How do you "balance" other modules with the Tomcat?

[Jayhawk1971]

Due to the current "lull" in new Tomcat SP content, I activated my two-week trial license for the Viper (mainly to see how the progress of this model is coming along since the last "trial" period in spring). Again, I found that extensive time in a FBW-aircraft really has a somewhat detrimental effect on my Tomcat handling skills. 

I also haven't touched the Hornet in over a year (other than to satisfy my curiosity as to how it looks in VR), mostly for the same reason, even though I found the Hornet feels less "digital" than the Viper (which is almost grotesquely easy to handle - which is probably by design, because the pilot needs most of his attention to handle all those weapon systems and avionics: TMS short forward, DMS long right, sacrifice a goat, make coffee maker SOI, yell "Geronimo"....just to mark a steerpoint  ). 

So I made it a point to "end the day" (as in, final flying session of the day) with a flight in the Tomcat to "cleanse my pallet", in the hope of not losing the light touch those Tomcat controls need. And boy is that necessary for me! After doing half of the later Viper training missions (air-to-ground from CCIP to JSOW), I did a Tomcat free flight mission  and my muscle memory was already messed up a bit, resulting in somewhat hamfisting the controls into overcorrections. 

So my question to you folks: how do you juggle with different modules? Or do you also stay module exclusive for a while? Or is switching between the different modules (with or without FBW) as easy as changing your socks?

[IronMike]

Imagine the shock you are giving to die hard simmers, when they see the word "balance"

That said - as you do, I think is a good way. My recommendation: switch once you feel you reached the moment of "riding a bike" in a certain aircraft. Then jump to the next one, and back. At first switching back will feel a bit like "you lost that lovin feeling", but the longer you have flown an aircraft, the quicker it will come back.

Mindset is important. Train a specific mindset for each aircraft, and simply be aware. Then flick that switch in your head when necessary. Think of it like a type rating irl. When you climb in to a different cockpit, you want to assume the appropriate mindset. Focus for a sec. Recall and recollect your memories. Remind yourself of the most important bullet points. Be aware. Awareness is a power greatly underestimated. And it is a power. It works in all the corners of life. Lastly: do not beat yourself up over being that proficient in one module and this proficient in another. Have fun and enjoy, that is the most important thing.

Good luck!

[Lt_Jaeger]

Same same. Did some Traps in the Hornet today and low and behold, I could not land my trusty Tomcat in a decent manner any more 

To satisfy my cravings I switched to the Viper to play a little laser tag, at least that was my idea. Again, I will never again speak a bad word about Jester and the TWS mode of the Tomcat. Basicly I did not hit anything with the AMRAAM,I want  my Phoenix back. 

 

In short, I'm cured and coming back to my Tomcat with devotion. 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Lt_Jaeger

[Swordsman422]

I currently own the F-14, F/A-18, A-10C, A-10C II, F-16, AV-8B, Mirage, and FC3 modules. The F-14 gets probably 70% of my flying time with the Hornet getting about 20% and the rest sharing the remaining 10%. The F-14 has made flying the others actually easier for me, and I sometimes appreciate that they are less work. When I spend time in another module, coming back to the F-14 I'll fly a few hours of refresher to kickstart my memory on the systems, flying qualities, and specific quirks of the plane before I get serious. Sometimes it comes back fast. Sometimes not.

 

BTW, I saw the title of this post and thought it was going to be about game "balance." I'm left to wonder how soon it will be before the skyquakers and counterstrikers come in here expecting to be able to rail on that particular topic. 

[QuiGon]

2 hours ago, IronMike said:

Imagine the shock you are giving to die hard simmers, when they see the word "balance"

Indeed, I expected something totally different when I saw the thread and was already reaching for my pitchfork

[IronMike]

Oh I forgot to mention one thing though @Jayhawk1971 - since you mentioned a recent "lull" - not sure if you saw all the recent content that has been added end of October, including the training day mission and several quickstart missions. Take a peek at the quickstart section, if you like, our quickstart missions are usually a bit more packed and "full fledged" than what you would find else. (unless you hammered through everything already haha.) We treat that section more instant play, rather than just instant action. Just wasn't sure if you are aware of that. You should find nigh 200 missions there (provided you own most of the maps), some smaller, some bigger, some very big.

Edited November 23, 2021 by IronMike

[Rudel_chw]

5 hours ago, Jayhawk1971 said:

Or do you also stay module exclusive for a while?

I do that, using a fixed module for around 3 months before changing to something new.
 

currently flying mostly the Mosquito ... with a bit of A-4E as I’m editing a mission set for it.

