Roy Chaffin's
NEWS.......................Archive
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22nd December 2002 " MANY THANKS " I would like to say a special and big THANK YOU to the thousands of people that have sent email Christmas Greetings to me personally and the whole RCS Panels Team, Your comments and sentiments are truly touching and very much appreciated. :-) Unfortunately it has not been possible to individually respond to each and every one, but be assured we appreciate them all. Your support is what keeps us doing what we do. We are working hard on your behalf and should have lots of exciting "goodies" for you in the coming year. On behalf of Alan Landsburgh, Steve Wayne, Brian Withers and myself, can I wish you all, A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year
" Special Note " There are a few people that send me emails asking for help or information, who do not get a reply. The reasons for this is because some ISP's reject our messages. As a matter of policy, RCS Panels always responds to every email request for information or help and attempts to do so at least six separate times. If you do not get an answer, then this is the reason. Therefore we suggest you contact us again from a different email address.
10th December 2002 " Where did that month go ? " As you will have noticed this page has been very quiet for the past month or so. It has just been a matter of me being busy. Normally speaking I have my biggest Wildlife Art Exhibition at the end of November and as this is how I make my living, every bit of my energy has to be devoted to it at this time. Well this year it was even more hectic, because directly after my normal three day show here at the studio closed, I had to stage another show of my work in Northampton (UK) for, and sponsored by, Jaguar Cars. Well I am delighted to say they were both fantastically successful, and they far exceeded my widest dreams for sales and everything else. So what has been happening on the computer or FS front ? Well work on our next project is progressing very well. The team have been working very hard in my absence. Unlike before, the team are now so professional that they can function effectively with very little input from me, and do not have to be watched over. Man is that a change for the better. :-) " DVD Writer Update " Following on from what I said about a month ago, having installed and tested TWO Pioneer 104 DVD-R/RW Writers and found they were both faulty, with different faults, I decided enough was enough, and I would dump the Pioneer unit as a bad job. I know there are people that have them and they work fine, but I was not one of them. Therefore, I installed the latest Sony DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW Multi System Writer. This unit reads and writes both -R/RW and +R/RW media, as well at the normal CD-R/RW. There are a few issues with this Sony Writer that you need to be aware of, but it is a great piece of equipment. First and most important, it hates "CHEAP" blank media. It is picky to the extreme. However if you use proper branded media, (the expensive stuff) then it works like a charm. Personally I think that is a small price to pay for the versatility thus unit gives you. Secondly you do need the very latest version of the DVD Writing software to run it. Your old version of "Nero", or the software that is packed with it, will need updating, but that is easy over the net as free updates are available. This unit also handles CD-R/RW as well, and NO problems have been experienced in either reading or writing. I have to say this Sony unit really does come with my "stamp of approval". I have tested it extensively, and I give it a nine and a half out of ten. :-) That is about it for now. I will be picking up the FS work gradually as Christmas approaches, not to mention keeping an eye on what is new, good and bad out there in the PC market place. Have a good one. Roy
9th November 2002 " CFS3 NO CD Patch Update " I have noticed that sometimes when you load CFS3 with the NO CD Patch installed you are confronted with a screen that says something to the effect the CD is not in the CDROM, however you are given three choices "Try Again" which does nothing. Plus "Cancel" and "Continue", and if you click on either of these four times all works correctly without the CD. You might not see this minor problem, but if you do, you now know what to do. Have a good weekend.
7th November 2002 " CFS3 NO CD Patch " Many people find it very irritating that you need to have the original CD in the drive to run CFS3. Therefore I knew it would not be long before a NO CD patch would appear on the net. Well here it is :- Have a good week.
24th October 2002 " Update " As you will have noticed I have been quite quiet for the past month. This doesn't mean that nothing has been happening, quite the reverse. The team have been working hard and great progress has been made. With any luck we might even have some release dates for you before too much longer. Which would be good. I have been out of the country for a while with work, but am back now. Most of you will probably know this is one of the most hectic times of my year in the art world and I have to concentrate on producing paintings for my show that comes up at the end of November. This however does not mean that FS work stops, quite the reverse, things are continuing at a pace. One of the great joys is we now have a very professional team that is quite capable of working on it's own, without me having to cross every "t" and dot every "i". " Combat Sim 3 " During my coffee breaks I have been able to steal a little time to have a pretty good look at Combat Sim 3. I think all will agree this is going to be a massive step forward from Combat Sims 1 and 2. Personally I am a serious flyer, rather than a "shoot 'em down" and "blow them up" kind of guy, but even I find it quite fun on occasions. The graphics and effects are quite stunning. I have done nothing in the way of serious performance checks, but initial impressions seem to indicate it performs very much like FS2002, However I will give you more information in the future. For me the internals of the aircraft and flight dynamics leave a lot to be desired, but that is nothing new. I am yet to discover what the development possibilities are and whether we will going down that route, but there is certainly plenty of opportunity there. I think without question Microsoft are going to have another "Block Buster" for Christmas 2002, if people feel they can wait that long. " DVD Recorders " I have recently purchased a Pioneer 104 DVD-R/RW recorder primarily because I needed the DVD mastering and storage capability. The unit seems to work well with DVD's either R's or RW's, however it claims to be able to read and write CDR/RW as well. Hmmm !!!, well it certainly reads CDR's and CDRW's fine, but writing them is a completely different matter. It is extrodinarily "picky" about the type of blank CDR and CDRW's you feed it. I only mention this, just in case you are thinking of adding one to your system and dispensing with your CDR/RW writer, because you can't. You need both. " Site update " A couple of people have pointed out that this site needs a bit of updating, and I would be the first to agree, especially on the Utilities front. Hopefully I will get around to doing this before too much longer, but like everything it is a matter of priorities. So please be patient. OK that is about it for now. I need to get back to the paint brushes. Have a good one. :-)
24th September 2002 " Working Hard " There is not a lot of great interest to report at the moment, other than the team is working hard. We are mixing in a little time to advance our knowledge and skills in a few new areas which will come in very useful in the future. " Hardware Advances ? " There have been few real advances on the hardware front recently, the rush of faster and faster processors and video cards seems to have ceased for the moment, but I bet there will be new things just before the Christmas period to tempt the money out of our pockets. Memory seems to be going up, and hard drives are coming down. Around a pound sterling per gigabyte here in the UK for hard drives at the moment, depending on where you buy them. DVD Writers seem to be the "hot" hardware right now, although there still seems to be a war going on about which standard will prevail. DVD-R or DVD+R The DVD-R (by Pioneer) has been around the longest and is the cheapest, but most of the rest of the manufacturers seem to be backing the more expensive DVD+R system. I see VHS and Betamax all over again. (Sorry to our younger readers, that might have been before your time) :-) This is a subject I am watching personally very carefully as I am currently producing Art Instructional Video's and DVD's which teach painting techniques. Therefore not only mastering DVD's but the ability to store 4.7gbs of data on one side of a DVD R or RW is a tremendous advantage. For those that don't know, just one minute of Broadcast Quality video takes up an enormous amount of space on a hard drive. Anyway that is another story. There is little new of interest on the software front at the moment. I suspect we are into the Christmas syndrome again. Well that is about it for now. Have a good week. Safe landings. Roy
10th September 2002 " Back from Holiday " As you might have noticed I have been absent for a few weeks. I have just returned from my annual holiday in the South of France. Wonderful to get away and drive the best part of a thousand miles on the superb French roads, from the top to the bottom of the country. Then to spend ten days doing nothing more energetic than drinking glasses of wine and eating in the sunshine:-) Well maybe the odd other enjoyable activity :-) Fantastic !!!! On the way down I met up with my good friend Tony D'Ambrosio (of RealCRT gauge fame) and we had a great time together. Fascinating to see the real France through the eyes of a person that lives there. However worry not, the time was not wasted. Much thinking was done during the time, and many good decisions made, all of which should benefit you all during the coming months. As is my way, although I now take a laptop with me on holiday, I do not access my emails, so I will work my way through the backlog over the next week or so. All the registrations and technical support queries have already been cleared, so we are making progress. " 512 mbs RAM " I am very pleased to say, the laptop I mentioned a few weeks ago is continuing to surprise and delight me. It has now had a really good thrashing even with FS and performs wonderfully. I have to say through trying to run FS2002 on Windows XP Pro with less than 512 mbs of RAM is not a good idea, and performance does suffer as a result. However with 512 mbs of RAM the "i Buddlie 4" returns wonderful frame rates. The 15.1" TFT screen has a viewable area exactly the same as a 17" CRT monitor and is a joy to use. " Windows XP " Now having had a good time to use it in all possible ways, I have to say that in my opinion Windows XP is by far the best operating system we have ever had for the PC, and is worth the few problems that you might experience when you upgrade. It just handles everything much better including and most importantly FS. So my advice is if you haven't upgraded, give it some serious throught. That's about it for now. Have a great week, speak to you again soon.
20th August 2002 Extra " Message received " Don, your latest email acknowledging receipt of your code was received, but my answer to you bounced again. Have fun !!
20th August 2002 " The holiday season " As most of you are only too aware this time of year is very much the holiday season and very little of earth shattering importance happens, or so we hope. The team is working hard on our future projects but also taking a little time out for R and R. " Congratulations " It is my great pleasure to let you know that our graphics and textures expert Steve Wayne and his wife have just had a new addition to their family in the form of a new baby daughter "Brittany". Although Brittany was born prematurely, I am told that Mother and Baby are doing well. So I am sure you will join with me in sending our heart felt CONGRATULATIONS and best wishes to the whole family. " Under test " I recently had reason to test and buy a laptop computer. For those of you that know me well, you will know that up until now I have rarely had much positive to say about them. In fact have been very quiet on the subject. Having checked what was around, I have come across something that I personally think is an exceptional piece of kit. Namely an "i Buddie 4" made by the EliteGroup Computer Systems. Unlike most laptops, this one takes "Standard" CPU's, RAM and Harddrives, rather than the over priced "unit specific" ones you are normally forced into by the manufacturers. You can fit whichever P4 CPU, RAM or Harddrive you wish. You even get a choice of screen. Personally I fitted a 2gb P4 Desktop processor (faster than the mobile of the same clock speed) and it performs wonderfully with normal DDR RAM. The 15" TFT screen is superb, giving the same viewing area as most 17" CRT monitors. It is crystal clear and a joy to look at. The keyboard is also a joy to use. Pretty well everything you could want is built-in, sound with microphone, speakers and extension capability, 4 USB2 ports, Firewire port, SVideo Port, Eithernet network card, IR port, 56K modem. DVD/CDrom, and I might have missed something. There are two noticeable exceptions. one there is no Floppy drive, hardly a problem these days, as you can connect a USB one if you really want one. The other omission from the main box is the battery. Again to me that is a joy, because I seldom run from a battery, and when I do it is easy enough to plug the external one in, which is compact and has a long running time. Not having to lug it around in the machine is another great joy to me. I would rather have the weight in the things that are useful like a larger screen. OK let us come to the most important question. How does it perform with FS ? Well all I can say is fantastic :-) With Windows XP Pro and FS2002 Pro the frame rates are brilliant. I will not say it is not possible to build a desktop that will go faster, but you would have to use the best of everything to do it. This is one impressive piece of kit. Now to the second most important question, How much ?? Well much less than you might think. I think it s very comparable with a similar desktop machine, and I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously you need to check prices where you live. But the great joy to me, is it is upgradeable, with standard parts. So how do you find out more if you wish too ?? Simply log on to www.google.com and then type in " i Buddie 4 " and read the mass of pages that will come back to you. As much as I love to hear from you, please don't email me with your questions on the unit :-) " Even more thanks " I do not want to become boring on this subject, but can I just say both personally and on behalf of the team, how much we have appreciated the flood of supportive emails since the posting on this site on the 12th August. You have enhanced my faith in human nature, and convinced me there are some really genuinely nice people out there. Top marks to you all. OK enough of the "sentimental stuff", there is code to write and work to be done, so I better get back at it. I hope the summer is being good to you, and you are not one of the very unfortunate people that are suffering the horrendous floods in Central Europe. If by chance you are, then our sympathy goes out to you, and we hope you stay dry and safe. Try and have a good one. :-) Roy
12th August 2002 " A few facts " A great deal
of “hot air” has been expounded recently by Bill Rambow about his
decision to leave the very successful RCS Panels Team and set up another
group of his own. I am sure you will be pleased to know that I have no
intention of adding to the “hot air” or responding to the continual
“pops” that are being taken at me, but it is necessary to put a few
facts in the public arena. The RCS Panels Team was made up of five members, Alan Landsburgh (sound),
Steve Wayne (textures), Bill Rambow (graphics and manuals), Brian Withers
(aircraft model and flight dynamics) and myself (gauge programming and
general problem solving). Now with Bill departing, we are four. Steve has
happily taken on the graphics function, an area where he has exceptional
talents, so I am now convinced that we are stronger than ever. As the team has already spent over 18 months working on the B25 project,
(which was originally intended to be modelled on MAAM’s “Briefing
Time”), we had no intention of scrapping all that work because of a
decision made by one person. Therefore we offered the product (when
finished) to MAAM as had originally been intended, to raise money for the
museum. For reasons best known
to MAAM, they have refused that offer, and as a result we will now remodel
it on another B25 and release it as planned. One has to admit that MAAM’s decision was a strange one, (but theirs’
to make), when you consider it has been me personally who has been the
leading force in the raising of over $77,000 for the museum to get the R4D
back into the air, specifically due to my innovations and policy. Oh well,
c’est la vie !! Therefore RCS Panels will no longer be connected with MAAM, however in a
spirit of good will, which is always OUR way, we will continue to process
registrations and give what backup we can. Many of you were disappointed that the GMax R4D upgrade was cancelled, but
few of you knew, that further to my statement on the 28th June,
the proposed upgrade was riddled with problems, not of my making and most
importantly was not up to our usual standard. Therefore its release would
have generated a huge “mail bag” from dissatisfied users. To make the
necessary corrections and modifications to bring it up to standard would
have taken some considerable time and seriously delayed the B25’s
release. This was not the way to go. Those of you who know me, will know that I live my life by a pretty strict
moral code, and pride myself in the way I deal with others, and as a
result I am a “soft target”. I am very pleased that none of you have
been privy to even a fraction of the unprovoked actions, vitriol and
personal abuse that I have received from someone who called himself my
friend. In 54 years of life, I have never been so shocked, horrified,
disgusted or disappointed in a fellow human being. However I will say no
more on that subject. The future of RCS Panels is now very bright. Apart from the release of the
B25, which will be delayed slightly because of the need to change the
graphical content, we are extremely excited about that and the work on the
The skills we have in the team, raised the bar on previous projects and we are really looking forward to doing that again many times in the future. We are happy that you judge us by our work rather than our words. Have a great week. Roy 3rd August 2002 " What a Show ! " As you can see I am back from what was a fantastically successful Artists & Illustrators Show in London. Again we seemed to pick the hottest week of the year in the UK to be under a glass roof in the Business Design Centre where temperatures soared. Never-the-less we had in excess of 17,000 visitors over the four days. My many hours on stage were extremely well received which made all the blood sweat and tears that went into the preparation work, worthwhile. :-) I have now had a few days rest and am about to start catching up with all the stuff that got neglected over the past couple of months. Much has happened and been said elsewhere during my absence (most of which has been untrue), but I will bring you all up to date with the true facts over the next couple of weeks. So watch this space on a regular basis for updates. As many of you know I have also been busy running and judging the annual International Wildlife Art Competition called "PAWS". Well this years winners have now been decided and announced. If you wish to have a look then they can be viewed at :- http://www.roychaffin.com/paws2002/winners.html " FS work continues " Although I personally have had little time for FS recently, the other members RCS Panels Team have been working hard. We are all very excited about the future and will soon share the details of our plans with you. Very little of significance has changed, but obviously a few minor modifications have had to be made to accommodate recent developments. I think it is fair to say that all of these will be to the benefit of the FS community as a whole, but we will let you be the judge of that. " Thanks for you support " Can I just take this opportunity to thank the huge number of you that have sent your messages of support. As always they have been very much appreciated. OK back to catching up on events. Have a great weekend. Roy
12th July 2002 " Busiest time of the year " As many of you will know, July is the busiest month of my year, when I am preparing for the big Art Show in London at the end of the month. This does mean that FS work has to take a back seat during this time. Even I have to earn a living from time to time! I have received a number of emails from concerned people enquiring about the well being of RCS Panels and myself. I am pleased to tell you, both are very much alive and well, and any reports of our demise are grossly exaggerated to the point of being totally untrue. :-) We are fully aware of the mass of speculation about our current projects and future plans. I can assure you that our work is continuing on the B25 and other projects. In the fullness of time I will release a statement on behalf of RCS Panels that deals with all the relevant matters, but in the mean time, I advise caution in believing what you might read elsewhere. You have my assurance that the four current members of the RCS Panels Team are united and working hard on our current projects. Have a good one. :-) Roy
28th June 2002 RCS
Panels Press Release
28th June 2002 " Back to the UK " As you can see I have returned safe and well, after what has been a very hectic four weeks. The WWII Weekend at MAAM was a huge success and it was wonderful to see so many of you there. Both Bill and I enjoyed talking to you all and putting the faces to the names :-) One person even flew over from Holland specially to attend the show. That is what I call dedication. I want to say a special thanks to Bob Guzman and Charlie Rickard for their considerable help during the show, not to mention those special people called "wives". Fortunately most of you were blissfully unaware of the massive problems we had in getting to the show and having the stand up and running. I will certainly not bore you with the problems, but if we wrote it all down, no one would ever believe it.... Major computer failures and vehicle failures were only the tip of the iceburg. No matter the show was a huge success and we raised a nice amount of extra money for MAAM. Most importantly at the show, Russ Strine (the Boss) announced to us that he has now placed the order for the R4D engines and she should fly again this year. That is fantastic news. :-) On our suggestion MAAM are looking at the possibility of, and planning a special FS weekend at MAAM. This would include flights being available in the R4D (for a price) and maybe other aircraft as well, as a celebration of her being airworthy again. A flight in the MAAM aircraft is something extremely special and unusual as it is normally reserved for members of the museum and volunteers, so this would be an event not to be missed. Anyway it is early days yet and we have no further details available, but we will keep you informed as and when things are decided. The other important news about the R4D, is that after she flies again, it planned that she is to be sent away for a full refurbishment, to put her back into A1 condition. All of this has been made possible because of the donations and CD purchases that you have all made, so you can feel rightly proud. :-) " B25 Release " Many of you flew our B25 demo version at the show, and your responses were very encouraging. We have now "pencilled in" a "Release Date" of September this year. This should give us chance to iron out a few bugs and put the finishing touches to the exterior of the model. This date should firm up at it approaches. " Emails :-( " The downside of me being away for so long is the number of emails that were awaiting my return. Over a thousand in my inbox :-( This is enough to bring tears to a glass eye. However as is my way, you will all get a reply in due course, but I ask you to be patient as it is not going to happen over night. It is the intention of Bill and I to take a bit of time out from FS to recharge the batteries if we are allowed, so we hope to be thin on the ground for a while. OK that is about it for now. Have a good one :-)
31st May 2002 " Right to the Wire " Will the B25 Demo Version be ready for next weekend ?? Well we are cutting it so close that I have not had a chance to update this site for the past two weeks. The whole team have been working around the clock to get the B25 Demo Version ready for the MAAM World War II Weekend next weekend, and it is still very much touch and go as to whether we will make it. We have been working through the night for what seems ages now and are extremely tired, but we are making progress and it is looking "stunning", and this is only the Beta. The good news it we have the flight dynamics (thanks to Brian Withers) better than 99% spot on. The model again thanks to Brian is looking really nice. Steve Wayne who has only recently joined the team (about 4 weeks ago) has been working very hard on the model textures and only getting around three or four hours sleep a day. What a baptism of fire and water. !! Alan Landsbugh our sound man has also been sweating blood on the sound package, that will seriously shake the glass out of your windows :-) Which of course leaves Bill and myself, who not only hold the whole thing together, but are responsible for the inside of the package, and the thousands of jobs that are done by no one else. The panels and views are spectacular. Pretty well every gauge functions exactly the same as the real aircraft (within the restrictions of FS2002), and the quality of the graphics is outstanding. It is fair to say the this project would never have happened if it had not have been for the absolutely massive effort and determination of my colleague and friend Bill Rambow. Although we are very good friends there are many times that we could willingly throttle each other, but it is because of that strong friendship that we battle through and get the job done. Anyway if you are coming to the MAAM WWII Weekend 7th, 8th, 9th June 2002 at Reading PA, then you will be able to see and play with the package. What bigger incentive could you have to come to the show ?? To add to that Bill and I will be there in person to talk to people and answer questions, about the package and other issues. More details can be found at http://www.maam.org Bill and I will be the two "bearded" guys asleep behind the stand, wake us only with kind words and a cool beer :-) To think we do this as a hobby !! We must have a few "screws loose" in the head. I have worked hard all my life but I have never done the hours and been under the pressure we have had during this project. On that subject can I thank you for the many emails of support you have sent and comments of understanding for us delaying the launch of the B25. The rest of the B25 development team are taking some well deserved time off before completing the production version of the project. Although we are not making any promises, we expect the official launch date to be the end of August of beginning of September this year, assuming that Beta testing goes well. (Please do not apply to be a Beta tester, we already have a team and massive waiting list) Talking of emails. With immediate effect, for a period of one month, I will not be answering any emails on any of my email accounts, as I am very soon flying out to MAAM from the UK. Therefore I ask, please DO NOT send Registration requests or other requests to me, until you hear on this page that I have returned. OK that is about it for now. I look forward to seeing all of you that make the show, and if not, have a great month of June. Roy, on behalf of the whole (very tired) RCS Panels Team
15th May 2002 " Good News " At last I can report that I have found a video card that beats the GeForce 2 MX with FS. If you remember none of the GeForce 3 cards did that. Today I received and installed the Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600. It is blisteringly quick. I am delighted to tell you, using FS it gives pretty well exactly TWICE the frame rates of the previously best ever card the GeForce 2 MX. This one is seriously good, and is staying in the machine :-) The only downside is the cost. It varies depending on where you buy it, but it is around the $450 mark, which is expensive, but in my opinion is worth it. The particular version I tested and am keeping is the Sparkle Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 with 128mbs RAM If you take my advice you will not even consider the other versions because even their specification says they are much slower. " Bad News " I am sorry to tell you although we have been working around the clock for weeks now, it looks like we are not going to have the B25 CD ready for the MAAM WWII Weekend at the beginning of June. We are close, but are pretty well out of time, and although we might be close to finished we will not have the time to Beta test and get the bugs fixed. We are not prepared to ruin 18 months work, by releasing it before it is properly tested and fixed if necessary. The team is sorry for this disappointment, and I think it is fair to say no one is more disappointed that us, but we want it to be right, and not nearly right. We see that far to often from other outfits. However WE WILL HAVE the beta version at the MAAM show and all those of you that come along will be able to test it at the show. Furthermore, as a consolation, we are hoping that we might have Jan Visser's NEW FS2002 R4D model avaialable at the show, which has full Virtual Cockpits, the likes of which you have never seen before. There are some screenshots on AVSIM and other various websites if you hunt around. However we are not making promises on this as the package is not yet finished and we do not want Jan to spoil the package because he has to rush. Although the new model is all Jan's work, none of it would have been possible without considerable effort from the rest of the team. For example a completely new set of gauges had to be made especially for this package, which in itself was many many hours. However this is nothing in comparison to the time spent on the VC's. OK if we are going to have anything to show you in just over two weeks time, I need to get my head back down to coding. A programmers work is never done !! As a final word. Bill and I have actually put together the various components of the B25 this week for the first time and flown it. :-) We will leave you to be the final judges, but I don't think you will be disappointed when you get to see it, and fly it. I think we can safely say it is up to the standard you have come to expect from the RCS Panels Team. Have a good one :-) You can read about this years MAAM WWII Weekend from this link :- http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html
2nd May 2002 " EMAIL OUTAGE " Due to a major technical fault at our ISP, any emails sent to any email address at "roychaffin.com" from one minute past midnight 2nd May 2002 (Zulu UK time) have been lost, and need to be sent again after 6pm this evening. (which is a total outage time of 18 hours) This DOES NOT apply to any emails sent before this time or to other email addresses (such as roychaffin@hotmail.com). I am very sorry for this inconvenience, but spare a thought for me as it adds to the problem of around a thousand emails to answer since my return :-( Have a fun weekend :-)
1st May 2002 " General " If you have been waiting on a reply from me to an email sent since the last post on this site, then I apologise, I have been taking a couple of weeks off and lounging around in Cyprus in the sunshine :-)) Very enjoyable it was too :-)) However reality has now taken over and I am back with an absolute "mountain" of email to answer. It could be another week or more before I get to yours. However keep the faith, I do try to answer them all eventually. " Virus Alert " If you have not heard, there is another variation of the "W32" virus around, and if my inbox is anything to go by it is a pretty widespread and prolific one. I have had around forty attacks since I have been back. I am pretty certain the the latest "Norton Anti Virus" definitions cope with it successfully. But I personally would not trust these so called "fixes" for it you sometimes receive. Unfortunately these days, up to date and high quality AV software is essential, with very regular definition updates. " A word of WARNING " I have a "Hotmail" account, and according to the information from Hotmail, they say they have anti virus software built into the system. But and it is a BIG BUT, so far their built in software has NEVER stopped a W32 virus addressed to me. I get several each and every day. So please don't think if you have Hotmail you are safe, because my experience says you are not. Go and get proper AV software and keep it up to date. OK back to emails. Have a good week.
18th April 2002 " B-25 Project " Things have been quiet here on the site recently, primarily because ever single minute has been spent writing code for the B-25. We are running dreadfully behind on the project, and if we are to have any hope of having it available for the MAAM WWII Weekend in June, we have to use every available minute to work on it. We now know for certain that any "downloadable version" will NOT be available during June and at this point we cannot put a release date on that. We have switched our full attention to the CD version for the June release date, and even then it is going to be tight. Our current aims are to have the CD available at the MAAM WWII Weekend in June, and from then on the CD will be available from the MAAM Online store. Virtually every gauge in this package is quite unique, and it taking much longer to produce than expected. It is fair to say the whole team has probably already put in as much development time as we have on the whole of the R4D project and we haven't even got a Beta version done yet. For those that have been asking for Beta copies. I am sorry we only issue them to our existing team of testers, and even they have had nothing from us as yet. As for screenshots, well we are still keeping what we have to ourselves until we are ready for release, so it will be a fantastic and pleasant surprise. "R4D Update " I am pleased to tell you that work is still continuing on a full FS2002 update for the R4D, with a new visual model, which will include full Virtual Cockpits. The work so far is looking quite stunning, and I think you will all be pleased when you see it. We have no proposed release date as yet, but I would expect within the next two to three months. OK that is it for now. Have a great week or so :-) Roy
4th April 2002 " Back to work " After the distractions and waste of time that was caused by the idiot below, we are now fully back to work on the B-25. We still have a mountain of work to finish but time is running out on us, so some serious "Midnight Oil" is being burnt. We are still a fairly long way off even an Alpha version not to mention a Beta or Production version. Oh while on the subject of Beta versions, many people email me and ask to Beta Test, some genuine and other because the want an early version. Well I can tell you there is absolutely no point in asking, because we have a team of existing Beta Testers that are tried and tested. Plus we have a substantial waiting list. We are extremely demanding on our testers and they have masses of work to do and no time to do it in, as we always want the results yesterday. Unusually in this day and age, we try to put out "bug free" software and not do the testing on the customers. Quaint idea :-) " Many thanks " I want to publicly and formally thank all the major FS sites and their staff for the considerable support, cooperation and technical detective work over the last couple of weeks. Their efforts have been nothing short of extraordinary. Together with the help from our readers we have managed to rid the FS world of another problem. So well done folks and THANKS. " Music " The change of music on this site was certainly noticed and I received many emails in response, both supporting the change and otherwise. However do to popular demand the old tune is back :-) " N|ew FSUIPC " You will find a new copy of Pete Dowson's essential FSUIPC utility posted on this site. This is version 2.85 Click here to download. (all other links have been changed) OK that is about it for now, back to the grind :-(( Have a good one !!! :-)
“Official
Statement” As a result
of recent libellous allegations published on Flight Simulation Forums, RCS
Panels wishes it to be known that we neither use or have need to use, any
parts in our packages that we do not either produce “in house” or have
full and proper permission to use. RCS Panels
does not allow the use of any gauge with a name that starts “RCS-“ in
any package produced by anyone other than ourselves. There are NO
exceptions, so if an “RCS” gauge appears in any “third party”
package, it is there illegally. All webmaster have been made aware of this policy and are very co-operative. We ALWAYS
pursue breaches of copyright. This policy
is not new, it has been the case for many years, and was originally
brought about because of the total lack of respect shown by a small but
significant number of people. RCS Panels
does however produce gauges and other parts for third party developers,
but the gauge names never start with the initials “RCS”. We have a
policy to always help and encourage other developers when we can, if we
are approached in a right and proper manner.
29th March 2002 " Thanks to our readers " I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers that went to considerable effort to track down this "Falcon7" character. Your work and emails were most helpful, and as a result, along with the webmasters of all the major FS websites this problem is now being dealt with. As a result of other events not reported on this site, the matter is being put into the hands of law enforcement agencies. So a big THANKYOU, you can and have made a difference. " B-25 Progress " Work is going well on the B-25 so far. I at least think I can probably see the light at the end of the tunnel. There are a couple of major gauges still left to code, like an authentic Engine Starter Panel, but we are getting there :-)) As is normal with us, we are trying to push the barriers of what can be done. But that is the exciting bit. Have a great Easter :-) Roy
22nd March 2002 " New Music " As you will hear, if you haven't turned down the sound, I have changed the music on the site. One of your readers, David Lacey who is a musician, offered to send me some. Well as you can see I accepted his kind offer and here you are. David has a website at :- http://www.cruisemusic.fsnet.co.uk/Arranger/cruise1.html and can be contacted :- Enjoy :-)
21st March 2002 " Urgent Appeal for help " Does anyone know who "Tim Stevens" alias "Falcon7" is ?? Both myself and the webmasters of the major sites would very much appreciate knowing who this cowardly individual happens to be. Without going into detail, this person is publishing "pirated" packages in other peoples names. He hasn't even the "balls" to properly identify himself. You could say he is quite high up the FS "MOST WANTED" list. It is people like this "Cretin" that causes all the proper developers to leave the hobby and go elsewhere. So lets all get together and see if we can nail this one. Have a search on all your favourite FS sites and see if we can find him and or anything by him, and we can deal with him quickly and effectively. One package that is his handy work. (not worth downloading) is "luxury_panel.zip" or "luxpanel.zip". Should you find this anywhere please let me know. OK have a fun and productive week. Roy
17th March 2002 " Am I OK ?? " Today I received a kind email from a reader to ask "whether I was OK" because I have not updated the page for another two weeks ?? This is starting to sound like a weak excuse, but I had no idea that another two weeks had slipped past :-(( Ooops !! Well I have not been neglecting FS, quite the reverse, I have had my head down working on coding some of the more complex gauges for the B-25. Bill has again produced some stunning graphics and we are determined that we will make every gauge look and work exactly in the same way as in the real aircraft, well as much as that is possible within FS2002. As some of you might have noticed, MS have deemed to release the FS2002 SDK. Well unfortunately the bit we really want is missing, (like last time) so it is business as usual and reverse engineering. It is no problem it is just time wasting. " B25 Package " We are still hoping to release the package on CD at the MAAM WWII Weekend on June 7th 2002. However any downloadable version will be some weeks later probably after I return to the UK from the show. We are deliberately concentrating on the CD version as priority this time. The package will also be time locked similar to the R4D for FS2002, but I can tell you now the old codes and numbers will not work. A completely new locking system has been developed and tested. I am pleased to say that I have finally cracked the last major problem that a small number of people were having with installation of the FS2002 R4D with Windows XP. This is good news indeed, because it now releases me from the task of finding a solution. " Sign of the times ? " I have to admit that I find the attitude of some of the people that email me totally unbelievable and nothing short of rude. "Where is ....????" No "Please" No "Thankyou" or even name of the person writing. I know that emails are supposed to be BRIEF, but that is ridiculous. Just for the benefit of the "hard of understanding" or "totally thick or ignorant" myself and the other members of the RCS Panels Team are volunteers who give of our time freely and willingly and in vast quantities for the general benefit of the FS community members. All we ask is we are treated with a little respect. Not too much to ask ? " The real R4D " This week I talked with Russ Strine (the boss of MAAM) about a number of things, but I am sure the most important to you, was I asked on every ones behalf "When would the R4D be airworth again ?" As you know the money has been coming in very well since Christmas and the release of the FS2002 R4D (well over $30,000 since Christmas Eve), therefore I was curious as to whether we could expect the R4D to be flying again by the WWII Weekend in June this year. Well sadly the answer to that is no. Unfortunately it has been discovered that the R4D needs two engines rather than just one, which MAAM had originally thought. This means we still have a way to go, to have enough money. However thanks to you, we are getting there fast. We need about the same amount again as we have raised since Christmas. Russ is already on the lookout for the special P&W 1830-94 engines that are needed, but tells me that "lead time" on rebuilt engines is quite a number of months from the time the order is placed. Therefore it is strongly hoped that she will fly again this year, but no promises can been given. I think it is fair to say he is as keen as us for her to be back in the air. I am also told that some time down the line after she is flying again, a complete refurbishment is planned to return her to "A1+" condition. " MAAM WWII Weekend " Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few months, I am pleased to tell you that the MAAM WWII Weekend is planned for 7th 8th and 9th June 2002. Both Bill Rambow and myself will be at the show for all three days, and are hopeful that other members of the team will also join us. It it a fantastic show and we have a great time. This is one of the great opportunities we have to meet and talk with many of you, and we really enjoy that face to face contact. So if you have never been before, why not give us a look, I don't think you will regret it. We have even been known to autograph the odd CD as a special memento of the event. " New PC " During the last couple of weeks I have put together a new PC for FS. Basically an AMD XP 1900+ with 768mbs DDR RAM and Windows XP. I have used a GeForce III graphics card, but still find the GeForce II MX is faster :-) (I did test it) I can tell you this machine really "flies" It has more than doubled, in fact trebled my frame rates (that were not to shabby before I started). For my money you can keep your Pentium 4's even with RAMBUS memory. I am really impressed. :-) It has even helps with programming. OK that is about it for now, except I have placed two files on the site for your convenience. Firstly Tony D'Ambrosio's latest "nd2k_13.zip" Click here to download Secondly Peter Dowsons latest FSUIPC Click here to download However I need to point out that I do not handle "Technical Support" queries on these two products, as good as they are. Have a good one. Roy
4th March 2002 " Where does the time go ?? " I am horrified to note that is is three weeks since I last posted a message on this page. Where does the time go ??. Well I guess I can answer that, in hours and hours of programming in dispersed with wasting time on dam pirates. We have had a spate of them recently, and that just takes so much time to deal with. I do however want to thank the people that email me, when they find an RCS gauge or other part in a package. Just for information we NEVER give permission for any gauge with a name that starts with the initials "RCS", to be used by any other developer. If we do grant permission for our parts to be used, which we often do, then we supply a special version that has a different name. Just for those that don't know, all RCS gauges have an Internal Security System that renders the gauge useless if anything is changed, including the gauges name (unless we do it). Anyway, work on the B-25 is going extremely well, if slowly. Some of the gauges are very complex and different that anything I have done before, and the "little grey cells" are being stretched to the limit. The lack of a proper SDK from our friends at MS is not helping, but I guess we are used to that. The email load still takes huge amounts of time away from development, however if people do write I do feel duty bound to respond. However I am pleased to report that a couple of major problems that about five people were having with the R4D version 4,75 have now been solved, which has certainly released me from the task of fault finding. All these problems turned out to be settings on their PC's. So far we have not found any bugs in the software, other than minor things we knew about on release. " R4D v4.75 Visual Model Upgrade " Jan Visser is preparing a Visual Model Upgrade for the R4D that will contain Virtual Cockpits amongst other things. This is requiring a whole new set of gauges to be made for them. Unlike other developers gauges, mine cannot be used twice in the same package, if you try they will not function. This is not an accident but a very deliberate intention. " Fantastic News " On the subject of the R4D, Bill and I are very pleased to announce that since Christmas Eve, MAAM has taken in excess of $32,000 dollars as a direct result of the R4D software version 4.75 which is absolutely fantastic. So many thanks to you all, on behalf of us and the staff at MAAM. OK that is about it for now. Have a fun week.
17th February 2002 " Hall of Shame " I am sorry to report we have a new name for the "Hall of Shame". John Gardner has chosen to ignore International Copyright Laws and use RCS Panels gauges without even asking for permission to use them, in a recently released Comet/Nimrod package. He has been contacted by email and given a fair chance to put things right, but absolutely no response has been forthcoming. He made a big thing in his "Readme" about copyright and how his should be respected, while he feels free to break everyone elses !!! So as he asks for comments by email, let me suggest we give him some, in large amounts. This is your opportunity to help me. Go for it. His email address is :- johnnyg@0800dial.com
"JOHN GARDNER" is added to the "HALL OF SHAME"
13th February 2002 " R4D CD Edition 7 Released " We are delighted to announce that Version 7 of the MAAM R4D CD is now released and in stock at the MAAM online store. This version contains the very latest self installing EXE file for the R4D for FS2002 including the Autopilot update, along with all the latest versions for all the other SIMS. To read the full Press Release Click Here Have a good week.
8th February 2002 " General " Bouncing emails is becoming more and more of a problem here. We are now unable to contact a number of people because every attempt to email them gets bounced from their ISP. If you get no response from us in a couple of days, try to contact us using a different email address and ISP. These "Anti Spam filters" are a real "Pain in the A---". The last week was totally occupied with writing code for the B-25 and preparing a new package for DC-3 Airways VA. The midnight oil has been burning extremely brightly. If you are a DCA member you can expect something fairly exciting in the next week or so :-)) Read your Newsletters !!! When time allows, it is my intention to put together an article about the pro's and con's of the various operating systems and FS, especially FS2002. Just to keep you up to date. I have continued to run tests on graphics cards and the GeForce II MX is still the fastest for FS. Amazing by ture !! The latest ones tested here were the GeForce III Ti cards, and even they were slower. OK back to the code writing. Have a good weekend.
30th January 2002 " What's New ? " As you can see I am back, and pleased to say that most of you respected my request for NO emails. Thankyou :-) However keep up the good work :-) " B-25 Release date " Many people are asking when the B-25 will be released. I can tell you that release date is expected to be around the 10th June 2002. That is assuming work continues at the present rate. " Airbus and B717 Upgrades ? " I am also getting many questions about whether I intend to upgrade the Airbus and B717 packages. To be honest I am only just testing them in FS2002 and assessing the work that would be necessary to upgrade them. This assessment is being done in spare moments, because the B-25 project has priority, not to mention making a living. Even I have to earn money to live :-) This is not a whinge, but just a pure statement of fact. I would have more than enough time to do everything if it wasn't for the 80 or so emails that have to be answered each and every day. Most of which are unnecessary !! The simple answer to the upgrade question ?? If I have time. But I hope so. " Buyer Beware " This is a SERIOUS WARNING about the latest "Piracy". Bill has put together a short article on the latest problems we have experienced. You really should take the time to read this. It could save you money. " General " One or two people seem to have got a little upset, that they buy the MAAM R4D CD and then are asked to answer a question to authenticate they actually have it. It might surprise people to know that quite a number of people actually email asking for a FREE unlock key code saying they have the CD when they don't, expecting us to just issue them with a unlock key code. Well to protect you good people that have paid your money, we insist on authenticating requests, to make sure the "Cheapskates" pay up like the rest of you. Therefore we are sorry for the slight inconvenience, but it is to protect your investment. We are delighted if we spoil the fun of the "Cheapskates", but do not appreciate being "bad mouthed" by a couple of idiots who we are trying to protect. We work long hours to ensure that no one waits very long to receive their code. 99% of you are most appreciative of how fast we respond and help. On the good side, the money received by MAAM since Christmas for the R4D is fantastic and we will be making an official announcement fairly soon about the exact amount. But I can say it is beyond my wildest dreams for a six week period. OK that is about it for now. Back to some serious programming. Have a good one. :-)
18th January 2002 " New R4D Autopilot Manual " I am pleased to announce that Bill has just finished compiling a new manual for the R4D Autopilots. This document covers the new R4D Autopilot Upgrade and also the previous versions of the package for FS2000, FS98, CFS2, and CFS. To download Click Here 2.3 mbs For the full "R4D Autopilot Upgrade for FS2002" that includes the new manual. To download Click here 2.8 mbs " FSUIPC v2.81 " I am also pleased to announce that with the new R4D Autopilot Upgrade for FS2002 you can now use any version after v2.78 of FSUIPC, including the latest one v2.81 (which I have tested). To download Click here 512 kbs " Now the good news :-) " With effect from tomorrow Saturday, I am deserting my post and am taking 10 days off to entertain a good friend who is visiting from the USA with his sons. Because I have not had a break since way before Christmas, we are going off to enjoy ourselves, do the tourist things, and even visit aircraft establishments :-) Therefore I will not be at this keyboard or answering emails. Anything technical will have to wait, other things will either have to do the same, or be directed to my friend and colleague Bill Rambow. I know I get boring on this subject, but well over 50% of all the emails we receive are on things that are well covered in our documentation, and a little reading would answer them without the need for an email, or the RED face when you get the reply. Food for thought !! OK that is about it for now. It has been a hectic time. Have a good ten days. Roy
14th January 2002 " RCS Panels Statement " Over the
years RCS Panels has grown and developed, and during that time I think we
have made significant contributions to the world of Flight Simulation. It
is our intention to keep this process going. During the last couple of
years Jan Visser has very much been part of the process and has helped us
to “raise the bar” on what could be expected from an FS visual model.
His contributions have been very important and very much valued by the
team. However times change, and Jan has now left the team to pursue some
projects that are dear to his heart, and I am sure you will join with me
and the rest of the team in wishing him well with these new ventures. Just to keep
the record straight, relations between RCS Panels and Jan are extremely
friendly and there are likely to be more cooperative ventures between us
in the future. Jan tells me he is already planning an upgrade to the R4D
visual model for FS2002, which will have our blessing, and I am sure you
will all welcome. Likewise the considerable amount of work he has already
done on the B-25 for MAAM is not being wasted. Jan has been
a valuable member of the team and we are sad to see him go, however we are
pleased that we will probably be working with him again in the future, and
wish him the best of luck. So what of
the future ?? Is RCS Panels going to die ??
Not a bit of it, we are as active as ever, probably more so. Our
"new man" is working hard on picking up where Jan left off, and
we are continually learning new skills and gaining experience. However I
must say a good SDK from MS on FS2002 would be extremely helpful. But I
guess we have got used to working without such luxuries J RCS Panels
started off and a strictly Freeware Only set-up, but more and more have
now gone towards raising money for worthy causes. This trend is likely to
continue, as the amount of time and commitment that is necessary these
days to produce “state of the art” add-ons for FS is horrendous and we
all feel that not only should the “end users” benefit from this work,
but also people like aircraft museums and those organisations who are
struggling to keep the old aircraft in the air. Consequently for the next
couple of years our major work will be directed towards MAAM and then the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Obviously
if time allows we might upgrade old projects, but our major concern is to
move forward with new and exciting stuff rather than revamping the old. We are
looking forward to the future with great excitement and hope you are too? Roy On behalf of
the whole team. 12th January 2002 " FS2002 R4D Autopilot Upgrade " We are delighted to announce that we now have a new set of Sperry MKIII gauges that work perfectly with FS2002 and with our modern R4D Autopilot. You can now engage either AP and still have partial control with the yoke. Something that was not possible with the FS2002 R4D until now. However it is VITAL you read the "readme.txt" to see how things have to be set. To add to this, especially for the people that love using the Sperry, it now also controls the aircraft while it is not displayed on the screen. For example when you are looking out of a side window. The work necessary to identify the problems and make the necessary changes has not been easy, and I want to sincerely thank Arne Bartels (the designer of the original Sperry gauge) for his great assistance in helping me create this new version. The upgrade has been packaged into a self installing EXE file that will make all the necessary changes automatically. It is ESSENTIAL that you read the "readme.txt" before you run the EXE file. DO NOT TRY TO INSTALL THIS UPGRADE MANUALLY
To download the FS2002 R4D Autopilot Upgrade now complete with manual Click Here (file size 2.8 mbs) Have a good weekend. Roy
7th January 2002 " FS2002 R4D Auto Pilot Statement " To try and clear some of the confusion over the R4D Auto Pilot operation in FS2002 I have put together a brief statement on the subject. To read Click Here
5th January 2002 " Fantastic !!! " We are delighted to tell you that the response to the Version 4.75 of the R4D has been superb. With effect from yesterday morning 4th Jan, MAAM had received over $10,000 into the "Engine Fund" since Christmas Eve. That is over a thousand dollars a day. That is absolutely fantastic !!!! Keep it coming :-) Both MAAM and us (the developers) are thrilled with the response, and are pleased to tell you that the way things are going the real R4D should be back in the air this summer. :-)) " Keep your eyes open " There have been a small number of people that have tried to cheat MAAM out of the $5 that they deserve. This I think is about the same as "beating up on an old lady to steal her food money". Could I ask all of you, that if you see or hear of anyone doing such a miserable thing, or even trying to get a code for a friend, could you let us know "in confidence", so we can take the appropriate action. We will be very grateful :-) " ATI Radeon 8500 users " I have just had it reported to me that there are now drivers available that will make the ATI Radeon 8500 video cards display all the textures in FS2002. As I no longer have one of these cards, I am not able to check these drivers personally, but they have worked for one of our readers so they should for you. You are looking for the 4.31.9005 drivers, which is an 11 mb download. The URL and link to the site is :- http://www.rage3d.com/files/drivers/agreement9x.shtml " The team at rest ?? " The team is attempting to have a break since a manic time leading up to and during Christmas. I know everyone is eager, but we would again ask you to exercise a little restraint with the quantity of emails you send us. As good as it is to hear how much you like the new version, we need a "time out", to recharge our batteries. Have a good weekend. Roy
3rd January 2002 EXTRA " VIRUS ATTACK " We have just been informed, yesterday MAAM was attacked by a computer VIRUS. The situation has now been recovered and they are up and running again, however a few emails where lost in the process along with pretty well all the address book. If you submitted your registration number yesterday (Wednesday), and have still not received your unlock key code, then please email them with your registration number and if you send a copy of your receipt that will speed up the process. Alternatively without a copy of the receipt you will be put into "a heap" to be checked off against the list of donators which will be much slower. Likewise if you did not receive your online receipt, your transaction has probably not been actioned. Rather than wait in vain for your unlock key code or your CD, we suggest you make the transaction again. However do check you credit card status to avoid paying twice. As tempting as it might be, DO NOT CONTACT either Bill or Roy about your transactions or questions, we are unable to help you and will only relay your emails without answers. It will be quicker if you go direct. The MAAM email address is :- pmalash@mindspring.com The staff at MAAM are extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused by these problems, but as we all know, computer viruses are an everyday problem we all have to deal with. Thanks for your understanding. Roy
3rd January 2002 " NO CD patch for FS2000 in Windows XP " If you are still using FS2000 and have upgraded to XP Home or Pro, you might want a NO CD fix that works. Well here you are :-
1st January 2002 " Great News " We are delighted to tell you that the new FS2002 version of the R4D is now available on CD at MAAM, well ahead of schedule. Click on the link for the full information. " A well earned rest " After what has been an unbelievable few weeks, the RCS Panels team are going to take a well earned rest. MAAM is now handling all the new registrations, so please do not email us with your requests for unlock keys codes unless you are entitled to a FREE key. Likewise, please do not email us with questions until you have read the documentation at least three times. Most of the questions we receive are covered clearly in the documents we have already written and distributed. I have received hundreds of emails from people that are either blind or just to lazy to read. So please help us to help you, but not wasting our time. It is now the intention of Bill and myself to take some well earned time off, we have worked solidly through the Christmas period to ensure you enjoy yours and have the R4D experience with FS2002, now we are going to have some R and R. Safe landings. Roy HAPPY NEW YEAR
31st December 2001 " Thank you, the year ends on a high " I sometimes comment of the negative things that happen in the FS world, but felt I had to share this recent email with you all. For me, what is said here means a lot, and tells me that what we did, was not only the right thing, but was also seen to be the right thing. Thank you !! Dear Roy, :-))
30th December 2001 " Good News " I am delighted to publish a direct link to the MAAM R4D web payment page. You can now make your payment for the "time locked" R4D package and fill in your "Registration Number" with your "email address" and the unlock key code will be sent to you directly. This is going to save all of us a great deal of time :-) Thanks Fred. https://www47.rapidsite.net/aviala/maam/r4dupgd.html " Better News :-) " As a result of this improvement to the service, it is my intention now to take some time off and get some well deserved sleep and a bit of time away from this keyboard. Today Bill and I completed the CD version of the package and Bill is currently in full production. This version 6 of the CD should be available in the MAAM Store in around a week from now. I want to take this opportunity to thank Bill, and Pete for their dedication in helping me get all the unlock key codes dispatched very quickly. We have had a few "Glitches" but no one has waited more than 48 hours and most much less. A brilliant effort. !! I have now answered most of the "Technical Support" questions, but there are still a few of the more complex ones to do. This is not the time to send new ones. Have a great New Year. from a very knackered Roy ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz
28th December 2001 Take 2 " Thanks Rick " There is a gentleman called "Rick" that has just sent me the most wonderful message which I want to say a big THANK YOU for. Unfortunately I am unable to email Rick in return because all attempts have be "Bounced" from his server. I have however passed it on to Bill. So THANKS Rick :-) " Talking of emails bouncing " Here at RCS Panels we always reply to EVERY email. If for any reason you do not get a reply from us, you can be certain that is because they are being "bounced" by your sever. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for us here, as more and more each day get thrown back. We are told that most ISP's are putting "Anti Spam" software on and this is far from effective and cuts out a great deal of your incoming email from legitimate people. My advice to you is contact your ISP and insist this software is removed from your account. I speak from experience here, as this was the problem we had for weeks. We had to be very forceful but won through in the end. Partially working email is worse that none at all.
28th December 2001 " Understanding Please !! " This is a quick note to say we are currently "sinking" under the weight of registrations we are receiving for the R4D, and doing our very best to deal with all of them as quickly as possible. Both Bill and I are volunteers who do this in our spare time for absolutely nothing. We have given up pretty well all of our Christmas without a single complaint in aid of a good cause and are pleased to do so, but it is not expected that we should receive abusive or sarcastic emails from people that either cannot understand the installation or registration instructions or expect their registrations to be done instantly. Speaking personally, and I know I am not alone, having just worked some ungodly hours to get the project out to you before Christmas as promised, I am extremely tired, as I know is also the case with Bill. Therefore I ask just a little understanding from people if we are only prepared to work 16 hours a day for the rest of the holiday. Having said that, we are not prepared to be anything less than thorough with the registration process, (therefore "rip off merchants" need not apply) so please be prepared for some delays. On a positive note, the registrations and donations to MAAM have been very encouraging, and we are delighted that so many people have donated much more than the minimum registration fee that is required. Can I say on behalf of the whole team MANY, MANY THANKS you are brilliant :-)) Kindest regards Roy
27th December 2001 " Important Notice " Total confusion seems to have occurred recently. Please read the following notice in FULL, as it contains important information regarding the R4D for FS2002. " Technical Support Queries " Owing to the enormous amount of registrations for the R4D, we are running extremely behind with answering Technical Support Queries. All queries will be answered, but the speedy service you have been used to over the years might not be quite so speedy for a few days. We will do our best. :-)
26th December 2001 " Registration Update " Today we have restarted registrations for the R4D, and have a backlog of a couple of hundred here at RCS Panels, not counting those with Bill and MAAM. I will be working on the registrations through the night and will hope to have them up to date by the morning. So be patient, I am doing my best. So far today over a 100 have been cleared. Have a good one. Roy
24th December 2001 Extra " Autopilot Problem " I have just discovered a major problem with the R4D Autopilot and the packaged version of FSUIPC. The aircraft goes into a steep climb immediately the AP in engauged. The FS2002 version of the R4D was designed and tested with version 2.78 of Peter Dowson's brilliant FSUIPC addon. However I decided package the never version 2.79 which was not completely tested and is not compatible. Further more the even newer version 2.80 is also not compatible. Therefore until such time as this can be worked out with Peter after Christmas, I suggest you return to version 2.78 which is available here, with instructions of how to install it. Download AP Fix Click Here I am sorry for this inconvenience, but sometimes the best intentions go to "Rats" Have a good Christmas.
24th December 2001 " R4D for FS2002 Registrations " As of 2 am 24th December, I am pleased to tell you that we are completely up to date on FREE registrations for the R4D at RCS Panels. :-) I am aware there has been a few problems with a UK ISP that we sometimes route our email through. If you have not received a reply to your registration request, that has been sent before the above time, then please get in contact with me again at " roychaffin@hotmail.com " " Limited Service " As a result of the Christmas holiday and the fact we have managed to get up to date with registrations, we will be operating a limited "Registration Service" today, Christmas Eve, and Boxing Day, and NO service at all on Christmas Day. " Christmas Greetings " Can I thank everyone that has sent us Christmas Cards and Greetings, unfortunately because of dealing with the R4D registrations we have not been able to personally respond to every one. However we very much appreciate them, so please accept this joint Thankyou. :-) The RCS Panels Team, Alan, Brian, Bill and Roy, plus all the staff at MAAM would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. We thank you all for your support during the past year and hope we can look forward to it continuing for the year to come. 2001 has been a difficult year for many different reasons but let us hope and pray that 2002 will be kinder. *** MERRY CHRISTMAS ***
22nd December 2001 " FS2002 Released " After months of work the moment has arrived. The R4D for FS2002 is released here before Christmas as promised. Before you hit the "download link" you need to know this is a significant download at 25 mbs, but if you think that is bad, our first compilation of the ".exe" file was 40 mbs, so it has been drastically reduced. We have removed the HTML Manual and left only the PDF and Plain Text versions along with the package. Talking of manuals, I know this bit is boring, but PLEASE read at least the "readme.txt" very carefully about the registration procedure. It is vital that you contact the correct place with the right information, otherwise you will not get your Unlock Key Code quickly. At this point I would like to thank my fellow team members Alan, Brian, and Bill for working some horrendous hours under extreme conditions to get this package finished on time. You have all done a fantastic job and I hope given people a wonderful Christmas present. To download "Readme" file Click Here To download package Click Here Enjoy :-) Roy
21st December 2001 " Advanced Warning " We are hopeful that we will be releasing the R4D for FS2002 either later tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow morning depending on where you live in the world. We are in the final stages of putting the package together and if there are no unexpected difficulties, you should see it here soon. I will remind you again in your excitement. That is is a "Time Limited Donationware" package that will be fully operational for 5 minutes, and then will "black out" requiring you to reload. That will give you a chance to do a circuit of your favourite airfield. To stop this "Blackout" permanently, you will be required to register (see enclosed readme.txt) which will cost you a very small fee of $5 each (plus $1 if you use a credit card). All this money goes directly to the Mid Atlantic Air Museum to get the real aircraft back into the air. If on the other hand you are the proud owner of the MAAM R4D CD, a member of the museum, or a previous donator, then you can claim a FREE unlock code. We will do our best to get as many Unlock Key Codes out before Christmas as is possible, but we remind people, that having worked around the clock for weeks to get this to you before the holiday, we will not be working on Christmas Day. You are further reminded that this release is an "FS2002 Compatibility Release" and does not include such things as Virtual Cockpits and other new facilities available in FS2002. However there are many enhancements that have not been seen in any previous version or upgrade. This is our Christmas present to you, can we ask you to give your Christmas present to MAAM in form of your $5. Have a good one. Alan, Brian, Bill, and Roy
19th December 2001 " Good News :-) " Christmas is supposed to be the time for Good News, so let us try to keep with that tradition. As you know we here at RCS Panels said we would try to have the R4D for FS2002 out before Christmas, and it looks like we should achieve it. The team, Alan, Bill, Brian and myself, have been working around the clock to get it finished and I am hopeful we will have it up by the weekend. maybe even Friday. So keep your fingers crossed. We are aware that there is going to be a rush of registrations in the first few days, and we will do our best to action as many as possible as soon as possible, but ask you to make sure you send your registration to the correct place, with the correct information and be patient. To make things easier. Bill and myself will deal with the registrations from, Owners of the MAAM CD, Donators, and MAAM Members. So when you have downloaded the package, you follow the instructions in the "readme.txt" precisely, and you should get your registration quickly. For people that HAVE NOT previously purchased the CD, made a donation, or are members of MAAM, they will send their registration direct to MAAM as per the instructions in the "readme.txt" I am sorry to tell you we will NOT be actioning registrations on Christmas Day. Sorry !!! Maybe Boxing Day if we are not too hung over :-) " More Good News :-) " RCS Panels are delighted to announce that we have for some time been working on producing the Battle of Britian Memorial Flight aircraft ( C47, Avro Lancaster, Spitfires, and Hurricanes) to the same standard as you have become use to from us. As you will appreciate this is a long term project and the aircraft will come one by one and probably in the order mentioned above. We are delighted to say we have the full co-operation of the BBMF staff, and are really enjoying the work. For those of you that have followed this page for a while, this is the "Secret Project" to which I referred some time ago. We were however asked not to announce this information until a certain "other product" was released. An accurate time scale has not yet been set, but we will be full time on it as soon as the B-25 is finished. " Email Problems " Problems continue with my roy@roychaffin.com email account. I have been assured by the ISP that every effort is being made to solve this problem. Again today I was told that within 24 hours all will be well. We will see !! If you are having mail "bounced" please be patient, the situation is out of our hands. If it is not solved soon, I will set up another address with another ISP. OK if we are to hit the target for the release of the R4D I better get back to bug fixing and burn some more midnight oil. Have fun. Roy, on behalf of the team.
13th December 2001 " Beta Testing Continues " I have not updated this site for a week because all my efforts have been going into trying to hit the deadline for the release of the FS2002 R4D before Christmas. Massive amounts of work has been done and bugs fixed. We are hopefully getting very close to release. What we hope is the "Final Beta" went out a few hours ago, and all being well, if there are no major problems we should be looking at a release next week. :-) We however suffer an unexpected difficulty, in as much as our Flight Dynamics specialist Brian Withers was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery on Tuesday, and will be out of commission for a while. Against the belief of some, we do consider people to be more important than project deadlines, so our first thoughts are with him. According to reports Brian is doing well, and will be back with us soon after Christmas. Fortunately the bulk of his work was done, so we can muddle through. Our best wishes to Brian and his family for a very speedy recovery and good Christmas. That's about it for now. Have a good week. Roy
6th December 2001 " Beta Testing begins " I am pleased to tell you that "Beta Testing" of the FS2002 R4D has started, and reports are already coming in. There is clearly a lot of bugs to fix, but that work is already underway, so I am still hopeful for a release during this month. Everyone is reminded that this is merely a version of the R4D that is compatible with FS2002 and will not contain things like Virtual Cockpits. You are also reminded that this version is "Donationware", will be "Time Locked" and will only be FREE to those people that have previously made a donation to MAAM or puchased the R4D CD. For other users, you will be required to pay a small fee for an "UNLOCK KEY" to remove the time restriction. " New Nvidia Drivers and XP " If you are an XP user that has an Nvidia GeForce 1 or older video card, I urge caution before you try the latest XP video drivers from Nvidia. I have tested the v21.83 and v23.11 drivers with the older cards and both of them cause serious problems to the point that Windows will not load. Should this happen to you, your only option is to Boot "Safe Mode" or "Last Good Configuration" and remove the new drivers. This will solve the problem, but it is a little long winded. " Email Problems " Some of you might have had emails "bounced" from my roy@roychaffin.com email account. The long running problem has finally been found and should be cured in the next day or so. :-)) The problem was a filtering system had been put on my server to screen out any sending server that generated "Spam". Therefore if the ISP server you are connected to, has anyone who puts out "Spam" you would have suffered because of them. Rather than cause you this inconvenience, I am having the filter removed. I would rather have more rubbish than your emails not get through. OK that's about it for now. Have a good week.
30th November 2001 " CHECK YOUR MACHINES FOR VIRUSES " YOU NEED TO SERIOUSLY CHECK YOUR MACHINES FOR VIRUSES, WITH A VIRUS CHECKER THAT HAS HAD ITS DEFINITIONS UPDATED WITHIN THE LAST TWO DAYS. WE ARE BEING SWAMPED WITH EMAILS CONTAINING VIRUSES FROM YOUR MACHINES WITHOUT YOU KNOWING. WE ARE UNABLE TO ADVISE PEOPLE WHO ARE SENDING THEM, OR RESPOND TO EMAILS, ASKING IS IT ME, BUT IT IS MANY OF YOU THAT COMMUNICATE WITH US REGULARLY. THANKS
29th November 2001 " RealCRT Gauges and Windows XP " It has been reported to me that Tony's RealCRT gauges if used with FS2000 / FS2002 report "NO ROUTE DATA" when a flightplan is loaded, when used in Windows XP. Quick checks here seem to show the same thing. !! If anyone has them working with FS2000 and Windows XP or for that matter FS2002, please let me know. Otherwise email Tony D'Ambrosio directly. " SERIOUS WARNING " There is a very widespread worm virus circulating via email. If you haven't updated your "Virus Definitions" in the last two days. DO IT NOW. I am getting hit here about a dozen times a day, all from people I know. Fortunately the virus protection is trapping them. Kindest regards Roy
26th November 2001 " Confusion ?? " To save any possible confusion, I would like to point out that any comments made lower down on this page about people "making suggestions about how to make our current R4D/DC-3 work with FS2002" DO NOT apply to any suggestions made by my fellow RCS team members Bill Rambow or Jan Visser. The various things stated by our team are fully agreed and supported, and do not in anyway effect the Technical Support you will receive. This was always understood to be the case by us, but just in case anyone was wondering or confused, I make it quite clear again here. " R4D for FS2002 " I am delighted to tell you that now my annual Art Show has been put successfully behind me, and work has again started on the R4D for FS2002. Progress is going well to make it compatible. Most of the basic design and compiling work has been completed, and we are still hopeful for a release in December. Basically although it will look virtually identical to version 4 and work in the same way, it has been redesigned from the ground up and it will include the new FS2002 night lighting system, but it is not planned that "Virtual Cockpits" will be included in this release. That is likely to be an upgrade in the future. This decision is the probable outcome because we are under such enormous pressure to release as soon as possible, and without question VC's would only delay things further. However we will only know for certain come release day. " XP and FS development " Having now had a few days to do some development work with XP. With the various development tools and FS all running at the same time. XP is proving to be extremely good. Where I was having to reboot anything up to 30 times a day, now I reboot once a day just to be on the safe side, but it is hardly necessary. A great time saver :-) There are however differences, some of which do cause problems and errors. If you are so used to doing things in a certain way, as I am, then errors can occur. I have wasted a fair amount of time by deleting and changing the wrong things because of the different ways Windows Explorer works. So be very cautious when using programs you are used to. That is about it for now. I need to get back to programming and bug fixing. This is were the serious time starts :-(( Have a good week. :-))
22nd November 2001 " Up and running with XP " I am pleased to tell you that my main development machine which is only a lowly Intel 800mhz machine is now up and running with XP. I have to say once it is working it is a much better operating system, and far more stable. However there are a few points worth mentioning. 1. There is no noticeable improvement in frame rate between XP and a 98/ME machine that is running efficiently. However XP does configure itself to run well, therefore if you are not to hot at tuning your machine, XP could have benefits. 2. My FS2000 and CFS2 "NOCD Patches" do not work with XP (or Windows 2000). There might be others our there that do. 3. Setting up a profile especially for FS with a pretty clear desktop and Quick Start bar at the bottom does improve the performance of FS2002. It seems to do so more that on 98 or ME. I have however run FS2002 very successfully with the following applications running (with files open) at the same time. Word, Excel, Access, Visual C++ v6, Photoshop 6, PSP7, Corel 9, Internet Explorer. all on 512mb of RAM, and the only effect was the frame rate slowed a little, but it was still very flyable, and didn't crash the system. My advise about XP is:- If you are looking for frame rate improvements then XP is probably not the answer, and unless you are prepared to spend some money if some hardware or software turns out not to be compatible, then again it is probably not for you. To be fair, MS do say that XP is for modern or fairly new PC's, and I would agree with that. However if you want stability and don't currently have it, then this could be the answer. But please don't blame me if it all goes to "Rats" :-)) OK more from me on this subject in the future, but in the meantime please do not email me with your questions about XP, I am still learning myself :-))
21st November 2001 " A serious WARNING " I have stated on this page a number of times that "RCS Panels" products are currently NOT COMPATIBLE with FS2002. This is especially true with the R4D /DC-3. Having said that, it seems that people refuse to be patient, and a significant number of "air heads" (and I do not mean that kindly) have published all sorts of ways and methods to make them work. All of which are "RUBBISH". If a quick fix was possible I would have published it here, and I would not have spent hundreds of hours producing a new and compatible R4D version for FS2002. I will say it now very clearly, we will not give Technical Support to anyone that even attempts to use these "Fixes", so you have been WARNED. As a direct result of the problems caused by the people above, DC-3 Airways (Virtual Airline) has been forced to temporarily close down. It is hoped it will be reopened as soon as we complete a fully compatible DC-3 which we are working hard to produce. " A second WARNING " If you are thinking of Upgrading your system to Windows XP from ME, think very carefully before you make that decision. Windows XP is very clever, and does an analysis of your machine before the upgrade, and warns you of potential problems. What it does not tell you is many things like Networks, and FS etc. might not work. I speak here with some experience. I have recently upgraded my main FS programming machine from ME to XP and after many hours of serious work it still will not run FS2000 or FS2002 at all. The work continues. Don't get me wrong, I think that XP is a great operating system, and a great step forward from it's predecessors, but it is not without it's problems. It is particularly choosy about any hardware that is not absolutely new and up to date. " Flightsim.com is back " I am delighted to announce, if you have not already heard that Flightsim.com is back up and running at pretty well full speed again. However as you will note if you visit the site, they are going to be forced to move ISP's again soon because of the need for more bandwidth. " No Phone Calls " Recently and increasing number of people have taken to trying to call me on the telephone about FS and other matters. I am sorry to tell you that I never answer my own telephone, and my staff have specific instructions never to put through anyone, on any subject, unless they appear on a typed list I produce. The same applies to personal callers that do not have an appointment. I do not intend to be impolite, but I just do not have the time for such calls. So if you are one of the many people that have tried and failed, you will now should understand the reasons why. " Wildlife Art Exhibition " This coming weekend (Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th, 11am - 5.30pm) my Studio and Gallery is open to the public for my annual show. You can find details by following the "Wildlife Art" link on this page and going to the "Latest News" page. (The address is at the bottom). Everyone is welcome, and I will be there the whole time. Although I am always pleased to meet people, I have to give priority to Wildlife Art, however I can often be encouraged to talk about FS at quiet moments. If you can give us a look, please do. OK that is it for now. Have a good week. Kindest regards Roy
12th November 2001 " New York is struck again " I sit here in disbelief that New York has been struck again by another horror !! whether it be an accident or not. I send my thoughts and prayers to all those in New York at this most difficult of times. Hang in there folks. " Flightsim.com Update " A messgae has been posted on Flightsim.com that reads as follows :- Quote Attention FlightSim.Com Members--Update As we announced last week, one of the companies that hosts the FlightSim.Com servers decided to move to a new physical location. The move began last Thursday, November 8th. Our servers began to come back online early Sunday morning, November 11th. However, as many have since noticed, things are not running at the speed they should be. The ISP is continuing to work on getting the new installation working properly, so please be patient. Unquote " FS work suspended temporarily " I have had to suspend FS work temporarily, to enable me to finish my wildlife painting work for my annual show at the end of November. As soon as this show is underway, work again will continue on the FS2002 version of the R4D. I would like to thank you for your support, and being restrained in the quantity of emails that you have been sending since my last comments on this page on the 8th November. The painting work is going well, and I am now hopeful I might be finished on time. Have a good week if you can. Kindest regards Roy
8th November 2001 " RCS Panels Packages and FS2002 " Can I make it quite clear, NO RCS PANELS CURRENT PACKAGES ARE COMPLETELY COMPATIBLE WITH FS2002. I am working on the R4D version of the package for FS2002 which will hopefully be released in December this year. But I have to say, if I continue to get the dozens of emails each day asking why this or that does not work when people try to use our FS98 and FS2000 packages with FS2002, it is likely to be next December before the R4D is finished. I know everybody is keen and eager, but give me a break guys. I am working as fast as I can, and also have just a few paintings to do before my show in two weeks time. I might be good but I am not "Superman" Sorry :-)) Can I also restate at this point. The next version of the R4D will only make it compatible with FS2002 and WILL NOT contain all the new stuff that is possible with FS2002. That will come after the release of the B-25. OK, back to work. Have a good week.
6th November 2001 " NO BRAKES for FS2002 - Solution 2 " It appears that in my haste to get a "No Brakes" solution for FS2002 out, I missed a problem. When you install it and then use "Virtual Cockpits" (something I never do), when you zoom "in" or "out" then FS locks up. :-(( Well thanks to a loyal supporter, I now have a second and easier solution to the problem. It seems you can add a line to the "fs2002.cfg" file and the signs are gone. :-) You can download the instructions by Clicking Here (the link below has also been changed) " Flightsim,com Outage " Our friends at www.flightsim.com are likely to be offline for a number of days starting Thursday this week. They are moving servers and this could take a few days, therefore do not be surprised if you cannot get through for a while. I will post further information on this site as and when it is available. Have a good week.
4th November 2001 " NO BRAKES patch for FS2002 " Earlier this evening, some one asked me whether my FS2000 "NO BRAKES" patch, to remove the brakes messages from the screen worked on FS2002 ?? "NO" is the answer, however I have just produced a version that does. You can download it from here. Enjoy :-) " Australian FS2002 " I am informed that the Australian version of FS2002 Pro is exactly the same as the US version, in it does not require the CD to be in the drive to run it. Have a good weekend. :-) Roy
2nd November 2001 " ATI Radeon 8500 update " During the last few days, I have received ONE email from a person that says he has an ATI Radeon 8500 video card that works with FS2002. As I mentioned in my entry on the 29th October it was possible I might have had a faulty card, so today I obtained an different one and carried out more tests. The second card performed exactly the same as the first. Huge amounts of missing textures, no matter what settings or resolution you use. You can see from this screenshot exactly what I mean. The textures come and go, but different batches are missing at least 50% of the time, as you can see from the picture below.
Not only buildings disappear, but also sea and land textures. I am now even more convinced that Nvidia based video cards are the only real "game in town", even if the GeForce 3 is slower than the GeForce 2 with FS. " More tests with FS2002 " I have now done even more tests with FS2002 and find that experimentation with turning down a few settings makes massive differences to frame rates. You need to find the ones that give you the best gains with the least loss of quality. But I have increased my frame rates by a factor of 3 without the loss of any visible quality, even running at 1280 x 960. I also have to report that I find no noticeable increase in frame rates when FS2002 is run in a window as opposed to full screen, something I have heard suggested elsewhere. OK that is about if for now, I will continue my search for the best video card for FS and my work on the FS2002 version of the R4D. I am now convinced this will not be available before the beginning of December at the earliest. Have a good one.
*** HAPPY NEW YEAR *** 2002
|
31st December 2001
" Thank you, the year ends on a high "
I sometimes comment of the negative things that happen in the FS world, but felt I had to share this recent email with you all. For me, what is said here means a lot, and tells me that what we did, was not only the right thing, but was also seen to be the right thing. Thank you !!
Dear Roy,
I have been a fan of the R4D for fs2000 for a while but have never sent a
donation because I just didn't get around to it, not because I was a
cheapskate, but just lax as probably a lot of others were, even knowing
that MAAM is a very worthy cause. When the fs2002 update was
announced I
went in and downloaded it with great joy. I am pleased you made it
shareware, as it is such a worthy cause and it made me
do the deed and send that donation in repayment for the pleasure of having
the previous and continuing enjoyment of this aircraft, as well as
supporting an excellent project.
I wish to compliment you and Bill especially for the work you have put in
and the quality of the R4D. I am getting my key code from MAAM so
have yet
to fly it but from my short look at the fs2002 R4D I'm sure I wont be
disappointed. DC3's were well known here in Western Australia and I
have
flown in them as a passenger only on a number of occasions in the past as
late as the 70's - a great aircraft. Thankyou for enabling me
to
experience something of what it is like to command this aircraft.
All best wishes to yourself and to Bill Rambow for the New Year,
Yours sincerely,
Gordon Baker
:-))
30th December 2001
" Good News "
I am delighted to publish a direct link to the MAAM R4D web payment page. You can now make your payment for the "time locked" R4D package and fill in your "Registration Number" with your "email address" and the unlock key code will be sent to you directly.
This is going to save all of us a great deal of time :-) Thanks Fred.
https://www47.rapidsite.net/aviala/maam/r4dupgd.html
" Better News :-) "
As a result of this improvement to the service, it is my intention now to take some time off and get some well deserved sleep and a bit of time away from this keyboard. Today Bill and I completed the CD version of the package and Bill is currently in full production. This version 6 of the CD should be available in the MAAM Store in around a week from now.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Bill, and Pete for their dedication in helping me get all the unlock key codes dispatched very quickly. We have had a few "Glitches" but no one has waited more than 48 hours and most much less. A brilliant effort. !!
I have now answered most of the "Technical Support" questions, but there are still a few of the more complex ones to do. This is not the time to send new ones.
Have a great New Year. from a very knackered
Roy ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz
28th December 2001 Take 2
" Thanks Rick "
There is a gentleman called "Rick" that has just sent me the most wonderful message which I want to say a big THANK YOU for. Unfortunately I am unable to email Rick in return because all attempts have be "Bounced" from his server. I have however passed it on to Bill.
So THANKS Rick :-)
" Talking of emails bouncing "
Here at RCS Panels we always reply to EVERY email. If for any reason you do not get a reply from us, you can be certain that is because they are being "bounced" by your sever. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for us here, as more and more each day get thrown back. We are told that most ISP's are putting "Anti Spam" software on and this is far from effective and cuts out a great deal of your incoming email from legitimate people. My advice to you is contact your ISP and insist this software is removed from your account. I speak from experience here, as this was the problem we had for weeks. We had to be very forceful but won through in the end. Partially working email is worse that none at all.
28th December 2001
" Understanding Please !! "
This is a quick note to say we are currently "sinking" under the weight of registrations we are receiving for the R4D, and doing our very best to deal with all of them as quickly as possible. Both Bill and I are volunteers who do this in our spare time for absolutely nothing. We have given up pretty well all of our Christmas without a single complaint in aid of a good cause and are pleased to do so, but it is not expected that we should receive abusive or sarcastic emails from people that either cannot understand the installation or registration instructions or expect their registrations to be done instantly.
Speaking personally, and I know I am not alone, having just worked some ungodly hours to get the project out to you before Christmas as promised, I am extremely tired, as I know is also the case with Bill. Therefore I ask just a little understanding from people if we are only prepared to work 16 hours a day for the rest of the holiday.
Having said that, we are not prepared to be anything less than thorough with the registration process, (therefore "rip off merchants" need not apply) so please be prepared for some delays.
On a positive note, the registrations and donations to MAAM have been very encouraging, and we are delighted that so many people have donated much more than the minimum registration fee that is required. Can I say on behalf of the whole team MANY, MANY THANKS you are brilliant :-))
Kindest regards
Roy
27th December 2001
" Important Notice "
Total confusion seems to have occurred recently. Please read the following notice in FULL, as it contains important information regarding the R4D for FS2002.
" Technical Support Queries "
Owing to the enormous amount of registrations for the R4D, we are running extremely behind with answering Technical Support Queries. All queries will be answered, but the speedy service you have been used to over the years might not be quite so speedy for a few days. We will do our best. :-)
26th December 2001
" Registration Update "
Today we have restarted registrations for the R4D, and have a backlog of a couple of hundred here at RCS Panels, not counting those with Bill and MAAM. I will be working on the registrations through the night and will hope to have them up to date by the morning. So be patient, I am doing my best. So far today over a 100 have been cleared.
Have a good one.
Roy
24th December 2001 Extra
" Autopilot Problem "
I have just discovered a major problem with the R4D Autopilot and the packaged version of FSUIPC. The aircraft goes into a steep climb immediately the AP in engauged. The FS2002 version of the R4D was designed and tested with version 2.78 of Peter Dowson's brilliant FSUIPC addon. However I decided package the never version 2.79 which was not completely tested and is not compatible. Further more the even newer version 2.80 is also not compatible.
Therefore until such time as this can be worked out with Peter after Christmas, I suggest you return to version 2.78 which is available here, with instructions of how to install it.
Download AP Fix Click Here
I am sorry for this inconvenience, but sometimes the best intentions go to "Rats"
Have a good Christmas.
24th December 2001
" R4D for FS2002 Registrations "
As of 2 am 24th December, I am pleased to tell you that we are completely up to date on FREE registrations for the R4D at RCS Panels. :-)
I am aware there has been a few problems with a UK ISP that we sometimes route our email through. If you have not received a reply to your registration request, that has been sent before the above time, then please get in contact with me again at " roychaffin@hotmail.com "
" Limited Service "
As a result of the Christmas holiday and the fact we have managed to get up to date with registrations, we will be operating a limited "Registration Service" today, Christmas Eve, and Boxing Day, and NO service at all on Christmas Day.
" Christmas Greetings "
Can I thank everyone that has sent us Christmas Cards and Greetings, unfortunately because of dealing with the R4D registrations we have not been able to personally respond to every one. However we very much appreciate them, so please accept this joint Thankyou. :-)
The RCS Panels Team, Alan, Brian, Bill and Roy, plus all the staff at MAAM would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. We thank you all for your support during the past year and hope we can look forward to it continuing for the year to come. 2001 has been a difficult year for many different reasons but let us hope and pray that 2002 will be kinder.
*** MERRY CHRISTMAS ***
22nd December 2001
" FS2002 Released "
After months of work the moment has arrived. The R4D for FS2002 is released here before Christmas as promised.
Before you hit the "download link" you need to know this is a significant download at 25 mbs, but if you think that is bad, our first compilation of the ".exe" file was 40 mbs, so it has been drastically reduced. We have removed the HTML Manual and left only the PDF and Plain Text versions along with the package.
Talking of manuals, I know this bit is boring, but PLEASE read at least the "readme.txt" very carefully about the registration procedure. It is vital that you contact the correct place with the right information, otherwise you will not get your Unlock Key Code quickly.
At this point I would like to thank my fellow team members Alan, Brian, and Bill for working some horrendous hours under extreme conditions to get this package finished on time. You have all done a fantastic job and I hope given people a wonderful Christmas present.
To download "Readme" file Click Here
To download package Click Here
Enjoy :-)
Roy
21st December 2001
" Advanced Warning "
We are hopeful that we will be releasing the R4D for FS2002 either later tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow morning depending on where you live in the world. We are in the final stages of putting the package together and if there are no unexpected difficulties, you should see it here soon.
I will remind you again in your excitement. That is is a "Time Limited Donationware" package that will be fully operational for 5 minutes, and then will "black out" requiring you to reload. That will give you a chance to do a circuit of your favourite airfield. To stop this "Blackout" permanently, you will be required to register (see enclosed readme.txt) which will cost you a very small fee of $5 each (plus $1 if you use a credit card). All this money goes directly to the Mid Atlantic Air Museum to get the real aircraft back into the air. If on the other hand you are the proud owner of the MAAM R4D CD, a member of the museum, or a previous donator, then you can claim a FREE unlock code.
We will do our best to get as many Unlock Key Codes out before Christmas as is possible, but we remind people, that having worked around the clock for weeks to get this to you before the holiday, we will not be working on Christmas Day.
You are further reminded that this release is an "FS2002 Compatibility Release" and does not include such things as Virtual Cockpits and other new facilities available in FS2002. However there are many enhancements that have not been seen in any previous version or upgrade.
This is our Christmas present to you, can we ask you to give your Christmas present to MAAM in form of your $5.
Have a good one.
Alan, Brian, Bill, and Roy
19th December 2001
" Good News :-) "
Christmas is supposed to be the time for Good News, so let us try to keep with that tradition. As you know we here at RCS Panels said we would try to have the R4D for FS2002 out before Christmas, and it looks like we should achieve it.
The team, Alan, Bill, Brian and myself, have been working around the clock to get it finished and I am hopeful we will have it up by the weekend. maybe even Friday. So keep your fingers crossed.
We are aware that there is going to be a rush of registrations in the first few days, and we will do our best to action as many as possible as soon as possible, but ask you to make sure you send your registration to the correct place, with the correct information and be patient.
To make things easier. Bill and myself will deal with the registrations from, Owners of the MAAM CD, Donators, and MAAM Members. So when you have downloaded the package, you follow the instructions in the "readme.txt" precisely, and you should get your registration quickly.
For people that HAVE NOT previously purchased the CD, made a donation, or are members of MAAM, they will send their registration direct to MAAM as per the instructions in the "readme.txt"
I am sorry to tell you we will NOT be actioning registrations on Christmas Day. Sorry !!! Maybe Boxing Day if we are not too hung over :-)
" More Good News :-) "
RCS Panels are delighted to announce that we have for some time been working on producing the Battle of Britian Memorial Flight aircraft ( C47, Avro Lancaster, Spitfires, and Hurricanes) to the same standard as you have become use to from us.
As you will appreciate this is a long term project and the aircraft will come one by one and probably in the order mentioned above.
We are delighted to say we have the full co-operation of the BBMF staff, and are really enjoying the work.
For those of you that have followed this page for a while, this is the "Secret Project" to which I referred some time ago. We were however asked not to announce this information until a certain "other product" was released.
An accurate time scale has not yet been set, but we will be full time on it as soon as the B-25 is finished.
" Email Problems "
Problems continue with my roy@roychaffin.com email account. I have been assured by the ISP that every effort is being made to solve this problem. Again today I was told that within 24 hours all will be well. We will see !!
If you are having mail "bounced" please be patient, the situation is out of our hands. If it is not solved soon, I will set up another address with another ISP.
OK if we are to hit the target for the release of the R4D I better get back to bug fixing and burn some more midnight oil.
Have fun.
Roy, on behalf of the team.
13th December 2001
" Beta Testing Continues "
I have not updated this site for a week because all my efforts have been going into trying to hit the deadline for the release of the FS2002 R4D before Christmas. Massive amounts of work has been done and bugs fixed. We are hopefully getting very close to release. What we hope is the "Final Beta" went out a few hours ago, and all being well, if there are no major problems we should be looking at a release next week. :-)
We however suffer an unexpected difficulty, in as much as our Flight Dynamics specialist Brian Withers was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery on Tuesday, and will be out of commission for a while. Against the belief of some, we do consider people to be more important than project deadlines, so our first thoughts are with him.
According to reports Brian is doing well, and will be back with us soon after Christmas. Fortunately the bulk of his work was done, so we can muddle through.
Our best wishes to Brian and his family for a very speedy recovery and good Christmas.
That's about it for now. Have a good week.
Roy
6th December 2001
" Beta Testing begins "
I am pleased to tell you that "Beta Testing" of the FS2002 R4D has started, and reports are already coming in. There is clearly a lot of bugs to fix, but that work is already underway, so I am still hopeful for a release during this month.
Everyone is reminded that this is merely a version of the R4D that is compatible with FS2002 and will not contain things like Virtual Cockpits.
You are also reminded that this version is "Donationware", will be "Time Locked" and will only be FREE to those people that have previously made a donation to MAAM or puchased the R4D CD. For other users, you will be required to pay a small fee for an "UNLOCK KEY" to remove the time restriction.
" New Nvidia Drivers and XP "
If you are an XP user that has an Nvidia GeForce 1 or older video card, I urge caution before you try the latest XP video drivers from Nvidia. I have tested the v21.83 and v23.11 drivers with the older cards and both of them cause serious problems to the point that Windows will not load. Should this happen to you, your only option is to Boot "Safe Mode" or "Last Good Configuration" and remove the new drivers. This will solve the problem, but it is a little long winded.
" Email Problems "
Some of you might have had emails "bounced" from my roy@roychaffin.com email account. The long running problem has finally been found and should be cured in the next day or so. :-))
The problem was a filtering system had been put on my server to screen out any sending server that generated "Spam". Therefore if the ISP server you are connected to, has anyone who puts out "Spam" you would have suffered because of them. Rather than cause you this inconvenience, I am having the filter removed. I would rather have more rubbish than your emails not get through.
OK that's about it for now. Have a good week.
30th November 2001
" CHECK YOUR MACHINES FOR VIRUSES "
YOU NEED TO SERIOUSLY CHECK YOUR MACHINES FOR VIRUSES, WITH A VIRUS CHECKER THAT HAS HAD ITS DEFINITIONS UPDATED WITHIN THE LAST TWO DAYS.
WE ARE BEING SWAMPED WITH EMAILS CONTAINING VIRUSES FROM YOUR MACHINES WITHOUT YOU KNOWING.
WE ARE UNABLE TO ADVISE PEOPLE WHO ARE SENDING THEM, OR RESPOND TO EMAILS, ASKING IS IT ME, BUT IT IS MANY OF YOU THAT COMMUNICATE WITH US REGULARLY.
THANKS
29th November 2001
" RealCRT Gauges and Windows XP "
It has been reported to me that Tony's RealCRT gauges if used with FS2000 / FS2002 report "NO ROUTE DATA" when a flightplan is loaded, when used in Windows XP.
Quick checks here seem to show the same thing. !!
If anyone has them working with FS2000 and Windows XP or for that matter FS2002, please let me know. Otherwise email Tony D'Ambrosio directly.
" SERIOUS WARNING "
There is a very widespread worm virus circulating via email. If you haven't updated your "Virus Definitions" in the last two days. DO IT NOW.
I am getting hit here about a dozen times a day, all from people I know. Fortunately the virus protection is trapping them.
Kindest regards
Roy
26th November 2001
" Confusion ?? "
To save any possible confusion, I would like to point out that any comments made lower down on this page about people "making suggestions about how to make our current R4D/DC-3 work with FS2002" DO NOT apply to any suggestions made by my fellow RCS team members Bill Rambow or Jan Visser.
The various things stated by our team are fully agreed and supported, and do not in anyway effect the Technical Support you will receive. This was always understood to be the case by us, but just in case anyone was wondering or confused, I make it quite clear again here.
" R4D for FS2002 "
I am delighted to tell you that now my annual Art Show has been put successfully behind me, and work has again started on the R4D for FS2002. Progress is going well to make it compatible. Most of the basic design and compiling work has been completed, and we are still hopeful for a release in December. Basically although it will look virtually identical to version 4 and work in the same way, it has been redesigned from the ground up and it will include the new FS2002 night lighting system, but it is not planned that "Virtual Cockpits" will be included in this release. That is likely to be an upgrade in the future. This decision is the probable outcome because we are under such enormous pressure to release as soon as possible, and without question VC's would only delay things further. However we will only know for certain come release day.
" XP and FS development "
Having now had a few days to do some development work with XP. With the various development tools and FS all running at the same time. XP is proving to be extremely good. Where I was having to reboot anything up to 30 times a day, now I reboot once a day just to be on the safe side, but it is hardly necessary. A great time saver :-)
There are however differences, some of which do cause problems and errors. If you are so used to doing things in a certain way, as I am, then errors can occur. I have wasted a fair amount of time by deleting and changing the wrong things because of the different ways Windows Explorer works. So be very cautious when using programs you are used to.
That is about it for now. I need to get back to programming and bug fixing. This is were the serious time starts :-((
Have a good week. :-))
22nd November 2001
" Up and running with XP "
I am pleased to tell you that my main development machine which is only a lowly Intel 800mhz machine is now up and running with XP. I have to say once it is working it is a much better operating system, and far more stable.
However there are a few points worth mentioning.
1. There is no noticeable improvement in frame rate between XP and a 98/ME machine that is running efficiently. However XP does configure itself to run well, therefore if you are not to hot at tuning your machine, XP could have benefits.
2. My FS2000 and CFS2 "NOCD Patches" do not work with XP (or Windows 2000). There might be others our there that do.
3. Setting up a profile especially for FS with a pretty clear desktop and Quick Start bar at the bottom does improve the performance of FS2002. It seems to do so more that on 98 or ME.
I have however run FS2002 very successfully with the following applications running (with files open) at the same time. Word, Excel, Access, Visual C++ v6, Photoshop 6, PSP7, Corel 9, Internet Explorer. all on 512mb of RAM, and the only effect was the frame rate slowed a little, but it was still very flyable, and didn't crash the system.
My advise about XP is:- If you are looking for frame rate improvements then XP is probably not the answer, and unless you are prepared to spend some money if some hardware or software turns out not to be compatible, then again it is probably not for you. To be fair, MS do say that XP is for modern or fairly new PC's, and I would agree with that. However if you want stability and don't currently have it, then this could be the answer. But please don't blame me if it all goes to "Rats" :-))
OK more from me on this subject in the future, but in the meantime please do not email me with your questions about XP, I am still learning myself :-))
21st November 2001
" A serious WARNING "
I have stated on this page a number of times that "RCS Panels" products are currently NOT COMPATIBLE with FS2002. This is especially true with the R4D /DC-3.
Having said that, it seems that people refuse to be patient, and a significant number of "air heads" (and I do not mean that kindly) have published all sorts of ways and methods to make them work. All of which are "RUBBISH". If a quick fix was possible I would have published it here, and I would not have spent hundreds of hours producing a new and compatible R4D version for FS2002.
I will say it now very clearly, we will not give Technical Support to anyone that even attempts to use these "Fixes", so you have been WARNED.
As a direct result of the problems caused by the people above, DC-3 Airways (Virtual Airline) has been forced to temporarily close down. It is hoped it will be reopened as soon as we complete a fully compatible DC-3 which we are working hard to produce.
" A second WARNING "
If you are thinking of Upgrading your system to Windows XP from ME, think very carefully before you make that decision.
Windows XP is very clever, and does an analysis of your machine before the upgrade, and warns you of potential problems. What it does not tell you is many things like Networks, and FS etc. might not work.
I speak here with some experience. I have recently upgraded my main FS programming machine from ME to XP and after many hours of serious work it still will not run FS2000 or FS2002 at all. The work continues.
Don't get me wrong, I think that XP is a great operating system, and a great step forward from it's predecessors, but it is not without it's problems. It is particularly choosy about any hardware that is not absolutely new and up to date.
" Flightsim.com is back "
I am delighted to announce, if you have not already heard that Flightsim.com is back up and running at pretty well full speed again. However as you will note if you visit the site, they are going to be forced to move ISP's again soon because of the need for more bandwidth.
" No Phone Calls "
Recently and increasing number of people have taken to trying to call me on the telephone about FS and other matters. I am sorry to tell you that I never answer my own telephone, and my staff have specific instructions never to put through anyone, on any subject, unless they appear on a typed list I produce. The same applies to personal callers that do not have an appointment.
I do not intend to be impolite, but I just do not have the time for such calls. So if you are one of the many people that have tried and failed, you will now should understand the reasons why.
" Wildlife Art Exhibition "
This coming weekend (Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th, 11am - 5.30pm) my Studio and Gallery is open to the public for my annual show. You can find details by following the "Wildlife Art" link on this page and going to the "Latest News" page. (The address is at the bottom).
Everyone is welcome, and I will be there the whole time. Although I am always pleased to meet people, I have to give priority to Wildlife Art, however I can often be encouraged to talk about FS at quiet moments.
If you can give us a look, please do.
OK that is it for now. Have a good week.
Kindest regards
Roy
12th November 2001
" New York is struck again "
I sit here in disbelief that New York has been struck again by another horror !! whether it be an accident or not.
I send my thoughts and prayers to all those in New York at this most difficult of times. Hang in there folks.
" Flightsim.com Update "
A messgae has been posted on Flightsim.com that reads as follows :-
Quote
Attention FlightSim.Com Members--Update
As we announced last week, one of the companies that hosts the FlightSim.Com servers decided to move to a new physical location. The move began last Thursday, November 8th. Our servers began to come back online early Sunday morning, November 11th. However, as many have since noticed, things are not running at the speed they should be. The ISP is continuing to work on getting the new installation working properly, so please be patient.
Unquote
" FS work suspended temporarily "
I have had to suspend FS work temporarily, to enable me to finish my wildlife painting work for my annual show at the end of November. As soon as this show is underway, work again will continue on the FS2002 version of the R4D.
I would like to thank you for your support, and being restrained in the quantity of emails that you have been sending since my last comments on this page on the 8th November.
The painting work is going well, and I am now hopeful I might be finished on time.
Have a good week if you can.
Kindest regards
Roy
8th November 2001
" RCS Panels Packages and FS2002 "
Can I make it quite clear,
NO RCS PANELS CURRENT PACKAGES ARE COMPLETELY COMPATIBLE WITH FS2002.
I am working on the R4D version of the package for FS2002 which will hopefully be released in December this year. But I have to say, if I continue to get the dozens of emails each day asking why this or that does not work when people try to use our FS98 and FS2000 packages with FS2002, it is likely to be next December before the R4D is finished.
I know everybody is keen and eager, but give me a break guys. I am working as fast as I can, and also have just a few paintings to do before my show in two weeks time. I might be good but I am not "Superman" Sorry :-))
Can I also restate at this point. The next version of the R4D will only make it compatible with FS2002 and WILL NOT contain all the new stuff that is possible with FS2002. That will come after the release of the B-25.
OK, back to work.
Have a good week.
6th November 2001
" NO BRAKES for FS2002 - Solution 2 "
It appears that in my haste to get a "No Brakes" solution for FS2002 out, I missed a problem. When you install it and then use "Virtual Cockpits" (something I never do), when you zoom "in" or "out" then FS locks up. :-((
Well thanks to a loyal supporter, I now have a second and easier solution to the problem. It seems you can add a line to the "fs2002.cfg" file and the signs are gone. :-)
You can download the instructions by Clicking Here
(the link below has also been changed)
" Flightsim,com Outage "
Our friends at www.flightsim.com are likely to be offline for a number of days starting Thursday this week. They are moving servers and this could take a few days, therefore do not be surprised if you cannot get through for a while. I will post further information on this site as and when it is available.
Have a good week.
4th November 2001
" NO BRAKES patch for FS2002 "
Earlier this evening, some one asked me whether my FS2000 "NO BRAKES" patch, to remove the brakes messages from the screen worked on FS2002 ??
"NO" is the answer, however I have just produced a version that does. You can download it from here.
Enjoy :-)
" Australian FS2002 "
I am informed that the Australian version of FS2002 Pro is exactly the same as the US version, in it does not require the CD to be in the drive to run it.
Have a good weekend. :-)
Roy
2nd November 2001
" ATI Radeon 8500 update "
During the last few days, I have received ONE email from a person that says he has an ATI Radeon 8500 video card that works with FS2002. As I mentioned in my entry on the 29th October it was possible I might have had a faulty card, so today I obtained an different one and carried out more tests.
The second card performed exactly the same as the first. Huge amounts of missing textures, no matter what settings or resolution you use. You can see from this screenshot exactly what I mean. The textures come and go, but different batches are missing at least 50% of the time, as you can see from the picture below.
Not only buildings disappear, but also sea and land textures.
I am now even more convinced that Nvidia based video cards are the only real "game in town", even if the GeForce 3 is slower than the GeForce 2 with FS.
" More tests with FS2002 "
I have now done even more tests with FS2002 and find that experimentation with turning down a few settings makes massive differences to frame rates. You need to find the ones that give you the best gains with the least loss of quality. But I have increased my frame rates by a factor of 3 without the loss of any visible quality, even running at 1280 x 960.
I also have to report that I find no noticeable increase in frame rates when FS2002 is run in a window as opposed to full screen, something I have heard suggested elsewhere.
OK that is about if for now, I will continue my search for the best video card for FS and my work on the FS2002 version of the R4D. I am now convinced this will not be available before the beginning of December at the earliest.
Have a good one.
30th October 2001
" FS2002 Pro NO CD Patch ? "
I am pleased to inform you that if you do a FULL installation of FS2002 Pro then no CD is required in your PC to run up the sim. Therefore there is no requirement for a "NO CD Patch" for FS2002. At this time I can only speak for the USA version of FS2002 but will report on the others when I know.
I can also inform you that there is no "disk security" to stop you making "Backup" copies of the original discs for safety (USA version). However as the disc is not required to be inserted to run the sim there is less probability of them being damaged over time.
" FS2002 First impressions "
My first impressions of the release version of FS2002, is it is really good. I think that MS have really got it right this time and made a massive step forward. It is a joy to use.
There are obviously things that could be improved, but that will always be the case. Although I am sure there will be people who will like them, personally I find the "Virtual Cockpits" a "gimmick" and think they would have been much better left out until they were perfected, where things could be controlled within them with a mouse, which apparently is promised in the next version, FS9. Likewise on a personal level I think the "Night Lighting" of the scenery is fantastic and in the cockpits is "Rubbish", one step forwards, one step backwards. At the risk of being "big headed" RCS Panels did show how it should have been done with the FS2000 version of the R4D.
My conclusion about whether you should leap out and buy a copy of FS2002 ??
A resounding "YES" as soon as possible.
I have no intention of doing a full review on this page, because a superb one has already been done by Andrew Herd on "flightsim.com", If you have not read it, then now would be a good time to do so.
Have a good week.
29th October 2001 Extra
" Video Cards Continued "
A question to you all.
Does anyone out there have an "ATI Radeon 8500 DDR 64meg" card that is running correctly with FS2002 ??
Please email me on techsupport@roychaffin.com if you do. Thanks
Meantime back to my trusty GeForce MX :-)
29th October 2001
" Video Cards "
In my continuing search for the best video card for FS, I have just tested an "ATI Radeon 8500 DDR 64meg" card, which is fairly new on the market and ATI claim is faster than the GeForce 3. Well it might be, but don't rush out and buy one just yet, or at least not if you are using or going to use FS2002.
When the card is used with FS2002, massive blocks of textures appear and disappear at very regular intervals. Whole buildings and areas or land textures just turn light blue frequently. It is totally unusable.
I have just spent 5 hours testing and making huge changes to the settings both on the card, in FS2002 and the machine it is running on, to no avail. I have downloaded and installed the very latest drivers and nothing makes a difference. If hardware acceleration is turned "ON" then up to 50% of the textures disappear, on and off.
Tests with FS2000 seem OK and it seems to work well.
Frame rates do seem to be improved over the GeForce 2 and certainly over the GeForce 3, but with half of the textures missing on FS2002 that is neither surprising or any use.
It occurred to me that the card I have could be faulty, and that could be the case. However having spent a little time looking around the net, it seems that the majority of the "real experts" seem to think the increase of speed that has been achieved by ATI on this card is at the expense of how textures are used, which shows up as it being totally unusable with FS2002.
My current thinking on the best video card for FS is either the GeForce MX or MX400 if you want cheap, or the GeForce 2 Ultra DDR 64mb if you don't mind spending the money.
" FS2002 "
This morning a courier arrived hot foot from the USA with my release copy of FS2002 :-))
I want to thank my friend, and RCS Beta tester, Bob Guzman for going to all the trouble of getting me a copy and getting it to me ASAP. Bob your efforts are well appreciated, and. I am sure the other users of RCS products will also appreciate it, as I can now start proper work on the R4D for FS2002. However on this subject, I would suspect it will be around four weeks before we have it available.
" I am honoured "
I am very honoured that many of you think highly enough of my knowledge and experience to ask advice about your computer problems and needs. But I am sad to say I cannot enter into email exchanges about system specifications for individuals requirements. Since my comments on the video card issue, I have been swamped with requests for specifications for PC's for FS.
All I can tell you on the subject, is there are many people that have a lot to say on the subject of PC equipment, and the large majority do not know what they are talking about, or their comments at best do not apply to FS.
Flight Sim, and Computers are two areas where everyone (well at least most) think they are experts, and very few are.
I leave you with this little thought :-
The definition of an "EXPERT" (EX-SPURT)
"EX" means redundant, and a "SPURT" is a drip under pressure.
Hence an EXPERT is a "Drip under pressure" :-))
( "a drip" in the UK is another name for an "idiot" )
Have a good week, and keep the blue side up.
22nd October 2001 Extra
" Flightsim.com "
OK, things seem to be sorted on flightsim.com
22nd October 2001
" Flightsim.com "
Our friends at "www.flightsim.com" seem to be having a small problem with the "New Files" page, so if you are having problems don't worry. It appears that they are working on it, as things are improving slowly, so I suspect things will be back to normal soon.
On your behalf, I have emailed them to advise them of the problem, and when I receive a reply I will share it with you.
In the meantime we will just have to be patient :-)
" R4D and FS2002 "
Can I just restate that our R4D package is NOT compatible with FS2002. I am fully aware of this situation and am working hard to produce a compatible package. This will not be a patch but a "Standalone version" which will be known as "Version 4.75". This version will NOT take advantage of all the features of FS2002, such as Vitrual Cockpits, but will merely make the current pacakage work correctly. It is proposed that this will be FREE to owners of the MAAM Donationware CD, but otherwise will be "Time-Limited" to other people until they make a donation to MAAM as was requested in the previous versions. We are sorry about having to go down this route, but to many people will not act in an honourable way and send the donation we request. Only 1 in every 300 did as we asked previously. It is not that we were asking for this money for ourselves, this is and was for charity.
OK back to the more pleasant things in life. Have fun with Fs2002 if you have it, and have a good week.
16th October 2001
" FS2002 Release "
I am told that FS2002 has started shipping and will be in the shops in the USA this week. I am also told that we can expect to see it in UK shops around the first or second week in November.
We will do our best to have an R4D for FS2002 available as soon as possible. This version however will only make it "compatible" with FS2002 and will not take advantage of all the new and exciting features available within the new SIM, these will come later.
Have a good one :-)
15th October 2001
" Unbelievable Results "
As promised I have today been testing an Nvidia GeForce 3 DDR 64mb card (with TV and Digital Out). I have been testing it against a "bulk standard" GeForece 2 MX 32mb card.
Both cards have been tested with a number of different drivers and settings. Each card has been tested with FS2000 and FS2002 Beta 3, and all the results are consistent with each other. Each test was done in exactly the same circumstances using reliable frame counters and always from a "Cold Boot" and then using "Enditall". Furthermore every test was carried out a number of times to ensure there were no errors.
Results :-
The Nvidia GeForece 3 card always gave 10% to 20% WORSE frame rates than the GeForce 2 MX.
I will say that again the Nvidia GeForce 3 DDR 64mb card performed consistently WORSE than the much cheaper and old GeForce 2 MX 32mb card.
Or to put it yet another way the GeForce MX card is out performing its bigger, newer, and considerably more expensive brother when used with Flight Simulator.
Conclusion:-
I have to say I find the results absolutely staggering, and even with my many years of experience in the IT game, doubted my own findings until I had at least treble checked them.
I am sure other people will find the results amazing as well, and I am sure I will receive a number of emails telling me that I am wrong, and / or another "fire storm" will occur on the Forums. However there is no arguing with the facts. Whether this is what you want to hear or not, these are the true results.
My only explanation for these results is that FS does not make use of the new advanced capabilities of the GeForce 3 chipset and therefore is not getting the best out of it. As we know games such as "Quake" are always used as the "yard stick" for video performance, which is not a lot of use to us as serious FS users.
So is it worth spending over £300 on a GeForece 3 rather than a card that is a quarter of its price ?? Well my opinion is, "Not a chance" !!
Have a good week.
14th October 2001
" Not much to report "
There is not much to report since the last update. Most of my time has been taken up, with catching up on all those missed jobs over the past few months. I cannot tell you how great it is to be able to see again. :-)
I am hoping to carry out the comparison tests on the Nvidia GeForce 3 DDR 64mb video card tomorrow. That is assuming the supplier comes up with it on time. I will give you my reactions as soon as I can. My tests are going to be limited to its comparative performance with FS only.
Tests are continuing with FS2002, and I continue to be impressed. There are a few problems as one would expect in a Beta, but basically it is very good. So far I have heard nothing about when release can be expected. As far as I am aware we are still "on hold" as announced by MS after the tragic events of 11th Sept.
On non-FS business, I am working hard on painting, trying to produce new paintings for my exhibition in November.
That's about it for now. Expect another update later this week.
Safe landings :-)
4th October 2001
" Back at work "
We are now three weeks on from the horrors of the 11th September, and it seems appropriate to try and get back to normal. Therefore will try to keep this page updated regularly.
What only a few of you know, is since the beginning of January this year I have been having considerable problems with my eyes and being able to see. Hopefully with effect from today this is now solved. After laser surgery on the eyes to stop internal bleeding and a period for healing, I have today collected my new glasses and for the first time for nearly a year can see quite well :-) In fact compared to recently, BRILLIANTLY.
As would be expected there are a huge number of jobs to catch up on, but at least now I hope I can make a start, not to mention producing a few paintings (which I have been unable to do since last November).
" B-25 Project "
The team has not been idol during the year. Work has continued on the B-25 project and although we still have a huge way to go, we can probably see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had hoped to make it completely compatible with FS2002 but as that is on "hold" for the moment, we are still working to that end.
" FS2002 "
On the subject of FS2002. We have been "Beta Testing" it, and I have been working hard on making conversions of the current packages to make them compatible. I can tell you that the current versions of the R4D are NOT compatible with FS2002. However the good news is, I am three quarters of the way through finishing a updated new version that will be. Although this new version will not take advantage of all the new features in FS2002 it will work very satisfactorily and the extras will be added later as we continue to develop the project and our knowledge of the new sim. This version should be ready for release soon after the release of FS2002 whenever that happens to be.
Commenting on FS2002, I have to say in my opinion, the latest Beta version is very impressive. I think it is a major step forward in FS, and for once does not require you to have "tomorrows computer" to make it run. It will not run on a "clunker" but a reasonable machine will run it well, that is unless you turn everything up to MAX then it will struggle. I guess the best comparison I can make, is if FS2000 runs well then so will FS2002, and maybe even a little better. Obviously now the release has been delayed more improvements or changes can and probably will be made.
" Nvidia Graphics Driver "
Recently I did upgrade my Nvidia Graphics Card Drivers, to the latest available on the Nvidia website, and found them to be a significant improvement. If you have not upgraded recently you might find this an advantage.
I am hoping to do some serious testing with a GeForce 3 DDR 64meg card in the next few weeks, to see how it compares to the GeForce 2 cards. I have a wish to find out for myself whether the huge price tag they carry is worth it or not. Watch this space and I will let you know of my findings.
" RealCRT Gauges "
I would like to point out, that although I work closely with my friend Tony D'Ambrosio, and recommend and use the RealCRT gauges, I have absolutely no involvement with them. I have no means of issuing "Key Codes" for either new installations or when people have lost their old one. The only way you can get a registration is through the normal channels or by emailing Tony direct. His email address it included with the gauges.
It is a great compliment that people think I have an involvement with these gauges, but I do not, and we even live in two different countries. Tony in France and me in the UK. I hope this clears the confusion.
" MAAM Donations "
We are pleased to say that donations to MAAM, that we request for the use of the R4D are still coming in, and the engine fund is growing. However only 1 in 300 users actually makes the effort to comply with our wishes and sends the donation, which is a pretty poor reflection on the average user.
Most people seem to think that our R4D is "FREEWARE", which it is NOT. It is "DONATIONWARE".
As a result of our experiences with the "Donationware R4D", we have made a policy decision that all future "Donationware" releases will be "time locked" and only work for a preset number of minutes before they "time out". Paying your donation to MAAM will gain you an individual "Unlock Key" that will remove all restrictions. This system has already been produced, tested and will be implemented on the next release..
It is with great regret that we make this decision, I had hoped that the general FS community would have been more honourable, but I was obviously wrong.
" General "
During the last couple of weeks my system seems to have "trashed" around 3,000 (answered) emails, which served to remind me that a number of you have viruses within your machines that you do not seem to be aware of. I have received quite large numbers of emails from you that contain "worm" viruses, obviously without your knowledge.
The system here deletes any email that contains a suspected virus immediately, so you would not get advised or a reply. This however was not the reason the 3,000 got trashed. I must strongly recommend that you all buy good Anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Personally I use Norton, but there are other good ones.
On a related subject. RCS Panels has a policy of ALWAYS replying to every email received. Therefore if you do not get a reply, then we either did not receive your email, or as is often the case, your email address does not accept replies. Many ISP servers these days have a "Firewall" that stops many replies getting through to you.
OK that is about it for now. I hope to talk to you much more often from now on. Thanks for being so patient and staying loyal.
Best wishes and good flying
Roy
14th September 2001
" Total shock and horror "
As you can see I have returned safe and well from France, but like most of the world am in total shock about the events of Tuesday. My thoughts and prayers go out to our American friends and anyone that has been affected by this horror.
I am pleased to tell you that the RCS Panels team and their loved ones are safe and well.
My best wishes to you all at this very difficult time.
Roy
21st August 2001
" Don't try it, with OUR packages "
It is rare that I comment on articles or statements made by other people on other sites, however I have to make exception on this ocassion.
It has been suggested on www.flightsim.com in an "How To ??" that you can use FS2000 Add-ons with CFS2 and get most of the benefits of FS2002. Although there is a little truth in this, DO NOT be mislead. Our RCS FS2000 packages will not run properly in CFS2, and in my experience that applies to a great number of others as well.
If it was as easy as it is suggested, I can assure you that I for one, would not have spent weeks developing a special CFS2 version of our R4D, and MS would not have spent months developing FS2002.
Even from what we have seen so far from the Beta's of FS2002, it is going to bring a mass of wonderful new stuff to FS, and be a massive leap forward from CFS2 and FS2000.
I am sorry to tell you the neither I or any other member of the RCS Team will waste any time answering emails or attempting to sort out problems caused by the action suggested in the article mentioned above, or by trying to use our FS2000 packages in CFS2. We have produced special compatible CFS2 packages especially for the purpose so please use them ONLY.
FS2002 is due out in a few months time, and will be well worth the wait. So be patient, and do not believe all you might read.
" Work has resumed "
I am pleased to tell you that work has resumed on the current RCS projects. Bill is working hard on the graphics for the B-25, and my programming has already started. Our new flight dynamics expert "Brian" is doing a fantastic job on the flight model. Jan is well into the aircraft which is really looking superb. Alan (our sound man) has a stunning sound package under construction. So all in all, it is all systems go.
Our "Secret" project that has been hinted at in the past, is still progressing and we are hopeful that a full announcement can be made fairly soon.
" More time off "
Now everything is in full swing again, I have decided to take a couple of weeks off and go to the South of France for a little R & R, before the summer is over. For those of you that live in the UK, you will know that summer here has so far been somewhat of a "none event". Lots of rain and little in the way of sunshine. As a result I am going to try and find some before it is too late.
Therefore "Urgent" emails should be sent to Bill and others will have to wait for my return.
That's about it for now. Speak to you again soon.
Best wishes, Roy
9th August 2001
" Success and home "
Well the show is over and was a great success if the responses of the thousands of people that saw the show was anything to go by. Personally it was 16 performances spread over four days, which is a total "killer" of a schedule. But I survived, enjoyed it, and have now put it behind me for another year.
It will come as no surprise that I now intend to take some serious "time off".
" New Toy "
On the subject of time off, I have just spoilt myself, and bought a new "X" Type Jaguar car, and am intending to spend some serious time playing with it. Sadly it had to sit in the garage for a couple of weeks because of the London show, but now I intend to catch up for lost time. :-)
I have to say it is a wonderful machine with all the "toys" including "Sat Nav" and I really enjoy driving it. It goes without saying that my personal registration of " HIS CAT" has been transferred to the new Jag. For anyone that does not know, my paying job is a Wildlife Artist, so the registration is doubly significant.
" FS2002 "
The team and I have been Beta testing FS2002 with the view of giving "feedback" to MS and also making sure that our R4D and other new packages are compatible with it when it is released. Although we are limited in what we can say about the product, I have to say that I am very impressed so far with the quality of FS2002. In my opinion it is going to be a very significant step forward for flight simulation. Some of the new features are really stunning, and virtually every aspect has been significantly improved. However MS themselves say there is still a long way to go, so it can only get better still.
We have now checked our current versions of the R4D and can report that they will NOT be compatible with FS2002 as it stands. However we are hoping to have a new version ready soon after the release of the product. This is going to mean a great deal of work from the team, but I am sure you will bare with us while we do it.
" Thanks "
I would like to thank you for being restrained in the amount of email that you have not sent me in the past few weeks. Your consideration has been most appreciated. Please keep up the good work :-))
OK that's about it for now. I will try to update this page more frequently from now on,
Safe landings.
Roy
24th July 2001
" Off to London "
Well all the scripts are written and the gear packed, so in the morning I am off to London for the Big Show of the year. We then have two days of "set building" and rehearsals and then it is on for real on Thursday.
I hope to be back at FS work once I have recovered from the show, probably some time at the end of next week.
Speak to you all soon.
Roy
9th July 2001
" Kaos reigns "
This is just a quick update to tell you that I am still alive and Kaos is reigning here. I had great intentions of having reports about my wonderful trip to the USA and many other things on this site within days of my return, but like all good intentions that is now a distant dream, however it will happen as soon as I can find the time.
As some of you know this is the most hectic time of my year, I have the International Wildlife Art Competition called P.A.W.S. to judge and produce a virtual exhibition on the web and a CD version. Plus ny big show in London at the end of July which involves large amounts of "Script Writing" and preparation work, to mention only two things. There are about another two dozen trying to get my time. Anyway enough about my problems.
I have finally caught up with the massive pile of emails that awaited my return, but I would ask you to remain "restrained" about making another one. I thank all of you for your patience.
The only real development here, other than working around the clock, is I have had WideBand ADSL fitted. What an improvement that is :-)) Average download speeds of 56kbs. Seriously quick. I am most impressed with its performance.
It got it first major test downloading 950mbs data. Something that would have been impossible with the old system. If you transfer large amounts of files, wideband is something worth a serious look.
Unfortunately I need to get back to work so will have to cut this short. Keep the faith and don't forget about this site. Normal service will resume as soon as possible :-)
Have a good one.
Roy
22nd June 2001
" Back home safe and sound "
This is just a quick note to say I am back home in the UK safe and sound after a fantastic trip to the USA. Once I get my breath back I will give you a full report on the important events and happenings during my three week stay. I met up will some wonderful people, had some "once in a life time" experiences, and generally had a real "blast" :-)
To anyone waiting for replies to emails, unfortunately this is going to take a while. My email box is stuffed with hundreds awaiting my attention and it will be some days before I can even make a start. Therefore please be patient.
To all those people I met during my stay, I will be in touch as soon as I can, and follow up on the various ideas and conversations.
OK, nose back to the grind stone :-(
Kindest regards, Roy
29th May 2001
" Some broken links "
I am aware there are some broken links on the site for the download of some files, so please do not email me about them. I have fixed a few, but there are more. Unfortunately they will now have to wait for my return from the USA in three weeks time. Virtually all the files on this site can also be found on www.flightsim.com so you do not have a major problem.
Speak to you at MAAM or in three weeks again here.
Bye for now. :-)
28th May 2001
" Major Outage Update "
I am now fairly confident that the site is now working and the hundreds of links have been successfully changed.
Basically this site was on an NT Server that was hacked for a second time and everyone was locked out from making changes for three weeks. The site has now been reconstructed on a UNIX box and hopefully will now be more secure.
" What's been happening in the meantime ? "
During the time this site has been down, we have not been sitting idol. We have been working hard on the MAAM B-25 prototype. There is still a very long way to go, but we are hopeful we will have something to show at the MAAM WWII Weekend on the 8th, 9th, and 10th June.
All the programming work I can do on the project has now been done, because I have been forced to take a break from writing code and looking at a PC screen. Last week I had to have laser surgery on my eyes to stop internal bleeding. This we hope will be successful but it will be a few weeks before we really know.
Therefore I have decided to fly out to Washington DC on Wednesday in advance of the MAAM weekend for some rest and holiday. I will be spending some time with my great friend a colleague Bill Rambow and his wife. I am really looking forward to the trip.
If you are planning to come the the MAAM show, it is my intention to be there all three days and spend most of my time on our stand in the hangar. If you are coming to the show, please pop in and say hello. If you are not planning to come, and have a free day, why not give us a look. It is a great show and well worth the effort.
" No email please "
Under normal circumstances I love to hear from you all, but as I will not be here by the time you read this, I would ask you not to email me for the next three weeks. If you have anything vitally important, then you can contact Bill on his normal email address, or me through him.
It is my intention to have a relaxing time. Eat, Drink, and do as much real flying as possible. (including flights in the B-25 "Breifing Time").
OK that is about it for now. I hope to see as many of you as possible at MAAM where we will have exciting things to show you and time for a chat.
Many thanks to you all for being so patient while we were offline and experiencing so many problems. I am personally sorry for the inconvenience that has been caused, but it seems that some people get their enjoyment from spoiling other peoples by hacking sites.
Have a great few weeks. Speak to you soon.
Kindest regards, and best wishes,
Roy
27th May 2001
" Major Outage "
I am just trying to bring the site back up after a major outage. Our site was seriously "hacked" which has resulted in me being locked out for the past three weeks. There is much to be done and many links and functions that are still not working. Please be patient we are doing our best.
More information as soon as possible.
Thanks for your patience. Roy
17th May 2001
" Cracking under the pressure "
This is just a quick update to let you all know I am still alive (just). Things here have been absolutely "manic" since I returned from the Netherlands. It seems that everyone wants something of me at the moment, and all of it yesterday !!
We would still like to have at least a prototype of the B-25 at the MAAM WWII Weekend, but things are not looking good at the moment. It is now less than two weeks before I fly out and I have mountains of none FS work to finish before I can get to programming.
Alan our sound expert if flying out from the UK on Friday this week to do the recordings of the B-25 engines, so we have a completely authentic sound suite for the package. I am "green" with envy, that I am not there to fly in her. Bill will hopefully be making a video, that we intend to put of the B-25 CD when we release it.
I will apologise in advance to anyone that emails me and either gets no reply or a very short one. As you know this is unlike me, but I just cannot spend the normal time on emails at the moment, if I have any hope of getting my work done.
Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Keep the faith, speak to you all soon.
5th May 2001
" Report on the Dutch FS Weekend "
As promised earlier, I have written a full report (with photos) of the FS weekend at Schiphol last weekend. I know the many visitors to the show had a really enjoyable time, and I was no exception. I can honestly say it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Click Here to read my full account of an unbelievable weekend.
4th May 2001
" Press Release on PH-DDZ "
As you might have noticed, yesterday we released our PH-DDZ DC-3 (see below) If you would like to read the full "Press Release" Click Here
3rd May 2001
" What a Weekend !! "
I have just returned from Holland after a superb Flight Simulation Weekend at the Aviodome at Schiphol Airport, where I received a fantastic reception from the DFSO, the TCA and the Dutch flightsim community. VIP treatment all the way. You can read my full report here later today or tomorrow.
As promised at the show, we are releasing the Dutch PH-DDZ DC-3 here today and you can download it right now. If Jan Visser has done the uploads in my absence then it should also appear on www.flightsim.com soon.
As is usual with our packages the download is significant at 21 megs, but hopefully worth every megabyte. But be warned, DO NOT USE a download accelerator, because they corrupt the zip file, and cause bad installs.
The package comes complete with Aircraft, Sound and Panel.
Click here to download from our server
Have a good one :-))
More from me later.
26th April 2001
" Two Days to go "
This page has been very quiet for the past twelve days. The RCS Panels Development Team has been working flat out to finish the Dutch DC-3 PH-DDZ which will be released this weekend at the "FS Weekend at Aviodome at Schiphol Airport". As always when we release a new product we try not to test it on the users and have been burning the midnight oil to get all the bugs out of it before we release it.
It is stacking up to be a great weekend. over in Holland with many great activities to make the event really memorable. Both Jan Visser and myself will be there representing the team and we will have the "New Dutch DC-3" package on show for the first time. This is the first project that Jan Visser has lead with the team, and has called all the shots through the project. I also know a number of very well know people will be visiting the show.
If all goes according to plan, I will be doing a 45 minute presentation each day on the big screen run by the DFSO, about the finer points of the MAAM R4D and the PH-DDZ. This should be great fun as well as informative.
If you haven't yet purchased the MAAM R4D CD, then a few of you will get the chance at the show. I am taking a small stock of CD's with me that will be for sale. However because the money goes to MAAM there will be not "show discounts" Sorry !!
The new package will be available on this site as soon as I return from Holland, but it is likely to be released on www.flightsim.com before that. Keep you eyes on the site from Sunday onwards.
" Something Special "
There will be a great opportunity at the Schiphol show to get hold of something very rare. The RCS Panels R4D Development Team have donated a "Special MAAM R4D CD" that has been "personally signed" by all three authors. This is to be "auctioned off" at the show and the money raised given to a local charity for children in Holland. We will tell you all about the results on this page when I return. So if you would like to own this very special CD, then make sure when you get there, you find out the details of the auction.
That's about it for now. I very much look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the show. You will find me on the TCA stand most of the time. After the show I intend to take a few well deserved days off, along with the rest of the team.
Have a great week and weekend.
14th April 2001
" Time just flies "
I cannot believe it is over a week since I last posted on this site. Where does the time go ??
I am now confident we are back up and running and I have managed to catch up on some of the backlog of work that piled up during the downtime. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do much FS work as yet, except for a couple of things that were still needed for the Dutch PH-DDZ DC-3 that Jan is due to release at the FS Weekend in Amsterdam, see http://www.aviodome.nl/fsenglish.htm
As you will have read before on this page. I am flying over from the UK to meet up with my friend Jan Visser, so we will both be at the show to meet and talk with any of you that manage to come. I do however understand the for a period during the Saturday afternoon, both Jan and I are being whisked away for a "special treat", so we might be missing for a while. Otherwise I am intending to be there for the whole show and both days. I will tell you more about this "special treat" when I find out what it is/was.
I can also confirm that it is my intention to be at the MAAM WWII Weekend at the beginning of June again this year. It really was a fantastic event last year and I am really looking forward to it again.
" More Pirates "
I am sad to tell you we have had a stream of "Pirates" in the past few weeks. However when we hit them hard, as we always do, most of them put their hands up and act in an honorabe way, be in belatedly. What is so difficult about people respecting developers copyright and wishes, is beyond me ??
Mark my words, if we carry on the way we are going, in a very short time there will be NO decent developers left in the FREEWARE / DONATIONWARE sector at all.
Although the RCS Panels Security System that is "built-in" to all our gauges and products is working effectively to stop people changing or tampering with our files. It seems that the pirates are just taking and using the parts now without even attempting to hide the fact that they are ours and they are doing so. This has now prompted me to work with a couple of my friends to develop a further level to the Security System to stop them being used by ANY unauthorized users. I think it is a great shame that we are having to spend valuable time developing systems just to make people act like decent human beings rather than scum. Unfortunately this is going to make things more difficult, when it comes to installing out products, for the great majority of good and honourable people, but what choice do we have ??
While on the subject we have another name to add to the "Hall of Shame" and that is "Name removed a gesture of good will" who seems to think that FREEWARE means FREE of COPYRIGHT. We are currently teaching him differently. Not even did I receive an appropriate reply from him when he was challenged. !!!
Please feel free to send him emails of disapproval. His email address is :- ???????
"Name
removed"
for breaking copyright is added to the
"Hall of Shame"
We have found in the past that your emails have been very effective, so please don't hold back, we here are RCS Panels need your support.
" B-25 Project "
Development has finally started again on the B-25 "Breifing Time" project, and we would very much like to have something to show you at the MAAM Weekend in June, however this is becoming more difficult as the weeks slip past. But we will do our best.
" FS2002 "
As you have no doubt read, FS2002 is due out in time for Christmas this year, so I guess we the developers will have another "bucket full of problems" to deal with. We are all confidently expect the "Goal Posts" to be moved again. However I have no firm information on what is going to change. However we will keep our ears and eyes open.
Well I guess I better get back to work.
Wishing you all a relaxing and enjoyable Easter. Have fun,
Roy
5th April 2001
" Back again, I hope "
I am hopeful that we are now back online again. The new server proved to be quite a problem. When it was fully configured it developed a serious problem that resulted in many "Blue Screens of Death" at boot up. This had me tearing my hair out for over a week. After many changes of hardware and software nothing made a difference. In all my years of experience, I had never come across such a confusing, intermittent, and illogical fault. Anyway with what I can only put down to inspiration from the "lord above" I did a batch of crazy tests last night and I think I've found the fault.
It turned out that one device (a tape drive) was drawing to much current for a few seconds during boot up and that was the cause of memory and hard drive failures.
Anyway, hopefully I am now back with you for good. :-)) (assuming that was the fault)
Needless to say, because I have been working on this problem night and day, I have a massive backlog of work to catch up on. A lot of which is to do with my "real" job, but hopefully in a few days I will be able to get back to FS and finishing off the stuff for the coming release of the Dutch DDZ DC-3 that Jan is releasing at the Amsterdam Weekend. Then we have to go all out on the B-25 project, because we were hoping to have at least a "Preview" version of that for the MAAM WWII Weekend in June. This may now be unrealistic, but we will give it a go.
Once again many thanks for your restraint in not emailing me. You don't know how much I appreciate that. :-)) Hopefully in the next couple of weeks you can ease back to normal again.
OK back to work. Have a good one. Best wishes from a much happiper
Roy :-))
28th March 2001
" Progress Report "
Here we are a week on from my last post and nearly two weeks since the massive server crash. Well things are starting to take shape. The new server is online and seems to be working. There are still around three days work to do, installing software and straightening out problems, but I am hopeful that real work (paying work, to start with) can start at the weekend.
You might wonder why we could not restore from backups, well there is no simple answer to that other than saying that the backup capability was also lost. Strange but true.
I really appreciate the restraint that most of you have shown in not emailing me. This has been much appreciated. My emails have reduced from around 80 a day to around 10 which has been very helpful. I have however had to tell a couple of people to call me again in a couple of weeks, because they had queries that first need my machinery to test, and second would have taken hours to solve.
It will come as no surprise that I have not even run FS beyond installing it and testing that is works. The acid tests to all the software will come when it is used in anger in the weeks to come.
Although I find it hard to believe at the moment, my systems will probably be all the better for having been rebuild from the ground. The server before it crashed had been updated and modified and reinstalled from backups for around the past 6 years, so it was probably about time it had a serious rebuild. It certainly seems to be running even better than it did before. Fingers crossed long may it continue. :-))
That's about it for now. Time I got back to rebuilding.
" Amsterdam in April "
Oh, just before I forget. I can positively confirm I will be at the Amsterdam Flight Sim Weekend at Schiphol airport on the 28th and 29th April 2001. I am planning to meet as many of you as possible, talk and answer questions, and it is even rumoured that I will be doing the odd presentation on a giant screen about the R4D and the new DDZ project to be released at the show. Watch this space for more details.
If you are at a loose end that weekend, come over and join us, It is going to be a great show.
Have a good week. Best regards, Roy
21st March 2001
" Massive System Failure "
In case you were wondering why this page was not updated recently ? Well, unfortunately I have suffered from a massive system failure, or at least my PC Server has. It is not only you good people that have these problems !!
Even with my extensive experience I have not been able to bring the machine back from the dead. I have had to build a completely new server from square one, and install all the software afresh, This task is going to take at least a couple of weeks to complete, so expect very slow responses to emails and few updates on this page. In fact I would ask you to refrain from emailing me for the time being if at all possible.
More updates will follow as I am properly back online.
Have a good one :-))
7th March 2001
" FS2000 A340 Beta Panel "
As promised here is the FS2000 A340 Beta Panel.
This is the Shareware (RealCRT Gauges) FS2000 conversion of the very popular A340 panel that was released for FS98. Although this panel is a Beta version and has not been fully developed, what is there, works and should cause you no problems. It is also a significant move forward from the old version.
In the interests of me managing to get some development work done, I would kindly ask you not to email me about this panel unless it is absolutely necessary, and please read the documents.
The package is 2.1mb Click Here to download
Have a great week.
6th March 2001 (part 2)
" Donations to MAAM "
This is Roy back again. As you will have noticed from my comments below we have now passed the milestone of $25,000 in donations to the MAAM R4D Engine Appeal. Which is really fantastic news. However we are still disappointed that so few of the quarter of a million users of the R4D package have not done as we the developers asked and made a small donation to MAAM.
It has been suggested that part of the reason for this is it's to difficult to find your way around the MAAM site and get to the donation page, or find the mailing address. Well I cannot have that can I ?? :-) So I have now placed a special "Donations Link" on the left hand side of this page, so you can be taken directly to the address and donations page.
We are about half way to raising the money necessary to get the R4D back into the air where she belongs, and we have a couple of months left before a year has past since the release of the R4D package. Wouldn't it be great if we could reach the target by that date ?? So come on folks put you hands in your pockets and send MAAM a few dollars (or any other currency), so we can really celebrate the birthday of the appeal.
Thanks in advance.
Roy
6th March 2001
" Important information "
FAQ's About the FAQ ;-) and other musings by Bill Rambow
Why do I get a "The page cannot be displayed" warning when I click on any of the links at the top of the FAQ that came with Patch 3?
Well, it seems that the bookmark links at the start of the FAQ document that are supposed to take you to the various sections got corrupted in the course of adding something to it. No big deal, if a bit embarassing for me, because you could still scroll down and read the entire document. In fact, we might never have realized anything was amiss if one of our loyal Belgian R4D pilots (Thanks, Alain) hadn't told us about it and sent a corrected copy of the html file. Despite the thousands of downloads, no one else, but Jan Visser, has commented on it to us! Guess it's not a frequently asked question after all. There could be a few different reasons for this. Either people did not notice the bookmarks in the first place, or ignored the slight inconvenience of the broken links, or, shudder to think, did not read the Patch 3 "read_1st.txt" and so had no idea it existed! Anyway, you can get a corrected and updated copy of the FAQ by clicking on the link to the left of this page. Or, if you have a very lazy mouse, here.
If you are one of those people who gets an "Aircraft Initialization Failure" when using the DC-3 Start-Up Situation, you should go take a look at this new FAQ, anyway, for an explanation. The FAQ, like the R4D package itself, is dynamic. I will continue to update it as needed and from here on you will find the date of issue right up at the top. Oh, and in case you were one of those "rare" souls who did not read the Patch 3 "read_1st.txt" and wish to correct that oversight now, it's in your FS2000 directory in a folder called "R4D_Docs".
While we are talking about patches and upgrades, it amazes me that there are so many FS2000 R4D flyers who have not yet discovered the Visual Model Upgrade (r4dv40up.zip). Using Flightsim.com download figures to illustrate my point, there have been over 30,000 downloads of the package from that single site and only about 12,000 of the VMU! That means well over half of the v4 users have not discovered the wonderful visual improvements Jan has made to the plane. If you are one of this deprived majority, click this to rectify the oversight.
The disparity between the download numbers for the two essential zips of the basic FS2000 R4D package, wjrdc34a.zip and wjrdc34b.zip, is another matter entirely - about 6000! That's why it's the first issue discussed in the FAQ.
Happy Landings - Tail Low
Bill
4th March 2001
" $25,000 to MAAM "
We the R4D development team are delighted to tell you that we have now raised more than $25,000 towards the new engine for the MAAM R4D. This is thanks to your generosity. A big THANK YOU from us all.
(to read the full Press Release and other information about our future plans)
" A340 FS2000 Upgrade "
I am also pleased to tell you that within the next couple of days we will be releasing an FS2000 upgrade to the very popular A340 panel. This release will be a "Beta release" because the project has not yet been fully developed. However as far as it goes, it is fully functional and should not cause any problems. This is however a Shareware (RealCRT gauges only) version. Whether a Freeware version will follow is yet to be decided.
Have a good week. :-))
26th February 2001
" Server Overload "
Owing to the huge demand for the R4D Patch 3 the RCS Server has been massively overloaded in the past 24 hours. I have now made adjustments which has involved changing the link to the Patch. Just to be sure you get the new link do a "Refresh" on your browser.
Patch 3 is also available on http://www.flightsim.com
Have a good week.
25th February 2001
" R4D Versin 4 Patch 3 Released "
We the R4D Development Team are delighted to announce the official Patch 3 to our version 4 of the R4D. Which is available below. This patch addresses a number of issues, but most importantly solves the problem of the "Flood lights" not aligning on all video cards. Unlike some other offerings we could mention, this patch works properly.
The patch also contains a new stereo sound package, which massively improves on the previous version. However we do point out this is not the "All singing and dancing" new version that we have promised, this will still be coming at a later date, when our sound man Alan has had a chance to put his new recording equipment into operation.
There are a number of other fixes contained within the patch to enhance your enjoyment. However this is by no means the end of our work on the R4D. This is very much an ongoing project, and we balance work on it, with work on the new projects. I am sure you will understand, if we worked exclusively on this we could make very rapid progress but that would be at the expense of the new stuff, and we are sure you would not want that.
If you have not applied our Patches 1 and 2, no problem they are contained within this Patch 3. However if you have, also no problem no harm will be done.
The patch comes in form of a self installing EXE file to ease it installation, but be warned it is quite a large file at 10mbs. However it is worth the download.
Click Here to download
" More Piracy "
It seems now honour and respect are a thing of the past in 2001. Every day brings more and more pirates.
What is so sad about it is more and more developers are leaving the hobby either completely or for the commercial side, and who can blame them !! Even the ones that are left are having to waste valuable time every week dealing with the scum. The down side from your point of view is it takes us away from development and time that we could be spending on developing new stuff for you the users is lost.
Perhaps it is about time we the developers enrolled your help more in dealing with these pirates. Already you are very helpful in letting us know when you find pirated stuff, which helps us to strike quickly, but perhaps now is the time for you to start giving grief to them direct, as well as our actions.
I do fear unless the things are made so uncomfortable for them, that they stop or leave, Freeware as we know it will all but disappeared, and you the users will be the ones that suffer.
We can now add another name to the "Hall of Shame" for using RCS Panels gauges and graphics without asking for or being granted persmission.
Shame on - ???????????????
The name and email address have now been removed as your emails to the offender has now had the desired effect.
RCS Panels thanks you for making the effort.
" Nvidia Drivers "
I have received quite a number of emails now saying that other people are also having trouble with the v6.50 Nvidia Drivers, that I reported some time ago. I think my advice now has to be a positive, "they are extremely suspect" with FS2000.
Ok thats it for now. Have a good week.
Safe landings.
22nd February 2001
" Spyware "
As you will remember from the past, I posted a software package here called "OptOut" here which effectively hunted out and destroyed "Spyware" from your system. (programs that send information about your system to noisy people on the net without you knowing, every time you are connected to the web). "GoZilla" was an example.
Well a new Anti Spyware program called " Ad-ware v4.51" has been brought to my attention by one of our readers, which in tests here appears to be much more effective. What it finds will make your eyes pop.
I have packaged the program installation file and a current list of the known Spyware programs in a Zip file which you can download from here, however I do recommend that you do visit the program writers site, so you can download upgrades as they become available.
The program is FREE and so are the upgrades, and it doesn't contain Spyware within it :-))
Have a good week, once you get over the shock :-))
20th February 2001
" Windows Fonts "
As the regular readers of this site will know, some time ago I published articles on how to many Windows Fonts can seriously reduce your frame rates. Well I am not intending to repeat what is already stated in other places on this site (search the news archive). However one of our readers has found a very useful Font Manager called "MyFonts" which allows you to fairly safely remove and manage your fonts. As always, I emphasis YOU MUST READ the documentation.
For your ease I have placed a copy of the Zip on this server, but you are encouraged to go to the home site of the author for any extra information or updates.
If you find this package useful, you are encouraged to send the requested registration fee to the author.
Have a good week.
15th February 2001
" Your support "
Many thanks for the emails of support that we have been receiving since the news posted here on the 4th Feb. It does appear that the vast majority of the FS community is for stamping out the "Scum" that shows no respect.
We have been working hard on new ways to protect our products in the future and administer effect punishment against offenders.
We are also working hard on measures to "bring to book" a couple of FS websites that eagerly want the work of the Freeware developers but want to do nothing to help them in times of difficulty. This we find an unacceptable attitude from the very people who are supposed set an example to the community.
" RCS Panels Products "
As we have stated a couple of times, we are doing our best to increase the bandwidth on this site, so you don't get those "to many users" messages. However I would also like to point out that all our packages are carried on http://www.flightsim.com and this site is fully supported by us. We would always suggest that large downloads are done via Flightsim.com as it is likely to be quicker and easier.
" R4D Upgrade "
I can tell you that we will be releasing an "official" upgrade to the R4D package soon. One that actually works properly :-)) Watch this page for an announcement. We are testing and making minor modifications to the upgrade at the moment.
" End It All "
A couple of people have emailed me to ask about "End It All" and Windows ME. I can tell you that "End It All" works perfectly will Windows ME.
" New Nvidia Drivers "
Recently Nvidia released some new drivers the the TNT and Geforce videos cards. (v6.50). I briefly tested these and experienced a number of problems with FS2000. Scenery corrupting and a few system crashes. I was forced into removing these and returning to v6.31 which is stable.
It could be that it was just a bad installation and not the fault of the drivers. I will reinstall them at a later date and do more tests, but I thought you would appreciate knowing about my findings so far.
OK that's about it for now. Have a good weekend.
6th February 2001
" Site outage Part 2 "
As you will have noted I was a little bit premature with my announcement that the site was back up on the 4th, we suffered another two days of outage and are now we hope back in business. The ISP informs us that they were "hacked", and full investigations are taking place. We are sorry for this outage at what has been a difficult time, but hopefully we are now back online. Thanks for your understanding.
4st February 2001
" Site outage "
I am sorry to say we have had technical problems on this site for the past 4 days and been unable to upload any messages because of being "locked out" of the Server due to a technical fault at the ISP. This problem we hope is now solved, otherwise you would not be reading this message. :-)
" Unbelievable !!! "
Over the past few days some events have occurred that both the RCS Panels Team and I personally find unbelievable and extremely sad.
A couple of weeks ago a well known developer (whos name I have no intention of giving the honour of mentioning on this page), approached the R4D team firstly with great praise and then within hours tried to force his way into being part of the R4D team.
As I had greatly respected this person up to this time, I very politely, but firmly rejected this approach on behalf of the team. As many developers know we are not against cooperation and involvement from other people, but we will not be BLACKMAILED or FORCED into taking on people because they think they should be part of our team.
What followed was unbelievable. I received one of the rudest emails I have ever had the misfortune to receive, but never the less replied politely, and respectfully.
Then a few days ago, a package was released that not only breaks our copyright, but also our specific wishes in our documentation. All this was accompanied by a torrent of personal abuse which I will certainly not repeat here. Rather than being angered by this outburst, I have to admit to feeling sorry that such a respected name had fallen to this level.
I am very pleased to say that ALL the major web site bosses acted swiftly, and gave us their support, for which we are very grateful.
As you might have seen, we are not the only team that have be subjected to this kind of action, and a number of teams have withdrawn from FS in the past few days. Some permanently and some temporarily. We here fully understand their reasons and fully support them.
Speaking purely for ourselves here at RCS Panels, we are not prepared to be intimidated by "BULLY BOY" tactics and be forced out of the FS community, by people that have their own agenda and no respect for others and their work. Why should the majority of people suffer for the minority of "ignorant people" that seem to be creeping into this community.
Personally I was extremely upset that one of my hero's had climbed down from his elevated position and into the gutter, but I guess this sort of thing happens in real life. Never the less it is very sad.
" Warning "
R4D users are warned that in every instance of our testing, this pirated and modified package has caused FS crashes. We therefore cannot support this illegal and unauthorized package. We have always prided ourselves on the level of support we afford our users, and hate to do otherwise now, but we can not be responsible for files damaged by others.
We are very aware of the limitations of the R4D and the changes and improvements that need to be made. Along with other development work we are constantly working on improvements and changes. As you will have seen from the number of upgrades and new versions we have released, this is an on going project. We have already produced a number of new improvements which we will be releasing in the fullness of time. I know it takes patience, but we promise you will not be disappointed.
" Statement "
RCS Panels is dedicated to producing Freeware and Donationware products and trying to raise money for aviation good causes. We hope to produce top quality products, but that is not for us to judge. What we do is the best we can with the time and resources we have. Even with our success, we are not arrogant, and we do what we do for fun, and to try and improve your enjoyment, We will not however be talked down to, or bullied by other self opinionated people.
You the FS community have been very supportive of us in the past, and never more so than in the past few days. This support is never taken for granted and very much appreciated.
The events of the past few days have been caused by a small number of people that are for their own reasons trying to destroy the development of our hobby and enjoyment. You the great FS public are the ones with the power, seek out these people and neutralise them before they totally spoil it for everyone.
After what has been a very sad week, try and have a good weekend.
Keep the blue side up :-))
Roy, on behalf of the RCS Panels Team
29th January 2001
" Urgent Message "
This is an Urgent Message for Frank A. McFall II. You have recently emailed Roy at RCS Panels, but we are unable to answer you because your email address is invalid. Please contact us again with an email address that can be replied to.
Alternatively if anyone knows Frank, either contact him or us. Thanks for your cooperation.
26th January 2001
" General "
Yet another 9 days has slipped past, mostly spent on programming new gauges for forthcoming projects. This includes a batch of Bendix King gauges that have so far, to our knowledge, not been programmed to this complexity or quality.
The RCS Team have now made a positive decision to produce a "Generic DC-3 Panel" and have started working on it. It is to early to announce a release date, but we are hopeful it will be sooner rather than later.
Development work goes in fits and starts, and is very unpredictable when you are trying to push the barriers, which we always try to do, but this is what makes it interesting to us. We here at RCS Panels are not interested in just churning out yet another package. What we want is something special.
We continue to monitor the FS world and what's new, both good and bad, and try to bring things of interest to your attention.
Work is now well underway on our "SECRET" project, but we are still prevented from making a public announcement at this time. However as soon as we have the go ahead, we will let you know on this page. Suffice to say we are very excited about it, and I am fairly sure you will be as well.
" Thanks "
I want to thank those of you that keep me informed when you find our stuff being used illegally by other "so called" developers. Although we do run Web Search programs here that hunt the net, and are very effective, your eagle eyes very often find them first. We always try to treat those people who look after our interests with the odd bit of "special treatment" when they are in need, so it is worth the effort. The "Team" really does thank you for your sharp eyes. Keep up the good work.
" Appearance in Holland "
It is very much hoped that I will be making a personal appearance along with my fellow team member Jan Visser, at the Air Show in Amsterdam, Holland, on the 28th and 29th April 2001.
If you can make the show we would be delighted to see you there, meet you in person, and talk to you about your experiences and what we are up to.
We will publish further details on this page nearer the time.
I guess I better get back to number crunching :-((
Have a good one.
17th January 2001
" Oops "
Were has the last 16 days gone ?? Well at least some of it has been productive working hard on our new projects.
" Old skills help us out "
A little time was used in solving a significant time wasting problem. Jan had been having major problems getting new paint jobs out on the DC-3's, because changing the textures in the proper manner with the construction program was proving much to expensive on time. Therefore I gave new life to my "hacking skills" and developed a much quicker way to introduce the new textures. This technique will now be used by Jan, and all in all this now means that the new paint jobs can flow at a much faster rate. You will have seen the first of these in the Finnish DC-3 version that was released by Jan last week. It seems we are proving again and again that our "joint" skills are giving us a tremendous advantage.
" Piracy Statement "
Unfortunately a huge amount of time has been wasted recently on fighting piracy. There was a flood of packages released around the New Year that had our parts included without our permission. It seems that the message has still not got out, that we here at RCS Panels will not allow people to use our parts without "Prior Written Permission". In fact I can say now, because of the lack of respect shown by a small but significant number of people. No more "permissions" will be given to use any RCS Panels parts to anyone, and the strongest action will be taken against anyone that does, no matter what their excuse. From now on, we will only produce parts for our own use, and custom parts for other developers by special order.
Therefore from now onwards if you see anything of ours included in a package, please bring it to my attention. All RCS Panels gauges have "RCS" at the beginning on the gauge name, and all RCS gauges are fitted with a Security System that will immediately be invoked if anything including the external gauge name is changed in any way.
" Future Projects "
Work is well underway on a series of new FS2000 projects. One we are producing a Dutch DC-3 package that will include a new aircraft, and a simplified panel. This package will be based around the Dutch civilian DC-3 and the project is being lead by Jan Visser. We expect this to be released in April this year. This will probably spawn a fully functional generic civilian DC-3 panel for use with any DC-3.
We are also working on a B-25 package that we hope will totally out class our R4D project. We have a host of new ideas that we are confident will break new ground. This project is being lead by Bill Rambow
Next week we start work on what is still a SECRET project that will bring pure joy to many WWII enthusiasts. We are not able to release the information at this time, but we will soon. So watch this space :-)) This project will be lead by myself.
The whole team is so fired up by the success of the R4D project that we are now looking to improve on our success.
Personally I am working on a host of new gauges for the various projects. The emphasis is quality and functionality, trying wherever possible to match exactly the look of the real thing with as much of its functionality as FS2000 will allow.
" New FS2000 B717 Aircraft "
I am delighted to say that Mike Stone has just released a new FS2000 B717-200 aircraft, which is a great improvement on what has been available up to now. To my knowledge this is the first B717 to be designed especially for FS2000. You can find this on Flightsim.com or AVSIM.com and works well with my B717 panels.
" General "
I have to apologise for the lack of updates on this page recently. With the best intentions in the world, I have just been to busy with the above to get it done. Unfortunately when I get my head in heavy programming or pirates, the time just flies past. Anyway I am sure you would rather I spend my time producing things for you to use, rather than "bashing my gums" here :-))
Have a good week, and safe landings.
1st January 2001
" What a start "
We welcome in the New Year of 2001 with a great surprise here at RCS Panels. We have just been awarded two AVSIM "Bravo Zulu Awards" for our version 4 of the R4D.
Wow !!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have won the awards for the "Best Aircraft" and the "Best Panel" for the same package.
Jan Visser, Bill Rambow, Roy Chaffin, and the rest of the team, would like to thank the reviewers at AVSIM for the awards. They are much appreciated.
We would also like to thank all of you for your support and making the package one of the most popular of all time.
You can read the full story and see the competition on the AVSIM website at http://www.avsim.com
*** HAPPY NEW YEAR ***
2001
24rd December 2000
" Merry Christmas "
With our work now done for the year, with the CFS2 version of the R4D out, (see below) we are now getting ready to enjoy Christmas. The whole RCS Panels Development Team would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over the past 12 months, and especially thank you for all your kind words and Christmas wishes. The thousands of Christmas cards and messages we have received have been very much appreciated, and totally overwhelming.
Thank you everyone :-))
We thought you would like a photo of the "Development team" to cheer your holiday. We will leave it to you to decide who is who.
From Bill, Jan and Roy, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Have a good one, see you after Christmas :-))
23rd December 2000
" CFS 2 R4D-6 Released "
We are delighted to announce the CFS 2 Version 3.75 of the R4D-6 is released in time for Christmas :-))
It comes in the form of a Self Installing EXE file of 23mbs. Quite a download but you do get virtually all the features of Version 4 (without the night lighting which is not supported by CFS 2).
At the risk of being boring :- This time if you do not read the manual you will not even get the engines started. You have been warned !!! (no emails on how to start the engines will be answered).
If you have any trouble downloading from our server, owing to high demand, the package will be available from Flightsim.com in a day or so. It has already been uploaded.
The R4D team are proud to bring you this new and latest version of the R4D, and are sorry it took so long to produce. Unfortunately virtually everything in the package had to be redesigned and rebuilt.
You are also reminded this package is DONATIONWARE and a donation, however small, is expected to be sent to MAAM. at www.maam.org
Enjoy :-))
Click Here to Download R4D CFS2 version 3.75
21st December 2000
" Nearly done "
I am pleased to tell you that we have very nearly finished the CFS 2 version of the R4D. Final testing is going on at the moment. Assuming we do not find any major problems, release should be in the next couple of days. This release will be in the form of a Self Installing EXE file of 23mbs in size.
Everybody is reminded this CFS2 R4D package is NOT FREEWARE but DONATIONWARE, everyone is expected to make a donation however small to MAAM at http://www.maam.org
I am very sad to say that out of over 250,000 people that have downloaded and use Version 4 of the R4D, only just over 1,000 have sent a donation. This is a disgusting reflection on the honesty of the majority of FS community members. In the spirit of Christmas we ask everyone, to "turn over a new leaf" and do the honorable thing, and send your money as you were asked to do. Then you can enjoy Christmas.
A message to the "Webmasters" who read this page, can you please pass on this plea. ?? Your cooperation is appreciated.
OK, back to testing.
14th December 2000
" Has he died ?? "
You could be excuse for thinking that I have died over the past two weeks. The truth is less interesting. I have been concentrating on the CFS 2 version of the R4D and what started out as a simple upgrade to make it compatible, has turned out to be a "nightmare from hell". I have just been totally unaware that two weeks have slipped past, Oops :-)) It is only because I refuse to be beaten by a stupid program (CFS 2) and am bullheaded, that I have not cast it in the waste basket.
Anyway after reprogramming half the gauges, completely re-engineering the sound package, and built several new AIR files, not to mention many other things, we now have a working Beta version that the rest of the team are testing. There is still some fine tuning to be done, but we are getting there. I am now hopeful that maybe I might be able to keep my promise to have it available by Christmas.
" What else is new "
Well to tell you the truth, I have not really been closely watching what has been happening in the rest of the FS world, but I did notice that there is a NEW version 2 of the very useful "FSUIPC" program. For those of you that do not know, it helps make some FS98 aircraft and panels compatible with FS2000 and CFS 2. But the operative word here is "SOME". To download :- Click here
" Site overload "
As you couldn't fail to notice, this site is grossly over loaded, many times it is even impossible for me the "owner" to get on :-((
What am I doing about it. ?? Well apart from trying to talk the ISP into greater and greater bandwidth, there is little I can do. Unfortunately ISP's want larger sums of money for more bandwidth, and because I have to pay for it out of my own pocket, there is not unlimited amounts of it. I am however trying to come up with ways of solving the problem, so please hang in there.
There are many hours in a day when the traffic on the site is lower. It is only evenings and weekends in the UK and USA which are massively busy, so if you can log on at other times, then things are easier.
Unfortunately emails asking me to email files from the site cannot be complied with, so please do not ask.
" General "
I hope you have all got your Christmas shopping done, and are all ready for the holiday ?? Personally I have done the shopping but am far from ready :-(( So if I want to get this R4D out I better get back to it. Speak to you soon.
Have a great week.
30th November 2000
" Success "
I am delighted to say my "Wildlife Art Open Weekend" was a huge success, with record sales. and attendances. :-))
I was delighted to see a number of you in person at the show, and I even managed a few minutes talking about FS.
For those people that emailed me about the picture lower down on this page. Many thanks for your very kind comments. The painting is now sold and on it's way to its new home.
" The future "
Once I have got my breath back, recovered from a cold and dealt with the various things that have been building up, the FS work can start again. We will be making announcements on this page soon about what is coming in the future, but be assured we have some exciting projects to come.
" Combat Sim 2 R4D version "
Work on the R4D version for CFS2 has been much slower than expected. MS have moved the goal posts so far that massive amounts of reprogramming and problem solving have had to be done to make it compatible. Just getting the engines to start has been a nightmare. I am making progress, and we might even have an ALPHA version available for the rest of the team in the next week or so. Of course we could put a version out now, but it would not be up to our standards and we are not prepared to do that, so you will have to be patient.
With luck it will be ready for Christmas, and maybe a few days before.
" Chistmas Presents "
If you are stuck for a present for a FS friend, or want to give something really special, why not send him or her a MAAM R4D CDROM. As less than a thousand of the now 250,000 users have purchased them, the chances of them having one already is fairly small. Not only can you give a great gift to a friend, but also a wonderful gift to MAAM in the process. So go on, make many people happy by one small action. You can even do it online. http://www.maam.org
That is probably it for now. Enjoy the rest of the week.
20th November 2000
" My excuse !"
As you know this site has NOT been updated as often as usual in the past few weeks. My excuse, I have working hard painting for my forthcoming exhibition, which opens on Friday this week.
I know this is nothing to do with FS, but just to give you a taster, here is one of the pictures that I have just finished for the show. I hope you like it.
If you would like to visit the show then I would be delighted to meet you in person.
Hopefully as soon as the show is over I will be able to get back to FS work, finish the Combat Sim 2 version of the R4d and start on the new exciting projects. More about them in the next few weeks.
Have a great week.
15th November 2000
" DirectX 8 Warning Update"
I am pleased to tell you that the Warning about FS98 the R4D and DirectX 8 was a false alarm. It was a problem with my versions of FS98 on the main machine here. This was found fairly quickly, because John H. (one of our readers) volunteered to do a few field tests for me (thanks). Using his results I was able to discover the problem here and fix it.
Our testing seems to indicate that frame rates improve with some video cards and get worse with others. So I guess "you pays your money and takes your chance",
Have fun.
14th November 2000
" DirectX 8 Warning "
If you are a user of our R4D in FS98, or even FS2000 I would strongly suggest you DO NOT upgrade to DirectX 8 for the moment. One of our test machines is doing some very strange things with FS98 at the moment, and I have my suspicions that the cause could be DirectX 8. This also might not just be limited to the R4D. We need to do much more testing to establish the causes, before we can say for certain what the problem is.
Furthermore I also have my suspicions that DirectX 8 is significantly reducing the frame rates in FS2000 with all aircraft. Again this needs testing before I can be certain.
I am not wishing to cause panic here, but thought you would appreciate the "heads up" quickly that we have concerns, and there might be a problem.
As you know time is in very short supply with me at the moment, so testing might not be quick, but I will bring you further information as soon as poossible.
Have a good week.
7th November 2000
" MS Combat Flight Simulator 2 "
I have just done a few quick tests with CFS 2 and can save you the trouble of trying any version of the R4D with it. Neither versions 3.5 or 4 are compatible. It seems that MS have moved the "Goal Posts" again, so that CFS 2gauges have different criteria than FS98, FS2000, and CFS. Nice one boys !!
Over the next few weeks I will do my best to unravel the mysteries and then we will try to produce a CFS 2 version of the R4D. We already know this is not going to be an easy task and will involve large amounts of programming.
Don't get the impression that none of the packages that were not intended for CFS 2 will work, because some of the more simple ones will. It is primarily where "clever" programming tricks have been used to get more out of Simulator, where there will be problems.
It is my hope that we can bring out a completely compatible R4D version 4 for CFS 2 as soon as possible. But we can make not promises as yet, but you know us, we LOVE a challenge :-))
Have a great week, and thanks again for keeping the emails to me down to a minimum :-))
3rd November 2000
" RCS Panels and RC Simulations "
Just to clear some confusion that seems to have occurred. "RCS Panels" (us) are a completely different entity to "RC Simulations" who are a FS Retail outlet that are based in Bristol UK. We have absolutely not connection with each other.
Many people have emailed us saying how much they are looking forward to seeing us, RCS Panels at the Birmingham (UK) FS Conference in the UK this weekend, We are sorry to disappoint you, but we will NOT be at the show. We made this decision some time ago for very good reasons.
" Roy Chaffin Studios Open Weekend "
If you would like to see the other side of my work "Wildlife Art" I am pleased to tell you that my studio and gallery are open to the public 24th, 25th and 26th November from 11am to 5.30pm each day. You can find us at :-
Roy Chaffin Studios, Blackwood, 10 Nascot Wood Road, Watford, Herts. UK
During the opening times I am delighted to personally welcome people, talk about my work and even give away some of the "trade secrets". You never know you might even get a few moments on FS if you catch me at a quieter moment :-)) Last year quite a number of you came and it was great to meet you.
Hopefully when the show is over and I have had a week or so to catch up on outstanding tasks, we can then get back to some serious programming. We have a lot of exciting projects coming up, but some serious time is going to be needed to bring them to the same standard as the R4D package.
OK, back to the painting. Have a great weekend.
29th October 2000
" R4D Appeal "
On behalf of the R4D development team and MAAM we are pleased to tell you that we have so far raised around $20,000 from CDROM sales and donations to the R4D Engine fund. To all you generous people, can we thank you for your contributions. We are nearly half way there.
I am also pleased to tell you that we now have an estimated one quarter of a million (250,000) users of the R4D-6 version 4 package. Probably making it one of the most popular of all time. The package has also topped the highest average daily download figures for the year 2000 for some months on Flightsim.com, even beating MS FS2000 Patch 2B for top spot.
You don't need me to tell you that this is a remarkable achievement, and gives us enormous pride and satisfaction. :-))
However, as one of our readers (Grahame Hall) pointed out "If only everyone had sent just one single dollar to MAAM" we would more than have the engine and the real aircraft back in the air.
So far we estimate that only 800 people out of 25,000 have made a donation. I am sure there isn't a single Flight Sim enthusiast worldwide that could not afford one single dollar to say "thanks" for a package we know you enjoy.
I am equally sure that most of the people I am appealing to do not read this page, but if you do and haven't sent in a donation, then please do the honorable thing and dig in your pockets.
I would also appeal to other webmasters to repeat this message to give it greater publicity. Or if you have FS mates email them and tell them. The developers thank you in advance for your help.
Money can either be sent direct to MAAM at the address is on http://www.maam.org or mailed to me a the address on the "Wildlife Art" page on this site. It will then be forwarded on your behalf.
Please pass on the word, and have a great week.
26th October 2000
" Closing the PAX door on the R4D "
This is a special message for the "hard of understanding" and the "plain lazy".
How many more times have we the developers got to tell people to READ the instructions ?????
When you read ALL the documentation with the R4D Visual Model Upgrade you will then note that it tells you clearly to load the "R4D Start-Up Reading" flight. When you choose this flight you will get a number of instructions in the right hand window, all of these are vital to the flying of the aircraft, which will include how to shut the passenger door.
We the developers do not spend hours of our time writing instructions for the fun of doing it (We know how the package works), The least you can do, is take a few minutes to read what we have written to help you.
We are seriously considering publishing a "Can't be bothered to RTFM list".
I know we get slated for making such comments, but we really do get sick of streams of email asking the same question by people that are just to lazy to read.
For those that do read and study what we say, the above message is not for you, and please do not be put off emailing us, when you have a genuine question. We are here to help and pleased to do so.
" The initial rush "
For the people that do read, and have been patiently waiting for the rush to die down on the downloads or the R4D upgrade, this time is starting to dawn. It is now possible to get on to one of our sites to download the Visual Model Upgrade most of the time during the day and night. We are constantly monitoring the situation.
The whole team really thank you for your comments of appreciation.
Hoping you all have a great week.
25th October 2000
" R4D Visual Model Upgrade "
To assist in clearing the "Log Jam" of people trying to download the Visual Model Upgrade, we have placed the file on yet another server. To download from from this alternative server Click Here
(My thanks to Keith our Beta tester for the server space).
The demand for the Upgrade has been incredable, and the responses fantastic. I know you join the rest of the team in thanking Jan Visser for a wonderful piece of work with the visual model update.
Whilst on the subject of thanks. Can I thank you for keeping the number of emails to me personally down, so I am able to concentrate on my Wildlife Painting work.
Have a fantastic week.
23rd October 2000
" Server Problems "
Our server is having problems dealing with the huge demand for the R4D Visual Model Upgrade. If you are unable to download please also try FlightSim.com http://www.flightsim.com
We ask for your understanding and patience, we are doing our best to improve the situation.
Kindest regards, Roy
23rd October 2000
" R4D Visual Model Update "
The R4D development team would like to point out that the Upgrade below is also for the MAAM Donationware CD as well as the Freeware downloadable version.
We are sorry if this was not initially made clear.
20th October 2000
" R4D Visual Model Update for FS2000 ONLY"
Jan Visser's fantastic new R4D Visual Model Update for FS2000 is here !!!!!!
READ THE PRESS RELEASE AND DOWNLOAD IT NOW
To read the "Press Release" and Download, CLICK on the picture above
Warning :- As is always the case with our releases it is essential that you read the enclosed documentation, and screen messages.
If because of high demand you experience difficulties with the server being overloaded, please be patient. It is likely that there will be thousands of people trying to download it. This upgrade package will also appear on http://www.flightsim.com within the next 48 hours so this will relieve the pressure and you will also be able to download it from there.
The R4D team are delighted to bring you this upgrade and further improve on our R4D package. We all wish you a very enjoyable weekend.
Have fun and safe landings :-)
17th October 2000
" Back in the UK again "
As you can see I am back in the UK again after a very successful and enjoyable trip to the South of France. Fortunately I departed France before the weather turned bad. I had a great time; the teaching went fantastically and what can I say about the rest. Brilliant Sunshine, Great food, Wonderful Wine, and masses of Pretty Girls. What more could a man want ??? :-))
I have now returned to a massive task. I have my major "Wildlife Art Open Studio Event" of the year coming up in six weeks and I have six major pictures to paint. Mission Impossible !! This unfortunately means that my time for FS will be extremely limited, bordering on Zero, so I have to warn you that replies to emails will be very rare. Although I will do my best to answer the important ones. As always can I ask for your restraint.
" R4D Update "
I am delighted to tell you that within the next few days we will be releasing a "NEW" visual model for the R4D (DC-3). Jan has been working miracles and come up with a stunning new model. This will blow you mind. The best has just got better. The textures are:- Wow !!!
The upgrade will be available here hopefully in the next few days. So keep you eye on this page for details.
OK that's it for now. I have a massive amount to catch up with, not to mention painting to do.
Oh, can I just thank you for being so kind and not overloading my "inbox" during my absence. It was a joy to return to only around 200 emails instead of the usual thousands. :-))
Have a great week.
17th September 2000
" Closed for a month "
By the time you read this RCS Panels will have closed down for a month, while I am off teaching in the South of Fance. We should be back in operation around the 15th October when I return. I kindly ask you NOT to send emails in my absence, so there is NO massive pile when I return.
Bill Rambow will be monitoring for "piracy", and has authority to act for RCS Panels in my absence. Any thing you find please inform Bill.
For any would be developers. RCS Panels does NOT grant permission for any of its components to be used by other developers. We DO NOT allow anyone else to make modifications to our packages and republish them. We do make custom built parts for other developers exclusive use, but if that part is a gauge it does NOT have "RCS" at the beginning of the gauge name.
RCS Panels only allows distribution of its packages "AS IS" with NO changes.
" Windows ME "
Since the release of Windows ME, a couple of reports have reached me about problems. My initial reaction is that there are a few problems with old ISA cards in PC's such as Network, and Sound cards. If you are having problems when you upgrade to ME, try temporarily "pulling" the ISA cards and see it that solves the problem. If that seems to solve the problem, you might need to replace them with modern cards. But it is always best to "try before you buy".
Have a great month. I will speak to you again on my return.
Kindest regards
Roy
12th September 2000
" Windows ME "
As we are now two days from the official launch of Windows ME I thought I would bring you up to date on my findings.
Apart from the things I have already reported, a few more things have come to light, which might or might not be significant. One of our readers has installed ME and then found the FS2000 will no longer work and has had to uninstall it and go back to the previous operating system. I personally have not experienced this, but it must act as a word of caution.
One thing I have found repeatedly is when you select "Save Configuration Files" during installation, which means you can uninstall ME if things go wrong. At 98% of "finding system files" the system locks up and you have to reboot. In my case each time I reinstalled again without saving the system files, because I had a backup of the system on a different hard drive. But if this happens to you, it could be a problem. So far this has happened on over 50% of machines I have tried it on.
ME does appear to be very picky about some hardware. I have had one network card that always causes a system lockup on an automatic detection of hardware, which is part of the setup procedure. This did not happen on previous operating systems. Eventually I had to scrap the network card in favour of a new Plug and Play version.
There is also a slightly annoying habit that ME seems to have, of dialing the ISP all over the place for reasons I haven't yet discovered. I have had to resort to turning off the ISDN Terminal Adaptor when I am not using it to stop this happening. For those of you that do not have FREE internet connection. This could be very expensive, if you do not notice for a while.
I have also had one incident where MS Office 2000 will not install on a Windows ME machine. I am not sure whether or not this is a general thing or just related to this one PC. If it is already installed when you upgrade to ME all seems well, but it will not install subsequently.
On the plus side, I do genuinely think it is a positive improvement on the previous operating systems. It appears to be very stable even when I am running many applications during development work. I will not say you never get a lockup, but in several weeks of using it, they have been very few and far between.
The quicker boot up and shut down and a joy, and I do like the new enhancements to the system. The more I find the more I like.
In conclusion, I think it is well worth upgrading to ME, because the benefits are worth the effort. But do not expect it to go in and work perfectly on all machines first time. You might have some problems. Make sure you make good backups before you start. Give yourself plenty of time. and read carefully everything it says on the screen and make sure you understand the implications of what is being said.
Good luck if you take the plunge :-))
" Server Outage "
As some of you noticed we had a server outage on this site last Friday and Saturday. This was due to a power problem at the ISP. They did work on it round the clock to get it back online as quickly as possible, but it did take over 24 hours. Hopefully the problem has now been solved permanently.
While on the subject of the server. We have had to limit the number of people that can log on at any one time. I know this is sometimes annoying, and even I am locked out of my own server from time to time :-(( But unfortunately it is unavoidable, and I ask for you patience.
" Beta packages "
I am pleased that quite a number of you have chosen to download the Beta Panels and sent in Beta reports. As previously explained we are not able to send replies to those reports, but each one is looked at carefully. Even those people that sent their reports to me directly (which was not what was asked for) were just redirected to the Tech Support Dept.
Can I point out that people were asked to report the exact differences, if any, they noticed between the Tony D'Ambrosio FMC and my versions with sound. Some people did this, but not many.
A large number of people reported problems with the gauges, that they either did not check against Tony's versions, or they had on both. Unfortunately there is no point in reporting general bugs to us about how the gauge performs, or suggested changes, modifications, or additional documentation needed, etc etc. All this stuff should be reported to Tony direct, then you might get some action. We do not and cannot pass on your comments.
Just so as you understand the process. Tony sends me the code for the gauges which I modify and then compile to make it compliant with my panels, by doing things like adding sound etc. Under NO circumstances do I, or would I change the basic function of the gauge.
In conclusion, as a result of the Beta reports that have come in, I am concerned enough about possible problems within the latest versions of the RealCRT gauges, not to at this time release a full release version of either the B717 or the Airbuses. When I am convinced that any problems have been solved I will think again. The reason for this is simple. There are so many users of our packages that the amount of email that would be generated by any suspect release would be such that we could note cope. Therefore we must be certain that any package is better than 99.9% perfect before we release.
" General "
The "UK / French Fuel crisis" allowing, next week I will be away from FS for around a month, because I am going to the South of France to teach Art. I will not have email facilities so any emails will lay unanswered until my return. Urgent ones about the R4D should be addressed to Bill Rambow, who will also be watching out for Piracy in my absence. Should any of you notice any please report it to Bill who will take the necessary action.
To give advanced notice. My annual "Open Studios Wildlife Art Exhibition" will take place on the last weekend of November. If you are close enough to pay me a visit I will be pleased to see you. Details of times etc. will be published here nearer the time.
OK that's it for now. Have a great week.
4th September 2000
" Development work at last "
For the first time since the release of version 4 of the R4D I have managed to get enough time away from answering emails to do a little development work. :-))
I have just spent some hours making a new versions of the FMC for the B717 and for the Airbuses. Tony as always has cooperated, and I now have Beta Upgrades for the three FS98 Airbuses and the FS2000 A330 and the B717. These new versions LINK the FMC to the Autopilot.
I emphasise that these are Beta Upgrades and are supplied only on the basis that people send a Beta Test Report to techsupport@roychaffin.com Details of what information is required is contained in the Readme file. The server keeps a record of everyone that downloads the files so they will be checked off against those that return the reports. Anyone that does not return a report will be excluded from any future Beta Testing. If you do not wish to send a report then you will have to wait until the release versions of the upgrades. No responses will be given to Beta Test Reports.
You must have the previous version installed and working to take advantage of these upgrades,
FS2000 A330 version 2 Beta 3 Upgrade Click here Size 64k
FS2000 B717 version 5.3 Beta Upgrade Click here Size 64k
FS98 A320 version 1.5.3 Beta Upgrade Click here Size 112k
FS98 A330 version 1.5.3 Beta Upgrade Click here Size 112k
FS98 A340 version 1.5.3 Beta Upgrade Click here Size 112k
" Download Problems "
It has come to my attention that a number of people have been having problems downloading from this site. It transpires that they are using "Real Download" or similar programs. These programs are NOT supported on this site and there is no plan to do so in the future.
Also could I ask that if anyone does find a broken link on this site, when you email me please tell me which link on which page, it is that is broken. Without that information the report is useless.
That's it for now. Have a good week.
28th August 2000
" Website problems "
As some of you have noticed, there have been a few problems on this site over the past week. Firstly the site was jammed because of massive demand and then a host of problems with not being able to download files.
I have just spent a load of time investigating the problems and found that when the ISP changed the server earlier this week, they did not set up the links correctly. I have now edited all the pages to correct my links to fall in line with theirs. So hopefully all will now be well. Or at least I hope so.
" General "
Not much else has been happening this week on the FS front. I have been working on research for a new painting and have not been at the PC for some days.
I am still very pleased with Windows ME, and was interested to see that there will be THREE versions available when it goes on sale in September. One FULL version (at a still unknown price), A Windows 95 Upgrade version (at $89) and a Windows 98 and 98se Upgrade version (at $59). When you buy your copy make sure you get the right one, because the cheaper version will not upgrade Windows 95.
It has been reported to me that the latest "Nvidia Detonator 3 Drivers" massively improve the framrates with FS2000 in Windows 2000. As I do not run a Windows 2000 system I am unable to authenticate this information, but it does come from a reliable source.
OK that's it for now. Have a good one :-))
21st August 2000
" Support "
As you know your support is always welcome and I am very grateful for the massive amounts of it I receive. It has however recently come to my attention that a number of people have been emailing Rick Bennett expressing their disgust for his actions.
I am confident that you all had the best possible motives, and I understand your sentiments, but I cannot condone your actions, therefore I would kindly ask you not to send any more emails.
Rick Bennett informs me he wishes to make a fresh start. As you know I am not a vindictive man, so I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and that further chance. Time will tell whether that is a sensible decision, but I hope so.
" Windows ME "
On to happier things, I have now done much more testing on Windows ME and learnt much more about what it will and will not do.
I am still convinced that it is a good step forward from previous versions, giving more flexibility and control. It still seems very stable on my machines.
I have however found out one thing that needs to be a WARNING to anyone that is planning to upgrade. Like Windows 95 and 98 before it, Windows ME does require new drivers for many pieces of existing hardware. To give an example my ACER Mirascan USB scanner would not work with ME until I downloaded and installed the latest software and drivers that were "Windows 2000" compatible. However having done that the scanner worked better than ever before.
There is one very nice feature in the OS. It allows you to use a facility called "System Restore" that lets you to tell the system to make an image of the important system files, so that you can restore the situation if things go wrong from that point forward. It is suggested that you do this before installing new hardware or software. Sounds a great idea to me, :-)) We just need to get into the habit of doing it.
The networking facilities that are built into ME are extremely good. You can now efficiently use a single modem or terminal adapter across a LAN without the need for any further software. Up until Windows ME, I used WinGate for this purpose, which works very well, but this feature is now a "free" part of the operating system.
If you are a user of Windows Backup, do not despair, although it is not given in the available options, even on a "Custom Install" or in Windows Setup in Control Panel, you will find it on the CD and it can be installed from there.
OK, that's about it for now, more testing to be done. enjoy the rest of the week.
17th August 2000
" R4D Downloads "
Since the recent publication of a couple of international magazine articles the demand for the R4D (DC-3) has been huge. As a result our server is having difficulty coping. To save disappointment we would ask you first to be patient, and secondly, suggest that you download from the "FlightSim.com" site http://www.flightsim.com instead. All versions are available on this alternative site.
Please remember there are many different versions, so make sure you get the correct one for your needs. ( the file names listed below are those that appear on Flightsim.com rather than those shown on this site )
Version 4 for FS2000 has two files :-
"wjrdc34a.zip" 11 mbs
"wjrdc34b.zip" 12 mbs
Version 3.5 for FS98 has one file :-
"r4d35_98.exe" 11.5 mbs
Version 3.5 for CFS has one file :-
"r4d35cfs.exe" 10.6 mbs
" Server Outage "
If you could not get onto this site yesterday it was because of a server outage. We are sorry for this problem, but unfortunately it was due to circumstances beyond our control.
Have a great week.
16th August 2000
" New Nvidia Drivers "
Nvidia have just announced the release of there new unified "Detonator 3" drivers for the TNT and GeForce video cards. Nvidia claim that you can gain up to 50% increase in performance using these drivers. I have tested them quickly and with a GeForce DDR with FS2000 and an Intel 800mhz CPU there is a performance increase, but nowhere near 50% on my machine. However it did solve problems in running other games such as "Need for Speed 5".
My opinion is, they are definitely worth downloading and installing, but do not expect massive improvements in framerates.
" 7,200 RPM Hard Drives "
I have just been testing a new 7,200 rpm hard drive as my boot drive, and find it is significantly faster in real terms. Compared with a number of 5,400 rpm hard drives it loads Windows and other programs in around 60% of the time taken by the slower drives, as you would expect. Furthermore it also speeds up the system whenever the "virtual memory" is accessed, which does have an overall effect on the general system performance.
So my suggestion would be, when you are next upgrading your drives it is worth considering the slightly more expensive 7,200 rpm drives.
" Major System Crash "
Unfortunately during my testing of the 7,200 rpm drives, I did experience a massive hard drive crash with a new drive on my master PC. This unfortunately happened a few days after an upgrade and before proper backups had been made. This involved redoing all the work that had been done during the previous four days. :-(( Very annoying, but as we all know these things happen.
" It doesn't pay to be kind "
I have to say that "being kind" does not pay. A few days ago it came to my attention that one Rick Bennett had published a B717 using my parts without having asked for my permission. As usual I sent him a severe email pointing out the error of his ways. By return I received a very subservient email containing an apology and a list of action he had taken to rectify the situation.
Not wishing to be unkind I sent him a very pleasant reply accepting his apology and saying because of his email and prompt remedial action I would take no further action against him.
As a result of me removing a threat of action against him, suddenly his confidence and arrogance returned and I then received a very abusive email from him which was further followed up by messages in his package readme files.
Some people wonder why myself and other serious developers, that try to put something into the hobby get so angry with the lack of respect shown by a small number of people. Well, I think Rick Bennett is a classic example.
Apart from other action that will be taken against him, it is with regret that I add
Rick Bennett
to the
"Hall of Shame"
" General "
On a more pleasant note I am pleased to say that the large majority of the FS community are an honorable and pleasant bunch. You prove that time and time again with your emails of support and appreciation. :-)
Testing is continuing on Windows ME and I am still impressed. More details will follow in the days and weeks to come :-))
OK enough out of me for one day. Have a great week.
The good guys will prevail :-))
10th August 2000
" Sorry for the delay "
Hi folks, I am back. Sorry for the delay, but I was obviously more tired than I thought. As a result I am going to take it very easy for a while and only pick up things gradually.
" MS Windows ME "
As promised, I have had an advanced look at Windows ME, and I must admit so far it is very impressive. FS2000 seems to run well, and gives the same framerates as Windows 98se. Something that Windows 2000 never did.
The tests so far have been limited to an install onto a new hard drive, and then as an upgrade on a couple of operational machines. On the new install it reported a proposed installation of 555 mbs, although I did not check it when it was complete. Installation was very straightforward and much the same as with FS98. To my surprise the operating system didn't seem to know anything about Voodoo graphics cards, or Sound Blaster Live cards, and there were no divers included as there has been on previous versions of Windows. This is no real problem as we always install the drivers from the card suppliers and then upgrade them from the net, but it was just an interesting point. The Nvidia based cards, such as the TNT2 and Geforce cards are well catered for.
Basically Windows ME looks very much like Windows 98se, but with a fairly large number subtle differences. The icons have changed slightly, and the way many things are displayed or accessed, but nothing that will really make you feel uncomfortable. In a couple days you will have mastered the changes and forgotten about them. The online help is very good when you cannot find anything that has moved or changed. The system gives the impression that it runs faster and more efficiently, but this is just a "gut feel".
"Boot Up" is much quicker from cold, and the "Shutdown" is remarkably quick, only taking about 2 - 4 seconds. This is a great improvement. You appear not be be able to reboot into MSDOS mode any longer, but I cannot say that is a great problem to me, as I no longer use the old DOS based games and things. You can however still open a MSDOS window and expand it to full screen as before.
This is very early days, and I have not had time to find all the new features, however the ones I have found like Media Player 7 are very impressive. This is also available from the MS site, but don't ask me where.
Windows ME appears to be very stable, but so far I have not really stretched it. That will come later when I start using it for development work.
The "Upgrade" of existing systems to Windows ME was slightly more troublesome. but nothing to bad. This was done on a system that always gives problems with upgrades because of the complexity of the hardware that is installed. But all in all things went well. Networks seem not to work properly after upgrade until you delete and reinstall the "protocals". So far this has happened twice out of two test upgrades. On one machine the DVD player was not found automatically, and I had to do a "Search for New Hardware" in Control Panel before it appeared. Also I did have on one machine a couple of "lockups" during installation, but when the system was restarted all was well.
The operating system seems to be much smarter than earlier versions of Windows and removes unwanted code from existing system files such as Autoexec.bat, Config.sys, System.ini and Win.ini . This has got to be a major advantage.
I have to say that I have been around for long enough now to be slightly cynical about new operating systems. It is early days yet, but so far this one has impressed me. The more I play with it the more I like it. I am not saying it will make a poor system good, but I think it is a substantial step forward from other versions of Windows.
I understand that Windows ME is to be released on 14th September in the UK and probably the same date around the world. My opinion so far is, I think it is worth getting out there and getting a copy, and Windows 95 and 98 should be consigned to history.
I will try to keep you up to date with my findings, and by the time it is officially released you should have a fairly "in depth" view of what to expect.
That's it for now. Have a great week.
1st August 2000
" General "
I have now returned from the big London Art Show at Olympia, which was a huge success, but I am both physically and mentally exhausted. Having been ill again for the ten days immediately before the show, it took its toll, but I survived and will bounce back.
It is my intention to take a good week off and do nothing, and that includes FS, so I am sorry any emails are likely to languish in the INBOX for some time.
I am hoping to play with MS Windows ME, as my first task when I return to doing something productive. So you can expect to find my first impressions on here as soon as I have had chance to put it through its paces. Obviously how it functions with FS98 and FS2000 will be my most important priority.
Have a good one. :-))
26th July 2000
" CDROM's "
This is just a quick note to all editors of magazines and publishers of CDROM's.
RCS Panels and the development team of the R4D will NOT grant permission for anybody to include the R4D on any CDROM or any other media for distribution, no matter what the reason or whether it is for FREE or for Profit. Therefore there is no point in asking.
We the team are honored that you think the package is worthy of inclusion but we have a very strict policy on how and where it can be made available. You can download it FREE from the NET. But if you want to have it without downloading it then you must buy it on CDROM from MAAM.
The only authorised CDROM to contain the package will be the one from http://www.maam.org for a donation of $25 dollars US.
Have a great week.
17th July 2000
" General "
As you will have noticed I have been trying to take a bit of a rest from FS for the past ten days. I have one of my biggest annual Art Events coming up in just under two weeks time at Olympia in London, This means I have had to spend most of my time writing scripts and preparing visual aids for the show. Then we have rehearsals, so I am going to be extremely busy over the next three weeks.
For those that have been wondering, I have recovered from the infection and hopefully will now remain healthy for a while.
Talking about health. my PC has also been under attack. I am sorry to tell you that the "KAK" virus is alive and well and circulating again. I had an attack earlier today from an FS email. Fortunately the Virus checker kicked in and killed it before it could be onwardly transmitted. So "be careful out there".
The "KAK" virus is an email "signature" that attaches itself to every outgoing email. You can check for it on your system by running a FIND on "*.hta" and "*.kak" if you find any files with these extensions, then you have the virus.
If you do get a "KAK" attack, you can find the steps necessary in my News Archive file. Most importantly do not send any emails until you have cleared it.
I strongly recommend that you should have a good up to date Anti Virus programm installed on your machines. If you have not been attacked yet you are on "borrowed time". Better to be safe than sorry.
That's about it for now. I will update you as anything important breaks.
Have a great week.
7th July 2000
" R4D Version 3.5 for CFS and R4D Version 3.5 for FS98 Released"
We are pleased to announce the release of TWO new versions of the R4D-6, One for MS Combat Flight Simulator and a separate one for MS FS98.
Each package is contained in its own "Self Installing" EXE file, for quick and easy installation. With this package you only need to download one file, but make sure you download the correct one for the SIM you wish to use it on. They are NOT interchangeable.
These are versions 3.5 of the R4D-6 and bring you the NEW and exciting features of Version 4 that are possible in FS98 and CFS. But obviously not the authentic night lighting and cockpit views.
To download the CFS package 10.6 mbs Click Here
To download the FS98 package 11.5 mbs Click Here
Have a great weekend.
4th July 2000
" MAAM CD's "
It seems that a few people are confused about the MAAM CD's and Donations.
People that have purchased the CD have made the most wonderful donation because the money goes directly to the MAAM Engine Fund. Both we and MAAM thank you most sincerely for buying the CD.
My comments of yesterday were directed at those majority of people that had downloaded the FREEWARE version either from here or other sites and sent nothing. You are the people we are asking to put your hands in your pockets. A few dollars would be wonderful.
" MS FS2000 Patch 2B not installed "
A few people have reported that the buttons on the "INTRO SCREEN" of the R4D-6 do not work. Up to now the reason was a mistery, but earlier today it came to me in a FLASH. The people with the problem have NOT installed :- MS FS2000 Patch 2B.
The installation of this Patch is essential to the working of the R4D package.
" New RealCRT ND gauge "
Tony D'Ambrosio has released a new version 1.2 of the ND gauge, which includes new versions for my Airbus panels. The file is 2.5mbs and you can download it here:-
" R4D-6 FS98 and CFS versions "
You can expect the FS98 and CFS versions of the R4D-6 on this site soon.
OK that's it for now.
Do a good deed today and make someone happy. :-))
2nd July 2000
" Roy is back "
I am delighted to tell you I am back at the PC at least for a little while every day. I was struck down by a serious kidney infection and have been out of commission for over a week. I am pleased to say I am on the mend although not completely recovered as yet.
I want to thank you for being very restrained with your emails, and ask you to continue keep them down to essential ones at least for a few days, but now you should get answers directly from me.
I want to thank my colleague and great friend Bill Rambow for fielding the questions in my absence, and for the other members here that have helped.
" R4D-6 version 3.5 for CFS and FS98 "
I am pleased to tell you that we will be releasing a "Special Cut Down" version of the new R4D for FS98, and a completely different version for Combat Flight Simulator. These versions will be numbered 3.5 and will be released here we hope by the end of this week.
These versions will have as many of the benefits of version 4 that are possible outside FS2000. ie, there will be no authentic night lighting, or internal cockpit views and other facilities that are only available with FS2000. Also JAN's new aircraft will not be included because it is for FS2000 only. However the FS98 and CFS versions will have the new quadrants and upper panels, and their own authentic sound packages.
Although the other sites will carry the new packages there will be available here first.
" Donations "
With the forthcoming release of the two new versions of the R4D that are FREEWARE, I would like to remind you that although all three of these packages are FREEWARE we have asked you to make a donation to the MAAM Engine fund. Well I am pleased to tell you that quite a number have ordered the CD, but I am very disappointed that only a few of the many thousands of people that are using the package and have even emailed me, have sent donations to the fund. I was very sad to see the small list of people that had been generous.
To those of you that have donated, I thank you most sincerely. But to those large majority that haven't, come on guys how about putting your hands in your pockets. You think nothing of spending lots of money on useless things, so come on do something useful, make a donation. You can even donate by Credit Card so it couldn't be easier. Click here and do it now http://www.maam.org
" GeForce 2 Video Cards "
Could anyone that is using a GeForce 2 video card with R4D version 4 drop a quick email to techsupport@roychaffin.com giving details of how it works. This is to compile a Database so no responses will be forthcoming, but this information helps our development team.
It's great to be back. Have a great week.
27th June 2000
" Email Responses"
This is just to advise you that sadly Roy was taken ill with what is believed to be a kidney problem, a couple of hours after the "PAWS 2000 Gala Prize Giving Evening" on Friday 23rd June, at which he was officiating. He is likely to be out of commission and offline for at least a week.
Obviously no responses to emails or technical support will be available from him until his return.
We would kindly ask everyone, please do NOT send emails in the meantime, even with good wishes (or worse), so the email system does not get clogged.
Should you need urgent help with the R4D-6 we would ask you to contact Bill Rambow direct at rambow@erols.com.
Either, Roy will be back, or we will advise
you of progress on this page as soon as anything more is known..
19th June 2000
" Other sound packages with out R4D "
A significant number of people have reported problems when installing other sound packages, rather than those supplied with our R4D-6.
Whether or not you happen to think other peoples sound packages are better, and we certainly do not, THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with the R4D.
Our sound package was especially designed to work in conjunction with the sounds included in the gauges. It is not intended to be used separately or others to be used in its place.
Although I am sure it could be claimed we are biased, and we are not, we have checked all other DC-3 sound packages and NON even come close to being as good as what is included, so therefore why change it ??
We do not give any credibility to comments on other sites about our sound package being substandard or weak, so why should you ??
Have a great week.
17th June 2000
" Many thanks to you :-)) "
We have just been awarded the "Developers Award" from Flightsim.com for May 2000 for Version 4 of the R4D. This is totally thanks to you for voting for us and we are very grateful. This is particularly important to us, because as you know we do not "canvas" and "persuade" you to vote for us, unlike some we could mention. Therefore on behalf of Bill, Jan, and Roy, our sincere thanks, it is much appreciated.
" Donations "
While on the subject of thanks, we would like to thank those of you that have already made a donation to the "MAAM Engine Fund" in thanks for our FREEWARE software.
I am delighted to tell you that you can now make a donation by credit card from anywhere in the world by logging on to http://www.maam.org. So if you haven't yet, come on, out with the "plastic".
" CD Available "
I am also pleased to tell you that you can now order your copy of the R4D-6 CD from MAAM, with both the FS2000 version 4 and the FS98 version 3.5 both as self installing EXE files. This FS98 version of the package has not yet been released as FREEWARE. There is also much more on the CD including extra manuals, photos and even a movie.
To order you copy go to http://www.maam.org
" MAAM WWII Weekend Photos "
Our Beta Tester Keith Maton (who some will have met at MAAM) has just released a wonderful selection of photos taken at the MAAM WWII weekend. You can see what we got up to and one or two of us playing the real R4D. Not to mention many of the aircraft and people at the show.
To view the photos Click Here
14th June 2000
" Please HELP !! "
A massive amount of people, (over 2,000) have emailed the R4D team to say just how much they appreciate the package and how it has set new standards for what can be done in Flight Sim. These messages have been wonderful and very much appreciated by a very tired team.
Many of you have commented that you do not understand why we have given this package as FREEWARE when it would have been a "Best Seller" as a commercial product ??. Well the answer is simple, we have put all this work in hopping you will come through and to help the Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum get the real R4D-6 back in the air with the new engine she needs.
Instead of lining the pockets of a commercial company with your hard earned money, we have given you the product for FREE and ask you to make a donation in appreciation of that software to MAAM. http://maam.org
There is no obligation, but we the developers would very much appreciate it if you sent a small donation ($5 or $10 dollars or equivalent) or even a larger one if you wish, to MAAM as a thank you for the FREEWARE package.
Your generosity will help to encourage us to continue with producing more FREEWARE software for your enjoyment. We hope that you will come through, be generous and prove that our faith is you has not been misplaced.
Roy, Bill & Jan.
" Patch 2 Released "
I am delighted to tell you the Beta Testing on "Patch 2" for the R4D-6 is complete. The patch worked "right out of the box". 100% success with the beta testers.
It has solved the missing gauges problem some people were having. It has also solved the Real Weather and Multiplayer problems. Now the package seems to work with all the third party add-ons, as far as we can tell, which is great news.
It is also worth downloading and installing it even if you did not have any previous problems with the package, because the code used in the patch will improve the performance of the package on all machines.
There is no need to download "Patch 1" if you haven't already done so because it is included in "Patch 2", however if you have already installed "Patch 1" no damage will be done when you install "Patch 2".
The Patch is a self extracting "exe" file that will install itself for you. BUT make sure you read the on-screen instructions.
To download "Patch 2" (2mbs) Click Here
Now we have addressed the most important problems with the package, the development team are going to take a well earned rest. :-))
Please don't forget the donations
Have a good one.
Roy
12th June 2000
" Beta Testing Patch 2 "
Although I have been quiet for the past three days, my time has not been wasted. I have been making a concentrated effort on finding a solution to the missing gauges problem that a few people are having. It has involved vast amounts of new programming but the results are now ready for Beta testing. The new Patch 2 is going to be emailed to those people that took the trouble to send there systems data to Tech Support over the past few days, which helped in finding the problem, and to them ONLY. There is no point in sending your details now, or asking for the patch to be sent to you.
Once Beta testing is complete, and I am happy that we have a solution it will be published on this site and all other major FS sites.
There is no guarantee that this patch is the answer, but I am fairly confident that it has a very good chance. If not it is back to the "Drawing Board"
Have a good week.
9th June 2000 Extra
" Technical Announcement "
As you know we have been working hard on the problem that a few people have been having with "missing gauges" on the FO panel of the R4D. I have now completed the diagnoses of the problem and formulated a course of action to deal with it. The problem is not really with our package but with other programs and modules used with it. It is my intention to reprogram some of our package to accommodate these other "add-ons" and programs but this will take time.
To read the full Technical Announcement Click Here
9th June 2000
" File Corruption "
Yesterday there was a corruption in the "R4D-6 Patch 1" file that was available on this site, for which we apologize. If you downloaded it before 12.00 zulu today (friday), I am sorry you will have to download it again. The file that is available now has been exhaustively tested.
Have a good one :-))
8th June 2000 Extra
" MAAM Weekend Press Release "
I have to tell you the MAAM WWII weekend was a fantastic event. We had enormous fun and enjoyed speaking to many of you.
I have to admit to being totally overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the flight sim community. I have to give special thanks to Charles W. Rickard. who brought me the most amazing gift of a desktop clock he had made for me out of an old DC-3 piston which he had cut polished and mounted on a wooden base. It was a work of pure art in itself. As those of you that know me will testify, I am seldom stuck for words, but on this occasion I was totally silenced (apart from saying a very sincere thank you). I still cannot believe it; a really wonderful gesture.
We received gifts that ranged from prints to aircraft manuals. All of which were very gratefully received.
OK to give you a real flavor of the weekend, Bill has put together a "Press Release".
" True Partnership "
There seems to be some confusion, about who is responsible for the R4D-6 package not only amongst the flightsim community at large but also in the FS Press. Just to put the record straight. :-
Roy Chaffin and Bill Rambow are true 50 -50 partners as far as the R4D project is concerned (and many others), That includes our connection with MAAM. It is not X's project with a little help from the other. The work and decisions are split right down the middle. The two of us do the bulk of the work excluding the aircraft model.
Jan Visser is solely responsible for the production of the aircraft model and textures. As such he is the only one that can agree to repaints.
Things like the flight dynamics are a joint effort from a whole batch of us.
There are then many other "Bit players" that bring in specific expertise to the team for things like sound, and testing.
Bill Rambow, Roy Chaffin, and Jan Visser are the three joint developers of the R4D-6 version 4 package.
I hope this "clears the mud", and in particular the FS Press will now understand the precise situation.
8th June 2000
" R4D General "
I would just like say on behalf of the R4D development team. The response we have received from you all has been breath taking, and we are completely bowled over by it. We knew we had a exceptional product here but had no idea just how well it would be received.
To the significant but small number of people that are having problems, we would like to assure you that we are working hard to address them. This is the most complex FS aircraft package that has so far been put together and it is inevitable that we have a few teething problems. There are bound to be combinations of hard and software out there that we cannot plan for. We are basically a THREE MAN TEAM and do not have the vast resources of MS or any other major developer. Therefore we ask for your patience and cooperation while we fix these minor problems.
" R4D version 4 Patch 1"
As you will know if you follow this page, we were so rushed to get the package out for the deadline of the MAAM WWII Weekend that we made a few minor errors in the packaging. Therefore we now have a "patch" that corrects these things.
The things this patch fixes are :-
1. Which prop rotates on the external model.
2, The missing Help file for the Sperry.
3. An error with a sound file. (even better quality sound after this fix)
4. Changes to the "Start-up" situation.
We are aware that a few people are experiencing missing gauges on the FO panel and we are working on that problem. THIS IS NOT FIXED IN THIS PATCH.
To download the 1 mb patch Click Here
" Oops "
A significant number of people are not downloading BOTH parts of the package and then wondering why it does not work. Well what can we say ??? :-))
" Missing Gauges "
As mentioned above we are working on the missing gauges problem. It would be very helpful to us if those few of you that have the problem could email techsupport@roychaffin.com giving details of :-
1. Processor Make and Speed
2. Operating system (ie Windows 95 / 98 / 98SE / 2000)
3. Amount of RAM
4. Graphics Card
5. Number of Windows FONTs intalled
Please do not ask questions in these emails because NO replies will be sent.
Taking the time to email this information will speed up the process of me finding a solution to the problem.
" Emails "
We are aware that every person wants their particular problem fixed or question answered, but we would urge restraint, especially on reporting things that we already know about. Each email we have to answer takes us away from the time we can spend working on the problem.
I am delighted to report however that most of you have taken note of our plea to read the manual FIRST.
" Server Outage "
We are very sorry for the server outage last night. It seems it cannot take the strain you folks are putting on it at the moment :-)) The ISP is under the impression that World War III has been declared. They have never seen traffic like it.
That's it for now. More later.
7th June 2000 Update 1
" Missing Gauges "
As usual the "Airheads", or "Desktop Idiots" I mean "Desktop Experts" are talking out of there lower orifices on the forums about the missing gauges problem that a few people are having with version 4 of the DC-3.
The problem has nothing to do with the "panel.cfg" file or the gauges as they are suggesting.
There appears to me two main sources of the problem. One some people have a corrupt download and a new download and reinstallation solves the problem.
The second set are using Peter Dowson
utilities to run fs2k apllications from
a second computer. The files are "WideServe.dll" and "Wideview.ini" removing
these files seems to solve the problem. These files can be found in the
"Modules" folder.
Owing to the fact I have only just got back and still need serious amounts of sleep. I want to thank my friend John Helsby for researching this problem for me and coming up the intelligent solutions.
As more research is done a proper solutions are found they will be posted on this site. Please do yourself a favor and keep away from the idiots on the Forums, if they knew what there were talking about they would be developing instead of shouting their mouths off.
OK, have good one :-))
More to follow.
7th June 2000
" Cross wired engines "
We are aware that when you look at the outside view with only one engine running the incorrect propeller is rotating. This we fixed before release, but in the panic to get the package out on time we inadvertently packed the wrong file. Please do not email us about it. A fix will be forthcoming on this page soon.
6th June 2000 Update 2
" Sound Error "
We have just noticed that there is a minor error in the sound package for the R4D-6 for FS2000. This also applies to everyone that has the CD purchased from MAAM at the weekend. We will release a fix in due course, but in the mean time you can fix it yourself if you wish.
You will find a file in the sound directory of the aircraft called "r4d-1..wav" this file should be called "r4d-1.wav" In other words with only on "period" in the name. Change this name and the sound package will be even better :-))
More to come, speak to you again soon.
" Restraint Please !! "
While I am catching up on the email, could I ask you to exercise restraint in emailing us. Especially in thanking us for our replies to your emails. This gives us a chance of catching up this month :-))
More to come, speak to you again soon.
6th June 2000 Update 1
" Missing Gauges ?? "
Just a quick post to help a few people that have been experiencing a few problems. A very few people have a number gauges missing from the FO panel. Initial scans of my email say that a number of people have downloaded the package a second time and reinstalled it and the problem has been fixed. It appears that a corrupt download is at least one of the causes for this difficulty. All emails will be answered in due course, but I thought you would appreciate the TIP on here quicker.
My ISP is still jammed solid. So may I suggest you also try to download it from Flightsim.com or Avsim.com Make sure the download is DIRECT from the server and not a link to this site.
More news later.
6th June 2000
" Just Returned "
This is just a quick note to tell you, that demand has been so great for the new DC-3 package that some people are convinced that there is something wrong with the links on the page. This is not the case. The ISP has been totally swamped since the files were put up, such is the demand. :-) We of course are delighted you are so keen to get the package but understand your frustration. The ISP informs me that users of this site are taking the entire bandwidth of the ISP and no other subscribers on the ISP can get a look in.
I am very sorry for this problem, but unfortunately there is nothing whatsoever I or the ISP can do about it. To be fair to the other users we have had to limit the number of lines available to RCS Panels users.
If you have emailed me since I have been away. Yours is probably is stuck in the queue of many hundreds waiting for my attention. They will all be answered, but this could take up to a week or more.
Speak to you again when I have had some sleep.
2nd June 2000
" R4D-6 Version 4 Released "
After seven months the day you have been waiting for has arrived :-
"Release Day" for the R4D-6 Version 4.
Well as the music asks, are you "in the mood" for some serious downloading and a step back in time for some serious fun ?? If so click here to start your downloads.
Part One :- wjrdc3v4a.zip 11Mb Click Here
Part Two :- wjrdc3v4b.zip
12.Mb Click Here
Remember you MUST read the Manual
Have a great weekend, and see you this weekend if can make it at the annual Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum World War II Weekend . Otherwise speak to you in a week. There will be not answers to emails for at least a week.
"In the Mood" music was
provided by Gary Wachtel GaryW0001@aol.com
website :-http://garyw0001.simplenet.com/index.html
30th May 2000
" DC-3 Sound Package finished "
Having worked round the clock for the past three days, I am delighted to tell you that my sound engineer Alan Landsburgh and I have finished the sound package for version 4. It was a rush but we are happy that it matches the quality of the rest of the new package. Too say it was a steep learning curve was the understatement of the century but "needs must when the devil drives".
We now have all the parts finished and have tested them together for the first time, and with a couple of minor modifications all now works together.
We now have the painstaking job of putting the package together and making sure all the parts are there and the documentation is correct. Then we should be ready for the release on Friday this week. :-))
" Advanced Warning "
With this package it is VITAL that you read the manual from end to end, and fully understand it. This is a very complex package, and even starting the engines is not possible without following a sequence.
I will state here clearly right now, that any emails received from people asking questions that are covered in the manual will receive a very curt reply telling them to READ THE F****** MANUAL or "RTFM" as we say here in the UK.
I know this might sound a little unkind, but the team is very, very tired after what has been a seven month marathon, and wish to concentrate our attention on those that have genuine problems.
While we are on the subject of warnings. NOBODY will be granted permission to use any parts from this package for whatever reason. So there is no point in even asking. Furthermore any person that steals anything will be pursued with the utmost vigour. This package has been produced and released as FREEWARE in a hope that it will promote DONATIONS to MAAM to get and keep these wonderful old aircraft in the air for many years to come.
" Challenge "
As the head of RCS Panels I am firmly committed to the furtherance of FREEWARE. The Freeware developers have always set the standard, and I think with this product we have "raised the bar" (to quote from an email received from a reader of the Press Release).
So to all you commercial companies, why not pick up the challenge and give use some competition ??
Around the time I started this project I was seriously considering giving up Freeware because of the action of those disrespectful "Pirates" that thought they had a right to steal my work. Because of your comments and continual support I didn't quit, and became part of a team, that has I believe, produced the best package yet to be seen in FS. Therefore you have only yourselves to thank or blame, because without you it would never have happened.
That does not for one second take away from the massive contributions from Bill Rambow, and Jan Visser. This project would also not have happened without them. Bill and I were and are true 50 / 50 partners and Jan was solely responsible for the wonderful aircraft.
OK that is enough out of me. Hopefully the next you will see on this page will be the full release of the R4D version 4 on Friday (or late Thursday).
Have a good one.
27th May 2000
" Exciting News !!! for FS98 users "
We have made the decision that we will produce and release a New Version 3.5 of the R4D for FS98. This will be a "halfway house" between version 3 that you currently have and the all new version 4 which is for FS2000 only and coming in a week. The new FS98 version will bring you as many features from version 4 as are supported in FS98. This will include the new Throttle Quadrant, Overhead panel with start sequences, New Radios and Autopilot, but only standard FS98 night lighting.
When can you expect the release of this version ?? Well fairly soon. Probably soon after I return from MAAM on the 7th June. How so quick ?? Well a great deal of the programming work for the gauges required for this version I have already been done while I was developing the special night lighted gauges. Therefore it is a fairly straightforward job to produce all the new ones required.
" Staggered "
I have to say that the whole team has been staggered by the response to the Press Release on the R4D. We have been flooded with hundreds of wonderful emails. More than we would normally get on the release of a panel rather than just a Press Release. Can I just thank you all on behalf of the team for your brilliant support.
Your comments have been especially helpful and cheering, as we are currently working around the clock desparately trying to get version 4 finished before I leave for the USA. There is nothing better than reading your comments when tempers are getting short because of lack of sleep.
Everything is nearing completion will the exception of the Sound Package. Because of a run of unfortunate circumstances we did not receive the most important batch of sound samples until late on Friday (yesterday) which as given us no time to do the work. We will definitely have a sound package in version 4, but we will release an even more refined one in an upgrade.
" Important Performance Tip"
I has come to my attention that if you have "Norton Utilities" installed on your system, you are probably loosing 50% of your frame rate with FS2000. Certainly this was the case here on my test machines. The frame rate was halved with Norton Utilities installed and immediately returned to normal when it was removed.
I never cease to be amazed at the strange things that slow down our systems. Can't anybody write efficient software these days ??
This is another original tip brought to you by RCS Panels. :-))
Have a great week.
23rd May 2000 Extra
" FS2000 Panels and Gauges SDK released "
The long awaited FS2000 Panels and Gauges SDK was released a short while ago, and can be downloaded from MS FS2000 site.
Interesting timing, don't you think, bearing in mind the comments made earlier today on this site :-))
23rd May 2000
" Press Release "
The moment you have all be waiting for. --- RCS Panels is delighted to give you a glimpse of its forthcoming release of the R4D (DC-3) version 4.
What you see is the result of a massive effort over many months from the whole team. Bill Rambow has done a wonderful job as "Team Leader", contributing some superb graphics, a fantastic manual, and other things to numerous to mention. Jan Visser has produced a brilliant aircraft. Not forgetting myself who programmed the odd gauge amongst other things.
I would also like the thank the many other people that have helped with this project in small but very significant ways.
As you know the whole project has been conducted under total secrecy, but now the covers are lifted and you can see what we have been up to.
As you can see, we have a unique night lighting system, and many other stunning features never before seen. But the thinking behind this package is ACCURACY.
OK click on the picture to see all the screen shots and Bills full "Press Release".
Release of the FREEWARE package will be June 2nd 2000 on here and all major FS sites.
We are proud to say, what we have produced here is "in spite" of not having the promised SDK from MS.
I think this is the best DC-3 package ever. Lets see what you think ??
20th May 2000
" Major Bugs fixed "
I am delighted to tell you that I now have the major bugs fixed on Version 4 of the DC-3. There is a little cleaning up to do but the whole thing is now working properly. :-)) When either the SDK is released or someone finds out more of the secrets there are a few things that can be enhanced, but what we have we are more than happy with.
As I have said before, but will say again. Version 4 is ONLY for use on FS2000 and will not work at all on FS98, or CFS. If you try and load the package it will CRASH the sim immediately. This is because the coding used in the gauges is only compatible with FS2000. Because I have no intention of reprogamming all the gauges there is NO plan to release a FS98 version. There might be an outside chance of and update to Version 3 for FS98 but this will be a long way in the future. The team are very tired and need a break.
" Wonderful "
I have to say I have had some wonderful responses to my comments below about being insane :-)) and thought I would at least share one with you. :-
Hi Roy,
" Absolutely Insane
"
I have often
wondered, but now I know, I am totally insane :-((
I am a psychiatrist and a simmer. I can attest that you are NOT insane
<g>
You may be goal driven... attentive to detail... creative....generous
with your time and commitment.... plus with the ability to not take
yourself seriously!
We all appreciate your wonderful work.
dr bob
What more can I say :-))
OK this is the last message you should receive on this page before the screenshots are up. Have a great weekend, and keep the weekend of the 1st June 2000 free to play, if you are not coming the the MAAM WWII Weekend that is.
Details from http://www.maam.org
16th May 2000
" Absolutely Insane "
I have often wondered, but now I know, I am totally insane :-((
I have just added up the hours spent on Version 4 of DC-3 since the 1st November 1999, and it means that if I cost them at my "minimum" hourly rate, my contribution would have cost a staggering $75,000 US (£50,000 UK), add the contribution by Bill and Jan and you can double that, and we are giving it away as FREEWARE. We must be totally "OFF OUR HEADS".
There have been a number of occasions when I have received some pretty nasty comments from some of the less moral people, because I will not allow people to steal my work. Well you might now see why I get so angry when it happens.
Anyway the above comments are not to make you feel guilty for enjoying the products and getting the most out of them, but just to show you how much effort is put in by the whole team to help you enjoy our wonderful hobby.
I am pleased to say the work on the ALL NEW DC-3 Version 4 is almost complete. On the panel and gauge side, we have the "bug list" down to single figures. The essential manual is coming on well, and the aircraft is looking stunning. Once we have added the sound package we have a FANTASTIC package.
We are finally able to see what it really looks like and take some screenshots to wet your appetite. Keep you eyes on this page during the next week to see what all the fuss is about. I think you will agree the wait has been worth it.
What we have achieved is in spite of MS not keeping there promise of releasing the SDK in March. You can be our judge, but even doing everything the hard way I think we have set new standards for what can be done.
So your waiting is nearly over. Watch this space :-))
12th May 2000
" Up to date "
This is just a short note to say I am now up to date with incoming emails. If you have now not had a reply to your emails then they were deleted probably because they contained a virus. I had a number of attacks from the "I Love You" virus, but all were trapped, and we did not onwardly transmit the virus.
I will properly update you with the latest information in the next couple of days, but priority is being given now to finishing the DC-3 Version 4 package. You can expect release around the 2nd June.
It is our intention to release the package for the Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum's (home of our R4D) World War II Weekend 2nd, 3rd, and 4th June. The museum is at Reading, about one and a half hours drive from Philadelphia. I am flying out to join Bill Rambow for the event. We will be pleased to meet and speak to anyone that comes alone to the great weekend.
8th May 2000
" I have returned "
This is just a quick message to say I have returned from my very enjoyable trip to Cyrpus. :-))
For anyone expecting an answer to an email, there will be a slight delay, firstly because of the number to be answered, but secondly and most importantly to make sure that our systems here are completely free from the "I Love You" virus or its derivatives.
The email systems here have been attacked several times as I downloaded the emails sent during my absence, but so far each one has been trapped before it was able to do any damage or we have transmitted it to anyone else. I would strongly suggest you all check you systems carefully and install a good and up to date virus checker, if you do not already have one.
A number of you "good guys" have unknowingly sent me the virus, but because of the way we deal with them we are not able to protect ourselves and let you know who you are.
If you do not receive an answer to an email within the next week you can assume that yours was one of the emails containing the virus or being suspected of it, and was deleted. If I have deleted any in error I am sorry for the inconvenience. But safety both ours and yours is of greatest importance.
Speak to you all soon. Best wishes, Roy
26th July 2000
" CDROM's "
This is just a quick note to all editors of magazines and publishers of CDROM's.
RCS Panels and the development team of the R4D will NOT grant permission for anybody to include the R4D on any CDROM or any other media for distribution, no matter what the reason or whether it is for FREE or for Profit. Therefore there is no point in asking.
We the team are honored that you think the package is worthy of inclusion but we have a very strict policy on how and where it can be made available. You can download it FREE from the NET. But if you want to have it without downloading it then you must buy it on CDROM from MAAM.
The only authorised CDROM to contain the package will be the one from http://www.maam.org for a donation of $25 dollars US.
Have a great week.
17th July 2000
" General "
As you will have noticed I have been trying to take a bit of a rest from FS for the past ten days. I have one of my biggest annual Art Events coming up in just under two weeks time at Olympia in London, This means I have had to spend most of my time writing scripts and preparing visual aids for the show. Then we have rehearsals, so I am going to be extremely busy over the next three weeks.
For those that have been wondering, I have recovered from the infection and hopefully will now remain healthy for a while.
Talking about health. my PC has also been under attack. I am sorry to tell you that the "KAK" virus is alive and well and circulating again. I had an attack earlier today from an FS email. Fortunately the Virus checker kicked in and killed it before it could be onwardly transmitted. So "be careful out there".
The "KAK" virus is an email "signature" that attaches itself to every outgoing email. You can check for it on your system by running a FIND on "*.hta" and "*.kak" if you find any files with these extensions, then you have the virus.
If you do get a "KAK" attack, you can find the steps necessary in my News Archive file. Most importantly do not send any emails until you have cleared it.
I strongly recommend that you should have a good up to date Anti Virus programm installed on your machines. If you have not been attacked yet you are on "borrowed time". Better to be safe than sorry.
That's about it for now. I will update you as anything important breaks.
Have a great week.
7th July 2000
" R4D Version 3.5 for CFS and R4D Version 3.5 for FS98 Released"
We are pleased to announce the release of TWO new versions of the R4D-6, One for MS Combat Flight Simulator and a separate one for MS FS98.
Each package is contained in its own "Self Installing" EXE file, for quick and easy installation. With this package you only need to download one file, but make sure you download the correct one for the SIM you wish to use it on. They are NOT interchangeable.
These are versions 3.5 of the R4D-6 and bring you the NEW and exciting features of Version 4 that are possible in FS98 and CFS. But obviously not the authentic night lighting and cockpit views.
To download the CFS package 10.6 mbs Click Here
To download the FS98 package 11.5 mbs Click Here
Have a great weekend.
4th July 2000
" MAAM CD's "
It seems that a few people are confused about the MAAM CD's and Donations.
People that have purchased the CD have made the most wonderful donation because the money goes directly to the MAAM Engine Fund. Both we and MAAM thank you most sincerely for buying the CD.
My comments of yesterday were directed at those majority of people that had downloaded the FREEWARE version either from here or other sites and sent nothing. You are the people we are asking to put your hands in your pockets. A few dollars would be wonderful.
" MS FS2000 Patch 2B not installed "
A few people have reported that the buttons on the "INTRO SCREEN" of the R4D-6 do not work. Up to now the reason was a mistery, but earlier today it came to me in a FLASH. The people with the problem have NOT installed :- MS FS2000 Patch 2B.
The installation of this Patch is essential to the working of the R4D package.
" New RealCRT ND gauge "
Tony D'Ambrosio has released a new version 1.2 of the ND gauge, which includes new versions for my Airbus panels. The file is 2.5mbs and you can download it here:-
" R4D-6 FS98 and CFS versions "
You can expect the FS98 and CFS versions of the R4D-6 on this site soon.
OK that's it for now.
Do a good deed today and make someone happy. :-))
2nd July 2000
" Roy is back "
I am delighted to tell you I am back at the PC at least for a little while every day. I was struck down by a serious kidney infection and have been out of commission for over a week. I am pleased to say I am on the mend although not completely recovered as yet.
I want to thank you for being very restrained with your emails, and ask you to continue keep them down to essential ones at least for a few days, but now you should get answers directly from me.
I want to thank my colleague and great friend Bill Rambow for fielding the questions in my absence, and for the other members here that have helped.
" R4D-6 version 3.5 for CFS and FS98 "
I am pleased to tell you that we will be releasing a "Special Cut Down" version of the new R4D for FS98, and a completely different version for Combat Flight Simulator. These versions will be numbered 3.5 and will be released here we hope by the end of this week.
These versions will have as many of the benefits of version 4 that are possible outside FS2000. ie, there will be no authentic night lighting, or internal cockpit views and other facilities that are only available with FS2000. Also JAN's new aircraft will not be included because it is for FS2000 only. However the FS98 and CFS versions will have the new quadrants and upper panels, and their own authentic sound packages.
Although the other sites will carry the new packages there will be available here first.
" Donations "
With the forthcoming release of the two new versions of the R4D that are FREEWARE, I would like to remind you that although all three of these packages are FREEWARE we have asked you to make a donation to the MAAM Engine fund. Well I am pleased to tell you that quite a number have ordered the CD, but I am very disappointed that only a few of the many thousands of people that are using the package and have even emailed me, have sent donations to the fund. I was very sad to see the small list of people that had been generous.
To those of you that have donated, I thank you most sincerely. But to those large majority that haven't, come on guys how about putting your hands in your pockets. You think nothing of spending lots of money on useless things, so come on do something useful, make a donation. You can even donate by Credit Card so it couldn't be easier. Click here and do it now http://www.maam.org
" GeForce 2 Video Cards "
Could anyone that is using a GeForce 2 video card with R4D version 4 drop a quick email to techsupport@roychaffin.com giving details of how it works. This is to compile a Database so no responses will be forthcoming, but this information helps our development team.
It's great to be back. Have a great week.
27th June 2000
" Email Responses"
This is just to advise you that sadly Roy was taken ill with what is believed to be a kidney problem, a couple of hours after the "PAWS 2000 Gala Prize Giving Evening" on Friday 23rd June, at which he was officiating. He is likely to be out of commission and offline for at least a week.
Obviously no responses to emails or technical support will be available from him until his return.
We would kindly ask everyone, please do NOT send emails in the meantime, even with good wishes (or worse), so the email system does not get clogged.
Should you need urgent help with the R4D-6 we would ask you to contact Bill Rambow direct at rambow@erols.com.
Either, Roy will be back, or we will advise
you of progress on this page as soon as anything more is known..
19th June 2000
" Other sound packages with out R4D "
A significant number of people have reported problems when installing other sound packages, rather than those supplied with our R4D-6.
Whether or not you happen to think other peoples sound packages are better, and we certainly do not, THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with the R4D.
Our sound package was especially designed to work in conjunction with the sounds included in the gauges. It is not intended to be used separately or others to be used in its place.
Although I am sure it could be claimed we are biased, and we are not, we have checked all other DC-3 sound packages and NON even come close to being as good as what is included, so therefore why change it ??
We do not give any credibility to comments on other sites about our sound package being substandard or weak, so why should you ??
Have a great week.
17th June 2000
" Many thanks to you :-)) "
We have just been awarded the "Developers Award" from Flightsim.com for May 2000 for Version 4 of the R4D. This is totally thanks to you for voting for us and we are very grateful. This is particularly important to us, because as you know we do not "canvas" and "persuade" you to vote for us, unlike some we could mention. Therefore on behalf of Bill, Jan, and Roy, our sincere thanks, it is much appreciated.
" Donations "
While on the subject of thanks, we would like to thank those of you that have already made a donation to the "MAAM Engine Fund" in thanks for our FREEWARE software.
I am delighted to tell you that you can now make a donation by credit card from anywhere in the world by logging on to http://www.maam.org. So if you haven't yet, come on, out with the "plastic".
" CD Available "
I am also pleased to tell you that you can now order your copy of the R4D-6 CD from MAAM, with both the FS2000 version 4 and the FS98 version 3.5 both as self installing EXE files. This FS98 version of the package has not yet been released as FREEWARE. There is also much more on the CD including extra manuals, photos and even a movie.
To order you copy go to http://www.maam.org
" MAAM WWII Weekend Photos "
Our Beta Tester Keith Maton (who some will have met at MAAM) has just released a wonderful selection of photos taken at the MAAM WWII weekend. You can see what we got up to and one or two of us playing the real R4D. Not to mention many of the aircraft and people at the show.
To view the photos Click Here
14th June 2000
" Please HELP !! "
A massive amount of people, (over 2,000) have emailed the R4D team to say just how much they appreciate the package and how it has set new standards for what can be done in Flight Sim. These messages have been wonderful and very much appreciated by a very tired team.
Many of you have commented that you do not understand why we have given this package as FREEWARE when it would have been a "Best Seller" as a commercial product ??. Well the answer is simple, we have put all this work in hopping you will come through and to help the Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum get the real R4D-6 back in the air with the new engine she needs.
Instead of lining the pockets of a commercial company with your hard earned money, we have given you the product for FREE and ask you to make a donation in appreciation of that software to MAAM. http://maam.org
There is no obligation, but we the developers would very much appreciate it if you sent a small donation ($5 or $10 dollars or equivalent) or even a larger one if you wish, to MAAM as a thank you for the FREEWARE package.
Your generosity will help to encourage us to continue with producing more FREEWARE software for your enjoyment. We hope that you will come through, be generous and prove that our faith is you has not been misplaced.
Roy, Bill & Jan.
" Patch 2 Released "
I am delighted to tell you the Beta Testing on "Patch 2" for the R4D-6 is complete. The patch worked "right out of the box". 100% success with the beta testers.
It has solved the missing gauges problem some people were having. It has also solved the Real Weather and Multiplayer problems. Now the package seems to work with all the third party add-ons, as far as we can tell, which is great news.
It is also worth downloading and installing it even if you did not have any previous problems with the package, because the code used in the patch will improve the performance of the package on all machines.
There is no need to download "Patch 1" if you haven't already done so because it is included in "Patch 2", however if you have already installed "Patch 1" no damage will be done when you install "Patch 2".
The Patch is a self extracting "exe" file that will install itself for you. BUT make sure you read the on-screen instructions.
To download "Patch 2" (2mbs) Click Here
Now we have addressed the most important problems with the package, the development team are going to take a well earned rest. :-))
Please don't forget the donations
Have a good one.
Roy
12th June 2000
" Beta Testing Patch 2 "
Although I have been quiet for the past three days, my time has not been wasted. I have been making a concentrated effort on finding a solution to the missing gauges problem that a few people are having. It has involved vast amounts of new programming but the results are now ready for Beta testing. The new Patch 2 is going to be emailed to those people that took the trouble to send there systems data to Tech Support over the past few days, which helped in finding the problem, and to them ONLY. There is no point in sending your details now, or asking for the patch to be sent to you.
Once Beta testing is complete, and I am happy that we have a solution it will be published on this site and all other major FS sites.
There is no guarantee that this patch is the answer, but I am fairly confident that it has a very good chance. If not it is back to the "Drawing Board"
Have a good week.
9th June 2000 Extra
" Technical Announcement "
As you know we have been working hard on the problem that a few people have been having with "missing gauges" on the FO panel of the R4D. I have now completed the diagnoses of the problem and formulated a course of action to deal with it. The problem is not really with our package but with other programs and modules used with it. It is my intention to reprogram some of our package to accommodate these other "add-ons" and programs but this will take time.
To read the full Technical Announcement Click Here
9th June 2000
" File Corruption "
Yesterday there was a corruption in the "R4D-6 Patch 1" file that was available on this site, for which we apologize. If you downloaded it before 12.00 zulu today (friday), I am sorry you will have to download it again. The file that is available now has been exhaustively tested.
Have a good one :-))
8th June 2000 Extra
" MAAM Weekend Press Release "
I have to tell you the MAAM WWII weekend was a fantastic event. We had enormous fun and enjoyed speaking to many of you.
I have to admit to being totally overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the flight sim community. I have to give special thanks to Charles W. Rickard. who brought me the most amazing gift of a desktop clock he had made for me out of an old DC-3 piston which he had cut polished and mounted on a wooden base. It was a work of pure art in itself. As those of you that know me will testify, I am seldom stuck for words, but on this occasion I was totally silenced (apart from saying a very sincere thank you). I still cannot believe it; a really wonderful gesture.
We received gifts that ranged from prints to aircraft manuals. All of which were very gratefully received.
OK to give you a real flavor of the weekend, Bill has put together a "Press Release".
" True Partnership "
There seems to be some confusion, about who is responsible for the R4D-6 package not only amongst the flightsim community at large but also in the FS Press. Just to put the record straight. :-
Roy Chaffin and Bill Rambow are true 50 -50 partners as far as the R4D project is concerned (and many others), That includes our connection with MAAM. It is not X's project with a little help from the other. The work and decisions are split right down the middle. The two of us do the bulk of the work excluding the aircraft model.
Jan Visser is solely responsible for the production of the aircraft model and textures. As such he is the only one that can agree to repaints.
Things like the flight dynamics are a joint effort from a whole batch of us.
There are then many other "Bit players" that bring in specific expertise to the team for things like sound, and testing.
Bill Rambow, Roy Chaffin, and Jan Visser are the three joint developers of the R4D-6 version 4 package.
I hope this "clears the mud", and in particular the FS Press will now understand the precise situation.
8th June 2000
" R4D General "
I would just like say on behalf of the R4D development team. The response we have received from you all has been breath taking, and we are completely bowled over by it. We knew we had a exceptional product here but had no idea just how well it would be received.
To the significant but small number of people that are having problems, we would like to assure you that we are working hard to address them. This is the most complex FS aircraft package that has so far been put together and it is inevitable that we have a few teething problems. There are bound to be combinations of hard and software out there that we cannot plan for. We are basically a THREE MAN TEAM and do not have the vast resources of MS or any other major developer. Therefore we ask for your patience and cooperation while we fix these minor problems.
" R4D version 4 Patch 1"
As you will know if you follow this page, we were so rushed to get the package out for the deadline of the MAAM WWII Weekend that we made a few minor errors in the packaging. Therefore we now have a "patch" that corrects these things.
The things this patch fixes are :-
1. Which prop rotates on the external model.
2, The missing Help file for the Sperry.
3. An error with a sound file. (even better quality sound after this fix)
4. Changes to the "Start-up" situation.
We are aware that a few people are experiencing missing gauges on the FO panel and we are working on that problem. THIS IS NOT FIXED IN THIS PATCH.
To download the 1 mb patch Click Here
" Oops "
A significant number of people are not downloading BOTH parts of the package and then wondering why it does not work. Well what can we say ??? :-))
" Missing Gauges "
As mentioned above we are working on the missing gauges problem. It would be very helpful to us if those few of you that have the problem could email techsupport@roychaffin.com giving details of :-
1. Processor Make and Speed
2. Operating system (ie Windows 95 / 98 / 98SE / 2000)
3. Amount of RAM
4. Graphics Card
5. Number of Windows FONTs intalled
Please do not ask questions in these emails because NO replies will be sent.
Taking the time to email this information will speed up the process of me finding a solution to the problem.
" Emails "
We are aware that every person wants their particular problem fixed or question answered, but we would urge restraint, especially on reporting things that we already know about. Each email we have to answer takes us away from the time we can spend working on the problem.
I am delighted to report however that most of you have taken note of our plea to read the manual FIRST.
" Server Outage "
We are very sorry for the server outage last night. It seems it cannot take the strain you folks are putting on it at the moment :-)) The ISP is under the impression that World War III has been declared. They have never seen traffic like it.
That's it for now. More later.
7th June 2000 Update 1
" Missing Gauges "
As usual the "Airheads", or "Desktop Idiots" I mean "Desktop Experts" are talking out of there lower orifices on the forums about the missing gauges problem that a few people are having with version 4 of the DC-3.
The problem has nothing to do with the "panel.cfg" file or the gauges as they are suggesting.
There appears to me two main sources of the problem. One some people have a corrupt download and a new download and reinstallation solves the problem.
The second set are using Peter Dowson
utilities to run fs2k apllications from
a second computer. The files are "WideServe.dll" and "Wideview.ini" removing
these files seems to solve the problem. These files can be found in the
"Modules" folder.
Owing to the fact I have only just got back and still need serious amounts of sleep. I want to thank my friend John Helsby for researching this problem for me and coming up the intelligent solutions.
As more research is done a proper solutions are found they will be posted on this site. Please do yourself a favor and keep away from the idiots on the Forums, if they knew what there were talking about they would be developing instead of shouting their mouths off.
OK, have good one :-))
More to follow.
7th June 2000
" Cross wired engines "
We are aware that when you look at the outside view with only one engine running the incorrect propeller is rotating. This we fixed before release, but in the panic to get the package out on time we inadvertently packed the wrong file. Please do not email us about it. A fix will be forthcoming on this page soon.
6th June 2000 Update 2
" Sound Error "
We have just noticed that there is a minor error in the sound package for the R4D-6 for FS2000. This also applies to everyone that has the CD purchased from MAAM at the weekend. We will release a fix in due course, but in the mean time you can fix it yourself if you wish.
You will find a file in the sound directory of the aircraft called "r4d-1..wav" this file should be called "r4d-1.wav" In other words with only on "period" in the name. Change this name and the sound package will be even better :-))
More to come, speak to you again soon.
" Restraint Please !! "
While I am catching up on the email, could I ask you to exercise restraint in emailing us. Especially in thanking us for our replies to your emails. This gives us a chance of catching up this month :-))
More to come, speak to you again soon.
6th June 2000 Update 1
" Missing Gauges ?? "
Just a quick post to help a few people that have been experiencing a few problems. A very few people have a number gauges missing from the FO panel. Initial scans of my email say that a number of people have downloaded the package a second time and reinstalled it and the problem has been fixed. It appears that a corrupt download is at least one of the causes for this difficulty. All emails will be answered in due course, but I thought you would appreciate the TIP on here quicker.
My ISP is still jammed solid. So may I suggest you also try to download it from Flightsim.com or Avsim.com Make sure the download is DIRECT from the server and not a link to this site.
More news later.
6th June 2000
" Just Returned "
This is just a quick note to tell you, that demand has been so great for the new DC-3 package that some people are convinced that there is something wrong with the links on the page. This is not the case. The ISP has been totally swamped since the files were put up, such is the demand. :-) We of course are delighted you are so keen to get the package but understand your frustration. The ISP informs me that users of this site are taking the entire bandwidth of the ISP and no other subscribers on the ISP can get a look in.
I am very sorry for this problem, but unfortunately there is nothing whatsoever I or the ISP can do about it. To be fair to the other users we have had to limit the number of lines available to RCS Panels users.
If you have emailed me since I have been away. Yours is probably is stuck in the queue of many hundreds waiting for my attention. They will all be answered, but this could take up to a week or more.
Speak to you again when I have had some sleep.
2nd June 2000
" R4D-6 Version 4 Released "
After seven months the day you have been waiting for has arrived :-
"Release Day" for the R4D-6 Version 4.
Well as the music asks, are you "in the mood" for some serious downloading and a step back in time for some serious fun ?? If so click here to start your downloads.
Part One :- wjrdc3v4a.zip 11Mb Click Here
Part Two :- wjrdc3v4b.zip
12.Mb Click Here
Remember you MUST read the Manual
Have a great weekend, and see you this weekend if can make it at the annual Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum World War II Weekend . Otherwise speak to you in a week. There will be not answers to emails for at least a week.
"In the Mood" music was
provided by Gary Wachtel GaryW0001@aol.com
website :-http://garyw0001.simplenet.com/index.html
30th May 2000
" DC-3 Sound Package finished "
Having worked round the clock for the past three days, I am delighted to tell you that my sound engineer Alan Landsburgh and I have finished the sound package for version 4. It was a rush but we are happy that it matches the quality of the rest of the new package. Too say it was a steep learning curve was the understatement of the century but "needs must when the devil drives".
We now have all the parts finished and have tested them together for the first time, and with a couple of minor modifications all now works together.
We now have the painstaking job of putting the package together and making sure all the parts are there and the documentation is correct. Then we should be ready for the release on Friday this week. :-))
" Advanced Warning "
With this package it is VITAL that you read the manual from end to end, and fully understand it. This is a very complex package, and even starting the engines is not possible without following a sequence.
I will state here clearly right now, that any emails received from people asking questions that are covered in the manual will receive a very curt reply telling them to READ THE F****** MANUAL or "RTFM" as we say here in the UK.
I know this might sound a little unkind, but the team is very, very tired after what has been a seven month marathon, and wish to concentrate our attention on those that have genuine problems.
While we are on the subject of warnings. NOBODY will be granted permission to use any parts from this package for whatever reason. So there is no point in even asking. Furthermore any person that steals anything will be pursued with the utmost vigour. This package has been produced and released as FREEWARE in a hope that it will promote DONATIONS to MAAM to get and keep these wonderful old aircraft in the air for many years to come.
" Challenge "
As the head of RCS Panels I am firmly committed to the furtherance of FREEWARE. The Freeware developers have always set the standard, and I think with this product we have "raised the bar" (to quote from an email received from a reader of the Press Release).
So to all you commercial companies, why not pick up the challenge and give use some competition ??
Around the time I started this project I was seriously considering giving up Freeware because of the action of those disrespectful "Pirates" that thought they had a right to steal my work. Because of your comments and continual support I didn't quit, and became part of a team, that has I believe, produced the best package yet to be seen in FS. Therefore you have only yourselves to thank or blame, because without you it would never have happened.
That does not for one second take away from the massive contributions from Bill Rambow, and Jan Visser. This project would also not have happened without them. Bill and I were and are true 50 / 50 partners and Jan was solely responsible for the wonderful aircraft.
OK that is enough out of me. Hopefully the next you will see on this page will be the full release of the R4D version 4 on Friday (or late Thursday).
Have a good one.
27th May 2000
" Exciting News !!! for FS98 users "
We have made the decision that we will produce and release a New Version 3.5 of the R4D for FS98. This will be a "halfway house" between version 3 that you currently have and the all new version 4 which is for FS2000 only and coming in a week. The new FS98 version will bring you as many features from version 4 as are supported in FS98. This will include the new Throttle Quadrant, Overhead panel with start sequences, New Radios and Autopilot, but only standard FS98 night lighting.
When can you expect the release of this version ?? Well fairly soon. Probably soon after I return from MAAM on the 7th June. How so quick ?? Well a great deal of the programming work for the gauges required for this version I have already been done while I was developing the special night lighted gauges. Therefore it is a fairly straightforward job to produce all the new ones required.
" Staggered "
I have to say that the whole team has been staggered by the response to the Press Release on the R4D. We have been flooded with hundreds of wonderful emails. More than we would normally get on the release of a panel rather than just a Press Release. Can I just thank you all on behalf of the team for your brilliant support.
Your comments have been especially helpful and cheering, as we are currently working around the clock desparately trying to get version 4 finished before I leave for the USA. There is nothing better than reading your comments when tempers are getting short because of lack of sleep.
Everything is nearing completion will the exception of the Sound Package. Because of a run of unfortunate circumstances we did not receive the most important batch of sound samples until late on Friday (yesterday) which as given us no time to do the work. We will definitely have a sound package in version 4, but we will release an even more refined one in an upgrade.
" Important Performance Tip"
I has come to my attention that if you have "Norton Utilities" installed on your system, you are probably loosing 50% of your frame rate with FS2000. Certainly this was the case here on my test machines. The frame rate was halved with Norton Utilities installed and immediately returned to normal when it was removed.
I never cease to be amazed at the strange things that slow down our systems. Can't anybody write efficient software these days ??
This is another original tip brought to you by RCS Panels. :-))
Have a great week.
23rd May 2000 Extra
" FS2000 Panels and Gauges SDK released "
The long awaited FS2000 Panels and Gauges SDK was released a short while ago, and can be downloaded from MS FS2000 site.
Interesting timing, don't you think, bearing in mind the comments made earlier today on this site :-))
23rd May 2000
" Press Release "
The moment you have all be waiting for. --- RCS Panels is delighted to give you a glimpse of its forthcoming release of the R4D (DC-3) version 4.
What you see is the result of a massive effort over many months from the whole team. Bill Rambow has done a wonderful job as "Team Leader", contributing some superb graphics, a fantastic manual, and other things to numerous to mention. Jan Visser has produced a brilliant aircraft. Not forgetting myself who programmed the odd gauge amongst other things.
I would also like the thank the many other people that have helped with this project in small but very significant ways.
As you know the whole project has been conducted under total secrecy, but now the covers are lifted and you can see what we have been up to.
As you can see, we have a unique night lighting system, and many other stunning features never before seen. But the thinking behind this package is ACCURACY.
OK click on the picture to see all the screen shots and Bills full "Press Release".
Release of the FREEWARE package will be June 2nd 2000 on here and all major FS sites.
We are proud to say, what we have produced here is "in spite" of not having the promised SDK from MS.
I think this is the best DC-3 package ever. Lets see what you think ??
20th May 2000
" Major Bugs fixed "
I am delighted to tell you that I now have the major bugs fixed on Version 4 of the DC-3. There is a little cleaning up to do but the whole thing is now working properly. :-)) When either the SDK is released or someone finds out more of the secrets there are a few things that can be enhanced, but what we have we are more than happy with.
As I have said before, but will say again. Version 4 is ONLY for use on FS2000 and will not work at all on FS98, or CFS. If you try and load the package it will CRASH the sim immediately. This is because the coding used in the gauges is only compatible with FS2000. Because I have no intention of reprogamming all the gauges there is NO plan to release a FS98 version. There might be an outside chance of and update to Version 3 for FS98 but this will be a long way in the future. The team are very tired and need a break.
" Wonderful "
I have to say I have had some wonderful responses to my comments below about being insane :-)) and thought I would at least share one with you. :-
Hi Roy,
" Absolutely Insane
"
I have often
wondered, but now I know, I am totally insane :-((
I am a psychiatrist and a simmer. I can attest that you are NOT insane
<g>
You may be goal driven... attentive to detail... creative....generous
with your time and commitment.... plus with the ability to not take
yourself seriously!
We all appreciate your wonderful work.
dr bob
What more can I say :-))
OK this is the last message you should receive on this page before the screenshots are up. Have a great weekend, and keep the weekend of the 1st June 2000 free to play, if you are not coming the the MAAM WWII Weekend that is.
Details from http://www.maam.org
16th May 2000
" Absolutely Insane "
I have often wondered, but now I know, I am totally insane :-((
I have just added up the hours spent on Version 4 of DC-3 since the 1st November 1999, and it means that if I cost them at my "minimum" hourly rate, my contribution would have cost a staggering $75,000 US (£50,000 UK), add the contribution by Bill and Jan and you can double that, and we are giving it away as FREEWARE. We must be totally "OFF OUR HEADS".
There have been a number of occasions when I have received some pretty nasty comments from some of the less moral people, because I will not allow people to steal my work. Well you might now see why I get so angry when it happens.
Anyway the above comments are not to make you feel guilty for enjoying the products and getting the most out of them, but just to show you how much effort is put in by the whole team to help you enjoy our wonderful hobby.
I am pleased to say the work on the ALL NEW DC-3 Version 4 is almost complete. On the panel and gauge side, we have the "bug list" down to single figures. The essential manual is coming on well, and the aircraft is looking stunning. Once we have added the sound package we have a FANTASTIC package.
We are finally able to see what it really looks like and take some screenshots to wet your appetite. Keep you eyes on this page during the next week to see what all the fuss is about. I think you will agree the wait has been worth it.
What we have achieved is in spite of MS not keeping there promise of releasing the SDK in March. You can be our judge, but even doing everything the hard way I think we have set new standards for what can be done.
So your waiting is nearly over. Watch this space :-))
12th May 2000
" Up to date "
This is just a short note to say I am now up to date with incoming emails. If you have now not had a reply to your emails then they were deleted probably because they contained a virus. I had a number of attacks from the "I Love You" virus, but all were trapped, and we did not onwardly transmit the virus.
I will properly update you with the latest information in the next couple of days, but priority is being given now to finishing the DC-3 Version 4 package. You can expect release around the 2nd June.
It is our intention to release the package for the Mid Atlantic Aircraft Museum's (home of our R4D) World War II Weekend 2nd, 3rd, and 4th June. The museum is at Reading, about one and a half hours drive from Philadelphia. I am flying out to join Bill Rambow for the event. We will be pleased to meet and speak to anyone that comes alone to the great weekend.
8th May 2000
" I have returned "
This is just a quick message to say I have returned from my very enjoyable trip to Cyrpus. :-))
For anyone expecting an answer to an email, there will be a slight delay, firstly because of the number to be answered, but secondly and most importantly to make sure that our systems here are completely free from the "I Love You" virus or its derivatives.
The email systems here have been attacked several times as I downloaded the emails sent during my absence, but so far each one has been trapped before it was able to do any damage or we have transmitted it to anyone else. I would strongly suggest you all check you systems carefully and install a good and up to date virus checker, if you do not already have one.
A number of you "good guys" have unknowingly sent me the virus, but because of the way we deal with them we are not able to protect ourselves and let you know who you are.
If you do not receive an answer to an email within the next week you can assume that yours was one of the emails containing the virus or being suspected of it, and was deleted. If I have deleted any in error I am sorry for the inconvenience. But safety both ours and yours is of greatest importance.
Speak to you all soon. Best wishes, Roy
26th April 2000
" Taking a well earned rest "
As we come into the last five weeks of the DC-3 project (release is due at the end of May), things are progressing well, and we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even in the past 3 days we have added an amazing new feature that was born out of a chance remark made by Jan while we were talking about something else. I suddenly had a flash of brilliance and the idea is reality already. Having spent the past week making no progress at all, on other problems suddenly giant steps were made yesterday.
Anyway, as all top men do, when things get busy, I am taking a holiday, and am flying out to Cyprus for a couple of weeks of R & R in a few hours time :-) Therefore any emails received will not be answered until I return, and then very slowly until I catch up :-))
I am looking forward to NO computers, (not even a laptop) lots of sunshine, and all the other things hot weather brings :-))
Oh, just to update those people that are interested. The latest medications for the diabetes seem to be working much better. I am feeling much better for the first time for months. <mega grin>
Speak to you on my return. Keep the blue side up :-))
24th April 2000
" Tip of the Year ?? Part 2 "
I was asked by AVSIM to write a more detailed version of the "Tip of the Year" to try and stop the stupid comments being made by the "Desktop Experts" on the forums. Most of the article is already written below, however in case you would like a full version you can Click Here to download.
20th April 2000 Extra
" More information "
Further to my post earlier today, I am delighted to say that AVSIM have acted extremely honorably as I suspected they would, removed the offending message from their "News Page" and entered into extremely beneficial dialogue. It also transpires that the "Desktop Expert" was not a member of AVSIM staff as I had thought, but just an "Air Head" pontificating.
I have been an AVSIM partner for some time, and am a strong supporter of them and what they do. This has not been affected in any way by the events of today.
I do NOT however support public forums, not because I don't think you all deserve help, because I do, but because the loudest noises on the forums are always the "Desktop Experts" who know little about anything and add nothing positive the FS community.
" Positive help "
If you are one of the unfortunate people that deleted Fonts without moving them to a "backup" folder, or are thinking of removing some, then the following information that was emailed to me earlier this evening will be of help.
I will say at this point I have not authenticated this information, so I take no responsibility for its accuracy, but it came from a reliable source so you should be safe.
"You can find the fonts that Windows 98SE installs on the Windows
9SE CD in the following places.
No 47 = tt+fon..98 fonts.
No 52 = ttf.....13 fonts.
No 53 = ttf.....14 fonts.
No 69 = ttf.....22 fonts.
mini,cab = fon+tt...13 fonts.
Flight Simulator 2000 appears to install the following fonts for it's own
use
Arianlbi, Glassga, and Quartz. All of which can be found on the FS2000
CD's."
At the risk of being boring on the subject, I say again. Removing fonts has to be done very carefully, with the use of Control Panel and ALWAYS to a "Backup" folder so they can be put back again if anything does not work properly.
This is not a quick fix, it takes time and effort, but the result is probably worth it if you have over 100, definitely worth it if you have over 200 and essential if you have over 300.
I am sorry I cannot give you a definative list of fonts, because that varies depending on which programs you have installed in your PC.
Can I make one further suggestion, ? When you need to know something, ignore the "experts" you find on forums. If they had the knowledge to do the job they would be doing it and not just talking about it. If you have questions email the people that really know, the developers. As long as you do not ask questions that are covered in the documentation, most are more than happy to help you.
I hope the above information helps.
Safe landings :-))
20th April 2000
" Words fail me !! "
Well I never cease to be amazed and words fail me. Not something that happens often :-)) I would have thought that it would have gone without saying that when you followed my tip of removing unwanted fonts from your system that you would do it with CARE and remove them to a temporary folder until you were sure that they were not being used by the system. Then you could bring them back one by one if necessary. But No !! it seems that a number of people have permanently deleted system fonts and caused themselves problems.
Most the usual readers of this page have had more sense, and a number have even emailed me asking for advice about removing fonts. However AVSIM picked up my "tip" and published it on their news page and a number of their users have deleted system fonts and screwed up their systems. Interestingly enough, no one has emailed me, the "author of the tip" about their problems, where they would have received quality advice. Instead, apparently the forums have been buzzing with duff information. As you all know I do not waste me time reading forums, and would strongly recommend you don't either.
Now we have the usual "Desktop Experts" giving it "large" about it not being a good idea to remove fonts. I have said it before and I will say it again, unused fonts are a waste of system resources, and can be removed, but it has to be done carefully. Messing about with your system is never a good idea if you do not know exactly what you are doing.
I have been an electronics engineer all my life, and it still beats my understanding why, the untrained customer is encouraged to take the top off and play about with the most advanced piece of electronics most people ever come into contact with. If you do not understand exactly what you are doing, leave it to the proper trained experts which are not the people you find on forums.
Just to state exactly the benefits of the removal of unwanted fonts. This will release system resources (RAM) that can be used by programs like flight sim. This in the main will deduce or eliminate FS2000 crashes, and may help with framerates. But, and it is a big BUT, it will not give you good framrates on a slow system, or fix other problems with badly configured PC's. It is only another tool to help improve the efficiency of your system.
Despite the stupid remarks I hear on other pages, I will continue to offer tips and help, to try and improve your pleasure in our hobby. However these tips are to be tried only by people that really know what there are doing. I have not the time to write detailed "idiots guides". ie "This refrigerator must not be used as a ladder" etc. :-)) A level of competence is assumed.
For the great majority of you, I am pleased the the FONTS tip and the OPTOUT utility have proved to be useful, and I know from the many emails that they have helped many people.
It would be nice to see this message picked up by AVSIM but I doubt it will be :-))
Have a great week.
16th April 2000
" Proformance Tip of the Year ? "
How much memory is Windows using on your PC ??
Most people would say "the same as everyone else", but this is not the case. During conversations yesterday with my good friend Lee Scrivens, he told me something that I did not know, and something that you might not know either. The foot print of Windows is dependant on one often overlooked thing, and that is how many Fonts you have installed in Windows.
Unknown to me, primarily because I had never really thought about it, Windows loads ALL the fonts into memory when the system boots. This means a large proportion of your RAM is useless for such things as Flightsim or other games. So even when you run EndItAll that RAM is not recovered.
The problem is when we load programs lke MS Office 2000 it sticks in loads of Fonts we never use and does not ask us whether or not we want them. All of these are reducing the efficiency of the system and using valuable RAM that we have paid good money for.
It is documented that most people never need more that 100 fonts on there systems, but when I did some research yesterday is found an average of 300 plus on most machines. My main machine here had a staggering 860. You don't need me to tell you that removing these has a damatic effect on the system performance. I would be as bold as to suggest this might be "Tip of the Year"
Remember you must remove them properly through control panel otherwise it causes problems.
This story just goes to show that no matter how much you know or think you know about PC's, you can always learn. I am by no means to proud to admit that there is a great deal I can learn from other people.
Have a great weekend, mucking out your fonts :-))
15th April 2000
" Serious Warning !!!! "
Very recently I have been aware that my harddrive and modem have been active on their own count, when not doing things on my instructions. Being a "Control Freak" I did more investigations and have found the following very disturbing information which I share with you.
It appears that certain programs are planting code into your PC that is gathering information on your system and transmitting it without your knowledge or permission. In my mind whatever the reason for this, it is a MASSIVE invasion of privacy.
I have found a program called "Optout" that will winkle out this code and protect you. Click here to download the ZIP file which has all information and the small utility to deal with the problem.
I have run the program and it does a good job, and kills any such code, and the programs that bring it in.
I have taken the investigations further, and it appears that one of the main offenders for infecting your system with this problem is "GoZilla" which is a "FREE" utility to enable you to reconnect many times when a download is interrupted.
You can come to your own conclusions, but I believe that such underhanded actions by software writers should be outlawed and the strongest action taken against them. I can see no justification whatsoever for their actions. "GoZilla" is no longer on my systems.
" On a lighter note :-)) "
As you have probably read here before, on average I receive around 80 emails a day, but last night I got one I thought I would share with you :-
"Just wondering if there is a way to adjust the altimeter on this
panel.
(No, I didn't read the instructions) "Real Men" don't read
instructions<G>
Thanks, Ron"
I thought you might also like to see my reply :-
"Hi Ron, Yes there is, and "Real Men" have crystal balls
:-)) Kindest regards, Roy"
I thought this might cheer up your weekend. :-)
Have a good one.
11th April 2000
" Latest News RealCRT Problems "
Having just returned from a weekend away, Tony tells me he has discovered the "common thread" with the problem with the latest version of the RealCRT gauges. It will not currently work with "Windows 95", but will with Windows 98.
Tony is currently building a machine with Windows 95 so he can work on the problem, so be assured that a solution will be forthcoming as soon as possible.
You can of course solve your own problems by upgrading to Windows 98, which would be a pretty sensible thing to do anyway, but Tony does hope to have a fix out for Windows 95 assuming one can be found.
" Emails "
As usual when I return from a break, I have a mountain of email, but hope to have them all answered in 24 hours.
Have a great week.
8th April 2000
" RealCRT Update Problems "
I have heard from Tony D'Ambrosio that a number of users of the new Flight Plan Mode RealCRT gauges are experiencing some difficulties.
The problem is:- when you click on the Navigation Data program either by clicking on the icon in the start menu or double clicking on the "exe" file, absolutely nothing happens. No error message, no program, nothing. This is only happening on a few machines and as of this time Tony has no explanation, but is working on it. The problem is being made more difficult because neither he nor I can duplicate the problem, so he is having to reply on a couple of people with the problem to run debug versions to try and pin down the fault.
If you have this problem, please do not email Tony about it. He needs to spend all his available time working on the problem rather than answering emails on the subject. I can assure you that as soon as the problem is solved, it will be posted on this page.
It is also likely that other emails to Tony will be slow to be answered. He asks you to please be patient. He is working as fast as he can.
" General "
Nothing much new this week, I have been gradually working my way down the "bug" list for the new DC-3. I have managed to clear a reasonable number, but there is a long way to go.
OK, that's it for now. Have a great weekend. Me, I am having a weekend off, (and offline).
Have a good one :-))
5th April 2000
" Many Thanks "
Many thanks for the responses to my request for a translator. I have now received three volunteers. Thank you very much. I hope we will now be able to help the Simmer that has problems.
5th April 2000
" Minor Error "
A user has just pointed out that I made a minor error in the "panel.cfg" file of the "A320r152,zip" Upgrade. This invoked the Boeing RealCRT gauges rather than the Airbus ones. Sorry for this minor mistake. You can download a corrected file by Clicking Here.
" Tanslator Needed "
Does anyone reading this page speak English and Spanish or Portuguese ?? I have a correspondent that needs help with Flight Sim that does not speak English or French. I have tried using an online text interpreter but it is useless.
If anyone can help please email me at roy@roychaffin.com
Have a great week.
