Tonker

Agreed, it's the solution! Grey...but I struggle for time to learn the complex aircraft I love in such depth; Midder...but find few servers as immersive as they are challenging; kid...but I didn't grow up in '90s America sooo...! There's no right or wrong, clearly, I'm just trying to parse what's been going on around the F-35A reveal.

Poor old Ardent. T21s will be a great addition to the sim, looking forward to them

Just spent an...interesting...couple of hours reading through the various F35 threads, and wondered if I could borrow you for a quick sanity check? Thanks My impression from the announcement - there's an F-35A in development, no more, no less. My impression from the FAQ and ED - it'll be as good an F-35 as they can make, info and core engine allowing. Okay, so far so good. My impression of the response: The greybeards, who got into DCS as a study-level sim, aren't too fussed and probably won't buy, but feel it's a bit of a slap in the face to aspects of DCS they care about, which has been watered down over the years anyway. The midlifers, in DCS for the systems fidelity and resulting PvP multiplayer contest, are fussed because of the fear it'll break their game and devalue their skills and/or toys, and don't want DCS turning into an Air-Quakey WarThunderFest. Say they won't buy, but... The kids, in DCS cos they get to fly cool planes they've grown up with, are stoked because they'll get to fly the coolest newest plane. Day one Early Access buy. So far so fair? My biggest takeaway: "Anyways, if you don't want the F-35 it's ok, I think even those who do not buy it will see benefits from this aircraft for years to come." @NineLine Ah. ED need a revenue stream to fund core development to stay competitive*; this comes from Early Access releases of new modules. The F-35 will out-sell anything else; the F-35 is getting made. *Looking at you War Thunder, Combat Pilot and Il2: Korea Looks brutal like that, but is that correct? A bit sad to see ED go the 'algorithm capture' route for customer growth, for all it makes sense, but that's by-the-by. Anything I missed?

Have some feedback - 'kin YES! - some support - congrats on all you've achieved to date, with so many hurdles cleared already I have no doubt you'll get the old girl to completion in time - and some help - I'll pop the kettle on. Geddon @Nivron, keep it up!

Issue: On the back of another "...and Beyond" which left me unmoved, I've come to conclusion that the things I enjoy in DCS are now fully in the hands of the third-party and community developers. So, if I care then I should do what little I can to support those devs, even if it's just to throw some grass in the air to see which way it blows. Why should you care? Well, maybe you feel the same. Only one way to find out! What to do about it? Trying to think practically, I wondered if a route to improvement (YMMV, of course) might lie in 'small' updates to existing paid modules. Perhaps replacement cockpits, followed by updated externals, followed by updated flight models, stores etc. Discreet projects of defined scope, but which impact on how we experience DCS. Examples? Prime examples to my mind are the CH-47 and C-130. Iconic aircraft both. Sadly, for me, the wrong models were chosen - the best fits for DCS to my mind being the CH-47D* and the C-130H**. *Introduced in the '80s, it's widely applicable to currently available maps and scenarios in DCS; not immersion-breaking for future Vietnam (or current 'Viet-Guam') settings, with some good quality of life improvements over earlier versions. I'm not a masochist! ** The standout model of the Herc, from the early '60s to today, hugely successful in the export market, and darling of a diverse mission set. As things stand, I won't be buying either. If they offered an experience I enjoy, I'd buy both. I have no right to this experience, but modding an existing aircraft seems much more within reach than trying to create something of A-4E or OH-6A (etc) standard from scratch. My view is that life is too short to look at screens on screen, so give me steam gauges! Whilst I don't have a VR set, I've heard across the social media spectrum that gauges look and work better than MFDs for VR users. With DCS' dynamic foveated rendering, and given MS2024's troubled launch, it seems silly not to double down on making DCS the VR sim par excellence. Also, I think pits of the pre-screen era suit the sim environment better, by giving me information I can then act on via my cheap'n'cheerful HOTAS/keyboard. I'm sure full-simpit guys are down with MFD functionality, but I find it tedious to have to reach for a mouse every time I want access to even basic flight and nav information etc etc etc. Last but not least, the undoubted power of the these modern systems actively detract from my immersion - and satisfaction - in a DCS session. I thought this was a flight sim?! I understand there is a huge amount of programming and other work under the hood to bring even apparently minor updates to us lucky end-users, and even the smallest of such projects are significant undertakings... ...but... ...surely a more positive approach than just screaming (headphones on) "I wanna VC-10" into the void, no? Questions: Is it just me? Is there a better way forward than this incremental approach? What are the implications of basing (freeware, obviously) community developments on ED/Third Party modules? I'm thinking of lots of early mods using FC base aircraft through to @Massun92 gorgeous period-correct Huey pit. This seems more productive than just wishing for others to make my dream fleet of aircraft; but what gaps do you see in the DCS ecosystem that we could fill? My thoughts on this are more about filling the ranks for certain eras/settings than 'I wanna *insert your fave plane here*' but feel free to state your case for XYZ! Thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to your feedback Tonker

*love*!

Some random unsolicited thoughts on possible improvements to the mod, based on being able to grab an hour or so on consecutive days to fly the Cayuse recently. I'm coming at it from the PoV of a) being a muppet, b) being pretty limited in available time for DCS and c) being keen on systems and the immersion that comes from using them, but often floored by not being an expert on the systems or how they should work...probably a pretty standard baseline DCSer. So the below are mostly thoughts on how to lower the barrier to entry for newcomers to get the most out of the OH-6A as smoothly and quickly as possible. Yes it's patronising, yes it requires effort by some to reduce effort for others etc etc etc, but I've appreciated this in other aircraft, and think others might for the Loach. Lastly none of this is in any way a gripe. We all know this is the best helicopter in the sim with the best helicopter flight dynamics. De facto the best helicopter simulation in the world. Not bad for a free 'community' mod! These are just a collection of little things that have crossed my mind as I've got back into DCS and back into the Cayuse. If you have other ideas do feel free to let me know/post below and I'll edit this post to collate all our thoughts in one place. Suggestions - community (stuff we can do, or have done but which is yet to be included in the base OH-6A download) Full Kneeboard Checklists The A4 is perhaps the best community example to aim for. I don't have the F4 but is the in-cockpit checklist/manual function a possibility, or for SDK-equiped devs only? See @GrEaSeLiTeNiN's Start Up Checklist here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3340687/ See @Sydy's Quick Start Checklists here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3341989/ Full PDF Guide, inc. useful resources @Charly_Owl's brilliant guides are rightly famous as best-in-class and, properly credited, would make for a good template to work towards See @MadCartographer's excellent-looking manual here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3342341/ (which I've only just found, reading now...) @GrEaSeLiTeNiN has also made a useful-looking profile for the Warthog, worthy of mention as I gather some potential resources in this post, here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3340696/ @MadKreator has a Helios profile, also worthy of mention, here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3341970/ Expanded tutorials The start-up and weapons tutorials are good, the included Playground mission great for testing skills, but a full suite of specific tutorials would be great to help those like me really get into the guts of all this amazing rendition of the OH-6 has to offer Examples I'd benefit from: systems, particularly radio and nav*; search light; float ops; advanced techniques (failure recovery, adverse weather, constrained LZ etc) Examples of what to aim for come from the prolific tutorialiser @Rudel_chw, as many of us know from other modules! *Are the FM and UFH radios now fully implemented? The An/ARC-83 ADF? I've lost track of what's still planned and what's done, forgive me. I'm keen on my navigation, F10 is such an immersion-breaker, so would enjoy using the on-board systems to get about/work out just how lost I am and/or find those wayward downed pilots etc Expanded mission set It'd be great to include a few missions with the download to let the newcomer get stuck in with their new-found skills, and to show off things like the fantastic in-cab cargos etc, some livery use-cases (air ambulance, Jurrasic Park tour guide etc... ; ) Maybe even a campaign...?! A textbook go to would be one made up of progressive training missions; a 'stretch goal' might be deployment to put the training into action I won't do too much name dropping here, but the User Files section (and this thread) has a few notably repeat offenders FWIW I'm a lippy b*gger (you'll have noticed...) and would be very happy to help with the writing/editing/researching etc for the documents. I don't yet know enough to take the lead, but this is a short-term me problem, learning is always a possibility! Also, I'd like to start learning the mission editor, and it's long struck me that making tutorial missions is a pretty good way into this - fairly simple and limited in scope, but still possible to ramp up immersion, learn and use complex triggers etc. I'd throw my hat in the ring as being somewhere I could contribute as a stretch goal, but timeframe unknown. Suggestions - devs (stuff we can't) Expanded control binding options - again the A4 is perhaps the best example of this, where there are multiple input options making for very flexible control bindings Minigunner body Method to remove cargo/PAX loadouts on the fly Audio cue for landing light switch (?) Does the damage model have some tweaks remaining? It's a bit disconcerting to find myself upside-down looking at treetrunks as the Cayuse bounces around on the deck! I also noticed that a section of canopy which gets shot away is that with the greasedot aim mark on it. Possible to remove the greasedot as part of the damage/move the damage textures so they don't overlap the greasedot? Such a tiny thing, I know, but s'all about the immersion I'm uncertain if anything remains on the to-do/bugfix list. I appreciate the Little Bird is the focus. Have a well deserved beer. Honestly, the Cayuse is so bloody good! I'd be embarrased to tell you how long I spend just rocking the collective and watching her go light on the skids as the blades cone Cheers and gone!

Woop, thanks @BrianTheBrain, extra exciting! If we take a position half-way between @Enigma89's 'DCS as a digitial historic aviation museum' and @Reflected'd 'DCS as a digitial historic experience simulator' then I think even the average user (and I am very average!) will get a lot from being to put themselves in these positions. Someone famously used to play Silent Hunter 3 in real time, blogging their progress as daily logs, so for sure someone will want to sit in in VR on an uncomfy seat with the windows open and their buttkicker set to max continuous shaking them to bits for hours on end to experience life as a tail gunner...but I can't imagine many. However, a go at navigating, or post-damage engine and fuel management, or the final minute on the run into target leant over the bombsight will add so much to the value of this community Lanc from both perspectives. Thank you all, and well done. Per ardua ad astra!

Into the Desert...Storm?! Interesting

Just hopping in to say a) the OH-6A deserved a shoutout in '2025 and Beyond' vid, much as the A4 did a year or two ago, and b) whilst there's plenty in there to look forward to I found little to get excited about. So I'm hopping into the Cayuse to tear it up round @Mistermann, @Devil 505 and co's Into the Jungle. Cos that is always exciting. Well done on all you've achieved this year @tobi and @Eight Ball, here's to 2025 and beyond for you guys!

Thanks for the update @BrianTheBrain! I know most of the real work lies under the hood, but she's really starting to look the part. Simply glorious. On multicrew, are there plans for gameplay-useful bomb aimer/nav/flight engineer positions?

Distinct lack of appreciation from that nasty little chap at the back! Gorgeous pic. Excitement +1

In short, it works. As I'm sure you've seen, there was talk of further improvements - it's an old model after all - and additions, including autopilot modes, but as things stand we'll be waiting for those until a new Polychop team forms around the Osprey assuming the future follows the same pattern as we saw around the Kiowa. Autohover is a bit of a fudge, but does work as advertised. Things to be aware of: You must be in an accurate, stable, hover for it to engage correctly* This includes vertical speed** *If you don't already, try setting the Artificial Horizon to DOP mode (rotary between torque indicator and volt meter on the right of the main panel) to give you crosshairs to follow into the hover. ** So be very gentle with the collective when popping up to make an attack etc It's possible to trim out to a hover so well that many of us don't bother with the autohover in the first place...might be less frustrating! TV Camera slew works bound to keys and/or axis (I have mine bound to a thumbstick on my controls). Can't remember the binds off the top of my head and I'm away from DCS atm, but it's there somewhere Are you definitely in the 'SA-342 Copilot' control list? Can't comment on FFB, sorry. Chuck's Guide is still the go-to source: https://assets.chucksguides.com/pdf/DCS SA-342 Gazelle Guide.pdf HTH

*sigh* @BIGNEWY, you're damned good at your job, it's not one I'd wish on my worst enemy, and I get there's nothing more you can say...but it's not our collective first rodeo either. There is space for yet another of these little moments of excitement to flare up because of poor communication, not because of poor information. Same as every time you have to firefight the latest drama. Most of us work for private companies. It's how we pay for ED and 3rdP products. We get it. We haven't forgotten, it's just irrelevant to the real issue behind all this stuff every time it happens. It's not the money. It's not the product. It's not even the crisis-of-the-moment. It's the information management. Every time. You could say it's not ED's problem, but these discussions keep happening on ED's turf, and keep impacting their bottom line. Polychop's inability to keep a team together is Polychop's problem, true... ...and it's an ED problem... ...and (because of emotional more than financial investment in their products) it's a me problem. So here I am, engaging as best I can; here's ED with the good ole "nothing to see here" and a contractor with a textbook "everything's fine". Competitor companies do better than this.

Ah. Looking forward to offical comment from ED and Polyc- Pahahaha, sorry, almost kept a straight face! Rubbish news, and a rubbish way to find out.

Nice one @MAXsenna! My memory is at fault re the pitch up - IIRC it's a standard response to RBS regardless of airframe, but very happy to be corrected - but it seems like we were getting the same kind of behaviours in the same kinds of regime, and leaving DCS with the same kind of smile on our faces

Velocity never exceed. 'Cos it's unsafe. You can try your luck with the structural engineering behind G limits, but there's no luck behind the calculated and calibrated VNE. Which I think you know. So. Is the question about the speed at which the effect kicks in in DCS? Is it about the way the effect kicks in in DCS? Is it about the severity with which it kicks in in DCS? Is it something else? No time to watch the track tonight, but I'll try to grab a few mins to crash a Loach or few. From memory the implementation is pretty damned good - excessive vibration into pitch up into uncontrolled roll - so I can't quite see what the issue is. Keep at it @tobi, if there's a miracle here it's your (plural) mod and the way it puts ED to shame. More power to your collective elbows! EDIT: Using @Mistermann and co's Into the Jungle mission*; Andersen AFB slots; default loadout, fuel etc; just doing laps of the field at about 1000' Trimming to stable flight c.120 indicated is possible Holding stable flight to c.135 indicated is possible At that speed the poor Loach is shaking more than Ole Shaky herself, it is clear that all is not well Normal flight regime can be resumed by lowering collective and gentle aft cyclic Further FO results in near-immediate F'ingO - I didn't notice much of a pitch-up moment, but definitely noticed the roll Pucker Factor = oops. The behaviour seems about right, as do the numbers. There will be SMEs out there who are qualified to talk about the accuracy of this, and about overall feel. I am not one. End result...exceed VNE and die. Ideal. *As I assume we all have it. If not you're missing out, it's ace, even as a solo playground.

I need to pick my words carefully and it's late but, before the convo moves on, a thought: Is the OH6 seriously good, and seriously good fun? Absolutely! Is it as good as some paid modules in some regards? Yeah, we all think it is. Is it then as good as paid modules should be? Well, this is where opinions will likely differ, but I'd say not...almost by definition. The OH6 is the rotary community module, as the A4 is for fixed wing. If they set the bar for what can be achieved by/with/for the DCS community, how much more should we expect from commercial developers? I'd rather we use the undoubted quality of these mods to drive the whole ecosystem forward, than use the somewhat lacklustre level of gerneric paid modules as some kind of high water mark. The OH6, made with extreme talent, a lot of work, and tons of generosity, goes to show how much more we should expect from guys who do this for a living, day in day out. Shame on ED, forza Team Loach. Per ardua ad astra! PS. Anyone know where a crowdfundong campaign sits in this scheme? Say I wanted a certain aircraft, could I start a crowd funding campaign to pay devs if it's 'only' ever to be a community module? This is all tricky territory, I know, but interesting. PPS. Since you asked...Westland Lynx Mk.7 - got the looks, more uses than a Huey in DCS, but fast as sh't off a shiny shovel and properly fully acrobatic! Given the OH6 team's proven ability with flight dynamics it could be a great fit ;)

Woof!

But they might on an updated SOAR model to go with the Little Bird From what I can see it's certainly some breed of 'hawk or other. I was just wondering if this is the "heavier" mod in the works... ...or, sticking with the specops vibes... #backinmybox

The real question is whether that's the 'heavy' project mentioned in the Discord update, or might that be something related to @Eight Ball's excellent SH-3...?!

My ears are ringing just looking at that pic - nice one @Scoobyon and team!

Just here from a couple days and several hours in Into The Jungle (solo OH6 and OV10) having had an absolute ball and left burning wreckage of my airframes liberally scattered over the map...but at least most of the pilots made it back to a MASH unit It's a great playground, super evocative (the voiceovers are awesome) and a great platform for some of the best aircraft in DCS. Well done all. I had the same thought...not least 'cos I don't have the Super Carrier, so my Scooter starts in the air and winchester. Happy to see that it's in the works @Mistermann, speedy! More left-field, but in the same spirit, I also wondered if it might be possible/worth adding one or two Gazelle slots (Olf Orote and S Jungle maybe?). I appreciate it didn't serve in reality, but it's pretty era-appropriate, a plausible 'what-if' for Viet-Guam, and makes the mission easily accessible to another group of mission-starved pilots. Just a thought. Otherwise, I'd be happy to see a little more AI around, and any development of the scripts (FAC, logistics etc) would be very cool...but that's cos I'm largely a solo player, not the target audience...until someone pops this bad boy on a public server! But mostly: Seriously good job gents, congrats to the team and thanks for sharing with the community

I've been hugely enjoying @dggoofy's excellent UNFICYP 1983 camapign, available here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3336299/ I have, however, run into a block in Mission 6. Really, this post is to highlight the wonderful campaign to the Gazelle community but also to give @dggoofy* a gentle nudge to have a look at the triggers in Mission 6. Trying to avoid spoilers, my issue starts at the destination airfield. Having landed in the described spot, the co-pilot hops out to investigate the cargo...and then nothing happens. I've waited up to 30 minutes, so I don't think it's a patience problem! Any thoughts/advice would be welcome; but also go fly the campaign! It's really great *Or anyone up to speed with the mission editor

Good shout, it's definitely a perceived barrier to entry for some and it'd be a shame for this not to spread far and wide