Is it worth going back to A10C?

[conura]

Hey all,

 

I bought the A10C 2 and I'm enjoying learning all the systems again and play around with basic scenarios in the editor for practice before getting into campaigns. I haven't played DCS since 2014. I looked at the compatible campaigns available for the A10C 2 from the user files and paid campaigns, and I have:

The Enemy Within 3.0
and from, the User Files, A10c Georgian Hammer and Operation Piercing Fury.

Nested under the old A10C I have the following, which I must have bought years ago:
Red Flag 16-2, Stone Shield, A10c Sturmovik, Basic and Advanced training qualifications.

This feels like it's potentially a good amount of content, but can anyone confirm whether it's worth going back to the original to play them through? Do they work correctly / is the flight model etc close to the A10C-2? I'm presuming pretty much everything bar the extra weapon systems will translate between the original A10 and the new one? Am I right in thinking the original A10c has had a cockpit upgrade anyway, so it won't be like going back to 2010?!  (I'm away from my machine for the next week, so can't check)

Thanks
 

Edited January 2, 2021 by conura

[Yurgon]

3 hours ago, conura said:

Do they work correctly / is the flight model etc close to the A10C-2?

 

I can't really say whether the old campaigns work okay right now. They probably do, but DCS changes so much that most campaigns require constant updates to keep them from falling apart.

 

Regarding the flight model, the good news is that the old A-10C and the new A-10C II share almost everything. They both have new cockpit geometry, they both have the same flight model, the A-10C II just has a few differences in the systems (outside: Pave Penny removed, in-cockpit: new option for "worn" textures, TISL control head removed, new HMCS control head added, VHF AM radio control head to be replaced by new AN/ARC-210 control head in the future). If you don't look too closely at the cockpit, you probably couldn't tell the difference between the old and the new A-10C, they've both received a lot of love during the last year.

 

There are, however, a few HOTAS changes that came to both modules, and more HOTAS changes that apply only to the new A-10C II because of its Helmet Mounted Cueing System.

 

According to the manuals, more HOTAS changes are incoming to the new A-10C II regarding the CMS switch, that might not get backported to the old A-10C (I) module.

 

3 hours ago, conura said:

This feels like it's potentially a good amount of content, but can anyone confirm whether it's worth going back to the original to play them through?

 

Should be no problem at all. Like I said above, the two modules are very much alike. The big "downsides" to the old A-10C are the factory fresh look of the textures and the fact it doesn't have the helmet mounted cueing system. You can get used to the latter really fast, it's such a game-changer, even though it's "just" a visor in front of one eye.

 

3 hours ago, conura said:

I'm presuming pretty much everything bar the extra weapon systems will translate between the original A10 and the new one?

 

The extra weapons, the new optional "worn" cockpit textures and the helmet mounted cueing system are the biggest differences.

 

3 hours ago, conura said:

Am I right in thinking the original A10c has had a cockpit upgrade anyway, so it won't be like going back to 2010?!

 

Absolutely! The buttons, knobs, switches, dials - everything has been reworked, there is much more detail in the current A-10C cockpit than in the old version. For VR users, the experience should also be much better. Plus, the viewpoint has been updated, and while not everyone seems to like it, I think it's closer to what it should be like in comparison to real life.

 

Oh, and I think we'll be getting (or have just gotten) twice the amount of self protection flares for both the old and the new A-10C modules.

 

Long story short, module-wise there's no real downside to flying the old campaigns with the old module, and enjoying the living hell out of the updated ones in the new module.

[conura]

9 hours ago, Yurgon said:

 

I can't really say whether the old campaigns work okay right now. They probably do, but DCS changes so much that most campaigns require constant updates to keep them from falling apart.

 

Regarding the flight model, the good news is that the old A-10C and the new A-10C II share almost everything. They both have new cockpit geometry, they both have the same flight model, the A-10C II just has a few differences in the systems (outside: Pave Penny removed, in-cockpit: new option for "worn" textures, TISL control head removed, new HMCS control head added, VHF AM radio control head to be replaced by new AN/ARC-210 control head in the future). If you don't look too closely at the cockpit, you probably couldn't tell the difference between the old and the new A-10C, they've both received a lot of love during the last year.

 

There are, however, a few HOTAS changes that came to both modules, and more HOTAS changes that apply only to the new A-10C II because of its Helmet Mounted Cueing System.

 

According to the manuals, more HOTAS changes are incoming to the new A-10C II regarding the CMS switch, that might not get backported to the old A-10C (I) module.

 

 

Should be no problem at all. Like I said above, the two modules are very much alike. The big "downsides" to the old A-10C are the factory fresh look of the textures and the fact it doesn't have the helmet mounted cueing system. You can get used to the latter really fast, it's such a game-changer, even though it's "just" a visor in front of one eye.

 

 

The extra weapons, the new optional "worn" cockpit textures and the helmet mounted cueing system are the biggest differences.

 

 

Absolutely! The buttons, knobs, switches, dials - everything has been reworked, there is much more detail in the current A-10C cockpit than in the old version. For VR users, the experience should also be much better. Plus, the viewpoint has been updated, and while not everyone seems to like it, I think it's closer to what it should be like in comparison to real life.

 

Oh, and I think we'll be getting (or have just gotten) twice the amount of self protection flares for both the old and the new A-10C modules.

 

Long story short, module-wise there's no real downside to flying the old campaigns with the old module, and enjoying the living hell out of the updated ones in the new module.

What an awesome, thorough response. Thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to getting all this into muscle memory and being able to go online and be effective. Love this plane :)

Thanks again!