The Forgotten / Early Cold War Servers

[streakeagle]

The Forgotten is a small, very relaxed squadron that flies a co-op mission almost every Sunday around 3:00 PM EST.  Generally, the missions alternate between a 1950s theme focused on the F-86 and a 1960s/1970s theme focused on the F-5E and A-4E-C.  Sometimes, helicopters are available and at least one mission is almost exclusively devoted to the UH-1H.  Some missions have included the F-14A, Mirage F-1C and/or the AJS-37 Viggen.  Most missions last about 2 hours, but some may last 3 hours for long distance missions.  Mission difficulty varies but is generally survivable for casual players.  Most missions have spawn points closer to the objective so people that die can get back into the action before the mission is over.

Other than the Sunday co-op missions and Discord channel discussions, there are no required meetings or training sessions.  New players are welcome and can expect help getting started with flying any of the featured aircraft.

The Forgotten hosts three PVE Early Cold War servers themed with Korea, Vietnam (featuring the A-4E-C), and Early 70s Cold War plane sets and missions. Search for "Early Cold War" and all of the servers should be visible if you are running the latest DCS World open beta. These servers are focused on the same aircraft as the weekly co-op missions, so they make a great training environment.

Both the co-op missions and servers support SRS. Discord is the primary means of communication for co-op missions with a channel/room for each flight. SRS is reserved for communication between flight leaders.

The Forgotten has a Discord channel called "Early Cold War Servers" that has voice chat rooms and discussion channels for the servers and co-op missions. You can find it here (if this link still works): https://discord.gg/rfpycnYgvy

Edited December 23, 2023 by streakeagle

[streakeagle]

While Enigma's Cold War is still by far one of the busiest DCS online multiplayer servers, the release of the F-4E brought an unprecedented level of participation to the Early Cold War Vietnam server and the Early Cold War 1973-1977 server as well as the VSN Cold War server that provides PVP and mods while rotating through the combined missions hosted on the other two servers. The MOOSE scripting used to support player tasking has always had synchronization issues as players join the server and change slots. This problem was heightened by the increased client traffic over the Memorial Day weekend. Despite this problem, the servers remained occupied so much that the missions were not rotating until the 7 hour maximum runtime was exceeded.

I have been flying on these servers since 2020 and began assisting with mission development and server administration a few months after that (maybe 2021?). I don't recall ever seeing more than 16 clients and typically less than 10 on a really good night and often completely empty several hours a day. Over the weekend all of the servers supporting the F-4E were occupied continuously and often with 15 to 20+ clients. The VSN server still had a few people flying the OH-6A mod and several people were still flying the UH-1H and A-4E-C. As the VSN server supports PVP, I witnessed more enemy client MiGs than ever coming to kill the fresh F-4E target rich environment. I even got shot down by one of the MiG clients.

This was incredibly rewarding to see these servers and missions enjoyed by so many. I realize that this was only temporary due to the new release. The numbers have already gone down dramatically now that the holiday weekend is over. But it was a great weekend. Hopefully, some of the people who flew on these servers this weekend enjoyed their time and will continue flying on these servers to provide a permanent boost in participation. Busy servers draw even larger crowds. As long as the server and connection can handle it, more people leads to more fun.

We are working with the MOOSE developers to try to minimize or even eliminate some of the scripting issues. Feedback on ways to improve or expand the missions is always welcome.

The Korea server is awaiting the F4U Corsair and A-1H Skyraider official third-party mods. The Vietnam and Cold War servers are awaiting the A-1H Skyraider, A-7E Corsair II, F-8J Crusader, and F-100D Super Sabre official third-party mods. The VSN server recently added the OH-6A Cayuse "Little Bird" and the VSN F-106A Delta Dart; and is awaiting many other Cold War era mods like the improved VSN F-104C Starfighter, VSN F-105D/G Thunderchief, and the AH-1G Cobra as well as any other well-done mods that pop up.

Thank you for flying on the Early Cold War servers. We love 1950s/1960s/1970s aircraft and technology, and we are happy to see and host others that feel the same way.

Edited May 29, 2024 by streakeagle

[kitten40]

I don't ever recall seeing these servers in the list (but I'll admit I was looking for specific servers), but now that I have seen this post, I'm adding them to my favourites right away ! Thank you @streakeagle !

[streakeagle]

Search for "Early Cold War" to see all of ours. The primary public PVE servers (blue side only) are all hosted on a modern high-end PC with plenty of CPU power and fast RAM to handle hosting 3 or 4 servers.

The alternative servers with my "Streak Eagle" name in the title are hosted on an old PC with enough CPU power and a lot less of slower RAM support many popular Cold War era mods and permit PVP, i.e. you can fly the MiG-15 (as a stand in for the MiG-17 in the Vietnam and Cold War 1970s missions), MiG-19, and MiG-21.

The principal focus of all of these servers is to provide an environment conducive to flying aircraft before the advent of the AIM-120 AMRAAM and extensive electronic warfare. The missions are big enough to support several players working together, but are mostly survivable if only one person is currently logged in and flying. Unfortunately, the missions are repetitive. When you kill something, an identical replacement will eventually respawn. This is great for non-stop action, but generally takes away the ability to "win" the mission. I hope to add clear victory conditions in the future.

[Buzzf18e]

I'd really like to join your server but it only will accept if you provide your personal phone number, sorry won't do that.

[flycats2]

When are official missions held involving F-86 Sabre?