One Simple, Quick Question

[NH2112 0]

Hello everyone. I'm getting back into flight sims after about a 5 year hiatus, and from what I've read here and elsewhere L0MAC seems to be the one to beat. What I'd like to know is: Is LOMAC a sim or a game? Is it like Falcon 3.0, Tornado, or Back to Baghdad where you have to do a month or so of flight school and training missions before you're ready for the real deal? Or is it more like ATF or Jetfighter III, where absolute authenticity in the flight model, radar & weapons usage, etc, are sacrificed for the sake of "gameplay?" Your answers will determine whether or not I buy LOMAC, because the newest sim I have in my inventory right now is Janes F15 (although I still like it, along with Falcon Gold, Tornado, X-wing, the original Flanker, etc...the old P133 ain't dead yet!)

 

PS - My system's a 6-week-old 3.0GHz P4, 128MB Nvidia Geforce 5200, 512MB DDR, 56X CD-ROM, and Win98SE. Thrustmaster Cougar is coming soon, unless someone can tell me how to hook up my FLCS/TQS/RCS without the ACM card or a gameport. Any forseeable problems with it? From the few posts I've read LOMAC seems to be a VERY demanding sim and I'd just as soon add another 512MB RAM ahead of time if that's what it'll take for problem-free flight.

[Chaingun 0]

Don't know if I would consider it quite as tough as Falcon 4, but it is definately a sim. (This is coming from a prop head so radar is a mystery to me.) Requires a working knowledge of Radar and it's concepts to use it at it Most Difficult settings. I would personally recommend it, even though I'm still learning.

 

Just remember when all else fails, there's always the cannons.

[Growler67 0]

Very much more a sim than a game. Although for those not accustomed to flight sims, you can turn certain options on (unlimited fuel, no crashes etc) until you get the hang of it. Most of your specs look good although there is a problem with Nvidia video cards. That problem is being addressed in the first patch due within a couple of weeks. There is also a problem with Win 98, but that is also being addressed in the patch. You could go to http://www.lo-mac.com/ and get some first hand p00p on the sim, and link to their forums from the main page. There is a lot of information on the forum (here, there and other places). If you want specific information, ask away. If you are a bit more studious, do some reading on the various forums. If your game, look into an online squadron. Purchasing the product, well thats between you and your wallet. I have it, I recommend it, it challenges me, and I like it. My $0.02, for what it's worth, and BTW.....Welcome aboard.

Edited December 26, 2003 by Growler67

[Cretin 0]

He he! LOMAC most definitely does not fall into the "arcade" catagory. :D

[abaris 0]

I wouldn't recommend to try it with a 5200 card. This one was part of my computer, when I bought it and it has close to none 3d capabilities. And as we all know, LOMAC isn't exactly modest concerning system requirements.

[NH2112 0]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I had Win98 installed when I bought my PC on the recommendation of a friend, but only because she said it would probably work better for me than XP. So I suppose I could get the sim, DL the patch, and see how things work out (definitely need the HOTAS first, though!) I'm sure that if my Nvidia card still causes problems I can get a decent amount of money for it and find one that works better...and upgrade to XP if necessary :P

[Vegas 0]

Why don't you download the demo and see how that runs? There really isn't much of a performance increase in the final (if any, IMHO).

[abaris 0]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I had Win98 installed when I bought my PC on the recommendation of a friend, but only because she said it would probably work better for me than XP.

I honestly don't see any reason to run Win98 unless you want to use some games, that came out before 2000. For every other purpose XP is an improvement and much easier to handle. Be sure to use the Antispyware tools like XP Antispy though.

[Steelcity 0]

I'd have to say LOMAC falls in between the games you mentioned as far as hardcore to arcade goes.

 

Its a survey sim rather than a study sim but its got a harder edge.... especially in the flight modeling department. It doesn't come with a 500 page manual but its a nice blend between say Back to Bagdad and ATF.

[Indy_BIA 0]

It's more a sim. You can try the demo at www.lo-mac.com

 

I also would say to upgrade your windows. Win98 is hardly supported by mircosoft anymore. I use Windows 2000 and it runs great. So do yourself a favor and upgrade windows to Win 2k or at least XP. ;)

[NH2112 0]

The main reason I didn't get this PC with XP is because out of all the computer-savvy people I know who use(d) it, I can count those who were happy with it on the fingers of one thumb! Still, the worst that can happen is I HATE it and go back to Win98. I guess I'll look for an XP disc this weekend.

[Indy_BIA 0]

I didn't like XP. having to call microsoft to activate it really sucked. So I got Windows 2000 Pro. Works great. A lot of games coming out are pulling away from Win 98 and ME so it's good to upgrade now.

