Sunbather

Idiot me. I did find that thread but was only looking on the last page, not on the first. Bought the Viggen by the way.

What does the updated manual entail? Also, I've been persuing the manual. It would be nice of you to offer us a printer-friendly one, i.e. without the Viggen sketch in the background. And there's something else I wanted to share with you guys: I think it's a missed opportunity that you don't make use of the 'modular' bundle system over on Steam. E.g. I've purchased the F-4 at full price, am very interested in the Viggen, but only mildly interested in the F-14. However, if this was a modular bundle I would probably buy both missing jets anyways thanks to the additional discount. Likewise, I might purchase the Viggen today. It would make it a whole lot easier for me in the future, if my interest in the F-14 arises, to purchase it if it was part of a 'modular' bundle. It seems also like a middle finger towards your customers who might already have purchased two of your modules but now can't buy the bundle. See for a 'modular' bundle, this description text: https://steamdb.info/bundle/16050/ And your 'restricted' bundle: https://steamdb.info/bundle/52534/

Indeed. Especially since the thing we have now is a bit of a mess: when I tried to play a modern day scenario on the channel map it spawned Flak 88 as air defenses; era-appropriate (i.e. historical) scenario creation rarely ever works. So it is indeed good to hear that a new iteration is worked upon and filtering A/C by eras is a focus. In that regard, it would also be nice to have several incremental steps during the Cold War going into the 90s. E.g. the F-16C not carrying any HARMS missiles before ~1985. In short, filtering not only the A/C according to the era but also their loadout, if possible.

There was a mistake during the last sale, this time there is no mistake. In the official store there is shown a base discount of 20% because the map is still in early access. On Steam, this discount is already applied and only the new price is shown. Now you have additional 10% off during the sale on the official store, while there is even a 12% off on Steam which - in fact - makes the Steam version cheaper (depending on your regional price). For me in Germany, the Kola map is 45€ on Steam and 49$ here (which roughly translates to 50€ due to poor conversion rates). What confuses me more is that some modules are not on sale at all on Steam while being on sale here, e.g. the F/A-18C Arctic Thunder campaign.

You might laugh but I wanted to start a career as a graphic designer. Then I chose to become an astronaut.

Although it has been demanded now and BigNewy has already acknowledged our feedback, I felt the need to use my insane skills in Microsoft Paint to visualize the problem. For the Sinai map there are six entries before Rudel-Chw's Mig-21bis Training Missions although they have been updated yesterday! And even that is only because the initial release of his Training Missions is relatively close to begin with. What will it look like in 2027? Rudel-Chw might still update his missions but they will only show up 5 pages into the Sinai section... It would be tremendous help to see right away what has been worked on recently and what is to be considered "use at own risk, the last 20 updates might have broken this user content". It would also give the users who keep their work current and functioning a much more prominent stage. Can't there simply be a new category that takes account of the last upload by the creator? Like so: Similiarily, I am probably going to buy the M-2000C because only yesterday I have found out that even the user campaigns made in 2022 have been updated. I didn't see that before because there are 18 campaigns and I simply didn't click on every single one of them, especially because I had no hopes for a campaign from 2022 to have been updated anyway. And that is only regarding the user files stuff where the changelog is in the description. I suspect there are quite a few files out there that have been updated but there is no way to know and they won't show up as 'recent' either. What I am saying is: if I see at first sight that a lot of user stuff for module X has been updated recently, I am much more likely to purchase said module.

Curiously, for me it worked with the original mission file. Pressing "Rec" showed me an error of about 0.2 NM which rang true. I pressed "Val" and it re-aligned the INS, or at least pressing "Rec" again then showed 0.000 error in NM.

This seems to be a very important one that I've seen suggested many times already, even as a newcomer to DCS. It would also help to populate the comment section a bit more which is important to be able to judge if a campaign, mission, mod or whatever still works. (from my consumer perspective)

I have found conflicting info on this topic. Are the two campaigns and the 10 training missions by Baltic Dragon included with the jet still functional? I think I even heard that you can't even click on the campaign anymore so basically not working at all. I even trialed the module during Christmas but forgot to check this. What are your findings?

I am sure of that! Have a great weekend, too!

That's why I said "new work". Clearly, a lot of work has gone into this and it is a great enabler for modders. As to the constructive part: I did make 2 constructive suggestions of which you ignored one. Already someone else posted here that it feels outdated because it lacks basic features. And it was stated in other threads over and over again. Sorry, I am just a bit grumpy about the shortness of the newsletter. One is no news and the other one was already announced by Octopus G one or two weeks ago... Yet, zero news about the Afghanistan map update, no updates on continued work on any of the other modules released recently (Kola, Sinai, Phantom, ), no deep dive into the 2025 and Beyond video... But I do object to the claim that my post wasn't constructive!

I'd say the User Files section is hardly overlooked. And if you are praising how great community content is (which it is), you might wanna implement some basic features to the User Files section. E.g. adding the Iraq map to the filters (the map is out for 2.5 months now...) and let us see when the last file upload was, e.g. if a campaign from 2022 got an update since then. Sure, most creators write their changelog into the text section but why not make things simple to see at one glance while you are browsing? In a more unfriendly manner one could also say: it would be nice to put at least a little bit of new work into a feature before praising it in a newsletter ; )

Don't take my words out of their context, please. I am more than willing to pay for another asset pack but the previous one should be completed first, or at least implemented correctly.

