1761

I am really REALLY tempted to get that sabre. But I want it on steam, where the rest of my DCS stuff lives.

1762

Damn I didnā€™t know they had single planes going for $50. I mean I remember Black Shark and all that, but I figured theyā€™d have their content creation pipeline down pat by now.

I think Iā€™d rather pay $3 for a WWI kite on sale! Plus 50 cents for the avionics package. :)

1763

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad has shipped. Available on the website and on Steam.

It still has the classic IL-2 trademark sterility, but there are loads of super-detailed planes, much more advanced 3D modeling, and other improvements.

Just in time for my Oculus Rift, which is arriving in the next week. :)

1764

Thereā€™s no OR support. I just asked on the steam forum for the game, and the developer said they might patch it in later.

I forgot this was 777 studios, who basically scoffed and said OR was a fad when asked by their fans to integrate it into Rise of Flight.

I could have sworn there was supposed to be support for it though.

EDIT: Ah, right, here:

1765

Thatā€™s DK1 support they showed off.

The latest word I heard was they were waiting to finish their game first, and also maybe waiting for the consumer Rift to release.

But the reply in that Steam thread is very promising. :)

Weā€™ll turn the compatibility on in one of the up-coming updates. Probably November.

1766

Teaser video for the Superbug Echo:

As EDā€™s next official module is the legacy Hornet, it stands to reason the development for F/A-18E gets a huge leg-up once that comes out.

I for one look forward to single-handedly sanitising the skies with a Superhornet loaded a veritable Itano Circus of 12(!) Slammers.

1767

Nifty, although Iā€™m a little leery of the Super Hornet right nowā€”without the support of a big military contract like Eagle Dynamics had for the A-10C, I donā€™t know if I trust it not to be a lot of guesswork in terms of avionics.

Iā€™ll probably still buy one of the F/A-18s, though. <.<

1768

I have had such a shit time getting DCS to even work for the last few days. Completely ridiculous.

Bought some aircraft in the recent sale to add to my purchase of a year or so ago and finally got around to installing now I have a nice new X55 Rhino.

Game would load, but anytime I actually tried to load a mission/training, whatever, it would not load the module/main DCS.exe. It would leave the launcher, then load the DCS.exe then nothing. No splash screen, no black screen, nada.

Bit the bullet and did the right thing, updating ALL of the drivers in my system and re-installing directx and C++ redistributables and it worked. For one night.

Exactly same problem the next day. Considered feedback that the X55 was flakey on USB3.0 posts (and it is, btw), so grabbed a decent powered USB2.0 hub. Joystick worked better, but still no DCS.

In exasperation I unplugged my 3DConnexxion SpacePilot. Bam, problem solved. DCS must just not have liked the device or some of its axes or something.

Anyway, now I just need to learn to fly.

What would the recommendation be? I seem to recall the SU25T being mentioned as a nice starter jet with fairly simple systemsā€¦

At the moment I seem to be struggling with level flight (simulation settings), but not sure if it is the joystick or flight physics. The SU25 and P51 last night both were keen to constantly roll right (I think even with trimming). The stick is fine in Elite. Anything I should look at, or just rtfm and figure out how to actually trim correctly?

1769

So, I picked up IL2 given that it will have DK2 support soon.

Itā€™s pretty fun, actually. Solid frame rates, decent flight model, good mission variation.

Iā€™m a bit disappointed in the graphics though. You look at the leaps and bounds we have progressed over 10 years in all game genresā€¦ and this looks like a slightly moderate update to the original. You donā€™t need a massive team and unlimited budget to bring flight sims up to the modern era graphics wise.

The funniest part, however, is the unlock system. Every mission gives you XP, and unlocks various new mods for your planes. Such as different types of cannons, bombs etc.

Now, personally, I kind of like the system. It gives you a carrot after every mission.

However, the hardcore simmers absolutely DESPISE it. And the developers refuse to give an option to skip it. The developers cite that they are sticking to their guns because they are trying to appeal to a broader market. This pisses their fan base off even more.

What I find funny is, who is this ā€œbroader marketā€ the developers think they are appealing to? They created a rivet-head sim with the bare minimum of content , a middling graphics engine, and are selling it for $60. ($90 if you want two additional planes). How is this in any way going to entice a broader market?

1770

Just wanted to mention a remake of Cinemaware: Wings got released on Steam for $15. Iā€™d forgotten how much I loved that game.

