SpaceMonkey037

I think the problem with integrating mark point into dcs is that SPI isn't applied in-game like it is IRL, this causes complications. Btw, mark paoints are steerpoints 26-30 <-- and this is the second problem with integrating markpoints. Right now the steerpoint system is really simple. Every steerpoint works like a NAV steerpoint (very simple version of NAV steerpoints that is). IRL it's only steerpoints 1-25 who are NAV route steerpoints, while in game all 127 steerpoints are NAV route steerpoints. For markpoints to be integrated correctly it would require an improvement in the steerpoint system. You might ask "Why does it require an improvement in the steerpoint system? Just make it possible to "quick add" steerpoints using the mark feature.", and the answer to that is that mark points don't function like normal NAV route steerpoints. The only actual difference is the way the function on the HSD, they show up as X instead of the usual NAV route steerpoints O. They also don't have NAV routes connecting them. For "quick add" to be possible without an improved steerpoint system means that steerpoints 26-30 will function completely different to the rest, and this would be very strange. My take on this is that you either fix the entire steerpoint system, or you leave it as is. You can't mix mach things as that would create more problems than solutions because of the incorrect base model for the steerpoint system. The next step in the steerpoint system requires the integration of DTC as most of the settings are only programable through the DTC. This would then mean that realistically we probably won't see markpoints being introduced until we have DTC implemented and an improved steerpoint system to go with it. (this will take a long time) Lastly, IRL mark points arent used as much as you might think. You can't simply mark random tanks on the ground and start bombing, as this would have a very high chance of friendly fire. For that reason you really do not want to fire upon something you've don't have confirmed coordinates for. Mark points main use from what I've understood is to serve as a way to save a SPI slew as a steerpoint (like you say). Mark points definetly are a needed feature, but it will most likely require a lot of other improvement to be a good additoin. The steerpoint system beign so bare bones is one of my biggest issues in the sim currently. And I hope ED gets around to improving the system.

Could you explain further so we get a better understanding about what it is you're actually trying to say?

This is correct behaviour. The LOCK voice message is heard during ground test, but is not operable in flight.

IRL all datalink information regarding flight members can be changed in the cockpit through the datalink DED page. In-game currenlty this page does not funtion correctly and it is only possible to mess your datalink up using this screen, you cannot add flight memebers.

Can you explain a bit further? What cautions lights illuminate?

Sorry for the late answer. The Markpoints aren't a big deal IRL as you would almost always have coordinates for the target location. Not having coordinates would introduce a big risk of friendly fire. Link16 is very bare bones I agree. CRUS is only really necessary for really long missions, you can use thumb rules just as well which will get you similar results. VIP/VRP are weapon delivery modes which are meant for a time where GPS wasn't available/less reliable. Chances are you would never use the modes IRL. The HSD isn't all that big of an issue itself, the problem is that we don't have most of the system the HSD work off of. But yes, HSD functionality would be a big improvement, but would also take a lot of time to develop. The HTS pod I don't have a saying in as I'm not a fan of SEAD/DEAD operations. Cursor bullseye would be nice, but like I previously said, people have been flying without that information for years prior to having an HSD cursor. Using similar techniques as those pilots used is the way to work around the issue. Having cursor bullseye position would be very nice, not get me wrong, but it's not going to make or break the module.

nono, that's not how you're supposed to do it. When climbing/cruising you always want to be in MIL power. You climb with mil and gradually level off to keep the speed at 0.82, after a good 10-20 minutes of this you will be level on your cruising alt.

With drag index 100 and 150 (2 tanks and missiles/bomb usually fit that description). The block 50 F-16 has best cruising/climbing performance when you're flying at 400 knots / mach 0.82 which ever is higher in MIL power. For the heavier you are the faster you need to go, and wise versa. But usually we're flying with drag index 100/150 so this is really the only thumb rule you need to remember. 400 usually is a good speed no matter the drag index and it isn't all that important, what really matters is your mach. For drag index 0 and 50 (only missiles or clean) you have a speed of 0.9 Drag index 100 = mach 0.85 Drag index 150 and 200 = mach 0.82 For that reason you can't really go wrong with 0.82, but usually somewhere between 0.85 and 0.82 is a good speed to be at with standard loadouts. Safe flights!

My guess is that they will wait until they have proper bullseye logic down

All of those things can be done through the UFC in the cockpit. What I'm talking about are things that you cannot do in the cockpit. To clarify what I meant with my list. NAV Routes: Steerpoints 1-25 are NAV route steerpoints. These are the only steerpoints that will show up on the HSD as small circles when not selected. Between the steerpoints you have connecting lines (not assosiated with geographic lines). You have 3 NAV routes, and each route is a connected of steerpoints. The spesific steerpoints chosen for each NAV route is done via the DTC, and only the DTC. For example, you can have only steerpoints 1-5 in NAV route 1, and then 10-12 in NAV route 2. These would then show up on the HSD with induvidual connecting lines not connected togheter. I am not sure about this, but I would definetly not be suprised if it is possibl to make NAV route 1 be steerpoint 1,5 and 10. And having NAV route 2 be steerpoint 2,6 and 9 for example. This would then be programmed through the DTC. Geographic Lines: steerpoints 31-55 are Geographic Line steerpoints. These are identical to the NAV route steerpoints, with the only exception being that they don't show up as small circles when not selected. These steerpoints only have the connecting lines between them, hence why they are called "geographic Lines". Because these are identical to NAV routes in every other way, they also have 3 sets of steerpoints which make out 3 differnet lines. Preplanned Threats: Preplanned threats are steerpoints with the big circles often with a SAM site in them. SA10 for example. The name and the radius of this circle would be programmable via the DTC for each steerpoint. This neither is possible to do from the missoin editor/missoin planner we have in DCS atm from what I know. Hope this made the reason for why DTC can't be integrated with F10 or the mission editor as these don't have the required features.

Might be noteworthy to add that all continuesly calucalted modes have their flaws. It's really important to limit manuevering close to drop as the update rate isn't perfect, meaning that if you suddenly pull up the computer might miss the drop window and the bomb can hit far, and wise versa for pulling down. For that reason make sure to not do any sudden manouevers right before weapon release.

No, the mission editor or the F10 map are not sufficient to act as DTC programming equipment. The first itteration of the DTC would, like in real life, be a simple menu where you manually input steerpoint coordinates and other informaiton. The reason why the DTC is so important for the F-16 is not because it "saves" time when starting up, it's because many of the F-16's features rely on the DTC for spesifc data to be inputted that cannot be inputted in the cockpit. Examples of this are: NAV Routes Geographic Lines Preplanned Threats The mission editor currently cannot do this. For that reason the easiest way to integrate the DTC system to the F-16 is by having a menu where you type in the coordinates for steerpoint, what steerpoints make up the different NAV routes and Lines etc. This is just like how DTC originally worked and is also a perfectly valid way of inputting DTC data IRL today. Later on we would see advanced mission planning systems similar to CombatFlite that allows you to edit all of these advanced DTC features.

One work around for this would be to go DED DATA switch - PFL, this will remove the bank indicator when the PFLD is inactive, something it will always be because it isn't modelled yet. Hope that helps, safe flights!

Don't bother with paring brake, put on chocks before you do anything else. Really stupid that DCS doesn't spawn the F-16 with chocks as this is common practice IRL.

What specifically are you referring to? Are you talking about the uncage button's function to declutter the HUD in landing mode?

The switch definetly has function. For example if you put it to parking brake the wheel brakes acitvate. In ANTI-SKID switch - OFF the brakes still have some anti-skid capability. The brakes will pulse, allowing the wheels to turn, then brake, turn, then brake etc.. I haven't done any testing myself, but this could actually be what you're seeing, whether the switch is fully implemented I do not know, but it definetly sounds like improvments!

You don't need FCR bullseye, older planes like the F-5 doesn't have that for example. Use BRAA calls instead of bullseye callouts for enemy positions. MARK isn't necessary unless you don't have target coordinates, and if you don't you probably shouldn't be targeting those targets because of a high chance of friendly fire. Only exception being smoke on the targets. I don't think MARK is a big necessity in DCS, as it isn't IRL.

