IronMike
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Posts posted by IronMike
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4 hours ago, JupiterJoe said:
Thanks for these fixes HB. The improved refuel probe light is particularly awesome.
It is our sincere pleasure, as always!
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Dear all,
As we roll out of spring, we’re excited to share a fresh round of updates across our modules. Alongside ongoing development of larger features, we strive to respond directly to your feedback and to keep each aircraft evolving toward its full potential.
The AJS37 Viggen received a handful of focused system updates — popup point distance logic has been limited for more consistent use, BANA line hiding has been corrected, and cluttering debug logs from custom cartridges have been removed. Not a large set of changes, but important ones for overall mission success.
As always we thank you for your kind support and feedback, and hope that you enjoy plenty of hours of flying!
Your Heatblur Team
DCS: AJS37 Viggen by Heatblur Simulations
- Systems: Limited the distance parameter on pop up points to the whole km.
- Systems: Fix the “BANA line” hiding.
- Systems: Fix for kneeboard waypoint names.
- Systems: Removed repeating "Custom cartridge found" message in log.
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Dear all,
As we roll out of spring, we’re excited to share a fresh round of updates across our modules. Alongside ongoing development of larger features, we strive to respond directly to your feedback and to keep each aircraft evolving toward its full potential.
The F-14 Tomcat received some important fixes and tuning. Lighting artifacts at distance have been resolved, formation and wingtip lights now behave consistently across LODs, and afterburner flicker has been corrected when switching views. The USS Forrestal has undergone another lighting pass — IFLOLS visuals are cleaner, deck lighting ramps more naturally, and spotting during night ops should feel noticeably improved. Audio in multiplayer has been adjusted for better spatial consistency, and AI enhancements include A/A TACAN additions, ICEMAN ground logic, and we taught JESTER to avoid calls for neutral aircraft when in BFM.
As always we thank you for your kind support and feedback, and hope that you enjoy plenty of hours of flying!
Your Heatblur Team
DCS: F-14 Tomcat by Heatblur Simulations
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Night Lighting: Made a pass to improve night lighting visuals, distances and extant issues, including:
- Fixed right wingtip collision light not appearing past LoD1
- Improved distance at which nav/collision lighting is visible across most LoDs.
- Fixed formation lights (slimelights) disappearing on wingtips beyond 100m.
- Fixed wingtip lights not moving with wings with distant LODs.
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Forrestal: First pass to significantly improve Forrestal class lighting system:
- IFLOLS is not visible from the sides anymore.
- Runway lighting is visible from a longer distance.
- Changed min pixel sizes for most lighting types.
- Extended range at which mast navigation lights are visible.
- Increased refueling probe light distance; the basket should now be more visible when doing AAR at night.
- Made JESTER ignore neutral enemies detected visually in BFM. He will no longer go crazy and call out neutrals as bandits and give dogfight calls.
- ICEMAN: Disabled Iceman with weight on wheels. This should help with instances where you switch to the RIO cockpit and Iceman resets e.g. your trim or autopilot settings.
- Added A/A Tacan to AI aircraft.
- Fixed the flicker animator + afterburner animations when switching cameras.
- Added the Top Gun 104 livery for the F-14A.
- Fixed distant LOD appearing darker than it should due to a missing RoughMet texture.
- Fixed non-ownship aircraft not having exhaust sounds in Multiplayer; other jets should now be correctly audible from your cockpit with the canopy up.
- Fixed strange “stepping” in audio for the left engine.
- Improved phasing-protection for dual-engine sounds.
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Night Lighting: Made a pass to improve night lighting visuals, distances and extant issues, including:
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Dear all,
As we roll out of spring, we’re excited to share a fresh round of updates across our modules. Alongside ongoing development of larger features, we strive to respond directly to your feedback and to keep each aircraft evolving toward its full potential.
The F-4E Phantom II received updates to the flight model in ground effect, which brings the take off and landing behavior closer to reality, stabilator effectiveness in ground effect has been improved, particularly at high pitch angles and close to the ground. This improves the takeoff nose authority and makes the handling feel more responsive. It makes it easier to ease the nose up without sudden pitch up and tail dragging. Holding the desired pitch attitude also becomes easier, while the stabs build power more gradually and naturally. The trim behavior is further improved in the pattern and during landings, while on speed AOA is now slightly faster, making it easier to catch and maintain on speed, provided by a lower nose position over the horizon. You will now also feel the ground effect set in more distinctively and realistically, resulting in the textbook slightly slow AOA at touchdown without floating - at which point you can ease back full aft stick and won’t risk over-rotating or tail dragging.
Beyond aerodynamic improvements, we’ve also overhauled slat behavior at the critical 8–13 unit AoA range, significantly cutting down pitch oscillations during transitions. System-side, we’ve reworked hydraulic pressure regulation and corrected gear logic that previously caused early pressure release and door issues. Lamp damage has been entirely revised, with flicker and wear now modeled more realistically — and if they break, you can ask the crew chief to replace them! JESTER’s startup logic is now fixed, and his situational awareness has been improved to avoid excessive fuel calls near tankers and airfields. We also addressed a multicrew throttle cutoff bug, so that the WSO can see the throttle move again, when the pilot moves it. We also fixed the refueling door animation in multiplayer, and included a new option to disable force feedback when needed. Finally, we’ve swapped in our new, fully custom pitot-tube icing model, preparing the way for broader environmental effects later down the road.
As always we thank you for your kind support and feedback, and hope that you enjoy plenty of hours of flying!Your Heatblur Team
DCS: F-4E Phantom II by Heatblur Simulations
- NEW: Added a new and improved probe icing model (no visual effects yet).
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CTD: Fixed potential CTD resulting from JESTER-modding related lua files.
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Flight Model: Significant improvements to feel and accuracy, especially in landing and takeoff scenarios:
- Improved the stabilator simulation in ground effect - reduced the effectiveness very close to the ground and at high pitch angles.
- Minor adjustments to the airflow around the AoA probe with landing gear down. On speed should be slightly faster now.
- Flight Model: Reduced slat induced pitch oscillations when slowly passing the slat deployment/retraction AoA range. This should eliminate some of the “porpoising” that could happen when flying in specific airspeeds and AoAs.
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Flight Model: Improved the slats overcenter simulation.
- Systems: Fixed cockpit pressure initial value at hot start, which could also cause JESTER to freak out at high altitudes.
- Systems: Fixed the location of the landing gear limit switches and the related landing door operations issues like an occasionally stuck inner door.
- Systems: Tuned the pressure regulators of the hydraulic pumps to keep the max pressure closer to 3000 psi.
- Systems: Fixed hydraulic pressure drops caused by a bug in pressure calculations for some components (tubes and manifolds) residing behind a closed valve.
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Systems: Overhauled lamp damage; lamps damage and wear now yields more varied states and visual feedback. Ask your crew chief to replace the damn bulbs!
- JESTER: Fixed Jester Startup issues where JESTER would fail to initiate startup items in certain conditions.
- JESTER: Increased range at which Jester won't ask about fuel near airports and the nearest tanker somewhat. This feature will see more improvement.
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Multicrew: Fixed throttle cutoff in multicrew. The throttle should now move for the WSO in multicrew when the pilot moves it.
- RWR: Updated the RWR database.
- RWR: Updated handoff sounds.
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RWR: Fixed potential RWR handoff sounds looping issues.
- Visual: Fixes to the Flicker Animator to avoid stuck animations.
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Visual: Potential fix for unsynchronized refueling probe door in Multiplayer on other aircraft than your own.
- Sound: Aural tone system set to 50% volume for all starts. This is contrary to the manual but better for gameplay.
- Sound: Fixed a major soundbug where other Phantoms would be barely audible from your cockpit with the canopy up.
- Sound: Fixed strange “stepping” in audio for the left engine.
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Sound: Improved phasing-protection for dual-engine sounds.
- AI: Added TACAN AA to the AI aircraft.
- Inputs: Added a Special Option to force force-feedback off.
- Crew Chief: Improved the crew chief flight controls check stab down report.
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Just maybe to add: offset mode was primarily used for nuclear delivery, and trained as such (iirc what our SMEs told me), in other words, it is a mode that is more of an exercise of concept than anything you should pick for normal F-4 missions. The primary mode that was used was Dive Toss. Laydown is a very good mode for facility or area of effect bombing etc. Loft, toss, like you mention yourself, are also modes rather not used for regular missions. That said, it is ofc fun to explore all of them, which is why we modelled them all, despite not really having a nuclear option in DCS.
The best thing imo about dive toss, is that it lets you do the pop up or ingress in any way you like, as long as you can roll out on the target high and far enough to go through the procedure before pickle. And I really like laydown for its simplicity, you basically set the mils you want fly level and pickle.-
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On 5/20/2025 at 7:29 AM, speed-of-heat said:
When last I looked at it there seemed to be two difficulties in resolving the issue, it's difficult to repo, and it seems neither Ed nor heatblur can decide who owns the problem
Ultimately we own the problem when our module is affected. We have not forgotten this issue and will continue to try and resolve it. Our apologies it is still an inconvenience!
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On 5/16/2025 at 12:20 AM, bilbosmeggins said:
Any ideas if/when Heatblur will be adding missions for the Cold War Germany map? I’m crap at creating missions myself, so do tend to rely on pre-built ones.
Yes, we are working on them. Due to all the new maps added (Iraq, Cold War, etc) it just takes a bit longer this time. Thank you for your kind patience.
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1 hour ago, Kageseigi said:
Thank you for the tip! Do you happen to know if there are any videos available to show that technique in action? Preferably with the control overlay active?
I don't think so, at least not to my knowledge. Maybe I can find a moment next week to record a short snippet. It's fairly easy and intuitive.
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It is us, who have to thank you, dear Aqil! All your liveries are stunning and amazing, and we could not be more grateful. Thank you for being such an integral part of the Heatblur family!
Teşekkür ederim!-
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5 minutes ago, Kaktus said:
It what is logic behind dlc doesn’t it create drag this making engine rev up more to maintain stabile flight? It’s like put your air brake on when landing mandatory.. why, dlc is the spoiler right hopefully not confusing it for something else… but why would you need extra drag as manadatory landing tool? Just asking don’t shoot me i declare I don’t know
Such questions are good to learn, no need to shoot you! The added drag puts the throttles at a higher RPM, where they are more responsive. In addition, the DLC allows for adjustment of lift and drag, without changing pitch and throttle position (though remember that there is no sweet spot and you need to fight for position at all times, especially with throttles, and expect to counter the counter of the counter input...). Here, take a look at this tutorial I did ages ago (normally you wouldnt do such straight ins, but rather always fly a case 1):
PS: please read the video description, it was a super quick one take recording and I brabbled some mistakes, which I correct in the description.
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One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is what I like to call "fapping for energy" - it is a technique on how to use the stick, and in fact very simple to practice.
As others already have stated you want to manage your energy, that is Gs and speed. Ideally you want both at ideal numbers, so corner speed at around 6ish G. But that won't always be the case, a climb may reduce speed, a sharper pull will reduce it, and a dive for speed may reduce your Gs, etc. Now, of course we need to stay observant of our instruments (in time you also get a feel for it, as the cockpit rattling and buffeting feeds back to you, so you can have more eyes on the bandit).
But how does that actually look in terms of stick work, if say we fly a level turn - hypothetically (since usually you should go half a circle up and half a circle down). So, let us say, we fly a level turn and suddenly have too much speed and not enough G? How to get back G load without really bleeding all your speed? A good technique is to pull (quick release), pull (quick release), pull (quick release), pull (quick release) ... on the stick, aka very fast stick aft movements. This will quickly load G back on, without bleeding speed, since you have a brief release of the stick between the pulls (hence fapping for energy).
Vice versa, if you have a lot of G, but losing speed, you do it in the opposite direction. You push (quick pull aft), push (quick pull aft), push (quick pull aft), push (quick pull aft), ... This will allow you to load back on speed without sacrificing too much G, aka just letting go of the stick and G load.
Note that while the "fapping for G" is a more pronounced quick and sharp pull and release, the "release for speed" is a more relaxed, slower movement that you adjust as needed, sometimes as little as one slightly relaxed ease forward on the stick, can gain you back enough speed, and then you bring the stick back again to hold the Gs, etc.
Try and train that by simply flying level turns, and observing how either loads back on G, or releases G and loads back on speed. And observe how the aircraft behaves. It is a very good thing to have in your muscles memory for dogfighting.
This technique is not Tomcat specific and can be applied in any dogfighting aircraft, even in a glider, a fokker dr1 in ww1, a bf 109 in ww2, an F-4 in Vietnam, or an F35 in post modern times... and allows you to stay at full throttle at all times (which you generally should, unless you are trying to force an overshoot, or as a last resort, or some more advanced split throttle shenanigans, yada, which I'd consider more of a gimmick than base dogfighting skill.)
I hope I explained it well enough to make sense. Happy training!-
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1 hour ago, Kaktus said:
Thanks for update, just felt frustrated that such small part is not properly addressed in tutorials so it sticks out for noobs, dlc was always something as help u use when landing not as always on period like flaps, when o do manual landing I use it for glide path alignment to drop my altitude a bit..
Not a problem at all, we all get frustrated. But indeed DLC is not optional, it is part of every (case 1 and case 3) landing checklist. If you look at the little image that is included with the case 1 insta action missions or the tutorial, you see DLC extended on the downwind once you hit 600 feet. None of these points are optional. As simmers we tend to make things optional for ourselves, as we have an optional respawn, hehe. But that then becomes a slippery glideslope.
I hope you enjoy many more happy landings!-
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8 hours ago, Kaktus said:
ffs, having watched tons of tutorials, and NOT ONE mentions for ACL to work you need to have DLC TURNED ON!!! wow, so stupid..
anyway, thing is resolved, wow, how hard is it to get this info .. why..
The case 1 landing tutorial and normal landing tutorial definitely mention that DLC must be turned on. ACL is simply an aid to complete both of these landings. As Rustbelt said, there is no landing in the Tomcat without DLC.
Glad you figured it out though. It certainly also threw others off guard. But it's simply part of "landing configuration", as much as landing gear and flaps.-
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9 hours ago, captain_dalan said:
Hey guys, can you double check this? Cause on my machine the bug is still there. Switching from F1 to F2, in the video below, causes the right after burner in the F-14A to always light up with delay. Both engines in ZONE 5. Latest version of DCS.
Thank you, it is known and fix (for the not working fix) is already in the works.
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Confirmed, the hotfix is in, but due to Easter holidays for our team, the changelog entry did not make it in in time.
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Dear all,
shame on me, I forgot to add one of the most important items for this patch:
- Added Top Gun 104 "Iceman Tribute" livery by LanceCriminal86 and Mach3DS
In memory of the late and great Val Kilmer. May he rest in peace.-
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4 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:
Sure, I can do that!
I actually tried to prevent issues by making sure I passed the zebra marks before opening the throttles. But hey, at least Jester loved my landing ("almost as beautiful as Meg Ryan") so that's still half points!
Man, it feels like half a lifetime ago we recorded these lines, and it warms my heart to see that they are still going strong with you guys.
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Just now, goot66 said:
where to get jester mod?
It will only be distributed in case there is no hotfix soon.
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16 hours ago, wwWolfcom said:
Reported on HB discord, AB visual bug is still exist but little bit in different way.
Thank you we have seen the report, we are investigating.
15 hours ago, scommander2 said:Please review the following video:
I had moved my throttle back and forth from engine idle to AB in different movements (slow/fast/very fast).
Please let me know if any comment for it.
Thanks.
This is fully correct behavior @scommander2 - no two engines are alike. This is why the AB effects and AB lighting will never be fully in sync. This is intentional.
The bug however is different. On camera switching one of the AB is frozen. It is related to the sounder code for one engine, we already see a potential fix for it (and why the last fix unfortunately did not seem to work though it seemed gone in testing).
You can observe how that looks here (the bug, ofc, not the fix): https://discord.com/channels/1071433028045377637/1362528498920718388-
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6 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:
Jester yelled I was "out of my god darned mind" while taking off at Frankfurt
And he yelled: "we lost cabin pressure!" while descending from a 37k MSL cruise over Germany (not an air start but a hot ramp start). I haven't heard that one before...Likely a "new map issue", meaning that the runway is recognized not as such or as a taxiway. He gives you a hard time if you do taxiway take offs, so my guess is on that. It is also possible that this is not a bug, but that the actual runway to be used is shorter than the full length of the tarmac (some runways have that), in which case that should be clear from the markings. sometimes end and start of runways are considered still taxiway, or iirc the term is DER (departure end of runway), but don't quote me on it. so you would have to taxi forward to be past the actual threshold.
If you want, you can report it to Ugra, that would help. Thank you!-
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Thank you for the reports.
For the alignment you can hop into the backseat and align yourself, and Jester will eventually catch up, we are investigating.
Likewise for the cabin pressure. Our sincere apologies.-
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30 minutes ago, scommander2 said:
Thanks for the explanation.
Anytime!
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28 minutes ago, Bumblefox said:
Heatblur team, Excellent update as always. Loving the Phantom. I see we got keybinds for the Radar Altimeter, will binds for the standby ADI cage/uncage and trim be forthcoming at some point?
Thank you for your kind words. And definitely something we can look into.
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16 minutes ago, scommander2 said:
Is it for F-4E or F-14? Thanks.
The F-4E now properly displays on the F-14 RWR.
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[Bug] Flickering under the wing of the F-4
in Bugs & Problems
Posted
Thank you for your report, Michael, we will take a look!