[DCS Newsletter discussion 3rd November 2023 - DCS: F-4E Pre-order]

Heatblur sold twice as many Phantoms as MD did over a span of forty years in 24 hours.

[Pre-order start]

I'll know it's close when Kirk66 comes back on the board and starts posting again.  He's probably busy doing weapons testing and polishing the seat pad, mum's the word.

[BE rear cockpit nose wheel steering high sensativity button]

Physically works from back pit, the front one will move and click while in the back seat, but the one in rear cockpit isn't animated, so no visual positioning reference for that pilot.

[WMR DEBUG TOOL - cross eye alignment]

But what it does tell us is the LUA file numbers still work, and manually changing the values should have an effect, and there is a crude means to verify.

[WMR DEBUG TOOL - cross eye alignment]

You can check your alignment using the OXR Toolkit, set the outer ring on custom Foveated rendering to Cull and start decreasing the %, you'll see the edges.  Mine was badly misaligned, the bottom halves of the screens were obscured while the Culled area was not even visible on the top side yet. 

My problem was I still had a .LUA with stored HMD settings from way back still in the saved game folder from past cross eye tool use.  Pulled that out and now getting perfect binocular rings as the cull area shrinks with all sides disappearing symmetrical. 

It was noticeable something was wrong, about a quarter of my game start ups would have the black mask obscuring the bottom half or quarter of the screens, forcing a restart to correct.

Much better without the file in, at least everyone using OXR can now check it using the FVR Cull tool trick.

[Back seat BE parking brake]

Works but not animated in the rear seat, you can observe it engage and disengage in the front seat while working it in the back seat, but your handle in the rear doesn't move.  Also the rear pilot won't turn on the standby horizon during auto start up sequence.

[Weapons?]

The thing is, these guys have access to a complete set of manuals, all of them, and the fully running jet with the technicians that goes with them.  How is that any sort of disadvantage, no other developer quite has the entire package that I'm aware of.

[Yellow Radio Text]

What channel your radio is currently tuned too.

[Weapons?]

On 10/19/2023 at 12:14 AM, Stackup said:

To be fair, Flying Iron might be new to DCS but just like IndiaFoxtEcho, they have plenty of prior experience with developing planes for flight simulators.  Plus they gave a presentation on flight modeling/CFDs to NASA using the A-7 module as an example so they obviously aren't underqualified or underexperienced in this space.  Plus they decided to rework the entire exterior model last year so I'll cut them some slack.  They also seem to be doing annual reports so I expect to see one at the end of this year/beginning of next year.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's a lot farther along than we think it is.  Development progress has been basically all kept hidden, the same as basically every other new dev announced within the last couple of years and the majority of the longstanding dev teams too.

On the otherhand, they probably hit snags along the way, the same as experienced devs like Heatblur who have yet to release the F-4 and Razbam who had difficulty releasing the F-15E this year and started their own hype train way to far in advance of release in my opinion.  Maybe we see it in 2025, who knows since it doesn't (so far as we know) fit into the "close" category of upcoming modules.

Quote

With most systems now outlined and functioning at some capacity, I'm turning my attention back to the FM and taking it into phase 4 of fidelity.

There was a delay before I could do that as I had to really get the FCS dialled in, as well as finalize the remaining core systems that are integral to flying properly. This included things like detailing the hydraulic systems, which are of course heavily tied into landing gear, launch bar, hook and flight control behaviours. Completing these things has allowed me to detail carrier Ops properly, and correctly work through flight procedures to ensure accuracy during all phases of flight (including on the ground/deck).

These systems include a surprising amount of detail, even in areas you wouldn't expect it. The tailhook for instance required a completely new hydraulic/physics model, to properly capture hook compression and movement; something that DCS does not calculate by default (I believe Heartblur developed a similar system).

Now that these are all in place, I am back in the CFD world, developing a more accurate & detailed model which is in turn being used to diversify, validate and expand upon Flight modelling. Landing gear, spoilers, flaps and the airbrake for instance are all under the microscope right now, which is allowing us to develop much better data to fill any gaps in Wind Tunnel Data (particularly in extreme flow conditions, such as a spin). Thankfully, with the CFD model mostly done now, the hardest part is complete and data collection is in full flow.

Flight model testing with SMEs will begin once the FM has been dialled up to phase 4

Quote from the man on discord, they're much closer than you thought.

[F1 BE awesome trailer]

Back seat has single detonation strip directly above pilot with activation control on left rail.  Yeah, nice trailer, we have another contender on our hands for top notch modules.

[BE backseat rudders graphical error]

The action according to the controller positioning indicator shows both brakes working correctly, but graphically from the back seat the left brake pedal down presses both pedals down, while the right rudder pedal down does nothing.

[DCS MiG-29A]

It's not the Russian Government who was the first to come for somebody over transfer of sensitive data associated with games, Russians certainly are not the only worry.  

[Vietnam War - POLL]

Thing is there was a massive industrialization effort done in both North and South Vietnam between those years, so the map won't look the same.  While there was a lull, a program of rebuild was taking place, factories and industrialization were introduced especially in the south.  Nearly half a decade with massive budgets, the map changed as the population shifted from ag centered too the cities.  Going to make it very difficult to sell from a "realism" perspective is all I'm saying.  So it shouldn't be sold using that perspective, but if they get the topographical, climate, and terrain physical features, the vibe of the tropics well above the norm, than who cares.  But still going to have to pick a period to build the cities such as Saigon, it changed drastically.

[New Catumentary "Tomcat Tales"]

Up on the tube, darn well worth the watch.

[Vietnam War - POLL]

Than the question becomes which Vietnam war do you want, the air war has three distinct phases, early to 68, 68 to 72 a solid four year period where not a single documented kill with any North Vietnam fighter occurred, and the late period 72 to the end where the NVAF finally re-emerged as an organized force.  If your fighting Mig's anywhere from 68 to 72 you is wrong.

[Sinai Tourist Map]

There's a war memorial N 30 34' 53", E 32 18' 39" big old AK-47 Bayonet on the muzzle of an AK sticking out of the ground.  Wouldn't have seen it except for the slow flight in a Helo.

 

[Third aircraft of Aerges ?]

My guess on the third would be an F-4C, just makes sense, seeing as Spain was about the only other operator, with Vietnam now as a future affirmative.  

[Is napalm on the list of weapons for Heatblur to develop for the F4?]

Its a necessity with an F-100 and A-1H in the pipelines, a primary weapon for both.

[Rain soaked runways and tarmacs.]

Along with declining RCR values to effect your landing distances, traction, and braking, just to make it interesting.  

[DCS VR Help]

Win Key + Y

[Is there a way to recover WMR when the headset goes black]

In your windows setting, under mixed reality, headset display, turn your Positional Tracking OFF.  That's most likely your issue, when your headset detects it's getting borderline on the tracking, it will shut off by fading to gray when this is turned on.  Suppose to be an aid to prevent motion sickness when things get jittery.

 

As for the sleep, set your time higher in WMR, but once it sleeps your app is lost.

[Interview with Matt "Wags" Wagner]

I could see the WWII version of MAC take off like a rocket in popularity, especially a Pacific version with carriers.  With the stunning maps we have as of late and an ability to crank out aircraft at a much faster rate finally arriving.  Campaign being close won't hurt none either.  Loads of fast money to be made by third parties on tons of aircraft.

[VR MT - OpenXR - OpenVR - SteamVR]

Standard 19.5 volt 45W laptop power adapter.

[First VR headset acquisition (2023).... what to get?]

12 hours ago, oakdown said:

I'm a reverb g2 v1 owner since being on pre order in canada, before it dropped, on original cable.  I honestly never understood all the issues people were having with the cable... I figure most problems must have arose from those that jump about the room beat sabering, or lots of family member headset swapping.  Playing seated (sims) and carefully stowing the headset has worked to this point for me. 

As for you, I would recommend waiting for quest 3, release in the fall, save a couple more pounds until then.... 

The original series cords with the offset from center cord on the connecting power box was inadequate for pushing signal, so they corrected the cable set by putting a signal booster in the later series centered wire cords.  Mine, an original early G-2 corded, lasted until I connected a 4090, the cable instantly blew out, headset gone dark.  Fortunately it lasted long enough where the G-2 is no longer top of the line and cord supplies are plentiful and run less than half what they used to.  

[First VR headset acquisition (2023).... what to get?]

I'm waiting to see what the new XR capable headsets can do, they're just around the corner, Samsung's Galaxy XRVR edition should bring something to that table, hopefully at least specs are given this year if not actual production.  I want to be able to read a physical kneeboard in hi-def color, along with certain controllers in my pit.  Currently nothing I'm willing to cast the G-2 aside for that's a big enough leap, its still competitive.