-Hawkeye-

Do these new guys get the info bulk emails too? The info is most useful to them

Well that's just awesome, thanks! I can see now that those mounts are made for the long shaft extensions; that makes a lot more sense....to use one for a short shaft would be kind of a waste. My biggest concern about the mount is that it puts the stick far out from the mounting surface. That would mean that I would have to have a far reach to my throttle quadrant with my left hand, and the stick would be much nearer to me for my right. The solution would be to get two of the mounts, and use one for the quadrant. The mount fits their own throttle and they have adapter plates for others, like the Warthog throttle. However, none of those are multi-axis quadrants, and I've really grown used to having that feature. I think I could gin up an adapter plate for what I have pretty easily. One very interesting item of interest between the two sticks is that the VKB has 20 degrees of movement, and the Virpil has 15. Theoretically, this would make the VKB more accurate in control. However, with the stick extension, 20 degrees of movement might seem excessive. Here's my take on it: You can always reduce the amount of degrees that it takes to get to 100% by creating a dead zone of any size you want, at the end of any axis. However, you can't make one larger. In my opinion, the whole idea of using a stick extension would be to eliminate the need for response curves at all, since the stick is (nearly) the same length as the original in the real airplane. The Virpil also comes with 3 different spring sets, so the weak spring symptom this guy had with the VKB would seem very unlikely. He does make a big thing out of the adjust-on-the-fly feature the Virpil has; however, that's just a fine adjustment. The really good feature is the changeable springs and the fact that it comes with them (as well as 3 different centering cams). It's all a moot point if you can't actually purchase a VKB though; and I have an idea that 15 degrees would be pretty practical with the stick extension; and with the Virpil, you can not only get 3 different lengths, I'm thinking you might also be able to gang two or more together. In terms of accuracy, what matters in the end is how far the stick travels at the top where the grip is. If that's the case, you could get the same amount of travel just by lengthening the extension and lowering the base. Interesting! Exciting! Thanks!

That's the one I was asking Loopy about! Thanks! Sounds and looks awesome, but mounting would be a problem. The desk mount bracket they sell looks monstrous and I can't see how that wouldn't get in the way of your legs. It bugs me that the pictures they have of it have no scale at all, so it could be any size; and none of the pictures show it mounted to a desk, and there's no dimensions at all given. I thing I could figure out how to flush mount it in what I have by cutting a hole and letting it protrude through the underside, but it would take some work. If VKB has nothing available the next time their availability date comes around in a couple of weeks, I'll get one of these. Thanks again!

Thought this deserved to be revisited. Anybody know what happened to this company (VKB) ? They seem to have few if any of their products actually available to purchase anymore. @ Loopy, I remember when we talked and you had found another European company that made very high quality joysticks; but I can't remember the name of that other company. Do you recall it, and do you know if they're still viable? S!

Phase B, I see that the SPADs replaced the N28's; that makes sense....but also, the Dolphins replaced the S.E.5a's? That doesn't make as much sense to me. I would want the S.E.5a's to stay.

That is interesting. I need a sense of scale, though. Hard to tell how far apart those hits are, for somebody who has no frame of reference.

Hope your project is going great, but that you can take some relaxation and recreation on this day with friends or family! Happy Birthday- S!

You can do that pretty easily with Paint, and you already have it. "Neatly" is subject to interpretation, but Paint has tools that you can draw and adjust circles, ovals, arcs, shapes, etc. You can add text boxes of any size, font and color. Stuff like that; and you can paste screenshots very easily into Paint. You can select and crop or cut out sections very easily too, and resize if needed. If you have a specific question just let us know....there's bound to be somebody that knows more than I do, but I do alright.

Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers, all! Mom has come through OK and is now just waiting on improved kidney readings for discharge. My most sincere thanks to all of you; S!

Still in the hospital with Mom, won't be there this week.

No German aircraft have manual mixture control, with the exception of rotary engined planes (Fokker E.III, Fokker Dr.I, Fokker D.VIII). All the inline water cooled planes had automatic mixture control back then. It's an advantage of the German planes. Only 2 planes in RoF have altitude throttle controls because they have the BMW engine; the Fokker D.VIIf, and the Pfalz D.XIIf. It is not a mixture control. Think of it as a 2-barrel carburetor with which you manually control each barrel with it's own throttle. The engine was purposefully designed with too much compression to run at full power at low altitudes; if you try to do it, the engine "knocks" and begins to accumulate damage. The "normal" throttle keeps it limited to a degree of power which is acceptable at low altitudes without damaging the engine. At high altitudes, air density decreases, so you can add more power through the use of the altitude throttle, and the engine doesn't knock because of the lower air density, and has more power at that altitude than an engine with a standard compression ratio. Mercedes also made their own version of an "overcompressed" engine: the 200 HP D.IIIau. This is the engine that is in the Halberstadt CL.II (200 HP) version. The standard Halb CL.II does not have that engine. Mercedes did not use a separate throttle to control the engine, but instead had a single throttle that could give full power all by itself. Consequently, you cannot advance it fully at low altitudes, or you'll get the same knocking and eventual damage. Once you get high enough, you can advance the throttle fully in that plane. This same engine was also used in some Fokker D.VII's during WWI, but that plane is not modeled or available in RoF. It is possible that it will be modeled in FC; and if it is, it will act and be controlled in the same way the Halb CL.II 200 HP is now controlled, but will have much better performance than the Halb CL.II, due to the superior weight and aerodynamic characteristics of the D.VII air frame. In any case, the mixture and the throttle are two separate aspects of engine controls; and since the mixture is always automatically controlled on the water cooled engines, there is no manual game control needed for them. Because the 2 are never found together on the same plane, most pilots map manual mixture and altitude throttle to the same control so which ever function you need for any German aircraft is always available. With regard to the Pfalz D.XIIf, it's unfortunate that this plane was never actually used in combat in WWI. Although around 20 of them may have actually existed in crates somewhere, it's generally accepted they never actually were shipped to any squadron, and some believe that their BMW engines were cannibalized for use in Fokker D.VII's. The Pfalz D.XII, which was widely used during the war, DID NOT have the engine (with altitude throttle) which is given to it in RoF; it had the standard 185 HP Mercedes D.IIIa, just like the standard Fokker D.VII has (not the D.VIIf). This is the plane that RoF first modeled, way back when RoF was still new, and the Pfalz D.XII first was offered for sale. However, there were so many player complaints as to it's lack of performance, the devs took the unprecedented step of changing the entire engine in it; and instead of offering it as a separate model, they completely replaced it with the mythical model we now have. You'll notice that they don't call it a Pfalz D.XIIf; they call it a Pfalz D.XII, and that is just plain incorrect. IMHO I find it very sad they got rid of the model that was the actual plane in WWI that was used, and ginned up a plane that didn't fly at all in WWI before the war ended. It's even more unfortunate that the Pfalz D.XII in RoF is about the only choice that the German side has available to combat the uber SPAD and S.E.5a's that would absolutely rule the skies, without the "false Pfalz" to combat them. It's been endowed with speed that the D.VIIf does not and did not have. S!

