Hawk_UK

The fact that steam installed modules can connect with non-steam installed modules via a server for online sessions is great and I applaud ED for making that possible.... That in itself really solves most of the issues in my mind. However, from what I've read here and elsewhere, the compatibility issue seems to revolve around two different DRM security features, namely Starforce and Valve. It seems to me that it would benefit ED much more to totally convert to Valves system of DRM checking than sticking with "Starforce"... I mean who are "Starforce"? Does Starforce provide you with a vast customer base to promote your product together with a very user friendly system to update and manage all your applications? If ED converted to the Valve system and drop the Starforce DRM system then ED could still sell their products via their online store as well as the steam store as not everyone likes steam, but the big selling point would be that the module keys from ED Store would be compatible with the same Steam store DCS module; that would be a big plus in customers minds and something Steam are already doing for it's customers:ie, allowing product keys bought from a different site to download and install that same product and run on Steam. ED have already been paid the money for that same module so it shouldn't matter to ED that their module was bought on Steam and not in the ED Store? Always keep your customers happy I say: "Were there's a will there's a way".

Quite frankly that is just nonsense and totally twisting the issue to suit ED's stance...... DCS is a PC app and should run on a PC no matter where you buy modules from; just because you buy a module from a different shop shouldn't mean that another module bought from another shop doesn't work. ED should be the one to sort that issue out not Valve; Valve already allow non steam purchases to be registered and downloaded on STEAM, ED should do the same so long as you have a key to prove original purchase of that module. BTW: I already know that you can connect to a server if you have STEAM modules and the server is setup with non-steam modules, so there is compatibility there, and all credit to ED for making that so.

Hi QuiGon. Thanks for the reply. Somehow that doesn't make sense for ED to be doing that as they have already created a sticky and WIKI thread promoting map creation within the community? Surely if they were only allowing official 3rd party devs to do it then all those official sticky/WKI threads would be deleted? Plus the old official tools are still freely available for download. Maybe they still work? But I doubt it very much considering their age and all the DCS World updates that have been released since then. :) I really would like to know for sure what's happening with the Map SDK Tools.

I've been looking for map making details to be able to create maps for DCS World but have only come across very old exporter tools(max-plugins). Does anyone know where the sdk map tools are, or indeed if there are any that have been released that are currently up to date that can be used with either Maya 2016 or 3dsMax 2010 x64 or above? Thank you.

I have been reading through this thread and noticed that the issue of "Licencing" has been put forward many times as a likely reason for the F-16 aircraft module not being developed/released: In my opinion from all the evidence, I doubt very much that any DCS aircraft module has an "Official" aircraft manufacturers product licence? It would be such a huge sales advantage to promote the fact of having obtained an "Official" product license that to leave that fact out of any sales promo would be a major mistake by any developer(ED or 3rd party). So no. I don't think licencing has anything to do with why we haven't seen an F-16 DCS Module released; I personally think it has more to do with the time, complexity and gathering of all the data and reference material required to complete such a project that is the reason we haven't yet seen a F-16 in DCS World as yet? Plus there maybe capabilities needed in the F-16 that ED hasn't developed for DCS as yet and the devs are awaiting further developments in DCS World to allow a full fidelity version to be possible?