What are your thoughts on Sinai map?

[aztec01]

7 hours ago, SabreDancer said:

The map isn't bad, but it isn't a stand-out either

I think there are some good things, particularly around the coast and the Suez canal - airports, terrain etc

The southern Sinai and the high country leave a lot to be desired.  Jerusalem and the temple mount looks like a collection of villages and a warehouse. Major features in the Dead Sea Valley are missing altogether.  OVDA AB (et al) have issues with terrain collision. Other airfields AI taxi logic  (El Arish, Cairo West) is ridiculous, taxing up to 30 minutes to taxi from ramp to active. The northern Sinai desert, particularly in the 2nd Division AOR is chock full of revetments, berms and other permanent defensive emplacements, that could have been easily added like in the Syria map.  Likewise, multiple military installations in the Israeli Negev are missing.  I think, right now, the Sinai is great for making videos and movies.  It's been hard to put together a coherent campaign concept integrating all various assets available for the region.  It's been frustrating because...well, promises were made to the community.  It would be nice to know why they have been delayed or rescinded

Edited July 1, 2024 by aztec01

[ST0RM]

This was a regrettable map purchase. Whatever timeline they claimed prior to release, seems to have gone out the window. 
Missing features and poor optimization. 

[Burning Bridges]

It's very big and uses the latest DCS technology so it can look very good.

It clearly involved automatic generation which saved a lot of time but also makes this one of the most generic maps.

The developer did not correct even basic mistakes like wrong frequencies or a bullseye that's out of bounds so I would wait for any sign of progress. Right now it looks to me as if the developer is not professional but more like a group of modders who constantly begin new things before finishing others.

 

[Dallenbach]

After all the delays with the July update (Afghanistan, CH47) I would be interested to see if there will be an update for the Sinai this time. If not, it would be another big disappointment.

[RaisedByWolves]

Prepare for the disappointment!

[rob10]

4 hours ago, Dallenbach said:

After all the delays with the July update (Afghanistan, CH47) I would be interested to see if there will be an update for the Sinai this time. If not, it would be another big disappointment.

Since BigNewy indicated the Sinai update was in internal testing and wasn't going to make the June 26 update (which is now the July 4 update) but hopefully the patch after, I really doubt that a week delay would have given them enough time to finish the testing and get it added.  That didn't sound like it just barely missed making this update.  I'll be happy if I'm wrong, but I'd be very surprised to see it make this update.

[SabreDancer]

Have folks noticed any particularly good scenery improvements since the recent patch?

[Czar66]

I'm looking out for impressions from owners as well.

From the recent update, and how the map feels today.

[Dangerzone]

Beautiful map. The main hurdle I have is most of my mates don’t have it, so I haven’t set up a server/mission for it. 

IDK what the answer is for that honestly. I’d have bought Normandy as well if my mates would buy it too. 
 

What I’d love to see is 2 versions come out. A cheap $10 version that allows people to play on the same server as the full price map, but they get boring graphics, etc. I dare say it would pave a way for more MP involvement, as well as give people incentive to upgrade after they played on it a bit. 
 

It’s been out now for a year, so hopefully trial will not be far away. I’d highly recommend trying it out when it does become available and assessing for yourself. 

[munckmb]

FPS is very bad at the moment and I was wondering if they are going to include the temple mount and Beirut? Especially South Lebanon and the city of Beirut is important in this map.

[Gierasimov]

On 6/5/2024 at 7:08 AM, EvMstein said:

Hey guys what are your thoughts on Sinai map? I'm desperately need high quality airbase that would be a perfect fit for the Phantom and also its natural habitat. Thank you in advance!

After the recent update it is somewhat better, but still a lot is unfinished / unpolished. Random green / parking lot / petroleum tanks in weird places across the map. It looks good at places but it is not any better than much older Syria map, which I regard as the best map in DCS, for its quality, diversity and much better urban, as well as rural tiles 

[Panny]

While some of the auto generated stuff can look a little weird here and there, overall I think Sinai is the best map in DCS. I plan to upload a mission at some point with all the markers of points of interest. The number of unique structures and scenery, particularly in Cairo and Alexandria is breathtaking. Even flying in more sparse areas the scenery feels more alive than most.

My biggest issue is that terrain devs don't tend to help you with finding these places from the get go. Once you actually start looking and find them, there's so much to enjoy.

[Beirut]

Not my favourite map, nor in my top three, but it is a solid map. Just had a couple of great flights, get the lighting right and it's gorgeous. And they did excellent work with the big cities, they look good and good FPS. Nice to see that DCS can have that kind of scenery. Like to see better night lighting, especially at the big airports, but maybe that will come later.  

 

But all in all a good and interesting map. Happy to have bought it Day One.

[Hawkeye_UK]

I have all maps, and test alot when home.

I cannot recommend this map at present, especially if you want to use it for "simulation", it is nothing more than a VFR map at present.

Since release day the amount of missing nav aids, or incorrectly working tacan's, radio beacons, ILS for runways is ridiculous, especially given the growing interest in gen 3 aircraft and also the historical nature of conflicts on this map.

The biggest hinderance to the project is actually the dev, read the bug reports yourself, everything is thank you, added, bug list medium priority (then a year later we still have the same situation).

Impossible to recommend until the dev sorts out the mess that is navigation, and also the taxi and ai routes around the airfields.  Instead of this on the one update to the map so far we got granted additional vital airfields (with more missing or broken radio nav) and hotels that really should be the last thing to complete.

 

[Crash *]

I flew over Hurghada in a helicopter today. Very disappointing. Dozens of cut-off soccer pitches and tennis courts. They don't even have nets or goals. The pools have no depth. And no umbrellas or sunbeds in the whole of Hurghada. Even the Caucasus can do better than that.

What's more, the big cities all seem to be built on garbage and rubble.
Oh yes, there are hundreds of roads that lead nowhere. Parts of the city are in darkness.

There is still a lot of work to be done.

 

Edited September 30, 2024 by Crash *
Typo

[carbolicus]

Of all the DCS maps I have Sinai is now the one I like best.  Yes it needs a lot more work, but I think it looks excellent.  To me, built up areas look better than those on the Syria map (which is also excellent it has to be said).  I find performance pretty good too.

Also, having flown quite a bit IRL over semi-desert terrain I find Sinai particularly convincing.  It’s a very promising map.

[Dangerzone]

The biggest issue I have with Sinai is up-takers. I love the map, and would like to be able to do a lot more with it. But maps seem to be coming out so fast now, that people seem to be divided and very selective as to spending on DCS at the moment. We've seen a significant decline in regular gamers being on DCS lately, and while I'd love to do more missions in Sinai, I need to cater for the people who remain and the common maps that they have in order to try and have a decent number of people show up. That's left us really with Persia and Syria (which are the 2 maps that pretty much our regulars own in common). So, we don't really have anything to do with Sinai (apart from me using it for SP stuff), but it's not because I don't want to - it's just because of numbers, and people who seem to be hesitant to spend more on DCS just at the moment. 

[Rudel_chw]

38 minutes ago, Dangerzone said:

I need to cater for the people who remain and the common maps that they have in order to try and have a decent number of people show up. That's left us really with Persia and Syria

 

This is one of the big reasons why I have shied away from MP ... it always seem to cater to the "lowest common denominator" ... on SP I can edit a mission on whatever map strikes my fancy, caring only for myself and giving not a thought to what other people may like. Yeah, I know, very selfish   

[Dangerzone]

1 hour ago, Rudel_chw said:

This is one of the big reasons why I have shied away from MP ... it always seem to cater to the "lowest common denominator" ... on SP I can edit a mission on whatever map strikes my fancy, caring only for myself and giving not a thought to what other people may like. Yeah, I know, very selfish   

No - not selfish at all. We all use DCS for different reasons and it'd be arrogant for anyone to tell you how you should or shouldn't use it. 

One of the things I enjoy doing is content creation (script and mission wise) and seeing how much I can improve DCS for players. The best I've found (that I enjoy myself too) is PvE co-op persistent campaigns that progress through a MAP over time. It gives me purpose. Let's me see more of the entire MAP - and there's something new each time I get on and there's been progress. I've found numerous other people who enjoy the same, and I enjoy the social aspect of getting on and doing cooperative work together. (It also helps form groups for when we want dedicated mission sessions as well). That's me. I get that others differ, and that's cool. This has worked well for me up until more recently. Normally most people getting onboard with a new map would encourage the rest to join in eventually too - and FOMO would keep people up to date. But lesser frequency of players, and number of players has had a big impact with this.

If people aren't using their current maps much - there's lesser incentive for them to buy a new one for something new, because they haven't seen all they can see with their current maps yet. (Not no incentive - because different players play for different reasons, but it does have an impact).

I can imagine that things may change significantly when the DCE gets dropped, or if ED are able to come onboard with more of the requests from scripters/content creators and get things more stable so we can get to a point where there is more to do in DCS for people. Honestly, as someone who loves DCS - looking at the comments of the latest DCS youtube video for Iraq was disheartening to see where the current PR is with DCS. Iraq is a much wanted map for years, but the current state of DCS has left what should have been an exciting announcement getting a lot of negative feedback. This isn't the map makers fault - and there's not much they can do about it - it's more the core of DCS and where things are at presently. 

Sinai is very promising - and I hope to be able to use it more oneday (I have purchased it). I'm looking forward to seeing it progress, as it's probably my last purchase for a while. (I haven't touched SA, Kola, Afghanistan, and probably won't the others until there's more to do in DCS than just see new scenery as the current maps I have give enough variety for that for now). 

[skywalker22]

BAD, really bad.

Surface mesh (sorry but I have to say) sucks, specially now what we can see on Iraq map. They need 100% remaster it.

Example of bad modding (its been a looong time, but nothing has changed): 

 

Take this as an example:

 

Edited January 11 by skywalker22