Jayhawk1971

Yep, that was the point I was trying to make. Now I'm off to try your drinking game.

I don't understand why ED asked Heatblur to postpone their major update planned for today to October 14. For....this?! My assumption was that ED would not want 3rd party content to interfere with anything major planned on their side, to give them time to see if their update is running. This hotfix is sobering, to put it mildly.

No problem.

Yep, hopefully ED does do that, and/ or, even better, give the AI a complete overhaul.

I just played this mission again, after the patch today (Sept 17). Now I too had tanker issues, probably due to me being a lot better at staying connected thanks to superior depth perception and the ability to lean around the canopy frame in VR. Which meant I was able to stay connected long enough to completely fill up my tanks (from around 12,800 lbs or so). The result was that when I ordered Elvis to refuel, he declared "rejoin" barely after he connected to the drogue. Subsequently, he called "bingo" shortly before the The only explanation I can come up with is that the tanker must have been out of fuel. I know next to nothing about mission making, so I'll have to ask: is there a way to determine (and in the best case set) the fuel load of a tanker? One would assume a tanker (even a small S-3) should be able to carry more than 7,000 lbs of fuel? If not, maybe Reflected could add a line to the mission advising the player only to take 2,000-3,000 lbs or so?

Something is different after today's patch. Text/ instruments are clearer, much better to read. Also planes parked next to mine on the flight deck seem to be sharper, with sharper textures. Framerate seems to be same or even slightly better, just head movement seems to be a tiny bit choppier. All this is subjective for I didn't have a frame rate counter on. I am playing on the absolutely most min spec GFX card possible, so every frame I get counts. But at this point I'm not even sure I'd want to reinstall FSR again. But then again, since starting this VR adventure, I have tweaked and fiddled around with so many settings that I can't possibly remember what exactly got me to this point of relative enjoyable playability.

All it would take is a former RIO to say "I can neither confirm nor deny that statement" with a wink and a grin, and he would be legally in the clear. But: from what I have gathered, anecdotal evidence is not enough hard evidence for HB to run with, anyway, so this is a moot point. Also, in my experience, people with access to confidential information tend to be very careful and conservative about what they are telling you, even if you've read all about it in Aviation Leak 10 years ago. And that's a good thing. Edit: Also, just because something may technically be legal, doesn't mean it's morally justified. Isn't there something in the US Constitution about not giving "aid and comfort to the enemy"? HB have stated numerous times that they themselves aren't happy with the AIM-54C in its current state, either. So let's give them some time and room to "maneuver"; I am sure they'll come up with a satisfactory solution. Maybe ED will take full ownership over every missile system in DCS anyway, so who knows.

On a related note: I saw Mooch's latest video yesterday where he sits down wit Hoser and Jello at Hook '21. Which again highlighted the fact that there is a whole bunch of former Naval Aviators (and crews from other services/ nations) already involved with YouTube-Vlogging and blogging, getting heavily invested in DCS. So I expect a lot more quality content involving these fine individuals, and I am quite certain there will be training campaigns in the very foreseeable future as well. Campaigns that not only will fill in many of our knowledge gaps, but do so in an entertaining way, and in a scope way beyond a tutorial mission. So let HB and other module makers focus on their core competence of making the stuff, and allow them to "outsource" the time consuming tutorials. Now I don't assume we will ever get unfiltered tactical training (for obvious reasons), but I'm confident they will do their best to give us a satisfying approximation. A prequel to "Raven 1" is already confirmed. Reflected has another Tomcat campaign in the pipeline (and judging by the massive hint he has dropped with the video he linked to I am convinced it will be game-changingly awesome). Mooch hinted at his own collaboration with Baltic Dragon, so most likely another Tomcat campaign (with RIO emphasis?). A lot more is going on. Good times ahead!

Holy crap! That would have indeed been awesome. And tempting to bail out and watch the battle unfold while floating down on a parachute. (Kinda like that pilot who got to watch the "main event" during the Battle of Midway while floating in the water.) Maybe someday DCS will be optimized enough (or our hardware fast enough, think Quantum Computer ) to have such large scale battles in a mission while still maintaining acceptable FPS.

Yes, mission 7 is very taxing in VR. Also, Jester identifies the Hind as friendly for me as well (always did since day one), and the Tunguska is indeed shooting down the Mavericks now (and me, when I became impatient ), which is new for me on this playthrough for whatever reason (AI tweaks by ED?). Hopefully ED is putting in some VR performance improvements into their next (apparently big) patch. The mission is pretty awesome because there's so much going on, really captures what I assume to be the atmosphere of an active battlefield very well. So here's hoping it won't be necessary to take units out.

OK, I got it to work. After 7 DME I "lit the cans" and climbed very aggressively towards WP1. At around Angels 32 and 7 NM from WP1 the message triggered. And it was Pontiac 1, not Uzi 5. So for anyone else who also might struggle with this (because he is as daft as I seem to be ) - Launch and fly to 7 DME - Turn towards waypoint 1, go to full burner and aggressively climb up to around 30k. - Join up wit Gorilla Group (all the Pontiac flights in the known universe ) - Leave them at WP2 and fly to WP 3 - Rest of the mission will trigger as it should.

I otherwise get every message (both scripted and generic) except the one where I'm greeted with "Ah, the MiG Magnets". I do join up and fly formation anyway until they turn perpendicular to the coast, then fly towards waypoint 2. I have visual on Uzi 5 after launch. On my last try I even tried to "manually" fly into the area where I assume the trigger zone may be located instead of going direct to WP1. Nothing. Could the mission trigger zone have an altitude restriction of some sort? Do I need to climb more aggressively after passing 7 DME? The mission did work for me pre-2.7 (I didn't even have the issues that others reported, either), that's how I am 90% certain I'm doing everything "by the book". Edit: Uzi or Pontiac? Now I'm confused....

I still get the problem with the first mission trigger (the trigger that should fire near Waypoint 1, where you join Uzi 5 and get a mission briefing recap from Jester). I still don't get it at Waypoint 1, but when I'm entering the CASE I overhead pattern at the end of the mission. Trigger zone must have slipped into the wrong location. I am playing the campaign from the official F-14 campaigns folder, so I assume I have the latest version. Edit: I launch, fly out to 7 DME at 500 ft and 300 KIAS, then fly to Waypoint 1. Dead silence until I reach my CAP area, then all triggers, err, get triggered almost at once in the following sequence: commence order to all units - arrival at CAP station - intercept SU-27's. After that it's back to "normal" mission pacing. On my return I get the "missing" trigger from waypoint 1.

Just checked updates and 21H1 seems to be available. Maybe give that a try if you can't roll back to a previous Win version?

I'm posting this question here, since I guess the chances to find someone familiar with this campaign and editing Voice Attack/ Vaicom profiles in this forum should be higher than in the Voice Attack subforum. So here it goes: did anyone make a custom voice command for "Tally Wildcard"? If so, could you please give me some pointers where I could find the relevant button commands to link with the voice command? The reason is that DCS' clunky menu structure (I've recently picked up VR which makes it 1000 times worse) is driving me nuts. Right now I'm using custom buttons on my HOTAS to open the comms menu, then say "take 10, take 3", but this works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't, like 10 minutes ago when my wingman was taken out by the wildcard (which I spotted in an absolutely timely manner) with me frantically yelling "TAKE 3!!!!!!" while simultaneously fumbling for the F3 key.

The patch which is supposed to fix this problem is scheduled to be released on October 14. Incidentally, on October 14, 1947, Gen. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. Coincidence? I think not!

"a lot of us don't really care about the ultimate, hardcore "proof"" Kinda going in circles here. My whole point was: Don't let perfect be the enemy of good (enough).

@Naquaii While most of us really (!) appreciate your dedication to realism and "getting it right", I assume a lot of us don't really care about the ultimate, hardcore "proof" that much, because if each and every developer over the past decades (personally I have been "active" since 1984 and Microprose's "F-15 Strike Eagle") had stuck to that concept as religiously, we would only have had WWI, WWII and maybe Korean War simulation games. Some wiggle room is always necessary when trying to simulate more modern stuff in a non-classified environment. Most of us would be happy if you'd just make the weapon systems perform as close as you feel it would in real life (without compromising real-world data to the bad guys) while striking a good balance with regards to gameplay. Sometimes making an educated guess is quite alright, and from what I have experienced with this module so far, I trust your educated guesses would be more than adequate (= very good). Please keep in mind that "at the end of the day" (= 500 points worth in marketing phrase bullshit bingo ) you are in this case developing for PC gamers and not for a defense contractor. Lastly, IMO this discussion is not at all meant to be antagonistic towards you and/ or HB, but simply customers as passionate as you about the module stating what they would like to have WRT the Phoenix.

Ah ok, thanks. Not sure if I want to dive too deep into VAICOM (had enough "fun" during the past week to get VR set up so that I don't experience a slideshow). Hopefully they'll add commands for the new functions in the next update (and also fix target size command).

Speaking of AIRIO, I saw in one of your "Fear the Bones" videos that you have a voice command for aspect (nose/tail/both). Is that a custom command you've made yourself, or did I miss an update?

While some might enjoy the methodical approach, others may find that a bit tedious. Especially since there are no real entertaining entry-level training missions outside of the tutorials. If you belong in that category, I suggest you do the training missions and then try some of the instant action or single missions. As soon as you feel halfway at home in the module, try out some of the default campaigns (Kaba's and/ or Heatblur's): both have a flat learning curve and ease you in quite nicely. Personally, I find it to be more fun and entertaining to "learn on the job" rather than muck about in sterile free flight setups. Especially AAR: to keep frustration levels to a minimum, try to refuel within the context of a mission/ campaign: try for a limited amount of time, but then go and blow something up (regardless of your success or failure hooking up to the tanker) to reward your effort and not get hung up on AAR. Most missions I've come across give you enough fuel to make AAR optional (or give you the option to respawn with full tanks). I highly recommend you buy the "Zone 5" campaign by Reflected at some point. It's the best training campaign in DCS, and one of the best campaigns overall. It has a moderately steep learning curve, but it will definitely make you a much better virtual Tomcat pilot. You'll do a lot of formation flying in that campaign, which helps immensely with AAR.

All I know is that if the pylon weighs the same as a duck, it is made of wood, and therefore a witch. Burn it!

Personally, if I were starting out in the F-14 again, my fist campaign would probably be Heatblur's "Reforger" (Supercarrier version if you have that module). Gives you a nice mix of flying around the boat (CASE I and CASE III), easy AAR, and slowly eases you into the action. Then Zone 5 followed by Fear the Bones. Zone 5 will make you a better virtual Tomcat pilot, but you will have to follow proper procedures on top of getting used to the F-14 module. Also, since both campaigns by Reflected feature the A-model, your learning curve will be slightly higher (less thrust, and the chance of compressor stalls). Fear the Bones is a nice follow-up to Zone 5, as @AH_Solid_Snake already pointed out.