jmarso

Pretty decent. Lots of good historical information on Communism, and you can also see the genesis of the deep state here in the U.S.

Here's a mediafire link to a fixed Mission 1. Try it without easy comms and see how it goes. Looks like I forgot to change the base frequency for the flight in the ME to match the radio presets and kneeboard cards. https://www.mediafire.com/file/jyprgpt8vzzalzf/BV_01_Opening_Moves.miz/file

Sounds like I need to go back and look at the frequency setup in the ME for that mission. I think it might have to do with the way I was trying to keep the player from hearing wingmen make calls in what was supposed to be an EMCON environment. You can try the other missions without easy comms but if you run into this issue again, try it with easy comms like you did here. When I have time I'll go back through the mission files and take a look.

If you don't mind, can you try it again with easy comms turned on and let me know what happens? That will help me troubleshoot.

I goofed when putting together the zipfile for upload: the documents folder has the kneeboard cards for the Hornet missions. Sorry about that; the kneeboard cards in the actual missions are correct for the Tomcat. Here's a mediafire link to a file with just the kneeboard cards for the Tomcat; it's been uploaded to the user files section as well and is pending approval. https://www.mediafire.com/file/dr6ekdxcqd57s28/Tomcat_Kneeboard_Cards.7z/file

Phase I is complete and has been uploaded to the user files section. User files links: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3343251/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3343252/ Additional Mediafire links: https://www.mediafire.com/file/1bdktpxdaqk6yn5/Battle_of_Vestfjord_Hornet.7z/file https://www.mediafire.com/file/tatrg5j15c0u2oj/Battle_of_Vestfjord_Tomcat.7z/file Each file includes the pertinent missions, and a documents folder containing kneeboard cards, a README file, a Mission Tips and Hints file, and the Livery List.

Phase I is complete and has been uploaded to the user files section. User files links: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3343251/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3343252/ Additional Mediafire links: https://www.mediafire.com/file/1bdktpxdaqk6yn5/Battle_of_Vestfjord_Hornet.7z/file https://www.mediafire.com/file/tatrg5j15c0u2oj/Battle_of_Vestfjord_Tomcat.7z/file Each file includes the pertinent missions, and a documents folder containing kneeboard cards, a README file, a Mission Tips and Hints file, and the Livery List.

Although not required for use when the mission packs are released, the following livery list contains the liveries used to recreate this fictional version of CVW-8. If you want the jets looking like they look for me (and in screenshots), here ya go. The Jolly Rogers liveries, even though they are for the A-model, should be installed for the B-model. They still work, dinna fash. Livery List for the Battle of Vestfjord F-14A VF-84 Jolly Rogers 1987 (Install in your F-14B liveries, sacrilegious as it sounds) https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3319497/ F-14A VF-84 Jolly Rogers 1986 LoViz https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313466/ VF-41 Black Aces 1999-2001 (Install in F-14A-135-GR liveries) https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313556/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313557/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313558/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313559/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313560/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313561/ E-2D weathered skin pack & PSD https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3307929/ S-3B Viking Skin Pack Version 1.6 - updated https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3334240/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3334355/ S-3B Viking lua fix for DCS Version 2.9.11.4686 https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342830/ VFA-37 Ragin Bulls CAG Alternate https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3302583/ FA-18C VMFA-314 Black Knights 2020s fictional 4K Skin Pack 1 and 2 https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342814/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342815/ Quote

Although not required for use when the mission packs are released, the following list contains the liveries used to recreate this fictional version of CVW-8. If you want the jets looking like they look for me (and in screenshots), here ya go. The Jolly Rogers liveries, even though they are for the A-model, should be installed for the B-model. They still work, dinna fash. Livery List for the Battle of Vestfjord F-14A VF-84 Jolly Rogers 1987 (Install in your F-14B liveries, sacrilegious as it sounds) https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3319497/ F-14A VF-84 Jolly Rogers 1986 LoViz (Install in your F-14B liveries, sacrilegious as it sounds) https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313466/ VF-41 Black Aces 1999-2001 (Install in F-14A-135-GR liveries) https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313556/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313557/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313558/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313559/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313560/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313561/ E-2D weathered skin pack & PSD https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3307929/ S-3B Viking Skin Pack Version 1.6 - updated https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3334240/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3334355/ S-3B Viking lua fix for DCS Version 2.9.11.4686 https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342830/ VFA-37 Ragin Bulls CAG Alternate https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3302583/ FA-18C VMFA-314 Black Knights 2020s fictional 4K Skin Pack 1 and 2 https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342814/ https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342815/

