Save 20% on DCS: Mi-24P HIND on Steam looky loo here.
Even nicer is you get to try it for free from www.digitalcombatsimulator.com for 14 days!
It’s a lovely beast of a machine. Iconic machine really. Also a great VR experience.
Well the bug finally bit me hard. I’d had it installed for ages but MSFS was eating all my flying time. Now that I’m taking a break from it I’ve jumped back into the Hornet I’d bought months ago in DCS, and I also recently bought the Black Shark too.
The Hornet is easy for me since I’ve been “flying” them since the days of Jane’s, but the Black Shark…holy shit it’s kicking my arse. It took until my third session before I was able to line up along a runway, fly down it, turn around and fly back, enter a hover and land. That’s literally as far as I’ve got. Having a bit of trouble at the moment figuring out how the trimmer and flight director work together - other than working together to kill me, that is. But I’ve just discovered what seems to be a really good tutorial series on Youtube so I’m about to settle down with some popcorn.
Glorious, glorious machine though. It sounds amazing and feels really powerful. I can’t wait to tame it.
It’s awesome, isn’t it? Do you do VR? What inputs are you using?
When it comes to the shark, trim. Trim again. trim. Trim! trimmetytrim, trim. Put trim on a button you can easily reach and easily replace, because you’re gonna wear that fucker way the fuck out! ;-)
I usually keep trim pressed when doing course changes and maneuvres, letting it go once stable on a course I want to be at. It is a monster sniper power house.
If you like your birds whirly and monstrous and powerful but you rather have it be all you all the time and a tactics manual that only contains one word in Russian, give the Mi-24 a whirl.
Do you run DCS from steam or from a standalone installer from the DCS site? If the latter, you get two week long free trials for any mod or map. That way you can play with a machine or map and see if you like it enough to pay for it.
The word is “URRAAAH!”
I couldn’t resist, and instead of watching the tutorial I’d found I went straight back in for another session and did a lot better. Yep - trimming all the way, baby! What I found worked well for me this time was to engage the trimmer for making periodic adjustments to my attitude, then using flight director for more protracted manoeuvres, like cresting a hill. I LOVE that the flight director shows on the HUD where your previous trim setting was, it’s incredibly handy.
No VR thus far, sadly. I haven’t reached a point where I think I’d use it enough to justify the cost yet, although DCS may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, heh. I’m using a measly Saitek X52 currently. It’s not very modern but it does have an awful lot of buttons which is a big plus for DCS. I’d love to upgrade it but decent kit is rare as hen’s teeth right now. It will do. Oh and I’m also using a head tracker; I forget the name, it isn’t TrackIR but it works well enough for me.
Yeah I did consider the Hind but I’d had the original Black Shark module ages ago (on disc!) and never got around to playing it, so I went Black Shark 2 this time out of a feeling of guilt. To be honest though, now that I’m finally getting to grips with flying the bloody thing, I have no regrets at all. It’s an absolute beast. In my next session I think I’ll try actually firing a weapon…
The gun on the shark is godly. It’s very weirdly placed so you must be careful about keeping the target within parameters. Dakka dakka baby!
Figuring out more complex stuff like the shkval aiming system and the guided missiles is so satisfying. Making things go boom is something I just can’t do without which is why my MSFS installation has spent more hours updating than actually flying…
The X52 is a fine hotas. It will be a while before the lack of precision starts telling. And even then. People do AAR and BFM just fine with it.
And for your viewing pleasure, some DCS porn.
The tropical map is a free part of the game these days. It’s called Marianas.
Absolutely amazeballs movie. Thanks for posting!
My DCS obsession has been put on hold for a couple years now due to work family, but the time cometh. Given all the progress made in the game, VR and GPUs, I expect to be gobsmacked all over again.
My first experience with VR and the sim was strapping on an Oculus and jumping into a Hornet. Bar none, that was the most incredible moment I’ve had in 40 years of gaming. Almost zero hype, expectation or research going in. For that reason alone, I will be an unapologetic fanboy of DCS for life.
Has anyone tried the VR touch controls lately? I looked at the options and it seems it now has full virtual throttle, stick, and cockpit interaction, kind of like VTOL?
When’s the last time you booted it up? If you haven’t experienced the new clouds (2.7+) you are in for a severe gobsmacking indeed… :D
I haven’t. I have VR controllers, but have hardly touched the things at all. My VR time is spent in a virtual pit with a sweet, sweet HOTAS built by former soviet engineers.
I bought the Supercarrier when it came out and never got a chance to try it. My playtime actually flatlined a few months before and it took some time for me to accept it.
Since then I know a ton has been released, because I still check the news when I can. New DM for prop planes, new clouds, better lighting, new A-10. New dynamic campaign (third party), Syria map, Marianas, etc etc. Starting to salivate here.
It’s an incredibly comforting thing to know all that is waiting for me, along with such a major upgrade to my CV1. Keeps me going when the grind gets tough. I’m thinking I’ll be able to jump back in hard in a year or two. Might be around when the dynamic campaign gets released.
Or I get fired or divorced in which case I can get going sooner. On rare days those options seem attractive :)
Hang in there bud. Hang on. It’s like you said, the strain si going to let up. You’ll get there. Steady on, stay the course and we’ll betatest all the bugs out for ye ;-)
I had my best training session in the Shark yet this evening. I accomplished the following:
- Startup from cold and dark without a checklist, take off
- Use ABRIS to get coordinates of roughly where I’d planted four hapless jeeps for target practise
- Subsequently plotted a nav target in the PVI-800
- Navigated easily to the target area
- Took out all four targets with four Vikhrs
- RTB and land smoothly
- Take off again and use ABRIS to plot a course to a different airbase
- Land smoothly at destination
I really feel like I’m getting the hang of it now, although my unassisted (and even assisted) flying still leaves room for improvement. I’m going to slowly add more elements to my training mission and introduce more and more complexity to the flight until I feel like I can handle a “real” mission, which doesn’t seem as far away as it did just a few days ago!
I love this module!
I know it will. Global position, two teenage kids who we are making the effort to raise and a high maintenance wife (In a good way).
Thems the ingredients for a life well lived and awesome retirement :)
The Deployment campaign that comes with the game is a good way to dip your toes into the ‘real mission’ world. There are a few trick missions, but I thought it was a good time back in the day.
I have a soft spot for the Shark also. It was my first module (because back then I think it was the only one) and always had this great lumbering hefty mechanical feel to it.
Whoa, that is some sierra hotel flying. Must have taken them a million tries! Bit like that dude who landed a flanker up the dam in Georgia.
Yay! Winter sale! a lot of it is 50% off. And of course if you haven’t in the last 6 months, you get to test drive all the things for 14 days for free.
(you might want to turn the sound off or down unless you like it as loud and bombastic as meant)
So schurem, what did you get?
