Broadside uda Barn

interestingly, many of the online sites are out of stock on the saitek pedals. Even saitek's own site is "out of stock". I wonder if they stopped making them...?

Thanks Al, yeah...still works! Very clear, even tho it was a bit fast. I had to play it over and over to see the rudder usage and when to use them. Sigh...I guess I'm going to HAVE to get pedals. I bid on a set of used Saitek pedals on ebay tonight, but lost the bid at $102 at the last seconds. With shipping ($15), it's almost the price of a brand new set ($130 is the cheapest I've seen online). The CH pedals on Amazon are $104. Dont know why they are so expensive....seems like it should be around $60 (same price as a decent joystick).

Check out this clip from The Red Baron (German movie...dont know if it's available in English or here in the States yet...). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-58SS77U84 At 1:50, the allied pilot does a wing slip type manoever...I'm assuming this is hard rudder right, as he turns left onto the Baron's six....correct?

The pause button is one of the keys to a long lasting marriage

Heh! Yes, I've jumped in with both feet already. I spent the whole day yesterday reading the forums and threads. Started off this morning doing the same, but keep running into stuff I've already read. :yes: I also posted info on bluesnews...hopefully that'll help get the word out. I'm REALLY surprised that I never heard about OFF, as I had searched quite a few times for decent WW1 sims. Next step is to get it up and running, then TrackIR, then pedals.

OK, that makes a lot of sense. I can see why it's so important and usefull. Hauksbee and Steve: Thank you for the clear explanation! I dont know that I'll be able to use the twist for long manoevers, as opposed to just quick twists. I'll give it a try, and keep my eyes open for a used pair of pedals :)

LOL! and here all these years I thought it was my amazing flying that made them cheer! either way, it was a great effect....shows how important sound is for polishing a game.

Favorite flight sim moment: RB3D, flying right over the front lines, low...really low, and hearing the soldiers cheering me! (low sound of "yeahhhhh" heh!). Had to do it a few times to realize what was actually going on! They were my troops btw. Yes, church bells in the towns was cool! I'm looking forward to playing both games....probably more excited about OFF just because of how awesome the people in the community are.

Just a couple of thoughts: If you're going to build a new rig, build with the best parts that you can: Dont go dual core, it's a dead technology. Socket 775 is a dead end now... Even the 9550 quad core is a dead tech...the new intel chips are current and only a few dollars more (i920 is excellent and in some cases (like the 9550) is only $60 more than the now dead technology. Dont go with a stock cooler, even if you plan not to overclock. Do yourself a favor and get a good PSU (power supply unit). A cheap one can blow your whole system if it goes. This is an important one.... A thought on SLi....it really doesnt pay. Really it doesnt. You are better off buying one good video card, than two lesser ones, as the increase doesnt really amount to all that much. Multiple GPUs have yet to deliver...unless you have lots of $$ to spend on a system. If you're on a budget, then best to put the few extra dollars in a better CPU. Triple GPUs is not going to give you much more either. Is 10% more graphics power worth the extra Cash/power draw on your PSU/etc? Not unless, again, you have the cash for it. In the future, rather than matching your existing video card in SLi or Crossfire mode, why not get an updated graphics card that is (likely) as fast as 2 or 3 of your current cards? You can save on the sound card. On board sound is actually VERY good now. Vista or XP? XP is still more stable and windows 7 is just around the corner. XP will only read 3gb of your RAM, but windows 7 is an upgrade that I think most of will be making, so for a few extra $ go with 2 sticks of 3gb RAM. Buy quality RAM (OCZ, Corsair, etc)...it makes a difference. and yes, a floppy is a must...I recommend a floppy/SD reader. It's one of the greatest upgrades I've ever made I guess a huge factor is your budget in all of this.... As stated, there's a lot of opinions....so best advice (other than dont go cheap on a PSU), is: buy the best you can afford. It'll serve you in the long run.

So it's basically a turning aid, making for sharper turns, almost pivoting, right? Watching a couple of the videos kind of gave me that thought as they were making some amazingly short turns. I guess the twist function only allows a slight bank/pivot then, while the EVO or pedals allow for just that much more? I read that whole thread. Thanks for all the work that went into that. anyone have an opinion on pedals: CH or Saitek?

Thanks Steve and Al! I read a variety of posts from both of you while searching for pedals and also joysticks. Thank you for posting all the information that you did. I've used the twist function on my sidewinders for over a decade (In the game Descent, I used it to bank left and right, while using the hat switch to slide up/down/left/right), so I'm very conditioned for flying/aiming/twisting at the same time. I'm assuming that this banking is basically the function of the rudders...If 10 degrees of bank is all I can get out of the twist, then I guess I am at a disadvantage...over 35 degrees with pedals. This cant be increased with sensitivity in controller software or anywhere else for more than 10 degrees? My wheel and pedals are out, unless I can hook them up AND the SW2FF stick, and just use the pedals connected to the wheel and use the joystick at the same time. However, deskspace is limited. Seems like CH pedals and Saitek pedals are the only options, both running $125 or so...and reviews state that the Saitek are better? yes, TrackIR is my next purchase. I dont want to order it until I get OFF up and running (hopefully next week), though I'm very tempted to just order it now. $150 for TrackIR 5 is pricey, as are the pedals. Very unsure about getting both. Steve, I dont have flight sim X, or any flight sim for that matter. Last one I owned was RB3D, or Descent if you want to call it a flight game. Al--I'm curious how you came up with the 10 degrees for the MS joystick, 30 for the Evo, and 35 for the pedals? Wondering if I can get my twist function to give more output somehow (my 3dpro, while not FFB, has a VERY wide twist range).

Background: I started flying with Red Baron back in the day, and after RB3D, moved on to Descent (1,2,3), and from there on to RTS games. I've searched from time to time for WW1 sims, but never found anything....until 2 days ago when I saw a blurb for Rise of Flight. I bought it last night ... RoF is being shipped and I'm looking forward to playing it. Reading as much as I could about RoF, I saw a post about OFF, and it appears I've found a whole community that I wish I'd found a long time ago. I have a fast rig: i7 920, 3 GB RAM (actually 6gb, but XP doesnt see the other 3), Nvidia GeForce GTX 260, running WinXP My questions: I'm interested in single player, but MOSTLY interested in multi player. I doubt RoF will have much of a mp community for a while... How big is the OOF community? Are there many online at any given time? I'm concerned about such an old engine (2002 for MSCS3) being used for OOF. I've read that it looks great with all the mods, but it's still an old engine, right? or is this one of those engines that has huge potential, and thus the growth of OOF seems to be gaining and growing even now? Seems from my experience that old games tend to have a diminishing community, down to a hardcore few... Is the MSCS3 base program buggy? ( I dont own it, so getting OOF means getting MSCS3 and OOF). I read about an expansion coming out. Is this an all inclusive patch of everything up to this point, or is there a compilation of all the mods people are using now? And, what's in the works for the future? --I'm pretty sure I want to get OOF...I guess some of this depends on the state of the mp community and it's future, as well as: is there a particular version of MSCS3 that I should look for? Will my Sidewinder 3dpro and/or Sidewinder FF2 be sufficient? (I read about the TrackIR...do many fly with this in OOF?) Final note: I liked RB3D because it wasnt *too* hard to fly. Some sims are very difficult and from my standpoint, this detracts from the fun...is OOF like that? Thank you for any input! Broadside

Thanks Winder! Ordering it now, and BH&H as well. I'd read of some newer systems not being able to get CFS3 running for some reason, but I'm confident that I'll figure it out, since others have basically the same system that I have. I've been tweaking games since dos to get things running...and I know who and where to ask if I cant! Rickity, Mahalo! I'm on Oahu...heading off to Waiamea as soon as I purchase CFS3 and BH&H...it's flat today there, but it's perfect for snorkelling :)

Cant wait to get in the air! Does this version of CFS3 look ok? http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Flight-Simula...2516&sr=8-1 Thank you all for the warm welcome! BSUB

OK, I'm sold I'm not interested in trying phase 2. I want to see the current product, and I can already tell that it's worthwhile just from the praise that it's getting from all of you. I live in Hawaii, so my time frame (6 hours behind NY) may be a bit behind all of you, depending on when you play, but that shouldnt be much of a problem. I have a good net connection (ADSL, and I ping to the west coast pretty well (110ms or so)...how ping intensive is OOF? I'm ready to fly! "someone get me in a plane!" I guess all I need now is CFS3 and BH&H... Is there a particular version of CFS3 to look for? I read somewhere about a DVD version...cant find that, but here's two I did find: http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Flight-Simula...2516&sr=8-1 and http://cgi.ebay.com/MICROSOFT-COMBAT-FLIGH...%3A1%7C294%3A50 The amazon one looks good. Will this do? Also, regarding TrackIR, I probably wont purchase this just yet, till I get OOF up and running, but is there a better version/model to look for? There's about a $50 variation on the different models. The wife isnt going to be very pleased with all this WW1 flight sim purchasing, but I dont see that I have a choice (maybe the trackIR is an option...but it sure seems like it really adds to the experience). Thank you for all the replies and insight! Can't wait to join you boys over the front. Broadside uda Barn