To: devnull@onion.rain.com (Falcon3 Mailing list) From: devnull@onion.rain.com (Falcon3 Mailing list) Reply-To: devnull@onion.rain.com (Falcon3 Mailing list) Sender: devnull@onion.rain.com (Falcon3 Mailing list) Errors-To: postmaster@onion.rain.com Return-Path: devnull@onion.rain.com (Falcon3 Mailing list) Precedence: bulk Bcc: falcon3-outgoing Subject: Falcon3 Digest V4 : I94 Falcon3 Digest Volume 4 : Issue 94 Thu Oct 28 08:49:23 PDT 1993 Compilation copyright (C) 1993 Jeff Beadles Send submissions to "falcon3@onion.rain.com" Send add/drop requests to "majordomo@onion.rain.com" Archives are available via ftp from onion.rain.com [147.28.0.161] and mirrored on cactus.org in /pub/falcon3 Today's Topics: Announcing in PDX, the 555th TFW davidr@wv.MENTORG.COM (David Ransie TM and WCS Richard Bookout <70720.2555@CompuSe RE:TM FCS & WCS MORGAN@WVUGEO.WVNET.EDU Mig patch Stephen L Stclair Subject: TM and WCS > I would recomend without hesistance getting >a Tmaster FCS or FCS pro. The negatives that may be brought up is the >lack of durability as the span pots. had a history of going bad and >springs breaking The springs still break! Ive been looking for a suitable replacment spring for my TM for weeks now and cant find one just right. I have read a lot lately about NEW sticks about to hit the market, and I just placed an order for a TM WCS to go with my TM FCS, should I wait until the NEW products hit the market, or am I locked into the current WCS because of my FCS, It sounds like the new TM stick with 14,323 buttons might actually take the place of the FCS and WCS altogether, can anyone out there give us a rundown on all the weapons control, joystick systems, current situation and the new stuff. I know that the TM FCS is the basic "joy stick" since Ive been using it for a couple of months. If I understand correctly, when I add the WCS, the WCS will take the place of the keyboard and the FCS will plug into the WCS? What functions are then available on the WCS, is it set up for Falcon or must the user program all functions/buttons? All I know for sure is that the WCS incorporates Throttle control. When the NEW sticks hit the market will there be the same general setup? I would like to go with the system that most closely resembles the "real" thing, even if I have to trash the FCS and start over. ------------------------------- From: MORGAN@WVUGEO.WVNET.EDU Subject: RE:TM FCS & WCS Richard asks >> I would recomend without hesistance getting >>a Tmaster FCS or FCS pro. The negatives that may be brought up is the >>lack of durability as the span pots. had a history of going bad and >>springs breaking >The springs still break! Ive been looking for a suitable replacment spring >for my TM for weeks now and cant find one just right. Well aparently TM has "redesigned" the inards of the FCS. Whether this means new springs I do not know. I did hear mention of "gimbel (?)" modification. These are redesigned (though not radically) FCS's not a whole new stick. >I have read a lot lately about NEW sticks about to hit the market, and I >just placed an order for a TM WCS to go with my TM FCS, should I wait until >the NEW products hit the market, or am I locked into the current WCS >because of my FCS, >It sounds like the new TM stick with 14,323 buttons might actually take the >place of the FCS and WCS altogether, can anyone out there give us a rundown Well I am not an insider of CH or TM. I have not seen any releases regarding specs on new sticks from the manufacturer. I know TM has an authentic F16 stick (as per cockpit flyer I got a year ago, still on????). I do not beleive this stick is meant as a general JS, more an enhancement for the cockpit and its electronics to simulate an F16 via F3. Again...? >on all the weapons control, joystick systems, current situation and the new >stuff. >I know that the TM FCS is the basic "joy stick" since Ive been using it for >a couple of months. If I understand correctly, when I add the WCS, the WCS >will take the place of the keyboard and the FCS will plug into the WCS? [Long story made short :-)] It depends. If you got the WCS II, you plug the FCS into the WCS so you can program FCS buttons. If WCS I, no. I will not speculate on all the functions of the WCS II as I no have. But the WCS I does not replace the Keyboard. You plug KB into WCS I and WCS I into computer. The WCS I sends KB commands to computer based on the setting of the dip switches for the sim you are using. You can buy an EPROM upgrade chip for the WCS I so you can program the buttons, but the memory is volatile. You still use the KB for many functions in every sim I have used the WCS I on. >What functions are then available on the WCS, is it set up for Falcon or >must the user program all functions/buttons? All I know for sure is that >the WCS incorporates Throttle control. It depends on what program you are running. The WCS I has a dip switch array in the back so you can set it to run with a miriad of flight sim programs that have been previously set up for the WCS I. With the upgrade chip or the WCS II you can program the buttons to do what you want for any sim. For the WCS I that is like 8 functions. For the WCS II, 32??? With the WCS I, the F3 functions are like, chaff, flares, target select, target lock, target break, ACM radar, ground radar, air brakes. >When the NEW sticks hit the market will there be the same general setup? >I would like to go with the system that most closely resembles the "real" >thing, even if I have to trash the FCS and start over. It seems the answers to these will depend on the final relase of any new product. I do not know the status of the TM F16 stick or anything CH has in mind. Anything that is slated for one aircraft only, I can almost certainly say (IMO!!) it will be *expensive* The list price for the TM F16 stick in the cockpit flyer was something like 399 for a general stick and 999.00 for the stick with mil spec switches. All the above is what I perceive to be an accurate reply to a question based on my knowledge. I do not work for or am reimbursed by TM or CH. Please add your input to correct any of my errors as I would like to know what is happening also! :-) Scott in WV Morgan@wvugeo.wvnet.edu ------------------------------- From: Stephen L Stclair Subject: Mig patch Folks: I downloaded the new Mig29 patch from onion.rain.com this morning (thanx, Jeff--and patch this, CI$) and here's a little skinny for you. If you've used Ken Richardson's padlock TSRs in either Falcon or Mig (and they're highly recommended), the patch will not recognize your Falcon or Mig EXEs as valid. What you have to do is to restore the original EXEs that Ken suggests you backup before you install the TSRs. One more thing, don't delete the patch.idx and patch.dat files from the subdirectory--you can't fly without 'em, it seems. Sandman ------------------------------- From: darrin vallis Subject: Remapping Falcon3 keys..How? Would anyone have the answer to this.... To make some of the falcon3 keys more accessable I have tried remapping the keyboard. By using the ansi.sys screen commands and even remapping scan codes with a TSR this is easily accomplished for virtually any other program. The problem is, Falcon3 somehow defeats both these methods. Even with a scan code remap TSR running, the keys all stay in their original setup. Any advice or arcane programming wisdom on how to make this work would be REALLY appreciated. :) Thanks Darrin Vallis vallis@hawking.nes.dnd.ca ------------------------------- From: MORGAN@WVUGEO.WVNET.EDU Subject: Re: Mig/F3 3.02 Patch Hi all, First of all thank you Jeff for getting the patch up fast! I dowloaded the patch late last night and messed with a bit this morning. I am still on the fence as whether this is any great break-through in Mig control. I fly in the Average flight model. I patched the program and took off in the Kuriles. First mission was a long hi alt flight over the Allied teritory to check if the capitalist pigs were ready for the retaking of the mother land. Good! A chance to test out flight dynamics! Took off rather well and the first thing I noticed is my coolie hat *still* does not work for views in Mig! It works fine in other programs and when I use the Pilots Edge (prior to 3.02) and when I use F302COOL (excellent program BTW). Hmmmmmm At first things went well, the roll was equal in both left and right, though there is still a bit of a dead area in the center of the stick. The roll response seems to have now a better gradual increase than in the past. Instead of something like |----- Roll | ------- Stick deflection -> It is now ----- Roll / / ---- At first the nose jumping up uncontrolably was no longer a problem, the new JS routine allowed a smooth pitch upward. I was flying along trying to get my Hat to work, when the old problems began to resurface. Flying straight to the waypoint became an exercise in frustration. I would try to roll a little to the waypoint just to over roll despite very slow movements. The nose would now pitch 20 with just a little pressure past the dead area on the stick. In short, I was gettin ticked. Then I did something out of desperation, I hit the * key. I thought in the average flight model, you did not mess with trim? It seems that maybe while trying to get my coolie hat to work I was putting in trim?? After hittin *, the plane became flyable again, for a short time. Another thing I noticed was now I had a slow roll to the right that I could not calibrate out. I tried several