NeedzWD40

I think there might be a bit too much power or lift that is enabling much greater performance than possible. At certain conditions we might be able to do 100% and 4xAGM-114, but that's an incredibly limited envelope. I can get the aircraft to hover IGE at a gross weight of about 6200lbs from an altitude of ~7200ft at FAT +4C. That exceeds even the 407's capabilities in the same conditions. On the other hand, bump up the FAT to +30C and you'll rapidly run into a wall with 100% + 4xAGM-114, settling in at about 3ft AGL. So some curves probably need to be tweaked in the parameters, if they haven't already and we're just waiting for an update. Better to just cut gas in half because 4xAGM-114 was/is a valid loadout. It wasn't widely used for a variety of reasons, like not enough M272s available or Apaches were around to handle that heavy tasking, but it was certainly possible to do and was an authorized config. The M296 with a full load of ammo was heavier than a pair of 114s, so you could be overweight with 100% + 296 and 2xAGM-114. The M3 gets close but is a couple pounds lighter.

As we've all gathered, the nature of the PC's 58D as it stands is very much subject to opinion. I can see both sides of the issue, especially when we come off of modules like the AH-64D and the CH-47F. For me, personally, the detail is "good enough," though for the resources utilized (as noted several pages back regarding the UV maps) it is lackluster. The small things like poorly mapped parts, lack of detail where we might expect it, some variable color palettes that don't make much sense, the lack of damage modeling, and other issues add up. I can't blame anyone for feeling underwhelmed due to these issues. Likewise, from a playability standpoint, they don't impact my experience much when the rubber meets the road. Number 1 issue: Aircrew. I feel that these are the most lackluster part of the module and could really use a second pass, at least on the faces. This is even more important for an aircraft like the OH-58D, because they're incredibly visible from a variety of angles. A comparison with the AH-64D aircrew makes them look poor, to say the least. At a minimum, the faces could definitely use a lift. Number 2 issue: Damage model. We have a generic bullet hole texture for most of the aircraft, but we're missing things like panels blown off, rotor blades fragmented, tail boom twisted away, and so on. I'm assuming this has been a priority since release as it's the most incomplete part of the module. Compared to many other helicopter modules with items like slumped pilots, twisted and destroyed rotor blades, tailbooms that pop off, etc. it is incredibly lackluster. The UH-1H has all of these and it's more than 10 years old, plus things like panels that hang on by a thread after damage, etc. After being hit by 23mm fire, I'd expect a bit more than small arms bullet holes, since my tail rotor is out, a weapon pylon has been blasted off, and the crew is dead! Number 3, all the other small details. Things like avionics wiring, panel coloring, flare launcher being a black hole, etc. add up, and while not totally immersion breaking, I do understand why those adjusted to the flare packs having actual flares that get expended in other modules to be an annoyance. Of these issues, I'd say the dash colors being too dark is probably the largest one, as all the ones I remember seeing were more of a gray color with dust and abuse. The wiring could be improved by darkening and adding various amounts of shade as well as grime (I've worked with the stuff before, it attracts grime like nobody's business). Not functional issues, more aesthetic, but they do add up. The AH-64D's colors are about right for a service aircraft. It's important to note that I don't consider these functional issues, merely as examples of understanding why some folks are disappointed with the detail level as a whole. The flare launcher, for example: I actually use the pre-CMWS aircraft quite often, as the sweet spot for my scenarios is prior to mass integration of that system. From a purely functional standpoint, I find the PC 58D pretty dang good. It offers a lot of flexibility in a small package and the handling is one of the best and easiest for new players who may want to dive into helicopters with a bit more flexibility than existing modules without getting into the complexity of the AH-64D (and associated functional issues like the FM + SAS). The only minor changes I'd like to see in that regard is introduction of the M296 gunpod and an aesthetic removal of the toilet seat intakes, but the lack of such don't detract from the module as it is. I can understand that for the price point, a few buyers might feel a bit jaded by what they received, even if others are absolutely overjoyed with what they got. You can't please everyone and since most of the real Kiowa guys are pretty satisfied, I'd say that speaks volumes. There's enough info out there for everyone to make an educated choice by now to decide if the module is worth their time and money.

Once the missile is launched, a sequence of events is triggered that arms the missile if it meets a set of criteria -- none of which involve seeker acquisition. At any point past this, the warhead is live and will go off if the missile contacts something. So if you launch on a buddy laze and then safe up your aircraft, the missile will hit and make boom. Conversely, if buddy laze goes off (or your own), missile will make boom somewhere else.

Pressing the FCR button on a MPD will bring up the FCR page; if you don't see anything on this page when doing this, then something else is wrong. Without an FCR, this should display "FCR NOT INSTALLED"; with, it should either show a pie slice or "FCR NOT INITIALIZED". If the latter, select UTIL from the top and select the option on the lower right where it says "PINNED" so it reads "NORM". It will take a few minutes to spin up. Once it has initialized, you'll see a pie slice and you should be able to sight select the FCR from there. If you cannot, then check your bindings and make sure you have sight select FCR bound.

