

Itkovian
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Hi there. I noticed that one of the new features in BS2 is AI radio traffic. My question is this: how do I tell which frequency I should be listening to in order to hear AI radio traffic... and how do I switch frequency? Thank you. Itkovian
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Hi there, I was doing some flying last night, the first real flying since BS2 came out (I've spent time re-learning the manual since BS2's release, but the Simming Gods were unkind to me until now), and I've got a question: NOTE: I have a MSFFB2, and this isn't the old trimming loss-of-control routine, never had that issue with my trusty Force Feedback stick *grin*) While I'm flying in route mode and trim the A/C to a new altitude and speed, the moment I release the trimmer the autopilot seems to immediately react by pitching up for a while before settling down (at a significantly lower speed and higher altitude that I trimmed for). Sometimes, in fact, it will start wobbling as it tries to stabilize itself because it pitched up too much and has to correct. So what I end up doing when I release trim is maintaining a slight forward pressure on the stick to counteract the pitching, at which point the route AP settles down and the rest of the route is uneventful. But this will occur whenever I trim with route mode on (though to be honest, I didn't specifically test if this occurs with route mode off, I'll have to check that tonight). Any thoughts on what might be causing this? Thank you. Itkovian
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The confusion here is that while fixed-wing aircraft will use a throttle directly, which control the fuel flow to the engine(s), helicopters have a THIRD control "stick", called the Collective. The Collective controls the collective pitch of the rotor blades, and so directly affects the lift you derive from the main rotor. The throttle is actually sort of "secondary" to the Collective, when it comes to getting lift. I'm not sure how it works for other helicopters, but for the KA-50 the throttles have only 3 or 4 settings, and so are just bound to button presses, not axes. Those settings are something like "minimum", "auto" and "maximum" power. In normal flight, you want to keep the throttles at "auto", which basically means the throttle will be automatically adjusted to maintain optimal rotor RPM based on your current collective pitch, speed, and altitude (I imagine, I'm no expert in the mystical workings of the engine governors). So when you are flying, all you need to do is set the Throttles to "auto", and you just focus on the collective to get more or less "power" (which is to say lift from the rotors, which directly translates into speed). Just remember to not pull the collected too much, as it is possible to UNDER RPM your rotors (you'll get an alarm when that happens). Basically what happens is if you pull the collective to much, your rotor blades take such a bit "bite" out of the air that they're actually slowed down by drag. The rotor slows down, and suddenly your generators don't deliver enough electricity and your avionics will shut down. :) Finally, another hint: if you're going fast and you pull a crazy maneuver, bottom out your collective. It will reduce the strain on the rotors and prevent rotor cone intersection. You'll know what that means when it happens to you. :) Itkovian
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As I recall, I had the same surprised on my first try and got completely wasted. Second try I really sped up my startup (really, the only way to go in this mission is a manual startup, it's part of the challenge), and just immediately took off and headed in the rough direction of my destination, THEN took the time to setup the waypoint in the ABRIS. Fortunately, since you're just going to an airport, it's fairly simple to setup a "go to" waypoint from the ABRIS database. What I got hung on was trying to help the beleaguered forces along the was in nighttime. You don't actually need to help, but I kept trying... generally a bad idea. The Ka-50 is NOT a night bird. :) Itkovian
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1st GOW campaign.. No night missions at ALL???!!!
Itkovian replied to WildBillKelsoe's topic in DCS: Ka-50 Black Shark
..... DCS A-10C and BS2 are top quality simulations. You won't find a higher fidelity on the market. So, well, while more quality is always a nice thing, let's give ED what is their due: these are empirically top quality products. Itkovian -
I prefer BS2 for a multitude of reasons, myself. - I prefer flying helicopters. The flying itself is more of a challenge than fixed-wing. - Simpler avionics. AS with above, I can focus more on the flying than with playing with the computers. - The constant low-level NOE flight is just more fun. - As I mostly fly single player, I find that BS2 has much more robust single-player campaign offerings. The GOW is an excellent campaign with a lot of missions (yes, it goes dead if you get off track, but that's how non-dynamic missions are), the Deployment campaign is also nice and detailed, AND there's a new campaign to boot. Not that I don't love the A-10C. I love it and my HOTAS Warthog adds so much to the immersion. But BS2 is exactly what I was wishing ED would do. I just hope we get more campaign offerings in A-10C soon. Itkovian
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Oh excellent. Thogh I prefer to keep a tight leash on my minions, especially on missions where you need to really smash enemy formations and every Vikhr counts. :) But good, this is excellent news. There was NOTHING (in the sim) as frustrating as making your way to the attack point, only to get nothing but "Unable" from your wingmen (the only thing that allowed me to finish the oil war campaign was the realization that "Cover me" actually still worked, and made the wingmen at least partially useful). Thank you for the info. Can't wait to get back in that beautiful office again. Itkovian
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Oh, my apologies, I did not notice your first sentence, that the AI works much better. I thought you had just decided to copy/paste the changelog. :) Still, does that mean that wingmen will actually attack targets now? And does using the datalink work? Thank you. Itkovian
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I saw the changelog... but it does not really address my point: - Will the AI actually attack my target when it is ordered to? - What is the best way, now, to order your AI wingmen to attack a target? Remember, in BS1 the AI wingmen would FREQUENTLY refuse to attack anything unless you gave them the broadest order (at which point they'd go kill themselves *grin*). If you locked a target and said "attack my target", most of the time the wingman would reply "unable". It was a bug, and a very well known one that was quite frustrating. Secondly, it was also known that the best way to order a wingman to attack was through radio commands, not the datalink. So now, I am wondering if using the datalink to tell my wingmen to attack a specific target works, if using the radio commands ALSO still works, and if the AI wingmen are now willing to actually listen to orders. :) These points were not addressed in the changelog, though I assume they were fixed. I am simply hoping for a confirmation as I am very unlikely to get to test that anytime soon (for one thing, I need to remember how to fly the bloody thing again *grin*). Thank you, Itkovian
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So, how does using those rudder pedals feel? :) Does that mean we need to purchase Shark Slippers? :) Itkovian
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Has anyone tested this?
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Salutations, I just purchased the update but won't be able to install it until tonight, and I have a question: How is the new Wingman AI behaving? Or, if you prefer: are wingmen actually useful this time? :) I loved Black Shark, and I mostly play single player, but one of my biggest issues was the often-useless AI. For example, the AI would never attack my target as ordered, or if they did they would rush in and get shot down. So have these issues been fixed? If so, what is the best way to order our wingmen to attack a specific target nowadays? Can we actually use the datalink, or are radio commands (like "attack my target" with a target locked) still the best option? Thank you. Itkovian
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I just learned about this.... it's my dream come true. I love helicopter simming, and BS was simply awesome. If this update fixes the AI issues AND brings it to the level of A-10C... dammit, now it's one MORE thing for me to play. :) Itkovian
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Aah, I guess I should just have kept NWS off and used the rudder/differential breaking to get off the strip. And yes, I did wait until I hit 60-70 before turning on NWS. It actually lasted quite a while, long enough to get on the taxiway, and then it jammed to the left and led me in the muck. But hey, A/C wasn't in such a bad shape, all things considered. Itkovian
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Salutations. I have a question concerning Nose Wheel Steering: Last night I was flying the 2nd Devil's Cross mission and took some damage to the left engine. I shut down the engine and extinguished any potential fire, and then headed home. I made my landing just fine (well, somewhat, I didn't turn on cross feed until too late, but I had unbalanced fuel tanks, which made things interesting), but as I was taxiing off the strip my Nose Wheel Steering stop responding and I ended up in the muck (fortunately took no damage). My question is: is NWS powered by the left hydraulics system? As I made my final approach I lost left hydraulics pressure (no doubt due to the loss of the left engine), but I thought I would be fine on the right hydraulics. Is there anything I could have done to prevent this problem? The good news is the mission was a success, though next time I'll hesitate before making a gun run at an armour column. Thank you. Itkovian
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Dammit! Now I want to play SB PRO PE. :) Itkovian
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This is an entertaining assessment of the DCS A-10 experience...
Itkovian replied to Bahger's topic in DCS: A-10C Warthog
I dunno, this review feels like reading an RPG review that complains about combat being all about dice rolls and numbers. This is a study sim, emphasis on STUDY. It attempts to simulate an EXTREMELY complex aircraft and its avionics, and that means it will re-create all the complexities and frustrations found in the real thing. If you're expecting to no longer have to resort to notes after a few weeks, you do not understand the genre. It takes YEARS for real pilots to "wear" the airplane, and so it should be the same in the simulation. And as was previous posted, you can't expect them to include a complete and effortless training. It's not humanly possible. You learn these sims through a combination of RTFM, in-game training, online searches, and lots and lots of personal effort and practice (which includes picking your own goals and challenges). Personally I think the training in this sim was excellent. It served as a good primer, and gave us the fundamentals needed to learn the rest. The Flight Manual, in turn, gives us full instruction on how the systems operate, and also a lot of procedural information, and the rest you need to learn from experience OR from others who have learned from experience. After all, something tells me that the USAF Flight School doesn't just plop pilots in front of a computer screen or flight manuals, and then tell them to figure it out. They have flight instructors with lots of experience teaching them. And while we can't have those, we do have the forums where experienced players can share their insight. Anyway, rant over. :) Itkovian -
Aye. It does make the first mission of Devil's Cross a good training, IMO. You can't fly high because of Migs all over (there's an ongoing air battle up there, with respawning fighters), target spotting is quite challenging, and there's air defense a-plenty. So now I'm just flying it over and over again until I can coordinate myself well enough to prosecute the first tank column I find (which sometimes takes a long time, mind you), and then head home (there's way too much russian hardware out there for me to stick around and strafe stuff). Of course, I'm not sure how to actually win that mission anyway, mind you. Must I destroy all formations I see? Or does taking out some of the targets and making it home safely suffice? Itkovian
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Which campaign do people prefer?
Itkovian replied to ScEBlack1's topic in User Created Missions General
Well, I've been flying the Devil's Cross campaign's first mission as a kind of training (restarting all the time), and my wingman always takes off after me without any problem. That said, just how do you win that first mission? Is it just a matter of inflicting some damage and then landing? Because there's a LOT of russian hardware out there, and there's no way I can take it out (even a single formation is a challenge, what with all the Zeuses around). Itkovian -
Aye... I think that's what may have happenned... but I'm pretty sure it went and slewed away wen I did TMS Up Long, not China Hat Forward Long. Is it possible that, if you do China Hat Forward Long (slaving to SPI), and then by mistake do TMS Up Long while the HUD is SOI, that it will slew the TGP to the new SPI set by the HUD without having to do China Forward Long again? Itkovian
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How so? I am using the HOTAS Warthog, and didn't mess with such mappings. And why would a conflict cause the TGP to switch "target" like that? Itkovian
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Salutations. I've been flying the first mission of the Devil's Cross campaign as a kind of training mission (since it really has a good distribution of elements, and it is no loss to simply restart the campaign), and I am encountering a bit of frustration that I was hoping some of you could help me with. Basically, in about three occasions so far, I had my targets in the TGP's sight (some Zeus, usually) and getting ready to prosecute them, when going TMS Up Long (to set SPI) somehow caused my TGP to go flying off to some other location leagues from my targets, leaving me to try ad reacquire my target all over again (which is quite a challenge in this mission). So I was wondering, is there some weird situation (like different SOIs) that causes TMS Up Long (or even short, but I don't think that was the case) would cause the TGP to switch aiming point? It almost feels like the TGP was resetting itself to the Streerpoint as SPI, but I wasn't going TMS Down Long. Thank you. Itkovian
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I think the most important part is to rely on the throttle to keep the boom "in the green", and just using the stick to keep the tanker "still" in your view. I actually managed to refuel in one try last night, no disconnect. :) Another hint is to try and do a refueling daily. Keeps you in practice. :) Itkovian
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Fly heading 232 for 35, qfe 29.............
Itkovian replied to bloomstomb's topic in DCS: A-10C Warthog
And the pressure setting is displayed in the numbers on the bottom right of the altimeter? If I understand correctly, this essentially then sets the proper ground altitude for the airstrip? Itkovian -
Fly heading 232 for 35, qfe 29.............
Itkovian replied to bloomstomb's topic in DCS: A-10C Warthog
So how do you set the altimeter? I must have missed that part of the manual (unless I'm not there yet, but I'm true the first section on instruments). If anyone has a page number that'd be good enough for me. :) Itkovian