wilbur81

People that say, "we don't need a full fidelity F-15C 'cause Razbam is doing the Strike Eagle" just DO NOT GET IT! The Mudhen is a profane modification to the premier "not a pound for air to ground" air superiority fighter. An F-15 with a backseat is like a patio deck and unbrella attached to the Saturn V.... or something like that.

...Which is an absolute pain and slower than actually reaching up and physically tagging the buttons.

Merry Christmas to you, too! And yes, I'll take a completed dynamic campaign and weather system (or only one of either) over a new beta-module aircraft. We have plenty of amazing aircraft in DCS. I really have very little interest in this new aircraft announcement at the moment. It is now time to finish what they have and shore up the game aspects. I think that's what they're focusing on... which is why we're not hearing much about this "anticipated new aircraft." They are doing a good job, slowing hammering away at the Hornet and Viper. Stick with it, ED!

Man, as an avid DCS Hornet driver who owns the Viper as well, I hope you're dead-wrong!! The Hornet in DCS already feels underpowered like a pig in comparison to the DCS Viper. Fingers crossed that ED has gotten the Hornet engines as right as is reasonable given this genre of simulation.

Interesting; I didn't think the Viper's corner was that slow (330kts)... Corner speeds usually fall into a much narrower range than 100 kts don't they?

The real Lot 20 Hornet is a better turning fighter below 400 kts than the Viper. 400-430 kts, the Viper owns most 4th gen jets. To the OP, was your Viper also completely clean of pylons and low on gas when you made your test flight?

Pro-Tip if i may? I've mapped quite a few key OSB buttons (surrounding the DDI's) to my HOTAS so that I can control things like Radar range, Azimuth, El. Bars, RWS/TWS switching, and more without taking my hands off the controls. It baffles me, too, that anyone plays DCS with a mouse and not Thrustmaster's MFDs. But seriously, I use four of TM's MFDs and do not ever touch the mouse in the pit.

If I'm understanding that statement correctly... I STRONGLY disagree. DCS has problems, but lack of content is not one of them. If anything, I'd say DCS has too much content. They cannot finish products because there are too many (extremely complex and amazing) products on offer. Or, put another way, they are missing a small number of MASSIVELY important products: (for me) a dynamic campaign and realistic weather simulation. I would never accuse DCS of 'lacking content', though. But I admit that I may be misreading your statement.

Aside from aircraft/engine/radar performance? Aircraft/engine performance is a REMARKABLY IMPORTANT set of factors. Aside from aircraft/engine performance, what can an F-15 do that a P-51 cannot?

Fair enough.

Yes.

I disagree with everything you've said in the above quote. But you could argue your case and upload a track to show us what you are talking about. Are you upset that the Phoenix is no longer getting 60-70nm kills against an aggressively maneuvering/chaffing, low-altitude, small RCS target? What are the various lack of modes/problems that you're seeing and with what missiles/platforms? Seriously asking as I'm pretty much an A2A guy as well.

Haha. I wish.

Hey, all. If you haven't already, do yourself a BIG favor and check out Markus' Science & Engineering podcast: https://omegataupodcast.net/333-flying-and-simulating-the-f-14-tomcat/ This particular episode is about the Tomcat, but starting at 02:33:31 you get to hear from the Heatblur team. It will give you some more HUGE respect for the complexity of DCS and what an INCREDIBLE simulation we have on our hands! I don't even own the Tomcat (I don't have time to be excellent in more than one DCS airframe so the Hornet is my Jam), but what an amazing airplane and what an amazing simulation.

These posts/threads are going to be near-useless without tracks and many many details. Missiles are so complex and have so many factors at play affecting them in the sim (speed at launch, altitude, air temp, target maneuvering, countermeasures, etc.) In my recent experience (yesterday) I scored some great Aim-120 kills in MP from high altitude and high speed (in the Hornet, ironically). I also miss WAY more than I connect. As the real guys say all the time, "they don't call them 'hittiles" for a reason."

This ^^^

I've wondered about the 120C's performance from the Hornet platform vs. the Viper for some time now. I watch, in MP, Viper kills galore from 120c shots... and they're not being taken from extreme altitudes or airspeeds. it's as if the Viper's radar is somehow more supportive of the missile.

I only own the Hornet and the Viper (listen to Markus' "Omegatau" podcast on the F-14 in RL and DCS and Heatblur for AMAZING perspective and added respect for the F-14 module), I have really drilled down into the Hornet and LOVE it. The F-16 has always been one of my favorite aircraft, but every time I jump in it in DCS, I don't last very long and go back to the Hornet. I find the FLCS on the Viper feels too 'on the rails' compared to the Hornet, which is not AOA limited like the Viper. The Hornet is VERY capable in the air to ground role and VERY capable in WVR combat. For BVR, it is a really unique challenge because you don't get the 'instant-thrust' like the Viper so you have to be creative and tactically smart, using all the toys available to you. Speaking of all the toys, I also, contrary to the comments above, have come to prefer the Hornet cockpit over the Viper (minus the Canopy bow :-)). It could be intimidating at first as there is A LOT of functionality.... but once you get it, It is just an AWESOME jet... and the more I learn about other RL pilots (F-14, F-15, F-16) perspectives on the Hornet in a classic dogfight, the more I prefer it. Lastly, that "HORNET HOWL"! My goodness... ED did such a good job modeling that unique howl that the Legacy hornet had... and that I'll dearly miss watching the Blues in their new "Fat Amy". So, do yourself a favor: fly Navy and grab the Hornet. ... But you can't go wrong with either

Not sure if I missed this in the changelogs of two recent OB updates... or maybe I'm just imagining things. But, the Persian Gulf looks absolutely stunning! The ground textures seem more detailed, realistic (with maybe a slight performance hit at 4K?) and overall amazing! This sim slowly gets better and better.

Further more, it is a little frustrating trying to VID a bandit in the TDbox when the jet is small and the steering dot covers the the jet. I end up turning the HUD brightness down to almost nothing so that I can properly see through the symbology to the world out side... or I lean left or right to look around the hud.

Are you kidding? All the Youtuber's "testing" them for us have purchased the whole lot. :-)

Hey, fellas. Did some MP today in the Hornet and something happened that I've seen before and thought I'd ask: I had a RedForce Viper locked up and IFF interrogated in STT within 8 miles. Right before I squeezed off an AIM120C, the TD Box in the hud jumped as if the enemy plan had RADICALLY changed positions. I then fired and ended up with a team kill. Is this a problem in the Hornet (it's all I fly) or is this a problem in other aircraft related to server lag?

Here's another cool pilot (F-14) story about the nastiness of the Hornet in a turning fight (at 1:21:10):

Agreed! This has been one of the best patches in recent memory for me. Well done, Team!

From what I can tell so far... this has been an amazing update! Well done, team!!!