Author Topic: Stoopid question time  (Read 248 times)

Offline JimBear

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Stoopid question time
« on: November 16, 1999, 09:08:00 AM »
With all the talk about warping, altF4, beacons and connex, would someone, could someone take the time to explain to me (who never flew WB or AW)  what exactly these are?
I mean I know what warping is, but what exactly is the beacon and its purpose, how do i tell if my connection is worth a hooey, what in the world is altf4 and is it cheating if i still cuss after I am dead?  It seems that alot of the small important things in this game have a background that isnt in the readme. Call me guppy (whatever that is ;-) or just ignurant, but get used to me m8s cuz I have torn up my Subs to FA and I is here to stay =-)

JimBear_DD

Offline Maniac

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 1999, 09:22:00 AM »
Red beacon = Wery wery bad (no connection to server)

Yellow beacon = You got seriuos problems with your connection you should perhaps relog.

Green beacon = everythings ok.

Alt + f4 is an command in Windows that terminates the active applikation in Windows. IE if you are playing WB and hit alt f4 then the app will terminate and dump you to the desktop.

// -nr-1-

P.S Yes it is cheating if you cuss after you die.
Warbirds handle : nr-1 //// -nr-1- //// Maniac

Offline indian

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 1999, 09:22:00 AM »
First the beacon is an indication of your connection green is good yellow is going bad red is about to return to desk top.

ALTF4 is a key combo that windows uses to quit any active program, peolple have used this to avoid getting shot down.

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Where you can find the Key Commands in  files for Word6 Wordpad and text mode.

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Aces High Word6 and Wordpad Doc's available on my web site.



Offline Lephturn

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 1999, 09:25:00 AM »

On your console in each plane, there is a "Beacon" light.  If it's green, you have a reasonably decent connect, if it's yellow, your connection is crappy, and if it's red.. your not connected at all.  If all other planes look warpy to you, it could be your connection, try re-logging.  If you beacon is green, you should have a playable connection.

The key combination <alt><F4> will close any windows application.  If you hit that combo while flying AH, it will close the application and you will be back at the desktop.  Pilots sometimes do this when they are about to die to avoid giving credit for the kill.  That will be fixed in a later release I am sure, but for now it can be a problem.  It's a dweeby thing to do.  Beware of accusing somebody of this though, as connection problems and computer problems can cause a similar situation.  I have had my machine over-heat and lock a couple of times over the weekend, and one of those times in the middle of a battle.  If somebody does it repeatedly however... then you get suspicious.

No it's not cheating if you curse after your dead.    I suspect a great many pilots do. <G>

Technically speaking you are a dweeb.    We are all dweebs in AH, but you have an excuse since you are new.    Don't be afraid to ask questions online, even if they seem silly.  And, when you do get killed, ask the killer for advice on what you did wrong.. you'll learn alot that way.




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Lephturn
The Flying Pigs

-kier-

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 1999, 09:34:00 AM »
The beacon light on your dash let's you know the condition of your connect at any given time (theoretically). If it is green all is good. If it goes yellow or red you are going to see "warp" or the apparent instantaneous exceleration of aircraft from point A to B, or they may disappear altogether. This will also anger those watching you, as they may think you are "line squeezing" that is, the intentional disruption of your data so that your positional reports are temporarily disrupted. People have been known in other sims to use this dastardly ploy to escape an inescapable situation.

Alt-F4 is an intentional dump to desktop (also known as "disconnect" or "disco"). This happens when someone loses a fight and doesn't want to let the other fellow have the credit. By discoing, no credit will be awarded to the winner.

Don't worry about being a guppy, I'm a Baby Harp Seal!

 

Offline Minotaur

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 1999, 09:35:00 AM »
I have seen lots of warp with a green beacon, be careful on that.

Alt-F4...  They only become an "Alt-F4 Maggot" when you have a very good guns solution on them or they are spinning to the ground after you shot them down.  This "Alt-F4 Maggot" theory is based upon that fact that their connection seemed relatively stable to just prior to that piont.  In essence they are just "Wimping" out, to avoid being  killed, for score or having no pride.  I'm not sure which.

Mino

Offline Thorns

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 1999, 10:25:00 AM »
So if your wasting some poor soul with 30mm
cannons and you see him hit the earth but there is no message from host saying you killed him(no other teammates around either),
did he alt f4?  This has happened to me a couple of times....??

Butchawk

-kier-

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 1999, 10:37:00 AM »
Thorn-

This could be an Alt-F4, but there is no way to know for sure. Best to not go on open and accuse anyone of cheating, it never helps.

Offline miko2d

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 1999, 11:18:00 AM »
 Minotaur - YOUR green beacon may have nothing to do with his warping if his connect is not good.

 Also, for the connection not only the lost packets are important, but also the time for the pactets to get through and the regularity. Yellow beacon shows if the packets are lost but there are cases when no packets are lost but the connection causes warps. Consider 3 cases, assume no packets are lost:

1. A guy if flying with 100 ms ping time. All 4 updates per second are on time. You see him smooth as silk.

2. A guy is flying with 1100 ms ping (lag) time. All 4 updates per second are on time. You still see him smooth. But you see all his actions delayed by 1 second compared to the first guy. So will he see yours, but that may not help you.
 You see a guy at d10 (1000 yards). He may have turned into you and you are still flying straight. When you see his tracers, he has been firing for a second or two already and even if you start evading, you will still be flying straight on his front end (FE) for 2 more seconds.
 So you may want to try evading earlier if you suspect the guy (or you) have long lag time. On the other hand if his lag time is small and you start evading while he is at d10, you will just blow your energy and set youurself up for a kill.

3. A guy is flying with 250 ms lag time (good) but sometimes they (data packets) get delayed to 1500. So you see him flying stmoothly, then the packets do not arrive and you see him flying straight. Then the packets arrive and he warps to the very different location because he was really turning like hell after you (and the host) have received his previous packet.

 Both of you may see all green beacons and still see/cause warps!

 Once the internet gets more bandwidth and we all have high speed reliable connections 50ms +-5ms, the warps will be the thing of the past.

 Until then when you have bad connects, you can fly bombers - the ground does not go anywhere, so it never warps. Enemy fighters are actually at a disadvantage since you do not really evade in a bomber anyway, but if you do, the warps will make you B17 jump like  the real one never could. Between warps the attacking enemy fighters fly straight as ducks on a target range. And when once they warp, Ottos have no trouble reaquiring the firing solution immediately!

miko--

Check_JV44

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 1999, 11:35:00 AM »
Hey to ya Jim, you ole Dog.

Offline Minotaur

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 1999, 09:13:00 PM »
Miko;

With a Green Beacon, I have seen multiple planes warp large distances all at the same time.

I have had a Green Beacon when I was pretty sure it was I with the slow con.  SF is just a tremendous choke point.

I do 16 or so hops to HTC.  A good ping time is 300ms.

Mino

Offline Sundog

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 1999, 11:48:00 PM »
Hey, as long it is stoopid question time, How do I enable the panning views?

Also, has anyone been able to get film to replay?

Thanks,
Sundog

P.S.- Woof! Thorns, Check, and Ender (See he leads the next thread)

Offline JimBear

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Stoopid question time
« Reply #12 on: November 17, 1999, 11:00:00 AM »
Thanks for all the explanations guys =-)
Your help is truly appreciated.
And I have another question to ask...is there a counter for ammo when you are gunning in a 17? Last night near the end of a long mission, I found my gun positions were winchester (the only one damaged was the belly turret) and it did get a bit uncomfortable with only my left waist gun for defense as that 51 rolled in again. I love the immersion when playing as a gunner, just wondering where to look to see that my ammo cans are empty.

Jim