Hello

[jayhump]

I just purchased cliffs of dover yesterday and am waiting for my joystick to come in. I've never played a real flight sim and I'm sure that I'm not going to be very good with the stick at first. I've been an FPS gamer for years and am looking for something a little different. I just started up the game to look at some video settings and run some stress tests and I noticed this site's server up and active. I will be playing some single player at first of course, but what kind of settings should I be playing with if I want to cross over to online play without much of a surprise?

Also I saw that there are missions? Are there objectives on this server or just TDM.

[ChiefRedCloud]

Please understand that "I" consider myself a novice next to some of the good advice the ATAG members can give you but none the less here goes.

First your video seetings all depend on your computer and your graphics card. My advise, and yours too I'm sure, stick with stock settings at first. Record all your settings or save them (i.e. control setup) before you start to change things. This way if things get out of hand you can go back to what you know worked and try something differant.

Steam will install all official patches. However we are currently in our second Beta Patch at his time. And to participate online, atleast on ATAG, you would need to patch up. You can get this help here with ATAG or most of the forum members.

If you don't have Team Speak 3 yet, please get it and go to the ATAG TS3 address for one on one help with this. I've just went through this with the help of ATAG so I would be happy to try and help.

If you've never flown, then be aware that there is a learning curve. But nothing you can't handle I'm sure.

To better help with any set up perhaps an idea of your computer and equipment would help.

Past this it's just a matter of getting on Team Speak and letting everyone know what help you need. Welcome to the group and happy hunting/flying. :coolio:



Also I saw that there are missions? Are there objectives on this server or just TDM.

Actually in a way, both. You can just hunt your advisary or do your part to protect the numerous bambers on their missions. And there are objectives also.

[jayhump]

I'm not really worried about the graphics settings, I expect to be able to run everything on high.

i5-760
8GB ram
2 HD's totaling over a TB
ATI 6970

I just built this PC for Battlefield 3 so it's pretty fresh.

I'm mainly worried about the difficulty settings, I don't want to fly single player too easy and then have to relearn everything when I decide to jump online. Is this server 100% realism or a little more lax?

Also, I just got my X52 Pro, so if anyone else uses it and has any advice on how to set it up that would be nice.

[Ohms]

Hi JayHump

CRC has given you some sound advise,you could also check out simhq for clod info. Please do not be shocked if you can't run clod on max settings which is a possiblity even with your higher end rig,Clod has some very quircky code which is not quite there yet(more patches to come)but that being said the game is getting there slowly.Teamspeak would be a very good idea so the guys can help you out in real time.The vast majority if not all the guys that use this server will do what ever they can to help you except shoot themselves down. Welcome to the fold and goodluck this is not an easy firstperson shooter but it is not rocket science either.

Neil:Grin:

[Bokonon]

Hey there Jayhump, the ATAG server is a full realism server so you will have to learn the comlpex engine management to join. I practiced full real offline first, before joining the online stuff, but that doesn't mean that you have to do the same. There are a lot of very helpful people on and around the ATAG server, so if you get Teamspeak 3 and hook up to the ATAG channel you'll find a lot of very helpful people willing to help you out. Going from novice to full real is a rather steep learning curve to start with,( I can attest to that, the last flight sim I played before this was Knights of the Sky on the Atari ST) but a very satisfying one. Also it can be helpful to do a bit of outside reading around the BoB and WWII aviation in general. For one thing it can get you in the 'mood' and atmosphere of the thing, but you'll probably pick up a few useful titbits on the way too.
On the subject of hardware, your rig sounds very capable but esp at the moment while things are as they are at the moment with CoD, i.e a work in progress, be prepared to compromise a little with the graphics settings.
Anyway welcome and good luck!

p.s. I've duped a couple of Ohmies suggestions, guess he's a faster typer than me!

[ChiefRedCloud]

Jay the detail 1C has prevailed to put in this sim is in and of itself, overwelming to say the least. I thought myself to have a fairly strong computre and thus set my graphics to high in many areas. Needless to say, I did myself a big disfavour. I've since had to reinstall because of an issue and at this time am running the stock settings which arer mostley at medium. And so far it is working great.

Taking my own advise to you I'm planning on taking things one step at a time. To see how far I can take it. Look forward to flying with you.:coolio:

I know nothing of ATI/AMD cards so in that area I am of no help. I run at the moment a GTX 450 but will be replacing this with a GTX 560TI overclocked w/2Gig

[ATAG_Bliss]

Hi jayhump!

As others have said, the learning curve is quite steep in this sim. But hopping on coms and asking questions is the fastest way to get off the ground so to speak :Grin:

I've learned more listening to others on coms in 2 months than I would trying to fly alone in year. And flying with a wingman really helps you for situational awareness not to mention having a tactical advantage :coolio:

Looking forward to chatting with you!

:salute:

[Hoogs]

Hi Jay,

Welcome to the world of simulation and air combat. As an enthusiast I sincerely hope you too will find air combat simulation as deeply satisfying as I have. After 14 years of flight sim air combat, I'm still learning something new everyday. More importantly, you will find the simulation community to be a very friendly and helpful.

If you like to read, I found this book very helpful

Fighter Combat: Tactics and Manuvering (http://www.amazon.ca/Fighter-Combat-Maneuvering-Robert-Shaw/dp/0870210599)

:thumbsup: Good Luck Jay and happy hunting:salute:

[ATAG_Septic]

I'm not really worried about the graphics settings, I expect to be able to run everything on high.

i5-760
8GB ram
2 HD's totaling over a TB
ATI 6970

I just built this PC for Battlefield 3 so it's pretty fresh.

I'm mainly worried about the difficulty settings, I don't want to fly single player too easy and then have to relearn everything when I decide to jump online. Is this server 100% realism or a little more lax?

Also, I just got my X52 Pro, so if anyone else uses it and has any advice on how to set it up that would be nice.


Hi Jayhump,

Sorry, I only just noticed this thread.

I also use the x52 pro. I have decided not to use the SST programming software. Whilst it's very powerful I find there's enough sliders and rotaries to assign functions in game. Shout up any time if I can be of assistance Old Bean.

See you in the skies over Dover, over! :)

[Vonov]

Hi Jay,

Welcome to the world of simulation and air combat. As an enthusiast I sincerely hope you too will find air combat simulation as deeply satisfying as I have. After 14 years of flight sim air combat, I'm still learning something new everyday. More importantly, you will find the simulation community to be a very friendly and helpful.

If you like to read, I found this book very helpful

Fighter Combat: Tactics and Manuvering (http://www.amazon.ca/Fighter-Combat-Maneuvering-Robert-Shaw/dp/0870210599)

:thumbsup: Good Luck Jay and happy hunting:salute:
+1 on Shaw's Fighter Combat---it will help you get up to speed quicker, and if you read it, I strongly recommend that you afterward watch the History Channel's "Dogfights" series (you can find it on Youtube also)...some of the tactical analysis graphics during the show that they use to explain things will help clarify the concepts discussed in the book.