Raisuli

Based on YT you'd better be defending before you need to defend. Just assume there's a giant white d[evice] of death with your name on it once in range. Also, TacView is your friend. More than worth the cost of admission, because all the things you did wrong are right there in living color. Then learn your skills one at a time. It helps to have a fairly sterile environment to learn them.

FOUND IT! My current setting was "FFB Friendly", and being an unrepentant FFBist (only because I don't have one) it got changed to Central. Seems much better, but didn't stop me from doing BadThings(tm) to engine 1. I'm pretty sure they can repair the airframe, maybe, at a depot level. Removing the spring, where my rudders are, is more than just kind of a pain. Actually wouldn't that be dx/dd and dy/dd where d=displacement, because x is not a function of y in this case. Those are independent axis. d could be a considered a function of time, but d'd/dt' is not constant and depends on the input rate from the user, which means if you have quick hands dd/dt is shorter. Of course then we have to take overshoot into consideration and return rate, so there's going to be a dampening function k in there and spring equations are not out of consideration. What I know, apart from calculus, is flatting the curves cost the Army three helicopters and me a few days in the hospital with neck and back injuries from the hard landings today. George is a blow up doll with a helmet, so I'm not worried about George. There is probably some point in my future where precise 1mm deflections of the stick are a thing, but I'm not there yet. I watched Casmo's CrotchCam(tm) (available without an OnlyFans account, so that was a bonus) and it almost seemed like he was deflecting the stick more than I was, but the end result was somewhat different (and the Amy got that one back in one piece). So back to my 20 curves and practice. I simply can't not think of that passage in Chickenhawk, which I haven't read in decades, where he had to hold a hover pointed at a tree. And totally sympathize with him.

$1.50 for early access hype. $2.00 for signed pictures. The Only Fans account is a steal at $5.95 a month, buy 12 months get one free, and this includes bare metal photographs and personalized responses to comments.

That might be the most interesting question I've ever seen on this board. Correct me if I'm wrong (or just confused) but the implication is OB must have stability issues by definition or it wouldn't be OB. That would discount the possibility that a significant majority of players are not affected by those issues. Speaking only for myself I've never run into an issue with OB that makes me think stable is preferable. Obviously other people have other issues, but now I have to wonder how much you've taken OB out for a spin to see how it works in your particular environment. If you've been avoiding it because of that pesky Greek letter you might be in for a pleasant surprise. Maybe not, but the odds are very much in your favor. If you're one of the people who have the issues ED needs to hunt down before stable, then please ignore everything below the quote box!

If there is a wold wide economic collapse we can only hope ED extends the float time on the license by a few millennia and we can while away the dark years before the next renaissance improving our skills in all the hangar queens in between using solar cells to recharge the UPSs powering our computers. I just wish I could be there when the archeologists unearth a tomb with someone's mummy hunched over a desk, ready to play DCS in the afterlife...

Trying to remember the last game-stopping bug I've run into. Exported screens when MT first came out, and even that was ignorable if I used the main MFDs. Then again, I don't use VR, which makes a difference, don't install mods, which is pretty much guaranteed to make a difference, and I'm not very twitchy, which probably makes a bigger difference. I'd absolutely love to sit down over a beverage and get your take on what about OB makes it unplayable, because I honestly don't see it. I watch some of the bug reports come in and a fairly large percentage are, based on my experience with DCS (5 or 6 years) and computers (43 years) either underlying OS/hardware, mod incompatibility, or just flat out users getting fired up without really understanding what's going on...PEBKAC. Not saying that's gospel, just my impression. More than willing to change that based on new data; I totally get VR users have problems I'm completely ignorant about, and maybe that's it.

I've got a quarter that says if ED eliminated OB the multiplayer community would not significantly change. Of course my quarter is safe because they won't. It's all a question of priorities what what players consider important. I'd be pretty gobsmacked if ED hasn't already crunched those numbers.

The rudder also has light springs, because...fixed wing... They return to center-ish, but aren't militant about it. I keep a dead zone of 1-5 depending on the aircraft because the return is so light and it's not always easy to tell if I'm pushing one or the other with my feet on them. Found out I have to keep my bloody feet on the floor during AAR because I tense up and start putting in rudder. Two problems there; tensing up and putting in rudder. Central position trimmer mode. Going to have to find that! All I've found searching for 'trim' is the 4 position trimmer switch. I gotta say, for the record, you guys have been totally awesome helping me out with all this. I'm leaning in a vacuum and the advice is really nice, if only to confirm what I already think is wrong, but also for all the hints and tricks to get better at it. Thanks a lot!

White Russian Warbird base and CM50 stick (because you just can't have too many buttons), about 20cm of Croatian extension, Croatian rudder with the 3D printed 'tactical' pedals, width adjustment, and damper installed, French throttle (TM Warthog), Not sure who makes the Teensy boards I use for controllers, Japanese switches, a 38" Dell/Alienware monitor, and Sennheiser One headset. Very international. I keep looking at collectives, but there's just not enough room for one so the right throttle is my collective until and unless everything get a redesign. Would be cool to get a new seat, which would also require that redesign. I think one of my problems with the trim is I don't release the controls fast enough when I press it, so I double my inputs. That's particularly true of the rudder/anti-torque. The other problem is the aircraft in which I have the most hours, and am actually semi-good at, has wings bolted to the frame. I like helos, but I also like to go fast. It turns out being about to do AAR and formation in fixed wing helps flying helos, and vice versa, so time spent catching a basket helps with hovering. When I get frustrated with one I go to the other for a while. My current operating theory is there are no unrelated skills when it comes to flying various aircraft, so there is no wasted practice time! Lately I've been doing long (for me) hops to build my ability to focus on fine motor skills; take off, tank, move to the operational area, tank, do a 250 mile. 30 minute formation flight, tank, back to base after dark. About two, two and a half hours. Total respect for the guys who do this for real and pull six or eight hour hops. Of course they are a bit younger than me...

The problem with the F4E is it's so fast you don't know it's here until it's already gone.

Well, I cut the curves from 20 to 10 in some FixedWingAircraftThatShallNotBeNamed. AAR and formation were no easier or harder. I'll probably cut the curves in the -64 just to see what happens. I have seen a few references to increasing curves to help with over-correcting, and maybe it worked. I still over-correct, but I can correct the over correction eventually. Another interesting input topic is springs; Casmo mentioned he uses stiff springs, mine are very soft. They'll get the stick back to center without being pushy about it, and in fact I went to soft springs for helos, because at the time I didn't know what force trim was and I've gotten used to them. Speaking of force trim, sometimes that really takes me for a ride! I'm probably doing that wrong, too... It's about time to get back into the AH-64. Transitions were really, really bad when I took the break. From 'getting there' to 'there'; vertical and horizontal oscillation enough to make squid sick, all of which has to be a meatware bug and I'm not patient enough for DCS to fix it. Eventually I'm going to have to add a helo formation trainer to (one of) my grant canonical training missions. That should be embarrassing.

Unless something is classified 'secret'. You might even have a 'secret' security clearance. If it's classified 'confidential' or worse, 'confidential - noforn' things also get sticky, especially here with all those 'forns' around. Then there's 'top secret'. Anything above that and the name of the classification is itself classified, and might be 'confidential' or 'secret' or 'top secret', or even the classification of the name can be classified. You guys mix up 'classified' and 'secret' like they're the same thing. I really, really, really wish I'd kept my collection of stamps, because half the page was the classification (top and bottom) and that didn't leave much room for notes! Then there's ITAR and export controls, which has nothing to do with classification and everything to do with export, and the instant you put something on the internet, like this forum, you've just 'exported' it. Whether it's classified or a state secret doesn't matter at that point, if it's listed under ITAR (if you pack a pair of binoculars in your suitcase on vacation you might find yourself on the wrong side of ITAR. If it's a rifle scope, even if the rifle isn't attached, it's almost certain) you and the administrators of this forum may find yourselves on the wrong end of a little chat. There's a lot more than ITAR, by the way. Unless you know what an HTS code is it's better to just avoid the topic. Rule 1.16 is there for valid legal reasons, and has the potential to keep a lot of people out of trouble. In the mean time, if Wags put it in a video, or ED on a kneeboard, it's probably not classified. You can download NATOPS manuals, and according to Tom Cruise the enemy has already read them, but I wouldn't post one here; even if they're not classified they might be listed in the depths of ITAR or have the wrong HTS code. Stick to whether or not people who hot-start are villainous scum. Personally, I can't remember that many cold-start procedures. <edit> Removed an extraneous word or two. I have also been informed by someone who knows that any document with military aircraft performance data is, by definition, ITAR controlled and requires a license for export </edit>

Good to know, and maybe that's part of my problem with a few other things, many of which are helicopter related. I'll dial down those curves and see if it that helps, or at least if I can learn a new set of skills before the old ones set. Thanks!

