Itkovian

I have two quick questions: - Does the new beta function in 64-bit mode, for Windows 64, for example? - Is the Warthog HOTAS actually plug and play for the beta? I know it is advertised to be plug and play with the sim, but I'm not sure if that applies to the beta versions. Thank you. Itkovian

Has he tried Group Vergeev yet? They're not done with their campaign, and are likely working on another package right now. Personally I've been flying the GOW lately, which is loaded with missions (perhaps you should just play them individually, there's at least 60 of them as I recallm so dump the campaign and just fly them as unique scenarios). Though I admit, the mission I'm on now is mighty fustrating that I might mnove the waypoints around. For some reason it put the egress point right on the Black Sea... and flying a helicopter that depends on terrain masking for defense over the sea seems very wrong for some reason. :) Itkovian

Hey, don't knock it. I would kill for a DCS-style space combat sim. :) None of that "press T to target nearest" crap. Proper target acquisition in space should require a 12-step procedure leveraging passive IR sensors and active LIDAR systems, not to mention mass-shadow detectors and having to carefully manage that fusion reactor that powers the whole thing. If the current trend in aircraft complexity continues, space fighter pilots will require Phds... and I want a space combat sim that requires it too. :p Itkovian

Sure, the Black Shark does not have a FLIR or turreted optics, but it remains a deadly piece of work that is a pleasure to fly. Granted, I personally think that a single-crewed helicopter is a bit iffy, if only because having an extra pair of eyes is a bit iffy... but then again its not like the Hog has a co-pilot either. I guess the difference is that demands of low-level helicopter piloting are such that it is better to have a second crewman to take on the observer/gunner role, who can then have a better SA of the surroundings and lay fire where needed. But for its original purpose of tank and vehicle hunting at long range using its Vikhrs or its accurate main gun (for softer targets), I'm not sure the Black Shark is worse off than other gunships. Substitute an infrared camera for the Skhval with the upgraded targeting avionics, and you would probably have a rival to the Apache. That is, so long as we stick to the classic cold-war tank/vehicle hunting role. But I really wouldn't want to be doing COIN work in a black shark. Having another pair of eyes and not having to point the A/C where I'm shooting is a tremendous advantage for conventional gunships. Of course, the Black Shark does afford us the opportunity to fly the complete package on our own, without having a simulated AI pilot/gunner riding with us. Itkovian

In my experience, M1s and Leo 2s require 2 Vikhrs to kill them, regardless of aspect. Russian tanks however go down with 1 hit. And I would hazard to say that hit location is not modeled on ground units, and if it takes more hits odds are the first ones missed. Itkovian

I am assuming that you are flying the Georgian Oil War campaign, from the sound of it. In it you are frequently tasked with CAS missions, where you must support an advance by your forces or defend them from an enemy offensive. In pretty much all those cases, I find that the missions were designed to make your role pivotal to the success of the offense/defense. In short, your forces will almost always be outnumbered/outclassed, and if you do not provide proper support quickly they will be destroyed by the enemy. As such, your role is to destroy whatever threatens your forces the most. Usually that means tanks. Focus on the MBTs first (and some Strykers), and let your own tanks take out the softer targets (unless you've taken care of the tanks). The Black Shark is, after all, an anti-tank platform. Follow the flight plan to accomplish your mission, at least to get to your target and engage them, adjusting a little to stay behind cover when possible. ID the ingress point and the target points in the mission plannet, and make use of them in flight using your navigation tools (the PVI and ABRIS). Make your way to the ingress point, and then come to a hover and take a good long look at what lies ahead of you. Bring up each TPs on your PVI and cage/uncage the Shkval to slew it onto the TP, then study the situation. If you're not in range of targets, then move closer (cautiously) and come to a stop one you've found your targets and are within max range (6-7km is good). Engage them from that range, focusing on tanks first and air defenses if they seem threatening. With only 1 crew, the Black Shark is not a run-and-gun platform. You are specifically meant to find a proper firing position as the pilot, and then switch over to the gunner role once you're found that position and turned over control of the A/C to the autopilots so you may focus on operating the weapons systems. In short, it is a sniping platform. Or at least it is when it comes to the kind of high-threat conventional war scenario the GOW campaign presents, where you can employ the Black Shark in its intended cold war anti-tank role. Not sure how well one could employ the Black Shark in a COIN role, where having a second pair of eyes to look for insurgents (and slew the cannon around) would be extremely advantageous. Anyway, also when flying in those CAS missions in the GOW, remember to use your wingmen. Try to rely on them primarily, keeping your armament to take out air defenses, important targets, or when you need to kill the enemy ASAP (for example, if a tank platoon is currently engaging your own tanks, order your wingmen to attack some then attack another yourself). If your wingmen are bugged (keep saying "unable"), then order them to cover you so they are at least partially useful (they will actually engage any threat to you once you've ordered them to cover you). Finally, remember that for these missions time is of the essence. Do not dawdle in getting to the ingress point. Take off and get there at maximum speed to have as much time as possible to survey the situation before your units are engaged/destroyed. I hope this helps, even if it is a bit incoherent. :) Thank you. Itkovian

Well, for one thing, you should just leave the throttle at auto, and not worry about it until you start taking damage (or are landing/taking of). What you should worry about concerning RPMs is raising the collective so much that the engine RPM gets too low, which among other things will start killing your power (you'll lose your Shkval, among other things). Another thing to worry about is moving too fast or making aggressive aerobatics. Those coaxial rotor blades tend to flex a bit, and you will notice that at high speed the right side of the lower rotor tends to ride up quite a bit, dangerously close to the upper rotor. So if you move too quickly, or maneuver very aggressively, those rotors will start to intersect. You will know instantly when that happens. :) The solution to avoiding that, aside from not exceeding 250 kph, is to actually lower the collective when making aggressive maneuvers or flying at extremely high speed (in a dive, for example). With the collective fully lowered you shouldn't have any rotor intersection (I'm sure someone can explain this phenomenon better than I, as well as the power loss, so I'm not even going to try *grin*). I hope this helps. Itkovian P.S. Also, remember to keep at LEAST the roll and pitch AP channels on. They stabilize the Ka-50, and are an invaluable aid.

Fun campaign so far. Ran into issue on mission 2: Followed commander no problem, landed, refueled, then took off again and hovered at start of runway 24. Unfortunately, the commander was landing down the runway at the time, and his wingman spawned right on top of him. One minute all is well, second I hear an explosion and see 2 tail rotors sticking out of a pile of debris. Oops. :) Next time, I will wait until the CO lands and taxis away before hovering there. :) But anyway, so far I'm loving the realism and tone of the campaign, excellent work. Though I might play them as single missions instead of a campaign... the campaign engine's "go back to previous mission" can be mighty annoying in situations like these (though it does work for more varied and generic campaigns like Oil War). Thank you. :) Itkovian

I have to admit, that is not unexpected. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this whole "beta pre-release" thing is meant to coincide with the HOTAS Warthog's release. After all, this is what this HOTAS is for... it would suck if it were released without something that fully leverages its features. That said, I need to start amassing some funds again. I can't wait to see how well the HOTAS Warthog works with A-10c, once it's release. If it does work as advertised, with no programming needed to have a replica of the Warthog's controls in A-10c, then I will definitely buy it. :) Itkovian

So, to confirm: TrackIR does not yet work in the 64 bit version, correct? That's definitely one of the hurdles I want to see cleared up before I pre-order. I want to leverage those bits, I say! :) Itkovian

Thanks for the informative post. Not that it's important to anyone, but I think I'll wait until later before pro-ordering, or just wait for release. I don't have the time to study another sim AND cope with the beta bugs (I'm not done with Black Shark anyway, and handling 2 study sims at once can be daunting). That said, putting out the beta was a brilliant marketing move, at least at this stage, with this gaming community (most other communities would erupt in complaint threads screaming about bugs, regardless of beta status). With all the screenshots and the likes I'm seeing, there is no way I am not purchasing this sim. Now, the only question is whether or not I can afford the HOTAS Warthog when it comes out. :) Itkovian

How much later are we talking about here? I didn't get Black Shark until the printed manual came out, and given that this sim is even more complex I might do the same this time as well (I don't have a good dual-monitor setup to just have an electronic version). I'm trying to convince myself that I can survive on Black Shark until then. :) Itkovian

So, for now is it mostly good for learning how to fly the hog and tool around the desert, or is there already a campaign and single missions available (and usable)? Itkovian

Since there hasn't been a thread about this yet (that I can see), and the Beta is out, let's see those screenshots! Itkovian

Oh, excellent! Itkovian

Is that an informed recommendation, by any chance? Because really, at this point this is really the game-killing bug for me. I've been flying the Oil War campaign, and it's great fun when my wingmen actually operate properly and help me take care of the targets (I love the feeling of really providing CAS over an actual running battle that the GOW campaign gives)... but when the wingmen just stand there and keep saying "unable", or fly in and get themselves killed for no reason, it is an incredible downer. Especially since I know russia only has something like 12 Black Sharks, seeing wingmen throwing theirs away hurts. :) Itkovian

Here's my question: Is it a pain to download and install? My worry is there will be several beta updates, and in every case I'll ahve to uninstall-reinstall and redo my setup and such. At that point I might as well just wait and get the release? Itkovian

Are there plans to put the finished printed manual up for purchase, as with Black Shark? Itkovian

Bah. Very unfortunate indeed. I was hoping there was a better option than killing the mission process. :) I don't mind failure having consequences, but flying the same mission over and over can be rather brutal. :) Itkovian

Salutations. Assuming I have an immortal pilot, what are the negative consequences of dying or losing missions in the campaign? Can you retry a mission without fear of setting back the campaign? What if you can't retry the mission right away but need to quit for the day? Thank you. Itkovian

I know this isn't modeled... but the Leo 2s need to turn their turret to point behind them in order to reload their ready rack. Such an ID method would be most tragic in this case. :) Itkovian

It's already been said, but basically everyone sucks at flying helicopters at first. They're just hard to pilot in general. What they lose in complex avionics (and let's be clear, the Black Shark is pretty simple compared to most aeroplanes), they make up in sheer piloting difficulty. But that's simply the nature of the beast. You will need practice, practice, and practice. But that's the nice part about this sim: nobody is stopping you from practicing while flying actual missions and having fun. :) That's something I learned a long time ago: don't try to become a great pilot at the expense of having fun. You do NOT need to be a pilot who can do coordinated turns and fly perfect landing patterns and the likes before doing actual combat missions. There comes a point when you should just start flying campaign mission and enjoy yourself. Sure, at first you won't be perfect and struggle on landings and the likes, but you will still be having fun AND you will improve your piloting as you do so. Itkovian

There's no easy solution, really. You just need to be really good at piloting, which will take a long time (I'm not there yet, though I can manage to gun down a vehicle with the "iron sight"). That said, I think you need to plan your approach. That's the hard part really. You can't simply just swing in and attack. Settle into a good steady approach that would take you over your target, and let go a salvo as the pipper slides over the target. But it's not easy until you're a deft hand with the cyclic. Also, when making your final aiming be sure to have your trimmer switch pressed or have the Flight Director mode on. You don't want to fight the autopilot while you're trying to manually aim your unguided weapons. Its even better if your AP plot is already on target on approach, mind you, but that definitely takes a lot of practice. Hope this helps. Itkovian

Excellent, thank you. Itkovian

How do you minimize fuel consumption? I seem to recall there being a sweet spot of maximum fuel efficiency, but I do not recall what it was. Thank you. Itkovian