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Grundar

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Posts posted by Grundar

  1. Thanks for the update and the information, I'm sure it will help alleviate the concerns that some people have exhibited on these forums.  Props to offering an extension of the pre-order discount for those who wish to cancel their pre-order at this stage.  I think we would all rather have a functioning game than one that potentially could just not work at all for some players.  Heatblur have made the right choice here.    Yeah I would love the F4 now so that I can fumble my way through court-martial worthy displays of navigation and weapons delivery, but there is plenty else to do in the meantime.

    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, Goldeagle365 said:

    I'm confident that the F4 will be released when Heatblur is happy with the sim. Id rather they wait and get things sorted than release a bug ridden and unplayable mess. What Heatblur has set out to make is a huge jump in many areas of sim technology, and these things, understandably, take time, and as I've come to learn, deadline are never truly set in stone. . It saddens me to see people this upset over this. 

    Yes very much this. ED also have final say on release so they need to test it and a big module like the F4 will require that extended time to test I imagine. Heatblur have always been upfront about things (that they can be upfront with), they have yet to disappoint with any module.  The Viggen and the F-14 are incredible modules, I play them regularly to this day (even the Mig-21 when they were Leatherneck, I still enjoy to fire up).  Each of their module releases has always raised the bar for the DCS experience. Heatblur aren't a scam developer, they freely offer refunds if people so desire, just remember when it does see release, that pre-order discount does go away and you will be paying full price to get the module again 🙂  Well: If you cancel, you will be given a pre-order window discount extension of two-weeks for when you buy it anyway.

    • Like 2
  3. The spitfires collimator gunsight illumination rheostat switch does only offer limited differences of gunsight illumination (off, day, night) with the optional filter you can apply when you are in bright sun light, so that being reflected (pun mildly intended) is accurate at least. Now did it actually have a better degree between graduation? that is much harder to find.  

    That said I seem to have a better range of graduation than I can see on that gif above re: the Spitfire.  In my Spit, hovering over the illumination rheostat and using the mouse wheel; I wheel down to flick it off completely and with one click up I get a faint gunsight that doesn't overpower me in lower light conditions.

  4. Make a habit of advancing RPM before you move boost forward so you aren't killing your engine, you will see your temps and pressure shoot right up and then the catastrophic failure will occur otherwise.  It helps to make sure that you also have the engine warmed up a little before take-off (if you are doing cold starts), 3000RPM is strictly reserved for emergency power in combat (and take off) and I wouldn't push a boost past 14  except in dire circumstances and you will want to throttle it back ASAP.  Combat at 2850 with 12 boost is more than feasible for most parts, if you go more, just watch your temps.   

    Normal flight - fuel conservation you can sit at 2200 RPM and 2 boost, combat cruising, 2650 and 6 boost you can sit there all day (Spitfire all day that is lol).  Take off is 3000 RPM and 6-8 boost for me (more if carrying bombs).

  5. If you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and access the task manager does it show any instances of DCS running?  If so terminate them with End Task.

    Open Beta is no longer a thing as well so you may possibly need to force a manual update with the updater in the DCS main folder as the two branches; Open Beta and Release have merged. 

  6. The AI is rather terrible in DCS, it is improved over what it used to be ( I started playing in 2013 or so with the A-10), but it is still quite lacking.  The Kurfurst is a UFO in the hands of the AI, seemingly non-stop MW-50 use and climbing for eternity.  The Anton seems to be less affected and the Dora sits in between in terms of AI use.  All the AI seems to be defeated by sustained turn fights, in the Spitfire if I just sit behind them and turn and turn, eventually they just level and fly straight - though this doesn't always occur.  In the after action information you often see it as AI Abort and if you follow that entity's actions you see it has no hits/damage..

    To fly these things, the Kurfurst isn't particular UFO like, neither is the Dora.  I don't have the Anton so cannot comment on that.  The Spit and the Stang also seem pretty good and don't offer the player the UFO experience. The Mosquito though has some issues it seems, some inconsistency in it's low speed flight parameters maybe - I find I can turn it very quickly, at very low speed, without being overly concerned about altitude.  Of all the modules I fly, that seems the most UFO like.  Perhaps it is similar to it's real life function, but I'm not convinced.

     

    ED don't seem to be particularly focused on WW2 stuff for quite a while now, but I think an AI fix in general assists all the modules.  There are some amazing campaigns out there, ones like Reflected's are fantastic, but they are still at the mercy of DCS AI at times.

