3WA

Lol, in the end, it all comes down to "Does ED want to make money". And if they don't give people what they want, they aren't going to make money. And I think ED is very aware of this. If you play heli's online, you want Air to Air, because otherwise, it's just Suicide. It's a game, and I don't give a DAMN what Americans think should be loaded on their heli's. I'm not flying for America, and there is no friendly CAP over me. If the airframe is capable of carrying it, I want it. And we can see, almost ALL helicopters are capable of carrying some form of Air to Air. This includes the Apache, the Cobra, and the Ka-50. Most other nations, besides the "US", carry Air to Air on their helicopters.

If the chopper doesn't have any air defense, it's just a suicide mission anyway.

Yes, we heli pilots DO want them. Because we are tired of being shot out of the sky. As another member said, the US didn't adapt them because they have a MASSIVE CAP ability, to cover and control the sky. Other nations don't, and that's why they carry Air to Air missiles on their heli's. DCS feels a lot more "Third World" than any American Forces. In DCS missions, and ESPECIALLY on public servers, you don't know when the jets are going to attack you. It at least gives you a little relief knowing you can toss SOMETHING at them, maybe causing enough of a distraction for you to break for cover. And personally, I like the Apache, but if doesn't carry Air to Air, I'll probably skip it, and buy the heli's that do.

Exactly. Which is why I am for Stinger / Igla. And yeah, I'm not for offensive type AAM, unless you can figure out a good ambush attack. Of course, if they're going that slow and close, I'll probably risk a Vhiker shot. AAM's on a heli should be for defense, SHTF moments. There's very little to hide behind in the the simple DCS landscape.

But what if we're in The Matrix, and in Reality, this is actually the year 2121?

Yeah, when the heli's have no air-defense, I lose about half my interest in them. Don't know if I will ever buy another heli unless they have air defenses. You just get SLAUGHTERED by jets on the servers. Vhiker on the Ka-50 is absolutely useless against fast movers, and rarely effective against other heli's. You have to set it to ground moving target fuse mode because the splash damage is non - existent. America seems to be stupid not to equip their heli's with air defense. All the other countries they export to sure seem to be interested in it. Especially, Stinger and Igla, since a lot more can be carried. R-60 takes up too much space that could have been used for anti-armor. Air defense should be for DEFENSE, not attack. R-60 seems like more of an attack role.

THIS.

Surprised they are going to put R-60's on it. Would love to see Igla's myself. Would also like to see stingers on the new Apache. We heli's have to be able to defend ourselves from the "Metas", especially on the public servers.

Your not alone. Getting 1 MB/s downloading 2.7 .

In my experience, "caged" on an instrument usually means putting it in a frozen state / off. I don't know why they have this on instruments. Maybe to keep them from being damaged when not in use? Been a long time since flying the A-10, but the only "caged" state I remember was the ILS bars being caged or something.

@CN - You just described that "other sim" everyone talks about. But they started at the ground and infantry. DCS started from the sky and went down, the exact opposite way. DCS is getting there. One day... Just think how AWESOME it's going to be! I know RIGHT?! MAC is just a new FC3. That Su-30 cockpit looks like a modern F-16. It would look better in DCS Rainbows will be next after the new clouds. That and God Rays.

Hmm, for me, it fly's a lot like a fighter, especially at speed. Use your collective for changing height. Banking left and right should be a lot like a fighter. Move your nose up and down to change speed (using your collective at the same time to keep the correct altitude). Use your rudders for tight sideways and spinning maneuvers like the funnel. When power diving, flatten your rotors so they don't tear off. Don't despair, I've been flying the Ka-50 since it came out, and it's practice, practice, practice until you can fly it without thinking. If you get to near a hover, then point your nose down about 40 degrees, and increase your collective up pretty far, this should get you going in a straight line at speed. Use your collective and the pitch of your nose to increase speed and maintain your current altitude. If you pitch your nose up, your speed will decrease, and your altitude will raise. If you drop your nose, your speed increases, and your heli starts dropping. Adjust with the collective to maintain altitude. As you start dropping, give the collective more power, and you'll stop dropping. This should get you pretty fast and straight like a fighter. Now, just bank with your cyclic just like you would with a jet ( don't hit the rudders ). If you want an even tighter turn, give it a little rudder. When using the rockets, make sure you are set right on the dial behind your seat. I forget what the settings are ( it's a bunch of numbers ), and you have to set it to the correct number for the type of rockets you are carrying. Lasing the target right before you shoot should give you the best solution, as it will adjust the pipper for that range. If I remember right, it fires slightly high on my Ka-50, so I always aim just a tiny bit low. I usually use rockets within 1 km to get a decent hit chance. In my opinion, they're really only good up close ( a couple of meters ) if you want a good chance of hitting the target. The biggest problem is keeping out of vortex ring and not crossing your blades ( no hard right rudder at speed ). In the end, the heli can act like a fighter, but it's really meant for stealth and firing at range, and then upclose, dancing in the ring like a boxer, throwing punches ( the funnel maneuver ). This is where the rockets come in handy, up close, punching at a tank from a few meters. The funnel maneuver is when you spin fast around a tank or APC, keeping your nose pointed at it, while punching rockets at it. The goal is to move faster than he can turn his weapons, which is quite doable. Unfortunately, you have to make sure he doesn't have a bunch of buddies nearby that can shoot at you as well. A good mission to practice this maneuver on is the little village in "instant action". It has a couple of bmps on it, and if you knock out all but two or so, you practice this maneuver against them and save some vhikers, especially if there are other Mi-24's and your wingman left to give them other targets to distract them.

