Tolwyn

Just thought of you guys when I came across this this morning. Thought you'd all enjoy.

Happy birthday, Eshark!

No idea about Xbox stuff, but I have a Microsoft Force-Feeback wheel with pedals that I never use and would love to sell. Does it work with Xbox?

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Yeah, I thought that too on the post, but I figure you guys knew it would be IL2 (WW2 related).

Weeee! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN15fv2tzgE#t=12

This work with the CD/DVD version released several years ago? (not the ORIGINAL original, but the updated one). (I have both, of course).

From the 4.11m readme: Mouse wheel zoom It is possible to zoom in/out with the mouse wheel on all maps (Briefing, Debriefing, FMB and inflight map). The new view is centered on current mouse cursor position if possible (exceptions are near the map edge). If you use mouse wheel as one of your HOTAS commands the zoom in/out feature is disabled on the inflight map. So check to make sure mouse wheel isn't assigned to something else. If It is, obviously, kneepad (or full screen map) zoom via the scroll wheel won't work.

Complicated? Here's screenshots of my JSGME: When I want to fly 4.13m RC4: When I want to fly 4.12.2m: When I fly with you goofballs:

You won't be making 4.13m selectable; you are USING 4.13m; and you have to make 4.12.2m Selectable. There's no way to do it the other way.

Hmmm. Again, do this at your own risk. Begin with 4.12.2m. It doesn't matter that you use this installation with HSFX. Following me so far? And we begin: BEGIN with 4.12.2m DISABLE ALL MODS Create a folder in your jsgmemods folder called 4.12.2 Stock. Copy Files.sfs and DT.dll into the 4.12.2 Stock folder. This "makes" a new MOD for 4.12.2m. You may now update your game to 4.13mRC4 If you wish to "downgrade" your game back to 4.12.2 to take advantage of HSFX (or whatever), ACTIVATE the 4.12.2 Stock MOD When you want to go back to 4.13mRC4, simply "disable" the 4.12.2 Stock MOD For me, when I fly with you guys, I activate (from 4.13mRC4): 4.12.2 HSFX etc. When I'm done (to get back to 4.13), I simply disable those MODS.

Protect your weiner.

OMG. I've been watching all of them. Great post.

Fair enough. Desktop Support has its own rewards. I'm just providing information for the OTHER folks in the squad that might not need to go through any undue pain.

Well, there probably isn't any "new stuff." Kinda was part of my point. If a higher version number is your thing... knock yourself out. The notion that you're getting the "greatest" is a you thing, not an nvidia thing. Latest, maybe. Greatest? Not necessarily.

Here's a simple decision matrix on when you should upgrade your video card drivers, in the order of importance. As always, this is from experience dealing with Nvidia only, and why and how new WHQL drivers get released. And sometimes it's not a good idea to upgrade. Upgrade if the drivers address to fix or improve performance in a game that YOU play. nvidia gets reports from developers of many games and they prioritize based upon many factors. The popularity of the game, the developer's agreement with nvidia to write their software that caters to nvidia over ATI, etc., or a performance issue has been identified that is significant enough to make the game "dead in the water" or significant impact.In essense, nvidia writes code that addresses a speicific issue. A bandaid. Sometimes this can actually have an impact on other games that otherwise worked great before the release of the driver you're upgrading to. There's about a 40 day window where they have to ensure that the drivers meet WHQL specifications (and sometimes there are no changes that affect Windows but they still "politically" have to go through this process). Sometimes it's addressing an OpenGL instruction, or a wrapper that INTERCEPTS a specific instruction and handles it a different way. Many times, the NEXT driver update backs out the new instruction because the game developer has fixed THEIR OWN CODE that prompted the need for nvidia to issue a driver update in the first place. Upgrade if you have stability issues with the specific card that you own (read the readme from nvidia).Otherwise, you're going through the motions of installing software that you don't need and software that isn't necessary and offers absolutely NO VALUE to yoru gaming experience. In some cases, fixes addressed by nvidia to solve a problem with a new game can create problems for a game that you've been playing for years. But you don't have to take my word for it. If your computer isn't broke, don't fix it unless there is a bona fide reason to do so. Especially if you have a graphics card that is more than about 16-20 months old. Do your research. Evaluate the read me from nvidia. Do you NEED the new drivers? Are you gaining any performance gain or compatibility benefits?

Nice job, Heather and congrats, dad!

Jabo posted a link to a great Lenovo laptop. Heck, I'm tempted.

Lenovo are great and cheap. But Dell also has good stuff. For college, I would go for software bundles (Office, etc.). Dell unfortunately does NOT allow you to customize much. If it were ME: Windows 7 6GB-8GB RAM 500GB HD Optical Drive (this is up to you) Office Software Bundle I would avoid touch screen (not needed). 15" screen minimum. I'm guessing $500 US http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/g-series/g50-80/?sb=:000001C9:00013E1F:

OpenGL Shaders version 2 create this weirdness. Force1xShaders=1 and Water=0 is what I use. But for grins, try: Force1xShaders=0 Water=4 (nvidia only). If you have an ATI card, you can only go to 3. If you want tech-talk, the reason is in the noise generator for wave height. OpenGL: http://www.lousodrome.net/opengl/ void update_height(void) { int i,j; for(j = 0; j < RESOLUTION; j++) for(i = 0; i <= RESOLUTION; i++) { float height_east = height[MIN(i+1,RESOLUTION)][j]; float height_west = height[MAX(i-1,0)][j]; float height_south = height[i][MAX(j-1,0)]; float height_north = height[i][MIN(j+1, RESOLUTION-1)]; height_v[i][j] += ((height_west+ height_east + height_south + height_north)/4 - height[i][j]); height_v[i][j] *= damping; height[i][j] += height_v[i][j]; } }