Pacific Fighters game from Ubisoft

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 Hey! I just found out about this but Ubisoft has released a PAcific Fighters game based on the IL2 engine... over 40 flyable aircraft... bombers fighters etc... here's an insteresting screen shot: I also found out that a release of the Battle of Britain by them is in the works too... can fly as British, German or Italian... I thought that was an interesting twist... you rarely see the Italian planes included even on discovery channel!!! I am DEFINITELY looking forward to THAT!!!

GAH!
That game is quickly outpacing my systems ability to run it.
looks like time to upgrade AGAIN.
I love the ability to paint your own plane for on-line use.
I've seen some wonderful creative paintjobs on-line.

I've yet to get PF but Il-2 is a staple here in the lair. You fly online at all, Tom?


Fade to Black...

QUOTE: Originally posted by BlackWolf3945 Take 2 I've yet to get PF but Il-2 is a staple here in the lair. You fly online at all, Tom? Fade to Black...

I used to tinker with it Steve, some jet fighter game way back is all I remember...a little on Air warrior, I would be interested in this one though...

I forgot I was gonna pick this up tonight.. might drop by and see if I can find it...

Thanks for the info. I'll have to pick this one up.
Hey, do any of your remember an oldie by any chance? The game was called Aces of the Pacific, or something like that. It was produced by Dynamix and released by Sierra, I believe, but I could be wrong. That was one of the first flight-sims I had, and it was a blast to play, all those years ago.

yeah haha... that IS an oldy... like 1992 or so if I remember right... my first REAL FS was Battle of Britain by Lucasfilms... and SWOTL by the same. those were some of the best sims around, and haven't really been topped since for overall satisfaction IMHO... the new ones have pretty graphics but I liked the feel of those...

I think they came out with several Aces titles before it disappeared...

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 yeah haha... that IS an oldy... like 1992 or so if I remember right... my first REAL FS was Battle of Britain by Lucasfilms... and SWOTL by the same. those were some of the best sims around, and haven't really been topped since for overall satisfaction IMHO... the new ones have pretty graphics but I liked the feel of those... I think they came out with several Aces titles before it disappeared...

*notices he has all of those flight sims sitting on his shelf of packed in storage boxes*

I miss Air warrior.
For a game as old as it was, using multiplayer before anyone else.
they put the computer power toward the flight model instead of the graphics.
and the model was almost perfect.
1987 and I was regularly shooting down my Brother-in-law the pilot in AW realism theater.

*Notices he dated himself*

Yeah I remember Aces over the Pacific AND Aces over Europe very well. Even today with all the super detailed and realistic graphics, there still is no FS that even comes close to those.
The only sim of today that I like is Secret Weapons over Normandy.

I've tried PF, I really did my best to like it........but I didn't .

QUOTE: Originally posted by DanCooper . The only sim of today that I like is Secret Weapons over Normandy. I've tried PF, I really did my best to like it........but I didn't .

well sadly I have had the game 3 nights and I will wait till this weekend to give it a fair shake, but I am coming to the same conclusion... it is too sterile for me...

I couldn't get into Secret Weapons over Normandy... tried on that one too... I'll probably buy the new relase of BoB but since it is by the same people as IL-2 and PF I am not sure I can handle it...

QUOTE: there still is no FS that even comes close to those. The only sim of today that I like is Secret Weapons over Normandy

A men, brother.
SWON is pretty good, but I've been playing it for so long now, I need a new fix.

Pacific Fighters is really light on content as a stand alone. I have it installed over Forgotten Battles and the Aces Expansion Pack, and I really like it, even though I can't run it as well as I would like. I don't have enough computer, nor the skill to tweak my computer to get the most out of it. Oleg Maddox makes great games. Nobody does WW2 better. Oleg's product support is first rate as well. The real problem is that PF was not a finished product when it went to market. That's Ubisoft's fault. The first patch is out, and the second won't take long, but it never should have been released the way it was.
Battle of Britain will have a completely different engine, or so I've read. I think it's going to require alot of computer to get anything out of it.

I've got a FAQ about tweaking a computer for games somewhere buff, I'll see if I can find it and fire it off to ya... it's not really that hard if ya follow the steps. What kind of video card are you using? There are a lot of aftermarket drivers out there that REALLY enhance the game and even improve the graphics...

QUOTE: I've got a FAQ about tweaking a computer for games somewhere buff, I'll see if I can find it and fire it off to ya...

Tom, if you find that FAQ, I'd love to have it. Thanks in advance.

QUOTE: What kind of video card are you using? There are a lot of aftermarket drivers out there that REALLY enhance the game and even improve the graphics...

I've got an NVidia FX 5200 PCI, and I'm using the driver recommended by the developer. When I bought my computer, I didn't know much about them, and I've paid the price in terms of performance. What I really need is more RAM. I've got 768 Mb, but could really use a boost to I Gig. The problem is I've got a Hewlett Packard, and compatible parts tend to be very expensive. I looked into it, and it would cost $200.00 Cdn for a 512 Mb stick. Same price as last year when I bought the same stick last Feb. You'd think the price would have dropped some.

well your RAM looks ok, the 5200 is not a bad video card... let me ask my buddy at work who is an Nvidia freak and find out which driver he recommends.,.. (I'm a Network Admin in an IT dept so have a lot of sources in the tech side) for the ATI I recommend using the drivers at: http://www.omegadrivers.net/ (in case any ATI users are reading this) I think he has Nvidia drivers as well... will check it out and let ya know...

I will try to hook you up tomorrow on tweaking, but the video drivers do a lot of the main work... what speed processor and what size HD do you have?

the HP's arent real bad... just need some tune ups! you were smart getting that much RAM...

QUOTE: what speed processor and what size HD do you have?

Tom, I have a 2.3Ghz Intel Celeron processor. Not really made for flight simming. I have an 80Gb hard drive. Thanks for all the tips.

hey Buff, here's the nVidia drivers from Omega... he tweaks them just for games. I've been using them on my ATI Radeon 9800Pro and have ntohing but good things to say about them! Just make sure you have your old drivers in case you decide to go back to them... (if nothing else you could redownload them from nVidia)

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

just click the nVidia link at the top then click on your OS...

assuming you are using XP (works on 98 too just a different way of getting there) one thing that really helps is making your page file static... what this means is when windows launches programs and runs out of memory it starts spooling unused things in memory to the harddrive (virtual memory if you will) until it is needed again. By default Windows changes the size of this file as needed on the fly. This slows you down as your hard drive is the slowest of your gaming components...

You can speed this up by setting one size for the drive so it is not changing while you are in the middle of a game slowing you down. Take the size of your RAM and multiply it x 1.5, in your case it comes out somewhere around 1100, I would go ahead and set your page file to 1.5 GB though just in case...

(In XP) Go to my computer, right click ond click on properties. Choose the Advanced tab, then choose advanced again... click on the performance button then advanced again, towards the bottom is the Virtual Memory settings. Click on change and a new window will appear.

You want to choose custom size, then in BOTH minimum and maximum boxes, put 1500. It will require you to restart your computer. I wouldn't do this unless you are a little comfortable changing things on your computer. The worst that would happen is when it tried to reboot it would freeze and tell you out fo virtual memory. You can reboot into safe mode and reset the page file from there.

Again, this is your call, if you aren't comfortable there are other things you can do to make it faster.

_______________________

One would be before you start your game (unless you are playing online) turn off your virus protection, kill everything in your taskbar that is running (and not necessary) as well as control-alt-delete and go into task manager and kill apps processes uneccesary, things like printer monitors, quicken reminders etc... if it is essential to windows then it wont let you kill it. Look out for things that look like they are related to your nvidia, or joysticks etc... you dont wanna kill these! you can experiment and find the ones to kill, if it doesnt work when you go into your game, restart the PC and try again... no permanent harm is done from killing processes... >>>>>>>>>>>THEN go into the game.

I'll be back in a bit and list some more things to do... I have a list somewhere of different things that will speed your computer by freeing memory etc...

here ya go Buff, it's in another forum from a game I used to play... it's prety good and works!!!

http://www.forumplanet.com/planetbattlefield/desertcombat/topic.asp?fid=6543&tid=1197978&p=1#12700533

Thanks, Tom. The biggest problem I have right now is that I have way to many processes going on. I'm in the 30's, and I'd like to get that down to under 20 if possible. I've checked them out, and know which ones I would like to get rid of, it's just a matter of getting it done.

hmmm.... I can count 33 on mine and most of that is just the essentials... Go through and make sure things like Real Player and Quicktime arent in tyour processes and that should help a LOT.... Good luck though, I think with a little tweaking you will be a LOT happier with your PC, not just with games... it will be like a new PC for ya!

Sorry about taking so long to respond, Tom. I read your last post, but couldn't reply right away, and it sort of fell off the radar. Thanks again for the tips.

wow there are other gamers here besides me!!! I really have to get that gaem. mebbe someone could start an fsm users sever... that would becool!

