Author Topic: Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.  (Read 422 times)

Offline Arfann

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #15 on: December 30, 2000, 09:02:00 PM »
CH stick is junk as far as I'm concerned. Bought a new one about a year ago to go with my CH throttle and Pro Rudder Pedals. What a disappointment. Springs WAY weak, pots spiky as hell. Sent it back and was sent a replacement. Not quite as spiky as the last one, but did respond to contact cleaner. Supplemented springs with some 1/4" rubberbands which break at just the wrong time. At least once a week had to take it apart, replace the rubberbands, and clean the pots. Tried the TM Platinum. Good springs, but lousy bearings and pots. Finally took advice of a squaddy and bought a Logitech Wingman Digital. Springs good but not great, perfectly reliable, nice scaling. I'll stick with it until something "right" shows up.

GronK  

Offline Voss

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #16 on: December 30, 2000, 09:59:00 PM »
Yeah, I could design the thing, but it would take someone like Tru-Turn to manufacture the grip and base. Carlton Bates no longer sells to the public, but they sport all the necessary innards in their catalog. I wonder if anyone currently in the joystick business flies here? And why are we still using cheap pots? Eight years ago I made a set of rudder pedals from C.B. mil spec. 150k ohm carbon pots and you know what? Not only does it not drift, spike or lose its center, but after eight years it still works!

Voss 13th T.A.S.


[This message has been edited by Voss (edited 12-30-2000).]

Offline jedi

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« Reply #17 on: December 31, 2000, 12:20:00 AM »
You've probably tried this already, but for an overly sensitive (or too easy to move) stick, try setting the control deflection at VERY low numbers on the left side of the curve, i.e. don't even get up to 10% control deflection until you're at 50% stick throw.  Then curve up to 100% at the right side.  Set it up so that when you're in a turnfight, with half stick deflection, a small movement produces a very small control deflection (slope < 1).

An old kludge solution was to wrap a bunch of rubber bands on the stick to increase the resistance to movement.  If you're an engineer-type, you could also try lengthening the "stick" part of the joystick, so that a 1" movement of the stick produces a smaller movement of the potentiometer than it did with the original stick movement.  Always wanted to try building a floor-mounted stick, which would give MUCH finer control, but never had the guts to chop up a new joystick to do it  

As for perk planes, won't that mean that the "best" pilots end up in the best planes, and the weaker pilots never get to fly em?  That might have been historical I guess (but only for the Axis--Allied "dweebs" got to fly P-51Ds)   but it doesn't sound like a good "gameplay" measure.  Encouraging guys to try to stay alive is fine, but "forcing" them to do it in order to "earn" better planes only works if they actually CAN stay alive.  A guy who isn't that great NOW isn't going to fare much better when he's being gang-banged by aces in superduperplanes  

--jedi

Offline Voss

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« Reply #18 on: December 31, 2000, 12:36:00 AM »
I thought of that too, Jedi. Another sim'er and I were going to get together and build a few examples. It wouldn't be pretty though. I can't mold plastic and titanium is a pipe dream for this area.

Someday, someone will market one. I hope.
It would be nice to build one with an adjustable chair mount. Something like a 172 front seat. I'd go for realism and a reconstructed 51 seat, but I don't have a parachute to sit on!  

I'd settle for a stick that lasted me just two years. In titanium please.  

Voss 13th T.A.S.

Offline SKurj

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« Reply #19 on: December 31, 2000, 12:49:00 AM »
 
Quote
Originally posted by Fishu:
Only problem with my CombatStick is that its wearing out  
Try next time adjust those stick scalings, might help alot...
I have made stick response alot less sensitive, which really helps to have accurate aim.

I say that C hog needs to be perked, because its truly pathetic to see them used alot more than D hogs.


Heh after seeing the score modifier at work.. DO NOT PERK THE CHOG!!  There are so many in the MA, and their ENY score is 10!! +)  The Dhog's is 28!!  Chog will be an easy ticket to a real perk ride  
Errm if i wasn't clear.. fly anything you like with the exception of the chog, and you will rake in the points.  The chog is all over the bloody place and to shoot one down helps the score quite nicely.
I accidentally hopped in a chog the other night, got 4 kills (1 goon), died and got less than 2 points for my trouble.  Do that in a dhog, and you likely will score double digits.

Its the aircraft sitting close to the PERK line that will earn you your own perk ride.  Right now we don't have perk planes, so lets get after the next closest thing...the CHOG.

 

AKskurj

Offline Jochen

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #20 on: December 31, 2000, 09:28:00 AM »
 
Quote
jochen... I thought part of your probation was that you were to stay away from hamsters?

I thought your medication for male menopause were effective?

