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#3527663 - 02/28/12 09:32 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience ***** [Re: Mizzy]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Well, I have to say that I'm glad to have Falcon: Allied Force in my possession these days.
I just built up a little system here at home. Falcon 4.08 has crashed to the desktop a few times, and I believe it doesn't like my NVidia card...GeForce 8400s series. But I love my Falcon like I love my pets....been doing Falcon since 1991-
Allied Force looks really good on my Toshiba 42"....
Yeh, I have other sims w/great eye candy:
Lock On Platinum
IL-2 1946
MS Combat Sim 3
But what I cherish the most about Falcon 4 and Allied Force is the sorta comic book artistry that the elements are drawn as.
And the modeling styles of these elements just fit so well within the entire Falcon world.
FreeFalcon and Falcon BMS are gorgeous to be sure, but I'm just not in the mood to beta test anymore.
And another thing-
Falcon's history of requiring more and more powerful computers still hasn't changed. I believe FreeFalcon has streamlined their codes well enough that even my little system runs their program with ease.
But again, my heart will always fall back to Falcon 4 and if that doesn't work..Allied Force will....

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#3539700 - 03/16/12 06:11 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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Comet Offline
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On a cloudy day, somewhere in the Balkans...

There was an Escort mission available, the targeted Bridges weren't too deep into enemy territory.
With the bulk of the enemy forces out by now (Day4), it wasn't supposed to be much more than
routine. But there was a CAP near the target, a pair of Su29. Not a convincing threat, however.
It takes more to worry 4 F16 armed with 4 slammers and 2 winders each. In the end it wasn't an
exciting mission. Can't always be Sunday - as we say smile
Nonetheless, observing the clouds kept me entertained and vigil. The shadows they cast on the
ground can create areas lit interestingly. Quite cute.

I took some pics. Sorry there's no fighting here. I have... forgot... to snapshot the BVR we had.
Next time I'll do better. Pics are 1024x768.

Here are the links so we keep this low-bandwidth. Besides, I don't know how to post clickable
thumbnails (anyone can teach me?)


Soon after takeoff, while waiting for my Wing to join the formation:



Enroute to the rendez-vous with Cobra1 Wing:


Going back home. "Mission accomplished!" -I thought...


The mission was a failure. Cobra1, a 2-ships Blk40 in bomber role, failed to even scratch their
targets. Twelve Mk82 dropped and they couldn't take out 2 bridges in a No-Threat scenario.
Am I surrounded by incompetents?! How are we supposed to win this war?
I need another coffee.
As for Avenger1 (my Wing), we succeeded at protecting Cobra1, but we too got from Poor to Horrible
performance rating - Gee, so much for risking the butt. That's unfair, our escorting was superb.
We shot down the couple of Su29 plus three additional An-24. But am I going to see a payrise next
month? Sure not...

Last edited by Comet; 03/21/12 03:04 PM. Reason: Added thumbnails : D

I never finish anyth
#3539730 - 03/16/12 07:00 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Comet]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Have you had any luck editing the BFconfig file?
I'm still testing...my favorite is to remove the padlock box altogether...
But here's two, the first works just fine...I'm testing the latter-

Works w/o a doubt-
set g_nPadlockBoxSize 0
set g_bNoRPMOnHud 0
set g_fCursorSpeed 1.5
et g_bMFDHighContrast 0
set g_bEnableColorMfd 1
set g_fPOVSpeed 2.5



Still testing-
set g_nPadlockBoxSize 0
set g_bNoRPMOnHUD 0
set g_bUse3dSound 1
set g_bMFDHighContrast 0
set g_bSmartCombatAP 1
set g_bHelosReloc 1
set g_bLightsKC135 1
set g_bLoadoutSquadStoreResupply 1
set g_bPowerGrid 1
set g_bAWACSBackground 0
set g_bRadarJamChevrons 1
set g_fCursorSpeed 2.000000
set g_fRadarScale 0.800000
set g_fPadlockBreakDistance 10.000000
set g_fMfdTransparency 0
set g_bDisableCrashEjectCourtMartials 1

#3539830 - 03/16/12 09:56 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Ya know-
I wonder what's the deal with the clouding in AF...
We have a 3rd party HiTiles addon...and I see posting putting down AF cloud formations.
So, why hasn't someone assembled a cloud addon?

#3540252 - 03/17/12 05:07 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
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Hello.
I took some loose screenshots yesterday.


I was kind of bored. So I launched the Takeoff training mission and hijacked it a bit.
Ground Control this is UFO16... low orbit achieved and stabilizing...


Ever been on the Concorde? That trap would cruise at angels 60, altitude at which -if you looked
out of the tiny window- you'd begin to perceive THE curvature. But AF is not realistic.
At angels 70 I am, and no curvature is to be seen. I'm gonna file an official complaint and sue
LP for a refund biggrin


Anyway there's no point to climb up there. It's even unhealthy as there can be spikes of abnormal
radiation levels piercing in from outer space, or also bouncing on you from radio sources on the
other side of the world. Surely the F16 is not shielded appropriately for the pilot to afford a
prolonged stay without an antiradiation suit. Then again, there's jets better suited for that
kind of performance.



The next pics are from today. Two hours ago or so. It was all going well when I got a wee bit too
much comfortable. And that was my downfall. A Mig21 appeared outta nowhere at 3 o'clock, high
and close. I'd swear there was nothing around me for miles in all directions only a minute earlier.
Maybe I'm wrong. I felt his scanner on me, then he fired a missile. I maneuvered quick, but my
situation was too compromised already. I was leveling after a climb, with an AOA of ~10°, below
300 kts and with the 370 Gal tanks appended... definitely in "Kick My Ass" mode.
There was no evading the missiles. Two of 'em homed in, leaving me no time to eject, blast it.
That's what you get for flying too relaxed. Be on your guard, and always climb overspeed!

These pics I got are from before the disaster.
Here I was, killing time, watching this guy as he was about to land at my airfield.


See the airbrakes? He kept opening and closing them. Almost felt like he was waving at me.


Funny, he has no rails under the left wing. I don't recall seeing more of these oddities. And
I've flown quite a bit with this sim. In fact I recall seeing always empty rails in cases such
as this. I wonder what happened. Probably a glitch.


Here he's on final and gliding for runway 30, when I notice that nice haze in the distance.


Minutes later the above pic, here we are, Me and Two, going on about our business (the Sweep
that ended badly for me). Three and Four are further back, way off-screen. I wasn't looking for
any shot to take at this moment, I just activated the Orbit Camera. But then, Carpe Diem!, and
here is this extremely nice screenshot. I'm going to make it my new wallpaper.



Originally Posted By: CuMelter
Ya know-
I wonder what's the deal with the clouding in AF...
We have a 3rd party HiTiles addon...and I see posting putting down AF cloud formations.
So, why hasn't someone assembled a cloud addon?

The same person who made the HiTilesAF addon was working on a WeatherAF app to let us modify the
weather informations stored into Campaign savegames, TE and Training missions. The program was
never finished (as far as I know), and the last beta of it that I've seen has bugs (it sets the
wrong wind direction, and it ends up writing 0 Kts for the wind speed - meaning: no wind).
I understand he was waiting for LP to decide if they wanted to support such an app. No idea what
response he was given, if he ever received one.

Honestly there's a lot to complain about the clouds in AF.
With the exception of the Cumulus type (those in my pics), all the cloud formations available
in AF are the same from the original F4. They're just ugly. Too ugly.
Not only we'd need better textures, but also someone that knows where to go mod the cloud models
being used in AF. And then there's the problem that modding AF is officially forbidden. You do
that and you break the eula. Then they might 'bite'.

And finally, AF has a problem with its clouds. The weather is dynamic, yes, but the clouds do not
get regenerated. Once the wind pushes them 'out of the world', no new clouds are 'pushed in' from
the opposing end. If you fly the sim long enough, even in Campaign mode, you will see all clouds
disappear for good. To get the clouds back you have to periodically alter the weather section
inside the campaign savegame (I do WinkNGrin). If you don't, at some point you are going to fly with the sky
perpetually clear.

The 'g_bEnableWindsAloft' BFops.cfg setting might help in this regard. I'm still testing with it,
though, and have no conclusion yet to support either "it helps / it doesn't help" claim.

Originally Posted By: CuMelter
Have you had any luck editing the BFconfig file?
I'm still testing...my favorite is to remove the padlock box altogether...
But here's two, the first works just fine...I'm testing the latter-

[...]


Here's my BFops.cfg:
  • set g_bCATIIIDefault 1
  • set g_bEnableWindsAloft 1
  • set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 1
  • set g_bIDMDatalink 1
  • set g_bUse3dSound 1
  • set g_bUseMouse3forSOI 1
  • set g_fCursorSpeed 1.8
  • set g_fRadarScale 0.8
  • set g_nMaxSimTimeAcceleration 16


I'm happy with it. But I change this or that from time to time.
Currently I don't know what the 'g_bIDMDatalink' is for. If it's making any difference, I'm not
seeing it. But I see that BFopslog.txt doesn't even acknowledge it. Then it's probably ignored.

As for 'g_fCursorSpeed' I'm still searching for my optimal value. The current value of 1.8 is a
wee bit too fast. I'll try with it some more, then raise it to 1.85 and see if I get a better
feel.

I don't use the 3D cockpit, padlocking and panning around aren't for me. If this was BMS I'd
definitely do. Why spit on a feature that has such good support? Nonsense. But in AF I find
myself more comfortable with the 2D cockpit. I just love it) I even dogfight in it yep.

The 'g_nMaxSimTimeAcceleration' is one I recommend. Time acceleration past 16x can mess the
Campaign simulation. It can go nuts, with Happenings not happening, and Nonsenses happening outta
the blue. In the cockpit instead there's no safe max Time accel. for everyone. It varies with the
FPS you're having.



File [atc.ini] - This might interest you:

Have a look into the subfolders under the \Campaign folder. In each you can find an 'atc.ini' file.
Each campaign has got its own copy (\Balkans, \Balkans2005, \Balkans2010, etc...)
If you open them files, you find a 'PlayerBumpTime = 10' setting at the beginning. The comment
tells you what it's for.
Many times I've found myself in heavy land-traffic situations with the ATC unable to solve the mess
within the 10 minutes limits past which *my* mission would be canceled. Those 10 minutes start
counting from your scheduled TakeOff time. Over multiple edits I raised the 'PlayerBumpTime' to 30
minutes. Haven't had another mission canceled ever since, even if the airfield is a mess of people
taxing to park and people taxing to takeoff.


I'll go have a coffee. Bye.

Last edited by Comet; 03/21/12 03:10 PM. Reason: Added thumbnails : D

I never finish anyth
#3541235 - 03/19/12 11:12 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Well, I've found the following ( at least on my end)..

3d sound is great in the pit, but kills exhaust outside the pit...
High Contrast MFDs off seemed to be ignored...oh well-
SmartCombatAP...I guess..he fires missles or guns at his own choosing-
AWACSBackground is a nogo at least in Instant Action-

Working Thus Far:..
set g_nPadlockBoxSize 0
set g_bNoRPMOnHud 0
set g_fCursorSpeed 1.5
set g_fPOVSpeed 2.5
set g_fMfdTransparency 0
set g_bRadarJamChevrons 1

I'll Falcon more, but the damned morning has caught up w/me and I have a farm to run.
Ah Hell, whom I kiddin'...the critters can wait a damned while!!
Back in the pm, I'm sure. Turnin' into a damned night owl.
Coffee's gurglin'


Last edited by CuMelter; 03/19/12 11:26 AM.
#3541243 - 03/19/12 11:30 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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CuMelter Offline
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I had a weird experience just awhile ago-
I went for padlock on the MiG from Hell...
when the screen came up....it was the SA screen-
Remember, on the left is your gauges and a polygon box noting your plane's position to the horizon and so forth?

I don't recall using any combo keys, but I might have by accident. And I can't recall how to get back to the full screen padlock w/o dragging the book down or at least the keyboard chart. Its kinda cool, but kinda not cool as in alittle too retro.
Man, I've got to RTFM for Allied. I've looked at the PDF manual to get a handle on the AWACS screen, and that's really about all.
I'm just more of a dude that would rather curl up w/the manual in bed...then fall asleep with the book on my chest.

PS- I remember reading somewhere about the nVidia gui code to put in the BFops.cfg file....oh here it is-
// Forces the Falcon User Interface to be rendered without hardware acceleration
// Cures UI stickyness on certain hardware (always turned on for 3DFX hardware)
// (0 - disabled, 1 - enabled, default 0)
set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 1



Last edited by CuMelter; 03/19/12 11:52 AM.
#3541421 - 03/19/12 04:43 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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Comet Offline
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To toggle the Situational Awareness side bar in 3D cockpit mode: Shift-3


The 'set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 1' setting is mainly used (today) by nVidia users to avoid graphics
corruption in the 'Tactical Reference' and 'Loadout' screens in case you have FullSceneAntiAliasing
(FSAA) forced On via nVidia Control Panel.
Essentially 'set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 1' instructs the sim to render every Graphical User Interface
(GUI) screen in software mode (all drawings done by the CPU, completely ignoring your gfx card's
capabilities).
Btw, are you using that switch? From your screens I see that you don't use of FSAA. In that case
you are better off with 'set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 0' (or just delete it from BFops.cfg).


As for 3D sound...
I found that, on my system, the 'set g_bUse3dSound 1' switch has a tendency to mess up the sound
volumes after a while. It takes minutes, but it happens eventually. When I switch to an external
view my sounds are muffled as if I'm still in the pit. But as I touch the sim master volume (Alb-b
for up and Alt-n for down), the sounds get adjusted to the proper volume immediately.
But when I switch back to the pit I have the sounds at a higher volume than they should, as if I'm
still outside. Again, by touching the sim master volume the sounds get adjusted to the proper
volume. This is annoying. I tried to use the 'set g_bOldSoundAlg 1' switch, which is said to make
the sim employ an older (and supposedly more reliable) sound system. Fail. The sound volumes get
messed up all the same.
I know for a fact that my audio system is fine. It's probably AF. Comes to think of it, there has
to be a reason is these tasty switches are off by default.


I have also evidence that the 'set g_bCATIIIDefault 1' switch is not having effect.
On a Sweep mission the default loadout was AA ordnance with no external tanks. I just Commit that,
but once in the pit I read 'Cat I'.


I think to remember that you can get the AWACS background by joining any squadron of AWACS.
Joining back any F16 squadron will revert to the default background. Campaign mode, only.



[edit]
Your screens are visibly stretched horizontally.
Are you using an LCD monitor?
If yes, what native screen resolution is your LCD? - Maybe 1360x768 (85:48) ?
Also what screen resolution have you chosen in the Graphics Setup of AF?


I never finish anyth
#3541952 - 03/20/12 02:02 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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Comet Offline
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From time to time AF entertains you with a silly debriefing.



Seriously, to flag a 15 to 1 loss ratio as a "partial failure", and talking of "moderate casualties"...
These debrief guys don't know what they talk about. They weren't in there, for starters.
There was some kind of welcoming party at the door. We couldn't engage them all.

And thank goodness the briefing said that no enemy air response was anticipated! See if I ever
believe their biological waste again. We were mighty unprepared for that hot action. The 120B's
were quick to deplete. Then it was bullet time with the 9M's. Adrenaline was pumping.
Mig21's, Mig29A's, G-4's, J-22's -> you name them, we've shot them. At steerpoint 3 we were all
winchester and spitting out of the canopy for any possible advantage. I'm sure I got something.
Too much traffic for it to have watered the ground.
Once the situation settled there were 3 more stpt to go. With Chalis picturing bogeys all around
I had to call for relief - and we just headed home. But flaks got Ritter on rejoin frown.
Darn, I forgot to ask the boy if he's affiliated with the homonymous chocolate brand...

Note to self: never again go on Sweep with only 2 slammers each. It's a call for trouble.

Last edited by Comet; 03/21/12 03:12 PM. Reason: Added thumbnail : D

I never finish anyth
#3542020 - 03/20/12 04:02 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Comet]  
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CuMelter Offline
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My monitor is my 42" Toshiba. It wasn't planned that way, but I use my TV as my computer's monitor.
Turns out to be a joy by sheer accident. When I was putting this system together, I had a 21" and it snapped, crackled on popped after 10 years of service.
I'm experimenting with juggling between screen ratios, Comet. Too many damned options and combo of options for this ol'man to keep track of.
Between 15 alternative switches w/the monitor...30 combinations w/the video card...and the numberous options within FalconAF...you see my dilemma.

So I set the Toshiba's view to 'Full stretch' othewise, I'd have the black bars on the sides while in the 2d-pit.
3d-pit is wide by default however. Now we know AF didn't ship w/widescreen pits.
I'm going over to Cockpits NL now lookin' around.

As for now, I'm having fun cleaning up the Balkans 2d cockpit and creating newer interface pix....and I swap/edit the sounds & scores.
Coffee's callin'. Had a hard night. I'll edit this post shortly.
Good Morn' to all-
Ed
If you're using 3rd party pits, tell me more.
Blue Skies-

Last edited by CuMelter; 03/20/12 05:58 PM. Reason: Caffiene Workin' Now
#3542607 - 03/21/12 02:12 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
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Comet Offline
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Originally Posted By: CuMelter
My monitor is my 42" Toshiba. It wasn't planned that way, but I use my TV as my computer's monitor.
Turns out to be a joy by sheer accident. When I was putting this system together, I had a 21" and it snapped, crackled on popped after 10 years of service.
I'm experimenting with juggling between screen ratios, Comet. Too many damned options and combo of options for this ol'man to keep track of.
Between 15 alternative switches w/the monitor...30 combinations w/the video card...and the numberous options within FalconAF...you see my dilemma.

So I set the Toshiba's view to 'Full stretch' othewise, I'd have the black bars on the sides while in the 2d-pit.
3d-pit is wide by default however. Now we know AF didn't ship w/widescreen pits.
I'm going over to Cockpits NL now lookin' around.

I see.
Sorry for meddling, then smile. I thought you had some sort of mis-setup - and maybe I could help.
But there's little to do in your case. It's either wide pit, or black bars, or stretch.



Originally Posted By: CuMelter
If you're using 3rd party pits, tell me more.
Blue Skies-

No 3rd party pits for me.

I did try the stopwork pits for AF (those I got are 4:3 - don't know if wide versions were made).
I remember I wanted them so badly. Sure they looked cute, but they don't work at 1024x768! Must
be at least 1280x860 or something - I don' recall the exact figure. Their native res. is 1600x1200.
All nice and dandy... if it wasn't for a detail: any res. greater than 1024x768 makes the MFD
and HUD fonts unreadable for me. The B, G, E, 6, 8 and 0 all look the same, which makes dogfights
next to impossible, and all other situations in which you've got to think fast become Freeze-bound.
It's no fun.

"Be happy with what you have" -I learned. And you know what? It's a true blessing.

So I stick to Aeyes' AF stock pits. At 1024x768 the font has fantastic readability. And with the
addition of FSAA 8xQ I totally remove the aliasing (as my screens demonstrate). It's pointless
for me to go any higher than 1024x768.