QUOTE: mebbe someone could start an fsm users sever... that would becool!

Yea, it would.
I'd love to teach ya all how to dogfight

Good to see a few other virtual pilots here. I too love my combat flight sims and fly with No 457 Squadron vRAAF as No_457 Snowy. We train together and fly war missions with and against other squads on Wednsday nights at Hyperlobby. Heaps of fun and a great insight into the teamwork and tactics WW2 pilots needed to survive. Also a great extension of this hobby as the historical accuracy of the IL2 simulations is quite fanatical.

Cheers....Snowy

QUOTE: Originally posted by Snowy Good to see a few other virtual pilots here. I too love my combat flight sims and fly with No 457 Squadron vRAAF as No_457 Snowy. We train together and fly war missions with and against other squads on Wednsday nights at Hyperlobby. Heaps of fun and a great insight into the teamwork and tactics WW2 pilots needed to survive. Also a great extension of this hobby as the historical accuracy of the IL2 simulations is quite fanatical. Cheers....Snowy

so you fly the PF game multiplayer? I haven't tried it yet but plan to... just want to get more aquainted with the game first...

they dont have a lot of little dweebs with modded planes? (i.e. just trying to win no matter what loss of enjoyability?) or is it pretty up and up... as in controls on cheating and all...

I tried flying one of the combat flight sims online once, and some guy flying a Sopwith Camel buzzed me, he was doing about 700mph... then he swung around and demolished me with his quad 20mm cannons... (I was in a P-51 and he flew past me like I was sitting still) that was the last time I flew online...

Tom, that's the beauty of flying with a squad against other squads in arranged war missions on a password protected server. Although I'm not saying it can't happen, I haven't seen any cheating in those circumstances, as the other players in your squad are known to you and there is enough respect between squads to avoid this problem. The main emphasis in these circumstances is on teamwork, to achieve the mission goal and cover your team-mates or wingman's ****** and get home. On the other hand I have seen the sort of thing you mention when flying online alone in a dogfight server, although not much of late. I think it's getting a lot harder for the cheats now than it was a couple of years ago. Besides, if you go online alone without a wingman you're just going to end up a target over and over again to the sort of senario you describe, and I agree, it wears thin very quickly. If you really want enjoy it my advise is to join a squad, using a program like Teamspeak to communicate with each other as you fly against other teams in a password protected server and you'll find cheating is very rare.

Cheers...Snowy

cool! thanks Snowy! I might go online today just to check it out.. still wanna familiarize myself more with the interface and flight models...

IMO you guys are leaving ut a biggie. Has anyone ever tried MCFS 3? that looks awesome!!! (microsoft comb. flight sim)

hehe. i love my video card. i forked over 200 bucks for my ATI radeon 9800pro and I absolutely love it expecially when i play call of duty. my old video card sucked. the 9800 is one of the top cards out there. also, tho, would yuo reccomend pacific fighters? im considering either that one or microsoft combat flight sim3, which also lookas amazing. i have one and two, but they got a bt rpeetitive over time. so if you say PF is a great game, that'll be th eone i get. if not i'll go with MCFS3 I should be able to run the game easily, because i have a 2.53 gig processor with 80 gig hard drive with 512 mb of ram. (running a pentium 4) it makes a great gaming system as you can imagine.

pf looks awesome, but i usually wait until the price goes down a little. mcfs is a pretty cool game, but i still play red baron 3d, which is the best ww1 sim ever made

QUOTE: Has anyone ever tried MCFS 3? that looks awesome!!! (microsoft comb. flight sim)

I bought CFS 3 before I bought IL2-FB, and I enjoyed it. However, I didn't like the campaigns at all. The FB campaigns are better. Overall, I think that the IL-2 series is more accurate, and less buggy, but that's just me, and I'm not an expert by any means.
From what I've seen over the past year or so, the flight sim community tends to be very tribal. If I ever posted anything even remotely complimentary about CFS 3 on the IL-2/PF website, I get flamed to a crisp!

QUOTE: they dont have a lot of little dweebs with modded planes? (i.e. just trying to win no matter what loss of enjoyability?) or is it pretty up and up... as in controls on cheating and all...

You're always going to get onliners who are immature, or boorish, or just plain pains in the backside, and IL-2 doesn't seem to be an exception. That being said, cheating does seem to be quite rare,and difficult to do, but Snowy would have more experience than I do with the IL-2 online environment.