Stryker2000

My lists are in my sig. I'm hoping to be able to have a Desert Storm scenario played out by some module maker sometime in the not too distant future.

From an ex-Army maintenance guy to the finest fighting force on the planet, salute!

I'm thinking the Su-32 (27IB) and Su-30M would be a close second and third, and I'm hoping I'm remembering right, and someone is modding up the 30M for Team Red. They both really should be in FC3. But the Ferrari of strike fighters? Definitely the F-15E. I'm hoping this is less than a two year wait.

I definitely agree. Most games have a difficulty level, at least Easy / Normal / Hard. I'm surprised DCS doesn't have this.

This is a rather amusing OffTopic, but what the heck. I believe I bought every modern aircraft newer than the F-86, except the Mi-8, and the non-Russian modules. I decided to tackle a trainer first, makes logistic sense, right? and chose the C-101 thinking it had working attack capability. Well, every time I begin to get the thing airborne - after getting reschooled on the controls - I get to the runway for takeoff and something ALWAYS interrupts me. And then I can't get back into it for a week. My life is so random... and I'm single! :doh: Maybe today or tamale... As for the topic, I guess I'm lucky that I'm not a hardcore simmer. I cut my teeth on simcade fighter games for computers and consoles, so I'm fairly easy to please. The politics casualty of DCS craft and armor is one of those things that just is. I want to get my hands on an F-22, but the only way that's going to happen is for someone to make a mod, and that would be a best guess proposition for just about every aspect. I'd still like to see it in the air though. And then there's the waiting game. I keep drooling over the DCS roadmap, and fretting that some juicy birds won't be on our plates possibly for years. And the more serious Combined Arms capability. I played around with Desert Combat, a Battlefield 1942 mod by a team that went on to join EA/DICE, and it's arcade as heck but a total blast. One of these days I want to get ARMA going. I love being boots on the ground about as much as playing flyboy, so any action on CA would be welcomed by me. Well, to finish lunch and see if I can FINALLY log some airtime. :music_whistling:

I'm a fighter jock at heart, but I enjoy about as much taking a bomb dropper and throwing thousands of pounds of explosive at bad guys on the ground. One thing that will have me wetting myself is if I can fly an A-7 over target, unload, and then hop into a combat vehicle - jet autopilot RTB or whatever - and finish off the enemy. Besides all the other improvements in DCS coming along, I'm really looking forward to the upgrade in Combat Arms. Hoping an A-7D will be in the package too. I'm also an Air Force brat at heart. :smilewink:

Yes, I'm aware of these. On mods, I'm sure most of us are grateful for the modding communities to liven up and add content to the games we own and will own. But we are at the mercy of the talents of these people for not just the quality of these add-ons, how well they work and their feature sets, but that they will even see completion in many cases. These are usually labors of love, though the level of love doesn't always match the skills of the modder, and sometimes life intervenes to kill some of these much anticipated projects. And then there are the developer and their partners as well. As you point out, a plane most of us want to see come about, the MiG-23, found itself in the morgue, and now it's up to a capable mod team to bring it to life. Many aircraft on the roadmap of these war sims end up casualties never to be seen, or facing lengthy delays. Most times there are unavoidable consequences of governments denying their release, but sometimes a side project absorbs resources, and I see this in DCS in a few items in their release list. I'm just hoping for some more concerted focus from Eagle D and their partners, because I would think the items in my list in one order of priority or another, would make for some happy fliers in 2018, AND BEYOND! :v:

I picked Yak-38 thinking it was the Yak-130, but it is a more interesting aircraft. Someone needs to pick aircraft from this list and get on with it, particularly if they're in your roadmap already: OV-10D Bronco, AH-1W Super Cobra, A-37 Dragonfly, Alphajet, Yak-130, A-1 Skyraider, A-4 Skyhawk - including OA-4M, A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair II, F-100 Super Saber, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, F-8 Crusader, F-4 Phantom, F-16 Falcon, Jaguar, Tornado, F-111, Su-17/22 Fitter, MiG-23/27 Flogger, Su-24 Fencer, Su-30 Flanker C, B-52 Stratofortress, B-1B Lancer, Tu-16 Badger, Tu-95 Bear, Tu-22M Backfire, UH-60 Blackhawk, CH-47 Chinook, CH-53 Super Stallion.

Yes, this is true, the A-10 and Su-25 are the pinnacle of modern attack aircraft. But by heavy, I was thinking more along the lines of A-6 Intruder, F-105 Thunderchief, F-111, Su-24 Fencer (okay, the payload isn't massive, but it's fast and capable), Su-30 Flanker-C. Also some good CAS/COIN aircraft too, like the OV-10D Bronco, A-37 Dragonfly, Alphajet, A-1 Skyraider, along with the much anticipated but perpetually out-of-reach AH-1W Super Cobra. I know I'm the plebe here, but from what I gather, ED intends at some point to have a well integrated air/ground battlefield environment where players can take on any role, from fighter jockey to pickle dropper, attack chopper jock to troop mover, tank driver to grunt, even AWACS overlord if they want. And by golly I'm all for that. But it does seem a bit too random to provide a coherent battlefield right now, with CAS being handled by WWII prop fighters, and the only western battle chopers being utility birds with strap on offense. I know things are changing, and maybe things are picking up speed now which would be outstanding. Though I want to be the one to say that if I was a general building a military, a quarter to a third of what's in this shopping list... well, I don't want that. Okay, the mod community looks pretty sound here and I'll be looking into that soon. But I'm betting a more systematic approach to where the puzzle pieces fit and integrate better from Eagle D and partners would get more high fives and sales. I've grown quite fond of the Grim Reapers videos - what a bunch of nuts! - and I'm perpetually thinking that if a light attack craft was handy, they could smoke a target rather than using trees and buildings as markers. And then there's the popping flares to identify friendlies - yikes, IFF being down for a while yet is going to have me thinking carefully about air combat missions. Hey, DCS is about the only real game in town and I'm on board, even though I swore after RaceRoom that I wouldn't deal with another piecemeal sales model game. It's just too good a sim, and the graphics are so good, I can use pics from it in my aviation art source file. Just wanting to add my two megahertz to the lounge discussion. :smilewink:

Yeah, I'm aware of all this. When I get myself schooled on how to install mods, I'm intending to grab some of these, and skins as well. But what I'm hoping is that the various teams can afford to add some team members to speed up modeling in particular, as this seems to be a lot of the workload, maybe some more coders too to handle the flight and systems modeling. If these could be made available at FC3 level, that would make for a fantastic and well endowed virtual world of air battle. :thumbup:

Between ED and their partners, there needs to be a concerted effort to bring these aircraft into DCS in 2018 and as soon after as possible. Tornado - played crucial roles in Desert Storm, would fit Strait of Hormuz like a glove Jaguar A-4 Skyhawk A-6 Intruder A-7 Corsair II Mirage F1 Su-17/22 Su-24 MiG-23 MiG-27 Yak-130 someday

I really don't get this fetish over military odds and ends, like heavy utility choppers. For one thing, the one module they would be useful in, Combined Arms, is pretty bare bones. If it was as full featured as Battlefield 2 or something, I could see wanting a bird like a Super Stallion. But it's not. Secondly, there are SO many holes in the stable of combat aircraft, which DCS is currently all about. NO dedicated US/West attack helicopter, just utility choppers with a few bolt on weapons. No modern light fighter to tangle with the MiG-21 and 29, save for the Mirage. And there's the F-5 but it's antiquated and very limited. No fast or heavy ground attack aircraft and no light strike fighters like the MiG-27, Su-17/22, Alphajet, Skyraider or Jaguar. And no flyable bombers? For that matter, a dab here and there of WWII assets?? So with that, we have a handful of modern combat aircraft, a smattering of Vietnam era craft, and a small scoop of WWII stuff. With modules taking so long to produce, and the mod community being a crapshoot right now, I'm hoping that ED has some new partners lined up for 2018, because this is pretty much a hodge podge of a combat sim. And to round out my grouch, I think you guys should really focus on two factors for your wishes. 1, what will complete DCS World best as it grows. 2, what will make ED and partners the most money, because more money means not just that they can buy new cars - yeah right - and pay the utility bills, but have more cash to devote to even more goody projects for us to play with in coming years. Years, remember. If these modules came fast n furrious, I wouldn't care what anyone produced this month. But since everything takes a small eternity, waiting for the F-16 and Tornado is going to be painful. At least the Harrier is near and the F/A-18C isn't horribly far off. So, think kind of strategically, because what you want might not be what will make the best sales, or make DCS all that much better now.

Ehhh... not really. Two very different aircraft with a similar family chassis. F-8 Crusader Dedicated air superiority and fleet defense fighter Supersonic, top speed 1,000mph-plus Armed with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking missiles and 4 20mm cannons with 125 rounds per gun Had limited ground attack capability, the two shoulder mounts could hold a total of 8 Zuni rockets, and two wing pylons could carry 4,000lbs of ordinance or 2 fuel tanks A-7 Corsair II Dedicated ground attack aircraft Subsonic, top speed 690mph at sea level, 685mph at 5,000ft without ordinance 6 underwing pylons could carry 15,000lbs of ordinance, or 4 fuel tanks Had limited air combat ability, armed with two AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking missiles and a 20mm Vulcan cannon with 1,030 rounds I agree with you though. While I like the Crusader, what I really want to see is the A-7 Corsair II in both Navy and Air Force versions. But Navy would work. :thumbup:

I want to say again what I posted in other threads, maybe stated a bit differently to make the most sense. People wanting light scout/CAS helicopters as well as troop carriers should keep in mind a couple of things. Combined Arms is pretty bare bones, barely as detailed as some Battlefield mods, never mind BF2 or ARMA. These third parties are businesses selling to a very small market, compared to the games market in general. For these two reasons, everyone should know that priorities of what is the most useful and desired to the most gamers, and will sell well, are the two most important factors in what ends up in DCS World, or they should be. A developer that makes decent money will not just continue to survive, but have cash to fund more projects. I'm probably never going to buy a scout chopper like the Littlebird or Kiowa, or fly an unarmed Gazelle. Not going to buy a troop mover like the CH-53 or 47. Not even if Combined Arms becomes a full fledged ground combat section of DCS. I don't want to be stuck being a bus for getting troops into combat, flying a vulnerable chopper to peek at enemy locations, or driving a tanker or AWACS miles from the action. That is job of the bots. I want to be down in it, reducing enemy combat capability with extreme prejudice. For me, the bottom rung of the ladder should be the UH-1 and Gazelle, utility choppers with some weapons bolted on. With the Red side having dedicated attack copters like Ka-50 and Mi-24 coming along, the Blue team needs purpose built, well armed, rugged combat choppers. My vote is for the AH-1W because it's a late model Cobra with very good battle capability, combat arms resistance and a battle proven track record. And as others have said, less confidential aspects. I want all kinds of assets in DCS too, many as A.I. inventory. But I think everyone should be keeping in mind my two points above, and focus on what will be the most useful first, and what will sell well, so 3rd parties and ED can keep at this mad mission, and we get the most goodies to play with.

As I posted in the Littlebird thread, I can't see the value in producing playable assets below the UH-1 and Gazelle level. Combined Arms isn't up to the level of Battlefield 2, let alone ARMA, so I'm just not sold on how valuable a light and more vulnerable scout class chopper would be either to gameplay, or those forking out hard earned money for modules. Troop carriers either. With the Red side having the Ka-50 and Mi-24 coming along, the Blue side really needs some beef in the attack helicopter stable. AH-1W is plenty capable, fairly fast, nimble and sturdy, and as others have said, less prone to confidential-itis.

I think helicopter development should be above the baseline of the UH-1 and Gazelle. I can't imagine a Littlebird would sell that well anyway. Or troop carriers for that matter. If Combined Arms was comparable to ARMA or even Battlefield 2, I could see some value in light but relatively fragile scouts as well as troop movers. A.I. assets are another thing, but also a different level of production.

Another up vote for the AH-1W Cobra. Hydra rockets, Hellfire missiles, 20mm cannon, proven battlefield record, a fearsome platform when you can't have an Apache.

