Summer Sale Advice: F-14 & F4E + [TERRAIN] ?

[Arecibo]

Hi Everyone,

I'm about a month into DCS and snagged the F-4E during the prelaunch. I was so impressed by Heatblur's work that I'm thinking of buying the F-14 and a terrain and maybe the Super Carrier during the sale. My question is; which terrain would give me the biggest bang for my buck for both the F-4 and F-15? I'm torn between Sinai or the Persian Gulf, but maybe the full Afghanistan map I have on preorder will keep me busy for both?

Also, I'm not too sure how the Super Carrier works. Is it only relevant for multiplayer? Does it come with missions, or do you have to buy those separately? I've also noticed that the third party Carrier campaigns mainly have the FA-18 as a requirement. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

Edited June 28, 2024 by Arecibo

[Silver_Dragon]

41 minutes ago, Arecibo said:

Hi Everyone,

I'm about a month into DCS and snagged the F-4E during the prelaunch. I was so impressed by Heatblur's work that I'm thinking of buying the F-14 and a terrain and maybe the Super Carrier during the sale. My question is; which terrain would give me the biggest bang for my buck for both the F-4 and F-15? I'm torn between Sinai or the Persian Gulf, but maybe the full Afghanistan map I have on preorder will keep me busy for both?

Also, I'm not too sure how the Super Carrier works. Is it only relevant for multiplayer? Does it come with missions, or do you have to buy those separately? I've also noticed that the third party Carrier campaigns mainly have the FA-18 as a requirement. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

 

• Afghanistan map has no capable to carrier operations.
• Persian Gulf has more old with Sinai map.

About other modules, I recomend you use the trial version to test any module (only on dcs world standalalone, 2 weeks time on 6 months).

[sirrah]

As @Silver_Dragon mentioned, definitely make use of the free 14 day trial and base your decision on that.

 

That said, my opinion on the map's I own (see this as informative input from my point of view):

First of all, make sure to check out the Syria map! (imho, thé best DCS map available at this time)

 

Persian Gulf - Nice map. Obviously a lot of sand and little to no green. Good see/land balance, which makes it excellent for both land based and naval ops. Scenery is quite good/detailed. In my experience Multiplayer interest for this map is somewhat "medium".

South Atlantic - Very nice map. Satellite textures make it look exquisite from high altitude, but imho, low to the ground it also looks quite good. Scenery looks very detailed. Note that this map is still being worked on (and still needs some work), which with current Razbam-ED dispute has become an uncertainty. I'd label this map as not popular in the MP community. There's also not very much SP user made missions for it unfortunately.

Sinai - Very nice map. I'd say on par with Syria, but unfortunately (and I don't really understand why) far less popular in the community when looking at available MP and SP missions. Excellent land and sea balance Scenery is one of the best for the modern DCS maps. Mostly sand, but the Nile area is actually quite green.

Syria - My personal favourite map right now. Mainly for its (unfortunate) conflicts history/mission potential and the terrain diversity (sand, green, mountains/valleys, sea, large cities.. Syria map has got it all). Scenery is very detailed. I'd rate this map as second most popular (after Caucasus) in the community. Plenty of MP and SP missions available for it.

NTTR - My opinion (don't shoot me), this map is just too outdated for what ED is asking for it (even with discount). Scenery detail is similar to Caucasus, so, poor. It's also quite a small map compared to the other map dlc's. Ground textures are quite good though, especially from higher up. I know many people love this map for its potential for roleplay (realistic exercise location). No sea. Land based missions only (not sure about MP popularity, but I think it's quite low).

Supercarrier (Not really a map, but thought I'd share) - A must have if you like naval ops. No issues with MP if you don't have it though (I think you can still land on it, but you won't be able to use the special SC ATC comms). I believe most of the larger servers add both the Supercarrier and the non-Supercarrier to their missions.


I don't own Kola and don't play DCS WWII, so no verdict on those maps from me.

Have fun mate and make sure to use those 2week trials and make up your own mind  

 

 

[Arecibo]

Thanks Sirrah, that's really helpful info. Definitely going to give the Syria map a trial first!

[scommander2]

For NTTR, it is more likely for the training terrain.

For F-14, both campaigns, "Zone 5" (Top Gun training) and "Speed And Angles" are based on NTTR.

I guess that the coming F-4 campaign maybe use NTTR. 

 

Edited June 28, 2024 by scommander2