Northstar98 Posted December 23, 2021 Posted December 23, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone, Just a small, pedantic request, would it be possible to rename the current EPLRS advanced waypoint action to something more general like Data link using? EDIT: A better solution would be to have a dedicated 'data link using' command (which should ideally show you what data links a unit has available and if a unit has multiple, the ability to toggle them on/off individually) and a dedicated EPLRS On/Off command for units with EPLRS. The EPLRS command originated with the A-10C, back then the only data link system DCS had was SADL (Situational Awareness Data Link) which coordinates with EPLRS (Enhanced Position Location Reporting System) for CAS aircraft (namely the A-10 and F-16C). AFAIK (which really isn't much, so please correct me), EPLRS is solely used by US Army ground vehicles/units, with SADL being used for certain US CAS aircraft. Now though, we have Link 4A & C, Link 16 and Link 17, so personally, it would make more sense to rename this command to something like 'Data link using' as that better describes the command. Edited January 12, 2022 by Northstar98 correction Modules I own: F-14A/B, F-4E, Mi-24P, AJS 37, AV-8B N/A, F-5E-3, MiG-21bis, F-16CM, F/A-18C, Supercarrier, Mi-8MTV2, UH-1H, Mirage 2000C, FC3, MiG-15bis, Ka-50, A-10C (+ A-10C II), P-47D, P-51D, C-101, Yak-52, WWII Assets, CA, NS430, Hawk. Terrains I own: South Atlantic, Syria, The Channel, SoH/PG, Marianas. System: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 32 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070S FE, Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB (DCS dedicated) & 2 TB NVMe SSDs, Corsair RM850X 850 W, NZXT H7 Flow, MSI G274CV. Peripherals: VKB Gunfighter Mk.II w. MCG Pro, MFG Crosswind V3 Graphite, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.
upyr1 Posted December 24, 2021 Posted December 24, 2021 Agreed it is better to use the generic term 1
okopanja Posted December 24, 2021 Posted December 24, 2021 Better document in manual what it actually means...
upyr1 Posted December 25, 2021 Posted December 25, 2021 22 hours ago, okopanja said: Better document in manual what it actually means... That requires RTFMing about the mission editor- aint no one got time for that. 1
Northstar98 Posted December 25, 2021 Author Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) On 12/24/2021 at 10:40 PM, okopanja said: Better document in manual what it actually means... I don't see how this goes against the request. "Data link using" much better describes what the action actually controls, than EPLRS on/off, especially when aircraft don't have EPLRS (it's a US Army reporting system for ground units, with SADL being what aircraft (that are fitted with it) use to coordinate with EPLRS). But the function in DCS relates to data link usage generally, not just EPLRS/SADL, and so wouldn't it make more sense to call it 'data link using' as that's what it actually controls? Edited January 13, 2022 by Northstar98 1 Modules I own: F-14A/B, F-4E, Mi-24P, AJS 37, AV-8B N/A, F-5E-3, MiG-21bis, F-16CM, F/A-18C, Supercarrier, Mi-8MTV2, UH-1H, Mirage 2000C, FC3, MiG-15bis, Ka-50, A-10C (+ A-10C II), P-47D, P-51D, C-101, Yak-52, WWII Assets, CA, NS430, Hawk. Terrains I own: South Atlantic, Syria, The Channel, SoH/PG, Marianas. System: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 32 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070S FE, Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB (DCS dedicated) & 2 TB NVMe SSDs, Corsair RM850X 850 W, NZXT H7 Flow, MSI G274CV. Peripherals: VKB Gunfighter Mk.II w. MCG Pro, MFG Crosswind V3 Graphite, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.
okopanja Posted December 25, 2021 Posted December 25, 2021 2 hours ago, upyr1 said: That requires RTFMing about the mission editor- aint no one got time for that. It contributes toward realism and better knowledge. Person designing missions above all must have a broad knowledge.
Northstar98 Posted January 12, 2022 Author Posted January 12, 2022 9 minutes ago, Raviar said: EPLRS is not datalink, datalink use EPLRS Yes. As mentioned in my OP, EPLRS is a position reporting system for US Army ground vehicles. SADL is the data link, and those coordinate with EPLRS. Right now, DCS uses the EPLRS task to not only control EPLRS, but also data links generally, even for units that don't have SADL or EPLRS. So to that end, it would be better to have the current EPLRS task to be renamed as 'data link using', as that better describes what the task actually does in the majority of the cases. Even better than that would be to have a separate EPLRS and 'data link using' task, obviously unit specific. Modules I own: F-14A/B, F-4E, Mi-24P, AJS 37, AV-8B N/A, F-5E-3, MiG-21bis, F-16CM, F/A-18C, Supercarrier, Mi-8MTV2, UH-1H, Mirage 2000C, FC3, MiG-15bis, Ka-50, A-10C (+ A-10C II), P-47D, P-51D, C-101, Yak-52, WWII Assets, CA, NS430, Hawk. Terrains I own: South Atlantic, Syria, The Channel, SoH/PG, Marianas. System: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 32 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070S FE, Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB (DCS dedicated) & 2 TB NVMe SSDs, Corsair RM850X 850 W, NZXT H7 Flow, MSI G274CV. Peripherals: VKB Gunfighter Mk.II w. MCG Pro, MFG Crosswind V3 Graphite, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.
Raviar Posted January 12, 2022 Posted January 12, 2022 5 minutes ago, Northstar98 said: Yes. As mentioned in my OP, EPLRS is a position reporting system for US Army ground vehicles. SADL is the data link, and those coordinate with EPLRS. Right now, DCS uses the EPLRS task to not only control EPLRS, but also data links generally, even for units that don't have SADL or EPLRS. So to that end, it would be better to have the current EPLRS task to be renamed as 'data link using', as that better describes what the task actually does in the majority of the cases. Even better than that would be to have a separate EPLRS and 'data link using' task, obviously unit specific. actually, i think ED might need to add different DL in advanced mission (the available ones in DCS), not rename the EPLRS
Northstar98 Posted January 12, 2022 Author Posted January 12, 2022 4 minutes ago, Raviar said: actually, i think ED might need to add different DL in advanced mission (the available ones in DCS), not rename the EPLRS That might be a better solution: Have a dedicated command for data link usage - the window should tell you what data link(s) is/are available for the selected unit and if a unit has multiple, it should be possible to select them individually (though this is more of a ship thing, and requires similar functionality to IADS). A dedicated EPLRS On/Off task, for units that are actually fitted with EPLRS. 1 Modules I own: F-14A/B, F-4E, Mi-24P, AJS 37, AV-8B N/A, F-5E-3, MiG-21bis, F-16CM, F/A-18C, Supercarrier, Mi-8MTV2, UH-1H, Mirage 2000C, FC3, MiG-15bis, Ka-50, A-10C (+ A-10C II), P-47D, P-51D, C-101, Yak-52, WWII Assets, CA, NS430, Hawk. Terrains I own: South Atlantic, Syria, The Channel, SoH/PG, Marianas. System: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 32 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070S FE, Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB (DCS dedicated) & 2 TB NVMe SSDs, Corsair RM850X 850 W, NZXT H7 Flow, MSI G274CV. Peripherals: VKB Gunfighter Mk.II w. MCG Pro, MFG Crosswind V3 Graphite, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.
Gronank Posted January 13, 2022 Posted January 13, 2022 21 hours ago, Raviar said: actually, i think ED might need to add different DL in advanced mission (the available ones in DCS), not rename the EPLRS This is a breaking change: All missions in existence would not have datalink enabled if this change was made. It is a minor annoyance that the mission designer has to see EPLRS for things that are not EPLRS, but this change is worse than doing nothing.
Northstar98 Posted January 13, 2022 Author Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Gronank said: This is a breaking change: All missions in existence would not have datalink enabled if this change was made. It is a minor annoyance that the mission designer has to see EPLRS for things that are not EPLRS, but this change is worse than doing nothing. The super simple solution for this is to have data link and EPLRS enabled by default for units that have them. The problem you described only happens with the current system, whereby data link is disabled unless the 'EPLRS On' task is present, if this was changed such that data link and EPLRS is on by default, it wouldn't be an issue (unless your mission requires that data link be off for some reason). And even if this wasn't the case, you're talking seconds of work per group. And it's not that I have to see EPLRS for units that don't have EPLRS, the command is straight up vague - it's simply not good UI design. Edited January 13, 2022 by Northstar98 Modules I own: F-14A/B, F-4E, Mi-24P, AJS 37, AV-8B N/A, F-5E-3, MiG-21bis, F-16CM, F/A-18C, Supercarrier, Mi-8MTV2, UH-1H, Mirage 2000C, FC3, MiG-15bis, Ka-50, A-10C (+ A-10C II), P-47D, P-51D, C-101, Yak-52, WWII Assets, CA, NS430, Hawk. Terrains I own: South Atlantic, Syria, The Channel, SoH/PG, Marianas. System: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 32 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070S FE, Western Digital Black SN850X 1 TB (DCS dedicated) & 2 TB NVMe SSDs, Corsair RM850X 850 W, NZXT H7 Flow, MSI G274CV. Peripherals: VKB Gunfighter Mk.II w. MCG Pro, MFG Crosswind V3 Graphite, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.
Raviar Posted January 13, 2022 Posted January 13, 2022 18 minutes ago, Gronank said: This is a breaking change: All missions in existence would not have datalink enabled if this change was made. It is a minor annoyance that the mission designer has to see EPLRS for things that are not EPLRS, but this change is worse than doing nothing. not really, the current functionality can be renamed as D/L, added functionality can be on by default, unless the designer turned it off! however the ED developer have to look into it, it can be more complex as it sounds like IF the other functionality is already in place which I doubt
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