scoobie
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Posts posted by scoobie
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Oh yeah, the VRS... But don't worry, it only takes two points to remember:
1. Don't think you're smarter than VRS, ever. You are not.
2. In Mi-8 "anti-VRS-duty" is a continuum, more "analog" thing, not a zero/one logic. You'll be just pulling the collective a few times as your speed (below ETL) is decreasing. If not - embrace the Earth
It's perfectly doable once you notice this "analogness".
EDIT: And once you notice it and get more or less proficient, you will ignore point 1 above (like me)
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Congratulations on purchasing the best DCS chopper (to date)!
It has the biggest rotor, so it's objectively best
But seriously: it's a great DCS module, but also a great helicopter IRL. 11 tonnes of metal, 11 tonnes of joy. That is lots!
While it may be easier to quickly fall in love with Huey (it's just so adorable), in the long run I appreciate Mi-8 more for its versatility. It's just amazing how competent this bird is!My dream is that Belsimtek people are putting as much love in the Hind as they clearly put in the Hip. If so - we can sleep easy, it's gonna rock like hell! Just don't rush it, folks, get a herring for Christmas. It's good. And healthy.
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Hi! Has this been rectified yet? On my OB installation it still reads: "Perform training exercise, destroy targets at the range".
Not an issue, TBH, I just smiled, but perhaps there's something wrong with my files (not up-to-date, somehow?). -
Oh, thanks, but... let's just say I'm very unreliable in terms of any extra obligations :( Not by nature, but because... say... unexpected complications. Medical stuff. I'm not the master of my time. I wish I was.
Just one more note, if I may. I've just recalled this.
It's only a small detail, but it's just struck me how important wording is in single player missions!
Yeah, I know the voiceovers have been recorded, and it's NOT a big deal at all, but perhaps will be of any use for your future missions.
When you mess up your hover in Mission 12, they tell you "Commander, you are out of the airfield area". In fact, I was hovering over a taxiway in the very middle of the airfield (just drifted rearwards too far), so I was like "What? So where do you think I am - on the Moon?" ;)
At first I really thought I broke down the mission and I was thinking whether I need to restart it or I can do something to "fix" it.
Perhaps this would be better: "Commander, you are out of the EXERCISE area". That would get me thinking: "Oh gee, so I must have drifted away somehow. Let me look outside again! I'm over the taxiway as they told me, Humvees are in front of me as they told me... I get it - I must be too far away from the Humvees, move her forward!" :)
How crazy is that - it's just one word: "excercise" vs. "airfield".
Oh boy, making missions is super hard! My respect for you - daredevils who make them!
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"Bookmarks" (or "shortcuts") were possible previously, I just can't remember in which module I used this. Haven't checked the new kneeboard, though.
Anyways... just a quick idea for an easy to do (probably) and helpful improvement: instead of "create shortcut/bookmark", make it "toggle shortcut/bookmark" - click, the page is bookmarked now, click, it's no longer bookmarked.
Why? Some people have a mixture of their own pages in the kneeboard and pages made by a mission creator, and on top of that all the airfiled specific pages that come with Caucasus. In total, you may have a lot of them. As the mission progresses (especially a complex one) you may no longer need your "early" bookmarks, but want to create a few new ones. It all boils down not to having too many bookmarked pages at a time, so it doesn't take long to browse through all of them.
Of course, even without toggle, bookmarks/shortcuts are very helpful - sure thing! It's just a small idea.
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Hi,
just finished Mission 15, so the campaign is over for me. I played missions 1..14 a few weeks ago.
Thanks a lot for your campaign, it's lots of fun. There still is a pinch of untidiness in your missions, but less of it than in the previous campaign and this time we're talking "papers" mostly (kneeboard, briefings).
"The Crew Part 1" is a solid campaign, requires a fair amount of competence in Mi-8, and has a very nice "feel" to it - much as "Memory of a Hero" had.
I guess it's your trademark - the feel or the "ambience" plus lots of cool ideas.
If I may ask you anything, don't give up working on this "tidiness" in your missions, so that the tasks for the player are clear as a whistle, kneeboards tidy and with valid data (no errors), briefings likewise. But rest assured - it clearly shows you've worked hard on it in "The Crew Part 1". Thanks for that!
In terms of technical issues, I had none (!), except perhaps for a radio, a few times, but I'm not sure whether it was missions at fault or myself. Still, I had no broken triggers, everything just went smoothly over all 15 missions. Impressive!
FWIW, below are my quick notes I took while playing. Some of them may be incorrect, e.g. the mission may be okay, but I did something wrong etc., so bare that in mind.
WARNING 1: MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS!
WARNING 2: WALL OF TEXT!
My tiny "dream wishlist" for your missions.
1. I find it a bit hard to cope with Russian "First_name Patronymic Surname" pattern - there are 3... 4 pieces to remember for each character. Dima is for good friends, Dmitry slightly more official, Dmitry Michaylich is to show respect (AFAIK), Tarasov is the surname. Oh boy it's so easy to get lost :)
In English it's way simpler - you are just "John" or, at worst, "John Doe". That's all there is it.
The dream feature for me (and probably other people who only have "First_name Surname" pattern in their countries) would be a fake picture of all crew members and perhaps other actors in this movie (give us Katia's picture!) with Name/Patronymic/Surname and perhaps a role. For example (fake one): "Dmitry (Dima) Michailovich Tarasov. The boss. Overall a human being, kind of.", "Katerina (Katia) X Y. Our flight deck goddess, sorry, the stewardess.", "W (X) Y Z. The navigator. Doesn't talk much, as opposed to drinking." etc.)
