Flying online

[Highwayman-Ed]

It may seem like I've missed the boat here, but I've only recently joined an online squadron, and I can't believe what I've been missing...

 

I originally started playing Lock on back before Flaming Cliffs was released, and it seemed to be full of Tom Cruise wanna bes who didn't care whose side you were on, they were just there to yank, bank and shoot. I kind of tainted my experience, and I lost interest.

 

I'll admit that back then I didn't join a squadron, but there seemed to be so many, with rules about this and rules about that, and mandatory training sessions at stupid O'Clock on a Sunday night that sorting the flares from the chaff was just too much like hard work (then I had kids and my PC was almost abandoned).

 

However, we're a few years on now, and a lot has changed since then for me...

 

With the impending release of Black Shark, I got back into Lock on again, and started poking around hyperlobby, and I'm pleased to say I've found a really good bunch of guys, from all over the world who enjoy the sim, but don't take things too seriously either...

 

Anyway, I've been going on long enough, what I'm trying to way is that anyone who has not taken up their A10 or SU27 online, I urge you to get hyperlobby and teamspeak installed and have a go... There are a whole group of people who'd love to have you along, and they're more than happy to show you the ropes.

 

Thanks to the Savage 77th for re-kindling my interest in online simming.

 

www.s77th.com

 

:pilotfly:

 

http://hyperfighter.sk/

http://www.goteamspeak.com/index.php?page=downloads

[bramski]

I've only just got into flight sims, Lomac inparticular. I'm quite interested in joining a squadron but I really wanted to spend a month or so getting to grips with the sim and the various aircraft.

 

I've gone through all the tutorials in Lomac and all the ones on Ironhands flankertraining site and I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to go online. I installed hyperlobby, ubi.com, and Teamspeak, I've nearly finished profiling my x52 for the individual aircraft although it seems like there's always something else to tweak :)

 

I guess all that's left to do now is take the plunge and go online.

[S77th-konkussion]

Come on in- the water's fine!

[159th_Viper]

Come on in- the water's fine!

 

Says the Shark to the Goldfish........;) :)

[S77th-GOYA]

Goldfish are never swallowed online. They're always spit back out to swim on their merry way. A little ego bruise is the worst that can happen.

[beewee]

And I want to see if my sig works! Possibly also to ask you to join 9thAF in an A10 if you want. We do need personel in th 81st Cheetahs

http://www.9thairforce.com/9AF/

[beewee]

It works; finally!

[Pilotasso]

I originally started playing Lock on back before Flaming Cliffs was released, and it seemed to be full of Tom Cruise wanna bes who didn't care whose side you were on, they were just there to yank, bank and shoot. I kind of tainted my experience, and I lost interest.

 

You got the wrong impression (or perhaps I did), theres some people who fly and get regularly frustrated by getting shot down after a long trip without getting any action. But in no way anyone will look down to you because of a computer game. You must seperate you ego from the objective of trying to have fun.

 

Goldfish are never swallowed online. They're always spit back out to swim on their merry way. A little ego bruise is the worst that can happen.

 

...and thats the reason why theres not more of us playing online. people take too seriously about loosing, even if they dont loose anything tangible, their instints prevent them from truly have fun.

 

In my case I have found thats actualy more fun to go against the meanest and badest online aces. Even when they all team up (it has hapened) putting myself in a virtualy suicidal mission. :)

[beewee]

I am online to play, to learn and to have fun. And there is always a lot to learn from more experienced pilots. With that comes the fun.

[Highwayman-Ed]

You got the wrong impression (or perhaps I did), theres some people who fly and get regularly frustrated by getting shot down after a long trip without getting any action. But in no way anyone will look down to you because of a computer game. You must seperate you ego from the objective of trying to have fun.

 

...and thats the reason why theres not more of us playing online. people take too seriously about loosing, even if they dont loose anything tangible, their instints prevent them from truly have fun.

 

In my case I have found thats actualy more fun to go against the meanest and badest online aces. Even when they all team up (it has hapened) putting myself in a virtualy suicidal mission. :)

 

Hey don't get me wrong, getting shot down is all part of the game, and I totally accept that.

 

What I experienced first time around though was game after game where I shot down within a minute or two of spawning by players who were on my team, or just base campling. I even had several cases of being straffed on the taxi way by the person flying the A-10 that I was supposed to be on the wing of!

