=VG= SemlerPDX

VG Guide for New Windows 10 Users Why I made this guide: I created this guide to help my friends avoid all the web searching to fix, improve, or change all of these Windows 10 options. Microsoft Windows 10 is an Operating System that thinks your awesome Gaming PC is a smart phone, and it is your Big Brother that has everything you need because it knows what you want, because it knows what you do. In the past, this was a private and secret relationship between you and your PC, but your Big Brother will read your emails now and gabs about all that private stuff with Big Daddy Microsoft to help "improve" your "experience". As your Big Brother, Win10 know best - it will turn off your PC and restart it when it thinks the next 3.2kb Windows Update is more important than anything you as a mere User of the PC may consider important. You will need to put in some work to wrest control of your PC back, and doing so may cause more work for you down the road as you manually update Windows or manually add newly installed programs to permissions lists for Privacy and control purposes. Again, thinking that it's an operating system installed on a phone, Microsoft Windows 10 Brand programs are called "apps". Many come installed with Windows 10, and many more are available on the Microsoft Store. I couldn't tell you what is there because I've never had a reason to open it, though I'm certain it's trying to be another Android App Store packed with free and paid "apps" with plenty of questionable permissions and underwhelming content. It is worth noting that you do not need a Microsoft Account to use Windows 10 and nearly all of it's features. If you use email through your web browser like most people, or if you don't use your computer to manage your contacts or xbox account(s), you'll be able to use Windows 10 without ever creating or signing in to Microsoft. And if you think you need to use Minecraft Windows 10 Edition and therefore create/sign in to Microsoft, you should re-examine why you would use that version of Minecraft: you cannot join "normal" Minecraft servers or third-party servers, it doesn't support mods, or Realms, and is not required to play Minecraft in VR. Changing Windows 10 Behavior, Privacy Settings, and Default Apps Open Settings -> Privacy - Review the 13 screens: The most important starting point is the Windows 10 Privacy Settings screen. Here, there are 13 tabs along the left side for the many screens you should review. I've found that for my PC use, nearly every option is set to Off. Near the bottom are a few that are important and should remain On. Open the Start Menu and type Settings, then press Enter. Click on the Privacy icon. The section "Other devices" has a sub-section called "Use trusted devices" which may contain certain devices you'll want apps to use. Leave this On, unless you have reason to kill it. Background apps are programs that run, or can run, at any time or all the time. This is helpful for programs such as the Weather App which keeps the Weather Tab on the Start Menu updated, but for performance, privacy and even security, it's best to monitor and limit the programs you allow to run in the background on your PC. Personally, I only have Windows Defender, Weather, and Photos allowed to run in the background. Under "Background apps", you may want certain apps to be allowed while others should be turned off so they are only running when you activate them manually, and you should set these before continuing. App diagnostics is the final tab at the bottom, and the final Privacy settings screen. In most setups, most apps should be allowed to access diagnostic information, but if there are any apps that need permission to access this, they will appear on a list on this screen and you can set them as you wish. WiFi Sharing and HotSpot Hosting: Most PC's have an Ethernet cable connection for internet, but some may have a WiFi adapter as well - and of course, most every Laptop has both. You can turn off WiFi under the WiFi settings screen if you use a wired connection. Windows 10 also has a WiFi Sharing feature called Mobile Hotspot that allows your PC to become a WiFi Hotspot for other devices, and it is turned on by default for all Windows 10 users. You may want to disable this on a PC, or you should review & set this accordingly if you have a Laptop. If you don't use Hotspots or networks shared by your Contacts, turn off these settings here as well. Finally, select "Change advanced sharing options" under the Control Panel to review and set these options as appropriate for your PC use, I have all of them off. You can find a link to this under the WiFi tab - scroll down to the "Related settings" section and select "Change advanced sharing options". Disable Microsoft Windows EDGE Internet Browser: One of the best features of Windows 7 over Windows XP was the ability to press the Windows key to bring up the Start Menu so you could begin typing the name of a program, file, or even some of the contents of a file, and have them appear on the list of the Start Menu. With Windows 10, attempting to perform this action has the chance to search the internet through the Microsoft EDGE Internet Browser and Bing when no sufficient result is displayed on the *first* Start Menu search screen. This is because Windows 10 has separated the Start Menu search into 3 categories called "apps", "documents", and "settings". The default search will only look for apps and files on the local C:\ drive, and if you use multiple Hard Drives and SSD's, you will need to click the Documents Tab at the top after typing what you are searching for; otherwise when you press Enter to search, Microsoft EDGE will open up to search for your file/item on the internet through Bing. For this reason, and plenty of others, it's helpful to disable the Microsoft EDGE Internet Browser if you use Google Chrome, FireFox, or another Web Browser to view the internet. Of course, MS won't let you simply turn off or uninstall their premier browser, so we have to get creative. Navigate to the folder and rename it to anything different and Windows will be unable to start it due to an internal file path error. Navigate to and then Rename this Windows folder: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe to anything else, such as this: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe_DISABLED Stop Microsoft from Spying on your Email & Activity in ALL Your Web Browsers: Microsoft has a secret hidden setting for displaying Microsoft Ad content and tracking in your Web Browser whether you use Chrome, Firefox, etc. This invasive feature will literally read your email text, such as Gmail in a Google Chrome Web Browser, in order to "create a more customized online experience". To disable this feature, or "opt out" of this "Microsoft Advertising Experience", you must open your internet browser and go to the link below - on the right, Turn Off each of the options. Do this in every one of your web browsers, and be sure you temporarily disable any ad-blocker or pop-up blockers to ensure the page is displayed correctly and that the setting change goes through. Okay, it's not a secret and it's barely hidden, but I'm spitefully calling it that due to the fact that this should have been an option under Settings in Privacy. The installed web browsers could have been listed just as Windows 10 lists Apps that want to run in the background, or access Diagnostic information, with an individual Off/On slider just like every other option under Privacy Settings already, just like the secret hidden opt-out webpage. https://choice.microsoft.com/en-gb/opt-out Stop Windows 10 from Updating & Restarting your PC or Limit when it can: Windows 10 Updates are invasive and annoying. The PC will be restarting itself whenever a new update arrives, and it can cause problems. You can limit this behavior in the settings by having Windows 10 notify you and ask when it should restart. If you want to completely stop the Updater from restarting your PC, the only resort is to disable the Windows Update service. This means when you DO wish to run through the available updates, you must re-enable the Windows Update service in the same way. It would be a good idea to do this at least once a month, particularly if you rely on Windows Defender as a security service. By manually taking control, you have the option to perform a File & System Settings backup before any Windows Updates are installed, in case the worst happens. Let's face it, Windows ain't what it used to be, and data loss is terrible - I've up'd my Backup schedule significantly since I've switched to Windows 10 and I recommend the same to everyone, or better yet, a backup subscription service like Carbonite. If you want to Limit Windows Update: Open Settings -> Update & security -> Windows Update -> Restart Options -> Turn On the Show More Notifications option If you want to Disable Windows Update: Open Services (Press Windows Key to open Start Menu - type Services press enter) Click "Name" Category to sort by name if not already in alphabetical order Find Windows Update near the bottom - Right Click on it and select Properties Change Startup Type to Disabled and click Apply. You will need to restart your PC for changes to take effect. You will need to come back to this screen to Re-Enable Windows Updates when you wish to use the service: Ditch the Windows 10 Calculator and Re-Install Windows 7 Calculator: The Windows 10 Calculator "app" is another thing Microsoft changed for no good reason. They've separated functions into tabs, and made the font huge (again, thinking your PC is a tablet or smart phone). The Unit Conversion Tab makes it so you cannot make a conversion while looking at your calculator space and calculation history, and though this is a seemingly small gripe, adding that extra step to go back and forth between the Unit Conversion and the actual Calculator is unnecessary and cumbersome. Luckily, there's a Windows 7 calculator program for Windows 10 already, and you won't be able to tell the difference. I actually think he may have just copied the source code of the original and made it modular - or made graphical duplicates for the GUI so close it's near perfect. Windows 7 Calculator by Sergey Tkachenko: http://winaero.com/download.php?view.1795 Restore Saved Sticky Notes from Windows 7: If you used Windows Sticky Notes in Windows 7 and would like to restore or transfer them to Windows 10, you can find them in the Windows 7 AppData folder. You'll want to backup this folder (among others) before upgrading to Windows 10. Here's how to restore them into Windows 10 Sticky Notes program: Close Sticky Notes program Open File Explorer and Paste this into Address Bar to open the Sticky Notes folder: %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState Create a new folder there called: Legacy Find your old Sticky Notes backup file from Windows 7: C:\Users\(YOUR NAME)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt Paste your old StickyNotes.snt file into the new Legacy folder Rename StickyNotes.snt to ThresholdNotes.snt Start the Sticky Notes program - it will restore all old notes, which could take awhile depending on the number of notes. Remove Default Apps with Windows PowerShell: Many Windows 10 Apps come pre-installed, and whether you use them or not, they will get updates, run in the background, or even access the internet from time to time. Some of these can simply be un-installed in the normal fashion, but others must be manually removed through Windows PowerShell. This is a simple Command Prompt style interface that allows you to manipulate a number of Windows functions, and here we can use it to get rid of the useless baggage that Windows 10 comes bloated with. I'll note that though I use the old Windows 7 Calculator program, I haven't bothered to remove the Windows 10 Calculator. Also, I use the Weather App that is shown as a button on my Start Menu. This isn't an "un-install everything" list, though you can remove everything at your own discretion; Go through and remove the ones you personally do not want. If you want to get something back through Windows PowerShell, you will need to run the "Restore All" command listed below, and once again remove certain items you do not want. Only Apps that can be removed through Windows PowerShell are listed here: Open Windows Start Menu and type PowerShell, right click on it and select Run As Administrator (copy and paste these commands ONE BY ONE into PowerShell and press Enter) Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowscalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowscamera* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage To ReInstall All of these Apps, use this command: Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”} Changing Windows 10 Look and Appearance Change Start Menu and Taskbar Look: You can change the items that appear on the Start Menu under settings as well. Remove useless features you don't use and de-clutter the Start Menu here. Settings -> Personalization -> Start Below the Start options screen is the Taskbar screen. Review and adjust settings here before proceeding. If you use Multiple Monitors, you may want to limit the Taskbar to one particular monitor and you can do that here. Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar Change Notification Settings for Pop-ups: Windows 10 won't stop with the pop-ups. Every little thing seems to get a notification pop-up these days, and you can limit this behavior in the settings. Review the notification settings and set as appropriate for your uses - I have them off completely. You can also change which "Quick Action" buttons appear on the taskbar notifications tab in this screen. Settings -> System -> Notifications & actions Windows 7 had a nice Window Snapping function, but Windows 10 can't let an unbroken system remain unfixed. You may find that trying to snap a Window to the left, right, or top of the screen resizing all nearby windows as well. Very frustrating when you're just trying to move a single window like a webpage or pdf document. You can disable this "resizing of adjacent snapped windows" under System Settings. Multi-Monitor users will want to review these settings carefully. Settings -> System -> Multitasking A note about editing the Windows Registry Keys The rest of the modifications I've listed here required modifying or creating Registry Keys, and you must be careful when working with the Registry. You can very easily follow these instructions and copy/paste the Registry Paths that I include and the Key names directly from this guide. There is no harm in what I have listed. But every instruction telling people to work with the Registry must include a note of caution. Follow instructions to the letter, if something doesn't look right, ask a question before proceeding. Do not worry, though, as I followed these instructions as I've written them myself and my Windows 10 PC is working AND looking great! To open RegEdit, open the Start Menu and type RegEdit, press enter to open this program - copy the HKEY path from the parts of this guide below with your mouse and paste it into the address bar of RegEdit, then press enter to go there. This is how you navigate to an HKEY entry in the Windows Registry. The Folder View is always on the Left and the Entries on the Right. To create Entries on the Right, you Left-Click a Folder on the Left, and select New> and then choose the entry I have listed below, setting the name as I've written it. Simple. If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as instructed and press OK. Many of these settings require you to log off or restart your PC before they take effect, but you can perform all of these actions below and restart one time afterwards. Disable Windows Snap Assist (Left and Right mouse snapping) for users of MultiMonitors: If you want to disable the Windows Snapping feature completely, an option I prefer to disable while using Multiple Monitors, you will need to modify the following Windows Registry key: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop On the right, select DockMoving and press Enter Change the value to 0 and press OK *If the DockMoving Entry does not exist, you can create one by Left Clicking on Desktop in the left folder view, select New> String Value with the name DockMoving. Press Enter to show the Key, and set the Value to 0 (zero), and press OK Disallow Cortana Search function when you open Start Menu: If you want to disable the Windows Cortana feature about as much as it can be disabled without breaking the Windows Search function, you will need to modify the following Windows Registry key: Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search Left Click on Windows Search in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name AllowCortana. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value to 100, under Base, select Decimal - then press OK *If Windows Search does not exist when you try to navigate to that key, you will need to create it: Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows then Left Click on Windows in the left folder view, and select New> Key name this new folder (or "key") Windows Search and press Enter. Now, just like above, you can Left Click on Windows Search in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name AllowCortana. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value to 100, under Base, select Decimal - then press OK Change Inactive Window Title Bar Color: Windows 10 surprised me right away when I first started using it: the Title Bar of windows I did not have selected, like the Chrome Browser playing Neflix as I write this, was the exact same color as the Title Bar of the Window I was working with. This makes it difficult to tell which Window is currently active, and again an example of Windows 10 fixing or changing something that just didn't need to be changed. If you would like to make your inactive Windows a different color just like Windows 7, you'll need to get the HEX Value of the colors you wish to use (HEX Color Picker http://htmlcolorcodes.com/color-picker/ ) and create the following registry keys: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM Active Window Color - ex. choose a brighter version of your desired title bar color Left Click on DWM in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name AccentColor. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value of your desired window color - then press OK *If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as shown above and press OK Inactive Window Color - ex. choose a darker/faded version of your title bar color Left Click on DWM in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name AccentColorInactive. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value of your desired window color - then press OK *If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as shown above and press OK **You must include the # symbol in this value - for example, you'd type/paste in #DBA901 to get the Gold color we use on this website. Upon re-entering the Key, you may notice the # symbol replaced by 2 letters/numbers such as ffDBA901; this is normal, it's the alpha (transparency) data of the HEX color code, usually defaulted to ff (0% transparent). You can add the ff yourself instead of the # symbol, if you want. Add Transparency to Taskbar and Start Menu: Windows 10 did away with transparency on the Taskbar and Start Menu, but you can still add it back for a great improvement of it's look. If you would like to add transparency back to your Start Menu and Taskbar, you will need to create the following registry key: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize Left Click on Personalize in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name EnableBlurBehind. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value to 1 - then press OK *If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as shown above and press OK Increase Taskbar Transparency: If you want to increase the transparency of your Taskbar, you will need to create the following registry key: Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Left Click on Advanced in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value to 1 - then press OK *If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as shown above and press OK You will then need to open Settings -> Personalization -> Colors and toggle Transparency Effects to Off and On again. If you don't like it and want to revert to a less transparent Taskbar, change the DWORD back to a value of 0 and toggle this On/Off switch again. Better Desktop Pictures and Account Pictures: Windows 10 will transform and decrease the quality of the pictures you select for your User Profile and Desktop Background to an 85% quality JPEG. There may be some valid reasons, but they likely don't apply to most people. Our final option in this guide is to force Windows 10 to respect the resolution of the images we wish to set for our own Operating System. If you want to stop Windows 10 from downgrading the quality of your Desktop Background and Profile pictures, you will need to create or edit the following registry key: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop Left Click on Desktop in the left folder view, select New> DWORD (32-bit) Value with the name JPEGImportQuality. Press Enter to show the key, and set the Value to 100, under Base, select Decimal - then press OK *If this value already exists, just modify it's Value as shown above and press OK

*We've also used another motto here and there over the years, but I think it's secondary to Good People - Great Team Play "COOP Gaming at it's Finest" Personally, I prefer Good People - Great Team Play -- but there could be uses for both, though perhaps not in the same image or work.

More than one thread right now talking about VG Graphics so I'll post this info in both: The name of the clan should always be capitalized with a hyphen in the middle. You can use CamelCase if you want, but then the smaller letters must also be capitalized (shown in the clan name on the Home page of this website, top most graphic) "VETERANS-GAMING" When refering to the website, omit any "www." and try to maintain all caps. If this would not fit the motif or style of the graphic, then use ALL lowercase: "VETERANS-GAMING.COM" or "veterans-gaming.com" *Never leave out the Hyphen "-" symbol in the middle Once in awhile, the words Team Play get used as one word "teamplay" - do not do this in Graphics. Always separate them to two words Team and Play. kudos to anyone for making cool VG graphics! We've had a lot of great submissions over the years, and I've seen some great ones here recently! Well done! VG Thanks you!

"Good People - Great Team Play" and here is the VG Wings Logo that displays it:

I had a great time in this event! It was certainly difficult at times, you felt like you couldn't stick your head out until a flanking position or AT could take care of the threat, and that made it fun. Knowing there is a problem that CAN be solved makes such difficulties tolerable - like knowing that Jersans just needed some ammo. There was one time when I encouraged our AT to go out while I followed with crucial ammo bag only to discover I had apparently used it already (having died so many times that map, I didn't assume I had lived long enough to "be out of ammo boxes"). But I don't play PR so much these days favoring the F-16 Sim 'Falcon BMS', and I'm glad you all are patient with me as I try to remember old stuff and learn the new stuff, and hopefully not bitch too much about the little stuff. It seemed like people were playing very closely as a team, and that was great. Balancing difficulty is not easy, and most people seemed to go into it with a positive attitude. Sometimes, we had to walk for quite some time due to some logistics errors, or outright pwnage by the OPFOR, but then there was that fun challenge to "make it through" and actually get to the point we were trying to assault. At times, it was just a goal of getting a mere two of us to the point with the SL to make a rally so the rest could avoid the death-trap passage. That felt a bit like some D-Day WW2 Omaha Beach scenarios I've played before, and sure it was a bit frustrating at times to get shot from "God knows where", we proudly bore the title of "Most Deaths Squad" for our combined 45+ deaths. Except for deathdealer - he's a fucking bot Killed everything that moved, and then killed it some more. Good shit, mang! Thank you very much, TEDF for all your efforts and for organizing all these events! So many of us really appreciate the effort put in, and half the rest of us don't resent you for putting us through such battlefield trauma too much to bother. Much love, brother! That was a hoot and a half!! We will definitely have more events at VG, even though this was the conclusion of the Red Tide Campaign in PR. We're always looking for a few good men with a creative flair to take the time like TEDF (and others) did to create a fun experience like this. But no one will top his paint skillz! Those briefings were very, very cool! Can't wait for the next event, whoever makes it, whenever that may be. Volunteers welcome, apply within. Thanks again, TEDF!

Thank you, CobaltUK. Well, we fought them back as best we could. It was rather exciting this week, if only a little frustrating, when you'd go out for a Ground Attack mission and have to jettison your stores and extra fuel tanks to dogfight with a few packs of MiG's. Still, we were barely making headway, and though we were keeping them at bay, I don't think we were pushing them back at all. So many BLUFOR Ground Forces were severely fatigued and Morale was low. The further loss of Airbases was clearly the death knell of the campaign, no reason to continue that slow march to defeat. You win this round, DRPK!! Dogfighting MiG's with Jeffu earlier this week: "GUNS GUNS GUNS! Splash one bandit!" *(good to know our Campaign is balanced enough that OPFOR can win if BLUFOR doesn't get enough Human action - makes it a very involving experience!!)

VG BMS is a casual public multiplayer campaign. We don't run a full "hardcore simulated" campaign, so we do not bother to repair or maintain AWACS, JSTARS, or Tanker flights throughout the war when they get wiped out by OPFOR AI. You are REQUIRED to identify your targets via AWACS IFF on our server, therefore to be sure you are not targeting friendly (or friendly human) pilots, please Uncheck this function. The AI is fairly quick with the Buddy Spike calls in the event you do lock them up, but a human player (possibly new to the multiplayer sim) may not be. Also, we ensure no friendlies are downrange when we launch Heaters and Slammers because they can reacquire a friendly as a target - this happened to me yesterday when my rejoin maneuver put me in the path of a missile launched by a MiG at Jeff; I caught the missile's eye, and it blew me to hell instead of Jeff. IFF is essential on our server! FTR -- How to ensure AWACS is available for IFF Declare requests: Open the BMS Launcher, click on Configuration. Under Campaign, ensure AWACS Required is UNCHECKED. Click Apply Changes to save. **On a side note, @Revan -- I noticed yesterday that you were using the F2 key for intra-flight comms and this is broadcast to everyone on the server's 2D map! It's a common mistake by Falcon pilots new to the IVC Comms system. We use F2 only for speaking when planning a mission before launching, and we use F1 to communicate from 2D map to players in the 3D cockpit in-game. Once you are in the cockpit, you must use your COMMS HAT Up/Down to cue up your UHF/VHF radios respectively. This 4-way HAT control is found on the throttle quadrant (HOTAS TQS). Here are the callbacks from the keyfile, set them to a control you can use - you will STILL need to use F2/F1 as needed when you are NOT in the cockpit, but these are what you use IN-GAME to communicate: SimTransmitCom1 -1 0 0XC7 0 0 0 1 "TQS: COMMS Switch Up - UHF" SimTransmitCom2 -1 0 0XCF 0 0 0 1 "TQS: COMMS Switch Down - VHF"

Welcome to the website and BMS Server, Revan! AFAIK, AWACS will still function regardless of active Sentry flights. As far as restarting, we only do that when it's exceedingly boring or there are no targets worth attacking. We have difficulty stacked a bit against BLUFOR so as to require Human interaction to win the war, without it being too difficult on the players. Actual enemy aircraft past Day 2-3 is a treat!!

I'll be there I believe. I've chatted with Kav - If I'm out of town, someone will fill the slot. Can someone update the MOTD's to promote the event?

Too funny!! **P.S. @Rotblut don't you think that "signature" is too large?! C'mon man... geez

It's up to you to promote the vote to your player base. As I understand it, we can create MOTD's in PR -- this should be done to each of the different setups we have. We need longer than a week it seems. Also, I thought it would be most wise to have transparency in voting here -- now I am regretting that. The reasoning was to show that there are not "random idiots that don't play PR" voting. But I can very well manage that from the back end, it doesn't need to be public. I'm gonna change that now if I can. Um, yes it does. There is a clear option to allow vote changing or not. I set it to YES. If you can still see the questions and not just the results, you'll see you can check the boxes again and click the Vote button at the bottom. @Kav -- I see that error with double votes by you, and of course it's not you doing that -- it's the system. I'm no IPS pro, but I assume there was some kind of hiccup. Either way, because I can see who voted, I can count and disregard any double votes easily. It's not even an issue. I mean, seeing the mistaken double votes may pose a problem for anyone under the age of 12, but for the rest of us, we'll just remain confident that we can just subtract any doubles from the final count. Eazy Peazy.

first draft had the words YES and NO after the sentence, and I was concerned they might misclick... so I put them on the left next to the Vote Checkbox. Now I'm not so concerned... So far, it seems like a good portion of the regular players have posted up, and the opinions on the changes are not so One Sided after all.... Time will tell--- make sure you get the Infantry nuts and the Vehicle nuts all to vote here, we'll see how this looks in about a week. *It can be said that, sure, people will vote for what they love, and that will only show that Vehicle nuts will not have the same opinions about these changes to assets as the Infantry nuts, but with more votes, it will show what a large portion of the current player base favors. Remember, this is a video game - and we are not trying to run a Hardcore PR COOP Server, but simply an entertaining game with many different versions of the same map (through layers) - with "fun" being the top priority. Does it detract from the fun when there are too many assets early in the match? Does it detract from the fun when there are no vehicles available to use for a longer period after they get blown up and have to respawn? Does it detract from the fun when the Bot vehicles are no threat at all because CAS or Armor is too OP on that map? Regardless, voting is still a more fair system than making unilateral decisions and employing changes without feedback from the majority.

It looks like that is on your end. Server is running well. Your BMS program seems to have some sort of memory issue, and I'm not sure I've ever seen that from anyone else. You're gonna wanna post that up on the BMS website as well, along with some system details, and any recent changes to your hardware/software on your PC.... Wish I could help ...

There have been some proposed changes by =VG= Double_13 to the Project Reality COOP Maps at VG. Vote here on those changes. Please pass the word to get people to vote. Any questions, feel free to post up. **IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR VOTE!** This Poll will remain active for over a week, or two, or until we see that we have enough votes to make decisions.

Check TCAdmin host panel again. You can do what you need to do now. Good luck - please report any success or failure.

Can you solve this if I give you access to the server files in that host panel (TCAdmin)?

Server restarted to last autosave

Don't even worry about the game crap - take care of yourself first. Best wishes to you! A family friend went through prostate cancer in the last 2-3 years, and he beat it. Eat well, follow the doctor's plan, and fight that shit!! edit: (not sure if it enters in, but there are ways to cram in calories sometimes when you have a hard time eating solid food - I've been drinking Soylent for a few years, and it's a complete liquid food with no taste at 400 cal. per 12oz. bottle. Consider it if you ever have problems, cuz you can literally drink down extra complete calories whenever you can tolerate it) Again, best wishes to you!

Rifleman in Delta (if there is still room) -- if no room, put me down as a Rifleman in Charlie Squad. Kav: Copy that Semler, see you on the mission.

This sounds fun! I liked the steath concept in the last event, glad there will be more of it!

That GAU-8 is a powerful weapon - and DCS Warthog is worth all the time it takes to learn how to pilot that gun. If you're flying low and slow, you can actually stall out from holding down the BRRRRRT for too long

Very cool weapon!! And awesome post, man! Love the pics at the bottom

I've updated it to 1.4.11 but then there is more to do, make it COOP, restore the maplist, restore the custom map setups, etc. I have reports of it not appearing on the list, so joining by IP is the only workaround until that is resolved.

Well, at least I'll be able to be there! Dang timing of these updates is crazy! We need to get off their cycle somehow, seems each event is preceded by an official update, and that has us scrambling to reconfigure the VG server with too little time before the events. I'll be working with Melon and TEDF when I get home this next week, and we'll devise a system for minimal downtime and no screwup's with regards to our PR Server update procedure. This just couldn't be anticipated, and so we gotta reschedule. Thanks for understanding, loyal PR players!!