Is paradise lost good for learning the huey as a noob? (I have all other campaigns)

[jozeffff]

Hi all,

 

Have been flying the huey for a couple of years but never really got the hang of it. I want to start doing it propely this time.

I have bought all previous huey campaigns but never started any of them.

I've read about all campaigns and their bugs and have doubts about the learning curve when things don't work as they should.

 

Since paradise lost is the newest campaign I wanted to give that a try. Should I be doing other campaigns/training before I could manage PL or will it take me by the hand a bit before throwing me off a cliff;)

 

Thanks for any advice!

 

Jozeff

[Mistermann]

I'd say get it.  This is hands down one of the best campaigns you can purchase... For any aircraft.

If you don't mind learning as you go and like the time period I can't imagine you'll be disappointed.

The first few missions have you landing in tight, hot LZ's.  If you're uncomfortable landing the Huey you may want to practice a bit.

Good luck. 

[unlikely_spider]

Reflected's campaigns are great, but this one puts you in some pretty tough situations with heavy loads. Nothing that you can't handle as long as you are prepared to die a few times and start over.

A good campaign to get your feet wet and practice a bunch of landings is the free Larkin Aviation campaign in the user files. That one's a civ campaign that is pretty entertaining. And the missions are short. Maybe do that one first? But still buy Paradise Lost if you're planning on sticking with the Huey.

[jozeffff]

Thanks guys,  appreciate it!

 

Larkin looks pretty fun indeed .

I remember starting the un missions but got bored in the first mission.

Is the UN campaign still worth it for a noob?

 

Tnx!

 

[Mistermann]

7 hours ago, jozeffff said:

I remember starting the un missions but got bored in the first mission.

Is the UN campaign still worth it for a noob?

That first mission is a slog for sure.  But is also establishes the rapport with your AC that plays out throughout the campaign.  Personally, I think there's value in that campaign for someone wanting to fly the Huey.  I played it after Reflected's Paradise Lost and it suffered by comparison.  But that's more about PL than it is the UN Campaign.

If you're concerned about the learning curve for Paradise Lost, I'd offer this advice.

Get Paradise Lost.

Start the campaign, and when you get to the second mission (the first is more of a movie), give it a try.  If you have trouble with aspects, create (or download) practice missions to deal with whatever you may have trouble with.  There's a dedicated section here where you can ask questions and receive some tips/tricks/advice.  https://forum.dcs.world/forum/907-uh-1h-paradise-lost-campaign/

 

[jozeffff]

Thanks guys appreciate it!

[Flappie]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:28 AM, jozeffff said:

Is the UN campaign still worth it for a noob?

I haven't played it in a while, but I remember this UN campaign is the one that really helped me mastering the Huey.

The Paradise Lost campaign is really tough (and I've only flown the first 3 missions). I think it was made for confirmed Huey pilots in mind.

[Lucidus]

UN and Larkins are good campaigns for learning. After these Argo teached a lot but I haven't yet flew The Paradise Lost.

Larkins was very fun campaign, I recommended it fully.

[ebabil]

I have flown about 10 missions so far

No it is not good for learning. You need to master the huey to complete this campaign. 

Because;

* There is no lables or f10 markings. So you have to know how to navigate and communicate very well (FM navigation, UHF, VHF, FM communication)

* In some missions, the helo is very heavy. So you have to manage EGT limits during jungle landings and take offs

* There is at least one night mission(s?) that is hard to complete without good managing the flight instruments

But mastering these things are not too hard. It comes with enough practise already. 

My advice is all huey fans MUST have this campaign sooner or later. It is the best for me so far. (I have played all uh1 campaigns). This is a different level of immersion.

Maybe our 10 years old huey is not getting any love from the ED anymore but it is still very fun to fly with it.

 

[adirtynurse]

Its not a campaign for the novice for sure. I definitely haven't mastered the Huey, since I jump around a lot between modules, I can hold my own in one. 
I didn't learn so much about the Huey (as it is an analog aircraft), but it has been challenging af.

I'm still grinding my way through it and its a love and hate relationship at this point  I'm at mission 10 as I'm writing this brief.
Each mission has stressed me out, while have been a huge relief and happiness when I finally land.

[trevoC]

I played (in general play) Training missions first (can't remember if huey had them but if it doesn't I go on youtube and learn first)

As far as campaigns, I can remember the order:

I played UN missions first (I recommend this until you are proficient as they are not that difficult. I don't regret playing them, they're fun)

Then I played MAD. I don't regret playing this campaign either as it showed me that not all campaigns on ED's store are created equally. In fact, I lost a bit of faith in campaigns at all after this one. I'll leave it at that.

Then Paradise Lost. This campaign restored my faith in DCS campaigns and taught me one important lesson. Buy the campaigns from campaign developers who can build good campaigns. Reflected is one of them. Restored my faith in DCS campaigns.

That being said, I wouldn't start with this campaign if you have no experience with helos. 

It is the best huey campaign though. Enjoyed every minute of it, sad when it was done.

[ngreenaway]

Funny, I absolutely couldn't stand UN campaign, but I really enjoyed the MAD one (although I flew in the Gaz rather than huey)

[trevoC]

42 minutes ago, ngreenaway said:

Funny, I absolutely couldn't stand UN campaign, but I really enjoyed the MAD one (although I flew in the Gaz rather than huey)

Maybe they are wildly different. Its possible the dev built it for the gaz and just kind of added the Huey but I didn't like it all. Thats being nice. I found the story disconnected and mission to mission I didn't feel like the same pilot. It felt random and thrown together with too much emphasis on hand holding the player with military terms. Voice acting sounded forced. The missions themselves were good at times, but I had zero idea why I was doing anything moment to moment. It just seemed like a bunch of random missions.

[CHPL]

@jozeffff

You want to master the UH-1 to some extent and master the campaign without flying problems?
Then you should join one of the unfortunately few helicopter squadrons where you can learn this very quickly.
To try all this on the basis of a campaign? All campaigns, as long as they are not bugged, have their charm and Pardadise Lost is especially atmospheric top. I could only tell you which campaign you should definitely not try first.
The UN campaign is also quite successful but has its pitfalls. 
Depending on what time zone you live in, or how tough you are, I'd be happy to invite you to BLACK ANGELS.
We are an open helicopter squadron where everyone is welcome and where we train in a group or alone with an instructor according to US / FAA standards. If you train with us regularly you will be flying every campaign after a few weeks. We have based in Europe but for example the Black Sharks a more military-organized group has the US and a European branch.

Even if you don't want to fly in the group and just prefer some practical tips in form of 2 or 3 dual trainings it's no problem.
You only need the current beta of DCS and Discord or Teamspeak.  
If you are interested please contact me directly. 
 

[ngreenaway]

10 hours ago, trevoC said:

Maybe they are wildly different. Its possible the dev built it for the gaz and just kind of added the Huey but I didn't like it all. Thats being nice. I found the story disconnected and mission to mission I didn't feel like the same pilot. It felt random and thrown together with too much emphasis on hand holding the player with military terms. Voice acting sounded forced. The missions themselves were good at times, but I had zero idea why I was doing anything moment to moment. It just seemed like a bunch of random missions.

the story telling did jump around quite a bit , i agree, which can make the overall arc seem disjointed, but i felt the missions were imaginative , varied, and worked well within the limitations of flying a small scout helicopter.

What put me off from the UN campaign was the dialogue from the other pilot. i truly wanted a keybind that would allow me to throw him from the helo at altitude. because of this, i was unwilling to progress past the first mission

dialogue in paradise lost is far better, and for good reason

good dialogue cant save a poor mission design, but crummy dialogue can certainly sink an otherwise good mission

[trevoC]

10 hours ago, ngreenaway said:

good dialogue cant save a poor mission design, but crummy dialogue can certainly sink an otherwise good mission

Agreed.

I also agree that some of the mad missions themselves were good. I'd probably actually preferred them as such. I kind of felt disappointed to put in the effort to read all the dialogue in MAD. I don't mind reading, it can definitely add to the experience with a good story, but the more I read, the less sense the story seemed to make. In fairness, the missions were not half bad, just seemed like I wasted my time with the story. Anyway, I don't want to <profanity> on the campaign too much. It always sounds worse in type than it actually was.