WytchCrypt

OK great news! Following up so anyone running into this same problem and finding this thread will know the resolution. I submitted a trouble ticket and the tech was able to tell me that there was a bug in the offline mode function present at the time of my release (2.9.6.58056 - July 2024). The tech said the offline mode bug had been fixed most likely in 2.9.15.9599.1 (released on 5/5/25) and offered a great suggestion to keep my old version and install a new version and compare their replay modes. Unfortunately I don't have the disk space to pull that off. That left me with no way to run offline mode with my July 2024 release, but updating held the risk that replay mode wouldn't be as accurate as what I experienced with 2.9.6.58056. I decided to roll the dice so updated to the current release (2.9.19.13878) and offline mode worked as expected. Then I tested replay on a couple missions that I always had problems with and replay was solid so good news all around! Regarding replay, I should mention that 99% of the time I fly F18 carrier ops and rarely fly against the AI which is probably why my replays are very accurate. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread...I'm off for a day of offline mode carrier ops!

Thanks for having a look Actium. I just submitted a ticket (which I couldn't do yesterday for some reason). I'll report back when I hear from support

Thanks MAXsenna...ya, don't know if the problems are related but it would be nice if they were and cleared up soon!

Thanks for the reply MAXsenna. Followup...as I was searching the forums for an answer I found I posted the exact same problem July of 2024 in this thread (and you posted in it as well!): After many people reported the problem BIGNEWY ended up thanking everyone for their feedback and locking the thread with no resolution. BIGNEWY if you read this, can you please tell us what the final resolution of this is for those of us trying to run offline with no success??? I just tried to submit a new support ticket and after finishing the submission process I was directed to a DCS splash page saying "Website Under Maintenance. We are making updates please check back soon". Did my ticket get submitted or not? Why has this issue not been resolved since July of 2024 when it was first reported? What is going on? Has offline mode been disabled or something?

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately just tried running DCS.exe directly rather than DCS_updater.exe but same result when I got in. Offline Mode Icon lead to Popup window error code 500 then 401.

HI all, I've been away from DCS for many months and decided to get back on. I'm running 2.9.6.58056@openbeta and since the replay mode is rock solid (a feature that's very important to me) I wanted to startup DCS and enter offline mode and stay with this release. I didn't want to upgrade as I thought I had read some users reporting replay problems had returned in later versions (though I could be wrong). I removed all mods, ran cleanup & repair. Everything starts up just fine but when I click the Offline Mode icon, I get a popup window showing: "can't enter offline mode: error 500". When I try again to activate offline mode I get the popup window showing "can't enter offline mode: error 401". FYI: Manually set system time and date so that's not an issue. Attached most recent dcs.log (I'm guessing the important entry is: 2025-09-06 18:30:12.471 ERROR ASYNCNET (10472): Entering offline mode failed because server returned an invalid reply. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Dennis dcs.log

Help! Having the exact same problem. Try to go "offline Mode" and get "Can't enter offline mode: error 500" followed by error 401 on retry. Verified my PC clock and time zones are set correctly. Also removed all mods and ran DCS_updater cleanup and DCS_updater repair and still have the error. Next to last line in DCS.log: 2024-08-10 18:01:21.423 ERROR ASYNCNET (18548): Entering offline mode failed because server returned an invalid reply. FYI: Don't know if it matters but I only fly single player...also I didn't install yesterdays update and am still running 2.9.6.58056. Thanks!

Hey all, I'm trying to keep an old Hornet mod called Smokewinders working. It hasn't been updated in a few years and old payloads I defined with Smokewinders still work in the game, but the ME won't allow me to add Smokewinders to any new payload or change the color of ones I already defined. I want to debug this and have been searching but can't seem to find the actual file where mission "payload" definitions are stored. Can anyone help me out? Thanks!

Didn't know where else to put this so mods feel free to move if appropriate! I've been very vocal in my disappointment of the replay system for years - which until the Oct 2023 2.9 release was seriously broken. I started with Su-27 Flanker back in the 90's and the replay system was one of the reasons it remained my #1 flight sim as it evolved over the years. It was especially distressing when I watched the replay accuracy degrade over time. I only fly single player Hornet missions so obviously can't speak for all DCS flyers but I can happily report that replay has been rock solid for me ever since last October. Took some months off but have been flying many hours the past few weeks and replay has been absolutely perfect. Even my Carrier Ops missions that used to break it 100% of the time (start hot on the carrier, taxi, catapult, loop around and Case I landing) now have been rock solid for me. With replay back working I'm having more fun flying DCS now than I ever have! Since my posts are usually asking for help or complaining about the broken replay system, I thought it would be nice to post something recognizing the developers for doing a great job fixing replay for this single player Hornet guy THANKS!

Just as we have the portable TACAN Beacon (Ground Unit->Fortification->TACAN Beacon TT53030) making it easy to setup TACAN for any field (especially useful as I like to fly my Hornet on the Normandy2 map). I'd love to see a portable ILS unit as well. Isn't there also a precedent for a real life version of this technology used to train Navy pilots to simulate carrier landings on ground airfields?

Doh! Oh well, I've d'loaded yours anyway as it's much more detailed and complete than the quick measurement session I put in... Thanks! Very useful

Well, just had a detailed measurement session. Looked on the Caucasus map for a baseline and all airfield runways are at the least 1.3nm with 4 or 5 1.5nm or larger. On the Normandy map nearly all the airfield runways in both France & England are around 5,000ft which is about 83% of 1 nm (and many of those aren't paved). The only ones I found comparable to the minimum required length as defined on the Caucasus map are: England: Manston (1.5nm) & Heathrow (1.5nm) France: Creil is the only large scale modern airfield at 1.6nm and the next closest is Abbeville at 5300ft which would be quite a challenge to get a Hornet down and stopped in time. While that seriously limits mission planning options at least there is something suitable on both sides of the channel that can accommodate a Hornet - or should I say a somewhat less than perfect Hornet pilot

Hey all, I bought Normandy because I love the geographical area but I only fly the Hornet. SuperCarrier ops missions are great here but are there any airfields in France or England long enough to successfully land a Hornet? Thanks!

Thanks guys...the launcher was the problem...everything back to normal

Hey all, in the newest version (2.9.6.58056) and the previous one I was running (2.9.6.57650) the "Hide Control Stick" option isn't being saved when I exit a session. I click the option as I always have and save, but now when I restart the game the stick appears in the cockpit and when I go to Options->Gameplay to check it out, "Hide Control Stick" is unchecked. Did a search and couldn't find this so I don't think anyone else has reported this yet (though I could be wrong). Thanks!