FlatSpinMan

Wow. I had never imagined that the UK could look like that. Really interesting scenery. Shame there were a couple of tools popping up in so many pictures. Could somebody photoshop 'em out.

Somebody say it ain't so! I just heard about this this morning and came here to post. Who do we have to 'hit' to sort this fuck up out, Jim? As long as none of us need to do it by flying and shooting or bombing we may be in with a chance. I will type this slowly as I know you are not a fast reader, BG. Unfortunately I've been away from this forum and Il2 pretty much for the last wee while due to real life. Since I signed up life has happened to me - good stuff though - 2 great little kids, we bought an apartment, nearly finished an M.A. - oh, and Rise of Flight's career mode came out too. That's pretty nifty. It all has kept me busy but I have been pleased to keep in touch, even sporadically, with you Jim. I still remember reading the welcome page and laughing out loud at the humour that is so representative of .. well, actually mainly just JP, but I presume the other guys sort of liked it too, or equally maybe they hated it but just barfed in their mouths and swallowed it down again uncomplaining, like the real men they are. "Say! How about a nice big cup of Shut the Fuck Up?!" and "The DangerDogz - we rarely weep openly in a mission" are the examples that leap to mind. That kind of sharp, self-deprecating (and other-deprecating) spirit really sucked me in, a complete breath of fresh air from other communities full of 'honour' and "chivalry" and other similar abstract nouns. You started it Jim. A haven for normal (I use that term generously) guys who want to play a great sim on-line, hang out and talk rubbish without having to take things seriously. Timezone differences meant that I never really flew with the Dogz though I do fondly remember the one or two times I managed it. Unescorted C-47's and there's me in a FW-190! As I said at the time, it was like porn for (sim)pilots! Naturally I fucked up the landing and died but then, you wouldn't have wanted it any other way, I'm sure. I also clearly remember how thoughtful and welcoming you were in inviting me here, explaining how co-ops worked, and helping me get teamspeak set up (Disclosure: I feel I should fess up - it just suddenly started working 'miraculously' 'cos I found the ON/OFF switch near the mike after about 15 minutes of your troubleshooting everything, not because I rebooted as I believe I may have... 'implied' at the time), as well as learning about who I am in our email exchanges. I thought we had some common ground in our life experiences, both being 'economic migrants' or should that be 'want-to-marry-exotic-and-ruthlessly-talented-and-capable-while-still-being-charming-foreign-women emigrants'. To contemplate just how much you achieved after uprooting yourself and travelling so far professionally, socially and personally is very impressive. Well done, Mr. Jim, I'm a fan. There's not many can claim to have done the things you have. Of course, this DangerDogz thing you started is going to hang around your neck like a reeking dead albatross, but hell, can't get 'em all right, can you? Good luck, BG. Kia kaha! (NZ Maori for "Be strong") Jude

Hi there, Wow. Been a long time since I stopped by - two kids two y.o. or under will do that for you. Glad the campaign is working now. Just a bit curious if it is actually mine though as I make static campaigns, not DGen ones. It may be by Boelcke - I think he made a JG27 one. Hope everyone is going well.

That is the BEST magic trick EVER!!! Also THE best MAGICiAN ever! Me rikey.

Yeah, his book "Into the Blue" or something details his experiences in North Africa and Greece. Really interesting read and he really downplays his actions. One scene sticks in my mid, he'd just downed a Ju88 over some harbour in Greece. As he is down low he sees all these locals waving at him so he magnanimously waves back. Turns out they were trying to point out the horde of 109s' that were descending on him!

Thaks Enforcer. Actually i had seen one of these before but they were still well worth going through again. You've done really well with them. bit of a sci-fi fan, eh? I'm actually just watchignthe new BSG season 1 (Japan is a bit behind the times) and just love it. Can't believe how complex and shaded the story is. I hear there are 3 more seasons to go so I'll be happy for a long time.

I got the email about this and thought I'd stop in and check it out. This was actually exciting to read, Enforcer! Really funny, too - love all the comments about the cheering and booing. Great work. I'd love to read more like this.

It's fun. In the few moments of flying time I can grab at night I have been practising dropping cargo and paratroopers from my C47 and Ju52. Makes for a really good change of pace. So far I've had no problems with them - they have made auto-installers for most of the mods and have also made auto-un-installers for a couple of them. Currently they're making a map of the Slot and one guy is making a huge map of France. Also the Aleutians and Malta are under way. Interesting stuff to watch. The new maps are a bit of an experiment as no-one has made mapsthat size before (I *THINK*) so it's not clear how they'll work. The makers are able to fly about on them though so that's encouraging. One final mod update - a French guy is working on objects and ships. the ships individual gun postions are destroyable with gunfire and the smaller boats can be sunk by strafing. He's also made it so that the camo nets are no longer invulnerable to gunfire. Small stuff but all adds to the realism and enjoyment, particularly in a ground attack simulation.