Reminded me of how games used to just be fun without trying to please everybodyā€™s requirements. Really hoping they do a reboot of It Came From The Desert.

1771

OFF has discounted their first two packs prior to the launch of 2.0. I bought the skin pack at full price and didnā€™t regret it for a second. I never grabbed the other pack as for the price I thought they were loony. At 12 bucks itā€™s probably worth it. Iā€™m not touching the game again until the next release comes out. So many other things to do that I might as well wait for the new and shiny.

1772

Is there some kind of pre-requisite for OFF? I vaguely recall talk of needing some hard to find base title or something?

1773

Yeah it needs Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3.

1774

Big news in DCS land: the long-awaited new graphics engine is expected in late December or early January. Between now and then, weā€™ll see the release of the Bf 109 K-4, the MiG-15bis, the L-39 Albatross (the trainer variant, I think, along with multicrew support), and the Hawk, along with the Su-27 advanced flight model. The newsletter post has some pictures of the new engine and the Nevada map, including some fun shots of the Vegas strip.

1775

Well looky looky:

An add-on for ARMA 3 that adds some big helicopters. I canā€™t recall a sim that letā€™s me fly a CH-47 Chinook, so I might actually have to get this.

1776

I have been getting back into DCS lately on account of a buddy lending me an Oculus Rift DK2. Setting it up for DCS was easy. The only hard thing about it was to counterintuitively turn off full screen in the graphics options. It truly is something else. The HUD and instruments become very hard to read on account of low res and the radio communications menu becomes inoperable because it is outside the FOV on the rift and and a fixed overlay. Despite these niggles, flying (and dying) are like nothing ever experienced before. Itā€™s like trackIR but better by an order of magnitude.

Taking off in the F-15, driving it through a cloud layer, diving and making a low pass along the airfield are a fucking head rush. The experience of power and speed is like nothing else. Spinning in and crashing made me literally scream out (something no game has made me do since my first experience with Doom).

Sadly getting my HOTAS (a logitech G940) to play nice wasnt hardly as easy!. I am slowly building a control set for each and every individual plane i want to fly. No global settings for you, no siree!. This is tedious shit that gets between me and my flyinā€™ time, but on the other hand, it is a brilliant way to never forget what button on the HOTAS does what. So in the end time well wasted. Or so I keep telling myself.

I bought the Sabrejet in their recent halloween steam sale. Its such a neat little jet and offers some real seat of the pants flyinā€™. Havent managed to land her though. I am really excited by the way DCS is developing now that they have opened up to 3rd parties. Am sorely tempted to get the MiG-21 and the huey.

1777

Even at low settings I couldnā€™t get DCS running well enough to hit a constant 75 on my GTX 780 and found it a pretty queasy experience. Maybe I should try turning off the full screen! I had consigned the game to the Rift backburner, awaiting the fabled graphics engine update.

1778

I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever seen half of 75 FPS, myself. <.<

schurem, for most of the Flaming Cliffs 3 planes, you can save control settings for one and load it for others, and itā€™ll more or less work. (Probably best to start with the Su-33 nowadaysā€”the planes which get the advanced flight model treatment tend to get more unique.) The full-detail modules are going to have different key settings just because it would be really hard to translate between them.

Between the MiG-21 and the Huey, Iā€™d pick the Huey for Oculus Rift, I think. The MiG is great, but I donā€™t know that itā€™s an experience vastly different from the F-15. That said, if you donā€™t already fly sim helicopters, the Huey will take a little bit of time to get to grips with.

1779

I switched from the cobra mk3 to the lakon type 6 in Elite just because the cockpit architecture, so yea, the Huey will most likely be the more fun experience. I havent flown a simulated helicopter in years, so thats gonna be fun. The G940, though crappy, is a full hotas, in that it has throttle, stick and pedals. So control wise, I should be all set for proper chopperage.

Today I have been flying the crane a bit (the Su-27). Itā€™s great because its fast and a large aircraft, something the rift really lets you experience. The bad thing is that it uses the HUD for BVR targetting, and that is really hard to do in the rift. On the other hand, it has a helmet mounted targetting system for close range work and that really rocks with the rift. I just need to leanr how to make missiles miss. Out of the six sidewinders fired at me today, I managed to dodge just one ;-)

1780

IIRC, DCS has some problems with HUDs and VR, but those may have been fixed.

Do you have one of the force feedback G940s? If so, youā€™re way ahead of any other control option for a helo. Being able to use the trimmer properly is huge.