streakeagle

Ok, so having a baby slowed me down quite a bit both in time and money... but I have been working my butt off away from home and getting paid $30 per day per diem for food. If I ate $30 per day worth of food, I would be even fatter than I am now, so I am building up a fund for game controller stuff... I could get a Track IR 4 Pro, or a Saitek X-52 Pro, or whatever I want... I am on the hunt for an F-4 B-8. It doesn't have to be a real one... just identical in size, shape, functionality. Most B-8's have a hand rest at the bottom on the right side. The F-4's did not. So most of the B-8s available won't make me happy. I wish I had bid on the F-4 throttle levers and stick shaker (the box the B-8 is mounted on with the pinkie switch) I saw on e-Bay. I simply did not have the money to waste back then, but now I would do it. The throttle levers are nearly impossible to find and this was almost the complete mechanism except for the actual name-plate/panel mount with slots that the levers moved through. Ugh! I was stupid not to try to get it! Oh well. So do I simply get an old Thrustmaster for about $10 and mod it? or buy surplus for about $200 from the warbird shop that is close enough to my house to pick it up in person? Or patiently wait for another ebay opportunity? If I had a place to put it, I would sell my wife on gettiing the ejection trainer cockpit at the warbird shop for $3000. I could slowly buy real pane parts as they became available and convert it into a geniune F-4 cockpit. I want my... I want my... I want my B-8 stick!

You have been misinformed... internet play works fine through the multiplayer interface... you just have to manually specify the IP address of the host. (and the host has to have the proper settings for his router and firewall to permit you to find his pc). read my thread at thirdwire for the most complete description of online MP for thirdwire sims: http://bbs.thirdwire.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1410 While having identical installations is a very good idea to increase the probability of successfully joining a MP host, not all files have to be identical... but the person trying to join MUST have every aircraft the host has, have every terrain the host has, and have identical weapons data. So you can have more addon planes than the host, but if the host is not using the weapons pack, then neither can you. Some addon planes automatically modify your weapons data to add missiles and/or fuel tanks when they are installed... if the host doesn't have that aircraft, then his weapons data will be different than yours. The best approach is to start out with stock installs, then have all involved parties download the same addons from the same links and install them in the same order. If done correctly, custom installations work well with MP. Personally, I prefer stock installations for MP, because it makes it easier for new players to join. If they have just bought the game, they may need the official service packs/patches and perhaps enable some port forwarding throught their firewalls/routers, then they can play just fine. But Check 6 made a good SFP1 MP addon package that included the Draken, F-5, and F-14. This added quite a few steps to installation, but added a nice variety to the mix for SFP1.

Same old routine: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

All you have to do is click on the store link, and it lists all acceptable payment methods: https://store.thirdwire.com/store.htm Per the website, Paypal is acceptable.

From the pilot's summary reports: The XB-70 has proven itself to be a very remarkable airplane. It has accomplished every milestone that was set down for it. No aerodynamic changes were required in order to achieve the objectives; but in spite of its tremendous performance, the XB-70 is an unfinished airplane. It was operated in a completely new speed and altitude range, but with off-the-shelf navigation equipment and flight instrumentation that were obsolete for this type of flight operation. This pilot believes that with normal development, including some aerodynamic refinement, some system changes, and better instruments and navigational equipment, this would be a truly outstanding airplane. General: In reading this pilot's summary report, consideration should be given to the fact that the combination of this airplane's size, weight, and speed ranges compares to no other airplane in existence; and that the program was primarily a research program with ground rules that allowed only those changes which were necessary to safely accomplish the test objectives. In the normal sequence of development to an operational airplane, many of the opinions and recommendations expressed herein would have been made after the initial airworthiness flights. They are presented now, for the record, and for consideration if improvements can be made for follow-on programs. In general terms, the XB-70A was an interesting airplane to fly. It had some peculiarities due to size, weight, and configuration that were different from most other airplanes. The movable wing tips introduced some new characteristics in the airplane that had not been experienced before, such as the wide variation in directional stability, roll power, and dihedral effect. The airplane had a tremendous performance capability and was a thrill to fly from that standpoint, but this capability combined with the fact that the airplane was climbed and cruised very near the boundary of the allowable flight envelope quicker and easier than any other airplane this pilot has flown. The duct pressure limits and the low allowable 'g' aggravated the recovery. All this adds to the pressure on the pilot by requiring greater concentration on his part. This was acceptable in a research program of this nature, but would certainly not be acceptable in an operational vehicle. The potential for a great airplane is here, but some refinements are required. More specifically, the pilot's opinions and recommendations are as follows:

I am working on the XB-70 flight model. I had not made any progress for several months. Now, I have extracted a lot more data from the NASA documents and have started to adapt that information into the data ini file for the game. If I am able to model this aircraft's performance and stability correctly, it will be a challenging but rewarding aircraft to fly.

