nybody interested in newbie opinion?

[eazydweeb]

Hi There,
first of all:
No offence to anyone, this just a viewpoint of someone without any experience
I am the absolute beginner concerning online flight sims. I neither played one of the well known other WWII games nor any other online game. I'm a RL recreational Pilot  and play every boxed aircraft sim  I can get (since everybody mentions it: what the heck is "quake"btw ?? ;-)) the little I  know about WWII flying is from stories my uncle told  me about  his duty as HE 111 crew member. When  I learned about WWII-online FS and AGW, there was already AH behind the horizon, so I decided to wait and see.
I honed my skills with offline practicing in the "other" sim and have been lurking at argo's and here for quite a while.

I was online for the second time now so here are my impressions:

Register: download in a glimpse,  install,  fill out ,  get passw  mailed, go online ...piece of cake, no rocket science needed WOW.
Tower/hangar: nice gimmicks lots of choices for aircraft equipment, but where are the keys for my Kuebelwagen (I hate to carry my chute all the way out to the shelter box:-))

Startup sequence : YESSS !! this is gonna be really good in full version with different sounds and stuff

Start: there goes my training  from elsewhere...the "counter rotating" of the airframe when revving up the engine gave me a real headache at first (aircraft yaws briefly o the right when it starts moving)
But now I found out: do not hesitate go to full throttle in moderate but steady 3-4 seconds, that way you have already some rudder authority when she starts moving
Them airport sheep seem to have nerves from steel...

I don't know if it's the soundcard(port), the joystick (new Cyborg 3D) or the System (W95)   I can't get rid of those spikes (No Wbstick.exe yet L). Maybe that's the reason the auto trim will not work longer than 10sec

View system and landscape when airborne: ABSOLUTELY KILLING!! Gives me much more SA and seat of pants feeling than anything seen elsewhere (reminds me at F-22 RAPTOR) The tracers are amazing! I like especially the ack tracers( well, the ones of  my home base at least ;-))

Flying: In the 109 elev trim has to be full UP all the time (all alts all speeds) to stay level.
First impression: Training in other places remains absolutely useless L
Aircraft feels a bit "mushy" like having -almost-too-much- AOA all the time even at high speeds. (no squeaking about the FM, I have no idea what it ought to be anyway J). LA5 seems somewhat easier to fly... but so be it, I wanna drive Mercedes, not Lada! ;-)
This Beta thing is definitely for the Experten and online vets: NO manual so far :-0 I couldn't find out how to tune that #*%4§$ radio to country frequency (green in display)
I never knew what "warping" meant but then I was chasing ..err following a single con when all of a sudden SWOOOOSH 5 UFO's came rushing from 3 and 9 o'clock up front and glued themselves in the Sky before me...that's what I call FOOFIGHTERS :-o
I  had a frame rate of 8-12 :-0 but characters on the clipboard were unreadable  at lower res (17" mon. ATI Rage Pro AMD K6 CPU) That made aiming and maneuvering quite difficult.
I didn't like the map: too small while default and zooming anywhere but not on the aircraft (disturbing when airborne and out of correct trim).
I wonder if the prop rpm setting is not yet effective since I didn't notice any differences ?!
While the original "K" was NOT a endurance wonder this baby would definitely beat a Munich Biergarten on a summer afternoon... .one thirsty aircraft!! Are these fuel lines made from big fire hoses ??
Fighting : Can't say much about that since I'm one hell of a BAD shooter (managed to get a headondweebsnapluckykillshot anyway... Horrido! J)
Landing: demanding, hehe Guess it will be easier in later versions when you have shadows and more ground texture for optical reference of speed and alt.  The flaps seem to be VERY effective.

As I said: no squeaking about the FM or anything but after all it makes the19m span touring motorglider I usually fly feel like a T&B Zeke ;-)  If this sim is somwhere near the real thing, there's no doubt these Guys back then in WWII definitely knew how to fly !

All in all pretty much fun for a beta and for free (at least for you, we Germans pay aprox. $2US/h for telephone lines anyway L on the other hand beer over here is cheaper than coke)

Any comments ?


Eazydweeb

P.S.: on thing I'd like to propose... since I flew for the KNIGHTS I would love to have that "sekret veppon ":  when  out of  ammo we should be able to open

[eazydweeb]

oh boy I better learn to post correctly :-(

somehow all my smileys went crap...

Last sentence was:

Eazydweeb

P.S.: on thing I'd like to propose... since I flew for the KNIGHTS I would love to have that "sekret veppon ":  when  out of  ammo we should be able to open the canopy and shout: " NI !  NI  ! NI !..."  :-))

[-towd_]

welcome to ah look forward to seein ya

spikeing in the cyborg 3d was same with one i got and returned. it would spike at random somtimes behaving for minutes.

[funked]

Hey welcome to our little world, hope you stay.  If you can fly you've got half of it figured out.  IMHO it's easier to be a good pilot and learn to shoot than it is to be a good shooter and learn to fly.

"Flying: In the 109 elev trim has to be full UP all the time (all alts all speeds) to stay level."

I agree.  This don't seem right.  The 109 has a movable horiz. stab. for pitch trim.  You should be able to trim that plane for best climb which is about 150 IAS.  You can't get even close to that in this game.

"Aircraft feels a bit "mushy" like having -almost-too-much- AOA all the time even at high speeds."

I think this is because it has a higher wingloading than what you are used to, and it gets max lift coefficient at a higher AOA.

Good luck!

[scout]

>when revving up the engine gave me a real headache at first (aircraft yaws briefly o the right when it starts moving)
But now I found out: do not hesitate go to full throttle in moderate but steady 3-4 seconds, that way you have already some rudder authority when she starts moving

the faster to get speed the safer and easier.
just firewall it immediately.

