streakeagle

However limited it may have been, multiplayer was always a feature of this sim. In SF2, it was completely deleted largely due the fact that it was based on DirectPlay which is no longer supported in the latest DirectX native to Vista (Dx10). I think it is only fair that this feature be restored at least to comparable functionality as soon as practical for the small but dedicated community that has supported this sim due to its combination of awesome flight modeling and solid multiplayer dogfighting. If multiplayer supported custom player-designed missions identical to single player missions, the number of people coming to this sim for multiplayer would increase exponentially. TK has numerous reasons for ignoring multiplayer and even finally deleting it. He is obviously happy with the single player and modder niches he is tapping into. But just like the online store with downloadable versions of the sim, I think TK would be surprised at how much more business he would get with solid multiplayer support in this line of sims. But alas, he is a lone programmer and has a successful business model, so he isn't going to risk investing so much time and money into a feature that currently is only demanded by a vocal but small group. Apparently, the current formula of adding a new terrain and about 4 flyables with a few gameplay enchancements is going to carry him for quite some time before he will ever look into restoring/improving multiplayer support.

Looks like wing and tailplanes are optimized more for subsonic lift rather than supersonic drag... admintting that the F-18's straighter wing was the better way to go rather than stressing Mach 2 performance.

There is nothing in the flight model that prevents modeling the lift/drag characteristics of the XB-70. Compression lift would simply be lumped in with the other co-efficients, no need for any specialized parameters. The game doesn't model the airflow, just the end result. I have complete NASA data for the end result that can be readily incorporated into the game's lift tables. What keeps me from finishing my work on the XB-70A flight model is time: I work full time, have a wife, and a 2-year-old boy. The only free time I get is after they go to sleep and I prefer to spend that time relaxing by browsing, posting on forums, and playing games. If I were still single, I would have the flight model done and still be waiting for the 3d model to be finished.

Video card alone does not a fast PC make... A computer is kind of like a car. The engine and transmission must be matched. Likewise, the cpu and gpu need to selected such that neither one bottlenecks the other. I upgraded my old P3 computer from a Voodoo 5500 to a Radeon 8500 to a Radeon 9800 Pro. The jump from the 5500 to the 8500 allowed me to play games at 1600x1200x32 versus 1024x768 while keeping the same or better fps. The jump from the 8500 to the 9800 Pro didn't buy me many fps, but I could run every game I owned at max quality settings. So while I never got to see my 9800 Pro run as fast as it could, I still got what I paid for: the best possible image quality at the highest possible frame rates for my P3 computers. In your case, I would forget the benchmarks and play some games. If you don't see a useful increase in image quality and/or frame rates, then you wasted your money. By the way, what are your pc specs? If you are counting on your pc being fast because it is a Core2Duo or a QuadCore, then you need to play games that use multiple cores. Most of the games I play do not support multiple cores and would not run much if any faster on multicore processors than they do on my single core Athlon 64.

This mod is nothing special... just got tired of doing this manually every time I reinstall the game after patching. I really could have used this back in the day for online play with WoV. I intended to make separate packages to suuport each sim: SFP1, WoV, WoE, etc., but got short on time. When all of the "2" series games are completed, I will see about making an integrated package for all of them. I would like equivalent mods for other MiGs and Sus, ideally one massive download that would make all Soviet fighters flyable with correct 3d pits yet still be compatible with stock installs. My approach resulted in some questionable compromises: 1. Can't customize anything in the data.ini file including engine sound. 2. Kept the radar performance (range scales, track strength, search strength, etc.) from the mods, which means the player has inferior capabilities compared to the unmodded data used by AI. 3. Only stock loadouts and weapon data are used... great for compatibility, bad for realism and detail. But, as someone who has spent quite a bit of time playing online, I like the end results: I can fly a MiG-21PFM and have all the indications and sensor capabilities I should rather than using the generic A-4 pit without forcing others I play with to use any mods at all.

Thanks to refinements in First Eagles and extended by Wings Over Israel, the current AI and FM modeling engines are way beyond where this series was with the 08.30.06 versions. I haven't spent much time pushing the limits with high fidelity FMs since these new patches came out... but the behavior of the stock aircraft in single missions and campaigns tell me a lot just from the seat of the pants feel. SF2 pushes the envelope even further. Why couldn't this sim existed in this form when I was still single and wasted a bunch of time trying to improve Jane's USAF? As far as receiving "help" goes, I see the FM modders as a very small understaffed community. The possibility of gaining individuals that have a knowledge and understanding comparable to those already making the best FMs is a great thing. Even if all they ever do is crank out WW2 aircraft, that happens to be an area that can benefit greatly from their presence, as I expect them to be more like the Mirage Factory: Quality before quantity. Welcome to those coming over from Microsoft titles. Hopefully you find the Third Wire sims to be as fun as I have all of these years.

It is about time TK's work be recognized for what it is: potentially the most realistic flight modeling possible in a consumer grade PC combat flight sim, despite being coded by a single programmer! So what if the stock flight models were bent a little to fit TK's fun sim lite approach and budgetary limits... the core engine is already solid and is still being refined. If you feed the flight model good information, you will get an outstanding simulation. The trick is getting or creating good information and having these guys join the relatively small group of FM gurus can't hurt.

I will buy this as I did the original YAP. But for me, playing at the 08.30.06 revision level is a huge step backwards. I am much happier with the Oct 2008 version of the game. I expect the WoV2 to be even better based on my experiences with SF2. Nearly every aspect of the game was improved between the Oct 2008 patches and SF2: graphics textures, 3d models, damage models, flight models, avionics, and most important: AI. Of course, I realize some aspects of the game were degraded or even deleted along the way and YAP may need some of those features to function 100% correctly. Hopefully, the YAP team and TK can work together to make YAP2 and WoV2 compatible. Vista users are just plain out of luck being forced to disable shaders with YAP2. Fortunately, I refused to jump on the Vista bandwagon.

Made some time for Dangerous Waters and chose to play the single player mission where an Akula is tasked with preventing the Nimitz from launching her aircraft as she approaches Kamchatka with her escorts. Having been a real submarine sonar tech, I tried to do things slow to totally avoid any possibility of counter-detection prior to weapons launch, but that allowed the carrier group to reach her launch point and result in a loss. So, I tried this mission again, but flipped the other way: I aggressively closed the distance, slowing down just in time to catch the group in transit. I identified my situation as best as I could submerged, then briefly came to periscope depth to solidify both my classifications and tma tracks. I then submerged again and commenced fire. I used wake homing 53-65s on the carrier and 65s on the escorts. I scored some hits, but could see I still had a few moving. Rinse, wash, repeat. As far as I could tell, they had no helos and never fired a torpedo at me. I sank all four of the escorts, three Arleigh-Burkes and a Ticonderoga, but despite multiple hits, the carrier slipped away at 25 kts. I tried to chase her, but didn't have the patience to follow forever at 35 kts. However, the Nimitz never reached her launch point prior to retreating, so other than not sinking her it was a total victory. I am still puzzled as to why I took no counterfire after launching so many torpedoes. I don't know if the AI was stupid or blind, but it was fun for me anyway. I relearned the lessons I saw in the attack trainers though: My first captain would drive in circles all day trying to be quiet and get the perfect solution, but we almost never killed the target and sometimes got killed. My second would aggressively point and shoot with a minimum of information, but we would almost always win and have time to run another mission. While stealth is absolutely critical to submarine survival, a shooting situation requires fast-thinking and aggressive moves not unlike air combat.

Harpoon 3 works, though some are backing an older version that is no longer available (3.6) rather than the newer 3.7/8/9 Advanced Naval Warfare version. I love Harpoon, but Dangerous Waters is far more appealing to me. I am much more interested in being a captain of a single ship and/or crewing individual stations as opposed to being an admiral staring at a big status screen. If only the developer would continue expanding the series until you could man any kind of sub or surface ship available in the game (with detailed and accurate modeling as good or better than the current playable platforms).

Figures that I would be the oldest in the bunch... though MigHound is right up there with me.

The original release of SFGold on CD (unpatched) accidently included the option to fly MiG-17s for the red side in one of the campaigns. Of course later patches corrected this "mistake".

