RIBob

Great! Can you provide exact web addresses for the downloads, please?

I have had to dig deep into the WayBack machine on many occasions to come to the understanding that the Interweb is a fragile thing, and broken links to older stuff are common. Hell, valuable info even a few years old is sometimes impossible to access, unless the WayBack machine has crawled it at the proper moment in time. Mark's Help Site is such an invaluable resource to the EAW sim! I don't know of anything quite like it. Mark, you have created a resource that has helped this sim to struggle along, and perhaps even exist at all. You have done this, almost single-handed, and not made a dollar from it I'd call that a fair start towards a respectable legacy. After all, all the wonderful creations offered by the Modders DEPEND on your Help Site to get Newbies to get the game running right, or even installed and running, period. Old-timers go there as well, as we all know. Thanks, Mark!

As one who has personally used MarkEAW's Help site to 1) Get EAW up and running, and 2) Get it running WELL, and properly configured for my modern HOTAS, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Absolutely a Must-Read resource.

Having read your comments carefully, and while being no EAW/EAWPRO expert, I have always believed that the game user should be, by default, given the widest amount of choices possible, as long as the choices/individual selections are provided with a useable/intuitive GUI. There are two alternatives, one being an experienced player, who will endure a certain amount of hassle in configuring the game, and a newbie, who will likely give up in frustration when presented with a GUI that is confusing or very difficult to master. EAWPRO, being based on the fairly decent GUI of the original game, benefits form a good, intuitive GUI. MarkEAW's Help Site is invaluable in teaching the newcomer how to modify the INI once the game is installed. I know I found it so when configuring my (long-since standard) 8-position hat switch on my HOTAS, not to mention getting EAW running in the first place. Thanks Again, Mark! So, my suggestion is to favor the newcomers, and keep the user GUI fairly simple and easy to use. If a new user becomes enchanted with the easy-to-use game, then they can be provided with detailed instructions as to how some of the initial settings can be modified. As far as dumb AI planes, that strikes me as somewhat time-related. For example, there were very few "dumb" German fliers in 1940, but many in late 1944/early 1945. As contrasted to the Germans, there were plenty of "dumb" Brit/Allied pilots on 1940, but very few in late 1944/early 1945--and many more of the good Allied ones, since they were rotated-out to train the fledgling pilots. There were many reasons for this switch-over in pilot quality, most of it due to training and experience. We all know the story, so no sense repeating it here. So, I suggest the "KISS" (Keep it Simple and Stupid) for the benefit of the newcomers, and allowing everyone the option to configure the game as they choose. If the GUI can be modified to accomplish this, so much the better, as long as it is done in an easy-to-use manner. If this is not feasible, then may I strongly suggest providing easily-understood READMEs, appropriate labeled as to their intended use, be provided for the benefit of all? Respectfully submitted, RIBob

Did the computer come with the sound card from Dell, or was the sound card an add-on? Sorry for your horror story. If you were buying a similar computer today, for the same purpose(s), what would you do differently now?

Oh, sure I have long known about the "Update Driver", "Rollback Driver", and "Uninstall Driver" options. That's fairly old hat. As said, it is part of normal maintenance. I always go to the GFX card's mfr for updates; that's basic. I suppose, after hearing VBH's horror story, that if I had some other high-falutin' cards installed, I'd have them updated solely by the mfr. What I am talking about in my first post goes beyond that a bit, and provides a means where Dell will provide updates for the BIOS, Chipset, and other DELL stuff (for your DELL) after evaluating your computer. The updates offered are user-selectable. So, Dell offers this feature, if you choose to use it. I have not investigated it, but perhaps AMD offers a similar feature/option. In some cases, during my laptop Dell update, new features were apparently installed, or at least existing features were updated along with a new name. Recall that on my (2011) laptop, which has been constantly updated by Microsoft, I went from an I3 CPU to an I5 CPU, as well as upgrading to an SSD drive, and upgrading from Win 7 Home to Win 10 to Win 10 Pro. With those upgrades, the CPU change especially, I am not surprised that the updated laptop might well benefit from some judicious upgrades from Dell. There were about 10 in all, IIRC. Your computer might need more, or less. BIOS was definitely updated, as well as some drivers, some basic DELL features, CPU/Chipset, some modified/additional features, and so forth. I suppose I did not explain well-enough the Dell upgrade feature in my first post, so perhaps the fault is mine. May I suggest that you all give it a try? I was pleased with the results, and you may be as well. The downloads are user-selectable, fortunately. Submitted for re-consideration.

I'm coming, albeit at a slower pace than I'd like. Soon.

While we are all familiar with MS Windows Updates, and their automatic receipt/install. it appears that various mfrs of Mother Boards do not automatically download firmware/software updates for their products. IOW, various device drivers and BIOS settings are NOT automatically downloaded, unless MS deems them worthy of inclusion in their offerings. This afternoon, I spent some time using Dell downloads to update 3 of my 4 computers. I was surprised that my 2011 laptop needed so many updates, not least to the BIOS. Quite a few driver updates, and some entirely new features were installed on a computer which was, according to MS, fully updated. I can speak only for Dell computers. Perhaps other Mfrs of MoBos do not automatically upgrade their products. Dunno. What I did was to google "upgrade BIOS on Dell computer". that led me to www.dell.com/support/downloads. From there, I found the "downloads" tab, and entered the requested "Product Code", which defines your computer, at least as it left the factory. From there, I was shown a huge number of possible downloads for my computer, including the most essential one, the "Dell Update" download. I installed it, and ran it. It knew the configuration of my system, as it stands right now, and provided specifically targeted downloads for my Win 10 machine, including a BIOS update. Installed all the upgrades, and all is well. Computer now up to spec. My Win 7 computer is taking FOREVER to accomplish this same process; for what reason I don't know. Will probably need to re-set the power settings and run it overnight. So, it seems that the older one's computer is, the more things might need to be updated, and the more time it will take. No surprise there. OTOH, the upgrades are probably more meaningful than smaller upgrades on a more modern computer. FWIW, Dell recommends that periodic upgrades, vis "Dell Upgrade" feature be done as a part of "normal" maintenance. Call me an optimist, but I like to think of these Updates/Upgrades as being useful improvements over pre-existing software/firmware. In a related vein, a few weeks ago I googled how to upgrade my wireless router. I managed to access it via my computer, and installed a firmware upgrade. Prior to this, I did not know that was possible, let alone necessary. Call me surprised. Submitted for consideration.

You make some good points. I understand that successful, longstanding practices are only discarded reluctantly. Your observations go beyond that, of course. However, the EAW Community is in decline, and some measures must be taken to counter-act this decline, lest the game, and all the Modder's contributions fly off into history, to never fly again. My remarks on the "one-click", immediately-accessible version of the game pertain to all versions. I very much want this sim to continue to exist, and it sems some changes in the way of things will be necessary to accomplish this. Your opinions on the subject are welcome.

Your highly significant contributions to the community have not been ignored, I don't think. But at least part of this discussion has been about a one-click download for potential brand-new users of the game; that being the easiest way to attract new users, which the community badly needs. A simple, one-click playable download of a good 1.x version of the game would be a good start, IMHO. Adding-on versions of EAWPRO would be a relative simple process. While your version of the game is very nice, it is also very elaborate, and requires some knowledge on how to use it to its' fullest extent. With all due respect, the GUI needs alittle work, and V1.60 could certainly benefit from a well-written set of instructions. I say this not in criticism, since I respect your work, but trying to play your sim is, for the inexperienced, quite daunting. submitted with all respect.

Yeah, I noticed in the link given above that MS had deleted the feature, some ill-explained reason. Like you, I don't see any use, personally, for the "Game Bar" at this point. If they re-introduce it with frame counter, probably too late, since by then, I will be using Aftertburner.

certainly don't want to sound demanding, but, to me, the User Interface of any electronic device, or even a game, is extremely important to me. I have bought games whose needlessly complex set-up and almost unintelligible instructions caused me to cast it aside. Now while freely admitting I am not the brightest person, neither am I a full-fledged idiot. That admitted, I suggest the following: Modders should include README instructions concerning their latest offerings. If available, Modders should offer a set of instructions for their creations, written so that a semi--computer-literate person can understand them. These should be offered on a site that is linked for exactly such purpose , within the downloads. Better yet, the Modders ought to make an effort to incorporate their changes either within existing game options, or set up additional menus as required. Now, I realize this mundane and time-consuming task is tedious compared to the creations that the Modder wants to offer. However, if the creations are not reasonably accessible to especially newcomers, they will seldom be accessed, and so seldom used. the Art will be displayed in a museum that will seldom be visited. May I ask this, in all humility: If some Modder provides a version of the game, then for Heaven's sake make it easy and intuitive to set up and run. If the GUI is not easily modifiable, then provide detailed, written for-simple-newcomers instructions somewhere easy to access. We fans of EAW have become used to all sorts of contortions required to play the game. Even playing th basic version of the game on a modern computer requires more effort than the usual person is willing to expend: Hence the diminishing user base. Now, there may be a way around that, but part of the solution is for Modders to do their part, and at least try to integrate their Mods into the existing GUI, otr, at least, provide reasonable documentation, sufficient for NEWCOMERS to use effectively. VBH, I don't mean for you to take these comments personally. There are other versions of the game far less user-friendly than yours. Said with all good will, RIBob

. DVD format has a lot more "room", and is supposedly far more stable over time. Be that as it may, there ought to be an officially patched version of the EAW game, perhaps minus some non-essential stuff, available as a one-click download, and playable as such on a modern OpSys, such as Win 7, 8, or ideally, Win 10. Again, ideally, this universally available, and easily downloadable version of the EAW sim (playable by itself) should also be compatible as a basis for other versions of the sim, including, but not limited to EAWPRO, of V1.6. If the Community wants the number of players of EAW to stop decreasing, and to grow, and if the Modders want their versions of EAW to become more accessible, than having an easily accessible version of the base EAW game --playable in itself, as downloaded-- seems to me to be an absolute necessity. Now, am I asking too much? I hope not. If what I'm asking is not possible, or worse, mot agreeable, then what will happen is this: Forward 30 years. "Hey look guys! I found a very cool old sim called EAW. Play it on your XYZ convertor for old games. Pretty cool. Too bad there was no further support for it." THAT "lack of support" will be due to forums like this and Help Sites becoming extinct because there was no ONGOING and SUSTAINED support for the EAW sim. Unless all the players and Modders hang together, and maintain an ongoing support basis for the game, the above scenario is quite likely. ALL the hard work of so many people will be lost, and will never be acknowledged. Your call. No, OUR CALL We have it in our hands to do the right thing, of continue the petty, divisive squabbling that has divided this community for so long. What shall we make of the future? Extinction, or some sort of lasting contributions? Our Call.

Oh, Hell, I've done that, and saved a copy so that I can copy it again if need be. No problem there, Mark. What I would like to see is an easy, simple-as-possible download for the various versions of the game. REPEAT: as SIMPLE as possible. In a good world, I'd like to see, for instance, an single-click download for, say, EAWPRO, or any other variant of the game. None of this "Edit your own CD" or download this set of files and edit it just so, in order to play the basic game, and THEN, Maybe download a vastly superior version of the game, like EAWPRO,, which currently must be overlaid on a (specific) version of EAW. I think we can do better than this. I think the various Modders are concerned with their product, and have neglected the marketing of their product. Huge mistake. Sony BETA video tapes were arguably better than what finally was made the industry standard. Sony did not market their superior system properly, and so lost the race to relatively inferior products whose mfrs aggressively marketed their systems. The first Modder who creates an Easy single-click to their sim, and which sim is Easily navigable/played from an intuitive control panel becomes the default winner. YMMV.

OK, let's put it another way. Is there, on your Help Site, a patched version of the EAW game suitable for downloading as a basis for EAWPRO? What I'm after is a easy pathway to EAWPRO. Sort of "download THIS", and then install EAWPRO over it. Is it clearly labeled as such? The goal, as I see it, is to make things stupid simple/easy for newcomers. I've shredded my CD disk as per your suggestions, and finally got the game to run. BTDT. While straightforward, following your suggestions, that's tedious, and will certainly discourage prospective newcomers to the EAW game. That's rather difficult for many newcomers, and will discourage them., I am certain. May I suggest making it much easier for newcomers? What I would like to see is an Easily available pathway for newcomers to play EAW. Something they can easily download--W/O CD, and play a reasonable version of the game. Beyond that, I'd like that version of the game to be entirely compatible with EAWPRO, and whose download link should be immediately available. IOW, "Download "This" to play EAW, and if you like that, download, try "This" to play an enhanced version, namely EAWPRO. Is that feasible? I understand the V1.60 folks will not be thrilled, but V1.60, while having many benefits, is so complex as to be daunting. EAWPRO is fundamentally different, and much simpler for the newcomer. What can be done to help newcomers?

Yes, I've done that. But isn't there a version of the game, either v1 or v2, that can be downloaded and so helping the people who lack a disk? Of course there is, and they're on your aptly-named Help Site. So, the person who wants to try out EAWPRO simply downloads and installs the correct version of EAW from your Site, then installs EAWPRO over that, correct?

Now, that is a definite advancement for those who lack a cd, but want to try the game. Well done!

Concur!

Is this even possible in EAW? It happened frequently, at ;east during the earlier years of the war, until improved bombing tech aids appeared later-on. How would this be accomplished? What effect would it have on Luftwaffe fighter response? Allied fighter support? Presumably the bombers would jettison their bombs if over Germany, but what if over France--jettison them in the Channel? submitted for discussion.

OK, and thanks! I think the fundamental take-away from this discussion is that it is possible to have the bombers do things that defy common sense--and historical reality, as well as to have the bombers do what they actually did, both regarding common sense and historically relevant tactics. For example, early USAAF Heavy Bomber formations, regardless of fighter escort, were found to be inadequate, and (then) Col Curtiss LeMay was fundamental in re-arranging bomber formations for increased firepower from defensive guns. This change was a part of the reason why USAAF bombers suffered fewer losses in the later period. Of course, there were other major changes, such as the introduction of long-range fighter escort, and the lessening of the Luftwaffe's combat ability. The introduction of powered dual MG "chin" turrets on later B-17s is a good example of countering the German "Head-On" attack, which was useful prior to that point. All of these topics require an essay in themselves. Fundamentally, I believe that experimentation is all to the good, as it broadens the knowledge base, and sometimes uncovers some aspects of the game that can be further improved. For example, my Me 262 thread provided some food for thought in that some Modders found ways to replicate some aspects of the proposed historical scenario. Another step forward, IMHO. The credit is all theirs, naturally. I don't claim to understand most of what VBH is saying above; My problem, not his. I would suggest that any built-in (and so, non-user-definable parameters) be very carefully considered in light of historical accuracy. Again, as an example, German attacks against USAAF bombers in say, 1943 are going to be very different than attacks made in late '44, for a number of reasons. So much so that the game changes a great deal, and perhaps a fundamentally different scenario might be justified. It seems that making a reasonably accurate sim involves a "sliding-scale" of one side's measures versus the other side's counter-measure--and vice versa. I think that it's necessary to develop different scenarios, at given points in time, to accommodate the progress of aerial warfare. Of course, the perfection of a scenario within a given time-frame is a thing unto itself. All of these measures and counter-measures require experimentation to make them work as intended. What I would ask, from any and all Modders is to at least []]try[/I] to adhere to some reasonable degree of historical accuracy. Sure, it's a sim, and no reasonable person expects perfect historical accuracy. But I believe it's a worthwhile goal towards which to strive. Some people say that EAW is a sort of "cartoon" and to not to expect much from it. Well, there have been, and still are, a number of Modders trying to disprove that slur. I wish the best to all of you!

I believe you made the comment about FRAPS consuming noticeable resources in another Forum, but I could be mistaken. No offense, of course. Aside from that, I was wondering if there were any others who had experimented with "Afterburner". The frame rate feature seems to be useful, and apparently the program is almost entirely user-configurable. For example, in the tutorial, few features need be enabled to get the frame counter to work. Of course, the Afterburner program/utility can be used for other purposes, and that is its' primary purpose. I'm unsure about your "full screen" comment; perhaps you could expand on that, please.

There has been an ongoing concern with--and discussion of-- Frame rates when playing EAW and other "vintage" games. I have heard of FRAPS, but IIRC MarkEAW said the utility, while running, caused a slight loss of frame rates. Not surprising, but not desirable, either. I was looking for GPU/RAM/CPU utilities for other possible uses, and the "MSI Afterburner" utility came up well-recommended everywhere I looked. Turns out that the Afterburner utility has a great many uses, not the least of which is a Frame Rate Counter. The following link to a tutorial on how to set up the Afterburner utility contains a link to same, as well as full graphical instructions on how to set up and use the frame rate portion of it. I have no idea whether the user-selectable frame rate segment of Afterburner has any effect on frame rates, by itself. https://www.gameplayinside.com/optimize/how-to-check-your-frame-rate-and-gpu-usage-in-any-game/ Submitted for consideration and comment. RIBob

All this discussion is far above my knowledge level, but, from my perspective, if it makes the game more realistic, whilst maintaining its' playability, I am all in favor. Thank you VBH, for doing what you do. Now, where can I download your latest creation, and please provide explicit instructions. Much obliged, VBH!

How and when will this improvement be accessible? Looking forward to downloading the very latest version of your 1.60 version of the game. Much obliged for performing this work! Currently using win 7 pro and win 10 pro computers. prefer a win 10-friendly option, but I will take what I can get, lol. If I may ask, where can I find the latest download of your very fine version of the game? I have been setting-up a new computer, and so am out of touch. The new computer is Win 10, but I also have a win 7 computer operating in tandem. Prefer a win 10 set-up, if possible. I will take what I can get, of course. Thank you for all the valuable work you do on the EAW platform. It is much appreciated!

Hah! On the way to the Computer Guy, my daily driver 1996 Honda's transmission, which had been acting a bit oddly, finally packed it in. A pain, but as I have two other running cars, not a huge one. I prefer to put the mileage on the Honda, as the other cars get worse gas mileage. Car is being evaluated by my mechanic, and I will have the necessary info make a decision by the end of the week Aside from that, the rest of the day went fine, and computer guy has his my list of "wants" We'll see what I can get. It might be a Master/Slave type of Drive setup instead of Dual Boot. I cloned the 1Tb HDD on my Win 7 Computer onto a 2 Tb SSD, Installed into new computer in auxiliary slot.. Accessed the Clone of the Win 7 OpSys, and found all my games in "User" folder. Tried a few of them, and they worked OK. I'll have to investigate more, but even though that will not be as convenient as a "Dual Boot" setup, at least I will be able to play (hopefully) all the games installed on the Win 7 drive. Won't know until I access them all, and there are a lot of them. Time will tell. The problem is, as I understand it, that running a "Dual Boot" setup requires two Drives (of sufficient capacity), and separate installs of the two desired Operating Systems. After that is set up, then one can install programs on the separate drives. I mistakenly thought that simple clones of existing drives from different computers could be installed into a new computer. Not so, as Microsoft has disallowed such. Sure, I can clone a drive from an HDD onto an SDD, and it will work fine, as long as it is installed into the SAME computer. That's what people do when upgrading from HDDs to SSDs. Putting the cloned drive into a completely different computer is apparently frowned-upon by the Lords of Microsoft, may the F#%K be upon them. My Computer Guy said as much. After reading my list of "wants", he said, rather pointedly, "You have no idea how all this works, do you?". My response was "No, I don't. I have NO problem admitting my ignorance to someone who knows more about the subject than I do. That' s why I'm here. Now that I've acknowledged my ignorance, let's see how we can get me what I want, or at least close to it. That's where YOU come in." We talked, he explained, and we left with an understanding of what I wanted to accomplish, and the promise, on my part, that the deal would be a CASH transaction. The mention of a CASH transaction softened his mood considerably. We'll see how things go. Will report back later.