donkeyrider

Incirlik Air Base has TACAN as well as ILS.

G7 laptop with 2070 super / 32Gb ram. Did free flight (just myself) from Haifa up to Incirlik Air Base in the Hornet. It was around 40fps when on the ground, low level. High 40s at around 1000ft AGL and mid-50s when above 5,000ft. Very smooth, hardly any spikes. Overall impressed by VR performance. Congrats to Ugra for a great product.

Korea with the relevant parts of Japan is what I'd like to see.

Not fast - just lucky!

Open Beta page on DCS website has been updated!!! https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/news/changelog/

Is today the day? I guess we'll find out soon enough but it will be hard to work out what to fly first, Syria or Raven One.

It can vary quite a bit. At the moment it seems to be end of day or even late evening, UTC+2. The ED team works pretty hard to meet deadlines and I appreciate that. Hopefully this monthly schedule means that over-nighters are a thing of the past but given the nature of software development it will probably won't.

For me, having the 1:1 motion in VR is one of its advantages. Easier for me to keep track of where exactly I'm looking. With TrackIR, I'd get disorientated in dogfights. Now it's much easier to keep an eye on the enemy and hopefully get my nose onto his six. I do cheat by having a chair with castors so it's easier to swivel around to see behind me :)

I've just gotten into Liberation 2.0. It supports Supercarrier and is the closest thing we have to a dynamic campaign right now. Well worth checking out.

There will always be someone who pops up and says they can refuel using an xbox controller but having a good HOTAS setup is a good investment. While the entry cost is high, given the hundreds of hours I've played DCS on my warthog, it's been good value for money.

A few tips: * The S-3 is the hardest. Use the KC130 instead. * Forget all the stuff you read about aligning something on your HUD with something on the tanker. Just get behind and focus on the refueling pod. * Make sure you can comfortably fly just behind the refueling pod. Turn off wake turbulence while you are still learning. * Once you are ready move forward. Closure speed is important. I find around 5-7 knots faster is better rather than creeping forward. * keep watching the pod and use your peripheral vision to put your probe in the chute * if it looks like you're going to miss, don't try to correct. Just back off, stablise behind the tanker and try again. * once you connect, bring the throttles back and you should focus just on staying behind the pod. * You'll be constantly making small corrections and corrections to your corrections. If you drift right, bring it back left, but start correcting that correction almost immediately. Same applies with throttle. * I found short (no more than 30 minutes) but daily practice to be more beneficial than longer but less infrequent sessions. Law of diminishing returns apply here. Finally, if you have the $$, I'd highly recommend a VR headset. Doesn't make it easy, but it is a lot easier as you can feel your speed and space in 3D relative to the tanker. FWIW it also makes formation flying, dog fighting and carrier landings easier as well. Hope this helps.

The Donkey is simple too. Pre-ordered!

+1 I would love to see this as well.

I don't have any warbirds but bought the Channel map just for sight seeing in my hornet. Given it's intended usage, I think leaving the AG radar layer until later makes sense.

I wish I could turn them off, but only because I keep getting cut passes :(

For what it's worth, I haven't come across this issue so far. Supercarrier has it's (minor) issues but, for me at least, rubber banding isn't one of them. Perhaps attaching a track file will help ED debug the problem.

I think you hit the nail on the head with this post. I feel at times that ED is too generous. The base game is free and continually updated so it means the only revenue is new modules / maps etc. The long term solution is to move to an X-Plane type pricing model where new versions are a pay for item. As a community we are expecting ED to develop dynamic campaigns, new clouds, lighting models and have no direct revenue for this. It doesn't make sense to me, especially for a niche product like this. It's not unreasonable to pay, say $40-$50, for DCS 3.0 to underwrite that development.

There's a time and cost involved in making these maps. If the sales are strong, then adding extra features is justified. If sales are not strong, then the developers need to move on to something else. I'm glad it is no longer an outright "no" and they are opening the door, just a crack, to the potential of doing this at some point in the future.

Given the very topical nature of this map, the sales should be strong enough to justify Cyprus in the map. Perhaps as a starting point, just a "low-res" map with an outline of the land and the relevant military base is sufficient. So far it looks stunning. Hopefully the VR performance is good; currently the Channel map needs further work!

This reminds of that PBS documentary, Carrier. As I recall it, a Hornet crew misjudged their fuel status and had to divert to an airport, requiring the squadron having to send out a ground crew etc to prep the plane to return to the boat. If I recall things correctly, their CO took them off flying duty and started some investigatory "process" [sorry if I have the terminology wrong here]. I wonder what happened to them.

You're on the right track and I agree with your general point that the current business model forces ED to take on too much at once. I don't like subscription models. However, I think there is a lot of merit in charging for DCS 3.0. i.e. similar model to X Plane. It would provide a steady revenue stream to work on the core engine and relieve the pressure to come up with a "blockbuster" module every year.

Sorry I missed that. I rarely read the fine print. Some good tips above regarding turning off wake turbulence and relaxing your grip. A couple of other things that could help: * the KC-130 is the "easiest" tanker to refuel from * I found all the tips about putting X over Y in your HUD to be unhelpful. Just line yourself up behind the refueling pod and put it in with your peripheral vision. * You need to be going straight in when your pod hits the basket. If you are not lined up perfectly (i.e. you connect "diagonally") it will almost certainly lead to a disconnect. So if you miss, just drop back, get behind the pod and go straight in. * I find it is better to have a bit of relative speed rather than approaching very slowly. If you are too slow, pilot induced oscillation is more likely. + 5 knots relative to tanker is about right. * When you do connect do two things: 1. reduce throttle (but don't cut it); and 2. stare at that pod. I don't have the mirage but on the hornet, I'm constantly correcting my position and adjusting the throttle. There is no stable setting. Once you accept that, it actually gets easier because your are not chasing some "mythical" perfect setting. Its constant corrections and corrections to your corrections! So if you start drifting back, bump up the power, then as you start moving forward, reduce power; rinse and repeat! Give it time and you'll get there.I also think it's better to practice for a few minutes every day rather than a long session once a week. Hope this helps. It took me ages to get proficient at AAR but once I got there, it was probably the most satisfying thing I've done in DCS.

Understand your frustration - once you "connect" it seems that the controls become super sensitive and you are all over the place. If you have the $$, then getting a VR headset is highly recommended. I went from years of only being able to connect for a few seconds to being able to sit there comfortably while I fuel up almost from empty to being completely full with 3 external tanks in one go. VR gives you the sensation of speed and space that a 2D monitor can never do.

I bought the map because I like that part of the world and to support ED. I don't have any warbirds so have only done one session in it with the F-18. I fly only in VR. The frame rates are very low and lots of stuttering. It seems the ground radar wasn't showing any returns either. I'm not too concerned. The map is still early release and over time it will get optimized. It is a beautiful map though and I can see it's potential. I'm going to put it to one side for now and come back to it in 6 months when I'm sure it has been improved.

Hornet Updates Thread updated now! Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter.