Com-Central.net

Hey guys!

Com-Central is looking good! Every time I come here I see something new, keep it up, awesome.....

CK

Canelo? WOW....How you doing? It's been a while since we've seen you around here.

I have been seeing the progress here and I'm impressed. I'm betting soon you will be seeing more traffic because Com-Central has all the pieces in place.

I do have some questions about uploads? Are you looking for more new CFS3 and FS9 uploads? If you are I'll get some people to upload their files here. Many add-on authors want their work at as many sites as possible. Also I noticed you have catagories for CFS1, 2 & 3 & FS9 planes, do you want other add-on uploads too?

I can't seem to login, I registered. When I try to login to the site or forums it accepts my information but doesn't log me in. You got any suggestions, I tried it without my firewall and without the new MS Anti-Spam but still had the same result.

CK

HIya Canelo and thanks for the kind words. CC's development is due to the many talents of it's members...:wink:

I do have some questions about uploads? Are you looking for more new CFS3 and FS9 uploads? If you are I'll get some people to upload their files here. Many add-on authors want their work at as many sites as possible. Also I noticed you have catagories for CFS1, 2 & 3 & FS9 planes, do you want other add-on uploads too?

Yes...lol. Since it's all about the community, offering a way for the community to link up all their downloads is a great way for all to be involved in the process.

I can't seem to login, I registered. When I try to login to the site or forums it accepts my information but doesn't log me in. You got any suggestions, I tried it without my firewall and without the new MS Anti-Spam but still had the same result.

I checked all your registration info and all seems to be in place. I would like to suggest deleting the CC cookie and try again. We've switched servers and while the domain name is resolved to here, if you have an old cookie, it may be resolving to the wrong site. Also, keep in mind that case matters, so a "C" is different than "c". If that doesn't work, contact me by PM here or Shadow_Bshwackr @ com-central.net and we'll work out the bugs, we have other 'tricks' up our sleeve...lol

I got it figured out, this is a new install of XP and somehow the cookie for com-central was blocking access.

It's great to see the progress here because the community has less and less resources since CFS3. It also seems less people are using multiplayer than in the past.

CK

I posted a news item about Com-Central at SOH, privately I'll ask some of the designers to start posting add-ons at CC.

Hey Canelo...good to see you here.

I actually come here almost daily to see what is going on in the community but rarely post. In fact a rarely post anywhere including SOH, of all the staff and moderatos I have the least amount of posts. Anytime I see positive developments in the Community I want everyone to know so I general post a news item at SOH.

Over the past three years and since the release of CFS3 our community has become smaller and many of the sites supporting the community have either closed or get no traffic. We at SOH have tried to keep things going with features like the Neighborhhod and Who's Who. We have always included Com-Centeral in our front page banner rotation and the forums links on the bottom of CFCforum pages. We consider Com-Central as a sister site and part of the family and want to do anything we can to keep all the related community sites alive and known.

It's great to see what's happening here at CC and I know that soon it will pay-off with increased traffic and community support. The keys to a successful Flight Simulator Community site is a combination of downloads and good forum software. Once you get the downloads there is more to discuss in the forums and both aspects feed on each other. If you have a good method for uploading and a decent download library it attracts people. Once at a site people see activity and new information and tend to return. Add good forum software and a sense of family and soon you have a large member base.

Com-Central is on the right track to become a bigger player in the Flight Simulation Community by including FS9 and IL-2 information and downloads. Unlike the past a web site can not be for CFS only because of the failure of CFS3 and Microsoft's general lack of community support for Combat Flight Simulator. Some in the community have turned a lemon into lemonaid and CFS3 still has support by the community but unfortunately Microsoft has droped the ball concerning Combat Flight Simulation on PCs. Even CFS2 is still active and new downloads are on the increase so there is a need for more web sites that support Combat Flight Simulation in general.

CK

It's good to find an old friend.

When I began flight sims with CFS-1, Com-Central was one of my favorites. Great to see you're back.

Good luck and best regards.

Ken

I've always had an interest in Com-Central and remember when it all started. Many of the people here are old timers and remember where this all started and how CFS1 created a new community. From the original CFC site and forums many other sites were born and made the community even larger. When CFS2 came out things went crazy and new sites like CFS2 On-Line made the community even larger. Great times!

