Digitalvole

Deffo a thing with the B. I’ve been shot down multiple times with no warning until jester says “missile!” At which point it’s too late. I googled this to see if I needed to turn something on in the aircraft, imagine my surprise to discover it’s a bug that’s been around for nearly a year! Bit of a pain for us (pretend) naval aviators

I had no idea this was the case, brilliant news! Thank you

This, I think, is deffo a stumbling block when playing DCS (a sim) vs say Ace Combat (never played it) for some. I’m just pretty sure my PK is considerably lower than it should be (I’m learning, so it’s to be expected) and am keen for all the info I can get so I can improve. Aside from the odd DCS weirdness from the AI (looking at you mr wingman) I’m sure all my problems are of my own making. All of the info in this thread is just what I need. I am hugely grateful to all those who have taken the time to offer help and advice (even the blue skinned fish person Tau! WH40k joke) ps. I don't have Tacview, I should do but heard it has an effect on performance. (VR user, every frame is considered “my precious”)

This sounds very similar to the scenario I find myself in (a Liberation mission, so the enemy have predefined flight paths).Are you cranking after you shoot to keep separation? If so by how much? Sorry, I’m after all the info I can get in my quest to stop sucking so much.

What kind of range are you shooting at? Also i apologise if my profile pic try’s to purge your Xenos scum profile pic For the Emperor!

Indeed, so me with an AI RIO going against multiple Mig 29s from the 90s maybe puts me pretty low down the food chain? Edit: Maybe that’s part of the answer to this. It’s easy to feel like you are God’s own wrath and judgment in the F14, but maybe I should be thinking I’m actually the underdog.

I’m using the 54C mk47 against a Russian force from the 90s. If M1.5 is required for hitting a Jeff, what do you need to hit a Mig 29 at 30k feet hot, me being at 41k, at say 60 miles? Or is 60 miles just too far? If I let them get much closer (40 miles) it rarely ends well for me (I end up with a missile up my nostril.) If you have a scale of targets, with a slow moving bomber at one end and the Jeff at the other, where does the Mig 29 (and su33) sit? That I’m not having much success with it is understandable as I’m still learning how to use it properly. But watching the AI fail to use it effectively (few kills lots of deaths, skill level: Ace) has me wondering what on earth is expected of me, a lowly human. Then again, I’m not sure the “I” in “AI” is always present in DCS. In the Hornet with an AMRAM it seems one can crank far more effectively and not lose lock. Meaning a missile with inferior range is actually much safer to use. Not saying that’s wrong, just an observation and ofc that’s using much more modern tech. Is it a case of the Phoenix just being a bit crap against anything other than a bomber in the any setting post 90s? Hence the need for the AMRAM. If the Phoenix could effectively splash fighters at 60 miles (or even 40 miles for that matter) why bother making the AMRAM? Alternatively are some DCSisms making an accurately modelled missile unrealistically rubbish? ls it all straight up user error or a combination of all/some of the above? Edit: Sorry, that turned into a bit of a brain dump and I missed the post above. I have to say I feel anything BUT dominant in the f14 against su27s and Mig 29s. But I’m new to all this.

Yes please! sorry to interrupt

Brilliant, thanks.

I’ll try this tonight. I’ve been wondering what the best climb profiles are, thank you! May I ask what is the most common climb profile to get to 30k for getting on station for a barcap?

Excellent, thanks. After I fire I just turn a little, just so I’m not head on and point my nose down a little. I assumed it lost the lock because the radar had suddenly realised it was two targets not one. I get it quite often where halfway to the target (so still a good way to go, 20 miles plus) the missile decides to do its own thing. Bound to be user error, I just need to work out what that error(s) is. Also is it likely that the ai going defensive as soon as a missile is 10 miles out gonna get fixed? I don’t think I could see a missile 10 miles away. Maybe they should behave this cautiously after there wingman disappears in a puff of smoke, but not before surely? Maybe there all reluctant conscripts?

What is a good height and speed? I’ve been aiming at 41k feet, 1.1 Mach (finding it hard to get faster with 4x aim 54) and shooting at about 50miles on a hot target who’s at 30k feet. No luck so far, should I be higher/faster? If you had 2x ai flying at you, in a regular formation (by which I mean the default one) at what distance can TWS work out there’s two targets instead of just one? I have a feeling this might be one of the mistakesI’m making.

This sounds like what I’m seeing, but I’m just using the F10 map so it’s a bit of a guess. Seeing lots of misses and bandits turning cold. This morning I’m going to see if I can get my AI wingman to fire at 40nm, let the AI do there split S shinanagins whilst I keep closing in, then I’ll shoot within 20nm and hopefully bag them. One problem I foresee is that there is 6 of them vs 2 of us, but you don’t know until you try, right?

