HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: Help!   On FS4 Aircraft and Scenery Designer...
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 01:30:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.220751.8584@nmsu.edu> bboswell@dante.NMSU.Edu (BOSWELL) writes:
>I have painstakingly duplicated Las Cruces (NM) Crawford field on FS4 Aircraft  
>and Scenery Designer, and created a mode to go with it.  The annoying part is,  
>however, if I want an airport to be there when I access the mode, I have to go  
>into the A&SD menu, unselect Seattle, and Select Las Cruces as the scenery  
>library. Any ideas as to how to automatically change the library along with the  
>mode?

You need to set the auto-load option up for your scenery.  It should always
load your scenery files automatically, whether you position with the 
coordinate position menu or through a flight modcde.  Also, make sure that
the center location of your scenery file is where it is supposed to be 
in the FS coordinate system.

>Also, one thing which is ever-so-slightly annoying is the ground color.   
>Contrary to the belief of the Flight Simulator creators, there exists large  
>expanses of deserts in the Southwestern United States!!!(They also seem to  
>believe crops grow in large sections of the Southwest...in areas which are  
>clearly desert from the air!!!).  Any idea of how to change this other than  
>drawing large brownish-yellow rectangles all over the place?

The default scenery in FS4.0 and earlier was not meant to supply any scenery
at all beyond the cities listed in the manual.  The rest is left up to
scenery disks.  The only way I know of to change your ground color would
be to draw the rectangles as you suggest.  SEE may have a way of doing it
by modifying the map colors, but I have not expllored this function of SEE
yet, so I don't know what it is fully capable of.

>I also own SEE, but I have not had a chance to see what it can actually do yet  
>besides putting a pretty nifty lighthouse at the end of the runway at Boeing  
>Field
>
>Any help would be appreciated!

Use SEE to:

   1) Add an ATIS center to your airport
   2) Add night effects, such as runway lighting and taxi lighting
   3) Position VOR and ADF beacons that are outside the range of your
      scenery designer file, but within range of your aircraft's radio.
   4) do a lot more

Go through the tutorials.  BAO/Mallard are horrible when it comes to
manuals, so it's a tedious process to learn the features of SEE.  But
those on-line tutorials will help out a lot, and demonstrate most of SEE's
functions.

-- 
John Mechalas                                          "I'm not an actor, but
mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu                                 I play one on TV."
Aero Engineering, Purdue University                     #include disclaimer.h
From: mws20@ccc.amdahl.com (Mark Sechrest)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: Yeager's Combat Sim.
Date: 18 Nov 92 17:17:05 GMT
Reply-To: mws20@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Mark Sechrest)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <1edp7fINNn2k@gossip.pyramid.com> dfisher@slipknot.eng.pyramid.com (David Fisher) writes:
>
>Has anybody out there tried Chuck Yeager's Combat Simulator(I think that is the
>name)?  Any comments, good and/or bad would be appreciated.
>
YES! This is personally one of my favorites. The planes are fun to fly,
and the mission builder is great. Imagine, you are flying your Mig21 back
from a CAP when you see 15 B52's just siting there waiting for you to down
them. The only problem is running out of ammo! Or, try taking a P51 up
against jets. Great fun.

Also, the manual is very good. Lots of glossy photographs and plenty of
good information about the planes and combat- including an interview with
Chuck himself.

While some people will complain about it's lack of realism, I think it's
playability more than makes up for it. If I feel like just screwing around
and doing a little ACM without getting involved in a mission scenario, I
pull out Yeager's Air Combat. I think you will like it to.

Mark
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: ahng@ee.ualberta.ca (Allan Hong-Kay Ng)
Subject: Re: Yeager's Combat Sim.
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 17:29:02 GMT

draper@ais.org (Patrick Draper) writes:

>There's a new one from Electronic Arts (publishers of CYAC) that looks kind
>of neat. The box says it has a ton of aircraft that it simulates.