Besides, that would also come in handy even for Russians as sometimes some actors leave the stage in early missions to return in later ones - it's easy to forget who is who.
2. Your voice actors are really good! Thanks, people!
Just a small idea though... Could you share with them how names of places etc. are stressed? They speak OK, but misplaced stress makes them sound a bit... uhm... fake - they ARE Russians, after all.
For example, is it Solnech_NA_ya (arctic station) or Sol_NE_chnaya? Solnech_NA_ya sounds like Polish stress, Sol_NE_chnaya more like Russian. I may be wrong about the latter, though.
Someone may ask: "Dude, what's realistic about English speaking people who correctly stress Russian names of places?". Everything is! - I would answer - they are Russians, not English, they're speaking English only for me, the player, so I can understand them, but Russians certainly know how to pronounce their own cities/places/etc., don't they?
Oh, and there's also this neverending hassle with "l" vs. "w" sounds. It's only about spelling, both English and Russians say "l" and "w" (yeah, I know, Russian language has this "special flavour l", but "w" is exactly the same). If you somehow described to your English actors which "l" letters are actually "w" sound, that would get even better! For example... I'm not sure, but isn't it that in Russian the "l" in "Solnechnaya" is actually "w" sound?
Of course there's nothing wrong with voiceovers as they are now, they're GREAT! It's just an idea to make them even more immersive.
(On the other hand, if "The Crew Part 2" actually does take place in <the_place_you_mention_at_the_end_of_mission_15> than of course everything will come naturally perfect in this regard).
Mission 1
1. First you cruise HDG 245 for 98 km, then you return HDG 071 for 98 km. 071 is not the reciprocal to 245. 065 is. If you followed 071 you'd end up some 10 km away from Nalchik. I followed NDB instead. Apparently you included magvar to 245 and didn't include it to 071.
2. Radio frequencies in the English kneeboard (called "Frequency" as if there was one of them, while there are 10) and most other inscriptions are all written in different fonts and/or font sizes. It's a mess, looks as if a 12-y-o. was playing with Microsoft Paint ;-)
3. The unit of frequency is Hz, not hz, not hZ, not anything else, only Hz. You don't change capital/small letters in units and their prefixes. In Russian, you've got МГц (correct) and КгЦ (incorrect) in the kneeboard, or something similar (I can't check this now). Again, quite a chaos.
4. A detail, but anyway - units of measure are written after a space (number space unit... with only a few exceptions), not only in my language, but in English and in Russian as well, so it's "123 MHz", not "123MHz".
5. The overall quality of kneeboard pages is low, I'm talking both English and Russian (the latter being only a tiny bit better). Look at The Enemy Within or Operation Persian Freedom kneeboards as examples.
6. Who is CTA "Syberia"? Can I contact them, and how? What do I need their NDB (465 kHz) for? The trip is nearly 100 km, I thought I would need to tune to CTA, but no, I only talked to Nalchik ATC and Kurgan people. So why is CTA Syberia on the list?
7. I took off from Kurgan, then I was asked to tune to Nalchik (136 MHz). The first trouble here is that it was 23 km from Kurgan (so around 75 km from Nalchik) and the text messages of crew talking to Nalchik ATC read something like this: "We're approaching/descending" (can't remember exactly now). I wasn't descending at that point as there were still monutains below and 75 km would be a very long approach (considering my altitude). The second trouble is I couldn't hear the voiceovers of the crew/ATC talking. I tuned to 136 MHz and only then this text popped up on the screen, but the radio was silent. Perhaps a DCS quirk, or I might have done something wrong, I don't know.
8. I forgot to capture it (finished the mission already), but pictures in the briefieng are in wrong order, i.e. number 2 is "NEVER FORGET", then go a few other pictures, and only then the picture showing what one should never forget (namely: turn the audio volume knobs in the cockpit to maximum). Perhaps you could use prefixes to file names, maybe 000_CCP1_01_something, 000_CCP1_02_something or just anything that would do the trick.
9. I'd swear I heard "red taxiway" as a first mention of the final landing spot at the Nalichik airport (before you depart to Kurgan). It wasn't a taxiway. I'm not English, but perhaps something like this is clearer: "land at the entrance to the alley formed by red flags and soldiers standing next to them. The general will get out of the chopper, walk down the alley and give a speech". I don't know, just ask an English/American dude how to say it in "real English" and they will tell you. The point is - as of now it's not very clear where exactly one should land - you've had a few people on the forum asking where the spot is. Clarity is king.
10. Overall difficulty - no problems for me (but I've got over 100 hrs in Mi-8 and LOVE the bird, spent a lot of time sling loading etc.). Regardless... if your intention was to give people a taste of the whole campaing's difficulty, then I think it's a good decision - to show the difficulty up front (provided people can fly mission 1 for free to try). So... I don't see anything wrong with this approach, on the contrary! (I'm saying this because there have been complaints about it - IMHO unjustified).
11. Cool voiceovers! Really liked them! :)
12. Overall a nice, straighforward introductory mission.
13. Oh... it turns out that mission 1 is a retrospection. It would be nice if this was indicated in some way. When you enter mission 2, you feel a bit lost. Yes, I can see you've got those black pictures with years on them. Can't remember the year for mission 1, let's say it was 2008, ok? Now, how about if you wrote "Back in 2008..." instead of "2008" and in mission 2 "2015, present day" instead of "2015". Just an idea.
Mission 2
1. The picture in the briefing states the first leg HDG is 120. Crew and kneeboard say in unison it's 114 (again - magvar included or not, depending on where you look).
Mission 3
Cool mission! First part a bit scary, then... what a view! (No spoilers). You really are creative, man!
1. Prescribed heading to the ship is fixed whereas she's sailing, so HDG to Amulet is changing, too, depending on the time of player takeoff from the ship.
2. Similarly to mission 1. At some point I get a message "It's time we contacted Amulet (or something), 124.6". I immediately tune to it and I can only see text description of voice comms between my man and ATC. No audio.
3. Now and then, in various missions: The "libretto" in the briefing sometimes starts with a dash when it's not a quote or without it when it is. Fake example:
You're not the one who decides here!
- The commander seemed really upset.
instead of:
- You're not the one who decides here!
The commander seemed really upset.
I hope you get what I mean.
Mission 4
Another nice mission :)
Mission 5
1. At some point the new crew member says something like: "Halfway between Shpora and Whitebear Station there's Chelabinsk-15". Isn't the latter the place where we started the mission? If so, do I get it right that the dude explaines the existence of the place we've just taken off from? That's odd and a bit misleading.
2. When leaving Whitebear station someone says: "Set DISS to course 232", then "Take heading 238" (more or less, I can't remember all the details). They give you two different courses to the same place, AFAICR one with and the other without magvar.
Mission 6 (the first mission with a sling load)
Oh, damn! Less than extremely easy mission! Dropping the cargo on the platform is a bit tricky, but the hardest part for me was to lift this bloody crate of junk off the ground! :) I don't know if I did it right, but I couldn't do it with generators on, had to pull collective even harder and quickly gather some speed for ETL, only then I could lower collective and turn back electricity, then pitch/bank SAS.
Later on there's another surprise (no spoilers here)! Great! :)
Mission 7 (delivering drill pipes to an oil rig)
"Let me clarify the landing zone - the platform with two towers". If I'm not mistaken, there were 4 of them, 2 of which had two towers - if so, it was not a very helpful clarification, was it? ;)
Mission 10
Briefing picture "(...) commence firing from a safe distance (...) as per Scheme D". There is no scheme D or more precisely... that very picture is scheme D. So it's a "WTF" moment when you are watching unnamed "Scheme D" which tells you to follow instructions as per Scheme D.
Mission 11
1. In the first exercise you are supposed to avoid AAA fire. Cool, but the AAA are shooting their rounds INTO A CITY FULL OF PEOPLE. What kind of an execrise is that? How many were killed by stray bullets? Come on!
2. After the second exercise (missile evasion): "Maneouver was successful (...) make your altitude 150 meters by radar altimeter", "407, roger, (...) altitude is 150 meters". It was NOT 150. I don't know too much about radio comms., but I don't think they say "IS" for something that "IS NOT". In civ. avation they would just repeat "altitude 150" to confirm they understood correctly what the ATC guy/gal wants them to do. I guess the word "is" just slipped in by mistake.
3. Exercise 4
IS: "Just don't forget that the Zu-23 will be find us"
SHOULD BE: "Just don't forget that the ZU-23 will find us" (capital "U", no "be")
Mission 12
1. Briefing picture title: "EMPLOYMENT NVG". How about "NVG EMPLOYMENT"? I imagine it slipped during translation from Russian, but in English the order of words is crucial.
2. Hovering at 10 meters - no problem, 20 meters - no problem, 30 meters - "Commander, you are out of the airfield area" - bold claim, I was hovering over that taxiway. After a few minutes I discovered what was wrong - over the course of the exercise I gradually moved a little back on the taxiway (away from the Humvees) and I must have started near the rear end of the "trigger area" in the first place. So eventually I "fell out" of the trigger zone. The area could've been marked with some tyres/whatever in its 4 corners.
3. I am supposed to use NVG for the hover exercise. So... to facilitate the exercise I have a Humvee 10 meters in front of me, with the headlighs on, shining right into my NVG. Is that a setting for using NVG? I could see better without them. Whenever conditions are such that a naked eye can see better, nobody uses NVG. Was this meant to be a challenge? Ended up looking a bit silly, sorry.
4. "Landing permission denied, enter the pattern, left turn for base leg.", "407, roger, enter the pattern, left turn for base (...)". Don't know what it means. If I turned left at that moment, I'd join the downwind leg in right hand traffic pattern, but then I wouldn't "turn left" for base. If I turned left after crossing the Rwy heading, I'd join left hand pattern downwind leg. Does this "left turn for base leg" mean I am simply expected to join left traffic pattern?
Mission 13
1. Briefing. So I'll take Lavkov to UDNG3. Okay. I'm browsing the pictures... and get to picture number 3: "Landing site - Main Plant / The Base Manager". What's that, what is it about? What is Main Plant? And if "Base Manager" is the Main Plant's manager, why is it now "Base"? Is it a Base, a Plant, or what is it? And who is the manager, why would I care about him? (Yes, I know it will become obvious later, during the mission, but you know what I mean).
2. In general, early on in the campaign you were giving estimate mission time in the briefing, then you stopped doing it, at/around Mission 10 or so.
3. In general, in the kneeboard, you often list way more places than the mission is about. I'd rather expect (myself) to put in the kneeboard the facts of my mission, not anything that comes to my mind. Yeah, sure, I'd add some divert landing place/zone or two of them perhaps. In some missions you list - say - 15 places, whereas in the mission I need 3 of them. In other missions the list is limited. Do you have a plan or a theory how you do it? Why big list, why small list? It all feels messy.
Mission 14
1. Platform UDNG-3 in the briefing, CDNG-3 in the frequency chart (the kneeboard).
2. "Contact Vetka (F5)" - Vetka is not in F5 menu, there's lots of items on the list marked as "...", but Vetka? It wasn't there. I had the same case with a radio station in one of the previous missions, once or twice perhaps, but I forgot to write down the details :(
4. "Ambulances are standing by". Where did the ambulances come from? (I don't know how many of them there was for the reason explained below). Where did they get ambulances from and why do they keep them there? How do ambulances travel between the stations? In which station do they have a hospital? I may be wrong, but I guess each station should have their own medical facility and if urgent medical transport is needed, they would use helicopters, I guess. It's damned arctic, after all, no roads, no infrastructure, what use would be an ambulance there?
5. Damn it! :( On the way back I drifted quite a bit off course and when things started going even worse than they had been, I had a longer distance to the heliport (longer than the mission author would expect). Truly a stroke of bad luck. Eventually, I touched down some 300 meters away from the helipad, couldn't make it in the air any longer :( Result 60, my passengers had to go on foot, poor guys :( That was a hard mission. If only I hadn't veer off course... I'll do it properly next time I play the campaign.
Mission 15
Solnechnaya/Otkrytka 130 MHz in the briefing, 126 MHz in the picture and in the kneeboard.
"I'm in position. Passengers unloaded. Only Yarishef left. Ready for takeoff." - if only Yarishef left, then all other passengers are on board. Should be this: "Only Yarishef STAYED / ETC." (but don't quote me on that, my English is rudimentary), not "left", left means that he, well, left, so he's no longer here.
"25905, affirmative! Contacting SPHORA. Good day!
130MHz"
In the briefing it says 127.5 MHz, not 130. The trigger works with 130, which means that there are two controllers, not far away from each other, who use the same frequency (Solnechnaya uses 130 MHz, too). Strange.
Immediately it turns out it's "Sphora-Dezhurniy" on 130, who wants you to switch to 127.5 once on approach. Anyways, 130 is used by two stations approx. 100 km from each other.
But wait, no it's not like this - 130 is probably something like a "center" watching over the whole area, but you can't learn it from the briefing.
Th briefing says "Solnechnaya/Otkrytka 130 MHz" (BTW, why two names for one thing? How different is Otkrytka from Solnechnaya?). "Solnechnaya 130 MHz" is somewhat misleading if this frequency is in fact the "center" (ATC for aircraft in cruise around the whole area).
The kneeboard says "DUTY CONTROL ATC 130".
On the radio they call themselves "Sphora-Dezhurniy".
Too many names for a single controller, I don't know who I'm talking to, my head's spinning.
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I swear I didn't do anything wrong, Your Honour! ;)
I'll be damned... works a charm!
The view is just perfect now (and "auto viewpoint shift" works as you said, too).
I haven't the faintest idea how I broke it. Point is, I started tweaking those snap views BECAUSE the view was bad... which must simply mean I had broken it before that, without noticing.
Thanks a 1000, Art! :notworthy:
Interestingly enough, after I had removed "Saved Games\DCS\Config\View\SnapViews.lua", DCS did not create a new one. I guess DCS has some file(s) for these things inside its installation directory and it creates a copy in "Saved Games" only when a user introduces a change (any change) to any aircraft. I will ivestigate later on (I've moved the "broken" file to a safe location for that purpose).
Thanks again! Now... where's my aviator hat... :pilotfly:
SORRY FOR STEALING THE THREAD, I'm off now. Sorry.
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Hi,
I thought it was a problem with just my DCS (though I have no problems in other aicraft!). Yeah, there's something strange with head tracking in 109.
However, I'm not trying to solve these problems yet as I have more "core" problems with the viewpoint in 109. Please excuse me stealing the thread a bit.
1. What's wrong with this "automatic viewpoint shift" (let's call it this way) according to the gunsight position? It's the option under the "Special" tab. The idea behind this option is that when you have the Revi down (the so-called "cruise mode") your head is supposed to be centered in the cockpit (your nose in the longitudinal axis of the 109), and when Revi is up for combat (a.k.a. "combat mode") your head moves automatically to the right, so you can easily look through the sight.
Problem is... in "cruise mode" my head is clearly to the left, and in "combat mode" it's in the center. The amount of "viewpoint shift" from one mode to the other seems okay, it's just the "origin" of the viewpoint seems wrong (moved to the left). Do you guys use this feature? Is it that I broke down my DCS like that or do you all experience it?
2. Regardless of the above, my default viewpoint is too close to the dashboard, at least to my taste. In P-51 or the Spit - no complaints, but in 109 it's just too close. I tried to move my "snap views" (including the unrecommended "5" snap view), but that's not the way to go. Apparently even the "5" snap view is... well, a snap view. I could've guessed ;)
So, when I press "zoom normal" the viewpoint returns to this ugly "nose in the dashboard" view.
How do you change it? Do I need to tweak the numbers in that "snapview.lua" file or is it "server.lua"? Or is this done any other way? Is there a way to somehow predict the proper numbers to type in into one of these files or is it done solely by trial and error method?
Sorry for silly questions, but that's something I've never done so far in DCS. I'd rather ask than break something.
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Hi,
if you're interested, there's this channel on Youtube run by a Canadian guy "AgentJayZ" who owns (works at?) a jet engine repair shop. I like his videos a lot, you can actually see the guts of such engines, in detail, and learn quite a bit about these crazy engines that blow air instead of (properly) pushing pistons :) In some episodes he talks about turboshaft engines with free turbine, i.e. the same design (basically) as in helicopters, for he sometimes gets "ground" engines of such design for repair/overhaul. Good stuff, if you're geeky enough :)
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Yeah, the paddle sure is more "comfy" by itself, it's very nice, while the button is a bit too stiff on TM Warthog, but with my joystick up on the table I've just noticed that my thumb always wants to rest next to the CMS hat or on the TMS hat (both equally comfortable, I think), and my pinky virtually touches the pinky button at all times. So for saving my life (spitting countermeasures) I figured that - at least for me - this setup is probably as fast to push as it gets.
But all these are small details, I guess, the paddle is just as fast, especially if you have a habit of keeping your finger on it (plus it's nicer to operate than that stiff button!).
More importantly, though, TMS and CMS hats (plus the trigger) are by far best buttons on the joystick (if it's in the "tabletop configuration"), so using CMS hat just for CMS seems a horrible waste to me - you don't launch contermeasures that much (besides, you can easily run out of them), unlike zooming, TMS-ing things etc., which is for free and you do it waaay more often. (RL pilots don't zoom with the stick, we do).
These are just my thoughs :) The ultimate truth is what you've said - whatever works for somebody is good.
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I don't like the slider for zooming, but I guess it depends on your "seat configuration" (e.g. tabletop throttle + relatively high table as compared to the seat = uncomfortable).
Anyways, since I've used TMS hat for zoom in slow (forward/up), zoom normal (right) and zoom out slow (back/down) since uhm... 20 years ago or so with my CH Combatstick, I'm so used to it that I copied this config once I bought my TM Warthog joystick (last year).
My patent for A-10C:
TMS in game = hardware CMS hat.
CMS in game = hardware CMS hat + pinky button as a "shift" button. (I use the pinky paddle the standard way in A-10 - NWS/laze/etc.).
(Hardware TMS hat - zoom/TrackIR).
I find pinky button superior to the paddle, as the latter requires to reach out for it with your finger, while the button is already under my pinky whenever I hold grip on the joystick, I just need to squeeze more to actutate it. But again - this may depend on your "seat configuration".
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Doh! :doh: I finally got it! Bought my first DCS warbird the other day, and after two evenings of trying all those ways to take off in Bf 109 given by other people (thank you!) and literally hundreds of test take-offs, I think I got it.
Yes, I know there's more than one way to skin a cat and whatever works for you is fine, this is simply my take on the subject.
I'm going to be a bit more elaborate for folks who still don't dig it and perhaps need more explanation until it "clicks" for them.
MAIN THOUGHTS (my discoveries, hehe):
1. Taking off in the DCS Bf 109 K-4 is actually straightforward! It really is! It's not very easy, there's one aspect of it you'll need to practice, but the procedure below is dead simple.
2. You shall not, never ever, let her develop a yaw any bigger than a minute one, at any stage of take-off roll. Whenever she does show yaw, you must quench it very quickly. Otherwise you're dead, no deliverance, prayers futile. Suppress yaws.
3. A side effect of the above is this: when she's too slow for the rudder to be effective, you can have NO yaw or at worst a tiny and non-accelerating one. Otherwise you'll have to tap that toe brake, but I find this more of a rodeo with your life at stake than a proper, repetitive technique.
4. As for "just slam that throttle" technique. If anybody assures me it's healthy for the engine, I will obediently reconsider my technique (as given below). Until then, it smells like a treason, Reinhard! Das Vaterland seems to be loosing the war and you just want to slam the engine on our precious fighter? Give me your pistol and take off your belt. Guards! ;)
CONDITIONS
1. WE'RE NOT TALKING CROSSWIND HERE (haven't tested that so far)!
2. Tested with 50% fuel, but also with 100% internal fuel, the external tank attached, full ammo (106% MTOW) - works well in both cases.
3. DCS OB 2.5.6.something as of the 3rd of Nov., 2020. Normandy, "Saint Pierre du Mont" airfield (or something like that), runway takeoff.
4. Summer, 9:00 a.m., 20 degrees C, no precipitation, no wind.
PREPARATION
1. Tail wheel checked locked.
(Checked means you have tapped toe brakes to see if the lock has actually snapped).
2. Prop pitch 12:00 (manual).
3. Elevator trim full nose heavy (which is nearly +2 degrees).
4. Stick centered and don't play with it. Centered is good until the lift-off.
5. Full right rudder and keep it there until I tell ya. You won't be using toe brakes.
6. You may - and for praciticing perhaps you should - zoom out just enough so that you can see some ground outside the cockpit, to the left and right of the dashboard. This is meant to help you notice any yaw tendencies early. Practice with various zoom (out) levels until you find a comfortable setting. (VR users and/or multi-pancake users may have different ways to deal with that).
PROCEDURE
1. Gradually apply approx. 0.7-0.8 ata of power, so that she doesn't yaw or seems to yaw just a tiny bit. Now let her roll.
(You do keep the right pedal in the floor, right?)
Actually at 0.8 ata she's very likely to yaw (to the left), you can see it on the turn indicator built into the attitude indicator. The "needle" (white square) will shift to the left, but will still be "in touch" with the marker at the outer ring of the a.i. Such tiny yaw is acceptable, because:
a) she won't veer off the centerline too much (this phase of T/O roll takes only 3-5 seconds or so),
b) such small yaw at low speed does not accelerate, it's stable (probably because of the tail wheel doing its job),
c) if you don't want any yaw at all, you may give her 0.7 ata as well.
Oh, but don't stare at the a.i.! Look outside at all times!
2. Very soon you will notice that the left yaw tendency (if any) disappears and she immediately starts yawing to the right. This time, this right yaw will accelerate on its own until she kills you, so this is when you need to start steering your plane. Quickly!
2.1 Ease off the rudder some. How much? I don't know. Don't drive by the numbers at this stage, use your "driver instincts" to keep her centered. With practice you'll get it right.
2.2 At the same time add T/O power (1.35 ata typically). You neither need to slam it (don't), nor do you need to be slow and overly cautious with power. Your rudder is alive now, and you are already steering the plane, so just smoothly add that power. At all times concentrate on suppressing yaws, don't pay attention to power - even if you give too little, she will eventually get to speed and take off. Besides, with pracice you will learn where your hardware throttle should be moved to along its axis (more or less is good enough). And besides, the throttle will settle at about 1.4 ata until the last inch perhaps, where the boost kicks in, so really - don't think about power, suppress yaws.
(If you want, you may examine your power later, reviewing the "track" file).
3. Carefully steer her, SUPPRESS THOSE YAWS!
If you don't make serious mistakes, you'll be using the right pedal only.
I've noticed I'm very "jerky" with the pedal, but perhaps that's how it's done or at least it works fine for a beginner like me.
4. Once she lifts off or when the speed is good for a lift-off (but she somehow doesn't want to lift off on herself yet), pull back a little bit on the stick.
This is required as full nose heavy trim makes it a bit hard to lift off or she may settle on the ground again (which is no big deal, except that you look lame).
I find full nose heavy better than 1 degree because:
a) with 1 degree, she'll tend to lift off at a lesser speed, so she'll be closer to a stall - I don't need trouble, I'm busy already,
b) it's easier to set full nose heavy - just turn the wheel until it stops, you don't need to read numbers in that "readout window" in front of the trim wheel (yeah, I'm lazy and yes, my eyes are bad ;)).
5. Don't forget to switch to automatic pitch once you are safe in the air. Fly the airplane, raise the gear, fly the airplane, switch auto pitch on, fly the airplane.
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That's it.
The only thing you need to practice is suppresing yaws, the rest is dead simple. At all times you will just observe yaws and fight them, no need to look at the dashboard, no need to do magic maneouvers with your stick etc. (which all make things only harder, at least for a noob like me). Just look outside, constantly, evaluate your position on the runway and fight the bloody yaws.
To be very exact, a yaw in itself is only dangereous because it gradually gets you off the centerline and the runway has a limited width - but that's a minor issue. The big issue is if you let the yaw accelerate too much - then all hell breaks loose and you can only burst in tears ;) Only a sloooow yaw lets you survive, and you need to suppress it while you still can (the window of opportunity is small!).
NOTES:
1. Why manual pitch? I've found out that variable pitch somehow interferes with keeping her centered, I don't know how exactly, I'm too busy to notice when she's rolling, but I don't want that regardless of the physics behind it.
2. Why 12:00 of pitch? I don't know, everyone says it's a good number. I haven't tried different settings. You may (or may not) find a better pitch value, I just don't know, so I'm using 12:00 for now.
3. I'll try to improve on this procedure (just out of curiosity), but the above procedure got me going, repeatedly, so I guess it's good for starters.
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Oh, so it's going to be like a separate campaign for the "II" and I can just "move" (by editing the logbook) my progress from the old one to the new one. I think I dig it now. Sorry! :)
Thanks!
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(...) nm I see this is alrdy possible by editing logbook.lua (...)
Whoa, wait... I got home later on yesterday and checked what's in the logbook.lua. It doesn't deal with aircraft. It simply keeps your results in previous missions and marks which mission file will be played next (namely, either repeat the last failed mission or play the next one if you succedded).
So, I can't see exactly how one would change the aircraft (from A-10C "classic" to A-10C II) by editing logbook.lua, but I guess if BD gives us this choice at the start of each mission, you won't need any lua editing.
What did you mean, MrExplosion (by "this is already possible by editing logbook.lua")?
I'm no expert in DCS universe, would you mind educating newbies a bit?
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(...)There's been other companies that have been supporting the flight sim community for many years after one larger company decided to just drop everyone because it didn't suit them - I've really lost interest in the former co.(...)
Exactly this. The larger company had to make billions, not millions, so they just dumped FS, sacked Aces Studio and Bob's your uncle.
AFAIK what they did with FS2020 was hire a studio (a French one, is it?) to "write some software for them, fly game or something like that, we don't exactly know but people said we could make money on that" and if MS don't earn their billions, they will just drop it like garbage. They had done this before, they can easily do it again. Looking from this perspective, FS2020 is "yet another game" for me. There are lots of games released every year, nothing to write home about.
Sure - as someone mentioned above - MSFS is a platform for proper quality add-ons (something like DCS modules for DCS World), the question is how credible is the company behind the very platform?
Should I demolish my room to built a cockpit for MSFS? No, thanks.
ED, on the other hand, have been making their living on their combat flight sim since the 90's and they're still in business.
That's why I bought myself new HOTAS a few months ago and didn't buy a new yoke.
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Many thanks, BD! :)
And many thanks, MrExplosion! I came here to ask exactly the question you have just answered (I'm in Mission 9), you're reading my mind :)
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(...) Creating a curve does not fully solve the issue. (...)
What do you mean? Am I missing something?
You tick "slider", you tick "user curve" and the curve is as follows:
50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100
Doesn't this work for you?
PS. I've also made myself these axes to work with potentiometers on my button box (all need the above curve):
{action = 3007, cockpit_device_id = 5, name = _('RWR Volume Knob')},
{action = 3005, cockpit_device_id = 49, name = _('Flood Light Knob')},
{action = 3016, cockpit_device_id = 58, name = _('TACAN Audio Volume')}, -- this one is perhaps less than essential
{action = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 58, name = _('ILS Audio Volume')}, -- as above
PS. Yes, of course - ready to use axes in options/controls should be the way to go.
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Things might be easier if the coolie switch was a 4 way switch instead of an 8 way hat. I've never liked the way it feels.
Amen to that! It would be nice if you could somehow disable the "diagonal" buttons in a 8-way POV, but you can't.
A few weeks ago I came up with a trick for that, but actually I haven't tried it with the coolie (haven't thought of that so far!), but with the trim hat (it's also an 8-way hat/POV on the TM Warthog Joystick).
I noticed that sometimes I can't trim ailerons. It turned out that the position of my hand on the stick is such that sometimes I press - say - up+left ("course" 315 on the hat) instead of just left (course 270). Or up+right, down+right instead of just right etc.
What I also noticed was that I NEVER mix pitch trim with left/right - I always press straight up or down.
Solution: I assigned up+left AND left AND down+left for "left wing down" trim, and similarily for the right wing down. Works a charm :)
Perhaps - once you (or I, for that matter) figure out what mistakes on the coolie your fingers do - the same trick may be used for the coolie? But it only works if one "axis" on the POV/hat (i.e. up/down or left/right) is always pressed correctly. If it's a mess in all directions, nothing can be done, I think.
Besides, I have the impression that the coolie hat on TM Warthog Throttle is somehow turned or "skewed", don't know how to say it. Or simply I have "skewed" hands, that's possible, too ;)
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Hi,
I've been thinking about it, too!
(Bear in mind though that I'm a noob and have only had some 50 hours in A-10C and only tried the "II" version yesterday for the first time).
Ad 1. No, 'swap screens' feature is next to useless, at least for me. I've used it maybe twice during those 50 hrs of my flying. Perhaps it can be of more use in A-10C II, but let's wait and see (overlay on HMD from TGP is supposedly possible only when the latter is on the right MFCD vs. only the right MFCD displays MAV page by default, IIRC, so - at least theoretically - you may now have a sensible reason to swap screens).
Anyway, consider this: pressing AND HOLDING the coolie down brings up DSMS page on both MFCD's temporarily, i.e. as long as you hold it. That's a nice and useful feature, but due to it you can't assign anything else to coolie down long. Coolie down short may be utilized for something else, though - and they picked 'swap screens'.
Ad 2. I don't own the F-16, so I'm not sure how you can select between two MFCD's and the HUD (and now the HMD in "Tank Killer") as your SOI with just one button, but regardless of that - the story behind the side-long-press must have been this: if they chose the long press for switching through all the MFCD pages (4 or 5 of them) that would take eons for the pilot to just glimpse at another page and quickly return to the page he was viewing previously, so it seems reasonable to use short presses for this. Thus, for selecting a SOI you need to press long, but you always do it only once at a time (not 4 or 5 times in a row). I guess that's the reason behind it.
However, if you ask me, I hate it! :) It happens to me too often that, especially in the heat of the action, I kinda 'loose grip' of the coolie and only 'tap' it left or right instead of pressing and properly holding it, so I switch the page on the MFCD instead of making it the SOI - at the least appropriate moment! But hey - newbies should practice instead of complaining, so I just try to give the coolie a firm push each time I need to make MFCD the SOI... perhaps one day I'll get good at it :)
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Hooray! :clap:Thanks, guys!
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Warning: noob's question.
May I?
I play on stable, not OB. I intend to buy the A-10C II upgrade for $10 during the first month since the release. I'm aware I won't be able to fly the plane until it gets into DCS stable, but the question is: will this be a valid purchase? Will I be able to download and fly the plane once it is pushed into the stable release?
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Hi Deny,
as for the time compression issue - if you want to return to "normal time compression" (i.e. no time compression) without hassle, just press Shift-Z (once) and it's done.
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Dear Sir,
I hearby demand that payware DLC campaigns be of no lesser quality than Operation Persian Freedom.
Or at least not far lesser.
Thank you, Sir.
Yours sincerely
(signature illegible)
:D
Actually I was looking for some single missions as a next step in familiarizing myself with A-10C (I'm new to DCS). I've been learning and training through systems, weapons employment and all that computer science in A-10C, but wanted an intermediate step before finally plunging into a big serious campaign such as The Enemy Within 3.0.
I stumbled upon your missions, played throught 3 of them so far and my jaw dropped... I didn't expect such a treat from free missions! They are way better than some paid campaigns, at least chopper campaigns (so far I've only been flying choppers in DCS). Technically sophisticated and innovative (for example, radio chit-chat options to choose from... never heard of anything like that before), interesting, immersive, logical, with lucid, coherent tasking, truly informative briefings, well laid out and helpful kneeboard pages and very good voiceovers.
I couldn't ask for more.
My English is very limited, so the only good word here that I know of is "WOW!". Wow, indeed! (They won't hire me in BBC, I know).
If we're talking about immersion... mission 3 - the truck that approached the base (form NW, IIRC) and stopped next to the fence. I reported it through the radio, they actually sent a car to examine what was going on, then reported back something like "It's nothing, just some locals fooling around, we told them to shove it" and then I saw the truck actually turning back and driving away. You just see it and belive it. It's credible, as IRL. Everything just makes sense.
This is exquisite work, Sir. Hats off!
Thank you!
PS1.
No big deal, nothing bad happened, but there was a moment of hesitation in Mission 2. I was told I was to be number 8 on the taxiway. On the other hand, the briefing claimed I was a two ship flight lead. Maths told me I should be number 7 in such case. Long story short, my wingman drove onto the taxiway before me, so I was wondering whether I did something wrong, or the briefing was wrong and I'm the wingman, not the flight lead. My impression is that the flight lead drives first (though I must admit I know nothing about Air Force procedures). Still, once we got airborne, it became clear I'm the lead, so no worries.
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Hi people!
I used to flight sim or 'fly game' a bit since mid '90s till 2007 or so. 'F29 Retaliator' was I think my first one, then other stuff. Then an unknown company called Eagle Dynamics released 'Su-27' and boy... that felt like a real sim! My Quickshot QS-123 got red hot :)
Then ED made the Flanker 2.0, I still have those 2 little booklets (the printed manual, those were the times!).
On the way there was Il-2 Sturmovik and its successors, but I never particularly liked them, don't know why.
I've never been a combat flight head exactly, though. I've spent countless hours playing FS2000 and FS9 (FSX was too heavy for my contemporary computer) and only SOME hours in combat flight sims.
When Microsoft showed the middle finger to the community and all 3rd party companies grown around Flight Simulator franchise (MS sacked Aces Studio) "to align our people against our highest priorities", as they explained, I thought flight simming was done and the era of casual gaming came to rule forever (well, it did). So I threw my CH Products gear in the cellar and went for simracing. I was relentlessly simracing online for 3 years or so (beautiful times!), then my family situation changed and I had to quit simracing, too.
Today I'm no longer overly young (48 ) ;) and some time ago I learnt that LOMAC (the last flight sim I played) turned into DCS and DCS supposedly grew big.
I also read they had helicopters there and people claimed they could actually fly 'em. That sounded intriguing, I had never flown a chopper before!
So... I bought myself Huey, replaced CH Products gear with TM Warthog HOTAS, TPR, Stream Deck XL, built a crude DIY button box and dusted off my old TrackIR 3 with vector.
After one or two weeks of flying Huey, I bought Ka-50, Mi-8 and A-10C.
I don't have a lot of free time, so I have only approx. 100 hrs in Huey, 100 hrs in Mi-8, didn't like Ka-50 too much (I respect it, but don't fancy it too much, at least for now), and I'm slooowly learning A-10C.
I also bought all the Caucasus campaigns for these birds and have been playing them one by one. Some are great fun (others less so, but that's a different story).
My 'sparkling career' in A-10C is yet to begin, though. So far the Hog has been a bit overwhelming intelectually ;) so I need to do my homework first, then plunge into the campaigns. I just hope when A-10C II is out, the campaigns for the old module will still be playable. Somehow. We'll see.
Well, that's about it, not too much to say :)
I wish you guys/gals (and myself) metric tonnes of fun flying those gorgeous babies!
And wish ED enough money, time and perseverance to gradually iron out some rough edges DSCW now has (as obviously DSCW is by far the most important 'module' for DCS, no need to worry about the planes).
Cheers, everyone! :)
Holiday and New Year Wishes
in Chit-Chat
Posted · Edited by scoobie
I'm not a poet, but here's my BIG THANK YOU to ED, 3rd party devs and campaign authors!
When I first opened the box called "DCS" in 2020, I didn't realize I was opening a treasure chest. Yeah, I know about some bugs here and there, stuff and all, but it definitely IS a treasure chest. Choppers - all so different from one another, it's as if each of them was a different "game". Warbirds - so different from modern day birds. A-10C (and now version II with that augmented reality HMCS whizzbang) so different from uhm... anything else.
And I still haven't bought a single fighter jet, i.e. the things that most people seem to be here for! (That's still on my "TO DO" list).
To me it all feels like a sandbox to a kid!
I guess that must be high fidelity magic.
Best wishes for all the hardworking, smart and creative people who make all this possible.
Also all the best to you, sim nerds, who fuel that crazy undertaking with your hard-earned bucks and countless comments on the forums
Cheers, boys and girls! I'm gonna have some good craft beer for your health.
Looking forward to 2021 - the Hind, Mosquito, Kiowa... yummy!