tc223

I dont think its because Ubi doesnt care. I am betting if you took a poll of the dev. team that needs the feedback of the forums, they are probably just as frustrated as the rest of us. I think the problem is there are too many links in the chain for getting things done over there in terms of any upgrades, etc. Thats typical in that environment. Having done lots of IT work for General Motors and corp. customers. It's ridiculous sometimes. They could be having issues with hardware, staff, etc. its not unheard of to wait 180days to get approval for an update like that. I'm not saying thats the situation with UBI but I wouldn't be surprised. Plus the message boards don't generate the income. The product information does so your resources are going to be dedicated to other areas. Biohaz is a much more suitable system for that information but then there is costs that Jeff is forced to deal with if that happens from the increase in traffic. I continue to "pimp" Biohaz wherever I go until Jeff says that enough :) Bandwidth is expensive.

Typically UK buyers get kickass DVD style boxes.

Dagger, heh.. no.. but it prompted me to go check that site out.. some good stuff there! (some was gross) Actually if you look at his copy of that picture you'll see his is smaller :)

I thought this was cool... Anything for the Troops! New Use for Xbox Live A new U.S. Organizations (USO) program is using Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox videogame system, along with its Xbox Live online component, as a way to allow members of the military to connect with loved ones back home. Dubbed Operation: Live Connections, the initiative was inspired by a similar one recently adopted by the U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), in which 17 Xbox lounges where installed at 14 bases in seven European countries. Beginning this month, USO services centers in the U.S. and around the world will be equipped with Xboxes, Live accounts and games such as NFL Fever 2004, Project Gotham Racing 2 and Crimson Skies. Said Ned Powell, president and CEO of USO, "Operation: Live Connections will enable the USO to continue its commitment to supporting and entertaining military families in the United States and abroad through engaging, interactive online gaming via Xbox Live."

How big would you want it? Just big enough for XP? Like 2-3 gigs?

Mike, I too have the X45 but I'm new to it as well. So far I've just assigned each axis a little deadzone in the config for Lomac and then I use Control-, (3 taps) and it trims the A10 from nose-diving pretty good.

Anything earth shattering come out of that chat today? I missed it.

Jeff/All, Just curious.. When you guys do a clean install, do you normally put the OS on its own partition for performance? ie: If I had a 40gig drive, would you partition like 10gigs and just use that for the OS itself? I read it both ways.. what do the flight simmers think? Performance boost at all?

Found the Chat log over at the UBI forum. In the interest of being able to get there to it (hope they fix that soon). I hope Jeff won't mind if I paste it here. ------------ This is the developer chat cleaned up as nicely as possible. None of the statements have been altered in any form or fashion including grammatical errors. Hope you all enjoy. Thunak Hello and welcome to today?s Lock-on chat ! Thunak My name is Thunak, I?m the UK Community Manager in charge of the english-speaking community. Thunak Thanks for joining us. Our guest this evening is Matt ?Wags Wagner?, Lock-On?s Producer. Thanks for taking time to join us, Matt. Thunak Let?s begin, then. The session wil be moderated: only Matt and I may post. Thunak This is how we?ll proceed: you may send your questions only to me and I will relay them to Matt. Please do not send them directly to him, he will only answer to mine. To send me a question double-click on my nick (Thunak) on the right hand column and a new window will open in which we may chat. Thunak I will post a full transcript of the chat on the official Lock-On site, http://www.lo-mac.com and on the boards ASAP. Thunak Ready? Ubi-Wags You bet Thunak .(.AltSlayer.).: Id like to know,if it is possible, what will the patch be focused on?. Ubi-Wags The first patch is focused on the features that are the most important to players, according to what we see online. Such things as radar, Win98 support, tracjIR, etc. Ubi-Wags There will be at least one later patch that will focus on less important issues. Ubi-Wags Working on the high priorities first Thunak .(.Spitfire8.).: The problem with the joystick microsoft force feedback 2 is going to be resolved ?(noreturn to center force) sry for my english. Ubi-Wags On the official site, I started a thread regarding what has already been fixed. This is list is not complete yet though. Ubi-Wags Hope that answers your question Thunak .(.Madmatt.).: Are there plans now or in the future to increase the fidelity of the naval and ground units? I speak of their lack of CIWS capability and limited ground fire,only BTR-70's and LVTP-7's engage with their MG's against low and slow planes.. Ubi-Wags The development team is very aware of the problem and are working on it as a high priority item. Thunak .(.AFishA.).: question: Will there be a stand alone server for lomac?. Ubi-Wags Naval systems has never been a focus of this project and thus a low priority. These systems may be addressed in a future patch though. No promises.Regarding MG fire, other vehicles do not have because they don't have enclosed/turrented mounts Ubi-Wags There are no such plans at this time Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: how come you dont have to land or communicate in order to complete a mission?. Ubi-Wags if not, the player could quit the mission and win it regardless of a situation that would kill them if they would cheat by quiting Ubi-Wags not sure what mean by "communicating" Thunak .(.mattski_.).: my first quesiton is: 1. Firstly, thanks for all of your hard work Matt, it's truly a revelation and a very enjoyable game. My first question is will we see enhanced refueling and carrier operations in either the patch or addon pack? Specifcally, having to really grab the basket or boom and multiplayer carrier capability?. Ubi-Wags Hi Cartrix cartrix Hello - just popped in to keep up to date ;) Ubi-Wags The development team worked very hard to try to get MP aerial refueling, but the precision of the internet data was simply not sufficient to make it work correctly. Ubi-Wags They are still working on this and MP carrier code, but I can make no promises Thunak .(.Cragger.).: Wags what was your biggest regret of a goal the project did not meet that you had planned for?. Ubi-Wags dynamic campaign system Thunak .(.Tuff.).: Have there been any discussions with Ross about his Campaign system being added to Lock On?. Ubi-Wags this was a central goal when we started and I regret that we were not able to include such a system Ubi-Wags Ross work is ongoing but is completely independant of Eagle's work Thunak .(.Punisher.).: will be any SDK for LoMac?. Ubi-Wags I do not believe that Eagle has such plans at this time Thunak .(.twobells.).: My question: could a pause be implemented that allows you to lock in your targets etc (a sort of action-pause). Ubi-Wags I don't believe that is possible, I belive that all game inputs must be made in real time Thunak .(.AkSt-Babianen.).: Any possibilites for more advanced features in the mission editor? Random waypoints/flightgroups?. Ubi-Wags If Eagle were to decide to do some sort of follow-on product, perhaps then. However, I don't see that happening with the base product Thunak .(.twobells.).: 2nd question: what is your next project? Ubi-Wags Sorry, but I cannot comment on that Thunak .(.Air-Killer.).: will be able the posibility of two teams in the same mision?. Ubi-Wags You can already do so by setting up aircraft in both coalitions Ubi-Wags There are already several such MP missions included with the game Thunak .(.Punisher.).: what was the first objective for Lomac, SP or MP games?. Ubi-Wags They are equally important to us Thunak .(.BigA312.).: Matt , do you still fly Jane's F/A-18 for old times sake?. Ubi-Wags Sometimes, still very proud of that title. Still keep in touch with team members Thunak .(.Rochee.).: Out of all the aircraft included with Lockon, which is your favorite?. Ubi-Wags I probably spend most of my time in the ' Ubi-Wags in the Rook Ubi-Wags Su-25 Ubi-Wags lately, a lot with the Eagle to test radar systems Thunak .(.twobells.).: In your opinion why do you think the sim scene has produced so few titles in the last few years?. Ubi-Wags High cost investment, small market footprint, low sales compared to other types of titles Ubi-Wags High time investment too Thunak .(.Iceman_AFS.).: Hi Waggs..do we have at least a small chance to get new planes like the F18,F14 ets and with the choice to sit on the 2nd seat?If not i would like to know where's the technical problem since its possible in IL2FB. Ubi-Wags As a free addon, I sincerely doubt it. As an addon and stand alone, anything is possible, but that is more up to the develper than me. Thunak .(.badkarma.).: will campaign co-op multiplayer be supported in the future? There are no such plans at this time Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: in many aspect the best sim around. Not in all, to be honest, but it has the potential to be ;) And now the question - could you please be more specific about the incoming patch (details about most important features) and the rumors F-15 will be slightly "upgraded" ? More technical, the better. again, I've posted a long list on the GD forum that gives details as to what has already been addressed, including changes made to the F-15 radar. Thunak .(.aphid.).: is the european version any different from the us version? will there be seperate patches?. Ubi-Wags There should be no content differences aside from localization issues Thunak .(.Madmatt.).: I dont want to take up too much time, and I am sure others have lots of questions, but I have also noticed some issues in the game which I have not seen reported elsewhere, as I said, since I work at another game company (i run the beta teams among other duties)I wasnt sure if i should post them to the official forums, what is the preferred method to report these issues?. Ubi-Wags Yes, please report on the offical Lock On forums. We read most everything there and it really helps drive the priority levels of what and when things get fixed Thunak .(.T-Bird.).: What do you think of Bobcat's cloud textures? Does this give you any ideas relating to increasing fps?. Ubi-Wags He did a great job, perhaps such a change will be incorporated in a later patch, I would like to see that Thunak .(.bolt.).: I would like to know how much the performance of the game is affected by the number of planes in the air, vehicles on the ground - or if the performance is mostly affected by effects, like weather, water, scenery detail etc. - or, in other words: Is any campaign mission playable with a 1,8Ghz rig, 512 RAM and Geforce2 on lowest gfx settings?. Ubi-Wags Yes, number of active objects can play a big difference in FPS. As to what you define as Ubi-Wags "playable" is very nebulous and varies from player to player. Also, GF2 is NOT a support card for Lock On Ubi-Wags I personally think at low settings, it can be playable though Thunak .(.Nasder.).: I like to create things to game, missions and such, do you know if there are any plans on releasing layered templates for Photoshop or such?. Ubi-Wags That would be up to the developer and I really don't know if they plan to release such resources Thunak .(.Thunak.).: .(.BigA312.).: Noticed that there is no NATO radar units available in the MB, can you share the intention of this?. Ubi-Wags there are many unit types we would like to have included, but time and resources prevent us from doing all we wanted Ubi-Wags There was no plan to leave out such units Thunak .(.Tiss.).: hi! my question is: will the su-33 be more ground mission related? i miss more radar and optics guided air to grund missiles.. Ubi-Wags the real su-33 has no such AG systems, so to be realistic, the Lock On Su-33 does not have them as well Thunak .(.Roskov.).: what is the bandwidth requierments for internet play? how many KB/s does each client use?. Ubi-Wags Sorry, I have no idea. That would be a technical question that you could pose on the offical site. The internet MP progammer visits there and can probably give you a good answer--much better that the SWAG I'd give you Thunak .(.[moose]HuBBa.).: Question: Is there or will there be a way tomap the Padlock key to a hold-down function rather than a toggle?. Ubi-Wags Padlock is a toggle and will stay that way Ubi-Wags As such, I don't believe so Thunak Nic.).: Multiple monitor support, has Matt seen this in operation and how did it look ? what kind of hit did the gameplay take?. Ubi-Wags or... Ubi-Wags if you have a programmable stick, you could set up a press and release macro, that should work] Ubi-Wags sorry, I have not in fact seen this, but it is my understanding that the developer included surround gaming for the latest matrox card Thunak .(.Eagle.).: In Mission Editor i sometimes have the problem of planes exploding on Spawn when i set them to spawn on the Parking area? Ubi-Wags sounds like you have some other objects already in that area and they are spawning on top of each other. i'd check your mission and remove active and static objects on that area of the apron Thunak .(.ddocg.).: do you think lomac will be as big as iL2. Ubi-Wags I sure hope so! :) Ubi-Wags I think the potential is certainly there Thunak mattski_.).: Someone mentioned that AI aircraft will fly toward you and engage you if they have enough fuel, even if you are hundreds of kilometres away. Apparently this scenario was seen with a ground-hugging A 10 some 200Km away from enemy aircraft and with no enemy AWACS. Have you got any thoughts on this?. Ubi-Wags It depends on what mission type they are on. the different types have various radii that they will engage targets. Ubi-Wags for exampe Ubi-Wags an escort mission will have a narrow engagement area and an intercept can have a very large one Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: Cobra and other "beyond flight envelope" maneuvers - is it really only "scripted" (aka animation), or is it starting to be real modelling incorporating perhaps slightly something from disturbed airflow ?. Ubi-Wags It's my understanding that is actually a combination of the two Thunak .(.Tomcat.).: will the russian plane not be able to select different payloads for coresponding hard points. Ubi-Wags Russian plans, as well as all the others, can have various weapons on hardpoints. Players can use the payload editor to create their own payload layouts as well. Not sure I understand your question. Thunak .(.ddocg.).: is Lomac, future technology friendly, will it be playable in whatever form say 3 years from now. Ubi-Wags Given that we don't know what the technology will be three years from now, that is an impossible question to answer. However, I think that most will agree that the game has lots of hardware growth potential in regards to taking advantage of increased details levels as hardware increases in capability Thunak .(.Kittenmaster.).: Hello, here is a question to Matt: Will the patch improve AI calculations, new memory managment to improve game performance?. Ubi-Wags Aspects of the AI have been improved in the patch. As to that affecting game performance, I'm not sure AI has ever been a big factor in that. Ubi-Wags AG and BVR AI tactics have been improved Ubi-Wags The AI is much more aggressive now Thunak .(.gredknap.).: Is the first patch weeks or months?. Ubi-Wags weeks Ubi-Wags already in beta testing now Thunak .(.swataeric.).: matt after i land the aircraft, how do i know where to park the plane. Ubi-Wags There is no particular spot you have to park, you just need to get it off the runway Thunak I guess that?s it then. Thank you Matt for taking the time to answer our questions. Ubi-Wags I usually park in one of large parking areas (Now Poor overworked Thunak took a few minutes break) Thunak Back Ubi-Wags thunk, i can stay for about 30 more mins Thunak OK Thunak Here we go Thunak .(.E69_Hog.).: First of all, thank you and team for all the effort. I know about third companies developing sim hardware like MDF, ejecting seats....do you consider in the future to share that kind of information needed for that hardware to work with lomac? Thanks. Ubi-Wags I hope we can do so, and it fact I have put such third party hardware ventors in touch with the development team. Hopefully we'll some great results. However, please keep in mind that the team is very busy with other tasks at the moment--like the patch Thunak .(.radejet.).: are they any plans of avionic system inproving. Ubi-Wags several improvments have already been made to radar performance in the first patch. I imagine that this will be an ongoing process Thunak .(.Nasder.).: When you land your plane, you can rearm and refuel. Do you think that repairing lighter "wounds" to your plane will be an option in the future?. Ubi-Wags I doubt it. The idea is a hot-pit turn around that would not include repairing damage Thunak .(.EchoPapa607.).: First, congratulations on the team for a great product. I would like to know if the team has shared ideas with the IL-2FB team regarding common problems? I personally believe that some aspects in Lockon could have been improved just by learning from the work that was done in IL-2FB.. Ubi-Wags Sorry, but I'm not aware of the level of interaction between the two development studios. Despite using the same publisher, they are two separate companies Thunak .(.ace24.).: Is any progress being made regarding the Blue(light blue) screen problem.. Ubi-Wags Our initial tests of the patch have had good results with Win98, so I hope this issue may be resolved as well. i personally have not been able to test this yet Thunak .(.AkSt-pilgrim.).: Could you please make it possible to add more skins instead of only being able to change the existing ones? Perhaps having a dedicated where you can put new skins without overwriting default ones?. Ubi-Wags I would also suggest making sure your vid card FULLY supports DX8.1 Ubi-Wags I have already discussed this with the team, they'll see what they can do. No promises. Ubi-Wags Going back, please remember that GF2, 8500 and all MX cards are not supported Ubi-Wags All these card to NOT support DX8.1 Thunak .(.AkSt-pilgrim.).: Could you please make it possible to add more skins instead of only being able to change the existing ones? Perhaps having a dedicated where you can put new skins without overwriting default ones?. Ubi-Wags Pleae look above, I answered this Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: how come you can land at very high speeds and such hard landing is it that easy in reality aswell?. (Ubi-Wags did note this is being looked into, somehow his comment got cut) Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: Q8: FlightModel: it's very good, as I would expect from Flanker sequel...could you please be more specific about physics and techniques incorporated ? or could you give me contact to a person who could tell me that ? I'm sure it's party your know how, but there should be some "PR" directed info. At lest, if it's more "MSFS like" (aka mass point+tables and fine tuning) or "X-plane like" (actual airflow, shape influence, ...). Ubi-Wags Strange... when I have hard landings, my gear fails and I'm skidding across the runway. Please make sure you do not have Easy Flight on Ubi-Wags That goes above my head, but I suggest you post your questions of the offical site. I know that the flight programmers read those boards. Thunak .(.Vang.).: Will there be a look forward view while in padlock like IL-2 and Jane's F18?. Ubi-Wags already in there, KP Ins Thunak .(.ddocg.).: at this early stage, how does Lomacs future look. Ubi-Wags So far so good :) Thunak .(.ScHiZ0.).: Realizing of course that no promises can be made as of now, do you have any guesstimate on how much work it will take to fix the track ir centering issues?. Ubi-Wags Already fixed in the patch Thunak .(.Roskov.).: will the patch (or any future ones) fix the MP problem where players sometimes is seens as on the ground but is infact flying around?. Ubi-Wags such issues are generally a fucntion of someones connect / ping / dropped packets and not so much the game. Also, the nforce board issue has a been a problem. however patch tests have shown the the nforce problem has largely been fixed Thunak .(.JZG_Hypno.).: Is the multiplayer code brand new or just imported from Flanker and adjusted?. I noticed some instability while playing,joining or taking off from a carrier, that seemed very Flanker-like. Is multiplayer code going to be revised? Also, I know that the FM is great but what about the onboard systems? (engine startup, shutdown procedures, fuel selectors etc) they seem a bit simplified. Am I wrong? Thank you. Ubi-Wags The MP code and interface is all new. Like other aspects of the game, the MP will be improved with the upcoming patch and will likel evlove with the project. Thunak .(.EchoPapa607.).: Do you think Lock-on will evolve into some kind of FS2K? Like using the great game engine so that people can fly more planes (perhaps from 3rd party software), helicopters and even ground based units in-game?. Ubi-Wags It was never the goal to create laborious engine procedures Ubi-Wags It is a great engine and I would imagine that anything could be possible, but that's not my call and I cannot speculate Thunak .(.BadKarma.).: Are the Hud graphics in the aircraft accurate? I was under the impression that the F15 Hud had a different setup than is currently modeled in Lomac.. Ubi-Wags the F-15C HUD mode is quite accurate, check a HUD video or image of the Charlie HUD and you'll see they are almost identical. You're probably confusing the E HUD with the C HUD. Thunak .(.ddocg.).: any plans for clickable pits. Ubi-Wags none, we are quite happy with the current cockpit technology Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: why is the hud text just enlarged to greater pixels when zoomed in rather than beeing enlarged in the "right" way?. Ubi-Wags I'm not sure what you mean by the "right" way. Ubi-Wags Thunak, time for me to get going I'm afriad Thunak OK Thunak Thank you very much for taking the time to be with us

I'm looking at it too. Just waiting to make sure its all nice and Happy with Lomac first.

heh.. that good eh?

Can't speak for others but I the F-18 and/or F-14 for CarrierOps.

Radar Love! and of course theres always 'Dreams' from VH, makes me think of the blue angels for some reason B)

Yep I would gladly fork over some more bucks for a add-on as well. Especially for a Hornet (or a Tomcat wouldnt be bad). I think alot of the guys over on the Ubi forum are being really hard on them about the bugs. I can understand that as much as its been hyped and put off so many times but I can't imagine the strains from management put on the developers to get the Sim out to market. Matt and crew must eat aspirin like tic-tacs. I missed the Flanker experience but these guys seem like they are dedicated to getting things right. As far as the patch, I just hope they work on helping out with the FPS issues alot of folks are experiencing, it kinda sucks to have all that eye-candy in there and not be able to use it. I'm only on Mission 2 in the A-10 campaign and I dunno if its the clouds or what but my FPS is down to 15-20 whereas the 'quick flight' with the A-10 I can get 40+.

Indeed.. the funniest thing is remembering those times and remembering my Dad.. "enjoy it.. it'll be gone before you know it" Then I'd blow him off! <_< Now I walk around the house with my 2 boys saying "enjoy it.. it'll be gone before you know it" and then watching them blow ME off! How many of us said.. I'll never be like my father?

