Review / opinions/ pictures / discussion

[archer86]

After had some flight I realized that we have a very detailed map, the elevation details are remarkable.  The overall performance of the map is good but the fps is noticably drop especially when flying low over mountains with dense forest areas. There is no issue at med and high altitudes, but lower altitudes cost me some fps loss.  It's almost like -20 fps.  A similar situation occurs when flying low over large cities.

[BIGNEWY]

11 hours ago, cfrag said:

Well, I did purchase for 70, so I’m interested to hear if us early customers get the difference refunded.

Refunds on steam are steam policy, so best check with them. 

thank you 

[orl_cz]

So I had to speculate for a long time what to delete to free up enough disk space, but now it's clear I have no regrets. The map in the early access gives more than I expected. Even on my less underpowered PC it is playable at medium detail and still looks nice. Only over densely built-up areas do I have a problem, but surprisingly less than in Syria. For example, the Mariana Islands are unplayable for me. 

Regarding the complaints about the prices, have any of the people complaining ever tried creating something challenging? I used to create hand modified orts for xplane, since it was an unpaid mod it only cost me hundreds of hours of my time. When I thought about only partially monetizing those hours, I couldn't help but wonder how much they wanted for the source data for commercial use. Mod is still free.

There must be a lot of people's hard work to pay for here, the source data and what no one realizes, this simulator is not sold in millions of units like mainstream games and will last me many times longer. Other sims have add-ons even more expensive and with the new version you have to buy a new one or upgrade. So for me the pricing policy is fine. 

Plus ED surprised me very pleasantly when I pre-ordered A-10c and there was supposed to be a map of Nevada that finally wasn't, and after years of waiting I was no longer hopeful that they would deliver on the promise of getting it for free. It finally arrived in my account for free upon release. 

My build is 32gb DDR3 3200. I5 11600 and rx580.

Edited December 13, 2024 by orl_cz

[Beirut]

3 hours ago, Lace said:

After Afghanistan I decided I would give Iraq a miss.  However, after the positive comments here I unsurprisingly relented and installed it last night.  I was not disappointed.  Way better than Afghanistan at launch, . . . 

 

Had the exact same worry about the Iraq map just being Afghanistan 2.0. (Meh! 2.0) But the mountains looked so good in the Iraq map videos I got it and I really like it.

 

The Iraq map, as you said, is way better. I noticed it right away and my whole first flight was fun and looked great. And those mountains... 

[dmatt76]

The map looks great overall, but mostly thanks to a more detailed mesh of the mountains.

I can see two major problems - it  has definitely too many plants, especially on the mountains - they are evenly put from the very top to the bottom, you really can't find a single rocky ridge, pure rock - everything is covered with plants like under a blanket.

Also, the ground texture has weird brown and green spots all over. Again, its hard to find a plain piece of land, it just green and brown spots that you can really tell what brush what used to make them. It need some kind of randomness and more different patterns on the ground.

Edited December 13, 2024 by dmatt76

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

16 hours ago, cfrag said:

Coming from ED, that’s almost cosmically ironic.

 

Well, I did purchase for 70, so I’m interested to hear if us early customers get the difference refunded.

The right price was available by mid afternoon yesterday, Europe time

[zeufman]

After Afghanistan I decided I would give Iraq a miss, too.  However, after the positive comments see on YT, purchased today.

ED, after the last update, keep this good job.

[BIGNEWY]

4 minutes ago, zeufman said:

After Afghanistan I decided I would give Iraq a miss, too.  However, after the positive comments see on YT, purchased today.

ED, after the last update, keep this good job.

Thank you for the purchase and the vote of confidence. 

[Wali763]

Didnt read through the whole thread, only the last pieces.

I guess, its not possible, but a merge with PG would be highly interesting.

Other than that, right now my 1TB-DCS-SSD has only limited space, so after having purchased Afghanistan I will give it a pass. Until I encounter a weak moment, I guess and  get a new SSD.

Anyway, there are already enough maps, especially desert maps, IMO.

[off-topic] What I really would like to see would be a Caucaus Plus map. Kind of an highly upgraded (regarding details and area) purchaseable map to the standard (free) Caucaus map. In the way as the new F-5e-upgrade.

