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Fairey Gannet

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Posts posted by Fairey Gannet

  1. 3 hours ago, theCAVE said:

    Thank you so much Fairey Gannet, this was super useful. This helped me narrow down my first bought plane to be one of these: F-16, JF-17 (I have heard loads of great things about it), or FC3. last but not least, I wasn't planning on doing any head tracking until I saw this! Now I am definetly gonna do head tracking!

    Thanks again

     

    No problem, friend. I was dead scared when I was trying to get into DCS myself. 🙂

     

    Head tracking is a must. Luckily, it's not very expensive, and later on you can buy VR set or experiment with better trackers. But if you want to spot targets, keep an eye on enemy while dogfight, pay attention to gauges and MFD's, search switch to flip... Hat switch or numpad just doesn't give you reaction you need, and you have to let go either stick or throttle just to take a quick look, or you have to sacrifice hat switch. And usually it is better to use it as a trim hat. It takes some time to get used to tracker, but it is rather intuitive. I myself found proper calibration for me in just a few days. 🙂

     

    I don't own personally nor F-16, nor JF-17, but I've checked them out. Both fall in the same bag of lightweight frontline fighters with massive flexibility in munitions to use. I think F-16 performs better in terms of manouvers, however JF-17 is overall more modern plane. I found it more intuitive, basically you can just use 3 MFD's for all essentials. Munitions are great in both planes, so matter comes down to personal taste, really. F-16 is still in early access, so it lacks some functions, but they are being implemented. JF-17 was released almost ready, though there are also some stuff being implemented. That is not really also nor good or bad - lacking some functions mean, you can learn the most stuff, and then just get to know new options, as they come.

     

    There is "Grim Reapers" group, that has tons of videos on every plane and helo (and more) - Buyers Guide is the series you want to check out. That covers every module: price, quality, range of stuff it can do, flight model, ease to learn... And also there are tutorials for every functionality. This and Chuck's Guides and you are good to go.

    • Like 1
  2. On 2/27/2021 at 9:08 PM, theCAVE said:

    Hey! I am new with DCS and I was wondering what are some good tips and tricks to know for a beginner as well as what aircraft are available for free and what aircraft is best to buy for beginner. I don't want to spend too much money on new aircraft but I also don't want to be stuck with the free aircraft only (I don't know a lot about what aircraft are immediately available but if someone could tell me that would be great). Finally, I own a Thrustmaster Stick and that includes a small throttle built in and i was wondering if that is enough to play the game and if i should invest in better peripherals.

    Thanks!

     

    Hey, bro, nice to have another pilot! 🙂

     

    For tips and tricks - remember, those are mine, highly subjective ones.

     

    About plane - take what you like and what you want to learn more about. I actually found FC3 planes more difficult to learn, since they are all operated by keybinds instead of flipping switches. I liked to memorise layout of cockpit more, as it was more intuitive to me, even if I had to deal with increased workload comparing to low fidelity models. I still own MiG-29 as separate FC3 plane, because I like the plane. 🙂 I will however write some more personal opinions later on, maybe they will be of some use.

     

    About joystick and inputs - if you would like some no fly-by-wire stuff, warbirds or rotors, rudder pedals are useful. In 4th gen - not so much, you can get away with twisting grip. Tip - you can buy used (or new) Thrustmaster pedals for racing wheel and the adapter (T.RJ 12 it is called) from its jack to USB 2.0. You can use them standalone this way - this is a good start. Also, you can upgrade to simple HOTAS like T.One - nothing to write home about, but it is good enough two piece set. Oh, and keep your simple stick to operate radar, FLIR or other stuff. Pretty useful. I've posted my layout here:
     

     

    My tip for controller - set deadzone (1-2) if you have strong return spring, but try to avoid curves. At first they are making things easier, but you are getting somewhat messy input - delicate in the centre and severe later in the movement. You can however desaturate Y axis in more touchy frames (Gazelle I have set for 50% both pitch and roll, since it is quite light on the sideclick). Later on you will learn to manage your moves better, and you will get feel for each airframe. I discovered, that my delicate inputs are more messed up by strong spring rather than movement itself. Small deadzones fixed that for me.

