It takes time and dedication.
The manual for this is about 700 pages long, but if you start with the basics and work your way up, you end up in a pretty decent location.
The tutorials in game were shit. The manual better explained certain things but it still left a lot of unknowns. After that it was down to the forums and just ask. Real A-10 crew chiefs are on those forums and they answer as best as they can about the aircraft and all that jazz. But that is the location where I got 80% of my knowledge outside of the manual.
It's much easier with a one on one training session when you focus on doing one or two things. Usually people want to jump straight into the weapons stuff without realizing that they are going to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of buttons on the HOTAS itself, or just Navigating to the target is a chore for a beginner.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. It's definitely not like shit thunder, and most people think THAT is an amazing flight "sim", but there is nothing "sim" about it, even in full real. It's a mediocre approach at best, but still fun for those who don't want the full realism. I just don't like the people that claim modern air combat is boring.
They have absolutely no idea what they are talking about in that case. The amount of shit that happens in air combat is just... insane. If you have absolutely no good awareness of what is going on around you, then you are dead. Just firing off a missile means absolutely nothing. And I love it.
In the A-10 situational awareness is key, like shown here:
[video=youtube;d8N9v0zLx_c]http://youtu.be/d8N9v0zLx_c[/video]
As for dogfights in the modern air combat? Happens much more often than most people think, like here:
[video=youtube;1-ioBm1XOGU]http://youtu.be/1-ioBm1XOGU[/video]
But I love it, I love the complexity of it all, I love the multitasking, and I love the overwhelming feeling of despair when entering the Area of Operations while seeing 3 Long range SAMs being covered by 8 Medium range SAMs, with 9 MIG-29s and SU-27's all infront of you screaming towards you at Mach 1.1.
It's like playing an advanced game of chess set on expert, with a raging boner.
me and my friends edberg and treelor used to play lomac.
used to because those assholes always shot my wings off and told me to try and land. This makes me really want to get get a decent rig again. I own sticks and pedals and even dcs a-10, but my current rig cant run it very well
Ralfidude's legit. In this case I'm okay with him just hopping on to say hello. His videos are fucking hilarious and awesome and I'm surprised that he even knew about Facepunch.
Hi Ralfidude!
Hello back to you, Ralfidude!
[QUOTE=Tetsmega;39238684]Still an inadvertent way of advertising.[/QUOTE]
Come on, grow up. Can't we at least let people who actually make unique, high-quality content like this go through? This is some real good stuff.
Oh, by the way Ralfi, maybe you don't know maybe you do, but I was always wondering how they can make products like these without government interference? Like, isn't the way an A-10 operates like considered a military secret? How can they get all the parameters for these simulators to be so accurate without the pentagon going like "hmmm, those sims could be used by our enemies, shut it down".
[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;44389993]Oh, by the way Ralfi, maybe you don't know maybe you do, but I was always wondering how they can make products like these without government interference? Like, isn't the way an A-10 operates like considered a military secret? How can they get all the parameters for these simulators to be so accurate without the pentagon going like "hmmm, those sims could be used by our enemies, shut it down".[/QUOTE]
... That makes no sense.
The way an A-10 flies and works (According to the simulator), doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how the military airforce operates it.
[QUOTE=lekkimsm;44390894]... That makes no sense.
The way an A-10 flies and works (According to the simulator), doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how the military airforce operates it.[/QUOTE]
I'm just referring to this:
[QUOTE=ralfidude;44389148]The tutorials in game were shit. The manual better explained certain things but it still left a lot of unknowns. After that it was down to the forums and just ask. [B]Real A-10 crew chiefs are on those forums and they answer as best as they can about the aircraft and all that jazz.[/B] But that is the location where I got 80% of my knowledge outside of the manual.[/QUOTE]
DCS A-10C warthog was developed by ED after they developed DTS A-10C warthog (Digital Training Simulator) as per military contract to train new A-10 recruits on a desktop simulator for indoor classes.
ED did not at any point receive any classified information and were given as much information as possible without breaking that principle. Hence why a lot of systems are not modeled, like the IFF, and the RWR is not EXACTLY as it should be in certain ways.
They beefed up the content and improved on a lot of other things, then released it as DCS for the public.
The same exact thing was done from FALCON (the f-16 simulator) by another developer way back when.
The military contracts these things out but they do not at any point offer any classified information, and the VERSIONS that they are working with are outdated to some extent.
For example the A-10C is the modern version but it is not the same SUITE that the airforce is currently using. So there are a lot of small details that are different from reality. These desktop simulators the airforce wanted was more of a way to teach their new recruits what to expect from teh aircraft, how to operate a lot of the systems, and follow the instructor more hands on. Then they go to the full cockpit simulator to actually feel out every button, and go from there.
Some of this may not be 100% correct from my recollection of all the forum posts about this subject so if anybody knows any different let me know, but this is what I can remember being said by the developers.
The crew chiefs and the F-15 pilot who is helping them develop the AFM for the F-15 are all under contract not to speak of ANY classified information and none of them have ever breached that rule. However the amount of classified data that is missing out of these simulators is so tiny and insignificant that it hardly matters. (but there are a lot of things missing we don't know about for sure).
You can find the Dash 1 (basic manual) for all these aircraft online. I remember downloading a F-15 dash one from 1992-93 ish, same for F-16. But you won't find anything later than that since it's classified.
[QUOTE=ralfidude;44398692]DCS A-10C warthog was developed by ED after they developed DTS A-10C warthog (Digital Training Simulator) as per military contract to train new A-10 recruits on a desktop simulator for indoor classes.
ED did not at any point receive any classified information and were given as much information as possible without breaking that principle. Hence why a lot of systems are not modeled, like the IFF, and the RWR is not EXACTLY as it should be in certain ways.
They beefed up the content and improved on a lot of other things, then released it as DCS for the public.
The same exact thing was done from FALCON (the f-16 simulator) by another developer way back when.
The military contracts these things out but they do not at any point offer any classified information, and the VERSIONS that they are working with are outdated to some extent.
For example the A-10C is the modern version but it is not the same SUITE that the airforce is currently using. So there are a lot of small details that are different from reality. These desktop simulators the airforce wanted was more of a way to teach their new recruits what to expect from teh aircraft, how to operate a lot of the systems, and follow the instructor more hands on. Then they go to the full cockpit simulator to actually feel out every button, and go from there.
Some of this may not be 100% correct from my recollection of all the forum posts about this subject so if anybody knows any different let me know, but this is what I can remember being said by the developers.
The crew chiefs and the F-15 pilot who is helping them develop the AFM for the F-15 are all under contract not to speak of ANY classified information and none of them have ever breached that rule. However the amount of classified data that is missing out of these simulators is so tiny and insignificant that it hardly matters. (but there are a lot of things missing we don't know about for sure).
You can find the Dash 1 (basic manual) for all these aircraft online. I remember downloading a F-15 dash one from 1992-93 ish, same for F-16. But you won't find anything later than that since it's classified.[/QUOTE]
That's really interesting to know, thanks for the reply.
Just in case ya'll haven't seen some of the better newer videos, here they are:
[video=youtube;m9faasnpmms]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9faasnpmms[/video]
[video=youtube;VcD-9AFu9Sw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcD-9AFu9Sw[/video]
[video=youtube;gwD8K7KaCcI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwD8K7KaCcI[/video]
[video=youtube;Gf_7eSq3lak]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf_7eSq3lak[/video]
[video=youtube;RYezgMj7IJw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYezgMj7IJw[/video]
[video=youtube;4BBbXB_C2zg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BBbXB_C2zg[/video]
i'm pretty sure i've played project reality with this guy many years ago, Kashan Desert training server.
I really enjoy your stuff, especially your F-15 videos.
Loving the new Sh*ts and giggles intro too.
I didn't realize there was a thread for this, I had been posting them individually.
So what kind of joystick should I get if I want to get into this?
I'm looking at [url]http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-X52-Flight-Control-System/dp/B00030GSJY[/url] but I want opinions
X52 is solid. It takes up some real estate, though, and it might not come with suction cups, or atleast decent ones, so you'll want clamps. My X45 didn't come with anything
How active is the FC3 online community?
That stall alarm brings back memories of A-10 Cuba.
Got a logitech 3d pro because I heard some bad things about the x52 (and it is less expensive)
How essential is the track ir? It looks neat but $120 is a pretty penny
[QUOTE=Funion;44830679]Got a logitech 3d pro because I heard some bad things about the x52 (and it is less expensive)
How essential is the track ir? It looks neat but $120 is a pretty penny[/QUOTE]
TrackIR is amazing if you play alot of sims (racing, flight, or otherwise) or ARMA, and I've used my 5 for about 4 years now without any real problems. If you play games like DCS or IL-2, it is pretty essential as you can look around the cockpit naturally and not have to waste a hat switch on your stick.
[QUOTE=Funion;44830679]Got a logitech 3d pro because I heard some bad things about the x52 (and it is less expensive)
How essential is the track ir? It looks neat but $120 is a pretty penny[/QUOTE]
Or you can get a 30-70 dollar Webcam and use tracknoir, that's what I use for Il-2
It has to be a webcam with IR and a IR filter that you can easily remove. The one good webcam I found that was capable of doing it the easiest was out of stock everywhere. I don't think it's even made anymore.
