Having some fun

[Mrgud]

Hi!

 

I am a jet lover but I love DCS fidelity so I purchased almost all modules. On this Christmas sale, I bought the Dora and I love it. After few hours of practicing in singeplayer, I decided to try multiplayer (Dogs of War server) to see if I'm any good against human opponents. There were 8 players when I joined the game; the mission was to take off from Nalchik, follow the river south-east to Beslan and fight against P-51s. Sounds like fun I thought! But it was very boring experience for me. At first, I could read notifications that somebody is fighting somebody but than everything stopped and we where all flying in circles I guess. I flew the pattern few times, than circle above Beslan, even turned my navigation lights on.

 

I started to complain to the guys that I'm bored and we should meet and dogfight but majority of them was telling me some old school WWII veteran story like "in real life it's hard to spot enemy plane..."

 

To cut it short. I'm not new to DCS, I love it's complexity and I know that the point is on realism and that it isn't some arcade shooter, but I was flying for almost one and a half hour without fighting anyone! In real life, you would fly every day, sometimes few missions on one day, but I have a job, little son and other obligations and I have only one hour per day (if I'm lucky) for my flying. So that „in real life“ tales has to be with some measure I think. So my question here is: on which server can I join and have some fun without spending one hour on finding the enemy? I loved Su-27 dogfights and gunzo servers because sometimes I just love instant action rather than flying some complex mission like A-10C for example.

 

Give me your opinions please!

[fastfreddie]

Look for missions that focus all the planes to one area and read the briefings if your looking for action. Spotting is very hard especially when you first start flying and sometimes even having meet up areas with other opponents it can be difficult to spot them without flak. Other pilots most of them new seem wary of meeting up points for dogfight action but keep asking if nothing is really going on. Nobody likes to fly around doing nothing forever.

[flare2000x]

Three lakes map (Drei Schwiene?) Is good for action on DoW server. If you ever see it on then hop in! Also the ACG server has flights of AI bombers of thats your thing (but you have to fly German planes to shoot at them!)

 

Flare

[dooom]

Hey man - no worries at all! There are definately some servers that can help you out! - The first i can think of is the DoW server #2 which runs the river raiders mission - plenty of AI/clients within a short jaunt of your airbase to fight.

 

Another person to touch base with is gavagai ... he has a thread here (http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=135707) where he announces when he is going to have an old school high action server up. i'd recommend you pm him or subscribe to the thread above and get in on his action.

 

alternatively, you can also host a mission yourself... I am attaching a very simple instant action dogfight mission i just whipped up for you below. Feel free to host it online and I am sure others will join. The basics are simple - red owns novorossysk 5x 190 + 5 x 109. blue owns gelendzhik 10 x p51. flak will shoot at you if you go over enemy base. fly to point in dk14 and fight.

 

Enjoy DCS - it is simply awesome... i dont want a bad MP experience to taint your fun!

DCSWWII_RvB_v1.0.miz

Edited December 30, 2014 by dooom

[Mrgud]

Thanks for your answers!

 

I joined the Three lakes another day but it was the end of the mission and than new mission started with allied ships landing and red has to oppose, but it was long before some action started so I had to go.

 

@doom - thank you for the link to gavagai's thread, I will check his server out! I will also check out the mission you attached. I'm having lots of fun with DCS for years, but I'm new to WWII part of it. I bought the Mustang few years ago, but played in singleplayer. I have big ping so it killed lots of fun in my previous attempts on servers. But AI always fight in the same way so it's boring, that's why I decided to try with servers again.

[Crumpp]

Sounds like gavagai's server would be a perfect fit for you.

 

I have a career and family as well. I managed to get on last night and found three dogfights in 20 minutes. I would have found more but I did the cold start option which I like but as you said, takes time to do.

[Mrgud]

I'm ok with cold starts and even with some distance that has to be crossed before engaging, but when I spend more than an hour trying to find some action and 8 players are online, that's too much for me. I just wanted to try my skills against human opponent and get myself shot down if necessary but give a thump up, practice some more and come again some other time! ;)

 

Oh yes, I wanted to ask all of you:

 

how big is your ping on DCS servers? When I measure my ping on web, it is 23ms but in DCS it rarely goes below 100 and on some servers it's above 500ms so it's often pretty unplayable.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Mrgud

[Chappie]

Hi!

 

I am a jet lover but I love DCS fidelity so I purchased almost all modules. On this Christmas sale, I bought the Dora and I love it. After few hours of practicing in singeplayer, I decided to try multiplayer (Dogs of War server) to see if I'm any good against human opponents. There were 8 players when I joined the game; the mission was to take off from Nalchik, follow the river south-east to Beslan and fight against P-51s. Sounds like fun I thought! But it was very boring experience for me. At first, I could read notifications that somebody is fighting somebody but than everything stopped and we where all flying in circles I guess. I flew the pattern few times, than circle above Beslan, even turned my navigation lights on.

 

I started to complain to the guys that I'm bored and we should meet and dogfight but majority of them was telling me some old school WWII veteran story like "in real life it's hard to spot enemy plane..."

 

To cut it short. I'm not new to DCS, I love it's complexity and I know that the point is on realism and that it isn't some arcade shooter, but I was flying for almost one and a half hour without fighting anyone! In real life, you would fly every day, sometimes few missions on one day, but I have a job, little son and other obligations and I have only one hour per day (if I'm lucky) for my flying. So that „in real life“ tales has to be with some measure I think. So my question here is: on which server can I join and have some fun without spending one hour on finding the enemy? I loved Su-27 dogfights and gunzo servers because sometimes I just love instant action rather than flying some complex mission like A-10C for example.

 

Give me your opinions please!

 

Don't give up on the Dogs Of War server. Spotting aircraft is not easy but there are some tips like zooming in and looking for areas of active flak or go attack their base and you will be a flak target and have P-51s on you enough for all the trouble. Practice spotting and tracking targets in the instant action missions without labels on. Visual fighting is tough but once you get the hang of it, you will doing alright.

[Merlin-27]

Don't give up on the Dogs Of War server. Spotting aircraft is not easy but there are some tips like zooming in and looking for areas of active flak or go attack their base and you will be a flak target and have P-51s on you enough for all the trouble. Practice spotting and tracking targets in the instant action missions without labels on. Visual fighting is tough but once you get the hang of it, you will doing alright.

 

:thumbup:

 

Also keep this in mind, once you are familiar with some of the missions you will learn where to look for aircraft and the most likely place to encounter an enemy. Yes, it is quite easy to wander around aimlessly and never see another aircraft but with a little time and knowledge at your disposal, you can find plenty of trouble. Of course, it helps if there is a good number of other people flying. (My 3 best tips for you: Try to fly with a wing-man if you can, read and understand the briefing, utilize Teamspeak if possible)

[gavagai]

 

To cut it short. I'm not new to DCS, I love it's complexity and I know that the point is on realism and that it isn't some arcade shooter, but I was flying for almost one and a half hour without fighting anyone! In real life, you would fly every day, sometimes few missions on one day, but I have a job, little son and other obligations and I have only one hour per day (if I'm lucky) for my flying. So that „in real life“ tales has to be with some measure I think. So my question here is: on which server can I join and have some fun without spending one hour on finding the enemy? I loved Su-27 dogfights and gunzo servers because sometimes I just love instant action rather than flying some complex mission like A-10C for example.

 

Give me your opinions please!

 

You are not alone here.

 

When you see my server up you will be able to find the enemy.

 

Spotting aircraft in DCS is more or less broken, so in the meantime there have to be compromises.

[Anatoli-Kagari9]

I'm 100% with what was stated in the OP, and I applaud Gavagai's initiative for his MP Server!!!... My experience as well - I even believe I was with the author at that same session ( ? I'm DCS-jcomm when in MP )...

 

Well, at another thread I suggest that, given the present limitations of DCS regarding LODs and the identification of distant aircraft, server managers should really consider allowing for:

 

- the use of F5, without icons / colored icons, so that we can at least make initial contact with prospective targets from an outside view, and then get into the cockpit and continue from there. This can stll be tricky if airplane icons / legends are not allowed in Map and Game views...

 

- the use of icons in Map ( F10 ) view, so that we can at least have an idea of where to look for them...

