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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 24, 2007 22:53:08 GMT 12
I was having a look around the board that Zac Yates and Naki brought to our attention tonight, the New Zealand Flightsim Forum, when i found this link www.windowlight.co.nz/marlpreview.htmlComputer simulations of Woodbourne and Omaka. They're absolutely stunning, so realistic. I mean, these are real works of art. Take a look. |
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Post by Naki on Apr 24, 2007 23:02:11 GMT 12
Not bad aye
I also have the same authors (artist?) Tauranga, Rotorua, Wanaka, Tekapo and Wellington - all very nice. There is also a nice Queenstown available for free on avsim.com
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Apr 24, 2007 23:07:04 GMT 12
I was having a look around the board that Zac Yates and Naki brought to our attention tonight, the New Zealand Flightsim Forum, when i found this link www.windowlight.co.nz/marlpreview.htmlComputer simulations of Woodbourne and Omaka. They're absolutely stunning, so realistic. I mean, these are real works of art. Take a look. Yip, I had a look there as well Dave and that scenary is brilliant. There s Fletcher sim model on there that I downloaded and its brilliant and has WAW schemes etc  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 24, 2007 23:33:01 GMT 12
I'm afraid I am a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to computer games and simulators. The only thing I really play these days is Brothers in Arms on X-box (which is awesome).
So I haven't a clue about what's involved in setting up to become a flight simulator user. Can someone give me the lowdown please?
What sort of computer set-up is needed? A real flash one? Or is the average PC running XP ok?
What's the deal with it? Do you buy a basic package and then buy or get add-ons to build it up?
I understand you can buy programmes for aircraft and then design and paint your own schemes onto them. Is that right?
And say if I were to buy this Marlborough package, can I as a user alter it, say add on new hangars that are being built, or convert it back to WWII Omaka, etc? Or are you just stuck with what you get (not that's it's not amazing!).
Also, can you link up via the web and have other people fly in your airspace who're on their PC simulator elsewhere??
I am really intrigued by all this for two reasons. One, I'd love to be able to have a realistic simuation of NZ in WWII and fly my own accurate aircraft about on training missions, etc in a realistic game. (Can it be set up so you have specific missions such as combat etc?)
Also, artistically I love the possibilities. Some of you may have seen a few of my meagre artworks i did digitally by manipulating photos, but this kind of thing gives 3-D possibilities.
To put it basically, I want to fly a Vincent around Waipapakauri in 1941, land it on Ninety Mile beach. And i want to fly in the 1944 circuit at Ardmore in a Corsair and buzz my garandparents hose there at the end of the strip. I want to fly a Hudson around Nelson. And also one up in the islands where i get to attack a ship and fend off some fighters, etc.
Are any of these fantasies actually possible these days?
Gavin, with your WAW Fletcher can you put together three and have their excellent display team at Omaka?
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Post by FlyNavy on Apr 25, 2007 1:08:53 GMT 12
Dave,
There are a few questions there that I cannot answer about New Zealand. From my experience with Microsoft Flight Simulators up to the last one before the current one (which I have only seen a demo) I became disappointed with the basic setup. However if you want to modify the aircraft and scenery then there is plenty to do. In my opinion you will need to spend as much money as possible (and even more than that) to get good 'frame rates' for realism of flight in MS Flight Simulator X (current version). Having a low spec machine gives slow 'frame rate' then the realism is very low - or even the sim is unusable - at low frame rates.
Top of the list is the best video card and then a fast processor and plenty of disk space for all the addons.
Windows XP SP2 updated with latest video drivers will be OK but Vista will by mid year have Direct X update which will be followed by an update to MsFlightSimX. At this point I would not update to Vista. If you buy the best machine you 'cannot' afford now (then you can upgrade to Vista later). :-)
As I don't know the cost of computers in New Zealand I'll leave it there but if you have more questions fire away.
There are other flight sims that provide combat (Pacific Fighters is the best one in my opinion) which are easy enough - or difficult enough if you want it. Another sim is LOMAC. LockOn Modern Air Combat which is way to complicated for me so I fly it in simple mode and still have fun. MsFlightSim may have very simple gun firing in some new addons but really it is not a combat simulator - so it can become boring quickly.
Just my happennyworth. :-) BTW I have never tried the online thingo.
Phil.
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Post by steve on Apr 25, 2007 1:19:14 GMT 12
Dave...its all very possible and I have tried to get the interest of local designers to develop historical scenery. The godszone site is very popular as well as repaints NZ for all sorts of aircraft stytles etc.. and offcourse flightsim.com and search for NZ files. I have been playing around the simulator scene since fs2 (1984) the latest version is flightsim 10. The main points to remember is a good graphics card and base memory which can produce in flight in built up areas such as wellington 20 frames/sec update. I was chattering to an airforce sgt who started at your time who was a real whiz on scenery development...great fun on a rainy day!
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Post by steve on Apr 25, 2007 1:24:31 GMT 12
Next time you are in Hamilton check out PB Technology...they have a large base in akl and their prices are prob the best
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 25, 2007 8:16:17 GMT 12
Thanks chaps. It all sounds a bit expensive for me at the moment but I will certainly keep this in mind for the future. Hmm, as if I haven't enough things on computers to waste time with... but it certainly looks like great fun.
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Post by p40fanatic on Apr 25, 2007 15:41:48 GMT 12
It really is a great hobby to get into. For example, yesterday I flew a Union Airways Lockheed 10 from Paraparaumu to Omaka, also flew a Ray Hanna-esque Spitfire display at Wanaka in K5054 (the prototype), and I've recently been ferrying Jean Batten's Gull from Mangere to Mandeville. Very fun trip. On the subject of add-ons, you can get practically anything for Flight Simulator nowadays. I've looked for a Vincent in the past and couldn't find one, but I'm sure some of the developers in New Zealand could be tempted to help out on that front. There are two types of addons: "payware", which as the name suggests you buy to either download or receive on a CD (ie Robin Corn's REALNZ scenery, of which Marlborough is the latest release), or "freeware", which you can download for nothing from sites such as FlightSim and AvSim. There are vastly more freeware options available, but normally the higher quality stuff will need to be paid for. Yes, you will need a fairly decent PC to run the sim well. Most high-end off the shelf items from Noel Leeming, DSE etc would do you fine, but PBTech and other places allow you to custom build something better for less. I just use my folks' PC. Internet "multiplayer" is most definitely possible. Join up at NZFF and they'll give you the lowdown. It's at the point know where some of the dudes there are looking at a virtual Roaring Forties team for virtual airshows! No joke. An Aero Work display team is a definite possibility now that Deane Baunton's beautiful Fu24 is out. Just to tempt you, here's a teaser of what's possible:    A young man at NZFF, name of Hamish, has been doing much to represent Kiwi warbirds in the FS world, such as the Mustangs above and P3351. He's looknig for a Spitfire model to repaint as TB863, too. I've said I'd glady be his wingman in a Spit/Hurri formation display! |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 25, 2007 16:17:30 GMT 12
Thanks Zac. Well I don't have a very whizzy do computer, I don't even have broadband. But in the future if I upgrade, this is a definate possibility for me to get into.
These live link-ups via the web, say if an airshow were held, can bystanders like myself also log in and watch live? That'd be cool.
The wings on those Mustangs look a bit stubby (it may be the angle of course) but they're about right for the Thunder Mustang I reckon. Now that would be a neat sim.
