PFunk1606688187

Has anyone made a comprehensive guide for how to correctly manage your CMS in manual mode? Is there a thread where the topic is discussed in depth? I would be surprised if 95% of the virtual A-10C drivers didn't use Semi-Auto or Auto.

Lord, can you imagine the friendly fire cover ups you could pull off with this?

You could easily set up the mouse stick to use bands in the 4 main directions and bind 80-100% of those bands to the appropriate slew command.

Don't taunt me with half measures.

Took a necro to show off my ignorance from 14 months ago. :megalol:

Uhh, unless I'm missing something I thought the whole point of the Yom Kippur war was that the Israelis didn't attack first, nor were they even thinking it would happen. Maybe I missed some revelation in the reevaluation of history. If anything, 1973 shows us how ineffective a technologically superior force can be with a dysfunctional C2 faced with one of the oldest tactics in all of history - surprise. Your tools are only so good as their ability to be turned to face and concentrate against the enemy in the appropriate moment and fashion. The Arab first strike was itself more effective than their general capability in a more predictable stand off scenario.

Anyone who says a helmet mounted sighting system wouldn't be useful to just about any military combat aircraft must not have played in many diverse situations. How can anyone have spent any time at all in an A-10C and not have found a moment when you were looking to your left or right and wished you could just tell the computer to slave the SPI to your eyeline? Random scenario #127, off the top of my head: Wingman, friendly helicopter, or ground unit says to you "they're in the town about 2 blocks NE of the stadium". You look out your window has you bank near the town and spot that stadium. With helmet mounted system you could tell the computer to look right where you see the stadium, get the TGP looking at it, break out of your potentially vulnerable orbit, as you reorient the aircraft you slew your TGP around and find targets. Friendly aircraft, or wingman is in a better position to begin engaging or put eyes on you just broadcast SPI and suddenly info passed verbally becomes hard target data you can feed to an IAM or to friendlies via datalink within a matter of seconds. Without helmet mounted system you have to start guessing. Move the TGP to some spot via a SPI you create on your TAD with that crummy low res map. Or you can fly straight at the point and put it in your hud to use that to put the TGP diamond on it. You fly away for 5 miles or more than as you do a gentle bank search fruitlessly with the TGP through the soda straw for the right spot. You fly in on the target area and mark with smoke and instruct all friendly aircraft to start looking for targets near there. Of the two which sounds better for everyone involved? Saying the helmet system is pointless is about as rational as saying that the entire C upgrade is pointless. All that said, we know we're never getting it, not in this life. Best not to even think about it if you can help it. :(

You think you're nervous? You should read the civil aviation boards and what they're saying about pilotless tubeliners.

Thats helpful. Thank you very much. :)

You need to disable the mode switching and the pinkie switch toggling in the profile or else I don't believe that the Saitek software lets the buttons be recognized as just joystick buttons. Basically you create a new profile in the Saitek software. You then are presented with three modes and three shiftstates for each mode that are triggered by the pinkie switch. Its as easy as clicking the 'X' next to each of the modes and shiftstates at the very top of each column. The only thing to remember is not to delete Mode 1 because that is still going to be used. If you delete the 5 others you should be left with a single mode. However this still uses the Mode1 button. To disable this you should find the blue button with Mode 1 written on it in the remaining column, click no that square in the column, and it will give you a list of buttons which you choose to have select Mode 1. Simply select the "No Buttons" option. You should now have your pinkie switch and 3 mode select buttons free for DCS programming while you have this profile loaded. Lastly you can right click on the X52 icon in your tray, open the Control Panel, and find the MFD page. Uncheck the "Enable Clutch Mode" box and you should now be able to use the Clutch button as a normal joystick button as well. To create a modifier you go to your DCS controls, find the "Modifier" button then "add" any joystick button to this list. I personally use the Clutch button, which is Joybutton_30. Then to use this modifier in any binding in DCS you find the control you want to bind in the list, you double click on it, you depress the joystick button you want to use and if you want it to be with the modifier you select the "Modifier" drop down menu and select the appropriate modifier, which if you're using what I use it would again be Joybutton_30. Then, to use this command in game you would hold down your modifier button then press the other joystick button. This is identical to how you use the Pinkie switchstate in a normal X52 profile. The difference is that we're binding this all to your DCS aircraft directly and the benefit is that you get extra buttons on your HOTAS that aren't used up by the mode switching and shiftstates. Its not stupid, this is really I believe the single most complicated part of being a new player. Its the one that is least clear how to deal with it. It is also the hardest to figure out because unlike aircraft procedures there's no consensus on the "right way" to do this, even with the same joystick/HOTAS. With respect to how you want to access the MFDs, this is when you get back to the part about needing to understand the concept behind the in aircraft HOTAS set up. This is what I meant by its hard for you to make a profile if you don't fully grasp SOI and SPI and how those are meant to be handled with your HOTAS. For instance to select either MFD or the HUD as "Sensor of Interest" you would key the Coolie Hate Left, Right, or Up Long. To cycle the various pages of each MFD you would press Coolie Hat Left or Right Short. To use certain functions on either MFD and the HUD while its SOI would mean using the Slew Hat or the TMS Hat or the DMS Hat or the Boat switch and the China hat. Most other commands associated with MFDs would mean pressing with your mouse cursor any of the OSBs on the bezel surrounding it. With the HUD it could mean using the UFC buttons with your mouse. Its important to know when its practical to use a hotas command and when you should use the clickable cockpit. My profile mimics as best as an X52 can the spirit and intent of the actual HOTAS. This way it creates commonality with real information as well as making it easy to talk to people who use a TM Warthog or who understand the system on paper. In general I believe the intent of the real HOTAS in the real plane is that you may not have every command on your stick or throttle but the ones you absolutely need when you're "In Hot" or "Going Defensive" will be there at your finger tips. My best advice, other than to give you a ready made profile, is to look at the HOTAS commands on pages 88-92 of the pdf manual, then try to bind all of those to your stick and throttle. They are the most important. I use my modifier on the Clutch button to allow me to use every HAT switch twice so everything thats on a HAT in the real plane can be on a HAT in my profile. Also, for the purpose of everything I've said so far, "profile" is defined as the combination of the Saitek profile I use and all the keys bound to my A-10C Sim section of the controls in DCS World. I don't consider them separable. Also, pro tip, those three grey chiclet buttons at the base of your X52 throttle, below the blue MFD, make excellent joystick buttons for DCS. ;)

