Hello all,

I have several questions about LOMAC that I would like to have answered before I spend my hard earned cash. I appreciate any help.

I am running Vista 32 bit with 1GB ram, 1.7 Ghz processor on my laptop and it is running IL-2 (another flight sim) well. I am considering upgrading to a 64 bit on a desktop sometime in the near future.

I tried out the demo but rather than seeing planes, I see black silhouettes and other graphics problems. Does this mean that LOMAC from a disk will not work too, or is the Demo somehow different? Will Flaming Cliffs work as well?
I also heard the disk has some stringent copy protection. Am I able to buy used disks because of this, or will I need a brand new CD?
What patches/updates will I need, and what order do I need to install them to get the game running on Vista (if possible).
Is it better to buy Lock on Gold, or MAC and FC separately?
Where is the best place to order LOMAC?
Anything else I should know before purchasing?

Thanks for your help.

It appears that your graphics card on your laptop isn't up to the task - it's either weak or isn't a dedicated card/ram-shares with system memory. I wouldn't make the leap to LOMAC until you've solved this issue.

I would say, however, that this is a great game especially when played online with others. The formation and BFM that you can do is stellar.

quote:

Originally posted by Romanator21:
I tried out the demo but rather than seeing planes, I see black silhouettes and other graphics problems. Does this mean that LOMAC from a disk will not work too, or is the Demo somehow different? Will Flaming Cliffs work as well?

Your graphics isn't up to the task. Most laptops have integrated graphics, Lockon needs a decent seperate graphics card.
When you get your desktop (doubtless with a kick-*** graphics card in it) then you shoul d have no problem.

quote:

I also heard the disk has some stringent copy protection. Am I able to buy used disks because of this, or will I need a brand new CD?

The basic vanilla Lockon (once patched to v1.02) doesn't even need of the disk in the drive. Flaming Cliffs (FC) uses StarForce copy protection. If you buy FC on disk then you need the disk in once a week. If you buy a download of FC, then it monitors the config of your PC and you use up an activation each time it changes significantly. Some folks have issues with StarForce, others have had no problems. It is an emotive subject.

Buying the vanilla Lockon - some stores still have it in their bargain bin (it was released back in Christmas 2003) I still see plenty for sale on Ebay in the UK and the USA for a few dollars. You can still get it from http://lockon.co.uk/index.php?...op&lang=en&cat_sid=2

Buying FC - a different issue. FC on a disk was never released to regular stores, it was only available through specialist Flight Sim online stores such as www.simw.com and www.rcsimulations.co.uk (in Europe). You can still get FC on disk from http://lockon.co.uk/index.php?...op&lang=en&cat_sid=2

quote:

What patches/updates will I need, and what order do I need to install them to get the game running on Vista (if possible).
Is it better to buy Lock on Gold, or MAC and FC separately?

I haven't seen anywhere selling GOLD for a while now. A year ago there were plenty on Ebay, but not now.

Patches depends on what you buy.

If you just get the vanilla lockon, then patch up to v1.02 that is the last vanilla Lockon patch.

If you get FC as well then,
install vanilla lockon,
install FC over it,
then patch to v1.12b.

Thanks everyone for your help. I will wait a bit then for the desktop before making the plunge into this sim.