Black Shark 2 Released

[AlphaOneSix]

In lieu of a sticky, I say just keep quoting it so it shows up at least once per page. :D

 

To help alleviate some of concerns raised here about the general direction of DCS development, I can say that ED understands that production of individual titles, which need to be continually updated separately in order maintain compatibility is not a sustainable system in the long term. It continues to be our goal to develop a truly modular system with a unified world into which individual products can be plugged into and maintained up to date. Creating a technological and financial infrastructure for such a system is challenging, time-consuming and expensive, in particular when the realism bar for player-controlled and AI units, as well as the rest of the virtual world are so high. We know this has been a vision for many simmers and sim developers for a long time, including ED, but there is a reason why it hasn't happened yet. We will continue to work to try and make it a reality.

[empeck]

This kind of post just before BS2 release could cut at least four hundred posts in this thread alone.

 

:D

[GGTharos]

It is interesting, and I think the bigger problem is just that things can't happen overnight (not the 3-4 years is a short time, but ED has been busy with stuff).

 

I like to read such things EvilBivol. I won't ask the embarrassing question why wasn't how to make it true modular figured out in 2007 and instead ask how can it be done now? It seems like a hard problem to figure out. Do you make a "backbone" and have airplane modules? Do you make it work as modules only without a backbone? Which parts of the code do you put where? Which parts of DCS are common to all modules, which are module-specific... it's all very interesting!

[armaholicbr]

Any news about a workaround to install BS2 patch with STEAM BS?

 

It sucks since I've bought BS just a couple months ago thinking about compatibility with A-10, and no way to upgrade to BS2..

 

How come you guys didn't think of Steam Black Shark players when releasing a new product like BS2?

[GGTharos]

ED has little say in how/when Valve releases things on Steam, I think.

[Nate--IRL--]

Any news about a workaround to install BS2 patch with STEAM BS?

 

It sucks since I've bought BS just a couple months ago thinking about compatibility with A-10, and no way to upgrade to BS2..

 

How come you guys didn't think of Steam Black Shark players when releasing a new product like BS2?

 

Apologies it got overlooked, but hopefully we will have the installer fixed so you can upgrade here soon.

 

Nate

[Krippz]

Apologies it got overlooked, but hopefully we will have the installer fixed so you can upgrade here soon.

 

Nate

 

I have a question regarding my installer issue. I purchased and downloaded BlackShark via Direct2Drive. Is the Direct2Drive version the same as the steam version or is it the same version as the downloadable version available on the website?

[Nate--IRL--]

Same as the non-steam version IIRC.

 

Nate

[BrumTx]

Having calmed down after yesterday I would like to say a couple of things

 

# 1 I am grateful to ED for producing the games

# 2 I would suggest in future we are given a little notice as to new modules / upgrades, Not they arrive suddenly. And an approximate cost.

# 3 I understand ED is a business and have to make a profit to continue (that's a no brainer).

# 4 When people buy any future new aircraft module the price be a little higher (such as the A-10c Beta was) $ 69 I think as opposed to $39.99 on Amazon. That hopefully allows the extra $30 to pay for any individual upgrade be it maps or compatibility upgrade.

# 5 Being a moderator is a thankless job, a no win job, and as a trained negotiator (look at my profile if you need to know what I do), but I would respectfully suggest that if someone has been too rude they are fore-warned that their posting is being taken down / removed. I don't know if this is how ED do it as I luckily have never been in that situation before.That seemed to be a major problem yesterday.

# 6 Some of yesterdays incidents were caused by a general lack of information, by Testers and Moderators, IE: we don't know if x,y,z will work with A,B,C and if it does what will be the result. I remember a couple of posts relating to the installer. and the MAJOR problem with Steam

# 7 Management should have given the moderators much more information as to what was working or not working a perfect example was the installer problem, surely that should have been worked out before the patch / upgrade was released, it's not as though it was widely known on the general forums about the upgrade.

# 8 If I'm making an upgrade of whatever kind I would have had screen shots, a COMPLETE change log ready and waiting, not a partial log as Wags posted.

# 9 Even now after trolling through many posts I've seen very few screen shots of ancillary items, such as New air, land, and sea AI units at incredible levels of detail, apart from the new ship, some more screen shots would be wonderful ....Please

# 10 And possibly most important I've made this list hopefully to explain some of the problems as I see it, not to annoy any Moderators, Testers or Management

[kylania]

Everyone thinking that BS2 is a just a "patch we now have to pay for" needs to read this thread:

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81026

 

It's so much more than just a patch. :)

 

Also:

 

To help alleviate some of concerns raised here about the general direction of DCS development, I can say that ED understands that production of individual titles, which need to be continually updated separately in order maintain compatibility is not a sustainable system in the long term. It continues to be our goal to develop a truly modular system with a unified world into which individual products can be plugged into and maintained up to date. Creating a technological and financial infrastructure for such a system is challenging, time-consuming and expensive, in particular when the realism bar for player-controlled and AI units, as well as the rest of the virtual world are so high. We know this has been a vision for many simmers and sim developers for a long time, including ED, but there is a reason why it hasn't happened yet. We will continue to work to try and make it a reality.

[Obiwan]

Well despite concerned about if my pc would run it, I have purchased BS2 and downloaded, just completed my first flight, everything on medium, and cockpit shadows on ( I can't have these on in a10 ) and Wow, good Fps, no stutters and the sound is well Blooming amazing. Still a few issues with my joystick profile, some keys not working or activating wrong switches. ( I did just load up the warthog profile i've been using for BS ) so was expecting difficulty with that.

 

I did the same thing. I loaded my old BS1 joystick profiles, and several things don't work. It seems that the "action codes", or whatever they are called, have changed on some items. For example, the code for the collective axis seems to have changed. I also can't get the trimmer to work.

 

It's probably best to start with a clean profile and just reassign the settings in the Options menu. (That's on my ToDo for this afternoon.)

 

BTW: I'm running BS2 on XP. I did not have an option in the menu to turn on HDR, nor is the Cockpit Shadow option enabled. However, I can modify the options.lua file by hand and enable those settings. Everything appears to be working.

 

My only problem at the moment is that BS2 crashes, apparently whenever it is playing an explosion sound. I managed to get one vehicle to explode in the Sukhumi free flight instant action. I think I was too far away. When I had tried another vehicle earlier in that mission, I was almost on top of it and it when it exploded, BS2 crashed. Also, in the Shooting Range instant action, it crashes apparently on any explosion sound. I'm suspecting the sound since this one vehicle exploded nicely, and the graphics (which have improved) work fine.

 

Speaking of graphics, they are awesome. Fly through the harbor and look at the coastline farther away. The haze/fog/spray/whatever really immerse you. The lighting and shadowing make the whole experience more realistic.

I also like that staring into the sun for a while makes your vision slightly blurred for a few seconds.

 

Now, if I can only figure those crashes out so I can play the game... :)

[cichlidfan]

Everyone thinking that BS2 is a just a "patch we now have to pay for" needs to read this thread:

 

Changing this wouldn't hurt either, IMHO.;)

[GGTharos]

Please try disabling the shadows and HDR and see if it still crashes on you.

[cichlidfan]

BTW: I'm running BS2 on XP. I did not have an option in the menu to turn on HDR, nor is the Cockpit Shadow option enabled. However, I can modify the options.lua file by hand and enable those settings. Everything appears to be working.

 

Those options are disabled on purpose in the 32bit version due to memory limitations.

[159th_Viper]

# 5 Being a moderator is a thankless job, a no win job, and as a trained negotiator (look at my profile if you need to know what I do), but I would respectfully suggest that if someone has been too rude they are fore-warned that their posting is being taken down / removed. I don't know if this is how ED do it as I luckily have never been in that situation before.That seemed to be a major problem yesterday.

 

Moderation policy is not usually subject to discussion. That said, having due regard to the unique set of circumstances we found ourselves in, I'll limit this to a brief statement in order to clarify any possible misconceptions:

 

For the record, where applicable all persons concerned were informed via PM of all administrative action and potential consequences, where relevant.

 

Any further queries, kindly resort to PM as per rule 1.3.

 

I trust that this clarifies possible misconceptions.

[GGTharos]

Just a couple of comments ...

 

Having calmed down after yesterday I would like to say a couple of things

 

# 1 I am grateful to ED for producing the games

# 2 I would suggest in future we are given a little notice as to new modules / upgrades, Not they arrive suddenly. And an approximate cost.

# 3 I understand ED is a business and have to make a profit to continue (that's a no brainer).

# 4 When people buy any future new aircraft module the price be a little higher (such as the A-10c Beta was) $ 69 I think as opposed to $39.99 on Amazon. That hopefully allows the extra $30 to pay for any individual upgrade be it maps or compatibility upgrade.

 

This is not necessarily ED's call. The retailers have a big say (this includes online retailers).

 

# 5 Being a moderator is a thankless job, a no win job, and as a trained negotiator (look at my profile if you need to know what I do), but I would respectfully suggest that if someone has been too rude they are fore-warned that their posting is being taken down / removed. I don't know if this is how ED do it as I luckily have never been in that situation before.That seemed to be a major problem yesterday.

 

We'll remove a post that is particularly eh - offensive, I guess? - and warn the author, and upon (typical) reposting, remove it again, warn some more, and usually that ends with a ban.

Most people though get it after the first time.

 

# 6 Some of yesterdays incidents were caused by a general lack of information, by Testers and Moderators, IE: we don't know if x,y,z will work with A,B,C and if it does what will be the result. I remember a couple of posts relating to the installer. and the MAJOR problem with Steam

# 7 Management should have given the moderators much more information as to what was working or not working a perfect example was the installer problem, surely that should have been worked out before the patch / upgrade was released, it's not as though it was widely known on the general forums about the upgrade.

 

The installer issue was something that slipped through the cracks - no one expected that, and everyone did the Picard facepalm.

 

# 10 And possibly most important I've made this list hopefully to explain some of the problems as I see it, not to annoy any Moderators, Testers or Management

 

 

Thanks for your input :)

[BrumTx]

Thanks Viper

Was not sure how it happened , but the impression I got yesterday was that their posts just disappeared without any re-course .

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[BrumTx]

GG,

First off thanks for your answer's.

Not trying to be obtuse but the installer is a major component, IE needed to install, how come the testers didn't pick up on this when they installed ?.

[GGTharos]

No further comment from me on the subject. It'll have to remain a point of curiosity for you guys forever ... sorry :)

 

GG,

First off thanks for your answer's.

Not trying to be obtuse but the installer is a major component, IE needed to install, how come the testers didn't pick up on this when they installed ?.

[159th_Viper]

Suffice to say that it's not as simple as 1,2,3.....Not the testing, but the installer that is. At the end of the day it was a Mischievous Gremlin for which we paid dearly for if said payment is measured in terms of forum abuse :)

[BrumTx]

Don't know if you guys have seen this but..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j96uFLmQ-3U&feature=related

 

At least someone found it interesting

I'm putting this up with tongue in cheek, not to imply anything

Edited November 4, 2011 by BrumTx

[GGTharos]

We certainly all LOLed at that. The author is in fact a forum member and a contributor of mods I believe :)

[159th_Viper]

Aye:megalol:

[BrumTx]

Viper, send me some of that single malt you saved behind the sofa please, Ya know the gallon I sent you when your comp over heated the other day lol :)

[Obiwan]

Those options are disabled on purpose in the 32bit version due to memory limitations.

 

I'll disable and see if that makes a difference. But that was the reason I bought BS2. I surely hope that I can use those. I got 3 usable Gig in XP. :(