SCPanda

Nice tactics!

Kind of is. 2021 and we still don't have a working radio communication system in the game, you can use the radio to "talk" to AIs but not real players. People have to use SRS instead but not everyone has SRS installed. Right now, the most common player to player communication you see in DCS MP severs is actually text chat...

F-16 is the way to go. Viper just feels so much better than the Hornet.

F-16 is just the best multi-role jet ever developed. Keep flying the F-16.

FM change isn't mentioned in the patch notes. ED said in August

NICEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Forgot BFM in the Viper now. FM is still being worked on (ED said change will come in August). It can't outrate (2 circle) most of the jets in DCS and in nose position fights (1 circle), Viper isn't that great anyway due to its AOA limit. The only "fair" fight in Viper with the current FM is probably Viper vs Viper.

Few tips: 1. 20-30 degree dive, don't drop the bomb too high (depends on the size of your target, a tank sized target I usually start the dive from 5000-6000ft, ship sized you can go higher) or too low (risk of damaging your jet). 2. Use the CCIP fall line to aim at your target, stable your jet during the dive, zero throttle, wait for the cursor to come up and meets the target. 3. Use zoom, the bigger the zoom the better, when the cursor comes up and meets the target, press weapon release. 4. After weapon release, zoom out, pull up to 15 degrees, push the throttle, then you can roll your jet 90 degrees, turn you head towards your left or right wing(which ever is pointing to the ground and watch the target go boom!) CCIP with MK82 should be more accurate than CCRP. CCRP is better with precision guided bombs like JDAMS and GBUs.

I feel like F-16 indeed has ordinance drag, because with AG loadout the drag is quite huge. Pylon drag is something I have not tested so I cannot comment, but pylon does indeed significantly reduces the turn performance of the jet in dogfights, and the speed bleed much more quicker than a clean jet with no pylons. Anyway, lets wait for the FM fix that's hopefully coming next patch.

I agree. Make it more user friendly. Also F-16 is supposed to be a very responsive jet according to real pilots. But that's in the case of having a force sensing stick, but not every DCS player can afford a FSSB-R3 Lighting...

I don't think you understood my post. Yes, it's true that Side vs Center do not affect responsiveness in game. But IRL, center stick is longer than side stick, which means center stick offers more precise control IRL (). Therefore ED made the default curve of center stick jets in game more responsive, but F-16 with side force sensing stick, they made it less responsive, and this is suppose to give you the most realistic feel of the jet when you play DCS. This is what I meant. You can do whatever you want and whatever works for you. Center vs side, extension vs no extension, 0 curve vs negative curve, that's your decision to make. Like when I fly the Hornet, I still use a side stick setup with no extension, however, in game I have to add curve to tune down the responsiveness. But flying the Viper with a side stick setup with no extension would be the best option, because that's how the jet is in IRL.

I use no curves or deadzones with my Thrustmaster Warthog (side stick setup). I have been doing this since the F-16's release, I have gotten quite used to it (and I only fly the F-16 now because I love this jet). I don't think it's sluggish. In fact, I think it's pretty responsive and accurate when doing things like dogfighting and formation flying. You have to think F-16's feel as there is a built in curve from the FLCS. People coming form jets like the Hornet and Eagle might need some time to get used to it. But keep in mind Hornet and Eagle have center stick, and Viper has side force sensing stick (and it's the only side stick jet in DCS). Center sticks are longer than side stick so I guess that's why their default curve(0 curve) tend to be more responsive/sensitive, because longer stick IRL means you can get more precise control with it. It's like the Xbox controller joystick extension some players use to get more precise controls for FPS games, because default length is too sensitive and hard to fine tune your aim. When I fly the Hornet and Eagle, I usually use 20-30 curve to tune down the sensitivity since I don't use a extension with my Warthog. Maybe try flying the Viper with out 20cm extension and move your joystick to the side stick setup. Again, curve and joystick setup is a very personal thing. I can understand that some people might think F-16's default sensitivity is a little low compare to other jets, especially those who are new to the F-16. But F-16's stick is pretty unique, and I think ED did a good job with it. If you want to dedicate yourself to the F-16, I would recommend go for a side stick setup with no curves and deadzone(for warthog yes, since you can turn on hardware deadzone in Target, for other sticks you might need a little deadzone). Get used to it and you will love it. For others who only fly the F-16 occasionally and come from jets like the Hornet (or use extensions), maybe some negative curve would be your best choice. When I save enough money, I will buy a FSSB force sensing base to get a even more authentic feel of the Viper.

