Jayhawk1971

Tomcat! All the way. The Viper is so easy to fly that a 16-year old kid could steal one to break out his dad who was held prisoner in some generic middle-eastern country. The Tomcat at least requires you to have dated an Admiral's daughter (Penny Benjamin). Seriously, as already mentioned in the thread in the HB subforum, if it's either the Tomcat or the Viper now, get the Tomcat, and wait at least a couple of months (and maybe a spring sale?) to give ED time to work on the F-16 some more.

I don't think Jester needs to be "reworked"; just some things need some more tuning and enhancement over time. Some seem to forget how Heatblur was really breaking new ground in DCS with the Jester AI (among other things, ofc). Imagine what you would do without Jester if you don't have access to a human RIO (which, I imagine, is the vast majority of F-14 users). The only things about Jester that kinda bug me are his "lagging behind events" and "inability" to sometimes distinguish between missile type/ threat prioritization. Examples for the first one would be him calling out bandits that are not even close to where he claims they are (as other posters have already pointed out), which is not only not helpful, but actively distracting, and Jester still being in "excited mode" well after the fight is over (a "pipe down, Jester" command would be helpful ). The latter one would be that calling out every TLAM and TALD and friendly missile with "missile, missile, missile" and telling me to "break right!" is not only grinding on my nerves, but also has a "boy that cried wolf" effect. The one time he calls out a real missile, you don't believe him. But once you know what's going on and your SA is good, you learn to live with it. Oh, and it's a good thing I never fly with a service automatic, because I swear if he doesn't shut up during AAR....... (a "matter of fact" Jester filter at some point in the future would be nice to have - just read out fuel state during AAR, thankyouverymuch. ). My personal Jester wishlist would be that future updates would "teach" Jester to maybe read out airspeed during ACM, and the option to have him read more (interactive? dare I dream? ) checklists and other helpful stuff (DLC deployed, abeam of the boat/runway, maybe even call the ball)

Well, the "frying" part ofc was a bit hyperbolic. But I am a little paranoid atm with the whole situation, and my very dated card (GTX 970) needs to be able to hang in there some more. It was just weird, because I also edit video on this system, and play other games, and haven't had a single problem. Then suddenly, just as I was trying the Syria map, I get a slideshow and screen turns black, on that particular mission. I tried other missions on the map previously (the ones for the F-16, and most of the F-14 ones), and while performance was noticeably slower, it wasn't too bad and still playable. My working theory atm is that the Beirut area at night was just a little too taxing and the card got a little too hot and an already loose connection finally lost connection. Anyway, that's good news, as time will mend all woes. (in this case, Syria map will be further optimized, and with NVIDIA allegedly taking active measures to "sour the milk" for miners, GPU's should become available (and with more realistic prices) later this year. ) And, most importantly, I'm really looking forward to a campaign in the A (I seem to recall the PG campaign is supposed to feature the A? )

Will the PG campaign be released after "Reforger 2"? Or do we get the "F-14A campaign" in between part 1 and 2? Personally I'd rather have a PG campaign first (not only because I already own that map ), but also because the (apparently not yet optimized) Syria map pretty much almost fried my GPU during the last "free to play" event: Tomcat free flight at night from Beirut. Screen suddenly goes black (but DCS still running), got an error message after reset that said I should "power down and connect the PCIe power cable". Opened the case, gave the power cables a nudge as well as pushed the card against the slot, and somehow got it working again; haven't had that problem before, or ever since. With the GPU market being basically non-existent ATM thanks to the crypto-miners, I'd rather play on a more optimized map and not run the risk of killing my GPU, at least not until July/ August. For the person who reacted with a "confused" emoji: I was asking - very selfishly - if getting the PG campaign "ASAP" would mean that we would be getting it before the sequel to "Reforger Iron Heel". Reason being that Syria as of yet seems to be too taxing for my system. And the current market situation is preventing me from upgrading my system. PG, on the other hand, runs fine, because it's an older map, and therefore much more optimized.

Tomcat! *except your No. 2 point. The Viper basically flies itself (except taking off and landing in a strong crosswind), whereas the Tomcat needs some work (not that much, mind you) Since you say you are rather new to DCS: the learning curve with the Tomcat will be steeper compared to the Viper or Hornet. However, IMO, it'll be a lot easier to transition to fly-by-wire aircraft from "analogue" platforms later on than the other way around (I'm sure there will be future DCS sales, where I'm sure you'll be tempted to buy more modules ). It will also help you tactically in the long run, because you will be required to build your SA and navigation skills "old school".

FWIW, as a consumer with absolutely no background in software design, I'd say in the absence of hard data, Heatblur should go ahead with the sum total of all the soft data they can collect, and make their best guess. I have been simming since 1984 and the old Microprose games on the C64, so getting mere approximations is - by God - nothing unheard of. It never, ever killed immersion for me, even when they gave us "F-19 Stealth Fighter" (based on a fantasy plane, the F-19 "Frisbee" that was conceived to mislead the public about the real F-117 at the time, when widespread rumors about a secret stealth fighter began to surface). EF-2000, Total Air War... those were the best guesses by the DID developers at the time. Probably wildly inaccurate, yet a lot of fun. Even the more hardcore ones (Longbow 2, or the "sim can't shan't be named here") were approximations with a lot of guestimates. So, as far as I am concerned, guess away.

I also had the gun trigger bound to the spacebar (seems to be default), but I had no problems ever to fire the gun. I only noticed the spacebar trigger mapping during the fence in checklist. I merely unbound the key. One thing you could maybe try is to ask the crew chief to rearm on the ground at Nellis after mission start and see if you have ammo loaded.

Third option: Using Vaicom Pro with the AIRIO extension made my interactions with Jester a lot faster and easier. No need to deep dive into submenu's, just tell Jester what you want him to do. Sure, you'd need to pay for a third-party addon, which may not be to everyone's liking, or you play in an environment where talking into your headset might be disturbing others (roommates, family...) but the return in terms of immersion has been more than worth it IMO.

Everytime I see them, "Chariots of Fire" plays in my head.

I had the same problem which turned out to be Vaicom related. IIRC you have to delete the export.lua file from your "saved games/dcs" directory. Better do a search and double check which file exactly as it's been a while and I'm a bit fuzzy about the exact details. "One thing drives out another" as ol' Barliman Butterbur would say

I always "pressed the spacebar" as soon as the option became available (and I was ready to commit), which gave me enough time to prepare for the engagement; the red AI always spawned well outside visual range in every mission (except mission one which is set up differently)

Pincer right, drag the north group towards you or at least towards your flight lead (Hammer). IIRC, I drifted away from Hammer by sheer accident, head on a swivel looking for the potential wild card....which brought me into a good position on the far left flank of both enemy groups. Killed one of the F-5's with a Sparrow, the other F-5 shot Hammer, both F-16 turned towards me (after one of them previously shot one from my other element) just as I was turning into them, got one F-16 with a Sidewinder head-on, blew right through the remaining bandits which gave my remaining wingman the opportunity to shoot the last F-5 whereas after turning back again I got the last F-16 that tried to take it into the vertical (not a bright idea when the good guys still have heaters). The whole engagement didn't last for more than 2 minutes or so. It helps if you are co-altitude or slightly below the bandit when engaging with Sparrows. If all else fails, try switching to AIM-7MH (which seem to have a higher PK than the M at the moment). Also make sure that Jester is managing your countermeasures. I always let Jester manage chaff whereas I release flares. Defeating AI Sparrows is not that hard if you keep maneuvering. Are you using Tacview to analyze your engagements?

Sorry mate, can't help you there. I never used Bailey's profile, so my guess is a good as yours. I've only ever used VAICOM Pro, and otherwise I'm a Voiceattack noob. The best I could accomplish was to set the space bar to a voice command (to verbally acknowledge checklist items in the Zone 5 campaign) .

Get the Tomcat, get the Supercarrier, Zone 5 campaign, and never look back.

The F-14 is mostly even older 1960's technology, developed almost a decade before the F-16 (Grumman got the contract in 1966). Later model Tomcats like the upgraded F-14B and the D did have much better Heads-up-Displays, but these are not in the game (and won't be unless the relevant documents are de-cassified).

My totally unscientific experience has been that AIM-54 seem to have a much higher PK at long range (around 60NM) than at closer ranges (say, around 40 to 20). Also, I seem to be more successful with AIM-7MH than with the M.

Maybe shockwaves indicating an impending compressor surge/stall? I'm not an engineer at all, but that would be a plausible explanation, especially when dealing with TF-30 engines. I've only noticed this bumping sound in the F-14A, but I haven't used the B for a couple of weeks, so it could very well be something completely different.

There is a user made a Vaicom AIRIO command complement for Jester to switch preset radio buttons. You just say "push button x" (x being the corresponding number). Unfortunately I forgot who made that, but I found the relevant post in the Vaicom subforum here on this forum. Pretty much found it via Google search. Edit: IIRC it was this. Works like a charm for me. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3311045/

Sure thing! Please don't feel pressured by the community, most of us can be very patient (really, I swear.... well, sometimes.....at least on a full moon in February in a leap year.... ). Just happy that we'll get a flyable Intruder. Please call the B/N AI "Tiger"

Would a full fidelity A-6E module be pre or post SWIP? In any case, A-6 would be a most welcome, very iconic companion to the Tomcat!

My favorite Tornado would the the most advanced version (from a systems perspective), the ECR variant. But given that, generally, even decades-old EW technology is still highly classified, I don't see that happening within the next 15 years in DCS. Same would be true for Prowler, Growler, or any other form of EW systems modelling. Unfortunately.

Finished it! Great campaign and great experience. I really do hope you and Bio will consider doing another, similar campaign. We have way too few proper learning tools within DCS: the stock training missions are too bare-bone; everything else you'll have to research yourself, outside of the simulation. IMO "Zone 5" provides a valuable learning experience within the sim, which is also very immersive and a lot of fun. Also, I do feel a little sorry for Dice. So, when do I get to make the Soviets "fear the Bones"? A couple of tiny minor things:

So, I did get the Eagle again, aaaand... he broke the hard deck. I count that as a maneuver kill, and apparently the game thought so, too, because I got the "winning" dialogue after the "knock it off" call. I would have never thought the AI would do that. How does the game determine which opponent you get in event 10? Is it totally random, or dependent on the player's score/performance up to that mission?

I got the F-15C....of course. My conclusion from Tacview: I was actually holding my own quite well and at least kept the F-15 mostly on the defensive until I got nervous when Jester called "Joker". Then I tried to force the issue (and stay out of burner more), and that was when the Eagle pulled so much lead from the opposite side of the circle and gunned me in the face (the AI does seem to have an advantage due to its immaculate energy management; in my case the AI could pull a lot of lead without any significant loss of energy). I'll give it another try tonight (provided I'll get the Eagle again), and should I lose again, after that I'll pull a "Snodgrass" and limp home on damaged flaps and slats. That will also prevent me from my high-speed landing brake, but the honor of the Tomcat community would be saved.

It is pretty much only suitable for solo players at the moment. AFAIK Reflected is hoping it'll work co-op in the future. IMO, this has to be one of the most immersive campaigns ever, for any DCS product, so if you can spare the 13 or so bucks, definitely get it. It is definitely a challenge with a medium learning curve to do properly (I am currently struggling with event 10), as you will have to really learn to efficiently manage the A (you spend a lot more time in burners than with the B --> you'll be joker in no time). And consider this: if you are good and proficient in the A, you'd be even better in the B.