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  1. #1
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Reflections of the third kind.



    Searching through YouTube as is my normal habit at five A.M. in the morning I came across a few very old movies from the fifties; movies that were considered to be epic and great at that time. John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Montgomery Cliff type movies. Then I noticed their average running time was an hour and thirty minutes. AA whole hour and thirty minutes. How did people stay in their seats for so long?? Yeah, I'm being facetious. Since those days, Movies expanded to two hours, three hours, and then theres Star Wars and Lord of the rings with over twelve hours each.
    In the late 1970's a little company called Convergent Technologies created a Mini-Computer that boasted of all things, a graphical user UI, and a flight simulator ( yes, there was flight before Sublogic ), and in the early 1980's the first video games began appearing on Commodore P.E.T.'s and Amiga's. They were all ( including the flight simulator ) just distractions. Things you could do for a few minutes or an hour to break the hum drum plodding of daily life.
    In the early 1990s a video game called "Doom" came along and everything changed. People started spending more time playing video games than they did anything else except work. The late 1990's brought Wing Commander, Privateer, the very first "Zelda" game and Star Fox. Let us also not forget Microsoft Flight Simulator 5. People were spending more and more time in video games than could possibly be imagined, except perhaps by the video game companies. The movement to replace real life with Fantasy was on, and divorce rates skyrocketed.
    Now its 2020. The year the United Stated burned. Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, and San Francisco. Civil War is on the tip of every tongue and no one stands silently on the sidelines watching the terrifying parade of chaos unfolding in front of our eyes. We have games like Elite Dangerous, Eve Online, Elder Scrolls: Online, a Thousand games that are all, online, and now we have Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. With the advent of global lock-downs ( except for countries like Sweden and Japan ) we no longer have to worry about going to work each day. Nor do we have to ever leave our favorite fantasy, as major corporations search for a vaccine for the flu, and look for ways to track you and your health records with a chip implant. We become the computer.
    The fact that MSFS2020 presents us with a world so real that it begs for VR and mods to make it more and more real till its indistinguishable from the worlds outside our doors is terrifying to me.
    No one asked the world to be the way it is, but are some leveraging that world to manipulate us to become lost in our fantasies to a complete extent? I dont know.. What are your thoughts? No uncivil conversations please. lets stay who we are and keep it objective..
    Pam.

  2. #2
    SOH-CM-2024 jmig's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by warchild View Post

    Searching ...The fact that MSFS2020 presents us with a world so real that it begs for VR and mods to make it more and more real till its indistinguishable from the worlds outside our doors is terrifying to me.

    No one asked the world to be the way it is, but are some leveraging that world to manipulate us to become lost in our fantasies to a complete extent? I dont know.. What are your thoughts? No uncivil conversations please. lets stay who we are and keep it objective..
    Pam.
    Pam, Back in the 1970s I read a ScFi book where the theme was escapism. The plot of the book revolved around buildings where people would go and lie down on beds. A skull device was attached and they would be off into a fantasy world of their choosing. In this story the world economy was collapsing because no one was working. They were all dreaming away in their fantasies.

    We have always had and always will have a percent of the population who would rather escape from their lives than work to improve them. Escapism has always been with us. It used to be by drinking. Then you have the opium houses in the 1800s. The 1960s brought the introduction of widespread modern drugs. Video games are just another form of escapism. At least video games don't destroy a person's health like drugs do.

    Frankly, I think that for most young people who take up this new flight sim, the addiction will be short lived. Then they will be on to the next "latest" game. It will be the sim enthusiasts who will keep MSFS 2020 going after the "gamers' move in a year or two.
    John

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  3. #3
    Perhaps nowadays is lacking but I call it common good-sense. FS2020 is looking extremely good for me since I just fly around, love the planes , could not care less about real flight systems. So, this is much better than P3D. Miss the planes...
    Common sense. I don´t do VR but if one day I opt for it, always will have time to talk with friends, watch a good movie, read my books, help in National Museum of Archaeology when they need me (no more digging please), etc, etc. These are strange times and common sense is fading away quickly. At all levels, I´m afraid.
    But please, make this game better then already is...

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by jmig View Post
    Pam, Back in the 1970s I read a ScFi book where the theme was escapism. The plot of the book revolved around buildings where people would go and lie down on beds. A skull device was attached and they would be off into a fantasy world of their choosing. In this story the world economy was collapsing because no one was working. They were all dreaming away in their fantasies.

    We have always had and always will have a percent of the population who would rather escape from their lives than work to improve them. Escapism has always been with us. It used to be by drinking. Then you have the opium houses in the 1800s. The 1960s brought the introduction of widespread modern drugs. Video games are just another form of escapism. At least video games don't destroy a person's health like drugs do.

