masonator

Are you turning on "master arm"? Try this: load up a shark with gun only, takeoff, hover, then hit "c", make sure master arm is on (LAlt W), and then mash the space bar. You should be rewarded with the lovely "thud thud thud" of lead kinetic solution flying downrange.

This is my very technical, very verbose review of DCS Black Shark: <ahem> If you were to take awesome, add it to some more awesome, multiply that by awesome, and then take that to the power of awesome, get that awesome married to some female awesome and have some awesome babies, make that awesome grow up with a training plan of awesome, then melt down all that awesome, distill it down to get rid of the less-than pure awesome so that you have just absolutely, unadulterated, crystal clear unfiltered awesome --- then you have DCS Black Shark. I've not had this much fun playing a flight sim in....well....I've never had this much fun flying a flight sim. And I've not even fired a round yet. :thumbup:

I vote this post for post of the year.

Yeah, I hate Picassa! Stupid google, with their outrageous stock prices and world domination! ;) I'll see if I can find a picture hosting site out there. Back soon!

Here's why I love this sim: I was just cruising around practicing my flying, and I came to a hover just over a small river. I was quite high, so I cut collective and was decending. I was just about to engage autohover when the aircraft began to shudder and I began losing altitude very quickly. I remember reading about "vortex ring state" in the manual just a couple of hours before, so I was prepared. I left the collective where it was and I pitched forward, increasing speed. I recovered from the vortex ring state, but at this point I was VERY low, and although I pulled back and increased collective, I still smacked the ground...not very hard, but hard enough. A quick scan of the failures display showed all systems functioning, but not wanting to push my luck, I decided to end the practice flight and RTB. the flight back to base was uneventful. Once I reached base, I began slowing down and decending. At 65kph, I pulled gear down...uh oh --- the right side gear light was not coming on. I guess that smack on the ground really did do some damage. So I decided...what was worse: landing with no right side gear, or putting the Werewolf down on her belly. I decided that a belly landing was preferable, as I was worried that mixed-gear landing would cause the props to ground-strike, which could be catastrophic. But, being pretty new at flying the Black Shark, my landings haven't been the greatest. I've been getting better, but not good enough to try a belly landing. Oh well...necessity is the mother of invention. I needed to invent some skill --- fast. So after a little bit of gentle coaxing, I managed to set her down INCREDIBLY gently. I was actually quite impressed with my landing. I immediately shut down the engines and cut fuel flow. No need to start a fire. Long story short - this sim is un-frikken-believably awesome. The damage model alone is enough to warrant the $25 price tag! Some pics of me belly-side down, engines off: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/K3UqNKsw-iD3iZhfJ44lsQ

showoff ;)

Personally, I am happy for ED to focus on: -flight model -attention to realism/detail -overall product quality than graphics/surround sound. I can see TheMoose's point that DX10 would be a nice to have (I have a killer system that could run it), but I'm just happy that there is a good developer left building flight sims. There's not many left. Like I said in another post, I am going to buy everything that ED/1C/FC lets me buy just to make sure I'm doing my part in their success. In fact, having played the Russian version for about a week now, I'm thinking about buying 5 English versions and giving them to friends who would otherwise not buy it. Make up some T-shirts ED...I'll buy them too!

Maybe it's just me, but I'm kinda in love with the KA50. I mean---come on---have you seen that thing? It's awesome. I just think the "cool factor" of the KA50 is very high. S

Yup, have been reading them all. I've decided that the absolute key to everything is: a) understanding the blue buttons, and b) trimming c) more trimming

Ok, so I've been practicing a lot, and I'm getting better. I can now navigate between a 4-point waypoint route around the airfield, and I'm getting better at transitioning to a stop/landing. I can put her down on tarmac now...I'm not super precise with location, but I think rubber side down on the black stuff is a good start. I've also started some fun stuff...like coming to a hover behind a hill/building, engaging autohover, and then popping up in a mock pop-up engagement. It's hella fun. I think my early frustration was that I didn't understand how to use the trim system, and the manual doesn't really do a great job of explaining it in lay-person speak. Now that I've got the hang of it (thank you cntrl-enter!!!), flight is getting a lot smoother. Thanks for the advice all. -M

Got it. Thanks all! GGTharos: I'm reading the manual, but it's long and I haven't got there yet.

I do too, but this is really hard. I *want* to be good at it, but I'm not sure if I will be able to or not. I've spent all evening just trying to take off and land, and I'm nowhere near good enough at either (especially landing). Mase

Hi all. Does anybody have a problem whereby autohover goes on the fritz about 1 or 2 feet off of the ground? I'm perfectly lined up, hovering dead center with the little box right in the middle of the circle, and so I begin to pull power off. Right before I touch down, the aircraft begins to bank or pitch pretty aggressively. The result is a horrible landing at best, a mild crash at worst! It's very infuriating! Mase

Am I the only one that finds this game unbelievable difficult? :mad:

CHA CHING! :joystick: