streakeagle

Make no mistake, I like DCS World far more than what I have seen so far of FSX/TacPack for air combat. But for now it is the only way to go for a nearly DCS level F-4 Phantom. The global map of FSX is far better for just simply flying around with all of the detailed ultra-realistic addons. My interest would be in areas I have lived: Tampa, San Diego, San Francisco, and presently Orlando/Kissimmee. I would also want Bogota, Colombia since my family visits there regularly.

Against better judgement, I committed to the Simworks Studios F-4B and TacPack/Superbug for FSX/FSX:SE. I am currently running FSX:SE. It turns out the FSX (and FSX:SE) don't like the past couple of years of AMD gpu drivers, especially when DX10 is enabled. I haven't researched whether Prepar3d also has similar issues with AMD drivers. But I may end up buying TacPack/Superbug again if I decide to try Prepar3d. Right now the F-4B is in beta and a bit raw. When it is finalized, I will make a decision on whether or not I intend to keep flying it. If I do, I will take whatever path is best to fix my graphics issues and have the best FSX type experience whether that means switching to Prepar3d or buying an nVidia card. Once I know where I stand, I can then consider buying the Milviz Phantoms. In my brief experience with TacPack, the Superbug, and the F-4B, DCS World is still my preferred air combat sim engine, not even counting the combat part. Even with TacPack and the Superbug working 100% correct (as far as I can tell), it is a clunky installation which does not easily match up with my HOTAS and MFDs. Single player combat options are very limited and I wouldn't expect multiplayer to be much better due to plane set limitations. For all its limitations, I do find the FSX/TacPack/Superbug and F-4B to be quite impressive... approaching DCS capabilities WITH a 100% full scale global map. I live in Orlando near the big airport and work in Kissimmee near its smaller air port (with P-51Ds and L-39s flying almost every day). I cannot take off from Kissimmee in an F-4B and buzz Epcot and Cinderella's Castle in DCS World. Most importantly, I cannot even fly an F-4B at all in DCS World. The MiG-21bis is a great plane to fly in DCS, but a late-block USAF slatted F-4E would be a fantastic experience for both air-to-air and air-to-ground simmers.

I hope you can get SF2 to sound the way you want with or without software enhancement. So much has been focused on graphics while sound remains buggy and inconsistent depending on what hardware and software you are running. Of course the sound card companies (especially Creative's Soundblaster series) were hit hard when Windows stopped supporting direct hardware acceleration. But to be fair, Microsoft had little choice given all the stability problems Windows PCs had over the years due to mismatches between motherboards, sound cards, drivers, interrupt assignements, and games. I had to buy Turtle Beach sound cards for my Pentium 3 based PCs because sound blaster cards wreaked havoc with the stability of my ASUS motherboards based on VIA chipsets. Even with the brand change, it was a battle trying to find the right slot combination so the interrupts used by the AGP video cards didn't cause conflicts with the slot used for the sound card or the ethernet card. To date, I have been lazy and rely on motherboard realtek chipsets rather than trying to find the right sound card to suit my taste. I principally use headsets to avoid bothering my family with air combat sim noise and to mount my TrackIR clip, so the motherboard chipsets generally do the job well enough for me. If I didn't have a wife and kid, I would probably use a high end 7.1 stereo system connected by fiber to rock the house. But, that isn't going to happen as long as I am married.

Here is a link to their announcement: http://simworksstudios.com/release-date-f-4b-phantom-ii-with-uss-coral-sea-coming-soon/ This is going to cost me some money since I need to buy TacPack. It does not officially support P3D, not sure if it supports FSX:Steam Edition. I may wait for some user feedback before purchase, but there is an early beta purchase reward of a decent discount on a related carrier/escorts package that would be key to conducting period-correct Naval operations off Vietnam. This makes me want to re-install my F-4/B-8 stick after just having converted it to use the Warthog stick :P

While accelerated stall behavior is too simple/predictable, getting low and too slow gets crazy and fatal, even with this slightly simplified flight model. I just wish A2A would get off their butts and follow their stated path: T-33 -> F-104 -> F-4, especially if they used TacPack.

I have two ways to configure stereo as virtual surround: 1) via a Razer sound package (which I tried but never used and uninstalled), last version I used was: RazerSurroundInstaller_v2.00.10 about 2 years ago. 2) via my onboard Realtek sound card software as updated by Asus: Republic of Gamers SupremeFX, which has a Sonic Studio tab that includes a Virtual Surround button as well as a Sonic Soundstage tab that lets me adjust crossover to make sure I don't hear a sound exclusively in one ear no matter which way I turn my head. The Soundblaster GUI should have similar settings available, though they may only be available if you specify a simple stereo or headset output. If it doesn't, you can always try the Razer sound software. Razer now has two versions, free and pay for Pro. It is set up for headphones and is up to version 7.1. http://www.razerzone.com/surround

Okay, the F-4B beta went on sale a couple of weeks late, but it has arrived. I couldn't make up my mind on whether to wait for Prepar3d support and buy into that can of worms or stick with FSX/Acceleration and/or FSX/Steam Edition. I committed full force to FSX and FSX/SE: bought VRS TacPack for FSX, VRS Superbug for FSX, and Simworks Studios F-4B beta. I have FSX/SE installed on my current PC, so I didn't waste any time re-installing FSX/Acceleration. VRS TacPack and Superbug installed easily. Some weird graphic artifacts showed up sometimes, driver issues? FSX/SE DX10 issues? Not sure. But mostly worked okay. I will say that flying the Superbug felt pretty good, but the ability to map MFDs is limited unless you buy extra software or get creative with LUA scripting. I much prefer DCS World's approach. The F-4B has an installation issue because I used it with FSX/SE despite the installer wanting FSX. A later version should solve that problem. Graphic anomalies similar to Superbug, but 10x worse. Switching back to DX9 seemed to minimize if not completely eliminate graphic glitches. The cockpit looks great. Not so sure I like the key mapping setup of FSX. Again, I much prefer DCS World for setting up controls. All I had time to do last night was take-off and fly several times in between trouble-shooting graphics issues. It feels very light and agile the exact opposite of the advanced digital fly-by-wire Superbug. I am going to bet that if I do some acceleration measurements versus the flight manual, this F-4B is a bit too powerful/fast. Max g at high AoA seemed reasonable at sea level. However, the flight model isn't advanced enough to show proper instability/departure at high AoA. There is some wing rocking with a slight possibility of rolling inverted and having to dive with neutral controls to recover, but it is nothing like the lethal snap-roll/flat spin departure that claimed over 200 F-4's in Vietnam. I haven't tried to use the radar or weapons in either the Superbug or F-4B, so I don't have an opinion on that yet. The Superbug flight model impressed me. The inability to quickly and easily map both of my Thrustmaster MFD's to the game's button was an unexpected surprise. I have never been a huge fan of the Superbug, but the flight model is so enjoyable that I may actually spend some time doing carrier ops. Despite a great looking 3d model and textures, both inside and out, I am disappointed so far with the F-4B. The flight model isn't even close to the fun/challenge of the MiG-21bis, F-86F, and MiG-15bis in DCS World. To be fair, the F-4B is still in beta and the forum administrator stated that the flight model is going to be improved a little, hopefully showing more of the wild character at high AoA that justified adding slats to F-4Es. All I can do is wait and see. But so far, I am far more excited about the F4U-1D and AJS-37 Viggen coming to DCS than this version of my all-time favorite airplane.

SF2 does support surround sound, but it doesn't come out very well. Turn your head one way or the other and sounds disappear or are only heard in one ear. It is better to use stereo with sub woofer and then use virtual surround. The truth is that we only have two ears and with good enough processing, it should take only a stereo headset to provide a true-to-life surround experience, though a sub woofer is still badly needed to generate true bass.

Good stuff. Brings the manual to life.

Saitek has had problems keeping supply up... almost everything available on Amazon has inflated prices. I was guessing they had a bad Christmas season and might be on the verge of going out of business. Another bad omen from quite some time ago was the removal of their support forums. If you can't afford direct online support or even a forum for users to support each other, you are in trouble.