    Frankly, I think that for most young people who take up this new flight sim, the addiction will be short lived. Then they will be on to the next "latest" game. It will be the sim enthusiasts who will keep MSFS 2020 going after the "gamers' move in a year or two.
    I guess I enjoy flight simulation (and truck simulation as well) because of the "escapism" aspect. For me, it is definitely a way to immerse myself into something that helps me ignore all the madness that seems to be engulfing our country. NC

  5. #5
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Welllll, What started as a bit of humor in my original post, quickly metamorphosed into something far more dangerous: The weaponization of luxuries to lull us into a sense of well being and prosperity while being led down an ivory path towards a kept existence. I hope its just the delusions of a brain thats seen too much, gone too far and paid the price, but for my part here, I must apologize. Regardless of how my post was interpreted, it still attempted to start a dialogue with regards to the disarming of our trusts, and a dropping of our personal defenses. This perhaps is not the right place to discuss such matters.
    In my defense, I will say that at the time of writing this morning, I was under great duress from a tachycardia attack, and possibly having a small stroke as well as I appear to have lost some functionality of my speech center. Needless to say, there was more than one darkness on my mind. So Please accept my apology. I truly wish we could discuss the philosophical implications of what i laid out, but as I said, perhaps this is not the right place.. Love you all.
    In Peace.
    Pam

  6. #6
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    HeyCief!! I like ATS too. I even make custom built drive trains and engines for it. Currently I'm working on a Pacific P16 for extreme heavy haul. Let me know what you dive and what you want to use it for and I'll whip something up for you..

    OH, The pacific and what I mean by extreme.. I think this sums it up.. Omega Morgan's Mighty Matt at work..


  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Navy Chief View Post
    I guess I enjoy flight simulation (and truck simulation as well) because of the "escapism" aspect. For me, it is definitely a way to immerse myself into something that helps me ignore all the madness that seems to be engulfing our country. NC

    It's not confined to your country NC.
    It's the whole god damn world.

    I feel nothing is real anymore - except my kids and my wife - and they're pretty crazy these days too.

    Everything else just had the big random button pushed.

    MSFS - sure is a way of getting some free time away from the asylum that the world has become.

    Where we're all going to be at the end of this is anyone's guess.

    Altered? yep, better? - I don't know. Just so crazy right now.
    Jim
    NAVIGATION; The art of knowing where you are without having to crash into it first.

  8. #8
    Navy Chief & Warchild,

    Count me in as another ATS fan. Currently that's my other sim when not flying. :-)



    Forest

  9. #9
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Maybe we need a forum for ATS and ETS2???

    Heheh.. My current rides..






  10. #10
    Oh, I do believe we need a forum for ATS and ETS2, yes!

    These sims are so incredibly detailed, and so relaxing. I can spend hours, downloading and tweaking P3D, but rarely do I do a long flight. In either truck simulation, I typically do one short haul after another. SO much fun!!

    Pam, regarding what rig I usually drive? Most of the time I drive the Peterbilt 579, USN CPO paint? This isn't my screenshot.

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    I have looked for a trailer that would compliment it, but haven't found one yet. I have ideas for what I'd like though. A few months ago, I was trying to get a truck & trailer custom paint made to honor my favorite singer/songwriter, Michael Johnson (did the song, "Bluer Than Blue"). NC

  11. #11
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    What a beautiful paint job Chief. o7.
    In ATS I used to do coast to coast and evdn a bunch up to whitehorse and yellow knife, but these days i tend to do shorter hauls of a thousand miles or so..

    Personally, I dont think theres anything much more relaxing that driving down the road with the engine rumbling away and my cat asleep on my dashboard..

  12. #12
    I find ATS incredibly relaxing. I have everything programmed to my Saitek X52, so I can drive with one hand while keeping my puppy from falling out of my lap with the other. :-)

    These are my three current rides. I think I'm most comfortable in the Anthem. The P579 is an experiment in how bright and tacky a paint scheme I could come up with.







    Forest

  13. #13
    Cool paints!

    I would be interested in how you programmed everything to you Saitek X52? I have that set up for flight sim, but couldn't figure out how use it for trucking. I use a Logitech Driving Force GT, with brake/Accel pedals; no clutch. Being able to use my Saitek would keep me from having to change out controllers. So you use your throttle for the accelerator? I also have Saitek pedals. Could they be used too?

    Pam, I don't have a cat anymore. Sometimes my dog Libby gets in my lap though, and I love to listen to music while driving. Pete

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  14. #14
    NC,

    This is what I have programmed to the X52.

    Controls Menu:
    "Keyboard + Saitek X52 Flight Controller"
    Controller Subtype = GamePad,Joystick
    Transmission = Simple Automatic
    Steering Axis = Joy Z Rotation
    Acceleration axis = Joy Y Axis
    Acceleration axis Mode = Inverted and Centered
    Look up-down axis = Joy Hat Switch Y
    Look left-right axis = Joy Hat Switch X
    Look left-right axis mode = Centered

    Keyboard Assignments Menu:
    Start/Stop Engine = Joy Button 8
    Parking Brake = Joy Button 9
    Engine Brake = Joy Button 5
    Trailer Brake = Joy Button 14
    Left-Turn Indicator = Joy Button 18
    Right-Turn Indicator = Joy Button 16
    Hazard Warning = Joy Button 11
    Light Modes = Joy Button 17
    High Beam Headlights = Joy Button 15
    Beacon = Joy Button 10
    Wipers = Joy Button 2
    Wipers Back = Joy Button 3
    Cruise Control = Joy Button 1
    Zoom Interior Camera = Joy Button 12
    Interior Look Forward = Joy Button 4

    Everything else are left as the default keyboard commands.


    Forest

  15. #15
    I have been thinking of getting ATS. The screenshots are very nice. I have watched some of the videos on YouTube, but haven't ordered it yet.


    Here is where I spend my work days. She's not pretty, been ridden hard and put away wet many, many times. The Midwest winters are not kind to anything on the road everyday, rain, snow or shine. 2007 Freightliner Columbia, 693+ thousand miles. Detroit Diesel Series 60 14L, 455 HP, Roadranger 10 speed. Etnyre air ride hot oil tanker, 7000 gal max capacity. Full legal weight load is between 5800-6000 gallons, depending on product grade. Gross weight 79,500lbs. I haul hot asphalt oil PG grade, (the black part of asphalt, it's the "cement,") 320-350 degrees F. to the paving plants. When producing mix at 3/4 to full speed, the plants will use 5-8 loads a day. On a busy week, our drivers feed between 6 and 10 paving operations plants a day, over most of Iowa. Depending on how far away they are, I may get between 2 and 6 loads a day. We rotate jobs every day. Between 200 and 500 miles a day. During the winter, we make a daily drive up to Minneapolis/St. Paul, to the Flint Hills Refinery on the south edge of Inver Grove Hills, and pick up a load to return to our storage tanks. 10 1/2 hour round trip. 456 miles.

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  16. #16
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Look. A Columbia may not be the prettiest girl at the dance, but she gets the job done, again and again and again, and a 14Litre Detroit aint nothin to sneeze at either.. Do real drivers play ATS?? Yeah, I know quite a few who do over on Facebook. Bottom line is, it's cheap. I mean, really inexpensive. Base game is twenty bucks and gets you all the trucks theyve released so far and Cali, Nevada and Arizona. It might get you new mexico as well.. Other state DLCs are thirteen bucks a pop.. Other trucks and mods are freely available in the steam workshop too making it easy as ever to turn your world into exactly what you want it too be.. The scale is 1/20th scale, so a mile is not a mile but it'll still take you six or seven hours to drive from seattle to key west.. Theres a ton of groups on FB as well. Some are very supportive, some are payware dealers nd as with anywhere, some are just blowhards. But hey, you got us here too.. I never drove a real truck. They wouldnt let me because I busted my back, and back in the seventies, that was a death sentence to any perceived career. However I've been in ATS since 2015 and have over three thousand hours in it. It's a good game, and well, the trucks dont paint themselves nor do they make super real power trains by themselves either. Theres a whole spectrum of stuff that you can do centered on the game. It's worth the twenty bucks to check out..

  17. #17
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Navy Chief View Post
    Cool paints!

    I would be interested in how you programmed everything to you Saitek X52? I have that set up for flight sim, but couldn't figure out how use it for trucking. I use a Logitech Driving Force GT, with brake/Accel pedals; no clutch. Being able to use my Saitek would keep me from having to change out controllers. So you use your throttle for the accelerator? I also have Saitek pedals. Could they be used too?

    Pam, I don't have a cat anymore. Sometimes my dog Libby gets in my lap though, and I love to listen to music while driving. Pete


    My Meatloaf passed away a couple years back. He was poisoned by a neighbor and we had to put him down. So, Nowadays, I keep a sleeping cat that looks just like him in all my trucks. If theres no cat in the truck, I dont drive it. It reminds me of him.
    Awesome looking baby you got there too. looks sweet as pie ..


  18. #18
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FAC257 View Post
    I find ATS incredibly relaxing. I have everything programmed to my Saitek X52, so I can drive with one hand while keeping my puppy from falling out of my lap with the other. :-)

    These are my three current rides. I think I'm most comfortable in the Anthem. The P579 is an experiment in how bright and tacky a paint scheme I could come up with.







    Forest
    I bet if you changed that bright yellow to a cadmium yellow that skin would look outstanding..

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by warchild View Post
    Maybe we need a forum for ATS and ETS2???

    Heheh.. My current rides..






    Those are awesome! :-)

    I've been playing around with that cadmium yellow suggestion of yours on my "tacky" truck. Each time I save the change and then go and compare the before and after I keep getting the same tone. Need to play with that some more.

    While tinkering with the repaint, I forgot I had this one in the paint shop from the last time I went out for a day of driving in Idaho.



    Forest

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by FAC257 View Post
    Those are awesome! :-)

    I've been playing around with that cadmium yellow suggestion of yours on my "tacky" truck. Each time I save the change and then go and compare the before and after I keep getting the same tone. Need to play with that some more.

    While tinkering with the repaint, I forgot I had this one in the paint shop from the last time I went out for a day of driving in Idaho.



    Forest

    Beautiful! NC

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by FAC257 View Post
    NC,

    This is what I have programmed to the X52.

    Controls Menu:
    "Keyboard + Saitek X52 Flight Controller"
    Controller Subtype = GamePad,Joystick
    Transmission = Simple Automatic
    Steering Axis = Joy Z Rotation
    Acceleration axis = Joy Y Axis
    Acceleration axis Mode = Inverted and Centered
    Look up-down axis = Joy Hat Switch Y
    Look left-right axis = Joy Hat Switch X
    Look left-right axis mode = Centered

    Keyboard Assignments Menu:
    Start/Stop Engine = Joy Button 8
    Parking Brake = Joy Button 9
    Engine Brake = Joy Button 5
    Trailer Brake = Joy Button 14
    Left-Turn Indicator = Joy Button 18
    Right-Turn Indicator = Joy Button 16
    Hazard Warning = Joy Button 11
    Light Modes = Joy Button 17
    High Beam Headlights = Joy Button 15
    Beacon = Joy Button 10
    Wipers = Joy Button 2
    Wipers Back = Joy Button 3
    Cruise Control = Joy Button 1
    Zoom Interior Camera = Joy Button 12
    Interior Look Forward = Joy Button 4

    Everything else are left as the default keyboard commands.


    Forest
    Thanks for that! I wonder if it is possible to use my rudder pedals for acceleration/braking? NC

  22. #22
    SOH-CM-2021 warchild's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FAC257 View Post
    Those are awesome! :-)

    I've been playing around with that cadmium yellow suggestion of yours on my "tacky" truck. Each time I save the change and then go and compare the before and after I keep getting the same tone. Need to play with that some more.

    While tinkering with the repaint, I forgot I had this one in the paint shop from the last time I went out for a day of driving in Idaho.



    Forest
    That looks awesome.. Of course I openly admit that I'm a sucker for deep maroon.
    The trick with colors and painting trucks is realizing that the SCS color space is severely limited and exists outside of normal color space as is used by most paint programs. This becomes very apparent when using programs such as Mods Studio when setting the flip and flake colors for your metalics. Notice the differences in the two color spaces in the below image.. SCS is on the left, Standard RGB is on the right.
    Mod Studio 2 is a great tool to use for skins.. You can download it from their Discord Server here: https://discord.gg/KkGySs in the "general" section on top. Theres also pretty much every top skinner known that inhabits that place and they are all glad to help out..
    Without a tool to help find a spcific color in SCS its going to be a matter of guessing if it even exists or not.. MS2 has a pretty steep learning curve, but its well worth it..




  23. #23
    Thank you for the tip. I think I'll DL Mod Studio 2 and see if I can make anything of it. I have an idea for a repaint that I can't pull off with the ATS paint shop.

    The image below is why I drive one handed. As you can see trying to reach over for my Saitek X52 Throttle would create a puppy conflict.
    Thank goodness that most all of the aircraft I like flying, have good autopilot systems. :-)

    Peanut, my co-pilot.



    Forest

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by FAC257 View Post
    Thank you for the tip. I think I'll DL Mod Studio 2 and see if I can make anything of it. I have an idea for a repaint that I can't pull off with the ATS paint shop.

    The image below is why I drive one handed. As you can see trying to reach over for my Saitek X52 Throttle would create a puppy conflict.
    Thank goodness that most all of the aircraft I like flying, have good autopilot systems. :-)

    Peanut, my co-pilot.



    Forest
    My Libby is a Chiweenie. Is Peanut also? NC

    Click image for larger version. 

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  25. #25
    I had him DNA tested on his first visit to the vet after bringing him home from the rescue shelter. The test came back as 50% chihuahua, 25% schipperke, 25% unknown. So I declared him officially a Skippywawa. :-)


    Forest

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