Sudden Strike hasn't died. Sudden Strike 3 is nearing completion.

Other than graphics, I don't find ArmA to be that much better than OFP. However, I still think OFP is by far the most realistic and fun tactical fps ever made and ArmA corrects one of its major limitations: dated graphics. There are still quirks with the physics of the vehicles, especially aircraft/helos, but I don't know of a more flexible and immersive shooter sim. Given that OFP runs well on all the PCs at my house and ArmA barely runs acceptably on only two of the 6 PCs, guess which one I still play when I have friends over?

I believe the multiplayer game engine TK uses is his own coded with Microsoft's DirectPlay libraries... which is free and is part of the DirectX API. DirectPlay makes it relatively easy to make networked MP games... but the interface is notoriously inefficient. Typically having problems with lag and connectivity. I would rather have what TK has provided than no multiplayer at all. Operation Flashpoint started out with DirectPlay technology, but added the option to use sockets after the limitations of DirectPlay became quite apparent with large groups playing together. I believe TK is not a network guru, so it would require far too much effort on his part to make a better MP system. Apparently, hiring someone else is far too expensive for the return he gets coding this sim series.

Therein lies the real problem... very few are willing to put in any time or effort when they can just install something like IL-2 or Aces High and be happy right away. TK has very little interest in MP, so its not going to improve in that area any time soon. So the problem is finding people who enjoy the SFP1 era enough to put up with its limitations rather than going for the instant gratification offered by other sims' MP suuport.

There have always been people on hand to get connection/server issues resolved. Anyone who ever asked for help with MP on the forums or at HL got support if they really wanted it. But every single virtual squadron I have ever seen fly this sim is gone within a month or two. While I never really tire of dogfighting, I can understand why someone who is accustomed to fully supported multiplayer options would get bored. Half the fun of flying together is ruined when you can't even start on a runway much less design training missions that can be flown together. Why struggle so hard to get a less than stellar online experience when other products fill this role much better? I think the squadrons have it wrong. While it would be easier and perhaps better if TK provided the support other sims have, most of the stuff virtual squadrons like to do can be done with the SFP1 series. Instead of complaing about the limitations of co-op, simply take advantage of the flexibility of dogfight mode. There is nothing stopping the host from setting up the spawn points near opposing bases, dividing players up into teams, and having everyone respawn until they start at the correct base. Everyone could land immediately so that runway starts could be utilized. If bombing missions are desired, everyone's installs could include copies of aircraft with edited loadout ini files so that the desired weapons would be carried. For instance, besides the F-4E, there might be F-4E Mk82. Of course there would be no SAMs/AAA or other interesting targets, but it would be perfect for a training environment. Those same teams could then play a corresponding coop mission when they want to face air defenses and/or to play for points.

I am sure this will turn out as well as it should... a fully operational CH stick in the shape of an F-15 dual throttle. I hope the mechanicals of the stick are good enough to be worth the CH insides. I wish I had bought the real F-4 Phantom throttle that was briefly available on ebay. Unlike the B-8 stick grip, I don't know of any other source for F-4 throttle grips other than the few real ones that pop on ebay. Oh well... the money went into things like a very nice Radio Flyer red wagon for my son. But maybe some day he will want to help me build an F-4 cockpit. I could live with the stick you are building. I prefer it much to the stock HOTAS available.

A small crowd is gathering... could it be WOV MP is finally being discovered? Where was everybody else when I had time to play this all night every night?

Your support has always provided a key source of information for people new to the series. Are you closing everything? or just the "links" page? Or are you just going to stop updating it and leave the existing links up? Either way, thanks for the long time free service.

I got a chance to fly with TexAg02, God, and Doghouse last night. It was a lot of fun, though I didn't get to fly long since my wife called me away to put away laundry and go to bed. Hopefully, more people will start showing up. I really want to see an 8 vs 8 co-op. I think it would be awesome.

There are very few who play these series of sims online, but those that do love it. Hyperlobby is a good place to find someone, you just have to hang out there for awhile until someone else pops in. Doghouse checks in almost every night somewhere between 8 pm and 11 pm. He has led the charge for SFP1/WOV multiplayer for many years and is probably the best pilot flying this sim online. I have recently tried to make some time to fly online. My free time is limited, but typically I am checking in around 10 pm and gone by 11 pm every night. Last night, I got lucky. Doghouse, God, and Texag02 were flying dogfight aroun 9:45 pm, so I was able to join and have some fun before going to bed at 10:30 pm. Previously, I have at best found one other person to fly with (usually Doghouse). I suggest you download and install the program called Hamachi. It is a free program that permits you to join or create virtual private networks. It makes the game think that everyone is physically wired together on the same LAN rather than going through the internet. This solves a lot of problems people have with hosting/joining servers. So you use Hyperlobby to find people to fly, then have them join a Hamachi network so that communications will be reliable and independent of Hyperlobby. Good luck on finding people to fly with. This sim is very fun and challenging when the opposition is human rather than lame AI.

One of the people who is going to play creates a network and gives it a password. For instance, I have a network named streakserver1 whose password is streakserver1 Anyone can join and use this network at any time whether I am online or not. However, the free version only allows 16 clients. So, the owner of the network must periodically "evict" people who are offline to make room for people who want to play. If I forget to flush out the network, newbies can't log in because others have already used up the 16 slots available. If I opted to pay them $4.50 a month, I could have up to 256 other pay for clients, but can still only host 16 free clients. So, to me, there is no advantage to subscribing unless there is a very large group and everyone in it is willing to pay. Since the game only allows 16 people to fly at one time, I really see no need for a subscription. Everyone can meet through Hyperlobby, the forums, an instant messenger, or email and agree on when to play and what the network name and password will be for that session. Hyperlobby has provent to be a good place to meet since you not only find the people you are looking for, but may meet some newbies looking for action as well. Of course, getting someone new to play means making sure they have an install that matches everyone else and getting them acquainted with any other software involved such as Teamspeak and Hamachi. Where the system always fails is getting everyone to be online at the same time. Presently, I am lucky if I can make 1 hour every night from 10 pm to 11 pm EST. During that time, I am lucky if I can find 1 person to fly with. When I used to hang out every night from 8 pm to 11 pm, I frequently hosted dogfights with 4 to 8 people. I always hoped that I would one day see 16 people in a co-op mission, which would really bring out the full potential of Thirdwire sims online MP, but it never happened. It looks like there is a sudden interest in MP again... maybe this time?

It is easily found on google or wikipedia, but here is a link to their download page. While there is a pay version, the freeware license is adequate for our purposes. The pay version is a monthly service fee and is really only beneficial if everyone involved subscribes. http://www.hamachi.cc/download/list.php

Teamspeak and the CombatAce Teamspeak server is great for playing online. Gets rid of the annoying typing and you can communicate about host/client problems very easily without having to exit the game.

Forget Hyperlobby... use it as a means to meet people. Once you decide to fly, use Hamachi. It gets rid of most of the headaches people encounter trying to host/join this sim via Hyperlobby. I have hosted on Hyperlobby for years and know how to solve most of the problems. All of a sudden no one can join my host via Hyperlobby anymore. Yet, people can see and join my host via Hamachi without even worrying about the IP address just by starting the game and using its built-in multiplayer LAN interface.

A-10A, no problem! I used to have a green flight jacket from an A-10 pilot. I wore it all the time until I lost it on a work trip to Miami... I think I left it on the rental car shuttle and when I came back two weeks later it was not anywhere in the pile of hundreds of lost & found jackets :(

After MSIP:

How is this for starters:

With the switches, it is effectively direct competition with the CH throttle quadrant. NewEgg's price for the CH product is about $135... so half the product for less than half the price at $60 is fair. Also compared to a HOTAS setup like the X-52 for $130 which has two sticks... again half the product for half the price. The only game I frequently play where I could use such a setup to full effect would be Aces High II, which allows you to control rpm and manifold pressure for each engine on multi-engine aircraft like the P-38 and B-17. If only the SFP1 series had more detailed engine modeling to make a dual throttle useful when flying F-4s. Of course 99.9% of the time, the throttles stay together anyway, so the traditional single axis HOTAS throttle is really adequate for air combat purposes.

Interesting... but I think $60 for only 3-axis control and no pushbuttons is a bit steep... should be more like $30 or $40.