Zilch

If you really want to get pumped about the OV-10, just read the Wikipedia page. Imagine dropping off parajumpers off for a rescue, or flying an ambulance, or spraying drug crops with defoliants, or marking targets with smoke, or flying light attack, or coordinating a large air strike, or flying CAS, or dropping off a spec ops team, or flying recon, or...

Would I buy it? Probably, since I buy it all. Would I prefer an F-5, if we're going with that era? Yes. Actually, the in my opinion, the best possible aircraft to add to DCS from the era would be an OV-10 Bronco...that plane did a bit of everything, and was carrier capable, to boot.

I'm late to this party, but I've had some success with the Sparrow in WVR fights. I accidentally loaded four of them instead of 120's, and ended up in a merge with eight assorted AI-driven -29's and -27's. I managed to splash six of them, getting a higher chance of hit with the -7 in FLOOD mode than I had with the Sidewinders. If I remember correctly, I was using the -9's from the rear quarter and didn't get many hits. The Sparrows, though...they did the job. It's probably not supposed to happen that way, but it did.

Awesomesauce. Concise enough to bring current simmers up to speed with the F-86 very quickly!

This thread may help you: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=133181

I think I'm going to try to head there tomorrow. If you're interested, they have a pair of MiG-15's, a MiG-21, an F-86, and that's it for current DCS planes. The two-slot MiG-15 and the MiG-21 have open cockpits, as does the P-51, unless they've changed something since I visited last. Also of interest is a P-40, a Corsair, Avenger, T-33, T-28, T-38, FJ Fury and a bunch of other stuff. I'll take as much as I can get. The MiG-21 is from the GDR and seems to be a dedicated missile platform. There is no gun and the cockpit is dominated by a large radar scope near where the gunsight is, if I remember right. It seemed like it would obstruct forward vision. I'll get some more footage of it. EDIT: I haven't forgotten you guys, but haven't had time to go back to the museum these last weeks. Hopefully I'll have an album posted soon.

I was afraid of that...If that's what it is, that's what it is. I'm used to it at this point. Again, I'm not trying to stir up the pot. Just a curious kind of guy.

Hi, I had been looking forward to flying the A-4 within DCS. After reading through the VEAO thread about the project, it seems that McDonnel Douglas had wanted to charge a a large sum to allow VEAO to publish their product, which resulted in the developer suspending the A-4 indefinitely. Bad news aside, how does this work? Boeing has gobbled up a few aviation companies, including McDonnel Douglas and therefore Hughes, as well as North American as it was part of Rockwell. How is it that the rights to use McDonnel Douglas' A-4 were cost prohibitive, while North American's P-51 and F-86, all currently owned by Boeing, apparently proceeded without such a problem? The same question could be asked about the F-18 projects currently in the works. This is a legacy McDonnel Douglas plane that is very much in active service. How is it that ED and Coretex are developing their respective Hornet models without such a problem from the company that owns the design? Is this because North American Aviation and McDonnel Douglas are separate entities within Boeing, and have different ways of dealing with projects like DCS? This wouldn't account for the F-18's status as an active project. Is it because the P-51 and F-86 are no longer in military service, while the A-4 is? Again, the F-18 projects seem to indicate otherwise. Or, was the license for the A-4 just too much for VEAO, and ED and Coretex can maybe foot a larger bill? I would think their budgets are similar, so this is unlikely. Is the F-18 less true to life, and therefore more in the realm of "artistic interpretation?" I'm thinking this is unlikely, too, given the apparent accuracy of the P-51 and F-86 models in DCS. Does anyone know how this stuff works? I'd like to note that I don't want to re-ignite the debate that terminated the A-4 thread in the VEAO section of the forum...I'm just wondering how the different aircraft IP's from what is now the same company get treated differently for something like DCS.

Are you using the Control Manager?

Thanks, JJS...I think you just saved me and some friendly museum folks a lot of time. :)

It's possible that I'm going to a museum soon (within two weeks) that has access to a P-51 cockpit. If you want, I can *try* to get some measurements from the real plane, if that'll work for you.

I'm making a campaign that is coming along nicely, with briefing pictures and voice acting to along with the story. However, when it comes time to unleash this thing into the world, what happens? It's easy enough to associate images and .wav files with a mission, but when you upload a .miz or .cmp, do all of these media files get incorporated into the .cmp/.miz, or would the user have to have a copy of the same file in the same place as the builder?

I think the pay campaigns are a great idea. DCS is awesome, and I've sunk far too many hours into it. However, as folks have pointed out, if you're a single player type of person, there's a finite amount of material to play through. There is not, and will likely not be, a dynamic campaign like we see in the Falcon 4 side of things. If I read correctly, the system is an insanely complicated mess and, even with several years of development by many people, still acts pretty funny sometimes. When we buy a module, we usually get some training missions, a few one-offs, and a campaign. Sometimes, even those are not present. Once we're done with the stock campaign, what to to? New campaigns, well-built and for a reasonable price, would add a lot more depth and replay value to DCS. Assuming they're at least on par with the stuff that comes stock with DCS, that is. It's at least as legitimate of an idea as any other DLC mission you may or may not want to buy. Also, since we all have the tools included with DCS World that we need to get started making these, the distributed workforce available can probably generate content pretty quickly and leave ED and company to work on the things we can't. So, maybe no dynamic campaign, but assuming the DCS community puts the time and work in, we should have no shortage fun stuff to do with all those cool modules we've bought. It's a win-win-win, as I see it. ED can have a larger showcase for their wares, users have more things to do, and campaign builders have incentive to keep creating interesting scenarios.

Anything for science...including making public my horrible aim. :)

Just tried the second one...It didn't give me any warnings or anything, and when I got near the target airfield, I got a fail. I'll try again and post a .trk if it doesn't work. EDIT: Here's a track. Maybe I'm not turning hard enough at the waypoint. Missed it.trk

I was thinking that, as well, like I was hitting an already dead hitbox, probably the cargo area or something. I would have thought from my angle, though, that I'd have a good shot at separating the tail rotor like with the first kill. Even with that algorithm, it would still make some kind of sense if the damage that would have gone to the dead hitbox gets transferred to an adjacent one. Then again, I'm no programmer by any means, so what sounds like a simple solution to me might require a complete re-write for all I know. :) Anyway, I don't want to sound whiny...I'm having tons of fun with this and will continue. Just a funny observation is all, maybe it's useful to someone. EDIT: My approach from below and behind was intended to avoid detection, because prior attempts to shoot these guys resulted in them turning on a dime and shredding me like an airborne omni-directional AAA battery. I'm not sure how AI detection goes, but I figured if I came in low from their six, they wouldn't notice until I'd hit them at least. Maybe jumping from 6 high would work as well, with better Pk when you hit them.

I was getting frustrated with the campaign mission where you shoot down the two Hinds. I usually can down one of them, and the second one is left flying since I run out of ammo. I finally gave up and turned on unlimited ammo for an experiment. Number one goes down with about 100 shots. Number two took eight hundred and forty eight 50 caliber slugs at very close range (filling my entire front panel) before it fell from the sky. That's almost twice as much ammo as the P-51 carries. Something's up...I know the damage models for AI opponents are odd, but damn...848? I can't think of any aircraft that could withstand that. Let's hope the aforementioned TLC comes soon... EDIT: Yeah, I know, my aim was horrible, as was my landing. SERIOUSLY HOW MANY SHOTS DOES IT TAKE.trk

Thanks for the input. I'm typing a message to Wags now with my concept and questions about what to do next...I hope I don't come off as weird... EDIT: I got a very fast reply. In case anyone else is interested, basically you complete your campaign and submit it to ED. If they agree to take it on, they send you a license agreement and your stuff goes to the e-shop. Pretty rad!

I have a question about my favorite part of the newsletter. After reading many people's concerns about planes like the P-51 lacking things to do beyond the Challenge Campaign, I decided to make a campaign for the P-51 that I'm really excited about. A few missions into it, ED announced that they're working on that ability to have users publish their campaigns through ED rather than just toss it up on a forum. I'm curious how that would work, exactly...My question is, does anyone have any ideas? My goal is to make this campaign as good as I can make it, with a solid story that unfolds as you play, intricate interactive missions that change based on player actions, and good replay value. Is this something they'd get the rights to? Is there money involved in any way? Should I send them my work outline so far to see what would need to be tweaked for their stamp of approval? Has anyone heard/read anything?

I tried the 109 against an AI P-51 to see what's up. It was a quick fight and got a quick shot at him. The Mustang exploded with a burst lasting less than a second. I then tried my favorite Mustang against a 109. In the several 1v1 matches I've flown against AI, I can't shoot them down. I can outfly them, yes, and get enough firing opportunities. However, after scoring 100 to 120 hits with my M2's, they *just won't go down.* I end up running out of ammo before he dies. I've ended up right in elbow position many times, and either he out-zooms me before I stall out, or I hammer him with my six guns and he starts smoking. While this makes him easier to find, it doesn't seem to hinder his performance. I just can't seem to seal the deal against a single opponent. I haven't even bothered with multiple enemies yet. Any ballpark numbers on how many shots it takes to bring down a Kurfurst? I know it matters *where* I'm hitting him, but I figure that 120 half inch holes in *anything* should be enough to make it fall. Is this an issue with my aim or the damage model? Similar issue against an L-39. However, I hit it with over 200 rounds, and it wouldn't die, despite its nose being blown off and most of my rounds apparently hitting him in the rear engine area. I would have thought this would bring it down, but again, I just ran out of fifty cal before he died...if this is realistic, I have no problem with it, but I get the impression that the good ol' M2 is missing some of its bite in DCS that it has in the real world. Thanks.

Here's another mission with a similar problem. I have an OH-58 AFAC. Radio comms work with the unit, but despite me tasking it with assigning the enemy armor group, I get a message saying "All enemies destroyed, good work" before firing a single shot. I assume there's something I'm doing wrong on the FAC Advanced Waypoint area.

I guess the L-39 isn't a V1. I'm building a mission in which the player's P-51's are tasked to shoot down a pair of L-39 spotter planes, so I figured I'd test them in 1 vs. 1 before I subjected the player to a situation he can't overcome. After 229 50-cal hits on this damn L-39 without it dying, I think I'm going to scrap the idea. However, after I run out of ammo, I got inspired by a story I read of an RAF Meteor pilot tipping a V1 flying bomb over with his wing after a gun jam, I decided to try the same thing against the hole-riddled L-39. Results are predictable. Track attached. EDIT: Shot it down on a second attempt with 163 hits. Compared to the few dozen it took to down the An-26 and MiG-15, I'm not sure how the damage models are working. Buzz Bomb.trk

Of course it would be an existing, in-game command that I overlooked! My bad. Thanks for your help. I'll be more thorough next time before posting a question. At least maybe someone else may have some time saved...

With some tweaking, I seem to have fixed everything except that the FAC will not mark the target. Is this going to be possible or should I re-word the radio communications?

Hi again. I'm trying to make a mission where the insurgents have planted many bombs in the area, both in buildings and in moving vehicles. I have looked for a way to make these explode in a big way, either by way of a trigger or because they've been hit by the player. For example, a bomb car is on a course toward friendly forces. If it reaches them, I want it to go boom and take out several blue units as a penalty to the player. However, if he can intercept it near some red assets, the explosion should work on his favor. Is this possible?