2nd April 2000
" Mile Stone on DC-3 Version 4 "
I am delighted to tell you that a mile stone has been reached with Version 4 of the DC-3, the last gauge has been finished. Hooray :-)) <SERIOUS GRIN>
When I first typed "Mile Stone" I typed "Mill Stone" and I have to tell you that it has felt like one. Anyway, after thousands of hours since November 99 this is a significant point in development. What we have is stunning to say the least, even if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately my work is not yet done. There is a significant "Bug list" to be dealt with, which will take some weeks to sort. However we try to iron out most of the bugs ourselves rather than let you do it, if you know what I mean. :-))
Tempers have been getting a little short here of late, because of the 16 hour days of solid programming. Bill Rambow has "coped it" a couple of times when he has made suggestions, at the wrong moment. No matter we are the best of mates and can survive such things. :-))
I only said to Bill this evening, if I had have known how much work was going to be in this project at the beginning, I would never have started. But in the words of that famous UK TV show called "Mastermind" "I have started, so I will finish".
I am determined this is going to be the best ever package for FS despite not having the SDK. If they will not give use the tools, we will do it without, and be proud of it. :-()
The planned release date is still the end of May, so you don't have to long to wait. You will also have some screen shots a couple of weeks before release.
" FS2000 Patch 2 NO CD fix "
I am delighted to tell you that the "NO CD" file "FS2KNOCDU2.zip" lower down this page still works on the new Patch 2B from MS. Despite what the Readme file might say, the "fs2000.exe" file in Patch 2B is the same one as in the original Patch 2, so the replacement "fs2000.exe" still works perfectly. I know I have tested it, and checked it in detail.
I have also now given the Patch 2B a fair testing and it seems as stable as FS2000 has ever been. So I think if you were holding off installing it for a while you are fairly safe in doing so now.
" My Health"
I do not wish to speak to soon, but I am hopeful that the latest drugs for my diabetes seem to be having an effect. It is early days yet, but we do at last seem to be making some progress. :-))
I am really grateful to all those people that have sent me information on treatments and drugs from all around the world. That information has been most helpful and I have been able to talk to the doctors very knowledgably as a result. So thanks to you all.
OK it has been a long week so I am going to call it a day. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Kindest regards, Roy
30th March 2000
" FS2000 Pro & Standard Patch 2 Take 2 "
Here we go again :-)) MS have now released their second attempt at "Patch 2" for FS2000 Pro and Standard versions. Excuse me if I don't sound convinced, but we have been here before.
I have installed the Pro version, and it certainly seems better, however I still got a crash after a couple of touch and goes around LHR, so I will reserve judgment for a while.
One thing I have found out, is that if you previously installed the old Patch 2, just changing the "fs2000.exe" file back to the old one did not remove Patch 2 completely and some of the old crash problems remained. However installing "Take 2" seems to have overwritten the old files.
OK if you are feeling brave, then you can download the patch from here (the MS site is "dog slow" at the moment). Be warned the Pro patch is 9.1mbs, and the Standard is 7.1mbs
To download the FS2000 Pro version Patch 2B
To download the FS2000 Standard version Patch 2B
Have fun :-))
27th March 2000
" FS98 B717 MK4 Upgrade FIX "
It seems in my haste to get the above Upgrade out I packed the wrong Autopilot with the package. Oops :-((
I have now fixed the package and if you have already downloaded it, then to get the missing gauge Click Here
Sorry about that, and thanks to the person that brought it to my attention.
26th March 2000 "EXTRA"
" SPECIAL REQUEST "
Could I please ask you not to email me with questions about the RealCRT gauges, their installation and key codes. These questions must be addressed directly to Tony D'Ambrosio. This was stated clearly in the "Readme.1st" files. Already I am being swamped with questions I cannot possibly answer.
I am more than happy to answer questions about the panels, I have all the information available about them :-))
Thanks for your cooperation.
26th March 2000
" FS98 B717 MK4 Upgrade "
As promised yesterday, I have upgraded the FS98 B717 MK4 to include the RealCRT Flight Plan Mode. This turned out to be more of an upgrade than I originally thought, but it is done now. This now brings it up to Version 4.2s.
To download Click Here
This is the last of the upgrades for the new RealCRT "Flight Plan Mode". I am not going to upgrade the old B747 / B757 / B767 panels as they are far to old.
" Got them here first "
I am very pleased to say that the loyal users of this page had a good twenty four hours start on the rest of the world, with respect to the release of these upgrades and new gauges.
I would also like to officially thank Tony for his cooperation during the production and release of these latest updates and gauges. He unselfishly released advanced copies of the code to me so that special versions could be produced to be released at the same time as the gauges. This was all done just to increase your enjoyment of the new product. Other developers, like MS, would do well to take note of this example that is being set by others.
OK that is probably it from me for the weekend. Have a good one. :-))
**********
My Email is now working again :-))
**********
25st March 2000
" RealCRT Flight Plan Mode released "
I am delighted to announce the RealCRT ND gauge with "Flight Plan Mode" and "Flight Management Computer" is here. You can download them from here right now.
Both Tony D'Ambrosio and myself have also redesigned our existing panels to take full advantage of the new system. You can download them all here.
I have to admit Tony has done a great job and not only added a "Flight Plan" trace to the ND gauge but also a "Course Flown" trace as well. There are other great features in the Flight Management Computer, not to mention VOR2 being added to the ND gauge.
The icing on the cake is the new pacakage is FREE to registered users of RealCRT gauges. If you have not registered, then one payment of $17 to Tony (nothing to me) and you can use all his shareware gauges in as many panels as you wish.
Can I make my usual request :- PLEASE, PLEASE, READ THE DOCUMENTS
*****************************************
RealCRT GAUGES
To download the "NEW" RealCRT gauge package "nd2k_11.zip"
*****************************************
RCS FS2000 PANELS
To download the B717 Version 5.2s Upgrade
*******************
To download the A330 Version 2.0s Beta 2 Upgrade
*****************************************
RCS FS98 PANELS
To download the A320 Version 1.5.2s Upgrade
*******************
To download the A330 Version 1.5.2s Upgrade
*******************
To download the A340 Version 1.5.2s Upgrade
*****************************************
TOP AVIONICS FS2000/FS98 PANELS
To download the TA 747 Version 1.5
*******************
To download the TA 777 Version 1.3
*****************************************
" To follow "
So far I have not had a chance to upgrade the FS98 B717 version 4. If this is possible I will post it soon.
That's it for today, have a great weekend.
21st March 2000
" UPDATE to FS2000 Pro Patch 2 "
Both MS FS2000 Patch 2's have been "withdrawn" with no explaination.
My best guess is there is a major bug in the replacement FS2000.exe file. Since I installed it I have had a number of "system freezes" when accessing the menus in FS2000.
Well done Boys, didn't we do well ?? :-))
OK to get yourself back to square one. Just backup this version of "fs2000.exe" for safety and replace it with your previously backed up version of the "fs2000.exe" file. Or you can just use the "fs2000.exe" file in the original NOCD patch which is still on this site.
I have tested this procedure ( unlike MS ) and it works :-))
I will keep you informed when the fixed patch 2 is released.
Have a fun week.
19th March 2000
" FS2000 Pro Patch 2 "
As you might have heard MS have released Patch 2 for FS2000. I have installed and tested it for the Pro version, and all seems to work as advertised. However the NOCD patch no longer works because Patch 2 replaces the ".exe" file and the old patch does not work properly on it.
However we have a "New" NOCD fix which does work with patch 2. Thanks to one of our kind readers.
Be warned the FS2000 Patch 2 is over 9 mbs.
To download FS2000 Pro Patch 2 Click Here
To download the "New" NOCD fix Click here
I have not yet downloaded the Patch 2 for the Standard Edition, but I will and then post it here.
" Thanks "
Can I just thank the huge number of people that have sent me their messages of support and hopes for my speedy recovery. These good wishes are very much appreciated. It is hoped at the end of this month the medication will be changed and things will improve.
" RealCRT Flight Plan Mode "
I have decided to do conversions on the A320, A330, A340 versions 1.5, A330 version 2 Beta 1, and the B717 version 5.1s Shareware to enable Tony D'Ambrosio's (soon to be released) RealCRT ND Flight Plan Mode gauges to be used.
It has involved not only converting the panels, but also producing special modificd versions of the two support gauges, namely the Radios and Flight Management Computer to make it all work. As is usual I have had full cooperation from Tony, and it is our intention to release the new gauges and panels conversions at the same time. My work is pretty well done, but because I have asked Tony to add a "Course Flown" trace to the ND this has delayed release slightly. Final testing is being done at the moment.
These new gauges will be compatible with both FS98 and FS2000.
I have to tell you, having now used them extensively during the development, they are brilliant.
OK that's about it for now. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Remember the most important thing in flying :- "Think quickly and move slowly"
13th March 2000
" Sorry "
Just a quick note to apologise for the lack of updates on this page. As some of you have guessed, I have not been well again. To cut a long story short, the doctors have been making me very ill in trying to stablise this diabetes. I have not been fun to know recently.
" RealCRT Flight Plan Mode "
On a more cheerful note, I am delighted to tell you the Tony D'Ambrosio is nearing completion of the Flight Plan Mode for the RealCRT gauges. He has sent me a Beta copy for testing and I can tell you it is really good. I know we have been waiting for a long time, but the wait has been worth it. He has also produced a new Radio Panel and FMC which add an enormous amount to the flying experience,
It will be necessary for me to update all the current panels to get the best out of it, but that I should be able to do pretty quickly. Hopefully to coincide with the release of the new gauges.
Tony hasn't told me the release date, but I would guess we are talking soon.
As soon as it is available I will post it on this page.
That's it for now. I hope to have more for you later in the week. Keep the faith :-))
3th March 2000 Extra
" VIRUS WARNING "
Should you receive an email with an attachment file called "Pretty Park" or anything like it. DO NOT OPEN IT. It is a virus, delete it immediately.
It has not been sent to us twice, but fortunately on both occasions it has been killed on arrival.
3th March 2000
" FS2000 SDK Part 2 "
Yesterday MS released Part 2 of the FS2000 SDK. This is the "Aircraft Folder" and "Multiplayer" sections. Sadly the most important bit of the aircraft folder and the bit everybody wants, the "Panels and Gauges" section is still missing.
You can download both parts from here.
" B717 EPR Display"
I am delighted to tell you that soon we should have an ".air" file for the B717 that will display EPR values on the EICAS. It is currently working, but we have to calibrate it so it give true values.
While on the subject of the B717, you would not believe the number of people that email me and say "I have installed it and the gauges are not visible". Why don't they read the Manual that clearly states there is an "Avionics Switch" :-(( Why do we spend so much time in writing the manuals when people cannot be bothered to read them ? They miss so much by doing so. Oh well such is life :-))
" General "
Things have been quiet here on the page for a while, this is not because I am slacking, but quite the reverse. I have been working hard on the DC-3, and it is coming along very well. The latest batch of ideas have now been turned into reality. I have never been one for night flying, but with version 4 night flying is an "Awesome experience". I love it :-))
We are still on schedule for release in around three months time. As mentioned before, when we get nearer release we will give you some screenshots to wet your appetite.
" Help "
Could Art & Wayne Gutschow please email me with their current email address. You were kind enough to send me a DC-3 manual and I cannot find your email address to get in contact and thank you. Your address must have been lost in the system crash.
Alternatively if anyone else know their email address please let me know.
OK that's about it for today. Have a great weekend.
24th February 2000
" New Utility "
I thought you might be interested in a new "module" for FS2000 that replaces the old FS6IPC.DLL that made some FS98 gauges work. This module FSUIPC, is the equivelent for FS2000 and even makes many old FS98 gauges function correctly in FS2000. You will find full documentation in the ZIP. Although I have tested it for my own purposes, I take no responsibility for it, and all queries should be addressed to the author.
" New Server "
I am pleased to say the new ISP Server seems to be doing a good job. After a few initial teething problems the service now seems good and pretty quick. Long may it continue ;-))
" RealCRT Registration "
It has been brought to my attention that a number of people have not been reading the documentation with the B717 Shareware package about downloading ND99_10.zip and have been trying to register the RealCRT gauges without. Then subsequently complaining to RegNet.
RegNet has been sending out emails saying that RCS Panels are at fault for not including the proper documentation. This is totally incorrect and the matter has been taken up with them in the strongest terms, and they now admit they are at fault.
RCS Panels cannot be held responsible for our customers not reading the documentation, or for the actions of RegNet not checking their facts and emailing false information to our customers.
I am more than happy to put my hand up when RCS Panels makes a mistake, but object strongly to being blamed for someone elses incompetence. If you have received one of these emails from RegNet please accept my apologees and if you would be so kind, forward a copy to me at the above address.
" DC-3 Version 4 development "
I am pleased to tell you that the DC-3 development is underway again, and an idea that came to me during my work on the B717 has now proved possible, and now adds another whole layer of realism in version 4. Both Bill and I are very excited about it. Bill had done some wonderful graphical work and I have made the idea work. Unfortunately I am unable to tell you about it at this time because unless we keep it "Confidential" the idea will be stolen before we publish.
To give you some idea of the time scale for publication. We hope to have the package published around three months from now. When we get nearer the time we will be releasing screenshots, so you can see what all the excitement is about.
This version is ALL NEW, and we hope to send a "shock wave" across the Flight Sim community with what we have achieved. It has been very tempting to "leak" what we are up to, but want to keep all the surprises until we are ready to release, so other people cannot steal our thunder :-)) Not even the Beta testing team has seen the work in progress.
That's about it for now. Speak to you soon.
18th February 2000 Extra
" Site Engineering Finished"
After a marathon session I think this site is now back up on the new server and functioning properly. All ZIP files have now been uploaded.
A warning to anyone that has their site linked to my FTP server for downloads, your links will no longer work because the server structure names have had to be changed. Sorry this could not be avoided.
I hope from now onwards you receive better service from this site and faster downloads.
I will now try to catch up on the backlog of emails. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
Have a great weekend.
18th February 2000
" Site Engineering "
The work on the new site is continuing. Hopefully it will be finished today Friday in time for the weekend. Downloads will now be made from my HTTP site rather than the FTP site. Surprisingly this will be quicker than the old FTP download system.
I will advise you when all the wok is finished. As the night goes on more and more ZIP files will be uploaded to the new server. Unfortunately the old one died before a transfer could be made. :-((
Because of the major works in progress, email responses have been very slow, but I hope to catch up later.
Speak to you again soon.
17th February 2000
WARNING
" Major Engineering Work "
To improve the service you receive from this site, major engineering works are being carried out on the ISP Server. Until this work is finished you are likely to experience problems in either, logging on to this page or being able to download files. We are making every attempt to keep the inconvenience to a minimum and do the work as quickly as possible. I ask for your your cooperation and understanding.
15th February 2000
" FS2000 Adventure SDK available "
The FS2000 Adventure SDK was made available from MS a few hours ago. This is long overdue but very welcome. Hopefully the rest will follow soon, But don't hold your breath :-)
Although adventure programming is not my scene I have had a fairly good look through it, and I have to save am quite impressed. It seems to be clearly written and contains extensive information. Certainly much better than any previous SDK.
If you are into programming adventures then you can download it from here. The file is only just over half a meg.
14th February 2000
" Great Night "
Just a quick note to say what a good night the AVSIM Event was in London last night. Hosted by Tom Allansworth and Jean-Luc Neale a good time was had by all. Some very informative speakers and some great new toys to play with. Not to mention some prizes.
It was also nice to met many of you face to face, who I had only ever talked to by email. :-))
If you didn't attend this time, then you really did miss a great opportunity and I would strongly recommend that you do not miss the next event, whenever that is.
" B717 Shareware Version "
I would just like to mention, that I am aware of the fact that the Shareware version of the B717 does not have a GPS / NAV switch to enable you to fly MS GPS flight plans. This is not a mistake. The RealCRT gauges do not support this function at the moment, therefore fitting the switch would be pointless.
" General "
After publishing the B717, I am having a well earned rest. Then I have some work to do with my colleague Tom Corson on the Airbus FMC to make it compatible with FS2000. Once that is finished it is back to the programming of the DC-3, that is until I have the Airbus cockpit photos I need, so I can also restart work on that project.
I am sorry to say that there is little point in emailing me to ask if I will do "such and such a panel". Currently we are fully booked for the next 12 months, and it is very unlikely that any other projects will be even considered not to mention started.
OK that's about it for now. See you later in the week.
Safe Landings :-))
11th February 2000 Extra
" B717 Update "
If you were one of the first people to download the B717 Upgrade, and the manual does not display the images. Just download the upgrade again and overlay the last installation. Sorry, minor problem with an automatic program. :-))
11th February 2000
" AVSIM London Event "
Just to give you advanced notice, I am planning to be at the AVSIM London Event on Saturday, should any of you be going, I would be delighted to see you.
If you do not know what I am talking about, details can be found on http://www.avsim.com
" B717 Release "
There here, Versions 5.1 SHAREWARE and FREEWARE on time and as advertised :-))
Shareware Version Freeware Version
To see larger image click on the picture
I am delighted to tell you that I am very pleased with both packages. Considering we have had no SDK from Microsoft, we have managed to come up with something I hope you will like.
When the panel loads, you begin with the all electronic instrument "Blacked out" until you throw the "Avionics" button, then you can begin the "Engine Startup Sequence" by clicking the "Auto" button on the overhead panel. The engines will then spool up one at a time. Likewise you can shut down an engine by pressing a "Shutdown" button.
As you might already know, neither Bill Rambow nor myself were happy with the way Version 5 aircraft flew, and were actively looking for a new ".air" file
Steve Small has worked hard on the Flight Dynamics of aircraft, coming up with something that pretty well flies by "the numbers". The EPR gauges still will not show any reading, but without input from MS that is not possible. Never-the- less, Steve has done a great job.
My good friend Bill Rambow has also done a wonderful job in creating the HTML Manuals, which are so much nicer and more informative than just a simple "readme file". I know you all hate reading the instructions but you miss so much if you don't. Bill was also responsible for the Internal Views, which add a lot to the panel. Lastly, and most importantly from your point of view, he has also checked and corrected the packaging of the Zips.
With this B717 panel it was not possible to do one package that contains both Shareware and Freeware options. The two panels are fundamentally different but share a common thread. The Shareware version is specifically designed to work with Tony D'Ambrosio's RealCRT gauges. There is a special Autopilot that controls the gauges along with three other seperate switches. The basic RealCRT gauges are packed with the panel, and if you are not a registered user, they will work for 10 minutes before they fail. That at least gives you a feel for what they are like. To stop the timeout, you must register the gauges with Tony. Also to get the MAP functions on the RealCRT ND gauge you must download two extra files (see the Manual for details)
For those of you that have already downloaded B717 Version 5.0 Freeware, I have also produced an Upgrade to take it to v5.1. This upgrade includes all the new features developed as a result of working on the Shareware version and the new Flight Dynamics for the aircraft.
So we have three versions :-
FREEWARE v5.1 Upgrade (you must have v5.0 installed) 484k Download
FREEWARE v5.1 Standalone 4.49m Download
SHAREWARE v5.1 Standalone 4.43m Download
I really hope you enjoy these packages, and have a great weekend.
8th February 2000
" B717 and FS2000 Standard Edition "
I am pleased to inform you that the B717 packages have now been tested on the Standard Edition of FS2000 and work perfectly, as they do on the PRO version. This is a correction to what it says in the v5.0 manual.
" Email Server DOWN "
I am sorry to inform you that my primary email server is down, and likely to remain so until tomorrow morning. If you require an urgent answer, please email me again at roy@roychaffin.freeserve.co.uk sorry for the inconvenience.
7th February 2000
" B717 New AIR file "
As you know neither Bill Rambow nor I were happy about the Flight Dynamics of the B717 package we published just over a week ago, and were looking for a better flight model.
A new Flight Dynamics (.air) file for the B717 has been developed by Steve Small especially for RCS Panels. I laid down what I wanted, and Steve has done the business. The new setup pretty well flies by the numbers, which is a great acheivement. Well done.
There are a couple of things that we are unable to do at the present time because of the lack of the SDK. The most important of which is the missing EPR readout on the EICAS. But I can live with that.
This new file will be released as an upgrade along with other improvements.
We are now one step nearer the release of the upgrade and two standalone versions v5.1 which should be later this week.
Have a great week.
6th February 2000
" B717 Shareware and Freeware versions "
I am pleased to tell you than the development work on the Shareware version of the B717 is finished. We now have to do the testing and documentation. It did require the programming of a number of new gauges, but the end result was worth the extra effort. An unexpected bonus was the Freeware version also gained some benefit.
You can now set the Barometric Pressure for the altimeter with the mouse, Shutdown the engines with a switch on the panel, plus you have a digital chronometer in the MFD, and a proper working Avionics switch.
I will be putting out an update for the Freeware version to bring it up to v5.1 at the same time as releasing the Shareware version of the same number. For those of you that have sent in practical suggestions for improvements, most of them have been incorporated.
I will also release a complete Standalone Freeware v5.1 for those that haven't got the original version 5.0.
I am pleased to tell you that considerable progress is being made on the new B717 aircraft. It is now much nicer to fly. There is still a long way to go, and a number of nasty problems to overcome, but I am hopeful that we will have something good ready for the release of the above.
OK when are they coming out ??? My best guess is sometime during the coming week, but I am feeling really ill at the moment, while they try and get this diabetes under control, and it is slowing the whole process down. :-((
" Thanks "
Can I thank you for reducing my email load. I am sorry if it sounded like I was ungrateful with respect to hearing from you in my last post. That is definitely not true, but the pure numbers of queries just asking about things that are in the manual was becoming a major problem. I am more than happy to give technical support to my own products, but do draw the line when asked to support my competitors products as well. :-(
Anyway your restraint over the past few days has really helped a great deal to reduce the load. Thankyou :-)
That's about it for today.
Have a great weekend.
3rd February 2000
" Warning "
My ISP is changing the server this site is on over the next week to a faster and better one, in the hope that service to you will be better. This might mean short outages or hickups, so please be patient, and do not email me about any problems until I let you know here that the transfer is complete.
Although I appreciate your emails, I do get around 80 a day, and it does take massive amounts of time to answer them. That is time that could be used for development.
" General "
Where does the time go ?? Email I guess :-))
OK, it seems that the B717 panel has been fairly well received. I have found a couple of problems that are not connected with the aircraft, and will fix them in due course. It seems it is pointless me saying in the documentation"We need a proper FS2000 B717 because many things do not work properly" Because my mail bag has been stuffed full of people telling me that you cannot do this or that, or the aircraft does funny things
I KNOW, THAT IS WHY I BOTHERED TO PUT IT IN THE MANUAL
Good new is, a new B717 aircraft is being worked on as I write this, and I hope we will have it available soon. Please do nt email me to ask when. As soon as I have it and it is tested you will have it too.
Work is going on fairly well on the Shareware version 5 of the B717, I am having to make fairly serious changes and write new gauges for it to work properly. I am hopeful we might have it within the week, but no promises.
I never cease to be amazed by some of the requests I have in the mail. It seems that a large number of people just do not understand the thousands of hours that go into producing a single FS add-on. "Could I just do a XXXXX when I get a minute" ?? At present I am working 16 hours a day on FS work and totally ignoring my proper job, and still people are not satisfied. Sorry just having a moan.
I hope to put out a modification to the Freeware version 5 of the B717 as soon as we have a proper FS2000 aircraft. So please be patient.
" New GeForce "
I understand there is soon to be yet another better and faster GeForce graphics card, call the "Quad" or something like that. More Money :-(( and just in case people think I get free bits you could not be more wrong.
I also know there are new drivers out for the GeForce boards, but I have heard that there are problems with them, so I have not installed them. Any information from you on how the work would be most welcome.
OK time I got back to programming. Speak to you soon.
30th |January 2000
" B717 Versions 5 "
Here we are, as promised the release of the FS2000 B717 Version 5. This is a completely FREEWARE version. This is a major upgrade of the previous versions of the panel. Although it is a "Standalone version" I do emphasis it is an upgrade and not a redesign from the ground up.
This panel makes great use of some of the MS gauges, and has a number of other purpose built ones. The Throttle Quadrant has been completely redesigned so it is functional and mouse controllable.
You will also find internal views to make use of this feature within FS2000, This is all thanks to my good friend Bill Rambow for doing the graphics.
Although it is packaged with an aircraft, we are in desperate need of a purpose built FS2000 B717, so that all the instrumentation works perfectly and it handles properly. Bill has done as good a job as possible with reworking the Flight Dynamics, but neither of us a really happy with its performance.
I know you all hate reading the documentation, but I would strongly suggest you do. Bill has done a wonderful job with the manual and you will get so much more from the panel if you do.
To enable me to get this out to you on schedule the testing has been kept to a minimum. Having had to completely redesign a gauge through the night last night did cut out the possibility of the Beta Testers getting to see it. However I think what we have works well on any machine that will run FS2000. I have run it through the bank of machines here and it performs well.
Anyway enough chat. I hope you like it.
The file is 4.3 mbs, so it is a fairly substantial download. Please be patient because the server can only handle a certain number of people at once. The package will also be up on AVSIM.com and Flightsim.com in the next couple of days.
To download Click Here.
Enjoy :-)
29th |January 2000
" B717 Update "
OK we are in the final stretch with the B717 Update. The major programming is done. I finished the last gauge about an hour ago. My good friend Bill Rambow has finished the internal views and is working on the Manual.
We now have the tidying up to do, and the testing to make sure it all works as advertised. Unfortunately we have not had time to get it to the Beta Testers, so we will do that onsite in the next day or so.
Although the panel is really an upgrade from previous versions, it will be a Standalone package, and is a major improvement on the previous versions. I hope you like it.
I am still hopeful that we will get it out before the end of the weekend, probably late Sunday. So watch this space.
That's it for now, back to work.
Have a great weekend.
25th |January 2000
" Update "
I have now finished work on the Virus problem and have purged the systems here of the thing.
I have two further comments to make. Firstly although it will not remove the virus once it is installed, "Norton Antivirus 2000 v6" will protect you against it once your system is clean. For $36 it is well worth the money. You can download it from http://www.symantec.com but be warned it is 27mbs, with a further 2mbs of update. You can also order it by post.
I also think we have tracked down the source and will be taking action to ensure it does not happen again.
Lastly, I also found a file called "ae.kak" in the route directory, that is a copy of the infected "autoexec.bat" this also needs distroying. Don't worry if you don't find it, as it sometimes does not appear.
I have now checked the removal system several times to make sure that it works, and it does.
OK now I can get back to being a programmer rather than a Virus Hunter.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
24rd |January 2000
" EXTRA WARNING "
I have now done more research on the "KAK" virus, and it does not seem to be understood or found by the major Anti Virus Software products. They name it, but then say they have not further information. Furthermore the software doesn't seem to protect you against it, or at least remove it properly from your system.
Over the past 24 hours I have done a great deal of research and testing work on it and proved that the procedure below will eradicate it, but you have to be persistent to make sure you stay free of it. It only takes one regular correspondent with the virus to keep it going.
I have also found one more step that is necessary to remove it from your system.
Do a "find file" including "hidden" files in Windows Explorer for any file with an ".hta" extension, and delete them all.
I now have my email system and server back online and you are safe to email me again. I would respectfully ask however that you check your systems and remove "KAK" before you email me :-))
"B717"
Unfortunately the B717 project has been hit by this last waste of time, but we still hope to have it out before the end of the weekend, but do ask for your understanding. We did not want to be responsible, even unknowingly for infecting your machines. So better we came offline until it was safe, and put the time into coming up with a cure.
Have a great week.
24rd |January 2000
" WARNING "
During the weekend, someone has emailed us a VIRUS, called "KAK", which I think ways up my feelings for the person that originated the silly little virus.
I would strongly advise you to check your systems for the unwanted present. It is spread particularly easily because it attaches itself as a "Signature" to your outgoing emails.
The easiest way to check to see if you have it, is to look in your Windows directory for a file called "kak.htm" or "kak.hta". Secondly if you use Outlook Express under "Options" look in "Signature" and see if it has enabled signatures and pointed at the file "kak.exe".
You will also find a number of ".tmp" files in you Windows directory, which can be deleted.
To remove it from your system :-
1. Run a good virus program if you have one. If you don't you really should have. Most however seem not to stop this one getting on you system.
2. Look in your "Autoexec.bat" and any other "Autoexec.???" files in your route directory with your favourite text editory and remove any lines containing the letters "kak"
3. Remove the "kak" entry from your Start...Programs.....Start Menu.
4. Do a search in your registry for "kak". Start...Run....Regedit.....Find....kak. and remove any entry that contains these letters.
5. Do a "find file" including "hidden" files in Windows Explorer for "kak*.*", on your entire system and delete any file by that name.
6. Do a "find file" including "hidden" files in Windows Explorer on your entire system for any file with an ".hta" extension, and delete them all.
7. DO NOT reboot between any of these steps, and only do so when you have done all the steps above..
8. Once you have rebooted, do all the searches again to ensure it has gone.
Good Luck
There are some very sick and stupid children out there :-(
RCS Panels and Roy Chaffin will stay offline until we are 100% certain that we have cleared it from our systems. If you are waiting for an email reply please be patient, as we do not wish to pass on this virus to anyone.
We also know for certain that we are not the only ones that have been attacked with stupid childish game.
Have no fear, I will still do my best to bring you the B717 this week :-))
I will keep you posted on this site.
23rd |January 2000
" WOW !!!!!! "
I have just returned from a relaxing weekend with some dear friends, during which I celebrated my 52nd birthday on Saturday. I was stunned to be greeted on my return by the news that the team have been awarded the :-
for Version 3 of the DC-3. What a birthday present :-))
I know I speak on behalf of the whole team in saying how much we appreciate this wonderful award from AVSIM, and thank them most sincerely for their recognition. Please visit http://http.www.avsim.com to read their wonderful review.
They haven't seen anything yet, wait until version 4 :-))
On behalf of Bill Rambow, Jan Visser, and myself, many thanks for all your congratulation emails and continuos support. It is going to take us a couple of days to answer them all, but we will answer each and every one.
From a very happy Bill, Jan, and Roy have a great week :-))
21st |January 2000
"B717 FS2000 Upgrade"
I am pleased to say I have made good progress over the last 24 hours on the B717 panel. The basic panel is finished; Bill is currently working on the views; The Beta testing has to be done and we have the documentation to write. With a bit of luck we are looking at a release date of sometime next week.
If you would like to see a 640k screenshot of the finished panel Click Here.
I have to say that we are in desperate need of a good B717 FS2000 aircraft and cannot find one. Bill has done a great job on reworking an existing FS98 version, but we both agree it is far from good.
Most of the aircraft you find advertised as FS2000 are just hacked FS98 versions and because of the differences in the two versions of the Sim, they do not convert, no matter what the so called experts say.
At worst we will supply the one we have with the panel, but would really like a new one that was designed for FS2000.
As the weekend is upon us again, have a good one. Personally I am having a weekend off, and will not touch my PC until Monday. See you next week :-)
20th |January 2000
"Progress Report"
Just to keep you up to date with progress on the various projects.
The B717 upgrade to FS2000 is well advanced. I am working on the FREEWARE panel at the moment, and would hope to have that finished in a few days. I might have to program a couple of new gauges for it, but hopefully that will not take long. Unlike the DC-3 and the Airbuses, this is not intended to be 100% accurate, a little artistic license is being used here. This is also not a build from square one" project, but and upgrade, and as such, it will not have the outstanding features that other of our projects do. However having said that it will be a quality job with an nice flyable feel.
We do have a major problem with it at the moment, in as much as we do not have an FS2000 compatible B717 aircraft. My right hand man on the team here at RCS Panels Bill Rambow is working on converting one as you read this, so we are hopeful. If anyone knows where there is a 12 point model of the B717 available, please email me.
There is still a lot of work to do on this project, but I would hope to have the FREEWARE version 5F of the B717 released in a week or so. The Shareware RealCRT version 5S will follow a few days there after.
The Airbus update project is well advanced, but is currently on hold for the flight deck shots to be done, and there is some major programming of the additional features still to be done. No forecast release date is available yet.
Version 4 of the DC-3 is now moving forward very well. We have masses of work yet to do on the gauges and panel, but we can at least now see what has to be done and we are steadily progressing. The panel, aircraft, and sound are being done from square one. This is not an upgrade, this is a complete redesign and rebuild. You only have my word for it at the moment, but this is turning out to be stunning, and will be our best work yet by a long way. This version will not be released for some months yet, as we are determined to get it right before release.
Believe it or not we pretty well have our year planned out already, and we haven't reached the end of January yet. Every day brings new offers and requests, especially from the Commercial Companies, but so far we are resolute to keep what we do FREEWARE.
That's about it for the update. I hope you all have a good week.
Safe landings :-))
Remember :- Every landing you walk away from, is a "good one"
18th |January 2000
"Pirate Update"
It appears that the files that were found on "Noble Amsterdam" were left over from the previous offence from yesterdays pirate, and his name was already in the "Hall of Shame". Therefore I apologize for posting this persons name a second time for the same offence and have removed it from yesterdays entry. This error was not brought to my attention by the offender, but by one of our readers. Thanks Peter for letting me know.
I am always quick to hit offenders, but I am also not slow to admit when I have made a mistake and apologize. I have emailed him to that effect.
17th |January 2000
"Another Pirate"
I am sad to say today we add another name to the "Hall of Shame" for using a number of my gauges in different panels without even asking for my permission, or giving me credit.
Shame on - XXXXXXXX
As always I will use every means at my disposal to bring justice to bear on this thief.
If anyone finds any of his panels on the various sites that contain RCS gauges please email me without delay.
"Good News"
On a lighter note, I have just spent five days getting to the bottom of a real nasty problem I had come up against in programming for FS2000. I have finally come up with the solution, and can now move forward, but it does mean redoing some previous work in light of this new knowledge.
I have been asked to do an update of the B717 panel for FS2000, which is currently being done. I hope to have it available soon.
Not much else to report at the moment, unless you want the inner thinkings of a gauge programmers nightmares, and I a sure you don't.
Have a great week.
15th |January 2000
"Urgent message"
Could "Con Lawrence" of the BBC in London please contact me again by email. Your email address as supplied on your recent correspondence is INVALID, and all my replies are continually returned. Thanks
13th |January 2000
"NO CD patch"
Just a quick update. I have had many emails to tell me that the NO CD patch available here does work on the UK, French, and German releases of FS2000 and the Standard version as well as the Pro version.
11th |January 2000
"General"
Not a lot has been happening at this end over the past four days. I have just had my head down programming for version 4 of the DC-3.
"New Utility"
My friend Chuck Dome has produced a utility to enable FS98 gauges to be converted to show "Pink" night lighting when used in FS2000. This can be downloaded from here by clicking on the link below.
I will tell you now this utility DOES NOT WORK on my RCS gauges so don't even bother to try. All it does is invokes the inbuilt "Security System" and renders the gauges useless.
One gentleman (and I use the term loosely) emailed me today and asked me when don't need me to tell you my response, but it boiled down to "I wasn't. I thought I would share this with you, as it gave me a good laugh earlier in the day :-))
Click Here to download utility
"FS2000 Pro NO CD patch"
Just as a reminder, the NO CD patch you can find on this site only works with the US version of FS2000 Pro. Sorry it seems I forgot to mention this when I posted the file.
That's about it for today. Have a great week.
7th |January 2000
"General"
Here we are at the start of another weekend. Where did the last week go ??
My feet are now recovering well and I am able to stand and walk reasonably well. Another couple of weeks should see me back to normal.
I have spent most of the week gauge programming and we are making good but slow progress on some exciting new things.
I hope to be fit enough soon to get the Airbus photos I need so I can finish that project, and get the release version out. Sorry for the delay but it has been unavoidable.
"DC-3"
Jan has produced a new version of the R4D (DC-3) aircraft for FS2000, which has some wonderful new propellers amongst other things. This is a must to download, and you can get it here first :-))
That's it for now. Have a great weekend.
4th |January 2000
"General"
At last I have been able to get back to the PC for a while, and get some work done.
During my enforced lay off, I was able to spend a lot of time thinking about how various things were done, and could be done within FS2000, and have made some very advanced breakthroughs, which I have now tested. These I cannot tell you about, because I want to use them exclusively in the FREEWARE products RCS Panels produces. But trust me when I say I have come up with things that would never have been possible if the SDK had have been released earlier. The lack of the SDK forced me to thinking about things in a depth that I would otherwise have never done.
The development of Version 4 of the DC-3 is now going at a pace. Bill has done some wonderful new Bitmaps and Cockpit views which are being incorporated. I have started the long process of redesigning virtually all the gauges from scratch. Bill has done new graphics for them all, with a great deal of interference from me :-)) and things are going well.
Without getting your hopes up to high this version is going to blow your mind. To Give you a clue, we are even designing a completely new Throttle Quadrant with proper "bent" levers just like the proper ones. I have been in this business for a while, but I have to admit I am very excited about what we are doing here.
I am sorry to say there will not be any Beta releases of this panel, the first you will see is maybe a couple of screen shots later on, and then the full release. However you patience will be rewarded.
"Airbuses"
Because of my enforced absence from the PC, the AIRBUS development has been set back a few weeks, but it is moving again now. I hope to have more for you by the end of January. We still have many problems to overcome, which are being caused by the lack of the SDK, but we are getting there.
"Health"
I am still making progress with my health. Everyday seems to bring a slight improvement. I am able to stand reasonably comfortably now, but can only walk very carefully and not very far.
I thank you all again for your good wishes and support.
I am very grateful for your restraint in sending me emails requiring answers and ask you to continue that, so that I can try to spend what little time I have at the PC on development.
"GeForce"
I have now used the GeForce Pro more and emphasise what I have said previously. I will just add, that people with very high end PC's that are running efficiently can experience frame rate increases of 10 frames per second over the TNT2 Ultra, but for this to happen you have to have better than an Intel Pentium III 500 mhz processor MINIMUM.
That's about is for today. Thanks for being so understanding about the slow update rate on this site recently.
Kindest regards, Roy
1st January 2000
A HAPPY NEW YEAR
2000
30th December 1999
"Health Update"
I hope you have all had a good Christmas and got lots of new toys :-)
For my own part, Christmas is probably better forgotten about, as on Christmas Eve I was positively diagnosed as being diabetic, to add to the other problems. This was not the cause of the foot trouble, but certainly did not help.
Anyway now for the good news, my feet are now healing well, and I am able to stand, be is very gingerly, and walk a few steps. To say my feet are sensitive would be the understatement of the century, because what skin is there is very new and thin, but this is great progress. :-))) I hope to be completely back to normal in a few weeks.
As far as being a diabetic, well we need to get that under control, which will take some time, but we will.
"Thanks"
Once again many thanks to everyone that has sent supportive emails. They have all been read to me, and extremely welcome. Also thanks for being understanding about me not replying.
Although I will be spending more and more time at the PC in weeks to come, I would be obliged if you could keep the emails that require a reply down to a minimum for the time being.
"GeForce 256 Annihilator Pro"
My Geforce 256 Annihilator Pro was available on Christmas Eve, but with all the other goings on, I was unable to get it fitted. However that has now been done and I can give you my initial findings.
Installation was very straight forward when upgrading from an TNT2 Ultra.
FS2000 frame rate improvement was small set against the Creative Riva TNT2 AGP 32mb Ultra. Some panels run a little faster and a couple slower. The DC-3 is still the best by far.
The FS2000 crash problems that were experienced with the TNT2 seem to be a thing of the past, as to are the horizontal colour corruptions in FS98.
There is no difference in frame rates between the various resolutions in FS2000.
Where this card comes into it's own, is when used with a game that is designed to take advantage of its features, such as Quake 3. Then the improvements are really worth while.
Many people have asked what the difference between the Pro and the Standard version of the GeForce card are? Well in simple terms the type of memory on the card. The "Pro" has a faster type of momory, and is the ONLY one to be considered in my opinion.
In summary, is it worth the money ?? Well if you are thinking of upgrading from the TNT2 Ultra to the GeForce Pro to get frame rate improvements. NO.
If you want to loose the corruptions in FS98 or Crashes in FS2000 YES.
If you currently do no have a TNT2 Ultra, no matter what else you have I think the answer is a positive YES.
You pays your money, and takes your chance.
Sorry this report cannot be more in depth at this stage, but I have to keep my testing very limited, and what I prefer to do is give you MY feelings and findings, rather than someone else's thought's that I am just repeating.
"General"
I will now try to keep this page updated as normal, but email responses will still be very limited.
Wishing you a great New Year.
Roy
24th December 1999
"Merry Christmas"
Hi, this is Roy in person, to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I hope the Festive Season brings joy and happiness, and a few new toys :-)
As you know I have been unable to update this page for past week, but with any luck will be able to again early in the New Year. I am hopeful that we have now turned the corner and have started on the road to recovery.
Although I have not been able to respond to your emails myself. It has done wonders in keeping up my spirits, to receive the hundreds and hundreds of goodwill messages from you all. You will never know just how much it has meant to me, and how much it has helped. Thankyou
I am still unable to respond to email, and am likely to be for a while, but keep the faith, I will be back. I have not been idle in my absence, I have been doing the "thinking part" of the development for version 4 of the DC-3 and the new versions of the Airbuses. This will save time and produe a better product when I can again get back to the keyboard for longer than a couple of minutes.
Have a great Christmas and fantastic New Year.
See you in 2000.
Roy
18th December 1999
"Welcome to the Team"
It gives us great pleasure to announce that we have invited Steve Small to join our Beta Team. For those of you that don't know Steve was one of those that inadvertently fell foul of the copyright situation. However to use Bill's words, Steve has proved to be a "Class Act" in the way he has dealt with the whole incident.
We at RCS Panels pride ourselves in being very honorable people, and Steve has proved to be a very worthy addition to the team. Welcome aboard Steve.
"Sad News"
I am very sorry to tell you all, that although one of my recently injured feet has healed extremely well. The other one has gone horribly wrong. Without going into the gory details, one burn seems to have gone to the bone, and it has become infected with a Antibiotic Resistant Infection. Things are not looking good :-(
I am telling you this, not to get the sympathy vote, but because I am temporarily unable to operate my PC either to update this page or answer emails, and I would not want you to think I no longer care because you do not get answers to your questions.
For the time being, I will get someone to read me your emails, but will be unable to respond. If you have any burning questions (not a good choice of words), could I ask you to send them to Bill Rambow, who will do his best to answer them for you, or if he cannot, he will communicate with me and get back to you in due course. I am very sorry for this inconvenience, but I have no choice.
Bill email address is :- rambow@erols.com
"Thanks"
Can I just take the opportunity to thank all of you for your wonderful support through the piracy problems. You have been Brilliant.
Just in case I don't get a further chance, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
God be with you.
Roy
16th December 1999 Part 2
"For you interest"
Just as a final comment on a subject dear to my heart, I would like to share with you a "rebuttal statement" that my friend Bill Rambow wrote with the intention of posting it on the AVSIM Forum where the "Fire Storm" has been raging. However he decided not to, probably wisely, so as not to fan the flames--and flamers--there.
Having read it, I have decided to post it here, because it states so clearly, exactly what we both feel about the current situation.
To read the statement Click Here.
We have now got a mass of development work to do, so we are drawing a line under this incident and moving on.
Have a great day.
16th December 1999
"Site update"
As you will see I have made some significant changes to these pages in the last 48 hours, and tried to pull out all the Tips, Fixes and Panels and put the on there own pages to help you find things more easily. I have also created a couple of new pages, so you can find useful things when you need them. I have also archived the last couple of months news so the download times are quicker on the News page. I hope you find these changes helpful.
Being a developer rather than a Webmaster, I prefer to spend my time creating new things, but understand that is not a lot of use if you can't find them.
I have moved the "Pirates" to their own page. It is depressing to keep seeing them on this page. In future they will appear here for a while and then be moved.
"Fire Storm"
I hear a few very vocal people are creating a fire storm on the AVSIM Forum about the way I am dealing with "Pirates". Well my reaction to that is "TOUGH". I spend thousands of hours creating add-ons for you to all use for FREE, and expect nothing more than respect and the occasional appreciative email for doing so.
These add-ons are for the use of the end user, and not there to make other developers lives easier (commercial or freeware). I have the right and I exercise it, to insist nobody else can publish them either as is or modified without my prior express written permission. This right is quite specific and protected under International Copyright Law.
It would be nice, if people respected my views without me having to be "Heavy" about it, but the simple answer is there are a determined small group of people that do not, and they are spoiling it for everyone.
The unfortunate consequence of this is occasionally there are innocent people that get caught up in this not realizing what they have done. As I am not an unreasonable person they are dealt with in a sympathetic manner.
Many of my colleagues and friends have already left the hobby because of this very problem. I, on the other hand, am prepared to stand and fight, and fight I will, using every weapon available to me.
On a more pleasant note, can I just thank the various people that have sent me supportive emails, and fought my corner in the various Forums, this is unnecessary but welcome.
I can assure you while there are people out there that want to use what I produce, I will still keep producing it, and defend my right for it not to be stolen, by whatever means are necessary.
"A330 Freeware Beta"
I am currently working on the Freeware Beta of the A330, for those of you that do not use Tony's RealCRT gauges. Depending on how much time I can get at the project, it might be available before Christmas.
Work is still progressing on the Full versions of the FS2000 Airbus panels. I am dependant on two things. One access to an Airbus cockpit, to get the necessary internal pictures for the views, and the SDK to solve some of the more knotty problems of FS2000. I have been promised the Airbus access by one of our readers early in the new year, once I can walk again. Which is fantastic. There are also rumors that the SDK might be out before March, which also would be good.
"DC-3 Version 4"
Bill Rambow, and I are working hard on Version 4 of the DC-3, and it is progressing well. Bill is producing all new Bitmaps and views of stunning quality, and I apart from helping Bill am working on new gauges for it. Rather than tinker around the edges, we are really starting again with many of the areas. New aircraft, New sound, New panel, and New Gauges. After that there is not much left really :-))
We have been asked to put out and intermediate version, but have jointly decided that we do not wish to do this. When we publish it, you will have the lot in one go. So you are going to have to be patient.
"FS2000 Upgrade problems"
There do seem to be a number of problems with the FS2000 upgrade. The biggest of which seems to be problems with the installer.
Apart from the "Weather.DLL" problem, many people have now got missing gauges in the default panels.
The installer seems to remove the old gauges but not replace them with the new ones. This you can do manually, if you open the "----.exe" file with Winzip.
1. Run up Winzip, File Open, change to All Files, and then double click on the "---.exe" file.
2. You will now be presented with a list of all the files in the Zip.
3. Drag the missing file, ie. Boeing~1.gau to your desktop.
4. Rename the file to whatever it is meant to be (See panel.cfg file) ie. Boeing777-300.gau
5. Place the new file in your FS2000 gauges folder, and all should be well.
Sorry about the amount reading to do today, but there was alot to tell you.
Have a fun week.
14th December 1999
"Yet another "Scum Bag" to add to the list"
It seems that not a day goes past without another name being added to our growing "Hall of Shame". This time it is the DC-3 that's been hacked and published by an Australian.
Shame on - XXXXXXXXXXX
(As a full apology, and acceptable explanation has now been received, the name of the offender has subsequently been removed from this post)
Thanks again goes to one of our readers for spotting it. However this time we were trying out some new software that scans the net, and it came up with this one at exactly the same time. So beware "hackers" we now have the aid of modern technology tracking you as well as eagle eyed readers.
I think we might run a competition to find the person that can find the most "Pirates" in the month. Good idea ??
Have a good one. :-))
13th December 1999
"Airbus RealCRT Voodoo II gauges"
As promised hear are the FS2000 Voodoo II compatible RealCRT gauges. Tony has been working hard on solving the compatibility problem, and has done a wonderful job. Even if you do not have a Voodoo II card, I suggest you download these latest versions. Click Here to download.
"FS2000 Fix Problems"
If you have downloaded the FS2000 FIX and have run across a problem after installation like many. (me included on a friends machine), where you get a "Weather.DLL" loading problem when you run up FS2000 after you have installed the FIX. Then the instructions below are the only way I have found to solve the problem.
1. Uninstall FS2000.
2. Reinstall FS2000.
3. Run up FS2000 once and close.
4. Install the FIX.
5. Run up FS2000 and all should be well.
This is long winded and very annoying, but it seems to work.
"FS2000 Fix"
If you have the FS2000 PRO version, you can download the FIX from my FTP site by Clicking Here. Be warned it is 8 mbs in size.
If you have the Standard FS2000 I am sorry you will have to download it from the MS site, as I have not been able to download that version yet.
That's it for now. Have a great week.
12th December 1999
"Captain Pugwash Panel"
It has been suggested by one of our readers that I should do a "Captain Pugwash Panel" especially for the "Pirates". This idea could have merit :-))
Many thanks to "Jim Oates" for bringing a little humor into what has been a torrid few days. :-)
"FS2000 Upgrade"
I have now had a chance to have a quick look at the FS2000 Upgrade. Yes I can seem some differences, but faster frame rates is not one of them. The pauses seem to have gone, and it is smoother.
They seem to have solved one problem with the way FS98 gauges display, but there are still very many that won't.
I have heard a couple of people say that gauges are now missing from Default aircraft, but I have not had chance to check that.
System crashes still seem to happen. We had hoped it would be more stable, but that does not seem to be the case.
Altogether it is worth putting in the Upgrade, but do not expect it to suddenly make everything OK, because it will not.
Prepare to want to put you fingers down you throat when you read the "Readme" file that comes with the upgrade. It makes you want to throw up. If they think we are going to swallow that "load of horse shit" they are living on the planet Zog. It would be nice if MS gave us credit for having some intelligence.
OK back to reality.
"Tip"
If you ever find that FS crashes and then will not load a particular panel without crashing every time. Open each ".bmp" file in the panel folder,in PSP 5 or Photoshop 5 and save them. Open "panel.cfg" in a text editor and save that.
