Mochizuki_Mk19

This app is gold. Thank you for creating such a nice tool!!

Much appreciated for the tip!! Yes indeed I didn't know if the SAMs were destroyed or only suppressed (more likely the latter), But I have something in mind why they were not completely wiped out. The AAAs are pretty doing their job preventing my hornets from supporting ground troops, so I really want to see the A-10s their, then I have much more freedom with ATO. Regarding the bug you mentioned, I also experienced that myself, I remember sending 4 aircrafts including myself for SEAD at Bandar-e-Jask but failed to find anything active there, my wingman refused to attack air defenses and the other Devil flight just returned with full loadout. I wasn't stuck their though because I also sent SEAD flights to other SAMs, probably that's why. Anyway I'm gonna try another strategy today and let you know the results!

I think I'm kind of stuck. I repeated the last mission (I believe, at least from the name and description) 3 times already, but cannot let the enemy air defense go under 30%-40%. I've been sending SEAD operations all the time, destroying 2 mid-range SAMs and 2 short-range SAMs in each single mission (which is pretty much the best one can achieve since in this phase there is no long-range SAMs any more!), but the numbers just refuse to go under 30%. All strategic targets are occupied by friendly forces before I launched strikes on them, and I have air superiority >90%. I really want to let the A-10s do their job, because CAS missions flown by my hornets don't seem to have much effectiveness...

So theoretically there is no need to call RTB via F10 menu unless I confirm that they have no weapons left? I did observe that AIs go to tanker before going home, there's then this old question of S-3B having too less fuel so if more than 2 aircrafts attempt to refuel the latter ones just get 0 lbs and the S-3B goes home. Have you considered adding 1 more S-3B? KC-135s are fine though, but I believe the AI goes to the tankers based on distance.

Really appreciate your work... and much respect there. Even now it already makes tons of fun, the biggest enemy for me now is to prevent the guys from bailing out lol The nature of dynamic campaign is that if I use different strategies every time then it doesn't look the same. And plus each mission in DCS (launch & recovery included) lasts for 2 hours +... I will enjoy the contents for now and looking forward to future updates. Cheers!

Hahahaha, but hey, taking lead of 9 aircraft (without myself ofc) is a crazy experience with high degree of freedom. I've seen enough to know sometimes DCS AI are crazy and uncontrollable, but that's not the fault of the campaign designer. Since I just landed at Al Minhad and waiting for my Devils to RTB, some thoughts about mission 3: the USAF tankers got shot down, since their tracks are above an area with no air superiority. The 2 F-16s got distracted by some bandits from the north, and some other bad guys to the south (prob. coming from Bandar-e-Jask) fired tones of missiles on them. Maybe more escorts, a division of 4? Another thing that would be nice to have would be, if AI flights hits bingo fuel, and if I can get a radio messege from them, then maybe I will know when to send them home. Although lost aircraft doesn't seem to affect the number of usable hornets in the next mission, I believe K/L ratio is relative for battlefield assessment?

Thanks for the reply! So there is basically no workaround. If I may say, I hope that you'll probably make a similar dynamic campaign for the F-14 in the future (not saying Operation Sandworm is bad... I've not finished it yet but so far I love it!). Another question though: if I land at some divert, say Al Minhad AFB, does the debrief come out? Because landing on the ground is much easier than on the carrier and I don't worry about blocking alert 5 planes and so.

I know this kinda sounds stupid, but is there any workaround so I can play the campaign without actually taking off? For now if I don't I will block devil 4 and probably also my wingman. So far the best would be, I just perform a landing pattern once launched and let devil 1-2 go on route. I'm not a hornet guy but I really enjoy the way of playing this campaign... Edit: I wonder if changing the position of devil 1 on deck would do the trick, for example where those 2 (alert 5?) vfa-34 hornets are parking so I don't block devil 4.

Just completed the whole campaign - what an experience! Although a lot of confusion during the process, but everything becomes less important when I see the fireworks on that casino in the huge formation. This campaign definitely made me a better Tomcat pilot and had an overall wonderful experience. Thank you Reflected!

