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Dear all, Due to unfortunately being unable to offer a pre-order on Steam this time around, we'll be offering DCS: F-4E at pre-order pricing ($59.99) on Steam for the first week of sales. We hope in this way we can make up for our promise to partake in the pre-order on Steam and give you a chance to grab the F-4 for the same discount. We sincerely hope to see you flying the Phantom with us regardless of your chosen platform. Come next Monday, May 13th, we will also discontinue the merchandise and special edition packs on the Heatblur Store. If you still wanted to grab a t-shirt or vinyl for yourself, or one of the special edition packages, we kindly suggest you do it before then. The pre-order discount will of course continue for both the Lone Wolf and Crew Pack Standard Editions until release day, May 21st. The same goes for the ED E-shop of course. Regarding keys bought on our store: do not worry, we will send out instructions on how to redeem them on the DCS website shortly prior release. Your keys are always safe with us, should you have lost them, and we will be more than happy to assist you through the process. Thank you for all of the wonderful support and we hope to see you all soon in the Phantom Skies! Sincerely, Heatblur Simulations & Eagle Dynamics

Dear all, we are proud to announce the release date of the DCS: F-4E Phantom II. May 21st 2024. We thank you all for your very kind patience and tremendous support you have shown us over the past couple years. We hope to see you all soon, in the Phantom skies, come May 21st. From all of us at Heatblur: Thank you!

Hello Goshawk fans, here is an update of my scripts file. I'm including here the smoke mod, the suspension mod (updated) (I don't recommend this yet.. it adds unrealistic weapons to the T-45C) and the themes mod. I've fixed, but not fully tested, Rudel's training missions, and I'll post a Link to them as soon as DCS approves my User File. Drag and drop the Missions folder into the ..Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Mods\Aircraft\VNAO_T45 folder, overwriting the original. With the added themes icons and mission files, you'll now have single and training missions in the DCS main menu. UPDATE July 22., 2025: I've removed the training mission .zip from the user files section to avoid confusion with the upcoming update to the Goshawk the missions zip file has been approved. This linked file gives you a file structure within the Mod giving you training and single player missions. Check out the link here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3337350/ Training missions and single player missions by @Rudel_chw and @Fresh... Enjoy! I've added a zip file with the kneeboard images I use. Please let me know if this is too much information or overwhelming. BRGDS, Fresh p.s. Time permitting, I will delve into the smoke and suspension mod and see if I can make a version without the unrealistic weapons.. watch this space... 2024-05-08 Scripts Update.zip VNAO_T45_smoke_ON_V1.0.1.zip Theme.zip T-45 Kneeboard Images.zip VNAO_T45_suspension_fix.rar

To @IronMike and all the rest of you at Heatblur thank you for bringing us the F-4E Phantom II. I worked on this aircraft as an "Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist", fancy name for an aircraft weapons mechanic. I loaded munitions and maintained the weapon system on this aircraft (and the F-15A/B). I was ecstatic when I heard you guys were going to bring us the F-4E and I set aside my pre order money then. And now? I had a very cool job but I always envied the aircrews getting to fly and engage in mock dogfights and occasionally beating up our enemies for real. Now I get to fly this famous Cold War warrior in a virtual setting and I can't wait to beat MiG's like the unwanted redheaded step children of cyberspace. THANK YOU Heatblur!!

Some Monochromatic Screens i took recently:

Fellow sim aviators. About time I shared a YouTube vid of me interviewing a mate a few weeks ago on the handling characteristics of the F4 and some insight into British ops on the Phantom. Just a hobby project to share the info amongst the members of our small online outfit, but published here so you can get it straight from the F4 Pilot. Plan is to chat again on some UK F4 tactics of late 80's, early 90's .. if you are interested, expect that in a few weeks. If you aren't interested, don't click on it It is quite long because we meander into other aviation stuff . The video info gives you the chapters so you can scan FF to anything that you think might be of interest to you.

Totally agree Reddit is toxic and negative and I always move away from what is negative before it rots me. I want to keep an uncorrupted mind. KOLA is already beautiful and she has only just arrived I'm calm for the future

I've waited since Chuck Yeager's Combat Flight Simulator around 1991 for a good Phantom simulation. Hard to believe it's literally two weeks away, but what a time to be alive! Good luck with the launch, HB guys!

Let the wait finally end !

FYI, we do have access to very high-resolution (1-m to 2-m) LiDAR based elevation data for almost all areas of DCS: Kola. However, overall vertex density (= the number of triangles generated from the raster source data) directly impacts the size of the main surface mesh file, which, with Kola, is already the biggest in all of DCS land, I believe. That's because all of the thousands of lakes, and detailed shorelines, get embedded into that mesh file as well, something other maps don't have a lot of to worry about. We've already integrated some very clever tweaks in the processing stages but hope to do even better in the future.

I find it funny (in the best way) to read your comment as: I am also 46, I actually had Microsoft Flight Simulator '95 for which I had a home made joystick. I did step away from the arena up until recently, but I have almost every module in DCS, all the terrains (even SA), all the extras: Combined Arms, WWII, Supercarrier. We are basically a very similar player in this environment. I have a different opinion on certain key areas: the downward trend, for me, consists in the actual business model which, in principle, favors developing new modules and not focusing on existing ones to iron out features and bugs. I entered the arena mainly as a WWII warbirds pilot, and the Br-109 had a bug that, if you were using MW50, you could not refuel. This is not a small bug, not being able to refuel in ground seriously limited your ability to do "serious" longer missions. The bug was there for around 3 years if memory serves me correctly. In the meanwhile they were busy selling spitfires, mosquitos, p-47s, and completely disregarding serious bugs of other airplanes. Like this, there are, literally, hundreds of bugs that exist there that linger for years on end and there is little effort (or manpower, or budget, or flow process, or intent... call it whatever you want) to fix them, but you get new modules all the time. That is my concern /critique to the model. It's in EDs beset interest to push as many modules as possible so people keep buying instead of finishing / fixing previous ones. The Super Carrier is a similar case: I bought the SC thinking it was the only way to do carrier ops in the F/A-18. This is my mistake, 100%, but since then I have read in FB dozens of confused people asking this very same scenario: if I want to get into carrier ops, do I need the SC? So there is an "overlooked" (to not say intentional) ambiguous confusing situation for new users that, "weirdly enough" favors people buying the SC even if they weren't sure they needed it. But, again, this is 100% my fault and decision. But, that happened 4 years ago and it's barely better than the one that is not paid for, has had almost none of the promised features, and they have new teams devoted to coding NEW carriers for the WWII scenario (which has also been grossly neglected) and the purchases we already made are not yet finished (or evolved in a reasonable pace... 4 years in EA is, although more common this days, not reasonable in any way, IMHO). And then there is the third party complications, specially with Razbam. I have at least two of their products which now are threated to never be finished. Even though they are third party modules, I still bought them from ED with a backing from ED that this purchase is backed by them, I honestly wasn't aware that it's a: if the partner drops out, we have no way of controlling that, you are out of luck type of scenario. So, as much as I enjoy DCS and love flying missions, campaigns and MP servers, to me and my way of assessing my purchase's value... all these things do take away from the experience and create this friction with new modules and, as time goes by, I'm inclined less and less to purchase new additions, as I don't want to wait 4 years to get a feature offered me for $60 discounted dollars at time of release. Still, your post has 13 hearts and 2 trophies, mine has 1. So, I would argue that more people here in the forums, feel more like you than they do like me. That's OK. Not everything is a good fit for everyone, and, as others have mentioned, no one has forced to buy anything. I would just echo what Marques suggests in a recent video about the new trend of selling products in EA with the promise of features to come: when purchasing EA products, buy them considering their current value proposition, features and consider if THAT is worth it to you at the moment of the purchase. Don't buy with the promised features in mind, because that could not get into fruition. With that said, and trying to get on topic with the current thread, I honestly don't think the Kola map is currently worth $56, which is more than most AAA games these days. I already bought it. I hope it, one day (hopefully soon) would be worth what I already paid. As is, in my opinion (and mine alone) it is not. I don't think I'm a new generation entitled whiner. Maybe to me, those $56 represent more than to others due to being from third world country economies, maybe I'm just a more negative person, yeah, it could be. At any rate I wanted to reply because yours is a very well thought post explaining your point of view without minimizing mine, even if different, and I appreciate that very much.

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm currently in the middle of a complete re-do of all engine sounds (internal and external for A and B, using some new tricks learned from the F-4 and brand new/improved audio samples as well as many completely new layered sounds like intake howls, etc.

The key here is: everything negative, shocking, disturbing, offensive, aggressive or infuriating generates more attention, more clicks, more views, more advertising and thus more money, than anything healthy, wholesome, positive or uplifting content. No wonder it produces echo chambers full of negativity...

В Msfs деревья хорошо сочетаются с рельефом по цвету и текстурам. А у нашей карты деревья как-то сами по себе, просто налеплены в горах. Либо их вообще нет. Я ещё заметил в теневой зоне гор деревья продолжают светиться пятнами. Здания хрен с ним, в принципе хороши, а вот лесо-тундровый пейзаж не айс

Updated runway lua for Hermes. Using both runway and spawn points she can launch up to 24 Harriers. Smaller groups of 4, 8, 12 and 20 should work as well. Known Issues. Only tested with AI units When using runway spots you must reset the aircraft's take off order. The default 1,3,2,4 does not work. Note you can reverse the take off order for runway start planes to make them "static" for pictures/videos A few minor unnatural taxi movements as the plane sometimes "slides" into final take off position. "Dangerous" aircraft spacing at times. There should be no collisions but at one point a plane rear ended another, lost it's nose cone, yet both planes still took off. I wish I saved that one. Take off order and starting point for some planes is a bit strange. I wanted to give each plane the rear most runway point for take off but DCS did not like that. What should be a simple change in starting position will sometime change the taxi order of other planes. If anyone knows why this is please PM me. Helicopter and landing/parking need to be rechecked. I had them working at one point but that was a few updates ago. NOTE, I have no idea where I left off with on the landing/parking side of things. But there should be spots for a few aircraft. I do recall Joey had the elevator working but I don't think I did much with the landing because I was in a state shock and amazement at Joey's skill in getting the elevator and lower deck parking to work I will continue to refine this and post any progress. Updated runway luas will soon be available for most carriers , I think. Focusing on the Cold War era for use with the new Kola map at the moment. Please PM me with any issues CentaurClass_1981RunwaysAndRoutes.lua

Just found this thread. I am no fan of mods, but this one I will get a try for sure. My pic, from 2018:

I hear a lot about how horrifically terrible DCS maps are, and they do have issues (like that miserable mirror surface excuse for water) but at least ED is working on them. Then I go fly, say, Simulator M and the differences are far out-shadowed by the similarities. Spent some time around Bodo in both sims, and was really, really impressed with the DCS map by the time I was done, and that's a low res area in DCS from what I hear. Mind you I wasn't counting blades of grass or doing building by building comparisons in towns. I just flew at about the same altitude on more or less the same path and gawked out the windows. I'm sure if you want to find problems it's not hard, but I found more than a few in that other sim as well and had to resist the urge to post unattributed screenshots to see if anyone took the bait. Now, generally, is Kola ready for prime time? No, not really; a little bit sparse, with far too much distance between theaters. Performance does need some tweaking. If you're looking for action ready it might be worth a wait unless you're after the price point and have faith. It is my training map, though! Need to build some formation flights through the crinkly bits on that left coast.

Probably the best DCS trailer to date.

I like the Kola map. Fjord running is amazing (especially in a mosquito) and I can't wait for high Res in this region! Other parts of the map are variable and it needs some performance optimisation. It's not perfect yet but I'm enjoying it. It has great potential. Thanks Orbx. I'm glad I bought it.

Toxic griping seems to be the complaint du jour for gamers especially when it comes to the AAA gaming industry which took a beating after years of piss poor bug ridden release after release (Bathesda anyone?). DCS has unique issues due to the age of the game engine. ED made it clear after the 2.9 update that they couldn't commit time to fixing current modules when they'd all break again anyway with the push for Vulkan. Now they have successfully separated the CPU and GPU tasks they will be able to commit to those fixes. Super Carrier is due, I'm guessing they pushed it back till May now the Phantom has a hard release date of May 21st, I would hope the new rain and vapor effects will come with the next update along with SC and F4E, the Air Warfare Group made a video on the SC update and it's imminent release, it's due now. My advice is stay away from places like Reddit, it's an environment where negativity thrives, delete as much social media as you can, my mental health improved drastically after doing so. I've been Facebook, Twitter and IG free for 4 years now, I don't miss any of it and it sounds like it's way worse now than when I left.

This has always been my stance, and it's why I have purchased many ED modules. I also trace my gaming and flight sim history back several decades (my first flight sim was Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer, and my first combat sim was Microprose's F-19), and in comparison to all the earlier games, DCS (and other current flight sims such as Il-2 and MSFS2020) is vastly superior in almost every way. DCS is not as good, and never will be as good, as the fantasy flight sim that exists only in my own boundless imagination, but I've found it's better for my own life satisfaction if I look down and am grateful to be up, than to look up and be resentful that I'm down. You mention Marques's review of the Rabbit, and I agree, that was a great summary of the problem. But funny enough, the video that I personally thought of was the intro to JJ McCullough's recent video, in which he said: And even though the video is about consumerism and capitalism rather than gaming, my first thought when I heard that was of hoggit and other subreddits which are awash in exactly the kind of endless toxic griping he's referring to. Fortunately, I am starting to see at least a little pushback, but there's a long way to go and gratitude seems to be in short supply.

I posted this in a general reaction thread but I would love to know if you guys are planning or would be willing to do a separate version for people that have the hardware capability? Thnx in advance “After reading all the information about the low quality ground textures of this map. Especially when flying helicopters I’m not gonna buy this. I rather have a 600GB Ultra HD option version than this. There’s a reason I bought a 4TB Nvme because I know this hobby and passion is huge on diskspace. I think we can all agree that it’s impossible to keep dreaming that we can install quality textures in small sizes. People have to be wiling to invest for what they like. So ORBX this is also a request to you guys for making a UHD version as a separate download if you guys have chosen to go down the dumbed down road for whatever reason.”

Thanks, Beldin for your assistance. I mentioned to Beldin there's another Knox Class 3d model in the works. Much cleaner model. Hey RWC, if you're asking will I be creating those mods? The answer is yes but as you know it will take time. The San Antonio is a very detailed mod with a welldeck. The problem with that is it's a pretty good size 3d model file and it's a little difficult to work with in 3DS Max at the moment. I'm trying to shrink it so it's manageable. Once it get to a manageable size it won't take long to get it back in DCS. After I finish the next batch of 3d model ships I will start working on the Amphibs again. I'm also reworking the LCU. The LCM-8 is pretty much ready to sail. Lots of work to do but i don't mind doing it when I'm able.

Guys, reminder: try not to compare sims here, I got a warning last year.

Желательно бы конечно убрать, ну или вывести его в настройку, где как например, у других самолётов есть помощь педалями на взлёте-посадке. Так и там будет галка "Усиленное шасси Су-33"

Hi all, good discussion. We'll definitely look into improving tree type, density, and distribution across the map. As mentioned, it's always going to be a compromise between visuals and performance but we'll keep experimenting. Cheers, Holger

Daily MiG-29 MiG-29K (9.31) No. 311.

This trailer is the most amazing trailer I've ever seen at DCS World. Simply put, the F-4E killed all existing Cold War aircraft.

I'm going to stop shaving my upper lip. Two weeks should get it looking about right.

Let all the "Two Weeks" jokes commence...

Hi, In the past I buildt Norway for Falcon BMS 4.33 . Now when I see what OrbX did, I have to say that I´m truly impressed. From my point of view, this map is brilliant. Not completed (of corse) but brilliant. I love it. Thank you very much and keep on! Cheers TOM

Мужики, брейк!! Несколько в сторону: p.s. Чем больше читаю и нахожусь на этом форуме, тем больше вижу принципиальную упёртость и не желание остановится. Хотя, вроде как сим, не для юных критиканов, но блин, реально ощущение «моё мнение и неправильное» довольно часто звучит.

It's because it looks a bit like Scotland. The RAF harriers used to train over the Scottish locks. It's their natural habitat. They like a damp and cold climate. Yes. There is a real mob mentality. - "Look, you are all individuals" - "I'm not" - "I'm Brian, and so's my wife" What has ED ever done for us?

It doesn't need a radar. You just need to position the unit close to a coastline where you can draw a straight line to the target ship

Wishlist: - better detailed (highres) and corrected concrete/typical soviet era plates / minor asphalt - more realistic hardened aircraft shelters (the one provided are slightly too big and have no exhaust exits) with better camo - realistic ground layer / no sharp edges and lines. Run- and taxiways look like painted or decaled on the ground wth mostly missing dirt- / usage layers with rubber, dirt, oil, etc. - realistc soviet era tower and maintenance buildings, peripherie and airbase inventory etc. - airbase radar, RSBN and ammunition sites - protecting sand/earth walls - etc.pp OVERALL: please add more love to the detail and realism. . . one of the most strategic and important soviet / russian airbase provided with NATO equipment is not. . .

А смысл брать карту за >5к руб., чтобы потом доделывать модами? Моды я могу понять либо в игре, которая изначально позиционировалась как изменяемая и дополняемая модерами, либо продукт с завершённым циклом поддержки. Кавказ хотябы бесплатный. Брать по мнению "потенциального покупателя" косячный продукт, тратя деньги и время, чтобы потом его дорабатывать модами? Не агитирую брать или не брать. Но логика странная: "Куплю потом модами допилю"

В свое время так решили, чтобы новичкам было по проще. Да, я согласен что это чит и наверно его стоит убрать. Нет. Согласен. Сейчас шасси Су-33 в DCS выдерживают в два раза большую перегрузку, чем у прототипа. Не корректно. В реале шасси Су-33 прочнее чем у Су-27.

Планируется

MiG-29K (9.31) No. 312.

Бот закусывай, и выдыхай. Это г...о всего лишь нормально выглядящая европейская вроде застройка.

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm currently in the middle of a complete re-do of all engine sounds (internal and external for A and B, using some new tricks learned from the F-4 and brand new/improved audio samples as well as many completely new layered sounds like intake howls, etc. End goal is to get as close as possible to this:

MiG-29G Luftwaffe. My pic from 1994:

@currenthill Have you ever considered having a trello for your existing/suggestions/in development addons?

Someone back in the middle of this topic asked about black boots for the main guns. Unzip attached and copy/paste/replace dds file into the texture.zip for the mod. As always back up the original dds in case you don't like it. It is not photo realistic but I think it works. seabat AGM034_16in50_Mk7_a.zip

я вообще не понял ап чём ты.Я всегда запускаю всё только с монитора с ПК! Или с батника или с ярлыка или из трея на VD итп...

There are 3 reasons I buy this map: 1. Location 2. Location 3. Also location. I can pretend Caucasus to be Falkland, Sweden, or even Vietnam as much as I want to, nothing can replace those fjords. (Yes, I am having a video of fly-bys)

This is, more or less, precisely it, but as a whole ecosystem. I think that the entire ecosystem needs to be "healthier": if EA models are priced right, they have reasonable levels of evolvement at the time of delivery, if bugs are fixed fast and on a regular bases, if offered features are delivered within a few months of offerings... then the ecosystem is healthy and people are happy with investing money in EA modules, as they "know" that updates are coming, that bugs are being fixed and that, even at that, you already get a "decent enough" product. This would be the ideal scenario. ED and partners are, clearly, not here at this moment in time. If, on the other hand, EA products are almost un-usable at launch time, updates don't come for years, bugs linger for years on end, and prices are too expensive, then you get a very unhealthy ecosystem where people will not invest a dime on those products. Clearly, ED and partners are not here either! At all. That's why I still buy products. So, I am not pitching them as the "most greedy and unreputable", but there are some recent developments that have moved ED a little bit further below the line. I see like this: | Ideal Environment | | | <- we are here | Balance point where people no longer intrinsically trust ED | | | | Worst case senario I believe that the "arrow" is on a "descending" pattern, not on an ascending one. From what I read, I think there's quite a bit of people that believe the same thing. If you are not, I'm happy, and if not anyone else is feeling like this, then I'm happy to be proven wrong.