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#3087874 - 09/06/10 05:34 AM Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim!  
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citizen guod Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

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Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim!
Or, Have You Recently Lost Your HOTAS?
by Tom "20mm" Hayden

20mm takes a humorous look at the inevitable problem all simmers face at some point and time. No, not THAT problem.

http://www.simhq.com/_commentary/all_042a.html


Wisdom is knowing what's enough
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#3087886 - 09/06/10 06:27 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Chunx Offline
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Holy crap, Tom! I sure hope that you get better soon. Heed that Doctor's advice.

By the way, that SD thing isn't contagious, is it?

Has anyone seen the hand-sanitizer?

biggrin

Nice article, bud. I think we can all relate to periods where real life commitments prevented us from enjoying our virtual hobby. Hope you can carve out some "personal" time in the near future for a little simulation entertainment.


Chunx
#3087897 - 09/06/10 07:34 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
Joined: Dec 2008
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wheelsup_cavu Online tunes
Lifer
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Lifer

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Corona, California
Get well soon Tom.


Wheels


Cheers wave
Wheelsup_cavu

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#3087934 - 09/06/10 09:41 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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VonBarb. Offline
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The Dust,Pandora
Good read. I sure can relate to that, I've actually been having the same conversation with myself for the last couple of days. I just don't sim enough anymore. These days I'm mostly flying liners in FSX, so I'm looking at a least one/two hours per flight, which is not always easy to squeeze in your daily schedule. My cure ? I started landing Cessnas in the brush again, like I used to when I picked up FSX. Great fun, short but intense, and there's always time for it.

Luckily I don't use a HOTAS, so there's no risk of loosing that...

Cheers

Nico


"Et s'il ne pleure personne, que Dieu nous le pardonne "

ArmA2/OA - RoF - FSX

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#3088187 - 09/06/10 06:21 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
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I can relate to a lot of this. Sometimes what is supposed to be fun feels like effort. This is the main reason I'm looking into building a pit - something I can just hop in and go. I also seem to start on new titles very late and it just seems like I'm way behind everyone else. I'm hoping that A-10 will be the first time that I get in when the door opens and learn as everyone else does. It's hard jumping in even a year later and having to go through mounds of information to get up to speed.


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#3088208 - 09/06/10 07:13 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Derk Offline
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Hengelo, the Netherlands
Ouch, that was a confronting commentary.
I feel that the more effort i put into my simming experience (tft MIP, customised joystick, GoFlight gear, simpit, etc.) the less i actually sim. I honestly think i had more fun back in the day with more immersion to boot. Of course, having a family with the associated life and responsabilities cuts in too.
I guess you just can't have it all. Last weeks i'm even considering to scrap the pit and get back to basic (well, maybe not quite "basic") a good sim experience has become too much of a hassle in my mind. I also experience that when i just do it and get in there there still is a gratifying thing to do but i don't feel "connected" to the sim anymore. it all feels mechanic, yet leaves me wanting more..

..and here i am posting on forums in the little hour of free time i have today, again! Please excuse me, i have a sim to boot, doctor's orders!


Derk
I'm still an airman. I just happen to change diapers for a living!

crap...
#3088218 - 09/06/10 07:42 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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FALAES Offline
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Quote:
“There’s nothing wrong with you physically, but I see here you said you dreamed you lost your hot ass.”


Did you consider plastic sugery ?!

Sorry, but you well provoked that one yep


But sometimes, I feel with you...

Last edited by FALAES; 09/06/10 07:42 PM.

"To fly is necessary. To live is not." - Melli Beese
#3088226 - 09/06/10 08:07 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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adlabs6 Offline
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Tracy Island
Hehe, fun write up.

And quite true in some aspects for me. There was a time when I flew 500 to 1000 miles a week in the cockpit of a Boeing 727 in FS2004, practiced and raced weekly in rFactor, and spent hours building missions and whiling away the weekend in ArmA.

But it seems like the interest isn't there anymore for the past few months. My mind (and time) has strayed to things like scratch building scale models. And now lately... boats. Real ones. And now I'm thinking about scratch building a model boat.

How do I get into these ideas?

Anyway, I've recently installed Harpoon, and look forward to learning more about it (boats again). I may do a race at SimHQ this month, as therapy, too.


WARNING: This post contains opinions produced in a facility which also occasionally processes fact products.
#3088232 - 09/06/10 08:10 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: Corsair8X]  
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citizen guod Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

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Originally Posted By: Corsair8X
I can relate to a lot of this. Sometimes what is supposed to be fun feels like effort. This is the main reason I'm looking into building a pit - something I can just hop in and go.


Ironic. I'm working on a review of the Obutto cockpit for myself and that is the point-of-view I'm taking. Its become a PITA to have to set everything up, calibrate it, chase everybody away (2- and 4-legged) and acquire enough peaceful concentration time to enjoy sims. Especially after working a long day and doing a trek in rush-hour traffic. Maybe not a cave, but certainly someplace to get away and hide for a while may become the biggest performance upgrade yet.


Wisdom is knowing what's enough
#3088311 - 09/06/10 09:56 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
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Oakville, Ontario, Canada
I'll be looking forward to that review - although the unit looks like it won't accommodate the 46" screen I'm thinking of getting.

Like Derk, it seems that lately most of my sim experience has involved buying stuff. It's sad to consider that now that I can afford some major-class items for simming, I don't seem to have the inclination to just get in and fly. I seem to spend more time thinking about the perfect sim experience and planning that experience rather than living the experience.


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#3088439 - 09/07/10 01:01 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Dart Offline
Measured in Llamathrusts
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Lifer

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Alabaster, AL USA
smile

Yep, I have three sims on my computer that I play with rotation - I rarely jump from one directly into another.

My cure is your cure.


The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
"The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
#3088528 - 09/07/10 03:29 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: Corsair8X]  
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citizen guod Offline
Lifer
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Originally Posted By: Corsair8X
I'll be looking forward to that review - although the unit looks like it won't accommodate the 46" screen I'm thinking of getting.


I'm planning to hang a 37" Viewsonic on it. We'll see what kind of hell I get myself into. smile


Wisdom is knowing what's enough
#3088565 - 09/07/10 04:59 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
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Originally Posted By: guod
Originally Posted By: Corsair8X
I'll be looking forward to that review - although the unit looks like it won't accommodate the 46" screen I'm thinking of getting.


I'm planning to hang a 37" Viewsonic on it. We'll see what kind of hell I get myself into. smile


Better make a Styrofoam frame for your monitor I think smile


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#3088859 - 09/07/10 05:19 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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20mm Offline
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Sierra Hotel

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Tucson AZ
Thanks guys for the comments, much appreciated. Yeah, back in the day, I really did sim surf. Meaning I would get into one sim, right to another, and so on. I had to discipline myself to stick with one, learn one. Tough though. I'd see a screenshot of a Spitfire and think I must fire up IL-2! Or see something from Steel Beasts and think I needed to do that too. Hard to really learn when you do that, but at the same time I'd feel I was missing out on other goodies!


Pat Tillman (1976-2004):
4 years Arizona State University, graduated with high honors.
5 seasons National Football League player, Arizona Cardinals.
Forever United States Army Ranger.
#3088908 - 09/07/10 06:23 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Derk Offline
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Hengelo, the Netherlands
Quote:
I seem to spend more time thinking about the perfect sim experience and planning that experience rather than living the experience.

Yep, same here too. I even have a pile of simpit-design scetches next to my bed, much to my wife's discomfort.
Either way, having to fiddle with controls, screen setups and controller software each time i want to take a flight really is killing the fun lately. Tomorrow is my day off, this just might be her last night here.. no, not the wife, the pit! Sometimes you've got to take a step back and i'm in need of a more user friendly sim(ple) rig.


Derk
I'm still an airman. I just happen to change diapers for a living!

crap...
#3089125 - 09/07/10 11:52 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Winter Offline
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Australia
I think just about everyone in my squad IL-2 squad III/JG11 are going through this or something similar, I sure am.

Life commitments, being exhausted after work, study, social commitments (especially the girl) all contribute to why I don't fly virtually any more.

I avidly read updates and commentary on Storm of War progress as I did with Black Shark... but I don't load up Black Shark or ever spent the time needed to get into it...

What is needed is for me to set time and make it happen like your doctor prescribed.


III/JG11_Winter
#3089337 - 09/08/10 09:09 AM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Ssnake Offline
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Germoney
WRT to the difficulty to work yourself into a sim that you would like to play but never quite managed to do, go online and seek a tutor in multiplayer sessions. If you have gone through the tutorials and feel at easy handling one vehicle with some competence, most online gamers (at least in the Steel Beasts community) are happy to accept you to show you the ropes. I think SB Pro could work well for you since the individual vehicle isn't terribly complex (in comparison to helicopters or a jet), and you don't have to hone specific skills like memorizing a number of race tracks to become somewhat competent.

There are of course other challenges - reading the terrain and guessing the opponent's intent, masking your movement ... in short, stalking prey while being the hunted at the same time. But this is something where the AARs can help you a lot to identify what went wrong, and how. In a way a tank simulation can be a bit more forgiving, and you don't necessarily have to set up elaborate equipment to feel immersed, which might make it ideal for reconvalescence.
smile


Visit the home of Steel Beasts!
...the ultimate armor sim...
#3089461 - 09/08/10 02:24 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
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Valcor Offline
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Philadelphia, PA
What a great article!

I know exactly how you feel! Sometimes I find myself surfing sites like SimHQ chewing up all my free time instead of doing the simming I was born to do!

And you are right, for all the complaining us hardcore simmers to, we do truly have a wealth of choices for good simming right now.

#3089608 - 09/08/10 05:26 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
Joined: Oct 2005
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Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
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WRT tutors - without owning Blackshark I saw that the SimHQ community was very good at doing that with people just from the discussions that cropped up on the forum. I'm hoping the same thing happens with something new like A-10. I've thought often about a tutor for this title and that title - but first wanted to get myself checked out so I'm competent first. My new year's resolution was to start flying online and now in the 3rd quarter that hasn't actually happened yet - but that is mainly due to external problems.

Hoping I'll get up to speed on FC2 and then I can jump online and start learning something.


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#3089751 - 09/08/10 07:57 PM Re: Commentary: Doctor, I've Lost the Will to Sim! [Re: citizen guod]  
Joined: Jan 2004
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f15sim Offline
More projects than sense!
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Graham, WA
Originally Posted By: guod
Originally Posted By: Corsair8X
I can relate to a lot of this. Sometimes what is supposed to be fun feels like effort. This is the main reason I'm looking into building a pit - something I can just hop in and go.


Ironic. I'm working on a review of the Obutto cockpit for myself and that is the point-of-view I'm taking. Its become a PITA to have to set everything up, calibrate it, chase everybody away (2- and 4-legged) and acquire enough peaceful concentration time to enjoy sims. Especially after working a long day and doing a trek in rush-hour traffic. Maybe not a cave, but certainly someplace to get away and hide for a while may become the biggest performance upgrade yet.


Son, you need a Man Cave. That's all there is to it. biggrin

(And no, you can't have mine!)

g.


Proud owner of 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
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