BigBANGtheory

I don't think so from the point of view of the consumer. At the end of the day if a V.1 throttle and stick is working fine then what can it be doing differently to a V.3 especially given they all share the same firmware? Its probably some minor changes and possibly additional QA checks IMHO. There are some photos kicking about the web from the insides of an early TM Warthog Throttle perhaps a V.3 owner can unscrew their base carefully and do the same? I don't think you'll see much difference though.

Version: V.1 here

I got the Saitek Combat Pedals last week, really pleased with them though I did have to invert the toe brake axis in game and one thing I wasnt expecting is that using them feels better with shoe's or slippers on.

The main problem with Kinect is that you can't currently use it for head tracking in DCS A10-C, its simply not a viable option today and for at least the short term future. Its a bit like saying should you buy DCS A10-C beta, full release, steam version, boxed version, after printed manual or once the Nevada update is available? I have an Xbox kinect I would love to plug it into my PC and use it in game, but I can't and I don't believe I'll be able to anytime soon. Its also frustrating Natural Point not taking the lead on this, they are selling old tech at a premium price in 2011 so I'm not defending them either.

Dude I'll tell you straight up having been in the situation you are in now a few weeks back myself. You don't need pedals, but you are going to want them bad. Drink no alcohol and live off rice, vegatables and water for a few weeks it will be good for your health and you will have saved yourself some wonga for a set of pedals.

Yeah its a Warthog with no twist and I tried the slider mapping on the throttle (which is good advice btw) but couldn't get on with it. I think the thing is the HOTAS Warthog is so good that dropping back to the keyboard/mouse or slider control feels so wrong for me atleast :joystick: I dunno maybe I'm turning into a potential pit builder but having weighed up the pros and cons (and what I think is missing for me at this stage) I have purchased the Saitek Pro Combat Pedals over TrackIR. Hopefully I made a wise choice on the pedals/product, and my mind is open to TrackIR. One thing that I would really like to figure out is how to stop using the keyboard and mouse all together without resorting to touchscreen monitors, I think TrackIR is part of the solution especially as I want to map the collie hat back to TRIM. Maybe thats too much or I havent thought it through I guess at the end of the day the real pilot takes their hands off the stick and throttle to do things :pilotfly:

I'd advise you take a long 'rose tinted' eye on a pair of pedals, as a newbie pilot myself within hours of getting my first HOTAS (cos of this sim) I realised that I wasn't going to get away without them. The other thing I advise you do whilst waiting is wander over to You Tube and take a look at some of the excellent videos people have been posting. Topics like TRIM, ILS and waypoint navigation are the best if like me you are learning to fly before shooting stuff up. Personally I think landing is one of the most exciting parts of the sim. Finally with only the keyboard and mouse you can learn about the mission editor which will serve you well for future flights and training...

I love DCS A10c no question (bought and paid for in Beta3) if there is one major improvement to be made in my view its the handling of terrain textures and objects, they can look good but they scale bad. That means mip mapping, LoD, parrallax and occulsion mapping or some flavour a plenty. The cockpit is closr to perfection, the terrain and environment is not....yet

Thanks for the advice gents, I guess having the HOTAS means I am comitted to pedals and Headtracking now, though I'll probably take one step at a time.

As a newbie pilot myself (that occasionally plays CoD), one thing I would suggest is some material to accompany the official tutorials. The instructor covers a huge ammount of topics but in no real detail so to have some reference material relevent to the tutorial (which the manual isn't) would be a major + + Let me give a simple example in the Landing tutorial the instructor asks you to adjust the HSI setting, and proceed to a marker for pattern landing. I have done this tutorial many times and to this day I do not understand the function of the HSI nor do I understand what some of the needles are doing or where this virtual marker is, I always seem to turn too late by doing a visual estimation.

Once one is up and running with a HOTAS in your opinion what is next most important I guess in terms of value/immersion: 1. Head tracking e.g. TrackIR 2. Rudder pedals 3. TM Cougar MFD (with some display device e.g. 2nd monitor) 4. External panel display 5. Multi screen graphics display 6. Other Thanks in advance for your contibutions (and yes I tried the search button option, but Im not going to keep trying so there :P)

thanks for the link gents

I have only recently made the jump from a Saitek Cyborg Evo to a TM Warthog and the difference is hard to put into words, I think I'm afraid to use it! btw is there a simple guide or diagram that explains the TM Hotas Warthog controls in DCS A10c? The quick start manual avoids this by saying what the keyboard mappings are rather than 'if I push that switch, its going to do do this...' and when you are in game I can't seem to pause and view the control mappings. Iam sure it makes sense to many, kind of tough on the newbies though ;)

delete the current axis assignment, then add a new one and move your throttle the see which axis the game recognises. I had the same problem on an old Saitek Cyborg Evo but got the throttle to work using this method as the game didn't recognise it by default.

I'm a complete newbie and it took 4-5 goes at some of the basic flight and navigation stuff before I felt I knew what was going on. It is quite rewarding once you get the grip of it and even now I can only barely land in one piece. Think of this sim as a good long term game to be played out over months and years, dont feel pressured into making quick gains and thrills like other games. Take a break have another go in a week no big deal, hell sometime I want to shoot zombies, other times control massive armies and today I want to learn to fly and do things well. Exam? Great idea add it to the wish list I would love to see a flight school exam in either this game or the next DCS title.

Thanks dude, nice simple answer. I owe you a beer if visiting the UK... :thumbup:

so basically the TM Warthog (though you might have a problem with the throttle PCB having to be fixed under warranty) is pretty much the best stick around as of Q2 2011?

Would it not be better to have somekind of community slush fund to go towards additional development requests in a future patch?

Can you use speed brakes without a HOTAS system? I can't see the option in the game controls and the manual shows the switch on the throttle :joystick: When I approach at 120kts I use up an awful lot of runway with zero throttle and wheel braking, its good fun though I feel I am missing something.

Newbie = new to flight sims in general in this case not just DCS A-10c, and only covering the flight basics (not weapons) using Beta4. Generally speaking I enjoyed them, the instructors voice sounded professional though his narrative doesn't always explain things but I guess the manual covers that. Some feedback which I believe would improve the flight basic missions: 1. The start-up training ends too soon in my opinion, I think you should be asked to taxi the A-10 to the runway. 2. You should point out some of the view options early on and how to move to view hidden or obscured buttons. 3. I think the trainer makes a mistake in his narrative in the start-up training by reffering to switching the VHF/AM radio to TR when it clearly says TK on the panel. 4. You need to make it possible to view the game control options in game. 5. Some of the instructors comments can be a lot to take in, it would be nice to either see a log of the speech or ask him to repeat it if you get lost trying to execute his instructions. 6. I would prefer the landing training to be split between reaching the 10nm marker and getting the aircraft into the landing pattern with the final approach and landing. There is an awful lot to practice on the final approach and land itself though I guess you could create a custom mission yourself. 7. I don't know if this is possible but it would be nice to see how you handled the final approach relative to the glide path in a chart after you land to judge for yourself if you did it well or made a mess of it.

ok good, the fair option it is then. All is good and shiny :)

This sounds like a fair option. This is not a fair option.

How new does 1stVFW accept? You see I have this friend and err.... :music_whistling:

Thats for ED to sort out with Steam, its been done before with other titles. I purchased Company of Heroes, X3:Terran Conflict and AvP as a DVD originally but I play them through Steam now without having paid Steam anything extra for those titles.

Really looking forward to Beta5, I must say so far I am very impressed with this product.