martinistripes

I went, TrackIR > VR > SmoothTrack > AITrack with OpenTrack TrackIR, didn't like wearing the track clip on a baseball cap. Tracking was often affected by lighting in the room. VR, Not enough clarity on my Valve Index and also not enough framerate. SmoothTrack, worked kinda ok but didn't like that my phone was tied up while tracking and would also need some kind of mount to make it centre of my view (rather than off to the side of my screen). You've also got potential latency issues. AITrack combined with OpenTrack, I'm happy with this for now. Works off my laptops built-in webcam. Tracking is fairly accurate and smooth enough and both pieces of software completely free EDIT: Forgot to say, it's important to add a key binding for centre view and also a pause tracking on your controls. I also have a switch assigned for slow zoom in and slow zoom out. When I want to do detailed work down on the MPDs/MFDs, I just pause the tracking and use a bit of zoom. Works great.

That head on shot of the F-14 with the director is magnificent!

Is anyone completing the formation flying and/or AAR sections with a desktop stick and flat screen? I keep trying VR (every few months) but never happy enough with the clarity and framerate to stick with it. Also, I don't have the luxury of setting up a home cockpit with stick extension (which I presume also helps a lot with making slight input adjustments). I'm just curious, if others are doing it with similar set ups, then I have no excuse and just need to double down on my efforts.

I also just tried this mission on a flat screen and it was hellish and frustrating. I'm going to try in VR and suspect this will help. When I switched from flat screen to VR in sim racing I found I was much better at judging distances and driving close without making contact.

I was just (re)playing first mission of Speed & Angels campaign. After going through the whole start up process and taxiing to the hold short, I suddenly got taken to the debrief screen. A few seconds later I was kicked to desktop with a message box showing "login authorization expired" or it might have been "login session expired". This is really frustrating when having only limited time to fly; I probably wasted 15 mins. At the time I was connected to the internet, so not sure why this has happened. As a suggestion, if a users login is about to expire, a better process would be for a login window to appear with the game paused. At least offer me an opportunity to login before erasing my progress.

Does HB still recommend NOT to have "hear like helmet" enabled? I remember reading this (something to do with the way the modules sounds were recorded/engineered) but can no longer find the thread.

In real life, you wouldn't need to tell your wingman, 'cover me'. If he sees, you taking fire, he's going to help you.

I'm not sure if this is Apache specific or across the board with all wingmen in DCS, but there are certain instances like when I'm being engaged with small arms, you'd expect your wingman to look out for you and kill the enemy that's engaging you. I just flew a liberation campaign mission and this very thing happened to me. I was being engaged, taking damage and (I'm not sure why) but my comms menu to talk with my wingman wasn't working. I couldn't tell him to 'engage ground targets'. In this situation though, I don't feel I should need to. Rather than help me out, he just continued to hover next to me whilst I was being shot to pieces, until eventually my pilot was killed. Not very intelligent. A good wingman would surely get some suppressive fire down asap.

This fixed it, thanks.

I backed up my DCS 'mods' folder to an external HDD before re-installing Windows. After reinstalling Windows and DCS World, I've copied the aircraft, terrains and campaigns back to the correct location but I'm getting authorization failed on them. It's asking me if I want to install all the other modules that I didn't back up every time I open the module manager. I'd presumed after logging in and having an internet connection activation would occur automatically. Do I need to delete them and re-download? Or is there some way to activate them?

Before 2.9 I was enjoying creating Fast Missions from the main menu. Now, I get "MISSION WAS NOT GENERATED Company type artillery don't match generator params" This is for the Apache in Syria. Random date, time and weather. Historical.

Remove the spring from the compartment in the bottom, and select the "pedals without spring" in options. I also find when you first give some rudder input when loading into a mission, they're overly sensitive. To fix this, I give each pedal full input (before increasing engine power obviously). They then seem to understand what there full range is better and are less touchy. It almost acts like a calibration.

I noticed a lot of the big MP servers are still using SRS and have voice chat disabled; need to check before joining that it's enabled.

I tried to test voice comms in MP. My friend joined my Apache as CPG. I could see his c/s listed in 'common' and in 'coalition', but he wouldn't show in the '[intercom] AH-64D Blk II' channel. When I transmitted on the intercom, the box was red, showing no one receiving.

I use the NXT EVO. I've removed the springs and use the dry clutch so the stick stays in position. It works ok (at least for a portable desktop setup). You'll need pedals for the Apache as there's a lot of rudder usage. I'm not sure the twist grip will cut it.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Is there a guide to all the radio jargon when using a FAC? I've had a quick look through the manual. Searching FAC comes up with too many results.

I didn't even realise I had access to NVGs in the Apache. I've been using the PNVS to fly at night, which is a bit laggy and takes a bit of getting used to with the offset from your actual eyeballs. Which is more commonly used IRL by the pilot? In what situations would you switch between the two systems?

I'd rather not have a command, as you're then forced to micro manage things that George should be doing automatically. Sure, things like this will get fixed eventually. When the modules complete, we shouldn't be telling George to do anything that a real CPG would know to do for himself.

I dream of the day I can have smooth framerates in VR. I'm on a 3070 Ti laptop and it's just not enough. Sometimes, I look forward to my retirement (when I no longer need a laptop). It will include spending £1k+ on a video card and hopefully buying a VKB or Virpil AH-64 cyclic replica, with the sole aim of having smooth VR gameplay in DCS.

I had plenty of KS-19s firing at me in the Apache and when they explode nearby, they're loud and scary (especially at night!). I'll always opt for realism where I can. So whatever a real pilot says you can or can't hear, that's how I'd like it.

How I miss those big cardboard boxes and thick manuals though; when there were fewer games, and the ones you bought you played to death. (And when, to get a new game meant a trip into the city)

I've disliked motion smoothing from the beginning with Valve Index and always had it turned off in DCS because of the graphical artifacts (particularly with rotors). I also found it wasn't helping my fps much (if any). Glad you got some extra fps.

Can anyone say how far along the damage model is? Is there much more planned for it in the near term. Are we likely to see it brought inline with the WWII aircraft damage models? The road map for the Apache says "AI Damage Model Improvements". I take it these will have no impact on the player aircraft? I'd also be interested to see any papers on damage modelling development (as we often see for flight models), as curious how deep they go into predicting likely damage from different calibre rounds and explosives. Perhaps a good idea for a Friday newsletter.

In real life, when you trim, the stick doesn't re-centre. Having a conventional stick that re-centres is an abomination when flying a helicopter. I went MS SWFFB2 > Virpil Mongoose T-50 > MS SWFFB 2 > VKB NXT EVO > VKB NXT EVO (No springs)