14.12.2009, 14:36
The ol' crystal ball is still somewhat murky...it seems the more they talk about "unified", and "compatible", the more divergent things get.
UP 1.8 and HSFX 4.1 are, at their core, very similar. They are both based on the latest 4.09m Official Patch (having abandoned completely 4.08 and 4.09b1m), and they both use the SFX file system, which loads way faster than the Unified Installers.
But HSFX does not care about being compatible with anyone else, and they are upfront about that. HSFX pack was developed for Scorched Earth Online Wars (SEOW), which is based on Coop missions, where one players hosts with their game install, although they may use dogfight missions with the ZUTI DSmod...I'm open to correction on that.
They are also not inclined towards custom mod intallations, and in fact, the HSFX installer will DELETE your Mods folder. (Yes, you are warned about this before it happens) You can add a Mods folder afterwards, and add Mods, but you are essentially on your own in that endeavor.
UltraPack 1.8 is more amenable to custom modding, as it retains the Mods folder (although it is disable by default) In addition, the latest patch for UP 1.8 will have a switch so you can be "compatible" with HSFX 4.1, and UP 1.8. So that may be the better route to go.
As you stated, it depends on your personal preference, AND on the servers you intend to fly on. There are several very popular online servers that just recently made the switch to U.I. v1.2...so if you want to fly on those, you will need to have a 1.2 install.
UP 1.8 and HSFX 4.1 are, at their core, very similar. They are both based on the latest 4.09m Official Patch (having abandoned completely 4.08 and 4.09b1m), and they both use the SFX file system, which loads way faster than the Unified Installers.
But HSFX does not care about being compatible with anyone else, and they are upfront about that. HSFX pack was developed for Scorched Earth Online Wars (SEOW), which is based on Coop missions, where one players hosts with their game install, although they may use dogfight missions with the ZUTI DSmod...I'm open to correction on that.
They are also not inclined towards custom mod intallations, and in fact, the HSFX installer will DELETE your Mods folder. (Yes, you are warned about this before it happens) You can add a Mods folder afterwards, and add Mods, but you are essentially on your own in that endeavor.
UltraPack 1.8 is more amenable to custom modding, as it retains the Mods folder (although it is disable by default) In addition, the latest patch for UP 1.8 will have a switch so you can be "compatible" with HSFX 4.1, and UP 1.8. So that may be the better route to go.
As you stated, it depends on your personal preference, AND on the servers you intend to fly on. There are several very popular online servers that just recently made the switch to U.I. v1.2...so if you want to fly on those, you will need to have a 1.2 install.