 

:doh:

 

It seems that the majority of the players online now are at least sensible enough to know that it's not always a complete free for all

[Pilotasso]

base camping will hardly make them ToM Cruises. :D

 

hapens when no moderators are looking or when those players are getting bored. Its not the usual behaviour online.

[gundelgauk]

What I experienced first time around though was game after game where I shot down within a minute or two of spawning by players who were on my team, or just base campling. I even had several cases of being straffed on the taxi way by the person flying the A-10 that I was supposed to be on the wing of!

 

I'm currently experiencing that all over again because I play a lot on the UBI.com service. Add to that things like "how do I start the engines", "stfu noob, ECM hides you from radar" and such. There seem to be a lot of people just getting started on Lock On at the moment.

 

I don't say that's a bad thing, the opposite is the case. I try to tell them politely that reading the manual and doing training missions will greatly enhance their fun AND help not ruin other people's multiplayer experience (by not teamkilling and such). I also urge them to visit these here forums and, if possible, get Flaming Cliffs.

 

There are lots of people who seem to be interested in Lock On in general but seem to be a bit - let's say misguided. Maybe that's partly due to Lock On having been recently released in a German computer game magazine. I encourage everyone who is bored sometimes and has some patience to join us on ye olde 1.02 and help educating new pilots. In the end we will all benefit. Hyperlobby seems to be close to death much too often. =(

 

 

There I go, going all off topic again. I hope you people forgive me. :blush:

[Pilotasso]

U fly... at UBI?! :shocking:

 

wow your a dedicated man to fly in such a scarcely populated place. Come to hyperloby. :)

[Highwayman-Ed]

I'm currently experiencing that all over again because I play a lot on the UBI.com service. Add to that things like "how do I start the engines", "stfu noob, ECM hides you from radar" and such. There seem to be a lot of people just getting started on Lock On at the moment.

 

That's where I was always being team killed, I didn't know about Hyperlobby back then...

 

Pilotasso is right, come over to Hyperlobby, it seems to be a more stable place, and less 'hostile' if you pardon the double entendre

 

:smilewink:

[gundelgauk]

U fly... at UBI?! :shocking:

 

wow your a dedicated man to fly in such a scarcely populated place. Come to hyperloby. :)

 

Dude, no offence meant, but have you been on UBI lately? :) There are times (and this is no minor exception) when there are more people playing on UBI than on Hyperlobby. I'm not reverting back to 1.02 without any reason. I've had fun times in player made extremely low flight (Tiefstflug, sorry, I can't translate it any better) missions, dogfight missions and the like, which I unfortunately just do not see on Hyperlobby. It depends on the time of day of course. But I have seen 20+ people on UBI when Hyperlobby was next to empty.

 

I do fly in Hyperlobby since I got myself Flaming Cliffs and I will continue to do so, but sometimes it's just plain boring because you have only dedicated servers that require you to play for at least an hour, but not at all enough other players to make it a fun experience. My idea was to try and get the people who still play on UBI (or just got started with Lock On) to play on Hyperlobby so that we have at least a unified place on which to build on.

 

But there are huge problems like people thinking that Hyperlobby only supports 1.12a (with the obligatory StarForce reluctance) and so on. ;(

 

 

EDIT:

Pilotasso is right, come over to Hyperlobby, it seems to be a more stable place, and less 'hostile' if you pardon the double entendre :smilewink:

Sorry, you posted while I was trying to eliminate the worst mistakes out of my post. :D

 

I'm sorry for not having made myself clear enough. I did play a lot on Hyperlobby (I love the RAF and TF servers in particular) but sometimes Hyperlobby seems to be rather unpopulated. That's the reason why I installed 1.02 again. And I saw - to my own surprise - that there were quite a few pilots there. Some completely new to the sim, some others building missions that are actually quite fun!

 

However I hated to see the community divided like that. First thing I kept asking them was "Why don't you people use Hyperlobby?".

[Stubbins]

I'm recently rediscovering Lock On as well. I'm definitely not new to flight sims, having started eons ago with MSFS '98 and Janes WW2 Fighters. I bought LOMAC when it first came out, but there was no way my old computer could crunch all of it. With my new system though, it runs like a dream and I haven't "flown" anything else in at least three weeks. (The last time was when my copy of Il2 1946 arrived.) I reinstalled Falcon 4 Allied Force a few weeks ago as well and I cannot even FATHOM why anyone would want to play that. It's gotta be hands down the UGLIEST flight sim since CFS3. It does a great job of modelling radar and other systems but other than that it is an absolute turd.