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Apr 25, 2007 18:26:16 GMT 12
Zac, Where do I find that Kittyhawk? |
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Apr 25, 2007 18:27:15 GMT 12
Also, Could you give a list of instructions as to how you kae those screen shots? |
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Post by p40fanatic on Apr 25, 2007 20:19:52 GMT 12
Not a problem, Gavin! Currawong came from Simviation.com, here's a link for her: www.simviation.com/cfs2aircraft56.htm. She's made specifically for CFS2 but works well in FS2004 (and FSX from memory). She really is a dream to fly out of Omaka and do little displays in, fantastic! She's in a "wartime" look, all weathered and beaten up, and there are some minor details different to ZK-CAG, so I'm working with one of the NZFF repainters to correct them. To take screenies normally I pause the game (to avoid a crash, eg the Oscar on landing above) and press Ctrl+Shift+Print Screen. Open MS Paint, Ctrl+V to "Paste", and then you can crop and resize as you like. Nice 'n easy. I think it'd probably work in Photoshop as well, but I haven't tried. |
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Post by Naki on Apr 25, 2007 21:59:27 GMT 12
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Post by stu on Apr 26, 2007 9:04:07 GMT 12
Haven't had much time to spend on flightsims lately although this thread is whetting my appetite. Here's a familiar airfield I downloaded a couple of years ago ....  There's a link to the scenery from the NZ Warbirds site ( www.nzwarbirds.org.nz/virtual1.html). I have to admit to a slight preference for the Pacific Fighters sim (originally IL2 Sturmovik), it may not look as nice and have the same range of add-on aircraft but the flight models on the WW2 aircraft seems more realistic than those I've tried on Microsoft Flight Sim - mind you, I've yet to try MS FSX. For those of a more destructive bent .... some screen shots from Pacific Fighters.        Cheers, Stu. |
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Post by stu on Apr 26, 2007 12:00:37 GMT 12
For those of a more destructive bent .... here's some shots from Pacific Fighters. In hindsight, it's probably better to use a picture of a Pacific fighter when talking about Pacific Fighters rather than those from the European theatre ......  "I'm sure there's a field down there somewhere" Cheers, Stu. |
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Post by FlyNavy on Apr 26, 2007 17:53:08 GMT 12
Find a field and shoot it up. :-)  4Mb .FLV video (very low quality but viewable) of a USN Corsair raid on Okinawa airfield. Trick is to get the "blue" Japanese forces on the ground while other "red" USN aircraft take care of airborne enemy. Wing waggle at beginning is silent signal for attack commencing. Video made by FRAPS while using the track playback facility in the game Pacific Fighters v 3.04. Personally I don't like the later updates - unrealistic flying without force feedback controls. Field of view at beginning is gained by cycling through Control+F1 keys to get that view. It is used throughout game and I don't like to switch views usually. Gets too confusing for me. :-) Phil. |
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Apr 26, 2007 18:50:42 GMT 12
Not a problem, Gavin! Currawong came from Simviation.com, here's a link for her: www.simviation.com/cfs2aircraft56.htm. She's made specifically for CFS2 but works well in FS2004 (and FSX from memory). She really is a dream to fly out of Omaka and do little displays in, fantastic! She's in a "wartime" look, all weathered and beaten up, and there are some minor details different to ZK-CAG, so I'm working with one of the NZFF repainters to correct them. To take screenies normally I pause the game (to avoid a crash, eg the Oscar on landing above) and press Ctrl+Shift+Print Screen. Open MS Paint, Ctrl+V to "Paste", and then you can crop and resize as you like. Nice 'n easy. I think it'd probably work in Photoshop as well, but I haven't tried. Thanks Zac, Thanks for the screen shot info, That link to the P40 doesnt seem to work unfortunately. |
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Post by FlyNavy on Apr 26, 2007 19:02:44 GMT 12
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Post by p40fanatic on Apr 26, 2007 22:56:39 GMT 12
Whew! Thanks for sorting that, I would've been very disappointed if I'd been at fault for failed downloads of that fantastic a/c.
Gavin, my pleasure to help you out. Any time! If you're keen I can pass along some aircraft, such as a very nice Corsair pack, Lavochkin La-9 and the Spitfire prototype?
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