B25 Mitchell

[Guest Baslar]

Hi to all, :-beerchugMay I add my appreciation of this wonderful add-on for FS2k2. Although my package had a minor problem with a blank second CD (now in hand for replacement), so I have not, as yet seen the 48 minutes of video or the 500 digital photos, the videos on the first CD are extremely interesting and informative. So also is the Manual that comes with it.I already have their RD4 DC3 which has always been a number one favourite of mine. Now I have two favourites at least. :-spacecraftGenerally I have found it all works perfectly and is a thrill to fly. I have found that it pays to heed the warning to close anything running in the background including any virus checker because I did have two lock-ups when I used it at first which is unusual. I would ask the question though, if you cannot use a virus checker does that mean it would be unwise to log on & use Real Weather, which is a FS2k2 feature? I do have one other query? I hear reference to a 3D view of the upper turret. I can get a fixed view looking back to the tail ok, but no virtual view if this is what is meant by 3D. In other words I can't place myself in the upper turret and pan around. Is this correct, or am I missing something? I can, of course, get the virtual cockpit without any problem.Once again many , many, thanks to the MAAM team.Regards, Baslar ;)

[Fragmentum 1]

Baslar,In the manual, look at the Table of Contents under Active Camera. It describes a fabulous program to use with this plane for BEST VR visuals, both inside and outside the plane.The FS2002 navigation in the VR cockpit is done by using the Cntl, Shift, Enter and Backspace buttons. Experiment with the combinations, but if you hold down the Cntl and Shift buttons together, then press the Enter button you will move left or right (I am not in front of FS2002 at the moment, forgive me), and if you press the Backspace button you will move the opposite direction. If you hold down just the Cntl button, then press Enter, it moves a different direction (up or down). If you hold down the Shift button, then Enter or Backspace, you move in yet a different direction. These only work in interior views in the VR mode.With Active Camera, you have exterior VR capability as well!This will let you pop your head up into the turret and look around.Hope this helps!Oh, by the way, there is a basic term here on the forums for NOT reading the entire manual (RTFM), and best you avoid Bill chastising you on that score! Capise???

[rambow 0]

Boy, good thing Don got to you before I did! ;-)Thanks for the kudos, Baslar. The caution about disabling virus checkers is a frame rate/performance improvement suggestion, only. In the final, production version of BT our BT Beta Team did not report any lock-ups, nor have I ever seen any. What was happening when you experienced these, and what other programs were running inside or outside of FS?I think you are safe with the FS/Jeppesen connection, even if you do disable the virus checker, but I would be sure to re-enable it before opening your e-mail program or going on the web with your browser. Personally, the only time I turn mine off is when I do admin tasks on this forum, and then it's only the firewall portion of my Norton Internet Security.As for the VC, Don's right about the navigation keys, and the Active Camera. The only thing I will add is that I think you are confusing the text about the Upper Turret Compartment, which is the cabin between the flight deck and the bomb bay, with the turret itself. But, by using the keys or Active Camera, you can indeed move back and up into the turret. What you will see from up there is going to look pretty strange though, and that is all explained in the manual, too. :-) Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

[Guest Baslar]

Sorry, I don't understand your reference to the manual?I tried the Active Camera and didn't like it, because with my set-up I then found I couldn't access the bomb-aimers position. Maybe I didn't understand properly how to use this feature. I certainly got some weird effects in the outside view.At the moment I have a CH yoke which is set-up to the following:YOKE.Button 1 - Start enginesButton 2 - Normally gives the radio stack but with BT gives an enlarged 2D panelButton 3 - Rear view, useful to quickly gwt a rear view of Spot Plane, or return to the normal pilot view in VC.Button 4 - Change views, this gives me all the staic views including bomb-aimers position when in 2D mode, VC mode, Spot plane view, or Tower view (which is good for flying a Red Arrows display and "Smoke On" or a fly-bye.LH rocker switch - Elevator trimRH rocker switch - Rudder trimHat switch - Pan view in VC, or select view in 2D modeYOKE BODY ( what I call panel)LH panel rocker switch (located on the RH side of the Yoke body, can't remember the swith # - Up, flaps up (increments) Down, flaps down (increments)RH panel rocker switch - Up, select gear Down, select API also use CH pedals with brakes.I should add I'm not in any way trying to sell these products, as they say each to his own, but I am pleased with themNow whether it is this set-up that gave me the promlem with Active Camera I have no idea, but I have found this suits most of the aircraft I fly. I do not think it a good idea to keep altering the assignments because you get used to a certain combination which is best to stick to. There is supposed to be a program for this Yoke called Control Manager which is supposed to be programmable for different aircraft. I found this flawed in many ways, so I don't use it.Baslar

[Guest Baslar]

Hi Bill,You & I are old friends now (Barrie).This is my first visit to this forum after a lapse of time, so you'll have to excuse me if I committed some cardinal sin. As I said in my previous reply I am puzzled what I did wrong about the manual ref.I'm still puzzled about the Active Camera (see my previous comments)Regarding lock-ups this seemed to occur when in VC mode and passing a large airport such as Stanstead. I had taken off from Duxford heading in the direction of Stanstead. I had panned to get a view out of the LH window . As I overflew the airfield the game suddenly froze. This happened twice at much the same place. The airport is one of Gary Summons UK scenery Part 4, though I normally have no trouble with it. I repeated the exercise with all the items I mention below closed and had no trouble. I have even overflown my most detailed airport, Heathrow (again by Gary Summons) and no problem even changing views. Now what was running in the background? Hmm, quite a lot really. Apart from the virus checker there was a Fax icon, QuickTime icon, Winzip, Sound card, Corel media indexer, Safely Remove Hardware, and finally a Spam killer program. I don't normally have to close any of these when using FS2k2. QuickTime is the most recent and I have now removed that shortcut as it's not needed I find.Yes, I know too much. I am wary about deleting some in case I can't get them again, but I can close most of them and they appear again on reboot. So I think my next move will be to try it with the virus checker left running and most of the others closed. I'll let you know if it locks up then.Cheers, Baslar

[rambow 0]

Hi Barrie! Sorry, didn't recognize you from your nickname. :-)You comitted no sin. Don thought your confusion about the VC was caused by not reading the manual and I was just joking about that.Active Camera takes a bit of getting used to, but a lot less than the default keys used for moving about in the VC. If you have internal pilot view checked and external unchecked in the Options/ActiveCameraPro menu, you should be able to move anywhere in the internal model (VC), and even well outside it, just by using the number pad keys. You should not lose your ability to get into the nose. It's much more intuitive than the default keys. If you do move outside in that mode, though, you will indeed see some weird views...http://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/internal.jpgThe reason for this is explained in the manual, but has to do with the way a VC is actually constructed.I don't think your button assignments on the control devices are affecting ActiveCamera, unless you have changed the key assignments in FS. But I am not an expert with the program, and will direct you to its authors for further explanations.Now, as for the lock-ups... If the lock-up consistently happens with that particular scenery, only, I suspect the scenery is the issue. Just because you normally don't have that problem in another aircraft doesn't mean the fault is in BT. It may be, mind you, but we have had no other reports of this sort of behavior. Have you tried it with another aircraft as complex as BT - if you can find one ;-) at that particular airport? Also, try it in the medium and light complexity versions of BT. If it is a consistent thing, and only with that particular airport, and only with 'BT', then there is a problem between the products and it will probably be impossible to track down, let alone fix. You may want to contact the scenery developer and see if he has other reports of this sort of problem. If it were me, I would declare it a "no-fly-zone", or at least a "no-look-out-the-window-zone". ;-)I don't think your background progs are the problem either.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

[Guest Baslar]

Thanks for yoyur reply Bill,I will do a systematic trial to see if I can establish any pattern with the lock-up issue. As I said lock-ups are very rare in fact I don't remember when it happened last though I think I have had one occasionally so, as you say, it may be another unrelated issue.I remember discussing this with CJ once and he said nearly all games crash occasionally which I wouldn't dispute, however as I say it is rare.One thing I do notice with FS2k2, and is a thing which does annoy me a bit, is this tendency for a regular hesitation as the scenery reloads especially in spot plane view. Almost like joins which causes the aircraft to keep doing a kind of back slip occasionally. I notice this more with fast jets as thought the high airspeed makes it jump more frequently to catch up. I just wonder if a lock-up may occur at such a "Join".My graphics card is a GeForce 2 32bit and I am running an Athlon Thunderbird 1.2GHz CPU overclocked to 1.4GHz. I have 512Mb of DDR Ram and WindowsXP Op.system. I wonder if the video card may not have enough memory which might cause this hesitation, though again I seem to have read of this problem on systems much faster than mine.Still let's not get too downbeat, as I said on the whole it performs very well indeed even with the max version of BT.I will give the Active Camera another go. So I take it the external setting isn't such a good idea. Perhaps my slight reservation is that to use it in VC mode I would have to use one hand on the mouse to pan the view, whereas with my yoke set-up I can fly with both hands on the yoke and still pan the view in VC mode and switch views in 2D using the hat button. Still as they say "you pays your money and takes your pick". It does sound as though you can move around more with it. We'll see.Regards BarriePS any approx date for the G-Max R4D?

[Guest IanP]

With respect to you lock-ups, can you answer the following quick checklist - I may be able to shed some light on the lock-ups with a bit of delving (I have ideas, but I need to check them out first...)UK2000 Scenery:Have you tried the same thing, after disabling Barry's scenery in Scenery Library? (I see Bill has already suggested this...)Have you patched it to the 2003 updates?Apparently some people (including me) are experiencing very major frame rate hits with some of the UK2000 scenery post-patch. Apparently Gary Summons is aware of it and investigating.Computer:Which Operating System and Graphics Card do you have?Just so I know which O/S to test on... ;-)FS:What is listed in your "Modules" drop-down menu? Do you know of any dlls that are running? (e.g. many Lago products such as Emma Field, Tornado!, Microlights and the like, have modules that allow you to jump off cliffs, mid air refuel, etc.)Are both Wilco's A320PIC and ActiveCamera installed?The last one should only be a problem when using PIC, but their implementation of moving around the VC and ActiveCamera apparently don't like each other a lot!!!I suspect there will be one specific clash causing the problem, but from past experience these can be swines to track down. :-(Ian P.:-halo

[Guest farmer]

Well ya the lucky one. I got 2 CDs but both video and manuals. Different labels but same burn. I have every confidence MAAM will fix the problem when they read my email. Just hafta wait a little longer. Farmer

[Fragmentum 1]

Barrie,I apologize a little if I was a bit harsh about not reading the manual, but at least now ya know how it is a real 'must read' document.The ability to physically move your eyepoint in any axis with Active Camera is nice, but ya have to be a bit adept at multiple keyboard button entries... It is tricky while in the air as well, and if ya get out of the left seat and move back through the engineers compartment and crawl through the tunnel to the bombardiers position, make sure your flyin' straight and level. You can get a real surprise when come out the front of the tunnel to see the ground commin, up to meet ya through the nose! The view from up there is fantastic, though!The biggest thrill I got from Active Camera was the ability to move around on the ground outside of BT and look closely at the details. Even crouch down and crawl under the bomb bay and look around up inside. Careful though, don't bang your head on one them iron bombs. Bill says they're the real thing and not just a cheap fiberglass replica!!:-walksmile

[Guest Baslar]

Hi Don,Actually I have read the manual several times and saw the weird exturnal views to which Bill refers. Ont eh whole I think I will end up with my tried and tested hat button to pan round and change the views. That way your not far from the pilots seat where you should be anyway unless you entrust it to the AP while you change crew positions!Anyway no harm in trying the Active Camera agin I suppose. When I do I'll definately check the bombs aren't fused. Cheers, Barrie

[Guest Baslar]

Hi again Don,Looks as though the spell checker wouldn't go amiss eitherBarrie

[Guest Baslar]

Hi Farmer,Yes I could definately recommend the Add-on B25 as the first CD to get! Bad luck that, never mind you'll enjoy it all the more when it does arrive.Barrie

[Guest Baslar]

Hi Ian, :-waveI did state my system on a reply to Bill, check it out.No I haven't tried disabling Gary's scenery.I don't remember adding the update 2003 patches you mention but then I may have (memory vague on that, how could I tell?)A frame rate hit is almost inevitable I fear with such detailed scenery. The smaller airfields of Gary's are no problem to me but places like Heathrow & Gatwick are very noticable especially coming in to land with an equally detailed aircraft such as BT or R4D, not so bad with smaller light aircraft. I am almost convinced that FS2002 is CPU speed dependent rather than graphic card spec. No doubt someone will dispute that, but I had the chance to try the next card up from mine, the GeForce 4 and to tell the truth it gave no better performance.I would like to dispell the idea that seems to be emerging that I have a big problem with running BT, I don't. In fact I just did another flight over Stanstead and Luton airports and it gave no trouble whatsoever. This time I had everything running in the background including my virus scanner, except for one thing, a Spam killer program, which I disabled. Now it's early days to say if that's the culprit or not, this cross checking takes time.I have now Saved the flight so I can quickly fly the same flight over & over again and hopefully nail the problem.I may not succeed and it could be a random thing, time will tell.If I do establish any connection I'll let you know.Regards, Barrie :-spacecraft

[rambow 0]

Hi Farmer, I'm very sorry about that! :-( Who did you write about the screw-up, because it should have been me. I burn and label them, with some help from my wife. I won't be so ungallant as to blame her ;-) E-mail me at maam-sim@maam.org with your address and I'll mail the replacement out myself as soon as the P.O. opens on Monday morning. Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif