GhostDog

1) Matt explicitly said "US fixed wing fighter" 2) The last two major contracts that ED/TFC announced have been for the USAF (the A-10C and the AC-130 sensor station). In addition, ED has developed a JTAC/Joint Fires trainer for the ANG. That leads me to believe that another USAF contract is more likely than a USN contract. 3) ED developers and testers have repeatedly said that they will not release a simulation for an airframe whose systems remain largely classified (e.g. F-22) 4) The USAF is instituting service life extension programs and avionics upgrades for the F-16 Block 40-52, and the F-15C/E. Therefore, those are the aircraft that would most likely require a new procedural trainer. Given the inherent difficulty of simulating a two-seat airframe (F-15E), the limited capability and service life of the F-15C, and the expected service life and availability of documentation for the F-16, my money is on the F-16.

Bottom line is, you need more horsepower than you can get with a mid-range laptop if you want to take full advantage of either game.

3 ring binder with dividers for each section: maps, checklists, etc.

Awesome stuff. Thanks.

Ha, that looks like the test pattern for the USAF ABU before they went to digicam. :thumbup:

I guess that's cool for hiding from, I dunno, high-flying eagles (of all sorts), but wouldn't you stick out like a sore thumb against the sky when viewed from below? Looks cool though.

Erm, to the topic at hand, yes, yes a thousand times yes, if a compatibility update was released, I would buy two.

I've been using all three components for about six months, and I'm thoroughly satisfied. I do kind of regret not springing for the fighter stick instead of the flight stick though. I'm a lefty and I thought the flight stick would be more versatile, but I just wound up learning how to fly right handed. In fact, I'm thinking of unloading my flight stick if you're interested.

Wow, some of you folks are filthy rich. :D Anyway, DCS is the only game that I would pay $60 for. Ubi, EA and the rest can eat it. If it ain't on clearance, I could give a rip. I've been burnt by mainstream titles too often to ever pay full retail for a new release. That said $60 is pretty much my upper threshold for a single title. Doesn't matter how good it is, anything above that is asking for trouble with the spousal unit, and no game is worth that (DCS is almost worth it, but not quite).

It was the father in me coming out. Carry on. :pilotfly:

Go to school and become "useful" with maths, as you won't get very far in aviation without solid math skills. Or join the UK equivalent of the Reserve Officer Training Corps and become a RAF pilot on graduation. Or learn a trade, move out, and find out how much it will cost you as an independent adult with poor math skills to work 4 days a week while you dedicate all your spare time and money to learning to fly. Take your pick.

Something about mouths and servers comes to mind. . .:P

It occurs to me that all this discussion of the merits and drawbacks of integration may be putting the cart before the horse. What about a dedicated server for MP?

F-16 would definitely be the most versatile option, and probably most likely.

:lol: No one ever said warfare was rational.

Bushido Blade should definitely be among the 4th era candidates. That was a classically beautiful game. Batman Arkham Asylum is another big omission.

:thumbup:

I used a Saitek ST290 Pro (very similar to the Cyborg evo) when I was starting out. It became unsatisfactory relatively quickly. It was just too flimsy and imprecise. I use CH products now.

My top five: 1. DCS:WH (gotta honor my hosts :D) 2. Company of Heroes 3. Rome: Total War 4. Silent Hunter III 5. Portal

The first thing I would do is uninstall CH manager. Windows doesn't need the application to recognize and configure CH controls, and unless you have some particular configuration that absolutely needs CH manager, all it is likely to do is cause conflicts. The documentation even discourages installing the software unless your machine has problems recognizing the controllers without it. Then: 1. Disconnect all your CH peripherals and reboot your machine. 2. Reconnect your CH controls one at a time and verify that Windows successfully recognizes them. 3. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers. You'll find the icons for each of your CH controllers in this window. 4. Right click on one of the CH controller icons and select 'game controller settings' in the context menu. 5. Highlight the controller you want to calibrate and click 'properties'. 6. Click the settings tab, and click the 'calibrate' button. Complete the calibration process. 7. Repeat the calibration process for each of your CH controllers. If you're still having problems with controller configuration in FC2 after this, report back, and we'll go from there.

When I hear that phrase it makes me think of El Presidente's speeches in Tropico 3: "The problem will be solved, as will all others, in due time, as the global economic situation stabilizes." :smilewink:

I dunno. From the customer relations side, ETW was utterly craptacular. It's plain that CA fell behind SEGA's development timeline and was forced to release ETW early, in as shoddy a state as I've ever seen a release version of a game. It took them well over 6 months to make the game playable without constant CTDs and then they tried to make good on what they weren't able to include in ETW by releasing NTW, which was being promoted before ETW was even stable. The lead developer even obliquely complained about what they were being forced to do in the development blog, as far as he could do so without getting fired. All that said, I agree, the AI is a joke, and CA acknowledges that, but they did add a MP element to try and make playing a little more worthwhile. And the naval battles are actually the one piece of the combat that really shines, IMHO. You can't just send your ships flying around the surface as if the wind doesn't exist. You actually have to plan your maneuvers and use somewhat realistic 18th century naval tactics, like raking your opponents stern. But even with all of ETW's flaws, it's still managed to suck me into 100s of hours of gameplay over the last few years. I'm still smarting from the customer service experience with ETW (I couldn't even get the game to start for 6 friggin' months!), but if Shogun is as promising as it looks, I may be ready to forgive and serve my fief :)

I've been away for awhile, I didn't realize there was fixed wing project in the works. And you're right, fixed wing doesn't necessarily mean fighter, though I do find it hard to envision DCS:Tanker or some such :megalol:

+1

Just bear in mind that ED has explained, repeatedly, that their civilian business is driven by their military contracts, not the other way around. There is no guarantee of any sort that DCS:Fighter will ever be in the pipeline. If they win 10 military contracts for 10 helos, then it will be DCS:Helo for the foreseeable future, unless their business model changes drastically, and given what I understand of the economics of the study sim genre, that does not seem likely at all. That's why I'm also on the bandwagon for fully exploiting FC2 as a stopgap, in multiplayer if nothing else, unless and until other fixed wing modules are in the pipeline.