ok, i would just like to say thanx to evryone thats helped! I can tell its going to be a great game just because of how many people support it and are willing to answer a 101 questions frome a complete stranger. Just one more thing though...how easy is it to fit a psu and graphics card? iv been told its just a matter of a few screws, some plugs and loading the software, im sure theyl come with manuals on how to work them...but is there anything i need 2 be carefull of when doing this?

Again thanx a lot everyone!

The PSU will be easily switched out, just reconnect all the connections to motherboard, disk drives etc. The card will just slot into the AGP with a firm push, some AGP slots have retaining clip so look out for that.

Electrostatic disharge can be a danger, your conponents get shocked with an uncontlolled discharge of static electricity, but you can minimise the risk by leaving the machine plugged into the wall with the socket switched off. This provides a earth source for any static discharge. In four years off building PC's I've never zapped anything using this method.

Before you install the card you will have to uninstall the old card and drivers for your computers memory.
To do this :
1]right click My Computer,
2] select poperties
3]Select the Hardware tab
4] Select device manager
5] Find Display Adapter (the old card)
6] Right click Display adapter, choose uninstall. When the computer prompts you to restart switch your machine off manually and replace your card.
7] With new card installed restart your computer and make sure the fan on the card is running! If not switch off immediatley and check the power connection to the card.
8]Windows has started and everything will look oversised and flickering. Windows will probably ask if it should look for drivers automatically, say no to this.
9]Put your disk you got with the video card in and install the drivers from there. After that you'll have to restart again. Once windows restarts right click the desktop, properties-settings and change your screen resolution and moniter refresh rates

A comparison of modern cards

ok cheers, doesnt sound to hard.

Hi, how much better would a geforce 6600gt agp 256mb graphics card be? Someone is selling some on ebay for £122, would i need to get a better psu for it aswell? does anyone know anywhere that would sell the wires and software and stuff for an XFX geforce 6600gt agp 125mb, as there is one of those on ebay quit cheap but i dont know if it has the wires and things with it.

Cheers

Are you sure its not a 6800gt, if so thats a nice price. The extra RAM will allow you to run Lockon at a higher resolution (1152x864)and with 2xantialiasing.

You'll still need the new psu as this card will no doubt require more power than the 128MB 6600gt

There are some adapters for plugging your moniter in. You should check what kind of output ports are on the card. Your moniter will probably have the standard 15pin D-Sub connecter and many cards require a converter to plug into the TV_Out so you can plug in your moniter.You might be able to pick up a converter at your local PC store.

As for drivers you can check Guru3d.com for the latest 32bit "Forceware" drivers.

256MB GEFORCE 6600GT DDR3 TV/DVI 8x AGP**

RETAIL BOX**
Revolutionary Superscalar Architecture
CineFX 3.0 Engine
On-Chip Video Processor
UltraShadow II Technology
Intellisample 3.0 Technology
Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
nView Multi-Display Technology
Digital Vibrance Control 3.0
AGP8x Support
Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Optimizations and Support
NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU Ready( 6600 GT only) Dramatically scales performance by allowing two graphics cards to be run in parallel.
High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface
OpenGL® 1.5 Optimizations and Support
Ensures the best performance and application compatibility for all OpenGL applications.
HDTV support provides world-class HDTV-out functionality up to and including 1920x1080i resolutions.


Item : 256Mb GeForce 6600GT AGP 8X VGA Card
Brand/Model : GeForce 6600GT
Graphics Engine : GeForce 6600GT
Video Memory : 256Mb
Core Clock : 350MHz
Memory Clock : 500MHz
Vertical Refresh Rate :
Max. Display Mode : 2048x1536
Bus Standard : AGP8x
RGB Out : Standard 15-pin D-sub
DVI Out : DVI
TV-Out : Yes
TV-In : No
Dual View : Yes
DirectX Compliance : DirectX 9
Software : Drivers


This is what the advert shows....do u mean i will need to buy an additional plug for this graphics card? or was that an answer to the question about the cables and things for the XFX card. Will i just need a 600w psu for the 256mb card or will i need a better one?

Cheers

o ye, forget the question about the XFX card, i dont think it comes with anything except the card & box so i dont want the hassle of having to shop for the missing things.

cheers

Also would the graphics card mentioned above (geforce 6600gt agp 256mb) work with my system ok?
And heres a link to the ebay advert-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/256MB-GEFORCE-6600GT-DDR3-TV-DVI-...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Andgie,

Yeah, that'll do fine. Its got the right connection for attaching your moniter, no adapter required. Definatley a good buy.
You'll still get some CPU related stutter in Lockon during intense situations as Lockon really pushes CPU's to the max.

But you'll be able to run games like Half Life2, Doom3, BF2, NFS Most Wanted at full detail as those games don't tax the CPU as much as Lockon.

is the 256mb worth the extra money then? and would i need just a 600watt psu?

Cheers

The extra RAM will allow you to run Lockon at a higher resolution (1152x864)and with 2xantialiasing (which softens the jaggey lines you get when you view the models from certain angles).

The 600W psu will do fine for that card aswell.
I think it would be worth the extra as you will be able to get a good 3-4 years out of that card before you end up with black screens in game again. By that time though you'll definatley have to buy a new P.C. as multi-core based games will probably start emerging.

ok, thanks for the help! looking forward to getting the game working!

Cheers

I have a similar problem as Andgie, however I beleive my my hardware should be up to specs, although i may be mistaken. The load screen works, but when i go to an in-flight screen it is black. However, if i 'crash' the aircraft i am flying, the graphics turn normal. (I am then able to view other aircraft). I just bought the software today and i have Lock On Gold, V1.02.

My sys specs:
Pentium 4 3.00 Ghz
1 GB DDR
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Intel 82915G/910GL Express Chipset 128 MB (PCI)
180 GB Hard drive


All drivers are current version for my hardware.

If anyone has any ideas, please answer, thanks y'all.

quote:

Intel 82915G/910GL Express Chipset 128 MB (PCI)

That would be the problem I'm afraid you would need to invest in an AGP card, 6600GT or an ATI 9800 or higher. The rest of your setup is fine.

Also you should test out the Flaming Cliffs disk of the Gold pack to make sure that it is not one of the defective disks, if so you'll have to return it for replacement. Good luck and happy shopping.

I think a lot of the confusion with compatable video cards could be prevented if the box was labled correctly.

"System requirements: Video Card - 3D video card (directX8.1-compatable) w/32MB RAM (128 MB recommended)"

I bought Lock On Gold Flaming Cliffs, and I bought it recently.

I had a 128 MB card to begin with, and i had to upgrade to a 256 MB ATI 9200 just to get it to run. I'm not trying to complain, I wasn't sure if anyone was aware that boxes are mislabled with incorrect minimum system requirements.

Hi, finally got lo-mac working! got a geforce 6600gt agp card in the end, got it all working with no problems..so thanks for all your great advice! Just one more thing though, im having trouble with my saitek x45 joystick, im finding it hard to program all the buttons and things, was wondering if anyone has a good setup they could like send me or something or anywhere that i can find this.

Cheers

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to the insane asylum. THe link below will take you to LOCKONFILES, a brilliant resource, hosted by one of the forum regulars, full of tweaks,utilities,mods,missions & campaigns. There is a x45 profile aswell, which will give you a jumping off point for designing your own profile to fit your specific style of play.

http://www.lockonfiles.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d...wdownload&cid=78#cat

Cheers, iv set up an account for the site...just waiting for an email from them. In the mean time though, im finding it really hard to do the training and any sort of flying because the throttle keeps messing me about, when i test it it sais the 2 engines throttles (both controlled by my single 1) arn't inline, so when i go to take of and land i hav 2 engines going at a different speed, i cant seem to make them stay inline! Apologies if i havnt explained it very well.

cheers

no worrys about the throttle thing, got that sorted out. i managed to create the problem myself when trying to set up the joystick lol.

cheers

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Andgie,