Sometimes, depends on whether the 3rd party wants to partake. Use the free trial on some of the existing helicopters or try the OH-6 and UH-60L mods to get a feel for things. The OH-6 mod in particular is excellent.

Those are M255, M261, or M259 warheads. Flechette, MPSM, or smokers. Most likely flechettes.

Nothing that I can share I'm afraid. On a pure technical basis, nothing is actively preventing one from taking a M282 warhead and slapping it on a Mk66 motor, but the warhead was developed for use with APKWS to make a more potent light anti-armor weapon. For the 64's software, it'd probably be no different than the existing ballistic calculations for the M151 we already have, though I'm not sure what fuzing combination a M282 would use (most likely just the PD setting). On a reality basis, the US Army doesn't use this warhead with a raw Mk66 motor; I'm uncertain if they even use APKWS with this warhead, as to my knowledge only the M151 is used with that system. The reason you see it in promotions is it's still technically possible to use it, either with old saved payloads or payload hacks. It was erroneously added to the initial payload options for the module. I did like them for anti-armor operations, but as noted, from a strict realism standpoint they're inaccurate.

Make sure the TDU is turned on (knob on upper right of display) and TADS is your currently selected sight.

I've been trying to track down the main cause of this issue and the only thing I can report is that it's somehow related to AI aircraft combined with ground units, but mostly AI aircraft. I ran a simple script in OP's mission to remove all fixed wing aircraft 10 seconds after mission start and my frames returned, though there was still an occasional skip on the frame time. Spawning in as the F-18 had a considerable reduction on frames, though still playable. If you wish to test this, add in a trigger with the condition of time more than 10, then a do script action with the following code: local aigroups = coalition.getGroups(1,0) for i, d in pairs(aigroups) do d:destroy() end local aigroups = coalition.getGroups(2,0) for i, d in pairs(aigroups) do d:destroy() end This will delete all blue and red fixed wing aircraft 10 seconds after mission start. Helicopters will remain, however, which I felt there were few enough that they didn't merit removal. I tested removing all ground objects, but this didn't have the same impact as aircraft removal. Variations of removing every other aircraft had some impact, though performance didn't really improve until every 7 out of 10 aircraft were removed.

Those are the inaccurate M282 AP warheads that were removed. Check the M257 and M151 w/ M433 RC fuze and see if those stick out; also check the back of the launcher as M151 sized warheads will be mostly flush with the front of the launcher.

NeedzWD40

This is a simple anti-armor mission that I originally built as a demonstration for radio triggers and scripting, but then decided to polish it and release for those who want an easy curb-stomp anti-armor battle. Originally envisioned for the AH-64D, I've included slots for other helicopters like the OH-58D and Mi-24, as well as some fixed wing CAS roles and tactical commanders. It's fully multiplayer capable and all slots outside of jets are hot starts, making for a mission length of about 30 minutes depending on player count. The objectives are simple: destroy two waves of armor and the supplying depot to the rear while defending a bridge and Kutaisi airfield. AI assets are available to assist, as well as a FARP near the front lines. F10 map marker functionality can be utilized to direct friendly assets in certain ways, as well as the F10 radio menu for special requests. The mission will automatically restart upon a success or fail condition, but otherwise has a time limit of 6 hours before restarting. rumble_at_rioni_ca_ob29v0.miz

Make sure you're selecting FLIR. It defaults to TV when unstowed.

Yes, that's the only way to do it, unless you want to manually enter the point via the KU.

If one is willing to compromise a bit, the WWII maps are excellent for up-close details, and for the most part can work within the modern eras. The Channel is probably the best as it has all seasons and good detail, making it far more ideal for helicopter focused missions. Normandy is very similar, though it only has two seasons, but it is quite a bit larger. Lastly, Marianas boasts some good visuals at the cost of performance.

For the warehouse settings, I set a unique number for the quantity of equipment that wasn't getting added through getInventory, then went into the mission file and opened warehouses, then found the equipment through the unique quantity number. Tedious, but it's how I found (most) of the missing equipment. I didn't have any problems with getInventory returning the APG-78 so I might have to check for that one again.

Just to share, as a result of looking into some warehouse functions for dynamic FARPs (arming/fueling, not spawning), there is another mechanism that involves reserving warehouse IDs and having limited dynamic spawning FARP availability detailed here.