This sim has more torque than 'brand-W', if this is spit9, spit14 is going to be real interesting.

>I never knew what "warping" meant but then I was chasing ..err following a single con when all of a sudden SWOOOOSH 5 UFO's came rushing from 3 and 9 o'clock up front and glued themselves in the Sky before me...that's what I call FOOFIGHTERS :-

It doesn't have to warp like that.
Its not fair to make comparisons with a BETA that doesn't even have all the net lines connected yet, still.., lets just say online sims can have _a lot less_ warping.

If you're completely new to online sims there are things you can do to your setup to.
Make a new DIAL-UP-ADAPTER and experiment with shutting error-correction and compression off, also try try reducing line speed to 19200 or 38400.
Im sure there faq's for this, look around WB sites for example.

And your frame rate definitely doesn't help either, I would guess having the CPU this downloaded adds to warping as well.

>While the original "K" was NOT a endurance wonder this baby would definitely beat a Munich Biergarten on a summer afternoon... .one thirsty aircraft!! Are these fuel lines made from big fire hoses ??

Its a G10.
The arena has a fuel-modifier in effect.
Original setting 3x, later changed to something else (0.25, does that mean 4x ?).

[hitech]

Thanks eazydweeb first time impressions are very important to us.

Side note to scout was changed from 3 to 2.5
i.e. 3 times normal burn rate to 2.5 times normal burn rate. Setting it to 1 would be real burn rates.

HiTech

[jedi]

eazydweeb--

To "fix" your smileys, leave out the "nose."  You're doing this: :-) when you should do this:  

Nice review btw.

--jedi

[Rojo]

Eazydweeb: Welcome to the highly addictive world of on-line aerial combat.  If you thought you were addicted to boxed sims, you're really gonna be a basket case after a couple months of on-line action. As for your stick spiking problems, go to the Thrustmaster home page (www.thrustmaster.com , I think), go to their utilities sub-page, and download CTFJ3.exe.  This will work with any analog joystick, not just TM products, and not only kills any stick spiking, but centers all axis of your stick. A great freeware program, it should eliminate spiking and allow autotrim to function properly.

BTW, the 109 does indeed feel a bit mushier then other sims, but it still performs great. I found the climb rate excellent, and the only real problem is the rather abrupt onset of compression. You've really got to think ahead when flying the Gustav. I almost always take the 20-mm gunpods.  Head-on shots are very prevelant in the Beta arena so far, and nothing AH has available has the stoping power of that trident of canons  . cya up there.

Rojo (a.k.a. Sabre)

[Brick]

Just a side note...

"If you're completely new to online sims there are things you can do to your setup to.
                         Make a new DIAL-UP-ADAPTER and experiment with shutting error-correction and compression off, also try try reducing line speed
                         to 19200 or 38400."

Working tech support for an ISP, I would reccomend *against* disabling error correction.  If it's set to "required to connect" and UN-check "allow software compression", you should do better.  If you're experiencing unstable connects, you might wanna try lowering your speed as was suggested.  I can't remember all the settings off the top of my head, but for USR modems we used to use &Ux&Nx, where "x" is the number between like 1 and 25 or 30.  (30 or whatever the highest # was would be a 56,000k connection.)

Dang.  Now I should just go ahead and dig that info up.

-Andy

[Brick]

In "Extra Settings"
(In the "connectoid" (Dial Up Networking, get the preferences for your connection))
Hit the configure button.
Hit the connection tab.
Hit the Advanced button.

In the "Extra settings box", try this stuff:

&n_ (ceiling)  &u_ (floor), &n must be greater than &u.

replace "_" with:

1 - 300bps
2 - 1200
3 - 2400
4 - 4800
5 - 7200
6 - 9600
7 - 12000
8 - 14400
9 - 16800
10 - 19200
11 - 21600
12 - 24000
13 - 26400
14 - 28800
15 - 31200
16 - 33600
17 - 33333
18 - 37333
19 - 41333
20 - 42666
21 - 44000
22 - 45333
23 - 46666
24 - 48000
25 - 49333
26 - 50666
27 - 52000
28 - 53333
29 - 54666
30 - 56000
31 - 57666

If &n0 is set, that's "Variable Rate" (according to this USR book I'm looking at)
If &u0 is set, that's "Disabled"

So, if you had:

&n19&un15

That'd tell your modem to set the connection at 41,333 (if it was able) and set the minimum "acceptable" to 31,200.  What I've found from my personal experience at home was that if I let the modem (USR Courier) connect as fast as it could, it'd usually report a 48k connection, but it would be totally unstable.  By choppin' it down with &n20, it would connect rock-solid at 42666 every time.

Hope this helps!

Oh - one thing I've found in the 2 years I've been solving these &*%$&^$% problems is that 9 out of 10 modem problems are caused by out of date firmware.  If you haven't updated your firmware on the modem lately and are experiencing some connection difficulties, you might want to consider heading over to your manufacturer's website and grabbin' the new ones.

-Andy

[eazydweeb]

Hi Guys,
Thanks a lot for Your warm welcome and the tons of good tips  
    IT works, it works Jedi, may the Force be with you  
Brick, thanks for hints about modem configuration. I intend to buy a new one next week and then I will need your numbers.
Rojo, I'll try the calibration prog for Joysticks but the Cyborg 3D is a digital stick
Scout, I know it's a G10, but AFAIK the K was the worst economist of the whole series, something less than 2h of endurance, when I remember correctly (BTW: 1liter of AVGAS costs aprox 2,40 DM over here that would translate into $5US a gallon   )

I hope I can sqeeze out enough time and money to keep up with you all..

Cheers


Eazydweeb  aka Peter