After successfully finished the RAG and survived the first deployments, I think I am a badass, now I'm proven wrong... Mission 13 is absolutely not playable in VR here, can literally see nothing without NVG, and with NVG the extremely low framerate & pixels on this NVG don't really make things better. To be fair I'll just post some screenshots: In the first screenshot I'm about at most 1 nm away from tanker, you can tell by the labels, but I see literally nothing even at a very close range; The second screenshot is taken roughly at the same range but with NVG, now you can see tiny little black pixels, actually I can see them well in the game, but the NVG is just... unstable, and I loose the sense of controlling the aircraft, makes it a million times harder to refuel or even join up. I've seen from other people's videos that in flat mode things are not so bad, but since I want to stick with VR I'll just skip this one instead, or until something is fixed by ED.

Hi Reflected, thanks for the reply! Can't repeat more how I love this campaign and benefit from these trainings. Regarding to your points, I realized that I probably "complained" too much in where I intended to write some tips - 1) AI. Okay fair, to be honest one should have not expected that an AI is as good as a real 3,500-hour pilot. Sometimes however I start to doubt myself once I need to be "off course from what briefed", but learning the briefing again will always help. 2) Instruction. Have to admit I'm still training to do everything right yet - also I agree that if everything is written down crystal clear then it's more like a babysitter tutorial, instead of training. The real combat changes a million times in one tick, so I guess as a pilot I have to think for myself sometimes. But in the end you should figure out how concretely you achieve the mission targets, so as I written down, "turn 3G in the tac turn", this one I figured it out myself, could be used as a reference for anyone interested. Of course the solution is free and everyone can do whatever he/she is comfortable with. Regarding the grade and difficulty - I would also say you "pass" one subject a little bit too easily. So that's why I look into the "Paco tips" and try to do better next time until they disappear. I guess I will aim for all green particularly in this campaign, and first then call myself a virtual tomcat pilot Again thank you for this wonderful campaign! I can fully imagine how many triggers you have to set up, how many waypoints you need to set for the AI etc.. Respect. Yeah, fully agree with you. I guess this is the restriction that DCS as a simulation game has... Sometimes I just have to realize "oh the AI is again doing THAT", and do my own job without looking at him. Also I have difficulties exactly as the others looking at the triangle in parade formation since VR, not to mention that we never feel the acceleration with out butts. Ay. Really hope DCS can get better in some terms but for the rest I will consider them as the price I pay for being a "immortal pilot" who doesn't fear death.

Started as a RAG nugget on the 15th March. Really great content. This should be THE campaign every virtual tomcat pilot goes through before running on other missions/campaigns, if you want to be as immersive and good as in the reality. Overall, the campaign gives me more feeling as some sort of "exams" more than "tutorials": you have to learn, then practice, be good, then you come back to the missions provided or the campaign and get scored, hope that you don't fail three times. You can choose to restart the mission again and again or fly instant missions, but either way I don't think any of these tasks are to be passed with "above average" without decent practice. ----------------------------------------- However, I personally find some white-boards not explicite enough, or even "wrong" in the sense that the DCS AI is not behaving as well as intended. I'll list a couple of missions with my thoughts and small tips, maybe also some confusions, and see if someone has a better way to pass the "exams". 2c - Breakup & Rendezvous: I think IRL you should be safe and have some ~330 kts while rejoining, but here time means grade, so drive ~350 (even a little bit higher) to catch up the bus. 2d - Cruise formation: While pitching hard, the AI hits the throttle without noticing you which is very hard to follow. Or am I just too bad? 2e - G-warm: The DCS AI is definitely not doing as briefed. If you turn 4G @400kts then you'll almost surely have a tighter turn than the AI and fall behind. Also the AI maintains 15,000 ft while the player performs 6G turn 15 degree nose down so you'll be out by ~1,000 ft lower. Then by the 20 degree nose up & neg-G check you will climb again so lastly you should end up 1 mile abeam, however I doubt if the AI is doing right. Also when combat spreading, I bank 45 degrees, maintaining altitude, wait until I am 30 degrees off route (no hard-turns!), start counting 8 or 10 sec while leveling, at 10 I again bank 45 degrees in the other direction, maintaining altitude, and wait until back en route. Should get the beep denoting you're 1 mile abeam at 10 degrees to go. Of course don't forget to adjust throttle for constant speed. 2f - Shackle: Relying only on your eyes to "guess" when you're 1 mile away is absolutely random... I got an Above Average though. 2h - Tac turns: This one is fishy. No indication on how hard I should be turning, so I have to guess my distance to lead and this is a total disaster. If you turn too hard, you will probably be too close & behind, makes the next turn even harder to calibrate. On experiences I think this should be done with a 3G-turn each time. 2j - Aerial refueling: Don't have the skill to pass yet, however AI intercepting the tanker is... confucious. The AI will accelarate & use brakes with no warning, makes it extremely difficult to follow in formation. Also if timed badly the AI will show off his skill refueling from a tanker with 30 degrees bank... and eventually "flashes" between different formation places. 5b - GBU & LANTIRN: For the whole mission 5 we have no indication on turn rates. How do I keep exactly 5 miles / 3 miles abeam? Have to figure it out by myselves, don't remember the exact number but I think some 60~70 degree bank with 4G for the tight one, for the loose LANTIRN pattern do the same but stop at 45 degrees to go and fly straight until 5+ miles away from TGT. I read from other posts that we should pull hard to climb 4,000 ft and so, but it is confusion af not to clearly point out where we should pull the pitch. After passing TGT? Or while turning? Or in that "level flight" phase? If you're not 15,000 ft when abeam then you definitely already loss points for the grade. 6b - Snapshot drill: In the 3rd circle we are supposed to pull to avoid being shot at. However there is not enough time between 3rd and 4th circle to return to the right altitude... 6c- Defensive perch: I'm not sure if I understood the briefing correctly, but seemly the only way not to "took too long killing the bandit" is to do some pilot <profanity> (and yes, by this I MEAN the cobra or the famous Maverick "I'm gonna hit the brake and let him overshoot" manuever) and force Paco to overshoot, or, at least go into scissors. Since the AI turns almost always in ideal turn rate you'll not gonna make it on time if going into a turn fight as briefed. 6g - Butterfly set: Now I get an Average because "took too long killing the bandit" after coming down directly from high, do some high yo-yo to keep offensive and splash the bandit with Fox-2 after about 1 minute. So... we are supposed to kill the bandit by the very first pass after coming back from the stratosphere if we want an Above Average? Fox-2 is not an option in this window since Paco will flare & turn which basically neutralize the sidewinder. Not to mention that you'll have difficulties reaching even 500 kts if fly as briefed, 550 kts at merge is absolutely non-sense, if as briefed. -------------------------------------- Phew, I have written down so much blah-blahs. I feel necessary to repeat that I definitely LOVE this campaign, great job Reflected, really provides a deep learning-curve for those who want to master the tomcat. But at the same time I do had a LOT of confusions during the tasks, some are probably not explained so detailed as other tasks (I would say the explanations in Mission 1 are really clear) or just restricted by DCS / DCS AI. I welcome you guys all to write down tips for the missions whenever you felt confused and then figured it out on your own. Asking for how exactly the triggers work, to slip pass the grading, is not intended by this post though. -------------------------------------- And in the very end I just want to post my grade sheet at the current moment Really satisfying to see new gradings & get better results day by day.

G2 headset generally have better performance with MT afaik, Pico and Oculus devices however are likely to face more issues.

Hi, after the latest patch I'm experiencing extremely bad performance both in ST version and in MT. My specs are Laptop 3070ti + 12700H + 32G RAM, using a Pico 4 headset and VD to stream. Already tried: directly start inside steamVR (so OpenVR runtime used), start with --force-VR --force_OpenXR command in VD (so Oculus runtime used), nothing changes. Also in either case the steam VR overlay is always activated which was not the case before the patch, no matter ST/MT. The log file is attached. Thank you!