Naval Air Museum, is that the one by/at Corey NAS? I visited there with my Boy Scout troop when the Angels flew the A-4s (grin) I didn't really just admit that..

Boy I sure hope he didn't burn out I was just 'discovering' MrMudd. Hurry Back!

I'd be interested in this too.. So far I've only seen them move automatically depending on the throttle setting.

Am I just losing it? is there a startup/shutdown key for the engines? I printed out the key card (my box didnt get one :() but I don't see it. Also, is there some "noob" key that will finish helping you hook up to the tanker once your within a certain range?

Anyone out there that has time. I was thinking of a signature graphic with some lo-mac planes with a big phat www.biohazcentral.com link (billboard) that I could use for the other sites to get some more traffic over here. Any artists out there?

I too have seen this memory leak and its a nasty one. I have alot of the eye candy turned down. Depending on the mission, I can get it to hit 40fps. Fly a mission and then all of a sudden, I take off again and I've got a 3fps "slideshow" going on. Only cure is to exit out and restart. Dell 4550 P4 2.4 ghz 1024MB @ 333mhz Radeon 9700 Pro 128meg Audigy 2 WinXP Pro If I ctrl-alt-del while running it, I see it eating up 400+ megs of RAM. Ouch. I've defragged, and I'm running Lo-Mac on a seperate hard drive. Also I rolled back my Radeon drivers to 3.7 Not slamming it, I LOVE the sim.. I just hope they/I can fix it :)

Ok so I'm a late bloomer! Actually I was counting on finding it locally over the weekend.. no such luck. :( Software should be here tomorrow and the Saitek X45 rig should be here Wednesday. - I would have loved to have ordered the Cougar but need to start off a little more to budget. I figure the X45 has got to be better then my non-FF sidewinder. Tonites project is running thru XP and getting rid of all the critters and hopefully avoiding trouble with the install. Anyone else have any tips to avoid pitfalls? Specs: Dell 4550 (I know I know.. but I bought it for $150 :) P4 2.4ghz 1024MB @ 333Mhz ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128 XP Pro (At idle: 811MB RAM available) 19" Samsung SyncMaster 955DF (weighs 450lbs) My HOTAS I've seen a post or two that they included a profile for the X45 on the Game CD, anybody know or should I start 'the hunt'. The Manual Already saw that the manual is .pdf which is irritating but thats a whole other argument. :) Nic's Manual Has anyone received Nic's manual and was wondering your impressions on spending the extra coin? It looks really cool. But is it helpful? As always.. thanks for your input.

PRecog, Your the only reason I got to start flying within 3 hrs of the install! While I love the X45 so far.. I've learned a couple things. 1. Going HOTAS from a regular Joystick means taking every 'method' I used for flying and throwing it out the window. 2. The Program for setting up the X45 is an exercise in patience. Your profile avoided having to do alot of that which I'm grateful. But I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong getting some of the buttons to respond correctly. Question for you though, Not a gripe but curious. Why is the rudder on the rotary switch rather then the "paddle" (lack of a better term) right under the throttle handle? Is that not usable? About the only real problem I've had so far was with the split throttle in Lomac. I would set the throttles, then fly around and suddenly one engine throttle would drop off and I would have to move one of the sliders to get it back to match the other. The only CURE I found was to disable left/right throttles in the game options. I tried playing with the deadzones before I did that but could never find a sweet spot. Can't wait till your flying with us!

<vent> Why is it anytime your reeeeally waiting on a item FedEx drops the ball? My poor lomac is sitting in a sort facility all cold and lonely.. it was supposed to be in my hand today! Andy: Hi FedEx, where is my ultra-important, disease curing package that was supposed to be here? FedEx: ooh I'm sorry sir, the aircraft was delayed last night. It will arrive tomorrow. Andy: Wow.. great.. glad I paid that big fee for priority overnight! FedEx: silence.. Is there anything else I can help you with? Andy: I need a drink.... no thanks. :click: HOWEVER :) My X45 showed up, got that installed and the overwhelming program interface. This should be an adventure </vent> Does anybody feel a brothers pain?

Sham, Ouch thats torture :( I don't have the cd yet but I've had that happen before, I know on some CD's depending how its put together I could enter like the /Data folder and sometimes there is another "Setup.exe" in there? Just a thought.