LanceCriminal86

Wish I could get some mini switches like that to work with the eBay casette switch thing posted earlier in the thread. It seems to work as intended, just needs buttons that rotate and I need to learn how to build a button box for it, wire it up, etc.

There were comments somewhere back in a thread from Cobra that there were no current plans for maps anymore. I can't recall if it was the running Viggen discussion re the AI Drakken or what but somewhere along the way I've seen comments that HB maps are not part of the roadmap anymore.

Testing out some Kodachrome and other film style ReShade settings

Why waste manhours (and therefore money) including and animating a resource that's going to be replaced anyways? If there's one thing I hate professionally it's duplication of work for the sake of duplication. They're adding the new body, from what I've seen it's spot on for the 80s and 90s as far as pilot gear goes from head to toe. Only thing we haven't seen are the new helmets and if the existing HGU-33 will get reworked or not.

I remember that now, either way ED holds the keys to remedying that and it's all locked away. I don't foresee them doing it anytime soon, adding multiple visual model variants for piles of weapons but who knows. There effectively needs to be separate USAF and USN/USMC libraries for weapons, Navy bombs are usually covered in that ablative coating and missile stencils are different. But again, ED has to do all of that and create the visual model entries separately for the 3rd Parties to reference. Then HB could create duplicate entries for the missiles with (white) and (gray) options. Even better would be ED implementing some kind of core date system like the mission builder filter, that will appropriately present the right variant of missile depending on year in the sim. But I think even then if you go too far back the INS or something in the Tomcat stops working.

I went ahead and ordered one of those switches as well, curious to see if it can be upscaled to work or I may just live with the smaller size. My big thing is rudder pedals right now, not running VR but some button boxes and more physical controls that I usually use are high on my want list right now. Gear/Hook levers, flap lever, a simplified ACM panel would be top wants, and the mode switches with some toggles for the settings. A display for the HSD and radar would also be nice, plus airspeed and altitude.

No, not satisfied with them yet. A lot of corrections here and there still need to happen, plus hoping to see if the base "A" textures can get an interim update so each one isn't a massive download. Due to the changes that have to be made to remove B/D features and add A panel lines/features you need a lot of extra normal and roughmet changes, and doing that also degrades the file every time you save over it. Currently trying to figure a way to do that minimally, or have a base skin and then use references to point to one jet that has the corrected normals/RMs. Eventually those changes will be done to the base model/texture and it will be un-needed. Add to that I need different gloss levels for the old late hi-vis schemes vs tactical jets so still a lot of weathering and RM work to do.

Need to go ahead and get a few Superheats line jets knocked out, CAG and CO jets are getting lonely with all these Hunters around.

And isn't the same differences in mounting also tied to some of the drag issues mounted since the tunnel AIM-7s should have less drag than the underwing pylons? Seems like a downside of ED pulling all the weapons in if 3rd parties need changes or differences. Add to that once the weapon leaves the jet, it's back to ED's default weapon models and skins, making it that much more annoying to have dedicated visual models/skins for the AIM-54A 47/60 vs the C, white vs gray missiles, etc. Would be nice if the carried drag could be controlled within the module since it shouldn't impact the guidance/performance side which they are trying to consolidate.

I have 100 and 112's. Glad to fill in any others as I find them, talked to 3-4 pilots/RIOs and a couple PCs so far but would love to get every jet I can. I'd like to have 101, 102, and 103 for sure if I can get it. And every jet from there on I'm missing pilot/RIO names but still plan to paint as many as I can. I'll get some updated screens in of the jets as I go here. There were changes throughout the year including the awards, I think they only got the "S" near the end so some shots show jets with only the "E" and "/", but by the time the "S" was awarded a lot of their jets were already flown off to Oceana or their new squadrons (VF-14, 41, and 211 mostly). I'm on the squadron FB page and they've been super accommodating, so I think I will provide some more screenshots and maybe try to get JimBob Express done before Monday for them.

2 weeks ™ I have no idea when, still making changes/tweaks/corrections, trying to get all the A model stencils done right. Would also like to get the JimBob Express done for Memorial Day but not sure I can get it done fast enough. Ultimately I plan to represent a whole slew of 201 and 202's time, from their carrier quals on the Forrestal in 86 or 87 through the 90s when 202 shut down, and then 201 up through 98 when they switched to Hornets. I have 4 1998 jets about done and need to add a few more including the 101 jet and a few line jets I don't have names for. After that I need to convert the two late hi-vis jets to 101/100 MODEX as they were through the early 90s, make the original 100/101 from 1986, and fill in a few more of the line jets in that timeline. The big issue is that until HB integrates changes to the base A and B textures, skins to get everything right have 2x+ the files because you have to replace the normals and roughmets, plus I've done the pilots and the MODEX in the cockpit as well on some of them.

The last 4 A models built, Block 140s from furthest to closest 162708, 162709, 162711, 162710:

OK, having listened to the sound clip I realize what OP was talking about, it's not the looping effect, but as he described it's various other tones in the background. I'm wondering if these are due to whatever method they are having to use to get sample clips of running engines and removing background noise? And yeah, I've been hearing this since forever and for some reason chalked it up to some kind of background sounds generated by the jet.

I've mentioned it from when 2.7 dropped so I believe they are aware of the turbine sounds having a bad loop effect. In fact I think I put it in one of the first replies to the 2.7 patch feedback thread and Cobra acknowledged it.

Look at photos of jets, make them in Photoshop (or Gimp I suppose).

Usually when a big feature is coming a teaser vid comes out, screenshots, something. I'd keep my expectations low so if something unexpected does arrive, it's a fun surprise. It makes getting yourself hyped up about something that wasn't promised not a problem anymore.

*H E A V Y B R E A T H I N G*

Seriously yes, we need more cold war AI assets like this. Stuff like TU-16s, or SU-15 Flagons.

I wouldn't hold your breath. Just trying to figure out how to have more than one TCS pod option has already proven a hurdle, and there's already a low chance of us even getting the slightly older Block 95 for the US. I don't think there's any chance of a Block 75 showing up in any form due to having to totally rework even more of the jet.

Unfortunately I have a feeling the answer is that either the documents themselves can't be found, or the Navy is keeping a close hold and not even wanting to do redacted versions of them. It would be nice to somehow request just the PTID's info from the various manuals and training courses but again, docs either shredded or locked away. You also have to consider where the info goes after the FOIA, they may have concerns about any of the info, even if declassified, being put into a sim owned by a non-US entity.

Right now every time I try to hop in and fly, I get more annoyed by the rest of the DCS engine (you know, UFO AI jets, 3d asset models from 1995, missiles and Jester doing lord knows what except killing targets, "Supercarriers" that still only have 4 terrible spawn points, bombs that have no splash damage to speak of that kind of kills the mood of doing some CAS, and the fact that ED chose to lock up all the LUAs that helped with some of those issues), to the point where I get a lot more enjoyment out of researching and painting jets. I mean yeah, we got pretty new clouds for taking screenshots. Unfortunate side effect of ADHD and maybe a dab of autism that comes out of staring at and searching for photos of specific BuNOs to get them just right is that you start to look at all the "stupid" little details, what block a jet was, stencils that were different on one airframe than another, patches or repairs to, that kind of stuff. That leads to wanting as many of the details to be right, which leads to getting on Cobra's s*** list for poking about ALQ-126 antennas and beaver tails. I'll endeavor to get the T-45C loaded and try to just work on the Case I pattern for a while. That, and I need to see if this Virpil stick and extension help with A2A refueling, where I felt like I needed a much gentler and finer control over my T16000M. And honestly, one of the things I've enjoyed most out of some of this full blown autism is that it led me to actually get to talk to some of the folks from VF-201 about the jet, their time in the squadron, guys digging out logbooks and shoeboxes of old photos, remembering names, and generally having a good time listening. They've been super generous with photos and whatever information they have, or have gotten me in touch with the guys that had it. It's not every day you get to chat with the pilot and RIO (who was the CO) about a digital jet you've spent well over a year working on. It's also kind of fun getting guys back on the gear doors who wrenched on these jets and worked to be the plane captains; a guy was looking for pics of his name on the gear door and sure enough I had one stashed away, and naturally since it was the jet I was working on I put him on there. It may seem weird but to me it's cool that some years from now people are going to maybe see some guy's name on a landing gear door, or on a canopy rail, and a little piece of history is preserved. And, it's been cool to see a bunch of those VF-201 and 202 jets, some of which you almost certainly had hours in Victory, went and put warheads on foreheads with VF-14, VF-41, VF-211, and I think even VF-154 there in 2001-2004 or so. I'd really like DCS performance with VR to get to a more accessible level. The parts I really struggle with in the pattern involve trying to watch my airspeed, altitude, AOA, etc. while also looking over my shoulder at the boat to try and gauge when to make turns, and it always turns to garbage (no pun intended). Not that having the Supercarrier/LSO dialed for Hornets helps that last part of the pattern any.

That said, there were features per block that were known, ie. older blocks wouldn't have had certain features unless upgraded, but newer blocks for certain had, like the ALQ-126 antennas. I believe Block 110 is where the new style beaver tail and ALQ-126 were added and included on subsequent blocks. So most Block 110 and higher should be visually almost indistinguishable, and systems wise few changes were made. Blocks lower than that had some minor changes like the added nose alpha probe I think at Block 95, and of course the "standard" beaver tail that was used after to the original blocks that hit the fleet which had a slightly different beaver tail, I think in the Block 70 and/or 75 jets when that changed. From what I'm seeing though, it doesn't look like all block changes were retrofitted, for example the ALQ-126 antennas, or the alpha probe on the nosecone. It looks like the only major changes externally were things like reinforcement plates being added to the vertical stabilizers and retrofitted to earlier jets. There were many modifications over time, that's very clear. Some upgrades are pretty clear cut, like gun ports being done by the mid 90s. But just from looking at the groupings of BuNOs from the VF-14 and VF-41 jets that were deployed for Allied Force in 1999, it definitely wasn't unilateral. Not all of their As had the ALR-67 upgrades, something I'm curious to see about what their final Tomcat cruises showed. That training document I linked seems to lay out quite nicely a lot of the performed and planned upgrades as of 1998. I guess the other questions would be whether other systems in years prior like the VHF/UHF antennas were upgraded over time. Really you just have to look at each jet and as many photos as possible to look for obvious cues. I don't think it looks like jets other than the Block 60/65 to 130 rebuilds, and any A to B/D conversions went back for a significant block to block overhaul, like I'm not seeing Block 95s that later got the ALQ-126 and upgraded beaver tail, ALR-67, etc. So to some degrees the jets did stay as-delivered with upgrades under the skin, but only to a certain point where it seems the Navy prioritized lower time airframes and newer blocks for upgrades. That's why those rebuilt Block 60/65s lasted so long in service, because they actually got a mid-life refresh when Grumman remanufactured them in the mid 80s. Before that they were all the testbed jets at Pax River and VX-4, etc. 158612 was the oldest Tomcat to serve in the fleet, being a Block 60, #612 at Pax, later sent to Davis Monthan, then back to Grumman where it was rebuilt to Block 130 or 135 specs, from there to VF-202, to VF-201 after 202 shut down, and then lastly to VF-41 through late 2001 before going to mothballs/death in early 2002.