=VG= SemlerPDX

Okay, the server just ran though a complete campaign in 4.33.3 with the new weather setup, and it reached Day 26. Input? Thoughts? Was the weather acceptable and playable? It's also been requested that we allow players to use custom aircraft skins, but to do this, we'd have to turn off the config rule "same AC Data required" - I'd like your thoughts and opinions for or against this. So few people cheat at BMS, it's more of an issue of server stability and I'm not sure if custom skins will cause any instability, but still I'd like to discuss it first. Should we allow custom aircraft skins?

The role of the Commander is not to micro-manage players, vehicles, and squads, or to supply unsolicited tips or morale boosts (though used appropriately, they are indeed appreciated in any game). If people don't go to the objectives you mark, don't try to enforce it or start yelling at players. Just play the game. Being a commander doesn't grant you rank over other soldiers in the game. Also, pro tip: don't keep taking on a role you're not familiar with or good at yet, this isn't a training server. PTFO Plenty of places you can have a go at being commander; when you're well practiced and you know the maps and tactics of PR, and how to not micro-manage players, you'll be properly accepted as a commander by these guys, instead of just a blind vote from blueberries pressing buttons.

Welcome to the site, bro! Plenty of cool people around here playing many different games; I don't play Project Reality myself anymore, but I like Arma, Falcon BMS (F-16 Simulator) and our Minecraft modded server quite a bit. A few of us also play some Elite Dangerous (space truckin, space sim action), and even Star Trek Online (free to play). Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home Unsolicited Advice Section -- Some stuff I wish I was told when I first got into all this many years ago: I remember when I made the switch from console to PC exclusively - expensive but worth it. Getting the PC is the first step; don't get fooled by Best Buy and some of the "boxed" PC's you'll see on shelves. Only specialized stores or online outlets have the good gear for good values. I went with CyberPowerPC for a majority of my last build when they had a big sale, and only needed to buy a few additional components online and add them myself. Xidax PC's also have some great deals on entry level Gaming PC's. Wait for a Holiday to buy and there will be a big sale. The graphics card will be one of the most integral and expensive parts you want to invest in, it's like buying a next gen console in and of itself and is what makes the difference between a "computer" and a "gaming computer". Buy the most expensive "single GPU" card you can afford; expect to pay over $200 and less than $400 on average, often there are diminishing returns on the highest end cards. In my example I got the GTX 970 instead of the GTX 980 - a fraction of a performance difference (~15FPS less maybe) but a savings of over $100 on what was then a $350 card. Got an SSD with the $$ I saved. *Beware of cards that tout the chip number (i.e. 970) but look like a thin cracker when others bearing the same chip number (i.e. 970) look like huge thick rectangles with large fans and visible copper heat pipes - anyone can make a GFX card using the latest chip, only good companies like EVGA, MSI and a few others will take the time to build a GOOD card out of the chip with good cooling fans and heat pipes. Tom's Hardware is THE website to go to find the top 10 cards right now (or any PC part for that matter), select one of their picks when you get into building/buying a good Gaming PC. PC's can cost as much as an old used car - research will benefit a new buyer immensely. Also, currently (they flip-flop over years, gotta keep up) nVidia is the best GFX performer, and Intel is the best CPU performer (sometimes it's AMD or ATI respectively)... that being said, ATI GFX cards are often more affordable, same thing with AMD CPU's. And Windows 7 has more support, fixes, and articles regarding games than Win10, but Win10 is coming along. When PC gamer's talk FPS, it's frames per second and it's the ultimate limiter here - the way to kill it is with a good CPU and good GFX card, but then your monitor will only display as many FPS as it's native Refresh Rate (most are around 75Hz, or 75 refreshes per second; anything more than that will not be drawn to the screen). So, the last most expensive part of a good Gaming PC will be the monitor itself. The newest thing is the 4K monitors - 4 times the resolution and sometimes almost 4 times the price - I would not say that it's necessary yet, but if you can afford it, go for it. ASUS makes some of the best 144Hz monitors for gaming, but do your research at Tom's. Also note that not all games work with multiple monitor setups or dual graphics card setups (SLI/Crossfire) - it's why I prefer and recommend a good single GPU graphics card on a single 144Hz monitor (I use the ASUS VG248QE, $279 on Amazon). I have 4 different monitors connected, but only that main "good" display is used for the games. A TV Monitor is not the same as a PC Monitor, even now that TV's have become HD with all the bells and whistles. The way a PC monitor works is slightly different due to the way 3D graphics are displayed, there are some articles explaining it on the internets, sorry I don't have a link ready. But it's a good thing to note that even a expensive smart HD TV that costs a few thousand dollars will not necessarily out perform an HD PC monitor designed to push 3D graphics at the stated refresh and response rates, with a higher pixel density as they are designed to be viewed between 18-24" from the eye, unlike a TV. Eye fatigue used to be a bigger thing - but for hours of gaming with minimal eye fatigue, the Response Rate is the spec to watch on a monitor. 1-2ms (millisecond) response is about the best you will get, but anything more than 5ms and you will notice problems in a long gaming session perhaps including headaches or eye strain. The best in industry are the IPS displays with a different kind of tech running the screen, but of course, they are very expensive even as compared to an expensive gaming monitor. Your goal when buying any gaming monitor is the Refresh Rate - get one with 144Hz (sometimes called 3D Vision "ready" or the like). You won't be using it for the 3D, but it's capable 144Hz refresh will be able to display up to 144 frames per second on the screen for a very, very smooth gaming experience. It's all about eliminating bottlenecks like the one described above with PC gaming when trying to get the best performance for the best value. Feel free to post up here with any questions, make a thread if/when you go to start building or buying a PC and many here will be happy to give pointers or personal experiences with what we've all used over the years. Cheers!

People askin if server will return to normal operations and when this may happen is a valid query, not some personal attack. Just sayin

All this time zone confusion is getting to be a bit much. Just to clarify - some people seem to be missing the point of PRT if DST or other concerns are being mentioned. PRT is a common time, obviously based on Zulu clock (GMT). If it's confusing, here's an example: I am in West USA - if PBAsydney were actually in Syndey, Australia for this example, we are both looking at the same clock that says 17:47 PRT -- for me it's 9:47 AM -- That is all that matters to me here in Portland -- if an event were at 18:00 PRT, that means it's a 10 AM clock for me -- for ANY calculation to find out what PRT is for YOU, just look at it right now, note the difference. Bringing time zone maps into this is just crazy, and makes the whole PRT thing redundant (read: you're doing too much work!) Whatever it is for PBAsydney in this example is arbitrary, same with DST - because our goal in this example above was merely to meet on a server at 18:00 PRT, a common time. More importantly, the date should be clear for anyone west of the international date line which is a simple correction for them, but certainly DST and Time Zone Maps should not even come up when we are looking at a common clock on a website.

No worries. I changed it in the master file for good, only losing an hour of game progress at the time - it won't come up again now. I see that it could have just run out as you had changed them manually though, I see the point - I could have just left it and changed the master day 1 down the road at the next campaign restart.

Those squadrons are supposed to be human only - I did not verify any of the squadrons in the save file Sinu provided, I assumed it was correct based on the list above. FIXED I went through the squadrons and ensured our human ones are not set by HQ. If I missed any others, please let me know. Server restarted once again to day 1 first hour. Thank you for the heads up, CobaltUK! 3rd time's a charm, right?

Okay - gonna try this... I do not see a file called veterans.fmap, but in the RAR Day1 save files, you did include a file called VG Master.fmap I've added the many .fmap files to the appropriate campaign weather folder, and I've started again with only the Day 1 (VG Master) files you provided. I've selected VG Master as the Weather Map following the above instructions to auto update and save with. If any of this is incorrect and you meant to include another set of save files and another master .fmap file along with this set of .fmap files, please let me know. Thanks again, Sinu!! I'm sure most people will appreciate dynamic weather!

Threaded optimization, AFAIK. Been thinking about conducting a poll vote to see how many are unable to run the 64 bit version due to their PC limitations. 32 bit is fast becoming the minority among computers and even laptops, might be time to re-evaluate the common standard with regards to this server as well.

shit... FIXED

Thank you Sinu!! VG BMS Server is going down this morning for the update. Should be back up in about an hour. Server Updated to 4.33 U3

Rad: Be sure to make note of your customized user config file settings and apply them individually to the new config file that's part of the U3 update. Helpful to note that this update adjusts the user config, so note your settings cuz you'll have to redo them after the U3 update.

VG BMS Server will remain on 4.33.2 (U2) until we have a new campaign save file for U3 - shouldn't take more than a day or few, but do not update if you wish to fly online here today and for the next few days (tentatively). Keep an eye on this thread, I will reply here before I begin updating the server and after to minimize player downtimes. *(server is now updated to U3) I'm gonna need help to recreate the Master Day 1 save file for BMS 4.33.3 -- these are the details for our current save, we'd like to match them as closely as possible. The Day 1 KTO file should be started from Rolling Fire as the 909th out of Kadena (Fukuoka Airbase) (KC-135) with the Difficulty Settings shown below. Hoping Sinu or someone can help us set this up again. Thanks in advance!

Encourage them but do not force them. Like Double_13 said, you can't make a rule for everything, and part of the skill of a good admin is learning how to clarify grey areas within the guidelines that have already been established for you - ya gotta learn to mix the "spirit of coop gameplay" with the letter of the law, all while keeping a cool head and giving people the benefit of the doubt cuz these are just games and not IRL life or death situations. You have time to give leeway - to trust your gut and go with what you know. If a public non-squaded player becomes a problem, then you can address it - otherwise, trust your feelings and relax a bit. "Beyond study and instrumentation, there is instinct" This is true for a certain portion - and some of those don't even have headsets yet, may not speak english confidently (or at all), or are very new to PC gaming in general and aren't sold on voice communication (or even paying attention to the chat rolls). Remember, most people in Battelfield style shooter games do not use microphones as a rule because most of the time all you hear on public servers is bullshit or N-bombs and trolling. To some people, online gaming isn't the social or cooperative experience we've come to expect from our online gaming here. Since we're different and more managed than an average public online game server, they won't get that here, but we can't force them to change or to participate - only encourage them.

Restarted to last autosave

No, just checked, everything is just fine. I connected without problems.

I literally just restarted the server, campaign was reported as won earlier today. Try again now, it's on Day 1.