OvS

If anyone is interested, go out and buy any of the LEGO games like Harry Potter 1-4, or even better the Indiana Jones, or Star Wars games. They are a ton of fun to play with your kids on the Wii, PS3, Xbox, or even the PC. Often we buy these console games and watch the kids play from the doorway, or behind the couch and off they go, into thier own world... but with these games, they are fun and challenging to play even for adults, and don't require you to grow extra digits on your hands to play. But what is most fun about these games, especially the Indy, and Star Wars versions is that you can beat the crap out of each other now and then just for fun. So it allows your kids to have a sense of 'level playing field' with Dad. Much like flying a kite, fishing, having a catch... it's just another way to say.. hey.. 'we can connect here' rather than loosing touch. All the best, OvS

Dirt, Yes, you're crazy not playing!! It is A LOT of fun. Not sure why they have welts on them, are you sure they're not paintballing? Airsoft, if you wear any clothes other than a t-shirt, dosen't hurt unless you get hit on exposed skin. I have a standard Classic Army AR-15. It's very close to the exact weight of the real thing, and no doubt not a cheap Toys R Us rip-off. With Airsoft, it is dirt cheap once the initial investment in the gun, battery and charger is made. Other than that, I pay about $20 for 4000 BB's. The BB's are larger and less destructive than metal BB's, as you probably know already. You can't shoot out any car windows with them. So pick up your rifle and get in the game soldier... go have fun with the boys. Airsoft is a game where guys our age can be kids again... except there is no 'I got you' called out from your cheating friend that barely sees the nape of your ass behind a tree. If you get a cheater on the field, believe me, he knows he's a cheat real fast. Also... the guns are freakin' awesome!! I fired a SAW in the local Airsoft shop near my house (he had an indoor test range set up)... Holy Christ, it felt real, and blew rounds off at about 700-800 RPM. I looked at my nephew who was standing next to me and said... 'Kid, if I buy this... pray you're on my team'. Unfortunately, It was out of budget... :( All the best, OvS

I've got it, but have not installed it. I had a test version of Win 7 64 'N' , which everything worked on, but the N version is missing a lot of core stuff that Pro and Home have. At any rate, I loaded the 32 bit onto my wife's Laptop and I am very happy with it. It's 100% better than Vista, and unfortunately for my trust XP... it's better as well. OvS

Coming from a user that's been around games since my old Sears Super Video arcade (Sears Intellivision version) back in 1979, so what's that... 30+ years now.... all I can say is you are comparing apples to oranges. FPS games are scripted, and follow a path. They are all the same, regardless of the time-period for which they represent. Even Far Cry2, which is about as open-ended as a FPS can get... it became very mundane... kill this guy, buy this weapon, kill that guy, drive here, kill the other guy... blow that up... etc. Whereas Sims are a totally different ball game (pardon the pun there). All FPS games are winnable with a simple formula... find the sniper rife, kill as many as possible at long range, then storm the rest with maximum fire-power. I first flew a simulator in 1982, with Sublogic's Flight Simulator II on my C64. I still have the original maps and books for it. It was everything I needed then to learn how to fly... and that's the difference, you actually LEARN something in a sim, because it simulated the real thing. What do I learn in a FPS? How to beat it? Use GOD mode? How to find cover and toss a grenade? Flight Sim II progressed me into aviation, and onwards. I doubt I could ever say that about COD4... it doesn't even help when I am getting my ass shot off while playing Airsoft with my friends. BUT.... each has it's level of fun and enjoyment. I mean, how many times can you take your 152 out of Gabreski, up over Long Island and shoot the NDB approach for runway 36 into KFRG? Wish I has some mavericks under my wings so I can light up the CT when he tells me to go around for the missed approach. ;) All the best, OvS

Cappy, your thoughts above hit the nail on the head. If we're bound by a contract, then we have dates, limits and expectations to adhere to. When you're dealing with the general public that have no clue that only MvR's last Dr.1 was painted all red, then you know for sure that it's not going to matter to them what the rest of the skies over Flanders looks like. We're not bound, so our game is not either. Yes, we know, it's based on CFS3 graphical technology, which for whatever stupid reason is always brought to surface, but when you look at what else encompasses this game, in data, history, action, atmosphere, design, scenery, etc...etc... it's proof that no game atempting to re-create history, should ever be bound by a production date, and a contract. Hence the single demise of RB3D, it was a great leap in sim technology, nothing could touch it's campaign manager and flight/damage models ... but that's where the line was drawn. It was largely false in historical data, rushed to production and a mess even by the standards which were in place at the time of it's release. The code was never finished, and tons of holes were left in it, so open that you could practically re-write the entire game other than the .exe file. What does that tell you. OvS

I'm pounding an MGD in your honor now CJ! Congrats! OvS

Paarma put in a lot of time into his Albs of recent. He wanted to nail down the lozenge to a better pattern and get the whole overall looks tighter, taking advantage of the higher resolution OFF can offer the user. I have not seen the results as he's been busy on other OFF matter, but I know his work, and I know it will look amazing for sure. All the best. OvS

LOL! You have no idea. I was 'helping' some old RB3D guys try and put together some sort of new patch for the old bird called Redux, and to be honest, seeing it flying again just turned me off completely. I mean, it's nice and all, and it's nostalgic, but it simply just doesn't tickle my fancy to think about all the headaches I went through to make all those tiny skins... then to have to reformat them to the lame 256 color palette of RB3D, Forget it. It's nice to be back working on the Fokkers and having fun with them. All I can tell you about the P4 skins is LOOK CLOSELY!!! There are things you are about to see on our planes that have never been seen before in any sim. Variations, matching serial numbers, correct pattern orientations, correct pattern selections.. etc.. etc. For the true lover of history, OFF is quickly becoming the modern 're-enactment' of WWI airial combat. If you want to just jump into a Fokker D.VII and fly it... well, you have other options for that... but if you want to jump into an OAW built Fokker, sporting the correct cowling style for it's serial number series, with the correct Lozenge pattern and wing tape color for the manufacturer... (as close as wel could humanly get with this sim) ... then you need to fly OFF. :) All the best, OvS

Not sure if this tops the 'Armpit of America' aka... Newark, New Jersey.

Snipe... bleech!!! I'm fine, just hammer with RL and yes... back to skinning for P4. I received all the PM's and sorry I have not been able to reply, it's always crazy in my house from September straight through to January... from school, to 3 birthdays (this yea was my sister-in-law's 50th, so I was 'contracted' - for those that are married you know how that goes... you WILL do this for me, right? - to make her the 20 min slide show on DVD) flew down to Florida as a surprise for her with the fam, then Thanksgiving, wife's B-day... etc.. etc.. etc... jeeze... So I'm here. Ohlam, I have you're corrections listed and awaiting to be done. I have not yet gotten to them but as long as I have them in PM form, I can go back and reference them. As for everything else... all is good... fam is good, I'm good... the Jets suck and then there's THIS..... a completely fictitious skin I decided to make, but then came across the real scheme for the pilot, so I ditched it. :) But this is the new Fokker D.VII.... not tellin' ya what Jasta it is though... flying over standard P3 scenery NOT P4!!!! So this shot is no more important than any other skinner having fun. Just thought you'd like to see the new ride. ;) Thanks for thinking about me though... I actually had one of those days at work where you just want to tell everyone to go 'F' themselves and walk-out. Like they say, you're stuck workin' with them unless you quit. OvS

Widow, Nice skin! How do you get them to work in FSX? I've been dabbling with the Carenado planes for month, but never seem to get the skin to look right. What program did you use, or maybe a tutorial? I fly a Twin Otter around NY/Long Island are with destinations into Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, Providence, and other New England spots. I love FSX, very relaxing and lots to look at. Ever see the Hot Air Balloons floating by? I once passed over a few on a trip up the US East Coast, in my Otter at about 7.5K. They were at FL02, and moving along slowly near Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a real treat. OvS

Aye 'old man'... what's it been now... 10 years... 11... jeeze.. known you a long time and enjoyed every minute of it! All the best, happy birthday and more healthy ones ahead for you! :drinks: James OvS

Way to go George! I have nothing but the highest respect for veterans, of any war. You are an example of what it take to be proud, to be a Marine! My uncle was 2nd Recon, and like you... would rather talk about the NY Jets, than what he saw in The Nam. All the best, have a drink on me! James OvS

Wow... now this is really interesting! Thanks for the indepth strategy on dealing with this. I think I might have it licked, but one never knows. I will try this and see if anything is happening. BTW... thanks for the FSX folder location. I new there was one from my FS9 days, but I was unsure where they hid it in the FSX version. All the best, OvS

Yeah, I'm going to try Chrome as well. I've had my PC lock with Firefox open, Media Player and Photoshop at the same time. Must be something in the memory buffer.... if there is such a thing anymore. OvS

Jim, it's not just DOSbox that you need, it's D-Fend as well. D-Fend allows you to set-up DOSBox specifically for a perticular game. I had it working a few years ago as well, but damn, I don't remember how. It has to do with D-Fend's settings. I actually carry a portable version of DOSBox on my thumbdrive and about 15 DOS games as well. They're out there, you just have to find them. The Underdogs is a great place to start, but many if not all of the LucasArts games are a lot harder to come by. Cappy... I am actually on the Red Baron 3D Redeux team that is currently working on a new MP version of RB3D. I only provide consultation when they need it, and I have donated all of my HASP artwork to the project. It looks good so far, well... from a RB3D perspective... but I have not had the time to play it. Quite honestly, I have not spent many hours in front of my PC at all, I'm simply too busy lately, plus the issues my set has been having.. I started WWI simming with FSII on the C64... then to Blue Max on the Amiga..... Wings.... Red Baron on Amiga was a nightmare of disk issues.... then I got my 386DX and Red Baron as well.... Knights of the Sky.... upgraded PC.... Dawn Patrol.... Red Baron II... etc.. etc.. etc... and on till now. Scary isn't it.... OvS

