New Eager Pilot w/ Questions

[ryyy]

Hello all! I'm Ryan and I just wanted to introduce myself a little and ask some questions for the A10C community. I live in Southern California and have been loving planes ever since I saw the Blue Angels when I was like 6 years old at the old Marine El Toro Air Base. Now I reside in Riverside next to the March ARB. I consider myself lucky to wake up hearing and watching F-16's, sometimes F-18's, C130's, KC135's, and just recently the V-22 Osprey going by (:

 

Anyways, I am quite eager to buy A-10C because from all the videos I stumble upon on Youtube, it looks AMAZING. I finally have built a computer that can handle these new crazy games which will now let me join in the sim communities. Yesterday my best friend's uncle decided that he had no use for this mock-up cockpit he made out of wood since he travels a lot. He even gave me ALL his peripherals (which although look quite aged) from pedals, to throttles, and etc. I'm quite eager to buy another monitor to dedicate and permanently attach to this thing which will sit in my garage.

 

I do have a few questions though. This game looks mighty complicated. I've read countless of times that the learning curve is very steep. But by watching training videos on Youtube, it looks that just watching these 100 times and making notes would be the course to go.

 

Would it be fine for a new sim pilot to dive into this?

 

Do I need a really good stick to fly well?

I have a Saitek Cyborg X and have been looking at the Saitek X52 to upgrade if the X isn't good enough.

 

Lastly, thank you all for being such an informative and friendly community from all the secret ninja lurking I have been doing here.

[WarriorX]

Let me be the first to say welcome!

 

I encourage you to take on the challenge of mastering this sim, it is a real joy to learn, and this community can't be beat!!

 

There are quite a few existing threads that deal with the learning curve, so do a search for them to get the most opinions and views on the topic. For example: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=72125&highlight=pilots+inbound

 

Your controllers look fine, I would post your PC specs, and consider getting a TrackIR.

 

Glad you are interested, and post some pics of that pit!

[ilikepie]

best way to learn is dive in. scariest thing is starting, once your past that you will find you can't stop.

 

get into it.

[Snoopy]

Another good thing that helps is joining an online squad once you ate comfortable with the basics.

[Guest Fury_007]

It's not as hard as some people are making it out to be, but I'm still learning new things every day. I had all the basics down quick, but I guess it may be because I am an avid flight sim fan and know the basics of flight and the weapon systems.

 

I also find if you are really interested in something, the learning will be easier. Plus with this forum and youtube, it will come even faster.

[Cali]

Another good thing that helps is joining an online squad once you are comfortable with the basics.

 

+1, I fixed your post. Joining a online squad is a great way to learn and make new friends.

[ryyy]

Thanks for the replies and welcomes. I've attached a few photo's too.

 

 

The equipment is a bit... outdated, I think :P I'm actually drawing up plans to expand on this. Probably going to add a monitor stand to the front and also am thinking or running 3 screens. Will re-paint it, re-upholster the seat. I have some diamond steel plates laying around too so I might come up with something to use those as well.

 

And my pc specs are:

AMD Phenom X4 @ 3.8mhz

Windows 7 64bit

4GB (6GB by next month) of RAM

GTX460 (overclocked)

Acer 24'' lcd monitor

[thaisocom]

+1, I fixed your post. Joining a online squad is a great way to learn and make new friends.

Flying online with friend is a great way of learning as well. :pilotfly:

[mpgeist]

I've been lurking on the forums for about a month now myself. I'm pretty much a complete sim noob myself with only a brief time with the Microsoft Flight Sim X. I'm still not very good and a lot of the terminology that's thrown around on the boards here goes over my head, but there are a ton of interesting things to learn.

 

This has been a great sim to jump into though, the tutorials have been great! I've gotten so into it that I picked up a trackIR and DCS: Black Shark, I just wish that sim had the interactive tutorials as well. Next stop is a better flight stick and my social life it seems.

[ryyy]

I've been lurking on the forums for about a month now myself. I'm pretty much a complete sim noob myself with only a brief time with the Microsoft Flight Sim X. I'm still not very good and a lot of the terminology that's thrown around on the boards here goes over my head, but there are a ton of interesting things to learn.

 

This has been a great sim to jump into though, the tutorials have been great! I've gotten so into it that I picked up a trackIR and DCS: Black Shark, I just wish that sim had the interactive tutorials as well. Next stop is a better flight stick and my social life it seems.

 

Well hey, one of these days let's get together and practice with each other. I do agree with you on the terminology but with the power of Google I just go ahead and search up the term to try to understand :P

 

What stick are you looking into? I'm having a hard decision on what would be a good investment.

[mpgeist]

Well hey, one of these days let's get together and practice with each other. I do agree with you on the terminology but with the power of Google I just go ahead and search up the term to try to understand :P

 

What stick are you looking into? I'm having a hard decision on what would be a good investment.

 

I was thinking about the X52 or the HOTAS Warthog, depending how long I can stand this Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Hopefully I can stick to my ramen diet and get the Warthog though, it looks pretty sweet!

[EtherealN]

Also, note that you have an abbreviation glossary in the Flight Manual. :)

[ryyy]

I was thinking about the X52 or the HOTAS Warthog, depending how long I can stand this Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Hopefully I can stick to my ramen diet and get the Warthog though, it looks pretty sweet!

 

Ah, you're in the same boat as me.

 

Well I'm most likely going to buy a used X52 PRO from someone here locally. I want to get the Warthog but in honesty since I am new to the sim genre, I want to see how I do and how much I like flying. Then from there I'd like to invest in a $300+ stick that will last me a while.

[Firstname_Lastname]

consider getting a TrackIR.

 

This x10,

 

I had all kind of crazy ideas about 3 monitors and 7" USB screens for MFCD's etc...

 

I got a TrackIR 5 last week, and I now realise I don't need 3 monitors. The amount of Situational awareness you get just from that one purchase is just as good as if not better than loads of monitors, and its cheaper too.

 

The best part is being able to dynamically look at you instrumentation, even if you did have 3 monitors you'd probably still have to use the POV to look at the radio panel etc...

[Slothface]

+1,000 for Track IR. Probably the best peripheral I've bought for simming. I knew I'd love this sim straight off the bat, so I went and bought the HOTAS to start learning with. This is a great piece of kit and made my learning curve a lot shallower as the tutorials teach you in reference to the HOTAS. So Track IR and HOTAS are recommendeds for me.

 

(Just wish there was a dedicated simstick/collective for KA-50!)

[ryyy]

I am definitely planning for the TrackIR. Is there any significance between 4 and 5?

[Eddie]

Yes and no. If you're buying your first TIR, go for the 5 unless you see a cheap 4 second hand. The 4 works fine and is perfectly good, but the 5 is a little better.

[jaykinch]

hey all

I would say try facetracknoir out first, thats what i use, being in england track ir will work out pricey for me and this facetracknoir is free all u need is a webcam i use my ps3 cam, it can get a little jumpy at times but i think it does the job :)

im also using a X52 i paid 60 quid for it new, one of the best things i brought lol

Jay

[AtaliaA1]

"I love Free stuff".

 

hey all

I would say try facetracknoir out first, thats what i use, being in england track ir will work out pricey for me and this facetracknoir is free all u need is a webcam i use my ps3 cam, it can get a little jumpy at times but i think it does the job :)

im also using a X52 i paid 60 quid for it new, one of the best things i brought lol

Jay

 

 

Jay. Put a link up to the "Free Software". I would love to try it out, Webcams are cheap now.

 

 

And Welcome to the neighborhood too.

[jaykinch]

hey heres there web site http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm

there is a fair bit on this forum somewhere about how to get it to work it is easyish.I cant find the posts about it at the moment,but i will have a look about once i get back home,As ive just reinstalled windows so needs the posts aswell to remember how its done lol

Jay

 

EDIT: I think ED released a file for it to work in 64 bit or something

[kra961]

+10 On the Irtracker second best investment for the sim hands down.

 

They call this a study sim and I can certinly understand why, after a bit of time and lot's of studying I'm able to get iron on target with some consistency reading this forum has been a huge benefit. Just takes time.

[Dangermouseb51]

FaceTrackIR

 

Im also in Blighty and I would also recomend trying FacetrackIR... I bought the PS3 Eyecam from a local Blockbuster video store second hand for £7 and when you do the patch to increase frequency from 30fps CL Labs standard to 50fps it runs sweet.. There are guides everywhere for setup and the only thing I altered was the EWMA Settings to sort out its responsiveness...

 

Try it for free .. if you dont like spend the bucks ...

[aces_full85]

I'm going to chime in one more time for FaceTrackNOIR.

 

I played the sim for five months using just a POV hat because--despite all the recommendations--I thought 150 bucks for a webcam was just one step above being kicked in the pants.

 

FaceTrackNOIR is open sourced software that is every bit as functional as the more commercial options. All you need is a webcam and a little time to set up your profile. If you decide to use it definitely consider a donation to the developers, these guys really deserve it.

 

To be fair though, head tracking is nice but I don't find it to be the necessity that some people consider it as. Everyone is different but I started learning the game in a very functional way with just the hat.

[Lane]

Nice find Jay, i was consider taking a TrackIR 5, but i think i will try this soft first.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Would it be fine for a new sim pilot to dive into this?

 

Welcome aboard!! Most of us who wanna jump right in do that. Sim is kosher if you do it this way or going through the manual. Ideally, you'll grow tired of using youtube's tutorials and would like to expand your knowledge and this is where the manual comes in. The fastest way to go is doing the in-game school tutorials, notes on top, and you should be flying in no time.

 

Do I need a really good stick to fly well?

 

I have an Thrustmaster T-flight HOTAS X, and it serves well. I got the necessary HOTAS commands assigned, and now I'm kicking ass!! For a better immersion, I suggest you get the same hotas or x52's. I got a DOA x52 last christmas and swapped it for the cheaper (but surprisingly more effective) TFHX.

 

If you want to enjoy multiplayer and learn at the same time, pm me, so we can both play stock missions. I'll train you if you wish.