I can say that this is certainly true for me. I did a trial on the WW2 stuff, especially the asset pack, and it's just not complete. In instant action missions (official ones, mind you) for the Channel map or when I use the mission generator (the official one, mind you), the Allies constantly got Flak 36s as their air defense. Wtf? Then there is the overall lack of singleplayer content, aside from the paid campaigns. It feels just way too incomplete. And now I am expected to buy another asset pack for WW2? Even that would be fine but I see very little progress regarding the Western Front so I obviously expect the PTO asset pack to stay incomplete and non-developed as well.

Hold on a minute: how do I make the ATC speak German? And can I make my pilot and flight also speak German? One of the my biggest petpeeves is WW2 games in which the Germans speak thick American. As to your last paragraph: That's exactly what is needed: more planes/variants of the ones we already have, even if unplayable, and fitting to the timeframe of Summer 1944. Where are the transport aircraft (C-47, Ju-52)? Where are the other heavy bombers (B-24, B-25, Lancaster, Bf 110)? Where are the light bombers (P-38, Ju 87)?

According to @Skewgear, yes. I was answering to them.

Indeed, great news. And just yesterday I read that WW2 was dead in DCS because no new modules are coming out. Now we just need a Caucasus map in which the modern buildings are replaced with older ones and some cities are reduced in size and some WW2-style airfields.

Great exposition of the problems involved but at the same time, I think you're overthinking it. Having an easy way to mark one building or truck as the objective that needs to be destroyed is already in the game. Now there needs to be the opposite trigger: when another building or truck than the intended target is destroyed, you lose points or even fail the mission right away. Maybe something like this can already be done but it seems very complicated or else more people would implement it in their missions / mission generators. Only having that would already go a long way to increase immersion.

That does sound bleak indeed. But aren't there several WWII planes in the works by 3rd party devs? Yeah, not delivered yet but still in the works, no? That being said, I would assume work on WW2 stopped because of the sales not justifying further development. I can only speak for myself but I would immediately buy into the WW2 experience (meaning: Channel map, Normandy map, WWII assets pack, at least 2 planes right away with more, possibly all to follow, and maybe even other maps if they get tuned to WW2). But right now? What I am trying to say: don't just take low sales at face value. Also factor in how much more sales you would get if the experience was actually not half-baked. My wallet is ready but DCS WWII in its current state doesn't justify the investment.

Especially since we got the Afghanistan and Iraq maps. ROE played a huge role in the recent wars there. I really hope ED will take note of this. As I said in some post above: there are very few wargames that simulate this but imo it is an absolute must, especially when you want to simulate COIN.

Thanks for the response! For now, I am strictly singleplayer for now though and the amount of user content is unfortunately small, especially for the Normandy map. On the brightside, the Normandy map is much better than it was earlier today. I suspect it was a faulty instant mission or a crappy weather preset. It really looked like all my graphics were set to the lowest settings. I did create a mission with the Briefing Room app and it was fun but yeah, the missing variety of airplanes and available missions (e.g. bomber escort) is just painful. I will probably buy into the whole DCS WW2 'experience' eventually but for now I rather invest my money in a more complete WW2 flight sim.

I stand partially corrected. I was in "WW2 experience in DCS" rant mode. Still, let's not confuse things here: having both paid FC and FF modules of the same A/C is not the same as at the same time announcing a new FF module and a free FC module of the same A/C. Also, the logic is reverse here: making a FF into a FC one is a sound business decision because it reels in new customers with a lower priced module.

Reporting back with my findings: it might no be beautiful flying but once I am in the air, I rarely need to use my twist axis for rudder adjustments. The takeoff procedure requires some acrobatics, apart from that I find flying the P-51 and the Bf-109 comfortable for my standards. Regarding the WW2 experience: I appreciate the sound effects of guns and drag, the flight model and how intimate the cockpits feel compared to other WW2 flight sims (probably because you know that you can actually click things). But what use does it have? The first training mission with the P-51, a humvee spawned right next to me. I downloaded the Normandy map and the WW2 asset pack: zero (0!) missions for neither the P-51 nor the Bf-109, instant action missions ridiculously low, zero training missions, WW2 asset pack gives me 2 of the same (?) missions for the Persian Gulf map but none for Caucasus or Normandy. In addition, and although I had never issues with LOD and draw distance on maps, the Normandy map suffers from horrible pop-ins. I mean like from 5km away, whole towns are fading into fog. And don't let me start with the whoefully little amount of AI planes. Sorry for the rant but I really understand now why people call the WW2 experience in DCS a lackluster one. And in my opinion, that's a euphemism. It's half-baked with little regard for immersion. But I write this not to vent but to add my voice to the many voices that demand a proper treatment of the WW2 aspect in DCS. And no, just having a Pacific map won't cut it because it will likely be just as half-baked as the Western Front, mabye even less baked regarding how little actual planes are announced for that theatre.

Ah yes, promising the F-15C for free when the FF F-15C just got announced. You must be a businessman!

Damn, so it's that expensive to go to the movies in Belgium? Hold on. Waffle? Belgian Waffles? It all makes sense now! Please excuse me again for my rant. I was homing in on that one argument of yours which you made in all innocence.