Since then things have changed because of changes in CFS which made it incompatible with earlier versions or Flight Simulator. Then Microsoft more or less stopped supporting CFS and never fixed many of the problems with CFS3. Unfortunately this caused a lot of people to look elsewhere and many either quit the community out right or moved on to other games. IL-2 Sturmovik then became an interest of many in the community but doesn't lend itself well to additions. Without a flow of IL-2 add-ons there isn't as much to share so community participation dropped.

Now many community members use FS9 because of the wealth of add-ons and the open platform that is somewhat compatible with CFS2. With easily being able to transfer aircraft from FS9 to CFS2 there is a renewed interest in CFS2. Also there are some new developments in CFS3 and some large projects underway. With the renewed interest in the CFS Community Com-Central will see some increase in interest and more traffic.

CK

Yep, CFS1 was and is a great game, but as in all game engines, the newer engines offer much more in terms of better graphics, playability and features.

I can remember when I first got in CFS, the new found online competition, all the new names I haven't heard before and you could join a squadron and fly against other squadrons too? How cool was that?

Then to find great sites that offered downloads such as planes, scenery and add-ons such as CFC and the magic was born. WOW, how great it was to go online, fly WW2 combat planes and shoot down your opponents? And, now there are websites that allow us to have our own plane designations and tell us how to paint them for our squadron too? Thanks CFC, you were the inspiration for not only CC but other sites I'm sure.

As far as MS supporting the games they produced, we've said this many times on CC, and that is MS didn't. They made a half hearted attempt at listening to the public with the release of CFS3, and Leon showing up at some of our talks held here at CC, but I think Leon knew his hands were tied and the project he was in charge of was slipping away with every 'no' he got from MS superiors. Leon felt the pain I'm sure but had little say in the overall scheme of things. In my opinion, MS 'dropped the ball' many times since the release of CFS1 and it's really no surprise they lost their following.

So where did that leave the fan sites? Like any great group, the sites adapted by keeping up with different and newer games such as FS9, IL2 and it's many offshoots. I've been all over the net and in my opinion, there is no better group of people than the flight sim community. They all have many talents and offer them up free for the betterment of their community. So who lost out in the long run? MS did, at least in the Combat arena.

It's great sites like SO that helps keep this community going and I feel fortunate we've had SO as a resource. Keep up the great work and feel free to drop in anytime, we have the utmost respect for the hard work and dedication everyone at SO puts in.

Even on the internet life has lots of twists and turns and you can never predict whats going to happen! Between 1998 when the CFS Community started and now a lot of things happened. With each new version of CFS major changes occured. Considering this it amazes me there are still so many people from the early days around. Besides Trog and the Rogs I still see many of the original CFS Community members hanging out. Dynotech is still at the RAF662, others are over at CFSIP, some more at Netwings and a bunch of guys here at Com-Central. I see others in the larger Flight Simulator Community that are still active or just hang out many at SOH.

With the release of CFS3 and FS2004 a funny thing happened at SOH, most of the staff really liked FS2004 and really disliked CFS3. Tekworm a guy who once said he couldn't see using Flight Simulators you can't shoot things down with loved FS9. At the same time we were going through some crap with Microsoft because of our vocal dislike of CFS3 so we decided to change and become more of a Flight Simulator site. It didn't take long and FS took over and we had a new group of FS guys besides the CFS and IL-2 guys. By another twist of fate WreckRman wanted to sell www.combatfs.com so to save the resource SOH bought it. Funny how things work out!

It is interesting to see a renewed interest in CFS2 and CFS3 and a healthy Community here and at other sites. At SOH we are getting lots of new uploads for CFS2 and have members working on a major release for CFS3. Even though SOH now highlights Flight Simulator we are still are 100% committed to CFS and the Community.

CK

Oh, one other thing!

When you guys redesigned Com-Central and changed URLs and links I lost linking to your banner so I took a screenshot and made a down-n-dirty one. Could you give me a link to a banner that better represents CC?

We use 468x60 banners either jpg or gif, gif animation OK if file size isn't too big (under 600K).

