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I recently added beach obstacles and some bunkers to the Normandy beaches. Mainly around Omaha beach, but extending along the landing areas. My aim was to create a D Day scenario mission. Took off in the Messerschmitt and although my frame rate counter showed 50-70, I got horrendous stutters. Every 1 second there was a stutter, as if the graphics engine was struggling to load the beach obstacles? Mission was unplayable! Can anyone confirm that Normandy 2.1.1, with Deferred Shading on, does not like the beach obstacles? Obstacles were varied, submersible poles and tank traps. About 75 obstacles in total. Stutters were apparent at take off, well away from the beaches and remained during the flight? A test without any beach obstacles revealed no stutters whatsoever! EDIT. It appears its the Landing craft and the Destroyer escorts that's causing the game to stutter.! Removing all the landing craft restores smooth flight? Now just need a way to have landing craft without stutters? Regards David

Absolutely! Start small and build up! Sometimes missions never play the same twice. Which is great really, I suppose? Also downloading other folks missions and seeing how they did it, is really helpful. Have a look at my latest one on User Files. Deep Strike for Viggen and one for the Mirage! Best regards.

Suddenly seeing low frame rate (3-12) at the start of a mission with multiple groups of B-17's attacking my airfield? B-17's are at 25,000'. Could also be due to Flack placements, (24 assorted Flack positions around airfield, Carpiquet) but the frame rate is now and noticeably jerky? Also had 3 CTD's out of 5 missions? The Normandy terrain is beautiful though, as is the sun glinting off my 109's canopy in external view! Lovely! Glad the Caucuses map is still fast and stable! Regards David

Everything you need is in the mission editor. Have a play with the mission editor. Just open it up click on the aircraft symbol (top left), select a B_17, from right side drop down menu, click on the map and place it at any altitude. Then put your aircraft 109/190 on the map in the same way. You can begin with both airborne and with your aircraft with a hight advantage. Save it and click on fly (green bird symbol on left side menu). Make sure your aircraft is "you"...set as "player". (Drop down menu right side) Then when you click on fly you will start in your 109! You can then build up missions where you have many aircraft aloft. But the more you have, the slower the game will run! I am sure there are tutorials around, but to be honest, it's better to have a play around with a couple of aircraft to start with. Once you get the basics, you can quickly build missions. Today I took off, planning to intercept my 20+ B-17 formation, escorted by Mustangs. By the time I got to 20,000', they Bombers had dropped their ordinance and headed for home. I managed an entire intercept mission, without firing a single shot! However the flying was nice!:megalol: If you do manage to get into range of the Fort. Watch out for the gunners, they will scyth you in two! Of course you could cheat and both of you be on the same side...(also set from menu) that way the Fort won't shoot back! Cheers

Check! The 30mm has the clout for sure, but slow rate of fire and like you say, poor range and not much ammo! Those 151 cannon's would be nice in the wings? The cockpit switch is there ready for use, so come on ED let's have the wing cannons. The 190 is superior in this department! Some great advice from all the guys here. Speed, check. Altitude,check. Dive, shoot, scoot:thumbup: Normandy is turning out to be a real learning curve. One thing that appears more apparent, is the planning and patience required, just to execute a single pass on a B-17. The slow climb to the bombers altitude, takes an age and there are the obvious pitfalls of our DCS visibility limitation? Then you have to fly well, avoiding engine over stresses!:music_whistling: As a bit of light relief, I took 4 Mig 21's up in place of the 109's.....With the speed of a jet, those tactics become much easier. :smilewink: Now, can we have the Me 262.....please!:D Cheers!

Anyone tried attacking the B-17's in Normandy 2.1.1? I placed four box formations (16 aircraft) at 20,000' and tried an intercept with 4 109's.....:pilotfly: The newly activated turret gunners cut me to pieces! I managed a couple of downed B-17's before my 109 exploded! A real challenge now to shoot these guys. The A.I. gunners are as good as the A.I. pilots...:smilewink: Possibly the only tactic would be a head on shooting pass.....just like they did in WW2:D Thanks ED!

Hi, I sorted it out today! It's a key bind in controls, RAlt+#. That's on my keyboard. It could be RAlt+\ on yours? RAlt+# is the "push to talk". That opens the radio menu for our Wingmen, then it's select from that as usual. It's not really a push to talk, it's more an alternative radio menu command! Hope that helps.

Thanks guys. I will have another try. I could have sworn it worked with just the comms menu before, that's \ in the assignments or # on my keyboard? Like you say Art, there's nothing to "push" here! Regards David

After take off and gear up, the radio menu can not be accessed with # or \. This is in Normandy, 2.1.1 Any one else see this? Everything was fine in 2.1 before the latest patch. Radio is ok in every other module in Normandy? Cheers

That sums up the current state of play very nicely!:thumbup: I would add, that if you read the records of post D-Day air combat ( look at Bunyap's You Tube channel, he has done historical videos of the day to day life in a Spitfire squadron), you see that large dogfight's, never occurred. Those were the Battle of Britain days. Most encounters were very brief dogfight's, with the Luftwaffe aircraft able to disengage at will and scoot for their forward bases. The 109/190 had greater speed than the Spit/Pony. If we had the Thunderbolt or Typhoon/Tempest we may be able to catch them? If you fly for the Luftwaffe, you can re create interception of the Flying Forts. I believe ED have activated the B-17 turret gunners, although I have not tested that yet! Cheers.

Here is a Deep Strike mission for the Mirage. I evolved it from the Viggen Deep Strike mission. Flown in 2.1.1, Nevada. Regards David

An evolved mission for the Mirage 2000C. Flown in 2.1.1 Regards David

I keep my fingers crossed for a fix. In the meantime, after fiddling all day with lua settings and getting nowhere fast, I made a discovery.:D Turn up the cockpit flood lighting (white only) to maximum. Then pull down your helmet visor! This permits you to see the HUD symbology against a bright Nevada sky. The other thing I noticed, was if you zoom in to the HUD, right up to maximum zoom, the HUD symbols become clear against the glare from the sky. Zoom back out and they stay visible for a short time before disappearing? There must be a better solution, but in the meantime, the white cockpit flood lights permit the HUD symbols to be read. At dusk/night, the HUD has that pale greenish mask that looks odd? There is no key bind for white cockpit lighting, only red flood lights. Red has no effect upon the HUD. Hope that helps, while we wait!:smilewink: Regards David

Yes it is! Especially in NTTR. The HUD can not be read above the horizon! The gamma setting makes no difference to the HUD. The Deferred Shading over NTTR and Normandy looks splendid! However the beautiful eye candy has taken precedence over the HUD. Presumably, before the F-18 and Harrier get launched, ED will have to fix this issue. Hopefully it will be a 2.1 global fix so the Mirage HUD will work also. EDIT. Here is a fix I found today. Turn up the cockpit flood lighting (white light) to maximum. Then use the helmet visor. This makes the HUD symbology just about visible, against a bright sunny sky in Nevada. The HUD brightness control key assignment doesn't appear to work. I can not find a key assignment for the cockpit white flood lighting, only one for red flood lighting? Regards David

I agree the Mig 21 is spot on in 1.5. It's a superb sim.:thumbup: However, someone has taken the time to code RSBN channels into all the air strips in Normandy! So we can fly the Mig 21 around Normandy, with RSBN navigation.:D Once the 2.1 Shading issues are sorted out, perhaps the Mig will be adapted to fit the new engine? It seems like the graphics engine is leading the development process and the modules are in a state of catch-up? For now, I can fly it in Normandy pretty much like 1.5. But I don't have VR. Cheers.

Is there a way to replace this white mask with a mask that would darken the HUD slightly? The real world F18 has an ultra Violet filter which, by filtering out UV, appears to darken the HUD. This results in the HUD symbology being readable against a bright sky. The more I see of Deferred Shading, the more I like it, however the HUD issue is spoiling it completely, IMO. Cheers.

With Deferred Shading on in 2.1.1 and Gamma slider at 1.0, the HUD glass is clear, on my monitor. The only problem is with a bright sky, in NTTR, the HUD symbology is hard to read, against the sky. The A10 did have a night/day HUD function that helped with that module. Is there a way I can alter the HUD colour in the Mirage? I appreciate the real jet doesn't seem to have a HUD colour feature, but it would be nice to make the symbology darker, or give it some contrast? Similar results show in the Viggen, however that symbology is much easier to read due to the "poles" being mostly below the horizon.

Here's a mission a friend and myself put together. Flown in 2.1 Nevada, with Deferred Shading off. I love my Viggen!:D Best regards David

A mission in the Viggen, in Nevada 2.1. (Deferred Shading off until the patches fix the glare) The challenge is to remain below 200', ideally below 100' all the way to the target and back. Perfect for the Viggen? Triggers operate if you stray too high! Mission available on DCS User Files shortly. Best regards David

I use a X55 stick and throttle. Use Chuck's guide and the manual from the module. Try and map your X55 as close as the real thing and use in game bindings. Then practise with what you have set up, it's easier to remember than using someone else's mappings. I also have an old Logitech 3d stick plugged in to a spare USB. I use this stick exactly as the Viggen's radar stick, including the TV update. You can assign the radar scrolling to the joystick axis, just like the real thing! There's some great You Tube videos demonstrating some of the weapons procedures. I would try and learn one at a time, untill your proficient with it. My favourite weapon is the stand off cluster dispenser, BK90. Comes in three flavours, anti armour, anti personel and mixed. Fire both together or single launch. With two of these weapons, you can also carry the ECM and dispenser pods on the wing pylons. If you want to try a mission with these, here is a video. You can also down load the mission from DCS User Files and try it for yourself. Johnxxx, Bunyap also have some very detailed videos, however there is no substitute for flying it yourself. But take your time, if it was real training in an O.C.U. it would take months to become a qualified line pilot! If you like fast and low, the Viggen's your beautiful baby!:D Best regards David

Any word on this? Is this in the 2.1 updates? I know the 109/190 do not have mirrors, but the one in the Spit was very handy!

Hello there. The only aircraft I could "test" with the VOR stations was the Mirage. Noticed that the VOR needle will not point to the stations. However with the INS in the Mirage, VOR is redundant anyway. The Hawk VOR is useless. I can't get that module to work properly, even in NTTR. The L39 NDB works well! Noted re the lack of RSBN stations! It's interesting that ED has coded in all the Normandy airfields into the Mig 21. Obviously a purely fictitious scenario! However, if you like to play out a cold war scenario in Normandy, the Mig 21 can be navigated from airfield to airfield and it's great fun! I wonder how many know that the Mig21 has this added feature? In respect of the 109, I saw the ADF gauge on the panel and wondered if it had any function? I think it's real use in WW2 would be limited, however the following would be a possible way it was used. "FuG 28a: Y-Gerät transponder. Based on the Fug17 transceiver with additional components to send the response to the Y-Gerät ground station for the ground station to derive range. Also derived the azimuth signal and displayed the results on the ANF 2 display giving the pilot a left/right command. Operating frequency 24 - 28 MHz. 8 Watts transmit power. The unit also interfaced to the FuG 10 system in the aircraft so that voice communication with the pilot from the ground controllers via the Fug 28a was possible." I was thinking that when you tune your radio to the airfield frequency, perhaps the RDF could be made to work? Thanks again for your work, I know how hard it is to create mods! Best regards David

Whatever you fly, always fly with a wingman. Ideally he watches your tail. If you end up alone, RTB! If flying with AI, better to fly with a flight. As flight leader, use them aggressively. Use the "cover me" radio call as often as you can. What Tomsk says is spot on. Always fight on your terms. WW2 dogfighting is a brutal affair. Avoid being out of altitude, airspeed and ideas! The WW2 DCS aircraft provided so far present certain challenges. They all have weaknesses and strengths. The fun is learning these characteristics in the DCS modules. At the moment, the FW190 has the better armament and the best engine! Just try overstressing it? It doesn't like high g turns, but as has been said, rolls very quickly. The 109 turns very nicely. Those mechanical slats doing their job in the sim. If ED implement the two wing mounted cannons (switch is already in the cockpit), the armament will equal the 190 and give the little fighter a real bite! It will out climb and out dive the current opposition. But with MW boost on, watch the temps! The Mk 9 Spit out turns everything at low altitude, however it's slow and requires that you constantly watch radiator temps! Try climbing after the opposition, on combat boost and she will boil over! The cannons are great weapons, but you have barely 10 seconds of squirts. The Pony I find to be better suited to ground attack. I am not sure it can compete with the 109/190 in a low altitude scrap and I haven't tried it at high altitude, where it was historically one of the best escorts for the B-17's. Ideally the Typhoon and Tempest should be around, but perhaps the Thunderbolt (Jug) may appear at some stage. Tally Ho, good hunting! BTW, if you want a thrill, try some dissimilar air combat in a Mig 21. Those clever devs have built PRMG navigation into every WW2 airfield? Now that also begs the question, will we get a ME 262?

First of all thanks for these Beacons. In the Normandy map, although there a very few modules that can use the NDB's, they appear to work. What I can not get to work are the VOR's. Again there are precious few modules that can utilise the VOR's. However trying out the Mirage VOR nav functions, the VOR's don't seem to work? Given that the L39/Mig 21 use RSBN nav, it would be nice to see those? Even better, the 109 and 190 have Radio Homer dials in the cockpits, I wonder if anyone can get those to work? If indeed they were ever intended to function? Thanks again Cheers.

Well put! It's a wonderful aircraft to fly. However, I can not see the HUD in 2.1 with Deferred Shading on? Hopefully ED will fix this at the next update? In 1.56 the Mirage is a joy to fly.:D Best regards David