Starlight

I think this thread is going very far away from its intended target. I thank the beta testers who anwsered some questions. But I still would like to hear something from the dev group, even if I think it's not much likely. The end of November is really near and there isn't yet an official release date. I think they're quite busy to fix the (hopefully last) bugs,

Linux is based on Unix but it's NOT a Unix clone, the kernel and the modules are waaaay different. Linux was an evolution of Minix (a microkernel version of unix written from scratch by Tanenbaum for his students), but with a monolithic kernel. Linux shares the same Unix-like interface both to the developer (syscall) and to the user (shell and gui) but its core is completely different from Unix. Today it may be true that some Unix systems include some parts of linux code (that's the problem with SCO). Then for NT, sure it has its origins into the VMS project. But there are rumors that in XP some things were "borrowed" from systems of the "other side". And if you look at stability, XP doesn't seem to belong to the NT family ;)

not quite correct. It's depends on memory amount you have in your box. I run my linux development plaform on 256mb without swapfile, based on Slackware setup. Also my linux project platform (quite resource-intensive, BTW) run on 512mb with no swap partition. I wrote "you should" because you'll better have one, but it's not the only way to go ;)

but they did borrowed some things ;) so can you please tell me why the page file dynamically increases and decreases when the pc is working (if he just needed to dump the ram you would set it as large as the ram itself, not larger!) and why many game/app manufacturers advise to have a page file available just for running the app (not to see the dump)? 2,500 clients or 2,500 servers? I don't think even my ISP has 2,500 servers :)

Quite wrong too. You're likely to need a page file anyway. In Linux systems for example you should always have a swap partition, that's a small partition which is only used for the page file. And also in Windows you'll need one. A page file is extremely useful for an OS to manage data. I can also ensure that 512 MB of RAM are not more than enough for LockOn and if you have the page file enabled it will swap sometimes!!! The more RAM and page file you have the better performance you'll have. If you have a small page file and the RAM is not enough to keep all things in memory, your OS will swap a lot and this really slows down a lot the pc. I have 1 Gb of RAM and LockOn still uses some page file. just to give an idea.

Quite wrong, for XP Professional at least. XP will make a page file according to the amount of ram installed. When I had 512 MB I think it made a 800-1500 variable size file. Now that I have 1 GB I think I have (by default) a 1.5 - 3.0 GB large file. Now I set it to be 1.5 - 4.0 GB. Nevertheless at some time, especially when there is a cloud overcast, when I have lots of vehicles and aircraft and when I make intensive use of external views the FPS drop from the 15-30 "minimum zone" to the 5-10 "minimum zone". "Minimum zone" is my own definition for the minimum FPS rates that I have when the sim is rendering "graphically heavy" scenes (A/C formations, city overflights, explosions and external views)

just a shame that even in 1.1 objects are semi-trasparent when there is fog :(

I agree, I'd love to see the Fishbed in action since it's one of the main aircraft of the last 40 years. There used to be thousands around the world, it's important as the Phantom.

I can send my last "attack at maykop" mission. Just try that and you'll see all the things I'm talkin about. Maybe I was just out of luck that I discovered so many bugs in just one mission... maybe not. Absolutely NOT in Falcon 4, at least until SP3 which was my last config for that game. In F4 there was a fully dynamic campaign goin on, and not a single crash while taxiing or taking off. And, both friendly and enemy a/c did what they were supposed to do. LockOn is many steps ahead compared to Falcon 4, but in terms of AI, it's quite behind to F4. I do know something about AI, it was my last exam at University this Summer and I got 30/30 (30 is the maximum in one exam here in Italy) :D Not that I'm an AI guru, BTW, I'm not saying that!!!!! I agree. And I will also add that in such a game, AI is very important, as much as graphics and modelling, because it's a way to achieve realism. I have the feeling that the LockOn community feels that realism is achieved more by having all radar submodes in the Fulcrum or having the Su-25 bouncing when landing. I don't think so. I consider those mere details. I consider AI should be given absolute priority if I was to patch this sim. But I don't know if it is possible. Quoting my OS teacher he said that security is not the thing you're gonna put into an OS after you design it; it must be a built-in feature. I'm worried that the same thing can hold true for AI in Lockon I admit I didn't have much problems until I played small missions. But when I designed my own missions with strike packages, defenses, escort, sead and support, well, after a while the game is pretty unstable. And with all that missions goin on, well there are quite a lot of bugs in the air! :(

Hi, First thing, let's keep the discussion a little more general. I'm not talking about water quality and FPS, I'm talking about general features of this game. What I mean is that this game is a FPS-eater. There seem to be little optimization on the overall graphic engine. I know such a game is demanding, but sometimes adding a few aircraft to make a scenery look real makes the game a lot less playable. Second thing, I'd like to hear someone who's really involved in LockOn development, to hear if he agrees (at least in some part) to what I've written here or not. And what are the steps made in 1.1 and which one may be in future developments. Last thing, when I'm talkin about AI, I'm not only saying that it acts in a stupid way during combat, I'm saying that it's so dumb that sometimes I have less forces in the air because AI controlled a/c crash into each other on takeoff or while on the taxiway! I've never seen such an AI in any sim, not even in those for MS-DOS! And this just adds to the fact the AI doesn't use tactics at all! Have you ever seen a flight of F-14 face a Soviet bomber force in a tight echelon formation? Or even the Mig-31... they have a data link to make a kind of BARCAP even more than a hundred miles long... what are they doing stacked up in 1/3 of mile!!! I mean the game is pretty unbalanced... graphics are stunning, the devs strive to make the Kopyo radars work as real ones and the AI is so poor? And, last thing which covers FPS and overall stability, I think the game should be able to handle a realistic scenario with some degree of complexity without freezing or having FPS dropping extremely low. I've conducted many test missions and today it isn't so, even with patch 1.02. PS: yeah, I patched 1.00 ---> 1.02, that's why I waited so long to do it, I waited to have a fresh OS/Lockon install! ;)

