Rick50

In campaigns in a much earlier different product, one that was a first project covering strike fighters (hint hint!!), at first I hated "recon missions", "ugh why go up without ord?!!?"... ... well by the third recon mission I got a change of heart, when I realised just how much excitement there was in trying to keep from being shot down at all costs... high and fast, low and slow, try desperately to outrun or outlast the fuel of that Mig that just won't let you cruise on by!! It got to the point where I'd plan out my mission route much differently than for a strike, trying to out think enemy expectations to give me an edge. Spacing out waypoints so that I don't turn hard right after the mission objective, have to preserve low drag and high energy/speed state to keep them Migs from bouncing me! Those recon missions became my FAVOURITE part of the campaigns. Mig tries to intercept, but yer just a bit too far away for his guns, and your 25 knot advantage will keep him from getting close enough. Or the Mig keeps shooting shells at ya, you have panic attack with all the trace around you... and then you realise he's winchester!!! Or the Mig that you thought was far away, totally safe... and then he's going so much faster that he's on you right now... and then you realise he's run out of fuel! Or worse, YOU have run out of fuel trying to keep from being shot down! I'd love to see something like that in the older cold war DCS modules! Doesn't make too much sense for the current uber-fighters like Apaches and Hornets, considering sat datalinks, AWACS, and so on... but back when photo recon missions were the primary method, this is a great fit, both for the pilot doing the mission, but maybe also for a combined arms campaign with some form of "fog of war" going on!

Good question, and you are correct, there are... "criticisms" to address! For me, it was the "ONLY" fighter jet I knew of as a little kid, and unlike pictures in magazines, I could see them blast down the runway in Germany at Canadian Forces Base Lahr (south western Germany, near Freiburg and Strasbourg), actually fly around making all kinds of wild noise! The library even had a "graphic novel" featuring a Canadian pilot of the Starfighter, by the name "Dan Cooper"! Sure, it's barely got a combat history... but considering some of the missions, maybe that's a good thing: for some time, the Canadian mission for Starfighter was as a nuclear bomber. The Canadian experience included many wild stories of flying supersonic, low altitude, at night. Indeed one night a Canuck Starfighter pilot clipped a German church steeple, and lost his life seconds later. I think some of the fascination is that it was almost a rocket-ship that lots of pilots got to experience, and it actually flew just as fast as it looked! You almost had to be part fighter pilot, part test pilot, owing to it's unforgiving nature. So while that was a bad thing for combat effectiveness, a bad thing for wives and children of those pilots, it just inflated the mythology and legend of the daredevil fighter pilot risking their lives every day so we can live a normal life. Another factor for me, is that for DCS, it'll be a unique challenge: fly it nice or it'll kill ya! Doesn't have much armament, so have to pick your battles. Can't turn, so picking your ACM choices becomes truly critical. You've got the option of speed... but speed kills fuel load... choices choices choices!!! The fact that it was produced in such large quantities, and used by so many airforces just adds to the need in DCS.

F-104 F-111 Jaguar C-130H (not the announced module, but the earlier classic Herc version that made the plane famous!) B-29 Superfortress ...and since this is a wishlist, I'll add the B-58 Hustler, just because cool plane!

Over the last two years there's been a lot of speculation about and people poking HB to make a Tornado, since the Tomcat and Viggen have been so well received, and they know swing wings. But as the other posters point out, their future is very much booked already!! Probably they intend to do so, but it'll come later, after the Hind and Longbow have it working smoothly! Hmm, I believe someone from HB did confirm they will do a Navy Phantom, though they haven't said exactly which variant, nor have they given a super solid timeline. But yea, some time after the first big announcement they did say they'll do a Navy Phant for sure!!

Brimstone is awesome in real world. Not sure it's all that much fun for a simulation entertainment title, compared to the excitement of screaming right over target, for specific time on target, drop high drag bombs, and then skadadle out of there as low and fast as you can before the Migs bounce ya!! I dunno man, 1989 sounds just awesome to me!! Besides with the Typhoon module you'll likely get Brimstones eventually (not at start of EA). Maybe other platforms too.

On a long enough timeline, I think such a map will come to DCS !! I get the feeling that a large portion of DCS users are in the UK, I have no stats on that, just a gut feeling!

Yea, I agree that's quite plausible... I have thought that Marianas map was a technology test of sorts, possible for a Korea or Vietnam map, maybe a testbed to see how our rigs handle it too! Yes, I had ORBX in mind, I didn't wanna specify simply because I didn't want others thinking that company "was for sure making VN"... sometimes people aren't careful about specific wording and assume things that aren't there, seeing only what they wanna see! That said, I love your idea for them to do the Baltics and so on! Maybe if ED does it in-house, they might

Though not directly related to the creation of a Vietnam map, as I was pointing out earlier, there seems to be a rather hard acceleration of new module development going on, and today gives us yet another indication: the Panavia Tornado IDS (similar to a GR.1 I guess) !! Why does this matter? Well because for several years there were a LOT of questions about whether it was even possible, for documentation that wasn't classified, aircraft complexity, and other similar reasons. Yet today we get word that a developer is announcing they are making one, based off a German Tornado of 1989 vintage. I LOVE that, especially considering all the new maps announced! What's also interesting is the company developing it: I've never heard of them, but their experience is interesting! https://aviastorm.com/ More relevant to the topic of Vietnam, is that if the Tornado is a viable option... then it seems to me that the F-111 'Vark would seem to be at least POSSIBLE! This also helps to support the notion that more aircraft and modules related to the Vietnam war could be being considered for development! What do you guys think about a possible "upgrade/update" to the UH-1 module? I'm not talking "oh iz cr@p need new one", but rather "ok, great module, but we can tweek this, update that, add a couple more options that people want"...

Max, they did, I just voted in the poll for the 104... maybe ask the mods if you can change your vote?

Here's hoping!! I think whoever takes on the 'Nam map, would probably be a team with a lot of experience. I'm thinking of one in particular, maybe they will take it on! Hueyman, those are some impressive visuals!!

I just voted Starfighter... because reasons!

Well then just answer it as if it's asking whether you'd put your money for it... no dev team cares about a vague aspirational goal for others, they do care if you'll buy or NOT buy, and what might affect your decision from a "won't buy now" to a "OMG take my money!!". Editing the poll questions afterwards is itself problematic. People answered to different questions.

As a unique part of the planet, Africa is a great choice... that said, I'm at a loss to come up with significant air campaign that occurred there, other than say Brits Vs Germany 1940's campaign... I mean, the ones that come to mind for me... Angola vs South Africa, Libya vs Chad - this having potential for dual purposes for WW2 North Africa campaign... if includes enough other northern nations for our community to be satisfied... maybe if eventual additional maps are created. But the downside is... yet another "desert map", which may not be super popular compared to those we already have, and the two in development , Sinai, Afghanistan/Bagrahm though I'm not sure if started, it has been seemingly hinted as happening from the last big "end of year" ED video. Ethiopia vs Somalia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War Eritrean–Ethiopian War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean–Ethiopian_War ... but be our guest and share more of your vision for an Africa map! Maybe future hypothetical conflicts?

Also I think it's a modern H, looking nothing like '52's of the Vietnam era. I believe an AI model should be made for the 52D, with the "Big Belly" configuration, that allowed lots of extra ord on the wing pylons... smooth chin, big shark's fin stabiliser... painted black underneath.... Agreed!!

Oh wow, I hadn't even considered that, but sounds like you might be right!! One of the biggest reasons aircraft get retired is the lack of spare parts occuring!!

If you look in other threads on the topic of Vietnam modules, and in the earlier pages of this very thread, you'll see that this IS a topic of debate. Many think it's just a matter of making it. And they may be right. Myself and a few others seem to think the jungle foliage and general object count could present a serious challenge for the devs. I do think it's definitely doable, but I'm not sure if it'll require MUCH stronger hardware to crunch it many years in the future, or if an innovative 3d modeller/artist might figure out a way to get the right look, the right amount of objects and foliage, without it all burdening the CPU GPU's ... using a programmers' skills and cunning to cheat the hardware and give us what we want on our affordable computers!

Six months ago I'd have said "not anytime soon, not this year of 2022"... but after all the recent announcements...aircraft of that era, and several new maps... and ESPECIALLY today's Skyraider official video, and Nineline's tweet about an eventual 'Nam map, I'm starting to think you could be right: that an announcement might come by Christmas this year after all! Not a release, but a project announcement, yea, that could happen I've no idea of the "globe project" status, the last I'd heard was that they wanted to do it, a few early tests were done to see how it might work, but that they didn't really know how long or how much effort might be needed, or if it were actually possible. But that was a while ago, and since then they might have done some much more in depth tests, maybe partnering with other companies and orgs, to bring us a globe!

Skip to 7 min for flight...

Are you talking about the museum at Boeing field ? I visited that one a very long time ago, late 90's maybe? I see a lot has changed, many more interesting aircraft, but it was already a great musuem even back then... I remember they had an A-12 mothership and D-21 drone, an Apollo moon car, a Soviet or Russian space suit, and countless other cool planes. My brother, uncle and I drove down from Vancouver BC for the day, and we also visited the Everett Boeing assembly building... weird to be in a room and suddenly realise the two tiny planes in the corner... were 747-400's !!! I'm out in Calgary these days, and a few years ago my brother and I got to climb inside a Avro Lancaster for a modest donation... around the region there are Hornets, Sabrejets, Starfighters, Vampires, Voodoos, Twin Otters and even a Bristol 170 car carrier!! Just reminded myself to get back on topic, and just flashed to around 1994 when I visited a Vietnam war museum in Hawaii... I remember they had a Cobra on display outside

Agreed! One thing a Bronco will do, is let DCS players get low and slow to see the details, enjoy the scenery while bein shot at, without having to learn to fly rotorbirds!! I can't help but think that a Sandy, the A-1 Skyraider, will likely also get chosen by some dev, whether it'll be freeware mod or a payware full fidellity is the real question... but Bronco's and Skyraiders were almost unique to the 'Nam conflict and offer something different from the "fast air" crowd that we know is inbound. For those who want to do some research, there was a whole mini-fleet of "gunship" aircraft, ones that were individually modified for this war... I heard one featured 10 miniguns pointed straight downward. Others included "Boxcar" gunships, Spooky the orbiting AC-47 with three side firing mini's. Though from a different fleet, a few CH-47 Chinooks were turned into gunships with .50cals, 2.75in and even some 20mm on pylons, and I think a couple of M2 Brownings on pintle mounts too. Then there was the Bronco D with night observation gear... think of it as being a little like using a Reaper drone, but with a 20mm Gatling! And then there was this very unique and odd spyplane, no ordnance or weapons, but worth learning about!! : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YO-3_Quiet_Star https://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/lockheed-yo-3a

One more item: just a couple years ago there was NO hope for aircraft with more than 2 engines, that was the limit, hard stop. And I think at that time ED wasn't interested in any aircraft with more than 2. Yet just last week we learned that the Lockheed C-130J Hercules will be made into a full module... meaning many things, but in particular that 4 engined aircraft are supported fully by ED, and that unarmed non-fighters are also being greenlit for DCS. This opens the door for other possible aircraft, like strategic bombers from the B-29 and TU-4, to the Bear, to the Flying, Super and Strato Forts by Boeing, and maybe a Backfire or Bone. We might eventually see large KC aircraft, that can provide on station fuel but also significant cargo, or even fast ultra-long range flights for casualties, such as the KC-135 and KC-10. Now.., it might not sound too exciting, but I'll bet that SOME people would love to provide air to air refueling for a Vietnam map, supporting runs going up north!

I don't care if it has an official title... I just wanna go stage 3 into the wild blue yonder in possibly the most legendary fighter jet of all !!

Heh! Well Skate, let's take inventory for a sec: A couple years ago, in two different interviews, ED people told us that there was no Phantom being done, Cobra was on indefinite hold, Century series fighters were not going to be their focus... and that a Vietnam map would not... I don't remember the exact wording, but it seemed that this map in particular was not gonna happen, along with a Taiwan map not happening. Since then, several new Cold War modules have been announced, the Phantom is well into development, a Cobra module "might probably" happen, Century series and other Cold War planes are being announced, and now an ED spokesperson publicly says that a Vietnam map will likely be made in future! To my ears that's great news, even if we might have to wait a while, because up to now it wasn't clear ED even wanted to be in the business of "maps of 'Nam"! Another thing I'm noticing, is that there seems to be an accelerating interest in DCS / ED products in general, and more dev teams jumping on the bandwagon... this suggests that as more modules come out, more "improbable module subjects" may get greenlit and eventually make their way to the ED store! So, ok, it's not likely we'll be flying over rice paddies and jungles next month... but someone will start development of such a map "in future", and by the time it's ready for us, then we should have quite a fleet of aircraft to enjoy with! (I'm not sure the reasons why ED seemed cold to a 'Nam map, but it might have been more the nature of that conflict seeing not very much air to air combat, a tiny very limited air force facing off against an absolutely MASSIVE fleet of superjets. It could also be the CAS with liquid fire was not a good look, certainly there was a lot of not only opposition to the war at the time, but a lot more people wondering and questioning things. Another factor was that a few years ago, a lot of dev and customer attention was focused on the modern flying computers with high tech ordnance. But now more people are looking at the Cold War era, be it older Mirage jets, Israel centric maps, Phantoms Intruders Huns Daggers and such)