Growler67

It appeared to me that the photo was in fact a fake. Perhaps it was a way of passing the tension of having lost such an investment. It is always sad when any aircraft goes down.

That 'may' have more to do with her prowess as an actor (or lack there of). Make no mistake, I do not support Ms. Fonda or her views. And while I respect the fact that both candidates served our nation, I feel it is very dissappointing that we still (Americans in general) treat the elections like a high school popularity contests. What really matters are the facts of what they intend to do if elected. What are their primary focus platform issues for the next 4 years? I don't care much for the pep rally speeches (as they are politicians and it is their job to tell people what they most want to hear), I want to know what their plan is. Not that they have a plan. I want details. Anyone can say they have a plan for doing this, that or the other, but what IS this plan and HOW do you hope to accomplish it? Until the American VOTING public decides they no longer wish to be sheep, things will not change for the better.

I saw this on one of my gaming forums and had to pass it on. I hope you enjoy the read. ************ I never dreamed slowly cruising through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Studies have shown that motorcycling requires more decisions per second, and more sheer data processing than nearly any other common activity or sport. The reactions and accurate decision making abilities needed have been likened to the reactions of fighter pilots! The consequences of bad decisions or poor situational awareness are pretty much the same for both groups too. Occasionally, as a rider I have caught myself starting to make bad or late decisions while riding. In flight training, my instructors called this being “behind the power curve”. It is a mark of experience that when this begins to happen, the rider recognizes the situation, and more importantly, does something about it. A short break, a meal, or even a gas stop can set things right again as it gives the brain a chance to catch up. Good, accurate, and timely decisions are essential when riding a motorcycle…at least if you want to remain among the living. In short, the brain needs to keep up with the machine. I had been banging around the roads of east Texas and as I headed back into Dallas, found myself in very heavy, high-speed traffic on the freeways. Normally, this is not a problem, I commute in these conditions daily, but suddenly I was nearly run down by a cage that decided it needed my lane more than I did. This is not normally a big deal either, as it happens around here often, but usually I can accurately predict which drivers are not paying attention and avoid them before we are even close. This one I missed seeing until it was nearly too late, and as I took evasive action I nearly broadsided another car that I was not even aware was there! Two bad decisions and insufficient situational awareness…all within seconds. I was behind the power curve. Time to get off the freeway. I hit the next exit, and as I was in an area I knew pretty well, headed through a few big residential neighborhoods as a new route home. As I turned onto the nearly empty streets I opened the visor on my full-face helmet to help get some air. I figured some slow riding through the quiet surface streets would give me time to relax, think, and regain that “edge” so frequently required when riding. Little did I suspect… As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it—it was that close. I hate to run over animals…and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the impact. Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels can take care of themselves! Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing the oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leapt! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, “Banzai!” or maybe, “Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!” as the leap was spectacular and he flew over the windshield and impacted me squarely in the chest. Instantly he set upon me. If I did not know better I would have sworn he brought twenty of his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt, summer riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage! Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather gloves puttering maybe 25mph down a quiet residential street…and in the fight of his life with a squirrel. And losing. I grabbed for him with my left hand and managed to snag his tail. With all my strength I flung the evil rodent off the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there. It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser. But this was no ordinary squirrel. This was not even an ordinary pissed-off squirrel. This was an evil attack squirrel of death! Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands, and with the force of the throw swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact he landed square on my back and resumed his rather anti-social and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him! The situation was not improved. Not improved at all. His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle. A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. Torque. This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it. The engine roared as the front wheel left the pavement. The squirrel screamed in anger. The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy. I screamed in…well…I just plain screamed. Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel torn t-shirt, and only one leather glove roaring at maybe 70mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street…on one wheel and with a demonic squirrel on his back. The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody’s tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle…my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little affect against the massive power of the big cruiser. About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he is a Scottish attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got IN my full-face helmet with me. As the faceplate closed partway and he began hissing in my face I am quite sure my screaming changed tone and intensity. It seemed to have little affect on the squirrel however. The rpm’s on The Dragon maxed out (I was not concerned about shifting at the moment) and her front end started to drop. Now picture the large man on the huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very ragged torn t-shirt, and wearing one leather glove, roaring at probably 80mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel’s tail sticking out his mostly closed full-face helmet. By now the screams are probably getting a little hoarse. Finally I got the upper hand…I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked…sort-of. Spectacularly sort-of, so to speak. Picture the scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn t-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing one leather glove, moving at probably 80mph on one wheel, and screaming bloody murder roars by and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car. I heard screams. They weren't mine... I managed to get the big motorcycle under directional control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign at a busy cross street. I would have returned to fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really. But for two things. First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. One of them was on his back in the front yard of the house they had been parked in front of and was rapidly crabbing backwards away from the patrol car. The other was standing in the street and was training a riot shotgun on the police cruiser. So the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to “let the professionals handle it” anyway. That was one thing. The other? Well, I swear I could see the squirrel, standing in the back window of the patrol car among shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery, and shaking his little fist at me. I think he was shooting me the finger… That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car… I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made an easy right turn, and sedately left the neighborhood. As for my easy and slow drive home? Screw it. Faced with a choice of 80mph cars and inattentive drivers, or the evil, demonic, attack squirrel of death...I’ll take my chances with the freeway. Every time. And I’ll buy myself a new pair of gloves.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.joeuser.com/index.asp?c=1&AID=21895&u=0 A lot of what is said makes sense. I have not been a fan of console games, because the limited nature of the products. You only get what comes on the disc. Very few variables and most of the time scripted. However, point made about them working out of the box, instead of HAVING to wait for patches. True they cannot be updated/upgraded with new features and whatnot, but working out of the box is a point that should be taken by developers/publishers. I suppose part of their arguement will be the multiple variables in consumers systems, whereas the consoles are as is (with the exception of external RAM). True, however, minimum specs printed on the box should be just that. If a consumer does not read the box, caviat emptor. If the STATED minimum specs however do NOT run the game, the ball is back in the publishers court. At some point (my hope) is that they get the message. Publish and release a complete product from the start. Release new features/upgrades in the manner currently used to patch things that are broken. The "let's get it out to take advantage of the seasonal commercial climate" philosophy has worn thin on me. I still do not go out to see a movie when it is released. I don't buy into the hype. I wait a month or so and catch an early matinee when kids are in school, so that I can watch in peace and quiet and evaluate it on it's merits (or lack there of). Lot's of BIG PRODUCTION movies that got critical acclaim were piles of toad droppings IMO. Yes I got suckered in. I've been following the meager press snippets since Jane's dropped their A-10 sim and word was released of LOMAC in Dec 2001. I jumped on this one because I was so wanting a great A-10 sim. Now after the second patch and with time running out on a possible third, the sim is only good. It isn't great for me or the Squad I joined. There are still problems. Some, admittedly on the list of known or reported bug on their forum. Just fix it. Either that or release to the press what we can expect without the hype. ::steps off soapbox::

F8

I read somewhere that it was also a financial decission. The Russian Navy just didn't have the coin to put it into service. The Su-33 was already funded.

lexicon: The cheaper way out IS an option for some the want rock solid gameplay, and not bugginess. Instigator: I would gladly have payed much more for a product that didn't take the road LOMAC did. The point for me isn't the $39.99 paid for LOMAC, but since you asked: If I knew then that it would be this way 9 months down the road, NO I would not have bought it. Other bugs found so far with v1.02 include missile AI that will not track properly. At 18-20nm I should be able to fire an AIM-120 with about an 80%PK head on. Not have to engage from behind within 1nm to get said kill. AIM-7 should also get kills at 18-20nm, but no. In the last mission I flew with the squad, I had 2 AIM-120's come off the rail and immediately make a hard left turn and begin to descend. I was nose on with my bandit and about 2000 feet below it. At 10nm I lined up an AIM-9 and it came off the rail and immediately headed for the deck. There is still some anomolus AI reaction to being engaged (yes I know the AI cheats). These tests have come not via HL. Internal squad testing where the server hosts the missions and clients connect simultaneously (like a checklist) so that there aren't any wierd thing from the get go. Voice comms are via a third party server so is not a factor in the actual flights. I would not catagorize my wish for LOMAC to be fixed as "desperate". I truly enjoy flying the A-10, but I am running out of patience waiting for what has been hyped since Dec 2001. v1.02 is better than v1.00, but still off the mark for all the expectations and anticipation over the years. I have not flown much on HL for a couple of reasons. Most servers are A2A. That's fine by me but the A-10 is not too well suited for that environment. In the Coop servers I have played in, there are little to no CAPs present and the one or two OPFOR vulchers down you before you can get to the FEBA. Frankly I haven't checked into HL in quite some time, perhaps things have changed. As far as the virtual squadron I chose to join, you can keep your snide remarks to yourself please. I have NEVER said anything about you or yours, thank you.

But you can see clearly how it can be applicable to "niche market flight sims". I think by now we have heard most of the samy explinations/excuses. Yes I know that this is a subject being beat to death to a certain extent. However, I think it is relevant and pertinent.

http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=...606&m=422102255 Doesn't look too promising for a third patch, but Carl did say "I suspect that a V1.03 patch will be created." However, he never mentioned if/how or when it might be distibuted. He did list some of the reported problems that they are aware of. Doesn't look like the list has any of what might be considered "major" problems.

I am experiencing a rather benign performance. I see none of the preoblems that some others are experiencing. I did have an increase of frame rates, but do not know if it is the drivers or settings presenting the change. I have turned nearly all sounds off or nearly off(crapy way to play as I feel the immersion factor has almost been eliminated). Still using medium graphics setting, and the only display anomoly I've seen has been when setting the water to low. I get what looks like an oil slick where the water should be, and bands of purple grids cutting through them. Only on the low setting, at the usual medium all is okay. No great improvement, no terrible performance either. At least none that I can discern.

Just went from the 4.1 to the 4.7 and I have a 9800XT. I haven't played much since making the change, but I post back later to let everyone know if and how much the differece is that I experience.

http://www.biohazcentral.com/index.php?opt...ngine&Itemid=48 Just pick an aircraft folder and you're off.

Prop or not, it looks like the YF-23 Black Widdow...........with a few alterations.

It was the canned A-10 coop mission and everyone connected at the same 128/128. I was one of the clients. Not sure about anyothers using firewalls and such. I think those issues were addressed when we found v1.01 to be unplayable. To the best of my knowledge, the firewall and utilities were disabled by all but I'll double check.

Online, ABIT IS7-E, P4 2.4, 3x Kingston 512DDR pc3200, SB Audigy LS, ATI Radeon 9800XT, Saitek X36, in game graphics settings Medium (the one click method) except terrain preload at 20km, AA and AF @ 4x, Cable Modem, Norton and Zone Labs disabled, both Sound card and onboard sound accelleration turned off, WinXP Home. I was one of the 4 squadies at 128/128 DSL connection and as we went step by step (as mentioned) I don't think that was the problem. It got bad when SA-9's started to come up at us, and got worse after the "warnings' started in. I was down to 0fps and watched the very slow slide show of my demise (a new snapshot every 20-30 seconds).

Sorry, but it is difficult to enjoy when 10-15 minutes into the mission you are down to 2 fsp. Fishing for solutions here......HELLO?

I've got some fiddling t do now. My FPS went from 28-35 to 11-16. No change in my hardware. Just flew the A-10 quick "FLY" mission a couple of times, the new effects for the Mk-20's ROCKS!! Now that is what I call a cluster bomb. AIM-9 seems a bit better, not so easily fooled by flares. The new version of the gun pipper I like, though I still gotta get used to it. Frankly I haven't flown for several months, and having to re-key my memory to my X36, It may be a couple of days before I get comfortable. Though I haven't pushed any envelopes, and I have some tweeking to do to my puter, my initial feelings are good. I will, however, reserve judgement until I get back up to speed, and my squadron test the waters more indepth. Cheers!!

Rapid Deceleration Trauma. I hate it when that happens!

Good read, and I did not catch that on the evening news, hmmm, wonder why? There are stories like this everyday that somehow get pushed into the cracks they find themselves in. Some news editor, or program producer on a power trip that say's: "This is news, nobody cares about that, blah blah blah". You know what I mean. There are those of us John Q. Public's that want to find out what is going on in this world we live in. BTW, don't post this over at SimHQ, you'll probably get banned for doing so.

Perhaps you will understand once you compare v1.02 to what you are currently using. From what I have gathered in the past couple of months, it will be nearly a night and day comparisson. Virtually a new product altogether. Perhaps after that you may see what some of the griping and complaining was about. Just my opinion, but in all actuality, you'll have to judge for yourself.

Ahh, thanks for the info.

Just for my clarification then, all airfields get painted with this skin. All runways are marked 10/28?

Is it just the one airfield or does it cover them all? Looks great though.

In my estimation, it appears it is in the hads of UbiSoft. Perhaps if we are lucky, we could have it our hands this weekend. Fingers are crossed anyway.

I believe I may have dated myself.