Bearfoot

This has happened to me on occasion. I think it has to do with the whole VR software stack not loading in the right order on time. To avoid issues, I have to (after rebooting), make sure that: (1) Oculus home is first loaded. I often double-click on the icon to launch it rather than wait for it to come on automatically. (2) The headset is active: I wait till Oculus home is loaded, then put on the headset and wait to make sure that the virtual world is active and ready before moving on. (3) Only THEN (and without taking off the headset) do I launch DCS. This usually works out OK. Missing some of these steps, and especially, just launching DCS without launching Oculus home results in issues sometimes, depending on the load order and sequence. Then I have to reboot and re-do. Also an annoying bug I have is that I have to unplug and replug the Rift S USB before launching Oculus home or otherwise the virtual world does not work. I think it's got to do with my specific hardware though.

Absolutely comparable as the probability of any of these making it into DCS before 2050 is zilich. Which makes these "Do you want ..." type threads really little more than a choir support group session. People who don't care for the vehicle ignore the thread, people who do say "+1". Neither makes a whit of difference.

Yep! Tanking is definitely one of those places where I really would like to keep "all hands/eyes on the task", and the radio menu just gets in the way.

Sure. Would also take the Boeing S-97 Raider and SSN-21 SeaWolf while we are it.

"TACAN" was a typo. I had it set to DEST. I am running latest beta as well. I've tried a few times, and definitely the setting does not take on the first few cycles. Have to switch through a couple of waypoints first before. I found this: at 15:37, he encounters the exact issue. He does not know if it is a bug or a procedural issue. But as far as I can see, he (and I) follow the above procedure exactly.

Yes, but real pilots do not have to take their eyes off the ball to look at some ghost text in their visual screen and then bob their heads or fingers to click some items. Honestly, this is immersion-breaking, clunky, and adds layers of distraction. Difficult to take the "moar realistic" argument seriously here. I am all for replicating the challenges and difficulties of actual flight. I am for living with compromises in authenticity and immersion to capture these challenges. But manipulating a menu in the middle of the groove --- that is exactly the wrong kind of challenge to add into the simulator. It's not just fake but is literally shining-in-your-face fake and destroys the authenticity of the approach. Worse, it compromises your ability to do the actual stuff you should be doing. We would call that "negative training". Sure, VoiceAttack etc. helps overcome this (but still have to deal with all those ghost texts suddenly appearing in your vision --- i.e.. immersion breaking). But does that mean that Supercarrier landings are totally compromised in terms of authenticity and playability out-of-the-box if you do not use VA?

Suggestion to ED: Make the clara/ball call automatic. Bankler's landing script can figure if you are clara or the ball is visible, so it should be possible.

IF the menu position, order, and, most importantly, the default "page" the menu opens up in when "/" is pressed is stable and predictable. I find that this is not always the case with tanking or, e.g., the 9-line. Not to mention, you should still be able to fly without voiceattack. And none of this address the issue of immersion-breaking text appearing all over your screen.

I see that all comms are through the radio menu. While this might be manageable in the early stages of recovery, after breaking the deck it becomes dicey, and in the groove it is, frankly, insane! - "When your aircraft is in the groove (wings level) and you have the ball in sight, you should select ‘BALL’ from the ATC carrier radio menu" - "If you do not have the ball in sight, select ‘CLARA’ from the ATC menu" Honestly, in these moments my hands are stablizing the stick working the throttle pretty much 200% of time, and my eyes are bouncing across all instruments and the ball in a furious 1000x scan. How am I supposed to even look at the radio menu let alone select items from it? I cannot even scratch my nose and sometimes even breathing is a distraction I don't want!

The Osprey series, as noted, is excellent. On the US side, the Tomcats saw far, far, far, far, far, far, FAR more A2G action over their lifetime than A2A. In fact, during the Gulf Wars, they could not do A2A tasks, because they lacked organic ("suitcased") IFF, and with the skies so full of friendlies, target sorting (which would have to be routed through AWACS) would have been a nightmare. So the F/A-18's picked up those missions and the Tomcats went to ground pound. IIRC, their use/performance in the first round was rather limited due to lack of precision weapon capability. Then they got the LANTIRN upgrade, "hot", and crew largely figured out procedures and protocols while "on-the-job". And they absolutely shone in this role --- you almost could not have designed them better for the A2G role. (Maybe their F-111 spiritual ancestor blessed them??). Statistically speaking, in actual US combat service (as opposed to hundreds of thousands of hours watching out for the fleet in the Cold War context), the Tomcat was functionally an A2G bird (though I don't know or think the crew may have necessarily seen it that way?). If you wanted to have seen Tomcats routinely operate and perform in combat in the characteristic A2A role in any statistically appreciable numbers, you will have to look to Iran. Hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds??) of engagements, from BVR to dogfights, CAP to scramble-intercepts, etc. etc. A few good books out on these, too, including an Osprey one as well as a dedicated collections of "war stories".