------------------
jochen

Kids today! Why can't they fetishize Fascist military hardware like normal people?

Ladysmith wants you forthwith to come to her relief
Burn your briefs you leave for France tonight
Carefully cut the straps of the booby-traps and set the captives free
But don't shoot 'til you see her big blue eyes
jochen Gefechtsverband Kowalewski

Units: I. and II./KG 51, II. and III./KG 76, NSGr 1, NSGr 2, NSGr 20.
Planes: Do 17Z, Ju 87D, Ju 88A, He 111H, Ar 234A, Me 410A, Me 262A, Fw 190A, Fw 190F, Fw 190G.

Sieg oder bolsevismus!

-lazs-

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #21 on: December 31, 2000, 10:18:00 AM »
joch... i know it's cold there now but.... for gawds sake stay away from the pet stores!  I doubt that the authorities will be so lenient next time...   Do it for the children joch!
lazs

-lazs-

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« Reply #22 on: December 31, 2000, 10:56:00 AM »
Yep jedi, u got it right... As we speak, the most skilled pilots are accumulating "perk" points at an advanced (comparitively) rate in order that they may get to fly vastly superior planes against their less skilled bretheren in the arena.  The reason for this is.....ah...

Still don't see why they can't have their own "area" in the arena.   One click and you are in either an early, mid or late war area.  All in the same arena and all balanced out.
lazs

Offline flakbait

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« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2001, 02:44:00 AM »
Drool all you want...

M$ Sidewinder 3D Pro, had it for 3 years and it still works just fine. No spikes, no twitchiness, holds calibration forever, and has yet to fail me in any flight sim. What did I pay for this wonderous piece of Micro$h^t hardware? All of $35.

-----------------------
Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School
"For yay did the sky darken, and split open and spew forth fire, and
through the smoke rode the Four Wurgers of the Apocalypse.
And on their canopies was tattooed the number of the Beast, and the
number was 190." Jedi, Verse Five, Capter Two, The Book of Dweeb

 

Offline Jekyll

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« Reply #24 on: January 01, 2001, 03:17:00 AM »
Lazs.... can you email me your correct email address?  Your address in your profile does not resolve correctly.

I've got a couple of Hog questions I would like answered  

Regards

-lazs-

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #25 on: January 01, 2001, 11:06:00 AM »
MS stick works great but has no springs in it and has the twisty stick thingie... I would be fine with that tho if it had some decent springs in it and I could set it up for rudders and throttle and get stick set buttons on the stick to work while in the other views.   Want an old TM PFCS stick with a metal handle and good hat that is USB.  I would be glad to pay what twice what the other sticks cost for one like that.   Hell.... I would still buy (and be breaking) PFCS at $100 a pop if they made em.
lazs

Offline MrLars

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Of perk point and planes, vehicles, and ch sticks.
« Reply #26 on: January 01, 2001, 11:29:00 AM »
Since I've never been a fan of any point system in online sims, so how 'bout this...
A reverse perk system...have all planes available to everyone and as points are accumulated you are forced to fly the older, less uber planes. Point HO's and 24/7 junkies would have to use pilot skill instead of uberplaneability to keep on top of that lawn sausage pile called point system. <G,D,R>

Lars

Offline Finn

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« Reply #27 on: January 01, 2001, 12:26:00 PM »
The perk system seems needlessly complicated to me.
I'd say simply assign score modifiers based on the capabilities of the plane and leave it at that.  
The old WB system was NOT good. It based the modifier on the number of kills each plane got in the arena over the course of the TOD and the RPS.
So, every uberplane that came along in the RPS was also carried a very high score modifier until the kills scored it in it started to really mount up.
Again, needlessly complicated.
It's not hard to figure out which planes are the most capable and effective in the game.
Just give them base score and leave the modifiers for the 'lesser' planes.
As for awarding uberplane rides for perk points. Jeez, I dunno. I guess it would be ok as long as the number or sorties in the ride were limited. ie, make it really tough to get a Tempest or  P51H for more than one or two evenings each TOD.
Alternatively, make the perk rides available only during the last week of each TOD.

As for joysticks...
My all time fave was the FCS Pro. But they tended to break (hat switches 4 times and the handle itself once).
Now I use the CH force feedback stick and CH pro USB pedals.
I'll probably add in my TM WCS markII also.
I tried a CH throttle and didn't like it.
What I'd REALLY like to see is a full size stick and rudder combo.  The much longer 'throw' of a full size stick would make precise flying quite a bit easier.
For example, in a real spitfire, the stick needed to move only a few inches to get full deflection on the control surfaces.
On a computer stick that translates into about a 1/4 of an  inch.
The drawback would be the general awkwardness of storing and using the stick at a computer desk.

finn