Over50

Not an option (off the rack corrective glasses) for me with much different vision issues between my left eye and right eye. And as I mentioned everything is a blur without my glasses unfortunately so not wearing them is not an option as well. But really appreciate all the responses in any regard. I would be less hesitant with the $130 TIR purchase is it was possible to return it if I found I couldn't use it because of my vision issues.

This is what makes your CFS3/OFF3 crash problem a bugger to understand where other graphics intensive games (as you noted) run w/o problems - whether running your 7800's in SLI or with only one card installed - and switched/substituted as well. As such IMHO I really don't see how it (crash) could be related to your power supply, page file size, memory (which you did replace), heat issue, BIOS, Directx, etc., all of which would effect most other games or apps equally. This may have already been asked - but can't remember - but didn't you say you have a 19" LCD monitor (with a native 1280x1024 resolution) and the crash problem occurs even at lower resolutions?

With apologies to Siggi for hijacking his thread - one last question on TIR: For those who do wear glasses, do you use a regular ball cap (which I don't wear at all) or visor type headband for the head mount device (assumes no mike attached as well)? Or if neither, what do you use?

Attached File(s) Trackir.bmp ( 522.67K ) Thanks for the info

So what you're saying is TIR does have provisions (adjustments) for folks with glasses. Hmmmm. Have to give it some more thought in this case. As for "bright light", I have a 5x8 ft. window in my room that is to my back and off to my left and while I don't get direct sun light there is a lot of reflected light off the neighbors siding at certain times of the day. Enough so that if I'm playing a computer game I usually pull the blinds down to keep from washing out the LCD display. The blinds are beige in color and translucent such that sun light is diffused vs near total light block. All this said, with few exceptions all my flying is done from early evening on so bright sun isn't an issue. That leaves reflected monitor light on my glasses to contend which, again, you're saying can be compensated for with the TIR setup.

My trifocal glasses are anti-reflective (not cheap...like $80 more per lense) which are great for night driving. No more lens glare/spots from reflected headlights. But glare/reflected light, etc., from my monitor hasn't been a issue so had to reason to opt for the anti-reflective lenses (and additional $160) for my computer use. Something to think about though the next time I have to get new lenses...

Thanks for the feedback - and Siggi, too. But, yeah, like I mentioned I don't have the option to not wear my glasses. I was near-sighted to begin with and once that started to go it's been trifocals for everyday use, separate glasses for my computer use that is mid-range on top and closeup on the bottom (bifocal) and a third pair with just long distance, polarized lenses for daylight/bright sun driving. Like you, just another consequence of aging, like it or not...

Rats So much for TIR ....

Just read the thread and picked up on your comment "TIR doesn't like them". Care to elaborate ? My computer glasses are mid range (top portion) and close up (bottom of lens). Going without glasses is not an option for me (otherwise just a blur). I've toyed with the idea of TIR but if wearing glasses is a conflict then I'm out of luck.

Just to confirm again - all other games, apps, etc. run w/o problems for extended periods of time, correct? For the record, please post examples of the other games you run (graphics intensive) and the display resolution..

..for that 2% who continue to gripe that the sim doesn't offer true to life this or that or a particular option to suit their particular penchant. This way the 98% of the rest of us who come here to share game experiences, ask questions, etc., won't have to waste time opening a useless thread. :punish2:

With all due respect, your selective memory didn't include I posted "Not having fun" shortly after purchasing OFF 3 and with no prior experience with the previous OFF mods content. As for not recalling "many other people asking for more options" as you put it, again another case of selective memory on your part where I do recall many folks here offering/posting thanks to the Dev's for the last patches that did provide novice to realist game play options. I didn't post this thread topic with the intention of starting a pissing contest. Rather, and what I should have included to begin with is my concern the presence of said nit picking is prone to generating tit for tat responses that degenerate into a ... well ... pissing contests that feeds on itself as well as spilling over into the general population here - and probably one of the prime reasons I suspect OFF 3 was booted from SOH. And I do recall a couple of threads of this content at SOH/OFF3 just prior to the axe falling where warnings were issued but ignored. Beyond this, I offered an opinion not about the game content, but about those few as noted. If you consider yourself among that group and offended, my apologies.

Couldn't agree with you more on the thread titling - such as my post title that left no question what the content would be and thus the option to open it or not. But we'll have to respectfully agree to disagree with respect to your comment [it's only uselss if it doesn't affect anyone at all]. And I speak of those few who continue to nit pick even though the Dev's have already stated the mod is complete other than some tidying up. And for those few, having a separate place to complain that this or that wasn't/isn't included in the mod even though it's all but finished would, at least, afford the 98% of us who fully appreciate the effort of this finished product the option of avoiding their comment. I'm fully aware some folks by their nature will always find fault with just about anything they haven't the smarts to produce or do themselves and a nit pick sub forum would provide a place for them to commiserate among themselves.

I wondered when you guys would finally put a finished sticker on your effort with OFF 3 - and what a great accomplishment it has become. The last series of patches to incorporate easy to full realism options were outstanding whereby anyone from novice simmer to the realism fanatic can enjoy the game to their liking (well...except that 1 percent who will find fault because they can't see fabric seams or glue lines, wires flexing in the wind etc..). Great move as well with the special/limited lower price offer, which hopefully will bring more folks to the fold.

Man I sure hope the new/different video card does the trick. Like I said you sure have infinite patience. Had it been me, I'd have given up long ago....along with a long walk off a short pier...

Please, and no offense, but remember guys - this IS a game.

For a time Nvidia wasn't putting out driver updates (circa 173 version) for months at a time which prompted me to start using beta drivers (from Guru3D). But for the past 6 months or more new drivers have been made available on a regular basis and as such quit using the beta's in favor of WHQL's. But as I mentioned, I've yet to run into a driver related problem by adhering to booting into Safe Mode to run the driver cleaner app every time before installing updates. Phantomjoker's problem as posted here is a carryover from his original thread in the OFF3 forum at SOH (assuming you weren't among the participants) where just about everything possible had already been suggested/tried. This is why I offered the OS reinstall as a last resort option. Plugging in a different graphics card was the only thing he had not tried aside from the last resort XP reinstall option. His problem is one of those once in a while hard to find the cause things....which given the consternation involved I'm amazed at his tenacity while maintaining a fair degree of humor in the whole ordeal.

When updating my nvidia drivers I religiously use Driver Cleaner to remove any files still in the registry after using Add | Remove Programs to uninstall a driver and I've never had a problem with beta or WHQL driver updates. The hitch is it's no longer a freeware offering (I had it saved to a thumb drive while it was still free). However there is an alternative with Driver Sweeper that is freeware and does the same thing. This is the process I use (assumes Driver Sweeper is already installed on your system and shown in your Start | Program Listing) : Download new Nvidia driver to the desktop or folder created for it. Remove old driver via Add | Remove Programs (including the Physx component) Reboot back to the desktop as prompted. Cancel any prompts/pop-ups to look for and install a new driver. Now reboot into Safe Mode. Run Driver Sweeper and select Nvidia-Display (make sure it's only the graphics/display driver, not mobo driver, etc.) Run it again to make sure all files were removed. Now reboot back to the desktop. Cancel any prompts/popups to look for and install a new driver. Now install the new driver from where you downloaded it to. Note - Driver Sweeper can be used with XP and Vista and ATI cards as well.

Downloading and saving the patch to the desktop is only the first step. If this is all you've done, then NO the patch hasn't been installed.

Great job with the difficutly balance now with essentially (3) settings for the novice, intermediate and full realism players and/or a mix of the three to suit. And really, really like the "normal" settings. Still get shot down but I can finally return the favor even with the SPAD - if, that is, I can resist getting into a turn-with-'em fight...

CORRECTION: Use num pad key 1 for nose up trim, not 5 as I had posted (senior moment...)

FWIW, I'm not seeing any warp/dive issue with 1.26 patch and hotfix in campaign mode (flying the camel). All settings on normal (except pilot never dies) and at or below 10,000 ft.

With a clean boot (i.e., nothing running except for necessary OS apps) and you still have the crash problem rules out 3rd party software. This leaves an OS (XP Pro) file problem itself and the only way to find out for sure is reinstalling your OS and trying the game with only the OS required software. If the crash problem is still happening after a fresh XP install and only essential additional software installed then it has to be a hardware issue - there's nothing left that hasn't already been ruled out. If you have a friend and/or access to a different video card now would be the time to pull your 7800's and try it.

"Wow, thanks for the thoughtful tips along with the other folks as well. I do indeed have AVG as my virus checker and I will uninstall it and try. All my error logs seem to list it at about the same time...One thing I go back to however is that I have tried running the sim without it running at all with no luck. Presently am running only CFS3 with the 3.1 patch only with OFF uninstalled even in the registry. Last night I went in to cfsconfig.exe and made sure all was well. Only running at the #2 graphic level. I played some quick missions and closed the game normally. Then restarted and played some more. Then my buddy and I played a multiplayer with bombers for 20 minutes with no problem then I locked up. He told me to take the covers off my desktop puter to keep it cool. That didn't work, I played again and after 5 minutes it locked. Even though, I have run without AVG running, I will strip it off today and try again. More later...... Joker p.s. AVG does not lock up my other sims though???? This problem is limited to the CFS3 engine thus far. And CFS3 and OFF only. That is the kicker." With everything you've tried and has been suggested I can't remember if a clean boot was one of them. If you're in the U.S. the lastest/April issue of Maximum PC starting on page 70 (bottom of page) has a really great article titled "Diagnose your pc with a clean boot" for XP and Vista. I've also seen the "clean boot XP" process on the web with a search. Again, can't remember if you been down this path before - but if not it's a great tool to help determine if your problem is hardware or software based.