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DCS Discussion

Started by republic, October 28, 2013, 06:25:38 AM

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Nefaro

#45
Just a note on IL-2 1946.. the last time I loaded it up on my Win7-64 machine with an AMD card in it, a few of the aircraft textures were wonky and the propeller animation also didn't work well on a handful of a/c.  It wasn't widespread, but it was enough to sour it for me.  I believe part of the issue was when forcing anti-aliasing which that old game desperately needs.

I'd recommend any of Third Wire's Strike Fighters 2 titles as a fairly easy entry into simming.  I have SF2: Israel and Europe along with First Eagles 2.  I plan on getting SF2: Vietnam and North Atlantic next time I fire the series up, which may be fairly soon.  They don't have the latest flashy graphics, but they hold up fairly well.  They have dynamic campaigns so that's a plus even though they're not all that fancy.  The default difficulty settings (the ones labelled "Normal") actually qualify as Easy in most sims - things such as GLOC, AI pilot ability, radar functionality, etc are less difficult on normal.  I generally raise everything up to Hard, although there was one setting I usually left on normal.. can't recall which.

You still need a joystick for any of these, although I actually used an Xbox controller with First Eagles 2 and it wasn't too bad after I mapped the settings and all that.

republic

Are there any player created campaigns anyone can recommend?

Mower

Not to be argumentative but I have Strike Fighters, all the versions, and I do *NOT* recommend them as an entry into combat flight simming.  Poor grafix, far too simplistic cockpits, not much in the way of missions planning, no ramp starts, it starts you in the air!

Instead, I would suggest DCSW and the FC3 add-on.

Nefaro

Quote from: Mower on January 11, 2014, 09:14:10 AM
Not to be argumentative but I have Strike Fighters, all the versions, and I do *NOT* recommend them as an entry into combat flight simming.  Poor grafix, far too simplistic cockpits, not much in the way of missions planning, no ramp starts, it starts you in the air!

Instead, I would suggest DCSW and the FC3 add-on.

Huh?   You're saying that FC3 is easier to "get into" than Strike Fighters 2?

LOL!

SF2 is certainly a good sim for beginners.   

Yskonyn

No, I suppose Mower is saying that FC3 poses a better entry into the world of serious combat flightsims.
It's still accessible, but a) is built into the DCS World system, meaning you can 'upgrade' your experience in the same environment once you feel ready to up the realism and b) it is still easy to get into, but benefits from the realism DCSW provides (like sensor and weapons envelope modelling to name something).
If you think you might get more seriously into combat flightsims then I agree with Mower.
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Jarhead0331

Quote from: Mower on January 11, 2014, 09:14:10 AM
Not to be argumentative but I have Strike Fighters, all the versions, and I do *NOT* recommend them as an entry into combat flight simming.  Poor grafix, far too simplistic cockpits, not much in the way of missions planning, no ramp starts, it starts you in the air!

Instead, I would suggest DCSW and the FC3 add-on.

I have to agree with Nefaro here.  Mower, respectfully, I think your opinion on this is being clouded by your status as an "uber" combat flight simmer. I can see why someone with your flightsim credentials (I don't know you, but I gather you are quite the experienced virtual pilot) would take a disliking to SF2. However, it seems to be the perfect series to serve as a "gateway" to folks new to combat flight simming to entice them to eventually try deeper waters.

FWIW, you can choose in the options whether you want to start missions on the ground, or in the air. There certainly is no complex start-up procedure and missions that begin on the ground are started on the runway, ready for take-off, but this is sort of the point of it being a "light" sim experience.  You can also modify your flight plan before take off, but you are correct that you will not find anything close in terms of pre-flight planning, as say DCS or BMS Falcon.

I enjoy the most complex of study sims, but still manage to find some enjoyment with missiosn flown in SF2...especially when flying in one of several superb complete modifications, such as Vietnam: Air & Ground War or Operation Desert Storm.

Just my .02. 
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


jomni

As an avid simmer, SF2 has its merits.
The simplified operations makes the player focus on combat and tactics with out struggling with systems operation.

The semi dynamic campaign is better than linear DCS. And more organized than fully dynamic Falcon 4.

Uniform aircrafts systems operation makes it possible for anyone to jump into any plane immediately and learn about its combat capabilies.

Systems operation may be dumbed down but it does combat really well.

MengJiao

Quote from: Nefaro on November 03, 2013, 04:36:19 PM
Just a note on IL-2 1946.. the last time I loaded it up on my Win7-64 machine with an AMD card in it, a few of the aircraft textures were wonky and the propeller animation also didn't work well on a handful of a/c.  It wasn't widespread, but it was enough to sour it for me.  I believe part of the issue was when forcing anti-aliasing which that old game desperately needs.

I'd recommend any of Third Wire's Strike Fighters 2 titles as a fairly easy entry into simming.  I have SF2: Israel and Europe along with First Eagles 2.  I plan on getting SF2: Vietnam and North Atlantic next time I fire the series up, which may be fairly soon.  They don't have the latest flashy graphics, but they hold up fairly well.  They have dynamic campaigns so that's a plus even though they're not all that fancy.  The default difficulty settings (the ones labelled "Normal") actually qualify as Easy in most sims - things such as GLOC, AI pilot ability, radar functionality, etc are less difficult on normal.  I generally raise everything up to Hard, although there was one setting I usually left on normal.. can't recall which.

You still need a joystick for any of these, although I actually used an Xbox controller with First Eagles 2 and it wasn't too bad after I mapped the settings and all that.

I liked the third wire sims a lot.  I reached the point where getting all the mods was taking a lot of time and I've gone back to RoF (which might be an okay starting sim with easy settings and it is free to start), CLOD (You'd have to use the editor to make it a good starter sim) and DCS World (which is free, but probably not a good starter sim).

Since I started flight sims in the early 1980s, its hard for me to think in terms of a starter sim these days.

republic

I don't own all of the Strike Fighters 2 versions yet but  do  own all the 1 versions.  If Thirdwire would indicate they haven't given up on the PC I'd go ahead and snatch up all the Series 2...  I've really wanted to get North Atlantic but I just don't want to hop on to a sinking ship.

Nefaro

#54
Quote from: MengJiao on January 14, 2014, 08:53:42 AM

I liked the third wire sims a lot.  I reached the point where getting all the mods was taking a lot of time and I've gone back to RoF (which might be an okay starting sim with easy settings and it is free to start), CLOD (You'd have to use the editor to make it a good starter sim) and DCS World (which is free, but probably not a good starter sim).

Since I started flight sims in the early 1980s, its hard for me to think in terms of a starter sim these days.

I've really been planning to briefly jump back into SF2 for some lighter Cold War simming fun.  Mainly for the period but it's also pretty easy to jump back into after months or years of not playing them, unlike many other modern sims.  I also plan to fire up BMS but it will have to wait until I have plenty of time to peruse the (what I suspect to be) massive pdf manual.  I still vaguely recall some stuff from playing Falcon4 ages ago but it'll be a fairly fresh experience.

I also want to fire up some DCS stuff.  Namely Black Shark 2 again because I've not played it since I got my TrackIR last year.  Been really wanting some gunship sims lately so I even picked up a digital copy of EECH during the holiday sales at GOG so that will give me some more variety (with the mod) if I need it.  Flaming Cliffs 3 didn't get much play time from me, either, so the list goes on.  I don't plan to revisit A-10C anytime soon.  I didn't have a problem with all the heads-down switch flicking but controlling the targeting pod with my hat switch was a real pain in the ass for me.  Since I have a new computer, I'll have to remap the massive amount of HOTAS buttons again, too.  Meh.

Yet with all these other sims I feel I should be playing soon, I keep starting up Wings Over Flanders Fields because the single-player campaign is so damn cool.  I've had some wonderful experiences in it, especially since the AI pilots have such varying degrees of skill level and survival instinct.  So the other sims on my wait list will still be waiting for awhile.

JudgeDredd

^ ne of the issues I had with Track IR (Twice - bought twice and sold twice) was finding a profile that worked with my setup (distance from screen, light etc). But the other MAIN problem I had was with clickable cockpits....it proved just way too sensitive to be used with a clickable cockpit. I just couldn't keep my head still (seemingly) in order to click the right button. In the end I was spending way too much time zoomed in and looking down...

I could never get on with TrackIR as much as I tried (twice!)
Alba gu' brath

Rekim

I'm not sure I understand the benefit of having the TrackIR profile from another user. What does that buy you?

The only thing I've found tricky with my IR5 is getting the sensor placed/facing just right so I don't accidentally limiting one side of an axis. ie having it up too high which limits the ability to pan downwards. Otherwise, it has worked fine for me with all of the sims I've tried so far without any tinkering.

Come to think of it, I did have some serious issues initially when I had some bright light sources behind me which confused the hell out of the sensor. It doesn't take much light to cause problems.

JudgeDredd

I wasn't using anyone else's. When I say "finding", I meant me trying and failing to set it up.

I'm sure it's a great piece of kit. Just about everyone I've ever heard speak of it swears by it - I couldn't get on with it at all.
Alba gu' brath

jomni

#58
Quote from: republic on January 14, 2014, 11:28:17 AM
I don't own all of the Strike Fighters 2 versions yet but  do  own all the 1 versions.  If Thirdwire would indicate they haven't given up on the PC I'd go ahead and snatch up all the Series 2...  I've really wanted to get North Atlantic but I just don't want to hop on to a sinking ship.

Microsoft had given up on Flight Simulator but it is still a viable platform till this day.  Hopefully mods will still keep SF2 series alive.  Halting develop is good for 3rd party stuff as there are now new patches that will break a mod.

jomni

Quote from: JudgeDredd on January 14, 2014, 05:07:29 PM
^ ne of the issues I had with Track IR (Twice - bought twice and sold twice) was finding a profile that worked with my setup (distance from screen, light etc). But the other MAIN problem I had was with clickable cockpits....it proved just way too sensitive to be used with a clickable cockpit. I just couldn't keep my head still (seemingly) in order to click the right button. In the end I was spending way too much time zoomed in and looking down...

I could never get on with TrackIR as much as I tried (twice!)

Same reason why a don't use TIR with FSX but use it with SF2. You can actually disable tracking when you want to click the cockpit but it is quite troublesome.