new player, 3 questions

[dubina]

1. I have a Saitek X52 HOTAS. Will LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 work with that HOTAS?

 

2. What is the best way to get LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2. No interest in chopper. Would like to download the game if possible.

 

3. Does LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 generate replay files? I don't mean videos like You Tube videos...more like this:

 

This real-time strategy game (StarCraft II) demands the frenetic pursuit of numerous simultaneous goals, any of which can change in the blink of an eye. Players play a god-like role over a cluster of creatures, leading them to develop their economy and prepare them for skirmishes with a neighboring society. Wildly popular among gamers—StarCraft 2 was the top-selling computer game in 2010, the year it was released—for researchers the appeal lies in the data each game generates. When two players face off, their computers each produce a record of the actions taken during the game. Called replay files, those logs reflect what a gamer was thinking at every stage of play. “I can’t think of a cognitive process that’s not involved in StarCraft,” says Mark Blair, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University. “It’s working memory. It’s decision making. It involves very precise motor skills. Everything is important and everything needs to work together.”

( I would be pleasantly surprised if LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 gererated replay files.)

[dubina]

Re the Warthog sim

 

Mainly, I see the Shark wants a joystick, but no mention of a joystck for the Warthog and some mention made of "mousing over" controls. I would rather use a 10 button joystick/throttle. Surely the Warthog is not controlled by a mouse?

[EtherealN]

1. I have a Saitek X52 HOTAS. Will LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 work with that HOTAS?

 

Yes. I used that myself before switching to TM HOTAS Warthog.

 

2. What is the best way to get LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2. No interest in chopper. Would like to download the game if possible.

 

http://www.lockon.co.uk

Note that you need to have the original Lock On: Modern Air Combat installed for legal reasons. This is not available as a download as far as I know (all rights to it remain in Ubisoft's hands).

 

3. Does LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2 generate replay files? I don't mean videos like You Tube videos...more like this:

 

Yes, track recording is done throughout flight, and after flight you are given the option to save the track. In multiplayer, track saving is automatic.

The "track" is actually a recording of all input done by the player and other flights during the course of the mission, when the track is used for a "replay" they are then run in the simulator itself as if said inputs were being applied (giving a good bug-finding measure and also benchmarking capabilities). The player running the track as a replay can also "take over" at any point, cease the playback and continue from whichever point he desires as an active player. There is at present no rewind function, however. (Such a function is difficult to implement due to how the system operates - recording the input instead of the "effect" which is what SC2 does makes rewinds prohibitive to implement, but who knows what the future might bring for added functionality in this area.)

Edited December 30, 2011 by EtherealN

[EtherealN]

Mainly, I see the Shark wants a joystick, but no mention of a joystck for the Warthog and some mention made of "mousing over" controls. I would rather use a 10 button joystick/throttle. Surely the Warthog is not controlled by a mouse?

 

The "mousing over" you are seeing is most likely related to the actual cockpit: nearly all buttons and switches in the cockpit are operational according to their real life function (including air conditioning), and these can be operated either by keyboard/stick bindings, or through clicking them with mouse. Note though that this applies only to DCS products, FC2 does not have this feature.

 

Primary flight controls are still HOTAS.

 

You can see some of this in action in this video I recorded for a different purpose a while back:

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The things I did there with the mouse can be achieved through use of HOTAS commands as well.

Edited December 30, 2011 by EtherealN

[dubina]

 

Yes, track recording is done throughout flight, and after flight you are given the option to save the track. In multiplayer, track saving is automatic.

 

The "track" is actually a recording of all input done by the player and other flights during the course of the mission, when the track is used for a "replay" they are then run in the simulator itself as if said inputs were being applied (giving a good bug-finding measure and also benchmarking capabilities). The player running the track as a replay can also "take over" at any point, cease the playback and continue from whichever point he desires as an active player. There is at present no rewind function, however. (Such a function is difficult to implement due to how the system operates - recording the input instead of the "effect" which is what SC2 does makes rewinds prohibitive to implement, but who knows what the future might bring for added functionality in this area.)

 

Thanks, EthereaqlN, that's good to know.

 

This, from an SC2 website....

 

Yes, replay files are very small. A few hundred KB at most for a longer match. Since none of the artworks, models, maps etc. need to be stored in a replay it doesn't take a any more space than a StarCraft: Brood War replay needed.

******

Just to be clear, I should buy the disk Lock On: Modern Air Combat, install it, then download Flaming Cliffs II and use that download to upgrade Lock On: Modern Air Combat? I found Lock On: Modern Air Combat, but it seems to be a rare bird these days.

Edited December 31, 2011 by dubina

[EtherealN]

Just to be clear, I should buy the disk Lock On: Modern Air Combat, install it, then download Flaming Cliffs II and use that download to upgrade Lock On: Modern Air Combat? I found Lock On: Modern Air Combat, but it seems to be a rare bird these days.

 

Correct, but with one modification - FC2 doesn't actually upgrade LOMAC, it is a separate install. You can remove LOMAC after FC2 is installed, if you so desire. It does however, for legal reasons, have to check for the presence of LOMAC.

 

LOMAC is possible to order directly from ED and TFC on disc, but yeah, outside of that it is unfortunately relatively hard to find.