New things coming to DCS

[Hudson]

Combined Arms, FC3, Nevada Map, "Flying Legends (wtf is that?) and new fixed wing aircraft; FC3 will be compatible with A-10C+BS2 it looks like:

We gonna need more pilots

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81589
1- Combined Arms. This $19.99 add-on will allow A-10C, Black Shark 2, and Flaming Cliffs 3 owner to act as ground force commanders as the mission is running. Users can direct ground units, set fire missions for artillery/multiple rocket launchers, and take the role of a Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC). As the JTAC, players will have night vision goggles, IR pointer, laser designator, and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR). Several other new items are still being considered. Combined Arms will work in both single player and multiplayer missions.

2- Flaming Cliffs 3. This will be a paid-for update to the Flaming Cliffs series and brings it to the same world, mission editor, AI, units, etc. as A-10C and Black Shark 2. We plan to include several upgrades to the aircraft, a resource management system, and several other new features. This will also make Flaming Cliffs online compatible with A-10C and Black Shark 2. Pricing will depend on what new features are included.

3- Nevada map. This will be a $19.99 add-on that will be compatible with A-10C, Black Shark 2, and FC3. Users that purchased the A-10C beta will get this map for free.

4- The first "DCS Flying Legends" aircraft will be released in the first half of 2012.

5- The next US fixed wing jet DCS aircraft is being worked on in parallel.

[PanzerMeyer]

Absolutely awesome stuff. I'll be buying ALL of it.

[Hudson]

I find Combined Arms a little odd... I think I would have preferred something like an OH-58D addon with those capabilities, but having human JTAC would be cool either way, so I look forward to see what they can do with it. Word is, Flying Legends might be WWII and the first plane might be a P-51; no one really knows for sure yet it seems.

[Hudson]

Panzer, since you're on the thread, did you buy A-10C through Steam? If so you may want to consider downloading the full install and registering it usign the CD key granted in Steam. (you don't need to uninstall the Steam version first; in fact you don't want to uninstall it until AFTER you grab the CD key if you do want to install it, since you can only see it when installing or installed); long story short 1.1.1.0 is out and people who got it through steam are still stuck on 1.1.0.9, so it's the same old game of having to wait longer than everyone else for the patches.

The good news in this case is your CD key is a reall key for the game so you can use it to register the stand alone download...

[Hammer]

seems they are trying to make a Falcon out of it. that is all good. the only issue i have with their sims is they seem to sterile to me. must be because they are developed by Russians.

the franchise is getting more interesting for sure.

[Hudson]

What do you mean by sterile? Terrain, graphics, or?

[Hammer]

nothing objetcive. it is a subjective feel to the game. my opinion.

that was with lock on, i believe.

[PanzerMeyer]

I believe what Hammer means by "sterile" is that the flight sims from Russian developers excel when you are inside the cockpit but as soon as you're out of the cockpit, there really isn't any sense of immersion. Take Falcon 4 for example. The dynamic "living battlefield" campaign completely immerses you in an air war even when you aren't in the cockpit flying a mission. I think what would help Russian flight sims a lot more is if they had a dynamic campaign that made you feel like you were part of what was going on.


Oh and Hudson, I did buy A-10 via Steam.

[Hudson]

I believe what Hammer means by "sterile" is that the flight sims from Russian developers excel when you are inside the cockpit but as soon as you're out of the cockpit, there really isn't any sense of immersion. Take Falcon 4 for example. The dynamic "living battlefield" campaign completely immerses you in an air war even when you aren't in the cockpit flying a mission. I think what would help Russian flight sims a lot more is if they had a dynamic campaign that made you feel like you were part of what was going on.

Makes sense, I guess. More than dynamic campaigns I think dedicated servers are in order though. Both would be double plus good, though.

Oh and Hudson, I did buy A-10 via Steam.

Ya, I thought so, so if we want to play right now you would have to do as I suggested and download the standalone, since I foolishly installed 1.1.1.0 without thinking about Steam being behind until after I read some random comment on the forums. Seems this happens with every game that comes out primarily in some other fashion and then Steam as an afterthought...

[daofcmacg]

Well now I guess I am installing this game just in time and if I remember correctly I paid for the beta version so I should get the Nevada map for free, how does that work out really!?!

DA

[Hudson]

Won't know til the beta map is released... but when you buy the game off the site they keep record of your keys (handy if you lose your key!), so presumably they can figure out who payed when and is privy to getting it for free...

[daofcmacg]

OK cool. Yeah I did buy the beta version, I remember shelling out the $59.99 plus my payment history on their site confirms that along with the date way back in 2010. Downloading 1.1.1.0 right now since I can't update 1.1.0.7 and why patch up to that version when you can get the fully integrated one (I'm sure it is more stable).

DA

[PanzerMeyer]

It's good to hear from you DA. As soon as the Steam version of A-10 is updated to the current patch, I'd love to fly with you, Hudson and Jedi.

[daofcmacg]

Good to be back. I tried to fly a couple of training missions and my head started to hurt afterwards. Damn that was taxing, I plan to put it in game mode instead of Sim mode and get my feet wet then move back over to Sim mode. Right now I hate to be discouraged by a high learning curve when trying to get back into flying.

DA

[Hudson]

DA use the training missions
Also, viewtopic.php?f=39&t=13536

Know SPI and SOI (Sensor Point of Interest and Sensor of Interest); once you know that 90% of everything makes sense.

Another hint if you want to do manual startups; your goal is to make the warning panel clean. Once you figure out what to mash in each case to do that, you almost can't forget anything. The major trick is don't move the aircraft until the CDU is done aligning, which takes about 4 minutes, which is why I start it first thing. (Radios, the backup horizon, pitot heat, and oxygen being the biggest exceptions)

Most things aren't terribly order sensitive aside from the apu/engine startup either, though I'm sure in the real world they work down a very specifically ordered checklist.

[daofcmacg]

OK I've never had to trim an aircraft before (taxing or flight, landing or take off). I started a campaign first mission on the runway and as soon as the mission started the aircraft immediately went left in a tight circle it obviously could not do with what I thing at full throttle. Nothing I did made it stop. What in the hell went wrong???? Any thoughts or suggestions?

DA

[Hudson]

Sounds odd. I think you broke it!

[Hammer]

sounds like you need to calibrate your flight controls.

[Hudson]

For the record the A-10C has a TO Trim button that sets Takeoff Trim. It's just above the throttle somewhere; it's a flat button; just press and hold it for a moment. hit F twice to get flaps in takeoff position (shift F twice to put them back when off the ground)

If you need to trim up, down, left, right using the keyboard it's right ctrl+, . / ;

I tend to be lazy about it and never trim the aircraft; only place it makes a huge difference is lining up for aerial refueling; you really need to get the aircraft to where it's almost hands off to do that even remotely well. When I get the new stick and it's right there on a hat switch I might be a little better about it. If you have a big ass bomb on one wing and not on the other it might be worth trimming the aircraft as well, but in most cases I still don't bother.

/me drools over http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G ... s-03lg.jpg

[daofcmacg]

That's the thing whenever I connect my controller I always calibrate in Win7. I even went out and bought a brand new out of the box (no refurb) joystick and it did the same thing.

DA