saltyleon

Thanks to ED for this Afghanistan update. My points about communication are still something I would like to see addressed a bit better but ... the update today is impressive. Finally the terrain looks believable and those mountains are really stunning. The color palette was noticably improved as well. No more green glowing trees. Thanks alot.

Hi @BIGNEWY, I am happy to hear, that there is a new newsletter today, that has an update included about the progress on the Afghanistan map. I also have to say that the depth of information, we received in the last months was rather thin. Yes, ED informed about missed expectations and your intention to fix the situation (which needs more time). ED posted new WIP screenshots but they looked unfinished as well - so again, we have no idea of your quality goals for the map. For other topics, ED lately released very detailed white papers. For Afghanistan really wasn't that much information besides: we're working on it and we tell you, when its done. Don't see my list as a threat towards ED. Early access is widely used. A few years ago, early access was still a new thing and people were more willing to invest, just because to get access early and for a better price. But over the years there also were tons of dissapointments in early access, therefore trust is becoming more and more important. And I would like to see ED building more trust into these long-term projects such maps and modules.

At initial early access release: The following areas/features are "finished"/"work in progress"/"coming later". From finished areas you can get an idea how the final product will look like. This is our roadmap for the product (map) from early access to the final product (and quality) [roadmap - months/planned releases/whatever] This is our goal for the quality of the final product (map) [image/video +optional article] Something went wrong/didn't meet our/your expectations on the product. We assessed the situation and are planning going forward this way. If you want to know more, ... [article] Our product needs more time to meet our/your expectations. If you want to know more, this is what we're intend to to do solve the issue ... [article] That's what I wanna hear from every developer that uses the early access model to get early funding for product development. Because I need to trust the developer, that my investment in this unfinished product is worth the waiting time and the initial quality/state of the product can asure that the goals, the developer outlines, can be met.

Hello, I purchased the Afghanistan map directly on release and as many others, I immediately noticed the "patchwork" character of the map. Large areas with very low detail and smaller "patches" with very high detailed textures are located directly next to each other without transition. These patchwork patterns can be found all over the place. Also there were/are lots of LOD issues where the terrain literally "moves" up and down when you come closer to an area, which feels strange, of course. Yesterday I saw first content from the new Iraq map and I was wondering that - besides that there are areas on the map, that lack content (buildings/vegetation) - I didn't notice any of the issues from Afghanistan (or far less). All parts of the map that I saw (finished or unfinished) share much more equal texture quality of ground textures with additional layers for terrain details and vegetation. The overall quality seems a lot better and - way more consistent across the map. This causes some questions: Why is the quality of the initial releases of these two maps (both developed by ED) so different? ED told us, that both maps are developed in parallel by two separate teams. Both maps are nearly of the same size. Both maps are located in the same region of the globe with similar terrain and they probably sharing a lot of assets. Why still can't ED tell their customers, 6 months after release, about WHEN Afghanistan will get its first update and WHAT we can expect in terms of improved quality for the southwest regionand what is EDs visual goal in terms of detail and quality for these new maps? I think we can expect that both teams have access to the same tools and techniques for map creation, right? Why did Afghanistan even get released in its state while these issues were clearly visible, not only compared to Iraq but also compared to maps from third-party developers, e.g. the Sinai map? As a purchaser of the Afghanistan map the lack of information from ED, the fact that maps like Kola already received several updates across the year and finally Iraq map beeing released and in a better state even before Afghanistan gets any fixes/updates (and most likely not before February 2025) doesn't feel good. Thanks for listening.

Hi, yesterday I started the Campain by playing the intro mission. In part 1, there is a third jet that comes close and I decided to "ignore" his offer. Then me and my wingman continue flying to Indian Springs airport. But from this moment - almost to landing at the airport AI Jester constantly called out the position of my wingmen ( "there is a friendly at eleven o'clock" ) - every 5 seconds. This was a bit annoying and it also interfered with the scripted dialogs that continue as well. I hope, this explanation helps to identify the issue.

Hey, when will the campain be released? I was hoping to see it with 2.9.6 but it wasn't onbord of this patch today.

Hi, I tested a lot of MP servers. 4YA-Servers, BuddySpike, Flashpoint, Contention ... on all of them I got about 100-130 fps when the F-4 was cold on the ground and even with radar active with enemies around me, it always remained above 70-80 fps. The only MP server I am unable to play, seems to be Enigma. As soon as I take-off, my fps go down to 60. If I turn the nose of my plane towards the "hot zone" (towards enemie territory) it goes down into 35-45 fps and the closer I come to an enemy airplane, it goes down into the 20. There is nothing I can do, and its impossible fight. Its just stuttering. But as mentioned above ... I didn't have such huge fps drops on any other MP server yet. i7 14700K + GTX 3080 TI + 64GB Ram

Maybe ... but for a training mission I would've expected a direct approach OR some guidance, such as commands to fly to the airport, turn 180°, dive down ... . At least for me ( I play DCS for about 12 months now ) this is not the usual approach. I am familiar with a direct approach as well as the overhead break. This one was completely new and unusal for me.

Hi, I would like to provide some feedback for the the training missions that are available with the initial release of the F-4E. Dive-Toss Bombing & Maverick Mission Both missions are explaining the upcoming task very well, are short and fun to play. I really enjoyed learning these delivery modes that way. Landing Mission In the beginning of the mission its a bit unclear of what is about to happen in this mission. There is alot of preparation within Task 1 but I am missing any guidance where to fly to and at which height. After completion of task 1 there is no further guidance for the mission at all. I played it several times. I most likely missed the trigger to start task 2 but without instructions I have no idea what to do. If I land the plane on my own, the instructor comes up with some additional suggestions but that's all. I never saw him speaking about tasks 2-4. WSO & Radar mission This is the second mission that - in my view - needs improvements. After the introduction of the two gain knobs the player is tasked to identify helicopters and planes from 3 groups at different heights and at different distances. All this happens while the plane is in "active pause". This is very hard if you have no experience with this type of radar and all the ground clutter. In a training mission like that I would expect for example an radar image that shows how an appropriate gain setting should look like and what identifies as a target despite all the remaining ground clutter. Because of the active pause, nothing moves and I have no idea what I am looking for. Maybe I did something wrong, but as these are missions, especially designed to learn a new plane and its features ... there should be more explanations and guidance in these instances. Last words: The F-4E is a wonderful jet. I really enjoy every minute flying it.

Just happened to my teammate on Flashpoint server. He was in the jester menu when another friend entered the WSO seat.

Yes. Virpil HOTAS + Rudder pedals ( updating to latest Virpil Software [20240323] and still the same issue ). Re-tested on Flashpoint Levant Server. DCS freezes immediately.

I had this issue several times already -- but only when playing online on a server. I had no issues in offline mode. As soon as you enter the UI for "adjust controls" ... CPU usage seems to spike (mouse movement stutters) and DCS freezes.

Hi, yesterday I experienced the following behavior several times on different MP servers. When I activate the radar as pilot and the radar starts showing ground clutter, there's a massive drop in FPS. I was taking off from a runway, and activated the radar after my F-4 was airborne. This resulted in a FPS drop from about 50 to less than 10 and huge confusion because, I couldn't control the airplane anymore. The fps drops are most noticable when there is much ground clutter on the screen and seems to increase with an increasing radar range. FPS recover over time, so the moment I decided to activate the radar when I am higher above ground.

Hi, the option to "add waypoint" should always be avaiable when "editing a flightplan". As soon as a sinlge waypoint is in the flightplan, you have to click on this waypoint in order to be able to "insert before" or "insert after". It would require less interactions if there would be an "add waypoint" option that always adds a new waypoint at the end of the recent flightplan. Thanks

Right now all weapons/attachments are only shown by their symbology (small icons). While its true that over time, you'll learn to read these icons, this still doesn't mean you'll know exactly whats attached to your plane/helicopter as there aren't completely unique icons for every weapon/tool in the game. The only way to figure out whats really attached is to hover over an icon and wait for the pop-up description. Therefore (and for simple QoL), please add short names / abbrevations below each symbol, so we can easily read/see what our planes carry. Screen resolutions nowadays are big enough that we can afford a little more occupied screen space for the re-arm window. Thank you.