Hi all,If anyone besides me is pretty sure they won't be desiring to log into Gamespy anytime soon, there is now an alternative.FSHostClient 1.0 BETA has now been released.Get it here:http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/fshost/NOTE:1) BETA Expires November 30th, 2006 (He states there will be a newer version up by then)2) It is a BETA, you know much like FSX in some ways... :-)3) If you have problems with it, tough beans, it's a BETA and better than the alternative of Gamecrook...3a) If you do report problems, maybe tell the good folks at Chocolate in their BETA Forum here:http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/forum/index.php4)***If you expect perfection, don't download it, it's not called BETA for nothing... But you can help if you find any anomolies and let them know.5) See FS2002 and FS2004 Players as well as FSX. How's that. :-)6) There is also a To-Do List he has for other options.7) Revisit their site often for what is sure to be occasional updates.Hope This Helps,Joe

Thanks for the heads-up Joe!-Jeremy Burchhttp://home.earthlink.net/~dawgfighter/sit...es/swvasig1.gifSWVA4806 http://www.virtualswa.com/home.phpThe Ozark Dogfighter http://forums.avsim.net/images/wedge.gifCurrent system:Pentium 4 Cedar Mill 641 (3.40GHz), Abit AW8D, Gigabyte GeForce 7900GTX (512MB DDR3 PCI-Express x16),Corsair XMS2 Pro 2GB PC2 6400 (DDR2 800), 2 SeaGate Barracuda 250GB hard drives, Sound Blaster X-Fi PlatinumKlipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers, NEC 20" CRT, Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback 2Please note: System specs are for reference in tech forums only and are not to be taken as meaning anything else.Doing so will result in eye-rolling, possible teeth grinding and perhaps mild internal chuckling.Happy Flying!

thanks for the info mate, gamespy has been killing me

Hey, good to see progress being made on the FSHost front :)How does FSHost handle voice comms, by the way? The way I understand it, when you set up a "regular" FSX multiplayer session the FSX client acting as "host" takes care of voice comms. But with FSHost, aren't you creating the "session" with a third-party program and not FSX itself? Or have I misunderstood the way FSX takes care of voice? (maybe it's peer-to-peer)Anyway, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this beta version didn't yet support it.. as long as it eventually will :) Can't give up voice once you've gotten used to it.

Firstly, The guy who developed FSHost replied to my question when I asked what ports needed to be forwarded.here is his reply================================================Hi,Yeah, I haven't had a chance to update the help file yet, but here's how it works now...FSHostClient for FSX is essentially a relay program, taking information from FSX and sending it up to the FSHost session as though it were an FS2004 player. That's why all the FSHost servers currently out there just magically work with FSHostClient, because right now they just see it as FS2004. Eventually I'll update FSHost so it can detect it better, and show FSX players as FSX, and possibly support new FSX-only features as well.So the answer to your question is that FSHostClient requires exactly the same ports that FS2004 does, and you can follow the information on the Help page for FS2004. I believe the ports you mentioned in the 6000 range are for FSX when it's connecting to either another FSX, or to a GameSpy server. But that's using a completely different system that has nothing to do with FSHost.So just as it was for FS2004, here are the ports you need for FSHostClient:UDP 23456UDP 6073UDP 2302 to 2400 (not needed if you're supporting FS2002 also, see below)And for FS2002:TCP 47624UDP 2300 to 2400Russell=================================================Also, Jauptonti (sorry lol), you can still use voice comms via teamspeak on numerous FsHost servers.I have been doing this for a year and a half long before FSX came out.the main FSHost I use that has team speak is http://www.fstopgun.net << website/forum details etcbut the direct connect hostname for thier FSHost is "fly.zapto.org"its the same hostname for both thier teamspeak server and FSHost server.also, if you use FSHostSpy (available from choclatesoftware site)... you can see in the server details if a specific server has an ATC/Teamspeak server.--tibbz

Mhmmm... TS doesn't sound like a good solution to me since it doesn't automatically "switch frequencies" when you do so in FSX. The TS server would have to be set up for the various frequencies people might use in a session and then you'd have to switch between them manually. Too much work.Unless of course you keep everyone on the same frequency regardless of where they are in the game - which admittedly is what you get on many public FSX servers in the first place.I use TS (or more recently Ventrilo) with my friends in BF2, but I haven't actually delved into their features that much. How easy is it to set TS or V up so that you are on one channel which is the "public frequency" (transmitting when you press a key) and can still freely talk with your co-pilot (without having to press a key)? Like in FSX?