different methods of calibration, but it was still there. At first I attributed this to my game card warming up, but it persisted for my entire time on machine (say 1 hour) Hmmmm. Boy, you can really tell the planes weight when you fly the mig! The side slipage and roll inertia were very evident. Also, the spool time for the Migs engines is also real noticable. Kinda fun to fly, though I am stil not sure if the JS routines are all that they should be. I guess I will try the higher flight models to see if I can correct myself what the patch did not seem to address on a full time basis. Thus far at least. Scott in WV Morgan@wvugeo.wvnet.edu BTW..Second mission I was summarily shot for violating rules of engagement, kinda steep considering I was fired on first!! Doesn't my plane and I qualify as friendly assests? ------------------------------- From: jeff@neon.rain.com Subject: Re: Remapping Falcon3 keys..How? > To make some of the falcon3 keys more accessable I have tried remapping >the keyboard. By using the ansi.sys screen commands and even remapping scan >codes with a TSR this is easily accomplished for virtually any other program. > The problem is, Falcon3 somehow defeats both these methods. Even with >a scan code remap TSR running, the keys all stay in their original setup. This is because Falcon3 uses it's own keyboard driver. There's no way to remap the keys, short of using a hardware solution such as a Thrustmaster WCS/Mark II. -Jeff - -- Jeff Beadles jeff@neon.rain.com ------------------------------- From: "WADLEIGH, DAVID" Subject: more H2H ?'s: Blackout Hi there, Falconers! One more H2H question for you modeming gurus out there (by the way, THANKS to all those who responded to my earlier questions!)... I am flying H2H with 3.02 (my opponent/answerer is flying Mig29) dual, and before calling have set: Weapons Effectiveness LOW Flight Model COMPLEX SAMs/AAA OFF Blackout/Redout ON But while we are dueling, I am able to pull 9-10G continuously without graying/blacking out. I had heard earlier that Blackouts were NOT modeled while in padlock (Is this true?). So I went to front view and no difference. I pulled a full 360 degree turn at -5G and didn't redout! So I checked my config, and sure enough, my blackout/redout model IS ON. What is the deal? My opponent said he was blacking out...why wasn't I? It made for a serious unfair advantage... Anybody else have experience with this? Any solutions? I know it sounds masochistic, but I WANT to be able to pass out if I am pulling G's! My opponent and I are confused...any help will be appreciated...THANKS!! Dave "Phoenix" Wadleigh davew@lbes.medsch.ucla.edu ------------------------------- From: SKIP..PACKAGE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING..HLO2-2/A11..225-4158 27-Oct-1993 1553 Subject: Problem with the screen locking up I've been having a problem with my screen all of a sudden locking up, usually during a long mission. The screen covers with garbage (some kind of large letters all squashed togetther. I've run the same mission twice now and had this happen, could it be a problem with the data for that mission? I'm running OFT 3.01.1 on a 386 33Mhz with 618K available and about 7.3K ext. mem avail. I also have a coprocessor, but I'm not using HiFi. Until the lock up, most everything works fine, except sometimes the radar range doesn't want to change. I'm usins a Thrustmaster FCS and WCS mkII. Any ideas? Thanks Skip ------------------------------- From: Ric Testagrossa Subject: KCC's combat missions For any of you who have purchased the commercial version of MigCalc, etc. (Mig Commander Utilities), you have probably tried some of the canned missions that come with the product. For any of you who don't have these missions, they're called KCC's Combat Missions, and some of them are nearly impossible to survive. For example, there's one called "Overrun" where you and a wingman attempt to defend Nellis against several flights of enemy aircraft. One flight is 3 (or 4) Mig-29s to clear you out of the airspace, with a flight of Mig-27s following behind to destroy the runways. You also have a flight of F5s to help you, but they are somewhat further away, so they are mostly good for attacking the bombers. Not too bad, you say? Well, the trick is that you are on the runway, getting ready to take off as the '29s come roaring into range to fire their Magic heat-seekers! I must have tried all kinds of combinations over several sessions to take off without getting a missile up my tailpipe. If I slammed the throttle to AB5 as soon as I was in the cockpit, I would usually get up to about lift-off speed when I'd get a missile warning. Then it would be a matter of getting the gear up, watching the missile in Padlock view, and waiting for my speed to build up enough to turn into the missile, only getting to about 280 knots by the time I had to do SOMETHING, and BLAM.... Then I thought, OK, maybe the trick is to sit on the runway until the '29s go past, then get on THEIR six....WRONG! If you sit there for more than 10 seconds or so, the trailing '29 veers over and blasts you away with cannon fire. Well, maybe I need to get rolling, but not use 'burner...nope, that just means that I'm only at 200 knots before I get the Magic enema. Finally, I figured it out. (If anyone has another way to deal with this mission, I'd appreciate knowing about it). I need to wait about 10 seconds, just until I can see the Migs go from my six to about my eight o'clock position, then I use full Mil power (no burner). I think what's happening is that at that position, they can't turn sharply fast enough to pull in on me. That still leaves me at only about 300 knots as they do pull around, but they're trying for a guns shot at that point, and I can handle that. Anyone else found another way to safely get off the ground with this mission? Ric T. ------------------------------- From: mcoyne@acs.bu.edu (Michael Coyne) Subject: Competition In the previous edition of the Falcon Digest, David Ransier responded to my opinion: >> From: mcoyne@acs.bu.edu (Michael Co >> Subject: F/A-18 >> >> isn't it this direct competition which drives firms to produce new and >> innovative products? I think it is. Also, IMHO, the only way cooperation >> between SH and MPS will provide better products in the long run is if both >> parties can make each other more competitive. While cooperation may prove >Spectrum Holobyte and Microprose merged very recently and are now the same >company. I'm sure it will be many months, possibly years, before product >lines merge, but one thing is certain, a company shouldn't compete with it's >self. That's a very good way to go out of business. I understand that this is probably not the best forum to argue corporate strategy. In fact, I view my time using falcon and reading this digest as a break from such issues. However, it is in my best interest that SH and other companies continue to turn out new and innovative flight simulation programs because I enjoy them so much. Today, companies use intra- organizational competition with the hope that it will spawn new and innovative products (e.g., competing R&D departments). As Henry Mintzberg argued: "My final point is that the two catalytic forces of ideology and politics are themselves contradictory forces that have to be reconciled if an organization is to remain truly effective in the long run. Pulling together ideologically infuses life energy into an organization; pulling apart politically challenges the status quo; only by encouraging both can an organization sustain its viability." - from "Beyond Configuration: Forces and Forms in Effective Organizations," The Strategy Process, Prentice Hall, 1991. While some may think competition is bad, I (as well as many others) view it as essential to producing better products. I hope that Falcon4.0 will be a better product than Falcon3. I believe that "just how much better" depends on "how good it has to be to sell." With the absence external competition, there may be little incentive to do any more meet this minimum. That is why properly focused competition within SH may be just what we (the users) want. Especially if what we want is for Falcon 4.0 to be the best PC based military aircraft simulator possible. Michael Coyne ------------------------------- From: Martin Gosselin Subject: Art Of The Kill Am I the only one who received this or I'm the last one? I'm speaking of the advertise about the audiovisual guide to air-to-air combat made by SH. In a few words, there is a video tape (72 mins full color), a book and a interactive falcon3.0 demo disk. It sounds good. Pete Bonanni is the author of this. Does it worth the 29.99$? The ad show us other things like FCS, WCS MARK II, Tornado, Mig29, OFT, keybords templates (for F3, Mig29, Tornado), Super-VGA Harrier, commander utilities for F3 & Mig29 AND FINALLY FOR NOTEBOOKS a notebook gameport. If it was not for a money problem (as a graduate student searching a job...) I think I would buy something... Take Care and Check SIX! Martin "NASA" Gosselin E-mail:gosselin@etu.gel.ulaval.ca ------------------------------- From: jeff@neon.rain.com Subject: New FTP Area for Thrustmaster stuff. I've added a new ftp area to the archives. It's for Thrustmaster stuff, and is in /pub/thrustmaster. Currently there's several Mark II files for Falcon3 and Mig29, and there will be more later. FYI, -Jeff - -- Jeff Beadles jeff@neon.rain.com ------------------------------- [[ End of digest Volume 4 : Issue 94 ]]