    • Like 1
  7. If you navigate to the module manager, ignore the tickbox pop up menu, click on terrains and find Normandy 2.0 does it offer the Install option? Sometimes the tick box section doesn't seem to update for a little bit.  Also DCS had a patch today, have you upgraded the base install yet?

  8. 11 hours ago, Predator-78 said:

    So the right altitude would be around 12/16,000 feet while in defense around 18,000 feet... I'll keep that in mind!

    I'm by no means an expert, but it is what works for me. It's by no means the only way or even the "right" way to do it.  The Merlin engine performs really well at high altitudes in comparison to most other engines in other fighters, but I personally find it more beneficial to fight down lower to reduce FW190 and Bf-109k boom and zoom tactics upon me and to be at an altitude where that if i apply emergency power I get a better response to it.  It also prevents me from nosing straight over in reaction and pulling negative G and damaging/destroying the Spits merlin.   Scissor maneuvers are very effective in the spit and I tend to scissor, slow them down and just simply out turn them pretty rapidly. If I can get them to overfly in the scissors and then i'm suddenly above them, if they try to dive - usually there isn't a great deal of altitude left for them to gain much energy and I can just sit above them and wait for them to inevitably ascend up and directly into my sights - or they try and break and I can just turn inside them.

  9. Same thing occurring in 2024, not sure what is going on with this specific mission, it just locks you out and it is unable to be played it simply freezes immediately upon loading.  If you skip this Mission and play start Mission 3, Mission 3 runs absolutely fine, no issues.  No errors seem to occur on loading and mission, starting Mission 3 then reverting back to 2 gets the same result - complete freeze on mission start in Mission 2.

     

    Unable to attach a track as it simply freezes and you have to alt-tab out and close DCS externally - which brings up the prompt box from DCS to select Yes or No.

  10. It looks incredible, jaw dropping in fact. I thought you guys topped it with the F-14 - which is my favourite flight sim module ever and now I'm going to have to fork out to buy this as well.  It looks amazing graphically, Jester 2.0 is sounding great and I'm loving all the attention to detail - which has always been a Heatblur thing.  The only problem is where I'm going to find time to play all these modules lol.

    Edit: I will add, I love damage modelling and having to deal with emergencies and system failures on top of having to execute the mission so more system modelling and finesse is a very welcome feature.  Also the crew chief sounds great, it's the level of interaction within the Heatblur modules which make them more engaging, it's more of an experience overall.

    • Like 5
  11. The default Spitfire view is quite claustrophobic and it is annoying that you have to try and hold enemy aircraft under your nose if you are above them and try to "feel" in your attack.  I'm not sure if you can position yourself higher in the cockpit to alleviate that in this module.  I'm not sure you can snapview your way out of the default view limitations but I think you can raise your head position with it.

    There is view.lua file found under each aircraft folder that can be edited to achieve this sort of thing though, BUT, it automatically blocks you from online play though so you can't have superhuman spotting capabilities/advantage over other players.  There are also reports that it removes the module and prevents offline play until rectified.  I have never tried it so it is anecdotal evidence that I relay. If you were to try it, I would save a copy of the view.lua file before editing.

    You can try to alter a Snapview much more to your liking by following the info from this old post by Rudel_chw for custom snapview changes in the game.

     

    Quote

    Customising a Snap View:

     

    1. Set your current view up as you want it saved.

     

    2. Press LWin+NumN - NumN being whichever numeric keypad key you intend customising. Your view will briefly snap to whatever the current snap view setting is for that key, then return to your previous view.

     

    3. Press RAlt+Num0 - The snap view should now be saved.

     

    Test it by changing your view, then holding down LWin+NumX - you should see your customised snap view!

     

     

    Important: Disable/Pause your Track-IR/Head-tracker while doing it !

     

     

    Keys to use when setting up the view:

     

     

    "Num/ - RCtrl - RShift" Cockpit Camera Move Back

    "Num5" Cockpit Camera Move Center

    "Num2 - RCtrl - RShift" Cockpit Camera Move Down

    "Num* - RCtrl - RShift" Cockpit Camera Move Forward

    "Num8 - RCtrl - RShift" Cockpit Camera Move Up

    "Num8" Turn Cockpit Camera Up

    "Num2" Turn Cockpit Camera Down

    "Num/" FOV- aka Zoom-in

    "Num*" FOV+ aka Zoom-out

    "NumEnter" Default FOV aka Zoom

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  12. On the Spitfires performance charts you will see that engine power and aircraft drag meet each other at around 21000 ft, it's the sweet spot for both.  The supercharger is less effective over this altitude due to oxygenation and you will not be able to achieve max boost.   Conversely there is less drag though and you can achieve higher top speeds.  Under 21000ft you will have more power but less top speed (more engine power, but more drag).  One thing to consider is that you will also be needing increasingly higher RPM the higher you go in altitude to help maintain speed.  If you are worried about fuel, it's a consideration to make.

    Offensively, I think it's less altitude and much more positioning, get into the sun, or/get in their blind spots and you will get a "free" first pass at them.  If I had to pick an altitude it's under 21000 ft and to be honest I find myself frequently sitting around  12 - 16000ft offensively and getting people into turn fights, getting down towards the ground most times.  It removes their boom and zoom opportunities and drags them into the fight I want, I'm happy to ride near stall speeds and out-turn them.  Diving from a higher altitude out of the sun works well, but in the spit you have to be careful you don't do a negative G dive and kill your engine in the process, also you have to be aware of the control surfaces stiffening as your speed builds.  Descending on them like a lightning bolt is great fun, not so fun when you do the full lightning bolt and ground yourself lol.  You can also be a quite a low altitude and sit under an aircraft undetected and score a kill that way as well - much more methodical and a more patient approach.

    Defensively, I like a higher altitude 18000 + to allow the altitude to energy conversion for quick escapes If i can't drag them into a turn fight.  Often when up higher you can also deceptively scissor, defend them and generally evade without trying to get behind them too much - you don't want them to break and disengage to regain altitude, you want them fixated so either someone else can get behind them or they suddenly realise they have no altitude and have to get into a turn fight, or engage their MW-50 and stress their engine trying to disengage from you.

    For what it's worth, i'm not some multiplayer ace or champion, it's just what works for me in the Spit.

    • Like 1
  13. Much like already mentioned by the gents above,  I generally sit at 2800 RPM and approximately +12lb of boost in combat. Now if it gets wild quick and I need energy, I will push RPM to 3000 and boost up to +16lb.  I find that all i need to do is trade some altitude for speed initially at those combat power settings (3000 and 16lb) and I very quickly the energy I need to quickly create separation and then re-engage on better terms.  I made the mistake of when I was first flying the Spit to push to combat power and dive then wonder why I couldn't pull it up easy.

    Generally I will only need to sit at those settings for a short period of time - perhaps a minute or two and I always find myself pulling the throttle back to +12lbs in combat, but keeping the RPM advanced at 3000 until I am sure I am clear and I wind it back to the 2800 range and boost of +8 to +12lbs.

    Watching the oil and radiator temp gauges give you a great idea of where you are sitting in your use of power and how hard you are pushing it and when you need to wind it back.  It can be easy to forget about or not have time to look at in combat

    For me, playing the various campaigns like The Big Show where you have lots of channel crossing I conserve the engine/fuel wherever you can - 2000 RPM at +2lb boost is great for conserving fuel and will keep you at roughly 210 - 220 mph or so - but you can't climb with that power.  I Climb at 2800 RPM and 12lbs of boost, particularly in that campaign where you go to some of the higher altitudes.  I Combat Cruise at 2650 and +4 to +6lbs of boost, which works well for keeping energy up in enemy areas.  Combat: 3000 RPM and +8 - 16lbs depending on what I need at that moment.

    • Like 2
  14. I understand that you have probably completed this campaign now or already figured the scoring system out.  I just started playing this campaign today after getting back into the Spitfire.  I believe it is an intentional design choice for this particular campaign. It states in the documents re: the campaign found in the mods/campaign folder of your install - that it will give you a pass for being airborne for more than 10 minutes.

    Pertinent statement from the campaign pdf: 

    Quote

    There are no ‘mission goals’ or other tasks that must be carried out in order to move on in the campaign. Can’t find the planned target? That is ok, neither could they in many cases. Those bandits got away? It happened all the time and should be considered the norm in these weather conditions. The only criteria for advancing to the next mission is that you keep your aircraft airborne for 10 minutes. You can always go back and re-fly the mission as a ‘single mission’ separate from the campaign if there were certain things you wanted to try again. Realizing some players are looking for a more performance based measurement of how they did during a mission we offer this as an alternative. These are the results from the actual missions this campaign is based on, keeping in mind this is for the entire squadron and not just the lead aircraft: Mission 1: Two vehicles destroyed. Mission 2: Both targets destroyed. Mission 3: Two vehicles in flames, three smoking, and six damaged. Mission 4: One enemy aircraft damaged. Mission 5: Four enemy aircraft destroyed. Mission 6: One vehicle damaged. Mission 7: Four enemy aircraft destroyed, one probably destroyed, and one damaged. Mission 8: One enemy aircraft destroyed, two damaged. Mission 9: Enemy aircraft sighted but the squadron could not close. Mission 10: Five vehicles in flames, five smoking, and three damaged. Campaign Introduction Operation Epsom for the Spitfire IX 6 Mission 11: Three enemy aircraft destroyed, one damaged. Mission 12: Target damaged but not destroyed

    So I presume it just grants you the 100 as that is the trigger in DCS generally for a successfully completed mission.

  15. 23 hours ago, tangofrown said:

    300px-F14TomcatTitelpic.gif

    This was my jam on my old C64 back in the day! The C64 version didn't have any TARPS missions but occasionally it would bug and display all the patches/medals - and TARPS would show up on that. A mate of mine had it on PC and said it had TARPS missions, always wanted to be able to do that.  Also looking at that F-14 splash by Dynamix (i think they were the devs) I can still hear "Bogies at 6 o'clock! lets rock and roll!"  Pretty sure that game was the reason for my F14 love lol.

  16. Seeing the Sparrowhawk HUD would be great! but i have kind of gotten used to watching my wing sweep in the mirrors and quick eyeballing the inconveniently located (for a sim) gauge in the cockpit.  The feedback from Jester is useful as well in engagements and keeps it more period correct.

    • Like 1
  17. In terms, of the bucket of bolts made of lead, yeah it sure can be.  It takes a fair amount of work, and study, when you first start to get the F-14 to fly how you want it to.  Compared to succeeding aircraft with a FBW system, it is certainly a big difference in how "easy' it is to fly, let alone how to get high performance out of it.    It is challenging to start with, not just with the flying only aspect but the systems management and all the nuances of the aircraft.  Believe me, there were many times where the only ordinance on my F-14 seemed to be F-Bombs, but once you "got" some aspect of the aircraft, other aspects would start to slide in to place as well and the puzzle made more sense.  Now it isn't some sort of abstract aircraft that is impossible to fly, far from it, but in comparison to most other modules it does make you work to fly it. This is my favourite module by a massive margin, the Viggen isn't far off either for similar reasons.  

    • Like 1
  18. It will be interesting to see the final product.  With the hands on experience of True Grits air and ground crew fueling the data, it evokes a good deal of excitement about the possibilities. With the development expertise of Heatblur to bring it together, it simply seems like a recipe for an amazing module.  The Viggen and the F-14 are simply incredible, I love both those modules so much and they reflect the dedication and skill of Heatblur to bring a subject to life.  Hell, the F-14 isn't just a flight module, it is a flight experience - it isn't a simple isolated aircraft, it is a snapshot of an era, of a way of military aviation.

     

    I guess ultimately legal restrictions on data shared, and what is allowed to be modeled for the Tiffy will determine how "legitimate to life' the module is.  I imagine it will generate much debate.  I very much look forward to seeing the end result of the Tiffy and it will be a fine addition to my stable of aircraft that I so enjoy.

    • Like 5
  19. I did many testing with different load outs and in my opinion it is linked to the wing fuel tanks. I don't know if it is fuel imbalance or drag coefficients.

     

    Every time I climbed to 20,000ft and accelerated to approx. Mach 1. Issue only appears with wing fuel tanks. The left wing tend to dip with them

     

    Do we know if the tank supply drains both wing tanks simultaneously or does it drain first one and then another? Could that be giving us the slight roll drift?

  20. The control surfaces do seem a little sluggish, particularly in roll and i find that i am throwing in more rudder than i expected would be required to get more "snappy" rolls - given the F-16 always been touted as having wonderful maneuverability.

     

    That said I do my first test on any new aircraft and hooned it down canyons and valleys. Maybe I've gotten too used to the F-14's inputs where what you do to the stick is what you do to the aircraft with no computer to say no.

     

    Edit: I will add, using an X55 Rhino no alterations to any curves or deadzones yet.

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