Considering buying on sale but mixed reviews

[Shibbyland]

As per title. Not that interested in the Dora (because it's ugly more than anything else). Yet to do a trial of this aircraft and will do so in the coming days but I've seen mixed reviews commenting on long term bugs and the aircraft not getting much fine tuning.

Anybody here play it regularly over the last couple of years? How is it now? 

I have the Spit, Mustang, Thunderbolt and 109. How does it compare in terms of quality (not capability, i get that theyre all different), just interest in quality of the module.

[Art-J]

Depends on what one considers a "quality". For some guys here lack of higher engine boost modification and F variant (even though they were planned before module's release in 2019 but ended up being put on eternal hold) is enough to scream bloody murder and ditch the plane. I on the other hand don't care.

It's a relatively recent product, so visual quality of the model is excellent - definitely closer to Thunderbolt, than to Mustang and 109, which are both just very old modules. The only exception is overall strangely washed out cockpit colour palette, but you can fix it with mods (if you don't mind using these).

I'd hazard a guess most negative reviews come from the fact that it's just a mediocre performer and thus it's very difficult to be successful in, especially against ever-cheating AI. Underpowered and bleeds energy in sustained maneuver like crazy. Can be made reasonably effective in MP, though, as seen on Phil Style's videos for example.

Wouldn't buy it for full price, but got it during similar sale with a hefty discount and I like flying it around every now and then.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Art-J

[Shibbyland]

Yea not fussed about boost variants either. Quality for me is no glaringly obvious bugs that regularly frustrate gameplay, an authentic "feel" to it where the aircraft feels different to others, is believable if that makes sense (for me, the Tomcat is the standard in this regard but there are many other good modules). It's got to have decent visuals and sound and a bit of single player content available (this is another thing that counts against the Dora).

So if I were to say that top quality for me is the likes of the Tomcat, or in the WW2 setting, the P-47, how does it stand up against those?

[Art-J]

I don't own Tomcat, so can't comment on it. 

Feel is definitely different compared to the warbirds you mentioned, not to mention surprisingly different cockpit ergonomics and overall design philosophy. That in itself makes it a cool plane to learn. Adds variety.

About the content, compared to the Jug, Anton has more single missions "out of the box", but less Instant Action missions. Granted, the number depends on which maps you own, and I don't have all of them either. For example with Caucasus, Marianas, NTTR and Normandy in my install, there are 10 vs 2 single missions in favour of Anton, but 24 vs 14 Instant missions in favour of the Jug. Both planes have one Reflected's campaign available for each, so that's a draw .

[peachmonkey]

I love the A2G action, so A8 is my go-to bird and I fly it 70% of the time, with the remainder spent on p47, 109, Dora and the Mossie.

As far as bugs:

- with P47 we've had cockpit lighting bugs (still is at this moment, ever since the MT release), Axis control bugs (last year), and another current one where the AC blows up on hard landing.

- with A8, for the past 2 years of ED updates there wasn't a single case where ED introduced a single operational bug to A8 module. I would say it's the most stable module out of all WWII. The only bug I'm aware of is when performing the airplane repair where the repair actually breaks some systems instead of leaving them alone (stabilizer stops working, gear won't retract, etc), although I'll add a caveat that I haven't tested the repair in the past 6 months (maybe it's been fixed, but I doubt it).

 

 

[Shibbyland]

Oh cool, sounds pretty good then. Like many of us, I’m a sucker for a sale when it comes to DCS (and only DCS for some reason, addicted). I’m one of the buy a module, play it for a while but soon want another one types.

Absolutely hanging out for the Mossie to drop to the circa $35 range and I’ll be getting that. Been waiting months but it’s still just loitering up there at the near $50 mark. In the mean time the A8 is most definitely looking interesting.

 

will trial it next days off and likely pick it up 

[scoobie]

To me Anton doesn't feel inferior to any of the "newer wave" warbirds (such as the Jug), NOT A BIT. I don't think I'm biased, I'm not an Anton fanboy, I don't prefer it over other birds, I just find it equal to them - we're talking module quality, not the bird's philosophy/perfomance/etc.

I can't and won't deny bug reports, though at least some of them might have been fixed already but not MARKED as fixed - this happens fairly often so it's dificult to wrap your head around it, I know (bug reports are on the forums, while some bug fixes are only announced in patch notes). Personally I'm aware of the pitot heat light which doesn't come on (except when on ground power), but on the other hand I played "Horrido!" campaign a few months ago and it was gorgeous, the plane didn't bite me, so maybe it's not that bad? I mean... I should have noticed some glaring issues with it over the course of the whole campaing, right? So either I'm more absent-minded than I'm aware of, or simply there was nothing bad about the plane.

Now, if you read through opinions/reviews on Steam (this is where it says "Mixed"), they're a bit erratic over there (or a lot, sometimes). You get flight-sim-inclined people there PLUS whatever-inclined people, including mainstream gamers, who may complain about things that make little sense to me (and maybe you). Example: "only 4 missions and no campaign", verdict: "unrecommended". Well, if you buy a module for this price and fly only the missions included with it, then you must be pretty well-off, or maybe your parents are (sorry, can't live without sarcasm). I understand this may and should be viewed as a negative aspect, no argument here, but how does this relate to the quality of the very bird itself? So, yeah, the internet, a messy place

Just get it on trial, start with missions where the engine is warm already and see for yourself. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Edited April 25, 2023 by scoobie

[Blackbird12]

If you know the real aircraft well, be advised you will get only the basic A8, no armament modification, no armor modifications. The module is fine, at least the same level as the other modules but for people like me who loves this aircraft irl and read dozens of books about it, it's quite a disapointement to only have the basic A8 while irl it had a lot of modifications available (I'm speaking about the most common ones)

[Shibbyland]

Yea I get that. I'm not very knowledgeable on the Focke Wulfs, or any German aircraft for that matter. It is a shame that the WW2 aircraft don't get the attention of the seemingly more popular modern jets but in any case what we have here I think is significantly better than the competitor in terms of fidelity.

[Lynnux]

12 hours ago, Shibbyland said:

will trial it next days off...

Exactly this is what you should do. Try all the planes and take the one that you like most for whatever reasons. No need to hurry buying stuff when you can try the WW2 planes for several weeks... 16 weeks in theory but likely you'll try 2 or 3 planes with their trial periods overlapping.

[Hr_Ludmilovich]

En 25/4/2023 a las 14:37, Shibbyland dijo:

Oh cool, sounds pretty good then. Like many of us, I’m a sucker for a sale when it comes to DCS (and only DCS for some reason, addicted). I’m one of the buy a module, play it for a while but soon want another one types.

Absolutely hanging out for the Mossie to drop to the circa $35 range and I’ll be getting that. Been waiting months but it’s still just loitering up there at the near $50 mark. In the mean time the A8 is most definitely looking interesting.

 

will trial it next days off and likely pick it up 

I was like you two days ago, then i bought the Anton and i don't regret, i am liking it a lot

Only other warbird i had was P47

And yes, Mossie at $35 is next

Edited April 26, 2023 by Hr_Ludmilovich

[jackd]

On 4/26/2023 at 12:17 AM, Shibbyland said:

Yea I get that. I'm not very knowledgeable on the Focke Wulfs, or any German aircraft for that matter. It is a shame that the WW2 aircraft don't get the attention of the seemingly more popular modern jets but in any case what we have here I think is significantly better than the competitor in terms of fidelity.

I like the FW190 A8. In Il2 i like it too and especially the A3 variant.

For DCS i still have to get used to the general cockpit only view where you can access important things like elevator trim etc.

Might be a thing for simmers imitating real world affairs, but for game work and map tourism it puts me off that you are forced to watch an expensive computer screen in game action, half filled with a cockpit only.

With IL2 you can adjust your pilot head position even outside on top of the plane anywhere, maintaining a speed bar. With Cliffs of Dover you can turn off the cockpit and have only a few essential meters about speed en height etc.

Edited April 27, 2023 by jackd

[peachmonkey]

50 minutes ago, jackd said:

I like the FW190 A8. In Il2 i like it too and especially the A3 variant.

For DCS i still have to get used to the general cockpit only view where you can access important things like elevator trim etc.

Might be a thing for simmers imitating real world affairs, but for game work and map tourism it puts me off that you are forced to watch an expensive computer screen in game action, half filled with a cockpit only.

With IL2 you can adjust your pilot head position even outside on top of the plane anywhere, maintaining a speed bar. With Cliffs of Dover you can turn off the cockpit and have only a few essential meters about speed en height etc.

 

that's a bit of strange assessment, but ok.

Have you tried binding the pilot keys in the controls? It allows the view to move forward/aft/left/right.  In VR it can clip outside of the cockpit completely, not sure if it's possible when played on the monitor though.

Also, if you're on the map that allows external views you can press F4 and then use zoom in/out/camera rotate keys to adjust your view sitting on the wing, or directly above the cockpit. It's finicky but it definitely works.

[jackd]

Where exactly do you do that; was just experimenting with cockpit camera view ...

[Ala13_ManOWar]

1 hour ago, jackd said:

For DCS i still have to get used to the general cockpit only view where you can access important things like elevator trim etc.

Might be a thing for simmers imitating real world affairs, but for game work and map tourism it puts me off that you are forced to watch an expensive computer screen in game action, half filled with a cockpit only.

