BirdDogICT

I've been a longtime fan of the Jane's Longbow series. A member of the Longbow community is developing a new Apache sim and posting his progress for all to see: http://combathelo.blogspot.com/ Why is it that the best flight sims and mods come from the UK? I understand their need for secrecy, but thought that it would be really cool if the developers could create a similar blog for Phase 4.

Used to be ICT, now live north of there in EWT. You're right about the task switching...best to run TrackIR, Fraps, etc before starting BHaH.

There are no stupid questions here. The sliders can be found in Workshops, Graphics Config. Herr Prop-Wasche is correct that random CTDs can be caused by overclocking or pushing your system components too hard. From my own experience, I experienced CTD when overclocking my memory...turned out that the memory was 2D stable, but not 3D stable. If you set sliders too high, especially terrain or scenery sliders, CTD can occur after playing for a while. As noted above, graphics card tweaks are outlined in the graphics/installation FAQ. The CFS3config interface is a bit clunky: be sure to exit the configuration routine using File, Exit. If you exit by clicking the top right hand X, your settings won't be saved (due to Microsoft bug). For older, less powerful ATI cards, the overrides and texture info tweaks can help performance, and you can also benefit greatly by using the latest Catalyst drivers. Your best bet is to start with default settings, set your display resolution to maximum, and then slowly adjust sliders, testing each time you make a change. It's tedious, but worth it. If you get stumped ask more questions...someone here can help.

As you already know, whenever you update drivers, you may have remnants of old drivers in your windows system directory and in your windows registry. Until Catalyst 9.8 (I think, could be later??), uninstalling older ATI drivers before a driver upgrade was something of a pain, and usually required a third part cleaning utility like Driver Cleaner or starting windows in safe mode and manually removing the ATI files. The new ATI Catalyst Install Manager makes the process nearly seamless. In fact, I haven't had to uninstall any old drivers at all since using the new installer. Legacy drivers are those that ATI now longer actively supports, i.e., newer drivers may work with your old card, but ATI is no longer actively updating drivers specifically for that old card. Zum beispiel, the last actively supported Catalyst version for the 1950 is Catalyst 9.11. Legacy drivers also are more difficult to uninstall, since they don't work with the new Catalyst Install Manager. The new 10.3 drivers were released this morning...you may have better luck with today's release rather then the beta version.

Olham, Not having any problems with 64-bit version in Win7. My installation didn't work the first time...had to install again. Do you have any legacy ATI drivers installed that could be creating conflicts? Windows .NET files up to date?

Crossbones, Welcome. New guy buys the beer here. Installation in Windows 7 is straightforward. The game by default is installed to C:OBDSoftware|CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields, so no UAC problems. Just make sure that CFS3.EXE and OFFMANAGER.EXE are set to run as administrator. Same for TRackIR if you use that. Here are installation directions I created some time ago...Uncle Al added the last coupel of lines. You'll probably hear from him. He's our official curmudgeon, bless 'im!! Install Order: 1. If you have older CFS3 CDs, assume that they are version 3.0. If so, install CFS3, and patch it to 3.1 (obtain patch here: http://www.microsoft.../downloads.aspx). Then run the game briefly. Note: Many newer CFS3 CDs (e.g., bargain version recently offered by Best Buy) are already 3.1. If you own one of these, you DO NOT have to install CFS3 first, but need to have the CDs ready when you install BHAH. 2. Install BHaH from DVD. Insert CFS3 CDs when asked (if using CFS3 v3.1). Note: BHaH is only available on DVD, no downloads. 3. Download and install BHaH SuperPatch v1.32, followed by MiniPatch v1.32g (found here: http://www.overfland...wnloadsBH&H.htm) 4. Download and install HiTR (purchase info here: http://www.overfland....com/Addon1.htm) Note: available only by download. 5. Download and install HiTR MiniPatch v1.47 (available here: http://www.overfland...m/Downloads.htm) After you install as per out lined, you should set up as per the FAQ http://www.overfland...on_and_settings And of course the video card http://www.overfland...ds.com/Tips.htm

PM me with your mailing info. I'll cover the mailing costs, it's only 3 lbs.