What is it? This post is to serve as an introduction and primer for an upcoming set of mission packs I’m working on. There will be two mission packs released initially, one for the DCS Hornet and the other for the Heatblur F-14 Tomcat. Both mission packs are concurrent: they take place in the same air wing at the same time and place, in a fictional 1998 WWIII scenario. Some of the missions are technically the ‘same’ mission played from two different perspectives. Launch times may differ slightly, but in each you will hear some of the radio calls from the other. In some the mission objectives are the same, and different in others. Some of the numbered missions are unrelated, like an F-14 TARPS run on one cycle while the Hornet mission involves hunting enemy naval units in the Norwegian fjords. So on and so forth. There is one mission that ‘branches’ for the Hornets: depending on the outcome, you will play one of three missions as the next one. Of course, since these are mission packs and not campaigns, you can still play all the missions at any time, in any order you want. So the two ‘branching option’ missions that don’t apply can be considered bonus missions on any given playthrough. The two mission packs (one each for the Tomcat and Hornet) comprise ‘Phase I’ and are collectively named ‘The Battle of Vestfjord’. This is a Leyte Gulf style, large scale naval battle that takes place over about four days. It is heavy on air-to-air and anti-ship, blue-water naval combat operations. There is a LOT going on in the background of these missions, and the briefs are designed to immerse you in an even broader sense of a struggle for control over the GIUK gap and the north Atlantic. Weather is a factor in some missions, even the enemy itself in one of them. Phase I is almost complete and should be released sometime mid-to late February, or early March at the latest. The files will be in the user files section and I’ll have a mediafire link available as well when the time comes. All the missions are designed to be playable by the ‘casual’ player. I would characterize them as semi-realistic, not ‘ultra’ realistic. The units, liveries, etc do not necessarily conform to true historical norms, because this is an ‘alternate reality’ 1998 anyway, and in DCS ‘you use what you got.’ (More American and Soviet naval units, please!) Getting the highly prized ‘Mission Complete’ graphic and sound clip will require you to trap on the carrier. For missions at night and in bad weather, proficiency with the ICLS / ACLS systems and procedures is a must, but if you can’t do these things, you can still play the missions. Since it is not a campaign, you advance when you choose the next mission to play. All missions start hot either on the catapult, or in rare cases hot on the flight deck. You don’t have to start the engines each time, run those checklists, and wait for INS alignments, etc. It also eradicates 99% of the frustrating game-breakers that pop up every update with the deck crew on the supercarrier. If you are judicious with your fuel, AAR is not required, but is available for almost every mission for those who like to do it. My mission design philosophy revolves around finding the right mix between scripted events and player agency. I want the player in control of their destiny, not a participant in an interactive movie with a pre-determined outcome. As such, many of the missions are somewhat ‘open ended’ in terms of success and failure. As long as you make it back to the Boat (in most circumstances), it’s ‘Mission Complete’ and you can self-evaluate how you did. The missions all include custom briefing images, kneeboard cards, and AI-generated custom voice communications using a paid version of Naturalreaders TTS. I don’t like it as much as Speechify but it allows for a monthly rather than yearly subscription, and the product is workable at least. TTS files are then washed through Audacity to ‘radiofy’ them and convert them to .ogg files the game can use. The missions are set up so that even if you ignore the radios completely you will still hear most of what you need to hear to complete a mission. Again, it is all designed with the casual player in mind. There are still lots of opportunities to make calls using the F10 function (mostly for flavor and immersion) which prompt more custom communications, and in the Tomcat missions there is always some fun (and often humorous) banter back and forth between you and Jester. In addition, Jester is programmed to do some tasks for you when he should without needing to be prompted through the menu. At other times, you’ll need to ask for what you want. Right now, the list of missions for Phase I looks like this: For the Tomcat: BV 01 Opening Moves: Fleet defense scenario against a mass bomber raid backed by enemy fighter cover. BV 02 Sink the Moskva: Defeat land-based enemy air cover over a large-scale surface engagement. BV 03 Hide and Seek: Hunt the Bears that are hunting your battle group. BV 04 Action off Andoya: Air to air scrap during the mother of all surface battles. BV 05 Destroy the Mainstay: A high speed, high octane run at the well defended A-50 dogging your force. BV 06 Northern TARPS Run: Conduct a reconnaissance flight over two northern, enemy held airfields. For the Hornet: BVH 01 Opening Moves: Ready Launch to aid in fleet defense scenario against mass bomber raid. BVH 02 Sink the Moskva: Conduct a coordinated saturation missile attack on an enemy surface group BVH 03 Hide and Seek: Search for a second enemy force while the CVBG is under EMCON, and the Hawkeyes are down. BVH 04 Action off Andoya Participate in the largest naval battle since Leyte Gulf. Sink the Kirov if you can! BVH 05 Sinking Cripples Conduct mop-up ASUW strike against surviving enemy surface ships. BVH 05a (Branch 1) “Finish the Job” The Kirov is damaged but still afloat. Provide TARCAP while we remedy that. 05b (Branch 2) “Securing the Flank” Close Andoya air base ahead of schedule after a clean sweep at sea. BVH 06 Night Hunt Night hunt of smaller enemy surface units hiding in the fjords As of now all but the last two missions in each pack are completed, with only final polishing needed to prep them for release. Mission 6 for both platforms are still under construction. Modules required: DCS F-18 (for the Hornet missions) Heatblur F-14 (for the Tomcat missions) Supercarrier Kola Map User File Modules required: Military Aircraft Mod (for some of the missions) Phase II When I eventually get there, this will involve a USMC / NATO counter-invasion of Bodo and the retaking of northern Norway. That’s when the missions begin utilizing the Bombcat role for the Turkey, and the Hornet drivers will get their fill of close air support. In the background info (see next post), I’ve also hinted that this entire scenario could be a pre-cursor to a DCS recreation of the campaign in Janes F/A-18, although someone else is probably going to have to tackle that. ;) There is also the potential here for other mission creators to take up the overarching theme of this story either in the Kola or other theaters. And now for the best part: It’s all Freeware, baby! None of this naval warfare goodness will cost you a dime, provided you already own the required modules. It’s all for the love of the hobby. If you fly both the Hornet and the Tomcat, you are in for a real treat. Flashpoint 1998 . . . In Russia, instability and economic distress have plagued the administration of Boris Yeltsin. Following the devaluation of the ruble and other economic downturns, residual communist hardliners have banded together with the military and carried out a military coup. Proclaiming the triumphant return of the Soviet State, the “New Soviet Union” almost immediately embarked on a campaign of aggression to restore former Soviet boundaries. Most notably, there were military incursions into the Baltic States, restoring them to New Soviet control almost without firing a shot. Emboldened by their success, they moved on to a swift invasion of Poland, attempting to seize the country before it could formally become a member of NATO. However, Poland had already signed the Accession Protocol for Poland to the North Atlantic Treaty, and given the suddenness of this aggression by the New Soviets, NATO decided to respond. Eager to seize early control of the North Atlantic and stem the flow of materiel from America to Europe, the New Soviets launched a devastating conventional missile strike on Keflavik, Iceland, rendering it temporarily inert. At the same time, NewSov forces mounted a rapid, Inchon-style amphibious and airborne invasion of Bodo, cutting off northern Norway from succor as additional NewSov forces invaded across the northern end of the Kola Peninsula. Under the blitz of the NewSov assault, Norwegian forces in the north of the country were overwhelmed and neutralized early, giving the New Soviets additional airbases from which to stage fighters, bombers, and maritime patrol aircraft. SOSUS nets were cut, and the North Atlantic thrown open to New Soviet submarine forces. The USS Kennedy carrier strike group in the Mediterranean fell under attack from mass Soviet bomber raids, and was destroyed. The USS John C. Stennis carrier strike group, transiting the Atlantic, almost suffered the same fate. Her group fared better, surviving the raids with major damage, and was forced to return to the east coast of the U.S. for extensive repairs, effectively knocked out of the war. Although defeated quickly, the Norwegians were able to get their licks in early. In concert with northern-deployed U.S. and British attack submarines, a large conventional cruise missile attack managed to catch and destroy most of the northern-deployed New Soviet bomber force on the ground, significantly reducing the threat to Atlantic-deployed naval forces. With one carrier sunk and another out of action, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battle group with Carrier Air Wing EIGHT has ventured into Arctic waters. Their objective is to break the New Soviet hold on Vestfjord and institute a ‘reverse blockade’, to aid the beleaguered Norwegians in pushing the enemy back out of their territory and re-instituting maritime superiority in the GIUK gap. Politically, the resurgent New Soviets are not without their own opposition at home. Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia have quickly banded together with native Russian elements who want democratic government restored. The news outlets have taken to calling them the ‘Blue Russians’, and the New Soviets the ‘Red Russians.’ However, for the time being, the New Soviets have firm control over the country and its military assets, and are waging a full scale military assault. NATO, in the meantime, has gone to DEFCON 3 and issued a statement that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in this conflict. The New Soviets have made the same assertion, but tensions are incredibly high as worldwide war is waged on the conventional front.

What is it? This post is to serve as an introduction and primer for an upcoming set of mission packs I’m working on. There will be two mission packs released initially, one for the DCS Hornet and the other for the Heatblur F-14 Tomcat. Both mission packs are concurrent: they take place in the same air wing at the same time and place, in a fictional 1998 WWIII scenario. Some of the missions are technically the ‘same’ mission played from two different perspectives. Launch times may differ slightly, but in each you will hear some of the radio calls from the other. In some the mission objectives are the same, and different in others. Some of the numbered missions are unrelated, like an F-14 TARPS run on one cycle while the Hornet mission involves hunting enemy naval units in the Norwegian fjords. So on and so forth. There is one mission that ‘branches’ for the Hornets: depending on the outcome, you will play one of three missions as the next one. Of course, since these are mission packs and not campaigns, you can still play all the missions at any time, in any order you want. So the two ‘branching option’ missions that don’t apply can be considered bonus missions on any given playthrough. The two mission packs (one each for the Tomcat and Hornet) comprise ‘Phase I’ and are collectively named ‘The Battle of Vestfjord’. This is a Leyte Gulf style, large scale naval battle that takes place over about four days. It is heavy on air-to-air and anti-ship, blue-water naval combat operations. There is a LOT going on in the background of these missions, and the briefs are designed to immerse you in an even broader sense of a struggle for control over the GIUK gap and the north Atlantic. Weather is a factor in some missions, even the enemy itself in one of them. Phase I is almost complete and should be released sometime mid-to late February, or early March at the latest. The files will be in the user files section and I’ll have a mediafire link available as well when the time comes. All the missions are designed to be playable by the ‘casual’ player. I would characterize them as semi-realistic, not ‘ultra’ realistic. The units, liveries, etc do not necessarily conform to true historical norms, because this is an ‘alternate reality’ 1998 anyway, and in DCS ‘you use what you got.’ (More American and Soviet naval units, please!) Getting the highly prized ‘Mission Complete’ graphic and sound clip will require you to trap on the carrier. For missions at night and in bad weather, proficiency with the ICLS / ACLS systems and procedures is a must, but if you can’t do these things, you can still play the missions. Since it is not a campaign, you advance when you choose the next mission to play. All missions start hot either on the catapult, or in rare cases hot on the flight deck. You don’t have to start the engines each time, run those checklists, and wait for INS alignments, etc. It also eradicates 99% of the frustrating game-breakers that pop up every update with the deck crew on the supercarrier. If you are judicious with your fuel, AAR is not required, but is available for almost every mission for those who like to do it. My mission design philosophy revolves around finding the right mix between scripted events and player agency. I want the player in control of their destiny, not a participant in an interactive movie with a pre-determined outcome. As such, many of the missions are somewhat ‘open ended’ in terms of success and failure. As long as you make it back to the Boat (in most circumstances), it’s ‘Mission Complete’ and you can self-evaluate how you did. The missions all include custom briefing images, kneeboard cards, and AI-generated custom voice communications using a paid version of Naturalreaders TTS. I don’t like it as much as Speechify but it allows for a monthly rather than yearly subscription, and the product is workable at least. TTS files are then washed through Audacity to ‘radiofy’ them and convert them to .ogg files the game can use. The missions are set up so that even if you ignore the radios completely you will still hear most of what you need to hear to complete a mission. Again, it is all designed with the casual player in mind. There are still lots of opportunities to make calls using the F10 function (mostly for flavor and immersion) which prompt more custom communications, and in the Tomcat missions there is always some fun (and often humorous) banter back and forth between you and Jester. In addition, Jester is programmed to do some tasks for you when he should without needing to be prompted through the menu. At other times, you’ll need to ask for what you want. Right now, the list of missions for Phase I looks like this: For the Tomcat: BV 01 Opening Moves: Fleet defense scenario against a mass bomber raid backed by enemy fighter cover. BV 02 Sink the Moskva: Defeat land-based enemy air cover over a large-scale surface engagement. BV 03 Hide and Seek: Hunt the Bears that are hunting your battle group. BV 04 Action off Andoya: Air to air scrap during the mother of all surface battles. BV 05 Destroy the Mainstay: A high speed, high octane run at the well defended A-50 dogging your force. BV 06 Northern TARPS Run: Conduct a reconnaissance flight over two northern, enemy held airfields. For the Hornet: BVH 01 Opening Moves: Ready Launch to aid in fleet defense scenario against mass bomber raid. BVH 02 Sink the Moskva: Conduct a coordinated saturation missile attack on an enemy surface group BVH 03 Hide and Seek: Search for a second enemy force while the CVBG is under EMCON, and the Hawkeyes are down. BVH 04 Action off Andoya Participate in the largest naval battle since Leyte Gulf. Sink the Kirov if you can! BVH 05 Sinking Cripples Conduct mop-up ASUW strike against surviving enemy surface ships. BVH 05a (Branch 1) “Finish the Job” The Kirov is damaged but still afloat. Provide TARCAP while we remedy that. 05b (Branch 2) “Securing the Flank” Close Andoya air base ahead of schedule after a clean sweep at sea. BVH 06 Night Hunt Night hunt of smaller enemy surface units hiding in the fjords As of now all but the last two missions in each pack are completed, with only final polishing needed to prep them for release. Mission 6 for both platforms are still under construction. Modules required: DCS F-18 (for the Hornet missions) Heatblur F-14 (for the Tomcat missions) Supercarrier Kola Map User File Modules required: Military Aircraft Mod (for some of the missions) Phase II When I eventually get there, this will involve a USMC / NATO counter-invasion of Bodo and the retaking of northern Norway. That’s when the missions begin utilizing the Bombcat role for the Turkey, and the Hornet drivers will get their fill of close air support. In the background info (see next post), I’ve also hinted that this entire scenario could be a pre-cursor to a DCS recreation of the campaign in Janes F/A-18, although someone else is probably going to have to tackle that. There is also the potential here for other mission creators to take up the overarching theme of this story either in the Kola or other theaters. And now for the best part: It’s all Freeware, baby! None of this naval warfare goodness will cost you a dime, provided you already own the required modules. It’s all for the love of the hobby. If you fly both the Hornet and the Tomcat, you are in for a real treat. Flashpoint 1998 . . . In Russia, instability and economic distress have plagued the administration of Boris Yeltsin. Following the devaluation of the ruble and other economic downturns, residual communist hardliners have banded together with the military and carried out a military coup. Proclaiming the triumphant return of the Soviet State, the “New Soviet Union” almost immediately embarked on a campaign of aggression to restore former Soviet boundaries. Most notably, there were military incursions into the Baltic States, restoring them to New Soviet control almost without firing a shot. Emboldened by their success, they moved on to a swift invasion of Poland, attempting to seize the country before it could formally become a member of NATO. However, Poland had already signed the Accession Protocol for Poland to the North Atlantic Treaty, and given the suddenness of this aggression by the New Soviets, NATO decided to respond. Eager to seize early control of the North Atlantic and stem the flow of materiel from America to Europe, the New Soviets launched a devastating conventional missile strike on Keflavik, Iceland, rendering it temporarily inert. At the same time, NewSov forces mounted a rapid, Inchon-style amphibious and airborne invasion of Bodo, cutting off northern Norway from succor as additional NewSov forces invaded across the northern end of the Kola Peninsula. Under the blitz of the NewSov assault, Norwegian forces in the north of the country were overwhelmed and neutralized early, giving the New Soviets additional airbases from which to stage fighters, bombers, and maritime patrol aircraft. SOSUS nets were cut, and the North Atlantic thrown open to New Soviet submarine forces. The USS Kennedy carrier strike group in the Mediterranean fell under attack from mass Soviet bomber raids, and was destroyed. The USS John C. Stennis carrier strike group, transiting the Atlantic, almost suffered the same fate. Her group fared better, surviving the raids with major damage, and was forced to return to the east coast of the U.S. for extensive repairs, effectively knocked out of the war. Although defeated quickly, the Norwegians were able to get their licks in early. In concert with northern-deployed U.S. and British attack submarines, a large conventional cruise missile attack managed to catch and destroy most of the northern-deployed New Soviet bomber force on the ground, significantly reducing the threat to Atlantic-deployed naval forces. With one carrier sunk and another out of action, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battle group with Carrier Air Wing EIGHT has ventured into Arctic waters. Their objective is to break the New Soviet hold on Vestfjord and institute a ‘reverse blockade’, to aid the beleaguered Norwegians in pushing the enemy back out of their territory and re-instituting maritime superiority in the GIUK gap. Politically, the resurgent New Soviets are not without their own opposition at home. Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia have quickly banded together with native Russian elements who want democratic government restored. The news outlets have taken to calling them the ‘Blue Russians’, and the New Soviets the ‘Red Russians.’ However, for the time being, the New Soviets have firm control over the country and its military assets, and are waging a full scale military assault. NATO, in the meantime, has gone to DEFCON 3 and issued a statement that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in this conflict. The New Soviets have made the same assertion, but tensions are incredibly high as worldwide war is waged on the conventional front.

Lifesaver! Thanks!

I didn't set anything up for a campaign in terms of scoring, etc, and honestly I know very little about campaign building. Mostly with my mission packs, you get a 'Mission Complete' message of some kind when you trap, and a rare "Mission Failed" if something really bad happens, like the carrier gets hit or something like that. The missions are designed more for self-evaluation, because they aren't too heavily scripted. Also, because I release them as individual missions instead of campaigns, you don't have to complete one to move on to the next. You can pick and choose the ones you want to play, or play them in any order, etc. Yeah, these were made well before that. You could change the carrier in the ME, I guess, but they all start hot on the cat anyway.

+1. This is especially important on the Kola map. When you get that far north, the variations between true and mag can get significant locally.

I've made content for a lot of games and never charged a penny for it- labor of love for me. Especially with DCS though, the way updates break things I would feel obligated to 'keep up' with it all if I was charging money for missions. When it's freeware, nobody loses anything they paid for if a game update breaks a mission pack and I'm out of the DCS loop for several months, which happens. I'm currently working on a paired set of missions for both the Hornet and the Tomcat on the Kola map. It's a single storyline: The Battle of Vestfjord. So far I've got three Hornet missions done and am working on the third Tomcat mission. I'll be posting about this separately when the project is ready for release. Some of the missions run concurrently (you play the same mission from two different perspectives), and some will be unique to the platform. Lots of air to air and naval warfare in the early phase, and it'll eventually move to a ground strike phase once the New Soviet (this happens in an alternate 1998) naval blockade is broken. The good news is that it will be two complete mission packs, one for the Hornet drivers, and one for the Tomcat drivers. Fly Navy! Keep your eyes peeled!

Yeah, the deck crew mod should be in the user files section. Not every mission has it as a requirement, though (I don't think), so if you can't grab it, you should be able to play the ones that don't use it. As stated in the OP, the mission pack itself can't go to the user file section due to profanity in some of the voice files.

Yes, it does require SC.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hqmbef1c17exb00/The_Two_Week_War_Version_2.7z/file This is an upgrade of a mission pack for the F-14 I released several years back when I was first learning the mission editor. This time around the missions include custom images, kneeboard cards, voice files, more realistic procedures, better briefings, and other little bells and whistles I didn't know how to do back when. (One example is Jester targeting the lantirn pod for you in a couple scenarios) The missions are available in a single zip file from the link up top, but not in the user files section because they don't comply with the prohibitions on profanity. (There is some salty language here and there). The custom voice files are AI generated, created using a paid version of speechify, which I then ran through audacity to 'radio-ize' them before converting them to .ogg files the game can use. The sound engineering involved was approximately one third to one half the effort in the creation of each mission. Sadly, I don't have a stable of folks on hand to do voice acting for me. After playing several paid campaigns which are heavily scripted, I've been seeking to find a balance between scripted events and player agency, as in letting the player determine his own fate rather than trying to railroad a specific outcome. A lot of time and effort went into these missions, so it seemed like a waste of effort not to release them to the community to try out. This pack was originally going to be 15 missions, but I stopped at 14. All missions are hot starts on the cat or the ramp. I know some people can't stand not doing the startup and checklists every. freakin. time. I am not one of those people. I fly for a living, so I don' relish the 'grind' of doing checklists on the ground. Most of the missions aren't too long, and AAR is available but not required. Perhaps not the most realistic scenarios, but they are fun to play. Sometimes a game needs to be a game. These missions are freeware. Others are welcome to modify them as they please, turn them into multiplayer missions or cold starts, whatever. Using them to make money is prohibited. If you release altered versions of them, please credit me as the original mission creator. Also, feedback in this thread is highly valued if you try them out. To install, place the mission files in your Saved Games DCS missions folder. Happy flying! Below is the original description from the original version of the missions: This is a pack of 14 single player missions for the F-14B Tomcat, set in the Persian Gulf in February of 2005, depicting a brief fictional conflict with Iran. Given the available units in DCS, the makeup of the various naval groups and the air wing is also entirely fictional, with no correlation to ships and squadrons actively deployed to the Gulf during that real-life timeframe. The missions commence as the CSG is preparing to transit the Strait of Hormuz and begin a regular deployment. The first six missions are relatively uneventful, and useful as training scenarios. Starting around Mission 7 is where the shooting really begins. The player will experience A/A and A/G combat, along with day and night CV operations, along with a couple of opportunities to relish the scenery on the PG map. The action starts off light, then builds in intensity.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hqmbef1c17exb00/The_Two_Week_War_Version_2.7z/file This is an upgrade of a mission pack for the F-14 I released several years back when I was first learning the mission editor. This time around the missions include custom images, kneeboard cards, voice files, more realistic procedures, better briefings, and other little bells and whistles I didn't know how to do back when. (One example is Jester targeting the lantirn pod for you in a couple scenarios) The missions are available in a single zip file from the link up top, but not in the user files section because they don't comply with the prohibitions on profanity. (There is some salty language here and there). The custom voice files are AI generated, created using a paid version of speechify, which I then ran through audacity to 'radio-ize' them before converting them to .ogg files the game can use. The sound engineering involved was approximately one third to one half the effort in the creation of each mission. Sadly, I don't have a stable of folks on hand to do voice acting for me. After playing several paid campaigns which are heavily scripted, I've been seeking to find a balance between scripted events and player agency, as in letting the player determine his own fate rather than trying to railroad a specific outcome. A lot of time and effort went into these missions, so it seemed like a waste of effort not to release them to the community to try out. This pack was originally going to be 15 missions, but I stopped at 14. All missions are hot starts on the cat or the ramp. I know some people can't stand not doing the startup and checklists every. freakin. time. I am not one of those people. I fly for a living, so I don' relish the 'grind' of doing checklists on the ground. Most of the missions aren't too long, and AAR is available but not required. Perhaps not the most realistic scenarios, but they are fun to play. Sometimes a game needs to be a game. These missions are freeware. Others are welcome to modify them as they please, turn them into multiplayer missions or cold starts, whatever. Using them to make money is prohibited. If you release altered versions of them, please credit me as the original mission creator. Also, feedback in this thread is highly valued if you try them out. To install, place the mission files in your Saved Games DCS missions folder. Happy flying! Below is the original description from the original version of the missions: This is a pack of 14 single player missions for the F-14B Tomcat, set in the Persian Gulf in February of 2005, depicting a brief fictional conflict with Iran. Given the available units in DCS, the makeup of the various naval groups and the air wing is also entirely fictional, with no correlation to ships and squadrons actively deployed to the Gulf during that real-life timeframe. The missions commence as the CSG is preparing to transit the Strait of Hormuz and begin a regular deployment. The first six missions are relatively uneventful, and useful as training scenarios. Starting around Mission 7 is where the shooting really begins. The player will experience A/A and A/G combat, along with day and night CV operations, along with a couple of opportunities to relish the scenery on the PG map. The action starts off light, then builds in intensity.

The new download link doesn't look like it includes the Prowler. Is this mod still downloadable anywhere? Thanks

Cool, thanks! I'll give it a whirl.

Anyone have a quick and easy 'how to' on how this is done? I'm talking about stuff like putting up a graphical 'mission complete' banner at the end of a mission, where a graphic superimposes over the game screen for a few seconds and then goes away. Thanks

Feel free to post my review as you like.

Finished the campaign and enjoyed it; found a few elements of it frustrating. I wound up having to skip M14- I never could get the long or short version to work right, and the last two times I tried it the game just freeze-crashed mid playthrough. I did not experience that on any of the other missions. I play all these campaigns the way the material says I should: open beta, no mods, no voice attack, no easy comms, etc. The realism is certainly there- maybe too much for the casual gamer. I'm a former navy P-3 pilot so the tacair stuff and the F-18 I have to learn like everyone else, although I understand 'the lingo' (navyspeak and brevity codes, etc), and the basics like flying around on black nights on instruments and getting set up behind the boat is no trouble. There were about three missions here (the big deck strikes with the TOTs) where I felt like a 200 knot mind in a 400 knot jet, barely hanging on by the trailing edge of the flaps trying to keep up with everything. Of course, I'm notorious for accelerating time through the slow portions of the missions so part of that is self-induced. Plus, I'm a gray eagle and I'm a little slower all around these days. I managed to complete each mission with a passing score on the first try, except for one where I was shot down by a SAM. (M14, which I never did finish) The problem with all these campaigns overall is the three-way struggle between scripting, AI behavior, and ED updates to DCS. You can fly a mission the same way a dozen times, and sometimes triggers fire the way they are supposed to, and sometimes they just don't. Then an update comes along and borks up everything . . . it's always a gamble to fire up a campaign after an update and devote an hour or two to a single mission from a cold start, not knowing if something is going to just not work over an hour into it. Ultimately, I realize there is only so much BD or any other mission designer can do about this, and I'm consistently amazed at what he and his team are able to pull off, so kudos to them for keeping it all afloat in a tough environment. I do a fair amount of mission editing and I understand some of the frustrations involved. I also get the feeling that some of the things people people report as 'bugs' or 'problems' are in fact self-induced mistakes made in-game when they aren't familiar with the sensor or weapons system they are employing- ask me how I know. I give this campaign a fairly high rating. In the end, the bang for the buck (hours of entertainment per dollar spent) is definitely there. I've enjoyed all BD's campaigns that I've played, and right now I think Arctic Thunder is at the top of the list, followed by this one and then the original Raven One. I do think RO is easier than this one, though. I'll eventually go back and take another crack at M14, but for now I've lost patience with it.