 

- why not, both of the above, as I had the chance to experience at Gavagai's server last night :-)

 

We're not "flying" modern combat jet fighters, which was the base of development for DCS, and having our Radars to give us that additional info, so, we have to rely ** only ** in visual identification of objects in the air or on the ground / seas...

 

While DCS isn't made more "visibility-friendly", please dear Server Admins, consider those options! I really don't mind at all having to go through the startup procedure, taxi and takeoff and even fly for some minutes to the target, but it is totally frustrating to arrive there and see nothing, being at most forced to straff the enemy airbase...

 

Or using that completely unrealistic Zoom view of my reticle that has no correspondence to real world ...

 

And yet another demand... Allowing for MODs! I am really enjoying David's MOD available at the ACG Server, and that cleaned cockpit on my K4 also helps a lot ;-), but unfortunately I can't use those MODs at most servers :-(

Edited December 30, 2014 by jcomm

[gavagai]

While DCS isn't made more "visibility-friendly", please dear Server Admins, consider those options! I really don't mind at all having to go through the startup procedure, taxi and takeoff and even fly for some minutes to the target, but it is totally frustrating to arrive there and see nothing, being at most forced to straff the enemy airbase...

 

Being unable to contact the enemy is the #1 reason for airbase attacks. It is rude as heck, but should be seen for the act of desperation it truly is.

Edited December 30, 2014 by gavagai
fix sentence

[Crumpp]

so, we have to rely ** only ** in visual identification of objects

 

Which is actually very difficult. I spend a lot of time looking for ATC traffic alerts....you might see 1/3 of them in the day and most of them at night because of nav lights. That is with multiple sets of eyes looking, too.

[gavagai]

Difficult is relative.

 

It is 'difficult' to spot contacts in other flight sims, crumpp, but then we have to use a different word for DCS.:smilewink:

[Crumpp]

Just telling you how it is flying in air, not on a computer.

 

I really like your server. It is perfect for a busy schedule.

[limbo696]

How is spotting in DCS "more or less broken?" I've found spotting to be much easier in DCS than it is in real life. Spotting is a skill too....I've been flying WWII sims (i.e., IL-2) seriously for a year now and my spotting skill is WAY WAY better than it was when I first started.

 

Spotting, hunting, and navigating is half of the fun if you are serious into WWII sims and I definitely prefer full realism servers with no icons. I even think that being able to have the computer mark your position on kneeboard map is a form of cheating.

 

Is there a Teamspeak for the Dogs of War servers?

Edited December 30, 2014 by limbo696

[gavagai]

How is spotting in DCS "more or less broken?" I've found spotting to be much easier in DCS than it is in real life. Spotting is a skill too....I've been flying WWII sims (i.e., IL-2) seriously for a year now and my spotting skill is WAY WAY better than it was when I first started.

 

DavidRed discovered that the long range 3d models are actually invisible from certain angles. I count that as "more or less broken."

 

I have a friend who is a military pilot. His opinion is that spotting in DCS was only accurate after he bought a 56" 4k monitor. ymmv.

 

Anyway, I've been at this hobby on and off for two decades now. I preferred "full real" in the past (whatever that means in a computer sim) until I came to DCS where I just couldn't see s*%$.

Edited December 30, 2014 by gavagai

[Mrgud]

@jcomm - yes, you were there. ;)

 

I repeat, I'm not new to DCS so I know about zoom and how hard it is to spot an enemy plane, I'm just new to WWII multiplayer segment of the DCS and that visual identification is only mean to spot a plane. The problem is that I was convinced that I am in the wrong place. I tried to attack Beslan airfield but AAA was Vulcan or something like that and it killed me without a problem.

[Tycoon]

Spotting in DCS is horrible, perhaps the worst of any flight sim, has nothing to do with "skill".

[Crumpp]

DavidRed discovered that the long range 3d models are actually invisible from certain angles. I count that as "more or less broken."

 

I have a friend who is a military pilot. His opinion is that spotting in DCS was only accurate after he bought a 56" 4k monitor. ymmv.

 

Anyway, I've been at this hobby on and off for two decades now. I preferred "full real" in the past (whatever that means in a computer sim) until I came to DCS where I just couldn't see s*%$.

 

Are you just getting old, Maybe? Besides how will I sneak up on you with the big tags?

 

:D