Linux Air Combat Activity
Combat Flight Simulator for LINUX. WW2. Network and VOIP. Open-source.
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Activity for Linux Air Combat
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bbosen modified a comment on discussion Serverless 2-Player LAC
For many years, LAC's "HeadToHead" mission has been the abandoned stepchild among our multi-player online missions. It hasn't received any attention from our developers for about 8 years. But since March of 2026, Alpha Testers have been exercising LAC Version 9.91 with a rewritten "HeadToHead" mission that is much more interesting than the old one. This "HeadToHead" mission is the only LAC mission that can be configured in BOTH of our supported network modes. Those two modes are: 1 of 2: "Client/Server"...
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As of today (01Apr2026) we are releasing new version Lac09p92 (also known as "LAC992") for beta testing. Exactly as you might expect according to our usual pattern, you can find the usual download archives and scripts for it in .tar archives with source code, in precompiled AppImage format for SteamDeck and in AppImage format for general-purpose desktop LINUX distros on industry-standard "X86" hardware, for Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5, and in a huge .iso file preconfigured in a bootable desktop...
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One more observation: Now that "trim" controls are sensibly available on a standard keyboard, there is less need to map joystick buttons to them, freeing up four joystick buttons. Consequently, LAC players don't need to spend extra money for so robust a joystick. The popular old LAC arrangement for the classic,inexpensive Logitech Extreme 3d Pro joystick uses up all 12 joystick buttons and 4 hat-switch positions to map LAC's most important functions. All of that still works with no need to change...
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We promoted version 9.92 to BETA TEST today, so I am marking this thread "BETA TEST".
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As of today (01Apr2026) we are releasing new version Lac09p92 (also known as "LAC992") for beta testing. Exactly as you might expect according to our usual pattern, you can find the usual download archives and scripts for it in .tar archives with source code, in precompiled AppImage format for SteamDeck and in AppImage format for general-purpose desktop LINUX distros on industry-standard "X86" hardware, for Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5, and in a huge .iso file preconfigured in a bootable desktop...
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As of today (01Apr2026) we are releasing new version Lac09p92 (also known as "LAC992") for beta testing. Exactly as you might expect according to our usual pattern, you can find the usual download archives and scripts for it in .tar archives with source code, in AppImage format for SteamDeck and in AppImage format for general-purpose desktop LINUX distros on industry-standard "X86" hardware, for Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5, and in a huge .iso file preconfigured in a bootable desktop LINUX image...
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[kick]
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On initial startup, LAC will assume you either have no joystick installed (in which you can just use your mouse and keyboard for flight maneuvers) or that you have the inexpensive, popular "Logitech Extreme 3dPro" joystick. If you want to use some other joystick or a console "game controller" instead, you will need to take special steps to configure LAC for it. Those steps will require at least 5 minutes of tinkering in LAC's "SETUP OPTIONS" -> "GAME" -> "CONTROLLER" menus, or else you will need...
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Linux Air Combat released /Choose Your Platform/BootableX86LinuxWithLAC/README.txt
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This has been implemented in alpha-test version 9.92, Accordingly, I am marking this thread "ALPHA TEST".
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After extensive online experience in a wide variety of missions and with diverse groups of LAC online players, I have concluded that LAC's missions should automatically connect all players to their MissionCast channel instead of the TeamCast channel that corresponds with the appropriate team (RedTeam orBlueTeam). An automatic connection to the mission's MissionCast channel will allow everybody to talk with everybody else, and it's clear that the early banter in almost every mission is best directed...
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Of course, within a mission, we should preserve the ability to jump into the player's TeamCast channel by tapping the F10 key in flight, and to jump into the mission's MissionCast channel by tapping the F11 key in flight, and to jump into the opposition channel by pressing the F12 key in flight. No changes there. We should just change the initial channel to MissionCast as every mission commences.
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After extensive online experience in a wide variety of missions and with diverse groups of LAC online players, I have concluded that LAC's missions should automatically connect all players to their MissionCast channel instead of the TeamCast channel that corresponds with the appropriate team (RedTeam orBlueTeam). An automatic connection to the missions MissionCast channel will allow everybody to talk with everybody else, and it's clear that the early banter in almost every mission is best directed...
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All of these enhancements were implemented in LAC Version 9.83. Accordingly, I am marking this thread "DONE".
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All of these functions are now present in our Production version (now 9.88). Accordingly I am marking this thread "DONE".
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Now that we have promoted Version 9.88 to Production status, I am marking this thread "DONE".
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Now that our "Production" version has advanced to 9.88, I am marking this thread "DONE".
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Now that our "Production" version has advanced to 9.88, I am marking this thread "RESOLVED".
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Now that we have promoted Version 9.88 to Production status, I am marking this thread "RESOLVED".
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LAC Version 9.87, published for beta testing in early Jan2025, expanded LAC's "SETUP OPTIONS" -> "GAME" -> "KBD & JOYBUTTON MAP" menus substantially. Now, almost all of LAC's flight, view, and comms functions can be mapped to any arbitrary keyboard key or (where appropriate) to any arbitrary button on your joystick or console game controller through that menu, with no need to edit the LacControls.txt file. However, there are still a few of LAC's functions that are NOT exposed in that menu and consequently...
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I am marking this thread "RESOLVED" because we have promoted version 9.88 to "Production" status.
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After you watch those video clips about Port Forwarding, you will need to know that when configured in "PeerToPeer" mode, LAC always listens on UDP Port 51100 as if it were a very simple, 2-player LAC Server. Where the video clips refer to Server Processes "listening" on a numbered "Port", use "51100" in support of LAC's "PeerToPeer" mode.
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The vast majority of LAC users run their copy of LAC as a "client" in LAC's "Client/Server" mode, accessing other LAC players as other LAC clients through the LAC Server. This mode of operation supports as many as 10 simultaneous players in each of LAC's missions and in all of LAC's Realms. However, if you don't have access to the LAC Server, you can configure for 2-player "PeerToPeer" mode, in which pairs of LAC players each act as a 2-player LAC Server to the other. Our "NETWORK H2H (2 PLAYERS)"...
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The vast majority of LAC users run their copy of LAC as a "client" in LAC's "Client/Server" mode, accessing other LAC players as other LAC clients through the LAC Server. This mode of operation supports as many as 10 simultaneous players in each of LAC's missions and in all of LAC's Realms. However, if you don't have access to the LAC Server, you can configure for 2-player "PeerToPeer" mode, in which pairs of LAC players each act as a 2-player LAC Server to the other. If you are doing this on your...
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We just published the Beta-Test Raspberry Pi files as described above. It's REALLY EASY to compile and install LAC on Raspberry Pi now. Just download and run the script named Lac991BetaTestDownloadInstallScriptFor64BitRaspberryPi4orPi5.sh that you can find HERE.
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We just published the Beta-Test Raspberry Pi files as described above. It's REALLY EASY to compile and install LAC on Raspberry Pi now. Just download and run the script named Lac991BetaTestDownloadInstallScriptFor64BitRaspberryPi4orPi5.sh that you can find HERE.
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Today (17Mar2026) we are releasing new version 9.91E of Linux Air Combat ("LAC") for beta testing. As of now the source code is published according to our usual pattern in .tar.gz format, and the precompiled AppImage version is also available, ready to run on industry-standard "X86" hardware for all of the most popular desktop LINUX distros. We expect to publish source code optimized for Raspberry Pi platforms sometime tomorrow, followed shortly thereafter by install scripts that will completely...
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Most of today's free public AI search engines know all about LAC, and they constantly stay up with the latest LAC updates. You can ask any of them for a review and you'll generally get an accurate, timely result. To get this started, here is a detailed, suggested question that you can "copy and paste" into your favorite AI search engine: Please generate a detailed review of "Linux Air Combat" (or "LAC"). Include details about hardware requirements, the accuracy of its flight model, the effectiveness...
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Recent versions of LAC benefit from bots that are demonstrably less stupid. Mission #3 is now quite a bit better. I am marking this thread "DONE" even though I know the bots are still not as good as I would like, and that there will still be times when the early crash of a bot will make some of the combat segments of training Mission #3 too much shorter than intended. I hope this situation will continue to improve.
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As of this writing in mid-Mar2026, this change has been integrated into the "Tutorial3" mission, of LAC Version 9.91, now undergoing alpha test. This improves the liklihood that new players will commence on the BlueTeam. Accordingly, I am marking this thread "ALPHA TEST".
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Update 25Feb2026 We dug deep into the "HeadToHead" mission and it has been seriously enhanced and patterned after our very sophisticated "Peabody's Mission". When LAC is configured for "PeerToPeer" networking (as opposed to the "Client/Server" networking that is active by default), two players can participate as opponents or as allies in this mission with no need for the LAC Server. This is done as each of the two participating players edits his "LacConfig.txt" file, specifying two items: 1 of 2:...
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As of the time of this writing in mid-Mar2026, all known bugs related to serverless PeerToPeer use of the "Head To Head" mission have been fixed and it is well behaved on all tested computing platform pairs, whether "Big Endian", "Little Endian", Raspberry Pi, or X86, and regardless of varying desktop Linux Distros. We will begin beta testing soon. Our testing DID reveal one interesting principle that affects serverless networking: You NEED to pay attention to any FIREWALLS present between LAC clients...
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In most cases when you want to use PeerToPeer mode, it will also be necessary for you to enable "Port Forwarding" in your NAT router, forwarding all incoming Internet traffic using UDP port 51100 to the IP address of your LAC host. This "Port Forwarding" setup will be a lot easier to configure and manage if you also give your LAC host a "static IP" address. The terms "Port Forwarding" and "Static IP address" and "UDP" are well-known terms and you can find abundant information published about them...
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In most cases it will also be necessary for you to enable "Port Forwarding" in your NAT router, forwarding all incoming Internet traffic using UDP port 51100 to the IP address of your LAC host. This "Port Forwarding" setup will be a lot easier to configure and manage if you also give your LAC host a "static IP" address. The terms "Port Forwarding" and "Static IP address" and "UDP" are well-known terms and you can find abundant information published about them through a conventional Web search or...
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In most cases it will also be necessary for you to enable "Port Forwarding" in your NAT router, forwarding all incoming Internet traffic using UDP port 51100 to the IP address of your LAC host. This "Port Forwarding" setup will be a lot easier to configure and manage if you also give your LAC host a "static IP" address. The terms "Port Forwarding" and "Static IP address" and "UDP" are well-known terms and you can find abundant information published about them through a conventional Web search or...
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In most cases it will also be necessary for you to enable "Port Forwarding" in your NAT router, forwarding all Internet traffic using port 51100 to the IP address of your LAC host. This "Port Forwarding" setup will be a lot easier to configure and manage if you also give your LAC host a "static IP" address. The terms "Port Forwarding" and "Static IP address" are well-known terms and you can find abundant information published about them through a conventional Web search or through a query to "ChatGPT",...
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For many years, LAC's "HeadToHead" mission has been the abandoned stepchild among our multi-player online missions. It hasn't received any attention from our developers for about 8 years. But since March of 2026, Alpha Testers have been exercising LAC Version 9.91 with a rewritten "HeadToHead" mission that is much more interesting than the old one. This "HeadToHead" mission is the only LAC mission that can be configured in BOTH of our supported network modes. Those two modes are: 1 of 2: "Client/Server"...
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[kick]
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For many years, LAC's "HeadToHead" mission has been the abandoned stepchild among our multi-player online missions. It hasn't received any attention from our developers for about 8 years. But since March of 2026, Alpha Testers have been exercising LAC Version 9.91 with a rewritten "HeadToHead" mission that is much more interesting than the old one. This "HeadToHead" mission is the only LAC mission that can be configured in BOTH of our supported network modes. Those two modes are: 1 of 2: "Client/Server"...
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Welcome to the "Serverless 2-Player LAC" forum! If LAC's free Server is not available, it's still possible for 2 players to configure their computers in "PeerToPeer" mode and reference one another by IP address in LAC's "LacConfig.txt" configuration file. Then they can both fly together (as allies or as opponents) in the "Head To Head" mission. This forum is for questions and answers about that, and related general discussions and training video clips.
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect them. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to instruct...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect them. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to instruct...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect them. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to instruct...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect the pair. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to...
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[kick]
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Since the beginning of new year 2026 We have been accumulating YouTube video clips resulting from these "Thursday LAC Sessions" in a new YouTube PlayList named "LAC2026", which you can always find in THIS page: https://askmisterwizard.com/2019/LinuxAirCombat/LacOnYouTube.htm
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[kick]
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Most online players use the free LAC Server to find and interconnect with other online players in LAC's online, multi-player missions. For the past several years, the official LAC server has been operating at IP address 192.34.59.172, and LAC is configured to access it by default. LAC's official server is available free of charge, and the free source code is published here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/lacserver/ So the day may come when there are multiple instances of unofficial LAC servers...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect the pair. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect the pair. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to...
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Another point on this subject: The "HeadToHead" mission can also be used by players relying onLAC's server to interconnect the pair. In that case, each player addresses the LAC server (instead of the other player) through the LacConfig.txt file according to the usual pattern, and the "NetworkMode" variable sets the "1" bit to configure "Client/Server" mode instead of "PeerToPeer" mode (again according to the usual pattern). Comprehensive explanatory text can be found in the LacConfig.txt file to...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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Update 25Feb2026 We dug deep into the "HeadToHead" mission and it has been seriously enhanced and patterned after our very sophisticated "Peabody's Mission". When LAC is configured for "PeerToPeer" networking (as opposed to the "Client/Server" networking that is active by default), two players can participate as opponents or as allies in this mission with no need for the LAC Server. This is done as each of the two participating players edits his "LacConfig.txt" file, specifying two items: 1 of 2:...
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Here you'll find individual images of the pictorial "Linux Air Combat User Guide". They are numbered sequentially and they will make best sense if viewed according to that implied sequence. CLICK HERE for a YouTube video that animates this page.
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LAC Pictorial User Guide
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LAC Pictorial User Guide
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LAC Pictorial User Guide
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LAC Pictorial User Guide
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[kick]
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Link to LAC2026 YouTube PlayList
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkElfQ6QVB4&list=PL1IYes9MY6lL-CFCHG0nd12S7GDyBJCdP&pp=0gcJCbUEOCosWNinsAgC
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Since late Feb2026 we've released new lac version 9.88 with better menu-based support for customizing and configuring arbitrary joysticks or console game controllers. Here are some new YouTube video clip resources that will lead you step-by-step through the process: https://sourceforge.net/p/linuxaircombat/discussion/flightcontrolhardware/thread/0da40ce6e3/
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Here you'll find individual images of the pictorial "Linux Air Combat User Guide". They are numbered sequentially and they will make best sense if viewed according to that implied sequence.
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LAC User Guide
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, no sophisticated developers have actively "adopted"...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, the day may come when the LAC Server may no longer be...
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LAC should be improved to offer more and better functionality when the LAC Server is not available. Fortunately, the LAC server has been reliably available for several years, and consequently players can join any of ten missions, each available 32 times (once in each of 32 Realms), each supporting ten simultaneous users. We have even published the source code of the LAC Server. You can find it Here: https://sourceforge.net/p/lacserver/ However, the day may come when the LAC Server may no longer be...
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A couple of months ago I wrote a "Review" of Linux Air Combat for the "Linux Links" website after I noticed they had articles about other Linux flight sims but nothing for LAC yet. They responded quickly and told me that they never use pre-written reviews, but that they would be publishing their own, independent review in the future. I hope they do so, but so far I've seen nothing. HERE is the text of the review I sent them. (It's a bit self-promoting [blush] but people involved in the "Press Release"...
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I record a lot of LAC's online missions as video clips on YouTube. Most of these little video clips get deleted, but I publish the best of them. Every year I start a new YouTube PlayList that I populate with the best clips of each year. Here are the most recent yearly archives: LAC2022PlayList LAC2023PlayList LAC2024PlayList LAC2025Playlist LAC2026Playlist
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I record a lot of LAC's online missions as video clips on YouTube. Most of these little video clips get deleted, but I publish the best of them. Every year I start a new YouTube PlayList that I populate with the best clips of each year. Here are the most recent yearly archives: LAC2022PlayList LAC2023PlayList LAC2024PlayList LAC2025Playlist LAC2026Playlist
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