Hi, I recently upgraded to LockOn 1.02 (I've always played with 1.01 until a few weeks ago). There are some serious issues that I thought were fixed in 1.02 and instead I found out that they haven't been addressed. At the end of the post there is my config, which is quite good, tested and stable (with other games) I only "fly" offline single player missions. Here are just some examples of the issues noticed. - The AI is VERY BAD. And I really mean VERY BAD. Friendly AI planes most of the times are of no help at all. Enemy AI pilots no matter what's their skill level, sometimes they're good fighters, sometimes they're sitting ducks, waiting to be killed. Both friendly and enemy AI pilots make little use of tactics and formations, even some ACM basics (eyeball/shooter, shooter/cover and so on...). A lot of times attack aircraft miss their primary targets: but not due to bombing errors or weapon malfunction, they just seem to go for their own personal flight plan. Attack runs are quite ludicrous, with A/C slowing down on the final leg or making strange paths and exposing to AA defenses (extremely not real if you read any real pilot account - and also to the rookie simmer that doesn't make sense!). I also had many times AI-controlled aircraft crash on landing or even at takeoff!!!! I have one mission where a flight regularly have two a/c crash one into the other at takeoff (#4 against #2). I played the mission Crimean Flight Tour (made by one your beta testers I think, I just added an AI wingman) and after 5-10 minutes of low flying the AI a/c *regularly* crashes into the ground. Each and every time!!!! Want more? Sometimes I had an AI-controlled a/c unable to exit stalled/departed flight.... he just went straight at stall speed, unable to recover. - I experience quite a lot of game crashes, don't know if even more than with 1.01, even though I have a very stable config with many other games. In particular with "complex" missions (about 20+ aircraft and some ground vehicles) the game suddenly freezes and I just have to kill Lockon through the task manager. I have some missions which regularly freeze at some random point (even when switching to the debriefing screen!). In lighter missions (less than a dozen aircraft) the game is quite stable though. - The FPS are quite a problem. With my config (which isn't the top but is very good anyway) I have generally good FPS, but in some hot spots they drop below 20. And after some minutes of play especially with heavy cloud overcast and on external views their drop is very high. (they go below 10 FPS, which makes the game unplayble or the external views impossible). Explosions and crowded places (an airfield with parked aircraft for example) are also FPS nightmares! - There are lot of details lacking about things like landing and takeoff procedures, for example. Carrier operations (at least for USN aircraft) are quite chaotic. For example there is no inbound pattern (I think it's called Marshall pattern over the carrier). I had an a/c land while others were being cat-launched from a carrier: there was no collision because in some way the collision detection didn't work very good either. - The player when acting as a flight lead has not much control over AI-controlled aircraft since radio orders sometimes are ignored, even when there isn't a battle raging. An example, AI wingmen who already hit bingo fuel will ignore radio call to rejoin formation, even if lead is on their same way just a few miles far. - There's still no dynamic campaign and not even an-event based mission builder. Missions are VERY static and boring after a while. - The a/c switch doesn't work very good yet. Sometimes it happens that once I switch to another A/C enemy AI pilots or AA defenses don't care about me anymore. I've bought Lock On because I thought it was a great simulation. After playing a little more in depth I think now it CAN BE a great sim IF (and only if) these and other issues are fixed. The graphics (both 3D and artwork) are excellent, the best I've ever seen, the game dynamics are overall very good. The FMs are very good, the sound is good. The work done by the dev team seems to be great. The page that gives a bit of insight on how it was done is absolutely impressive!!! But I think such a sim can't be left with such limted AI and gameplay. Lock On is ok for a very limited tactical scenario. A few aircraft attacking with a simple path and a few defenders doing their job. Anything more complex, such as trying to simulate a real (complex) battlefield, seem to sort out bad effects on this sim. I don't want to use this sim just for sightseeing tours over Crimea, nor to take screens and clips. I took a look to the new features introduced by Flaming Cliffs and I've hardly seen any reference to any of these issues been fixed (even though some I think are well known). I'd like to know what this addon/patch will correct exactly and which are the plans for the future. I don't need a Su-25 which is the pleasure of modellers (I used to be a modeller too some time ago), now I just need a sim which does its job - simulate military aircraft in a wartime situation. I've written all of this because I absolutely love Lock On, it's amazing, but it's also quite frustrating when I try to play it (not because I'm a newbie, I've already managed to fly and fight with Falcon4's F-16). It's also frustrating because I also did some skins and I was planning some other mods but it makes little sense to do further work when actual gameplay is not much exciting. PS: All that I've written here can be proved by screens that I took and mission files saved. If you want any feedback on this I'd be more than glad to share it. I just wanna do a constructive criticism. cheers, Matteo My config: Athlon XP 3200+ ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe 1 GB Twinmos DDR400 PC-3200 Cl 2.5 Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB DDR - 256 bit with Cat 4.10 Maxtor SATA 160 GB HD Creative SB Live 5.1