Yep, can't wait for the new FM.

One of my friend uses a Xbox controller and he can fly tight formations with us. Really impressive

Hey, if you got a group playing on your private severs doing your own PvE missions, good for you. But remember 90% of players playing on public MP severs do not get the same experience as you guys get. Not to mention it's not a easy thing to setup your own MP sever in DCS. There's no such thing as simming right or wrong. There are also plenty of people who enjoy doing public PvP but the gameplay is basically taking off and find things to shoot at. Like I said, DCS currently is simply a sandbox that currently lacks features for majority of players to get a dynamic/realistic mission experience in MP. Imagine a MP FPS game with all the nice guns and nice maps but no game modes... If you have flown the other F-16 sim, you would know what DCS is currently lacking. I used to fly that sim as well, a lot of fun, much more realistic, but it just doesn't have the same level of graphics as DCS. That's why I switched.

TWS is a good workaround. It also automatically change radar elevation and radar scale on MFD for you. Just use RWS to lock and target and then TMS right long to switch to TWS, since TWS search time is tooooo long.

Exactly, like F-16s doing SEAD and DEAD, F-15s doing CAP, A-10s doing CAS, F-18s doing fleet defense and etc.

No problem man. I also want to point out I don't particularly hate the realistic loadouts lol. It's just how DCS missions (MP espeically) work. DCS is more like a sandbox with jets to fly and things to shoot at (I mean in MP we can instantly respawn and get a new jet whenever we want). Meanwhile realistic AA and AG missions would be much more complicated, things like flight plan, briefing, coordination with command and other units like AWACS, ROE, etc., Maybe realistic loadouts would be actually fun to use in missions like that, because the pilot will not just be a simple weapon delivery guy, and missions like that would be much more immersive.

The sad thing is you can't carry mavericks and JDAMs while carrying HARMs now, because you cannot load mavericks and JDAMS on stations 4 and 6 in DCS. So what ED did was basically taking away a lot of loadout options for us and really limits the versatility of the F-16. So let's go with the realistic loadout some people apparently are SO obsessed with: 2 or 3 Aim-120s, 1 or 2 Aim-9s, 2 Harms, 2 Wing tanks, no jammer pod yet so centerline station would be empty. How the gameplay well end up: Take off, climb, fire 2 HARMs, go home with still 9000 lbs of fuel and rearm... REAL exciting mission...

I'm with you man. The thing is there are some people who apparently hates HARMs on 4/6 and called it unrealistic loadout. They think being able to carry HAMRs on 4/6 ruins their immersion in DCS because they want to do realistic sorties with realistic loadouts. And they kept crying about this in the forum and then they had some mechanics saying 4/6 isn't wired on USAF jets in real life. So ED removed the HARMs...

Yep, CBU-97 however, is much more effective, but is it as effective as in real life? IDK...

Could be the strength, the difficulty of developing a canopy like that, the cost, safety concerns (such as canopy ejection, bird strike, etc.), and necessity (F-16 was built for dogfight if you know about the story of Fighter Mafia, but in modern days dogfighting isn't that common now). And honestly, F-16's canopy isn't frameless, it has a frame in the back, imaging reversing the front and back of Hornet's canopy. F-22's canopy is probably the only frameless one-piece canopy there is in the world. Regarding the so called "bubble canopy", many aircraft has it, such as P-51, F-86, and choppers like Mi-24 and little bird.

LOL nice. Considering changing your profile picture to the Viper? hahaha

I will have to check my C drive. It was the F-16 free flight mission on Caucasus map. There were some practice ground targets to shoot at. I have checked those parameters. In my scenario, I literally watched my JSOW flying towards the target, explodes above the target, and the BLU-97s hitting the target (more like the target's surrounding area cuz I cannot confirm whether any of the cluster munitions hit the target or not, but I can confirm the truck was in the blasting area of the munitions, I mean, it was covered with explosions.)

Yesterday I launched 4 JSOW against a enemy truck, only managed to damage 50% of its health...