[edit]
I've added the thumbnails to the pictures in my previous posts. They look so cute! dance

Last edited by Comet; 03/21/12 03:23 PM. Reason: 'Advent Of Thumbnails Technology' notification XD

I never finish anyth
#3542694 - 03/21/12 04:22 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Your FSAA is sweet. Anyone who says Falcon Allied Graphics are dated....pfffzz-
When I force AA, my interface can't be seen...except for 16xQ CSAA...whatever that is-
If I ask the card to 'Enchance'....then it doesn't seem to remove the stair-stepping.

This card was cheap new. It at least let me see what FF5 and BMS were about.
But the onboard graphics did some fair justice to Allied and Falcon4.08-
But F4.08 doesn't like this card either, unless I rollback the drivers.

Thought I'd try another go at the Balkans Campaign. I found an Su-32 that wasn't skinned.
SA-6..(2)SA-10s fired at me from all directions. I couldn't shake'em. I should've stocked a pair of harms, dammit.
I'll upload snaps later.


Last edited by CuMelter; 03/21/12 10:38 PM.
#3542724 - 03/21/12 05:12 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
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Originally Posted By: CuMelter
Your FSAA is sweet. Anyone who says Falcon Allied Graphics are dated....pfffzz-
When I force AA, my interface can't be seen.
If I ask the card to 'Enchance'....then it doesn't seem to remove the stair-stepping.

Yeah, there's some funny driver support (rather say: un-support) for Falcon. Only the more recent
nVidia driver versions (> 266.xx) seem to have brought back some support, and even so it's
exclusively for Allied Force (I heard of falconeers renaming the .exe of their favorite falcon
breed into falconaf.exe, so to fool the driver and benefit from the support given to AF).

Unless you have such newer drivers (I don't), then you're supposed to 'Override' the antialias
settings (as opposed to 'Enhance'), and make use of 'set g_bForceSoftwareGUI 1' inside BFops.cfg.
That should cure all interface problems while granting you FSAA in flight. At least it does for me.

But if you 'Enhance' the FSAA you aren't going to see any difference (per the aforementioned lack
of driver support).

When choosing the FSAA level to activate, keep in mind that we have 2x, 4x, 8x, and 16x. That much
everyone knows. What most don't know is that the Q versions (Q = Quincunx, should be a proprietor
technology developed by nVidia, IIRC) are equivalent to the next level of FSAA but with a reduced
performance cost.
So, a 8xQ FSAA is as fast as a proper 8x, but with practically-the-same-quality of a 16x.
The 16xQ is overkill instead. It'd be equivalent to a 32x FSAA. But you have no reason to use it
unless you play an old 3D game that only knows small screen res. such as 640x480 (max 800x600).


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
SA-6..(2)SA-10s fired at me from all directions. I couldn't shake'em.

Oww, yes if they catch you high in the air there's little hope of fooling them.
Gotta speed-dive vertically, then NOE cockroach-style. That works. But that's where the infantry
usually kicks in, hehehehe. Lost count of how many times I've been downed that way.


I never finish anyth
#3542769 - 03/21/12 06:10 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Novum]  
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CuMelter Offline
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Quote:
... (I heard of falconeers renaming the .exe of their favorite falcon
breed into falconaf.exe, so to fool the driver and benefit from the support given to AF)

Get Outta Here? Are You Serious.
Holy Hell...where'd ya hear stuff like that?
Is there a Falcon Allied Only club drifting around somewhere?

Ok..here's my options via nVidia's panel list-
Here are my AntiAliasing choices for this card-
2x
4x
8x CSAA
8x
16x CSAA
16xQ CSAA
AntiAliasing-Mode
Off
App Controlled (Default)
Enchance the app
Override the app

Anistropic Filtering-
Off
App Controlled (Default)
2x
4x
8x
16x

AA Gamma Correction
On/Off (Off by Default)

AA Transparency
Off (Off by Default)
Multisample
2x Supersample
4x Supersample
8x Supesample

CUDA-GPUs
All (w/option to uncheck the 8400's gpu)

Extension Limit-
Off/On (Off by Default)

Maximum pre-rendered frames
0-8 (3 being default)

Multi-display/mixed GPU acceleration-
Multiple display performance mode
Single display performance mode
Compatability display performance mode

Texture Filtering-Anisotropic Sample Optimization-
Off/On (Off by Default)

Texture Filtering-Negative LOD bias-
Allow (Default)
Clamp

Texture Filtering-Quality-
Quality (Default)
High Quality
Performance
High Performance

Texture Filtering-Trilinear Optimization-
Auto (Default)
Off/On

Triple Buffering-
Off/On (Default Off)

Vertical sync
Use the 3d app setting
Force Off
Force On

I have a layman's grip on the above at best.
I didn't study Computer Science at MS State, Cal-Tech or MIT...
Ain't plannin' on it either.

And here's a goodie-
I've tested the various driver updates...which will load up the PhysiX stuff
I've read where sometimes, the PhysiX doesn't do all that much.
Can't confirm EXCEPT-

I decided a few days ago to remove the video drivers and just load what was

absolutely necessary for windows.
Only about 30 megs...vs the 120 megs for standard express install-
Allied looked really nice with an AA view that put me in mind of maybe say

4x....w/FPS highs of 76 and 30s for lots of explosions...( I use the older explosions found in the old Falcon4)

This minimum device loading didn't give me a control panel to adjust any settings, mind you...

So, as you can see, I'm a dog chasing is tail.
So Basically, from viewing Allied w/this monitor..I see absolutely no polish using 'Enhance the app setting' whatsoever.
What I do witness is as long as objects move....they are smoothed out. But just to look at a plane flying straight and level...you get the stair-step. Move the flight stick and the steps go away. Same for AI...using 9 or 10 key to view, and you get steps.
Use the Shift 9 or Shift ~ keys...the steps go away. Take a pic....you get steps.

I have to use the 'Overide' to see improvements. Using overide, I'll get the silky-smoothe appearance, and my fps are cut in half...using the 16xQ CSAA....lower overide settings of AA kill my interface.

This is what I don't understand...I've never witnessed such mass confusion, and I'm not totally ignorant on computers, but I just became a big dumbass w/this nVidia card.
I'm beginning to suspect that this intel board doesn't like to play along either. I've heard in the past that the intel boards were the most stable, but they were NOT a gaming board. I understood this when I took delivery so I can't complain. It it what it is.

OT- does anyone know how to edit something in AF so I can change the default Instant Action clock from 12 noon to another time.
I prefer 5:30 am-

Later, Boss-
Ed
Roll Tide

Last edited by CuMelter; 03/21/12 10:37 PM.
#3542947 - 03/21/12 10:46 PM Allied Force Leave Screen- [Re: Novum]  
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
CuMelter Offline
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CuMelter  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
Twin States, USA
Here's my first 'LeaveScreen' I cooked up yesterday.
Try it out...backup your oem, naturally.
Place it in....C:\Program Files\Lead Pursuit\Battlefield Operations\art\ckptart\Res_1024\Common
You'll see your 'leavescreen and loadsplash pix...that's the folder.
Just copy your oem over to the side...be sure its renamed.

or wherever you have your AF installed-


More to follow as I see better scenes to capture-

#3543465 - 03/22/12 07:17 PM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 400
Comet Offline
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 400
Originally Posted By: CuMelter
Quote:
... (I heard of falconeers renaming the .exe of their favorite falcon
breed into falconaf.exe, so to fool the driver and benefit from the support given to AF)

Get Outta Here? Are You Serious.
Holy Hell...where'd ya hear stuff like that?
Is there a Falcon Allied Only club drifting around somewhere?

The whole italian AMVI is an example. Or maybe it was. I don't know anymore what they're up to.
Pretty big a group, they used to fly with Allied Force. When they discovered FreeFalcon, many of
them switched to it. But they would have problems with the FSAA working/not_working.
Then on the nVidia forums appeared a thread pointing out the problems of Falcon with all nVidia
cards (namely, the FSAA problems). The thread quickly became humungus. Then I don't know what
happened exactly, nor when. nVidia seemed to forever ignore the complaints, but then -bang- one
day I hear that their new drivers do re-introduce some support specific for Allied Force.
Support that was previously and implicitly there, as it implicitly is for all games, but that got
silently removed (at some point) because Falcon was labeled too old a game.

Anyway, it wasn't long before there was this advice spreading among falconeers: update to latest
nVidia drivers, then change the .exe name into falconaf.exe.

Someone else hopefully reads this and can recount you the story with the details I'm missing.

But for a quick link to support my claim, read here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win7-winvista-260.89-whql-driver.html
The page takes a while to open. Be patient. When ready, scroll down to the "Other Improvements"
section, and search for the text "Falcon 4.0: Allied Force". See what it says smile

Man, do NOT download and do NOT try to install those drivers.
The page in the link points to nVidia drivers probably NOT for your system/card combo. I just gave
you a link so you could read about the FalconAF thing. If you want to try recent drivers suitable
for you, you'll have to find those that specifically support your Windows/Gfx Card combo. K? smile


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
I have to use the 'Overide' to see improvements. Using overide, I'll get the silky-smoothe appearance, and my fps are cut in half...using the 16xQ CSAA....lower overide settings of AA kill my interface.

Here you lost me.
Are you saying that if you use Override + 16xQ FSAA, you suffer a FPS chop, yes, but you *can* play?
Instead if you Override + <other_FSAA_less_than_16xQ>, you do *not* see your interface?
Please confirm.
What parts of the interface, exactly, do you not see?

But anyway, it sounds like you are having some weird problem that you should not.
Maybe installing some beefer nVidia drivers will fix this problem? But I'm no techy either,
so don't take my word for it.
My advice is that **if** you are going to upgrade the drivers, you might as well try the latest
ones (as far as compatibility with your system/card goes).


