shake307

First, I will say that I am not the most qualified to answer which you should buy. I only own the Viggen. With that said, I feel like the Viggen is not getting a fair shake here. I wholly recommend the Viggen. You say you have the F/A-18? Well, I would say that your multirole slot is filled. Do you own an interdictor that can rip along at 100m altitude traveling at +M1.2? Viggen does that, along with several other things. You just need to learn it. I am currently learning this unique aircraft and am nothing but amazed by the way it does its mission. Now to defend the Viggen against some of the less than flattering judgement as to its usefulness. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a "one pass, haul ass" aircraft. It is more of a "haul ass" kind of bird. You get 4 mavericks, and that is including the heavy Mavs. You get the Mjolnir Dispenser, also x4. With those you get to select munitions for soft or hard targets, or both. You also get the rockets that are just a blast to use, figuratively and literally (they explode like rockets, take note ED). Anti ship strikes are a breeze with the RB-04 and RB-15 missiles. This thing is a great mud mover and it has the blistering speed to ensure survivability. It is "one pass, haul ass" if only to set up for another attack run. With what I said about its mission, I think the Viggen can be used to great effect in multiplayer. I have not, however, used it in multiplayer as I don't feel confident yet as to my abilities. It is literally designed to take on heavily defended areas to conduct a powerful strike. You know, airfields and ships. Speed is its greatest asset. It does speed. That is all it does. Speed. Low altitude speed. I know how I will employ it when I get to multiplayer. Fast strikes against vulnerable targets. As far as realism is concerned; who says the Viggen would never be used in the Persian Gulf or Syria? There is a campaign for the Huey set in 2025 that has you flying for the Germans. Is that realistic? I say don't hang up on realism. Fly it in its mission and you will not be disappointed. It is a low level interdictor and should be treated as such. If it really bugs you, just pretend you are Coalition Blue. Surprisingly, it can also do air to air. I can carry 6 heaters, 4 of which are the version of the AIM-9P. I could be wrong about that, but I do know it can carry 2 crappy AIM-9s and 4 better AIM-9s. I have not gotten that far with it. It isn't as rigid or inflexible with waypoints and flight plans. That can all be adjusted in flight. It just requires a little bit of practice and training. Map your controls properly and read the manual. Is that not true for every other full fidelity module? Single player, I think the Viggen is lacking. I will admit that. Yup. As far as the Mirage? Well I do not own it. I have the KA-50, Mi-8, UH-1, F/A-18, A-10C, A-10C II, Fw-190 D-9, AJS-37, Mig-21, Flaming Cliffs 3, and am looking at the Harrier and Gazelle. The Mirage has caught my curiousity, but not my attention. It is a multirole, but it seems like a watered down multirole. I have thought about buying it, but it really does not spark any passion for me. Plus, whoever thought a fixed refueling probe was a good idea needs to get punched with a freight train. I expect better from the French. That is my nickel worth of free advice.

I have noticed my mirrors are blurry on the Viggen and Fishbed. Possibly on other modules as well. Have not checked. Th Hip's fisheye mirror looks okay, though. Not sure if it is a setting or bug from last update. It does not really bother me, but I am curious. Thank you in advance.

Well, I suppose I will throw my hat into the ring. I own all the helos, except this one. I am on the fence with the Gazelle. I am currently trying it in this free to play period. Its flight model feels "all or nothing" to me. Granted, I do not know anything about this aircraft and I have my flight controls set up in a very generic way. It just seems like I am getting far too much response for the slight amount of input I am giving the flight controls. I am not a real Gazelle pilot, but from my limited experience, the flight model seems a little wonky. That is just my opinion compared to the others helos. It is, by far, more responsive than the other rotorcraft. Even the Black Shark. With that said, it is not too difficult to fly. Just keep everything steady and smooth. It damn sure is not the Hip. You can throw a Hip around, but the Gazelle seems like it will throw you around. I will probably buy this one during the winter sale. If only just to say I have all the DCS helos. I sure do love my rotor wings. And this thing is a pissed off sports car. Now, as far as a recommendation for you. Like the previous poster somewhat stated, get the module you want. If you want the Gazelle, get it. You rarely go wrong getting a module you want. But I will say the Black Shark is solid choice for an attack helo. It does have its own quirks, like it cannot yaw for crap as it does not have a tail rotor. They all have quirks. The Hip is a turd when at higher alts and dust protection is on. The generators die and you lose autopilot. It is almost like the engines need more power. The Huey will self destruct its engines if it is pushed even a little too hard. There are many more things for each. Those are just what came to mind. The Gazelle has its quirks, too. I say buy the Gazelle. At least try it. You do not have anything to lose, except time. I think you should also try the others. Helos are insanely fun, woefully underrepresented, and criminally underrated in DCS. I cannot stress enough that people need to take advantage of free to play. See for yourself. I found out I am not a fan of the Tomcat or the Tiger. Will be buying the Persian Gulf Map, though. Download and see if the Gazelle fits. I downloaded it and now will probably buy it. My nickel worth of free advice.

A-10C II

Radar still borked and causing FPS drops

RTFM. My bad. Thanks for the answer

Holy Hell! How many rounds do the Co-pilot miniguns hold? Was faffin around in the Huey last night and the thing just kept firing and firing and firing. Got ammo about 50% after a suspiciously long time. Looked on interwebs and couldnt find anything. How much ammo do those cans hold?

Well, here are my thoughts as I own the KA-50, UH-1, and Mi-8. KA-50 is an amazing combat helo with some rad systems. It does have some weird limitations and unique tactics (think of low level hovering sniper). UH-1 is very utilitarian and "standard", for lack of a better word. Still a lot of fun and seat of your pants flying. Mini guns are awesome but dont expect miracles from rockets. Lastly, the Mi-8. Physically larger than the other two, it is a flying truck. It actually is surprisingly agile and can carry more ordnance than even the KA-50. I love all three and have hated each at some point. My current rankings: Mi-8 first, KA-50 second, UH-1 third. Once i got used to the Mi-8 size and flight characteristics, it really started to shine for me. KA-50 is super fun but its missions can get very time consuming. UH-1 seems very fragile to me and I am currently very frustrated with being golden bb'd everytime I fly it. Mi-8 seems far more robust. The Ka-50 is obviously the toughest, though. Hope this helps. Used to electrician on SH-60Bs, so helos have always been interesting to me. Crazy machines, rotorcraft are.

I know this belongs in the Mig-21 threads, but I don't feel like it is getting enough attention there as this problem has been going for several months now. There is a significant drop in FPS when the radar is turned on. The only "fix" is to roll back nVidia drivers to an older version. That is not a fix, it is a band-aid. There are quite a few posts in the Magnitude 3 forums about this, and they seem to be pointing at ED for the problem. I figured I could post on here about this issue and at least get it some kind of attention. It sure doesn't seem to be getting attention in the Mig-21 forums. On that note, does anybody have a good recommendation for a choice between Mirage, Hornet, or Viper?

Huey Campaign, Mission 7 Tango... It seems like I am always getting taken out by a single bullet. This last time I flew, a 5.45mm hit me once and then a minute later I am on fire and crashing. It isn't the first time it has happened, it seems to me. I looked in the AAR of the mission and I got hit once, then later I had a main gen failure and a starter gen failure. From a single 5.45mm bullet. A high speed .22... Correct if I am wrong, but I thought the Huey was a bit tougher than that. Maybe that legendary toughness just isn't modeled. It is in the Mi-8... I am just complaining and venting some frustration because this Spanish UN Huey seems like it is made of graham crackers.

Will keep bumping this thread. Rolling back drivers is not a fix. It is a bandaid. Also, turning off ground clutter and weather on the radar does not work anymore. So, in my mind, this problem is getting worse.

First, I would like to offer my apologies for my original post. It was written from a point of irritation. Now, to answer some concerns. I am up to date in the Open Beta, DCS checks for updates every time I start it. I know this is old news now, but ground clutter is the definite cause of FPS drops in the Mig-21 radar. Can't quite tell with the Viggen, probably the same issue or close to it. Haven't really tested it yet. I realize that this is Open Beta and we are, in a sense, testers. Hopefully the radar issues get fixed soon. There has been a lot of feedback, both from players and from ED. Just saw today opening up DCS they posted a bit of news saying they are working on the radar issue. Thanks for that. And thanks to all that replied trying to help. I am a troubleshooter by trade, so it is what I do. Doesn't mean it doesn't get frustrating at times. Thanks all.

So, it all started with mission 1 of the Deployment campaign. Fail mission because the Hind I am following keeps running into the same tree. Don't really know why I fail that mission, he is the one who crashed. Suggestion I have found is to download a fixed campaign as a mod. Is that really a solution though? Give up on that campaign and decide to dust off the Mig-21. Go into the radar training mission to start refreshing myself on Fishbed operations. My FPS drops to 30 and below. Change graphics settings, but still the same. Find out through some research that the radar causes massive FPS drops. Seriously? With a ryzen 3900x and 2080 super? Best solution, roll back nvidia drivers to something 8 months old. That is the fix. Been an issue, from what I can tell, for quite some time. So, no fix. Decide to see if the same thing happens in the Viggen. Yup. Same "fix" too. Just roll back the drivers. Okay, so now I am starting to get annoyed with all of this. To recap, I have a campaign I can't even really start because the AI keeps crashing. The Mig-21 is pretty much useless as I can't use the radar in an INTERCEPTOR. And the Viggen is doing the same thing with its radar. Now, I just throw my hands in the air and decide I will just do the Georgian Oil War Campaign. I love the KA-50 and am getting good with it, besides rockets (rocket damage is a whole other ball of wax). Mission 1 has me start on the heli pad with another KA-50 inside my KA-50. They explode and I fail the mission. So, researching fixes for these problems, I am not really finding and fixes. Just more problems from other people. F/A-18 SA screen causing FPS drops is one I have come across a few times. Again, and for years now, rocket damage is low. But an AK-47 can golden BB my Huey. Viper being incomplete. Too scared to see all the hot garbage waiting for me in the A-10C. But we are still getting new maps and being sold unfinished aircraft at full price. Oh, and Black Shark 3 and A-10C II are coming out, for a small fee. I know this post will probably be deleted, and I will get slammed with the ban hammer, but I know I am not the only one that is getting irritated with all this. Everytime I try to give these guys the benefit of the doubt and try something else, another issue rears its ugly head and nothing seems to be getting done. Just the community offering band aids for solutions.

I am 99 percent sure it will never happen, but I think it would be kinda cool to have the world's most produced biplane in DCS. It would be easy to research and could be used as a psuedo forward area transport due to its large size and good STOL capabilities. ED seems to be wanting to put more civil types of aircraft in DCS, so I say why not the An-2?

I was just perusing the news on my phone and came across an article about he J-20. After a bit of research, I discovered it to be a 5th gen stealth fighter and possible attack. But looking at it raises some questions. How stealthy can it be? I mean it looks the part, but I did notice some things, to my eye, would really ruin the stealth. Antennae jutting out everywhere, exposed engine exhausts, fairly weird wing layout, and other things. Another question; is China buying the su35? I read something about they want to reverse engineer them, but that still wouldn't bring them quite up to par with modern western aircraft. I mean, the damn thing looks like a sukoi with a body kit. It doesn't seem the threat we are supposed to fear. What is all your opinions, fellow posters?

So, been trying to get back in to the A-10C and to help my motivation I set the background wallpaper on main screen to the plane. Well, looking at the A-10C, I noticed it isn't carrying a TGP. I thought, "Huh, I wonder if anybody else has noticed this." So I posted.

I am also fairly novice with the big 8, but I do believe the hover indicator on the pilot's upper right console has a radar VSI. It updates faster than the barometric VSI. It is the scale in the left side of the gauge.

It doesn't have flicker when I am not using Crossfire. The cloud flicker doesn't bother me nearly as much as the cockpit flicker. I think it might have something to do with the long shadows/low sunlight. I notice no cockpit flicker when the sun is full and bright. I test this in the D-9 Freeflight mission that I think starts at dusk. Massive flickering. Instant action Takeoff, during midday, I don't notice any flickering. But I can't take the D-9 off due to being terrible with it... Not so noticeable in helos, due to the rotor blade shadows flickering, but it is worse in the Mi-8, due to the blue-green cockpit. Again, this is really only noticeable in lower light conditions. I hope this gets fixed soon, I am in the middle of the huey campaign and can feel my skills slipping due to not playing. Oh well, might have to pretend my virtual pilot has a virtual condition that makes him see virtual flickering. Maybe a combat injury...

Everything was working OK until the latest update. Now DCS is doing what it did to me not too long ago; flickering cockpit and clouds. I can't seem to make it go away, no matter what settings I use. Seems to happen really badly during dawn or dusk in simulation. My specs are in my sig. I don't believe it is my video drivers because this happened after the last DCS Update. I updated my AMD drivers hoping that would fix the issue. It didn't. Any help or assistance is appreciated. This is quite frustrating because it seemed this problem was behind me. It is difficult to fly now, all I see is the damn flickering.

I can confirm this. Free flight over sukhumi without moving map, I get 60fps dropping a bit over city. Moving map on, no matter what is an automatic loss of 15 to 20 fps. I found in another thread if you turn water to High, it stops this fps drop, but to me that isn't really a fix. It does work, just not a fix.

Bump, huey missions can be long and brutal. Stuck on the mission where I need to follow the CO and he flies like a lunatic. Very easy to lose the helo.

Well, that was a little uncomfortable. I just reinstalled all the modules that weren't working. The only two that were working were Mig-21 and Fw-190. All others wouldn't even let me fly in custom missions. Sucky part is that I lost my Huey campaign so I guess I have to start that slog fest over again. But all seems to be working, so I guess good news. Thanks for all the help, and I really hope I don't have to do this every patch.

Any help at all? This is ruining DCS for me.

Ah, here we go. Sorry this took so long to get out, I was away and busy this weekend. But the Logs file is attached and hopefully we can get this all figured out. Thank you for your patience and assistance. Logs.zip

Well, i may need a quick and dirty for getting back on track with my missions and campaign. I can't seem to upload a winzip to the forums. I use 7zip because I refuse to pay for something that I think should have been included in windows. DCS Forums disagrees with my programming choice. So quick and dirty for me I guess. Unless there is a way to work with my choice of program. I apologize for my difficulty.