This should solve the problem and the panel will then come up properly.
This is just a trick that I use as a developer to save having to reinstall a particular panel when for some reason FS corrupts the files.
OK have a great weekend, or what's left of it.
Safe landings.
(Thanks to Randy Kelley for sequencing the Christmas Music)
11th December 1999
"Yet More Pirates"
Would you believe it, tonight we have two more Pirates, or should I call them THIEVES because that is what they are.
Shame on - Michael Swannick
and
Shame on - G. Gott
Can I thank the readers of this page for seeking them out. Out of these two, one was down to a reader and the other to me.
Just in case you would be THIEVES have not got the message yet, I have declared war on you, and I am letting all my fellow developers know when I find you have stolen there work as well.
My lawyers haven't stopped smiling all week. So far they have had four new sources of income in one week. We are going to have a wonderful Christmas. :-))
"Good News"
The FS2000 patch is available on MS FS2000 site. There are two versions, one for the Standard version of FS2000 at 6mb and an 8mb one for the PRO version.
I will try to post them on this site tomorrow. But with all the pirates I haven't had a chance to download them myself yet.
Have a great weekend.
9th December 1999
"More Pirates"
Item now moved to "Hall of Shame"
8th December 1999
"New entry for the Hall of Shame"
Item now moved to "Hall of Shame"
"Download from this site"
Having wasted a good part of the day dealing with the above. I am pleased to tell you that I think the download problems from this page are now solved. Other than sometimes being locked out when there is high demand, you shouldn't experience any more problems.
"Email"
My primary email address roy@roychaffin.com is now back online, however the backup one is still in operation should you ever need it. Both addresses are checked several times and hour, and neither is given priority.
"FS2000 FIX"
According to sources the long awaited FIX for FS2000 is due out this Friday. I will advise you on this page as soon as I see it.
I wait with baited breath to see if it is any good, and really addressed the various problems.
OK that's about it for today.
The weekend is not far away.
4th December 1999
"FS2000 FIX"
According to information on Flightsim,com, MS will be releasing the "FIX" for FS2000 next week. It has gone out to Beta testers today. The full information can be seen on Flightsim.com.
"A330 Version 2 Beta 1 for FS2000 only"
As promised here is the Beta version of the A330. This is only for FS2000, although it will run on FS98 there is absolutely no point whatsoever in using it on that sim.
This Beta version will NOT run on Voodoo II video cards, as we currently have a problem with the RealCRT gauges and those cards.
The package does include a new 12 point aircraft which is freely available from the Net, but has been slightly modified for use with my panel.
I emphasize this is a BETA panel, which mean WORK in PROGRESS. I know there are some problems, so please read the various documents with the package, and don't email me about things I already know about. This is not meant to be a finished perfect release edition of a package, but just something to keep you going while I continue the work.
You will probably also find that the frame rates are not wonderful with this panel. This is down to a couple of gauges and is being worked on.
To download the package Click Here. It is around 2 megs in size.
"Best wishes"
Can I just thank all of you that have sent your best wishes for my speedy recovery. That was unnecessary but very welcome. Thankyou.
Have a great weekend.
3rd December 1999
"Run off my feet"
As you have probably read that my exhibition was a great success, however what you will not have heard, is when I was taking down the show I was walking about the gallery in bare feet and stepped on some toxic substance, that someone had brought in on the bottoms of their shoes, and am now suffering from serious chemical burns to the soles of both feet.
After substantial treatment in the local hospital I am now virtually unable to stand or walk, which is going to be the case until they heal in a few weeks time. The lengths some people will go to, to make me sit at my PC and develop FS panels :-))
The good result of this however, is the A330 Beta is virtually ready to post on this site.
"RealCRT problems"
The only thing that is now holding up the release of the Beta A330 is we have discovered a problem with the RealCRT gauges in FS2000. Namely they are incompatible with Voodoo II. The other forms of Voodoo seem OK. Anyway Tony is working on the problem, and we will post a fix on this site as soon as it is available.
I will try to post the A330 Beta for those of you that do not have Voodoo II cards during this weekend.
"FTP site problems"
I have been talking to my ISP and they are working on the "Download problem" some of you are having with my site. They are going to have to change the server which my site is on, which might take some time. However we will solve the problem, just bear with us. Personally I have found using Internet Explorer 5, it does seem to work properly.
"Nvidia GeForce"
I am still waiting to get my hands on Nvidia's latest video board. The GeForce. I had a chance to get one of the cheap versions, but choose not to, in favor of waiting for the Pro version that is due here in the UK in a couple of weeks time.
Early indications seem to say that it is not that much faster than the TNT2 Ultra unless you are running a game that was designed to take advantage of it. As is usual on this page you will get an unbiased report as soon as I get hold of one.
"New Toy"
To take my mind off my very painful feet, I have got myself a fantastic "New Toy" which was delivered today :- A Sony 24" Widescreen Monitor.
Whoow :-)))) <Mega Grin> What a piece of kit.
This is going to make both flying and developing a real joy.
On this happy note I will wish you all a happy weekend, and get back to putting the finishing touches to the A330.
Safe landings
29th November 1999
"FTP site problems"
A number of you have reported that sometimes there is a problem downloading from this page. I have checked it many times and emailed you back saying it is OK. However I have just found a minor problem, which might have caused you difficulty.
Unfortunately fixing the problem is down to the ISP so I would ask you to be patient. I will get on to them on Monday, and hope to get it fixed. I will announce it here when the problem has been sorted out.
Have a good week.
28th November 1999
"Email back online"
My proper email address is back online again. Sorry for any inconvenience it might have caused. However the secondary address is always operational should it be necessary.
"Exhibition Finished"
I am very pleased to say my Exhibition was a huge success setting new records for sales and is now finished for another year. It was nice to meet a number of you in person. Once I have recovered from my exhaustion, I will be back to my FS work.
"Airbuses"
I would hope to have the Beta version of the A330 (which contains only the changes to make it compatible with FS2000) available within the next week to ten days. I remind you that this is a BETA and will not be as polished as a full production release. The reason for putting it out early is, I know from your emails, that you are getting fed up with the FS2000 default panels.
I am also testing the various versions of the A330 that claim to be FS2000 compatible, at the moment to include one with the package.
For the future, I have also had an offer from one of our readers of this page, to supply me with full views of the Airbus cockpit, so we can produce proper FS2000 views all round the cockpit. It is hoped this will be included with the full production version of the panel when it is finally released in the new year. That is a great offer and will massively increase the enjoyment of the users.
OK, that is enough out of me for today, as I am very tired, after a successful but exhausting weekend.
Best wishes
26th November 1999
"Email Down"
Sorry folks, could anyone that has emailed me in the past 24 hours please send them again to my secondary email address roy@roychaffin.freeserve.co.uk My normal service provider has let me down.
25th November 1999
"Nearly done"
Sorry it has been a week since my last update. As I warned you the Exhibition preparation has had to take priority. To those of you that have emailed me with your best wishes. Many thanks. For those who are going to pay me a visit. I will be pleased to see you.
It will all be over on Monday, so then things should return to normal. I hope.
"Warning"
In the odd moments that I have not been rushed off my feet, I have been doing some work in trying to unravel the nightmare of programming for FS2000. Let me start by offering a warning. What you cannot do is take a FS98 aircraft or panel, call it FS2000 and post it on Fightsim.com or AVSIM.com. Well you can but expect a huge number of people to email you and tell you it doesn't work. This is happening very regularly.
Most to the Aircraft posted as FS2000 compatible that you see at the moment WILL NOT run properly, because the .AIR files are not completely compatible with the program.
Most of the panels posted at the moment, that is other than the ones that are just "hacks" of the MS defaults, do not work properly.
A great number of the gauges that have been developed for FS98 will not run properly in FS2000.
All this is because the criteria for Aircraft, Panels, and Gauges have been drastically changed between FS98 and FS2000
To give you examples, you will get everything from:- Things shutting down when they shouldn't. No digital Displays, Reversed reactions to Keyboard or Joystick inputs, to Rubbish information being displayed on instruments, and system crashes.
So far I and a couple of others have managed to untangle much of the "Black Magic" but there is much more to do. MS could make our jobs much easier, but are reluctant to release the SDK. I wonder why this is ??? My guess is money is behind it. I strongly suspect that some commercial companies have paid to get a few months head start on the rest of us. A nice little earner for MS is suspect.
Firstly I do not think this is playing fair, if this is what is happening. Not because MS do not have the right to do it, but because they are not being "up front" about it. If this is not the case there is absolutely no reason why the SDK cannot be released now. I have suggested this to MS but a "Stone Silence" was the response.
Second, do they really think that is going to work. With FS98 the Freeware developers smashed the Commercial companies out of site with the quality of there add-ons, and we will do it again, even if we do start with a handicap.
Already we have jointly discovered many of the secrets of FS2000 developing and are learning more every day.
"Good News"
While on the subject, I have now done 90% of the conversion work on making the A330 Beta that is on this site completely FS2000 compatible. As far as having a working Beta version, I am two gauges short of finishing the update before we start developing it to take advantage of the extra features in FS2000. However do not get to excited, these last two gauges might take some time, because there are more secrets to discover to make them work properly. But the good news is, we are on our way.
I will probably post the Beta of A330 on this site before development continues, so you have something to play with in the mean time.
Anyway that's it for now. I hope to have more for you on Monday.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the that part of the world.
Have a good one :-)
18th November 1999
"My Excuse"
As promised a few hours ago, here is an idea of why this page has not been update quite as often as I would have liked recently.
On Friday 26th, Saturday 27th, and Sunday 28th November I have a major exhibition of paintings of Wildlife Art (my paying job) open to the public at my studios and gallery. The Exhibition is Free to enter, and everyone is welcome whether to buy or just look.
This is one of many brand new paintings that will be on show for the first time.
"Ghost of the North"
This picture was named by Vicki Rambow, wife of my good friend and fellow creator of the DC-3 package Bill Rambow.
It depicts a Canadian Great Grey Owl, one of the most magnificent birds in the world. The original Painting is measures 18" x 14" and shows every detail of the owl. (Unfortunately for obvious reasons the size of the image on this page has to be kept to a low resolution, but it gives you an idea).
If you would like details of the Open Weekend, or more about the other side of my life, please Click Here.
If any of you are able to travel to the exhibition I would be pleased to see you, and have a chat.
Flightsim work will start again at full pace immediately after the show.
Have a good week.
17th November 1999
"Piracy"
Item now moved to "Hall of Shame"
While we are on the subject of Piracy, for those of you who are wondering, my quest against the Commercial Pirates is still being pursued with great vigor, and will be until we are totally successful. For legal reasons I am unable to tell you anymore at this time. However in the fullness of time you will get the full story.
"General"
I must apologize for the lack of posts on this site for the past week. I have my biggest Wildlife Art Exhibition of the year coming up in just over a week and have been working round the clock on finishing the latest batch of paintings for it. Unfortunately even I have to earn a living from time to time.
I will post information and a thumbnail on this page later today, just so you can see I have not been wasting my time. :-)
Speak to you later.
9th November 1999
"DC-3 Patch for Versions 2 and Version 3 Upgrade"
As mentioned earlier this is the "Final Patch" for Version 3 Upgrade (which you can apply to version 2 if you still fly it). This is not required for the "Standalone" version.
This Patch includes a new flight model with outstanding ground steering. Slow, unsynchronized gear retraction/extension by Eric Mitchell. Plus a new FS2000 Sperry Mark III AP fix by Arne Bartels. (This patch is already included in the Standalone version).
For the patch Click Here.
Although certain names are attached to the various modifications. it is worth pointing out that the whole team plays a very active roll in all these changes, and they also deserve your thanks.
OK, Version 3 is now completely finished. We are now concentrating on learning the inner workings of FS20000 and producing Version 4, which we hope will completely blow you away :-) In the new year.
"No Show Gauges with the DC-3"
I have now completed a considerable number of tests on the "Panel Switching Problem", and the "No Show Gauges" problems that a very few people have been experiencing with our DC-3.
The final results of these tests are as follows :-
1. The problems are brought about be the built in security system in the gauges, in combination with a number of other factors. Unfortunately because of persistent piracy, I am not prepared to remove the security system.
2. Most of the problems can be solved completely by "Cold Booting" your system and closing all programs except "Systray" and "Explorer", that is unless your system is so low on spec/resources that it is unreasonable to expect it to be able to run such a complex panel.
3. If however, you do what is suggested in Para 2; have an adequate system, and you still experience problems, then an upgrade to Windows 98se (second edition) should cure the problem. So far all people with an adequate system, have had total success by upgrading to Windows 98se..
Investigations of the problems have now stopped. My thanks to everyone that participated in the investigations.
That's all I have to you for now, Have a fantastic week.
8th November 1999
"DC-3 Version 3 Standalone"
As promised on Friday, here is the "DC-3 Version 3 Standalone" which is fully compatible with FS98 and FS2000. This is a complete versions 3 that does not need any previous versions or upgrades. Everything is contained in this package.
It has the latest of everything. FS2000 compatibility, Ground Steering capability, Newest R4D aircraft.
For those that have Version 3 already, that has been arrived at by the various upgrades there IS NO BENEFIT in downloading the standalone version 3. This is for the NEW user that has not got DC-3 version 3.
Be warned, this is a major package which comes in two parts. You need BOTH. They are 5.2 and 7.1 mbs in size.
Part One is 5.2 mbs Click Here
Part Two is 7.1 mbs Click Here
We have split it into two parts to help you with the downloading, rather than one file of 12.3 mbs.
Please not the demand for these files is likely to be pretty high, and because of the size it is possible you could experience problems with downloads due to the number of people allowed onto the FTP site. If you do, either try later, or look on AVSIM from the 9th November onwards, or Flightsim.com from around the 11th November onwards.
"DC-3 Version 4"
Other than one minor additional fix that should come up here later today for FS98 DC-3 version 3 (Upgrade), we are intending to do no more upgrades to version 3. All efforts now are being focused on Version 4 which will utilize all the new functionality of FS2000, including :- many cockpit views, night lighting gauges, new 12 point aircraft. etc. etc. This will not be available until the New Year. We are working on this as fast as possible, but know how much work is involved , so emails asking for it earlier will probably get a less than polite response :-)
OK that's it for now. Have a great week.
5th November 1999
"DC-3 Version 3 Standalone"
I am pleased to tell you the "Full Standalone" version of the DC-3 / R4D for FS2000 and FS98 will be posted on this site on Monday. If you have installed all the various updates that have been posted on this page, then there will be nothing new for you. We have produced this version so that "new" people to the panel can make one installation without having to do all the various upgrades.
Just in case you have been on the Moon for the past few weeks, I will say again that this DC-3 panel gives better than twice the frame rates of the default panels with FS2000 even though it is much more complex. :-))
"FS2000 - NO CD fix"
If you have installed a "Full Installation" and are sick of having to put the FS2000 CD in the drive every time you run up FS2000 then Click here for a "NO CD fix. Just follow the instructions in the included Readme file and off you go.
I have tested it personally and it works like a charm. As a developer, who needs the CD drive for other things at the same time as FS2000 it is a real joy.
"Airbus Panels"
If you are one of the many people that are eagerly waiting for the Airbus panel upgrades, here is a tip that may enable you to use them in the meantime :-
If your video card will allow you to set to a resolution of 1280 x ???? in FS2000 then do so. You should find little degradation of frame rates and the Airbus panels will work reasonably well. I know there are gauges that are slightly difficult to read and text that is not clear, but at least you can use them while I am upgrading the panels to be fully compatible.
That's it for now. Have a great weekend.
1st November 1999 Special
"RealCRT Update"
If you have been waiting for the update for the RealCRT gauges to make them work in FS2000, you wait is over. You can download them from here now Click Here.
Please make sure you read the included documentation carefully and follow the instructions.
Now this upgrade is available, more priority will be given to upgrading the Airbus panels for FS2000, but it is unlikely to be a quick fix, so be patient.
"Flight Unlimited III"
It has come to my attention that the latest NVidia Drivers for the TNT2 video cards do not seem to be compatible with FU3. We are looking into this and will advise when more is known.
Have fun.
1st November 1999
"New Utility"
If you are NOT running Windows 98 and cannot use "MSCONFIG" to temporarily stop unwanted programs running, when wanting to use FS2000, FLY, or FU3, there is a very useful utility available called :- "End It All" which will do the job for you with one mouse click. Click Here to download it. I have tested it and it works perfectly.
Thanks to Khun Rei for bringing this splendid utility to my attention.
"End It All" will also run in Windows 98 and NT.
Enjoy :-)
31st October 1999
"DC-3"
We now have got a much improved MDL file for the R4D thanks to Jan's hard work and have incorporated in the Zip file the new AIR file that gives the great "Ground Steering" as well as a slower cycling time on the Landing Gear. To download Click Here.
We now feel Version 3, with all the new changes, is now by far the best DC-3 package there is anywhere. The whole team has been working hard on the improvements, but the icing on the cake was certainly Erik Ellis's modifications to the ground handling.
You can expect the "Standalone" version 3 in the next few days, and possibly one further additional change to the "Upgrade" version 3. We will then have closed the books on Version 3 and will be working exclusively on Version 4 which will invoke much of the new functionality of FS2000. This version however will not be published until the new year.
"Download Difficulties"
If you are by chance experiencing difficulties logging on to my FTP site for downloads. This is because demand is such that the server cannot cope. Please be patient and try again later. I am truly delighted with the number of people that visit this site regularly. There is no limit to the number of people that can read the site, but there is to the number than can download from the FTP site at any one time.
"B717 Upgrade"
Work is continuing on the B717 upgrade for FS2000, but I have to be honest I have run into a few problems, so it might take slightly longer than expected. Having to figure out the inner workings of FS2000 without the SDK is sometime more difficult than expected. Anyway that is my problem.
Have a great week
29th October 1999
"FS2000"
I have just spent an hour setting up a lower specification test machine for FS2000. So as to give everyone a chance to understand what to expect from FS2000.
I choice the following specification:-
Intel Pentium II 300mhz chip, on an Aopen LX chipset motherbord. 98 mbs (non PC100) RAM, Soundblaster Live sound card. Voodoo Banshee 16mb video card (with latest drivers). It is running Windows 98 Second Edition, with a full install of FS2000, at a resolution of 1024 x 768 the maximum the card will support.
I have deliberately disabled all the "rubbish" that loads in the lower right had side of the screen, except for the "Speaker". This means we have a clean machine.
*** TIP ***
For those of you that do not know. With Windows 98, if you go to Start, Run, and type "MSCONFIG" return, you are presented with a loading choice screen where you can decide what is and is not included when the system boots. Handle this with care, because you can cause funny things to happen. However learn how to use it and it is a very powerful tool. I would suggest that you only change things in the "Startup" tab first, and do not remove the tick from "Systray", "ScanRegistry", "TaskMonitor", and "RegisterDropHandler". You then are asked to reboot and the system will come up with only those things you have chosen.
With the above situation, and reasonable amounts or scenery detail and dynamic scenery, with the DC-3 a constant 20 - 35 fps was achieved. It was a joy to fly.
The above PC is hardly "state of the art" these days and it performs extremely well with FS2000.
Just in case you did not spot it lower down this page do not forget there is now a new AIR file for out DC-3 that you can steer on the ground. What a joy :-)
That's it for now. Have a great weekend.
28th October 1999
"B717 Package"
I have just tested my old B717 packages on FS2000 and can tell you that these are not compatible. This you might think is a sadness, but on the contrary I am delighted :-)
I will explain:- Version 1 of the package was the one that was "Ripped Off" by the commercial company, and who are still be pursued vigorously for copyright infringement. Therefore what they have is useless for FS2000, a fact that I am extremely delighted about.
OK, neither of the B717 packages are any good with FS2000, therefore I am going to produce a new B717 package as soon as possible. At this time I do not know how long this is going to take, but hopefully not long. Keep your eyes on this page for announcements and even Beta versions as I get it together.
"FS2000 System Crashes"
I know some people, me included, have been experiencing some system crashes with FS2000. My experiences so far have proved that many things are causing this, but here are a few ideas that might help.
-
A clean Cold Boot is even more essential than with FS98.
-
No other programs must be running in Windows.
-
Windows 98se (Second Edition) seems more stable.
-
A default panel should always be your startup panel.
-
Sound Events seem to trigger crashes quite often (an old FS98 problem) So turn off things like Auto Weather report, by changing the COMS Frequency. Also turn off other unnecessary sounds.
-
Don't be to eager to give a stream of commands to the simulator immediately it comes up. Let it get it's act together for a while.
I have personally found these things work for me, so it is worth giving them a try.
That's about it for today.
Enjoy your flying.
25th October 1999
"New TNT2 Detonator Drivers"
I am not sure how long they have been available, but last night I found some new NVidia TNT2 Drivers on their site, Version 3.53.
I have now been using them for 24 hours and they seem better than the previous ones. Slightly faster and less corruptions in FS98 on my machine.
If you fancy trying them I have put them on this site for you, just Click Here.
Installation was painless, just run the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
"General"
Not much to report otherwise, work is continuing on the various projects. I have now got the new ISDN system working properly, which certainly makes uploading and downloading files very much quicker.
Can I take this opportunity to thank all those people that email me and thank me for this page. It is very nice to know that all the work that goes into it is worthwhile. So often in the Freeware world people take what we do for granted, as if they have a right to it. So it is great to hear when things are appreciated.
The weekend will soon be here :-)
24th October 1999
"DC-3 Handles on the ground"
I am delighted to tell you that my friend Erik Ellis, who is a professional B747 Senior Captain from "down under", has managed to put the finishing touches to the ".AIR" file that many of us here, have worked on, so that it "handles brilliantly on the ground". This file works equally well with FS98 or FS2000.
Many thanks Erik, from all of us for doing the seemingly impossible :-)
To get the new file Click Here, and follow the instructions in the attached Readme file.
I wish it was not necessary to say this, but because this is the first DC-3 (tail dragger) that handles properly on the ground, we will be watching very carefully for pirates. There is no doubt, that no matter how many changes you pirates might make to this file we will know our own work, and will come down on anyone that tries to pirate this file and publish in any way, like a ton of bricks. You have been warned.
That's about it for now, have a fun week.
23rd October 1999
"FS2000 No Brakes Message"
I was asked if the annoying "Brakes" message can be removed from FS2000. Well no sooner said than done, Click Here for a modified replacement file that will remove the messages. See Readme for instructions on installation.
"FS2000 will not run"
I have noticed that in some configurations that FS2000 will not run, and tells you that the CD-ROM is not the proper one.
I have a machine here with a top of the range Yamaha 4416 Rewriter as the ONLY CD device in the PC. You can install FS2000 and when you try to run it, it refuses the proper CD Disc 1 suggesting it is not the proper disc. No matter what you do it will not run FS2000.
My current thinking is that this has got to do with "Safe Disc" copy protection that is on the USA version of the software.
I have no objection to "Safe Disc" stopping you copying the original CD, although I think not being able to make a backup is somewhat stupid, a situation we have had here in the UK for some time, but when you can't run the program with the original CD that is just ridiculous.
I have subsequently put a second CD-ROM drive in the offending machine and it runs perfectly. If anyone else has a similar problem let me know.
"FS2000 Frame Rates"
Yesterday I received a report of frame rates with the DC-3 of 65 (that's right sixty five) with a P2 333mhz 128mb RAM, G400 max video, Creative Awe64 sound card. This was in 1280 x 1024 16 bit, and default FS2000 options. I was sent a screenshot to prove it. Now that isn't bad. :-)
On the subject of frame rates I have heard a great deal of "crap" spoken on this subject. Let me just state a little known fact. The human eye cannot detect frame rates greater than 25 - 30 fps, so all this garbage about needing higher rates is jut that. "GARBAGE"
Anyway on that pleasant thought, have a great
weekend.
23rd October 1999
"Special DC-3 Upgrade"
We made a "Cock-up". If you have already downloaded the DC-3 Version 3 Upgrade there were four gauges missing from the Zip. To get them Click Here.
The Upgrade Zip has now been fixed so if you haven't already downloaded it and want to Click Here. (The link below also works)
Sorry about the error. We try our best and sometime "Screw up" :-(
Have a great weekend.
22nd October 1999
"DC-3 Upgrade"
Here is our promised DC-3 version 3 upgrade. This will make the DC-3 compatible with FS2000. All we have included in this Zip is the new files, you still require the original Zip files (available on this site) for the other parts. This version will work with FS98 and FS2000.
Tests have revealed that our DC-3 gives between 2 and 3 times higher frame rates than the default panels as supplied with FS2000 on most PC's. If this panel does not run smoothly, you either need to change your options in FS2000 or upgrade your PC.
We will be releasing a "Stand alone" version 3 in about a week or so.
To download the new Version 3 upgrade Click Here.
While we are on the subject of upgrades. we have an upgrade to the DC-3 aircraft, to give it moving Landing Gear. Each leg moves independently just like the real aircraft. To download the new files Click Here.
That's it for now. Have fun.
20th October 1999
"FS2000"
The major work is now completed on the "Update" for the DC-3 for FS2000. It is a joy to fly. We have decided to release TWO versions for you. One will be an "Update", for those of you that already have the two big downloads to get you to version 2. This upgrade will just give the you the changed files only, and it should be available within the next day or so. The second version will be a complete stand alone version that can be installed without any of the previous stuff. This will not be available for a week or so, because we wish to make many changes to the documentation, and test it thoroughly.
I was interested to hear that MS are about to release patches for FS2000 panels to speed up the frame rates for their default panels. The problem with the originals, was a couple of the gauges like the Artificial Horizon have a far to higher "refresh rates" that take masses of processing power. This means the gauges move smoothly with high frame rates but the scenery does not. I had noticed that our DC-3 even with its complexity, ran much faster than the default panels.
All this is great news for everyone, because it means with well designed gauges the frame rates will not be as bad as most people had thought. This means the "Hot Heads" that rushed out and bought FS2000 and then rushed back for a refund, before the Freeware experts got at it, have got there just deserts :-) Seriously I am very pleased that to top Freeware Developers can still show the professionals how it should be done :-)
I have now found out that MS are somewhat reluctant to release the full SDK, which is somewhat strange ?? However we didn't have one to mention for FS98, and managed to figure it out, so I don't see the problem with not having on for FS2000, it just makes development slower.
I have now had much more time to play with FS2000 and it really is growing on me hour by hour. Once I have converted the Airbus panels (which will take some months) FS98 is going to be consigned to the Recycle Bin. There is masses of functionality that I haven't even touched on yet. I would like a couple of weeks just to play, but I know you want the conversions, so I must split my time and develop as well, as work and play.
"APB for FS2000 in the UK"
I am issuing a request to all UK readers to look out for FS2000 in the shops. Rumors are circulating that some outlets will have it on sale in the UK before the official launch in mid November. If anyone spots it in a UK shop please email me so we can post it on this site.
That's about it for now.
Have fun.
19th October 1999
"FS2000"
I have now had more experience with FS2000 and it is growing on me by the minute. The weather (clouds and rain) is stunning.
There is however a down side. Unless there is something that I have not yet found. The Software Developers Kit which is meant to be included in the Pro version, is worse than useless. Developers like me are totally in the dark as to what they have changed and what is necessary to develop new gauges that are compatible with FS2000. It is down to calculated guess work.
Having said that I have just re-engineered the dozen or so gauges that had to be redesigned to make the DC-3 compatible with FS2000. I got lucky with a few guesses I made. There is still a couple of things to do, but it now works great, looks great, and flies like a dream.
All being well you should have the DC-3 version 3 (for FS2000 and FS98) within the next few days.
Bye the way the Pro version is meant for "Serious Flyers" and is meant to have more functionality. However I have not tried the Normal version.
Although FS2000 needs some heavy weight machinery to get the best out of it. I think it is great ! For once Microsoft have done us proud.
Safe Landings.
18th October 1999
"FS2000"
I received my version of FS2000 this afternoon. First impression is Whow !!
Forget all the "crap" you have heard about what it will and will not do and take an objective look at it and you have a "Brilliant" product in my opinion.
Is it fully developed and finished, with the best aircraft and scenery ? NO
Is it the basic engine behind a simulator for the future ? A very strong, YES
Speaking as a developer FS2000 is going to knock all the others for six, it has so much potential.
OK where do I start. Well if you expect to get all this wonderful stuff from an already clapped out PC then forget it. You will be able to run it with many feature turned off, but not realize it's full potential. If you run it set up like FS98, so the graphics look like it etc. then it will run much the same, perhaps a little better. However to get all the super graphics capability you need a very powerful PC indeed.
I have been running it on my standard PII 450mhz 250mb RAM and TNT2 32meg Ultra and it runs fine. But even then you cannot turn on everything to FULL.
If I can remind you when FS98 first came out, you couldn't use its maximum capability either. I had a state of the art machine at the time and it had more potential than the current PC's were capable of. Well the same is true here. However in a few months time all will change, as is always does. I think MS have been extremely clever in designing for the future and well as now.
I have heard many people whinging on about how slow the frame rates are on FS2000, however these people don't really live in the real world. They want the best possible quality out of poor equipment.
The Release notes say that the minimum is a P166, and that is probably true. However if you want decent resolutions and options turned on, I would suggest the PII 266mhz is probably the lower limit, and PII 400mhz is more resonable.
There is however a very important thing to mention. If you have not got a good quality 3D accelerator card with a minimum of 16mbs on board, forget it. I would also say the same about memory, if you haven't got at least 64 mbs of RAM you are wasting your time.
"Bad News"
My Airbus panels are not compatible with FS2000 at all. They will not work properly. This is no great surprise because I have been told that most of the more advanced panels will not work.
Furthermore RealCRT gauges are not compatible either.
For the Airbus panels to work on FS2000 all the gauges are going to have to be redesigned in line with the new FS2000 SDK. This is going to take months. As a result all major development has been halted on this project temporarily.
"Good News"
Although the DC-3 is not completely compatible with FS2000 (something we already knew). With the redesign of six gauges it will be. This I hope to have done in a fairly short time.
Version 2 can be used in FS2000 now, but some of the text in the upper panel and in a couple of gauges is corrupt. Plus four of the engine gauges have needles in funny places. All can be fixed. I hope to have it out in time for the UK release of FS2000.
To my great surprise and delight, because of the design of the DC-3 panel and its gauges, early indications are, that it runs about four times faster than the default panels as supplied with FS2000. This means I already have the knowledge to bring out add-ons that will out perform the default ones :-)
"General"
It is early days with FS2000 and as I find out more I will give you much more information. So keep your eyes on this page for more details.
But I have to say in conclusion, I think MS have produced a fantastic product with FS2000, but you must have the equipment to run it.
Keep the faith.
14th October 1999
"FS2000 Bill's findings"
As promised Bill Rambow has forwarded these comments.
Bill says :-
I have only had time for a short trial after installation, so these
are first impressions only.
As for the frame rates, they are definitely slower than FS98, but in
full screen mode, not bad at all. Keep in mind, my PII 266 is not a
high end machine, and it says it is "optimized for a P-III, though
it's not required." I would say that is putting it mildly.
I want a
faster machine, but it's not in the cards at the moment.
The panels overall are quite nice, but the aircraft are a mixed bag.
The B737 and B777 are atrocious looking! I would never bother to
download such horridly painted planes! What on earth is MS thinking?
The KingAir and Concorde, on the other hand, are very nice indeed.
In fact, I want to take liberties with the female co-pilot of the
Beech! <g> The Mooney is mediocre, and the older planes,
Cessnas,
etc, I haven't looked at yet.
The incorporated GPS looks, at first glance, to be not bad. Panels
include a lot of freeware developed innovations, like auto-brakes and
flight directors, and there's a nice tip of the hat to we third party
types in the manual. Night panel lighting now consists of red
lit gauges, rather than the overall ghastly red lighted panels of all
previous versions.
I haven't had much chance to look at the scenery in detail, but
night time Chicago is very, very cool.
Virtual cockpits are absolutely stunning! Looking around at
the flight deck, and in the smaller planes, the passenger cabins, is
very realistic. This maybe the greatest piece of artistry in the
sim. Although I must say I was very disappointed when I turned to
chat up that smashing young Beech pilot only to find a very nicely
painted empty seat on my right! Story of my life. :-(
"FS2000 General"
Back to Roy again.
I understand a full installation is advised for better performance, and that means 1.1GB of disc space. Time for another "muck out" or new hard drive.
To save numerous emails, We are aware that the DC-3 version 2 is not completely compatible with FS2000. We will be working on a new FS2000 version over the next few weeks. I just ask you to be patient until I get to grips with the new program and have the time to reprogram some of the gauges. Bill will also be working on the changes to the graphics.
Keep the faith.
13th October 1999
"FS2000 Released"
Just in case you have been on the planet ZOG and have missed the news, FS2000 was released in the USA today. (UK release is expected in 3 - 4 weeks)
Normally being so far behind is a major disadvantage, however if the FS2000 Forums are to be believed, it might be an advantage not to have it available right now.
It seems that lower end machines and even the mid range PC's cannot cope with it. High end PII and PIII owners seem to be the only people that are happy with the performance. So it might be sensible to do some serious reading before you dash out and spend your $'s.
The major complaint seems to be "Frame Rates". Many people are reporting low single figures or worse. I suspect some fine tuning of FS2000 and PC's will be necessary. Personally I cannot comment because I have not yet received my copy. Being here in the UK causes the odd problem. However thanks to my good freind and colleague Bill Rambow and copy of FS2000 Pro is winging its way to me as you read this.
I do have a number of machines here of different specs, so I will be able to give you some comparative numbers, and facts, rather than hear say evidence.
Bill has promised to send me an initial report later today, which I will reproduce here for your information.
On the good side, according to the Forums, it seems the scenery, aircraft, weather and functionality are fantastic, but the panels could be better. Well we can do something about that, can we not :-)
Keep you eye on this page. I will update as often as information is available.
Safe landings.
11th October 1999
"FLY - New Product"
I have been looking at a new utility product that lets you get inside the EPD files in "FLY" which shows great promise.
I have been waiting patiently for "Official" tools to be released to enable me to look at and maybe develop new stuff for "FLY". But they seem reluctant to release them, saying they are not ready. My answer is, if they were good enough to develop the original product, then us other developers could manage as they did. Anyway sadly we don't have them.
However to the rescue comes a very cleaver chap called Chris Wallace who has been working on a Freeware package called "EPD Explorer". This enables you to look inside and edit some of the files within "FLY". This is a BETA product and therefore is not "all singing or all dancing" but it does let you look and modify many things.
If you would like a copy Click Here.
"Flight Unlimited III"
I have done a little more testing on Flight Unlimited III, and have found out a little more about the product. Plus I have looked at one or two of the Forums.
I was very alarmed to hear on the Forums that the cockpits had NOT been improved because it would have cost to much ?? There is a "Lame" excuse if I ever heard one. It was suggested that it would take a team of five several months to produce each new cockpit and blow the budget ?? Why can us Freeware Developers do it in the same time, with many fewer people and come up with a better product ??
Anyway back to basics. The frame rates are pretty awful on all but the very highest spec machines. A PII 450mhz with TNT2 (32mb) and 250mb of RAM with everything turned on is fine. However a PII 300mhz with Voodoo Banshee (16mb) with 100mb or RAM is dreadful with everything turned on.
A tip, try turning off some of the options in the scenery. You would think it would decrease the quality of the graphics, but in many cases it improves them. I know that sounds strange but give it a try. Turning off some graphics options also helps the frame rates.
The main complaints on the Forums are the frame rates and the cockpits.
I have to say the "Rain Effect" was always good even on version 2, and 3 is not exception. However the cumulus clouds are pretty dreadful if compared to the other products around.
My feeling about this product as with "Fly" it has been rushed out to get a bit of the action before FS2000 hits the streets and totally wipes them out. I will not claim that this is an original idea, but one I certainly subscribe to. My general opinion has not changed; If you enjoyed version 2 then this is worth buying, but if not then save your money.
"FS2000"
FS2000 has "Gone Gold" (which means the product is finished and gone for production) and is expected in the USA shops between the middle and end of October. Sadly the UK users are going to have to wait a further 4 weeks before we can buy it. Why ??
All I hear from reliable sources, says it is going to be a great product, and well worth the wait. As usual you will get the "Blunt" facts here.
That's about it for today. Sorry for the slow rate of updates on this page at the moment, I am having to concentrate on painting pictures for the next six weeks, and try to keep up with other things at the same time.
Have an enjoyable week.
5th October 1999
"Missing Time"
I don't understand where the last five days have gone. Well perhaps I do, that matter of piracy has taken a great deal of it. However on a more cheerful note.
"Flight Unlimited III"
As you would expect from me, I have been looking at Flight Unlimited III. We have all heard the "Hype", does the product live up to it ? In my opinion NO.
On a good note, the scenery is slightly better than version II, and is it's best feature. However my initial feeling was it was no better than "Fly" and the sky was certainly worse.
The "Front end" of the product is nice, easy to use, and things are fairly intuitive.
The Aircraft are limited to "light stuff", with nothing more substantial than an ExecJet. There are plenty of interesting aircraft moving around the airports, but you cannot fly them (as far as I know). A couple of the flight models seemed reasonable, but the majority were pretty unrealistic.
The panels where not the strong points in versions I and II, but in version III most of them are worse. Even with the resolution turned to 1024 x 768 on a 17" monitor the visual quality is disgusting, with many instruments hardly readable. There is a variation in quality between the various aircraft, but the general quality is way below the standard we have grown accustomed to.
The sound quality isn't bad, but I am not convinced by most of the engine sounds and just in case you were wondering the irritating voice that shouts "Clear" when you start the engines is still there. Yuk :-(
On the positive side, those huge marker boards in Version II giving runway numbers etc. have gone. (I do know there was a fix for this in version II)
The product comes on 3 CD's. Installation Disc, Scenery Disc 1, and Scenery Disc 2. However if you are in the UK (like me) the discs are titled Disc 1, Disc 2, and Disc 3. This might not seem a problem until you come to install it, when the on screen instructions are given for the NON UK version. For example when doing the Typical installation you start of with Disc 1, and then at about 74% complete the on screen instructions ask for Scenery Disc 2, which in the UK means Disc 3. I ask you how stupid can you get ? I see "Disc 2" on the screen and because that is the next one in sequence, put that in and wonder why it kept complaining. I am sure I will not be the only person to do that. Except now, you have been warned.
While we are on the subject of installations. A FULL installation is a massive 2.1GB and a Typical installation is 710MB. I thought that "Fly" was bad enough with 1.6GB.
My conclusion. If you really liked Version II, then you will probably like this. If on the other hand like me, you were not impressed with it, or have got bored with it, then this is not for you. I would save your money for FS2000 which has absolutely no competition from this product at all.
My opinion is that FU3 developers have just looked at the basic products that are put out, MicroSoft FS98 or Fly and tried to compete with them, and even then not very well. I suggest they have a look at the FREEWARE add-ons and see where the FlightSim world really is. Flight Unlimited III would not have impressed me a year ago, and it certainly does not now. Sorry.
"Airbus Information"
A number of you have kindly sent me Airbus information, for which I am very grateful. I am however still short on information on the A330 and A340, so if you have any I would be very pleased to hear from you.
On the subject of my Airbus Panels, a number of you have asked when the new versions will be available ? I hope to have version 2 out be Christmas, and maybe a Beta 1.7 out before then. I am sorry it has been so long, but learning to program, research information, and one or two other irritations have delayed things. Anyway enough excuses, back to work.
Have a great week.
30th September 1999
"Gerneral"
I was delighted to see the launch of the "International Flight Simulation Association" yesterday, not because I played a small part in it, but because I believe it is something that is desperately needed by the whole Flight Simulator community. This association deserves your support when you have the opportunity to join in some weeks time.
"Piracy"
I am sad to have to tell you that personal negotiations between the company that has published my B717 (version 1) package as part of a commercial CD and myself have totally broken down.
Owing to the fact that the company concerned is monitoring this page, it would not be sensible for me to declare the next moves here. However I can tell you the process is far from over, and is only just beginning. If Freeware is going to continue, and I am firmly committed to it doing so, we have to stand and fight, and we are going to do just that.
We already have a great team lined up, but if there is anybody that has anything to offer to help in the fight, then please email me at the usual address. roy@roychaffin.com
"Airbus Information"
My friend and mentor, Tom and I, are working on a Flight Management Computer for the Airbuses, and we are desperately short of data. We need operating data for all Airbuses, but most of all the A320, A330 and A340. Things like Takeoff and Landing speeds/weights, N1, etc.
If anyone has such information I would be very pleased to hear from you.
That's about it for today.
Have a good flight.
29th September 1999 Extra
"Special Announcement"
The International Flight Simulation Association (IFSA) is proud to announce it's formation. An initial group of individuals (see list below), representing all facets of the simming community, including freeware, shareware, and commercial developers, publishers, and web sites, have come together to begin addressing issues that will help our avocation and hobby thrive well into the future -- for ALL who love it.
We are currently in the process of formulating the structure, policies, membership requirements and services. As you can see, the intial group reperesents a wide variety of members of the community including freeware, shareware and commercial developers as well as commercial publishers. We anticpate having the initial charter ready to present within the next few days.
We look forward to inviting each and everyone of you to join in the near future, and to participate in taking the Flight Simulation world to new heights of realism and community.
Initial Participants (Alphabetic sort):
Tom Allensworth, Mungo Amyatt-Leir, Aaron Anderson, Marty Arant, Miguel Blaufuks, Roy Chaffin, Mike Clark, Richard Donaldson, John Eisenhour, Alex Ford, Tom Gibson, Chris Grall, Steve Halpern, Kenneth Kerr, Roger Large, Guy LaRochelle, Trev Morson, Robert S. Randazzo, Michael Renous, Stefan Schaefer, Robert Kirkland, Enrico Schiratti, Bill Schulz, Harvey Stein, Randy Whistler.
We are working on expanding this list as we move forward, and we will be establishing a number of public forums to obtain your input and information on how the Association can best serve you, the flight simulation enthusiast.
29th September 1999
"Oops"
Four days have slipped past without a post on this page. Sorry I have been concentrating on a number of important issues. More about that later.
We have discovered a minor bug in the DC-3 version 2. About 1 in 10,000 people are experiencing invisible gauges even when they have been properly installed with version 1 gauges present.
As I always believe in honesty, and the truth is, this is being caused by the security system within the gauges. At this moment I have no idea why this is, but I am working on finding a solution if there is one. I am sorry if you have this problem, but I would ask you to bare with me.
Unfortunately the option of removing the security system is a non starter, with the amount of piracy that is going on currently. I sincerely wish we didn't have to resort to such things, but honor and respect seem to be a thing of the past.
"FLY"
I have just started looking into the inner workings of "FLY" to see what the possibilities are with respect to developing for it. As you are probably aware we are still awaiting the tools for development, although the Scenery Tools have just been released.
I will try to keep you posted on what I discover.
Unfortunately that is it for today.
Keep the faith.
25th September 1999
"Emails"
I am delighted to say that all the emails are now answered. If you have not had a reply, it is either that you sent it today or I did not receive it.
"DC-3 Upgrade"
I have now produced a fix for the couple of people that were having problems with the Upgrade. This has been sent out to the affected people by email.
Your responses to the Upgrade have been wonderful. On behalf of the whole team, we are delighted you like it, and thank you for telling us.
We have already started work on the preparation for DC-3 Sound Package. Without sounding big headed, we feel we now have by far the best Aircraft, and Panel, so we are determined to have the best sound package as well, to complete the set.
"Future Projects"
Many people have emailed my and asked what is next. Well we still have work to do on the DC-3. Plus a mass of work on the Airbuses which have taken a back seat while I have been fine tuning my programming skills on the DC-3.
I am however pleased to say I am just about to start on a completely new project. This is something entirely different for me, a "T38n Talon" (the NASA jet chase plane). This is going to be a 9 - 12 month project, and will be especially designed for FS2000.
I am sure this will excite some people and leave others cold. But I like new things, and a new challenge, and this is certainly going to be that.
"Piracy"
Many of you have emailed me with your support and asked what is happening on the piracy issue.
Discussions have been going on with the company since my last post on this page, and I was reasonably confident that a honorable settlement was going to be reached soon after I returned from holiday. However that now seems unlikely.
It is now most probable, that the full story will be published on this and all the other major Flight Simulator sites within the next couple of weeks. Watch this space as they say.
"General"
Flight Sim work is going to have to play a slightly lower profile in my life for a few weeks, because I have some serious painting to do. For those of you who don't know, being a professional Wildlife Artist is what makes me famous and earns the money, so I can spend time producing Freeware. Click here to see the other side of me.
OK thats about it for today.
Remember every landing you walk away from is a "good" one. Have a great weekend.
22nd September 1999
"Dog Meat"
Well not withstanding the best efforts of the drivers in France to turn me into "Dog Meat" I am back safe and well, and feeling great.
I am a very experienced driver of all type of cars including high performance ones, and I have driven all over the world for many years, but never have I come across such totally BAD and idiotic drivers as I did during the 4,000 km's I drove in France.
I kid you not, one car will follow another less than three feet apart at speeds in excess of 150 kph. They will swerve across the front of other cars leaving less than one foot clearance between the cars at the same speeds, from one lane to another and back. This all happens many times an hour. I have never had to make so many violent changes of direction to avoid accidents in my whole life added together, as I did over the last two weeks. I am convinced the French have a death wish, and am amazed I did not end up in a French hospital.
"Wonderful time"
Having completed my research on route, which was very productive. I headed off to the south of France for some well needed R&R. Monaco, St. Tropez, and similar places served up generous helpings of Sunshine, Pretty Girls, and Good Food and Drink, all the things necessary for my enjoyment :-)
I really did have a wonderful time, and taking the open top Mazda MX5 really did add to the enjoyment. I now look like an Ice Cream Cone (Brown at the bottom and White on top. That is sun bleached blonde hair not grey).
"Emails"
As you would expect I have returned to a mass of hundreds of emails. All of which I will answer in the fullness of time, but please be patient.
"DC-3 Upgrade"
I was delighted to return to find that we have had something in excess of 10,000 downloads of version 2 of the DC-3 and so far less than ten people have had genuine problems with the package, only two of which we haven't yet fixed.
There were of course the usual numbers, that despite all the warnings did not read the instructions and did not have version 1 installed before they upgraded. Sometimes words even fail me. :-(
Thanks to all of you that have sent complimentary emails. It is nice that you take the trouble to do so. These emails are very welcome by the whole team. This is the only payment we get for the hundreds of hours that go into what we do.
Those couple of people that still have problems with version 2, be patient, I will work on a fix for you as soon as time permits.
"General"
That's about it for today. You will now find this pages is updated on a regular basis as before.
Safe landings.
3rd September 1999
"DC-3 Upgrade"
Well it has now been available for 24 hours. With a great number of you downloading it. So far we have discovered a minor "Cock-up" where the wrong main Bitmaps were included which were not 3DFX compatible. This has now been rectified. If you were one of the very first to download it, and it gives you "grey out" in 3DFX Click Here for a fix. The current downloadable file is perfect.
So far, about 1% of you have experienced problems. This is not unusual with any new product or major upgrade. Any such problems should be reported to Bill Rambow by email, who has a couple of possible solutions available from me. However if these do not work, you will have to wait until my return on the 21st September. It is always helpful to give your system details, like Processor manufacturer, type, and speed; your Motherboard /Chipset information including manufacturer; your Memory type, speed, and amount; and your Video Card information,
The reason for these minor difficulties, is we are pushing your systems to the limit and beyond, and if for any reason your system is not running at its most efficient, it is likely to crash. Cold Booting and closing everything down using CTRL, ALT, DEL except SYSTRAY, and EXPLORER is a good place to start. When running FS98 most of you would benefit from doing this, whether you have problems or not.
"General"
I am now off to Europe and will not be back until around the 21st September. You are welcome to email me, in fact it is nice to hear from you, especially when you don't have problems, but you will not get a reply until at least then.
Have a great couple of weeks or so, and safe landings.
2nd September 1999
"DC-3 Upgrade AVAILABLE NOW"
As those of you with sound "turned on" will guess, with the Glenn Miller sound, this is DC-3 day. Yes it's ready, no more waiting, you can download it from here NOW.
Make sure you have already got Version 1 installed, download the upgrade to Version 2, install it and off you go. (if you haven't got Version 1 you can get it from the Packages page. There is a special version, with just the files necessary for upgrade, to save you several mb's of download. SPECIAL DC-3 Version 1 This version is only available from this site.
I know that it is probably pointless to say to you that it is essential for you ALL to read the two enclosed manuals, but it really is. You will miss half the fun if you don't completely understand how it works.
Click on the picture to download Version 2 Upgrade
Warning this file is 4.5 mb
The development team who have worked extremely hard over the past months are very proud to bring you what we hope is the best DC-3 package available anywhere, whether it be Payware or Freeware. We are all committed to making sure Freeware leads the way for others to follow.
On behalf of the whole team, we really hope you enjoy our work, and if you do, don't be afraid to tell us, it's your support that makes us continue :-
"Roy Chaffin" <roy@roychaffin.com>
"Bill Rambow" <rambow@erols.com>
"Jan Visser" <Visair@compuserve.com>
"Arne Bartels" <arne.bartels@nwn.de>
Enjoy :-)
1st September 1999 Extra
"DC-3 Upgrade"
It is currently planned to have the upgrade on this site by the end of Thursday at the latest.
"Website Change"
I have changed this website yet again, to help people that view at lower resolutions. The site is now setup so that it can be comfortably viewed at 800 x 600 as well as higher resolutions.
"Help"
I am trying to learn more about Flight Dynamics. Does anyone have a "Tail Dragger" for FS98 of any type, that steers well on the ground ? If you do, could you email the ".air" file to me at roy@roychaffin.com
Have a great day.
1st September 1999
"New Website Layout"
As you can see I have now developed the layout of this site as promised when the site was first opened, and hopefully made it easier for you to use. I will continue to enhance the site as time allows
You will find a number of icons down the left hand side which will take you directly to the pages you want.
These changes should also normally reduce the load-up time when you log onto the page. (the two large images below will temporarily stop that).
As you will also see, I have broken up the News page into sections. This will also enable you to look up old news items that might still be of interest.
"DC-3"
The wait is nearly over. Saving disasters you should have the upgrade between now and Friday.
Just to whet your appetite here is a screenshot of both sides of the panel merged together.
As you will see the changes are subtle but very pleasing.
****************
The new aircraft is fantastic and something very special. Judge for yourself from following screenshot.
I have just been doing what we hope will be "final testing" on the package. My comments to Bill were :- "This is nearly the most fun you can have with your clothes on" In my opinion "Fantastic"
You need to keep you eyes on this page from now onwards for the release of the package. It will be available here minutes after I receive the final version from Bill.
On behalf of myself and the whole team we hope your really enjoy the upgrade.
"General"
With effect from the end of Friday 3rd this page will not be updated until 21st Sept, as I am going to Europe to do some research, and for a few days of "Rest and Recuperation". Although Roy Chaffin Studios will be manned during that time, any emails that are sent to me will not be answered until I return.
Keep your eyes peeled.
28th August 1999
"DC-3"
We are getting closer. Two more improved gauges done today, and Bill tells me the manual is just about complete.
We have a couple of things yet to do. At the moment the Aircraft feels "to light" on a Force Feedback Joystick. This we know is to do with the ".AIR" file but haven't yet figured out what needs changing, because this item is not documented. Anyone who knows please get in touch. roy@roychaffin.com
That's it for today.
Safe landings.
27th August 1999
"Good News"
The DC-3 upgrade has PASSED the Beta testers. Which is great news. We are happy that the "Bug" is fixed. Only one person had a problem, and we are certain that is down to something else.
This DC-3 panel does put an extreme load on your PC, especially with the upgrade fitted. If there is anything wrong with your system or it is not running efficiently, it will struggle. That is the price you have to pay for complex panels.
This great news from the Beta Testers does means the release of the upgrade is likely soon. I have put the finishing touches to a couple of problems. Bill has done the new add-on edition of the Manual, and we are just waiting for a small part from the guy who has done the new Autopilot.
I expect Bill to pack it all up and send it to me in the next couple of days or so. As soon as I have it, you will be the first to know.
The upgrade is a significant improvement on the previous version, with hundreds of modifications, but most you will never find, because they are behind the scenes. Many of the gauges have either been completely redesigned or changed to make them more accurate and/or efficient. Meaning improvements on how fast you system will run.
Many of the old "Hacked" gauges have been replaced with custom designed versions, that have significantly cut down the demands on your PC. This is all essential because we have also added new stuff as well.
The overall impression of the panel will be the same. The real aircraft from which this is taken has not changed for years, so the panel is not going to change in a couple of months.
Bill has improved the graphics with lots of small changes to the main Bitmaps. He has also worked on a new flight model for the new R4D aircraft that is part of the package. This aircraft is really nice.
We had hoped to have a different sound package available with this upgrade, but the original owners have now withdrawn permission for us to use it. They appear a little upset that our package is so good, and puts theirs in the shade. HOW SAD :-) No problem; we have now decided to do a completely all new package, that will be out with the next upgrade. For this Bill will be doing fresh recordings of the real R4D #819 at MAAM as soon as its number 1 engine has been replaced.
I haven't had much time for anything else for the past week. However as soon as the upgrade is available on this site, I am off to Europe to do some research; more about that when I return, and then to the South of France for a bit of R&R. I shall be back around the 21st September. You will get updates on this site for about another 7 days and then it will go quiet until I return.
That's about it for now.
Have a great weekend.
26th August 1999
"DC-3 Upgrade"
Beta testers reports are starting to come in on the "Bug Fix", and things are looking very hopeful. If things continue in the same vane, then you should only have to wait a few days more, while the manual is updated to take into account the changes, and a couple of things are finalised.
I really hope this is the end of a four week headache :-)
More information tomorrow.
Keep the faith.
25th August 1999
"A great day"
Today has been great, I have received some tremendous news on that subject dear to my heart. :-))
To add to that projects have progressed successfully on many programming fronts today.
I think I might have solved the "Bug" on the DC-3 upgrade project, the one that has been crashing 20% of PC's. I have been programming round the clock for the past 48 hours and I am hopeful that what is going out to the Beta Testers at this very moment, will be successful.
I will let you know as soon as the results are in.
I have also been working on a few extra developments and fixes to go into the upgrade while I am waiting for the results of crash tests.
The net result of all these changes is the frame rates on most PC's should be improved, or at least no worse that the initial release, even though there is now more functionality and accuracy.
If the Beta tests are successful the upgrade should be out very soon. I am holding my breath after nearly four weeks of agony.
Yet another thankyou for all your supportive emails, they are most welcome.
Chocks away.
24th August 1999
"DC-3"
Here we are back from an enjoyable but tiring long weekend. Work started again last night on trying to find the bug in the upgrade. What started out as a very promising line of investigation, resulting in programming several new versions of gauges ended in yet another failure. However I have yet another line of attack being tested at this moment. Fingers crossed again.
On behalf of the team, I do apologize for the delay in releasing the upgrade. What we have currently will run on about 75% on PC's very well, but there are about 25% that will crash when certain basic actions are carried out. That means releasing what we have at the moment is not possible because of the massive amount of email that it would generate. Therefore I ask for your patience while we solve the problems.
On a second front the flight model is still causing some problems and is being enhanced on a daily basis, so time is not being wasted.
I also want to thank all those people who email us with comments and suggestions, in the main they are very welcome. I believe we currently have the best "Prop" package available freeware or payware. Considering the constraints of FS98 and the time we have available, that is quite remarkable.
However I would like to point out to a few "idiots" that all the people on our team are volunteers that have full time jobs to do as well as FS development. Therefore there are limits to what can be achieved with each upgrade.
When we release an upgrade, we make sure that it will work on 99% of normal PC's that are used by the FS community, with proper frame rates. Not run "Dog Slow" like certain packages I could mention.
We have created a great deal of functionality and will add more, but we ensure that it will still work properly. Just a note for the hard of understanding. What we the team set out to do with this panel is make a very accurate representation of a particular R4D namely #819 (Naval DC3). Therefore requests to make changes or add things that are not realistic will not even be considered.
What we produce is the best there is, Freeware or Payware something the team are very proud of.
There are a very few stupid individuals who never produce anything useful themselves, and want outrageous reality from FS98. My suggestion to you is go and fly the real thing, and stop being a pain in our necks. In the meantime we will continue to improve what we have done, to enhance the enjoyment of the many people who use what we do, remembering our contribution is for FREE.
"Piracy"
The battle continues. A number of diversionary tactics have been dealt with, and a firm timescale has been issued to the offenders. Unless positive action is forthcoming very soon. You can expect some revealing announcements on this page and in all the FS media in the near future.
"Airbus Info"
I would like to thank the person who came forward with the offer of the Airbus information I was looking for. I look forward to receiving it soon. Many thanks for emailing me.
"TNT Riva video cards"
Just an update to my previous comments about the corruptions on FS98 with the TNT2 video cards. I now have evidence that the TNT 1 cards do the same.
"Help needed"
Does anyone know where I can get a sound package called a "Declicker" a DiretX plug-in. The DC-3 teams sound engineer is in great need of such a piece of software. Any information would be most helpful.
That's it for today.
Remember, any landing you walk away from, is a good one.
19th August 1999
"Ban"
Well, I have heard it all now !
American Airlines and their sister company American Eagle, are banning the use of their logo on Flight Simulator planes and products, other than from one company they have sold the exclusive rights to. Anything containing their logo or livery has to be removed from all Flight Simulator sites immediately. (more information can bee found on Flightsim.com)
Have you ever heard anything so stupid in your entire life. They get all that free advertising and they don't want it. They don't want to be associated with us. What are they afraid of, we might improve their image ??
Well there is one way of dealing with that. Next time all us flightsimmers book an airline flight, book an airline that encourages our hobby. I for one will never fly American again. If the children want to take their ball home, that's just fine with us.
"Adult matters"
We have still not tracked down the bug in the DC-3 panel upgrade. I think we are getting close, but have not quite isolated it.
During the Beta testing program we have discovered a few more little things that need fixing, some of which will be done before release and others will have to wait.
I am taking a short break from Bug Fixing tomorrow, for abit of R & R, so this page will not be updated until probably Monday.
"Piracy"
No more news on the piracy front yet. We are waiting for the formal response from the company. However putting off a response will not make the problem go away. We are talking British Bulldog here, once I get my teeth in, nothing will get them out :-)
"General"
Have a great weekend folks, and get some serious flying in.
18th August 1999
"RealCRT Registration"
Many people email me asking how to register RealCRT gauges with Tony. Unfortunately when I put the Airbus packages together, I thought Tony had put the document in the gauges package and visa versa. To make life easier for you and me, to download the missing text file just click here .
Have a great day.
17th August 1999
"Thanks"
Can I take this opportunity to thank the masses of people that have emailed me in support of my fight against "Commercial Piracy". It is this fantastic support that keeps me firmly routed in the Freeware world.
As far as the current case is concerned, all I can say is, things are progressing slowly but surely.
Although we have put together a good team, any extra "Flightsimmers" that happen to be lawyers prepared to take on a bit of "Pro bono" work, I would be pleased to hear from you.
"DC-3"
The Beta testers have been working hard on testing the new DC-3 upgrade. We have now established that there is a Bug somewhere in the programming that crashes a few PC's. This is being very difficult to find, however we might have a glimmer of hope. Tests that are being done as you read this might reveal the cause. Once that is known then I should be able to come up with a fix.
Likewise the flight model is still giving us some real grief. Most things are done, but we are getting some very strange behaviour on take-off. Flight dynamics are not my field, but it could be soon. However Bugs to fix first.
The above things are so annoying because we are so close, but cannot get over the last two hurdles. Yet !
"Fun"
I have to admit to taking a few hours off, to play with a new toy. "Star Wars Episode 1 Racer". With the TNT2 video card and a MS Forcefeedback Steering Wheel, what fun. Total mindless Hooliganism :-))))
But it certainly sharpens up your hand eye coordination and reactions. Whow !!!!
"A320/330/340 Data"
I am desperately in need of data on the A320 A330 and A340 Airbuses. What I need is Take-off and Landings weights, speeds, and flap settings.
If anyone has this information I would be most grateful if they could contact me.
OK that's about it for today. Back to bug fixing.
Safe landings.
15th August 1999
"TNT 2 Special Notice"
It has just occurred to me, that many people probably don't know that if you set your Windows Display settings to 32 Bit, at whatever resolution with your TNT 2 card, then your windowed FS98 frame rate will be reduced to about one third of the full screen rate, and the quality of the graphics will be much reduced.
You must set your Windows Display settings to 16 Bit at whatever resolution.
Forgive me if you already know this, but I am sure there are many people that don't.
Have a fun day.
15th August 1999
Sorry I didn't post another message later on Thursday, things just got out of hand. This is the first chance I have had to update this page.
Firstly on the Commercial Piracy. I now have 100% positive proof that will stand- up in any court. We are proceeding with contacting the company, asking for their response.
It is my intention to make an example of the "Pirates" and to seek considerable financial compensation which will be donated to animal charities.
Unfortunately I am unable to say anymore at this time for legal reasons.
"Fly"
I have just received a USA version of "FLY" which does not insist on the CD being present in the CD-ROM, that's a great improvement. You can also make back-up copies of your CD's, so if you scratch them you are not "stuffed".
The only other comments I would make, is it is much cheaper in the USA than in the UK, and the presentation of the USA version is much more professional, not like the UK version which has the CD's and the manuals rattling about in a pretty tacky box.
While on the subject of Fly, I am informed that the "Heavy" aircraft will be available in about six months, which is good news.
I am also told that TRI's project leader has been asking on the forums, whether they should release the TOOLS now, rather than waiting for the documentation to be finished. I understand he has had a resounding YES to now. We will see what happens.
I still think this product has huge potential, once the bugs are fixed and the Freeware designers get at it.
"DC-3"
We are still working flat out on the DC-3 upgrade. We have two major problems to solve. One we have a very difficult bug to fix, that is only showing up on a few machines. Plus we are not happy with the flight model that goes with the new aircraft.
Once we have fixed these two things the upgrade is ready to go. Unfortunately development is not a precise science when it comes to time.
Please bear with us, the wait will be worth it, I promise.
"Personal"
Can I thank those of you that emailed me, concerned about my well being, because I had not updated the page for a few days. That was very kind of you all. First it is very nice to know people do actually read the page, and second that you care. You all had personal responses, and I am fine thankyou.
I have to say working on the PC is much easier since Friday, when I collected a special pair of "eye glasses" made for working on the PC. I can now see the whole screen in perfect focus, rather than the little bit that you get with Vari Focals. If you have this problem, such a pair of specs is worth every penny/cent.
I have also just installed a new Yamaha CDR/W 4416 rewriter, what a brilliant piece of kit. I have had CD writers for many years, of which the Yamaha unit was always the best. But this thing is something else. 10 out of 10.
"TNT 2"
There appears to be a new set of Nvidia Detenator Drivers available "Build 217". But I am suspicious, because they do not appear on Nvidia's website. If anyone has tried them would you like to email me with your findings.
That's about it for today. Have a great week and enjoy !
11th August 1999
Not only has a Big Black Cloud passed over the UK today, in form of a total eclipse of the sun. But a personal black cloud came over me. I received positive confirmation this morning that my FREEWARE B717 package is one of two "Lead Packages" on a commercial CD-ROM. They have even had the "Balls" to put large photos of my package on the back of the CD case.
For legal reasons I cannot yet announce the details of who the "Pirate" is and what the CD-ROM is called. But believe me as soon as I can, I will.
Currently the whole thing is being investigated and assessed by the experts, so that the most effective strategy for "nailing them" can be put together. However I will make it quite clear from the outset, I intend to pursue this to the bitter end.
I hope to have more cheerful news later today.
Keep the faith.
8th August 1999 (second post of the day)
This is the first use of Front Page 2000, so anything could happen here.
"Fly"
Interestingly last night while I was playing about with "Fly" I accidentally pressed the wrong key and was suddenly presented with views of the included aircraft. To my total surprise while paging through them I found a B737 and B747. This leads me to believe that it was intended to include these in the release, but for some reason they were left out. Two possible reasons come to my mind, First that they ran into problems with finishing the software, and second this could be a move to get us to part with more money, to get the aircraft that most of us really want. I think I am getting cynical.
I have been trawling around the various "Fly" forums, and I have to admit to being surprised by the "drubbing" it is getting from many users. The main problems seem to be that the product does not live up to the "HYPE" that was put out before its release.
Probably because I am getting a little older, I'm afraid I don't believe anything until I see it. We have a saying here, that the greater the hype and the flashier the lead-in screens, the crappier the product. Over the years this has certainly been the case.
I hope I have given you a balanced view on this page, so if you have gone out and spent your money, you have done so with your eyes open. Furthermore if you are disappointed with what you got. Take it back and get a refund. This will not surprise the retailer, as many people do.
This is probably my last posting on "Fly" until there is some development, a release of the "Tools" or something else significant. Personally I have become bored with using it. Less than "as nine day wonder" for me I'm afraid.
Now to get back to some serious simming, and finish off my contributions to the DC-3 upgrade.
Have a good week.
8th August 1999
"Fly"
Well my comments about the lack of Development Tools for Fly seems to have upset someone, because today I received a nasty little note suggesting I should "be afraid, be very afraid". Well I needed a good laugh today. I hate to disapoint them, but if a 700 lb live tiger doesn't intimidate me, there isn't a human alive that can.
On a more serious note. I was informed by one of my development team that the Development Tools for Fly will be released by the end of the month. Many thanks for that information, I hope you are correct.
"DC-3"
I have also made a breakthough today with one of the remaining gauges for the DC-3 upgrade. My very good friend, and one of the most generous men in the FS world, Chuck Dome, has helped my unlock a problem that was causing me some problems.
I have now a lot of testing and debuggiung to do, but we are on course to be finished on time. Keep the faith we are going as fast as we can.
After some work on the main PC tonight, I should be back to programming later in the weekend.
"A320 Freeware fix"
If you use the freeware version of my A320 panel you might be a gauge missing in the main display. This was an error on my part.
To download a new A320 FREEWARE panel.cfg file click here
"FREEWARE"
Without breaking any confidences or dropping names, the "team" and "myself" have been made some very substancial financial offers to "go commercial" over the past few weeks. However I am pleased to tell you that "we" are staying exclusively in the FREEWARE world.
I am very proud that we the quality "Freeware" developers still turn out better products than our competitors "the commercial companies", and long may it continue. :-)
On that note, I must get back to work. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
7th August 1999
"DC-3"
Many people have emailed me and complained about the difficulties with steering the current DC-3's on the ground. Well there is a "work around" that works brilliantly with a little practise:-
Just open the throttles to 10% - 20% and pulse the breaks to keep the speed down to less than 15 knots and the aircraft will turn on the stick. Even better if you have Rudder control.
It sounds easy, and it is. The slower the speed the more effective the steering is.
Have a great weekend.
6th August 1999
"Fly"
Last night I posted a message on the "Fly Forum" on their website, asking when the development tools would be made available to 3rd party developers ?
The answer I received was "Richard Harvey must address this point. Keep you eyes open for public anouncements".
Hardly what I would call a definative answer !
As a result I have posted the following message, which I thought you might be interested to see:-
"Many thanks for your reply. If you
are sensible, Richard will make it sooner rather than later, so that the
top developers like myself can start work. If you delay to long the
"Nine Day Wonder" appeal of "FLY" will wear off, and
the top quality non-commercial products (which is what makes FS98 so
successful) will not have appeared. You will then have lost supporters,
probably forever.
Just a word from the wise.
Roy Chaffin"
I also did some more testing last night with "Fly". It does have potential, and does grow on you as you get more used to it. But it desparately needs the attention of the top Freeware Scenery Developers, along with the Aircraft and Panel guys. You can get very bored very quickly with what is there, especially if you have been used to the wonderful array of add-ons for FS98.
I also did some heavy reading of the manual, which is unfortunatly necessary for some of the aircraft, just to start the engines. The time reading the manual is well spent, but I fear many people will not bother and then toss the sim aside as "to difficult".
Probably more from me later.
5th August 1999
"FLY"
I have now spent more time with "Fly" and found out much more about it. My initial opinion has not changed. However I am informed that it is an "Open Achitecture" but we developers will need special tools or an SDK to take advantage of it. They talk about seperate files that make up panels, aircraft, and scenery. But at the moment everything is packed into one file. We will see !
OK a word of warning for the new user of "FLY". You would think that if you do a "Typical Install" (that one for most users), which is over 600mb's that it would install at least some scenery. WRONG. it installs NO scenery at all, so when you first run it up after installation there are no buildings what so every. Yes it does say so in a vailed way in the manual, if you read it very carefully, but it is not obvious.
Own goal number two; The manual refers to Disc names that do not appear on the UK version. The UK version has Disc 1, Disc 2, Disk 3. Where are the manual refers to Scenery Disc and says it states what is on each disk. Oh no it doesn't. You have to guess which disc they mean.
Own goal number three; If you live in the UK and wish to make a backup copy of the discs, for safety reasons. Which is your right, (one that is protected by law in the USA) you cannot, because some nasty code has been stuck somewhere on the disc that crashes you copier when you try to take an image.
It's about time someone in the UK stood up against these companies that think they can charge more and supply a poorer quality product because we live in the UK.
Back to the scenery. Once you have installed the scenery, as mentioned before they high level stuff is good. But and it is a big but, the low leven stuff is "CRAP". The buildings a reasonably modelled, but there is by no means enough of them. They stick on the landscape like "kiddies toy town models". They are not intrigated into the general landscape. In fact in my opinion they are no better and maybe even worse that those supplied with FS98. The scenery is by no means as good at the Freeware stuff available for FS98.
Once you get used to them the cockpits are not bad as far as they go. But many of the switches are on overhead, side or lower panels meaning the inexperienced can easily fly into the ground while trying to switch something on or off. Partial overlays would have been much more sensible.
Oh a tip, If you are looking to set up one of the "HATS" on your joystick to look around the cockpit or scenery, you will find it in the controls "Camera Keys" menu. (a really logical place to put it ?).
Frame rates appear to be good on my PII 450mhz with TNT 2 and 256mb of RAM, but I haven't yet tested it on anything else.
My overall feelings, are that this could become a good product. But only if the real experts can get at it soon (before the "nine day wonder" appeal wears off) and design some more interesting planes, some much better scenery, and some really good panels.
DC-3
Work is still going on with the DC-3 update and we could be only a couple of weeks off release. I have one gauge to finish, and a couple to debug, then we have a couple of things from other people and we should be ready.
You have been giving me feed back on the TNT 2 card, which is good. I am sorry I cannot solve you individual problems, I haven't time to be an NVIDIA helpline, but it is useful for me to know of the problems.
That's it for now.
Happy landings
1st August 1999
A couple of days have slipped away since my last posting on this page. However my time has been well spent.
Firstly Fly; well as promised I have tested it, be it only briefly, but have some interesting findings.
The product comes on three CD's and installation is fairly painless. That is if your hard drive has plenty of space. Minimum installation is in excess of 400 MBs, and maximum is over 1.5 GB's. That is "serious space" in anybodies books.
The program appears to sense your equipment fairly well, and set som reasonable settings. These can be enhanced manually later.
This is however, not a "Jump in and Fly" simulator, even if you are a serious and experienced pilot. Some book learning is definately required. Intuitive it is not.
The Introduction and Settings screens are nice, tasteful and easy to use. But setting up your joystick can waste some serious time.
OK, impressions of the simulator. The Sky is wonderful graphical quality, with very authentic clouds. I have to admit to being very impressed. The scenery from altitude is also fairly impressive. However the curviture of the earth is somewhat over the top. You would need to be in space to recreate that.
The scenery on the ground and low altitude is no where near as good quality. Personally I think my current FS98 scenery is as good at low level. I might change my mind in the fullness of time.
The flight models I have tried, seem reasonable, but I have not tested them exhaustively. The cockpits are reasonably good, better than those supplied with any other sim, however they are not up to the standard of the best Freeware panels avaiable for FS98, by a long way. Many things do not work and are just dummies.
There are however several nice touches. You can for example pan round the cockpit by putting your mouse to the top, botttom, left or right of the screen. This however is a good way of the panel designers cheating when they haven't designed the cockpit layouts correctly. Even with this (cheap) way of getting more instruments in by using a "virtual" screen, some are totally unreadable, even on a large monitor with high resolution. While on the subject of resolution, you seem to be limited to 1024 x 768 not matter what graphics card you are using. This is a definate down grade from my 1280, I use in FS98.
Another nice touch is the way the Multi Function Displays start dark and gradually get brighter and they warm up. However I would rather have instruments that I can read.
The biggest limiting factor, as far as I can see, is the fact it is "Closed Achitecture", meaning developers like myself and others are not able to deliver FREEWARE add-ons of higher quality.
My opinion is that FLY is going to be an "also ran" unless they release a "Resource Development Kit", so we can develop for it.
There is no doubt that their researchers checked the commercial products carefully, and at least equalled if not beat what is currently available. But and it is a big BUT, they have totally failed to take into account the quality of the Freeware add-ons that have been developed for FS98.
My conclusion is, this is not likely to take many FS98 enthusiasts on a permanent basis. Fun for a few weeks but not much longer.
Is it worth spending your money ? Probably Yes, if you are just looking for another Flight Simulator to play with occassionally, but to replace FS98 ? I don't think so. If money is short, you might like to wait for Flight Unlimited III and FS2000 to see what they are like.
Overall I was disappointed with it, but over the next few weeks I will test it some more, and report my findings.
On a different subject, I am delighted to report that we now have a new R4D (DC-3) that will be released with the DC-3 upgrade, due in a few weeks. This is worth waiting for. Plus we have a completely new 12 point model that will be available for Upgrade 2. Qute rightly many of you have complained that the current crop of DC-3's are crap. Well just be patient for a little longer and you will be rewarded.
I have to say that with a just a few corruption stripes occassionally the TNT 2 card is now working perfectly. I would be interested however to hear if anyone else has any corruption problems.
Oh well. back to gauge programming.
Have a good one.
29th July 1999
As promised more TNT2 testing was done today, with some very interesting results.
There is no question that the problem with the system crashes was the mixture of Riva TNT 2 and the Sound Blaster Live. Somehow in my system both cards were trying to grab the same resource. It was not the obvious ones, but something. Since the AWE 64 has been put back not a crash in sight.
I also downloaded the latest drivers for the TNT 2 from NVIDIA today :- 4.11.01.0208 these turned out to be hopeless, much worse than the older ones offered on this site :- 4.1101.0188
Build 208 causes many stripes of strange colours with panels that have several overlays, such at the DC-3. Furthermore I thought the frame rates were slower under several sets of circumstances. Where the older build 188 rarely causes these corruptions, and was faster. After much testing I reverted to build 188, which from a flight sim point of view appears to be the best available, and considerably better than those offered by Creative.
I am hoping to get the case side back on the PC now and keep it there for a while.
No panel development work has been done today, as I have been to busy with other things. But maybe tomorrow.
On a different subject, I am looking forward to getting my eyes on FLY during the weekend. It has been a long time in the coming, and I hope it is worth the wait. For me I think it will sink or swim on whether or not it hass "open" architecture or not. If I cannot develop for it, then I am not really interested. Flight Unlimited II made that mistake, which they are putting right in version III.
As soon as I get a look at it, I will give you my thoughts on this page.
That's about it for today, speak to you again tomorrow.
28th July 1999
Hi Folks, I am back.
Well the London Show was a fantastic success, and I had larger audiences than ever efore, with even more positive feedback, which was great. Thanks to those of you that came along.
Over the next couple of weeks I will catch up on all the work that has been put to one side over the past month or so, and get back to producing the things that you want, flightsim stuff.
I have started today by trying to get to the bottom of the RIVA TNT 2 problems I have been having with system crashes. I started off by borrowing a new card to see if the old one was faulty. The old one was fine, and the new one did exactly the same things. Next I tried many things to try to get to the bottom of the problem, finally with some success.
It appears that the problem is some strange conflict with the Creative Sound Blaster Live card. When the card and drivers are replaced with a AWE64, the TNT 2 works like a charm (well at least so far). Very odd indeed. I have fitted the SB Live and TNT2 cards together in many other machines and all work perfectly.
I will do much more testing tomorrow to confirm my findings, but it does seem that I am on to something. It is of course probable, that the SB Live card is faulty, but it performs perfectly in every other respect.
On a different subject, I recently asked Nels Anderson of Flightsim.com how the "Excellence Awards" were awarded, because at least one very strange Freeware panel was given one recently.
Nels tells me that the commercial packages are decided by the "Partners" but the Freeware awards are done on a "Popular Vote" in the monthly competition (ie get your friends to vote for you, system).
I have suggested that perhaps the title of the award should be changed to more reflect the way it is selected, rather than calling it an "Excellence Award", which it is not.
I just thought that you might like to know that small piece of trivia.
Work will be starting again on the DC-3 upgrade in a few days. We hope that it will be ready in about three weeks time. We have a new aircraft that is fantastic, with another completely new one on the way, and most of the new gauges are finished. I have just got a couple to bugs fix, and the DME gauge to finish. This gauge is causing me a lot of sleepless nights, as it is pushing my new found abilities to the limit and beyond. But hopefully we will have at least a version 1 available for the upgrade, even if we have to release an enhanced version later.
OK thats it for today. More tomorrow.
Happy landings.
13th July 1999
Just a quick update. Some kind person has sent me the Corel Draw file. Many thanks Terry.
9th July 1999
Hi Folks,
Sorry it has been over a week since I updated this page. We have had a major problem with the server being down for some time. If you have been trying to download and had trouble, that is the reason. But all is now OK thankfully. Also unfortunately FS has been taking a back seat for the past week because of preparation work for my big show.
*********IMPORTANT REQUEST FOR HELP*******
There is something that you might be able to do to help me. I am looking for a "Corel Draw Sample file" that came with either version 3, 4, or 5. It was a "rolling hills" snow scene, with a hut or building to the left hand side, with some broken and bent posts sticking out of the snow, coming towards you from the hut.
If anyone has this file, could I ask you to email it to me as soon as possible. I throught I had the file but just cannot find it.
Just a quick update on the TNT 2 card.
I am now fairly convinced that my card is faulty. It is causing major system failures. Unfortunately I have not the time to deal with it at the moment, but in three weeks time I will have. Watch this space.
Sorry thats all for now. Keep the faith, normal service will resume on this page in three weeks time.
29th June 1999
I have just been finishing off the latest batch of new gauges for the DC-3 upgrade, which is still a few weeks off. The very complex DME gauge is still to be done.
Unfortunately I have to let you all know that over the next three weeks until 26th July, my involvement in the FS world will be very limited, and email responses will be very slow, especially if you have an involved query. This is the three weeks that lead up the the big Art Material Show in London that I am involved in each year.
I have to concentrate on writing scripts, preparing visual aids, and rehearsing my two seperate stage shows, and a workshop, that I present for four days to some 20,000 people. This is Roy Chaffin the famous wildlife artist rather than the FS developer at work.
Details of the show can be found at www.exploring.co.uk/artists-illustrators. I shall be there in person all four days, so if you are local and have an interest, come along and give us a visit.
I will try to keep you informed of any earth shattering information on this site, but it is only likely to be updated about once a week.
I have had the odd report that the Drivers now shipping with the Creative Riva TNT 2 Ultra 32 mb, seem to work properly. This is unsubstanciated, but I suggest you check the drivers shipped with the card, before upgrading with the one on this site.
Have some great flights in my absence.
Kindest regards, Roy
27th June 1999
***Great News***
The new TNT 2 BIOS and Drivers have also solved the problem of slow frame rates with FS98 when in a "Window". The frame rates are now as fast, if not faster than at full screen.
Having spent the best part of the weekend trying to get the bugs out of my system and the TNT 2 card, I think we are making progress.
The video corruptions when Flight Sim was "paused" and even when it wasn't, seems to have been cured by returning the TNT 2 settings to "factory default". It appears the the previous settings from the TNT 1 card remained in force, even when the card was replaced.
I have also cut the system memory available to the video card in the system BIOS down to half that installed (contrary to Creative's suggestion). This has certainly cut down the number of system crashes.
I am not totally convinced that the system crashes are entirely due to the TNT 2 card. At the same time as installing the card, I also changed the sound card to a Creative Soundblaster Live Value, and I suspect this might have something to do with it.
I have also "Defragged" my "C" dive (an eight and a half hour task), to see if that helps, in stability.
On a different subject. Bill tells me that progress is being made on the new DC-3 / R4D / C47 aircraft. Which is great news.
On a slightly less cheerful note, Tony tells me that progress on the Flight Plan Module has been poor over the past weeks, because of work, and enormous amounts of email. He is however hopeful that July will be more productive.
Have a good week.
25th June 1999
Well my thoughts about the problems with the Riva TNT 2 video card, proved to be exactly correct. Over the past three days I have been experiencing more and more problems with the card. More BLACK screens of death, and many more lockups with FS98.
Over the past 24 hours I have downloaded a new flash BIOS for the Creative Riva TNT 2 Ultra 32mb, and and a new set of Drivers.
Both have been installed. The Magneto gauge corruption in the DC-3 panel has gone, as I suspected it would, and so far the whole system seems more stable.
On the down side I have noticed that if you pause FS98 you sometimes get a corruption on the panel graphics. But I can live with that.
To be helpful I have posted the two upgrades here, should you need them. I have to say finding the drivers on the "nvidia.com" (the TNT Chipset designers) site is not the easiest task I have ever done.
Both of these files are current as of today. Although these files are posted here, I give no technical support, you use them at you own risk.
After extended use, I can now confirm that the TNT 2 card is definately 3 times faster than twin Voodoo II's. Which is a great improvement.
Very little development work has been done over the past three days because of the system problems. But I hope to get back to it now.
Have a great weekend.
22nd June 1999,
Many thanks to those who sent their best wishes. I am starting to feel a little better thankyou.
I have now done much more testing with the Riva TNT 2. There is no question it is very fast. On the test machine, it doesn't really matter what you through at it, in full screen mode the frame rate does not drop below 40 fps.
I have however discovered another problem. When gauges overlap the top edge of the panel in FS98. Like the Magneto gauge in the DC-3, it corrupts the graphics when the handles move. This only seems to happen when the panel.cfg file has a - (minus) number for the vertical location of a gauge. If it is fully in the picture, it seems OK.
I have been doing some experiments with different ways of writing the code, but the result is always the same. I fear this is a problem with the video card drivers. or BIOS. I will let you know when I find out.
I have also experienced two BLACK SCREEN auto reboots while working in a normal windows package. This is disturbing. This also sounds like a driver problem.
I understand there are some new drivers available from the Chip manufacturers which are recommended by Creative. Watch this space.
To keep you up to date with the RealCRT development. Tony tells me the Flight Plan Module is well underway, and I might see a Beta version in the next week or so. This I am looking forward to.
Bill has just paid another visit to the DC-3 (R4D) to take more photos for the next load of new gauges for the project. However do not expect this upgrade to be available in the near future, it will be at least some weeks before we release it.
We currently have six aircraft designers working on a proper DC-3/C47/R4D aircraft. Genius cannot be hurried, but we feel the finished products will be worth the wait.
That's it for now. Safe landings.
20th June 1999,
Sorry guys, no more testing has been done of the Riva TNT 2. Sadly I have been ill with a bad ear infection and up to nothing. The only time I have had has been taken up dealing with Pirates stealing my work. I am not going to whinge on like most. But just say that I intend to publish the names of the "Pirates" in the "HALL OF SHAME" on this site.
The first name to be added to the "HALL OF SHAME" is "James Underwood" for stealing gauges.
On more cheerful subjects. I hope to be doing more testing later today with the new TNT 2 card, and some more gauge programming.
Have a great weekend.
18th June 1999,
The Creative RIVA TNT 2 3D Ultra 32 mb AGP is installed and tested. The initial results are very impressive.
The test machine is a PII 450mhz with 256mb PC100 RAM on a BX chipset motherboard. The same machine has twin Voodoo II cards fitted, and was previously tested with a Creative RIVA TNT AGP 16mb card for comparison.
The tests were done on Windows 98 with Flightsim 98 running FULL SCREEN with very dense scenery at London Heathrow at the end of the runway. Much higher frame rates were reported with the TNT cards after takeoff.
Frame rates were as follows:-
Twin Voodoo II (1024 x 768) 22fps
Riva TNT (1280 x 768) 48fps
Riva TNT 2 (1280 x 768) 70fps
Important points:-
The frame rate of the TNT 2 stays constant, no matter what resolution you set the FULL SCREEN display to. I preferred 1280 x 1024 on a 17in Sony monitor.
WARNING :- If you use the TNT 2 in a "window" the frame rate reduces to at least half, and sometimes to as much as one quarter of the full screen frame rate.
The customarary "little pauses" that FS98 makes are still there, no video card is every going to solve them.
Most importantly, the massive reduction in frame rates that occur with the original TNT card when you have "Transparent Overlays" with holes for other gauges to show through, for example the "Yoke" on the DC3, has been totally solved. With the new TNT 2 there is virtually no reduction in frame rate with transparent overlays.
Installation was fairly straight forward, but I suggest that you make sure your system BIOS is set to the following settings before you start to avoid installation problems.
Assign IRQ to VGA - Enabled
Video BIOS Shadowing - Disabled
Video BIOS Cacheable - Disabled
VGA Pallette SNOOP - Disabled
AGP Aperture Size - Equivalent to System RAM
VGA or Primary VGA - AGP
Plus :-
REMOVE all drivers for previous AGP cards prior to install.
Set Windows to STANDARD VGA before you install the new video card.
Follow the instruction in the manual here after.
I have only had limited time to test the card, but I a very impressed with its performance. roughly speaking it seems to be twice as fast as the old TNT with FS98 and more than three times faster than TWIN Vooodoo II cards.
The quality of the graphics in my opinion is better than Voodoo II, with smooth "fluffy" transparent clouds, and excellent ground textures.
During my testing I found no disadvantages, except for the reduction in frame rate in a window, but I can't emagine anyone wants to do that anyway, with the possible exception of developlers, and then frame rate is not important.
A word of warning however. There are many versions of the Riva TNT 2 cards around and I am informed that others do not perform as well as the Creative version. So be careful.
Every manufacturer would have you believe that their product is the fastest and the best, and if you are like me you do not believe any of the claims until you prove it yourself. Rarely is the product tested on FS98 specifically so we know how it performs. Well I am happy to put hand on heart, and say in my opinion, in practical tests, this is the best and fastest 3D video card I have ever tested, and well worth the money.
As I use it more, should I find anymore useful information it will be posted on this page.
Have a great weekend.
17th June 1999,
The Creative RIVA TNT 2 Ultra's (32mb AGP) have arrived. I hope to fit, and test them later today. Depending on the amount of difficulties encountered you should have a report either later today or tomorrow.
15th June 1999,
Wow, where did that nine days just go. I had hoped to at least post one message here during the last week, but it wasn't to be.
The P.A.W.S. Competition for this year is now finished and you can see the winners one my other site by clicking here. For those of you that are local, the exhibition is on during the next week, and I will be there during the afternoons Wednesday through Saturday inclusive.
I have been catching up with my many emails and the tasks that have been neglected during the past week. The DC3 downloads have been exceptional and the feedback tremendous. There is obviously a great love for the old "Gooney Bird".
I know I speak for all of us on the team, when I say we have been overwelmed by quantity of your complimentary comments about the panel.
So far after well over 5,000 downloads the problems have been minor, and very rare. We only have two customers that we know of that have serious problems with it, and we are fairly convinced that it is something uneque to there PC's. That must be some sort of record for a panel as complex as it is.
We have had a lot of suggestions for improvements, and the ones that do not move us away from accuracy are being considered for the first upgrade. Unfortunately we cannot provide the smell of burning oil and the shaking of your seat but we will try to provide just about everything else.
Work is well underway on a completely new aircraft to go with the panel, and a new version of the Sperry Autopilot is being prepared by the original designer. Minor fixes are being made to a couple of the gauges, and new ones being designed.
Now the rush is over, I am getting back to the development of the Airbus Panels, and working hard of the additions for version 2 which I hope to have out in the Autumn.
I am also hoping to do some serious testing with the New Creative RIVA TNT 2 video card later in the week. That is assuming that the test model gets here in the next couple of days. Keep you eyes on this page for a "No holes barred" honest report of how good or bad it really is.
Enjoy your flying.
6th June 1999,
Not a lot new happening today. Downloads of the DC3 have been going at a pace and much higher than I personally had expected. Which is great :-)
No development work has been done over the last two days, owing to the fact that one of my favourite animals was killed on Friday evening. This has cast a great sadness over what has otherwise been a very successful weekend. Thanks to you all.
On the positive side, this evening an A340 Captain has just volunteered to assist me with the development of the Airbus panels, which is really great news. There is nothing like first hand knowledge to help get things right.
Messages on this page during the coming week are likely to be a little sparse, as I have the Gala Presentation Evening of the International Art Competition called P.A.W.S 99 which I run, to organise on Friday evening. Between now and then a massively impressive exhibition has to be put together. If you are interested in seeing the other side of me and P.A.W.S. CLICK HERE
Thats about it for today. Have a great week.
5th June 1999,
Well now you have it, (DC3) and from the number of downloads you seem to be keen to try it.
Feedback has been very good and we are delighted that you like what you see.
A few people have experienced some difficulties downloading such a large file. We have downloaded it here to check that everything is OK and it is. It does appear that a lot of the problems are down to which Browser you are using.. We at RCS Panels use and recommend Internet Explorer 5 (Free for MS). If you are having problems, either try this or try using a seperate FTP package (available on the web) and download directly from ftp://ftp.roychaffin.com in the PUB directory. The file is called "wjrdc3dp.zip".
During the next week I will talk to Bill about the possibility of splitting it up into sections so you can download them independantly, to make life easier.
I did promise to place a DC3 aircraft of this page for you. I did not forget, but before I did so, I wanted to test each one to see which I recommended. Having done all the tests I really cannot say I would recommend any one over any other. They all have their problems. What I would suggest is log on to http://www.flightsim.com and do a search for DC3 under FS98 Aircraft and take you pick.
As a result of my tests, I am going to recommend to Bill that he commissions a new one that is up to the quality of the panel. You might wonder what we used during the testing. Well to tell you the truth, we modified one of the available packages to work really well, but we have not sort and therefore do not have permissions from the original authors to publish it. Therefore we are unable to place it on this site.
The same does not apply to the sound package. There is a brilliant one available from Mike Hambly and it is available here. Click here to download
Thats about it for now. Safe landings.
3rd June 1999,
************************* DC3 RELEASED ****************************
Click on the picture to download the Bill Rambow's DC3 Dual seat panel
(FULL RELEASE VERSION)
Be warned the file is 6.7 mbs
This is what we have been waiting and working for, the release of Bill Rambow's brilliant DC3 Dual seat panel. Don't just take my word for it, try it yourself.
Can I be the first to congratulate Bill on producing what will become a "Classic" panel for FS98. I am just proud to have been part of it.
What we have been keeping a secret is that this is a DUAL panel where you can change seats instantly with the click of a button. NO intermediate screen is necessary; straight from one seat to another, with no delay at all. To the best on my knowledge this has never been done before. Another FIRST for RCS Panels :-)
I will give you more information later today, once you have had time to download the panel. I will also put up a DC3 for you, should you not have one. Have fun.
3rd June 1999,
******* NEARLY HERE **********
The latest update on the DC3, is it could be released as early as today Thursday. Work has gone well on the final tasks, and Bill is compiling the package as you read this.
Inside information :- The panel comes with a very informative and essential Manual which you MUST take time to read. This Manual along with the supplied Checklists will tell you how to operate the panel so that you get the maximum benefit from all its facilities. I expect you are just like me, you want to bang it in, fire it up, and off you go. Well on this one take 15 minutes FIRST to read the Manual, you will not regret it. You can seriously screw up the whole thing by pressing keys without knowing what you are doing.
Have a good one.
2nd June 1999,
*****GREAT NEWS*****
Your wait is nearly over. Bill Rambow tells me the DC3 panel and the Manual are almost complete. I confidently expect that it will be released here by the weekend. Take it from me, this is going to be the best "Gooney Bird" (DC3) panel you have seen so far.
Reserve yourself some time for serious flying this coming weekend. Get the chores done quick, the fun starts soon.
1st June 1999,
Hi Everybody, Sorry that this page has not been updated for several days. A combination of "pressure of work" and a few problems with the DC3 project.
Bill has had some delays in getting permissions for some of the gauges in the panel, which could have caused some considerable delay in release. However rather than delaying the release and disappointing people. We jointly decided that I would program completely new gauges for the ones in question. This has resulted in my doing four or five extra ones, which have now been completed.
We are still hopeful that the panel will be published this week, but time is running out. We just ask that you be patient for a few days longer.
The "silver lining" to the problems is that the new gauges are much better than the previous ones, which has delighted us both.
On a different subject, I would like to thank the people that have been continually sending me information on Airbuses, This ranges from full Service Manuals to photos and general information. All of this is very welcome, and very helpful. However do not be surprised when the information is not implemented immediately. It often takes a long time for it to filter into the project.
Great News !! I have recently heard from Tony D'Ambrosio. He has now settled into his new job, and his family is now well established in their new home. For those that didn't know, he and his family moved right across France some weeks ago.
Anyway the good news is, development has started again on the ND gauges, and the Flight Plan mode is well underway. He promises me a BETA of it soon. So don't give up hope it is coming, and as always will be worth the wait.
That's about it for today. I need to get back to the DC3.
27th May 1999,
Work has been continuing at a pace on Bill Rambows DC3. He persauded me to do four more custom gauges for the panel. These are now finished and have been added. I can tell you this panel is really stunning, and getting better every day.
The panel is now nearing completion, and only a couple of parts and the manual are still to be done. He confidently expects that it will be released during next week.
I have a positive assurance from Bill that the package will be released here at exactly the same time as at AVSIM. So keep you eyes on this page, I will try to give you warning if I can.
On a slightly different subject, I am sorry to say that any release of individual gauges from the DC3 will be delayed. This is because of some dirty dealings by people I will not credit by naming. It is hoped that this will only be a temporary hold up.
The feedback from you on the A330 BETA v1.7 has been very good. Certainly from the emails I have received, everybody is very happy. (with the exception of the persons that got the empty zip file, and even they saw the funny side of it). :-)
Unfortunately "real work", me as an artist, is going to have to take priority on my time for the next couple of weeks. The Intenational P.A.W.S. Competition which I run, is coming to a crescendo for 1999, with a Gala Prize Giving Evening on 11th June. See P.A.W.S. webpage for details. However I will keep this site up to date with news of what happening in the FS world, and RCS Panels in particular.
Since my first comments on this page I have been reading more about FS2000, and it seems that it is going to offer us developers some really exciting possibilities. Plus the release of the CFS SDK has thrown some light of some of the lesser understood areas of gauge programming, which we can also use in FS98. Already I have been able to produce two gauges that would not have been possible before the CFS SDK.
That's about it for today. Have a good one.
25th May 1999,
Wow !!
What a success you are making this site. You logged up a massive 12,950 hits on this site in the first 24 hours, and that rate has continued. I am delighted and stunned. Thankyou.
Also many thanks to all of you that took the trouble to email me with your support. You should all have had a reply by now.
As a direct result of your support, I have been offered the status of an AVSIM partner site. Yesterday that became official and you will find the LOGO and a link at the bothom of this page.
Now to business :- A few people read the "Latest News 22nd May", about the DC3 / R4D to mean that I personally was producing the panel. Can I restate for the "hard of understanding" I am not the one producing the panel, it is my good friend Bill Rambow. I am in a support role for once, producing gauges for it and giving some technical assistance as and when it is required. I am extremely proud to be part of what is an extrodinarily accurate and functional piece of work. Believe me it will set new standards for this type of panel.
I managed to finish another gauge for it today, and we are hopeful it will be ready in about two weeks time. Watch this page for updates on progress.
I have to say sorry to those two dozen people that were the first to download the Beta version of the A330. As you know a fix was put on this page very quickly, because there was an error in the ZIP. Well the problem continuted, because I put the FIX together so quickly, I forgot to put the files in the ZIP. Some kind person pointed that out today and it has now been fixed properly. I hope :-)
Thats about it for today. Safe landings.
24th May 1999,
My email services are now back online, and all emails have been answered. Thankyou for your understanding.
Have a good day.
23rd May 1999, ------------********** Special*************
I am pleased to announce that the A330 Version 1.7B (which is Beta 2 of version 2) is now available from this site. Please remember this is a BETA version and the documentation has not been updated to cover the features contained within. Furthermore the full backup service given to "Released" panels is not available. This is however the version I am currently using myself, so you should have no problems.
As expected my email service is still not available. I don't expect it to return until Monday
Enjoy the remainder of the Weekend.
23rd May 1999,
To anyone that has tried to email me since Saturday morning, my ISP has been down since then and is likely to be until Monday. I will answer any emails on Monday when I receive them. Sorry for the delay, but it is out of my control.. Very urgent messages can be left in the "Roy Chaffin Studios Guest Book".
Good news..... I will be posting the very latest Beta 2 version of the A330 sometime during today Sunday. Keep your eyes on this page for the announcement and the LINK to the file.
22nd May 1999,
Rcently I have taken time out from the Airbus panels to inprove my skills with gauge programming. This has been more to expand my knowledge of what is possible within the contraints of FS98 rather than do my hard working gauge programmers out of business.
Having spent my entire life connected with high tech mind bending enterprises, I can tell you this is the most difficult thing I have ever tackled. I now see why most of the good programmers are 19 years old. No matter, this old man of 51 will not be beaten.
Having now spent three months at it, nearly driving two of my programmers mad, we have started to achieve results. To practise my skills I have been making gauges for my good friend Bill Rambow who has set himself the task of designing a very accurate DC3 / R4D panel. For a complete change for me, he has been doing the panel, with a little help from me, and I have been doing the gauges, with a little help from my long suffering gauge programmers.
The result is not only going to be ground breaking but altogether stunning. Keep your eyes on this page for its release in the next few weeks.(Also see below)
Now with the bulk of the DC3 / R4D work out of the way I am concentrating on Version 2 of the Airbus panels. These versions will include virtually a full set of new gauges. Which will now all light at night, have sounds attached to all the knobs and switches, and generally be better and more functional. All the dummy switches have gone, and the Standby instruments are "true standby's" because they now do not fail on simulated instrument failures.
There is still a great deal to do before release, but we are getting there.
Because of the continuing outrage and anger about piracy of panels and gauges, I have spent a great deal of time working with one of my tutors/gauge programmers to develop a security system for gauges. Rather than just complaining about people "hacking" and "stealing" gauges, we have just come up with a system that causes any of our gauges to stop working if it is "hacked" in anyway. Even changing the external gauge name will render it useless. We even developed one that gave a loud, and damming verbal message, but thought that was probably "Overkill". Sorry "Hackers" you were warned.
Now with the release of some information on FS2000, which is due in October 99, we can continue to develop the current panels with some confidence that they will also work with that. It is also hoped that FS2000 will give use even more scope for development.
With that good news, back to work.
Safe landings.