You have to have an Origin account (EA's brand of Steam). You should be able to activate the license using the code you have and then Origin will download and install the game for you.

http://www.bmsforum.org/forum/showthread.php?25680-Regarding-4-33-download-links-and-related-site-content-changes Regarding 4.33 download links and related site content changes Hi Everyone: You may have noticed that the post and associated thread for accessing the 4.33 install materials has been removed from public view. This is we hope a temporary measure. The original Falcon 4.0 game has transferred to new ownership. The BMS group has been contacted by the new owners pointing out among other things that references to Atari being the owner are no longer correct. We are discussing this and related licensing issues with the new owners and we hope to have a resolution satisfactory to all shortly. In the meanwhile the owners of Falcon 4.0 have asked for removal of the links to the 4.33 installer and also to correct any statements in the web site here that incorrectly state ownership of Falcon 4.0. The BMS group is cooperating with those requests in service of reaching agreement with the new owners. Thus the BMS group has requested of this site's admins and moderators that some changes be made to the site content where Atari was previously referenced and as of right now there is no offer a link to installer materials. The BMS group would appreciate it if members of the community would also refrain from sharing or posting links to the 4.33 installer and avoid making reference to Atari as the owner of Falcon 4.0 (aside from in historical context). Support of the community in this matter will likely help simplify reaching the appropriate agreements with the new owners of Falcon 4.0. We expect this situation to be temporary and soon resolved. As more information becomes available we will of course share that. In the meanwhile, we appreciate your patience and support. Cheers, Mark.

Despite all the marketing ballyhoo, for the Warthog to be 16-bit resolution, it would have to have 65,536 possible positions (as represented by an integer ranging from 0-65,535 in increments of 1). It would appear that the Warthog is 15-bit + 1: In either the X or Y axis, you can reach any even value from 0-65,534 and 65,535. 15-bit is 0-32,767, which is the same as using only the even numbered positions of 0-65,535, or 32,768 possible values. Adding 1 for the one odd value of 65,535 equals 32,769 possible values, which is very much the same as 15-bit rather than the claimed 16-bit resolution. Maybe Warthog marketing read and engineering spec that said 15-bit + 1 and decided that 15+1 = 16-bit? I thought maybe I was crazy. I had noticed this problem years ago, but never researched it. I know that when you first plug in a USB stick, Windows starts out with some default values that can be wrong and need to be reset. Saitek gave specific instructions on how to clear the registry to get Windows to re-learn the min, max, and center of their sticks. So, expecting that maybe there was a driver problem with the Warthog, I "Googled" " Warthog 15-bit resolution" and found people that not only saw the same 15-bit plus 1 values that I observed, but researched the black silicon chip involved in converting the analog to digital. Apparently, the black chip only supports 14-bit and/or 15-bit, not 16-bit. So, Thrustmaster marketing is wrong by a factor of 2. Marketing inflation aside, 15-bit is still nothing to laugh at. Most A-D chipsets are 12-bit or 8-bit. But, despite the sensitivity of the hall sensor and the theoretical 15-bit A-to-D chip, can you really get 15-bit resolution with the Warthog? This whole topic rises to the forefront when you experience Warthog "stiction". That is, the stock grease combined with the platstic ball/plastic socket gimbal makes it almost impossible to move the stick only one count (in this case, 2 counts since the stick reports only even numbered counts over the entire range). i.e. if you are at the physical center (no force applied, ideally 32,768 in both the pitch axis and roll axis), if you try to move just a tiny bit, the value won't change until you have applied so much force that it changes by more than 2 (i.e. less than 32766 or more than 23,770). I have found that if I monitor the raw position values using either the Windows game controller calibration tool or JoyTester2, I can move exactly 2 counts with a lot of patience and practice, but typically the value changes by 8 or more. 8 is 2^3, which is two bits more than you would want with 15-bit precision. So, in practice, the actual precision of the Warthog with "stiction" is 12-bit or 13-bit, little or no better than my home made F-4/B-8 stick using a 12-bit BU0836X USB joystick card. Keep in mind, this is after I added a 15 cm extension to the Warthog that greatly reduced the stiction problem by doubling the lever force. Yet, I can see a very noticeable difference in precision between those two sticks in DCS World. I use noisy pots for my BU0836X which cause spiking and generally prevents achieving smooth, true 12-bit precision. I may not feel stiction with my homemade stick. In fact it feels smooth as butter. But if you graph its roll and pitch values in JoyTester2, it moves all over the place depending on when I last cleaned the pots with alcohol. Recent cleaning gave very smooth, almost noise free 12-bit performance. After a week or two, accurate gunnery was impossible and stick fluctuations were readily visible on screen in the virtual cockpit. This is one of the factors (besides the limited number of hats/switches on a B-8), that made me decide to mount the Warthog in place of my otherwise great home made F-4/B-8 USB stick. So, I see the solution to Warthog stiction is to disassemble the stick, clean off the factory grease, and lightly lube the ball/socket with a better grade of grease, preferably a high-end PTFE damping grease typically used with microscopes and binoculars to provide smooth movement with some resistance (damping). Unfortunately, the recommended grease is hard to come by in the USA without spending some money ($90 for a grease sample kit for testing out several grades of grease. I decided on a cheaper, more readily available substitute with similar properties, though far less damping effects: Super Lube. The Super Lube arrived today. I looked up the procedure for disassembly and discovered that it is a relatively high-risk procedure that may damage some wire connections. I think I will live with stiction a little while longer before performing grease removal/replacement on my Thrustmaster stick.

I partially disassembled the stick today. Just enough to lift the main socket. I used q-tips to remove as much of the OEM red grease as I could, then used q-tips to jam some of the Super Lube into any place I had been able to reach with the first q-tips. I re-assembled the stick, verified that I had not damaged anything, and found the stiction to be pretty much gone. Aside from the centering detents, it now feels as smooth as my F-4 stick. I would like to add some kind of spring tension so I can feel how far I have pulled the stick back. What I am discovering is that the signal processing that gives the stick such noise free performance makes it almost impossible to move 2 raw counts at a time. You generally have to move the stick more than 2 counts to get the value to change. Once you are moving, you can see the values changing 2 counts at a time if you can move slowly enough. Of course, the amount of movement that it takes to register 2 counts, even with the 15 cm extension, is incredibly small. All that resolution is completely wasted without an extension. I would use an even longer extension, but the range of motion measured with a ruler at the top of the stick matches my real F-4/B-8, which is exactly what I wanted. With the stiction fixed for the moment and the centering detents barely noticeable, I am very happy with the results. I need to save some money to get the KG13 grip for flying Fw190s and Bf109s I saw at SimHq. I will probably get the F/A-18 grip I have seen on DCS forums if it is ever finished and released. I would like the Black Mamba Su-27/MiG-29 style grip as well.

Great modeling of a beautiful aircraft.

After recently committing to removing my real F-4 B-8 stick mod and replacing it with the more precise, more reliable, more buttons Warthog stick, my stage 1 trigger button (DX button 1) decided to stay on at all times. The default fire button of every single game I own is stuck on! Initially, I didn't notice this, because in DCS, I had been mapping the fire function to stage 2 (DX button 6) to match my F-4 B-8 grip. The B-8 grip has a two stage trigger, but both of the B-8's I own have no wires/pins connected to stage 1. So to be more realistic, I mapped most of my DCS aircraft modules' trigger buttons to the stage 2 position. It was when I tried to start up the latest Aces High 3 beta that I started having problems, and again when trying to fly SF2. The Microsoft function for testing/calibrating game controllers showed the issue: DX button 1 was always "red" (on). I disassembled the grip. The buttons are connected to a green PCB that converts the individual signals into a serial chain of bits. I move the stage 1 trigger to the stage 2 trigger connection and the stage 1 switch worked just fine. So this isn't a stuck switch. I am assuming that the PCB has a problem... bad resistor? bad transistor? I looked at getting another stick. No used grips on eBay. Thrustmaster does sell the stick without the throttle: about $275-$300 for the stick $400 for the complete HOTAS. So, if I went that route, I would probably just bite the bullet and buy a whole new Warthog HOTAS. My existing Warthog setup was purchased in 2011 for $350 during an online sale at Fry's. It is way out of warranty, but I contacted Thrustmaster for help. Their answer: I can get a new PCB for 40.8 Euros (about $45) including shipping. It might not fix the problem. It might not last very long. But $45 is a small risk compared to $300-$400. So that is what I am doing. Waiting for the new PCB. While I was troubleshooting the grip, I found the internal wiring to be delicate. I actually broke off one wire on the stage 1 trigger switch. That helped in the trouble shooting, but required me to shorten the wire to fix it with solder. So, I am going to have to be very careful replacing the PCB, or more wires (or more likely the same one) will break. Hopefully, the PCB solves the problem. One aircraft in particular benefits from the dual stage trigger: the A-10C. The first stage engages gun stabilization, then after the gunsight is where you want it, you pull stage 2 to fire. I don't fly the A-10C very often, but when I do, I need the gun to work! Re-assigning buttons to work around the break defeats the purpose of lying the DCS: A-10C with a Warthog HOTAS, where every button functions identically to real life. If the PCB swap doesn't solve the problem and I don't do any further damage to the stick, I will wait until I get some overtime cash to get another HOTAS... or simply re-install my F-4 B-8. Just waiting for the PCB to arrive from Europe.

New PCB came in Friday, I picked it up at the Post Office today. Installed and works perfectly. Having to spend an extra $45 on a $350 stick I have hardly used isn't the best situation. I also didn't like having to disassemble the stick twice and snap out/snap in every switch connector since that just increases the chance that I have damaged/broken these delicate wires. But as long as this board lasts a long time, it is better than having to buy a new stick or HOTAS. Now I have a spare board with only one bad input. I need a ps/2 connector and a map of the wiring pin-out to adapt my spare B-8 grip. It would also be helpful if I knew the part number for the white 2-pin sockets to make landing wires on the board very easy.

Having recently played the pre-release on Steam a few nights, the graphics and mechanics are nice. But I have no interest in playing countless hours trying to earn money for upgrades, new ships, etc. I have no interest in a "game". I like setting up classic matchups and trying them out from both sides. My favorite is simple 1 vs 1 or 1 vs 2 duels and sometimes squadron vs squadron action. Overall, aside from the beautiful graphics, the mechanics didn't seem too much different or better than my old Age of Sail 2 game. I suspect I won't be playing Naval Action very much at all. I much prefer historical accuracy/re-creation to what this game is trying to provide.

I wasn't sure which old Seven-g thread to post this, but this one has the most appropriate title. The latest release date has been bumped to this year, 2016, as it has been every year for several years ;) The website is here: http://seveng-f18.com/ That latest videos are recent (Nov 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG66lx6D7Y4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHNwjDy8p3M For all the criticism of ED and DCS third parties, I think their pace is a bit faster than Seven-g. Their F/A-18 sim did have a free download of an early alpha as opposed to FighterOps and JetThunder, which never released anything but screenshots and videos. Will Seven-g ever release a finished sim? Will DCS:F/A-18C be released first? Only time will tell, but despite a steady stream of videos over the years, it would seem Seven-g's sim will be obsolete by years before ever being released, if it is ever released. As with all promised flight sim releases, including DCS (especially VEAO :P), I am not holding my breath waiting for results. At the same time, I love to see progress in any form in this very small niche hobby. So, Seven-g, get hot and release something! Or at least keep trying and showing someone still cares about us flight simmers who are never happy with what we have and can't wait to try the next big thing in combat flight sims.

When "free" and "3dsMax" are in the same sentence, it usually translates to "illegal" ;)

My wife's attempt to upgrade her laptop from Win7 to Win10 removed any doubts I had about staying with Win 7 x64. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. When I need Windows 10, I will most likely build a new PC rather than upgrade this one. My current PC is stable and fairly fast. As my primary sims still use DX9 or DX10, I have little or no incentive to upgrade. Since my video card is AMD, I haven't had the driver issues that nVidia users have had with SF2. Win10? Why would I want or need it at this point?

You don't have to find him, you just have to offer him enough money. TK didn't just suddenly decide to make First Eagles. Someone paid him, at least in part, to do that. For the right money, TK would surely make any exporter you want, and there is no one more qualified to do so.

