Hiob

DON'T YELL AT ME! though I agree with the premise!

I haven’t received any emails from ED ever, apart from solicited ones of course. If there is a phishing site, that impersonates ED/DCS, that should be forwarded to them……. if

That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you be the only one to receive Spam on a DCS related E-mail?

Well, maybe it was an Anden Condor…… Do we no how the pilot got away?

On second view, I don’t think it was a mach cone but just low pressure vapor from pulling. Nevertheless, still not fun.

FFS, a bird to the face at Mach1. Bad day in the office!

Next to ATC, yes. Those are weak spots, I’d love to see improved, too.

I'm not sure that is the same. Normal smoke effects are straight, have a fixed length and then vary in direction by wind speed and heading. Whereas contrails are drawn at will in any shape. I'm not arguing. I have no idea how resource heavy something like this would be. That was just my guess. Obviously I'd love DCS to be as close to reality as poosible (especially everything weather related). So, bring it on, ED!

I don't think the devs are not aware or indifferent of this effect. However, simulating contrails effected by wind can quickly amount to a huge number of calculations, depending on the amount of aircraft, weather and flight path. It would probably slow down the simulation a lot when it is already struggeling. Think of an high altitude furball. My guess, it is a deliberate sacrifice for performance.

Well, it’s nice to have options. For a quick sortie, the script approach is certainly easier. However for a real mission build you’re right of course. i’m soaking all of this up, because so far, I didn’t really mess with either and I find the possibilities really interesting!

Thanks for this! This is awesome specific advice! I will try that.

Sharpening and gamma helps a bit. Other than that, there is a mod called “atmospheric haze reduction” or something along those lines.

Yeah, I’m less interested in plinking AI opponents in the Viper (even though that its own merits). For this discussion I was indeed aiming more for “old fashioned” early fox-2/gun brawls. And I think the limited realism of the AI performance is more obvious in the likes of the Phantom and its contemporaries. Also, in those Iron Jets, you fight your own aircraft as much as the enemy. Slow throttle reaction, Compressor stalls, etc…… It’s a different kind of gameplay (well it feels different to me). Though I like dogfights in the Viper just as much.

Looks like the splash damage from the first impact triggers the other bombs in a chain reaction...... Maybe droppped ordanance shut be exampted from the script (as affected I mean)

I appreciate the suggestions and heads-up. Honestly I wasn't aware, that we can modify the FM on our own. I'm not sure I have the time and motivation to go down that particular rabbithole, but I will certainly look into what is available on the matter! TY! @Katmandu are there ready .luas to modifiy AI-FM for single player. (I haven't looked into the linked threads yet. Need to do that when I'm home) I assume if that is possible, somebody already did it, no?

Yeah, doesn't make much sense to waste capacity on something that is going to be replaced anyway! Actually, I wasn't aiming to do extensive research on the matter. It isn't THAT important to me, and proving something to ED seems a waste of time also as they seem aware of the issue. I was more interested in casual ideas and reports how to do it best in the current envirionment. Or which AI-Aircraft to choose for a good experience. Maybe a "hyper-realisticly" simulated module like the Phantom is just a really bad pairing with a MiG-21, even if it was period appropriate. Nevertheless, experimenting with some weights and climb performance may be worthwhile.

I wonder if adding weight would help to tame the MiG-21 a bit.....

You're certainly not alone with that. Ground pounding is a satisfying and sufficiant challlenging gameplay. (And evading EAD is certainly thrilling), and we do that most if the time as well. However, every now and then I like the quick and dirty thrill of dogfighting. When I heard "Dangerzone", I need to channel my inner Maverick.....

Looking Looking forward to it! As mentioned though, this thread is not about criticising the current state, but more about how to make the best of it. Being more flexible with AI-Skill levels is certainly a good start. (thinking about it, maybe I should try to use the random option, which I never did so far. Maybe that'll make AI-fights more varied ) But I am also interested in experience reports on which aircraft are less "offensive" than others and maybe strategies to exploit AI-specific weaknesses. If that makes sense....

Yes, there is definitely a gradient noticable. And dumbing down the AI skill level does help. However, from my observation there is a pretty sharp jump from "I drive it into the ground without even being pushed that hard" to "I can regain my energy instantly after pulling lead"..... The AI doesn't even have to be Ace (in the MiG-21) to defeat me..... Also there is a little voice in me that can't count defeating a "Rookie" AI as win. But I guess, adjusting the skill level relative to the kind of aircraft I'm fighting would be suitable way to cope with the current limitations. (And of course fighting human players is much more fun - if you can find equally skilled/unskilled ones)

I guess it's a matter of performance. Doing all the necessary calculations for FF fligh model on a bunch of AI-Aircraft would probably melt your CPU. Nevertheless, my question is less about complaining about it and more about how to deal with it / make the best out of it........ Or to get an idea, if there are better or worse specimen.....

This is not a 100% serious question (hence placed in chit-chat, so don't grill me, ok!). I know that the AI is "cheating" in regards to 20/20 eyesight, energy conservation etc.... I think the question is - how bad is it. And which Aircraft are the worst offenders? Is there a way to remedy the issue somewhat? Reason for asking, I'm lately trying to learn dogfighting in the Phantom with somewhat appropriate opponents. Mainly MiG-19 and MiG-21. The former is somewhat manageable, unless I make a really big mistake. The latter is either an endless draw (until I run out of gas or slam into the ground out of frustration), or, if I make the slightest mistake, it'll kick my ass reliable. So, I'm definitely not the most competent dogfighter. And I seem to remember that the MiG-21 is one of the biggest offenders in regards to AI super powers. But still, is there a winning strategy? If not, what would be reasonable AI-opponents to train with? Your thoughts?

Ah ok, indeed a completely different issue than what I understood. Sry.

I can't exactly remember where I picked that up (maybe casmo mentioned it somewhere, but I'm not sure about that), but I always set the range manually to 800 and leave it there. For usual attack altitiudes and ranges that works pretty well. Apart from that I just walk the impacts towards the desired target.

I might add, that in those days of the war, there where a lot of rookies, that unfortunately died before they ever had the chance to become good pilots.