>I can't remember the name --- someone help me out!!

>Is it any good?

Hi,
  It's called Birds Of Prey.  It is the absolutely worst flying game I have
  ever bought.  There are over 40 A/C on the game from A-10's to X-15's 
  and they all suck!  You don't have to be a pilot or engineer to know that
  the reproduction of flight characteristics is very poor.  And all the 
  cockpit configurations look the same.  Also the manuel is so full of error
  s as to be unusable.  
					Save some cash or better yet
					buy Yeager's Air Combat

					Check six
					A. Ng
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Aces over the Pacific questions
From: David_Martin@kcbbs.gen.nz (David Martin)
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:01:05 GMT
Organization: Kappa Crucis Unix BBS, Auckland, New Zealand

>
>  How is Aces Over The Pacific? 
>  What are some of its good and bad points?
>  Joystick interface any good?
A very good game which is quite similar to Red Baron in many ways.
The flight model seems to be quite realistic and the graphics are extremly 
well done with the typical Dynamix Digitized cockpit.
The bad points (very minor) is that the air craft carrier seemed extreemly 
long, on many occasions you shoot down the same ememy pilot several 
times and the way inwhich the P-38 could survive ramming attacks that 
usually result in instant destruction (the mid-air collisions seemed 
a little bit close too).  Those are very minor problems though and the 
game is well worth it.
From: brooke@cco.caltech.edu (Brooke Paul Anderson)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: models for simulators?
Date: 23 Nov 1992 04:48:16 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu

I've looked through about a dozen books in search of ones that explain
flight dynamics in the most detail.  Here are the ones I think are the
most useful for someone who wants to develop a flight dynamics module
for a flight simulator:

Richard Von Mises, Theory of Flight.  New York:  Dover, 1959.
[This one is very good and, being a Dover book, only costs about $13.]

John D. Anderson, Jr., Introduction to Flight.  New York:  McGraw-Hill,
1978.  [This one provides an excellent introcution to the field.  It 
also provides a great deal of the history behind the material, which makes
it delightful to read.]

Courtland D. Perkins and Robert E. Hage, Airplane Performance, Stability,
and Control.  New York:  Wiley, 1949.  [This one was written for the
practicing aero engineer and includes a wealth of detail.  The level of
detail is simlar to Von Mises' book, but it is less theoretical in its
approach.]

Bernard Etkin, Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight.  New York:  Wiley, 1972.
[This book has a more modern perspective, but it concentrates more on
stability and control, and so it deals a lot with linearized versions of
the dynamical equations, which is what most simulators use.  However,
such equations are not suitable for flying near or in the stall.]

J. M. Rolfe and K. J. Staples, Eds., Flight Simulation.  Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986.  [This book is not too useful in general,
since it concentrates mainly on the history of flight simulation without
giving a lot of practical details, but chapter 3, "Mathematical models for
flight simulation," is very useful.  Ch 3 gives the quaternion formalism
for representing an aircraft's attitude, which is well-suited to computer
implementation, unlike the Euler-angle formalism, which has problems with
discontinuities and singularities.  None of the previous books (not being
specifically written for flight simulation) deals with the quaternion 
formalism.]

By the way, you will notice that most of the books are rather old.
That's because the subsonic dynamics were mostly figured out before 1940.
Later contributions basically involve a better understanding of transonic
and supersonic regimes, new wing designs for more efficient flight in
these regimes, and modern formulation of control problems.

As for a basic set, I would recommend Introduction to Flight; Airplane
Performance, Stability, and Control; and Chapter 3 of Flight Simulation.
If you are on a budget, the $80-$90 cost of Airplane Performance, Stability,
and Control will be disagreeable, and you might want to substitute Theory
of Flight (which costs $13).  Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight is also
$80-$90, but it is not as essential.
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett)
Subject: Re: What is realism? (Re: Falcon MC Demo (at la)
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 11:12:53 GMT

In article <1992Nov23.061121.8144@cactus.org> rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett) writes:
>Nope.  I'm a pilot, and a simulator enthusiast.  I've been playing them since
>FS1, and have time in the real thing, too (707, 727, 747, A310, A320).  In my 
>not so humble opinion, Hellcats has the best flying characteristics of the 
>lot: it's the most like an airplane.  
 ^^^ of PC simulators, not real simulators. :-)




---
Robert Dorsett
rdd@cactus.org
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: mcdonghj@unix2.tcd.ie (Nascent Virion.....)
Subject: A320- What's it like.
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 11:10:37 GMT

My younger brother loves flying etc...
Non stop playing of FS4 is a pain to me who wants to play
Monkey Island. Well any way.. He's looking to but A320...
The Lufthansa based game.
I want to know is it any good.???
Please RSVP.
`
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-John Mc Donagh.                   ~~                         {Nascent Virion}
mcdonghj@unix2.tcd.ie              ~~         "I dress my tears in costumes.."
				   ~~
"I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour 
 but heaven knows I'm miserable now"				  --The Smiths
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten)
Subject: Re: Aces of the Pacific
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 15:39:47 GMT

In article <20NOV199209181574@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov> hanlon@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (Casey Hanlon (SVER)) writes:
>I've noticed that when I make a bombing or torpedo run, after striking
>the target the game won't let me head for home since there are enemy
>fighters in the area.  Duking it out with the zekes while flying
>an avenger almost always leads to death.  Mine that is.

Sort of the way it was.  If I recall from the manual, these planes
seemed to suffered a huge fatality rate early on.  Are you using Patch
B, which upgrades it to v1.2?   Available as acepatch.zip at
ftp.ulowell.edu in /msdos/Games/Patches (I think)?  This at least
usually gives you fighter escort.

Anyway, to have a chance of getting away:
Dive for the deck, head towards your base waypoint, and get some
separation.  You can choose "f10" and move the timescale pointer all the
way to the right to give yourself some time acceleration (about 1.5-2x).
And hope the Zekes go for your buddies instead of you!
From: dhi00@ccc.amdahl.com (mofo )
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: acm question
Date: 23 Nov 92 22:12:39 GMT
Reply-To: dhi00@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (mofo )
Distribution: na
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

thanx brad for your rundown on acm.  there is one question you havent
covered though:

is it possible to modify or add to the list of aircraft currently
available.  

if so, what is the equivalent format for this?

d
From: hchong@netcom.com (Hoi Chong)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: ThrustMaster Joystick concerns/questions
Date: 21 Nov 92 08:06:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.1992Nov21.080609.9826
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

From article <1992Nov19.183800.12714@tellab5.tellabs.com>, by seeya@tellabs.com (Michael Ciha):
> 
> Hello, everyone..
> 
> I have recently purchased a ThrustMaster Flight Control System
> joystick for my newly acquired 486/33  :-) :-).
> 
> My problem is, however, the 'coolie hat' (used to look around) does not
> seem to work correctly with 'Aces of the Pacific' and 'Secret Weapons 
> of the Luftwaffe'.  I have isolated the problem to be my joystick interface.

You must have the latest patch.  Call Dynamix 209-683-4463 (BBS). 
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
From: masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten)
Subject: Re: COMDEX - 4-view flight sim (put up or shut up)
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 18:07:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov21.083142.11837@netcom.com> hchong@netcom.com (Hoi Chong) writes:
>
>BAO, the people who wrote MS Flight Sim v4.0, who had Mallard market it
>for them, who in turn go thru Microsoft, has came out with a 4-view
>flight sim called the BAO-Zero, at a price of... $2995!  The price includes
>all the software required, plus 4 LAN-cards (yes, you need 4 high-powered
>PC's).  I tried out the machine at Comdex and it is fantastic.
>
>They also come out with a "Thunderchair".  It is a "elastic" chair which 
>has 2 speakers on the side.  When playing, it make the whole chair vibrates
>like a real airplane.  Complete with secure locations for Thrustmaster
>WCS and FCS Pro (which they had there), the chair list at $625.  You can
>also buy in parts.