Cobra's. Yeah, but their main targets should be the tanks, not my heli. Many people have describe this situation now. Enemies always go for the player if your nearby, even if you should not be the main target, or if you are currently no threat to them.

Lol, yeah. Same for me in anti-tank missions with the Ka-50. Enemy heli's whose main targets should be the tanks on my side completely ignore the tanks, and come STRAIGHT FOR ME, as fast as they can. They can be 14 km away, but that doesn't matter. They know where I am, and here they come. All four of them at once. AI in this game needs a COMPLETE OVERHAUL.

You have to use the rockets close up, unless you put out a big "shotgun" blasts of them. But even if you put out a lot of them at range, they spread too much, and rarely hit the target. Use them up close just like you would use the cannon. I have mine set to fire 2 at a time. They work well with a close up, funnel maneuver.

New modules is what pushes new tech in DCS. It doesn't look possible, because ED usually doesn't do it until they absolutely have to. Hoping for good results, as we REALLY need an increase in AI capability in this sim.

I would think any surface to air missile would have a proximity fuse.

I'm for it. I just want to make some tiny maps for heli / vehicle wars. I find it strange ED won't release SDK. But yeah, they have said they won't release it in another thread. So, take it as you will.

Well, I'm sure Wags has his connections that will tell him what is approved for simulation and what is not. Considering the Ka-50 looks to have been scrapped, along with the Shkval ( they're using the GOES-451 now) which was probably the most high tech thing on it, I doubt if continuing the module is going to be a problem.

Nah. The AI looks right through the trees. They used to look through Mountains in the old days, though I haven't played any particular scenarios like that in a long while, so I don't know if that is still a thing or not. Lol, I've seen TOW missiles pass through a thick line of trees. The trees don't seem to stop anything. Maybe the main branch does. Actually, If you look at the line of site in your pic, it is clear if the AI is ignoring the actual foilage of the tree, and only recognizing the trunk as an obstacle. There is only the edge of two trees masking the LOS, and further down only the edge of one tree. No trunks are masking the LOS. I'm guessing this is the case.

Lol, yeah, Mariana's is nice, and you did a good job on it. But it's still the same old, same old. If you've played other games with their highly variable terrain maps, you know what I'm talking about. They were made to "maximize" game play with tons of obstacles and deep canyons. Great for AH-64 helicopters stalk and hide tactics. Plus, small and tight. A lot more unique detail, from interesting rock formations, to old ruins and forest hidden ponds, strange military bases, etc. You guys are too focused on strict reality (which is fine for your large RTS). And if your going to bring in vehicle modules, your going to want much smaller, tactical maps. As someone said in another post, "well no one is going to want to sit around for hours in a tank or SAM just waiting". We didn't plan to. Tight 10km x 10km island maps that are highly detailed with deeply rugged terrain will lead to some interesting helicopter and vehicle fights. I doubt if you guys are interested in making those, so let the community make them. There are plenty of experienced mappers who will jump at the chance. And as I pointed out in another post, you guys are nearing the end of popular fighters to make modules for. I think your past was strictly the clouds and above. Your future is going to be much closer to the ground. Heh, one of my favorite maps from a long ago game was a huge kitchen where the players were the size of large beetles. THAT would be fun in DCS! Carrying out anti-tank warfare while hovering behind the toaster. Let the community make their fantasy maps. You won't have to pay a dime for it, and you'll get people buying up your modules who before had no interest in your sim. I do like your maps though. Flying down the roads and skinny rivers in the Caucus map with the Ka-50 is one of my favorite pass times.

Agreed. A few other fighters like Raphael and F-15 at the most modern we can get information for would be interesting, some of the large civilian passenger jets, but yeah, we're nearing the end of popular fighters. I'm guessing that's why ED is starting to concentrate more on helicopters ( which I LOVE ). Also, more detail in terrain and maps. And of course, vehicles, troops, and equipment to populate the maps.

Ok, let me try to put it into context without breaking your rule. My point was, people I know like your sim, but feel you do not give out enough tools, etc. to mold it into the gameplay that they are looking for. They want to be able to make their own small "islands" so they can put more detail into the terrain and make more unique buildings, structures, etc. and have a tighter area of combat. Most are not interested in flying for long periods of time, but they like your heli's and the A-10C. The new Syria map is beautiful, and will make for some great RTS gameplay, but most of the people I know find it too large and open for their taste, while also lacking terrain "uniqueness" and "detail". They are used to much smaller, tighter maps and faster gameplay. However, they would LOVE much more realism in that gameplay (study sim level). My 2nd point was, that a lot more people would be interested in buying your modules if they had the ability to make their own islands, terrains, and objects. As you are now putting out more and more helicopters, and maybe soon vehicles, please consider releasing map tools so the community can make their own small islands and such. Even empty ocean maps, as some people want. We're not looking to compete with your vast maps. We know that takes teams of people, and vast amounts of time. What some of my friends were wanting to build are just very small (as opposed to your HUGE maps), more detailed skirmish maps with varied terrain such as deep canyons and such.

Well, the Mi-24 is more of a troop transport than a tank killer. It's weapons should really be for defense. At most, it should be used offensively in COIN style situations, where you aren't facing major anti-air threats. That's more for the Ka-50 and the Su-25.

This is my problem with ED. It's too Closed. I could get people from Arma to buy your stuff, but you're not sandbox enough. You don't give out tools so we can build a real community. I've viewed your TDK on youtube. It doesn't look any harder than building maps for Arma. I don't know why you are being so skittish about it. Sometimes, it seems you don't want new players. It's like you don't want to make money. Forever niche.