some A8 love

[peachmonkey]

Way back I tried DCS VR with the Mustang and P51 when DCS was the first one to introduce VR support in 2016(?). The feel was amazing, however it got boring quickly due to the lacking WWII eco-system and unoptimized VR experience.

 

So I switched to that other sim when they introduced VR in 2017 and I haven't looked at DCS since.

 

Comes 2021 and I started to look at the A8 in DCS waiting for something to trigger me to want it. And it happened in March, mostly because of the boredom with the other sim.

 

I bought the A8. Got the DCS VR experience in order (DCS's weakest point really). Then I started flying it.

 

1) Awesome stuff (A8 and DCS world):

• Landings:       Holy s**t they were hard. Loved it.
• Take offs:       Holy s**t they are still hard. Love it.
• Flight Model:  Holy s**t in general. Love it.
  • The aircraft actually has weight! The force of inertia is amazing. I never piloted any aircraft in my life (except for 6' rc planes) so I can't argue about realism of any of it. But man, it's a rewarding experience once you learn how to actually properly control the Energy
  • vertical loops aren't actually easy at all! Anton loves to just hang upside down and it takes quite a bit of force for it to put its nose down. Doing it while fighting the superman AI is a nerve racking experience
  • The port (left) wing stall is so strong that it can throw A8 in to a flat spin pretty much anywhere, which it did so many times that learning the flat spin recovery is must-have skill for Anton's operation. That requirement alone is .. amazing.
  • Firing all 6 guns destabilizes the aim so much that I started to use the "spraying" side-to-side techniques to actually hit targets
  • damage to the tail section actually models the proper behavior of the plane (I think it's proper?), i.e. it's sluggish and requires additional control input. There are no pitch up/down b.s. like in the other sim (its most annoying "feature" really).
• Sound: 
  • external sound changes depending on observer's position in relation to the plane! This is tits! Put the cam in front the prop and suddenly all I hear is just the wind !?! How cool is that.
  • The flybys are down right menacing sounding. Paired with the bass shakers under my seat the trembling of the sub bass is breath taking!
  • interior sound changes depending on how far I stick my head out the cockpit. This is awesome as well. It's amazing actually. It helps so much during the landings that I no longer look at the ATA/rpm's but listen to the sound of the engine/prop outside to gauge the engine power needs.
• Damage model. Boy, this is a biggie for me:
  • Wing decals are actually in 3D.  Not just some stickers, but they show the aluminum pried outwards giving it the depth of the damage.
  • Cowling bonnet detachment so I can see the engine inside, very very cool.
  • The system damage modeling is .. well.. there's nothing out in the market like that. I've had so many damage types and variations that I never know what could be next !?:
    • making home back on 8 cylinders instead of 14 (!!).
    • getting Magneto1 destroyed in the first pass over a target. Then getting Magneto2 destroyed in the second pass. Dead in the water and ditching!! What other sim can do this!?
    • Getting the brake lines ruptured. After landing A8 was rolling for another good mile before it stopped. Lol. May not be too realistic due to a weak drag, but nonetheless not something that's expected! You have to account for this whenever you land and make a decision if it's better to do a belly landing instead in order to avoid running in to some ground object with no brakes and die (yup, happened to me).
    • Getting electrical gear motors shut out so an emergency gear release is needed.
    • Toggle the gear circuits on/off in order to retract/extend a stuck gear due to damage (!!).
    • getting the oil lines punctured so the pressure drops and you start running the engine on dry mode. Sound changes are very specific and non-repetative, a lot of work when in to this alone.
    • the bombing in A8 is superb. The real life bombing guides for this plane are valid, and honestly I look at them as the cheat codes so-to-speak
• Channel map:
  • it's gorgeous in VR.
  • the textures are so high that the ground no longer looks like some wall textures from Doom released in the 90's. It has depth, proper lighting, and it just looks... real.
  • all the little towns, individual houses, all of the little details that are everywhere. Sometimes I just take off and fly at low altitude enjoying the sunset, reflections, wind mills, radar towers.. the list goes on and on.

 

2) not so awesome:

• VR experience. It's amazing how much stuff one must read up on and then configure to get the sim working in VR. If the Devs could treat it with high enough priority the influx of new players would be guaranteed. The other sim devs figured this out 3 years ago, which I'm sure partly explains its current popularity.
• bugs. Oh well. bugs will be bugs...

 

anyway, just my 2 happy cents.

 

cheers.

Edited June 4, 2021 by peachmonkey

[percydanvers]

You enjoy torturing yourself against the AI in this plane? 

Well I guess I kind of do as well, but it drives me insane. I tried to bounce a pair of spitfires on the free flight instant action. I missed the pass, and tried to dive away at a moderate AOA into the clouds to escape. Screaming through what must have been 4000 ft of cloud, what should I find as I pull out but the AI still firmly on me, methodically demolishing my poor Anton. It's pretty scary flying a plane that can't outrun a spitfire.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, I'll keep flying against the AI but nerve wracking doesn't even begin to describe how stressful it is.

[peachmonkey]

1 hour ago, percydanvers said:

You enjoy torturing yourself against the AI in this plane? 

Well I guess I kind of do as well, but it drives me insane. I tried to bounce a pair of spitfires on the free flight instant action. I missed the pass, and tried to dive away at a moderate AOA into the clouds to escape. Screaming through what must have been 4000 ft of cloud, what should I find as I pull out but the AI still firmly on me, methodically demolishing my poor Anton. It's pretty scary flying a plane that can't outrun a spitfire.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, I'll keep flying against the AI but nerve wracking doesn't even begin to describe how stressful it is.

 

 

heh, all too familiar pains. Nowadays I simply run away from the spits, or create missions replacing them with I-16, which is also flying in god-mode. In Horrido campaign I usually lead the wingmen towards the spits and then pull back. Once they engage in a dog-fight it's pretty easy to shot them down. It is a nerve wrecking experience indeed.

 

 

[rkk01]

I’ve been setting up “training” missions for the Anton on the Nevada map - generally strike missions against US forces at other airfields - desert scheme Antons over the Nevada desert

 

Today’s mission was a possible nod to the forthcoming Mossie and the famous film.

Flying out of Echo Bay strip (that’s real short [and narrow!!!] with a bombed up 190) for a run down Lake Mead and over / under the Hoover Dam and the road bridge - AAA located at strategic positions in the canyons and approaching the dam.

 

Got hosed by flak but limped back as far as Nellis for a bumpy landing.  No idea how many cylinders were left running, but it wasn’t many...!

 

Tend to use the Dora for A2A, but even that got a pasting from the Spits over the Channel at the weekend. Thought I would be able to outrun them, but didn’t work...

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by rkk01