     

    Head tracker is very useful, but you can buy cheap clips and use PS3 Eye cam (with IR filter) for it, coupled with OpenTrack freeware program. You don't have to go all TrackIR or VR to start. I prefer sideclip rather, fits well on the headphones. Headphones with mic are useful, because of SRS. It is free radio, that allows you to talk with others in multiplayer via your radio equipement. I use Creative Sound Blaster X H3, and my clip (triple AAA battery powered) is velcro mounted. Cheap solution, but effective, you can just take it off as you please, and stick back with different angle if you desire so. You can buy sticky velcro just about everywhere.

    Personally I wanted to complete my setup, even if it is cheap, to get used to pedals, tracker, HOTAS and so on. Now, when it is done, and all planes I have can be controlled without problems, I can upgrade pieces according to my needs. 

     

    As for planes in particular, there are of course matter of personal taste, so I speak only for myself. Good all-rounder to get the grip for rather simple, yet fully modeled jet is F-5 Tiger II. Nice to fly, competent and it won't get obsolete, because in multiplayer you can fly on serves, where you don't have to face 4th gen enemies. Even then however, you can pull up some tricks... Mirage 2000C was my first 4th gen fighter, it has some drawbacks, but it is good, solid plane with nice A2G capabilities, very agile and deadly in Fox 2 and guns only fights. When comes to ground attack I fell in love in Viggen - it is different than anything else, but simple in use and competent overall. If you like going 950 kph under wires, between trees, and land on every road, this is your bet. When joy to fly comes as quality, I love C-101 EB/CC and L-39C/ZA. These trainers can actually pack nice punch for their size, and you really learn how to fly. C-101 has campaign and great in-depth tutorial missions. Same goes for L-39, but it also has separate "Kursant" campaign to hone your airmanship even further. Hornet is no brainer - it can do all kinds of stuff, easy to fly, but can be overwhelming with possibilities. I personally not like it too much beacuse of that. F-16 is now a bit less complete (but it will be soon), and if you want nice and agile, land-based fighter - go for it. JF-17 is very modern, intuitive and capable lightweight bird. I think A-10C is undisputed king of A2G, it is complex module but you have tons of funny things to drop on the enemy. As for rotors, I own only Gazelle. It is touchy and requires a lot of attention, but it is simple machine and agile as hell. However, this one I wouldn't recommend, unless you like the bird. I think there are some other helos better for beginners, but you should ask somebody more competent. But hey, Gazelle is my first rotor ever, and I managed to tame it, so you can do it also! 🙂

     

    But remember - you don't follow exact path of aviation student in the sim - you don't have to start from something basic and gradually make your way to more complex airframes. You can have a few well learned ones, no matter how complicated they are. If there can be some advice - you can aim for one of each kind, if you are interested in aviation in general - one warbird, 1st gen/2nd gen, 3rd gen, 4th gen and one helicopter. That way you learn a bit of every era since WW2 up to 2000's. But you can go only in favourite period as well, It is really up to you. Trainers are fun, but it is another craft to master, and it doesn't always translate to combat skill in more advanced planes. I like them, but because of general aviation reasons. For me, they helped me to cover the gap between Great War and WWII and Cold War jets. You basically just need to learn about quality of module you desire to make your choice more aware, that's it. 🙂 

     

    Hope it helps!

     

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 2
  3. 2 hours ago, upyr1 said:

    The Crusader is on the way too 

    Yes, indeed! My only concern, truth be told, is not about the frames themselves, rather the way they could be fully explored. Multiplayer (SP campaigns can be tailored more neatly) is basically score-fest as it stands now, and to be honest it rarely replicates conditions of that era's conflict. Without proper setting we will get many things wrong, in my opinion. I mean, you know where I am going with it. I really hope for more Cold War Wings, but I also hope that dynamic campaign mechanics also could redefine multiplayer in the way, that all quirks and qualities those aircraft had could really shine. I think though, that solid portion of 2nd/3rd gens and more solutions from dynamic campaign can be actually way to go. 

