Past or Present in Future

[Horns]

I know ED is not in a position to create any content that might attract Russia's ire, owing to having an ED office in Russia. I've also come across wish list threads requesting a Taiwan map where mods have answered that there are no plans for that and closed the thread, and those things got me wondering this...

Should we expect ED to concentrate more on maps that allow past conflicts to be recreated (like Iraq and Afghanistan), or would you expect areas with current or recent tension or conflict to have a place in DCS' future? If it's the latter, would areas of interest to China (anything inside the 9-dash line and the Korean Peninsula) be off the menu now, similar to Russia?

For example, if Australia finally reacted with the violence and fury warranted by New Zealand's irresponsible provocations in placing themselves adjacent to the Australian mainland and an ongoing war ensued, would a new map of the Australian East Coast and New Zealand be out of the question?

PS: Just kidding about New Zealand, I love all sux of you, and I didn't even say anything about sheep!

[Volator]

Past conflicts.

[bies]

Most definitely past conflicts. All DCS modules are modeled as historical. Even our relatively recent Viper, Apache, Chinook, Hornet are ~2007 standard variants of deep Cold War machines. It would be great to have maps like 1950s Korea, 1960s Vietnam, 1970s Middle East, 1980s Iraq or Fulda etc.

We don't have and will never have even remotely realistic "modern day" assets, aircrafts, systems, sensors etc. in DCS because they are strictly classified. It would be total fiction or some completely assymetrical scenarios. "Modern Day" maps lack realism, purpose, atmosphere and completely lack proper timeframe enviroment and assets.

Edited January 7 by bies

[Horns]

On 12/30/2024 at 9:12 PM, Volator said:

Past conflicts.

 

15 hours ago, bies said:

Most definitely past conflicts. All DCS modules are modeled as historical. Even our relatively recent Viper, Apache, Chinook, Hornet are ~2007 standard variants of deep Cold War machines. 1950s Korea, 1960s Vietnam, 1970s Middle East, 1980s Iraq or Fulda etc.

We don't have and will never have even remotely realistic "modern day" assets, aircrafts, systems, sensors etc. in DCS because they are strictly classified. It would be total fiction or some completely assymetrical scenarios. "Modern Day" maps lack realism, purpose, atmosphere and completely proper enviroment and assets.

Yeah, that does seem to be the way of it. When it comes to aircraft I know we won't get absolutely up-to-date, and that's fine. I asked specifically about maps because I don't think they need to have the same sensitivities as airframes, and in any conflict we're likely to see 20+ year old airframe designs and other systems, so I think there could be a way to make it work well and maximize engagement, what you say is valid though of course.

Thanks to both of you for replying!

[Dragon1-1]

Definitely past. We do like flying the "state of the art" airframe in a given period, and it's unlikely we'd get ones for modern day.  Besides, most conflicts these days are asymmetrical in some way, if they involve a significant air force at all. Mid-2000s already has that problem, with no viable peer opponents for Western airframes. So... 80s all the way.  

[draconus]

Most definitely past conflicts even if fictional, but realistic.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Past, absolutely. I'd even go as far as saying I'd have preferred it if the most modern stuff in DCS (both maps and modules) was mid-'90s. So we could have a decently capable F-16, F-18 and Strike Eagle but no GPS, no data-link, no helmet mounted queueing systems, ... Oh and RedFor wouldn't be hilariously outdated by comparison.
Present-day maps (while I understand they are far easier to make than past versions) don't make any sense to me whatsoever, for all of the reasons already mentioned.

[smoking_ace420]

On 12/22/2024 at 3:01 AM, Horns said:

I know ED is not in a position to create any content that might attract Russia's ire, owing to having an ED office in Russia. I've also come across wish list threads requesting a Taiwan map where mods have answered that there are no plans for that and closed the thread, and those things got me wondering this...

Should we expect ED to concentrate more on maps that allow past conflicts to be recreated (like Iraq and Afghanistan), or would you expect areas with current or recent tension or conflict to have a place in DCS' future? If it's the latter, would areas of interest to China (anything inside the 9-dash line and the Korean Peninsula) be off the menu now, similar to Russia?

For example, if Australia finally reacted with the violence and fury warranted by New Zealand's irresponsible provocations in placing themselves adjacent to the Australian mainland and an ongoing war ensued, would a new map of the Australian East Coast and New Zealand be out of the question?

PS: Just kidding about New Zealand, I love all sux of you, and I didn't even say anything about sheep!

Why do they have to get pushed around by China?

[draconus]

4 hours ago, smoking_ace420 said:

Why do they have to get pushed around by China?

They're not pushed around. They just take them into consideration. It's a big part of the market they don't want to have locked off from sales.

[upyr1]

I always prefer historical maps here is my list of reasons.

First, you can get a better online ecosystem. I talk about this quite a bit. In a combat flight sim an ecosystem has the following requirements.

• Habitat - A map
• Competing Apex predators - at least 1 module for both sides  
• Prey - plenty of AI assets

The Russian and Chinese Air Force aren't known for making documents for their latest aircraft equipment available. However we have the following MiG either now or on the way. 15, 17, 19(for now), 21, 29, and if things get settled with Razbam the 23. 

Beyond the cold war we're really dealing with P V E, and I believe most DCS pilots are offline and so this is the default however there is still a market for warbirds and cold war classics I think the Phantom was a good example of that