Second this. The time it takes to log in, start the aircraft, find a target, plan a mission, take off, and fly to the active theater, and get shot down wasn't worth the effort. It's much like any on-line game; if I had thirty or forty hours a week to practice I might get good enough. In PVE the E has to be good enough to keep those well-trained Ps busy, in PvP you end up as the punch line of a joke when GS (or someone else) swats you before you get your seat belt adjusted and find the local classical station on the radio. So I took the time to get reasonably proficient at the mission editor. I still go down in flames, but at least the playing field is relatively level, and if it isn't I did that on purpose, too! Apart from which I can pause when the wife needs something, or I need something, or I just need a break, then come back and finish the flight. Fight. Raid. Hop. AAR. Case 1 landing. Whatever it is. Once in a while I think it might be fun to fly with other people, then I read the squad recruiting poster for some hard-core mil-sim squad, inspections required before flight (personnel and berthing), we'll be at your house to ensure it's properly stowed in five minutes, and that usually cures me. I want to play the game, I don't want the game to play me.

Short answer, yes. Writing software is a little like building fence, and I've done both. You can't do anything until something else is complete, and the something else depends on yet another job that has to be done. They're working on some core functionality that will play a part in pretty much everything before they can use that functionality to carry forward with the SC. As frustrating as it is this is a good thing; they're setting up the foundation for a lot of improvements rather than re-inventing wheels with every module, and every module works different, and things break, and other things fall apart. If it help it's frustrating for end users, and it's frustrating for the guys going blind behind the IDE busting their butts while the end users question if anyone is doing anything So, to use a shipbuilding analogy, where they used to build modules from the keel up, piece by piece, they're transitioning to modular construction. While trying to keep the existing ships afloat, because the drydock is full of modules... I've used the F11 free camera to do a tour of the SC, and I can say there's a lot of things missing. The modeling in the main machinery rooms is pretty sparse...

Thank you! I did see the non-coalition nations, but I didn't see 'UN'. That would be perfect. The combined JTFs get used to bring things like the Kuz under blue control so I can land on it. The UN just became my deconfliction hazard!

Any chance we can have a generic 'neutral' coalition to put problems in the way of combatants? Don't need to fly for it, doesn't need to be usable by players, don't care if it's visible on the map. I'm setting up naval assets for Harpoons, which are mindless little beasts, so I put in some civilian targets* designed to be in the way on the threat axis, so the harpoon needs to be set up right or BadThings(tm) happen. Unfortunately trying to find a country that can own some of the larger targets out there is a pain in the posterior. Either make Greece a shipping state or give me a neutral coalition! Or tell me how to add those assets to Greece I suppose. I can see where civilian traffic in other places can make targeting a bit more fun, and I'm not opposed to picking on one group. UN comes to mind immediately, League of Nations as a close second, but a neutral coalition is generic, which has its charms. *Wearing my SS hat; there are boats that sink on purpose and those that need assistance. In other words, submarines and targets.

I can wait all year; plenty to keep me busy that long. I just hope they either don't do to the F-4 cockpit what they did to the F-14 cockpit or they give us a choice in the matter. Now that I consider it, we do have a choice in the matter.

Because some of the people using them are, and if you die enough times so will you. Mission editor. Again. It's WORTH the time to learn. Right now I'm doing AAR, so four tankers in parallel orbits (KC-135MPRS, KC-130, S-3B, Il-76). Set bingo to 7k, take off, hit a tanker. Dump to bingo while I move on to the next one, top off, then dump to bingo while I move to the next one, wash, rinse, repeat. Got into a situation where I was at 4k (doing CV ops) and couldn't get on the S3, so switched to the KC-130. Plugged in with less than 2k and topped off. That ended up being a 2.5 hour hop, and landed back at Tel Nof after sunset. Eventually I'll work on refueling from something other than the left wing, then add wind, but I've started to remember to switch to the right wing and fly formation for a while. Trigger zones for for air-to-air. Want to do guns only BFM? Fly into the right trigger zone. Want to hit a ground convoy? There's a trigger zone for that. Typically put TACAN stations at the center of the TZ so I can find them easily. Formation practice? Trigger zone spawns a fighter that flies a route, then lands. Even have a Bear raid on one map so I can work on switching between targets. CV ops? Supercarrier and the Kuz are 4 nmi apart. Take off from one, land on the other. Wash, rinse, repeat. Case III? Just set datalink up; SC is already configured. Different AC? I use 'take off from ground hot' and stack them all in the same place. Navy on this side, those other guys over on that side. Cold start? Add an aircraft cold and dark. Take off and landing? Set some challenging crosswind and do touch and goes. Helos? Got some spotted, and a cone or two laying around for hover practice. These missions get edited, and added to, as I go. Time of day, wind, weather, new targets, SAM sites, whatever sounds fun to work on. The mission editor part takes a few minutes, and with trigger zones one bit doesn't get in the way of other bits unless I fly to the right TACAN point, so that S-300 site isn't going to be a problem when I'm refueling. Right now the hardest part is deciding if I want to build on the Syria training mission or the Sinai mission. Both maps are just amazing, but with the Syria updates coming I might switch back for a bit.

I was part of the Connie's battle group on the first deployment, and we played decoy to keep the Bears away while we were in Yellowstone (the 'Bear Box') because they really wanted to track the new fighter and get a signature for it. Worked for a while, but of course they eventually found the carrier. Did plane guard for night ops once or twice, but mostly we were a hundred miles away on the dangerous end of the threat axis. Most of the flybys were VF-21 and -154, the last two squadrons to transition out of F-4s into F-14s so those were nearly brand new, but VFA-25 and -131 came by to say hello occasionally. Those were so low-vis it's pretty hard to make out the markings in the hazy air; I think there's one picture where you can make out VFA-131's markings. We have livery for the VF-21 aircraft they flew past us once or twice, and I have some good pics of it in flight. (I was the guy with the big telephoto lens and a motor drive, but film gets expensive!). So, yeah. Cool to hear about what was, and how that changed into what is, because it's easy to forget the aircraft we have in DCS is not what I remember flitting about in and around the gulf.

I have to keep reminding myself the Hornets I watched fly around in '85 were the A model. Shiny (well, not very shiny) new A models. Not even A+. CRT screens. Briggs and Stratton engines. Vacuum tubes in the radar. Ok, maybe not that old.

Alright, fine! You've made it impossible not to take another look! But first, since Cairo International Airport has shut down operations and cleared out all their equipment so I have a place to lean how to fly the AH-64 I should go crash fly one while the opportunity is there.

Not a fan. I have one mod (Community A4C) installed. Mod managers proved to be more trouble than I like and Quaggles is a mod to do what I'm already doing in a different way; in either case a script is required, and I really do have something like 368 individual controls. LeCuvier's additions are a fraction of what I need, and if I remember correctly they're mostly on/ff and I need separate controls for each. Since ED has gone to a release a month, if that, I just look at the notes and decide if it's worth the trouble. The lack of bindings, the inconsistency between modules for how those bindings are implemented, and the fragility of the binding management files is huge reason I don't fly more modules than I do. It takes about an hour to configure an aircraft once I have the bindings, and if something goofy happens with USB addresses all that goes away in and instant and I can start over from scratch. In the end ED is letting other people cobble band-aids for problems they don't consider important enough to solve. That's certainly their prerogative. It is a little disappointing that the F/A-18 had about 90% of the binding already done, and the A-10C II has about 10%. Between them I have a whole aircraft! After all, this is a game. About the time I get frustrated I try to remember that

I've seen other third party developers willing to add bindings as well. To their credit I've seen ED add bindings in the last five years; I think three, so just under a binding a year if you are persistent with them... I have around 300 controls, so I expect ED to add the bindings I'd like in about a millennia. Per aircraft. I'm pretty patient, but not that patient, so I do LeCuvier's thing and add them myself. The A-10 is going to be a BIG project and I've been putting it off, which means I don't fly it much. I could set up DCSBios, but there are valid technical reasons why I don't. The biggest being DCSBios doesn't know what plane you're flying, and can't change a control based on that. I use Notepad++ and just re-over-write the luas on every update. I also have records of what changes go where, but it's a pain in the butt. If ED would do one thing for those of us with too much hardware it would be to leave those files alone on updates unless ED has actually updated something. Still, DCS is only a game; you don't have to look hard to see what a real problem look like.

Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> DCS -> Uninstall worked for me, then go to the DCS directory and clean up. If you really want a clean install smack the saved games folder as well. <edit> Forgot what I was doing there for a second </edit