DCS: F-14 Development Update - Enter the -A!

[Sealpup]

Will the afterburner gate keybind be available for both Tomcats, or only the A's?

[Steve Gee]

 

For now yes. Which is totally fine as long as we get a high quality Forrestal with basic functionality. However, it would be cool to have the other ships they mentioned in the past sometimes next year once the main development cycle comes to an end. I do understand however how much work it is to model all the island and texture/equipment differences of the various carriers of the same class.

 

The Saratoga was actually a selling point for me, had a cousin that retired as the Senior Chief onboard. Maybe post March 2021 now, but won't hold my breath. :(

[Ikaros]

 

Only if appearing to be an over entitled, inconsiderate spoilt brat to others means anything to you.

 

It doesn't. This is the internet, I'm anonymous, your a stranger, and probably a foreigner to me as well.

 

I AM entitled, to my opinion that is. Them making a high quality product does not make them immune to criticism. I lost a lot of money taking the day off to enjoy the "massive F-14 patch". Not to mention I've been complaining for almost a decade to them about how they are late every single time with everything ranging from previews, updates, to actual releases.

 

We didn't need pictures and a wall of text for them to communicate the update wasn't dropping today. They could have said a sentence a few days ago instead.

[Wildwind]

Just a really minor feature request for something down the line: Can we get an option to ask Jester not to backseat drive during inflight refueling? I don't mind the jokes and stuff, but when he tries to give me directions it invariably causes me to screw up my approach (usually by leading me to look at the drogue, which is the last thing I want to be doing).. I don't want to tell him to shut up completely, because having him read off the fuel state while connected is very useful!

 

I suppose this will probably stop being an issue as I get better at inflight refueling, but while I'm still trying to master it, it's a little maddening.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Thank you, Heatblur!

 

[*]In-cockpit VR pilots

YAY!

 

[IronMike]

 

It doesn't. This is the internet, I'm anonymous, your a stranger, and probably a foreigner to me as well.

 

I AM entitled, to my opinion that is. Them making a high quality product does not make them immune to criticism. I lost a lot of money taking the day off to enjoy the "massive F-14 patch". Not to mention I've been complaining for almost a decade to them about how they are late every single time with everything ranging from previews, updates, to actual releases.

 

We didn't need pictures and a wall of text for them to communicate the update wasn't dropping today. They could have said a sentence a few days ago instead.

 

I am sorry to hear that. We do not quite expect folks taking a day off for a patch, in future we will keep it in mind and shoot a message a couple days before in case we skip one again.

[ricktoberfest]

 

It doesn't. This is the internet, I'm anonymous, your a stranger, and probably a foreigner to me as well.

 

I AM entitled, to my opinion that is. Them making a high quality product does not make them immune to criticism. I lost a lot of money taking the day off to enjoy the "massive F-14 patch". Not to mention I've been complaining for almost a decade to them about how they are late every single time with everything ranging from previews, updates, to actual releases.

 

We didn't need pictures and a wall of text for them to communicate the update wasn't dropping today. They could have said a sentence a few days ago instead.

 

You’ve been complaining for almost a decade about how they’re never on time, yet took the day off work?

...

[==Wiggy==]

I big thank you to the Cobra and the Heatblur team! thanks to the SME's for helping to perfect this product. Very exciting news. Keep up the great work!

[Eagle7907]

Hey IronMike,

 

Thanks for answering our questions. The team is doing great work and your communication is much better than other teams. Keep up the great strides. Looking forward to the great fun our beloved A will bring. (Did that sound weird?.....Nah!)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[near_blind]

We would love to do all 4 Forrestal class carriers, however please expect only the Forrestal for the time being. As you can see, a lot of the burden we put on ourselves with additional content turns out far bigger than expected or takes far longer than expected as is. In that sense we want to focus on the core features that are necessary for the release. Changing the island a bit or smaller such rather "unnecessary nice-to-have" items, say on a pure eye-candy level, etc., will have to take a back step for the moment. We will simply have to see if we find time for them.

 

Is there any way we can get four skins for the model with the different hull numbers like ED has done with their Perries and Ticonderogas? It may not be 100% correct for each hull, but it goes a long way towards providing variety for mission makers.

[Ikaros]

 

I am sorry to hear that. We do not quite expect folks taking a day off for a patch, in future we will keep it in mind and shoot a message a couple days before in case we skip one again.

 

It's not about about whether I took the day off work or not. The reality is Heatblur is bad at communication. I'm not talking about you personally, but in general. You can write a wall of text and post great information about an upcoming update, but what's the point of writing something is delayed two and a half hours before it's supposed to be released? It was two and a half hours since the original Heatblur post and the patch release. What is also the point of release dates, when they are always missed? Every single time you all do this, my resentment builds up even more. This is why I'm really blowing up all of a sudden about this. I know this might not seem normal to people to get this bent out of shape, but it's really a culmination of 7 years of this. This literally happens every single time. Nothing is ever put out in the timeframe Heatblur says it will be whether it is, previews, updates, releases, bug fixes, etc.

 

Some people view it as entitlement, I view it as expectations set forth by the company itself that are not met. Yes the products are extremely high quality, works of art even. Doesn't mean you're the best at communication.

 

Let me tell you something, this is not about winning some argument or abusing the Heatblur team. It's about, why can every 3rd party and ED communicate delays reasonably but after all the complaints from people for almost a decade, you all can't? I'm not the only person that's complained about this.

 

Ricktober is also right, I should have known better.

 

 

[WolfHound009]

 

No on the glove vanes, those were barely used operationally and either welded shut or removed from the factory alltogether. And yes if you read carefully they mention that removing the TCS will be optional for the early A's and the IRIAF cat. will come without the TCS by default (only ALQ and light).

 

Where does it say removing TCS for both early As and the IIRAF Cat. Not saying your wrong its just i cant see it written anywhere so i guess im probably missing it.

[Howzzat]

Will ACLS finally be fixed in this update?

[Skysurfer]

 

Where does it say removing TCS for both early As and the IIRAF Cat. Not saying your wrong its just i cant see it written anywhere so i guess im probably missing it.

 

"Some of these include, across the three variants:

• Removal of fuel pylons
  
• Bullet fairing for TCS
  
• ALQ instead of TCS (IRIAF 95-GR)
  
• Early Gun vent / plate
  
• Fuselage RIO step strengthener panel (optional)
  
• Alternate front windscreen defogger array
  
• Early duck-tail
  
• ALQ-/ECM bulges
  
• MBU-7/p Mask
  
• MS22001 Mask
  
• HGU-55 Pilots (in lieu of HGU-33)"
  

[Fercyful]

[*]we plan for Iceman to be able to orbit and - maybe - the ability to fly to a steerpoint selected by the player, maybe also with map markers, etc... we will see. for the time being a lot of other things will have priority, approaching the lantirn update this will become of course a higher priority. we will see where we can fit it in.

 

:thumbup: great news! thanks for the reply on the topic. Those extra features sounds so nice :punk:

 

 

[WolfHound009]

 

"Some of these include, across the three variants:

• Removal of fuel pylons
  
• Bullet fairing for TCS
  
• ALQ instead of TCS (IRIAF 95-GR)
  
• Early Gun vent / plate
  
• Fuselage RIO step strengthener panel (optional)
  
• Alternate front windscreen defogger array
  
• Early duck-tail
  
• ALQ-/ECM bulges
  
• MBU-7/p Mask
  
• MS22001 Mask
  
• HGU-55 Pilots (in lieu of HGU-33)"
  

 

Thanks!

[Wizard_03]

 

"Some of these include, across the three variants:

• Removal of fuel pylons
  
• Bullet fairing for TCS
  
• ALQ instead of TCS (IRIAF 95-GR)
  
• Early Gun vent / plate
  
• Fuselage RIO step strengthener panel (optional)
  
• Alternate front windscreen defogger array
  
• Early duck-tail
  
• ALQ-/ECM bulges
  
• MBU-7/p Mask
  
• MS22001 Mask
  
• HGU-55 Pilots (in lieu of HGU-33)"
  

 

Yeah I read the list too hence my question, because It only mentions that for IRIAF version not the early USN version.

 

As far as gloves vanes go, many early F-14As did have them working and they weren't formally deactivated for the whole fleet till the early 90s and Heatblur has said repeatedly we will get them at least visually.

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/englis...ate-2?t=142938

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/englis...vanes?t=224957

[petey293]

 

It doesn't. This is the internet, I'm anonymous, your a stranger, and probably a foreigner to me as well.

 

I AM entitled, to my opinion that is. Them making a high quality product does not make them immune to criticism. I lost a lot of money taking the day off to enjoy the "massive F-14 patch". Not to mention I've been complaining for almost a decade to them about how they are late every single time with everything ranging from previews, updates, to actual releases.

 

We didn't need pictures and a wall of text for them to communicate the update wasn't dropping today. They could have said a sentence a few days ago instead.

 

imagine taking a day off of work for a game patch

[Skysurfer]

 

Yeah I read the list too hence my question, because It only mentions that for IRIAF version not the early USN version.

 

As far as gloves vanes go, many early F-14As did have them working and they weren't formally deactivated for the whole fleet till the early 90s and Heatblur has said repeatedly we will get them at least visually.

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/englis...ate-2?t=142938

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/englis...vanes?t=224957

 

That's a post from 2015. I highly doubt we'll get them as they'd require considerable aerodynamic work as well. Please show me a source that states they were a thing until the 90's. All SME's I've heard talk about them said they were removed or deactivated very early on.

[Jackjack171]

 

imagine taking a day off of work for a game patch

 

Yup, that's just a bad call. Anyone that's been here a while should know how complex software development can be. Money over fun! Patiently waiting for the 18th!:thumbup:

[Victory205]

Every aircraft I flew from 1984 to 1992 had working glove vanes. The glove vanes did help with supersonic turn performance, they worked fine and I don't recall them ever failing or causing difficulty. However, the flight regime where they aided in turn performance was almost never encountered in real world operation. There just wasn't a need for turning at high mach numbers.

 

There is no need for Heatblur, given the underlying engine, to model them...

[Calinho]

To be 100% perfect, for the F-14A-135-GR (Early) we need an option to select a clean\new cockpit textures like A-10C tank killer II

[Chiwie]

I know this is the longest of long shots but...

 

Is there any chance of getting some of the crazier Iranian air force weapons on the -14A? Stuff like the Hawk AAM conversion and redfor missiles.

 

I would totally be willing to pony up some extra cash for this. It would really add an interesting bird to the red team. Totally understand that this isn't likely due to documentation issues and the like.

[Shmoo42]

@Calinho That is an immense task. I make skins for fun, and I've only barely scratched the surface of cockpit texturing, so I can say for a fact that cleaning up the cockpit like that is going to be monstrously hard. If you really want to see a clean cockpit ingame, I encourage you to try your hand at texturing, because I don't think Heatblur is going to provide us that lol. PM me if you do end up trying, I'm intrigued with the idea

[Lurker]

 

It's about, why can every 3rd party and ED communicate delays reasonably but after all the complaints from people for almost a decade, you all can't?

 

 

You lost me somewhere around this point. Heatblur is the only DCS studio (this is including ed) where developers communicate fairly frequently (and usually very accurately, dates notwithstanding) on the forums. If you think Eagle Dynamics is better, sorry but that is simply not true.