I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year from myself and all the staff at Frugal's World. It's been a funny old year, starting as part of the Thrustworld Network. This site came under threat when the stock market crashed taking ThrustWorld with it. Thanks to the assistance of Terrapin and all of the subscribers we survived that crisis. I also owe big thanks to irides.com who have been a fantastic host for these forums. I won't thank the hosts of the main site though as performance of that server has been pretty poor.
The site again came under threat around the summer when the good will and friendly atmosphere that the forums have been known for suddenly vanished, after 4 good years the forums suddenly turned into a cess pool and I very nearly walked away from the whole site. But after a lot of hard work (and several bannings) the forums returned to their friendly nature and my motivation returned.
Despite the bumps on the road it has been a good year for FW and membership of our forums has almost doubled over the year and our traffic has increasd by close to 1 million page views per month across the Frugal's World network. During this year I had the opportunity to meet more of the visitors in person including the Belgian Tigers and the Real Simulator guys. The highlight was meeting Stewie who drove the length of the country just to take me to Waddington, I spent a lot of time in his and GForceUK's company and now consider them good personal friends offline as well as online.
Every year when I look back over the year the one thing that stands out is just how lucky I am to know you guys. It is both an honour and a privaledge to serve you. I don't think there is a better community anywhere in the world and I am a better man for having known and served you.
Have a great new Year. When the clock strikes midnight I will be raising a glass to you guys. I also ask that when the clock strikes midnight where you are, please raise a glass to absent friends like Dominator, Buzz Hoffman, Cowboy and the many others we have lost over the years.
The latest version of BMS for Falcon 4.0 has been released.
BMS 1.02 is released!
This release features many new bug fixes and enhancements. Make sure you read the installation instructions in the Install.txt!!! Falconsp.cfg is no longer used by BMS. Instead, configs are saved in the falconbms.cfg file. After you install, there should be 3 shortcuts on your desktop: The BMS executable, the BMS Manual, and the BMS configuration editor. The manual has been completely redone now, and is definitely worth reading.
A review of Stopworks' F-16 Blk.40 Hi-Res Cockpit by Flighthangar.Net editor Chris 'Chrisse' Janssens has been posted over on their site. Here is a taste:
The first thing I noticed about the cockpit is that it is much lighter than the default SP3 pit, as it has less pitch-black areas. As is to be expected at such a high resolution, all the graphics in the Block40 cockpit seem very clear and sharp. The fonts, both on the HUD and in the cockpit, are easily legible. At this point, I was in for a surprise. My first impression was that the view of the side panels was a bit too sideways, making it hard to see the text on the panels. This was the case on either side panel. However, if you click sideways again, you get a more top down view of the side panels, making it easy to make out all the buttons. I think this is the first time I see this in any Falcon-cockpit. Combined, both views give a clear view of the side panels.
Matt Wagner posted this update on the status of the LOMAC patch on the new LOMAC Forum
Hi folks,
I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that we got a new beta patch version today and many new items were fixed since the last. This first patch is becoming quite comprehensive and is really making the game feel like a new title. All the tests show good performance under Win98se and ME with the patch, and it appears this may have also improved overall memory usage. Although I cannot promise you this, those of you with blue screens may see this fixed as well (myself and testers have not seen this in the patch).
The bad news is that there are still a couple of no-go bugs. So, I'm afraid that the chances of the patch being released pre-Christmas is low. We do not want to release a patch now and then have to release one right afterwards because the first makes the game unplayable for some. Sorry folks, we need time to test it out. Also, being the holidays, many of the vital people needed to get the patch done and on the net will be taking a bit of time off to spend with family and friends. However, we will try our best to have the patch available before the New Year. That is a goal, NOT a promise.
As I have said before, I can make NO PROMISES on dates. I try to keep you all informed, but nothing is ever certain and things often take turns you least expect. There is no conspiracy, no evil plot, and no deception. We're just a developer and a publisher trying to get a quality patch out as fast as possible while maintaining good community communications.
Finally, if you haven't see a particular item you want to see fixed in the list I've posted, fear not; this will not be the last patch. We use community feedback to help drive what gets fixed in future patches. However, we need to get this first patch out as soon as we can and we simply don't have the time to fix every bug in this first patch. Please be patient.
Myself and the staff of Frugal's World would like to wish you a healthy and happy Christmas. Here's hoping that Santa brings all that your heart desires.
Microsoft today added another part to their Flight Simulator 2004 SDK sets with the BGLComp SDK being released. It's used for the latest version of the BGL scenery language compiler.
For more information and to download the SDKs, click
HERE
PMDG, famous for their airliner designs for the Fly! series, and recently the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has released a service update for one of the most complex aircraft ever designed for a simulator, their Boeing 737-600/700.
The long-awaited update, among other things, modifies the virtual cockpit to a fully-clickable and interactive environment, updates and adjusts fuel usage, and makes additional livery installation a lot easier.
For more information and purchasing options, click
HERE
The long-anticipated ActiveSky 2004 for MSFS2004 is now available! Here's some information about it:
Introducing the newest weather add-on for FS2004: ActiveSky2004. AS2004 has been developed from the ground-up with FS2004 in mind. All advanced FS2004 weather features are fully utilized including Station-Based Weather and display of distant weather around the aircraft. Station-based TAF Forecast Processing is also included, which brings realistic dynamic weather in both online and offline modes.
Not only did we take advantage of all FS2004 features, but we intelligently fine-tuned them for the best depiction of realistic weather possible. The end-result is a smoother, more breathtaking weatherscape depiction that more accurately represents real-world conditions!
New to AS2004 is the HiFi DataNet: a Private Weather Server System sitting on a high-bandwidth redundant network connection. This means quicker, more reliable, and more up-to-date weather data downloads. HiFi DataNet also provides storage and easy download of archived weather files.
A vastly improved Flight Planning Interface now permits flight plan importing (FS2004 .PLN files) and presents a wealth of important information including all weather expected along your route/alternate, plus a complete Navigation Log with headings, distances, speeds, times and wind conditions at each waypoint. New intelligent route awareness automatically finds relevant weather stations along your route and uses this information for enhanced in-flight weather processing.
Also new is Ultra-High Resolution Winds Aloft Data Resolution covering the entire globe using the World Forecast Model - the same data that real pilots use for international winds aloft planning. This means accurate data for every area of the world, including oceanic zones!
Utilizing technology from Weather Center 2, we have incorporated ActiveRadar, a new Weather Radar Display Module that depicts different precipitation 360 degrees around your aircraft. The module installs directly into FS2004 and the display can be pulled up from the menu bar or hotkey. A colorful display with range and display options not only looks good, it provides the means to in-flight weather avoidance procedures.
Other new features include Random/Influenced Data Interpolation, support for 10+ cloud layers, Overcast Enhancements, Intelligent Upper Cloud Generation, performance tools, new options, and a new user interface system will bring much-improved weather realism to your simulated flights.
For more information and purchasing options click
HERE
As part of LOMAC Week #2 at SimHQ, there is a new article by Leon “Badboy” Smith. Here is a taste:
Being a good stick is not only a question of just getting the stick where it needs to be as quickly as possible, although in some simulations or situations that can be true. How rapidly, how smoothly, and how far you move the stick has such an influence, that it can make the difference between winning and losing a fight. It was not what you tried to do, but how you tried to do it. The real question is not just about where you want to be, but about how far and how fast you should pull back on the stick to get there?
There is a new article on SimHQ with respect to beyond visual range combat in LOMAC. Here is a short excerpt:
BVR combat has been the goal of aircraft and weapons designers since the dawn of the radar guided missile. Some time after the Korean War it became possible to shoot down aircraft outside of the visual arena. The Cold War drove technology at a furious pace and the development of the SAM (surface-to-air missile) helped to accelerate the air-to-air aspects of radar and missile technology simultaneously.
Today is Falcon 4's 5th Birthday. After a long pregnancy Falcon was born of the 12.12.98 wighing a little under 35 pounds (£34.99 to be exact although se wasn't weighed in pounds till on week later)It was a fairly sickly child but loveable all the same. After making an attempt to nurse Falcon back to health the parents abandoned her at the tender age of 1. Fortunately she was adopted by the community who fed her with new code, built up her body with new models and clothed her in wonderful new skins. She was taught more about the world with new theaters and terrains and educated with massive amounts of new data. Here we are 5 years on and despite early fears that she would not survive, she has grown strong and is now pregnant with child.
Matt Wagner wrote this at SimHQ about the 1.01 patch for Lomac:
Work is still progressing on the 1.01 patch and I expect to get the next version soon. Hopefully this may be the release version. There are just a couple "must fix" bugs (missile accuracy and FF) that I want to see addressed in this first, but not last, patch.
Once I get the next version and verify the fixes, I'll post a new patch update thread with details.
Please have patience, we're working as hard and as fast as we can.
eDimensional, Inc. the leading manufacturer of consumer PC virtual reality products and accessories including the critically acclaimed E-DTM Glasses, is proud to announce the release of Voice Buddy, the world’s first truly interactive voice control for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 and 2004.
Forget about all the annoying and unrealistic keyboard commands needed to fly. With the all-new Voice Buddy package, you just say it and Flight Simulator does it! Not only that, but Voice Buddy then responds with accurate and realistic feedback, just like a real co-pilot. With Voice Buddy, your flight simulation experience will soar to new heights of realistic excitement. When used with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Voice Buddy replaces the existing kneeboard checklists with vibrant, full-color, interactive standard operating procedure tables that give you both voice control prompts and a much more accurate flight simulation experience.
Utilizing the latest speech recognition technology, Voice Buddy has been programmed to work with no complicated set-up. No tedious hours of training and editing voice commands are required. Voice Buddy is ready-to-go. Just kick the tires, light the fires and fly!
Voice Buddy also comes with one the very best computer headsets on the market today. The A90 from Plantronics provides incredible stereo sound plus perfect voice recognition with its state-of-the-art noise-canceling microphone. eDimensional is offering the A90 with Voice Buddy at a significant savings from MSRP.
eDimensional is currently accepting pre-orders for Voice Buddy with guaranteed Christmas delivery. For a limited time, eDimensional is also offering free shipping on Voice Buddy and the complete line of E-D products. The all-new Voice Buddy is scheduled to ship starting on December 12th.
Here is a review written by Max Merlin at FlightSim.Com on some of his favorite aviation related movies that are currently available on DVD. Here is a excerpt from the article:
I set off on my quest to find interesting "flight sim" movies that I thought you might want. I came up with quite a list. One thing for certain, Amazon does have a huge inventory of DVDs with aviation themes and scenes. Think of it as Hollywood's version of flight simulation. I could not fit them all into this review, so I selected some of my favorites and even prepared a few clips right here for you to preview.
This is a review of a new DVD collection covering the Discovery Channel's "Wings" series. Here is a taste:
If you're anything like Cap and me, you just can't get enough of good aviation movies. The American Pride collection won't disappoint you. It is chock full of non-stop aircraft action that is as informative as it is thrilling to watch. Each DVD runs about 52 minutes and is digitally mastered with stereo sound. The collection includes:
The Ultimate Guide: Planes Aircraft Stories: American Fighters Wings Over Afghanistan Thunderbirds
Microsoft has just released a series of Software Development Kits (SDKs) for their newest simulator, Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight, of the popular Flight Simulator series. These SDKs are important for various commercial and freeware add-on developers, as it aids them in creating new products, and opens up new possibilities for them.
The SDKs that were released are: - ABL (Adventure Basic Language) SDK - Aircraft Container SDK - ATC Voicepack SDK - FSEdit SDK - Multiplayer and Flight Instructor SDK
For more information and to download the SDKs, click
HERE
Elite Simulations, known for their FAA-certified flight training devices that can be found at your local airport, has released their newest version of this product, version 8.0 . Here's an excerpt from the press release:
Dübendorf, Switzerland, December 2nd, 2003 - ELITE Simulation Solutions AG is pleased to announce the immediate release of the all new ELITE Pilot Version 8.0 software package. The new ELITE Pilot Version 8.0 features, in addition to continous improvements, the following main enhancements over previous versions:
ELITE v8.0 is the most advanced IFR simulator available for the personal computer. Beautifully rendered, high-resolution instrument panels and precise aerodynamic flight modeling provide unparalleled detail for a superior training experience. Shoot virtually any IFR approach in the World with the included updated Jeppesen navigational databases for Western Europe and FAA navigational databases for the USA. From beginning instrument student to professional ATP, ELITE Pilot v8.0 gives you an environment to learn, practice, and maintain your instrument flying skills.
For more information and the full press release, click
HERE
Mule has created a new Flight Sim Blog site. Here's what he has to say about it.
A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.
I would really like to hear from the large community you have at frugalsworld, their regular stories and experiences on anything about flight simulation.
My old mate Robert "WINDEX" Wan over at PC Arena has posted a review of LOMAC. Here's a snippet:
Needless to say, this isn’t a flight simulation that you’ll put away or shelf in a week. Even the hardest of the ‘hardcore’ would require refresher courses to get the most out of LOMAC. The simulation is also accessible to novice pilots too - there’s something for everyone at every level here. We’ve had several playable builds in here for a few months now and sometimes, it feels like we’ve only just scratched the surface. The avionics and tutorials are but a few testaments to the depth that you’ll find in LOMAC.
GamersHell have posted a review of LOMAC, Here's a snippet:
Lock-On Modern Air Combat begins with a very straightforward campaign, as well as a rudimentary theme to give an excuse for being airborne. You’re simply a fighter pilot for one of the many nations with US or Russian equipment, and you’re engaged in a fictional conflict over the Black Sea region. No specific time is given for the conflict so you’ll be able to use much of the weapons and arms in service from 90’s up into weapons still being planned for actual combat use. This does not mean you’ll be able to enjoy anti-missile lasers, or AIM-9X, but you can expect currently untested equipment to be present in the field. Carrying and combating such equipment will, of course, be the stars of LOMAC, the combat planes.
Lockon Manager 1.0 has been released by Skypat. Here's what he had to say about it.
This utility allow to tweak Lockon better than Lockon original interface may do. This utility allow to tweak parameters which are actually BUGGED (not saved) within lockon interface It can also tweak parameters to lower values or greater values than the Lockon interface It's very useful for Low-end PC and High-end PC.
There is a bogus email currently being circulated. It pretends to come from FrugalsworldInfo@frugalsworld.com
It has the subject line Fw: Your Account at Frugalsworld.com has expired
And the message body contains to following message.
We are sorry that we cannot offer our "old" service anymore. Your account will expire at the 2003-11-23. But after all, we still offer a free-mail service, which you have to join right now !!! Our new prices and services are described in the attached html file, which is a compressed ZIP archive.
Sicerely Yours The Frugalsworld.com Team
Do not open this message, or if you open it do not follow any links within. The included zip file almost certainly contains a virus and any links to other sites will almost certainly contain malicious code or a scam of some kind.
All emails related to this site or its message boards will never contain attachments and will come from my own email address. For the techies the headers of any email from me or the site will always show the main site server or the forum server as the originating address and the IP address should always trace back to one of those 2 servers. Any announcements about the services offered by this site will be in the form of an announcement on the forums and the main front page.
If you receive this email I would appreciate it if you could take a copy of the headers and send them to me so that I can track and take legal action against the originator of this email.
Reykjavik, Iceland, 3. December 2003 – CCP hf., the developer of the highly-acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) title EVE Online, announced today that is has regained the publishing rights for the title worldwide and will start distributing it as a direct download from the Internet.
Here is part of the transcript from the live chat with Matt Wagner on December 4th:
(AltSlayer): Id like to know, if it is possible, what will the patch be focused on? Matt Wagner: The first patch is focused on the features that are the most important to players, according to what we see online. Such things as radar, Win98 support, track-IR, etc. There will be at least one later patch that will focus on less important issues. Working on the high priorities first.
here you have a picture for the RS Entry Level Cockpit. we are now so busy, with the test for this beta unit, we will like have finish as soon as possible, to mount all the electronic in the frontal and middle panels.
The ICP is also in manufacturing status for the first 20 units
Here's an update on the forthcoming patch from the LOMAC website:
Hello folks,
Today we got the first beta version of the patch, and for the most part, things are looking good. Work continues, but I wanted to drop you a quick note regarding some of the things that have been addressed. Please keep in mind that this list is not final and will not be a first and last patch. As to when it will be released… as soon as we possibly can.
AVSIM has opened a new mirror to their file library which will provide unrestricted access from any website using any form of client. The significance of this is best described in this excerpt:
For those of you who have been in the hobby for the last four years or longer, we are sure you will be familiar with the Flight-Sim Archive at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), managed and run by Mark Strawcutter. The IUP system was a massive file repository that provided the community a free server for the sharing of add-ons, aircraft, scenery, utilities and the like. Mark and IUP provided a single source for the entire community which was critical to the development of our hobby at the time. Over the years, other massive systems such as AVSIM's library, and those of other web sites, have developed to fill the void left when the IUP system stopped accepting uploads. The single source that IUP provided meant that users from around the world could have unrestricted access to all files placed within the system. They could download via FTP clients, web links, or via their own browsers. There were no membership fees, fees for faster connection, or restrictions of any kind on their access to the files uploaded by community authors and artisians.
With that bit of history of our community in mind, AVSIM is very pleased to announce the impending launch of the AVSIM File Library Mirror System. In conjunction with SunSITE Northern Europe, hosted at Imperial College London, we will be establishing a massive mirror system for the AVSIM Library. Consisting of over 2 Terabytes of storage and sitting on a fast T3+, the mirror site will mirror the AVSIM Library in its entirety. The mirror site will allow users from around the globe to access the library files via FTP client, directly from the AVSIM Library, via their own browser or via links from web sites within the community. Access to files will be unrestricted; that is, webmasters will be able to create sites and link directly to the files. Freeware authors will be able to link to their creations within the library, removing the demands of bandwidth and file hosting on their own sites. Special interests will be served; websites can focus on specific liveries, aircraft type, scenery region, whatever tickles the fancy of the webmaster. As is the case today, all files placed on the system will be uploaded to AVSIM, and within 24 to 48 hours, once the new scheme is operational the files will be mirrored on SunSITE.
AVSIM expects to bring the mirror system online by the beginning of the Christmas break.
The technical details for the chat with Matt Wagner are made available at the official Lomac site:
Here are the necessary details:
Server Type : beyondIRC (irc.beyondirc.net) Channel :#Lock-on If you're not familiar with IRC software, you can use easily join the chat by following the steps below: 1. Go to http://chat.ubisoft.fr 2. Enter a username (whatever you wish) 3. You don't require a password 4. Select the Lock-on Channel. Chat times around the world: 09:00 - San Francisco 11:00 - Chicago 12:00 - New York, Montreal 17:00 - London 18:00 - Paris, Munich
PSS has re-released their Airbus A330 and A340 products with freshly updated installers, fixing many bugs in the products. Also, they are planning to release new installers with compatibility updates for their Dash8, Airbus Pro and Vulcan XH558 products.
The A330 and A340 products are once again available
New base installers are re-released and fully patched for all known issues. All new purchases will be fully patched via first installation.
To update your existing A330/A340 installation simply download and run the new base installers v1.2, this will overwrite and upgrade your older versions.
Also coming soon ...
Newly released installers for Dash8, Airbus Pro and Vulcan XH558 ( all with fs2004 compatibility updates )
Stopworks.us has a new cockpit available for download:
Poised to take the Falcon 4.0 world by storm, this cockpit represents a striking leap forward in graphical beauty and ease of use. Check out the new pictures and info on the Block 52 Viper pit.
We’ll be holding a live chat session on IRC with Matt Wagner - the Producer of Lock On - on Thursday, December 4th at 17:00 BST (18:00 CET). More information about the technical details of the chat will be available early next week. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to ask your questions directly to the man behind the project!
Flight Deck software just released FSDConnection 1.2, adding backward compatibility, allowing the software to run on MS Flight Simluator 2000, 2002, and 2004. The software is a freeware alternative to the now-payware FSUIPC, which enabled many extra functions that significantly enhanced the flight simming experience. Also, the authors are declaring that the program will be soon transitioning to Open Source. Here's an excerpt:
Short after release 1.1 we are happy to report that FDSConnection version 1.2 is now ready as well. The main improvement in version 1.2, is support for FS2002 & FS2000. As a lot of people still fly FS2002 & FS2000 we felt that supporting these versions of MSFS was our primary concern. Now further developments, like Traffic & Weather, can continue. As most of you know, FDSConnection will soon become OpenSource. Sources will be available for everyone to download on a SourceForge CVS page. Anyone who is interrested in participating in the developments of FDSConnection, can contact us for a cvs developers account.
To read more at their site and to download FSDC 1.2 click
HERE
FS Meteo for Microsoft Flight Simulators has been released 2 days ago. It has an impressive list of features, here are some of them:
FS_Meteo is accredited to be use with the new FSUIPC V3.12! FS_Meteo use all new FS2004 weather features! New Dynamic Weather fonction when using FS2004! Enroute Flight Advisory Service! Wake turbulence when near an other aircraft! TAF Weather Data! Real time weather data! Download archives weather data! Wind aloft coverage worldwide, even over the Pacific and the Atlantic no other weather software provide this! Select FS METEO, IVAO or VATSIM surface weather data! Provide destination weather information prior to arrival at your landing airport! Aircraft Carrier Microclimates! Import FS flight plan to check the weather that you will fly into! Auto connects & disconnects option! Online and offline operation! Cloud transitions! * Altimeter transitions! Temperature Transition! * up to 12 wind layers! up to 12 temperature layers! Compatible with all 3rd party software like FS_Clouds, FS_Traffic, Radar Contact and TCAS systems! Compatible with FSFLIGHTMAX!
SimHQ has posted an article detailing some real world A-10 tactics and how these can be used when flying the A-10 in LOMAC. Here is part of the article:
What follows is part real world info from a tactics guide from the A-10 unit stationed in England in the 1980s... the rest is my attempt to flesh out the guide with additional info. I’ve made no attempt to specify which is which... basically, the first half is Bentwaters material, and the last half is mine. In any case, the objective is to give you an idea of how to employ Hogs in a low level A2G close air support (CAS) war. LOMAC is going to offer you the chance to fly the Hog as never before. It helps to know a little about how to do this. That’s what this article is all about. Take the info... some real world, some written for simmers... and apply it to how you fly the game.
