SFJackBauer

The reason I see is simpler: in RL you have two parts of the gun moving: the rear sight and the front sight. Having a holo/collimated sight simplifies this part. However in game you have only one mouse, so you move the gun as a whole. Your virtual soldier is responsible for doing the proper alignment. Also our monitors are plain surfaces.

Once I lost my right wing but didn't noticed immediately, since I was on auto-hover and it held the chopper in place. When I started forward movement I noticed an excessive yawing, but thought it was my rudder pedals misbehaving... Then I look at the weapons panel - I have only 6 vikhrs? And only the left ones? :doh: :D

On step 4 above, keep hitting the corresponding target type button on DL panel to cycle through instances of that type.

ABRIS only reads information from other AC systems, it does not send info back. 1) Uncage Shkval, slave over target, lase, confirm range accuracy. 2) Hit one of the first row of buttons on Datalink and then Send To Memory to store the position. 3) Reset targeting system, move to another position. 4) Hit one of the first row of buttons on Datalink until the desired mark is flashing on ABRIS. 5) Press DL Ingress button. Target type button light will turn off, ABRIS will show a cross on desired mark. 6) Uncage Shkval, it will point to the target position. 7) If you are heading more than 90 degrees away from the target, hit Turn to Target button (best while hovering) so the heli will turn its nose towards target.

:megalol:

Can I? :D Did you experienced the axis leakage as reported by reviews around the net? Went around it? Does the rotaries are precise? Do they have center detents like X-52 (thing I particularly hate)? What about the throttle stickiness, or difficulty to move without lifting it from the table?

Indeed. Thats one common misconceptions about Afghanistan - it is an extremely varied country regarding to geography, and even mountainous and desert areas have large amounts of vegetation.

First barrier - network latency. Second - if the pilot disconnects, what happens? Probably there are more.

And MP missions are played with a low detail visual setting, so people with different computers could have good FPS. What are your settings in SP?

Even then, some people will not sleep, eat or shower in anticipation of it, thinking it will be out "in 3-4 weeks" :D

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123184118 Yes, it is employed. Yes, it is seldom employed, compared to other munitions.

Yes, it can. I dont get why sitting on an A-10 should give you telescopic vision. And I dont get how infantry looks "pixelated", or why it should be more detailed. The interactions between air and ground were covered several days ago on a SimHQ interview

AI choppers have outside-of-this-world gun employment skills and accuracy. Its not fun.

Listen to GGTharos experience here buddy. TrackIR can be smooth as silk if you just use the default curves it comes with. Remember it multiplies your head movement, so in the beginning you have to learn it. If you dont like, you can easily set smoother curves within the TIR software. You are dismissing upfront one piece of hardware that has potentially an enormous impact on your experience. Think about it. You can learn to use the hat, but you'll be always one step behind the full capabilities of hardware you already own. So many people would like to have TIR and can't because its expensive for them... Its like when I started playing racing sims with a wheel... I wanted to kick and throw the wheel and pedals at the wall! But I knew there was no step back, or you go and learn it, or you will always be those precious seconds behind.

You miss the point. Russian Tu-95 bombers also have (or had) autocannon in the rear. Since that video is from training, and the B-52 was playing OPFOR, the pilot doesn't want to get into the bomber guns envelope just like he would do when intercepting a Tu-95. In the heat of the battle, I wouldn't even bother to check visually if these things have their tail gun installed or not... :)

Oh boy... FC2, DCS:A10, Arma2:Arrowhead, iRacing, HOI3:SemperFi, BOB:SoW... 2010 is on track to be an epic year!

Unless you have mapped most of the critical functions to your HOTAS like I did. I dont need to take my hands off controls much, therefore no need to rely always on autopilot. Perhaps that's my "sin" - in the real thing the pilot would have to use both hands several times to manipulate the avionics during flight? Since im flying HOTAS, I also do not need to concentrate much on flying the chopper, it comes naturally. I can keep scanning outside, check ABRIS/HSI for navigation etc. Frederf, you made a good post, but you didn't brought anything that could not be done with FD on, or that could be done worse. Except for the fact that in the real chopper the pilot would need to be with his hands off controls during nav (but during engagement, I doubt), no specific, objective downside to using FD has ever been brought. I would be happy to be proven wrong on this point though :)

I believe you are into something here. Lock-on way of loading files is weird. Notice when you start the sim fresh and enter the cockpit first time, every degree you look around it stutters because it is loading things, even though the "loading screen" has already passed. Now assuming it happens on the server too, imagine every client and server having to load files for first time, then depending on amount of data to load and disk performance, desyncs are bound to occur. Even though we joined the server gradually as Crunch noted, I remember clearly that in the first kill message I noticed heavy stutter, and other people reported lag on chat. In LOCERF both the server and clients were started clean. In MP sessions the server is running for a longer time, and have in cache almost every data file. Perhaps the server should have a "warmup mission", where lots of events occur like AC being destroyed, ground units spawning etc, so the executable can build its cache before the main mission gets loaded.

The problem is we often find situations inside the simulator that probably a real KA-50 pilot would never encounter. So if you keep applying the procedures they use to situations they never experienced, then this "impedance mismatch" happens. I find easier to maintain formation in a highly uneven terrain by flying directly the chopper, and I mean hands-on-cyclic-and-collective. That way I have no need to go through the loop "press trim, move stick/rudder, release trim, go back controls to neutral" whenever I want to change direction. Same when I am in the frontline engaging enemy units, and I need to prioritize air defences, move within vikhr range, fire, step back, scan, flank, seek cover from enemy aircraft etc. Lots of maneuvering here done with FD, punctuated by hoverings without FD. Let me ask the inverse question - What are the specific downsides to using FD? If yes, its disadvantages are simulated in DCS?

I find myself flying mostly with FD on and switching it off only when needing to hover. Feels good to me the fact you are in control and flying the heli all the way. FD off may be the way it is done in real, but within simulation I have better this way. And I don't see people discouraging it... maybe in the past people were more vocal about it. Ultimately its your choice and neither one is wrong.

Sorry, I lost you here. You can lock them, but can't see them on radar? Or you mean that at 40nm you lock them, but they disappear at 20nm? If it is, and if you are in TWS radar mode, you need to keep adjusting the radar elevation so the tracked contacts stay inside the cone. If you go STT, you don't need adjusting.

I would like first to say congrats to all squad leaders, and specially Fudd for putting this event forward. Even though we haven't flown properly, as a first-timer I learned a lot just by observing the preparations and planning. I would like to suggest a scenario for testing: - Prepare several missions (or even use an existing one as a template): 1) 50 player-controlled aircraft FC2 only 2) same as 1, but adding 10 KA-50 slots in the mix 3) same as 2, but adding small groups of ground units 4) same as 3, but adding large groups of ground units 5) same as 4, but adding triggers - Run each scenario with 60 people (hardest part perhaps?) for 30 min, and check stability. Important to say that those people should be representatives from all over the world, to see if latency / speed / geography influences. - If all runs well, then create other scenarios by adding other variables in the mix (LOTATC, tacview etc) one at a time. Given that in 2 hours, 2 scenarios could be tested (given that people need time to connect etc), this could be done in a space of 4-5 weeks.

High probability of happening, since both are outdated and public domain. On the other hand, a DCS:JackBauer will not come anytime soon because its operating procedures are classified :D

Looks like I've got a new callsign? :P

Nice job Ivank on these numbers. Very helpful! :thumbup: