General Thoughts

[stormrider2]

22 minutes ago, KoN said:

I think ill wait for a sale . 

Problem with maps being high price is that people wont buy . Simple . ! 

The way i look at it is this , A pub is selling beer for £2 and the one next door is selling for £5 . Which pub  profits .  

 

 

Are they both CAMRA?

[Beirut]

40 minutes ago, KoN said:

I think ill wait for a sale . 

Problem with maps being high price is that people wont buy . Simple . ! 

The way i look at it is this , A pub is selling beer for £2 and the one next door is selling for £5 . Which pub  profits .  

 

Some of the most popular planes sell for $30 more than this map on Steam Canada. More planes are about the same price as this map, and other maps are very close to the SA price. Perhaps the point is that DCS is not necessarily for the faint of wallet. It can be, but if one wants to fill up on all the goodies, the outlay is considerable. 

 

If you are going to have a dozen planes, a few choppers, and a couple of maps, not to mention the hardware required to use it all, then DCS is absolutely a $10 beer. On the other hand, it's a very good $10 beer. 

 

It's not that the South Atlantic map is too expensive - it's that DCS is expensive.

[72Stu]

Mate, we are all passionate about DCS and the devs producing goodness. 

But this SA map looks BAD in lower levels, horrible in fact, due to their satellite imaging wrapping. No where near the asking price.

But it is a BETA, so work in progress...

[clanitho]

42 minutes ago, 72Stu said:

Mate, we are all passionate about DCS and the devs producing goodness. 

But this SA map looks BAD in lower levels, horrible in fact, due to their satellite imaging wrapping. No where near the asking price.

But it is a BETA, so work in progress...

Not a Beta, just first alpha .... 56 $

[sirrah]

2 hours ago, KoN said:

I think ill wait for a sale . 

Problem with maps being high price is that people wont buy . Simple . ! 

The way i look at it is this , A pub is selling beer for £2 and the one next door is selling for £5 . Which pub  profits .  

 

 

It depends...

If both pubs in total have only 5 beers to sell, I'd buy 'em all, regardless of the price

 

[mmarques]

I don't like beer so I wouldn't buy any whatever the price. I guess that might apply to some people over here as well?

I for one am loving the map and thank RAZBAM for having the audacity of thinking outside the box and giving us a totally different type of scenario and part of the world to play with, I am absolutely sure the issues with the map will be sorted with time and what we have right now is quite enjoyable and playable, having a blast with friends.

I also just ordered 3 books about the Falklands war.

Thank you RAZBAM team, I know you guys get a lot of flak sometimes but don't let it get to you!

[Beirut]

2 minutes ago, mmarques said:

 

I for one am loving the map and thank RAZBAM for having the audacity of thinking outside the box and giving us a totally different type of scenario and part of the world to play with . . .

 

Yes, exactly that!

[PLUTON]

ho yes thank you RAZBAM

[sirrah]

1 hour ago, mmarques said:

I don't like beer so I wouldn't buy any whatever the price. I guess that might apply to some people over here as well?

I guess you didn't understand the point I was trying to make.. "only 5 beers available, as in, we only have a handful of modern maps to fly in DCS, so I don't care what it costs, I'll pay for it"..

 

Anyways.. I agree, kudos to Razbam for trying this new satellite texture thing in DCS  

[Rudel_chw]

On my case, I'd rather purchase a US$50 map than a US$50 aircraft, since a new Map can be used with all the aircrafts I already have and give me the ability to edit new missions for them, while a new aircraft is just that .. another aircraft that I can fly on the maps that I already have .. but just a single aircraft.

So, I much prefer to purchase a map, in fact I already have all of them, giving a lot of variety to the missions that I can edit or fly.

[Howzzat]

As I said in my original Post I dont regret getting this, I was just highlighting the current issues so people could make an informed choice as to if they wanted to purchase it Now.

The map offers a lot of opportunities given it's large size, I for one have two other modules from them The AV8B and the Mirage 2000C and  the AV8B is one of my favourite modules along with the Tomcat, FA-18C  and Apache 64D. The reason I mentioned the issues with the Falkland Islands in particular was Razbam mentioned this area is the furthest along.

They have created what could be one of my favourite Landscapes when it gets further down the road development wise.

 

[Jarlerus]

I bought the map, so I feel I'm entitled to share my opinion.

I'm not super impressed with the current state of the map. It might be Early Access, but it feels more like "Early Alpha".
Some parts of the map look promising, although I don't know if Razbams approach will work in the end.
I'm really hoping that Razbam can deliver on their promises of improvements, but time will tell. 

IMO it wasn't worth the 55€ now - If the price would have been more in line with the current state of the map, I'd be happier.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Jarlerus

[Gierasimov]

It's not out of the box thinking if one puts satellite image into a game. It's been done many times before and at many times better.

If they sold it for $10 I still would not buy it as I would be convinced the map will never be touched by devs again.

Many here say it is good from the altitude and because it is large. 

Well, if one likes to fly airliner, cargo, tanker, bomber (if we even had it in DCS), then maybe yes.

Large? Mostly water. Similar experience to free Marianas - better price / quality and still islands + water. 

Water in DCS, BTW still needs a lot of touch to make it look and behave as real water. 

EA not for everyone? Sure. I am happy user of EA modules. I will revisit this map in 4 years, maybe it will be improved. I am worried that RB map team is too thin to deliver release anytime sooner. 

 

[Beirut]

7 hours ago, Gierasimov said:

It's not out of the box thinking if one puts satellite image into a game. It's been done many times before and at many times better.

If they sold it for $10 I still would not buy it as I would be convinced the map will never be touched by devs again.

Many here say it is good from the altitude and because it is large. 

Well, if one likes to fly airliner, cargo, tanker, bomber (if we even had it in DCS), then maybe yes.

Large? Mostly water. Similar experience to free Marianas - better price / quality and still islands + water. 

Water in DCS, BTW still needs a lot of touch to make it look and behave as real water. 

EA not for everyone? Sure. I am happy user of EA modules. I will revisit this map in 4 years, maybe it will be improved. I am worried that RB map team is too thin to deliver release anytime sooner. 

 

 

See in four-years then.   

 

Until then, many of us will be flying.  I'm happy with the map, I've had some very scenic flights and I enjoy the yuuuge-ness of it. And I have confidence the map will see some quality updates. 

 

 

[Burt]

It just gonna get better and better in time. I don’t think DCS / E D is going anywhere and I’m not either… just enjoy what we got at the time. Love the map especially around Argentina area.

[lqqfrank]

Every map is unique, every map has its great geographic or historical stories.

But, allow me to say but, it's really a little bit too early. From the details, from the feeling at low altitude free flight... from many aspects, it's yet too early. 

I saw big steps moving forward in recent months at AV-8B and M2000C. Hope Razbam get the map upgraded (should be quite big upgrades if I may) as soon as possible. 

[MadKreator]

Been flying on this map for several hours now and personally really like it. Yeah down low the textures aren’t as great as they could be, but what I notice is when I’m actually flying a mission   , like in any other map, most of my time is focused on sensors and spotting targets, and using terrain for cover ( I mostly  fly the a-10). Its easy to nitpick every little detail of weird texture overlays, lower quality texture maps etc, when just flying around looking at the map. When in combat the reality is all of that goes right out of the window. I personally don’t notice any of the “ faults” the map has one bit. The biggest faults for me are the man made ones like tree groups just sharply ending in a perfect line without getting more sparse at the transitions to areas without trees, such as near mountain peaks. Water lines on lakes and ponds seem a little too distinct( I know nothing about coding so I haven’t the slightest clue how a water line could blend in better). And the general game engine issues such as the extremely close bubble for full texture pop-in on buildings and trees and other objects( not raz-bams fault at all). I get good performance on the map, but due to the massive scale I think it will be tough to populate densely and in very high res without the DCS game engine/ multithreading overhaul. 

I do appreciate that raz-bam was VERY clear and forthcoming on the state of the map. Recognizing and stating things like the textures at low altitudes, odd terrain maps from the satellite overlay etc. There were no secrets held back before release. I personally feel the playability the map brings is far more important. From carrier ops/ naval operations, to wide open areas with no cover, to very mountainous terrain with lots of hiding spots for enemies, I think it brings a lot to the table. My favorite part, is its not 2million square kilometers of sand lol I think its a great layout for mission designers and eventually dynamic campaigns, for all eras of fighters to enjoy. Yes there is work to be done for sure but I think its off to a very good start. 

As of now my only complaint would be severe lack of air fields. I understand that In real life there’s probably not that many air-bases and airports in some areas but also this IS still a game, not real life. For the a-10/su-25/harrier/ heli guys/gals, It would be nice to see many more airfields around the mainland. Taking off and flying 150NM to the nearest target in an a-10 pretty much sucks lol Its even pushing things if you want to fly CAS in a well equipped f-16. Spending 2 hours flying in straight lines for 15 minutes of actual interaction is as real enjoyment killer for someone like me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the intricate detail and SIM aspect to DCS, I definitely don’t want it to ever be “arcade-ish” but maps still need good flow. AAR aside, if I fly to a target 100+nm away out in the middle of the mountains, and lose an engine, or sustain enough damage to need repaired, the mission is pretty much over, nowhere to divert and repair, or re-arm, just call it quits and start over again. I don’t fly helis, but I could see their experience being even worse. All the airports are in the flat-ish open areas, no great way for them to experience the real terrain of the mainland without flying for a massive amount of time, and maybe having enough fuel to make it back across the map to base. Or if damaged, no way to divert somewhere closer to repair. I know there is a lot of people that like these theaters to be as true to life as possible, but IMO without more airbases , the majority of this map is a huge waste. I’d bet the majority of players don’t like to fly from a carrier or base, AAR , and carry on a mission for 4 hours just to drop a single bomb then AAR again just to make it home (Obviously I exaggerated).

All in all I things it’s a great start and if kept up will be an amazing theater all around. 

[Krez]

To say it's overpriced in it's current state knowing it isn't finished and is in early access, doesn't make sense. $55.99 is not overpriced at all to get access to a map that will probably be the most played map in the future. To everyone saying, "I hope they update it" or "I hope they fix (insert random feature)," it is stated plain and clear that the map isn't in it's finished state and will be improved upon.

Early Access is early access. Open Beta is open beta.


 

[St4rgun]

15 minutes ago, Krez said:

Early Access is early access. Open Beta is open beta.


 

So as trial license is trial license. As soon as I'll be able to try it for two weeks, I'll decide to buy it or not. Not before.

Now I'm waiting for the trial license to show up.

[skywalker22]

ABOUT HI-RES textures:

have you consider of using same approach as Microsoft for its Flight Simulator 2020, with a use of so called dynamic CACHE file? The basic textures user downloads to his PC, but if he wants to use better ones, he can download from server in real time - here the cache file is used. As he flies the textures which he can see, are downloaded at the same time, and are erased afterwards at some point.

Only that way you can do HI-RES maps, nothing else will do. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by skywalker22

[Krez]

1 hour ago, St4rgun said:

So as trial license is trial license. As soon as I'll be able to try it for two weeks, I'll decide to buy it or not. Not before.

Now I'm waiting for the trial license to show up.

That's a logical decision.

[Howzzat]

I have no idea how they can say the falklands islands at that far complete

[skywalker22]

8 minutes ago, Howzzat said:

I have no idea how they can say the falklands islands at that far complete

blue means 80 t0 100%, so they can still evolve, right?

[Rudel_chw]

3 hours ago, skywalker22 said:

have you consider of using same approach as Microsoft for its Flight Simulator 2020 ...

 

Please note that the Map tech is a part of DCS core, I doubt that what you suggest can be implemented by RAZBAM alone.

[skywalker22]

19 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

Please note that the Map tech is a part of DCS core, I doubt that what you suggest can be implemented by RAZBAM alone.

No, of course not, that must be done by ED (in a cooperation with ED). But that`s the future, if we want to have hi-res textures.

MSFS at release was 200TB big for example (now its ever bigger), so imagine installing it to every pc.