I totally agree with you on the fact that it's easy to find systems that aren't developed, my problem is that you assume that all systems are important for the avarage player, they're not. DED pages: CRUS: CRUS is useful for cruising at specific altitudes, but by using the 400/0.82 cruise/climb thumb rule you get a very similar fuel to nm ratio, more than enough for dcs players. MARK: MARK is useful for marking things that were unexpectedly encountered. Usually you would never actually use this to target things as A-G requires a lot of planning, and you would usually never target anything without coordinates for that target. Same goes for CAS. So IRL MARK isn't used too often. This function doesn't have much use in dcs right now if you'd ask me, mainly people who have done no planning for their mission would benefit from this function. FIX: Fix is used to correct INS drift by calibrating your INS to a known position. In dcs this would be next to useless because we don't have INS drift, and once we get INS drift, our GPS will correct this drift if the GPS is on and INS FILTER MODE is in NORM. This function is useless in dcs right now. ACAL: ACAL - altitude calibration calibrates the aircrafts system altitude to improve gps guided A-G weapon accuracy. Until we get proper INS drift this will not be a problem in dcs and so this function is mostly useless. DEST: The DEST page allows the pilot to view, and change steerpoint without changing the selected steerpoint. This funtion is quality of life more than anything else, and is far from an important page to have asap. VIP/VRP: VIP and VRP are used with VIP and VRP sighting modes respecively, both modes combine a fix for SPI with usual delivery modes to increase weapon accuracy. This mode is only useful if you have INS drift, so this mode would be useless in dcs atm. CORR: CORR allows the pilot to calibrate the HMCS head position. This function only adds to realism, and would not aid in functionality of the aircraft. MAGV: The MAGV page allows for the magnetic variation to be manually entered instead of being automatic, and if you're in automatic MAGV mode you will be able to see the variation which is automatically inputted. This will not add much in terms of functionality to our F-16. OFP: The OFP DED page gives you information about OFP (operational flight program) IDs. this would be next to useless in dcs. INSM: The INSM (INS Memory) page gives you infromation about INS drift. This is information you would look at when shutting down to view the INS's quality. GPS: The GPS page gives you GPS information like current coordiantes, ground speed, time and date etc. This information can be found other places as well and so this is quality of life more than anything else, plus I dubt most DCS players would even want to know this information. BULL: Allows the pilot to select which steerpoint to be used as bullseye. For MFD pages it is mostly the same, where most of the functions would be completley useless to the avarage dcs player as you can see. Just saying "a lot of things are missing" isn't going to cut it because most of the things that are missing are also mostly useless to dcs players.

Like I said if you really go into the deeps of it you will find that learning the aircraft takes so long that by the time you run into anything that's not developed it will already have been fixed. This is what I've been doing and I don't have any major problem at all. You can fly the aircraft in a very realistic fashion right now if you put in the effort.

What "placeholder-menus" are you annoyed about? Most of the pages are test pages and pages that are only used for setting up very advanced stuff. I don't think most people would ever touch most of the pages.

The F-16 is 100% worth it. Most of the features missing are advanced features that are more important when you're really trying to be realistic with the way you fly. If you're just going to fly around and be happy you will not notice the missing stuff at all. And soon we will have JDAMs which will make "flying around" much more enjoyable for many people. If you're planning on going all in and learning the aircraft to a realistic level, the aircraft will probably be a lot more developed once you've actually learned most of the aircraft. Either way you can't go wrong with the F-16, i highly recommend buying it! As for missions, campaigns etc. I have no clue about them sorry. Safe flights!

@MoverDo you happen to also know the G limit of the MAU pylon, and also the base aircraft? MAU-12 I believe it's called. If the MAU-12 it self doesn't cause a G limit difference what is the pylon's weight? And what are the different G limits based on aircraft weight, would imagine the aircraft gets a higher G tolerance the lighter it is. Might be a touchy subject but greatly apricate answers, thanks. This is a picture of what I believe to be a MAU pylon:

O.. I didn't realise this was THE Mover. Thought it was some guy imitating. Wops, of course wouldn't have doubted an answer from the real mover haha

Cool, alright thanks. Your memory is valid.

May I ask where you've gotten that info from?