[Yojimbo 0]

kill the 5200 and get a Radeon 9700 or 9800 - and get a modern OS XP rox for gaming... nearly the same stability as 2k but with the gaming support of 98..

 

and get urself a whole GigaByte of RAM..

 

as for M$ hardly supporting 98, its official - they've dropped support for 95/98/Me and Office 2000 (i think its office 2000 without looking it up)

 

theres a gamesport - USB converter somewhere on the web :)

[Vegas 0]

kill the 5200 and get a Radeon 9700 or 9800 - and get a modern OS XP rox for gaming... nearly the same stability as 2k but with the gaming support of 98..

 

and get urself a whole GigaByte of RAM..

 

as for M$ hardly supporting 98, its official - they've dropped support for 95/98/Me and Office 2000 (i think its office 2000 without looking it up)

 

theres a gamesport - USB converter somewhere on the web :)

Got to agree on losing the 5200, but it sounds like he just got it. And the gig of RAM would be nice. Still, I would give the demo a shot and see... even the mondo systems out there don't run lomac in its full glory (which I see as a good thing... room for expansion and use for years!).

 

Btw, IMHO, MS truly supporting ANY operating system or software is a joke , so that's not a worry (ever try calling those *#?*+#@! guys?). I think any gameport to USB converter will only give limited functionality. I know it's hard, but you gotta pitch those gameport devices (I had some nice ones too!) :(

Edited December 27, 2003 by Vegas

[NH2112 0]

Well seeing the price of a new Radeon 9800 puts that out of the question for the near future. Plus, I still need to scare up a Thrustmaster Cougar and maybe another 1/2 gig of RAM. Until that happens what I suppose I'll do is hook up the old PC and get my stupid hand (I'm a lefty) used to flying again by hooking up the FLCS/TQS/RCS and flying F3 Gold, Tornado, B2B, etc. It'll probably help quite a bit with my BFM, too (even though I'd never leave the A10/Su25 cockpit in LOMAC.)

 

Maybe I'll give the shop that built my PC a call and see if we can work a deal trading my 5200 for a Radeon 9800. Even $100-$150 off would be great.

Edited December 28, 2003 by NH2112

[BBQ 0]

I agree with most, that it is more of a sim, than a game. However, you have the option to fly "arcade" style if you like. My advice--start with total realism, and have loads of fun and satisfaction figuring everything out.

 

Not as daunting as Falcon 4.0--so it shouldn't take too much time to figure things out.

 

Also--there are some excellent training missions included that should get you up and running :)

[NH2112 0]

Well, I've decided that I am going to pick up LOMAC sometime real soon, and a Cougar HOTAS setup ASAP. I've been hearing some pretty bad things about Cougar, though, but also quite a few outstanding reviews. Does anyone here use it? What are your thoughts? Are the pots really that bad? Does the center really get very sloppy with time? I've tried CH Products and just didn't like them nearly as much as my FLCS/TQS/RCS, so I'm not really thinking of their new stuff but if Cougar isn't all it's cracked up to be...

 

Also, I'd appreciate if I could get some recommendations as far as other true sims to look for (modern combat only, please.) I've heard great things about Eurofighter Typhoon, and supposedly there was a "Falcon 5.0" released but not under that name if my searches on Amazon & ebay were anything to go by. How about Strike Fighters? I'd LOVE to fly an F4, F105, or F111, but not if it's a game instead of a sim. I definitely want to get Falcon 4.0, and as I said in a previous post I have Janes F15...perhaps some of the sims of that era would work well with a gameport to USB adapter since they won't be taxing my PC?

[Growler67 0]

http://forum.biohazcentral.com/index.php?s...c=3800&hl=hotas

 

We had that very question here not too long ago. The link above should help you out on this issue.

[NH2112 0]

Well that's a very interesting thread. I don't have any friends who are into sims enough for them to justify buying a HOTAS setup, so all I ever had to go by were magazine & web articles, and the general "feel" of CH sticks in the store next to the Thrustmaster models. When I bought my FCS Pro and WCS the CH sticks didn't seem as good, and the same went for when I purchased the FLCS, TQS, and RCS (never had any problems whatsoever with either set, despite several years of hard simming in Falcon 3.0, Tornado, X-Wing, and B2B.) But from that thread it would seem that TM has gone downhill, and their website kinda reflects that. I wish I could find a "flight sim cafe" where I could try out a CH setup in hard use.

 

How about some good hardcore sims besides LOMAC, from the past 3 or 4 years?