BMS Secret Knowledge Collection
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…according to the records I have been a member since 2012, I would have hoped to have learned something about this incredible sim, I keep telling myself: one day I will have brains and time to learn “this Thing”. But life has intervened so many times, and I am having a hard time keeping up with my decaying faculties. I am here by shear accident, in 2001 I left my home of 20 years in the states, for reasons of the heart, and came back to Canada. No fun to be a 3 time “immigrant”. It was on one of those lonely strolls in the mall that I came across Falcon 4 Lead Pursuit, I was hooked. I loved the “coloring book” quality of the manual, and discovered FrugalsWorld , a site I would visit often to learn more about the sim, a few names here I remember from that site, there was one particular member I remember, her name was Panther, and it seems she was a real pilot stationed in South Korea, she was very helpful and generous in sharing her knowledge, to this day I often wonder how she is doing. Then I discovered that there was an “underworld”, make that “underworlds” Open Falcon, Free Falcon, Red Viper … in other words something even better then F4AF, Thats when I started downloading vast amounts of patches, programs, add ons,spent countless hours in trying to make the sim run, but nothing worked,Out of frustration and obsession , I even walked in computer repair stores offering clerks $ 100 to help me figure out why the dam thing was not working. Only to find out years after words that nothing would work if one did not have the “philosopher stone” …you know…the thing no one would mention…the original cd. I am still here, on my second printing of manuals, on my printer, printing on the blank side of the pages bits of information I find on the forum, to clarify some sections I dont get, I am sure some knowledge will sink in my brain one day. In doing so my appreciation for the work that RedDog and the others are doing grows every time I sign in on the forum, but in my search I keep coming across posts that are disquisitions on RTFM, ( it took me years to figure out what RTFM meant) both sides make good points with eloquence matched only by Prof. Jordan Peterson. This SIM is a “bellicose pastime” and I can understand why some members have little tolerance with the new guys, who at times come across as spoiled , arrogant and irreverent of the work that you gents are doing. …My point…can we turn the secret knowledge section to a place where the new guys can ask the new guys what they have learned, where someone can ask the most “stupid” questions, in essence make it a free RTFM zone, where someone who knows the answer and is willing to help can offer assistance, a place in essence where someone with little time patience and sympathy knows to stay away from? Yes …in the Falcon BMS topics “we” could add a RTFM free zone …I think I am done with my rumbling…before I go I wish to say: forgive me for having “killed” the English language, I am sorry if this has been suggested before and having wasted your time, I do apologies if I have caused any discomfort to anyone, on the BMS forum I have met only kindness, I much appreciate all the people involved in this great sim, the sacrifices and the work that goes on unseen…one day I will fly… I wish every one a happy new year…
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First things first…. wall of text… try to avoid that next time.
Second, yeah, I’ve not seen Panther in a while. I hope she’s OK.
Third, there can never be a No RTFM-zone. The manuals explain things very well and even if it doesn’t make sense at first, having to re-hash all that info for each and every newbie that comes along would be so much more work. Personally, I appreciate a poster that asks a direct question, provides evidence that he has searched the manual (or at least openly admits to being lost), and is willing to learn. Most of the time, I try to explain the general idea, then point the poster to a specific page or section of the manual for him to read. If he gets it, great! If not, then he’s free to come back for clarifications.
Bottom line –- don’t be offended by the RTFM response. Gone are the days of yore when a response would be a simple “RTFM!!” with no additional help. There may be one or two responses, probably, but there will be more helpful responses as well. Remember: Ask a question and be stupid for 5 minutes. Don’t ask a question and be stupid forever
Happy holidays!
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Yeah dunno where Stephanie is either…was flying the dcs A10c with her for a while circa 2011 then she disappeared.
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well, what you are asking for is a tutor. so many less words!
you want someone to summarise and explain stuff. so, perhaps less a tutor and more a lecturer, or an instructor.
going to be easier to find one of those at a VFW. Its a lot of work as Ice pointed out. At a VFW, they at least have the expectation of gaining something in return.
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I might be wrong, but the “Panther” is active in the Virtual Thunderbirds.
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Well the manuals are for what they are.
Most users we don’t read them. Specially when you are at the start were enthusiasm is at it’s peak. I want to be topgun in a few minutes F the books ask away about the NWS.Falcon is vast, and going RTFM only is not the way, which many will say it’s the only way.
On the other hand without RTFM u just loose more time, and at the same time you spend others time.This forum is for this though many guys looks want it for pro stuff only.
So this neglecting issues are solved or answered in squadrons. There communication is not only written but vocal also, many use team speak skype whatever. U join a community and they can assist in a more direct way.
About the secret knowledge well it’s in the books in the HotList and in this forum scattered but most you mention are covered in the books and the Hotlist so it’s gathered and not that secret. Maybe instead of secret you mean hard to find.
Many in the past (and in the future will) have come asking the same things, I believe no one was neglected.
Some with uber nose up or hostile attitude got the naked rtfm as maybe they deserved by many. It’s not polite to go to someones house that offers u something for free with an attitude like u suck.
So don’t worry m8 things are way better in the falcon world and more organized. Still long way to go but the basics are covered.
Oh also instead of writing on pages and whatever write your gathered knowledge here in the forum so to be shared and other benefit from u as u r. Wouldn’t that be better?
Have fun the community needs us all.
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Some of those “secret knowledges” are in “Articles”
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I thank you all for taking the time to respond/comment…;)
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Learning the sim just requires really good will, perseverance, time, patience and… RTFM
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going to be easier to find one of those at a VFW. Its a lot of work as Ice pointed out. At a VFW, they at least have the expectation of gaining something in return.
I may be wrong but outside of the Discord groups, most of the VFWs that I’ve looked at required the applicant to know the basics –- startup, navigation, basic A-A and A-G, RTB, landing, and some needed AAR skills too. I would say that if you have the skills here, you’ve RTFM’ed the manuals a good bit by this time
As a few people pointed out before — teaching someone up to a certain skill level only to lose that player as he goes off and joins his own mates or applies to another VFW is a lot of work and often times not very rewarding — the reward being having more people to fly with. If you just want the basics… how to drop a bomb, how to fire a Mav, how to employ missiles… there’s a lot of people that wouldn’t mind showing the new pilot a quick-and-dirty way to git’er dun! If you want the advanced stuff… flying as part of a wing, chainsaw, mutual support, brevity, SA… that takes much, much longer and more commitment but IMHO, this is where the “playing pretend fighter pilot” really starts getting a 1,000x more immersive and fun. One of my fondest memories was a failed mission - failed because we had to escort a wounded bird back home and keep the flies off of him.
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“Navigation” yeah, depends on what constitutes navigation. Most are happy if you can follow waypoints.
But yes, point taken. Many wings will refuse ab initio students, and for the reasons outlined above, this is perhaps not unreasonable.
After a couple years it gets old…
