don't know about the windows problem, I do know that only XP (pro) can fully properly support such set-up. I also read about HT issues in games and sims. Like some games (read about e.g. Comanche 4: which proves to be a problem with C4 not the technology itself).) crash on (2) 'virtual' processors. It is interesting to learn about that windows glitch. Having an AMD64 though I didn't really look into that much. AFAIK, avoiding problems with running a sim like LockOn can only be achieved by reading (and asking here if necessary), or a lot of good luck. For problems with e.g. HL2, one can simply ask 'the guy next door'. For Lock On that may not be so easy (unfortunately). After I installed this sim, lockon initially kept crashing all the time. Got solved by searching the archives (at simhq and lo-mac): when running in 16X12, one has to run lockon in windowed mode (on my Vid card). Was that easy. But without forums like these it would have meant a lot of trial and error. Thx all.

Confused Virus, what you describe is indeed alarming. But my desktop also runs at 0-1%. LockOn at 100%. Strange that you would now be running at 51%. Do you maybe have a HT enables P4 (e.g. like for socket 775) ? That could explain 50% usage, but then you would see 2 (virtual) processors in task manager. I don't think a virus would only affect games, and as you state, the 'desktop' would most probably also be turning in higher CPU usage. There must be an explanation for that difference: 51% against the 100% as stated by other users too (in this thread). :?:

+4GB of memory Don't know if anyone tried it, but I do remember actually seeing several game tests with Windows 64 bit (beta). You may try to use e.g. google to find those. Even if LockOn was not tested it might give you an idea. Don't forget it all involves beta tests. The picture may yet get (a bit) better still. Problem is that it may require more memory in the first place. (like 98=>ME=>2K=>XP=XP2: always required more memory to run itself and apps). But the biggest issue will be drivers. Even ATI and nvidia seem to have a difficult time to produce stable AND fast driver. And these are just for the vidcard. So imagine the horror to get optimal 64-bit drivers for all our devices. If this would not be the case I would be the first in line to buy a copy. Personally I will wait and see what happens (as most people will I guess, it is like a "chicken and the egg" problem) All aside, I firmly believe 64 bit is the future, especially for very demanding sims. But you probably now all the above. +4GB of memory for LOckOn v4. It is inevitable. :D

Other means ? Credit card is no problem for me, but I never use it for internet purchases. I am not so sure it is all that safe (spyware stuff and all). Should be another way besides visiting Russia. Thru Bank Account, why not. Some other companies allow for it. But if ED does not allow for that, I will HAVE TO settle on the only means at our disposal. :?:

OK, thx. It a MS thing. Thx. So MS is the reason, not ED. Since my other sims don't run in windowed mode for anything, I never tried using Task Manager to check @ the main and the options-screens. Never thought this was the case for those as well. Thx.

Need your expertise. I am running LockOn in 'windowed mode' for initial & options screens @ 1600X1200 - 4AA/8AF. Running LockOn v1.02 - CPU usage, even at the main and option screens (with radio chatter) remains at 100%, all the time (seen from XP task manager) :!: First question, is/can this be normal ? Second, if it is, is there something that can be done about it to remedy it (maybe turn off radio chatter, but how ?). Third, if it is a general issue, will it be changed with v1.1 ? I would think that once in a mission this could be fine, but otherwise ? Thx in advance. ________________________________________________________________ Apart from occasional lock-ups (especially when using F10 mode a lot) LockOn runs rally nice. BTW. running on AMD64 S939 3500+ - NV6800GT - on board sound ALC850 - 1GB RAM - XP PRO SP2. :?:

What I fail to understand ! What is beyond me is why some people are not satisfied with Lockon v1.02. Now I know, nice visuals are only one of the many features of a simulator, but still. But Lockon is not bad at all in other area's either. IMHO LockOn is worth at least ten times what we payed for it (not taking into account it can now be had for 10 USD). This simulator sure is nice as well, but who says the modelling would be vastly superior to LockOn ? This of course does not mean I would not love to get to actually sit into a simulator like the one shown in one of the pictures. I wonder, would this setup also be able to run LockOn ? :)