Sorry, it's PCI-e. I have a lightly used AGP card if you need one. ATI 1650, I think.

Olham, I found the same to be true with my 4870 after updating to Catalyst 9.8. It seems that earlier drivers needed the overrides, but ATI's drivers, for most cards, seem to be getting better. I think Sitting Duck commented on this some months ago.

Oops, pasted the wrong link for the unbundled D3DOverrider before...this one whould work: http://www.mediafire.com/?2zzymudjfbh Here is a good article on why to use Vsync and OpenGL Triple Buffering: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3591&p=2 You can only get them to work with ATI cards if you use a third party control like D3DOverrider.

I'm not an expert, but have read enough technical articles from ATI to have a sense for how their cards work. There are some excellent guides out there that cover the basics of graphics cards for gaming, for example: http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_1.html My rig: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO motherboard, AMD X2 550 CPU OC'd to 3.6, 4GB G.Skill DDR3 memory OC'd to 1600, ATI 5770, 1TB Seagate Barracuda HD, 23" LG widescreen monitor, 750W Corsair PSU, Antec 900 Two case, CH FS/PT/PP, TrackIR 4, Windows 7 64 bit. Most of the settings in the FAQ are relevant to older graphics cards, and may not have as much impact on newer cards, especially since around Catalyst 9.8 or so. I use the settings in the FAQ, with the exceptions of Shadows off (as you suggested), and Dual Pass Render off (as suggested by Sitting Duck). I use 1920X1080 resolution with in-game AA off, Sliders at 54555 and Ground Object Density to medium.. Catalyst settings are 4X AA (Box filter, which is what most cards used whan CFS3 came out), Antialising Mode to Adaptive Multisample (although this may cause anomalies in the form of transparent textures, it gives the best quality with lowest FPS hit), 8X AF, Catalyst AI at Advanced, Mipmap Detail Level at Quality, Vertical Refresh to Always On, and OpenGL Triple Buffering on. I have to use D3DOverrider to make the last two selections actually work. My objective is the best image without stutters or tearing when changing views with TrackIR. I get FPS of 35-60 in 8 plane furrballs over the field.

Actually, it has to do with how the game uses the texture ring memory architecture that ATI built into their cards since the early Radeon 1600 series AGP cards. I haven't noticed any differences with it turned on or off, so leave it disabled. It's not that relevant when you have 512+ MB graphics memory. The one difference in Olham's settings vs the FAQ is D3D Page Swap Discard instead of Flip. Doesn't make a big difference with newer cards.

Von Paulus, Was that ATITool http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/436/ATITool_0.26.html or ATI Tray Tools http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATI-Tray-Tools.shtml? Not sure which one you meant. They're both decent utilities. D3DOverrider is part of RivaTuner, but I'm using the unbundled version found here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATI-Tray-Tools.shtml

Olham, Since you have an ATI card, I'm assuming that you are using Catalyst Control Center. As you may have noticed, Vsync and Triple Buffering through CCC don't work with many older DirectX games. I got tired of the screen tearing and jaggies in BOBII, and was able to totally eliminate them with the D3DOverrider utility. I'm now using it with BHaH with good results. Just Google "D3DOverrrider" to find a download mirror. Might solve your problem.

CyberPower is the way to go...they are located just a few miles from where I live. They have been successful enough that they are currently in the process of moving to a new, larger facility to meet the demand. Unlike many custom PC companies, they didn't start as a retailer; they are strictly buiild to order, and they sell internationally, and focus on keeping the customer happy. Nice pick!!

Intel and AMD have historically calculated speeds differently so an apples to apples comparison is difficult. The newer AMD CPUs give good bang for the buck...I only spent $90 for a dual core CPU that easily overclocks to 3.6 on air and nominal voltage. The same CPU wil all four cores enabled is about $170. The ASUS motherboard was also a bargain at $98. I used 4GB of G.Skill DDR3 memory OC'd to 1600, cost me $60. At those prices, I have a hard time making a case for buying Intel. Can't believe the bargain prices on quality equipment lately.

OFF is single thread, so dual core doesn't typically improve performance. Some here on this forum have improved performance slighty by setting affinity of OFF to one core, with OS on the other core. Not sure if it's worth the effort. Get the fastest processor your BIOS/motherboard will support. Your proposed Brisbane processor should do fine. If you can get it at a decent price, go for it. You may need AMD's dual procesor driver...I experienced severe jitters with CFS3 before installing the driver. FWIW, I've been running OFF with an old dual core 939 processor (Opteron 185 OC'd to 3.0 GHz) and an ATI 4870 in XP SP3 with very decent performance. I initially used a X1950XTX, and could only get decent frame rates with sliders turned way down, especially when over the front lines or in a furrball over the airfield. Upgrading to the 4870 and latest ATI drivers helped immensely. Was able to run sliders at 53355, and the only optimizations I needed were to turn off shadows and dual pass render. Resulted in average 40 FPS over the airfield. Unfortunately, my 4870 failed after 13 months, so I built a new dual core machine with a ASUS M4A79XTD EVO motherboard, AMD X2 550 OC'd to 3.6, ATI 5770, 4MB DDR3 1600 memory and Windows 7 64 bit. OFF runs like a scalded cat!! Your mileage will, of course, vary.

Windows 7 isn't "officially" supported, so the FAQ only refers to known Vista issues (but they also apply to Win7): Known Vista Specific Issues: 1) Upon returning from a mission, Vista may briefly show a window stating that OFF is not responding, before the interface refreshes. Just be patient, do *not* click, wait a few seconds for the OFF Manager screen to reappear. 2) On start up of OFF the Vista desktop may be briefly visible between splash screens 3) If you have problems running OFF, with errors such as: OFFMan: Fatal Error Loading Menu! OFF will now exit! - Try un-installing and re-installing OFF!" Set the OFF Manager and cfs3.exe to run as administrator. To do this: Right click on the icon for OFF manager, left click on Properties, Compatibility, set it to Run as Administrator. Find the cfs3.exe in "CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields" folder and do the same Doesn't seem to be much need for a Windows 7 FAQ. No other problems that I'm aware of...

Reminds me of the old DOS games "Army Men" and "Army Men 2" but in WWI.

I had read about the GSOD when deciding to buy a new card...that's why I chose a 5770, seemed to have the fewest problems. Also pretty good bang for the buck. ATI has had some problems lately, but on the whole I've been happy, at least until the cards burn up after a year. My 4870 is in for warranty repair/replacement now. I bought it to play BHaH and it now fails to POST after 13 months of use. Gets expensive paying $250-350 every year for a new graphics card. I always go overboard on case cooling, so you'd think they'd last a little longer. Hope ATI gets your driver problem sorted out.

There's a recent, even-handed review of HOTAS systems here: http://simhq.com/_technology2/technology_094a.html I've had both Thrustmaster and CH systems, and CH is worth every penny. I got tired of replacing my worn out Thrustmaster pots once a year. My current CH setup is still working perfectly after 6 years of heavy use. Can't imagine flying taildraggers without rudder pedals.

Morris, I'm curious...what problems? New drivers with an older card, maybe? FWIW, I haven't experienced any problems with 10.2 Windows 7 64 bit drivers with a new 5770 card. I agree that both companies make mistakes...I've used both nVidia and ATI, and neither one is foolproof.

You might benefit by downloading the latest version of DirectX 9.0 if your joystick uses DirectX inputs/outputs: http://forum.combatace.com/topic/53664-win7-64-system-fixed/page__p__392499__hl__directx%209__fromsearch__1&?do=findComment&comment=392499 I haven't experienced any problems with BHaH and the backward compatible DirectX versions included in Windows 7 (I'm using CH Control Manager for my CH HOTAS setup), but some older devices and games like Battle of Britain II require the latest version of DirectX 9.0. Might help your non-functioning aileron.

Glad you did. I'm not the only one here who appreciates your efforts.

Rudder pedals are mandatory for flying tail draggers. I've been happy with my CH Pro Pedals...going on six yers of hard use without a problem. The view system in CFS3 is difficult to operate even with a hat switch. The panning speed can be adjusted, but just isn't up to snuff. Save up for a TrackIR. It will add immensely to your experience with this sim, mostly because you might stay alive long enough to enjoy it. All you have to do is ask, and you'll get a variety of opinions here!