Some Newbie-Questions

[Delor]

First of all: Hi, i'm an old Lock On FC-Player from Serbia (Su-25/Su-25T) and now i want to give DCS a chance. After all, it was about time because the last good chopper-sim i played was Jane's Longbow 2 :)

 

But even after weeks of manual-study there are still things i can't figure out at all:

 

1. Shkval turns off by itself all the time

Every time i aim on targets i'm only capable of launching 2-3 missiles until Shkval suddenly turns off and i just don't know why. There is also no way to turn it on again. After a couple of minutes which seem like weeks for me it suddenly turns on again the same way, like it turned off.

 

I remember in the SU-25T that the Laser needed a littel while to cool down after 2-3 Vikhrs. Is that something similar in DCS or am i doing something wrong?

 

2. Unguided rockets

Do you guys set your weapon-swich for the cannon on the "fixed" position when using unguided rockets such as the S-13? I think that i read something about that, but i'm not quite sure if it's of any help to do so?

 

3. Nav-Mode

Now this is something which really makes me crazy!!! After taking off the Hud-Display is in normal Nav-Mode with Direction, Altitude, Speed and so on. But after i conducted my mission i just can't find a way to swith the HUD-Display back in Nav-Mode. Even if Master Arm is OFF i just don't know how to switch back in Nav Mode. I looked in the manual for i think over 100 times but i can't find the answer. Sometimes it helps to shorty turn off and on the K-401-Swich, but i don't think that's the right way :music_whistling:

 

Thanks :)

[sobek]

Welcome to the forum!

 

1. This happens when your generators go offline, most likely cause: you are pulling too much collective and the rotor RPM goes under 80%. Be more carefull on the collective (for your rotor blades sake as well). Ever wondered what the beeping noise is? :D

 

2. I never use fixed mode, with rockets i most often use the normal mode with shkval in boresight.

 

3. Press the reset button on the K-401 control panel (you know, where you set moving ground target mode and stuff) or press return on your keyboard.

 

cheers

Edited May 4, 2009 by sobek

[Feuerfalke]

1. Be sure you have your throttle set 2 notches up (PageUp 2x). The levers are the yellow ones on your low left, attached to the collective.

 

The turbines have to work within normal parameters, so they give the generators enough RPM to produce energy. If the revolutions drop too low, the generators fail and all non-critical systems are shut down due to lack of power supplied.

 

The Laser can still burn out, but that won't shut your whole SHKVAL down.

 

2. You can set it to fixed mode, but in normal mode it will compute an impact point shown on the HUD.

 

3. Press reset targeting (backspace IIRC). The targeting systems will be reset and the system switches back to NavMode-HUD.

[EtherealN]

1- Yes, the laser needs some cooldown, but the Skhval screen should not turn off. A track file would be good to see what's happening. My suspicion is that you for some reason do not get sufficient power - are both engines running fully and do you have both generators turned on?

 

2- I don't, but I don't use the rockets all that much.

 

3- Deselect your weapons. Whenever a weapon is selected it will set the HUD to combat mode, which declutters the nav data on the HUD.

 

EDIT: Damn you guys are quick. :P

[Delor]

Thank you guys for the quick replys!

 

Especially the Hint on the Hud-Nav-Mode will help me a lot :thumbup:

 

@EtherealN

 

I think sobek just gave the right answer on the off-going shkval. I'm really playing much around with the collective and the control-stick at all.

 

I just have such a hard time holding this thing quiescent in the air!

 

Not to talk about Auto-Hover! Sometimes i think my good old SU-25T had better Hover-Capabilities then the Ka-50 :megalol:

[sobek]

I can't say it often enough, auto hover is the device of the devil (IMHO)! Practice hovering by hand, it is hard in the beginning but it will make you so much better at flying the BS (that goes for landing and maneuvering as well). And it enables you to quickly accelerate out of the hover if need be. Be sure to make small control movements and learn how to trim, from there everything should be easy.

[EtherealN]

Have heart. :) I got myself the game while being a (private) pilot student, and it took me a lot of work to get it stable and flying nicely.

 

What I would recommend is that you make yourself a mission in the mission editor with just you. Start yourself on a runway but with engines running and just fly around sightseeing - after a couple hours of just random flying (and a sufficient amount of landings) you'll suddenly find yourself saying "holy shit did I just do that?" :D

 

It's basically just a question of getting the chopper's behaviour moved from your brain to your muscle memory, and at some point a revolution will occur. :)

 

EDIT: Also, I do agree with Sobek. I don't use autohover myself. Some people say it helps their situational awareness, but I find it easier to just trim myself to where I want to be and then do my weapon deployments and terrain scanning from there. I also think it's a bit dangerous as a training feature - you really should learn to go into a stable hover before ever using auto hover, because that training will translate to so many other regimes of handling the helicopter.

 

If you then decide that you want to use it to decrease your workload when in a combat mission getting prepped for weapons deployment, that's fair enough, but during your piloting training you shouldn't touch that. (IMO)

Edited May 4, 2009 by EtherealN

[S D]

I have to agree on the auto hover, definatly learn to perform a controlled hover without the use of an aids. Auto hover is handy, but you have to get you aircraft into a stable manual hover before turning it on. It all depends on the situation aswell, auto hover is vey useful for long range observation. But actually using it while engaging, well i would advise doing it all manually, especially in a SAM threat enviroment (Never stay static for long).

 

You will be suprised at how stable the KA-50 is, once you have mastered manual hovers.

[Delor]

I supposed that!

 

In my last few training flights i catched myself trying to hover manually instead of using this "dithering" auto-hover.

 

@EtherealN

 

You're a pilot student?? Lucky you! I have to spent my days in an office where most things are boring - except of the short skirts of my female colleagues :D

 

One last question and i will stop bother you for today - promise :D:

 

Does it only seem to me so or is it necessary to reset the Laser-Warning-Receiver every time the warning lights go on???

[EtherealN]

Yes on the LWR.

 

And well, I'm a private pilot student. My long term ambition is to become a commercial pilot, but for now I have to content myself with a private license. Commercial license training cost an arm and a leg. :P

[joey45]

have you watched the producers notes yet. They will help out.

[EtherealN]

One last question and i will stop bother you for today - promise :D

 

Oh, and it's not a "bother". I like helping people around with this (it's my way of thanking my own RL flight instructor, who instructs me on his own time - least I can do is to carry on his tradition even if it's in a simulator). If you're online at the same times I am and feel up for it, feel free to chat me up and we could see if we can manage to get online for some sessions if there is more you want to iron out.

[nomdeplume]

Does it only seem to me so or is it necessary to reset the Laser-Warning-Receiver every time the warning lights go on???

 

Yes the LWR will only warn you once for each direction it picks up a laser from. You'll want this bound to something on your controls so you can easily reset it in the middle of the action - if you're still being lased you'll immediately receive another warning.

 

"For each direction" is important. As an example: there's a tank in front of you that you're lining up on. You think you're far enough away that it's not a threat, but it lases you anyway. This lights up the top light to indicate activity from your front. You turn 90 degrees to the right and pitch down to get moving. The laser is constantly on, so as you turn the left hemisphere light will become lit to indicate activity from that direction.

 

This, of course, is confusing. If the tank had been at a 45 degree angle, both the front and the left lights would've activated at the same time to indicate that fact. So the lights stay on, but do not turn off. New lights will however switch on if appropriate. If you'd decided to impress the tank by doing a 360 degree spin, you would've had all four lights lit up. Further laser activity from any direction (unless it was coming from above you) would result in no further notification, since everything is already lit up.

 

As soon as you've determined your course of action you should start resetting the LWR like you have some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This will ensure you're aware of new threats, and also you'll know when you've gotten out of range and are no longer being locked by the original threat.

 

It can also be useful to start dumping flares when you get locked. Some of the ground threats use laser rangefinding in combination with IR missiles; and often you'll encounter vehicles that use the laser hanging out with guys or vehicles with IR missiles. If you've accidentally stumbled into range of someone with a laser, you might also be in IR range of their buddy.

 

At the very least, the pretty display of flares may distract the enemy from shooting you down long enough for you to get out of their killzone. (I'm not sure if ED have modeled the AI being distracted by bright objects, but you never know.)