DCS

[Gambit21]

Look at Cyprus!

On 1/27/2021 at 4:21 PM, DD_fruitbat said:

Wag's did two videos,

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's Cyprus, in case anyone didn't notice.

[DD_fruitbat]

10 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

 

Do the Dawgs have a special DCS night?

 

 

Mondays and Thursdays is DCS nights for us.

Edited January 29, 2021 by DD_fruitbat

[dburne]

10 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Look at Cyprus!

 

 

That's Cyprus, in case anyone didn't notice.

 

Sweet!

Nice and simple - I like nice and simple.

[BOO]

16 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

You jest, sir, but crumpets have a superior taste past Mach 0.9 or so. 

Ah, something your average F14A pilot rarely enjoys then.

[CanadaOne]

13 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Look at Cyprus!

 

 

That's Cyprus, in case anyone didn't notice.

 

Too busy looking at the clouds. 

[RedKestrel]

6 hours ago, BOO said:

Ah, something your average F14A pilot rarely enjoys then.

The MiG-25 pilots would get something out of them for sure, but it's hard to get proper crumpets the far side of the Iron Curtain.

Edited January 29, 2021 by RedKestrel

[dburne]

Had great success with the Maverick 65e with targeting pod, apparently yesterday I must have been leaving out one of the procedures I need to do to properly launch them.

So that one is under my belt now, can go through the launching of them without needing Chuck's Guide now and without using active pause.

 

On to the 65 F's tomorrow, hopefully will be easier now that I have much of this down.

[Gambit21]

6 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

... but it's hard to get proper crumpets the far side of the Iron Curtain.

 

Well it’s all equalizing quickly enough.

[BOO]

23 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

The MiG-25 pilots would get something out of them for sure, but it's hard to get proper crumpets the far side of the Iron Curtain.

.....not according to Russian Brides.com.

[dburne]

Great fun today learning the GBU 12 Paveway Laser Guided Bombs.

Got to blow up lots of stuff with the assistance of Jtac.

Still getting there slowly but surely.

[Lusekofte]

While you guys sit there and amram eachother or whats its name , I care only for important news

[CanadaOne]

12 hours ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

 

While you guys sit there and amram eachother or whats its name , I care only for important news

 

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to fire cannons and rockets from an outrageous helicopter, or to save the $50 and spend it on something responsible?

 

Yeah... right! 

 

 

WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP-RATATATATATTTTTTTTT!!!

[DD_fruitbat]

What is it with Russians and that cockpit colour blue?

 

Did they buy a job lot of it down the market, off some dodgy bloke or something?

[Bremspropeller]

It's more relaxing on the eyes.

[DD_fruitbat]

Always reminds me of a type of monkey I came across in Tanzania, which i nearly had a fight with once, but that's a story for a different time!

 

[DD_Arthur]

27 minutes ago, DD_fruitbat said:

What is it with Russians and that cockpit colour blue?

 

Did they buy a job lot of it down the market, off some dodgy bloke or something?

 

It's the traditional colour of the rooms where Soviet era goons would apply the rubber truncheons.  It's soothing.

[Uufflakke]

1 hour ago, Bremspropeller said:

It's more relaxing on the eyes.

 

Initially I thought you were joking but according the Cold War Air Museum it is "to reduce stress and maintain a pilot's effectiveness on long missions".

http://blog.cwam.org/2010/03/migs-and-mils-cockpit-color.html

 

 

1 hour ago, DD_fruitbat said:

Always reminds me of a type of monkey I came across in Tanzania, which i nearly had a fight with once, but that's a story for a different time!

 

 

 Can not wait to hear the story about an Englishman in Tanzania getting into trouble with a monkey.

[BOO]

On 1/27/2021 at 9:12 PM, CanadaOne said:

 

I'm sure I've forgotten how, haven't flown much lately, but I managed to fire a Maverick in the Hornet much faster than in the Harrier. 

 

The Harrier had some strange stuff going on: "Please select the target, okay, now cancel the target you just selected, since you have just selected the target and then canceled the target you selected, please select the target."

You can post a maverick faster then you can fire it with the Harrier.

[DD_fruitbat]

42 minutes ago, Uufflakke said:

 Can not wait to hear the story about an Englishman in Tanzania getting into trouble with a monkey.

 

Well, as I alluded to in the Microsoft flight sim thread a while ago, I spent some time in Tanzania on safari on the Serengeti, what now seems a life time ago,

 

Quote

Be careful if you try to land in the Ngorongoro crater, its wetter than it looks, have first hand knowledge......

 

 

 

A bemused hyena watches on...

 

 

Well the 4x4 in that the above photo, was the one I was in. At some point during the safari, I was sat in the back to eat my lunch in the shade, everyone else was outside stood around and we were eating our (fairly meagre) pack lunch. You have to bear in mind I was very hungry at this point.....

 

There were lots of these monkeys around ( and they are fairly distinctive, once you see, you cannot unsee!....) trying to pick up scraps of food and just steal it, when one jumped in the back with me just a few feet away, and was eyeing up the piece of food I was eating. At that point I was prepared to punch him if I he tried to nick it, and a short 'stare off' ensued between us, before he decided to move on to safer pastures and promptly nicked some cake from an Italian girls hand, who had her back turned to him.   

 

Moral of the story, always be careful when you eat on the Serengeti! 

 

Anyway, I digress,  more DCS fun, Using the Air to Ground radar and GBU's at night, in Syria,

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by DD_fruitbat

[BOO]

Hmpf - another update, another FPS drop and thats without the clouds or Syria kicking the crap outta my puta. Add the pitifully low distance LOD loading that seems to be increasing again (some helos, most ai low poly vehicles) and its a half stumble forward and another fall down a cliff backwards for me. 

 

The arms race of purchasing increasing expensive hardware versus permanently under optimized products continues but is becoming increasingly harder to justify. Progress is great if you can drop £4K on a rig every 2 years to keep up but the lack of any meaningful effort to tidy up even the small stuff afterwards means ever diminishing immersion (and ergo enjoyment) if you cant. 

 

I hope there is a master plan but I fear that there isnt. 

[Lusekofte]

21 minutes ago, BOO said:

Hmpf - another update, another FPS drop and thats without the clouds or Syria kicking the crap outta my puta. Add the pitifully low distance LOD loading that seems to be increasing again (some helos, most ai low poly vehicles) and its a half stumble forward and another fall down a cliff backwards for me. 

 

The arms race of purchasing increasing expensive hardware versus permanently under optimized products continues but is becoming increasingly harder to justify. Progress is great if you can drop £4K on a rig every 2 years to keep up but the lack of any meaningful effort to tidy up even the small stuff afterwards means ever diminishing immersion (and ergo enjoyment) if you cant. 

 

I hope there is a master plan but I fear that there isnt. 

I feel your pain, I am in same situation . But DCS and GB , MsFS for that sake too , give me little value for investment needed. I simply grown tired . I  jumped out of that train, I fly what I am able to until I can't 

[dburne]

Great fun today learning the 88c Harm missiles with the Hornet, flying into enemy territory and blowing up some Sam sites.

But now I really need to learn those dang countermeasure systems lol.

Ima getting there, slow but sure.

Edited January 31, 2021 by dburne

[DD_fruitbat]

50 minutes ago, dburne said:

Great fun today learning the 88c Harm missiles with the Hornet, flying into enemy territory and blowing up some Sam sites.

But now I really need to learn those dang countermeasure systems lol.

Ima getting there, slow but sure.

 

Going after SAM sites is probably my most favourite mission profile these days, something very fun about the cat and mouse game played at Mach 1, although so much kudos to the people who have done it for real, that would be much much less fun.

 

The Hornet is pretty good at it, but the Viper really shines in this role.

[BOO]

4 hours ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

I feel your pain, I am in same situation . But DCS and GB , MsFS for that sake too , give me little value for investment needed. I simply grown tired . I  jumped out of that train, I fly what I am able to until I can't 

I really cant imagine any of these titles have a "F -it and let em buy the best" attitude but that's the way it pans out and DCS in particular is now a very costly indulgence for the deep pocketed/debt unrestricted. All power to those that can. 

 

20 years since flying the Sturmovik over Smolensk for the first time made me gasp and nothing has come remotely close since. Certainly, in the case of DCS not close enough to justify the new price of admission anyhow. 

 

I cant help but think that my simming days are coming to a close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unlikely_spider]

19 minutes ago, BOO said:

I really cant imagine any of these titles have a "F -it and let em buy the best" attitude but that's the way it pans out and DCS in particular is now a very costly indulgence for the deep pocketed/debt unrestricted. All power to those that can. 

 

20 years since flying the Sturmovik over Smolensk for the first time made me gasp and nothing has come remotely close since. Certainly, in the case of DCS not close enough to justify the new price of admission anyhow. 

 

I cant help but think that my simming days are coming to a close.

 

There is a ton of content for any one of the major modules in DCS - like the A-10c, F-18, Harrier, Huey, etc

 

And the map with the most content is free. Wait for a sale and buy just one of the fully-featured aircraft in DCS, and the amount of time you'll spend doing training and learning the systems before you can even jump into a campaign or multi-player is enough to justify the price. If you find a plane/helicopter you're really interested in learning, you'll get more time out of it for the $30-50 sale price than most triple-A games out there. If you're single-player like me, there are a bunch of free quality campaigns on the User Files section of the site, and the paid ones are like $10-$15 full price, and some of those have given me some of the most memorable simming moments I've ever had.

 

So it is something like $40-60 for one the most fully-represented military craft in the history of PC simming along with a campaign, since the main map that contains most of the single-player content is free. So for me the cost to hourly enjoyment ratio is pretty good.

[dburne]

7 minutes ago, unlikely_spider said:

There is a ton of content for any one of the major modules in DCS - like the A-10c, F-18, Harrier, Huey, etc

 

And the map with the most content is free. Wait for a sale and buy just one of the fully-featured aircraft in DCS, and the amount of time you'll spend doing training and learning the systems before you can even jump into a campaign or multi-player is enough to justify the price. If you find a plane/helicopter you're really interested in learning, you'll get more time out of it for the $30-50 sale price than most triple-A games out there. If you're single-player like me, there are a bunch of free quality campaigns on the User Files section of the site, and the paid ones are like $10-$15 full price, and some of those have given me some of the most memorable simming moments I've ever had.

 

So it is something like $40-60 for one the most fully-represented military craft in the history of PC simming along with a campaign, since the main map that contains most of the single-player content is free. So for me the cost to hourly enjoyment ratio is pretty good.

 

Agreed.

I am a single player only guy and I am certainly getting my money's worth out of the Hornet now.

Can't wait to start some of the campaigns as I am getting closer to that point now.

 

I struggled with trying to learn it as I would do it off and on for a long time, finally I decided to really dig in and put everything else aside till I get to the point I can start a campaign with it. And that is what has payed off for me, it is hard as IL-2 GB is and will always be my first love and I always buy everything to support it.

But I will be back to it soon enough and will enjoy having the ability to fly campaigns in the DCS Hornet from time to time. I am sure the Hornet will be enough to keep me satisfied on the DCS side for a while till I get the urge to tackle a new module. 

 

Whew between IL-2, DCS, and MSFS I have more than enough to keep me busy for quite a long time.

None of these are like other games where you do like a playthrough of 20 hours or so and your done.

 

But I will be back to it soon enough and will feel much better knowing I finally tackled one of those DCS birds.

 

[CanadaOne]

8 hours ago, DD_fruitbat said:

Always reminds me of a type of monkey I came across in Tanzania, which i nearly had a fight with once, but that's a story for a different time!

 

 

With the look in his eyes, and don't take this personally, but I think he would have kicked your ass.

[DD_fruitbat]

Not after he'd been punched is his very blue balls!

 

And what could possibly be more fun than a night carrier landing, returning after the above video, ?

 

 

Bit of a Doh! moment at the end due to relief of catching a wire, because without thinking I hit the breaks, hence the wheelie....

Edited January 31, 2021 by DD_fruitbat

[BOO]

2 hours ago, unlikely_spider said:

There is a ton of content for any one of the major modules in DCS - like the A-10c, F-18, Harrier, Huey, etc

 

And the map with the most content is free. Wait for a sale and buy just one of the fully-featured aircraft in DCS, and the amount of time you'll spend doing training and learning the systems before you can even jump into a campaign or multi-player is enough to justify the price. If you find a plane/helicopter you're really interested in learning, you'll get more time out of it for the $30-50 sale price than most triple-A games out there. If you're single-player like me, there are a bunch of free quality campaigns on the User Files section of the site, and the paid ones are like $10-$15 full price, and some of those have given me some of the most memorable simming moments I've ever had.

 

So it is something like $40-60 for one the most fully-represented military craft in the history of PC simming along with a campaign, since the main map that contains most of the single-player content is free. So for me the cost to hourly enjoyment ratio is pretty good.

I own pretty much all of the hi-fi aircraft and campaigns. This isnt my first rodeo ?

 

It isnt about the price of the game. Its about the price of playing the game and what you get for that, ever increasing price. 

 

The $40-60 equation doesnt take into account the £2500 i will have to lay out (3 years after laying out £1200 and 5 years after laying out £1500), in order to play the game at anything approaching a decent graphical representation. Nor does it reference the amount of things that will still as borked and broken on a new rig as on my old one.

 

"Fully represented"  is in the eye of the beholder. A quick look at any NATOPs manual will show that most modules are a pastiche of the real thing, flying in a supposed modern environment without any meaningful ECM/IADS element and without the logistical and technical support RL requires. But its a game so I can live with that (but not the "its sooooo realistic" argument)  

 

The the map with most content is free as your point out, but it also has a knock up look, poorly represented trees, poor LOD cascading, a very low rez tile mat that mismatches towns and villages with its footprint, awful flickering shadows and a distracting shadow "wipe" whenever the terrain gets lumpy. I could go on.

 

As for the modules that interest me, the Harrier, Mil 8 and KA50, are all degraded with bugs and have been for years. Same with many of the campaigns. Helo flying at low level is a 2008 graphical experience. 

 

Ah. Im jaded. Forgive me. I find lots to like about DCS and lots not to like. Ive gotten hundreds of hours out of it BUT Ive put thousands of pounds into it. Its not a cents for hours equation. Its a pounds for hours one that, when you takeaway the time spent trying to make it work well, becomes a several pounds per hour one. 

 

Every patch I hope for something small that improves something long broken but it never happens. It just mores inexorably forward, demanding more and more power whilst stubbornly refusing to fix historically broken or never implemented but promised stuff. 

Edited January 31, 2021 by BOO

[Bremspropeller]

Is that gonna be the South Atlantic map's size?

 

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/97330-dcs-roadmap-unofficial-no-discussion-here/page/76/

2 hours ago, DD_fruitbat said:

Not after he'd been punched is his very blue balls!

 

And what could possibly be more fun than a night carrier landing, returning after the above video, ?

 

 

Bit of a Doh! moment at the end due to relief of catching a wire, because without thinking I hit the breaks, hence the wheelie....

 

"No proper communications"...

You just called the ball like...twice.

 

Effing around with the bloody ball-call has caused me a lot of eff-ups within 3/4mi and lots of solid balls and solid approaches went down the sink consequently.

Thanks to the DLC, the Tomcat can usually at least have you trap on the first pass.

 

Seems like they need you to call the needles and hand you over from approach to the LSO to mak the trap-grades work.

Not sure if you need to call out "platform" (passing 5000ft) for that, but it surely can't be wrong.

They'll ask your needles at like 6 miles and transfer you over to the LSO within a mile of the boat. With lots of talking, so you'll need to hit the ball-call button at the right time.

 

I'm not quite happy with the way it's implemented right now.

[CanadaOne]

37 minutes ago, Bremspropeller said:

Is that gonna be the South Atlantic map's size?

 

 

Have to admit I'm not very excited about this map. Seems like it might be a bit dull from an eye-candy point of view. Unless there is some good mountain action in Argentina.

[Bremspropeller]

If Punta Arenas is on the map, too, you'll also have Chile on the map.

Also, the map could work as a stand-in for carrier-battles and other invaison-scenario based mission fun.

 

Did I mention sheep?

[Robli]

5 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

Did I mention sheep?

 

It's time to get a well-modeled seal or whale.

[BOO]

7 hours ago, CanadaOne said:

 

Have to admit I'm not very excited about this map. Seems like it might be a bit dull from an eye-candy point of view. Unless there is some good mountain action in Argentina.

 

A map without a single relevant asset. They may as well have created Narnia.

[Tyberan]

yeah its an odd choice, just like the EE lightening. 

[AndyJWest]

28 minutes ago, BOO said:

 

A map without a single relevant asset. They may as well have created Narnia.

 

Where exactly do you think the Falklands war took place?

[BOO]

2 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

 

Where exactly do you think the Falklands war took place?

Not sure what you mean Andy. I was alluding to the the aircraft modules, or lack of.

 

No Sea Harrier, No GR3, No Lynx, No Sea King, No Puma,  No Scout, No Mirage, No Dagger,  No Etendard, No Puccara, an A4 community mod with a basic FM and a low poly Chinook. It also appears to be a post conflict version with RAF Mount Pleasant.........but no FGR2s. The Tiffy is coming one day so I guess the Mirage 2000 will be pressed into service despite it never being used by the likely belligerents but thats all that is on the horizon and close enough to shoot at. The rest is vapourware as far as I can tell. 

 

I believe currently the only module present in 1982 is the UH 1 and the Herc in AI and, given that there are trees that reach maturity faster that a DCS module takes to develop,  its likely to stay that way until the maps looks old.  

 

I have an imagination, I can make stuff fit. But an alternate reality where the US has cruised the Stennis or Tarawa down south to take on a Russian invasion force intent on stealing all the penguins for an Oligarch's new private Zoo (after the UK forces mysteriously and suddenly disappeared in a Rapture) is pushing it.   

Edited February 1, 2021 by BOO

[CanadaOne]

1 minute ago, BOO said:

I have an imagination, I can make stuff fit. But an alternate reality where the US has cruised the Stennis or Tarawa down south to take on a Russian invasion force intent on stealing all the penguins for an Oligarch's new private Zoo (after the UK forces mysteriously and suddenly disappeared in a Rapture) is pushing it.   

 

Penguins? I'd take a bullet for a penguin.

 

Now I'm interested!

 

[AndyJWest]

10 minutes ago, BOO said:

Not sure what you mean Andy. I was alluding to the the aircraft modules, or lack of.

 

No Sea Harrier, No GR3, No Lynx, No Sea King, No Puma,  No Scout, No Mirage, No Dagger,  No Etendard, No Puccara, an A4 community mod with a basic FM and a low poly Chinook. It also appears to be a post conflict version with RAF Mount Pleasant.........but no FGR2s. The Tiffy is coming one day so I guess the Mirage 2000 will be pressed into service despite it never being used by the likely belligerents but thats all that is on the horizon and close enough to shoot at. The rest is vapourware as far as I can tell. 

 

I believe currently the only module present in 1982 is the UH 1 and the Herc in AI and, given that there are trees that reach maturity faster that a DCS module takes to develop,  its likely to stay that way until the maps looks old.  

 

I have an imagination, I can make stuff fit. But an alternate reality where the US has cruised the Stennis or Tarawa down south to take on a Russian invasion force intent on stealing all the penguins for an Oligarch's new private Zoo (after the UK forces mysteriously and suddenly disappeared in a Rapture) is pushing it.   

 

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. Though Razbam posted WIP images of a Pucará only a few days ago. And as far as I'm aware, they still consider the Sea Harrier to be part of their long-term plans. This is DCS of course, so long-term plans don't always get anywhere, but they seem to be making the map for a reason.

 

As for the broader issue of DCS needing 'alternate reality' to use existing assets, that is hardly confined to the South Atlantic map. I'd have to suggest that most of the post-Korea-war stuff gets used in 'alternate reality' scenarios most of the time (and that we should be thankful if it stays that way. I'd rather not live in a 'reality' where the US takes on Russia in an all-out war). DCS is like that - 'study sim' aircraft built to sell, rather than as part of a consistent scenario. A Falklands map isn't much of an outlier.

[Bremspropeller]

Mirage, Sea Harrier and Pucara are under deveopment.

 

Aren't there going to be two maps? One era-correct and one post-war map?