Covox is also coming out with a speech recognition package for  $230
which will let you control flgiht sims without having to use the
keyboard.

Am I alone in thinking this stuff is getting out of hand?  Think I'll
just save up and by that Mig21 instead.
From: brooke@cco.caltech.edu (Brooke Paul Anderson)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: AIR Combat USA (real dogfighting in real planes)
Date: 23 Nov 1992 04:14:22 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu

With all this talk of real simulator time, I figured I should mention
that for about the same price/hour (about $600/2 hours) you can fly
aerobatic planes (equipped with gunsights, smoke generators, radar that
checks targeting, etc.) in dogfights against other such planes.  The
place I went to is called "Air Combat USA" and is located in Irvine,
California.  I hear there are other such places around the US -- I don't
know if other countries have such businesses.

First, you get a briefing on the rules of engagement (such as what
happens if you stall out in a vertical persuit, no going for headon
shots, what the "hard deck" is, etc. -- the rules of engagement are the
same as the military top gun programs), the basics of air combat (lead
and lag persuit, high and low yo yo's, etc.), how to bail out of the
plane in an emergency, etc.  Then you get a flight suit, helmet, and
parachute and go out to the plane.  The planes are 2-place aerobatic
jobs, and you fly with an instructor (usually an ex-military pilot).
The instructor takes off (along with 1-2 other planes), joins the plane
up into formation, explains briefly how to fly formation, and then
turns over control to you.  You fly in formation out to the combat area.
There, you practice a few basic maneuvers (like high and low yo yo's),
and then you have dogfights.  You get about 5-6 dogfights for your $600.
If there are three planes up instead of just two, one circles watching the
dogfight and replaces one of the two other planes after they have had a
couple fights.

You don't have to have a pilot's license to fly, but you had better
know how to fly a plane or you will not do very well.  In fact, it
seems to be more important to understand ACM tactics than to have a
pilot's license.
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett)
Subject: Re: What is realism? (Re: Falcon MC Demo (at la)
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 03:49:02 GMT

In article <SCOTT.92Nov23160328@swindle.berkeley.edu> scott@swindle.berkeley.edu (Scott Silvey) writes:
>% Nope.  I'm a pilot, and a simulator enthusiast.  I've been playing them since
>% FS1, and have time in the real thing, too (707, 727, 747, A310, A320).  In my% not so humble opinion, Hellcats has the best flying characteristics of the 
>% lot: it's the most like an airplane.  Its real contribution IS its 
>% sophisticated flight model (and nicely done graphics)
>
>Right, I like the Hellcat's ability to out-turn the Zero with a flat
>turn (rudder only) at any speed and altitude.  

A last-minute hack, clearly, well-publicised and acknowledged by Graphics 
Simulations as such.  Don't use it, if you don't like it.


>I like how the Hellcat
>can sustain a maximum G pitching turn with hardly any speed loss ...

Works for me.  Perhaps you're just not trying hard enough.


>you CANNOT get the Hellcat into a maneuvering stall.  I like how Zeros
>are like slugs in the sky compared to the Hellcat.  I think its is
>really cool that you can extend full flaps and gear at 300+ knots with
>no ill effects.
>
>Impeccable realism!
>
>It's an arcade game.  A good one.

You're not reading closely enough.  Note the keywords: "handling qualities."  
How effectively it can be maneuvered from attitude A to attitude 
B; how it behaves when you let go of the stick.  Not fidelity.  It obviously
mushes out near the edge of the envelope, as you note, but this is also another
characteristic of some S&C derivative-based designs, and another reason to 
suppose it's a more realistic control model (i.e., it keeps the airplane
inside the envelope, hence no way to really stall or spin it).

