Ripcord

This was a useful post that I had gotten in reference to FC2 campaign builder -- I guess this is basically the same? http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=57449 This part in particular is key: The main limitations you have one planning/building your campaign are: * Scores only track to the next stage, and not beyond. This makes it quite difficult to do branching campaigns, but it can be done by being careful with the scores. * The score is the ONLY way to pass any kind of state information between stages. But, you do have 49 ways of saying "the player won" and 49 ways of saying "the player lost". * 50 points is a magical number: the only way to prevent the player moving forward a stage without moving backwards. However, it's also annoying: you completely lose the one piece of state information you previously had if the player ends a mission with 50 points.

Is there a decent campaign builder manual or guide out there? I thought I remember seeing one for FC2 somewhere... I am assuming it is essentially unchanged in A10C? Just wanting to understand a little more how 'next missions' are selected at each stage. Ripcord

Frederf, no arguments from me on any of your points. I would like to add that I am not holding my breath waiting for ED to make any more mission content. However I do think that the user-created content will be pretty good, though, once the finished A10C product hits the streets. Didn't completely catch your meaning at the end -- in-cockpit reality vs battlefield reality. By that you mean the fact that, once the mission ends the sim ends? That is, the battlefield sim doesn't continue before and after your mission/flight, such as it does in F4? Nobody would argue with you there either -- I think a lot could be overcome if they would finally design something to track outcomes of missions and then relay that into the next missions. By that I mean damage tracking, status and location of units on the map for the next mission. Even Janes FA-18 had some basic damage tracking for ships and stationary objects/structures. Ripcord

Ooooo, Taiwan. Now yer talkin...

Revelation, I think you made some really good tutorials about setting up JTAC mission on YouTube... was that not you? Ripcord

Actually I would say that if you beat a WELL-CRAFTED and WELL POPULATED DCS campaign and decide you then want to fly it again, then the missions in it will contain enough variable content so that you will not know the exact layout of all those SAMS and tanks and everybody. Plus they should contain enough different types of missions in EACH STAGE of the campaign so that you aren't reflying the same ones if you pass through that same stage a couple times. There is a LOT of room to produce some amazing content in this sim, but it does require a little effort on the part of the mission builder/campaign designer. It is just that the little mini-campaigns that they released with the beta are nothing more than basic appetizers. Somebody will release a major 100 mission campaign one of these days, jammed with variable AI and threats, and we will miss those dynamic campaigns quite a bit less -- sure we will still miss them somewhat, but far less (after all, this is a purpose built jet, not a multirole fighter). Ripcord

I also joined the SCS Simulations site yesterday, and I am pretty pumped about HELIOS if it does all that it says it will. As for exporting the MFD data to other screens, DCS A10C already supports that now, all you got to do is follow some simple directions for editing a LUA script. I was able to do it without much trouble, so I would say just about anybody can do it. Ripcord

Iraq/Iran would be very good, as would afghanistan. Iraq would be historical, Iraq would be a theoretical modern day conflict. China/Taiwan would be very good as well, though not entire sure how the A-10C would be used in that. I still like Korea as a theatre. Balkans also good. I realize they have been done before in F4:AF, but both are still compelling, with a viable enemy to go up against. Any of these would be far more plausible than Georgia. No way an A10 will ever get near that place, at least not closer than NATO airbases in Turkey. The oil war storyline works if you really really stretch the imagination, I guess. I kinda liked the North Cape theatre in Janes FA-18, I saw somebody mention that as well. No less plausible than Georgia, I'll say that. Actually, I kinda like the idea of the Baltic states as a theatre -- Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia -- all former soviet republics there, all now IN NATO, and still plenty of hard-feelings about it from Russia. Not at all hard to envision Russian tanks rolling in there, perfect for the A10C, just like a modern day Fulda Gap. Ripcord

I have heard that this 7G project is just one programmer... a guy in South Korea. I wonder if it is in fact the same ejectionseat guy that was referenced at the start of this thread. If it is just one guy, I don't see how this thing will ever see the light of day. Hope I am wrong, because I am a huge hornet fan and we really do need a good hi-fi naval/carrier ops sim. Ripcord

Has anybody tried using either BSVP or LOVP (for FC2) with the new DCS A10C? Would like to have those working gauges for the A10C. Ripcord

Here is the forum for some drivers called SPAD - Saitek Panel Advanced Drivers: http://spad.189988.n3.nabble.com/ It should be noted that Saitek is supporting this guy, gives him tools, SDK, etc., and often they refer people over to him on the Saitek support forums. Here is some real brief and general discussion of creating some drivers for other sims. http://spad.189988.n3.nabble.com/SPAD-in-other-sims-it-s-posible-td786115.html This idea is not crazy. Just needs some effort put into it. Would love DCS to look at this kind of support for a future beta - though one would think Saitek would be more interested in doing this, from an economic perspective. I will continue to pester them about this as well. Ripcord

If I had any degree of programming ability I would attempt looking at this but I don't. I know that all these Saitek Pro Flight panels -- radio/comms panel, switch panel, etc -- look for FSXUIPC (sp?) or simconnedt, which is present only in FSX. I also know that Saitek is happy to share the SDK with developers who will make it work with other sims. It has already been done with X-Plane. DCS A10C might be perfect because it models everything -- radio channels, and all the switches and trim and features -- that FSX does, with few exceptions. And it uses the .lua programming script. I am just wondering if anybody has really tried to make that work? Again, I believe Saitek would support this effort -- imagine their sales of that gear once somebody gets it working. Ripcord

I have also been giving this some thought and I am very intrigued with this mission generator tool. In fact I thought I would use the generator to create a few dozen missions with front battleline action set in one general area, and edit them a little, and that would be one level of the campaign. And then build/generate a few dozen more with the front lines having shifted etc. Save them, put them in a folder, and keep generating for each level of the campaign. Each one can get maybe just a few minutes of 'personal touch' if the user chooses, or just a few of them, maybe, but for the most part they are 'assembly line production' missions -- no different than making your own campaign by hand, just automating the production process if you will. But from what I can see, the mission generator gives you just a basic 'go bomb bad guys' mission template, with out specific tactical goals. It's cool, it creates a fun environment to fly/fight in, gives you a set of waypoints, but that is about it. Looking at the missions in the ME, really I don't see even how it scores the outcome -- there do not appear to be any winners or losers. So I am wondering if the actual template of the mission generator can be altered to include a little more, say some triggers and actions and goals, etc? Can there be more than one of these templates? For example, can we have a BAI missoin template, can we have a CSAR mission template, can we have a CAS (defending some friendly units on the move)...., so that we aren't essentially flying the same mission each time, in a different location with different participants? I realize this is very different from what you are describing, which would be even more cool. But even with what we have now, I thinking maybe this generator thing might have a lot of utility if this can be accomplished. Ripcord

I am fine with the lua script setup -- somebody provided instructions and I was able to set mine up pretty quickly without trouble. I wouldn't want to leave it to Microsoft for adjustment/placement of my MFD screens. Now I would like the same native support for other gauges. That would be perfect for this sim and all follow on sims in the series. Ripcord

RTFM is paramount, nobody here will argue. This sim takes RTFM to a new level. It really does remind a guy of a NATOPS manual. I will say that, because this whole sim thing is supposed to be fun, at the end of the day, there needs to be some 'fun' mixed in, even if that is just experimenting and the age old classic - take off and blow stuff up. Gotta walk before you can run. Take off, navigate, land, learns comms, learn systems.... the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I am for any method that enables that approach, along with making this fun. Ripcord

Airdog, thanks for the offer, mate. That was just what I was looking for, even though I went with a different solution. For some reason I was never able to get anything to show on the left MFD. So I moved them both over on the right side of the center monitor and the rest was easy. Would it be really wrong to say that I am in hog-heaven? This baby is awesome, and I haven't even flown it yet. Ripcord

MadTommy, you rule brother. Here's my question -- I have a set up with a couple small monitors, one on the left and on one the right, which is very much like the third monitor arrangement shown in the example above. I would like to see the proper .lua files to fit that arrangement. Anybody got something like that? I followed your directions pretty closely and got real close, but not quite there. Ripcord

Get the legacy hornet NATOPS manual and blow up the foldout cockpit diagram to 400% -- will need to take it down to a print shop or kinko or something like that. That is your accurate life-size dimensions, per Pretzel. Ripcord

I think simmeters also has a way to export working gauges onto another screen like this -- their work with FSX as well as DCS/FC, if I am not mistaken. Thanks Jakare for sharing all this. Ripcord

Two questions regarding the new sim: 1. Can anybody confirm that the Thrustmaster MFD pack works with this new sim? I am just assuming that it does, but maybe that is planned for a later version -- after all it is still in beta development. 2. Has anybody had any success exporting the MFD images onto a second monitor? Is that something that is only accomplished using this LEAVU program that I am reading about? Or is it supported by the sim? If not, will it be supported? I sense that finally, having real working MFDs in a home cockpit is close to being a reality with this sim - or that is my hope. Ripcord

T-bone, please finish Manchuria. What a great theatre to fly in that would be -- particularly from the Red side. Ripcord

I use touchbuddy (a little bit) and I use VAC. And I have a couple of X-keys keyboards. Throw in the TM MFDs and you have a lot of combinations there. It is a lot of programming, to be sure, but uou get a ton of overlap in terms of commands, which I find is good. Generally I use the voice commands for radio commands, which is more realistic, but I can also pull up that page on TB as well. Same with all the various external views. Right now I am just working on getting it all programmed for FSX and FC2, probably going to ditch F4:AF completely now that this DCS A10C is coming out. Man, it is just a lot of programming, but very cool. EDIT: I really cannot say enough about VAC. Best value out there for the money (what is it now, $20 or less?). Ripcord

This is starting get that same feel as over at Viperpits.org Maybe we should start a hogpits.org ?

IMHO showing some appreciation like you did makes it worthwhile for those that contribute.

The Saitek Forums are a bit daunting but generally Richard over there will get you an answer. Probably some problem with 64 bit support, might be a a known fix for that. Ripcord