Combat Flight Sim (DCS, IL-2, RoF, CAP2, and a bit of WT)

Havent really kept up to date about DCS in the last couple months but there have been some stuff that have happend. From new projects to changes within studios.

Spoiler: DCS News

Eagle Dynamics and Belsimtek have merged. The only thing that have really changed is that the Belsimtek team is now working under the Eagle Dynamics name but here is the post about it.

During this, Belsimtek also mentioned what they have in the pipeline. We already now that they are working on a Mi-24P Hind and the F-4E Phantom II but there was also 2 more modules mentioned, AH-1S Huey Cobra and F-16C Block 50

Razbam have announced some new projects so here is a list of everything they are working on.
MiG-19
MiG-23MLA
F-15E Strike Eagle
A-29B Super Tucano
South Atlantic Terrain covering Falklands.

Heatblur is still working on their F-14A and B. They have mentioned that they are working on another complex jet to release after the F-14 but it's unknown which one.

Aviodev is still working on their C-101 and it sounds like their Mirage F1 is on hold until C-101 is finished.

Polychop is hard to tell what they are doing. I believe they are still fine tuning the Gazelle and working on the Ho229

Magnitude are working on their Christen Eagle II

MilTech-5 have had their programmer leave and have turned the BO-105 PAH1A1 over to a third party. Not much other is known

Deka Ironwork Simulations are working on their JF-17 but no new news about it.

Spoiler: IL-2 News

Dev Blog 200

 

It's time to live out you Top Gun dreams. The F-14 is available for pre-purchase.

 

Here are a bunch of screenshots!

Spoiler: IL-2: Great Battles

Spoiler: DCS

 

Tried the new 29 version last night, much better than the S that was already there.

 

The big problem for DCS is it's complexity. For someone who have no or very limited experince with flight sims and are unsure of if its their thing. It's terrifying.

Our group as a whole likes to wing it with minimum amounts of tutorials. Trial by fire and all of that. Flight sims are generally seen as requiring a lot of practice and that puts people off from it.

I don't think it will make any difference but if we really wanted to make the barrier of entry as low as possible. The best choice would be Rise of Flight. It's free to play and do by far have the easiest planes to learn how to fly. It takes place during WW1, the birth place of aerial combat. The planes are simple yet everything you learn in them can be applied to more modern planes. Some planes only require you to have 1 button for starting the engine, 2 buttons for increasing or decreasing throttle, 1 button for shooting the guns and a mouse to steer the plane.

Even with that i don't think it would make much of a difference simply due to no interest. However, i would love to be proven wrong about it.

 

I'm not sure if you are thinking about the correct game. Rise of Flight is a full on flight simulator, it takes up something between 10 & 20 GB if I remember correctly. It have the same game modes as every other flight sim out there.

Last I looked there wasn't that many of us that owned IL-2 1946 and it doesn't look like it have changed with the sale that is now over.

 

Spoiler: IL-2 News

Hello everybody,

The last month of Autumn has begun and we're preparing the next update for our three projects. We plan to release it in two weeks (doh!) or so and today we'll tell you about the upcoming additions. Of course, the stars of the show are FOUR new aircraft, two for Bodenplatte and two for Flying Circus.

USAF P-47D-28 Thunderbolt is one of the biggest, powerful and menacing single-engine fighters of WWII. Its radial 18-cylinder engine with turbocharger, intercooler and water injection boost system enables this monster to reach 700 km/h at 7000 m altitude. Eight 12.7 mm M2.50 Browning machine guns with 3400 rounds total give a new meaning to the phrase 'spray and pray'. In addition, for strike missions, this fighter can be equipped with six unguided rockets and up to three 500 and 1000 pound bombs (225 and 455 kg). Being a late war aircraft, it has many interesting design peculiarities you'll be able to experience in the near future.








Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 "Kurfürst" is a glaring example of the inconsistency of the late war aircraft production in the Third Reich. This plane combines the newest weapon and engine technologies with maximum possible simplification and cost-cutting of the secondary systems. Its engines are a pinnacle of DB-605 line - standard DB-605 DB with water-methanol injection system and DB-605 DC with higher boost and power - and both of them will be available in our sim. Armed with 30 mm MK-108 gun and 13 mm MG-131 machine guns, it could also carry 250 or 500 kg bombs for strike missions (this is the first Bf 109 modification in our project that can carry a 500 kg bomb). It is interesting to note that this modification could retract its tailwheel to reach higher speeds - up to 715 km/h at 6200 m.









Royal Air Force Sopwith Camel was one of the mainstay fighters of World War I. It was a contradictory machine, but in the right hands, it could face any foe. Carrying 168 liters of fuel (a very big reserve for its time), it could go on long patrols. This amount of fuel hampered its performance and made it hard to control and inert in a dogfight while full, but with about a half of fuel spent, the aircraft got a second breath and its horizontal and vertical maneuverability became on par with the best fighters of that time. Its two 7.69 Vickers Mk.I machine guns (late modification with the rate of fire increased to 750 instead of 500 and 745 m/s muzzle speed) were linked belt fed instead of fabric ones, reducing the misfire chance. It could also carry four 20 lb Cooper bombs.









The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte Pfalz D.IIIa was a second line fighter mainly used for escorting bombers and attacking the enemy balloons. It had very simple cockpit instruments because of the cost-cutting. Its one-and-a-half plane airframe (a design previously adopted by the French) was sturdy enough to sustain higher loads during sharp turns and dives. Its armament is standard for a late WWI German aircraft - two 7.92 mm Luftgekühltes Maschinengewehr LMG 08/15 (based on the original design of Hiram Maxim) with 650 RPM rate of fire and muzzle speed of 825 m/s, fabric belt fed. This fighter had an advantage of an excellent field of view, especially in the upper hemisphere.









For Tank Crew - Battle of Prokhorovka project we plan to release 4 new player controllable tanks and the map of the southern part of the Kursk salient, but it will happen early next year. However, you'll see the new functionality being developed for this project earlier - it should be noted it will benefit not only the tankers but pilots as well. For instance, in the coming update, you'll experience the higher fidelity damage modeling for AI controllable ground objects such as trucks and tanks. Before, there was no difference where you hit a truck, but in the new system, each 'simple' vehicle has many types of simulated parts - wheels or trucks, engine, ammo rack, fuel tanks, driver, turret, main gun. By hitting a simple AI vehicle at these parts you can immobilize it or render it inoperable by damaging a turret or main gun if any. Statistics system will consider it destroyed if its ammo, explosive cargo or fuel tanks detonated or its crew was killed or its engine was destroyed or its suspension has been rendered inoperable (at least two wheels or tracks damaged). All this not only makes the tank missions more interesting but also increases the simulation accuracy of the ground attack missions for pilots. We also develop two scenario campaigns (USSR and Germany) for Tank Crew, each one containing 10 missions set in the second week of July 1943 near Prokhorovka.

I couldnt fit the entire dev blog but got all the important parts. If you want the rest of it go here: https://il2sturmovik.com/news/434/dev-blog-210/

 

I've tested the A-4, feels kinda sluggish, and the HUD isn't as responsive as i'd like, but its defiantly a good module for being free. Plus she can truck a fuck ton of ordinance.

 

DCS is remarkably easy to pick up with the Flaming Cliffs birds. Any of the full cockpit birds will require study and work, but no more than 1 hour of familarization will be neccisary for any of thr FC3 modules. F-15C, SU-33/27, Mig 29a/s/g, A10A, SU25A/T.

 

Most modules will be 50% off from the 19 December to 7 January