As far as I understand it the mode and pinkie-toggle switching done by the X52 software is entirely internal and not something that can be extended to DCS beyond simply having a keyboard command mapped to your various modes and toggled switches. I don't know whether its considered better, but I use DCS commands directly, meaning I map joystick buttons straight into DCS rather than keyboard commands that are themselves mapped to the joystick via the saitek software. DCS has its own toggle option built in so you can make any joystick button a toggle like the pinkie switch is. I actually disable the mode switching in the saitek software and therefore turn the clutch button and the pinkie switch and the three-way mode selecter on the top of the stick into joystick buttons I can use in DCS. I also use a DCS modifier to double up the commands that all the HAT switches on the stick and throttle as well as the A, B, and C buttons and that doesn't leave me really wanting for many more buttons. There is some art to setting up your HOTAS and a lot is preference to it. Its hard at first to know how to map out controls when you aren't necessarily familiar with the systems and controls and how they're meant to work. You will certainly need separate profiles for every aircraft if you go the saitek route. In general you won't need to edit much if you do your controls direct via DCS. The only thing I have set up in my DCS A-10 X52 profile is adding bands to my mouse control on the throttle to turn it into the speed brake switch.

Reworked Cockpit Views with proper Neck by PeterP

I remember months ago in the ED Sims Screenshots thread that someone asked the v476 guys how they added the ALQ-184 to their loadouts. It was confirmed by someone who doesn't visit the forums anymore that he did a minor LUA edit to add it alongside the ALQ-131 as an object you can load on your plane, and that he didn't just replace the 131 model with the 184 one present in the game. My issue is that I have no idea which LUA file was edited. I can find the object files but I can't figure out which LUA. Any tips from the more knowledgeable?

As I understand it that was probably an old stock Hellfire that's just surplus and doesn't represent state of the art technology. In many ways I think they want to find ways to use them up. Its just like all those obsolescent TOWs that are left over from the 80s.

I don't agree. Simming has never been about plugging in and logging off. Certainly documentation can be better, but look at this guy's reaction AFTER asking the community for help. 6 pages of advice, a whole forum full of threads many of which other members would link you too, an internet full of helpful videos a youtube search away. This nonsense that somehow you can rage quit from a complex study sim because the game didn't include a hand holding walk through tutorial is silly.\ The problem is gamers expect simple games that can be explained and learned to a decent proficiency within 20 minutes. How do you make it easy for someone to start playing a game which seeks to recreate a skill which requires hundreds of hours of practice before even being allowed to fly by yourself in real life? Yes the tutorials can be better, but this OP's attitude would not be helped by the best tutorial in existence. The game is just not user friendly to those who cannot help themselves.

Been there, done that, he's just weird. :P

Funny thing is I know someone who is an avid flight simmer, would fly PMDG aircraft on FSX in real time between airports on VATSIM, go to bed with the aircraft on autopilot, wake up in time to contact approach control and fly in on a new continent. Right now he's getting his real world pilot's qualification in a Cessna. He owns a Tackir but simply hates using it in the sim. Says he hates holding his head still. In any case, I think Trackir is the single greatest investment I've made in my gaming peripherals. I can think of alternatives to everything I use, different gaming mice or keyboards, a different stick, better rudder pedals, but the Trackir is simply the thing I want to have and keep as it is because it works wonders. Fine, the one problem is that there's a light in my room I have to turn off or else it starts to spin my virtual head around, otherwise, perfect. I'd put Trackir at the top of the list of anything you're getting for your "required" set up. A cheaper HOTAS to allow you to get rudder pedals is in my opinion smarter because in the end you'll need rudder pedals anyway and good ones will push your price after a TM warthog and a trackir into crazy town. I bought 2 X52s used on Craigslist, and a third new in box on craigslist packaged with new in box rudder pedals. I spent on my sticks and rudder pedals no more than my Trackir cost. I'd happily pay full price for the trackir again. I am content with never having paid full price for my HOTASes. :D

I use a very light curvature on my X52. About 12-14 I think. The biggest issue with this advice of not using any curvature is that its not realistic either. Real sticks in real aircraft are considerably longer than the one you're using, and therefore require greater physical input to generate a similar result you'd generate with your home stick with less input. This means that your inputs are necessarily going to be finer in simming than in actual flying, unless you do a stick modification to lengthen your stick's throw. So I'd say you don't need to feel bad for using a curvature, though there is for anyone who does a sweet spot where you find that your curve suits your normal inputs. If your curve is too aggressive you can find that it'll effectively multiply your inputs across a part of the curve you want to be more linear which means you'll find your inputs running away from you and leading to that too-much/too-little oscillation. All this gear talk aside, in general yes you are a terrible terrible pilot. We all are when we start. You are just now coming to terms with a new skill you're developing, that of actually handling the aircraft. You're at the most basic entry level for piloting. You of course will benefit from lots of very helpful people here. All I can tell you is that we all were that way. It felt like we would yank up and down and send the aircraft somewhere we didn't want it to go, at least we all did that with our first aircraft whichever sim it was. Stick with it, learn to use a gentle touch. Hold the stick like you're holding an egg. You own the single most precise simming stick ever produced as far as I know, so you have an excellent piece of gear to begin learning with. It would behoove you to learn about the principles of flight as well if you don't already know. Understanding how your aircraft's control surfaces and lift surfaces behave will only improve you understanding of your own ham-fisted attempts to corral it into submission. One important specific I will leave you with is the concept behind correct trimming. Correct trimming involves you bringing the aircraft to the desired attitude, in your case it seems straight and level, by using stick pressure. You then trim away the pressure from your stick so that you can release the stick and the aircraft remains at the desired attitude. This is done by gently releasing stick pressure as you trim until you require none to maintain that attitude. Not usually all in one go. The A-10 trim can run away from you if you get too giddy. So really you have two skills to learn. Gentle and precise stick input to achieve a desired attitude Correct stick trimming habits to ensure you can easily retain this attitude while 'hands off' Good luck. :thumbup:

He's probably 12 guys. Its probably a miracle he posted as much as he did.

DCS can run just fine on those specs, just within limits. People like to make wild exaggerations about whats playable or whats needed. Some people define a frame rate below 30 as "unplayable" because thats their opinion, they just would refuse to play it. I've known people who've played online games with 700 ping, and been fantastic players at that, even though I would never have tolerated that. My rig is even below the OP's spec and DCS has been just fine for me, however recent updates have pushed the minimum specs further and its becoming less tolerable. I don't know why but basically DCS is forsaking the 5 year old PC properly these days. You can certainly enjoy yourself and limp by, though some missions will make you cry. I need a new PC myself, but I wouldn't call DCS unplayable, though I do believe that my standard of playable frame rates is well below the average gamer's at this point.

I've found that my X52 programmed properly allows me to forsake almost all keyboard commands. The only exception is in non combat situations like engine startup. In fact, off the top of my head I can't think of a normal control other than engine ignition which I cannot find on my X52 or is a clickable switch in game. I'm pretty sure that a TM Warthog doesn't alleviate the need to use the mouse in the clickable cockpit. :joystick:

Shameless plug. :lol:

Lets be honest. There will never ever be flying cars the likes of which we saw in The Fifth Element. Never. Fact is that within the lifetime of most people posting here you will likely see the death of driver operated vehicular transport on major roadways in favour of a fully automated and centrally governed traffic flow system that slaves your vehicle to a single decision making system that constantly tracks every vehicle like a hive mind, thus avoiding the nagging issue of driver stupidity, otherwise known as individual decision making. I see this becoming the norm long before any weird sort of flying car shows up. The future isn't going to be awesome like sci fi movies, its going to be boring. The future of technology is all about safety, and safety is BORING. Its so boring not dying, but that is our lot in life. To live long boring lives with fewer and fewer risks of death. :cry:

In 2014 I hope to meet a girl who is not a complete basket case. Special consideration for avoiding personality disorders. 2013 didn't go so well for the above. XD

Well that was entertaining. XD