A Series of Questions

[AK]

Salutations lads.

 

I've gone through the FAQs and "Rookies Start Here" guides but unfortunately there's no product orientation subsection. A good friend of mine pointed me onto DCS Ka-50 years ago and since then I've been following development, but haven't yet bought it because of the copy protection, a sudden dearth of funds (thanks University...) and some unresolved questions regarding the related product lines of DCS and LOMAC.

If you'd indulge me I have the following questions, and they're not exclusively limited to DCS Ka-50 but so I don't spread these across several subforums I'll ask them all here:

 

1) DCS Black Shark is available on Steam. Is this identical to the online distributed/boxed retail copy? Is the only change the different DRM?

 

2) Can DCS Black Shark on Steam be modded to the same degree that online distributed/boxed retail copies can be?

 

3) I saw some news recently about the compatibility patch between DCS A-10C and Ka-50 being worked on and scheduled for release fairly soon. [a] Will DCS A-10C be made interoperable with LOMAC Flaming Cliffs / LOMAC Platinum, and is DCS Ka-50 already interoperable with the LOMAC sim?

By interoperable, I'm primarily concerned with the ability to have cooperative MP sessions in which some fly the Su-25, others the Ka-50, and with the case of DCS A-10C, some fly the Warthog and others provide topcover/run simultaneous BAI missions with Eagle variants, and scenarios on this theme all based on the premise of aircraft from both sims being available simultaneously in the same MP session and controllable by players.

 

Thanks for bearing with me.

I'd search the forums in greater detail but don't have the time to do so; at the moment I am preparing a paper comparing Soviet operational art as envisioned by Tukachevsky/Triandafillov and promulgated throughout 1942-1945 experience as compared to German operational art / the lack thereof in the same period and the impacts this has had on NATO and Warsaw Pact land warfare doctrines 1945-1991. I'm hoping to get DCS set up so I can promptly forget about all of this once I'm done. As an aside, if any of you need help with something like what I outlined above, I'd be happy to.

[nemises]

Hiya AK, welcome eh ;)

 

1) Yes... there are some small file structure differences (it is a slightly different build), but functionally they are completely identical....

As a side note, the starforce that ED use now is NOTHING like the starforce of yesteryear ... there is no driver's or media checks, it is simply an avenue to enable content once a valid registration is achieved, a once only affair (unless you uninstal / change OS's) .. there's more info in the FAQ.

 

2) yes

 

3a) Probably not

 

3b) yes (flaming cliffs 2, multiplayer compatible) ... unknown if A10 compatibility patch will change that though

 

Good luck on your paper!..sounds........involved!

[WildBillKelsoe]

Jesus is coming.. look busy :D

[Conure]

Wow - A thesis that looks even more boring than mine? Didn't think it possible. Best of luck with the sim, though.

[AK]

Nemises: Thanks for the help mate, that's perfect. Really looking forward to building some missions (I come across from the OFP/ArmA/A2/OA series where there's always been a very comprehensive mission editor) involving Zapad Kavkaz and putting some steel on Chechen/Georgian targets.

 

Conure: Au contraire. I find it interesting, it's just that the topic is so wide-ranging and my "maximum page count" is 15 pages, so I can cover it in some depth, that it's eaten the entirety of my waking hours for a month now. Also I've exceeded the maximum page count. Damn. What's your thesis? The evolution of sewage management 500BC-Present? (I wish I was making that up, but to be fair that guy might have been deadpanning me. Lately I suck at reading people's emotions. Thanks, higher education, for turning me into a drone.)

[Pyroflash]

I know how you feel, I recently did a paper on the evolution and advancement of American Air power from post WWI to WWII, and that originally ate up 18 pages. Then I had to re-write it because I looked in my guidelines and it said a maximum of 12 pages...

 

Also, I would advise against buying this on steam. Please buy it from ED's official website as it ensures not only that you will always have access to the most recent patches, but that ED will see 100% of the profits as well. Steam eats up some of the money that would otherwise go to ED so yeah.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Pyroflash

[AK]

Yes, but buying directly from ED not only costs more but also involves me with the DRM I don't like. It's not that I don't understand the new DRM and that I think the new DRM is going to hose me; it's been adequately explained elsewheres that it won't. It's that StarForce needs to die in a ditch after the shit they pulled years ago.

 

That said, Steam has made it a point to sell games they don't test to see if they work or not over Steam. As a result I've dropped some cash through Steam on unplayable products and their customer service is, well, shitty to say the least.

 

I will do some thinking on what is the lesser of two evils, then. Another bonus of buying from ED is that I can get a physical copy of the product, something I am always a fan of.

[AK]

Right, first off: Apologies for thread-resurrection, didn't want to start a new one to answer (most likely) dumbf*ck questions.

I haven't noticed this in the FAQ or the new pilot guides. Many have not been updated to reflect the new situation regarding DCS Black Shark 2.

Because I almost died earlier, turns out I didn't buy DCS BS as I was planning to. I've subsequently decided to buy directly from Eagle. Of course, the year's delay there managed to impose new questions on me.

 

1) Does DCS Black Shark 2, the full version, include DCS Black Shark as a seperate executable which is interoperable with LOMAC FC2?

 

2) Has the 550+ page English manual been edited and updated to reflect the errata in this thread?

 

Thanks again for your time gents.

[EtherealN]

1) No.

 

2) I don't know, I'd have to check through it one-by-one unless some of the guys that are involved directly with the manual can chime in, and I don't know when I'll have time for that.

[Revelation]

One thing to keep in mind is BS2 will be compatible with FC3 and already with DCS A-10C. Once FC3 comes out there will be no reason that I can think of to have BS1.

[AK]

I did not know that FC3 was planned or on the way.

 

Thanks for this information gents, much appreciated.