You're not stealing any show Rob, no doubt it's always great to get more info on a problem as you never know where the answer might be hiding. I think we have similar problems, but mine locks only during downloading. Last night, no issues. I pulled down some files on random newsgroups using Grabit.. then tried MP3 conversions from youtube... no issues. I then allowed it to sit and run for a while, and finally took a 1 hour flight in FSX... no issues. Very strange. All I did was blow-out the case and re-seat the video card. I know it's still there, so I have little confidence... this is just a teaser. AVG did pick-up a few trojans as well the other day, and twice yesterday. So something is there doing it's damage. But again, it's totally random. When my PC locks, everything locks... sound, mouse, keyboard...etc. It only locks when I try to download something. best, James

I was looking at the home edition, but really, I never use the packaged software other than MS Office. All that movie making stuff they include I wind-up using other programs. I think I like your option. The OEM Home edition is 100 USD on newegg. I'll see about that 'N' version. I used to run MS98 that way was well and it kicked butt over XP... but in the end, I dumped it as it was too old an OS to keep runnning. Thanks for the advice... @Tony... yes, I got it, and I'll try it as well. You guys all rock and it's really great to know I can always come here and get the best answers to my questions. I tell ya... I never consider myself an expert at anything as there is ALWAYS room to learn more. OvS

Yeah, it looks like I am going that route too. Nothing is helping, and all components look OK. I'm going to hold off until November for this though. It's not that critical. I can live with it. I have too many project I have to complete before I can safely be without the PC for a while. OvS

No stranger then me trying to get Syndicate or System Shock to work. Syndicate was easy in DOSbox, but you have to change the IRQ on some sets... System Shock was the same as Wings of Glory.... funny... they're both made by Origin. All the best, OvS

Thanks for all the advice guys. I have tried everything except taking it apart. I had family over last night. My 11 year old nephew begged me to toss the 'bomb' so many times last night that my arm nearly came off! LOL! There's only so many 50+ yarders this 40 year old arm has, and he got me to toss them all!! At any rate, I ran the checkers again, dropped back to 1 month ago on the restore (that worked easy as pie) and left the PC running for all of the Jets game, and some of the Giants game. No issues... which was nice... however, before I went to bed I gave it another shot... I sat down and pulled some music from YouTube... bam... lock-up. So its only happeneing when I download something. I am convinced it's OS related... but I'll try some more of those memory and HD checkers tonight. All the best, OvS

Yes, all updates done... I'll check the restore and see if that helps. I never used the restore option on my PC before (I've done it on others), so we'll see how that goes...yikes.

Graphics card seems to be OK. Under the stresses of OFF, FSX, BIA.. etc.. no issues at all. Seems when I use Grabit to pull down stuff, or even when I download through either FireFox, or IE it will randomly lock. Drives are Western Digital ATA;s. I can open the PC and reseat all the cables, but I do keep it clean. She gets a 'blow job' every 6 months just to keep things honest. I'd like to run those HD scans, just to verify good or bad. Rolling back the OS is not an option... I never saved any snapshots, so I have no idea what the date of the last save was. Again... I am running (in fact I am on it right now), it just seems to lock for whatever reason. Thanks for all the help... you guys rock. OvS

That's my next phase of TSing it, to run some scans. It's a real annoying problem. What I do notice, is that the drive sounds as if it's still running after the PC locks. It looks to me like some kind of memory over-run that locks the set. How are things going with Win7? Do you like it? I'm really leaning towards buying it and upgrading as I'm sure it would really unlock the potential of my PC with what I have in it... besides... XP is what... 10 years old now... WOW! OvS

That's what it sounds like Lou. I can hear the drive running seems like endlessly now... but everything is smooth. No issues, then bam... she locks up without warning. Sometimes 5 minuets after loading up, sometimes hours. There is no pattern. But like I said, the chances are much higher when I am surfing, or ever downloading with "Grabit". I am considering (heavily) a reload of the OS, which is why I meantioned Win7. I was wondering if folks are seeing better performance, and better over-all compatibilty than Vista did. I'd like to seriuosly consider using it. Win7 does not have the 'ding of death' with FSX, which is caused by XP's inability to flush it's memory like Win7 can, and also being it's 32bit slows it down anyway. BUT... as with any OS upgrade... what will I loose and what is to gain. Thanks for the help and good info... yes, Olham... maybe the PM to Parky will be required. He's the one that designed my set, and I have been nothing shy of loving it ever since it came in the boxes. :good: All the best, OvS