TK may have never won the masses, but he got some of the most dedicated military aviation fans one could ask for. Choosing the first purchase can be difficult. I favor the F-4 and think Vietnam first, then Israel (I love recreating historical missions). But from a practical standpoint, SF2 Europe is the way to go. Diverse plane set and compatible with many mods (I am not sure what NATO Fighters requires anymore, but it used to be just Europe). When you buy the Expansion Pack 2 for SF2 Europe, you get the mission editor instead of buying it as a separate addon. So unless you need aircraft carriers immediately, really love the F-14A more than any other plane, or have some other preference that isn't covered by SF2 Europe and SF2 Expansion Pack 2, those are the first two things I would buy. After SF2 Europe, the choices don't get any easier. Vietnam for plane set and carriers? Israel for plane set? North Atlantic for F-14 and really great naval action? Again, Vietnam is my preference, and in this case it makes sense given all the cool planes and aircraft carriers. But Israel has its own unique plane set and a great looking terrain. If you are an F-14 fan, no contest if you didn't already get North Atlantic as your first choice. If you get Israel at some point, you may also want Expansion Pack 1. The original Strike Fighters 2 with the fictional map and mercenary campaign is the last thing I would buy. A completely fictional map with completely fictional countries is not my cup of tea. I enjoyed SFP1 until WoV saved me from fantasy hell, but I seldom go back to that map. The one thing to buy this for is the mercenary campaign. It is cool to start with almost nothing and build up your own air force with money you earn flying. Then you can slowly work your way through any remaining DLC you might fancy. I bought all of it as it was being released, so it didn't seem like such a huge purchase. AI Plane Pack 1 and AI Plane Pack 2 are good candidates... lots more planes to shoot down or mod into being flyable.

If I were strapped for cash, I would buy one game per month. Try it out. Don't worry about mods. Just play that one new game that month. If you can't enjoy it without the mods, you won't enjoy it much more with the mods. So, if any point you get tired of it or just don't like it, you stop buying more SF2 games. Of course, along the way you will be able to use more and more mods. But the gradual expansion gives you time to appreciate what each game adds to the merged installation: maps, planes, missions/campaigns for the cost of a fast food meal each week. A fully merged install is amazing with the variety of stock aircraft, both flyable and AI only. Of course, you will find mods to make almost any/all AI planes fully flyable. Just a matter of whether a good cockpit is available. I bought everything TK releases as he released it. So I have no idea how much I paid in total. I have ALL of the games and DLC. Of course, as amazing as the stock game is, addons like NATO make this game even bigger and better. So many planes to fly, so little time to fly them.

When you consider that I had built the F-4 stick and almost NEVER used the Warthog stick, it is really disappointing. At most, the stick has been exposed to dust and the thermal cycles of my PC room: 82 deg F max when I am not home in the summer and 62 max in the winter. The only times I really used the stick was for playing Steel Beasts Pro PE and flying the A-10C. The throttle has been in continuous use and has zero problems. My Saitek sticks (X-36 USB, X-45, X52 Pro) were as good or better than this after years of continuous use. I have two thoughts: 1) Lack of use somehow causes a problem? But this is very simple electronics: a switch connected to a multiplexer board. So, 2) my joystick extension I just installed added resistance to the switch circuit, so it didn't like the extra resistance? Since when did decreasing the voltage/current make something break? It seems to be dumb luck and others with Warthogs have had much worse luck right out of the box. If this board doesn't fix the problem, I will probably save up money and buy another Warthog because I do like the sensors/precision. But I might try other options like the Mamba or better yet the high end F/A-18 stick under development if it ever becomes available for sale. One thing about this problem: the damaged board could be used to make my spare helicopter B-8 grip into a Warthog compatible stick. The B-8 doesn't have nearly as many buttons, so having one failed doesn't hurt a darn thing. I just need an interface between the board and the Warthog base (basically a modified PS/2 connector) and a way to connect the button wires to the board (normally done with these cool little white plug-in connectors). I can see good coming from this because I was too lazy to order the black silicon chip and build the multiplexer circuit myself. If everything goes well, my Warthog will be fixed by the new board and I will end up with a Warthog compatible REAL B-8 grip :) Now I just need to save up and order the Warthog compatible German grip I have seen on SimHQ. Thrustmaster missed a golden opportunity by never making any other grips compatible with its Cougar/Warthog sticks. I probably would have bought any and all versions if they were a reasonable price and replicated the real stick as well as the F-16/A-10 sticks have. But I would prefer authentic materials. My B-8's aren't metal on the outside. They appear to be some sort of resin/plastic permanently glued together around a metal pipe core. The metal on the inside gives them weight, but they don't feel cold to the touch at all. B-8's also have a diamond texture like 1911A1 pistol grips. B-8's are very comfortable compared to the cold, angular, metal Warthog stick.