Cobra847

Of course! :) And its craptons of fun!

We'll continue to refine where Jester is "rough around the edges" in EA. There's so much combinations and cases of situations that it's tricky to get it right from the get-go. :) Anything not listed on the purchase page is not a feature of the product, in essence. We dropped the map because of unsuitability of the SDK at the time and we felt it was more prudent to focus on other content (Forrestal, A-6, deck crew, etc.)

seems to work fine :) I'll ask one of our testers for the image he shared.

We're about to be neck deep in the TF-30!

All there. Edit: Sniped!

Dear All, On the 13th of March, we launch the F-14 into Early Access! We’re incredibly nervous and excited to hear your thoughts and to begin this shared journey of Tomcat development as we steam full speed ahead towards full release. Our goal has been to ship the F-14 in a major feature complete state for Early Access, and we’re incredibly proud to have achieved our goal to do so. That said, there are some specific items that have been either purposefully deferred until post-EA (due to potential for complications) and/or that we simply were unable to implement in time. Some of these will be implemented very quickly post release, especially that may be useful in conducting flight operations, while others constitute less important systems that serve merely as a future curiosity and will be added down the line. Most of the items on this list fall into the latter category. We’d very much like to commit to a timeline in which you will see these features, but due to the uncertainties of release and the potential for new, unexpected issues to arise due to the much wider user base, we’d like to hold off on doing so until things settle in the two weeks post early access release. That will give us a much better picture of where we stand and what to expect, so that we can make an accurate assessment that you can count on. We hope to adhere to your ideal idea of an Early Access development process, and hope you’ll all stay involved in giving feedback and helping us build the most realistic Tomcat of all time. Have faith in us as we jump in together! Without further ado, here’s a non-exhaustive list as of today (few days prior to going Gold): Visuals: AA-1 Interrogator Control Panel.: This panel will serve no purpose in DCS, but it will be missing visually on day 1. Ejected Pilot: Upon ejection, the Pilot’s will transform into the F-15 pilot in DCS. Dynamic Modex Numbers: Due to the extreme variance (!!!) in F-14 squadron modex placement, font choice, size and more- we’re still working on implementing this in a performance friendly way. In-Cockpit Pilot: We know this is a frustrating feature to be missing for those of you in VR, so this is a top priority and you will not be waiting long (that goes for you Viggenites too, we know!). LAU-7 / LAU-138: Sidewinder adapters on shoulder stations will currently appear as LAU-7 but will behave as LAU-138 (additional chaff available). LAU-7/138 will be selectable in the ME. Functionality & Systems: TWS Auto steering centroid and automatic scan volume controls: Allows for steering indication to center of targets selected for AIM-54 engagement and also allows the WCS to control the radar scan volume for maximum target track coverage. This has been implemented some time ago, but due to unresolved issues this might not make it in on Day 1. AN/AWG-9 slaved to TCS functionality: Allows the radar to be slaved to the TCS lock allowing the radar to lock the TCS target in STT. Of limited use in DCS, and wasn’t used IRL according to SMEs. JAM/JET functionality, indication of jam strobes Allows the RIO to set at what level a pulse doppler target is jamming at and then display it as a JAM strobe on the TID. Improved AIM-54 control Allowing for better optimization of lofting and seekerhead modes, such as when to go active and to be fully SARH in STT. This feature is pending DCS API changes for 3rd parties to allow us to more directly control missile behaviour. TID, DDD, VDI, HUD Some minor indications will be missing at EA. These include, for example, the AVIA display mode and Nav Grid. These are minor and non-critical omissions. In Flight Training System. Used for in flight crew training (e.g. programs that generate fake target returns on radar). Of limited use in DCS. Circuit Breakers. We don’t expect to implement a full simulation of every CB in the F-14, but critical and often used ones will be added continuously throughout EA, as well as an expansion of the electrical systems modeling. Radar Further small enhancements will be added over time and if feasible in the DCS engine. These include sidelobe modelling, returning signal strength trace on DDD (including jamming), clouds/weather and Jet Engine Modulation (JEM) Missing BITs (Built-In Tests): BITs serve limited purpose in DCS- but these (and more) missing BITs will be implemented with time: DECM BIT. WCS BIT Sequences. OBC (On-Board Checks) LANTIRN IBIT Missing Systems: TARPS This system was always intended to be launched post-EA, and we’re still conceptualizing how deep we want to go. JESTER We will continue to improve and add functionality during EA- especially with your feedback! One significant piece of functionality that we plan to add is JESTER being able to operate the LANTIRN TGP. Content Campaigns: As noted in our purchase pages, the two free campaigns will be available post launch. Training Missions: We will expand the amount of training missions during the course of EA. A-6, Forrestal, F-14A: We will detail our plans regarding these ASAP. The Forrestal will be priority #1.

Yes :) Don't worry- you'll receive it in good time prior to release. :)

It will be fixed in the release build :)

Spinnyboi, draken, PBR overhaul, sound- all the things.

Thanks Cobra. Tips hat

The Heatblur DCS: F-14 will launch into Early Access on March 13th! Heatblur was founded with the goal to be an absolute leader in the flight simulation space and the F-14 represents another step on our journey to achieve that goal. Over the past few years, we’ve assembled an immensely talented and dedicated team of engineers, physicists and artists to bring our chosen airframes to life. The F-14 represents a generational step forward for Heatblur, one where we not only try to push the bar in an aircraft’s flight modeling, systems or visual representation - but one where we introduce new, novel features into the sim and create entirely new pieces of modular technology that we can leverage in the future. We’re immensely proud of what we’ve achieved so far. With a flight and systems model that has been engineered over the course of several years and carefully vetted through hundreds of combined flight hours by F-14 legends, we lay the foundation for an F-14 simulation that hopes to acknowledge and honor the men and women of the Tomcat community and all of their hard work. Throughout this journey, we’ve been blessed to work with many fantastic people and subject matter experts who have been absolutely invaluable in bringing the aircraft to life. Thanks to all of you! This will be the beginning of our Tomcat journey. Our sole focus will now become the absolute perfection of our Viggen and Tomcat products through their Early Access periods, as we continue towards release versions of both modules and add new, exciting AI content into the skies of DCS World. Thank you all for your support over these past years. We can't wait for this amazing community to finally join us on our Tomcat journey. See you in the skies on March 13th! Welcome Back, Baby!

Quick & dirty. Extremely short on time.

I don't see a job application by the OP. :) In any case- we always appreciate constructive feedback. Listening is the only way to improve. :)

Thanks for the input! It is appreciated. I strongly believe we have some of the best marketing in the industry. The strong discussions taking place here (with much emotion involved, certainly) are a vast minority per our metrics. There will always be a core group of people who are overexposed to every piece of media we produce. Meanwhile, we're reaching thousands more through content producer outreach. We try to work with content producers to space content and keep things fresh, and we may have let it go to too many at once this time around, but this will always be a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" type of situation. It was in 2014 when we launched the MiG-21, and it is today. The main change we'll make moving forward is not doing pre-orders based on a date range (this simply does not work with consumers). Expectation management simply falls apart at the seams.

The latter is a bug that is solved.

The OT is strong in this thread. As much as I hate to say it, lets go back to release date speculation :)

I get this too (Chrome) - but most others don't. We're trying to figure that one out.

Just a quick mini-update on this: We're (frustratingly) still without confirmation on our target date. I hope to share more soonest as I discuss with our partners at ED. Thanks for the patience everyone.

We had a Jolly Rogers shirt as well, but had to limit ourselves in the end. Things were hectic around Oct 7th. We'll put it out there at some point in the future :)

Here's the Dogs: https://store.heatblur.com/products/pre-order-dcs-f-14-dogs-t-shirt

I think it goes without saying that nothing in an EA release is final.

This here :) You can track aircraft. It's cool. We have some shots of it in Anytime, Baby! and the Overview videos IIRC.

I was a little too hot-headed yesterday, re-reading my post. :) It's important to understand all perspectives, and we will try to take the critique to heart where reasonable. Hope to share more info as soon as we know what/when!

IIRC, yes. Sorry- we implemented this in January at some point and I can't recall the specifics.