Ripcord

Kuky, thanks. I did that. I have to go in to options.lua mainly to change it back to something smaller than 1920x1080 so I can restart the game. BTW my set up is almost exactly like yours, in terms of position. Only you have a 1920x1200 main screen and mine is 1920x1080. One thing, the CTD might not be the correct term -- I get this DXGUI LUA BINDING screen, but windows 7 sees this as an application that has stopped responding. I guess I will just let it run for an hour or so, however long, just to see if it somehow works it self out that way. Ripcord

Neither can I. My main screen is 1920x1080, with two 800x600 8" screens located below the main screen - with Beta 3 I expanded the desktop down to the over the screens below. For whatever reason, I get CTD with any resolution that is not smaller than 1920x1080. Even if I set it to exactly 1920x1080 in the options.lua file, it still goes CTD. Ran great before. I went back and deleted all my old directory files and reinstalled Beta 4, no joy. Any ideas? Ripcord

I tried it with a Block 52 loaded with ALQ-131 ECM pod and a LANTIRN pod, just because that was one of the ready made load-outs, which included a pair of HARMS and a pair of MAVs, just like the FA-18C flight had. Resulted in a CTD. Nothing else in the mission was changed or altered. OK so then I just decided to remove the AGM-65 and the LANTIRN pod, and leave in the HARMs and the ECM pod. Threw in a couple rockeyes in place of the Mavericks, just to have a full load. This worked fine. Flight lead fired two HARMs at the mobile SAMs, just like the FA-18C did. Strange, but whatever works, I guess. Ripcord NOTE: I tried this in DCS: A10C mission editor, not FC2

Well, I am happy to believe that, Moa. Still a little strange though -- I just set up mission with FA-18C flying SEAD with AGM-88 and AGM-65, pretty much just like the block 52 F-16s I had been testing in my other mission. The F-16s would fire Mav's at the SA-15 but not the HARMs. However the Hornets would fire both. Ran them in at same altitude. Must be something else. Ripcord

Grimes, A couple questions on your test -- did you use the SEAD command for the tornado flight, or did you bomb/pinpoint target? Also, what target did they fire at? Did they target the radar only? Or did they fire at the launchers as well? I have heard that US jets with AGn-88 HARM will fire at SAM radars but not launchers -- is this the case? Ripcord

I just took one quick take off, just to play with my new flaps gauge and ADI, and didn't notice any slowdown. This Helios is the best thing to come out since those TM MFD cougars and DCS A10C.... OK those are pretty recent, but this is way beyond expectations. Can't wait to start using it in FSX as well.

Thanks, I didn't see that post. The search function used to be my friend, I wonder what happened. Ripcord

Just starting to get my creative juices flowing, while learning this mission editor. Might try to develop a campaign even (maybe), though I still need to devote a lot of time to learning to actually fly this thing :joystick: But the question is this -- what is the general feeling that a mission built today in Beta 3 will remain compatible in later versions of the sim? I have no reason to think it would not be, but I wanted to know if DCS had made any statements on this subject. 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