You should be able to import your normal controls map and then apply it. I believe things start at defaults though. The response curves are a pain because you have to do each plane individually, and if you have a lot of them, it takes a long while. Don't forget to uncheck that "use all planes responses" box each time. I tested it out using a test profile, and that's how things started for me. Snap views are assigned by plane type, so I don't think those are affected. You do want to copy your entire "input" and "luascripts" folder to another location as a backup, and keep it up to date every time you make any changes. If you ever have to do a "recovery" for the game, you lose everything otherwise. GL

I just loved watching that guy; often the picture he was in didn't do him the justice he deserved. Also I think every drill Sargent in the US, to some extent model themselves after him. It takes real talent to summon that kind of disgust and contempt for the people he acted at training, and even as the subject for it, you had to appreciate the skill; I know I did when I went though basic. The best compliment I ever got in my life came from a drill Sargent, when I performed a task and he told me, without a trace of a smile: "Out-(G.D.)-standing! Out-F'n-standing! Now get the F out of here, pra-vit!" And I knew under the hat there was the beginning of a well-hidden grin, and I couldn't help but smile myself at the artistry of it all. Anyway reminds me of the gunny, through and through. S!

They're not my kites I just have all of the skin packs, then for each plane type I pick one or two that are my favorites from either the "official" or the "historical" skin set for those planes (I don't pick from the "personal" skins because a lot of folks don't bother downloading those). Then I made two lists, one for Entente crates, and one for Central crates, and list each plane (I have all of them), and the skin that I prefer for them. I go strictly by the design....I don't care what squadron it's from; I think there's only about one that's actually a J4 skin, and few that are from JG1. The reason for that is that I don't have any knowledge of how to make my own skins, and probably never will have the time to do stuff like that. So because I'll never have a JG1 skin, I just use whatever; and honestly, I like the quality of the designs made by the professionals out there, and anything I tried to design I think would just end up looking amateurish or unrealistic. If I had my druthers, I think I'd choose something close to one of my favorites and adapt it to all of the planes, and then just add a big "LR" on the top wing, fuselage, or whatever. There really aren't that many that I consider outstanding for each plane (the Halb D.II and the Alb D.II are particularly disappointing). Jocassee and I have the same tastes, and we often end up in the same skin.

Prior to releasing FC, is it possible they'll release templates or necessary materials so that people can work on skins ahead of time?

The first one. Made the post before I watched the second one, where I see you made some adjustments and seemed to get it fixed. I hope it stays good for you. S!

It isn't that there is no game sound; the level is just extremely low. If I turn my volume up all the way, I can hear some voice from the game at very low level. I'll bet the game sounds are there too, but you've always kept your game sounds pretty low, and they're probably just too low to hear. Hopefully this will help troubleshoot. Whether you have a bad connection somewhere, or you need to adjust a level somewhere, there is a little sound there. I hope this helps you get it figured out. S!

This is true! I mean, in a very few cases on some devices like motherboard BIOS or a router or whatever, there might be a valid reason to update, if you first carefully read what the changes that are made are for, and if they apply to you at all. Most of the changes made to firmware apply to only a tiny percentage of users, and to very limited circumstances; and a lot of times the changes fix the issue that they say it does, but can actually break some other aspect that was working fine before. In today's world, so many people are used to doing software updates automatically that they apply the same logic toward doing firmware updates...which is a very understandable conclusion to come to. So for those unfamiliar with firmware updates, and even if you are, heed Trev's recommendation and "don't fix it if it ain't broke". S!

I find that it goes up. The best prices seem to be on what's the most popular, right now. Older types, they know they have you; you're stuck needing a specific type for your older motherboard. They jack the price up.

Great to have you with us, Loopy! Communications through this forum will be a lot better....and you got in on the ground floor of a major website upgrade coming soon!

Those overcoats just don't look that warm; and no whale grease on the face or even a muffler over the face. Summer? What's in the squirt can....oil or fuel? Looked like he was putting it in a spark plug hole, but I didn't see anybody putting plugs back in.

This would be much better.....

Now this is the really cool stuff

Soon! CO is dancing as fast as he can!

Great choice!