The Rookie Thread

Well let me begin by introducing myself.. I just bought the game and have no idea what I'm doing. This is my first sim and it's really addicting. I noticed this forum has no home for us rookies so I took the liberty of making one. If any noob questions or simple querks you can't solve by yourself arise, I hope this thread is a good place to start. From what I've seen this sim community is way different than any other game I've seen, and people have been helpful.

If any more rookies out there want to introduce themselves and post up a few questions feel free. Maybe we can get online sometime and work on the basics of flight, navigation and landing/ taking off.

I guess I will start off by sharing a track (no laughing) and ask a question about the HUD.. how come sometimes it starts up and other times I cant seem to bring it up (besides the standby)?

Hrm I hope it's a good start. Look forward to see yall' out there. :D

Rookie flight.trk

Welcome. This is one of the most helpful forums I've ever seen. This is one very challenging sim, and I've been at it for a while, like most of the folks here.

Post away, any issues you encounter, I'm sure someone here could help you with.

Just want to point out that we have just opened a "Meet and Greet" thread in the Chit-Chat section. If all you want to do is introduce yourself, please use that thread instead. If you have actual beginner's questions, feel free to post them here.

a question about the HUD.. how come sometimes it starts up and other times I cant seem to bring it up (besides the standby)?

If you are following the same procedure, you should be getting the same result. If you are not, than you are doing something different. It sounds to me like you may be forgetting to turn the INS switch up (back panel) and/or not waiting long enough for the INS to warm up.

Well if theres something I've learned its "If at first you dont succeed, trim, trim again!"

Be gentle this bird dont like being pushed around! As for the HUD I'll leave that to the pros.....

hey mate

welcome to the forums, u will find most here are more than happy to help also the guys from ED play an active part on the forums answering questions and giving every one updates to there current projects which is a nice gesture

good luck with your new purchase.

This happens to me sometimes, not sure why, but i fix it by playing with the brightness knob directly below the HUD.

The HUD seems to not start working until you have AC power, which either means from ground power or from having the generators running (after you've gotten the engines up to full speed, i.e. idling at 90% RPM).

By "not start working" I mean it's powered off. Once you do have power to it, it takes a while to warm up and become ready. There's a light on the eyebrow panel (bottom left on the right hand panel, I think) that indicates when the HUD is not ready. You won't get any display from it until that light extinguishes. It'll then fade into view shortly after. So if you've got no HUD and your engines are at normal power, check for that light. If it's off, either you've forgotten to the power the HUD on at all (using the INS switch) or the brightness is too low.

Well if theres something I've learned its "If at first you dont succeed, trim, trim again!"

 

Be gentle this bird dont like being pushed around! As for the HUD I'll leave that to the pros.....

Actually the BS is pretty sturdy. It's all just a matter of knowing the aircraft. When I first started I felt that it was like trying to fly truck.

Now I can do aerobatic moves and really push the Shark. Give it time, you'll see what I mean.

whatever you do, just don't fly it like a speed record breaking machine. I have seen people doing 275+, and then wonder why there's a Hawk missile up in their chopper's rear end :D

EUREKA!! How can you disable all NAV related Autopliot

EUREKA!!. I think I understand whats been making this so hard for me to control. It's the NAV system/systems doing stuff that I'm not in control off.

After INTERMITTENTLY fighting with this bird for 50HRS I'm pretty sure that whenever the helo seems to have a mind of it's own it is because I'm being flown not just by the AutoPilot but most especially the NAV AUTOPILOT.

I have tried to turn off waypoints and the Route switch is in the middle position. I also make the DT/DR switch placed in middle position. I only want the stabilization aspects of the AP to function period.

It always seems to happen at the worst time just when I'm lining up a shot and the helo gets a mind of it's own. I think it might be related to the way I make my own missions an where the waypoints are close to the fighting areas.

Can someone make a checklist or suggest how to free me of the influence of the NAV system when I'm fighting?

I love this sim!!!!!

Your mistake is probably not trimming. Turning? Hold down trim button. ;)

GAAH! I am so lost!

I have no idea where to begin. Just downloaded the game, and I am absolutely baffled where I should begin learning this sim. I can read the manual on the train, but 50 pages of how the altimeter works gets to me after a while :megalol:

The tutorial goes through things fast. I almost died when the guy said i should be able to do startup in 30 seconds flat. aroo?!

So ummm...where should an utter novice like me begin?

btw, I used to do very well in falcon 4.0 long time ago, so i understand the basics.

Do the tutorials in the game. Read some of the tips on flying on this forum and most importantly: PRACTICE!

Make a simple mission with just your helo and fly around. Learn how it handle and try the tricks you learned here.

I'm also a very proheficiant Falcon 4 AF pilote, and I needed a good month or 2 of flying the Ka-50 to get a good hang of it's flight dynamics.

FInd a multiplayer online community and start asking

All,

Let's try to make this thread a "go-to" resource for new comers with basic questions. Please try to make your posts specific and concise, always on topic. It would help if you quote the question to which you are responding.

Thank you.

Hi Arkham,

I would start here with the basic then the pro check list

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=35571 once you've learned where all the buttons are located then take it for a spin in a non hostile environment I would turn on invulnerable for your first couple hours.:thumbup:

Once that is completed then goto the shooting range in the missions select screen this will let you play with out dealing with the AI shooting at you.

then I would create your own mission to see how the enemies target you and get the geest of using counter measures ect...

Sincerely,

Viper169th

EUREKA!!. I think I understand whats been making this so hard for me to control. It's the NAV system/systems doing stuff that I'm not in control off.

 

It always seems to happen at the worst time just when I'm lining up a shot and the helo gets a mind of it's own. I think it might be related to the way I make my own missions an where the waypoints are close to the fighting areas.

 

Can someone make a checklist or suggest how to free me of the influence of the NAV system when I'm fighting?

 

I love this sim!!!!!

IF you find the Shark spinning out of control when you are in a fight:

- press control-Enter, this will bring up the controls guide

- Center the Rudder pedals on the control guide

- press trim

- Problem solved!

It is very easy and very very common to accidentaly double transform trim the rudder!

The heading hold AP channel can only do so much to counteract this.

Other wise, as long as the Route autopilot is not on, and you are not using "auto turn to target" unless in a stable hover , you should not be having problems as described.

Make sure to press and hold trim whenever doing ANY control inputs though...the only time I hands off the trim is on landing

Is there a way to make the HUD info larger ? I'm finding it very difficult to actually read the HUD, even if I move closer using my TrackIR ...

Just got Black Shark!

Hi, I just got Black Shark! I fly it with the X52pro stick. NICE SIM! I have a intel 2.Q9550 2.83, quad core and 2 EVGA 9800GTX in SLI mode. Any hints how I should set the graphics up? I have the latest drivers for my cards and using the NVIDA control panel BS isn't listed. Anyone know how to add it? Thanks,

Greg

Is there a way to make the HUD info larger ? I'm finding it very difficult to actually read the HUD, even if I move closer using my TrackIR ...

Hi Dave,

yes!..

You can also use the "zoom" feature, which is not the same as leaning in on the trackir.

Check in options under the "axis" controls, and you will see a "Zoom View" axis control.

Asign an axis to it (it using an X52 for eg, use the slider, otr one of the rotaries) , and you can zoom in and out (camera style lens zoom, rather than a paralax zoom as with Trackir).

If you do not have a spare Axis to assign, thre are also "zoom in" and "Zoom out" keys that can be assigned .. I belive by default they are set to mouse-wheel up and down ?

Most people I know that use a Cougar, have zoom in and zoom out set to key strokes on a 2 way hat switch.

..vital for flight IMHO

Hi, I just got Black Shark! I fly it with the X52pro stick. NICE SIM! I have a intel 2.Q9550 2.83, quad core and 2 EVGA 9800GTX in SLI mode. Any hints how I should set the graphics up? I have the latest drivers for my cards and using the NVIDA control panel BS isn't listed. Anyone know how to add it? Thanks,

Greg

Hi Hawk,

Put everything up to "high" except water ("normal" ) and view distance ("medium), cockpit res to 512 .. you shold get reasonable frame rates with that I think (similar setup to mine, and thats what I use).

You can add dcs.exe to nvidia control panel by :

- open the NVidia control panel

- select "Manage 3d settings" on the left

- select the "program settings" tab

- click on the "add" button

- navigate to your Black shark install directory, and select "DCS.exe"

- Change all the settings as you like (FSAA etc..)

Also, set shadows on lower settings: they are very demanding.

Thanks for the tips! This looks like a real good sim. I can't wait for the AH-64 to out.

I have no idea where to begin. Just downloaded the game, and I am absolutely baffled where I should begin learning this sim. I can read the manual on the train, but 50 pages of how the altimeter works gets to me after a while :megalol:

 

The tutorial goes through things fast. I almost died when the guy said i should be able to do startup in 30 seconds flat. aroo?!

 

So ummm...where should an utter novice like me begin?

 

btw, I used to do very well in falcon 4.0 long time ago, so i understand the basics.

Get some Popcorn and a drink and watch all producer notes!

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=686608#post686608

Learning the sim

Can't tell you a lot about this sim except that it's a work of genius and...

I can tell you something about learning that might help you get the most out of your investment.

1) Motivation. Without a drive to learn, anyone starts to stumble and give up early. With a sim this good, that's a real shame. So instead of telling yourself it's too complex, will take ages, manual too big or whatever, focus on thoughts that motivate you - I'd love to be able to really fly this baby - if I take this one step at a time I should be able to get this - ain't no-one out there that can outperform me when I set my mind to it - Jee it's sure gonna feel good to be able to say I can fly a chopper like this...and so on.

2) Each of us has a preferred learning style. Some like visual information, some audio, others feeling and so on. You should first try to figure out how you like to learn by remembering times when you did learn and enjoyed doing it. Once you've got a good fix on that, connect that ability to your motivation for learning Black Shark...if I do it like I did X then I should be able to (understand the manual, learn the cockpit drill, gently take this thing to a hover) etc.

3) Pick a sensible place to start and go one step at a time. I went with learning the start up sequence off video, found that some of the switches weren't labelled as I'd like so looked them up in the manual. Then tried from memory - discovered that I'd forgotten some key steps. Went to the manual and tried to figure out what would happen if I missed those things. Then tried it in the sim on the Shooting Range mission. Then realised I didn't know why I was operating all those switches so looked them up in the manual. Learned something new at every step.

Once I could start the engines, I tried flying only to discover another problem...looked it up. Not there. Checked in here with bloggers, got useful help and direction, went back, tried it all again and so on.

The real key is the motivation strategy. Without it you may find you lack the drive and determination to see the whole thing through. The same ideas apply to life in general - very useful really. Make sure you're motivated (that's entirely under your control of course) then take up the challenge.

If you can conquer this sim at your desk, you can conquer a lot of other things using the same general strategies.

Good luck :thumbup: