Tirak

All the planes in DCS are fly by wire :megalol: and HOTAS too for most players. The ability to pull high AoA is nice, but it's a delta, and delta's bleed in turns bad. And again, keep in mind the competition, the F-15. The Mirage's radar and weapons simply can't compete with what we've been fighting ;)

The way I'm looking at it is comparing the MiG-21 to the F-15. The MiG just can't handle the fire and forget, or the sheer range alone. The Mirage doesn't have fire and forget, and its ranged missiles are much shorter. So while in BVR it still holds an advantage, it's not nearly as bad as having to fight the F-15. Also, in close, the Mirage bleeds speed pretty badly, it'll be a very different kind of fight than the SU-27s and F-15s are used to, something more in line with the MiG-21s level. A more perfect analogue is the F-5E, but we have no idea how long that module will take, if it's an actual module at all and not just Wags pulling everyone's tail.

Sweet, I know it's too much to hope for a September release, but I really hope this modules makes it for 2015, it's a great opponent for the MiG-21.

So... How do you read it?

Really? Hm, well best of luck to them, but they've only got 4 months left :music_whistling:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Radar integration and battle damage aren't easy, and they haven't said anything about a release date. I think 2015 might be a bit ambitious.

I could, but if a Leclerc is on station, he may as well blow it up himself :lol:

Cobra's avatars are a very reliable way of catching hints of modules. In this case, the two specific avatars we're referencing are the anti shipping missile that can only be carried on the Viggen, Lansen or Tunnan, and the Swedish Emblem that popped up within an hour of us deciphering where the first emblem came from. Add in the fact that they are working on ground radar, which the F-14 does not have, that one of the new aircraft will be "modern", the inclusion of new development team members from Sweden, and you've got yourself an argument for the Viggen. So far the only clue that might fit a Hellcat is the rising sun emblem, but that clue also fits the Corsair, and the Baa Baa Blacksheep avatar only fits the Corsair, and not the Hellcat. Really, the Hellcat has never been in the race, it's mostly been the Zero or the Corsair, and the Zero has steadily been falling out of favor since we've started getting clues for VMF-214.

I'm curious, does that optical gear on top have the ability to lase a target? I ask because RAZBAM's Mirage 2000C is coming along rather nicely, however the variant we're getting will be able to carry LGBs, but not self designate, and I rather like the idea of a French helicopter supporting French aircraft in this way.

One of the other aircraft has been confirmed as "modern", but more importantly, if it weren't the Viggen, it would have to be the Lansen or the Tunnan, as those are the only two other aircraft that can make use of the missile Cobra had for an avatar. While I don't think anyone would mind a night fighter version of the Hellcat or Corsair, it's unlikely. For the Hellcat, there simply hasn't been any real clues specifically for it. We've more or less discounted the background images of the LN site as having clues in them, since they haven't changed, though if they do change you can bet that'll be screamed about to the high heavens as a sign :P Of course, when the newsletter does roll around, if we're all wrong because we misinterpreted the clues, I won't mind too much. After all, I'm finally getting my most favorite plane in the entire world being made in a high fidelity combat sim, LN could announce anything else and I'd still be happy. With that said, Cobra, when the Newsletter does come out, I think you should go through the clues and explain exactly what was meant by each one, to see if we missed any or how our interpretations stacked up :smartass:

I'll put my faith in the smaller, more modern and agile missile. Yes R-40s have reported kills on F-15s before, but I still think you'll get out slung in a BVR match, doubly so if you're worried about Tomcats.

SU-27 SU-33 MiG-29 MiG-21Bis SU-25A/T MiG-15Bis F-15C A-10A/C F-86F Saber F-18C Hornet* F-14A/B Tomcat* Mirage 2000* EF-2000 Typhoon* *Not yet released. We're actually pretty even all things considered.

I hate to break this to you, but the R-40 missile has an effective range of about 37 nautical miles. Compare that with the AIM-120Cs range of 57 nautical miles and the AIM-54's 100 nautical miles. Even though the in game modeling of the AMRAAM sucks, the performance curve the R-40 will be working against means that you're still not outslinging the AMRAAMs at range, and to make matters worse, the R-40 is SARH, which means you're vulnerable to return fire. Couple this with poor dogfighting performance and all you've got is a drag racer, and if that's all you want, we're better off begging for DCS: SR-71. If we don't want dogfighters, and we don't want western planes, the SU-17 would be my choice, way out ahead of the MiG-25.

Ugly, ungainly, and a horrible dogfighter. I don't understand the love for the MiG-25 at all. MiG-29 is pretty sexy, and the MiG-23 is kind of cool in a an awkward sort of way, but the Foxbat is fuuuuugly.

So, we've had 1. The Duck Comment. "Ducks and Cats" This really didn't jive with anything until we finally stumbled on the idea of the Viggen, and it matches with other clues thanks to Viggen being a tufted duck. 2. Cobra's Avatars. Cobra had a picture that seemed rather obscure of the front of a missile. Luckily, someone was familiar with the image and quickly found that it was the front of an RB-04 missile. This Anti Ship Missile has been tested on the Tunnan, deployed on the Lansen, but more notably used on the Viggen. Since Tunnan integration was just a test, and the module we're expecting is meant to be 'modern' with a ground radar, only the Viggen fits that. Almost immediately after the picture of the missile was identified, Cobra switched his avatar to a Swedish emblem. 3. Swedish Development Team Members. Pretty self explanatory. Of the clues we've received, nothing discounts the Viggen, and we haven't really seen anything else that fits them better. Both the Viggen and the F4U Corsair seem to be a lock, it's really more of a formality, waiting until the end of August for the next newsletter to confirm what we're pretty confident we already know. On a slightly different topic. No MiG-25, it's ugly.