[Jayhawk1971]

vor einer Stunde schrieb IronMike:

Oh I forgot to mention one thing though @Jayhawk1971 - since you mentioned a recent "lull" - not sure if you saw all the recent content that has been added end of October, including the training day mission and several quickstart missions. Take a peek at the quickstart section, if you like, our quickstart missions are usually a bit more packed and "full fledged" than what you would find else. (unless you hammered through everything already haha.) We treat that section more instant play, rather than just instant action. Just wasn't sure if you are aware of that. You should find nigh 200 missions there (provided you own most of the maps), some smaller, some bigger, some very big.

 

Oh, maybe I should have specified that the "lull" is only how I perceive it, due to heavy playing, not in general (there's a ton of great Tomcat content); probably a good illustration of the difference between "relative" and "absolute". 

So to anyone still on the fence whether to buy this fantastic module: there is a lot of great content available. At least for 20 months of module-exclusive playing.  

But I do own the Tomcat since March 2020, and have flown it exclusively since then. So I have pretty much played all campaigns, missions, instant actions and training sessions. The only missions I haven't tried yet (but downloaded) are Reflected's "Final Countdown" and "Gulf of Sydra" missions.

I've played through Training Day and the other LANTIRN missions as soon as Vaicom Pro was updated with the new Jester LANTIRN commands, and will try the other "branch" of the mission (the - I assume - shorter and less exciting option). I do own Persian Gulf, NTTR and Syria maps as well. Marianas is still a slideshow for me over certain areas (Guam!).

If you'll ever find the time to upgrade the other really great single mission (Watching the Devil Dogs) to Forrestal (and/or SC) status, and maybe some of the other single mission, that would really add to their "replayability", IMO. Or some of the interesting quickstart missions such as the Mariana's F-14A/B intercept missions could become really cool "full" missions by adding cold start/ take off features (again, Forrestal or SC)

I'd do it myself in the Mission Editor if I only knew how.  Probably not a mere two-hour job. 

Edited November 24, 2021 by Jayhawk1971

[IronMike]

2 hours ago, Jayhawk1971 said:

Oh, maybe I should have specified that the "lull" is only how I perceive it, due to heavy playing, not in general (there's a ton of great Tomcat content); probably a good illustration of the difference between "relative" and "absolute". 

So to anyone still on the fence whether to buy this fantastic module: there is a lot of great content available. At least for 20 months of module-exclusive playing.  

But I do own the Tomcat since March 2020, and have flown it exclusively since then. So I have pretty much played all campaigns, missions, instant actions and training sessions. The only missions I haven't tried yet (but downloaded) are Reflected's "Final Countdown" and "Gulf of Sydra" missions.

I've played through Training Day and the other LANTIRN missions as soon as Vaicom Pro was updated with the new Jester LANTIRN commands, and will try the other "branch" of the mission (the - I assume - shorter and less exciting option). I do own Persian Gulf, NTTR and Syria maps as well. Marianas is still a slideshow for me over certain areas (Guam!).

If you'll ever find the time to upgrade the other really great single mission (Watching the Devil Dogs) to Forrestal (and/or SC) status, and maybe some of the other single mission, that would really add to their "replayability", IMO. Or some of the interesting quickstart missions such as the Mariana's F-14A/B intercept missions could become really cool "full" missions by adding cold start/ take off features (again, Forrestal or SC)

I'd do it myself in the Mission Editor if I only knew how.  Probably not a mere two-hour job. 

 

I definitely plan on adding more missions, fleshing out existing ones - especially if we see there is demand for it. For now we need to finish the 2 remaining campaigns though that are still coming. Great to hear that you played it all basically, makes me happy to hear you enjoyed it. I wish I could add a couple missions every patch, but unfortunately time doesn't permit.

I don't want to promise it, but if things go well I might be able to finish the PG campaign before the end of the year.

Not sure if you tried that one btw, and it isn't the most polished one, but personally I enjoy the Marianas LANTIRN mission a lot, due to the bad weather atmosphere. Thanks for the feedback!

Edited November 24, 2021 by IronMike

[Jester986]

38 minutes ago, IronMike said:

I definitely plan on adding more missions, fleshing out existing ones - especially if we see there is demand for it. For now we need to finish the 2 remaining campaigns though that are still coming. Great to hear that you played it all basically, makes me happy to hear you enjoyed it. I wish I could add a couple missions every patch, but unfortunately time doesn't permit.

I don't want to promise it, but if things go well I might be able to finish the PG campaign before the end of the year.

Not sure if you tried that one btw, and it isn't the most polished one, but personally I enjoy the Marianas LANTIRN mission a lot, due to the bad weather atmosphere. Thanks for the feedback!

 

If I could chime in I’d love to see a Marianas campaign. Probably have to pretended their different islands but hunters over Yalu used the caucuses for Korea. 

[Swordsman422]

7 hours ago, QuiGon said:

Indeed, I expected something totally different when I saw the thread and was already reaching for my pitchfork

Same here.

[Jayhawk1971]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb IronMike:

I don't want to promise it, but if things go well I might be able to finish the PG campaign before the end of the year.

Not sure if you tried that one btw, and it isn't the most polished one, but personally I enjoy the Marianas LANTIRN mission a lot, due to the bad weather atmosphere. Thanks for the feedback!

That would be fantastic indeed!  

I've tried that mission, and I loved the atmosphere. Sadly, once I dove below the cloud deck, I could count the individual frames. I'll just have to hope that Santa brings me a new GPU. 

 

[IronMike]

1 hour ago, Jester986 said:

If I could chime in I’d love to see a Marianas campaign. Probably have to pretended their different islands but hunters over Yalu used the caucuses for Korea. 

Then I think we'll have some exciting news for you in the next year.

[Lt_Jaeger]

2 hours ago, IronMike said:

Then I think we'll have some exciting news for you in the next year.

Yeah.....

But first please part two of your Campaign....I'm still in transfer to Turkey and in grief about seeing the once so proud carrier be a smoldering wreck

[Lurker]

Easy. I don't fly the other jets. Why drive a 2021 Mini-Van when I can take out the 69 Shelby for a spin? Maybe to take the wife shopping, and the kids to the mall.....

[IronMike]

6 hours ago, Lt_Jaeger said:

Yeah.....

But first please part two of your Campaign....I'm still in transfer to Turkey and in grief about seeing the once so proud carrier be a smoldering wreck

Think more along the lines of DLC done by a friend of ours, one and the other are not conflicting. But, I won't spill more for now.

[Top Jockey]

BALANCE ?

No balance : REALISM, for each and every module. As much as possible.

 

Joking aside, I understand the OP's question.

Tipically I spend the majority of my time with the Tomcat, and sometimes I interchange between Hornet or the Fulcrum.

- on fewer occasions, I feel like taking the FIshbed for a ride... just to remember how it is to land it at roughly 300 kph in bad weather;

- on others, the Viper or the Hornet to tweak with their JHMCS modes, various sensors, etc.

 

Naturally I don't do it all the time, as one must adapt to each airframe's own switchology, controls, etc.

[Lt_Jaeger]

8 minutes ago, IronMike said:

Think more along the lines of DLC done by a friend of ours, one and the other are not conflicting. But, I won't spill more for now.

The RAG - Deployment Campaign for the F-14B by Reflected?  Anyhow, the more the better ...keep them coming

[IronMike]

1 minute ago, Lt_Jaeger said:

The RAG - Deployment Campaign for the F-14B by Reflected?  Anyhow, the more the better ...keep them coming

Nope, something else.

[Lt_Jaeger]

Nice....now you got me hyped, I hope you feel bad now.  Only way I forgive you is, if you announce the release day for the Heatblur Phantom.

 

I'm happy that we will receive additional DLC. Guess I can push the F-16 back in the Hangar and wait for all the goodies coming our way.

 

 

 

[IronMike]

3 hours ago, Lt_Jaeger said:

Nice....now you got me hyped, I hope you feel bad now.  Only way I forgive you is, if you announce the release day for the Heatblur Phantom.

 

I'm happy that we will receive additional DLC. Guess I can push the F-16 back in the Hangar and wait for all the goodies coming our way.

 

 

 

I don't. I am a bad boy.

[Nexus-6]

The short answer is, "I don't".  The F-14 is the sole reason I took notice of DCS, though that will change whenever an F-8 and/or F-4 are delivered.

[Lt_Jaeger]

2 hours ago, Nexus-6 said:

The short answer is, "I don't".  The F-14 is the sole reason I took notice of DCS, though that will change whenever an F-8 and/or F-4 are delivered.

You are my soulmate, wanna marry me? 

 

Exactly my thoughts...... Let's hope F-4 will be done by heatblur. 

[Boosterdog]

On 11/23/2021 at 7:07 PM, Jayhawk1971 said:

So my question to you folks: how do you juggle with different modules? 

I sit in the back and look out of the window trying to spot yellow cars.....

[Spurts]

10 minutes ago, Boosterdog said:

I sit in the back and look out of the window trying to spot yellow cars.....

Wish I could do that.  Love love love flying the turkey but that back seat is so fun.  Don't have anyone to reliably handle to front seat