How "realistic" is a FBW F-6F?  Not really.  But it does allow one to 
effectively control the airplane and play the game.  This isn't "arcade"
technology; it's very close to the cutting edge, if, indeed, that's what
they're doing.  My impression is that it is; Graphics Simulations has also 
claimed that's what they're doing.  Now, WHAT they're simulating is anyone's
guess: it's sure as hell not an F-6.  Feels real nice, though.

Try again?



---
Robert Dorsett
rdd@cactus.org
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd
From: mws20@ccc.amdahl.com (Mark Sechrest)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Birds of Prey(was RE: Yeager's Air Combat
Date: 19 Nov 92 18:55:48 GMT
Reply-To: mws20@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Mark Sechrest)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <Bxxn5s.FzL@ais.org> draper@ais.org (Patrick Draper) writes:
>There's a new one from Electronic Arts (publishers of CYAC) that looks kind
>of neat. The box says it has a ton of aircraft that it simulates.
>
>I can't remember the name --- someone help me out!!
>
>Is it any good?
>
The name of the sim is Birds of Prey. It does have about 40 aircraft.
I bought it almost a month ago, and was sorely disappointed. The graphics
were so-so at best. Flight control was poor. Realism was way down the
scale. Choice of planes is excellent- and includes a couple of VTOL craft.
But even that is not a redeeming factor.

One note: Birds of Prey wasn't written by Electronic Arts. Some small
software house wrote it, and talked EA into marketing it for them.

Mark
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: FS4 ???s
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 22:58:44 GMT

In article <1992Nov22.164535.4911@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> sh09@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (STEVEN HIGGINS) writes:
>    1)  Is SEE still shareware, and if so where can I FTP it from to get a
>    look?

No.  The latest version of SEE (SEE 4) is commercial, and is distributed by
Mallard Software/BAO.

>    2)  Is it just me, or does everybody else have problems when using scenery
>    files written by others?  Specifically, when I use some of them the
>    wire-frame airport runway models in FS4 don't line up with the solid
>    surface models created by others.  My current problem is with LAX.  The
>    wireframe is about where it should be (I think), the solid surface model
>    is around Santa Barbara, not El Segundo.   I'm just using the default
>    scenery from FS, no Scenery Disks.  Any ideas?

Be sure to read the README files that come with scenery files.  Some of those
scenery files require you to have a scenery disk, and not the default
scenery with FS4.0  If you don't use the right scenery disks, then things may
not line up properly, due to differences in accuracy between the default
and Scenery Disk scenery.

-- 
John Mechalas                                          "I'm not an actor, but
mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu                                 I play one on TV."
Aero Engineering, Purdue University                     #include disclaimer.h
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett)
Subject: Re: TRACON II
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 21:03:54 GMT

In article <1992Nov14.152856.18581@exu.ericsson.se> exumfs@exu.ericsson.se writes:
>Some of my complaints (I've forgotten most of them, since its been so long)

I sent this along to one of the authors.  His (paraphrased) replies:


>o I could *never* ger VFR flight following to work.

It's in the readme or the manual.


>o The audio files from the original TRACON don't seem to be compatible
>  "Cessna 4438L, proceed direct to <bzzzzzt>"

They aren't.  Wesson went from 1-bit sound to 8-bit sound in TRACON for 
Windows.  Wesson will (or did) upgrade for free anyone who bought the 1-bit
sector files, and who wishes to upgrade.


>o The audio sounds really hokey--every word is "spoken" at a different pitch, 
>  making it sound really stupid.

He didn't recall this.  He knows Wesson re-recorded the sound files last
spring.


>o I didn't care for their GUI.  The old non-windows utilized more of the screen
>  and was just as easy to use.

If one turns off the circular radar scope and goes to the old format, the 
available real estate is virtually identical.



Caveat: I never got around to playing TRACON for Windows...


---
Robert Dorsett
rdd@cactus.org
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd