JamesT73J

Indeed they are, and they're absolutely fine for most purposes (in fact I could purchase one at a preferential rate through work) but they are maddeningly inconsistent for judging image sharpness. The inherently superior contrast can render soft photographic images sharper than they really are. It's a big deal working with DSLR output as sharpening is a fairly precise discipline. To get the necessary quality means considerably more expense if you're talking TFT, so for now I make do. J

Snap, I've got a 19" samsung that must be eight years old, but I don't like anything else for photo editing, especially judging sharpness. There are LCD screens that offer similar quality, but they are well out of my price range, and I keep buying other stuff like SB Pro...

I don't agree. I tried Arma Sept '06 and was dissappointed because the performance issues really irritated me - so I went back to OFP. However, I returned to it later after 1.08 was released and I had better hardware, and it is a different experience, once you get it working well. The thing is, when it is all running smoothly, and you have applied config tweaks to cool off the AI's over-efficient marksmanship, you really do notice the similarity to OFP's gameplay - it is virtually identical. I really enjoy it now. I'd suggest if it had frustrated you, just give it a bit more time. The biggest single improvement is the variation all over the island - if you take a vehicle and drive around, the urban and rural areas have distinct character. I think where BIS really shot themselves in the foot was the relatively weak campaign, which was a huge contrast to the superb Cold War Crisis of the original. It's hugely important for immersing the player in the environment, and introducing the gameplay challenges in a methodical and careful manner. A common complaint for people new to the OFP gameplay style in Arma was a lack of direction and focus in the early campaign missions - nobody quite realises you can do what the hell you like in these games (more or less) as long as you meet the trigger requirements, which in the early stages are usually 'move to a, b, c'. The missions are actually rather good, but they fail in the objective of introducing the player to the world. James

A common misconception. Under the mild manners and dry, self-effacing humour, we're absolute animals.

I expect it was down to there being little or no SEAD capability from the VVS (or Georgia for that matter). I suspect the mud-movers (SU-25A) were operating in a highly dangerous environment, well within the engagement envelope of most ground threats, relying on short-range munitions and coming within range of MANPADS and mobile short-range defence systems such as the ZSU-23 and SA15 / 'Tor'. The TU-22 was possibly knocked down by the Ukraine-supplied SA-11.

Comment in the Moscow times about the Russian military's performance: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/369809.htm So - all those destroyed T-series tanks: Russian, Georgian, or both?

Welcome, Shipping to the UK was exceptionally quick for me, under 5 days. There are many, many training missions; instruction is a focus of the simulation - you'll have no problems getting into it. Can't help with the controller setup, although there's bound to be someone here that can! James

There's a lot of burning armour in the film and photos emerging from the conflict, and yet again evidence that Russian SAM & AA equipment is capable - four Russian aircraft downed, including a TU-22? I wonder what kind of engagements took out the armour, specifically if there were any Tank v tank battles.

A general interest in warfare sims. For AFV's, it started in 1990 for me with M1 Tank Platoon on the Amiga, and also the lighter (but tactically fun) Team Yankee series. Does anyone remember those early campaign missions in M1TP where you would face hoardes of WARPAC tanks running towards the little hill in the corner of the map where your platoon was camped hull down? Seriously tense. M1TP 2 was brilliant as well, and although it was cosmetically miles ahead of the original, it played pretty much the same. Around 2001 I started to read about Steel Beasts, and it sounded promising. In 2002 I picked up the Gold Edition, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Hi All, Some images from Farnborough on the Saturday. Very changeable weather, but a most enjoyable day! USAF F-16 in the static park: Royal Airforce Tornado: Avro Vulcan, waiting for her display! And of course... Superhornet catching a gust on takeoff: And concluding with a simulated carrier landing: Cheers James

Perversely, in a war zone it might actually be safer for a journalist to be more covert, and behave more like a combatant in terms of movement discipline. There were plenty of incidents during Iraqi freedom where news crews got shot up out in the open. The moment you make yourself visible, you're also entering yourself into the decision making chain of every entity that can see you - to shoot or not to shoot?

I've got all of them, and I'll get this one too. However, the current trend for hugely hyped reviews is annoying the hell out of me. Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, and now this are strong titles but the current gaming media treats them like the second coming.

An interesting discussion, and I it's commendable that people have kept sensible about a topic that is very emotive. The incident attracted a lot of attention here in the UK; even in the pro-Israeli media there was some veiled criticism. Of course, we don't see the tank crew; they're rendered anonymous by the distance, the tank itself, and the fact that the media will never get to the crew. Clearly, they didn't intend to kill non-combatants. Thanks to Nepi and the other IDF chappie for filling in the gaps.

There's some pretty strong characters in this community. As the saying goes, if you want to predict the future, read a history book. Last time I was online a fair bit (around 2003) I saw plenty, plenty of friction between certain individuals. I dare say they're getting along fine now.

You could say, "It's on the list." :-D

Snap. Still on my first; it's surprisingly well built, and the pots are still very quiet on it.

I went dual core recently, and the biggest improvement I've seen is largely down to the individual cores running quicker than my old Sempron. FS2004 runs on one core better than FSX does on two, which gave me a chuckle. As Nils said, I don't think you gain that much. J

Homer, Good vid. It's easy to forget that Dryden played with this stuff years ago. I hadn't read much about the X-31, but researched the HARV (F-18 based hi-AOA / post stall experimental) a while ago. I wonder how many country's programmes benefitted from this data. James P.S link of the HARV doing some post-stall stuff http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/Movie/F-18HARV/Medium/EM-0013-02.mpg

Absolutely superb video. I saw a MiG-29M OVT at Fairford in '06 displaying; it is really something to watch. The rotating freefall is spectacular, as is the 'boomerang' that he does just after takeoff. I got a couple of photos, but don't really have a long enough lens for the really interesting stuff: James

Have you tried downloading and installing the newest video drivers for your card? ATI product page is here: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html May cure the problem. J

For me, it's a Merlin. I live in Southampton, and periodically the BBMF aircraft will stage out of here for local shows (apt, as it's the home of the Spitfire). That sound is totally distinctive; I always look up when I hear it. Modern day, I like the GE F101's of the B-1. Took this at Fairford a couple of years back. Boy are those things loud... Stearman's always sound great too: J

http://www.steelbeasts.com/Downloads/p13_sectionid/24/p13_fileid/1077 Been playing this mucho times as part of my efforts to improve at the sim; beginning to get a real love for IFV recon. Essentially, you've got to get a load of vehicles from one location to another. Surrounded by high ground, with an air threat, it's good fun and there are just the right number of REDFOR nasties to keep you honest without being too frustrating. You get a generous allowance of M2's (I've needed them, to be honest) and I usually scout well ahead with these and just leave the convoy at the start point until the route is clear. ##Spoilers## I think the eastern route (taking the earliest crossing) seems pretty good. You have to go through a pair of T-72's to get to the others; they're virtually impossible to bypass because even if you hide from them they tend to hear you and come looking, and they are overwatching the bend in the river. The good news is, they tend to zoom straight up the hill , and if there is one thing your convoy has LOADS of, it's ATGM's. They usually get tow'd very rapidly if they're close. One minor thing, the river is too wide in many parts for the layer to span; you need to be careful where you pick. Anyone else tried it?

A good scenario for getting frustrated and stressed. This is the one that taught me to get out of the map and really use the 3d environment - a hard habit to break, but well worth it. It also got me into driving the vehicle on my own, a skill that ostensibly seems like a nuisance but in fact becomes incredibly useful when you really start to interact with the terrain features. You start in quite a tough position, in that at least three red tanks are pointed in your direction at varying distances; over in the NW it's particularly nasty as there's usually three in the same sector that provide overwatch on each other - hit one and the others will usually give you a kicking. Another issue is ammo (if your gunnery is as modest as mine!) - if you find a wood and drive into it, switch off your engine and you can usually reload with no bother at all, as long as there isn't a T-80 with TIS about; T-72's typically will not see you, even if they're at the edge of the wood.

Hi Skybird, Do you not feel that can be a little limiting? I find infantry can be very motivating for the tankie in terms of controlling chokepoints. I won't use woodland tracks near ENY positions for this reason; crunchies can really tear you up. Inversely, AFV's present virtually no threat under similar circumstances. J