alphagamer4

Here we are almost 3 years later after I had created this thread in early January 2021. And the DCS replay system still hasn't been fixed / updated to accurately live up to its billing in promotional, marketing materials. Just thought I would drop by to see what progress had been made on this issue.

Their answer is "No":

I believe a better analogy is I gave Margot Robbie hundreds of dollars to decorate our summer home only to find out that she failed to purchase key furnishings and worse, lied about it by calling a dresser a bed. Where is all the DCS product sales money going? How is it being allocated? Cutting any game dev slack only gives them permission to leave key features unfinished. Do what you want with your money. I know what I will do with mine.

Based on YOUR needs, I can see how you think I my reaction is extreme. However, you cannot say the same based on MY needs. Based on MY needs, I believe my reaction is justified. Don't call a tool "replay" when it is really a "debugging tool". Don't tell your customers that you can't fix a problem because you don't have the budget for it. Fix the problem because you know the functionality isn't working as you've marketed it to your customers.

OP here. Just 3 observations: 1. I created this thread back in January 2021, yet it took the DCS devs almost 1 year to post a response. While I'm sure they had their reasons to respond after a lengthy delay, the optics aren't good. It gives one the impression that the DCS devs simply don't care about their customers. 2. For all intents and purposes, the "replay" system isn't one at all. It's basically a debugging tool. The sooner the DCS devs rename this misnamed functionality, the better off all will be. 3. I don't expect the DCS devs to fix this "replay" system anytime soon. Why should they? They already have my and your money. All I can do now is no longer support DCS nor buy any more of its products. Unlike many gamers, I won't throw a tantrum. Instead, I'll vote with my wallet and spend money on the products of other game devs who have consistently shown that they care about their products and have pride in doing all that they can for them, regardless of whether any additional funding is budgeted or not. Look at the "No Man's Sky" devs for an example of how to treat your gaming community the right way (i.e. fixing one's mistakes and then building upon that).

At least you get to keep your virtual bottle of wine.

I am not an expert coder but I have coded. What is so hard about forcing the AI to abide by the same in-game physical limits that human gamers must follow? For example, if a human flown F-14B can only sustain a specific G turn before breaking up and losing all control, what is hard to code an AI-flown plane from doing the same?

I feel your pain. A flight sim like DCS really does benefit from using TrackIR or VR. I was coping using the viewhat on my joystick. Once I got TrackIr though, I never looked back. The only thing keeping me from using VR is the relatively poor resolution and its value proposition. Once things have improved on the tech and pricing front for VR, I'll migrate to that platform.

If you have VoiceAttack, then it's pretty good and not as immersion-breaking. It's not as perfect as a fully-automated AI RIO, but it's close enough if you assume that your RIO will blindly follow your voice orders.

I hear you, bud. Corp IT are the unsung heroes. No one ever remembers they're around holding the company's tech infrastructure together with duct tape and shoestrings until something bad happens and all Hell breaks loose. It's only then, that the executive suite realizes that they shouldn't have been so cheap when they off-shored all the important IT roles to India....

Your free DCS module from the game devs is in the mail LOL!

Thanks for the tips! The one thing I do like about having my DCS modules on STEAM is that STEAM will refund purchases if a game dev screws up their game product or fails to support it. I know that has already happened to 1 or 2 DCS modules on STEAM. I would lose that protection if I moved my DCS modules to standalone.

Wow! This is simply amazing! You are so talented! Thanks for sharing this with the community!

Interesting test results. It's disappointing that heat blur only shows up depending on your starting mode (ground vs. air).

To be honest, there are many gamers who prefer to play singleplayer and against the game's AI.

Then I'm going blind. I'm still having trouble spotting aircraft out in the wild blue yonder....

Thank you!

Great point about the guns-only dogfight between the MiG-15 and F-14B. One of the reasons I went guns-only was because it was too easy using missiles against the MiG.

Could you point me in the direction of a tutorial on how to do this? I don't want to play DCS scanning for microscopic dots. Thanks. I'm not. I prefer to play on stable builds. Can't wait for these aircraft visibility changes to be released on a stable build. Thanks for giving me hope!

In this Growling Sidewinder video, he has trouble seeing the enemy planes or his own flight's aircraft during Round 1. The aircraft are so hard to see that Growling is forced to ask his partner to pop off flares repeatedly so that he can 1) find him and the enemy aircraft to begin with; and 2) be able to tell friendly aircraft from enemy aircraft. I have heard some say that it's not a matter of seeing microscopic dots in the sky but having the sense to know where aircraft are in the first place. Well, Growling is an experienced DCS gamer for at least 2-3 years. If he has trouble "sensing" where aircraft are or should be, then what hope do we mere gaming mortals have. Please ED, keep thinking of ways to make spotting aircraft more "user-friendly" before some gamers consider buying wallhacks to help keep track of aircraft (I am NOT condoning cheating but believe it is inevitable if gamers have trouble seeing microscopic dots to begin with). Thanks.

We're just wasting our time pontificating here. ED will take forever to address the AI issue, regardless of its being on the roadmap.

Here is how I would position the DCS AI: ROOKIE = Obeys laws of physics and airframe's flight model. VETERAN = ROOKIE + ability to conduct BFM maneuvers. ACE = ROOKIE + VETERAN + ability to conduct advanced BFM maneuvers. You get the idea. Each higher level of AI skill builds upon the previous levels. But to Dragon's point, the AI MUST obey the laws of physics and the airframe's flight model. Anything less is the AI cheating.

Thanks for sharing this. It's awesome. I need to look into getting a job at DARPA.

All good tips. However, I am interested in seeing how one aircraft performs against another (guns only, guns + missile, etc.) in a dogfight with all else being held equal / constant. Best way to do that is have the AI control both aircraft, not 2 different humans. That is how I discovered that the DCS AI and aircraft flight models are broken (e.g. a Rookie MiG-15 can take down an Ace F-14B, where the AI control both aircraft).

Thanks but I'm looking for realistic AI matchups in DCS, not ones where a Rookie-level MiG-15 destroys an Ace-level F-14B.