REPLACE

We'll have to get back to you on the banner CK, we've been really busy with other projects. The one you're using now is fine until we get to it...

Considering this it amazes me there are still so many people from the early days around. Besides Trog and the Rogs I still see many of the original CFS Community members hanging out. Dynotech is still at the RAF662, others are over at CFSIP, some more at Netwings and a bunch of guys here at Com-Central. I see others in the larger Flight Simulator Community that are still active or just hang out many at SOH.

Yep, I agree and the flight sim community that started from CFS is still going strong as friendships from around the globe were made. The age of global communications is here and how cool is it to talk to someone around the world or around the corner on your computer? Squadron members are like family with the difference being you can pick or request your members...lol. The first and succeeding Aces Conventions were incredible! Not only did you get to meet the people you flew online with every day, but other people and squadron members who you did battle with night after night. That was perfect opportunity to meet the "IP" and "ZONE" players on common ground.

With the release of CFS3 and FS2004 a funny thing happened at SOH, most of the staff really liked FS2004 and really disliked CFS3. Tekworm a guy who once said he couldn't see using Flight Simulators you can't shoot things down with loved FS9.

LOL, I know what you mean! Flying 'civie' aircraft never really entered my mind. I picked up FS95 when it first came out and it was fun...kinda. CFS on the other hand had guns and fast planes! You could fly against other planes with guns too, so the excitement was born! It wasn't until the Multi-player part of FS that is became fun. Flying offline is ok, but the interaction with your friends is what makes these games great be it 'civie' or 'combat'. Com Central has a FS9 game every Sunday. It's a great way to relax and learn the basics of real flying at the same time. How many people at SO and CC really knew about VOR or IRF before these games were released? How many people would get to 'see' the cockpit of a 747, Howard 500 or Constellation? Granted these are sim planes, but close in detail non the less..:wink:

At the same time we were going through some crap with Microsoft because of our vocal dislike of CFS3 so we decided to change and become more of a Flight Simulator site. It didn't take long and FS took over and we had a new group of FS guys besides the CFS and IL-2 guys.

I think the move to include FS9 along with CFS, IL2 and at CC, Groundpounder games was dictated by the popularity of these games as well as the people who plays them. The staff here at CC is really just members of it's community and play all these games. We have a saying here. "If it's not fun, we're not doing it!"...lol

CFS3 was a whole new problem with a new set of problems. Lovers of the CFS series such as myself ordered that game before it's release and couldn't wait to try it! It didn't take long to realize MS 'dropped the ball'. While the fun factor was there while flying with your online friends, it was buggy and problematic. Crappy MP interface and the lack of a Zone room was it's biggest failure in my opinion. Combine that with the problems of not joining a game if you had some kind of add-on plane or file and it was a formula for disaster. I'm not saying CFS3 didn't have it's good points but they just couldn't overcome the problems.

It is interesting to see a renewed interest in CFS2 and CFS3 and a healthy Community here and at other sites. At SOH we are getting lots of new uploads for CFS2 and have members working on a major release for CFS3. Even though SOH now highlights Flight Simulator we are still are 100% committed to CFS and the Community.

I've seen some new releases coming out as add-on's for CFS3 and CFS2 has always been a great game. Like SOH, CC is watching these with great interest. BTW, how is WreckRman doing? I haven't talked to him in a few years..

Greetings! I too started in the CFS comunity just a couple years ago, and I still keep my hand in it. I know CFS1 doesn't have the graphics of some of the other games, but there are a few of us that are still active in it, as well as other games like IL2/FB/PF. In fact, as a few of you know, there is a Virtual Flight School that is active in both. That is the Joint Ops. and it is also expanding into another game as well.
I went through their Basic Flight School earned my wings and have gone on to become an instructor there. The caliber of people that have gone through the classes are great. They have gone back to their squads with skills that are valuable to the whole group. I joined CC simply because of the intro that was posted in the JO forum and when I looked at this site, I was highly impressed. It catered to many different games, and offered a connection that was honestly impressive. I've flown with some of the Sunday Flight bunch, and I've enjoyed just being there, and getting to know these guys. They also have a humorous streak a mile wide, and I fit in well. I plan to stick around a while. I