 

I've been entertaining the idea of joining a squadron but don't have any idea what to expect.

 

Stubs

[GGTharos]

You should go around and ask the various squadrons what to expect- ask questions you're interested in, like training, meetings times - tell them what -you- are interested in, too. :)

 

It's kinda like a job interview, but it's important so you get your fun the way you want it, at least more or less :)

[Highwayman-Ed]

From my recent searching, I'd recommend that you get on Hyperlobby and take a look at some of the dedicated servers that are online. Most have links to the squadrom sites.

 

Take a good look throught the Squadron site and check to see if they have people who fly in your timezone. It can be a real pain in the butt if they're all online at 3am. Also look to see their requirements... Some squadrons will only take you if you live in a certain timezone, or want to fly a certain airframe

 

Finnaly, get on their teamspeak server and talk to them, you'll be able to find out if they're willing to help you out, or don't have time for you (although that should not be the case).

 

Most of the people I've flown with would be happy to take you up without being a member, so don't rush in.

 

I'm with the Savage 77th as they have members in my timezone, and are happy to show you the ropes, but I'm sure there are many others out there willing to do the same.

 

Good luck!

[suntrace1]

I reinstalled Falcon 4 Allied Force a few weeks ago as well and I cannot even FATHOM why anyone would want to play that. It's gotta be hands down the UGLIEST flight sim since CFS3. It does a great job of modelling radar and other systems but other than that it is an absolute turd.

 

Look's suspiciously if Mower/Bard is around :megalol: F4 is a fine sim, just a little dated. It does have a potential, as the leaked Open Falcon has shown, to be a beauty again.

 

I'm joining a squadron, when BS comes out, until then I must get my final exams and diploma, or else I'm FUBAR this year.

[Stubbins]

It certainly does look dated. And while I admire the extensive modelling of all the Falcon's avionics, electronics, and radar systems, it isn't enough to make up for the ugly cockpits, simplistic effects, and third rate/third world landscape textures. If Lock On is your competition (which has some of the BEST effects and textures and modelling in the flight sim business) why would you release something that not only doesn't IMPROVE on it, but actually looks like a huge step BACKWARD. Hell, even the airspeed indicator on the HUD has a very canned aspect too it, the way the numbers roll down in a high g turn, as if it's not measuring actual air flowing into the pitot tube, but the computer is just crunching numbers (and yeah, to save any smart comments, I know that's what IS happening, but since it's a SIMULATION it SHOULD at least SIMULATE air flowing into the pitot tube and floating languidly around the static vent.)

 

I'd read so many good things about Facon 4.0. But I think too much was made of it's clickable cockpits and dynamic campaign. And I think most of the great things were a romantic memory of it, rather than the reality. The way some people still sing CFS2's praises. Now that i think about it, even the scenery textures in CFS2 has F4:AF WHOOPED. Now THAT's sad. (Yes, I did see that Lead Pursuit advertises an enhanced scenery add-on but I'll be damned if I shell out another 12 bucks for a sim that still wouldn't add up to a nickle's worth of LOMAC.)

 

And when a flyable Viper is finally modelled in Lock On, Falcon 4 will have absolutely no reason to exist. It could slip comfortably into the box in my shop beside Janes WW2 Fighters, F/A18, Janes USAF, MSFS 98, 2000, COF, MIG Alley, and Battle of Britain. :joystick:

 

All of which is terribly off topic, but it sure was nice to vent. :D

 

Stubs

[cheetah]

...and thats the reason why theres not more of us playing online. people take too seriously about loosing, even if they dont loose anything tangible, their instints prevent them from truly have fun.

 

Mmm so true, for me. I flew IL2 airracing for a short while, 1,5 season i think. Great people and fun racing. My first season i practised alot, and i ended up pretty high i standings. Next season i didnt have time to practice but i did decently good in the few races i flew anyway. Instead of relaxing and having fun with that great crowd all i was thinking was about how much better result i wouldve had if i had practised properly before racenight. So after a couple of races my 'ego' stopped me from even participating at racenight and i stopped flying. When they were up flying at racenight i was browsing the forums instead :cry:

 

Ive never learned LockOn properly but ill try my best. Yesterday i updated hyperlobby and went online, thanks to this topic. Its a start anyway :)

 

ps i flew online a couple of times last year on s77th. Seemed like a friendly bunch. When i was alone on their server (but on TS) Dante took time to come online and help me get started. Very needed and definitely appreciated, so heres a late thank you!