TOMCATZ

Hi! I enjoy flight sims since 30 years. I have, more or less, enough experience about tactics, angles, speeds and all the stuff you should know to handle a fox 3 and get a kill. But the AIM 54 drives me totally crazy. I have more or less a zero chance to hit with them against modern fighters like Flankers. I believe, it is a wired mixture of a bad guidance of the AIM 54 and a truly unrealistic "hyper lobby" behavior of the given AI of DCS. Normally I would pick a bandit up with the radar by around 60 miles or earlier. I would launch my AIM54 in 40k feet or higher in 50 to 40 miles distance and crank 40 to 50 degrees left or right while descending. If the missiles goes "pit bull", I would go out and generate distance and altitude in order to prepare myself for the next attack while my full active missiles would hit some or at least the bandit. But what is now? As long as I fire my AIM54 in 50 miles, the Flanker dive down and the AIM 54 will never go active. ( As long as my RADAR is tracking the bandit, the AIM54 should be guided! Just saying) Thank you very much! Is the time has come to reach the pit bull state, the Flanker is so close that they answer with ET's or ER's - most in combination. If I decide to run away, the Flanker chases me as hell until I or the bandit runs out of gas. In most cases he shoots me down and ejects short after. This is "realistic" - get it. If I wait with my launch until the bandit is close like 30 miles- He is in perfect shooting condition for his ER's and because of the higher speed of the ER's, he will hit me before my AIM54 goes active. But even then, the Flanker dances with my missile and outmaneuver them. Plus that the AIM54 is addicted to chaffs and highly notch-able. (Why- If the missiles radar loose the lock, the the tomcat radar should feed her with data as long is the cat is still tracking) How do I get a kill now? Well - I go very low- between 1000 and 5000 feet, get a lock in ACM mode, fire the AIM 54 in ACM mode and try to escape. That is exactly the opposite how an air superior fighter should work. So my question is simple: We have the sexiest fighter ever build. Equipped with the most useless missile in DCS. Do you have a super duper tactic, range, radar mode or what ever, to get a save hit on an enemy fighter? (please don't get me wrong - I think that the performance data of the missile is correct. The guidance could be better but seems to be okay for me. So I will not talk about the missile. I just want to find out- how to use in DCS) When the TOMCAT was in service 1990- the Soviet force had not only MiG21's and some Floggers. The Cats faced opponents like Fulcrums and Flankers: Soviet Forces 1990 (Wiki): 90 Suchoi Su-27 338 F-14 aircraft US NAVY 540 Mikojan-Gurewitsch MiG-29 700 Mikojan-Gurewitsch MiG-23 185 Mikojan-Gurewitsch MiG-21 200 Mikojan-Gurewitsch MiG-31 40 Mikojan-Gurewitsch MiG-25 But with the actual unrealistic AI design of DCS, it is really hard to survive in a Cat and really don't believe that that is correct. So: What is your tactic? You just run away?

Hi dear developers! This is really an outstanding MOD!!!!! I use it as AI replacement only. But the 3d is very very fine. I love the fact that now the R27EA (full active variant) is available as same as the R-77M. That changes everything completely. The Su30 with that equipment is more then a strong opponent and can give you a hard time in your super duper F-16 or shining FA18. You guys made DCS much more worth with your fantastic work! Thank you very much!!! Cheers TOM

WOW! Thank you very much for your fast step in and your kind words. Yes- you have the permission to do what you want with the models. I could create more - Just need ideas, Wodka Red Bull and time. Cheers mate! Tom

Hello, I've been on the road for a while. In the meantime, a lot has happened. I am completely surprised by the new exporters for models and the new, fatastic possibilities one has now for DCS. It has hardly anything to do with the good old Lock On times. Here I would like to present a few small things that I have built for my installation of DCS. As always, everything is low-poly. So please don't expect miracles. BTW: I am not a good modder. I have no talent in creating structures, folders and LUAs. Therefore: If someone wants to integrate these files in his mod - you are highly welcome! All files uploaded by me are exclusively created by me and may be passed on, changed and modified. The battle trench for infantry and guns These small 3d models create battle trenches for the infantry. Funnily enough, they are not just a visual object - they actually offer the infantry a much higher level of protection! Since I have deposited a small collision model, projectiles bounce off the trench walls. Through small openings the infantrymen can act on their targets, showing only a small sillouette. Typically, however, such trenches are also created to protect the crews of SAMs, airfields and the population. Camouflage net As simple and basic as a camouflage net may seem - the effect is not insignificant! New camouflage nets not only hide equipment and troops visually - they also reduce reconnaissance possibilities with RADAR or INFRAROT. Since I don't have a helicopter (Apache or KA50), I can't say whether my model can annoy the FLIR. But at least the optical reconnaissance could be more difficult for the pilots now. If you use the camouflage nets correctly ... Generator with light pole TP5A4 I have often wished for a small mobile light mast because on most airfields in DCS it is dark as a bear's ass at the LAST CHANCE at the latest. The TP5A4 is a small diesel generator with a light mast and can easily be placed in the EDITOR. This gives the technical staff the chance to see something that is certainly not bad from a safety point of view. Here you can download the models and textures: https://www.mediafire.com/file/9415onrtkxfhybf/TOMS-EQUIPMENTs.rar/file STAND ALONE "SAVED GAMES"-MOD by HAWKEYE60: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ber3h5iepylnrbi/TOMS EQUIPMENT V 1.0.rar?dl=0 Make Safety Copy first! Better save than sorry! Simply insert the EDMs into TepTexture/BAZAR/Shapes. CAUTION: This will replace hoops and flags that are available in the editor for God knows what reason! Please insert the textures in BAZAR/TempTextures. In the editor, the models can then be found under Structures- Tyres with Flag or Flag. Okay- I hope you enjoy experimenting with it and maybe one or two ideas will inspire you. I wish you happy landings! Cheers TOM TOMS-EQUIPMENTs.rar

Hm ... Just create the MiG29 G ! Nato Jet Nato OPS NATO IFF Just saying... Cheers TOM

Totally in love with the SA map. I relly enjoy it Cheers TOM

Hello, From my Point of view the SA Map is the very most beautiful and nicest map for DCS! It is indeed a fantastic artwork and gives me wonderful flights and I relly enjoy the map. After years of dessert sadness the SA map impress me more and more. What I really like is the way how houses and other items are placed on the scenery according to the satellite images. Thats is- how a map should be done! Fantastic job! I really hope- the next update is far away because the map data is very big and my internet connection much too low. So I hope not for weekly updates. Thank you very much for your hard work and efforts! Brilliant job- Very well done!!! Cheers TOM

Hello, with this short article, I would like to briefly describe how I make DCS "flyable" in VR for me. Maybe the following text can help beginners. But maybe there will be more ideas and suggestions from the community that will help me to further optimize my settings. So- here we go: DCS delivers many effects and visual highlights right from the start that make this simulation look so fantastic. Unfortunately, virtual reality is still in its infancy and these beautiful effects are a source of frustration. Basically, one could say: All effects that are created by post-processing drastically slow down the VR user. These post-processes are typically processes such as vertical correction, anti-aliasing, but also post-processed light effects and reflections. Another problem is the temperature of the graphics card. My card gets quite hot very quickly. It reaches its peak performance very quickly; the system recognizes the temperature peaks and starts to throttle the performance. So before going into DCS, I turn off all the anti-aliasing filters in all the programs and make sure the graphics card is sufficiently cooled: - In the graphics card settings, switch off all FXAA, MSAA, etc. or set to "application controlled". - In the VR application (in my case Oculus Rift) switch off MSAA! (Otherwise Oculus will render with MSAA all the time). - Manually control the fan of the card (in my case Nvidia Control Panel - Lalt+Z : Fan on 80 % - (Yes- it is loud, but I have a headset on and only hear the engines when flying anyway, the temperature stays at a decent 54 degrees Celsius during the whole session). https://www.nvidia.com/de-de/geforce/geforce-experience/ In the DEBUG TOOL of Oculus you should deactivate most of the settings. Especially "Adaptive GPU Performance Scale" and "Asynchronous Spacewarp." In DCS itself you can only do 2 things: Either: Use a high resolution (Pixel Density) for the VR goggles and do without all post-processing (pixel density 1.5 or higher). or: Use a low resolution and allow certain post-processing. (Pixel-Density 1.2 plus SSAA 1.5 plus MSAA 2 as an example). Textures: HIGH - looks fantastic. However, there can be considerable judder in online mode. The problem is that not all textures from all modules fit into the RAM. So, if you want to land your FA-18 on the carrier after a long flight and at the same time a new player spawns on the carrier with his F-14 and chooses a new skin, the landing becomes a stutter orgy. Lighting calculations of the bump-maps can slow down the system. MEDIUM - looks acceptable and allows fast loading in online mode. You no longer recognize every single screw and rivet on your fellow pilots. LOW - fonts and labels in the cockpit are usually no longer legible - unusable setting in my view. Terrain Textures: HIGH: The terrain has bump maps textures which have to be calculated depending on the incidence of light. The resolution is high (pixel-per square meter) and there are reflections. LOW: No bump maps (relief which gives the textures depth) and the resolution is lower. I try to keep the HIGH setting whenever possible and performance allows. But if you set it to HIGH then it will effect all terrain textures: Houses, Trees, Cars and so on. If I just want to see high resolution ground textures and low res. houses (don't want to read every house number) I rename the LOW texture files in the terrain folder- I just delete the ".min" part of the files by hand and copy them back. So I can speed up the Map a little bit. WATER: Water is displayed and calculated over the entire map even when flying over the desert. Therefore, this setting has a high value! HIGH: Waves and whitecaps are highly resolved textured. Waves are displayed in 3 dimensions. Very high influence on the overall performance - not recommended. MEDIUM: Waves and whitecaps are low resolution textured. Waves are displayed in 3 dimensions. Still very high influence on the overall performance- Not recommended. LOW: Water is flat and without whitecaps. But looks acceptable. Highly recommended for VR! HEAT BLUR, DEPTH OF FIELD, LENS EFFECTS, COCKPIT GLOBAL ILLUMINATION and MOTION BLUR are post-processing effects and should UNCONDITIONALLY be switched off! These effects are very performance-intensive and only something for filmmakers and photographers. SSAA: Personally, I love this option. SSAA renders the resolution in a higher setting (resolution x 1.5 or resolution x 2) and can scale it down again. The trick is that the pixels are only calculated once and not twice or four times as with MSAA. This means that this post-processing mode is faster. I can recognize just as much with a pixel density of only 1.2 with SSAA 2 as without SSAA but a pixel density of 1.8. However, the image with SSAA is much softer and not as pixelated. Unfortunately, you have to test whether you prefer a high resolution in the VR glasses or whether you accept a lower resolution in exchange for a somewhat softer image. SSAA 2 plus MSAA 4 will unfortunately melt every system. What just works is a pixel density of 1.2, MSAA 2, and SSAA 1.5. In short: High resolution - no post-processing Low resolution - low and specific post-processing The card driver is also important. In my case, the latest driver from Nvidia (526.98- November 2022) was a total disaster. I had to reset it to a version from September this year. The best thing to do is to ask Google which version is the best (that means not the newest) for your graphics card. Example for today: · Nvidia driver 399.24. For the Pascal series of graphics cards. ... · Nvidia driver 466.77. Added support for 3080 Ti and 3070 Ti. ... · Nvidia driver 471.11. Added support for the latest Windows 10 version 21H1 released in May 2021. So much for my experience. If you have any further tips and tricks, please feel free to share them with me. I like to learn from your experiences. Cheers TOM

Hi Unfortunately I have to confirm that DCS is chrashing if a player want to return to the supercarrier. Cheers Tom

Good morning Barthek! So far I ever used my own Caucasus textures because the original ones were pretty ... comic style to me. But on Facebook I saw your textures and so I decided to give them a try. So ... wow! You made an really impressive job. The textures looking brilliant to me and should be standard. I really like the "no snow" variant. I combined them with Taz trees and yes - DCS looks very nice now. Thank you so much for all your hard work. All the effort you put in was totally worth it. Hope you could do the same for Syria one far day. (looks too painted to me and I would like to see it more photo realistic - but just an idea) Very well done!!! Cheers TOM

Hi, Offline mission F14A - back to carrier - 30NMs out - freeze for the third time of the same mission. Maybe something with the tanker? Just guessing. Cheers Tom

Hallo ich habe mir die Quest 2 gekauft. In den Jahren davor war ich stolzer Besitzer der Rift und ich war total glücklich. Aber seit ich die Oculus Quest 2 gekauft habe - ist alles im Arsch. Erstens: Ich habe die Quest 2 gekauft, alles angeschlossen (Linkkabel original oculus), die App auf meinem Handy installiert, das oculus Programm auf meinem Computer gestartet, die alte Hardware (rift s) aus dem Programm entfernt. Die oculus Software erkannte das neue Headset (Wireless , Link-Kabel), alles war auf grünem Licht aber: Dann habe ich versucht, DCS zu starten - keine Hardware gefunden. Habe versucht, einen Videoplayer zu starten - keine Hardware. Trotzdem war die Verbindung auf grün- im Headset war ein Bild und die Verbindung wurde im Setup angezeigt. Ich habe alle Ordner gelöscht und die Oculus Software von meinem Computer deinstalliert und alles wieder von vorne angefangen. Neuer Download von der Firma, neue Installation, wieder ... gleiches Ergebnis. Alles wurde grün angezeigt, die Verbindung wurde hergestellt, aber es war nicht möglich, einen Videoplayer oder den DCS-Flugsimulator zu starten. Also beschloss ich, auf meine alte Oculus Rift zurückzugreifen. Ich richtete alle Kabel neu ein, HDMI-Kabel nicht gefunden. Ich installierte die komplette Oculus Software neu, Kabel, Setup ... HDMI-Verbindung nicht gefunden. Also habe ich den Hardware-Manager überprüft - "Zweiter Monitor RIFT ist angeschlossen" - also - er ist definitiv da, online und funktioniert. Das Kabel ist korrekt, original und funktioniert. Alle Anschlüsse und USBs sind aktualisiert und funktionieren. Ich habe eine Windows-Wiederherstellung durchgeführt - die Oculus-Software kann meine HDMI-Verbindung zum Headset immer noch nicht finden. Ja- USBs rein und raus, Reset, Neustart, HDMI-Kabel rein und raus in der Reihenfolge ... Ich habe alles gemacht, was ich in den Internetforen und youtube-Videos gefunden habe ... Ich habe einen i9 Prozessor, Win10, 3090Ti und 64GB RAM - sollte also mehr als genug sein. Alle Treiber aktualisiert- alles funktioniert einwandfrei bis auf jede Hard- und Software von Oculus. Okay - ich hatte eine funktionierende Oculus Rift Software. Ich kaufte die Meta 2, die nicht funktioniert, schloss meine Rift-Ausrüstung wieder an und diese funktioniert nicht mehr..... Am Ende des Tages möchte ich nur DCS in VR spielen - mehr nicht. Daher wäre ich für jede Art von Hilfe mehr als dankbar. Danke TOM Übersetzt mit www.DeepL.com/Translator (kostenlose Version)

Hi If this is not the right section- please move this to another topic. Thanks I bought the Quest 2. In the years before I was a proud owner of the Rift and I was totally happy. But since I bought the Oculus Quest 2 - everything fucked up. First: I bought the Quest 2 , connected everything (link cable original oculus) , installed the app on my mobile, started the oculus program on my computer, removed the old hardware (rift s) out of the program. The oculus software realized the new headset (Wireless , link-cable), everything was on green light but: Then I've tried to start DCS - no hardware found. T have tried to start a video player - no hardware. Still the connection was on green- in the headset was a picture and the connection was shown in the Setup. I deleted all folders and deinstalled the oculus software from my computer and started all again from scratch. New download from the company, new installation, again ... same result. All was shown on green light, connection was established but it was not possible to start a video player or DCS flight simulator. So I decided to go back to my old Oculus Rift. I set up all the cables again, HDMI cable not found. I reinstalled the complete oculus software, cables, setup ... HDMI connection not found. So I checked the hardware manager - "Second monitor RIFT is connected" - so - it is definitely there, online and working. The cable is correct, original and working. All ports and USBs are updated and working. I made a windows restore - Oculus software can still not find my HDMI connection to the headset. Yes- USBs in and out, reset, restart, HDMI cable in and out in order ... I did everything what I found in the internet forums and youtube videos ... I have an i9 processor, Win10, 3090Ti and 64GB RAM - so should be more then enough. All driver updated- everything is working fine except every hard- and software from Oculus. Okay - I had a working Oculus Rift software. I bought the Meta 2 that is not working, reconnected my Rift equipment and this is not working anymore..... At the end of the day I just want to play DCS in VR- nothing more. So would be more then thankful for any kind of help. Thanks TOM

Sir, Yes- I'm afraid that you are right. But the trouble started after the 2.8 update. In 2.7 VR centering worked well. So maybe there is a small little ... how can I say .... <profanity> up in the new update. Thank you very much and let's hope for the very best. Kind regards and cheers TOM Post scriptum: DST I've tried but still with no success. But thank you very much and I'm happy that it works well for you. Have good flights

Congratulation. But not for me. Thanks and Cheers TOM

That doesnt work for me. ED ...please fix it. Thanks and Cheers Tom

Same problem here. I`ll wait for a fix....

Hi, re-center is not possible anymore. That makes VR pretty useless! Even setting the keys again doesn´t work. Oculus too. If it is not possible to calibrate the view for VR- we have a serious problem. Thanks and Cheers TOM

Thank you very much for the given answers, Gentlemen. Helps me a lot to clarify the situation. I can not decide, if this is a bug or not. But obviously the Flanker can guide there missiles even was the lock was broken for some seconds. That is very interesting. Thanks again and Cheers TOM

Hi, last night I flew in a self created mission in Single Play. In TacView I saw following Problem: One FA-18 was engaged by a Flanker. The Flanker shoot a R-27 (radar guided- No ET or IR guided) against the Hornet (both AI) and the Hornet answered with a AMRAAM. The Flanker was able to defend the AIM-120 but turned cold so that it was not possible to hold the lock on the Hornet. After the Flanker was clean, the Flanker turned hot again and her R-27 hit the Hornet. So my question is pretty simple: Can the Flanker lock after launch in order to guide the missile? (Please- Only what is fact in DCS. No comparisons to RL). Thanks and cheers TOM

Well - I don't have that much experience. All I can say is: Textured polygons in large masses are still a problem for the CPU/GPU and its memory. Mipmapping makes for faster rendering- but it has to be completely loaded into memory first. Because it is still one Texture. You notice it when you fly online to an aircraft carrier and another aircraft spawns on the deck. You can't really see it yet, but you notice a lot of lags and stutters. The Marianas generally have too many polygons and the players rightly complain about heavy judder, stuttering and interruptions. Because ground objects also need very well-made LODs. So yes - a too high polygon load still has glorifying effects! But as I said: I don't have much experience with it. I just hope that it will get better in the future. Cheers TOM

Hm... Why not? For me, the JF-17 is one big wonder. The stand-off weapons and even the air-to-air missiles are quite theoretical to me. Nevertheless, it can do everything and the weapons are accepted in the community. There is clear evidence that the Tomcat can carry at least 2 AMRAAMs and could use them. Over 200 missiles were fired during the development phase over white sands. However, I have to say that the radar software had to be changed and I don't know if Heatblur would take that much work. I think they have more interesting projects that would certainly bring in more. (Phantom, Eurofighter, Carrier) Cheers TOM

Okay - Yes. I tried your advices. Shorter range (I really do not like it but ...) Feels more like AMRAAM shooting to me. But yes - 30NM`s works well against fighters, so .... All I can say is thanks for this fantastic support!!!! Have a great bandit day and cheers TOM (I still think the AI is wrong, but ... who cares). Tacview-20220606-195014-DCS-Through_The_Inferno_SYRIA_v3.zip.acmi

Trolling? No - First - you need experience and training to do what the rookie AI can do right now. And they do it in the dark, in the clouds and everywhere and perfect. Thats not realistic but acarde. Second- the AI is flying still into the ground. Entertaining - indeed. Third - less then 30 percent of pilots would do <profanity> like that in RL. But yah - I will try.

I really appreciate your kind words. I have mentioned on other forums that the new AI is exhibiting behavior that is not correct. When even a "trainee" shows perfect scores in the right time and breaks every lock while still being aggressive, that is a top pilot with years of combat experience and not a rookie. But in DCS now, everyone and even the worst aircraft and least experienced pilots dogging the AIM54 like pros. So yes ... I am very grateful for the coming updates for the AIM54's. And yes - I would change my tactics again. But I will not change my decision making and start gambling just because the AI now behaves like players in hyperlobby. So - my Tacview I uploaded here shows a typical day now... Yes- Old tactics against new AI. So I have to find the golden key... Cheers and thanks TOM Tacview-TimeTrimmed-20220524-200231-DCS-Through_The_Inferno_PG_v3.zip.acmi