HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jarvis@ravel.udel.edu (Brian M. Jarvis)
Subject: Re: AIR BUCKS (Airline simulation) 
Keywords: Air, Bucks, airline
Organization: Univerity of Delaware
Distribution: World
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 05:38:00 GMT

In article <1992Nov12.055140.26097@netcom.com> hchong@netcom.com (Hoi
Chong) writes:

>The first impression I get was though mouse-driven, the interface is 
>crude.  The game support sound cards, but might as well not.  What is

Definitely!  I found the concept to be very interesting, but the game
itself needs some work.  The interface seems designed to give you a hard
time trying to adjust ticket prices (have to use one menu to make prices
and another to see what the revenue that price will bring in), and
creating new routes (no easy way to copy the price info from the New York
to LA route to the New York to San Francisco route). 

>important is that the simulation in airline-term seems decent.

Have you found the game too easy?  I'm currently playing with the  hardest
settings, and the computer opponents have absolutely no business sense. 
They are content to run flights that are very short and/or charge very
little.  They don't go international (where the money is to be made), and
they don't engage in price wars with me.

>to set ad budget and even the airline slogan.

I've found that advertizing and comfort level are the most important
aspects.  I can easily get 70-95% fill rates by having megabucks (15
million right now) in advertizing.  Have you found anything like that? 
How many comfort levels are you using (I have 6 of the 8)

>p.s.  I don't know what is up with the game designer, but the human company
>      is called Air Bucks, while the other 3 competing airliners have 

The company is called Impressions.  I think they are new, or at least they
haven't released any games on a wide scale before this.  They also have
released a game called Air Force Commander, where you are responsible for
an Air Force squadron and must scramble jets, provide refueling and radar,
etc.  Sounds interesting, but I have a limited budget <sigh>...

I've heard there's an update out.  Have you heard anything about it?


Brian

Brian Jarvis
jarvis@ravel.udel.edu

Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: FS4 - Cross Continent Flying...
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 19:00:41 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.161111.29427@nic.funet.fi> asunta@convex.csc.FI (Miika Asunta) writes:
>How do you folks navigate when you fly from Chicago to LA, or
>from Seattle to San Fransisco or...
>
>I've managed twice to fly from Chicago to New York simply by studying
>the map view comparing it to a world atlas, and then finding a course
>with compass... Works fine without wind.
>
>Why are there no VORs outside the areas described in the manual. It
>wouldn't take much space to include those in the manual / scenery
>files. 

That's what scenery disks are for.

>
>Are there any other scenery files for mac with VORs for cross
>continent navigating? 
>
>Howzabout ATC services?

The present version of FS does not have ATC service.  The only program that 
does as far as I know is ATP for the IBM.


-- 
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: mitchell@nodecg.ncc.telecomwa.oz.au (Clive Mitchell)
Subject: Re: A-10 TK Question
Organization: Network Computer Centre, Telecom, Perth
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 06:46:39 GMT

>  My question concerns dodging the SAMS.  I can never survive those things.
>I'll evade some of them but eventually wind up either getting shot down
>or ditching the plane.  Do you have any advice for dodging SAMS in the A10?
>How low should my altitude be?  What should my speed be?  When should
>I launch countermeasures and when should I twist & turn?  etc... etc...

Whenever you make a run in to a target, always target the SAMs first.
Start dumping chaff and flares as soon as the SAM warning goes off. Take out
the SAM launcher(s) with the gun then you can attack anything else in the
vicinity at your leisure. This approach works for me and I don't have to
worry about altitude or evasive manouvers.
-- 
    _--_|\    Clive Mitchell               ph: +61 9 4916384
   /      \   Regional Network Systems     mitchell@telecomwa.oz.au
>> *_.--._/   Perth , Western Australia
         v
From: herrmann@ostara.informatik.uni-dortmund.de (Peter Herrmann)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: An alternative to SEE ?
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 15:51:33 GMT
Organization: Universitaet Dortmund - Informatik IV
Distribution: world
Reply-To: herrmann@ls4.informatik.uni-dortmund.de (Peter Herrmann)
NNTP-Posting-Host: ostara


Hello,

as I didn't get Mallard's Scenery Enhancement Editor (SEE) for the Scenery & 
Aircraft Designer of MS FS4 up to now, I tried to get more realistic sceneries 
by creating different scenery files for day-time and dawn/night-time. I am very
satisfied with the result. It is pretty realistic. An advantage is that you can
adapt the dynamic scenery as well (e.g. more planes flying during the day, more
planes parking at the ramp during the night). The main disadvantage except for 
additional space is, as expected, the automatical loading. At my example 
sceneries the day-time scenery is always loaded. Some questions to this 
problem:

Are their any ideas to overcome it?

SEE allows different day/night-views too. How is this feature realized there?


						Peter
From: rrg@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU (Rafael Rodriguez)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Spectrum Holobyte. Have they done it again?
Date: 12 Nov 1992 16:28:21 +1100
Organization: University of Melbourne
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au

I have just got the latest update for Falcon3 (3.01.1, I think).

The accompanying documentation doesn't mention if the upgrade
will erase my squadron and campaign data, as usual, or not.

Does anybody know if this latest upgrade is consistent with
past upgrades and trashes user data?

Thanks for the help.

Rafael Rodriguez

P.S. Can you imagine an upgrade of, let's say Microsoft Excel,
that came with a note reading: "This upgrade will destroy
your current spreadsheet files. Finish any work you need
to do with them before upgrading"?

Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: ampe@cbnews.cb.att.com (john.e.ampe)
Subject: Re: Amiga simulators?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:56:47 GMT

In article <1992Nov4.154204.17915@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> bcetnar@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Blake Cetnar) writes:
>In article <Bx5Lyn.2JH@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> cdarnell@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Chris Dar
>nell) writes:
>>In article <27451@castle.ed.ac.uk> eonu11@castle.ed.ac.uk (R Murphy) writes:
>>>Does anyone know if there are any flight simulators planned, or already
>>>available, for the Amiga? I know that it has FS2, but something like FS4
>>>with advanced scenery designer would be nice.
>>>
>Hell yes, I have an Amiga 500 at home and that's about the only type of game I 
>play on it.  If you take some time out and go to a dedicated Amiga shop you'll 
>find all kind of Amiga magazines.  Look in any of those.  You'll find tons of 
>ads for simulators.  At the moment I'd say the best are Falcon ( sorry, no 3.0 
>yet), F-16 Combat Pilot, and Birds of Prey.
>> 

There seems to be a strong consensus that the best _flight_ simulator
on the Amiga is Fighter Duel (and the new Fighter Duel Pro).  However,
it is be no means a scenery simulator.  For more info, post to
comp.sys.amiga.games.

John_Ampe@att.com
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: goose@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Pilot)
Subject: Re: TRACON II locations?
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 05:02:32 GMT

In article <tomcat.721331068@cwis> tomcat@cwis.unomaha.edu (Jeffrey S. Jo) writes:
>
>Are there any anonymous FTP sites  that have locations that can be used
>in TRACON II?  Thanks!
>
  Not to my knowledge.. but I have the entire airport disk that I may be able
  to get to ya..

	 Dave


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| "Aviation in itself is not inherently   |  David W. Gosnell          |
|   dangerous; but it is terribly         |  goose@sage.cc.purdue.edu  |
|  unforgiving of any carelessness,       |  Purdue University         |
From: bobc@natinst.com (Bob Conyne)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: Spectrum Holobyte Support - Poor
Date: 6 Nov 1992 14:37:37 -0600
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: eagle.natinst.com

I heard a rumor to the effect that Falcon 3.0 was rushed to market because of
the anticipated competition from the (then) soon-to-be-released "Strike
Commander" from Origin.  This might explain some of the problems therein.

I've also heard alot of complaining about MicroProse in this group.  My major
gripe with them is their insistence on copy protection, which is something of
an outdated idea these days (SH didn't feel the need to do it for Falcon 3.0
for example).  BUT I must say that B-17 Flying Fortress is an excellent
simulator.  It is very complex; in fact, the instrument panel is an
ACTUAL B-17 panel -- same switches, same layout (it takes three screens to
display the whole thing).  The 3D environment is the equal of anything on the
market, and there are alot of nice "extras," including an incredibly realistic
"recon fly-by" movie.  All in all, the sensation of bomber combat is eerily
realistic.  Just thought you'd like to know.
--Bob
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: bash@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (thomas.w.basham)
Subject: Re: Spectrum Holobyte Support - Poor
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 22:30:12 GMT

From article <ocZqTB1w164w@n5abi.hou.tx.us>, by gak@n5abi.hou.tx.us (Gene A. Kennedy):
> 
>  OK, maybe the comparison to MS is a bit unfair. So compare them 
> with Microprose (F-19 Stealth Fighter) or Dynamix (AOP). The real 
> point here was the "attitude" of SH, which seems (at least to me) 
> to be that it's OK to put software with "bugs" in it on the 
> market. The other companies don't seem to share that attitude.
> 

That's a good idea. I've dealt with all three companies a lot on
Compu$erve, and here's how I'd rate them on customer support
(with #1 being the best)

1. Dynamix (they are willing to make design changes to accomodate
	users. Great support)
	
2. Spec Holo (not enough support personnel. listen to some customer
	input, but not all. Won't always acknowledge what's a bug
	and what's not)
	
3. Microprose - flatly deny bugs, refuse to take customer input. When
	confronted with the multitide of bugs in gs2k, they simply
	replied (on CI$): "no, that's how we wanted it to work."
	
	
But, turning the tables, rating them on technology (again, #1 is best)

1. Spectrum Holobyte (despite the bugs, F3 is the most complex sim
	avail)
	
2. Dynamix (Red Baron and AOTP have some great features, but model 
	a simplier time. It's not a question of how "good" their
	technology is, but how much they have applied.
	
3. Microprose (dead last. The original gunship and F-19 were breakthroughs
	at the time, but gs2k, f-117, and the entire F-15 series are
	jokes.)
	
Just my $.02

KC
-- 
Tom "KC" Basham    AT&T Bell Laboratories:  bash@ihlpb.ATT.COM
                   CompuServe:              73760.1251@CompuServe.COM
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: FAQ?
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 06:34:19 GMT

Is anyone keeping an FAQ for this group?  I volunteer to do so, if no one
else is already...

-- 
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 locations?
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 09:44:06 GMT

In article <BxHI09.G12@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> goose@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Pilot) writes:
>In article <tomcat.721331068@cwis> tomcat@cwis.unomaha.edu (Jeffrey S. Jo) writes:
>>
>>Are there any anonymous FTP sites  that have locations that can be used
>>in TRACON II?  Thanks!
>>
>  Not to my knowledge.. but I have the entire airport disk that I may be able
>  to get to ya..

"Wesson monitors the net."  At least show the sense to do this in email.

The more honest users out there will no doubt have noted that Appendix C
to the TRACON // manual (both Mac and PC) has detailed information on how
to construct sector files. 

For general interest, Wesson sells three sector disks for the US, one for
Europe (and yes, they can all fit on one HD disk, compressed :-)).  The Mac 
sector disk was somewhat more accurate for Europe than the PC version, last 
I checked (about a year ago).

They're of passing interest; mainly useful if you want to play in your local 
environment, I guess.  I believe they go for $20 each, but you'd probably 
be able to strike a deal if you bought all at once.


Central:
    DET        Detroit, Michigan
    DFW        Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
    HOU        Houston, Texas
    IND        Indianapolis, Indiana
    MKC        Kansas City, Missouri
    MSP        Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
    MSY        New Orleans, Louisiana
    STL        St. Louis, Missouri
    
Europe:
    AMS        Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    ATH        Athens, Greece
    BUB        Brussels, Belgium
    LON        London, England
    MUN        Munich, Germany
    PAR        Paris, France
    ROM        Rome, Italy
    SBA        Stockholm, Sweden
            
Eastern:
    ATL        Atlanta, Georgia
    BNA        Nashville, Tennessee
    CLE        Cleveland, Ohio
    DCA        Washington, D.C.
    JAX        Jacksonville, Florida
    JFK        New York, New York
    PHL        Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    TPA        Tampa, Florida

Western:
    ABQ        Albuquerque, New Mexico
    DEN        Denver, Colorado
    LAS        Las Vegas, Nevada
    PDX        Portland, Oregon
    PHX        Phoenix, Arizona
    SAN        San Diego, California
    SLC        Salt Lake City, Utah.
    



---
Robert Dorsett
rdd@cactus.org
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd
From: tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: TRACON II
Date: 13 Nov 92 18:21:33 GMT
Reply-To: tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett)
Organization: Auspex Systems, Inc.  Engineering

In article <larry.721587626@mits>, larry@mits.mdata.fi (Lasse Hero) writes:
> It's great! Well, the Windows version has VFR flight following,
> better weather generator, Sound Blaster support for digitized speech
> and of course the better resolutions. It's definitely worth
> getting, upgrading from previous versions of Tracon (any version)
> is also possible (that's what I did).

Now if I could just find it.  Here I am in the middle of Silicon
Valley, and I can't find Tracon for windows at Frys, or Comp USA,
and I'm gonna try Egghead today...

Frustrating!


Tom Pickett 
tpickett@auspex.com or 74616.2237@compuserve.com
SHO  GOZE
From: eonu11@castle.ed.ac.uk (R Murphy)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Expired amiga info wanted
Date: 9 Nov 92 16:04:33 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Edinburgh University


 I wrote to ask about amiga simulators recently, but when I logged on to
read the replies they had all expired. Would anyone have a copy that
they could post to me?

Thanks, Ronan
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: peted@microsoft.com (Peter Duniho)
Subject: Re: Spectrum Holobyte Support - Poor
Date: 05 Nov 92 20:38:04 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Distribution: na

In article <1992Nov1.224947.5933@newshost.lanl.gov> masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten) writes:
>Comparing them to MS just doesn't seem fair.  MS is a HUGE company that
>can afford plenty of full-time tech support.  When you sell millions of
>copies of software, the cost of this support isn't much per copy.  I
>wouldn't want to pay an extra $(who knows how much?) for that kind of
>tech support on games which will only sell thousands or 10's of
>thousands of copies.

(Part of me says I should just stay out of this, because even
if I try to make it clear that this is _just_ me talking, someone
will assume I'm being a spokesperson for Microsoft.  I'll at least
_try_ to make this clear:  I am *NOT* speaking for Microsoft here.)

The above statement, by David, assumes that the support costs are
fixed, and that the more copies of a piece of software you sell,
the lower the support costs per copy are.  But, this is just plain
wrong.  The support costs per copy of software sold are pretty much
fixed...the more copies you sell, the more people will be calling you
up to get some sort of help with it.  Since Spectrum Holobyte sells
fewer copies of their software than Microsoft sells of theirs, their
support costs are much lower than Microsoft's.  Microsoft doesn't
get any sort of break on the support costs just because they sell
lots of software; since they have more customers to support, the
support costs go up in lock-step with the number of copies sold,
keeping the per-copy costs exactly the same whether Microsoft sells
1000 copies or 1,000,000.
-- 
Pete Duniho         "Give me a fish, or a mountain, to scale..."
peted@microsoft.com              -- Toy Matinee
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: darons@netcom.com (Daron Stinnett)
Subject: Re: Spectrum Holobyte. Have they done it again?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:57:38 GMT

In article <1dsq1lINN9jd@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU> rrg@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU (Rafael Rodriguez) writes:
>I have just got the latest update for Falcon3 (3.01.1, I think).
>
>The accompanying documentation doesn't mention if the upgrade
>will erase my squadron and campaign data, as usual, or not.
>
>Does anybody know if this latest upgrade is consistent with
>past upgrades and trashes user data?
>

Believe the documentation.

Daron Stinnett
Product Manager, Simulations Group
Spectrum HoloByte



Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: FAQ First Draft ...
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 22:54:11 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.185247.20676@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas) writes:
>
>9)  Can I maintain my IFR liscense with any flight simulators?  If so,
>    which ones?
>
>    There are two that I know of for sure that can be used for this purpose:

Just wanted to make this correction public...The above statement is inaccurate,
and I was apparently misinformed by my source (an IFR pilot who is actually
using one such piece of software).  There are no simulators (PC-based) that
can be used for IFR loggin at the current time, however both of the products
mentioned in the FAQ are attempting to get such permission.  Still, they
are definitely good for practice, as they are as realistic as PC-based
simulators can get.
   Thanks to those that pointed this inaccuracy out to me.  :)

-- 
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: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: TRACON Sector file:  DENVER (not Wesson's)
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 21:33:45 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.195231.13065@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> kbarr@nyx.cs.du.edu (Keith Barr) writes:
>What follows is a Denver sector file that I cooked up last night.  I drew
>it up based upon my flying experience in the Denver area, and I used
>Jeppesen-Sanderson Charts, so the data should be accurate.  If you would
>like to see specific changes (more/fewer fixes, etc.) please let me know.
>If you make further improvements to this file, I would like to see them
>as well.
>
>I wrote this for the windows version, and I don't know if it will work
>for the DOS version.  Please let me know if it does or doesn't.

The .sec format for Tracon II and Tracon for Windows are identical, as far as 
I know.  But, just so you will know for sure, I tested your Denver sector on
my Tracon II for DOS and it worked just fine.   :)
  Nice work!

-- 
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: larry@mits.mdata.fi (Lasse Hero)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
Subject: Re: TRACON II
Date: 12 Nov 92 17:00:26 GMT
Organization: Microdata Oy

tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett) writes:

>So how does everyone feel about Tracon for Windows?  Should I replace
>my Tracon II for the windows version?  What advantage is there over the
>regular dos version?

It's great! Well, the Windows version has VFR flight following,
better weather generator, Sound Blaster support for digitized speech
and of course the better resolutions. It's definitely worth
getting, upgrading from previous versions of Tracon (any version)
is also possible (that's what I did).

>Do the same sector files work with the windows version?

Yes, you of course can't get digitized speech with them...

--
Lasse Hero  -  larry@mits.mdata.fi
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: r0h7630@tamuts.tamu.edu (Rithea Hong)
Subject: Castles 2 HELP ME!
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 06:38:35 GMT

I've been playing Castles II and am TRULY frustrated.  I have yet to win
even on 'easy'.  Terrirtories seem to revolt for no apparent reason.  How
do I prevent this?  Also, whenever the game rankings come up, all the others
are 'blessed', how do I get 'blessed'?  Also, does anyone have a cheat for
this game?  ARGGH!


[***************************************************************************]
                              Rithea Hong
                       (r0h7630@tamuts.tamu.edu)
                 Nuclear Engineering major at Texas A & M
[***************************************************************************]
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.simulators
From: cyliao@iastate.edu (Chun-Yao Liao)
Subject: Re: Flight simulators under X-Unix
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 06:17:54 GMT

In article <1d8r5rINN8m1@swan.doc.ic.ac.uk> dd@doc.ic.ac.uk (Demetrius Dracopoulos) writes:
>
>Hello all,
>
>I would like to make a complete list of flight simulators that exist for
>X-Windows. I'm particularly interested for FTP sites that one can find those.
>Personal opinions for these are welcome.
>In the end, I'll summarize.

	GREAT! I've been looking for this for a long time too.
	One that I know is the ACM, ftp from gatekeeper.dec.com
	but it's not all that great....



-- 
Chun-Yao Liao              |\   |  __ \  /-----                 -------------
cyliao@iastate.edu         | \  | /  \ \/   | A Milano      ------------
Department of EE and CprE  |  \ ||---- /\   |  Dreamer  ---------
Iowa State University      |   \| \__ /  \  |Mail OK, I have MailService.