    • Like 3
  4. I would love to see some late '50s and '60s birds in DCS. Not only 100's series, there is a lot of nice planes around to pick up: J29 Tunnan, Saab 32 Lansen, Hawker Hunter, J35 Draken, Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer, Mystere IV, Mirage III and V... lots and lots of pretty birds out there. But one small problem - nobody would fly them now. From 2nd gen we have lonely MiG-19P, that doesn't have a match: for Sabre it is too modern to catch up, for F-5 it is too obsolete. And many of those airplanes are by design interceptors: they really shine when doing what they were designed to do - hunting down bombers. So having that kind of role separation would require nice MP overhaul to be interesting. I know there are servers that operate this way, but you also would need to buy at least 3 modules to cover the dedicated roles (intercept, dogfight, ground attack), not to mention learning to semi-competent level. Don't get me wrong! I love the era, and I am all in for 60's birds. I like their limitations, the technology, the variety, before it was killed by one-size-fits-all multirole. And from business side of things it could be nice idea, to have more dedicated modules to sell. But on the other hand, probably lot of people would buy modern 4th gen, that flies pretty similar to the other "aerial calculator", and can cover a lot of various tasks.

     

    Having said that... English Electric Lightning is coming. That would be first match for MiG-19, considering timeline. Maybe we will see more 2nd gen? Mirage F-1 was competent 3rd gen (also lacking representation in DCS a bit), and it will be nice addition. So maybe, 2nd and 3rd gen birds will gain some attention? I really hope for it.

    • Like 3
  5. As subsimmer, I would love to see some ASW and patrol aircraft in DCS. Maybe incoming of more maritime-focused maps like Marianas or South Atlantic would give some more room for such aircraft. However... to fully implement post-war planes, we also would need modeled sea enviroment: ducts with duct sound trap, thermal layer, convergence zone or (Cz) sound velocity profile (SVP), shadow zone (Sz) sound channel, ambient noise, biologic contacts and such - just basic oceanography for maritime enviroment in any era. And those parameters are changing constantly. Then... every underwater craft would need to have modeled sound profile, sound propagation pattern, anechoic tiles effect (if present). Not to mention MAD, or magnetic aerial detection systems for the planes, sonobuoys (active and passive) for both planes and helicopters. And whole new set of weapons. It is Sonalysts territory, and their sims aren't user-friendly stuff.

     

    I am mentioning all that, because in  Cold War period main use of maritime aircraft was ASW (and most DCS stuff is Cold War really), and that would be a whole new game by itself, if we would like to see that aspect in accord with DCS's hight standard to realism and fidelity. Then again, most of those planes would need real multicrew (or brilliant AI), and player would have to accept many hours of flight to achieve... well, usually nothing. I don't think Cold War planes related to maritime duty will be a thing, maybe as AI asset.

     

    As for WW2, there may be some chance of such craft as they were used in slightly different manner, but i wouldn't hold my breath for that. If something, then probably rather small, with one pilot.

     

    Probably though, when comes to naval aviation, SH-2 Seasprite (or something similar) could be a thing, as it would share a lot of core gameplay with other rotors... Then again, sub detection. As much as I love the idea, I don't think it will happen, sadly. 

    • Like 3
  6. Hello, fellow simmers!

     

    On the starting note, I'd like to point out, that happy owners of big pieces like Warthog, X56 and similar will probably not find my solution very interesting. This tip is adressed to not-so-happy owners of simple and cheaper kits, that can struggle with too many essential bindings. Well, maybe Viggen solution will be somewhat useful, so in case you are Viggen fan, stick around. However, if you have simple kit, that may be guide for you.

     

    1. They are too many of them!

     

    So, you bought reasonably cheap piece, just to start DCS. Maybe you upgraded from old stick, maybe you had it from different sim. After initial flying, especially with more modern aircraft you may start to struggle. We have tons of commands: flight control, comms, countermeasures and other essentials that beg to be binded, but options are limited. After severe triage, we still have to use keyboard shortcuts or try to click someting very small and fiddly in the cockpit. I know it happened to me. 

     

    2. I thirst for more!

     

    Some planes have more radar commands than some earlier simulations used to fly the whole plane - or many of planes. And radar is important. Some other demands specific commands to be just under finger. Yes, Mirage, I'm talking about your quick Magic selection, CMD forward/aft/depress modes. In real life: great solution, in the keyboard world: hellish nightmare. And some are just full of sticks. Flight stick. Radar stick. Rb05 stick. You know what I'm talking about... At this point I was ready to admit defeat and accept, that I will never shoot anything manually guided or will die looking quick (and only) Magic selection, probably with really stupid face, and Fox-2 up my... exhaust. 

     

    3. Revelation...

     

    ...came to me, when I was looking at this damned Viggen's radar stick. Another stick... Another stick. Another stick? Another stick! I took out my old AV8R-02, plugged... 

     

    4. Many Lives and Tall Tales of Not-So-Great-Stick-Now-Reborned-In-Glory.

     

    ...and it worked. I do two sticks flying now (I know how it sounds), one is fairly basic HOTAS, one is fairly basic joystick with throttle. Sounds fiddly, but actually is much easier to fly planes with complicated radar or specific commands, that like to eat away those precious button binds. After setting up Viggen, I went to Mirage, and moved back to F-5 to just see how it works with something simpler. For reference, I own Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS X combined with AV-8R 02. I know, sad stuff, but for Rise of Flight and my beloved Great War kites it was more than enough. Below I present examples how I use second stick to control radar, as well as binds I use on those widow-making 12 buttons of main piece. 

     

    Rule of thumb is: I try to set binds close to original airframe layout.

     

    Viggen:

     

    HOTAS: 

    On throttle: as in real plane there are comms, panic release, airbrake, fast IR missle select, missle uncage. Base buttons are for automatic throttle and gear up/down toggle. Axis paddle for zoom out/in.

    On stick: reference button, weapon release cover, trigger and trim hat.

     

    RADAR:

    Throttle axis bound to radar elevation, main stick is responsible for moving radar stick and EP 13 sight, POV hat for Rb04 control stick. Top buttons are for fixes: T0, T1 and TV, main trigger is for terrain avoidance. Base buttons are: passive recce, radar rage up and down, gain up and down and memory mode. 4-position small hat changes radar modes: A0, A1 and A2.

     

    RADAR stick, POV hat and throttle curvatures: 25. Throttle curve regular, NOT the slider, center is at 50%, 100% is down, 0% is up.

     

    Note: I bound NumPad keyboard to CK 37 input panel, so I can enter weapon TAKT commands just with keys. It is easy to do, since layout is pretty much the same.

     

    Mirage:

     

    HOTAS:

    On throttle: CMD forward/aft/depress, Quick Magic II select, Quick gun select, PCI neutral. On the base of throttle: Magic Slave/INS update, Magic unlock/NAV update. Paddle is for zoom in/out.

    On stick: weapon release, autopilot standby/trim reset, program and panic release, hat for trim.

     

    RADAR:

    Throttle axis for radar elevation. POV hat is used for TDC movement, main trigger is TDC depress/lock. Top buttons are IFF interrogate/nose wheel steering, STT/TWS toggle and TDC Mode S, else Z. Base buttons are for azimuth wide, middle and narrow, 1 Line, 2 Lines, 4 Lines scan. 4-position small hat changes radar range (increase/decrease (up-down) and PRF three position mode High>int>Low and Low>Int>High (left-right). In this setup I don't use main stick.

     

    RADAR POV hat and throttle curvatures: 25. Throttle curve regular, NOT the slider, center is at 50%, 100% is down, 0% is up.

     

    F-5E Tiger II

    HOTAS:

    Throttle: comms, flaps cycle, airbrakes cycle, gear up/down toggle, missle uncage and aileron limiter toggle. Nosewheel steering toggle and drag shute on the throttle base. Paddle... you know the drill, zoom in/out.

    Stick: trigger detent one, trigger detent two, weapon release, chaff-flare button. 

     

    RADAR:

    Throttle for radar elevation, trigger for ACQ. POV hat is TDC movement, main butons are Dogfight Mode FWD, AFT, CENTER. Base buttons: RWR search button switch, sight cage switch, radar range selector increase/decrease.

     

    RADAR POV hat and throttle curvatures: 25. Throttle curve regular, NOT the slider, center is at 50%, 100% is down, 0% is up.

     

    Sa-342 Gazelle

     

    HOTAS:

     

    Collective (throttle): comms, landing light in/off, flare dispense, auto-hover, auto-hover w/manual collective. Landing light retract/deploy on the throttle base. Paddle - yes, still zoom in/out.

    Sideclick (stick): weapon release, autopilot standby on/off, magnetic brake toggle, trim reset. Hat for trim.

     

    TV stick:

    POV hat for camera control, trigger for HOT3 missle release. Main buttons for the targeting laser, slave to view function. Base buttons: brightness control up/down, contrast control up/down, zoom in/out, invert symbols (day/night).

     

    7. Give me more rudder... but not too expensive!

     

    Well, there is solution - you can buy pedals from racing wheel sets. Maybe you have them, or you can get used pretty cheap. I bought mine for around 30 euros, slightly used. Thrustmaster also provides T.RJ 12 adapter to change from default connector to USB 2.0, so all Thrustmaster pedals can benefit from that (and perhaps some other too). And yes, using that you don't have to have the wheel - you are using them standalone. All you need to do is:

     

    Bind axis separately (for left and right pedal) to one command (rudder). Mark  them both as sliders and reduce Y saturation to 50%. This way each pedal uses half of the total axis travel, in 50/50 split. Then invert right pedal. You are good to go!

     

    6. Red Deadzone Redemption, or overcoming the nasty spring.

     

    Ah yes, some joysticks have a nasty return spring, that makes your moves somewhat excessive. Or just are not super accurate, high quality pieces. Usually people set curves on joy, especially short stick, to gain some control for fine movements. However, that comes at the cost of translating your wider inputs. It is the matter of personal taste, but I discovered, that small deadzone (1-2) for pitch and roll usually is enough. I try to keep my input linear with this little deadzone, so my stick controls stay uniformed in all ranges. However, it does go well with slight curves (up to 10). Only exception is the Gazelle, that is pretty touchy bird - here I just desaturated Y aspect of both sideclick input down to 50%.

     

     

     

    7. Too long, didn't read. Or did you? Also known as closing notes.

     

    Well, I can't take credit for inventing HOTAS/HOSAS combo. My brain is too small for such a breakthrough. However I can tell from my own experience, that using some planes just became much easier for me, and without spending metric ton of money for new HOTAS right now. I mean, you still need to let go throttle and change stuff, but in real plane you also have, and I found it much smoother in general. And ambi-dexterious simple stick you can buy dirt-cheap, if you don't own it already.

     

    For Viggen it is perfectly viable and realistic solution even if you own Mighty-HOTAS-Of-Many-Knobs. In real Viggen you use stick to control radar, as well as little controller to guide your Rb05. It is actually quite easy now to land those things on target. EP 13 targeting is also less tedious, as TV fix and screen mode is close by. And you can bind your keys and switches to something more important. Curves about 25 give you nice precision when it comes to aiming, moving waypoints and fixes. NumPad for CK 37 will give you more flexibility to use TAKT modes for advanced weapons - layout is basically the same, just / and * can go for In/Out swich, + and - set for rotating the knob. I usually put my controllers in order: throttle, radar stick, main stick, as in real plane.

     

    For Mirage it also works pretty decent, as Mirage's radar needs a lot of care and attention. I guess it's where TLC and TDC meet. It is not a bad set of sensors, but amount of tuning can be scary for newcomers. And without that, you are half-blind. Deadly place to be in at best of times, especially deadly for Mirage and it's limitation in BVR. Since a lot of controls are moved onto the side-stick, you have now a lot more options to bind those quick-selections and combat modes onto your main throttle. Resuming scan after dogfight is pretty easy now, even changing range in combat modes. TDC is easy to control with top hat with curves, as well as radar elevation. I put it in order: radar stick, throttle, stick - contrary to Viggen, you need those quick-selects closer and usually more often, since you will try to use those good Fox-2 you have and nice radar modes. I didn't found any use for main stick, so there is some field for experiments here. In last update Mirage got many axis controls, so you can go crazy.

     

    For F-5 I just wanted to know how, or if it will improve things, rather for fun. It is not complicated radar, and doesn't require a lot of binds. However, I found that it is much easier to control notoriously sensitive elevation and TDC, having dogfight modes at hand is also pretty useful. RWR search/track toggle button nearby proved to be big improvement, since you need to cycle manually through those modes, and frequently so.

     

    I didn't tested other aircraft yet, but I think that kind of setup can have some benefits for them also - Gazelle can utilise second stick for TV guided missles targeting. Probably in FC3 planes it could also be easier to control TDC and radar functionalities as well, as they all rely on keyboard. You can always leave out stick and use buttons on the base, using it as makeshift control panel for essentials. 

     

    So, if you don't have a lot of switches and buttons, here is a solution. It may not be perfect (well, except Viggen), but I hope more complicated, or demanding aircraft will be less intimidating for newcomers. And that it will be somewhat less mandatory to own an expensive controller right from the very beginning. Especially if you are just starting, having worse results because of technical limitations can be frustrating. I know for me it was.

     

    Hope it helps! 🙂

     

    P.S. 

    I will update the keybinds for Mirage 2000 shortly as a lot had changed. I also worked out nice control scheme for MiG-19P. 

    23.12.21

    • Like 2
  7. Ok, after re-installing the module problem with animation is gone. Maybe something went wrong during last update, as I experienced some issues afterwards. I didn't thought about new instalation - sorry for bothering about this to no end. The green cover problem still stands, though. :)

  8. Hello there,

     

    I found some issues with MiG-29, however before adressing some of them as a bug, I'd like to ask around.

     

    1. You can turn on external lights (both position lights and taxi/landing ones) before turning on the power. Contrary to that, internal cockpit lights can't be lit. Now, I am not sure, if this is a matter of simplification of procedures in low fidelity module or an overlook. In high fidelity modules you can't turn up external lights before power applied or battery turned on.

     

    2. Mig-29G was operated both by Luftwaffe and Polish Air Force (the latter still use both A and G versions), however Polish liveries are missing, even if nationality is set properly. MiG-29A liveries are working correctly.

     

    3. At random, when generating Fast Mission with some combinations of nationalities and aircraft versions, either I am reverted to main menu or the game crashes to desktop. This last one happened during testing MiG-29G and setting up nationality to Polish instead of German.

     

    Did some of you did encountered those issues also? On the side note: I have clean installation without any mods, liveries or so - just an official content, so there should be no conflict due to modding.

  9. Hi,

     

    Today, at the end of the tenth mission of the Kursant campaign, on my way back to Maykop, a

    light lit up on the caution & advisory panel (see pic). It's in russian so I could not interpret it and the manual, p. 110, does not show that this light can be lit.

     

    Does anyone know what it is about?

     

    Navigation system in L-39 is based on RSBN stations. In default navigational mode it points to the choosen station, giving bearing and distance. Next mode (used from approx. 70 km away) is descent mode - it takes you down to around 200 meters altitude and around 25 km from the runway treshold, while avoiding any terrain obstacles. At this point you have to manually change it to landing mode, that takes you to the runway treshold, in manner similar to ILS. You can say that if navigational mode is similar to TACAN, landing - to ILS, descend mode is something in between, taking you to the ILS initial point.

     

    The light you mentioned marks the end of the descent path, and shows when to switch to landing mode.

     

    Hope it helps! :)

    • Thanks 1
  10. Hello!

     

    My name is Fairey Gannet - I guess you already know my favorite airplane (we look alike also...). I've started simulations with Dynamix Red Baron back in DOS days, and went through majority of Sierra, Microprose, Jane's, Rowan's, Novalogic and 1C simulations, finally ending up here. Besides flight simulations I enjoy naval sims and various strategies. In real life I am an archeologist, but besides boring old pots and bones I've conducted excavations of the downed WWII warbirds in my region.

     

    Right now I'm trying not to get myself killed in DCS, transitioning from fabric-covered biplanes to Cold War jets. Luckily for me, both Albatrosses - D.III and L-39 are really forgiving and pure joy to fly. :)

  11. On the first note, I'd like to point out, that issue I've encountered is probably not a bug, just an overlook.

     

    L-39 crew has suits, that are changing with paint scheme. The mirror view is matching with the external one. When turning on pilot body visible, they also match, with an exception of L-39ZA liveries, namely splinter camo woodland and splinter camo desert. Uniform on pilot's body should be olive and tan respectively, as shown both in external view and in the mirror, however it is blue, as in Russian/Czechoslovakian paint scheme.

     

    Other paint schemes seem to affect pilot's body correctly, both for L-39C and L-39ZA, so I think it is simple overlook, that can be fixed easily.

     

    Edition, 27.08.20

     

    When choosing instant action Persian Gulf free flight, we get yet another livery (tiger stripes), without pilot suit colour match. It should be green in this instance.

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