 

[Ronin14]

 

Where I dont want to look picky, probably the most Iconic place in Baghdad, the Victory Monument (Crossed Swords) looks rather underwhelming. This map is probably going to drive ED nuts with the amount of detail and images that are of Iraq from over forty years of combat, going all the way back to the Iran Iraq war (1980-1988) which does not look like its going to get much map applied to it. Overall its going to be very interesting when IRAQ South comes out as I am sure like me there are many veterans with many pics of that little shin dig from 1990-1991

Edited December 13, 2024 by Ronin14

[zeufman]

2 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

Thank you for the purchase and the vote of confidence. 

And keep this positive communication you made from these last week

[BIGNEWY]

26 minutes ago, Ronin14 said:

 

Where I dont want to look picky, probably the most Iconic place in Baghdad, the Victory Monument (Crossed Swords) looks rather underwhelming. This map is probably going to drive ED nuts with the amount of detail and images that are of Iraq from over forty years of combat, going all the way back to the Iran Iraq war (1980-1988) which does not look like its going to get much map applied to it. Overall its going to be very interesting when IRAQ South comes out as I am sure like me there are many veterans with many pics of that little shin dig from 1990-1991

Hey dont worry, victory monument area has already been marked for improvement internally

thank you 

[Roy35150]

Super map,

Great performance and looks really nice,

Very polished for a first release.

Great job Devs.

Just tearing around in the F16 and im loving it so far...

Not a moan but the map screams for airfields in iran but all in all a great addition for dcs.

[Bremspropeller]

21 hours ago, Tango3B said:

So, after a day of intensive testing after work, I would like to give a brief contribution to the evaluation of the DCS Iraq map. Appropriately, I am currently in Arbil on official business with the German Air Force, which is also part of the map that has just been released. In short, the city with its centralized ring layout is beautifully implemented in DCS, I can actually confirm that here and now. ;-D To be more precise, the entire map is actually a statement that speaks for DCS and its future development. Take a look at Lake Thartar. Simply brilliant. The map shows a new technology that is unparalleled. You have depressions, you have ravines and mountain valleys... plus slight elevations and depressions in the terrain. Plus the sensational, new fog system, which creates a simply beautifully implemented atmosphere even in the AUTO setting. Everything is there. And everything is implemented in a way that has never been seen before. I have never seen anything like it outside of military simulators. And the performance is still absolutely top class. My computer will be 4 years old next year. Time to upgrade, sure, I know. Nevertheless, DCS in the current version, but especially Iraq, runs beautifully smoothly on my computer. Please just look at the region between Iran, Suleimaniyah, Kirkuk, Arbil, Bashuhr and Mosul. It simply cannot be better. That's a 10/10. Sure, the map still has a way to go, I don't want to fool anyone there. But it is already a definite recommendation. Clear points of criticism here are night lighting, the road network and transitions in the landscape. The water color of rivers cannot stay the same either. The water color needs to be programmed to be more of a green-brown color. But what can I say... videos say more than words. So please just watch the performance yourself in my video, I have prepared a somewhat longer video for you that should actually cover all questions about performance. My specs are pretty much rubbish these days...the computer is an I9-10900 with 32 GB, plus an RTX 3060 and luckily an extremely fast Samsung NVMe with 4TB. The performance is really good though. But please take a look yourself...here is the link (it's currently uploading, so Full HD might be available a little bit later. Thx for your patience. ;-D) :

https://youtu.be/Xyo7mCy44sc

 

**Edit: In the video I fly the Mirage 2000C. ED, if I had one request and one Christmas wish for you, then please ensure that this module is never restricted in its range of functions, but remains exactly as it is now. Please take care of this, no matter how the situation with Razbam develops. Thank you.**

+1!

I can vouch for that. I took those on the way to Doha about 8 weeks ago:

Spoiler

Looks pretty convincing in game:

Spoiler

I'm not so convinced about this streetlight off the end of RWY 15 at Erbil, though:

Spoiler

 

[Wizz]

12 hours ago, cfrag said:

I understand that you are trying to talk up your video review on YT -- and I think that this forum is perhaps the wrong place to do so. In the interest of bettering everything DCS, please allow me some comments as to why I think that your writings come across as a bit low-effort:

Because.... ? You say so?

IMHO, that is pretty much what everyone expects from a surface mesh, and hardly new. What is the new, unparalleled tech that you speak of and how is that evidenced?

Except what is not. Which is a lot. I recommend that you avoid empty expressions.

What does that mean? More importantly: above doesn't say if that is good or bad. My godson has cooked some food in ways that I have never seen before. It was also exceedingly awful.

So it's 3 years old.

I think it a bit ironic that you should say that, considering that four words later you write 

and on, and on. Too many empty, IMHO meaningless, phrases, which makes me believe that the only reason that you posted here was to push your YT channel: 

I recommend that you realize that you also put your best foot forward in the description of your video. I am sure that your written contribution does not represent your full abilities, that you can do a lot better.

I also think that you like the map, and I think that it is good that you post that opinion.

For the record, I have purchased the map (for the full 70 USD on Steam), so you do not have to convince me.

I honestly don't understand the tone of this response. This person claims to be a German Air Force member currently working in Iraq, and has provided an earnest and relevant appraisal of the recently released DCS Iraq map. Your response comes across as inordinately pithy and adds no real value to the discussion, and I'd encourage you to reflect on the purpose for writing it. This community thrives when we allow room for robust discussion and while rebuttal and counter commentary is important, it seems awfulyl apparent to me that this response falls far short of that.

That aside, as someone else who has spent a significant part of his working life in Iraq, I am absolutely thrilled at the quality of this map, and feel that Ed has done a wonderful job in putting this together. It's hard to read the constant online criticism of DCS at times, but looking at how far this community has evolved from the early days until now is marvelous! It's getting to the point where I'd even welcome some non-combat fixed and rotary wing assets to simply enjoy the views flying around parts of the world that are so well modelled, but that we have so much variety in this sandbox is fantastic.

Great work Ed! Looking forward to the future of DCS.

[RichCotte]

Probably already answered, but I haven't found it yet...

What is the timeline of this map? What year, or time period does it represent?

[Hotdognz]

After reports here I have purchased it, I agree its a much better release then the Afghanistan map and I can only hope that the lesson learnt from this map are passed on to the Afghan map update and future releases.

It looks nice from up high and down low, I only took a Apache and f18 for a quick spin from the instant action menu and really likes what i saw.

BUT and its a big but, the terrain pop in is horrendous in this map as its also very flat so is very noticeable in the bigger city's, I believe its actually getting worse across all maps, its as if the visibility range of Ultra has been downgraded by ED, it just does not work at all with lots of stuff coming into view when using the zoom levels that should be seen by default without using zoom function, looking across the city of Baghdad half of it looks like dessert until it starts coming into view and then it just starts to appear, yes high rises stick out but they look like they are in deserted areas until you get within about 10-12km's when the rest starts popping in.

I think its high time ED updated all the visibility settings to allow more detail further out, some of us have invested in good system for this sim and id like to be able to fine tune what I would like to see them used.

Anyway glad to see some missions were included and I have liked what I have seen so far except for the above gripe about the map, looking forward to seeing how it develops over the years.

[Lace]

Anyone had a look down south yet?  I had a bit of a fly over Kuwait last night, and while there are no buildings, there is a surprising amount of visible detail on the textures, and the terrain mesh seems complete.  Almost like one could just plonk down some target units and start flying some DS missions...

[markturner1960]

Just going to start DCS and try the map out. I have been vocal in my criticism of other maps where it is due and its not been taken well by some people, but credit where it is due and hopefully, ED will carry on listening to peoples concerns and implementing improvements based on these concerns, as that way, you get happy customers. I have been saying for years how the terrain needs better mesh for increased realism and finally, its here. Its nice to feel listened to....instead of feeling like your opinions dont matter to people you have supported for many years. Well done on this release ED and hopefully the rest comes soon, so we can park a carrier battle group on the ocean.

 

Hopefully, it wont be long before we get some campaigns and missions released for the map

Edited December 14, 2024 by markturner1960

[Art-J]

18 hours ago, Wizz said:

I honestly don't understand the tone of this response. This person claims to be a German Air Force member currently working in Iraq, and has provided an earnest and relevant appraisal of the recently released DCS Iraq map. Your response comes across as inordinately pithy and adds no real value to the discussion, and I'd encourage you to reflect on the purpose for writing it. This community thrives when we allow room for robust discussion and while rebuttal and counter commentary is important, it seems awfulyl apparent to me that this response falls far short of that.

I understand it I can clearly see where cfrag is coming from. 3/4 of Tango's post is indeed a meaningless word salad without any relevance to the map and real value for players. For anyone who hasn't bought the map yet (I haven't) and comes here to read something about quality of it in its current state, there's not much to learn from that post. If his post was made only to clickbait people to his YT channel, that's fine and dandy, but he should simply be honest about it. As of now, it seems to be just that - a sleazy businessman lot's-of-words-no-substance talk and a clickbait. 

That's why I appreciate other postsers who do offer actual useful info, related to texture details and transitions, draw distance, RAM consumption, overall performance, screenshots etc. You know, things that matter for consumer, especially after somewhat rough relase of Afghanistan.

[Dallenbach]

vor 22 Minuten schrieb Art-J:

I understand it I can clearly see where cfrag is coming from. 3/4 of Tango's post is indeed a meaningless word salad without any relevance to the map and real value for players. For anyone who hasn't bought the map yet (I haven't) and comes here to read something about quality of it in its current state, there's not much to learn from that post. If his post was made only to clickbait people to his YT channel, that's fine and dandy, but he should simply be honest about it. As of now, it seems to be just that - a sleazy businessman lot's-of-words-no-substance talk and a clickbait. 

That's why I appreciate other postsers who do offer actual useful info, related to texture details and transitions, draw distance, RAM consumption, overall performance, screenshots etc. You know, things that matter for consumer, especially after somewhat rough relase of Afghanistan.

I'm sorry but cfrag's contribution is even more useless. Apart from revealing that he bought the map, he doesn't give a review. He just takes a cheap shot at another user. I find that strange. Just like your stupid comment about a sleazy businessman.
I guess you haven't heard of respect.

[Schmidtfire]

I'm holding off for a bit. Mountains looks really cool though!

My main critique reg. DLC maps is that they are a complete pain to set up properly. Creating functioning borders between countries (that can spawn intercept flights), civilian air traffic, a functioning SAM network etc. is a monumental task in the Mission Editor. DCS World is a combat simulator and maps should be released with some sorts of pre-built templates or a UI in the Mission Editor to easier set up a "framework" to build missions upon. At the end of the day, these new big empty maps offer little over Caucasus except better looks. More integrated functionality would make it a more interesting purchase from a customer standpoint.      
   

[Beirut]

27 minutes ago, Schmidtfire said:

I'm holding off for a bit. Mountains looks really cool though!

My main critique reg. DLC maps is that they are a complete pain to set up properly. Creating functioning borders between countries (that can spawn intercept flights), civilian air traffic, a functioning SAM network etc. is a monumental task in the Mission Editor. DCS World is a combat simulator and maps should be released with some sorts of pre-built templates or a UI in the Mission Editor to easier set up a "framework" to build missions upon. At the end of the day, these new big empty maps offer little over Caucasus except better looks. More integrated functionality would make it a more interesting purchase from a customer standpoint.      
   

 

 ...yeah, some of that is very reasonable and would be very nice.

 

But I will reiterate that this is a very good map. The more I fly it the more I like it. Get the lighting and the weather right, fly up in the mountains, and it's gorgeous! First class flightsim eye candy.

[rcjonessnp175]

Be deep diving much more but having been on camp justice in 2007 deployment, map needs some love, if it matched the google imagery as far as layout id be happy with that.  Unfortunately don’t have pics but certainly look forward to reliving some shots in vr from the team house roof I took.  Also that bridge had an Apache light some local dudes up one night and then and then lots of stories get the picture.  
  The mountains to the north are absolutely next gen, well done.

Crom 

 

[RichCotte]

What is going on with the crazy volume of construction cranes and industrial buildings in the region near the old Camp Ashraf/FOB Grizzly?

 

This area should be primarily open desert with a small pockets of buildings, surrounded by farmlands and a large weapons storage bunker complex to the north.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2024 by RichCotte