JediMaster

No, but it does have a lot of missions and campaigns made by others out on the net you can grab and fly. It does have a steep learning curve, mainly for just flying it. The avionics are less complicated than they look...I mean, you can really get in depth with them, but you can fight effectively with just a passing knowledge of it. All you need to know is how to use the TV Shkval for finding and locking up targets and how to use the gun and Vikhrs. It's really not that tough to fire weapons with. The hard part is the thing is a beast to fly, it requires a lot of finesse and practice to control it well, and when in combat you may find that you don't know it as well as you thought you did, and crash into terrain just trying to avoid enemy fire. I spent $50 for it back in 2009, I don't think you should hesitate at $27.

I don't think the idea they'd attack us directly has ever been an issue. Rather they'd be involved with one of their neighbors we have close ties with that would draw us in. Remember, the USSR and the USA never attacked each other directly, but thru proxies fought for decades. Besides, the US and China HAVE done that already in the past in both Korea and Vietnam. Fighting N Korea, in come the Chinese. Fighting N Vietnam, get too close to the border, in come the Chinese. I forget his name, but there was a guy on SimHQ years ago that 1 MiG kill in Vietnam but it didn't "count" because it was a Chinese MiG that was technically over their side of the border (the old attack over the border, retreat back, shot down over own soil). It wasn't nearly the same thing as in Korea, but it did happen. Taiwan is a sore spot. The Spratly Islands are a sore spot. The South China Sea is a sore spot.

An unmanned carrier is no threat. Likewise one manned by those with no experience, and no allies to give it (as I mentioned the Russians have barely done anything with theirs, and no other country using carriers is likely to give many pointers), is no threat. If you think they can go from having one carrier that is just now getting seaworthy after 10 years in a dock to a fleet of carriers (I said fleet, which means at least 3-4) manned by experienced crew that would be seen as a threat in just 5 years, you're either irrationally scared to death of the Chinese or you underestimate just what it took the USN to make its carriers into something worthwhile. You can copy design plans, you can't copy soldiers. Also keep in mind that at that small size, they'd need to have 3 carriers sailing to the same place to put out the same number of planes as just one of ours.

The Swiss AF is lucky, they get to fly over some of the most beautiful terrain in the world.

How long ago did the Kusnetsov enter service? Where is it now, and its sister ships? What presence does the Russian navy have on the world scene? The only 2 parts of the Soviet navy the US ever feared (aside from the missile-armed 22's) were the subs and the ASW units. When the USSR collapsed, those arms wilted with the rest of the military and have yet to recover to where they were. They got the idea about having a carrier late and it never paid off for them. Having a carrier that sails isn't the same thing as being able to project power with it. The US had them, lots of them, for decades before they became viable tools. The reason so few nations have them is they cost a lot for what they do, and you can usually accomplish a similar objective with just some guided missile subs with cruise missiles for a LOT less money, time, and expertise. This is purely an image thing. I think the USN is far more concerned about Chinese subs and missiles than this. I don't blame them, for being the largest country in the world with the (now) 2nd largest economy, their ability to operate away from their borders is effectively zero. It's a matter of pride, and I don't begrudge it to them. Besides, as Typhoid mentioned this will actually hinder their naval development more than help it. They've already spent 10 years and who knows what resources on it and it's still far from being usable. Might the Chinese navy have a fleet of carriers sailing the world's oceans in 2050? Maybe. At that time, I'm sure they'll be seen as a serious force, but to sound any kind of alarm over this now, well...I say we keep watching the subs and missiles now because THOSE are the power of their navy.

Since these are the WHQL ones, my guess is the betas were so free of major issues they reissued them as WHQL with the incremental number change. I bet you'd have to look really hard to see a difference between the .19s and .26s.

No, sorry. Although parts of it can be used offline once it's setup, it has to be online for the initial setup. If you don't have any way of connecting at home, it won't complete.

A used Cougar? HOW used? Barely/lightly I'd say 125 was a great price. Moderate to heavy, not so much. It may work great today, but in 6 months it may have enough wear you'll dislike it. I have a G940. It has its issues, but overall I like it well enough. The Warthog is just overpriced to me. $500 and you don't even get rudder pedals. I don't think any set is worth that, no matter how nice.

I think FAS has some info, too. Not sure how much.

PacFi came out when, 2006? Lots of water passed under the bridge since then.