Plug away! it was the first vid I watched after downloading the update earlier today. Your Tomcat series is great, thank you! My only complaint is there isn’t more of them, hint hint I’m back to working out how to hit things again without getting too close and getting shot down myself. It’s not going well hehe.

Haha, just when you think you’ve got to grips with something, it all changes! Ive two small children so I’m quite used to this phenomenon. So, is it time to ditch the 54A mk60 in favour of the 54C mk47? Or mk60? Are there other things I need to be aware of now? Sorry, I’m all confused again.

I’m not sure if I ran into this the other day or I just got my procedures wrong as I’m a bit rusty with PP. 8x JSOW C, PP mode. I put in 8 sets of coordinates, which I double checked were all correct. 4 on PP1 and 4 on PP2. When in range I used the step function and pickled them individually as I’d forgotten I could select QTY. So 4x Pickle with PP2 then selected PP1 and repeat. Only 6 targets out of 8 were destroyed.

Another quick update before I start a new thread in search of more help. I was wrong! My pk has gone from something like 1% to a solid 50%. I’ve followed all the advice given to me and am seeing a real improvement. I’ve still a way to go but I now feel I’m on the right track. Thank you guys for taking the time to offer advice and help, it’s really made a difference for me. Ps. I’m discovering that the AI loses the I in their initials when playing Liberation campaigns. Honestly, they are properly daft. Hence all those poor Tomcats getting shot down I mentioned in my last post.

Thanks for the reply’s chaps Great, I will watch these, cheers. I’m sure you do, and that’s why we have what we have which I’m very grateful for everyday. Your products have been taking over my life steadily since 2016. I’m just curious is all, I don’t think something is wrong because I don’t know what is right I eagerly await any updates and new stuff for the plane you guys have made me so attached to. Keep up the good work. Good news, thanks mate.

Just wondering (I assume it is) as I had a little zoom about in the viper yesterday and that feels a lot more, I don’t know the right word, twitchy? The Hornet seems to just go where you point it, every other module I’ve flown takes a bit more work to keep it going in the right direction. I was listening to the afterburner podcast the other day and a Viper & test pilot said the best plane he flew (and he’d flown a lot of planes) other than the Viper was the Hornet. He said it was very stable. But I still wonder if ours is a little too stable, but then again I know nothing of flying real planes let alone fast jets. What is the general consensus on this? And do ED have rl pilots helping them like with the AH64 and Viper?

No worries, if your heading to the bar mines a pint of Ale But like I said, I don’t know if the same is true of the WinWing one.

I haven’t used or even seen the Hornet stick with my own eyes, but I did hear in a couple of YouTube reviews that it can feel a little uncomfortable/awkward if using it as a side-stick on your desk. Something to do with how the real deal is turned slightly to one side (the left I think). All good if you have a centre stick with extension though. Please bear in mind all of the above information is third hand, and may only apply to the thrustmaster offering.

Ah interesting, so maybe we just need longer view distances on contrails/missile smoke in general? I have no idea how far away you can see such things irl but the way it’s done in DCS just doesn’t seem correct. Hopefully it will be improved at some point.

Yeah, this is how I feel too. It’s a bloody shame because ED have turned me from some one who couldn’t give two hoots about Naval aviation into some one who ONLY wants to do Naval aviation! The F/A 18 wasn’t anywhere near my fav aircraft (I was a Viper fan) till ED released our one, now sitting in the cockpit feels like sitting in my front room. Anyway thanks for the reply, and I totally agree, but I’d still recommend the Hornet over the Hog to a new player.

Would this be possible? I currently have my view distance set to High (play in VR so in a constant battle to keep frame times decent) but I won’t see contrails or missile launches from other aircraft unless I zoom in. I’ll hear Jester tell me about a missile launch but I can’t see it unless I zoom in, which is a bit annoying as it’s not always clear on which part of the screen i need to zoom in on whilst I’m yanking and banking. Any chance we could have different view distances for air and ground please ED?

I’d deffo say the Hornet. I started with the A10C but never flew it again once the Hornet came out. A10C is great once you get to where you need to go (as long as there aren’t any enemy planes about) but it does take a while to get there. That and you are 100% limited to mud moving. Where as I like to think of the Hornet as a Swiss army knife capable of super sonic flight, It can do pretty much anything. But does he want a fighter jet or a deadly flying bus? Trying both for free does seem like the obvious best option here though. May I ask what you mean by this? I’m intrigued by which is the most accurately modelled jet in DCS (I suspect the Tomcat must be on the list) What are the problems in functional simulation with the Hornet? I genuinely would like to know, I’m not trying to start an argument.