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Rick50

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Everything posted by Rick50

  1. Eh... well here you are starting to lose me. I get that you'd want to see a bit of value for the extra money given... but really, I think that a simulation company has enough challenges and headaches to deal with, and having to listen to fans of their work tell the company how it should handle it's internal time allocation... well, no. No. If I were the owner of ED, or a manager in the company, I'd say a flat "not just no, but HELL NO!!". Or maybe I'd say "Nuts!"... as quoting General Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe's famous reply! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe I do think there's a time and a place for most things, but fans who are not in the company itself, I don't feel should dictate how a company micromanages it's time and resources. Donating $50 to a company should not give outside randos the power to overide owners, investors, managers and directors. Just donate the money and be happy that the company is growing and evolving and giving us more of what we really want! I'd kinda say the same about spending reports, too. A $50 donation shouldn't entitle someone to internal details of a private company (as opposed to a public company). And making such a report for the public would divert time and human resources away from what really matters: making the pew pew and boom an zoom! I'd suggest instead, maybe for the larger donations, you could receive a limited edition shirt, hat, wall poster or something, you know, a limited edition merch. Something to wear to the next airshow. Donate a hundred k, maybe ED arranges for a flight in a Flanker! But no, I think ED can figure out for itself how to allocate it's people and time, for bug fixing and module creation. As for future modules, there's no lack of threads with people screaming loudly that "THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE NEEDS TO BE THE NEXT MODULE BECAUSE REASONS!!!" (myself included!).
  2. Fortunately for everyone, the team at ED (and presumably their 3rd party developers too) have decided to offer "free test drives", even without subscriptions! It's a new program, get to "try and fly" a module for a short trial period. I can't recall details, but it was a recent announcement, and quite popular! I feel that will let people sitting on the fence about a module, can soon try the module and KNOW if they like it or not, and by doing so reduce DCS forum posts by 5% as well! (jk) Ok.... on to your main suggestion... with your more complete explanation... yea, I think the clarification changes how I interpreted your first post rather dramatically. Basically you seem to be suggesting a way for people who have excess money, to help the developers out a bit more. And that you aren't suggesting a different business model. Soooo.... ask Nick Grey to set up an Only Fans account for DCS? "ooh, see the Tomcat spread it's WINGS!!!" oh, the Tiger II without it's outer skin!! Naughty naughty HINDs showing their backsides!! Ok, all jokes aside, I don't really see much problem with affluent afficionados contributing some extra Deutchmarks to the company... but rather than a subscription, just send the company a "donation"... preferably in electronic transfer funds, (and not in glass jars). Also, while I joke about OnlyFans, a growing number of content producers are getting Patreons and SubscribeStar accounts, where really dedicated fans can donate extra and get small but nice exclusives to feed their thirst for every little scrap of content they can consume.
  3. Buuuuuuuttt... what if it's not enough dollars to keep things going? Remember, this is not "Nextflicks", where 50 million moms sign up, grandpa does too, and millions upon millions. Love of aviation is not niche... but warplanes starts to become niche. Simulations of warplanes of any generation is a tighter niche. Hardcore realism of modern fighter combat... yea that's a tiny market compared to internet juggernaughts like... well the giant subscription based sites with huge volumes of content. So what if it cost you $22 USD a month? And then exchange rates go a little crazzeee, and now the monthly pricing spikes higher? If it's tough to afford the subscription, do you go without your favorite sim? If you stuck with the current model, at least you'd still be able to play with the modules you did have, until you have more income or the exchange and monthly pricing gets reasonable again. All I'm saying is, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, and might not be happy with the actual result. The other thing is, a monthly subscription might not work for 3rd party developer teams... it would certainly complicate things for them a lot. Subscriptions aren't always cheaper in the long run. Sometimes they get expensive after not that much time. But that revenue model might not work well for simulation devs. Basically, if a module looks pricey to you, then it's expensive to be sure. But over time, you can save,and then buy, maybe on a sale. Edit: Of timely note, is that despite having global household name recognition, it seems that "NEdfliks" may be in some trouble lately, with subscriber loss to the tune of nearly a million users cancelling. I wouldn't want ED to go out like that. And if they did fold, it'd be nice if they could let it be used for decades to come, enjoy what's already been created/paid for.
  4. Well, all I can say is, this is good news: a dedicated team pushing forward, recruiting help from a superb modeler and a team with two proven hits in DCS... whatever difficulties they face with a REALLY complex system (the EF), I'm confident they will get their results in the ED store! And that's enough for me! And no, I don't wanna guess as to when release date might happen, it could still be some time away, even with the new helping hands!
  5. HH-60G Pave Hawk Walkaround Tour ErikJohnston
  6. nice... gives a nice idea of the size of the fighters.... I mean, when an F-16 looks BIG...
  7. I heard that the Vulcan gun pods also had an issue with being more vibration and thus more dispersion than compared to an internally mounted cannon. I also heard that the pod guns weren't always boresighted to the gunsight, making AA guns kills with the pods... difficult at best. This was maybe not a big deal for straffing runs, not real sure. But I wonder if it was an issue for danger-close CAS ?
  8. what's in the rectangular bit on top of the British Phantoms?? An antenna or something?
  9. Ok I'll bite: anyone have any kind of data about how many armored vehicles have been destroyed using the P's 30mm cannons ? And if such document is public, does it list what armored vehicle class/type/model were destroyed? Edit: Real life examples/data please. Where getting shot at has a deep effect on how someone flies and fights different from a "retail entertainment sim". Real world after action reports. I mean, surely if this is done in the real world a lot today, there is surely reports about successes and outcomes.
  10. Taking out GPS sats would be a goal some would consider... but it would ruin so much for so many. It's very likely that there are multiple secret ASAT weapons in various org service. And they would likely be effective at crippling some or a few of America's sats. But wiping out the majority of mil sats, in a coordinated "first strike" situation, seems unlikely to be successful. So very many things would have to go just perfectly, that Murphy's Law would wake up, look over and think "huh, whats going on here now? And how can I mess it up?
  11. Well... you could pick Mig-19 vs Sabrejets... Vs Mig-21's and -15's... maybe throw in a P-47 as a COIN type striker maybe. I mean none of those are Mirage, but the Mig-19 and -21 have some real performance, very basic "heaters" and rely on cannons. Actually, you could add in those light trainers, like the L-39 and the 339, as light strike that were used by most African nations for a long time.
  12. Ahhh... gotcha. Well that makes a lot of sense then, leave them off for when it's peacetime, training, or very low threats... but able to mount them quick for the high threat times. And somewhat quick to remove if the powertrain needs extensive maintenance, I would guess. Thank you!
  13. Such jammers would be for tactical local use, not strategic or theatre-wide use. Whether the antenna was large or tiny, the EM signal would be easily strong enough to be found and targeted, which would IMO strongly limit it's practical use even as a tiny deterent. I'd say it does more than limit it's utility in the short term, it's likely a wasted effort even for the first hour of use! This may be why we haven't heard very much about such systems since the 2000's. These days I'd think it's little more than a novelty item that some un-technical groups (say like ISIS) might suddenly do a panic-purchase... and some electronics supplier might only be too happy to oblige, knowing it won't have any effect on the battlefield, won't result in heavy pushback from the Americans, and might make some nice profits! But that's just a guess on my part.
  14. Hmm... forward airspeed... that does appear to be the case, as the Soviet era suppressors do appear to have intake vents up front... And the cowling not being able to open all the way... Now that does explain why these would not be that popular... Is it an easy quick situation to mount these? Meaning could one mount them in a morning? Run them for years without the bulky boxes, but "hey tomorrow we fly, and there will be warriors shooting at us, let's get that protective heat boxes mounted"
  15. Considering the rather high threat any kind of MANPADS are to pretty much any military helicopter, we are used to seeing such thermal supressors on Black Hawks and Apaches for a few decades now. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing either of those without it. But... although such exhaust thermal supressors do exist for the HIND and Hip... it seems not many of these actually fly with them mounted. Usually we see a great big gaping hole in the side of the heli, spewing hot gasses for every heat-seeking device out there! Now, I can't imagine such devices would be costly. And we know losing an air crew, and airframe, are both very costly in unit morale, and dollars/availability (gotta order a replacment airframe maybe 1 to 5 years in advance of needing it)... so I have to ask: just why are these helos usually seen without the suppressors??!?! My guess is, and it's really JUST a guess, is that it somehow seems to cause issues with the turbines somehow. I don't know how, just guessing. Maybe airflow for exhaust is too turbulent and causes issues with the turbine... maybe overheating, maybe surging, maybe more chance of flameout, reduced engine life. Maybe it robs the turbines of raw horsepower, limiting these helis further (esp the Hind?). Does anyone know for real? I'd have thought every Hind, every Mi-24 Mi-35, Mi-17 Mi-171 and Mighty 8 sold to any military/security customer, and even UN and NGO operators, would be seen with IR suppressors mounted... yet it seems more a rarity.
  16. Even in 2003 op Iraqi Freedom, I believe there was at least one location in Baghdad where Russian made radio signal jammers were used, units specifically designed to degrade and even eliminate a clear GPS signal. From that point on, a strong effort was started to be able to neutralise that kind of threat. These wouldn't ruin any satellites... but the GPS satellites put out a relatively weak signal, compared to some radio signals for other purposes. I'm guessing because it's all "line of sight" work. Theoretically, if you had a powerful enough jamming emitter, you might be able to overpower such a weaker signal, and cause the user GPS unit (in this case a JDAM or similar PGM) to "go blind". In reality it probably only increases the chances of an unintended weapon path that will quite possibly result in unintended civilian deaths, but such considerations aren't always at the forefront of combatant purchase decisions. Especially when such an event might be viewed as a propaganda win for the "weaker" side: "hey look those evil rich dudes in fast jets just bombed the hospital!!" or something. I never looked into what the countermeasures consisted of, but one might look to advanced military/security radio comms for some clues. Also, repeaters have likely been implemented, though I'm not real sure how they could maintain point security until after that ground has been secured... I'm also guessing that countering such jammers is likely a moderately easy task, as long as it's planned for: jammers are active by their nature. Friendly ELINT would pick up those signals, and likely be able to triangulate quite precisely. Then send the coordinates to a unit carrying Paveways, lase the GPS jammer...and it's gone! Now let the JDAMs and JSOWs fly. I don't imagine there's any kind of real world ability to jam or ruin an INS... but as I understand it, INS needs to start with an accurate starting point, and the further you go, the more turns and issues, the more the accuracy will "degrade", until it can be given a precise fix again. But if you jam for dozens of miles, at least theoretically the JDAM might not have a real good accurate starting point to give it's INS. But I don't really know. I do believe the INS was added for exactly the issue of GPS signal disruptions... not sure the very first JDAM test units had INS, I doubt they were added during the earliest "proof of concept" test drops. As for WW2 stuff, I believe Nick Grey has a fair bit of stick time in several warbirds (I believe he's flown the P-47, Spitfire, and might have time in other planes too), and has a deep love of all things military aviation, in all eras. It's not AT ALL a surprise to me that he wishes to see these warbirds replicated in intense detail. From what I gather, ED is kind of his hobby, a costly passion project. It doesn't seem to me like he's owning ED to make money, he made lots of money in some other businesses AFAIK, and he wants ED to make quality experiences for himself and everyone else with an interest, and wants ED to be financially healthy to keep going, keep expanding and bringing the awesome. At least that's what I got from his interview from... a year ago? (the Grim Reapers's Cap interviewed Nick) I mean, if he just wanted ED to make big money and not care too much about the project, they woudn't be making modules that take 2 to 5 years to complete... they'd make some insanely popular smartphone game/app like Angrybirds or Candy Crush. Clearly that's not ED or any of it's 3rd party devs either!
  17. Huh?!? Oh ok, got it! Asking if you should wait to Create the campaign and so on... NO. No, don't wait for the F1 to be released, it's not certain when it could be finished/ready. Might be next week, might be 2 years from now (probably not that far, but we don't really know). Meaning, look forward to it, keep an eye on the news... but go ahead with developing your campaign. That will be the big time consuming part at your end. Use a substitute aircraft for now... maybe the Mirage2k or something. Make your campaign. MAke the missions. Compare to historical records. Test fly, debug. Face criticism and scrutiny from other virt pilots. Play-test for realistic difficulty vs expected accomplishments Vs historical reality. Make sure the waypoints make some sort of sense. Make sure AMRAAM's aren't been used, so no one gets pissed about being SPAMRAAMed! Make sure no all-aspect heaters and so on. Add some of those new FARP designs, add in ground vehicles and objects to help elevate immersion. Once the F1 is ready, you should EASILY be able to substitute the new module into the campaign with little difficulty. For instance, Alpenwolf's "Cold War" server had no slots for the Mi-24 HIND... but the first missions got them almost right away. Within a week, it seems more than half his missions had the HIND available, and I think now most or all of them are about to have HIND missions. And the HIND early access JUST came out. I think it's just a matter of going into the mission editor and substituting aircraft type and munition loadouts, leaving the taskings, waypoints, enemy AI and all that other jazz untouched. Why? Because it'd be a shame to suddenly get this cool jet, and not have a playground, a virtualbattlefield, that is appropriate to the type, to play in! "All dressed up and nowhere to go!" With my suggestion, you might be fighting your campaign in the proper aircraft within an hour of downloading the aircraft! Or at least, right after learning the new jet's characterisitcs, mapping yur HOTAS and keyboard functions, editing the first mission for the new jet... and you are suddenly over Angola in the proper jet! The hard and time consuming part is making the missions and campaign.
  18. It's worth noting that the Israeli Air Force strike on Iraq's nuclear facility in 1981... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera ...featured F-15's as air to air escort, and F-16A's as the bombers. A precision attack, almost "commando" style, on a single critical target. No smart bombs, no precision munitions. Each F-16A dropped two dumb iron Mk.84 2000lb bombs, using only the CCIP for accurate delivery of the weapons. And it was effective! Now, read the whole page though, because it's quite interesting and has several other interesting items, like the radio deception, long range strike considerations, timing of AAA crews (I don't think that was a happy accident, it was probably known ahead of time by ground spies, and mission plan created to maximise this vulnerability) I'm not saying such a mission could be done that way today... air defense has come a VERY long way since 1981, but it's interesting just the same! SFJackBauer, I will check out that video when I have the time tomorrow, I do like his videos, but have not seen this particular one! Edit: I Just watched the Binkov video, very interesting, I was unaware that 'Murica had such a huge stockpile of PGM's these days!
  19. In those days, LGB's were almost more field testing technical experiments conducted in warzones, than true operational weapons that the Pentagon could count on to win wars. I recently read a book by Stephen Coonts (he of "Flight of the Intruder"), called "The Minotaur" published in 1989, about USN pilots testing out stealth replacements for the A-6 Intruder. Now... consider it was written in the late 1980's... in it, there is a description of the debate between precision guided munitions, Vs unguided dumb bombs... which is the better strategy? Spend a LOT on a few precision weapons, or have a LOT more dumb iron dropped from aircraft that can bring some precision themselves, and do so with some survivability using stealth tech. As I remember it, the author suggested that neither was truly a slam dunk, because numbers matter but so does precision, but precision means far fewer booms and sooner than later you run out of fancy bombs to drop, which pushes the service to revert back to dumb iron earlier than most would expect. Now, you might think "heh, who cares what some dumb fiction writer thinks?". Well... turns out he wrote "Flight of the Intruder" based partly on his own experience flying A-6's over Vietnam for two cruises on the USS Enterprise! It's not often a fiction writer has a very real Distinguished Flying Cross. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Coonts The Minotaur 1989 0-440-20742-8 Great. So now I have to track down the "Flight of Intruder" book...damnit!
  20. Baaz, it's almost like a different world. It's maybe a bit like the difference between a Ford GT-40 racecar of the 1960's... compared to driving a Tesla today. Both are at the front of auto tech for their times, they both have 4 wheels and a steering wheel... but the experience, the skills needed to make full use of that GT-40's full potential... is VASTLY different from negotiating a highway in the Tesla today (not even accounting for it's "self driving" under development!). Or maybe the difference between a B-737-700, and a DeHavilland DHC-3 Beaver... both are planes, both are at the height of their categories, but it's quite a different feel and experience! One thing I noticed is that without a datalink, the mission commander needs to formulate a much more complex mission plan, full of timings, reference points, and a very experienced and disciplined squadron, to accomplish a significant ground strike over enemy territory. Lessons learned from WW2 become just as relevant with the fast jets of the 60's and 70's, albeit with the occasional SAM or heatseeker...
  21. Sooo... I just stumbled upon a mod being developed... freeware mod I think... I posted a couple videos in this thread here:
  22. Although I love the Mosquito, I'd be cool with that ! Especially since the sooner the Corsair gets out of EA, the sooner the F-8 Crusader will get to us!!!!!!
  23. Nothing much here, just a vid showing a tiny taste of what a BUFF mod or module might be like for the start of a DCS mission: I personally did something like this, way back in 2004 (hint hint) flying a freeware addon made by... some gentleman from Japan. It flew quite well, I changed out the weight system and it flew amazingly. I still say, although I'd buy a full fidellity module, the faster/quicker way would be to do a free mod: full systems detail not possible or expected, no need to model all 4+ workstations, no need to model EVERY piece of ordnance, no need of Boeing permission that probably wouldn't be given anyway, and so on, and so on! I think also that a mod, with a huge effort and wide support of the mod community, could help to create semi-realistic versions of many/all of the variants (within reason of course), from the nuclear early days, to the "Big Belly Arclight" D's, to the standoff haul trucks of today. I even wonder if... if the mod team could make similar versions in parallel in that other sim... combine the two for a single mission... Take off in the sim that features the whole world... fly to the theatre of war... switch to the DCS BUFF, evade the SAM's, follow your escort, watch the Weasels Shrike the worst SAM traps, fly low level under radar coverage, drop yer ord, exfil the theatre... and switch to the global sim, figure out rough fuel state remaining, and do your ultra-long RTB. Should be possible, practical even with freeware mods. Is that the ideal ? Probably not, but if done, and someone makes a video showing a full mission like that, it could inspire a payware full fidelity development team to take on such a project as the BUFF !
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