I never finish anyth
#3543623 - 03/23/12 01:06 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Comet]  
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
CuMelter Offline
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CuMelter  Offline
W-W Super 220 Swift
Member

Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
Twin States, USA
Quote:
"... Are you saying that if you use Override + 16xQ FSAA, you suffer a FPS chop, yes, but you *can* play?
Instead if you Override + <other_FSAA_less_than_16xQ>, you do *not* see your interface?
Please confirm.
What parts of the interface, exactly, do you not see?

That's a rog, Comet. The entire interface would be gone, save the jet cursor. If I Alt-Tab back to the desktop and change things in the nVidia control panel...then flip back to Allied....the interface would be restored.
This is why I get so confused...I've never had so many options/switches I've had to encounter before in using any computer.
And I go back to the days of Win 3.1 when we had to configure ports/drivers/IO/ and so forth. Way before PlugNPlay and Plug n PRAY-
And these figures sometimes will change, depending on which drivers are loaded.

I loaded up B61 to test the frames....everything was laid waste for 20 miles....didn't blow me up at 28000 ft. FPS fell to 7 as I stared through the HUD. Viewing the ground FPS would hit 4. Then chugg along up to 11, then 16, then 33, then 27.
I decided to land at my base which was completely erased from the landscape, save all the trees burning...and I have the fog turned on up to 800 ft. So landing in the fog, with the burning trees as a good landmark...I touched down and pulled up alongside the forest fire.
FPS was about 23 thru the HUD.
Then BOOM....I guess the fuel fumes didn't get along w/the bonfire and I was toasted still strapped in my seat.

So, knowing that everyone posting about the 'Big One' thats featured in Allied Force and the huge drop in FPS they report, I didn't see any reason to complain. I can still keep things around 71-76 fps during the calm flying at say....angels 14...naturally fps will go up as you climb higher.
Drop as you fly lower. That's expected.
Flying NOE, I'll get anywhere from 60-45 depending on whether or not a metropolis is in view.
Trees/Clouds/Shadows/Reflections have no impact.
I really think its this card, man.

What's your take on using the PhysiX part of nVidia?

HolySpit...you see how damned many driver updates nVidia has released in the last 6 months just for my card-
at least 6...and this is for a low end card????

http://www.f-16.net/gallery.html

Note the HUD framing in this photo...then think about the MLU variant in Allied.
Hmmm..

Last edited by CuMelter; 03/23/12 01:38 AM.
#3543645 - 03/23/12 02:24 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 400
Comet Offline
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Comet  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 400
Originally Posted By: CuMelter
That's a rog, Comet. The entire interface would be gone, save the jet cursor. If I Alt-Tab back to the desktop and change things in the nVidia control panel...then flip back to Allied....the interface would be restored.
This is why I get so confused...

Well, I'd be confused too in your shoes. Definitely you're having a problem that we don't. And
that you shouldn't have neither. I don't know what to think of it, save that it could be the
card itself for real.

There's Gaming cards, and there's Desktop cards.

Desktop cards are not built for performance, and in general do not support a whole host of
capabilities that their gaming counterparts do. Often a desktop card of generation X is plain
inferior to any gaming card of the previous generation (X -1).

If your card is a desktop one, it'd explain a lot of things.
What's the exact model of it?


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
What's your take on using the PhysiX part of nVidia?

I got a few games that say they'll take advantage of PhysX.
Know what? I'm not sure they do. Whether I enable/disable PhysX from the nVidia control panel I
don't see a difference in game. The FPS are pretty much the same. Or maybe they do use it, but if
it's missing they revert to CPU routines to emulate hardware PhysX support. I don't know.

But I know that lots of games make use of the 'Havoc' library to implement physics in the game.
Havoc is software. PhysX is hardware. Havoc is cross platform. PhysX is nVidia only.

From *my* point of view, PhysX is a technology with no future. Why invest on it when it only works
on 'half' the cards out there? Then you (game developer) have to resort on something like Havoc to
make your game work on the remaining half? Might as well invest *solely* in Havoc and be sure that
your game works the same on all machines, regardless of the card they mount.

I repeat: that's *my* point of view. Nobody reading this start a holy war because I dared speak
against something nVidia. I couldn't care less. K?


^^ Sorry for that smile. Disclaimers are a necessity when you touch certain arguments.


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
HolySpit...you see how damned many driver updates nVidia has released in the last 6 months just for my card-
at least 6...and this is for a low end card????

Drivers no longer support only 1 card smile. Those days are gone, by a long time. Now they support
entire series at once, and of course your card is going to be mentioned in many different releases.
Make sure you consider only the 'WHQL' (Windows Hardware Quality Lab) drivers. Avoid any and all
the 'Beta' releases, as they lead to trouble more often than not.

And before you download and install a specific driver version that you think is safe, make sure
to search the internet for anybody having anything to say against that XXX.yy driver version you
are thinking to install.
Also, making a combined search for your favorite game name(s) and the driver version you want to
install is a good move. When you don't find anything specific it's a good thing smile

No, I'm serious. If you don't find too many people complaining for too many different reasons, then
they are good drivers (people will always complain. Gotta distinguish between the Forrest Gumps
that don't know which end of the keyboard is which, and between those that have an actual reason
to complain).
Else do yourself a favor and pick another version, even if older. When speaking of nVidia drivers,
'older' is not always 'badder'. Remember this.


I never finish anyth
#3543691 - 03/23/12 04:41 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: Comet]  
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
CuMelter Offline
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W-W Super 220 Swift
Member

Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 177
Twin States, USA
Quote:
'...Gotta distinguish between the Forrest Gumps
that don't know which end of the keyboard is which...'

ROTFLMAO mycomputer

Quote:
'..Else do yourself a favor and pick another version, even if older. When speaking of nVidia drivers,
'older' is not always 'badder-'

We speak the same language-
Older sometimes is way way better.
The computer industry has become a very sneaky industry, indeed.
Everything wants to 'phone home'

Sorry (afraid of repeat myself)...my card is an Asus GeForce 8400 GS Silent (IE-huge heat sink...no fan.)
No worres about cooling, though. 3 fans inside the chassie and if that don't help, I'll stick the damned thing in the frig.

Thought I'd try OpenFalcon 4point whatever and see what it would do.
CTD.
At least I got to copy the pit files and examine the sounds if I like any of them I'll replace them and//or edit them.

I wish I could just drag the tiles into Allied.
Hmmm..

PS- have you flown enough of the campaigns to see if the B61 became available?
PSS- I'll spit on any hardware mfg whenever the need arises.
I'll also spit on my abilities and capabilities as the need arises.
I've invented a whole dictionary on the art of swearing.

#3544196 - 03/24/12 01:04 AM Re: Share your Falcon AF Experience [Re: CuMelter]  
Joined: Jan 2004
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Posts: 400
Originally Posted By: CuMelter
...my card is an Asus GeForce 8400 GS Silent (IE-huge heat sink...no fan.)

The 8400 GS is a desktop card. Low-end for playing games.
Its main weakness is the reduced memory interface width, chopped at 64-bit.
Not only this makes its memory banks work at a slower speed than other cards do, but it affects
the technologies allowed to the card by the driver. The slower a card is, the less feasible the
use of some advanced technologies. Because they'd just not fit on slow hardware.
So they inhibit them techs entirely when you're lucky, or they do worse and substitute them with
surrogates that only seem to make the job right. But when you ask for that little more, you run
into rendering defects or outright anomalies.

I would consider to upgrade. You can find cheap and robust gaming cards today.
But don't do this by yourself. Find someone who can 'follow' you. The cards themselves today have
hardware requirements:

  • Max Watts consumption, which your PSU must be able to exceed comfortably, not just 'sustain',
    or you damage the PSU - then the sudden reboots/BSODs while aplay begin and you wonder wtf?.
    That's sign of a PSU failing.
  • Type of PSU connectors required, to empower the card. You'd be surprised at how many people
    cry that their PSU only has got one 8-pins connector while their card wants two (only an example).
  • Physical space (Width x Height x Length), taken by the card inside your case. Just will it fit?
    Nothing more hilarious than having the perfect PSU for your flashy new card and then you can't stuff
    the thing into the case. When there is a problem, 99 times out of 100 it's of insufficient Length only.
    Nevertheless, people have gone postal over it.

Upgrading the card can be tricky. Need to know what you're doing. The above list is okay for the due
hardware checks. As for which GPU's are good and which are not, you can ask that on almost any
forum where gamers gather. Nothing better than talking with people that have direct experience
with a card. Reading a web articles that reviewed the exact model you eyed is also recommended.


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
Thought I'd try OpenFalcon 4point whatever and see what it would do.
CTD.

My first CTD with OF 4.7 happened at 9 minutes into the ramp start.
And this was after a long hour of installation / deflating / rebuilding / younameit.
I've got to be honest: it was the only CTD I had with OF yep - I have uninfested it after the first.


Originally Posted By: CuMelter
PS- have you flown enough of the campaigns to see if the B61 became available?

By my own experience, I have never seen a B61 in the standard campaigns. But I haven't flown them
all yet. I think some custom campaigns may have the B61. The Skunkworks mod, maybe?


Wait. At this [link] there's the official answer to your question:
Quote:
2. Why are there no stocks of nuclear weapons available in the campaign?
Adding stocks of nuclear weapons to the campaigns would destabilise and unbalance the campaign
system by a huge degree, so these weapons are always out of stock in campaign. They are available
in TE.

smile Looks like the war simulator can't handle the consequences, at a strategic level, that the
deployment of a single B61 would bring. But it's okay, we forgive it.


I never finish anyth
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