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Your comments here are insulting many people and with relatively low knowledge of the subject. If you don't care, the developer doesn't care either. The best you can do is politely ask, that's all. You even marked your reply as resolved. That's really lol.

The features that are listed here will all be available on release. The primary reason for the EA launch tag is inclusion (for free) of the MC-130J, which will come a bit later.

The preview's features has a rather enigmatic description: Key features at early access: Authentic Cargo Operations: Perform realistic cargo loading, management, and aerial delivery procedures. Conduct precision air-drops and logistical support missions showcasing the aircraft’s capabilities. Can we find out what exactly this is supposed to be? For example, EA and possibly soon later? From what I can see, I have some cargo on pallets to be air-dropped + GBU-43, but that's only a fraction of the Hercules' capabilities. Will it be possible to transport, for example, HMMWVs or the other vehicles (with ramp entry animation)? Will it be possible to transport soldiers from point A to B at an airport (also visible in the cargo hold as well or without at beginning)? Will it be possible to drop paratroopers? DCS currently has some limitations, but from what I understand from the interview, some things are being changed and worked on. Could you please provide more information on this? It's actually one of the most important features of this aircraft type (I'm not counting the MC-130J, which will be added later). Thanks!

@Someone I originally said I was not purchasing this bird, even though I wanted it, due to ED's lack of updated ground units and features, but after listening to your Enigma interview and being a Software Engineer myself, I can hear the devotion you have in your product. Also, the details you provided on the process was insightful. So I just added the Herc to my collection on pre-order. Keep up the great work.

When its ready, we'll happily post it on our site.

You can absolutely fly it solo. There will be some crew assist features (copilot depressurizes plane/turns on aux pump pre-airdrop), but we dont have plans for a full blown AI crewmember.

If you consider unnecessary non constrictive criticism and false accusations "a freedom of speech" then good luck to you too

Your going to find it particularly hard to breath if dropping HALO troop and not on oxygen, which is another reason to wear helmets. IIRC USAF and USMC/USN pilots wear HGU-55/P helmets when flying 'tactical' sorties, night low level ops or high level with the ramp open. The RAF crews shown above also fly with helmets on for this reason. When they flew 'trash hauler' missions they just wore headsets, just like you've experienced at DM.

There are countless examples. They do carry them, and it may be required, especially during combat missions (and DCS is a combat simulator, right?). For MSFS, this might be strange, but for DCS, it's not. However, I agree that it would be nice to have the option of wearing a helmet or not. That is, having the pilots' heads, without helmets, wearing only headsets. Of course, this would probably require some changes (and contrary to appearances, modeling a human is one of the most difficult elements in 3D graphics combined with simulation), but it's possible. @ASC, maybe it's worth considering this option for users too?

Auch Jubiläum Nr. 4 kommt nicht zu kurz . Herzlichen Dank an Thorso & alle beteiligten Hobbypiloten. Ihr seid eine tolle Gruppe!

I also really enjoyed the interview, and it was this interview that made me buy the C-130J. I'm more excited to fly the C-130J than the MiG-29A.

The complete DOD Europe (Vol2) FLIP is available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=File%3AHigh+and+Low+Altitude+ENAME+Terminal+Europe+Vol+3&title=Special%3AMediaSearch&type=image We will need Vol 1 & 3 for the whole of Germany and I've been unable to find them (so far) In the meantime here's some Airfield charts from the site. I will zip them and post to files I have not had a chance to see which of these are on the current/final map or to sort out the approach/departure /enroutes but its a start. Note: there are no copyright or attribution issues. I see that hard copies of VOL 1 & 3 are for sale on eBay for EUR49 each, maybe we could get together to split the cost/effort

Yes that 7 years that the F-16C was in "Early Access" sure was reasonable.

We need an official repository with earlier versions, not a link to big Reddit thread where the actual DL link is buried somewhere. Even a simple google drive would suffice for now

He really said freedom of speech

Yes, absolutely. Only(!) three years, which is actually quite fast, for such a complex DCS module. And considering they did basically dump all the existing code base AND the 3D model and started from scratch along the current development (see interview below), that's an incredible development pace.

Your enthusiasm is yours to manage as you please, of course. My enthusiasm, however, remains enthusiastic. I want all the fancy flightsim enjoyment I can have. And a DCS C-130, for me certainly, is top of the list. And I'll pre-order, twice, to get my hands on that kind of flying fun. Actually I will pre-order twice, I'm getting one for me and one for a content creator. As stated, I'm very enthusiastic. I think this is a great step forward for the sim.

YoYo has obviously put a lot of effort into providing the community with this free Kiowa Warrior Campaign, so I thought the least I could do was put a little bit of effort into writing a review that may help encourage other players to give this campaign a try. Short Version: Don't hesitate! Through the Desert Dust is an excellent (free) campaign for the Kiowa based in the skies over Afghanistan. I started the campaign as a seasoned chopper pilot but a newbie to the Kiowa. I completed the basic training packages and then dived straight into the campaign, taking the time to read up on the upcoming mission and practicing the required skills in advance of flying the mission itself. A very enjoyable experience from start (Intro) to finish (Mission 14), with each mission getting better as you progress. Long Version: 1. Research and documentation: The campaign comes with excellent supporting material. This documentation not only sets the theme and objectives but also provides details on the area you will be operating in, and educates you on the history, which I always appreciate and enjoy. Without giving any spoilers, there is also the occasional 'cut scene' throughout the campaign that puts your actions into historical context. 2. Briefing and Kneeboards: The supporting documentation is backed up by excellent mission-by-mission 'briefings', with key information provided on the kneeboards. 3. Controlled Base Operations: Whilst not complex, the campaigns follow a structure for power-up, taxi, departure, and arrival operations. Specific WPs, routes, and departure/arrival ATC procedures are provided, which adds a sense of 'real world' operations together with their supporting comms, which are all automatic and managed via triggers. Once you set the comms during startup, however, you never need to touch them again throughout the flight. This makes the mission building less complex to build and maintain, and for novice players it's one less thing to worry about (good), but it does detract from the 'real world' experience of communicating with your environment by switching manually to the correct channel. However, considering that this is a free campaign, I feel bad even mentioning it 4. Robust use of triggers: Verbal instructions and directions were very clear, and as a result, I have no recollection of having any issues with triggers throughout the campaign. I have played paid campaigns where the trigger logic appears to be a lot less robust/confusing, and that can get very frustrating, but not so with Through The Desert Dust - great job YoYo! 5. Interaction with your flight: Interflight comms is beautifully done, comms triggers all function smoothly, directions are clear and the discussion all contribute to a successful understanding of the mission and your objectives. Listen to them, they help, and in certain instances can be the difference between life and death, ask me how I know. One very challenging area that all mission builders have with DCS is managing the 'crazy' AI. I don't recall a single AI issue throughout the campaign - exceptional! 6. Atmosphere: Thanks to the combination of mission start times (dawn, dusk, night), the excellent musical interludes as you are cruising to your WPs, and the story behind the missions themselves, I can certainly confirm that you will be sucked into the varied world of a Kiowa crew. I have to commend the excellent OH-58D Autopilot (which I hope to see in the Gazelle 'in the future') for supporting the twin-seat operation of the Kiowa, which in turn added to the immersion as you were able to focus on the 'WSO' role when required. The campaign is based in Afghanistan, which is great, but I will look forward to coming back to this campaign in a couple of years to see how the map quality improves. The FOBS created by YoYo were excellently done and full of life, but the map could be pretty bland in parts (yes, I know it's a 'desert'). I especially enjoyed the missions that took you into the mountains. 7. Missions: Mission complexity increases as you progress with different weapons, threats, and objectives. Mission time is in the 60-90 min range but honestly, I couldn't tell you for sure, as mentioned above, you soon lose track of time due to being completely engrossed in each mission! None of them feels 'too long', and when you have a bit of cruise time from WP to WP, those are either filled with helpful and interesting conversations or music (which I very much enjoyed). The storytelling was also excellent, and missions 10-14 inclusive were particularly memorable (no spoilers). 8. Level of experience: I started the campaign as a seasoned chopper pilot but a newbie to the Kiowa. I completed the basic training packages and then dived straight into the campaign, taking the time to read up on the upcoming mission and practicing the required skills in advance of flying the mission itself. Ultimately, when flown with due respect to one's mortality, I'd say the campaign was a low-threat environment. The only time I died was because I did something stupid, even AK-47S can be deadly if you stray too close So to conclude my overlong ramblings, if you fly this OH-58D campaign, you will thoroughly enjoy it and come out the other end as a better Kiowa pilot. Thank you YoYo for another excellent campaign - outstanding work!

There should be links to the aircraft manuals in the ED Launcher.

Yes please, i jumped in and pre-ordered this, hopefully the module continues and there is enough support to do an AC-130 variant as well

Now that the F16 is out of EA, will there be an update to the roadmap to include items that are going to be worked on next? Obviously more than what is already there. It has been nice knowing what is coming next and kind of where the development is. Or, will there be a poll made to let the community pick or decide what we find more important? Sort of like what we did before.

UPDATE v2.7 A little update: added nosewheel steering animation (unfortunately for now there's still a bug where you will spin too fast if slow enough, but if you go above 5km/h it fixes itself), changed texture on wheel tires, making it less shiny and changed gear position a little, making it look more natural when on the ground, fixed speedbrake animation conflict with gears, nkw works as it should. Also the afterburner texture was changed to a better looking one. Fixed the issue with the radar not being used by AI to engage enemy, now it does and it has more powerful one than the old Zaslon. Besides that some small SFM adjustments for AI takeoff and landing speeds and some added loadouts. Enjoy!

Try opening the AAR door, this will depressurize the external tanks.

Reasonable? Probably not. Except that DCS is a niche of a niche of a niche market. So your realistic choices are that they have really slow development (because that's all they can afford since it's a pretty tiny user base) or you don't have anything. If it was easy/profitable to make something like DCS you can bet that there would be competitors (even crappy ones) in the market.

Hi, So, what's next for the Gazelle? Things have (unfortunately!) been pretty quiet around this module lately. Which I personally regret, as it's one of my favorites. Polychop clearly has a lot on its plate with the Kiowa. And since PC only has one or two developers (I think I remember, but I could be wrong) who work on the modules, it's clear that one module will have to wait a little longer for fixes/updates/improvements. I think there's still a lot more that could be done with the Gazelle to give the module more depth. So, it would be a good move for PC to comment on this.

In the newsletter/pre-order- I see something about static line physics. I sure hope that references the static lines for paratroops. If for now we can't have actual para drops, it would be awesome to at least transport soldiers from one base to another, and have them all staged in the back, in their seats. I do agree i'd love to see the ramps get loading animations (like soldiers boarding through the side doors/ramp, Humvees driving in, pallets being loaded into the sliding rail. Many things we'd love to see, that I believe ED will have to help them make it happen. Goood post, I hope to see this answered by the dev team Thanks ASC!

No, I am aware of the process, typical timeline and do good expectation management. Or simply put, you might not be cut out for Early Access products, as your expectations mismatch greatly with reality.

Ну дык так и живем. У меня с десяток миссий "песочниц" от Мариан до Афганистана которые делаются и периодически доделываются на протяжений десятилетия по мере появления новых модулей, юнитов и механик в ДКС. Конечно, с появлением этого модуля расширяются аспекты игры, которых нет, но по-хорошему становятся сильно нужны. Навскидку, с этим модулем для бОльшего погружения нужны еще: Нормальный УВД (хотя бы как в БМС) Тут ничего сделать нельзя самому Навигационные базы с точками, трассами, SID / STAR Как в MSFS, но нам еще нужно чтобы они примерно соответствовали эпохе Можно заморочится самому при помощи инструментария на карте и нарыть схемы, но это работа на несколько дней. Не будет интеграции с бортами Лучшая проработанность радионавигационного оборудования на картах Что-то можно сделать самому, но не все Так что развлекаемся как можем. Не зря же у нас Digital Cockpit Simulator Если верить разрабочикам, ФМ там будет вполне на уровне. Они там особо замечали что в ДКС можно сделать очень хорошую ФМ, в отличие от стандартного МСФС.

I basically asked the same a few weeks back, and was rightfully pointed towards the disclaimer at the end of the video: One can still argue on this being "misleading", but in the end it's ED's choice of marketing of course

Oooh very excited to hear there's a new version coming with all the latest fixes bundled together! Can't wait!

Simply not true my friend that Herc pilots don't wear helmets. Depends, night time operations under NOD's or in hostile AO's and mission set they wear helmets, and the guys in the back. The very fact they are down low in small arms fire engagement and frag zones not to mention you need to have a helmet on to mount NOD's. Peacetime daytime flying is different and in peacetime yea sure units will fly just with bose headsets etc in the states. Note the trailer was done on the Afgan map, the herc is flown more than just US crews lol. RAF crews flew with helmets daytime and nightime during the Herrick years. To note British crews wear helmets whilst peacetime flying in the UK. It would be misleading to say the USAF crews didnt, because they did wear helmets, depends very much on their role, where they were operating from in Afgan/Iraq, the squadron and mission.

Do note, that when using wing tanks you need to be under 4000lbs of fuel to refuel those. Best practice is to land with 1200 to 1800lbs of fuel to ensure they refuel all the way.

Here are the maps in kneeboard format Germany Airfield Maps 1.zip

Dear Valued Customer, Hello! Your ordered Crystal Super 50PPD has arrived in the destination country and is currently undergoing customs clearance. We will closely follow up during the process, and it is expected to complete clearance and be transferred to the local warehouse in 1-2 weeks. We will track the shelving situation upon arrival at the local warehouse and synchronize further shipment progress to you at that time. Thank you for your cooperation and patience! Pimax Support Team In the UK according to Pimax

This is actually a problem with how encoders work. Since they send individual presses and not continuous input, this results in weird behavior. The mouse wheel seems to have special handling on Windows level that means it doesn't have those problems, but encoders on the Orion 2 are seen by the input system as rapidly tapping a button. My recommendation is to bind those encoders to radio channel knobs, not to heading and course. Rotating a control that moves in steps is a far better use of them.

Отличное интервью с разработчиками. Меня убедило сделать предзаказ

Random claims that this project "won't work" because "I don't listen to the community suggestions" that he yet didn't prove (it's been almost a week). Doesn't look like a friendly constrictive criticism to me. (I took suggestions about landing gear, textures and roughmets, weapon placements and many more) I did not attack anyone. I just asked him to explain his point of view, which he actively refuses to do and also started getting political before having his posts removed by a moderator. If someone isn't supporting this project, just don't check the thread and don't pollute it with unnecessary comments. I added him into ingnored users, and everyone doing similar thing will be added too. Criticism and opinions is a good thing, but only if they bring something to the table instead just being hateful.

Worth a listen. Some interesting info there.

Pretty sure I’ll purchase, it will be interesting to say the least. Somewhere waaaayy down the line, I would actually like to see a ‘H’ model (UK equivalent being the ‘K’). Good ‘ol’ steam gauge cockpit! Bring it on!

Interview.

I would love to have this option. I do never touch a new aircraft without going through the manual. Having the manual even on its early state and missing sone future features would be most welcomed.

Given the fact there is a FAQ on their Discord, but not in this forum I've decided to copy it in here so people can find it better. From the FAQ on Airplane Simulation Company Discord as by August the 2. : Q. Which variants are planned? A. Stage 1- C-130J Block 6.5 Hercules, Tactical airlifter C-130J-30, Lockheed Martin designation for its 15 ft (4.6 m) extended fuselage variant; designated CC-130J by USAF for a short time after 2002., Release timeline to be confirmed for the following at a later date: MC-130J, Designed for Air Force Special Operations Command. Originally named Combat Shadow II., Q. Are the C130H or legacy models planned? A. No. Q. What is the expected release date? A. By the end of 2025. Q. Will the C-130J be able to transport weapons? A. We intend for the C-130 to be able to carry any warehouse items between bases. Q. CNI/FMS? A. Yes, a fully simulated FMS is included. We have also modeled airways/SIDS/stars, etc. Q. MOAB? A. Yes! Q. Will there be an AC variant? A. Depending on sales, we will consider an AC / Harvest Hawk in the future. Q. Airdrops? A. Yes for cargo and vehicles. Paratroops will be added when ED puts them in game. Q. Multicrew? A. Yes, at least 3. Q. Cargo Loading/Unloading without needing scripts? A. Yes. Any cargo dropped or landed will be added to the DCS warehouse system. Q. What defensive systems will the plane have? A. The plane will have an RWR, MWS, and IIRCM systems. The fidelity levels of these are limited by both the availability of unclassified information on those systems, as well as DCS itself. Q. What skins will be available? A. The list is unconfirmed at the time as there are so many national operators, but the artist will produce a paintkit in the future, after release, for livery makers. Q. Will we add the fuel probe? A. Possibly in future after initial release Hope this one will prevent some confusion and give answers to people who aren't using Discord. As soon as a more official FAQ arrives, this one can be closed and put into archives.

I needed a break from my editing heavy Saipan campaign. So did a short 3 vs 4 Dogfight. Man, I'm rusty in the F-4. And it's been weeks since I’ve flown any jet in DCS. I somehow got a double kill with Sparrows, I fired one sparrow it didn’t seem to track, so I moved my sight over another MiG and fired another sparrow point blank. And hit it, but apparently my first sparrow continued to track and hit my first target too. Didn’t think that was possible. Using the Sparrow E2 “dogfight sparrow”

I think we all have seen more than once, that YouTubers have the modules before anyone else... At least some more videos except the trailer would be nice

Pre-ordered! Thank you for your hard work. This will be one hell of a flight experience. Despite the perception, that there's not "much to do for a C-130J in DCS" I can't wait to do all those things we will be able to do! From supply drops, combat landings on improvised short runways, cargo delivery on a dynamic multiplayer server, to the MC-130J and infil and exfil of SpecOps teams behind enemy lines or in the Hindukush mountains in weather and at night... And the impressions from the pre-order trailer are awesome. Really looking forward to this gem!

I absolutely agree that the current implementation does not make sense. I only stated that the suggestion that the “quarter” from the manual implicitly refers to “1/4 inch”, is a too small travel to give an exact number for - the manual would have said “closed throttle”, or “full back” or something of the sort. What did the manual refer to? I don’t know. Maybe the throttles had some “free” travel where they were still “idle” before increasing boost and thus 1/4 travel was still low boost. If DCS insists that this is the correct implementation than I just ask for the “special option” to disable the horn.

I also hope they listen to the very large amount of community feedback and add alot more Airbases and POIs to the planned list. They did respond to feedback very fast regarding Afghanistan, but not so for Iraq so far... very disappointing in my opinion, I own both Afghanistan and Iraq and I think that Iraq has a lot more potential for DCS as a whole, but does not get treated as such. Lets hope they have been cooking in the background. Latest Videos from Wags (F-16C ATP introduction) showed atleast the already confirmed Mosul Airbase to be WIP/finished. Still, southern Iraq(country) having only 4 airbases confirmed is very lackluster.