Can't remember but pretty sure 4.08 is needed. It's a good idea regardless as 4.08 has some good stuff in it. There's a self-executing install now available so it should be a snap to do.

I just noticed this thread. Ive been playing aroud with the mod/hack for about 3 weeks now and overall I like it. I had the problem of the game freezing at 5% but if you change sound settings to 44MHz thenn the problem disappears, or did for me at least. The sounds are the best thing in my view and I hd never particularly had a problem with the default ones. Now I do. The HS129, the Hawk, the Storch and teh Avenger are allplanes I was looking forward to flying and I'm quite happy with them. The heavy bombers are cool to play with but Ifind their FM to be too easy. I couldn't stall a B29 when I tried it and have been able to loop all the heavy bombers. I don't know if that's realistic but I suspect it's not. Note, this is not due to the makers changing the FMs but rather due to the simple AI FM that came with them. That is also the reason why the Avengers are such dogs to fly. Guys have also done good things with the maps. In general if they modify a map they include it with a new name but if you want you can replace the default versions. What they have done is replace textures so that the older maps aren't just flat green deserts. In some cases they have raised/lowered terrain. This may cause problems with AI but I'm not sure. It would certainly alter DGen missions which were designed for the old flat maps. However, as I never play DGen it doesn't affect me. Other things I think are cool: Turning off/dimming lights on AI for night missions. Improved, brighter reticles in some planes. Lengthened the draw distance for smoke and fire (this one can impact frps though) Some debatable ones are: One guy has 'made' a CR32 from pieces of other planes,mainly the CR42 (it uses that FM and DM). He is also working on a Typhoon, again, made from different pieces. For this one I'm not sure which FM is used. The Modding site is quite divided over it. Personally I think they are good but worry that it'll lead to someone altering FMs for 'normal' planes.

Aaagh! Just about soiled myself - then really laughed. Nicely done!

Aaagh! Just about soiled myself - then really laughed. Nicely done!

Ah, yet more helpful information - you're full of it (in a good way, I mean). I just tried those ports as they were the ones mentioned. I'll try and get my friend to connect when I've got IL2 running.

Ah, yet more helpful information - you're full of it (in a good way, I mean). I just tried those ports as they were the ones mentioned. I'll try and get my friend to connect when I've got IL2 running.

EDIT: What follows is probably very rambling and repetitive - I was half asleep when I typed it. Still am in fact. ------------------------------------------------- Okay. Just tried out the DynDNS site and have in theory set up a server under the name flatspinman.servegame.org I have tried the test they have on their website to see if it is operating properly but I get a Timed Out message. This means that either my firewall or my ISP is blocking it right? The have a tool on their site called the Open Port Tool which I tried and it kept coming up with Timed Out. I was trying to access my server using ports 21, 80, and 21000 (I;ve seen that with other people's IL2 servers and that's the one that is on display in my IL2Set Up screen). Each time it came up with the same TimedOut message. I checked my firewall - ZoneAlarm free version and tried to find what it's allowing through but I find the display of info quite unhelpful. There are ticks and crosses to indicate if things are allowed or not but I can't find anything about ports. The firewall info divides into two sections - Access and Server. Server allows applications to passively listen for incoming connections from the internet or network according to the blurb. Access lets it actively search for info from the network or the internet. That sounds like I need to open it up to allow both Access and Server full access through the firewall as I'd need to send and recieve info while hosting, right? When I try doing that it seems to make no difference to the ability of the Open Port Tool to get through, even if I try different suffixes like, 21, 80, 21000. Those were some options on the page. This is way above me. I don't even know if the IP I'm using is the right one for hosting or not. Every time I check my IP externally it comes back with the same 221.250.xxx.xxx number so that's the one I used but no joy. Okay, it's late here now and I am tired and not making a lot of sense so I'm turning in. I'll try to summarize before I do though. I have made a game server - flatspinman.servegame.org. I used the IP address which starts with 221.250.... as that is the one that DynDNS website found for me and it matches the one that nslookup found too. This IP is also labelled buffalo.setup if I use nslookup. I also have another IP (192.168.xx.x )which is labelled variously "default server address' or "Default gateway Account". I gather this is my internal IP address. The one that needs to be connected is the 221... one though, isn't it? If I try to access my server externally by using the tools they have I get a "Can't Connect. Timed Out" message. If I tick the fields in the firewall control panel is the DynDNS program free to go in and out of my firewall? I have done this but it doesn't seem to get through. "An attempted connection to 221.250.245.115:21 timed out. This typically indicates that traffic to that port is being actively blocked by either a firewall or your ISP." That is the message I receive each time. I don't know how to proceed from this point. Anywy, as I said, I'm really tired now and not really sure what's going on. If this makes any kind of sense and you have some idea of what to do please let me know. Don't worry too much though as the server is just something I'd do for fun and isn't reall that necessary as there already doxens of existing ones on HL.