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Anyone else find that since the new Stennis was dropped in, the hook doesn't work? I've tried flown passes and even a slow taxi over the wires with the hook down, it won't grab. Hornet grabs every time on a taxi test.

To clarify a couple bits... Common Controls could be a single-point mapper, like a pop-up or settings tab, that fills in the various modules for you. So when you set throttle to Z-axis, it just sets it globally across all modules. It doesn't replace mapping stuff module by module, just makes it faster to map common inputs to various functions (axis assign, master arm, landing gear, etc.) Afterburner is similar to the above - no two modules seem to handle burner the same. This would let players set the behavior how they want it based on their control setup. Button press to actuate finger lift/detent for the mil power gate, toggle for on/off as their throttle has a built-in detent, or a manually set zone for those with adjustable detents. Decouple the game online/offline state from the updater cause, damn... The ME honestly needs to get out of Janes-era GUI. Long-shot item low on the list but yeah, gotta be on the honey-do.

Just throwing out some bits and pieces I thought of while playing/planning in DCS... Add two options to the controls mapping screen that cross-populates to all modules. FC3 Common Controls, and Full Fidelity Common Controls. Having to manually set the same controls/axiis to the same functions for every plane is both time consuming and monotonous. 25 buttons on my VKB Gladiator, 32 buttons on my button box, and 19 buttons on my Ch Throttle plus ministick. Make it easier, huh? That's seventy-six separate functions and six axiis I have to map across the ten aircraft I currently own. Half of those functions require repeated mapping, by hand, plane by plane, because I want pitch and 'weapon release' and A/G Mode buttons to be the same no matter the plane. Several FC3 planes aren't even mapped right now as I flat gave up. Common afterburner behavior. The F18 has finger lifts you can turn on/off/map, the Viper has a pinky lever that doesn't work and a Special Menu that acts as a toggle for burner always on/off, the MiG29 and F15C have nothing - run throttle to max and somewhere during the last bit of travel, the burners light. Yet all real aircraft have a detent/horn/push/pull/gate movement on the throttle to light the burner. Add a global option in Settings for burner behavior: F18 style with (common!) mapped button for the gate/finger lift, Viper style toggle on/off, or User Defined for those with expensive gear that allows user-set AB zones (slider w/ percentage and live throttle Z indicator needle.) DCS updater needs to be a separate entity and not tied to DCS's current mode of Online or Offline. I only go online to update, preferring to fly offline solo. Getting DCS to update means start DCS, change modes, game restarts without running an update, close game, use the updater, start game, change modes, game crashes randomly in 15 min, then I can actually play. Rather a kludge way of going about it when module auth could just be checked at each update or multiplayer connection attempt. If no connection is found, the game grays out Multiplayer on the menu while keeping known valid modules auth'd and active. Special Menu in Settings to set countermeasure programs by plane, and store the files in Saved Games so they are persistent. Gets around the whole data cartridge development issue and means people don't have to take time resetting their programs in-cockpit or hassle with a LUA file. Hire a human factors engineer so ^^^ all that needlessly complex lack of forethought doesn't happen again. Having to get within 2m of the sea/ground before seeing spray/dust on a fly-by is a little silly. Bump up the altitude some? One video clip for reference....

Longtime simmer (Warbirds 2.xx, Aces High Beta '99, MSFS 1995+, Targetware) with a few bits for the devs to ponder on... Refined visual effects. Any number of YouTube videos can be referenced for show-of-force fly-bys, gun employment, engine blast/rotor wash, etc. Muzzle blast is a bit simplistic, moreso at night. Engine blast, rotor/jet wash, and aircraft wake all create rather pathetic dust/water effects. Just needs a bit of polish, really. Aircraft functionality before complex systems/weapons implementation. The F16 'pinky switch' for afterburner gate doesn't work but we just received ECM, HMCS updates, HTS, and other complicated systems. Standardize control mapping for common functions. Having to tell DCS I don't want my CH Throttle mini-stick to function in pitch/roll, but do want it as the TDC slew, for ten separate aircraft is needlessly complex. Multiply this by... CH Throttle, VKB Gladiator, seven separate hat switches, eight buttons, one two-stage trigger, and a button box. Right now, four of the seven planes in FC3 aren't even mapped because I won't spend an hour repetitiously resetting functions. A patch or two per year for bugs/issues/missing bits in modules that were called 'done' but weren't actually finished. F5E has had broken instrumentation for years. Yak doesn't have LOD models or a damage model, again for years. This is rude to customers who paid for a complete, functioning, module and then didn't get it because the Next Big Thing hit the pipeline as a money maker. I have some miles saved and after watching Mover's various commentary on the T38, was going to get the F5E. Then I went through the bug board pre-purchase and got cold feet. Now? Likely save them for the A6E when it hits. If long-standing issues are being addressed, or the modules are being updated ala BC3, ED needs to state as much in a pinned news post.