Before I purchase..

[Vaxith]

I own Lock-on and I loved it for a long time. I recently learned of Black Shark and my interests are peaked. However, I am not experienced with a lot of sims NOR do I have a killer joystick. So my questions would be:

 

Is this game user friendly? I totally respect realistic games I just would love a nice tutorial.

 

Also, will I be able to enjoy the game with a Saitek Aviator (http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-Aviator-Throttle-Joystick-PS33/dp/B000I62PEK)

 

Thanks!

[Airway]

Well I hope I can settle you fears.

The game is user friendly - some aspects more, some less, but you have a huge detailed manual and this great community.

We will answer your questions and help you with problems if you experience one with Black Shark.

 

The Saitek Aviator will work, as it has 5 axis that you can use to fly the Ka-50.

 

Give us some words about your computer hardware if you are unsure if Black Shark will run on it, and we will see.

 

Best regards,

Airway

[Vaxith]

Hello Airway, thank you for the reply.

 

I have a Intel Q6600 with an ATI 4870 (512 version)

Also running on 4GB of 1066 memory. I ran Lock-on perfectly fine, so assuming it is the same engine.. I should be able to run Black Shark fine. I was just worried about getting into the game as I am a total "noob" when it comes to sims :)

[asparagin]

i think you will like it and have no prob playing/ learning it.

hardware: cpu is more important than gpu. to be sure do a search at people who run it with your cpu and see how they do.

joystick: i play the game with a worse joystick than you (st30) .. i don't even have axis for rudder and still i find the game wonderfull to play.

learning: i'm still in process but the training missions are ok and as the upper neighbor said, these guys in the forums are very helpful.

[WynnTTr]

If you're new to sims, then you're about to plunge into the grand-daddy of realistic flight sims. Thankfully the gaem does have easy flight/avionics and I suggest you start off with that - get to know helicopter dynamics. Once you're comfortable, then switch over to full realism.

Do your research on how to fly the Black Shark - read everything you can about the trimmer, read how co-axial helis operate. For this sim, you NEED to study up a bit.

You'll get frustrated, but if you stick to it, this is one of the most rewarding sims out there.

[EtherealN]

Another tip - learn the scratch basics of the mission editor. You only really need to know how to place your helicopter, some waypoints and some hostile units. This is absolutely invaluable for training since you can then make some quick and dirty missions tooled to practice very specific things, rather than trying to use more generic training missions for it.

 

Also, make sure to learn to hover - preferably without much effort. There IS an auto-hover but learning to maintain a manual hover might well be the most useful skill in this game for practically any kind of maneuvering you'll later find yourself doing.

 

Asparagin, how the heckles do you manage to fly this game without a rudder control? I personally use a set of pedals for optimum realism (and of course to stop having to unlearn my simulator habits every time I get into the cockpit of a real aircraft), and they are available quite cheaply. I use a Saitek Pro Flight rig, which doesn't have force and could perhaps be a bit heavier to ensure it doesn't move - but for the price point it's well worth it.

[Ewt]

This game is perfectly doable for people that are new to flightsims, but prepare for many hours of studying ingame, manual and forums. I have a little experience in Lockon, but only really knew the F15... Now after about 30 + flight hours I know the KA50 better then the F15, and am able to fly missions but im still learning.

 

It's a lot of learning but well worth it compared to those 6 hour mainstream games they sell these days.

[Sunjah]

Well I hope I can settle you fears.

The game is user friendly - some aspects more, some less, but you have a huge detailed manual and this great community.

We will answer your questions and help you with problems if you experience one with Black Shark...

 

I would agree that you should be fine. I ended up buying a killer joystick (Saitek X-52Pro) simply because I am enjoying it so much, and so far the joystick is better than I thought it would be.

 

I would also agree with most of what was said in the previous posts, but I highlighted Airway's because this community has been helpful. When I read that one, I just thought, "Yup, and they will help, too!" so I thought that was a good one to quote.

 

Personally, even if it takes a while, I would suggest going 100% sim if you want to get good at it (and you enjoy sims vs. arcade games, even if you are just beginning). As another poster in another thread stated, "Using [game not sim] settings just sets you up with bad habits that you have to unlearn later, or the program just stays at an "arcade video-game" level. Totally your choice, but I always think it is better to play harder level (100% sim) and the time you spend learning & practicing WILL pay-off later.

 

Either way (or 3 actually; 1. sim; 2. arcade; or 3. mixture), I would say this is the best $50 I have ever spent on a flight simulator. Excellent program!!!

Edited January 25, 2009 by Sunjah

[asparagin]

Asparagin, how the heckles do you manage to fly this game without a rudder control? I personally use a set of pedals for optimum realism (and of course to stop having to unlearn my simulator habits every time I get into the cockpit of a real aircraft), and they are available quite cheaply. I use a Saitek Pro Flight rig, which doesn't have force and could perhaps be a bit heavier to ensure it doesn't move - but for the price point it's well worth it.

 

..well i didn't say it's easy, i maped the rudder on 2 buttons on the joystick, but it's seldom that i roll and use the rudder at the same time. i make turns without rudder at all. But still you got a point (that's why i was thinking of buying a joystick with more than 3 axis).

if you brought that up:

i don't think I'm worthy of going directly on x52, lots of ppl here use this, do you think ST290 Pro is worth the money (so to speak, because i saw it's actually not that expensive)?

[EtherealN]

I have no experience of the build quality on the ST290, but as noticed it's laughably cheap so the worth thing that can happen is that you wasted the equivalent of half a night at the pub. :P

 

I myself use the Cyborg Evo Force for a control stick in this and other sims, quite happy with it. Cost me about twice the price I'm seeing the ST290 listed on, and it's basically the same stick but massively reconfigurable physically which if you have anything but magic standard hands is awesome. And of course it has more buttons and Force Feedback, though that last doesn't co-operate very well with Black Shark so far. Definitely worth the money. Once you have that all down I really really would recommend looking at a set of pedals though - the difference in experience and precision is just impossible to describe.

 

And if you are so far not "spoiled" by twist-sticks, you'll have an even easier time adjusting to pedal control. Do have a proper look at if there's any nice-seeming ones out there at a price point that is acceptable to you, or see if there's anyone in your area that would give you an opportunity to try it out.

[asparagin]

Thanks EtherealN I'll look into it.

[Weta43]

EtherealN - have you tried disabling the centering spring ?

[Vaxith]

Can anyone explain how the Starforce works? I have 10 installations correct? But do I get an installation back if I un-install the game?

 

Lets say I install the game and go down to 9 installations.. I then need to format.. I uninstall the game so I am back up to 10 isntallations?

[Acedy]

You have 8 activations and 10 deactivations. Activations are not the same as installations. You only need an activation in the following cases:

 

- first installation if BS

- reinstallation of Windows

- major hardware change

 

As long as you do not reinstall windows and/or change your hardware you can uninstall and reinstall BS as often as you like, there is no limit, the activation key will be stored in the registry. If you want to reinstall your OS/change hardware you can use one of the 10 deactivations to save your currently used activation. After the change you just activate BS again and still have the same number of activations left as before, however the number of deactivations will be decreased by one.

 

In a nutshell: you can reinstall Windows/do a major hardware upgrade for 18 times.

 

See this for more info:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=568704&postcount=3