"Based on true events" such as "there was a WWII" and "the USA is a country" and "P-51s existed."

I was just looking at that thread, and the talk about "premium DLC" has me thinking. Maybe for people that don't want to buy a full expansion or game, he could put the planes out separately as DLC? For example, if you didn't want to buy Expansion 1 but still wanted the P-51, here it is for $12. Do it months after the expansion release, when you figure everyone who wanted it has it already, so as not to cannibalize sales of the expansion, plus you offer it as an incentive...buy the expansion now, get the plane now, or wait for the DLC much later at a lower price. I think the terrains should stay tied to a full release, though, because obviously (given the fact that he's only got 4) they are the most resource-costly to do.

Did you patch? Did you get a DLC? Any of those will overwrite your options.ini AFAIK.

I also remember him from the Blue Thunder TV series with then-unknown Dana Carvey.

It's a blast and even funnier than SP.

Yeah, you have 3 .ini's to check. The options.ini, the ones for each terrain (which will have to be extracted for a stock terrain), and the _DATA for the plane itself. If all 3 aren't post-1982 you get stuck. I know the Desert terrain isn't date-limited, but I'm pretty sure all the others are.

It's a bit of a catch-22. If TK says too little, people pounce on every little thing he says and draws (what can be highly erroneous) conclusions from that. Conversely, if he's more open about what his plans are and then he fails to make it on the timetable people were expecting (or at all), people will pounce for broken promises, etc. It's apparent he's decided over the years of experience to stick with saying the bare minimum and merely correct highly inaccurate speculations, while leaving the lesser stuff alone.

Borderlands is an FPS/RPG, but the emphasis is on FPS as opposed to the new Fallout games which are RPGs with an FPS mechanic like Mass Effect I guess. The story is silly and the characters are vulgar (although usually not profane), but you level up and acquire weapons and things as well as perks/powers as you go around killing all matter of beasts and evildoers. The main thing is the game has 4 different characters and playing it coop is a blast, even if it's just 2. Also has wheeled vehicles which are quite fun. It's not so great SP actually, it can feel a bit shallow despite how long it takes to go thru, but it shines in coop.

That's just it, that stuff is pricey.

I've been on Steam for close to 7 years now, but I don't play MP FPS games like those anymore. Ironically I stopped around the time I got on Steam! I'll play those games SP when I find them cheap, but I don't bother with going online anymore. Instead I play things like Portal 2 and Borderlands, where it's "safer."

LOL, $50 million? That budget will get you a bunch of guys in uniforms standing around in a room TALKING about flying. I'd guess this film is at least 2 if not 3 times that budget.

Yes, but when it was around they INSISTED on gray headrests! We can't forsake our history! BTW, which genius came up with the double letter variants for the USAF? F-16CG? F-16DJ? Everyone knew the blk numbers and then they decide to confuse the issue...

Keep in mind DLC can't be integral to the game, like the LOD one Stary mentioned, because it would in effect mean 2 separate games. The nightmare it would make on patching to support both of those would not make it worthwhile. Things like the HUD are akin to ROF's field mods and should be possible (although I don't know that he would) because if you don't get it the base game stays just fine.

What, you haven't run out of letters yet ? What about the F-16CMFHGF_Blk40_SEAN_NATO_6? That was the same as the _5 but with a gray headrest instead of black.

Who knows the awesomeness of the DS mod update that lurks in the hard drives of its modders? The Shadow knows. Oh, and the modders. Since they're doing it, obviously. The lack of the AWG-9's Phoenix-specific modes would be disappointing, but not a showstopper. Fleet Defender was great in its day, but as noted TK doesn't have cruise missiles as something you could attack with other missiles anyway. So you'd only be able to go after the bombers and I can target, fire, and retarget PDQ on my own. Unless for some reason my financial situation would preclude it, I'll get Tomcat whatever it does or doesn't have. Only if it fails to meet my expectations in pretty much all areas would I reconsider buying future TW sims. At this point we know TK's game, literally and figuratively. We know how he does things and while the expansions-cum-DLC is a slight change, the path has stayed pretty steady. We know no new title differs signficantly from the one before, only in details, and it's those details we enjoy. If you've grown disillusioned with TK since he started the SF2 project of rereleases, the only major thing Tomcat will offer is a new terrain (not done since WOI's release) and plane, which likely won't alter your opinion much. Every other thing is a smaller detail that you may or may not care about, so don't expect the world.