Flogger23m

I am hoping this is the case, but I don't think helicopters are going to be updated? I don't think the AH-1W has gotten a new model in around a decade, and they used to have a more sensible damage model. You'd think it would be easy to revert to that. Making a direct hit with a modern missile alone should be an instant kill. That is too bad. Because DCS was not always like this. I did stop playing A2G missions for a while, but have been doing A2G missions again as of late. Was disappointed to see years later that the issue still exists. You'd think it would be a near top priority because I assume it will hurt sales for A2G based planes, especially those that employ unguided weapons.

For a number of years now DCS AI/NPCs have had some obscene behaviors which makes the game difficult to enjoy at times. I know the game is constantly changing but some of these issues have been present for years now. First of all, ground vehicles are far too accurate with their cannons and machine guns. Two or three gun or rocket runs in an A-10 or Su-25 is nearly impossible without being blown out of the sky. BMP-2s have absurd tracking ability and accuracy. They will even shoot down players in Su-33s or MIG-29s. It isn't an exaggeration to say that BMPs are actually better anti aircraft weapons in DCS than dedicated AA guns like the Vulcan or Shilka. Why do BMPs and similar vehicles have an easier time tracking fighters and picking them off with extreme accuracy than those systems? It makes little sense. The ID and reaction time for these vehicles is just far too quick to be realistic. And I feel like the tracking is also far too accurate. The next major issue I see is survivability of helicopters. I find that they easily evade missiles far too easily and take far too many hits and continue flying on. Missiles have a harder time hitting slow moving helicopters than they do maneuvering fighters. AIM-9X, R-73, even AIM-120s are much less accurate against helicopters. It seems like a single flare will throw off a heat seeking missile 80% of the time when used by a helicopter. They also seem to be able to take far more hits than other aircraft. Often times I will hit them with 20-30 rounds of 30mm from a Flanker/Fulcrum or Su-25. This does little damage to them. On top of scoring dozens of hits with cannons, they will very often shrug off hits from missiles like the AIM-120 or R-73. Again, they can survive a missile hit very easily while typically a fixed wing plane will go down. Yesterday I hit an AH-1W with around 20-30 rounds, and scored a direct hit with an R-73. It kept flying on. Related to both of these topics is a helicopters ability to track and shoot down fighters. I again find the reaction times and precise accuracy to be a bit unrealistic. Generally it is hard to do a gun attack on them as they can swing 180 degrees around, and within 1-2 seconds, fire a pin point burst of cannon fire directly at a fighters cockpit. I've also been shot down by missiles like Hellfires, while turning and climbing away. It seems like they can again, acquire a fast moving target obscenely fast, lock on and fire. Ironically missiles like Hellfires are more accurate than dedicated air to air missiles like the AIM-9X, R-73, or AIM-120. These issues have been around for a long time and they do not seem very realistic in the slightest. Why would there be dedicated anti aircraft gun systems designed if an IFV/APC was more accurate? Why are air to air missiles less accurate against aircraft than anti tank missiles? It doesn't add up. Are there any planned changes coming soon? I feel like these are game breaking issues because of how prominent they are and how it greatly affects planes like the A-10 or Su-25.

A J-15 would be interesting. It is essentially a more modern Chinese Su-33. It would be single seat so you don't have to worry about multiplayer and NPCs in the back seat. I don't know if it has anti tank missiles, but it does have various anti ship and cruise missiles.

Will try that. 3 days ago the binding worked as shown in the screen shot above. I didn't change anything binding wise. Edit: So this is how it works: I can no longer map that function. The default keyboard function is "I", which works. But mapping it to any button on my HOTAS does not work. I can map other functions to those same buttons on my stick and all buttons work fine in another game. I'll chalk it up to bugs regarding mapping.

This is what it looks like on my end: I've read that you must disable TOO HRM OVRD. I've done that and the issue persists. Is this not the keybinding for switching targets? Because until 3 days ago it was:

Seems like yet another game breaking bug has reared its ugly head. For years TOO worked like this: 1) Multiple detected radars are shown. You can switch between them. 2) When you select the target you want, you hand off. Launch. 3) After a few seconds the detected radars will again show up. You can cycle through them, select the one you want to target, and hand off. Now you can no longer switch between targets. Doesn't matter if you use your HOTAS or the keyboard command. It simply doesn't work. Just three days ago I could track, hand off, launch on one radar and then rinse repeat on another target. Now you can't. You're perpetually stuck on one radar until it is destroyed or stops emitting. Is there any black magic that can be done to fix this?

Thanks all, have the AGM-65F and AGM-88 in TOO mode down. Will probably look into the AGM-84D next. Is that missile fully feature complete as of now?

Looks like I have everything down except for how to slew the AGM-65. I have the right screen selected due to the Diamond being there. Throttle Designator Controller - I use this for the AIM-120. When the left screen is selected (DDI?) shouldn't this work for the AGM-65 as well? View the attached images to see what I am referring to. AGM-65F seems to be uncaged.

Watching the tutorial on youtube by ED and I can see what I have to do, but I don't have the functions mapped. The tutorials don't seem to specify where I can find each exact function I need for the task in the button mapping menu. So what functions in the menu do I need to map and what sub category can I find each in? Also, when I select the AGM-65 I don't see the seeker/tracking screen turn on. If I recall it needs to warm up before it starts displaying what the missile seeker is tracking right?

I am certainly interested in this, but really all I want is more modern FC3 style aircraft. FC3 style F-18, F-16 and the like. I want the advanced flight model, just the simpler avionics like those found in the F-15C. The idea that this is a separate game means it will likely lag behind with updates, if it gets any. Seems like ED would spread themselves thin and MAC would end up as is, with whatever bugs and content it came with. And I don't really want simpler than FC3 level planes; I simply want more of them. Any other shortcomings of MAC are also shortcomings of DCS. Game engine related issues, server shortcomings and the like. Point being, I'd rather just have another FC type module. Otherwise it seems like ED would have to reinvent the wheel for both products. Looking forward to seeing what information comes this year, but I think ED is making things more complicated than it should be by making an entirely separate product.

Have a few dollars in bonus points. Wondering if I could use these on the F-18 or AV8B during the current sale? Expires in 30 days.

Quick question on the LODs. Looks like I got it to work for the first second level (thanks ensamvarg) but there is a third level of visual LOD change which defaults back to a generic scheme. Admittedly this is hard to see especially depending on lighting but depending on the scheme I can certainly spot the change on a 2560x1440P 27" monitor. The scheme I am working on is all black so it is more apparent. At level 2 LOD: When level three kicks in you can see it turn gray:

So we would use the compressed .dds files scaled down and not an editable .PSD? And to get the pylons .dds to show, do I need to ass this to my .lau: {"HB_F14_EXT_PHOENIXPYLONS", 0 ,"HB_F14_WING_RIGHT",false}; That isn't working for me, so I must have entered something wrong.

Thanks! How would I go about fixing this LOD issue? Skin changes when zoomed out to a default gray looking color. Up close: At distance:

Been a while since I used it. How do I launch the Model Viewer?

Is the ED Model Viewer not working for anyone else? When I try to launch the .bat file nothing happens since the recent update. Also, how should we set up the description.lua? Tried a skin a tested it in game but it defaults to a random skin. Using one of the other .lau files from one of the other skins to start and replaced all the .dds files with my own. What did I forget to do?

I am trying to update the release version of DCS. The updater is very slow and eventually stops downloading completely within a few minutes. Is there any work around for this? I don't have all my modules on Steam so I don't want to switch to the Steam version. Edit: Today it finally updated. Took about 40 or so minutes. Is there a reason the Model Viewer cannot be stared though? I am using the release branch.

Steam without a doubt has faster and consistent downloads. DCS Updater download speeds vary greatly. Currently I cannot even update the game. The download rate is slow and then comes to a complete halt. I've tried at least four times over the past few days now.

Will this work in Photoshop CS6? This is the error I get: If I keep the layers will any skins I make have errors or look improper?

I had this problem, the download speed was so slow that I couldn't even download a 800MB update after nearly 20 minutes. I cancelled the update and now DCS won't launch if I try to run the .exe or updater again. Is there a way to repair the install and try again?

Worked. Everything looks good! Going a bit off topic here but since I already have a thread asking questions I may as well add one more. I plan on making the same skin available with different emblems, which would require four different .DDS files. But I should be able to re-use the nose and center section .DDS files. I noticed many skins don't have .DDS files in their folders and often call upon files in other folders to re-use .DDS files & save size. Essentially instead of requiring 8x2 = 16 .DDS files, I'd like to have ~12 to save space. Version A and Version B with different emblems. The nose ect. .DDS files would be reused. How exactly would I configure this in the .lua?

Thanks, that was the issue. I had a "_kz" behind the other .dds files where as this one didn't. Added the "_kz" in the .lau and the RoughMet .DDS and that fixed it. Another quick question. I have this issue on the MIG-29S (BBC text): This is my .lua. What should be edited to remove that?

Thanks. Found the .dds files and opened them. Tested by simply making the metallic area look more like the other parts. Looks like it worked minus one issue pictured below: I am going to assume it may have something to do with how I saved the final .dds file: Any suggestions?

Thanks for the replies. That is likely something too complex for myself to do, but is there a tutorial for editing the roughmet files and anything else that may need to be done to the .lua file? And where can the roughmet files be found? And can I get by with Photoshop CS2 or would it require some additional software?

Trying to remove a metal stripe on the MIG-29's tailplane. I can find the thing to uncheck in the template, as it is called "Metal" however it still has a strong reflective property and essentially looks black even if removed. I have also deleted the occlusion for that specific area and the effect is still largely there. Is there any way to remove or further reduce the reflective property of it? Here is a picture of the area. Before the black stripe you'll see the metallic shiny area that I am trying to remove: What it looks like in Photoshop: Another angle: Any help appreciated!