There's plenty of others but they're more complicated. All you do is get one of them, remove the IR filter, then use reflectors such as TrackIR stickers for the free software. It's basically the exact same thing as trackIR
I think there's another way that uses just a webcam but if you wear glasses it can be a bit finicky
[QUOTE=Whitefox08;44838085]Or you can get a 30-70 dollar Webcam and use tracknoir, that's what I use for Il-2[/QUOTE]
I'm using a PS3 Eye camera that cost me less than £10/$20, and it works great using TrackNoIR with Facetrack. It can get up to 120fps, which is ridiculous for the price I paid for it, so you get crazy accuracy with it.
[QUOTE=Whitefox08;44822284]How active is the FC3 online community?[/QUOTE]
DCS World (FC3 ties into it) seems fairly active in general. These videos are making me itch to hop into it.
Ok so here is the deal with the joystick.
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hX3R3t8-jY[/url]
However, here is a little bit of a further explanation that perhaps a lot of viewers did not know.
Saitek was bought out by Madcatz at some point in their business. Not sure if the whole company or just the joystick making section but this happened roughly at the time the X-52 was out.
BEFORE the Madcatz involvement, the stick was OK. For the price you were paying (about 100$) It was the best bang for the buck you could get due to all the buttons that are on it.
Unfortunately, AFTER the Madcatz involvement, something went sideways. Their production of the X-52 got so bad that you had a 1 in 3 chance or worse of getting a working stick. I had to return my first two. The third one died on me several months later.
I am now an owner of the X52 PRO because I heard good things. However all the X52PRO is, is what the X-52 WAS, or was supposed to be before the Madcatz involvement, but at almost TWICE the price tag.
The stick itself is not too bad when it comes to regular flying games, and many sim communities use it as their preferred choice of flight. But it is not by any means the most comfortable stick that is out there, and certainly not the most accurate or durable.
Thus, if you have money to throw at a simulator, then go for something more expensive. But this is only for those who WANT to do that.
Sooooo, if you are just an average joy shmo who is not too certain on if he is going to like playing this sim or not, then don't go that route. Get yourself a cheaper stick, something more durable, for like 60$ or so. PLENTY of those around. The problem with that is you won't be able to get many buttons on the stick so HOTAS is practically out of the question. It is a deal breaker for many.
Look up the Warthog Hotas stick, check out all those buttons there for reference. I use them all, all of them in flight, every time.
That's how important hotas is for the A-10 and all other DCS level aircraft.
As for Flaming cliffs aircraft, they are based on simple flight mechanics, so you don't really have as much HOTAS. You can get away with a simple stick in that game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track IR.
I am speaking personally here about this one. If you get it (track IR), you will NOT be able to fly without it again. It's like an addiction. It costs a pretty penny, but if you are going to fly a lot, this is something you can't be without. It takes a little while to get used to it, but after you do, you will be wondering what the hell you have been waiting for all this time.
It is absolutely my #1 recommendation as a flight simmer. Now a personally warning on top of this. There is a very very very small percentage of people who have tried it and just didn't like it and couldn't get used to it. But the VAST majority LOVE it.
There are cheaper alternatives out there, such as the ones posted above this comment, but be aware that I have heard that they don't work very well. Though some have been able to get it working for them just fine. If you have the means to go and try something free, then absolutely do that first before considering track IR, it is a bit on the expensive side.
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The Flaming cliffs 3 community is pretty much the DCS community. There are STEAM sales out that made the game extremely cheap, and these sales happen ALL THE TIME. If you WANT to buy Flaming Cliffs or a DCS product such as the A-10, but are not sure of justifying the price, then wait for another STEAM sale.
Because of these sales, the number of servers have now trippled or quadrupled. There used to only be a handful, but now the list is HUGE compared to before. We are also going to get a new rendering engine called EDGE soon, so it is going to increase the performance drastically from what we have now. We are essentially playing on a 2004 engine, so you can imagine the kind of limitation problems that lurk beneath the game/sim.
Hope that was helpful.
That was very helpful! Thanks
I never expected someone who comes on to facepunch in the videos section to post videos people like and continues to be helpful to everyone. Warms my heart.
The more I can help the community grow in terms of combat flight sims, the better. It's nice to see more "targets" flying in servers.
:)
A quick new mission I just completed, think you gents might enjoy.
[video=youtube;Rx9fqllq1jo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx9fqllq1jo&feature=youtu.be[/video]
[QUOTE=ralfidude;44949292]A quick new mission I just completed, think you gents might enjoy.
[video=youtube;Rx9fqllq1jo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx9fqllq1jo&feature=youtu.be[/video][/QUOTE]
wtf happened to your left wheel at the end?
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