IF there is a (direct) keybind. Aren't there radio menu items for which there is no keybind? I would love to have all the tanker calls bindable

Correction: It seems that it DOES work, but only on the third or fourth attempt at activating. I.e, after cycling through WPT1, 2, 3, and FP using "Jester -> Navigation -> Steerpoint from Map", after a few passes, the HSI suddenly starts updating the destination direction and range correctly.

Does not show up in HSI as well. Set markers at 4 cardinal points -- assigned to WPT 1, 2, 3, and FP through "Jester -> Navigation -> Steerpoint from Map". Switching between them using "Jester -> Navigation ->Select Destination Steer Point" shows no change in HSI. HSI indicator set to TACAN DEST (edited), hot start so INS aligned, etc. etc.

I just did. No joy.

Can someone provide a brief summary of this process? The documentation references creating a waypoint in the mission editor and naming it "ST", which can then be selected as a steerpoint by asking Jester to set the Surface Target as a steerpoint. But it also seems you can create a mark on the F10 Map, and then select that as a surface target steerpoint? Jester seems to comply, but the the steering cues dont really line up. Here is what I did: (1) Go to F10 Map, and create a marker. Name it something (I named it "test 1", "target 1", etc. Maybe I should call it "ST"?) (2) Jester -> Navigation -> Steerpoint from Map -> Surface Target -> (select) (3) Jester -> Navigation ->Select Destination Steer Point -> Surface Target But this does not work, and it still shows "Home Base" Am I missing something?

Ah, thanks for the clarification. You are absolutely right regarding not staying on station long enough. In the mission I described, the hot start hack in combination with me flying > M1.0 at 30K got me there early and I left at bingo (which came even earlier due to AB use during ingress). More measured pacing put me smack in the middle of a Backfire swarm halfway through the CAP. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas just after I released the second Phoenix. (Another) lesson learned. All goes to show the difference between knowing how to fly vs. knowing how to fly a mission. REALLY appreciate you providing this opportunity to learn and get a sense of fleet defense operationas!

Did we always have a salute command? I see the clarification that it was for the supercarrier. Does that mean we now have TWO salute commands? Different ones for different ships?

THANK YOU Heatblur Dev Team for continued outstanding work on this, easily the best module in DCS. I've been playing DCS since 2015, and I have NEVER been so in love ... and it keeps getting better!

OK, even with the deck sliding / INS woes, I really, really, really, really, do like this mission! THANKS @mbot! Really gives a sense of fleet defense + "cloud of war", in how you need to sort targets and make tactical decisions. First mission -- two Bears down. Now, second mission --- launched to take up CAP station at 30deg/170nm out from carrier. During this time, one Bear detected at 114deg/400nm, and then another one out at 350deg/400nm. Which is weird because I think that puts them outside the map? Anyway, after a while they disappeared without me doing anything. Apart from that nothing. No Backfire swarms. No attacks. Nothing. Have I broken something?

Ok, in an attempt to get hot starts, I edited the following: 'F-14B EastMed Fleet Defense/Init/camp_init.lua' (Line 38 ) hotstart = true, 'F-14B EastMed Fleet Defense_first.miz' > 'l10n/DEFAULT/camp_status.lua' (Line 36 ) ['hotstart'] = true, 'F-14B EastMed Fleet Defense_ongoing.miz' > 'l10n/DEFAULT/camp_status.lua' (Line 36 ) ['hotstart'] = true, This does work for to get the generated missions hot started, but not the first mission which remains a cold start. :( :( :(

Thank you for your work on this. Looks great! I have a request in the interests of playability though. (1) Would it be possible to have the option (or version) for a hot start? (2) Failing that, at least set up a Stored Heading Alignment in the mission? Reason is that due to the DCS bug where the aircraft "slips" over the ship by the time start up is done with the regular 8-10 mins of alignment (or even before it is done), all sorts of chaos ensues, including wreckage of the aircraft and hence trashing of the mission. For example, this happened last night before I even finished the INS. And long before that, my aircraft had been bumping up against the Hawkeye parked behind it with loud bangs dozens of time, though with no apparent/visible damage to me. Also note that this suggest that the deck sliding bug may break the INS alignment altogether, so the only work around would be a hot start in that case, but I do not know for sure.

Thanks, all!

The F-14B is the only module that I have experienced these issues with, not just consistently, but obligatorily --- every single time, in every session, no matter how short or simple, even if there are no other objects.

Has there been any insight into this? Is there any hope/possibility/plausibility of us being able to view our tracks without resorting to complex tricks (i.e., setting up a mock server/MP etc.).?

"reform right" is what I understand I should do after topping up in the air. Is there a specific procedure for this or is it all "technique"? E.g., do you drop back so many feet/plan lengths, then slide right? Or climb so many feet before sliding right? Or some combination? I often cannot just slide right because of the tanker in my way, so either have to change altitude or drop back.