Ah - but 128MB of stored items does not corrollate to needing 128MB of system memory. A properly designed operating system utilizes 'swap' space and temporary disk storage (which is very cheap) instead of (relatively) expensive RAM (Random Access Memory, the memory sticks that are in your system)

Now the more memory the faster a system will perform and I grant that flight simulation usually requires more memory for fast performance.

BUT I helped prepare a system for a major commercial Flight Simulation company (controlling Multi axis 747 cockpit simulators complete with outside the cockpit video control) back in the late 80s that used less system memory than some folks PCs have today.

Well if ya ask me it all went downhill after the good ol' Commodore Amiga back in the 80's anyway....a wonderful (if somewhat sensitive) O/S with UNIX-like console commands, seperate GPU, DMA and sound processors (gee this sounds familiar to the architecture we have today) and very interesting development behind it.

And as for jets and fighters and whatnot.....I'll take a P-38 Lightning over just about anything for speed, grace and deadly beauty.....although as far as jets go I have a soft spot for the F-8 Crusader as well. She set a lot of records for her day and is one of those fighters that just looks like a natural-born killer.

I'm with ya, Ascout, on the B-58 Hustler and for that matter, the XB-70 Valkyrie too. Something about the idea of delivering canned thermonuclear sunshine at supersonic speeds that has a certain appeal, and is the kind of accomplishment (short-lived as it was) that we won't see again for a long long time.

bsmart wrote:

Ah - but 128MB of stored items does not corrollate to needing 128MB of system memory. A properly designed operating system utilizes 'swap' space and temporary disk storage (which is very cheap) instead of (relatively) expensive RAM (Random Access Memory, the memory sticks that are in your system)

Actually, Bob, I think you're missing it....we're not talking here about "stored items"....you underestimate the sophistication of the models and scenery being offered and what it takes to present it...we ain't just going back and forth running off the HD...then we really would be watching a slideshow. Trust me, if you shut everything down and try to run with 128MB of system memory, you'd better be flying a stick figure airplane.

Hey Bob

look here
www.flightgear.org/int...ction.html

FlightGear is an open source flight sim that will run on Linux. It might let you get your feet wet and you can't beat the price.

Der Baron

bsmart wrote:

A properly designed operating system utilizes 'swap' space and temporary disk storage (which is very cheap) instead of (relatively) expensive RAM (Random Access Memory, the memory sticks that are in your system) Now the more memory the faster a system will perform and I grant that flight simulation usually requires more memory for fast performance.

If 128MB of RAM works for you and what your doing with it that's great but let's not make it sound like thats enough memory to run any program today smoothely if at all. I'll admit 14 years was a wise crack but larger amounts of memory are nothing new. My 4 year old Dell 8200 came with 1GB. You can knock the operating system all you want but it's the programs that you run on the operating system that use up the memory and at $74.99 ($49.99 after rebate) for 2GB of RAM I'd say thats (relatively) inexpensive.

And if you ask me, it all went downhill after "Battle Tank"
www.permadi.com/java/b...index.html

Well I see the point when comparing to industrial/commercial full-motion flight sims. I've been around them too and they are a whole different animal. The focus is on integrated functionality, avionics, communication with external systems and devices, etc. Eye candy, large textures and truly complicated 3D models aren't a priority. And you sure don't need a virtual cockpit with thousands of polygons and additional textures and XML or C++ gauges because, well, you've already got a real cockpit right there to sit in. So they're actually a lot more straightforward other than the interfaces to the external systems for movement and situational control by an instructor.

Back in the old days it was commonly thought that business applications needed the higher-power computers. Perhaps as far as storage goes for lots of records, but in actuality, most business and office apps only need to function as fast as a human can enter data.

Ironically though, it's the "entertainment" flight sims sold to the public that carry the biggest burden. These have to be competitive with other flight simulator products (and yes they are out there) and have all the sizzle and eye candy to generate sales, as well as keep the existing user base happy and give them reason to move up. So it's always been a bit interesting to note that when it comes to off-the-shelf software that pushes a PC to it's most difficult limits, Flight Simulation software has always been the leader fo the pack. Nothing exercises the capabilities of all aspects of the system more, from the complex fluid dynamics being calculated to generate the flight model behavior, calculate position in the virtual world, calculate and update the posotion of all the AI aircraft and objects at the same time, and the data transfer speeds between memory, storage and video systems in order to support scenery, landclass, modeling and texture data, including even the sound system which is handling several sounds at once. There isn't much of the system that gets left to idle along.

JG300-fr8ycat wrote:

And if you ask me, it all went downhill after "Battle Tank" www.permadi.com/java/b...index.html

GREAT LINK!

Except...why does it seem so much easier than the original????

This will go with Ascout's Loco




Der Baron

Freiherr_Kiefer wrote:

This will go with Ascout's Loco Der Baron

NOT! You can get that at any convenience store in Canada. Our train will only be haulin' "JG300 Private Reserve"

JG300-Stoopy wrote:

JG300-fr8ycat wrote: And if you ask me, it all went downhill after "Battle Tank" www.permadi.com/java/b...index.html GREAT LINK! Except...why does it seem so much easier than the original????

yea, it did seem easier when I played it too. Of course when I first played it at the go-cart track my dad used to take me to I was probably 7-8 years old and didn't have the video game experience I have now.

I think at that time battle tank and gunslinger (think that's what it was called. 2 cowboys on either side shooting at each other whith the wagon that went back and forth up the middle between them) were the only 2 video games in the arcade. Everything else was Pinball and Air Hockey.

Me no can play, get "requires java plug-in capability" message.