So there is a way, but it's incredibly inconvenient and has its own limitations, but it does work (at least, for the server side): The warehouses file is where our dynamic spawn locations are listed, which unfortunately we can't change (yet) via scripting. However, we can fool the game into working with this by creating fake entries linked to IDs assigned by us. We can then create a FARP object with the ID as defined in the warehouse file anywhere we wish, with the caveat we can only do so once. This means that we can only have a limited number of dynamically created FARPs with spawn points that, once set, cannot be moved after they've been set. If it were possible to delete FARPs after creation, we could probably circumvent this rule, but as it stands, once a FARP object has been created, it's there forever. You could have a list of 10-20 or however many FARPs you wanted with reserved IDs manually added to the warehouses file, then use and discard this reserved ID list until depleted, at which point it would be set in stone. I'm including an example mission where a F10 command is utilized to generate a FARP with dynamic slots with this method. I cannot say if this mechanism will work for all clients, only that it works on the server side. dyn_spawn_tester.miz

An interim fix I'm using for the time being: Create an invisible FARP on a neutral side, place it off in the corner somewhere. Set the resources to limited; count doesn't matter. Call it "myfarpwarehousetemplate" or as desired. This can then serve as a basis for most of the equipment you want your generated FARPs to have. Next, use this code and run it in an init somewhere: --this is the current gunpods and equipment used by most helicopters as of 07/13/24 --expect these numbers to change after DCS updates myuber_megawarehouse = { {4,15,46,2578}, {4,15,46,2577}, {4,15,46,2576}, {4,15,46,2575}, {4,15,46,2574}, {4,15,46,1771}, {4,15,46,1770}, {4,15,46,1769}, {4,15,46,1764}, {4,15,46,1765}, {4,15,46,1766}, {4,15,46,1767}, {4,15,46,1768}, {4,15,46,170}, {4,15,46,171}, {4,15,46,183}, {4,15,46,1294}, {4,15,46,1295}, {4,15,46,824}, {4,15,46,825}, {4,15,46,300}, {4,15,47,1100}, {4,15,47,680}, {4,15,47,679}, {4,15,46,2476}, {4,15,46,2477}, {4,15,46,2478}, {4,15,46,2479}, {4,15,46,2480}, {4,15,46,2481}, {4,15,46,2482}, {4,15,46,2483}, {4,15,46,2484}, {4,15,46,2579}, {4,15,46,2580}, {4,15,46,2581}, {4,15,46,1057}, {4,15,46,160}, {4,15,46,161}, {4,15,46,184}, {4,15,46,174}, {4,15,46,175}, {4,15,46,176}, {4,15,46,177}, {4,15,46,20}, {4,5,32,94}, {4,5,32,95}, } --this will grab the weapons from our template and fill our array with everything else for i, d in pairs(Airbase.getByName("myfarpwarehousetemplate"):getWarehouse():getInventory("weapon")) do if(i == "weapon") then for i2, d2 in pairs(d) do table.insert(myuber_megawarehouse,i2) end end end Next, wherever or however you generate your FARP plates, use schedulefunction to fill the FARP "warehouse" with the items from the array: --farpname is the name of the dynamically generated FARP local function addmystuff(array) --500000 is not required but its a good large figure for now Airbase.getByName(farpname):getWarehouse():setLiquidAmount(0,500000) --iterate over each uber warehouse item and add nuclear stockpile for warei, wared in pairs(myuber_megawarehouse) do Airbase.getByName(farpname):getWarehouse():setItem(wared,500000) end return nil end --schedule function 5 seconds after the FARP has been made so the game has time to init the plate timer.scheduleFunction(addmystuff, {1}, timer.getTime() + 5) This should cover most helicopter equipment and replicate the previous infinite levels, but it also means we can now dynamically generate a FARP but require supplies to be ferried in before usage. In theory, we could also add dynamic spawns to these FARPs, if the miz level code lets us.

Dynamic FARPs now spawn without fuel, munitions, or equipment and have to be added via scripting. The problem remains as I noted before: some weapons and equipment lack a definition and can't be easily added via scripting (if you can dig out the wsType definition you can add it that way, but wsType changes now and again and so is difficult to keep up with changes). Current examples include the M3P gunpod utilized by the OH-58D. So you can add fuel and weapons like AGM-114 to your dynamic FARP, but you can't easily add certain classes of gunpods and other equipment.

The video and the game seem to match up with each other from what I've been able to tell. Check out this other source: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/138977/oh-58d-kiowas-fire-rockets-and-50-cal-machine-gun

Need a TH-55 for a proper trainer and the circle will be complete!

1 - I'll let the been there, done that professionals answer this one, but you can actually do this in game right now if you're careful with the collective and you're not overweight. Apply collective gradually and she'll lift off, then as soon as weight is off the wheels, the SAS will keep the nose pretty well centered. Same goes for landing. Whether or not that behavior is correct, I can't say. 2 - I believe it's been stated several times that the FM, SAS/SCAS, trim, and hold modes are all still WIP with further fine tuning required. The Ka-50 really can't be compared to the AH-64 as there's far too many differences between the airframes, control logic, etc. The Mi-24P is closer, but not by a whole lot. I'd suggest checking the OH-58D out as so far it has been highly regarded in realism and handling. In all this, do keep in mind that we're still under an abstract layer as our controls aren't 1:1 with the real things either. For example, I use a throttle and gasp push for power! And side stick, too!

Make sure George hasn't turned off the weapons (check under the WPN>UTIL menu and ensure the MSL and RKT gumballs are solid).

It also helps to elevate the nose quite a bit and wait until the missile is partway to the target before lasing, otherwise it tends to fly straight at the target and waste all its energy on a direct path.