Grievo

Helicopters are a bugger for trying to kill you if you let go of anything. This would be compensated for with control locks/friction or force trim in the real thing. Wheel/Parking brakes help with the wandering I've found. You can also not wind the throttle on until you've got your hands on the controls and ready to go, or wind it off immediately upon landing. Not aimed at you specifically Relic, but for others, the general principle with lifting off in a helicopter is lift the collective a tiny bit, correct any forward/lateral movement or yaw, then lift a bit more, repeat, repeat, until miraculously you part with the earth but stay over the exact same bit of it. "Light on the skids" is the term I'm familiar with, but the same principle applies to wheels... probably.

I hadn’t heard of it until you mentioned it, but sounds great, I’ll be getting it for sure!

Actually yeah you’re both right. You can just program the length of the button press, so you will be able to map a lot of it under the relevant voice commands for the situation. Not all though. Like “attack tanks” would be hard to program to select the right option from the list. Whereas if there was a bind that always picked IFV or Tank or whatever you could map that instead. Im so pumped for this thing. I’ve already warned the missus to buy some books!

I’m a big fan of Voiceattack as I play in VR. I understand a lot of petrovich functionality is not really bindable (though if you can think of 360 keystrokes for headings I’ll map them!!) I would like it very much if things like the the hook turn break, change airspeed/altitude or the select tank 1/tank 2/ifv etc could be mappable to keystrokes for use as voice commands. For me this is a great way to feel immersed in the sim, and I have the Huey and Hip set up with profiles that give that aircraft commander feel to playing the sim. You guys will know better than me what would work to map and what won’t, but I hope you’ll consider it. Thanks.

Yeah it's a surprisingly big deal for me too. I've said before, you don't so much notice it when it's there, but you do when it's not!

No one says 1.60934 km though do they? They say a mile. It’s as accurate as a km. It’s a fixed distance. It is just a different scale of reference. Both numbers are arbitrary, you’ve just got this idea that one number from thin air is more accurate than another. It isn’t.

Imperial ain't going anywhere. So probably just get used to it. Considering no one adds anything in their head anymore anyway, any benefit of moving to metric is gone. So it's just an arbitrary number anyway. Of course there's the good old "Europe was liberated by the foot, yard and mile, while Zyklon B was produced by the tonne, and used, by the kilogram" Apart from that provocative little aside, the first nation to land men on the moon did it using Imperial, manned flight past the sound barrier was broken by engineers using Imperial units etc etc. The idea that Metric is somehow innately superior is ridiculous, it's just thought to be easier to learn. But anyone who learns it so such an extent could have picked up Imperial anyway, so there you are.

Could we please have a button on the F10 map that converts the ruler from Imperial to Metric or vice versa? I often switch between aircraft that have KPH or Knots and for navigation (and targeting) purposes It would make it much easier if I could easily switch between the two without leaving the server, changing the option and logging back in. I currently use an E6-B flight computer, but I have to lift the VR goggles and it's a bit of a pain in the arse, and I'm sure I'm in a minority of people who would be willing to do that!!! So... I submit my humble request. @BIGNEWY @NineLine

Bugger. I’ve never noticed them doing that before. I tried making UH-1 infantry support missions and was put off by how they just stood there in contact like the ANA. Will investigate further.

I just got off the Cold War server (Highly recommended, gents), and the infantry was crouching and going prone.... There has been some robust discussion going on here lately about ground unit behavour... anyone else noticed these sneaky changes?

I love the scenario, but you're right 20 mins in a Huey over the ocean isn't the most fun I've had on this server... But at least we have a USMC skin! How about the same scenario in the Caucasus map or somewhere along the Iranian coast? With a blue invaded red scenario? or vice versa in the Oman area? Love your work Alpenwolf. It's a fantastic server and it's much appreciated.

I think the issue Beasty is that helicopters spend most of their time supporting and engaging infantry targets. Apache's and Havocs are the exception rather than the rule. Especially in the Hind. That thing is just the cavalry on a faster, sexier horse! That is why the Infantry functionality and increase in model selection is important to me. prone, entrenched, crouching, some form of suppression modelling, seeking to put objects between you and them etc.... I think an important thing with Armour detecting aircraft too is the variables such as engine on/off, buttoned down or not, dismounts nearby etc.. If you're in an armoured vehicle buttoned down with the engine running you're not hearing a helicopter until it's pretty much over you, and spotting it would be a miracle also. I think instead of trying to get ED to model accurately the view restrictions and so on, we just need it simulated. So if an armoured vehicle is moving or engaged, it can be assumed to be buttoned down, and detection ranges for aircraft drop dramatically. If it's in an OP position with the engine off and the hatches open, detection of aircraft improves. If one unit detects an aircraft or unit, there's a one second delay to get that from the commander to the gunner before it reacts, and a five second delay for the target indication to reach the rest of the troop. You get the idea. We don't need to know the angles of the viewing apertures for each vehicle, just that it's hard to see. So the probability suggestion seems to me the most likely to appear in the short term. And maybe with a few more ME tools from ED, such as readiness levels for units (relaxed, alert, combat), different sighting ranges based on class of vehicle under different driving conditions (stationary, driving on road, driving cross country) etc we could come a long way. The second blast radius for infantry with frag weapons also seems a good idea. I'm not so sure about soft skinned vehicles. Frag would cause damage to vehicles you wouldn't necessarily be able to discern from an aircraft. Anyway. My two cents. Everyone else is wrong of course!

Thanks for the quick response Alpenwolf, but I don’t think Hueys can use TACAN?

Any chance of getting Coordinates of FARPs in mission brief? I was just on the "Open Range" and had no idea where I was starting from and couldn't see any indication on the map like I've seen in previous missions on the server. I love the navigating aspect of the server, but I need to know where I'm starting from!

I mean my two cents on this... I get the impulse for not wanting the AI to do tasks such as acquiring targets and firing the weapons on them, but for me, I want to simulate the aircraft operation as much as possible. I don't want to switch seats etc. I'd like to be able to operate from the front or back seat and have the AI do a reasonable job of controlling the functions of the other seat. One of the things I'm not keen on with the Gazelle is the seat jumping that is required. Horses for courses though. I understand why on competetive multiplayer servers you'd not want the AI doing as much.

With you 100% The personnel and infantry models are the main limiting factor for helicopter combat operations. I've banged on about this a fair bit, but Infantry that can crouch, go prone, patrol, attack in bounds, stay in cover, seek cover when attacked etc would make helicopter operations a lot better. Then if you added new models for things such as entrenched machine guns, fighting pits, soldiers carrying casualties, stretcher parties, downed pilots, civilian casualties, life rafts/people in life jackets etc you could exponentially expand the possibilities available to mission and campaign creators, and multiplayer creators as well.

I agree, but the keywords being "full potential", I think we can sort something fairly entertaining with what we have. Ideally, for helicopters in DCS we need a big improvement to infantry, if you guys will forgive me my hobbyhorse. We need infantry that can move, go prone, crouch, move around tree's and building to stay in cover, retreat from open areas into urban/forested areas etc. We need infantry scripting that allows for advancing to contact, or breaking contract, so we can provide fire support for that retreating or attacking element. We need infantry in foxholes, observation posts, trenches, machine gun pits etc. For the transport helos we need infantry carrying casualties, or stretcher bearers. Infantry that dismounts the aircraft in a vaguely tactical pattern, rather than like they've just got off the bus. We also need a variety of models, insurgents, soldiers from practically all factions in the game, downed pilots, damsels in distress, life rafts and and people in life jackets. There is HUGE potential for DCS helicopters, and one of the main SP limitations is the lack of depth to the personnel/infantry models. The vehicles are great, look amazing and behave reasonably well, but helicopters support INFANTRY primarily, and we would see a great boost to campaigns and single player missions, or even multiplayer scenarios if we had this investment in the infantry AI and models.

Exactly. Which is why I'd be happy to chip some dosh in for a facelift. I think a lot could be done to jazz up the Huey, but I do wonder if there are bigger plans afoot in terms of helicopter gameplay that are making ED wait for a more opportune moment... I can dream anyway! To me though, the Huey copilot is still the best I've seen in a sim, which is impressive considering the age of the module.

Yeah I'd be in. Huey is still my go to module. I play around with some other stuff but I always come back to it. I'd definitely part with some pennies for a graphical touch up, and I'd pay full price for a graphical touch up of the H, especially the weapon mounts for slicks, and maybe some representation of the UH-1V (Medvac version of the H) and HH-1H's, stretchers in the back etc. and implementation of a the UH-1N. More because I think it fits into DCS's median era much better than the H and it had a lot of operators, but there's some Vietnam hardware coming down the line apparently so who knows? or even B/C model gunships? Aerial Rocket Artillery, 40mm nose turret as well as miniguns and rockets. I'd rather see a MH/UH-60 than the UH-1Y. The Yankee is a beast but only the USMC use it, which makes it limiting for me, and all the glass cockpit stuff doesn't do it for me at all. We'll have plenty of that with the Apache and Kiowa.

Probably the pitching moment caused by the recoil. The thing basically hangs off the main rotor, so if you bring in a rearward force right at the bottom of the pendulum, it's going to want to pitch forward.

Yeah mate it's fantastic, and still something I always end up coming back to whether I go to fighters or warbirds for a bit. There's a great server for whirly-birds too, Search and Rescue and Search and Rescue - Syria. So come along and rescue some itinerant hikers and put out some fires!

Is it possible to place ground units, such as insurgents, on the new bulk carrier AI units? I had a quick go but was unsuccessful, but i'm not as well versed in the ME as some on you scholarly types around here... Obviously this would make for some entertaining helicopter operations.

Just wanted to add my appreciation to the avalanche, just been flying in the syria map in VR, it looks sensational and performance has improved enormously. Thanks so much for all your hard work ED team, I'm glad to be part of the community here supporting you guys doing great things.

Seconded, and I believe Cowboy10uk's post counts as a third!

Just been in the Cauc. map. So it said the mission was over and there was no f10 option to generate any missions or tasks. I'm guessing this is a bug as It's always just restarted and loaded up a new game in the past. It was the afternoon HEAT scenario I think. I literally just left the server if the time of this post helps you figure out which scenario it was. Thanks for all your work guys.