Check it out here: http://thunderovervegas.com/ This sim is by the same people that did Xtreme Air Racing. If you enjoyed that sim (as I did) you will probably enjoy this one too. The graphics are no better (or worse) than XAR (very dated to say the least), but with these sims, it is more about gameplay and flight modeling. Though, Vegas seems modeled well enough to be entertaining, especially with the optional high resolution terrain addon. I have only done some free flights and watched the PC fly in "airshow" mode so far, but I have enjoyed what little I have done. This is no LOMAC or Falcon 4.0, so if that is what you are looking for, read no further. This is an independent (one-programmer) sim series much like Third Wire games. It has its limitations, but for only $10, I think it is pretty cool. There are multiplayer and combat options, but I have tested neither and don't expect the air combat gun and missile modeling to even be worth the trouble of trying out. I am curious about how well the multiplayer option works. Formation flying via internet connections cannot be good.

The battle group mostly stayed at 25 knots and therefore didn't really have a chance of hearing me initially. But, after I launched torpedoes, they should have had an idea I was there and done something more to localize me and kill me.

Photos just can't do it justice. There is nothing like being near and/or under a C-5 flying low and slow with gear down. After having such an experience as a kid, the C-5 became one of my favorite aircraft. It took me a couple of years to find a 1/144 scale model kit (models of it were not so common back then). Of course, having grown up in the 1970s and 1980s, I much prefer the old MAC paint scheme of white over gray with a blue stripe in between. I will never understand the re-alignment of the USAF. SAC, TAC, and MAC forever!

The trick is being able to see the box from the cockpit. I don't care for the over-the-shoulder F5 view, I want to be in the cockpit. In the game, the angle of attack may be too high and/or the lack of seat height adjustment makes seeing over the nose during landings very difficult.

I would think that the best way to do a fully merged install is to start with WoV, then install WoE using the merged option, then apply the latest October 2008 patch for WOE. If you used the download versions from the Third Wire store, they start at the 08.30.06 patch revision and WoE comes with the F-104G installed. At that point, install SFP1/SFG, patch to October 2008. Merging SFP1/SFG into the WoV/WoE install is a fairly straightforward effort aside from any differences in squadrons and associated decals/paint jobs. Of course, if you have the original SFP1, you get the stock C-130A as well. The problem with bringing in WoI is the vast number of files that are completely different. So whether you merge from any other sim to WoI or WoI to any other sim, there are lots of things to copy/edit. There is enough work involved that I haven't bothered to do it, whereas the SFP1/WOV/WOE merged install can be accomplished very quickly. But with WoI merged in, the complete "Strike Fighters Anthology" install is quite impressive even before any addons. Throw in all the cockpit mods for stock MiGs/Sus and you get a lot more flyables for just a little more effort. Install the century series, Razbam series, Pasko series, Mirage Factory series, and a few other releases to have the most complete fighter jet combat sim every available... If that didn't take enough of your time, add all the WW2 stuff!

I might be wrong, but as far as I know, Third Wire sims only allow the wheel brakes to be mapped to buttons. I have Saitek Pro Rudder Pedals which has configuration software that allows me to map buttons to the positions of an axis. So, I mapped the default wheel brakes key, "B", to the toe brakes. Whenever I move either rudder pedal toe brake enough degrees, it presses the "B" key, which toggles the wheel brakes. I am not sure if CH Products allows the same type of programming.

you are probably seeing aliasing. At one point, TK made his games detect your card's capability and automatically enable anti-aliasing. But, people with low end hardware didn't want or need it automatically enabled. Instead of making an in-game checkbox, TK disabled in-game control of antialiasing (as it was when SFP1 was originally released). So now you have to enable it using the video card's driver settings.

There is an aspect of AI that I had never thought of until TK and I were chatting about it while answering someone elses post at the Third Wire forums: If you set the difficulty to HARD for AI, the enemy is smarter and your friendlies are dumber. I have always played on all HARD settings, so I was crippling my own forces! What it does is make enemy pilots more likely to be veterans and aces and make friendly pilots more likely to be novices and dead meat. Since the last patch, the enemy AI is much smarter and friendly AI, even dumbed down a bit by HARD settings, seem more likely to get their fair share of kills. But I bet if I use normal, my wingmen would do as well or better than enemy AI, especially since nationality also plays a part in pilot quality and the US generally has equal or better pilots than most nations it opposed.

To be fair, targetware was in development forever. TK had at least a year of development updates before the Walmart release of SFP1... And even as a major fan (fan boi?) of SFP1, I consider anything prior to SP1, maybe even SP2 to be player funded beta testing. JetThunder is in a similar boat timewise... but they are asking for a dime prior to releasing a playable product. I understand why the developers of FigtherOps would create Area 51, I just don't get anyone who would subscribe to it? I have spent a lot of money buying Third Wire games... But every time I give TK money, I get something tangible back. All of TKs games may be pretty much the same core engine, but every release has new 3d models, new terrain, and/or new campaigns plus some sort of new and/or improved feature set. The download versions have obvious benefits over the original CDs like all of them being patched to the same 08.30.06 level, and some of them have hidden perks, like the download WOE which incorporates the F-104G from SFP1... so I found it worth it to me to buy all of the download versions. I am sure a lot of people feel like I have wasted my money buying all of TK's games at least twice, especially when you can mod a base SFP1 install to pretty much equal or better the later releases using free addons... but again, I got something much more than screenshots and developer comments for very low cost. I hope those who have subscribed to Area51 get some kind of discount on the final release... dollar for dollar credit would be a fair deal, but even a 50% credit would be better than nothing.

Hurry! Sign up fast. You don't want to miss out on the 5th year of paying for status updates on an unreleased flight sim. There must be some money in this or they wouldn't bother at all. Personally, I would rather have never heard of the product at all until it was released or very close to release. Targetware was a little different because it needed community support and for better or worse, it was finally released and continues to grow. It will be interesting to see if and when the initial sim is released and whether development will continue. While I am all for a hard core sim, I am clearly in the minority. I wonder how many people will invest in a sim with only 1 or 2 flyable aircraft that are both military trainers. Microsoft already offers the market leader in non-combat flight sims and has a huge selection of aircraft available. X-plane even permits combat now. If DCS Blackshark continues to expand their planeset, they will probably capture the hard core combat flight sim market, except for those hating/fearing Star Force copy protection. I think the market is going to be pretty tough on Fighter Ops unless it is truly revolutionary in its immersiveness and realism and quickly expands to cover the F-16, A-10, and F-15.

While I have a preference for WoV and WoI due to their historical nature, I have recently learned that my favorite game in the series is whichever one is the latest release with the best feature set. For instance, SF2 is the most fanciful of all with make-believe maps/countries/history, yet upon buying/installing/playing it, I found that it is so noticably better than even the latest released game, WoI, that I am pretty much only playing this version. Of course, this comes to a large extent from the fact that I am an F-4 fanatic and find the updated versions of the F-4s so much better than the original releases, but even the campaigns just seem to be more fun and challenging than ever. Now, when all the games have been re-released and have identical feature sets, I suspect my favorite will fall back to either WoV or WoI, but until then SF2 has my focus. My sole interest in flying the earlier releases is to play online, and right now I don't have any time for that.

I experimented with Vassal for Air Force/Dauntless, 2nd Fleet, and Air Power (which is Speed of Heat). I find that it works really well for Air Force, you can pretty much play without even having the game if you already know the rules. I don't remember enough about how to play 2nd Fleet to rate it, but the map and counters look good. It is at best just a map with markers and a few charts/diagrams for Speed of Heat.. adequate if you have everything else, but nowhere near as functional as Air Force.

While I am sure I saw him as Khan first in the original Star Trek TV episode, I remember him best for Fantasy Island. He was the circus owner in the 3rd and 4th Planet of the Apes movies that hid Caesar (Roddy McDowell), raised him, and died to protect him. As a huge fan of this series and Caesar, Ricardo's character was pivotal. He also was the voice of the Villain in an episode of Buzz Lightyear on the Disney Channel, didn't need to see the credits, simply knew it the moment he spoke.