I'll be there with bells on...

Wish I could fly Sat. But prior takes over. Really enjoyed Splatt, Hostile, and Shanya on RW.

It was fun listening in to everyone today. I spent the early afternoon listening in to the RAF wing, and the early evening listening to the US wing. What a crew, can hardly wait for tomorrow's proposed bedlam, ha ha!

I'm off to install now. See you later...

Ahem......Yes.....that was not the same plane you had the other night Hostile. I think you might want to check what the Chief has been keeping in his canteen. I'll bet it is flammable, yet drinkable. He must have left a few important parts off the plane in an attempt to save weight or something.

Uh....Maybe it is a quality control issue with those British planes and not the Chief's fault at all. Swap out aircraft with another flyer in the Squadron tomorrow if you can. Take Phil's plane, or Yoda's, he won't be flying his tomorrow. Oh, and be sure to avoid the one that has the big pool of oil underneath it.

Shanya: Finally!!!!!!! You have it!! Unbelievable!! I can only imagine the look on your face when the plane finally, er, uh...landed/skidded off the runway, and came to a halt at the end of your rifle. Those boys delivered, from the Pine Box B&B Memorial Foundation, your very own copy of EAW. You must be proud......

So, come on, come on, come on....let's light this candle. What is taking you so long to get it installed, geez, you've had it 5 minutes!!!

Shanya, Phil was right about your voice. I thought you had a very silky smooth voice, and that was over RW! In person your voice must be even better. Your students are lucky, not only for your knowledge, but to have an instructor that is so pleasant to listen to.

Idea: You should get your own 1 900 number....I'd call

BTW, if you need any help or advice on the install/setup, let me know here or thru ICQ.

Gotta run out and tie down the Focke Wolfe....Shanya, Hostile, Yoda?....Great spending time with you tonight, enjoyed it immensely, thanks! Looking forward to tomorrow ya'll.

Splatt

After bidding "adieu" to the U.S. wing, I settled in to this little matter we call installation. I popped the CD in only to discover my drive wouldn't read it. I tried several times, but it was insisting that what I had was an unreadable audio CD.

About this time I began to feel just a bit murderous.

Right. Well, there are four other computers in this house, all networked together, so not all is lost. Turned out one of them could read the disk, but wouldn't you know it's the one with the video card that chokes on DirectX 6. No good for play, but if the drive will read...

I tried sharing the drive and installing from there, but of course it wants the CD in MY drive, and MY drive said that isn't EAW, that's an audio CD. So on from there to every trick I could think of short of purchasing virtual CD or swapping CD-ROM drives (unthinkable!). I also tried the time-honored tactic of invoking quite a lot of decidedly unladylike language, but no matter what, it just wouldn't come up.

Now, I was sitting here starting to think about things like what parts I've got with which I might build another computer that might run this game! That's how desperate I was. I was determined not to spend even one more session on the ground, even if it took me all night.

Finally, I took the CD out of the other computer's drive, glared at it in absolute disgust, tossed it back in my drive and shoved the tray shut...

And lo and behold the splash screen came up.

I have since decided that the Brits know how to build planes. That Spitfire... god what a treat! That's the way a plane should fly. Oh yes, I had blackouts and redouts and spins and all that realism stuff turned on, it's really almost no fun without that. Mind you, I don't think I actually hit any other planes... how the hell do you get them lined up?! This having a million different views to look around is going to take some getting used to.... Hints on making that easier will be appreciated.

In short, I think I'm hooked.

Splatt, you think I should get a 1-900 number? What, you think people would pay to call me up and have me make smart-@$$ comments at them or something?

Great stuff. Lets hope you can keep the thing working on your computer Shanya for tonights meet.... Don't touch it. Just leave it in the drive with autopilot on.

Mmmmmm Dave . I think we will have to keep a firm eye on these Yanks. They sound pretty good to me.
Splatterpunk eh! he couldn't have got a name like that from being nice to people in combat and if he talks like Forest Gump we could be in for a pasting here....... Don't forget the strategy Dave.... Remember.... You head off 240 degrees to intercept Hostile and Splatt..
I'll head off in the other direction with Shanya as a chaperone.... We'll be on that little island sipping tequillas if you need us......Ha ha ha ha.
Hey. What are you guys going to fly ??
Splatt did I hear you say A Focke Wulf??

Dave ..Quick. Think of something that can give a Focke Wulf a pasting...

I don't have force feedback, but I found it is easy enough to tell when the planes are going to stall anyway. I spun a few times last night (both on purpose and not) in the course of things, but only one spin was fatal and that was because I started too low.

Don't worry, Phil. I can keep it working. The lady has a screwdriver, and she knows how to use it...

Hostile, as far as what type of game, it hardly matters to me because I can't imagine I'll hit anything anyway. If I do, it'll be pure luck at this point.

As far as views go, it is personal preference, as Dave said. I have one 4-way hat set-up for 12, 3, Snap-view 6, and 9 o' clock. I have a POV hat that I use to pan around starting from these positions, with the exception of Snap6. The panning speed is adjustable from within the Configure Game option. I believe it is referred to as Camera Sensitivity. Other views I have programmed are Target to Player, Player to Target, Track, and Chase view. If you use Padlock, follow Dave's suggestion on the quick snap to 12 so that you can maintain situational awareness and positive control over the aircraft. In padlock, it is easy to become dis-oriented without occasional checks of the nose. Also, when selecting targets, the camera zoom feature is very helpful. You might find targeting easier with the virtual cockpit turned off, but remember, this makes the wings disappear too. Experiment, you'll quickly find what works for you and what doesn't. What do you use in your other sims?

Phil: Yeah, the gunnery is kind of odd in v1.2. You are correct about ECA1.4 in that it "fixes" a lot of the physics related to the gunnery. Weapons generally have more punch, the excessive lead necessary in v1.2 is lessened, and the individual aircraft's armor is corrected to more accurately reflect reality. I would be forever grateful if we could all agree at some point to use ECA1.4.

Aircraft used yesterday were as Hostile indicated. Depending on what we are going to do, Mayhem, Co-op, SquadronUS vs. SquadronUK will determine for me what I fly. If we are planning on Mayhem, I'll stay in the FW190D. If we choose to do something else, I guess we could all fly the same type if we are flying in Co-op against AI. Or different!.......it doesn't matter to me, they are all good, just so we are all flying together on-line.........I can't believe how much I am enjoying this, I feel like a kid.

I better get out to the ramp and check with my Crew Chief to see if there is anything I can help her with. That's right, my Chief is female. She's got great hands.

I'm pretty positive we can fight AI as a Squadron. I'll know before we hook up today/tonight.

As far as RW hosting, I'll be glad to. How does that work again? I know you told me how, and I don't remember it being difficult, I have just forgotten.

Hostile, no, I am sorry for you and me, and Dave and Phil, and the rest of us that started having probs. I got locked out of the game too shortly after we heard from you last. I believe Shanya suggested that the time of day and the day-of-the-week was contributing to our on-line woes. Your server is crowded most of the time, and mine I know gets really busy at about 6:00PM EDST most nights, especially on the weekend. As far as the software limitations goes, I don't recall anyone commenting on this at the EAW forum before.

But, anyway, I have posted our experience over at the EAW forum at the link below. Let's see what kind of responses and suggestions we get. http://www.combatsim.com/ubb/Forum24/HTML/005816.html

Phil: Be sure to put some burn cream on those wrists of yours. Gonna be hard to play the guitar with those crispy fingers. That should teach you to reach into Shanya's cockpit to help her out of her top....er, uh,.....I mean, her harness when the engine is shooting flames back over the canopy.

Shanya: Not much retract time yet, eh? GUMPS check on final. NO!, NOT FORREST GUMP CHECK!! Leave THAT check to me. Gas, Under-carriage, Mixtures, Props, Seatbelts......Might make that landing smoother next time...hehehe

Dave: Is Phil this crazy out in public too? Does he know any number other than 6? Good thing you know some of the local law men.

Yoda: So you are mainly a jet jock, a Cajun and Cajun cook, a musician, and share the distinction of being named the best name out there with me. I knew I liked you for some reason. By the way, good shootin' there cowboy.