Controls for 1st person pilot (who exited his plane or ejected)

[ishtmail]

I'm having trouble finding this info through the forums, there's just too much going on, what with the new updates and new modules... So I apologize if this is an old and well discussed topic.

 

If you exit your airplane/helicopter by hitting LCTRL+E three times, you find yourself in 1st person view of your pilot, and even have control over him.

 

But controls for walking around make no sense for... well... 99.999 percent of people using modern computers, really.

 

TrackIR is disabled, you control your view with your mouse (but only your head, meaning you don't turn by moving your mouse, only look around), while the movement is done with your joystick (Y axis of the joystick for moving forward/back, X axis for moving sideways) and your rudder (for turning around).

 

To say that these controls are useless is an understatement.

 

 

Where and how can I set the controls for my 1st person pilot? A simple WSAD + mouse for turning and aiming + trackir for looking around (like ARMA) would be perfect.

 

Also, once you exit your airplane, it would be nice to be able to re-enter it by walking up to it and hitting (for example) space or enter once you're close enough so that DCS World understands what you're trying to do.

This mechanic could (should) work for any flyable airplane from your faction (for example, in the mission editor you put an A10C on the ramp, and a KA-50, and mark them as Player; if they're both Blue and you're playing for team Blue, you can fly them).

 

And since we're at it, give the Pilot a handgun, will ya? You eject in hostile territory and don't even have a gun to shoot peas at those enemy helicopter gunships when they come around to finish you off? Unacceptable. A fighting chance, really, is all I'm asking...

Also, a flare gun and/or colored smoke is a must, so that those Hueys can see you and pick you up.

[Oznerol256]

AFAIK, the whole feature of controlling the ejected pilot is not meant as real feature but more than an easter egg. If it was meant as real feature, the pilot whould be able to walk around in MP (so that others see the movement!) and you could enter other vehicles and so on.

[ishtmail]

Since you can actually set which key exits the airplane (in Options > Controls), this is no longer an easter egg but a feature (most likely WIP, not yet finished, as is normal with most if not all DCS stuff :) ). So the fact you can't see pilot movement in multiplayer is probably just the issue of the feature not being finished yet.

 

Not being finished, it's also not being advertised as a feature.

 

With Huey, the DCS World changes quite a bit: playable infantry unit is the next logical step for a complete immersion in the DCS World environment, with CA units transporting infantry, people manning AA and other stationary weaponry from 1st person view, pilots being driven to their planes and then walking to do a visual inspection etc etc.

[cichlidfan]

Since you can actually set which key exits the airplane (in Options > Controls), this is no longer an easter egg but a feature (most likely WIP, not yet finished, as is normal with most if not all DCS stuff :) ). So the fact you can't see pilot movement in multiplayer is probably just the issue of the feature not being finished yet.

 

Exiting the aircraft is known as Ejecting. It is an important emergency escape feature of military aircraft. At that point, your mission is over.

 

Everything after you eject is eyecandy and an easter egg.

[ishtmail]

You should try 'ejecting' from your P51 while on the ground. Over there, your 'ejecting' (by pressing LCTRL+E three times) looks suspiciously similar to a 3D pilot climbing out of the cockpit and standing on the wing of the airplane. The animation for this is quite well done (the climbing part), and doesn't look like a mere easter egg.

 

Really, try it yourself, load up P51 on the ground, open the canopy, and go into 3rd person view before you hit the key combo for exiting. You'll see what I mean.

[ishtmail]

Please note that for P51D, there are two different 3d pilot animations for exiting the plane: one on the ground and the other while flying. The 'bailout' during flight looks like the pilot leans over the edge and slides face first and down, while on the ground he climbs up and over with his legs.

 

OK, I will leave a possibility that the original intent of a different animation on the ground might be for a pilot to 'bail out' from a survivable wreck of a plane on the ground. But if that's 'game over' anyway, why animate it at all?

[Oznerol256]

Because this is DCS. The ejection seat is a default feature of every combat simulator. That's why they also modelled the ejection of the P51D. They just hold the standards

[cichlidfan]

But if that's 'game over' anyway, why animate it at all?

 

Eye candy!

 

Why model/animate switches whose function will never be implemented in way shape or form (A-10 HUD camera for example)?

[ishtmail]

Fine, 'kay, it may be just eyecandy and easter egg.

 

But ED has done it, innit? They threw us a bone and they can't expect us not to pick it. They gave me a pilot that I could control walking around, now I wish that easter egg finished so it makes sense :)

 

This is the wishlist, after all...

[SkateZilla]

Joystick X Axis (roll left / right) = Strafe/Walk Left/Right

Joystick Y Axis (Pitch) = Walk Forward/Backward.

Rudder Z Axis (Left/Right Rudder) = Turn Left / Right.

[ishtmail]

Zilla, I thought I wrote those down in the first post? It would be new info if you told me how to change those controls. :music_whistling:

[Darkwolf187]

Since it was mentioned, I'd _love_ for the HUD camera to actually be implemented. Make it record in horrible resolution and in black & white so it looks really authentic!

[theGozr]

Would love to actually when landed to be able to have my pilot get out of the plane with out ejecting.

[311Gryphon]

I can see both sides of this issue. Mostly because, in my own personal vision of where I'd love DCS to go, we would have a dynamic battlefield with people on both sides in air, ground, and sea vehicles and with many, many roles. In that world there may be a purpose to an ejected pilot roaming around with FPS style controls and there would certainly be a NEED for that control for dedicated ground units.

 

However, at the moment it is just a combat flight simulator and as much as I'd love to have the option of bailing out when I've gone winchester, steel an enemy tank, and rampage the countryside....that's not all that realistic either and isn't really the important part of the simulation. So I can live without it but I hope that something gets implemented someday, even if it is only available to people who have Combined Arms (which I don't - but if there was that kind of multi-role capability I would have to get it).