SnowTiger

Well it has been a year since the last post and Antivirus Review and I am ready to try something new. You folks have had another year to work with different Internet Security Antivirus Software. So I'm looking for an up-to-date solution. I have been using AVG for about 27 years. 7ys AVG Free and 20ys AVG Internet Security Suite. Last year AVG changed their GUI around completely to the point that I actually have difficulty using it (it might as well be Window 10 !!!). BTW- I have and will continue to use Win7 64 Home. I am in no hurry to upgrade my OS until I can afford a completely new Mobo and Processor. What do you folks think about BitDefender or PC Protect or Total AV (I believe the latter 2 are the same company and software but with different names and prices !) ? Any recommendations ? I need at least 4 licenses.

I too am interested. Please PM details to me. I might be able to purchase this by the end of this week. PS> I am in Ontario, Canada. I am still a bit undecided which Thrustmaster I want and need. I like to fly Choppers and Jets so I need versatility with regards to hat switches etc on the Stick (specifically). Thanks.

I have to agree with Siinji a bit. I flew the Ka-50 for quite a while and the Huey and the Gazelle. If you don't know where the enemy is, you've got problems. However, at least now the trees are solid objects that the AI cannot see through any better than we can whereas previously, you'd get shot without every seeing where they were if they were in a stand of trees. Manpads and Surface to Air missiles and vehicles with TOW missiles etc often have much further range than ANY of the DCS Choppers have. So unless you know where the enemies are and what they consist of and/or you know they don't have the means to reach out and touch you before you are even in range to shoot, you are going to get smoked almost every time. I love flying the choppers but I don't often fly into battle zones. It's a fight you are most apt to lose IMO.

The only suggestion I have is to check the Mission Options in ME to see if Labels is Checked. If the Fast Mission doesn't check this by default, I'm guessing it will not be a permitted feature within the mission. Check it out. Hopefully this will help. PS> I believe you will still have to select the keyboard command for Labels on/off once in the mission, but the Mission Options determines whether or not the function works within the mission. Again .... I'm pretty much guessing ... but that is what I'd check first.

I agree that it is hard to tell, but it does look pretty much vertical or at least much closer to straight down than our Sim version is capable of. Even strapped in (as I would expect anyone to be) that wouldn't prevent them from reaching the gun and tipping it the barrels down to shoot down. It's only a matter of reach and I'd say it's well within reach. Great Video. Thanks for sharing that. PS> I haven't tried the AI door gunner yet to see if it works or how well. But now that you mentioned it, I'm going to have to give it a try.

BTW - Is it just me or do others find the Minigun's Swivel Range to be a bit lacking ? It seems that one has to be either shooting from very low (dangerous) or from miles away. The gun doesn't swivel Down very far making it so that it would be impossible to defend the chopper from below if anyone was shooting from below. Furthermore, the swing/swivel to the rear of the chopper is pretty lousy too. So if you don't get the target on the approach or by the time you have just passed it, you can't swivel the gun far enough Back to hit the target. I spend more time trying to get the shots NEAR the target let alone hit anything. The target has to be too far away to really get a bead on it and then it is difficult to see. Especially if it is Ground Troops. Is it just me or could this be seriously improved ? PS> I am sure that door gunners could (IRL) shoot almost straight down without "aiming". They'd just follow the tracers.

If you can get a chair with adjustable height armrests you will save your arm and neck from pain and will have much more fine-tuned control of your cyclic and collective. I have the X-55 Rhino Hotas which appears to have been made for Andre the Giant's hands than mine. So I took some medium density foam; cut it to shape of the hand rest; and wrapped it up with "100 mph tape" (i.e. Duct Tape) and then stuck it to the hand rest with Double-Sided Tape (i.e. Carpet Tape). This made a huge difference for me regarding fine control and overall comfort. And I don't get a stiff shoulder and burning neck for two days after flying for an hour due to holding my arm out in front of me. All of these factors can and likely will make a difference for most people, regardless what Modules they fly.

I think I would have had a harder time learning the gazelle had I not flown the Huey for a year (or more) first. While the torque is in the opposite direction, it really didn't affect me much. However, the Gazelle uses much finer inputs of the Cyclic than the Huey. So that took some time. As well, the Trim is a completely different animal in the Gazelle than the Huey because such smaller, barely perceivable inputs are required to do many of the things the Huey does with much larger inputs. As I mentioned in my first post (Pg 1 of this Thread) that remains important IMO, is that during a Hover, or while fly slowly or transitioning between Flight/Hover/Flight, the Inputs from the Pedals is equally important. Especially during the Hover. The Rudder/Pedals actually affect the forward/reverse flight when hovering as much as the Cyclic. So they pedals are being manipulated as much as the Cyclic (although, much less so in the Gazelle than the Huey). Ultimately, it's like riding a Bike. Once you figure it out and find all the sweet spots, you will wonder what took you so long to master it. And it will just feel natural forever after.

Hi Grippen7 I should point out that I was factually incorrect regarding the Size of the Persian Gulf Map and resulting issues I thought I would have. As it turns out, when I was looking at the Recommended Settings/Hardware at the bottom of the Persian Gulf Map Details Page which states that 120 GB is required for installation, that information was regarding installation of ALL of DCS's current Maps and Modules. NOT JUST the PG Map. In fact, the map took up relatively little space on my SSD. I have all the Maps and Most of the Aircraft installed (I don't have Flaming Cliffs OR any of the Migs or other Korean War Era aircraft Mods) and I still have 93.7 GB's left on my SSD. I only have DCS installed on my SSD and the total space currently used up is 139 GB's. So I just wanted to clarify that. I apologize for any and all confusion I have caused anyone. That said, I still believe it would be useful if we could choose what gets installed where. It would be handy to be able to select Where we install large mods/maps etc without having to install everything only in one location. But that's just my opinion ... and so far, many of those have proven to be useless ! Best Wishes to you Friend.

CRAPPY DOWNLOAD SPEED Frustratingly slow downloads today. In fact, my UPLOAD speed is way higher than my download speed. I'm not impressed. So far, my maximum download speed has averaged around 430 kb/s. Might just as well be on Dial-Up !!!

That is good know. I'm definitely going to look into that. Thanks Shahdoh.

I'm sure. I've only been doing it for 9 years. It's an on/off issue depending on the update and aircraft and which seat in said aircraft. It'll work great and then some update ruins it. I'll wait a couple months or weeks and another update will correct it, at least for a couple aircraft. It's getting really old. But I have just reverted back to OB version and haven't really had opportunity (or the willpower) to check this issue in all mods. Certainly it appears to be an issue in the Gazelle again but I'll have to get back to you on that.

I'm sure. I've only been doing it for 9 years. It's an on/off issue depending on the update and aircraft and which seat in said aircraft. It'll work great and then some update ruins it. I'll wait a couple months or weeks and another update will correct it, at least for a couple aircraft. It's getting really old.

So as mentioned above, but without starting a new mission, I just Deleted the original Minigun version and planted a new one and set it up. That worked great. So the Minigun version is working. It was just My Mission that somehow got corrupted ... but is now fixed and working properly again. Woohoo ! Now if only we could get Mouse Aiming for the minigun position. OR did I miss that in an update too ?

Thanks David but I'm well aware of that. This is an issue that has existed on and off for a long time. Currently (in OB) Snap Views can be saved during a flight. As soon as I jump into a new cockpit or start a mission over, the previously saved Snap Views are history and I'm back to being smashed up against the dash (or might as well be anyway). Previously we have also been able to save a default view (which should work in ANY Mission, single or multiplayer) for each seat position. This too no longer works.

I don't know what's up with that ? This mission which includes the Minigun variant used to work fine. I double checked that everything wanted is selected including the correct loadout, I have the "named aircraft" in the list of slots, but when I jump in the cockpit, I'm in an L model. I guess I need to create a fresh mission with this model by itself. If that works as it should, then my mission got corrupted somehow since just a few days ago. If I can get it to work as described, I'll first try to delete the model from my original mission and re-create the slot to see if that corrects the issue for me. Thanks for the reply SUNTSAG PS> I just remembered that I have been flying in the Stable Version of DCS, and only "Updated" to OpenBeta yesterday using the Updater to overwrite the stable version (due to SSD size restrictions).

PLEASE FIX the freaking SnapView Saves. I am so sick and tired of modifying/customizing my Default View/Head Position/Seat Position (whatever you want to call it) every single time I jump into a cockpit. It is super frustrating and a giant waste of time. Especially, in a time-sensitive mission. This issue has come up many times. It has rarely worked for any length of time. Furthermore, we should be able to SAVE head position/default view SnapViews for Each Pilot/Gunner Position for EACH AIRCRAFT Mod. This should also be the view we see when we jump into ANY online mission. There is no need for Missions to save the Mission Designer's Default Views (which have to be changed every single time you jump into a cockpit) in Multiplayer. There is no need for this ability. And even IF the Mission Designers default snap view information is uploaded to a server with a mission, the PLAYER's Default Views should take Precedence over all others. Please, surely this cannot be that difficult to do ?

I have a mission with all Variants of the Gazelle in it. I have just checked it in the ME where everything LOOKS proper for the Minigun version. And yet I spawn into a usual "L" variant with the regular cannon and missile tubes (Empty). There is NO Minigun Model in the current Update of DCS. Furthermore Polychop ... PLEASE FIX the freaking SnapView Saves. I am so sick and tired of modifying/customizing my Default View/Head Position/Seat Position (whatever you want to call it) every single time I jump into a cockpit. It is super frustrating.

I just discovered the same issue as far as using the Joystick to manipulate the Video Box Controller. I was always able to use a Hat Switch to pan the cross hairs (up, down, left, right) and then use the Cyclic to FINE TUNE the panning (at least in Single Player ... Offline). Without the ability to Fine Tune the cross hairs, it is a pain trying to zero in on any small or moving targets, especially if the chopper is moving as opposed to hovering. Even in a hover it's very difficult. Please Bring Back the option to use our Joystick/Cyclic to manipulate the Video Box Controller. ASAP.

Implementation of NS430 in the Huey I'm curious if Belsimtek has plans to Implement the NS430 (GPS System) into the Huey ? The Huey really could benefit from such a Navigation Device. Currently, the Navigation options are few, leaving the Huey in the dust compared to the Mi-8 and the Gazelle. Please Implement the NS430 into the Huey.

Hovering requires as much Rudder input as it does Cyclic input (and some collective). When hovering, some of the forward/backward movement is controlled with the Rudder Pedals. The rest is controlled with Cyclic. The Gazelle uses very little of a Cyclic stick's range of motion. One way to ease yourself into Hover Practice is by taking off, flying forward and doing skid landings (i.e. minimal hover ... more like sliding to a stop with forward motion). Just take-off and land, take-off and land. Furthermore, use Trim for much of your flight. The better you are trimmed for a Hover, the easier the Hover will be (and less input required by Stick and Rudder).

I have the Release Version of DCS World 2.5 and I Pre-Purchased the Early Access F-18 I think the very first day it was advertised. My DCS/ED Profile says I purchased it and shows a Transaction Number (I517056D20180112R44 of 01/12/2018 16:37:13), however there is NO SERIAL NUMBER showing Nor am I able to Install it (DCS Module Manager doesn't have a prompt to install it). The Order #513933 What's up with that ? This is serious. I bought it early so I could fly it early.

Has the entire Campaign now been re-edited ? Is it now complete and whole again ? Are all the files (the full campaign) now available for download somewhere and if so, where ?

Thanks allot for the replies and clarification on the matter of File Size. I have been a tad upset for a while thinking I wouldn't be able to install SoH without buying another/larger SSD. It appears my concerns were not warranted. Thanks again.

I personally think that having Indestructible Buildings defeats the purpose of even having them. We could and maybe should have just Generic Maps that cover different terrains, vegetation and Civilian areas (i.e. cities and towns) so we can blast the crap out of them ... like that which happens in real life ! Considering this is a COMBAT Sim and not a Site-Seeing Sim, I think this is a mistake. If you want simple site-seeing, Microsoft Flight Sim offers a ton of that.