I was under the impression the Glove Vanes were just disabled but not actually removed because of keeping center of gravity in the same spot, same reason for the Phoenix cooling systems. Is that not correct?

HOTAS is not mandatory at all, especially not for the Flaming Cliffs level aircraft (F-15C, SU-27, MiG-29, A-10A, SU-25A, SU-25T, SU-33). I play with several friends from my clan who only use xbox controllers with those aircraft, and until recently, one of them even flew the Saber with it, though a few of them have noted that when flying the A-10A or SU-25T, slaving one of their screens to view the targeting display also helps a ton. TrackIR, like a good HOTAS isn't mandatory, but also like a good HOTAS, it's a significant quality of life upgrade. The ability to simply turn your head makes keeping track of your opponent in a dogfight, or just looking around completely natural. If the pricepoint of trackir is putting you off, there are several free alternatives that just need a decent webcam. You've picked a great time to get into DCS, as there's a flash sale going on this weekend, and we're right around the corner of the release of DCS 1.5, which will include a major graphical and UI upgrade.

The L-39 will eventually be available on Steam. In the past, it's been about a 2-4 week delay between a module coming out, and the Steam version becoming available. Modules purchased on Steam can be transferred over to the DCS standalone launcher, however, modules purchased through the ED store WILL NOT transfer over to the Steam version of DCS. Most people I know have switched to the ED Launcher, as it receives updates to modules quicker, and it's one less process running in the background. Please note, that you can still play the game against people using the Steam version if you use the ED Launcher, just that purchases are not transferred from ED to Steam. Just to make sure this is perfectly clear. Everybody plays the same DCS world. However, if I buy DCS: MiG-21Bis on steam, I can take my steam key and plug it into the DCS Standalone Launcher and it will unlock the module for me. However if I bought DCS: MiG-21Bis through the ED store, I cannot use the key I received from the ED store to unlock it as a Steam Purchase.

The trainers were only meant to acclimate their respective dev teams to the DCS engine. The joke of course being, that both trainers still lack a full flight model whereas LN released its MiG-21Bis and Belsimtek released the F-86F and MiG-15Bis. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the trainer concept of starting out. If things continue at the pace they seem to be, it's likely Polychop, a fan mod project that turned into a 3rd party, is going to release its first full module before the trainers get a full flight model. Half the backlash against the trainers can be pointed to the fact that they are a tremendous waste of time when aircraft that could fit into more scenarios could have been developed.

T-2C is a loooong way off. RAZBAM made the right decision in putting it on the back burner to focus on an actually capable combat aircraft.

Not in DCS it's not...

Flaming Cliffs 3 for sure is your best value for money. You get the F-15C, SU-27, SU-35, MiG-29, A-10A and SU-25A. Of these aircarft, the F-15 and SU-27 and A-10A all enjoy almost equal level fight models with the fully clickable cockpit aircraft (Note, these aircraft themselves DO NOT have clickable cockpits). Right now, the SU-27 and F-15 are the best dogfighters in the game, meaning you can go mix it up in the sky in a conventional way. The A-10A is a nice compliment to the already free SU-25T if you prefer a more western style CAS play. If you're looking to get into clickable cockpits, the MiG-21Bis is perhaps your best bet. This aircraft quite literally can be started and rolling down a taxi way in less than a minute. Everything is mechanical and simple, so unlike in the A-10C module, where there are hundreds and hundreds of pages going over advanced systems, the MiG-21 can be understood in one or two passes through the short and moderatly amusing tutorial campaigns. The only problem with this module is that compared to the F-15 and SU-27, the plane you fly is ancient, meaning you have to be creative if you want to fight competitively online. Supersonic not really your thing? Try out Belsimtek's F-86F or MiG-15Bis. Both are Korean War era aircraft, armed with machine guns and cannon (or if you're a masochist, the F-86 also has the GAR-8 missile). Because they're second generation jets, they're remarkably easy to handle, and most of the fighting concepts from prop planes that you learned in IL-2 will apply here. Again, simplicity is the name of the game here, meaning there is no steep learning curve to learn the cockpit. It will never fight in the modern air battles, but there are Korean War servers that pop up from time to time, and since the two modules compliment each other, when you fly, you will be able to find someone flying a jet that's a good challenge without being completely over your head. Perhaps you find full military aviation rather daunting and want to skip through the skies care free, and maybe do some gun practice from time to time. VEAO's Hawk is the ticket for that, with a light nimble airframe that anyone can get to know and love in mere minutes. In real life it's a trainer, and in game it carries only the lightest weaponry, but if you love flying and like acrobatics, there's nothing quite like the Hawk yet. For the World War II junkies, the advice is to save some money for a little while, and that's not a knock against the props. However, DCS 2.0 is coming Soonish, which will give massive improvements to WWII gun style combat. Furthermore, several WWII modules such as the F4F Wildcat, P-40 Warhawk and two versions of the Spitfire are coming by the end of the year. Unless you adore the BF-109, P-51 Mustang or FW-190, it might be best to hold off for a little while.