Totally with Jester and borchi. The Red Team has proper, rugged, purpose built attack helicopters in the Ka-50 and the monstrous Mi-24 Hind coming along soon. Blue has converted stand-in transport/scouts like the UH-1 Huey, Gazelle and the forthcoming Bo-105, which at least can launch HOT and Hellfire missiles both on ground units. Though the Gazelle does feature the famous Fenestron tail rotor. ;) Blue Team needs a proper helicopter gunship, and the AH-1W is battle proven with a long and successful career, and seeing this beastie in Marine colors would bring a tear to my eye. Particularly when I improvise an alternate livery for it

That is an over-exposed image, mind you. That's not how it looks in real life. But from what I've gleaned, the new engine coming this fall (?) has improved lighting. :thumbup:

@Johnny_Rico, I totally get you. We can lobby for ED to make all assets embedded in the sim, but we're at their mercy on this. Maybe a thread/poll on the subject?

Eh, this is a sticking point with a lot of people. I can see why we'd have to pay for Naval packs. This is a niche sim in a shrinking market - notice how many (few) flight sims are for sale anymore. The work required to bring any ship to life is massive, and then there's the carrier itself. It's a floating naval base. And the only reason they can operate is because they're surrounded by a tidy flotilla of support/defense ships and subs. To make that all work, you have the workload equivalent of a few squadrons of aircraft. All the sensors, communications, integrated weapons systems... that's a lot of work. If we want more product to grow DCS from Eagle D and partners, we're going to have to pay for some stuff, particularly if it's work intensive. Dedicated servers is another bone to pick...

Hello fellow new guy from across the planet! I plan on keeping my U.S. credentials, but that looks good, and it would be good for most countries to be represented in DCS World, after all. :thumbup:

One thing about the lists though is that The West involves a small constellation of nations between the U.S. and Europe with their various industry groups, versus Russia - and China - with just a few. But even though a tit for tat would certainly be in order, the West has a rich stable of aircraft I want to see in DCS pretty badly. Pardon me while I bring up my own little wishlist. Red aircraft Yak-130 MiG-23/27 Flogger Su-24 Fencer Su-30 Flanker-C MiG-17 Fresco MiG-19 Farmer Tu-95 Bear Tu-16 Badger Tu-22M Backfire Mi-24 Hind Mi-26 Halo Blue aircraft Alphajet A-4 Skyhawk Jaguar Harrier Tornado A-7 Corsair II A-6 Intruder F-111 F-15E Strike Eagle F-16 Falcon Rafale Eurofighter Typhoon B-52 Stratofortress B-1B Lancer AH-1 SuperCobra UH-60 Blackhawk CH-53 Super Stallion CH-47 Chinook 12 vs 18, and there are certainly some aircraft left out like some Chinese makes, but that's a fairly even list with some which could be overlooked, like more troop helicopters for now. I know some are in roadmaps, but I think all of these should be. In addition, I'm hoping that ED would consider speccing up the A.I. assets in DCS so we could fly them. That would juice up the inventory nicely. I'll have to say though that those wanting the MiG-25 in the game will probably be disappointed at its performance, and will end up being Fox fodder in a dogfight, much like an attack aircraft like the F-111 would be. It's just a pure standoff interceptor, much like the F-106. If this entire list was available for us to fly within a year between ED and third parties, and the talented modding community, that would make me super happy.

That is good to know. I've seen Tornadoes, B-1s and F-16s in a few videos, so I think I should spend some time tonight looking over the Mod pages. And I'll take this under advisement for the future.

I know it's super easy to be a monday morning quarterback, and I don't want to be a grouch about this because this is about the only real flight sim in town, besides that Falcon mod-thing I just stumbled over. DCS is very slick and looks like a blast. With all the older assets sitting around, I'm surprised ED didn't jump on jets like the A-4, A-7, Tornado, Jaguar, MiG-23, 27 and Mirage F1 right off, planes which played crucial roles in Desert Storm and Afghanistan. I know most of those are coming or are available in mods. Maybe they just weren't on most gamers' radar. Anyway, I'm hoping to see a lot of new modules in 2018, and a few more this fall. I want to flesh out my toybox a bit more. :joystick: