How do you memorize these?

[GunnDawg]

I have been at this sim all day today and all day all I could think was "how do the others memorize this stuff?"

 

By stuff I mean "TMS Up short, TMS Up long, Left, right, etc, etc" for every HAT there. There must be 24+ functions if you figure 4 ways for each HAT and 2 functions for each direction (my math could be off, its late).

 

Anyways, what should I do to practice getting all this into my brain?! I have been working with JTAC today and I still forget the proper functions just to slave my TGP to the coords given to me via JTAC.

[metalnwood]

Just playing it. It takes more than a day, you just have to play the sim and use the buttons in the course of your actions. It will come :)

 

Just have the printout handy in the meantime.

[luza]

It becomes natural, an extension of your body. Sounds cheesy but true

[GunnDawg]

It becomes natural, an extension of your body. Sounds cheesy but true

 

Not cheesy sounding at all. My biggest problem isnt figure out where I mapped the functions but instead I find my self going "Ummm ok how do I make an SPI? is it TMS FWD Long or TMS AFT Long?"

 

So I know where the controls are (finally), I just have to train my brain to remember when to use them, heh.

[EtherealN]

Regarding those quick in-flight reminders, which do help, I strongly suggest printing (or having on a second screen, laptop, tablet etcetera) the relevant HOTAS pages from the manual. That definitely helps getting you those quick reminders, and can also often answer questions like "shouldn't I be able to X" with a "yes, and you use this input". :)

[Yskonyn]

^ + 1

 

I always print a reference sheet for my first few sorties. Then it'll come naturally after a while.

[WarthogSmurf]

Well basically it takes real fighter pilots a lot of training and overloading to get everything 100% perfect. So dont feel bad when you go .. euh TMS or was it DMS .. or CMS .. euhhhh.

 

Even I have to think about stuff especially when you need to relay the keys to a trainee it gets a bit hard. Like other say keep playing , enjoy it and things will come naturally by itself

 

Oh and to quote a line from a book i forogt the title stating a instructor telling his own trainee.

 

:"You put the thing on the thing and then pull the thing "

[Leeham]

I learned by writing it down a few times when I needed to do it. So when I was engaging a target with GBU-12s, I wrote down all the steps with joystick/keyboard commands and buttons and then ran off my custom checklist until it was memorised.

[BIGNEWY]

I forget where I got this from, it was someone's docs pack that was on the these forums so credit to them.

 

I used this to teach myself the tms dms cms and so on, print it out keep it handy :)

 

bold text is a long push

 

[atledreier]

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=69610&highlight=graphical+hotas

 

This one is what I use. Printed and walled for easy inflight reference.

 

[HotFish]

Try this:

 

Create a little mission; place a ground (or air) unit in a familiar place. Repeat your simplified attack procedure until you master it without excitement of mission.

 

And even after the pause of playing this sim, you have to refresh your skils. I thing this is what pilots do in real life.:thumbup:

[KLR Rico]

I spent the first few days hitting the pause button a lot. Now I don't even think about it... I know what I want to do and it's automatic. Although, every now and again I have to go back and look up some of the more rarely used functions.

[TurboHog]

And I use this chart... (2nd attachment)

 

Fly, practise, and you will start to see a system in how the avionics work. And all the buttons? Don't worry! We've all been through the same (slow) process of learning. Now, there is not a HOTAS button that I can't name or connect to a specific function. And if I forget one, I quickly grab my HOTAS matrix :). So check it out in the link above ;).

[GunnDawg]

Those are both great references! Thanks gents!

[Belisarius]

I am at the point where the fog is finally clearing. Took a few weeks of lots and lots of active pause,fiddling with stuff and referring to tutorials and the manual. Seems like great brain exercise! Really loving it now.

[Loggert]

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5999052/a10/HOTAS%20a10.pdf

 

An other way of looking at it.

[Eddie]

Practice, practice some more, then do a bit more practice. After all this practice, take a break and come back and practice some more.

 

Eventually you'll get to the point where the HOTAS commands are second nature and become muscle memory functions. When that happens you're ready to start learning the "difficult" stuff.

[PlainSight]

up/forward buttons are important action buttons, so every time you need to slave/mark/lock something, press up/forward.

[GhostDog]

3 Rs:

 

1. Reading (study and ask questions until it makes sense)

2. References (checklists, charts, etc.)

3. Repetition (try practice missions until you can do it in your sleep)

[GunnDawg]

Really appreciate all the feedback, resources, and tips! I have used just about all of them. Really helpful stuff!

[MarkuzJuniuz]

Hello, new guy here but I would like to chime in. I'm not an expert in the game, err, sim. I haven't even started campaigns or did serious missions or multiplayer matches, etc.

 

My answer to this is lots willpower. I just got the DCS A-10c a couple of months ago. During that time I didn't even have a HOTAS. All I had was an XBox 360 controller and a wireless Logitech joystick that always loses its juice in a few minutes.

 

At first the controls are really intimidating. Lots of buttons obviously. I initially used my Xbox 360 controller and created three shift keys and bound all the HOTAS controls from there. I took the HOTAS Fundamentals tutorial and passed it so I was ecstatic. Then I kept repeating it. Then I moved away from shift keys and added my Logitech joystick. Then repeated the tutorial many times again.

 

Then I got my new CH flight controllers, I tried to match the controls of the real hog as much as I can then I repeated the HOTAS tutorial many times, again, hahaha. Now though I'm usually doing the quick missions with lots of easy ground targets (I use the quick mission generator) for my HOTAS practice. Perhaps after 300 (that includes taking off and landing!) hours of flight time I can slowly add AAs then SAMs.

 

Willpower. Without it I wouldn't have researched, I wouldn't have read, I wouldn't have practiced this complicated sim. I'm still not really good at it though since there are still a lot of times when I miss a pass on the targets because I did something wrong. I wish willpower can also make a good sim-pilot. :)

 

Btw, I also think that the hog's HOTAS controls are intuitive. Like TMS Up locks, TMS Down is the opposite, T is for Target, DMS Up zooms or increases range, DMS Down is the opposite, D is for Display, Boat switch for changing the "color" of TGP and MAV, China hat for managing the sensors in relation to the SPI and steerpoint, pressing some things longer have more drastic effects, etc. Those are the ideas that made it easier for me to remember and I hope they help others too.

[Laud]

It also helps to filter content by how much you need it. I still can't handle ALL CDU functions, but that's no problem, because I can handle all the functions I need for the daily work.

 

Focusing on workflows for different tasks helps to eat the elephant bit by bit.

 

Keep studying and flying and most important: have fun!