Mate, I asked you in another thread if you were flying in external view because of your words, you didn't answer. Now here you confess… Yes, offline or whatever you can fly however you like, but this is a flight sim and since you sit inside the cockpit on a plane, of course you're limited to cockpit view, in particular in online server forcing that option, which today I believe will be most of them even though sometimes it happened also what you mention, at least time ago. Haven't checked that kind of servers lately, TBH, but there were also that kind time ago if that's what you like, and of course offline flying you can use anything you set.

[MAXsenna]

Where exactly do you do that; was just experimenting with cockpit camera view ...

LAlt + F1 to remove the cockpit

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[peachmonkey]

1 hour ago, MAXsenna said:

LAlt + F1 to remove the cockpit

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk
 

so there's such an option? wow far out!

[MAXsenna]

so there's such an option? wow far out!

At least for jets and helis. Never tried it in a Warbird to be honest.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[jackd]

2 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

LAlt + F1 to remove the cockpit

That's it ! even the Info Bar is there!

[jackd]

14 hours ago, Ala13_ManOWar said:

Mate, I asked you in another thread if you were flying in external view because of your words, you didn't answer. ....

Sorry 'bout that .. quite unintentionally. I am still a DCS noob, and confused about a lot ....

f.i. Just made a new touristic  mission experiment yesterday, played it, all about sightseeing London in a CE2, but now i can't find where the darn saved miz file went. And 2 years ago i bought some helicopter stuff and oh lucky me i just found the backup of all my saved plane profiles.

Edited April 28, 2023 by jackd

[Art-J]

Well, if you didn't save it in some dedicated personal location, by default all fast & full editor missions go to your C:\Users\[user name]\Saved Games\DCS\Missions folder. This is also where the editor looks for them by default when you open it, or when you click "missions" menu.

Moreover, the last quick mission you created is always auto-saved as "MG.miz" even if you haven't saved it manually (it obviously gets overwritten next time you use fast mission generator, however).

Edited April 28, 2023 by Art-J

[Ala13_ManOWar]

5 hours ago, jackd said:

Sorry 'bout that .. quite unintentionally. I am still a DCS noob, and confused about a lot ....

f.i. Just made a new touristic  mission experiment yesterday, played it, all about sightseeing London in a CE2, but now i can't find where the darn saved miz file went. And 2 years ago i bought some helicopter stuff and oh lucky me i just found the backup of all my saved plane profiles.

No problem mate, just asked you to try to pinpoint the problem you were having with the info you provide. I don't mind how you enjoy the sim .

[Shibbyland]

Man, you guys weren't kidding about the lack of performance. The limited boost certainly makes things difficult air to air without an altitude advantage. The furball instant action against mustangs is a disaster. I bleed energy immediately and am shot down. I try to gain an altitude advantage but am immediately pursued by two of the AI P-51s and shot down. I try weaving low level until the P-51s tangle with my own flight. That does help me get a couple of snap shots but not enough to turn the tide. Loss of energy, shot down.

Very cool module though, it's much better looking than the 109 and the Spit so from that point of view I quite like flying it. Nice and easy to take off and land. Air to ground also nice and easy. Great sounds, just enough systems for it to have a little bit to do even tho it is largely automated. Stable aircraft. Probably wonderful to fly real world.

On the fence about buying tho, nothing against the module as such but I've spent A LOT since 2017 on DCS and other than Reflected's campaign, it's yet another module with very little single player content. 

[peachmonkey]

3 hours ago, Shibbyland said:

Man, you guys weren't kidding about the lack of performance. The limited boost certainly makes things difficult air to air without an altitude advantage. The furball instant action against mustangs is a disaster. I bleed energy immediately and am shot down. I try to gain an altitude advantage but am immediately pursued by two of the AI P-51s and shot down. I try weaving low level until the P-51s tangle with my own flight. That does help me get a couple of snap shots but not enough to turn the tide. Loss of energy, shot down.

Very cool module though, it's much better looking than the 109 and the Spit so from that point of view I quite like flying it. Nice and easy to take off and land. Air to ground also nice and easy. Great sounds, just enough systems for it to have a little bit to do even tho it is largely automated. Stable aircraft. Probably wonderful to fly real world.

On the fence about buying tho, nothing against the module as such but I've spent A LOT since 2017 on DCS and other than Reflected's campaign, it's yet another module with very little single player content. 

don't fight AI in the horizontal, they will out turn you.

With A8 always fight vertically. Always. It doesn't matter who the opponent is.

[Shibbyland]

I’ve now trialed both the Anton and the Dora and all I’ve discovered after a bit of air to air in both of them is that I want them both. 
 

Personally, I think the Anton is iconic and the Dora just isn’t but at least in game the extra power the Dora has just gives you options.

 

After a short time in the Anton I’ve found one technique that does seem to give me a bit more chance of survival when I don’t have an altitude advantage (such as instant action head on). 
 

I use manual propeller during aerobatics, particularly on the way up in a loop. It helps a lot.