Campaign for DCS OH-58D: "Through the desert dust"

[LuseKofte]

I was beta testing these missions. In fact bought Afghanistan only for that purpose. 
I lack SSD space, so I only have maps I use atm, installed. This campaign will make me reinstall the map again. I just got to let another map go. 
I spent some time on them. Because I learned a lot about this chopper, I did believe I had all the knowledge about before starting. Many thx. Excellent campaign

[Blazkovitch]

I only started playing yesterday but I've one small suggestion: add support for OVGME/OpenModManager. It would simplify installation of the mod immensly. If necessary ping me via DM and I can tell you what to do. Dzieki, fajnie sie zapowiada

[QuiGon]

It's really unfortunate that this campaign has no multicrew/coop option.

[YoYo]

4 hours ago, Blazkovitch said:

I only started playing yesterday but I've one small suggestion: add support for OVGME/OpenModManager. It would simplify installation of the mod immensly. If necessary ping me via DM and I can tell you what to do. Dzieki, fajnie sie zapowiada

This is to be done, same for JSGME. Maybe idea for the future update.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

10 hours ago, Blazkovitch said:

I only started playing yesterday but I've one small suggestion: add support for OVGME/OpenModManager. It would simplify installation of the mod immensly.

How? Why? Did I miss something? Does this campaign work differently from any other campaign? I'm confused: what mod are you talking about?

[YoYo]

31 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

How? Why? Did I miss something? Does this campaign work differently from any other campaign? I'm confused: what mod are you talking about?

You move the campaign (zip content) to the DCS campaign folder, that's it. There's no any big philosophy here, the description is in the manual. JSGME/OVGME is a bit different, because it has to have the whole structure preserved. Im using JSGME for mods, but for me the campaign is not a mod (its therefore not subject to corruption by any DCS update, for example, because no update will overwrite anything here), but I will think about making such a version because it is a certain convenience for some.

Edited July 2 by YoYo

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

14 hours ago, YoYo said:

There's no any big philosophy here

Yes I was wondering, because people seem to overcomplicate things.
I just put it in the Saved Games\DCS\Missions\Campaigns\en folder, just like any other non-payware campaign 

[Moxica]

This is looking very promising.
I had the best of times in the kiowa. (Struggling for a while before I understood, I was not to land on the tug. -Came very close. 
Had to abort mission two, however; My comanions just disappeared. Not so much as a "poof"
-Did not appear on the map or F2 either.
-Just went into the twilight zone after a few miles.
I've never seen this before.

Edited July 3 by Moxica

[YoYo]

37 minutes ago, Moxica said:

My comanions just disappeared. 

Hi. You are probably talking about mission 1. Observe RWR, there you have the bearing. You can always contact any ship via DCS ATC and ask for the azimuth. You have the frequencies in the kneeboard.

[Moxica]

21 minutes ago, YoYo said:

Hi. You are probably talking about mission 1. Observe RWR, there you have the bearing. You can always contact any ship via DCS ATC and ask for the azimuth. You have the frequencies in the kneeboard.

Nope. Talking about mission two. I was in formation with two Kiowas. Looking at them as they disappeared.
..on the way to a training/firing range.

[hannibal]

On 7/2/2025 at 5:17 AM, QuiGon said:

It's really unfortunate that this campaign has no multicrew/coop option.

agreed!

 

[YoYo]

14 minutes ago, Moxica said:

Nope. Talking about mission two. I was in formation with two Kiowas. Looking at them as they disappeared.
..on the way to a training/firing range.

Ok, you're talking about AI traffic, that's not part of the mission, here you're supposed to follow the BH. That was an order :).

[Moxica]

13 hours ago, YoYo said:

Ok, you're talking about AI traffic, that's not part of the mission, here you're supposed to follow the BH. That was an order :).

Oh!    

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Some initial feedback after trying to start this campaign:
- The manual mentions there will be a mission that requires the use of a keyboard for directing artillery. For VR-users especially those with simpits (such as myself) this is very cumbersome: you have to take off the headset, climb out of the pit, walk over to the pc, sit down and re-centre the view, use the keyboard, walk over to the simpit, sit down and put the headset on again (hoping you don't get a black screen or crash - which does happen), all while (I assume) being in-flight?
I flew a Mi-8 campaign years and years ago where you also had to direct artillery using map markers and I don't remember that requiring a keyboard, as I don't have a keyboard in my simpit (I'm no ME wizard so don't ask me how - I just know it works without having to use a keyboard).
- Please don't force tooltips on (this is a quit-moment for me as it is highly annoying to have that floating text everywhere);
- Please don't force pilot models off.

I have the Gameplay option "don't force mission options use mine" selected but somehow this doesn't work here 

[MAXsenna]

55 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I flew a Mi-8 campaign years and years ago where you also had to direct artillery using map markers and I don't remember that requiring a keyboard,

IIRC it was the Included Spring tension or the DLC Border Campaign. You had to look at the map, then choose the correct grid out of three or so options in the F10 radio menu, right? 

[YoYo]

1 hour ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Some initial feedback after trying to start this campaign:
- The manual mentions there will be a mission that requires the use of a keyboard for directing artillery. For VR-users especially those with simpits (such as myself) this is very cumbersome: you have to take off the headset, climb out of the pit, walk over to the pc, sit down and re-centre the view, use the keyboard, walk over to the simpit, sit down and put the headset on again (hoping you don't get a black screen or crash - which does happen), all while (I assume) being in-flight?

You need a keyboard to enter coordinates, which shouldn't come as a surprise. However, if you have a keyboard in your SIM pit, it shouldn't be a problem (probably most people have it, if only to press Esc even in their simpit, etc.). I only fly in VR, 2D doesn't interest me at all. I don't have to take off my set because I can see everything through the gap by my nose when I look down . Usually, this is enough for many sets and you don't have to do much here. I also have an ICP+Elgato panels, on which I have numbers connected, so I also have a quasi-sim pit.

In this case, if your keyboard is so far away that you have to take off the headset, then you have to look for your own solution, sorry.

1 hour ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I have the Gameplay option "don't force mission options use mine" selected but somehow this doesn't work here 

The user should be able to force his options - if he wants to, but that's up to him, but look:

If this is a bug in DCS then I have no influence on it.

Edited July 4 by YoYo

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

17 minutes ago, YoYo said:

if your keyboard is so far away that you have to take off the headset, then you have to look for your own solution, sorry.

Shame: I'll pass on this campaign, then. I'm not going to buy a second keyboard, a mounting solution and drill holes in my wall just for this 1 campaign.

 

19 minutes ago, YoYo said:

The user should be able to force his options - if he wants to, but that's up to him, but look:

I know about that option. As as said in my post, it is turned on and works just fine in all other missions/campaigns (including your own Mi-24 campaign).

[YoYo]

These are the limitations of DCS when it comes to working on the F10 map. Either you accept them and look for the best solutions for yourself, or unfortunately you spoil the fun. I can't imagine having a keyboard far away while flying in VR, but of course it's a matter of personal preference. On the other hand, everyone uses a keyboard even in VR, so how do you even exit DCS? Do you have Esc connected somewhere or what? I'm asking out of curiosity.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

1 hour ago, YoYo said:

everyone uses a keyboard even in VR

I don't  8 years of flying in VR and I never had any use for a keyboard. It would just get in the way...

 

1 hour ago, YoYo said:

Do you have Esc connected somewhere or what?

It's what HOTAS and control panels are for. Just bind the few keys you actually need (ESC, SPACE, 1 and 2) and there's zero need for a keyboard. It's just like binding anything else, really...

[LuseKofte]

On 7/3/2025 at 10:40 AM, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

Yes I was wondering, because people seem to overcomplicate things.
I just put it in the Saved Games\DCS\Missions\Campaigns\en folder, just like any other non-payware campaign 

I don’t use jsgme for anything. But I hardly use any mods. Those I do use is easily disabled by [-]
And those using these things are just as bothered as me 

15 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I don't  8 years of flying in VR and I never had any use for a keyboard. It would just get in the way...

 

It's what HOTAS and control panels are for. Just bind the few keys you actually need (ESC, SPACE, 1 and 2) and there's zero need for a keyboard. It's just like binding anything else, really...

Kind of not true, in multiplayer the need to write a command is there. But I use hitas and panels mostly too

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

1 hour ago, LuseKofte said:

Kind of not true

And yet I managed just fine…

[swartbyron]

Great campaign so far!

Well put together with a great story line, and I do feel like I’ve been flying some of the missions described in the Scouts Out book.

Negatives I’ve found are that if you miss a trigger, all progress stops, and there doesn’t seem to be any failsafe in place to prompt you or keep the mission rolling. Reflected and Baltic Dragon do a good job in this regard.

I also feel it’s not realistic to have to kill every soldier and destroy every vehicle in a group for the mission to process when the primary goal is only for a convoy to survive or make it to its destination for example.

Some of the English dialogue phrasing and wording is a little off and sounds a little comical at times but I quickly got used to it.

You can tell a lot of hours have been spent building the campaign, well done and thank you for sharing it with us.

 

The Scouts Out

Deadly accurate gunnery using the IZLID laser

 

Edited July 5 by swartbyron

[Zarma]

1 hour ago, swartbyron said:

Great campaign so far!

Well put together with a great story line, and I do feel like I’ve been flying some of the missions described in the Scouts Out book.

Negatives I’ve found are that if you miss a trigger, all progress stops, and there doesn’t seem to be any failsafe in place to prompt you or keep the mission rolling. Reflected and Baltic Dragon do a good job in this regard.

I also feel it’s not realistic to have to kill every soldier and destroy every vehicle in a group for the mission to process when the primary goal is only for a convoy to survive or make it to its destination for example.

Some of the English dialogue phrasing and wording is a little off and sounds a little comical at times but I quickly got used to it.

You can tell a lot of hours have been spent building the campaign, well done and thank you for sharing it with us.

Yep same commentary. In mission 3 I insisted to kill the infantry and was winchester before the 3 last vehicles could be destroyed, I just stopped them. No exist trigger the mission just stopped. Finally flew back and got a 20 pts failed results even though the convoy drove back.

[YoYo]

2 hours ago, swartbyron said:

Great campaign so far!

Well put together with a great story line, and I do feel like I’ve been flying some of the missions described in the Scouts Out book.

Negatives I’ve found are that if you miss a trigger, all progress stops, and there doesn’t seem to be any failsafe in place to prompt you or keep the mission rolling. Reflected and Baltic Dragon do a good job in this regard.

I also feel it’s not realistic to have to kill every soldier and destroy every vehicle in a group for the mission to process when the primary goal is only for a convoy to survive or make it to its destination for example.

Some of the English dialogue phrasing and wording is a little off and sounds a little comical at times but I quickly got used to it.

You can tell a lot of hours have been spent building the campaign, well done and thank you for sharing it with us.

Thanks for the feedback . In the BD and Reflected campaigns, it is indeed like that, you can land right after takeoff and finish the mission. It has its pros and cons, I thought about it too, but I chose the task that you have to complete all the mission objectives. The campaign is actually quite easy anyway. I would rate it as average in terms of difficulty. Before the release, I played through the whole campaign on purpose, again. I only had to repeat 1 mission because my helicopter was hit. Perhaps a future one, if I make it, I will use a different rule, we'll see,, but this is also not an ideal solution, because some things can continue even if the player flies in a completely different direction .

1 hour ago, Zarma said:

Yep same commentary. In mission 3 I insisted to kill the infantry and was winchester before the 3 last vehicles could be destroyed, I just stopped them. No exist trigger the mission just stopped. Finally flew back and got a 20 pts failed results even though the convoy drove back.

In this mission you have to save ammo, and James reminds us of that. Use rifle fire for 1 detent (Kiowa has quite little ammo, only short bursts). Contrary to appearances, the soldiers are doing quite well here.

[swartbyron]

46 minutes ago, YoYo said:

 Perhaps a future one, if I make it, I will use a different rule, we'll see,, but this is also not an ideal solution, because some things can continue even if the player flies in a completely different direction .

 

This would help a lot and at least you can fly and land only to find you have 80% score for missing 3 trucks but passed because you accomplished the main objective.

Currently if you turn immediately with the Blackhawk in mission 2, you miss the turnpoint trigger by a few feet breaking the rest of mission there after.

As Zarma says, in Mission 3, if there is just one unit remaining of the group, the mission wont progress until its destroyed even though the convoy is safe an on its way.

It would be nice to fly the rest of the mission, have the music play and land but receive a lower score for not destroying all the units.

 

Thanks for taking onboard our feedback, looking forward to the rest of the campaign. 

Edited July 5 by swartbyron