Simulated Aerial Combat Roundtable

[AKIron]

Didn't realize I had the assist on in the DCS Spit 9. Turned it off and learned how it's braking system works. Taxiing and taking off in that bird was a challenge.

[AKIron]

Not just a pretty face and not easy.

https://youtu.be/s-lknWW0j9U

[hazmatt]

What would happen if you used the same axis for rudder and brake? Seems like brake would work at low speed until you got rudder authority and then the rudder would override the brake?

[AKIron]

Normally you cannot map one physical axis to two functions. There are some workarounds though and I made a video recently on how to do that. Wouldn't work this though as you need to work the rudders with no breaks applied.

https://youtu.be/UHSgre6V218

[hazmatt]

Maybe I'm not being clear or maybe I am just confused.

On IL2 I have a button to activate the brakes and as long as I'm holding that the brakes are controlled by the pedals when I move the rudder.

When I taxi and hit full left rudder while holding the button the left brake will spin the bird around. As I get going faster and have enough speed to have rudder authority I completely release the button I'm using to activate the brakes and switch over to full rudder.

I released the brakes too soon a couple times when I first started at too low of speed and it didn't end well.

I was just curious if the setup I use in IL2 would work in DCS.

These two sims are the only ones I know of that model the way the Brits brakes work vs the others and I must say I find it harder to manage the brakes on them then any of the other birds.

[AKIron]

Yes, you can map buttons for the wheel brakes. One to increase them and one to decrease them. Incrementally with each press or hold it for max. So if you start your takeoff and need a lot of rudder but only a little brake you could hit the increase brake button. It will stay on until you hit the decrease brake button though. That might work well enough to get you in the air.

I use an axis for the brakes so never tried the digital. There is a button for the brakes that increases the braking the longer you hold it and drops off when you release. That would probably be better then using two to increase and decrease. If you have a spare axis though it will give you better control imo.

[CptTrips]

Yes, you can map buttons for the wheel brakes. One to increase them and one to decrease them. Incrementally with each press or hold it for max. So if you start your takeoff and need a lot of rudder but only a little brake you could hit the increase brake button. It will stay on until you hit the decrease brake button though. That might work well enough to get you in the air.

I use an axis for the brakes so never tried the digital. There is a button for the brakes that increases the braking the longer you hold it and drops off when you release. That would probably be better then using two to increase and decrease. If you have a spare axis though it will give you better control imo.

I use a binary button for brakes currently.  It works but yeah, you don't have the gradual range of braking like an axis.  So when doing both brakes on a landing rollout, it's a lot of "tap, tap, tap. tap"  trying not to hold too long and nosing over.  Ideally brakes and rudders would be on axis both.  If you have a spare axis.  My new VBK WWII throttle I think will have some more axis so I will try that.  You can make it work with button and rudder axis, it's just a little less control.   You have to be a telegraph operator.

[AKIron]

I know a little morse code. Dash dash dash dash means nose in the dirt.

[AKIron]

Let the ground forces fight their own battles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjffM_4Dkcc

[AKIron]

Gonna hafta get this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWbXuxMcaQ4

[Animl-AW]

Truly glad the MA numbers have increased and hope it is not temporary.  Just the other day I steered a few DCS players to AH who lamented about no multi-crewed bombers. 

However, FSO numbers which tends to show the more dedicated players/squads continues to decrease.  Logs for the last three frames shows a steady decline 87, 85, and now 80 players.

THIS combined with the low numbers is why I left AH.

Then again it might be that retiring takes away the age old excuse "I don't have time to learn a new game".  That was one of the obstacles for me.

Peaks and valleys, everything in life.
We can only tell from who post on the bbs about returning. Only a small % uses the bbs,.. that said, about 95% who do are in fact return players. And it's not just boomers. Some, who started as teenagers started a family, and now the kids are old enough to not need as much attention (40s-50s). I've seen this story several times. I wouldn't call the other retirees, most are not close to that age, although some are. It's a mixed crowd minus the very young. We are gaining seasoned players, not many newbies. But again, I can't see subs, and the bbs isn't a full picture. All they need is to get back muscle memory and their off killing. I see names in-game that I haven't seen before.

The most common comment I've seen on YT vids and some forums, is how much fun they had in it years ago. 2nd in line is, rude crowd, insults, politics, bashing...they aren't/weren't wrong. A lot gave me crap over attempting to clean up the bbs to draw more in... frankly, I still hate this thread, it's ridiculous to place it here. Like it or not there is skimming happening, this is just another vehicle, it's not rocket science. It insults intelligence to say it's anything else. but the boards and 200 have cleaned up, and we got results.

FSO, is easy to explain, despite your negative notes to the world. People are enjoying the numbers up in the MA, they don't want to leave what they've been waiting for,.. it's new. They get involved in a large battle and want to stay in it. I've seen mentions.

Once this style of playing is in your blood, not a person who left will say it was bad memories and crappy game. You yourselves, have not completely shaken it, because here you are. The hook is still in you. People don't break up with GFs and then hang in front of their house everyday showing off their new girl to the ex-gf.  ok? so lets cut the insults to intelligence with "we're just buds talkin".  i guess if I was a monkey missing half my brain and the other half consumed with worms I might believe you guys. People have hinted it's not cool and you go against them. I don't want any "I'm sorry, I don't mean to offended anyone..." nonsense. You're doing it by going against their wishes. of course, I can imagine calling someone friend while they put their arms around their wife, grabs her boob and say "hey bro,.. we're just talking." All you guys do is point out flaws in AH, and praise Pretty Manikins as the savior of all sims on AH bbs. but when we point out many flaws of Pretty Manikins, you stick fingers in ears and scream "I can't HERE you!". So really, this thread is here to skim, nothing more, nothing less. You all accelerated it during a successful scenario. This biggest turn out in 5-7 years, so scrub the FSO comment. When you go against wishes of old vets,.. you crossed the white line, and basically spit on them/us. I charge for kleenex. Don't think it's appreciated in the least bit. The only ones who approve it are those who also fly Pretty Manikins. I'm not angry, you know what I look like when I am, if you don't you will. I'm just telling you straight up... this is BS. A lot of people have Cpt.Trips on ignore for wearing out his welcome with this BS and attacking me for trying to add the numbers..which he's trying to skim. Same with RichardWoodMarks. Sooner or later they will drag you into the pit too, Dolby wised up. You're just being used at your expense.

if that game was so great, you would NOT be here selling it. You wouldn't need to insult your friends by trying to steal the population of THEIR favorite game, which would kill it.

Now that said,... this will not change. You all will ignore this and push your sim bible in everyone's face at every opportunity. Knock knock knock. Because we have 2 seriously obsessed former players, so obsessed it's getting kinda like an obvious illness. These are the guys who call a female 100 times after she said no 100 times. Just keep pecking at the egg hoping someday the shell with crack in their favor. Intelligent or not. It's freak show of escaped circus geeks.

Heres the psychological convincing process used.... point out the games flaws, followed by how wonderful Pretty Manikins is. The more the name of Pretty Manikins is spoken the more likely a new reader will see it. And by ALL MEANS POSSIBLE ON EARTH, avoid admitting Pretty Manikins has serious flaws and rated very low on fun factor. It's like a used car salesman who refuses to let you look under the hood.That used car salesman,.. always has a smile n his face,.. just like you guys.

You do not hope AH increases numbers, you want it dead to get the migration. And if it does get the numbers, you'll be here trying to skim them off the top.

I guess this would all be a lot more convincing to us, if we were 10 yr olds and have zero wisdom on life's characters and deceit mechanisms.

I'm mean? I didn't bring this, what is REALLY a discussion about Pretty Manikins, to another game's forums.  Ya get what ya ask for. I feel like I'm explaining this to children. I thought Trips was 15 yrs old until I saw he was 60. Some people avoided maturity their whole life and very successful at it.

A grown mature adult with a IQ above 60, would know, this is not the coolest thing to do. But please, continue with your slow paced brain washing. It's humorous to me to think I/we cant see it.

DS Trips was even continued to mention Pretty Manikins in a scenario announcement,.. so lets get the hell off the innocent ACT. If you insist on acting like kids, I'm glad to treat you like one.

What "logs" do you have access to?

We're now at 186 in all arenas an 168 in the MA., 95-115 in the MotA scenario, th elargest turn-out in 5-7 years.,... I hope the decrease in DCS numbers by 2000 is temporary.

[Animl-AW]

Interesting. I had not seen this.  So nothing requiring a user update outside of player produced skins.  Maybe map rotations?  No acknowledgement of the decline in player numbers over the past 23 years? 

Are any of the current AH players noting any change in game play aside from declining numbers (yes, I know there appears to be a slight uptick in the MA, but FSO and scenarios continue to falter)?

WE DO NOT CARE, YOU DO

Now beat it and go play your white glove no action decreasing numbers dump called DCS. You sir, are full of sht

[Animl-AW]

Pretty planes does not have a large multiplayer arena, which is what this tribe is based on.
Aces High and Pretty Planes is not even really the same market. They are not the same, they don’t draw the same crowds. The core interest is not the same. You guys are trying combine oil and water. You’re selling tea to people who love beer.

The reason people player both us to fill voids the other is missing.
There is no more wrong with this game than any other. AH didn’t lose numbers because it sucks, other sims got on their feet and simply split the horde 4 ways.

In all 4, their best pilots  and mist knowledgeable pilots came from here and AW. Including yourselves. This IS the trunk of the tree. The further and the branches grown from the trunk the thinner they are. The core if the art of fun and high adrenaline concept is lost.

What we saw was a weeding process. What is left are the most devoted to this core concept. A good deal of these came out of the beginning of it. The most seasoned if any sim. These people would fly this concept, in these arenas, if it were 1990s graphics. By who the hell would not want to learn and compete with the best.

This is the reason you guys are here, doing what you very well know should not be done, to skim what would make your game feel complete.

There is only one single possible reason that former players, come here, away from their own forums, to have these conversations, … is sales. It can be for this game too, however, players here cannot sell there. Which puts it behind the 8 ball in your favor, and seizing on it.

My point?
Aces High III, without any recent updates, is still good enough to not only withstand this, but to actually add numbers while this is going on. The “Masters of the Air” scenario has had the biggest turnout in at least 5 yrs, at 115 human pilots, in the 1st frame, so far. Noe of the others can even put 115 in a single arena, better yet 160.

“The numbers used to be so much higher”. True enough. I refer to my “4 ways” comment above. However, Critical Mass is 100-120. You can’t have a lot of battle under that. When we add 20 new players we just added two hordes and another full battle. We added 40 in about 7 months in the arena, we now have 3 full battles at once.
 Without mentioning 120 planes and vehicles fir the price of a Burger King per month.

Because of PvP servers instead of a MP arena, all the games mentioned above, mathematically cannot even hit bare minimum Critical Mass. So, there is no comparison on the main point we make. That huge population is splintered to dust and hard to find a fight. Nor do you have 100% MP scenarios of any real size, without AI bandaid.

The trunk of the tree is the thickest part to the roots. And we welcome anyone who wants to experience true high adrenaline with us. For our return players, the memories of this sim has had a lasting impact.

More towards the other constant two, it can be a challenge to understand calling people here friends while they crash their party and pee in their grandma’s beer. Their credibility is kinda gone. Its been a failure. MotA is good proof. It’s nonsense by the strangely obsessed. One told me I don’t have the power to stop him. “You can’t stop me” shows intent to cram it down our throats, against our will, until we succumb to him, and he usually rides in on someone elses back.

Our return players, have done so, for some of the best fun of their past in combat flight sims. It wasn’t over-sold to them. Its a preference, like your own, that is different from our own. They aren’t a good match. Ya gave up fun for graphics and cockpits in Pretty Planes. We get it. If thats what we wanted we would have done so years ago. We’re not stupid to like what we like. Stupid is beating on our door every day with bible in hand expecting different results. Evidently, we’re not the ones incapable of learning.

Despite no recent updates,…Banter on 200 has come down. Political talk has come way down. We’ve added numbers to the MA. We have a very successful scenario running. We’re in a better spot. I remember someone predicting this wa

[Animl-AW]

MA = 168, All Arenas = 174 at 8:45p CST
95-115 turn-out for Masters of the Air Scenario, the largest turn-out in 5-7 years.
Well above critical mass of 100-120, we rollin.

Just saying,....only 32 more players to hit 200. We came up 48 since mid summer.

THIS is how wrong DCS (Pretty Manikins) the white glove sim skimmers ARE

We contradict them the more they try.

[Animl-AW]

Animal. Buddy. We both go back to AW. I know you know better than this. You're looking at a mirage. As I've told you before, it's the same winter numbers bump that happens every winter. Talk to me again when the weather turns and people go outside again.

Yep we, and few others go back to when dirt was invented. You know I'm head strong on piling through things for improvement. That's half the game for me.

I'm not ignorant enough to not agree with you on some issues. We both, and others here, watched the rise and fall of AW. We know what it looks and feels like.

I didn't leave because of the game, I was going through worse stuff than HT, and then lightning hit my PC,.. and then I started working 50-60 days in a row, dind't have time to rebuild anything. I'm back because I'm close to retirement, my middle finger isn't big enough the industry, and I have more time to do what I loved doing, flying and tinkering.

We all said the same thing about AW, didn't we? But the code needed a complete re-write. Despite that, we all, including you, tried to keep the breath in it, until it's last exhale. So we're pretty prepared for this end, from experience. I'm not the only one who dump and ship load of work into it. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I will say you might not be totally right. Fact mixed with opinion. I'm good with that, I have my own mix.

It's not the same. AH is saveable. This does not need a complete re-write, so there is that chance we didn't have, and graphics are NOT horrible. It won't take very much to bring it up to modern par. We'll just have to see.

As for this thread? Remember how Irate we all were when AW was in this place and HT and Pyro came in to skim players for the Beta, after all the work we did to save it? What an insult to the guys who do all the work here for free to come in here and pulled this bulsht. They are just more polite than me, I say what others would love to say. Holding our work in our hands and watching that crap go on is pathetic. Ya don't need this here to do what ever else they want to do. They are here to cause harm we don't need right now. While they skim players it shortens our life span. I have no remorse for anything I say to them, none, zero, ziltch, none. Do what ever they want, they don't need to do this to do it.  It's very low class,... 2 are no class.

I agree with a lot of what you said,..but as long as it doesn't cost me anything but time, I'm going to do what I do. <shrug> Same as the others who work hard to preserve our time here....which this thread insults. Its disgusting punk stufff.

We'll see... if we can make it last longer, we're better off... and the more they do this, the more friends they lose. They are damn near just talking to themselves now. Pretty sad sht.

I hope you're doing well bud,... you know,.. as in BW,.. we're going to disagree on something and agree on others. I'm not sure where I sit with this,.. but if HT wants to let this continue while we worked our tulips off to preserve his game,.. I might as well drag up right now.