More Cold Starts Please

[SharpeXB]

I’m detecting a shortage of cold start missions for the Hornet. What gives?

The stock campaign, Task Force Challenger has all hot starts on the catapult

Same with the first mission of Serpents Head, what about the rest?

 

What’s the problem here? I’ve never seen a DCS campaign that didn’t always have cold starts.

Can DCS campaigns not script a cold carrier start? Some problem with the AI?

Are players just getting less sophisticated?

[sigfan86]

Chances are, the mission designers would have more complaints about long mission times due to the added cold start.

Usually what I do is go into the campaign (if it's not locked) and make my flight cold & dark. Same with campaigns that use the stennis, when i want to use the supercarrier, i edit the missions to what my preferences are

[SharpeXB]

Are people really this lazy? I have never played a campaign with hot starts until the Hornet.

DCS is being inundated with Wart Hunter noobs... :doh:

[Blackflys56]

Absolutly agree with you.

[Nealius]

I often don't have time for cold starts, but would like the option to. I absolutely hate hot on the cat or runway, because nothing in the airplane is set up the way I like it, nor is the weapons payload. I'd prefer to have a choice between cold start and hot ramp start (not runway or cat) for all campaigns.

[BuzzU]

It's ridiculous. When you get to the point of flying campaigns they should be as realistic as possible or is DCS an arcade game?

[QuiGon]

+1

 

Having to live with quick and dirty hot starts to enjoy great campaigns is one of the most annoying things in DCS!

[Bunny Clark]

I see this both ways. I enjoy doing cold starts most of the time, and it certainly helps with the atmosphere. But in the end DCS is a game, and it is subject to the limitations of a game in many respects. Not everyone comes to a gaming session with the same amount of time to commit to flying, so when I make a mission I like to ensure that the player spends as much time as possible doing the thing that makes my mission unique rather than starting up the jet for the 100th time. It's the same reason I don't force the player to land before completing the mission. I'd hate to tell people that my campaign is only for those who can dedicate 2+ hours at a time to gaming.

 

I really wish DCS included a system where hot/warm/cold starts were entirely the choice of the player, rather than the mission creator.

[VpR81]

I agree there should be more cold starts. Especially with payed campaigns, focus should be be on as much realism as possible, since one should have the 5+ min for a cold start when going for a campaign he payed for. There is always Auto-Start if there is no time to learn the start up procedure. But for user made campaigns/missions... well, people craft their missions the way they like them. Not everyone is a professional mission maker and sometimes cold start provides a few issues (at least for me) with timing. Just an example, 95% of my missions are cold start and i would do 100% cold start, IF the AI would need as much time as a player to cold start i.e. the Hornet. I'm just crafting a 2P coop mission where i want to attack an airbase. Player flight is attacking ammo and fuel storage with several AI flights attacking runway, or performing SEAD and A-A escort. I want them to take off in relatively short intervalls, but the AI is doing super fast start ups, ending up with the AI flights orbiting around bullseye waiting for the player flight to catch up and running out of fuel half way RTB. AAR doesen't help, as AI won't AAR as long as they got fuel left in their external tanks (i guess).So i either set player flight to hot start, place bullseye much further away (to force AI to AAR) or have the AI flights spawning out of nowhere around the players after a certain time. Since the latter kills immersion much more than a hot start IMO and the mission already takes 2 hours from T/O to touch down, i decided to go for hot start.I absolutely prefer cold start and agree with your demand, just saying that it's not always possible for every mission maker. I think if ED would make the AI taking more time for start-up would be a first step.

 

Cheers

[MacEwan]

It's ridiculous. When you get to the point of flying campaigns they should be as realistic as possible or is DCS an arcade game?

 

Agreed

[Ziptie]

I also prefer to have a cold start for any aircraft flown, and agree with others that mission/campaign creators are probably in a difficult position to please both sides (the ones who don't like to cold start and the ones who do).

 

My opinion, it's relatively easy to modify a mission to change an aircraft from a hot start, to a cold start - which I often will open said mission in the ME, and change to cold start if it isn't already. This is a fairly quick procedure, but sometimes it can be more difficult if you have to "get around" the security of it being a purchase mission/campaign. Even still, it is possible to do so and just takes a few more steps..... Just my .02, but again I agree - best to learn the cold start procedure's for the aircraft you fly (and to take it even further, best to learn procedures for failures while in flight - any even fewer people fly with random failures on, compared to not cold starting their aircraft).

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ziptie

[BuzzU]

I think ED should make something mandatory for all paid campaigns. It has to be stated in the description of the campaign whether cold starts are used or not. I'll bet campaign makers will put more effort into making cold starts work if it affects their income.

 

Can't auto start always be used for those who don't know how to cold start?

[KittyVCAW-1]

mission editor = all the cold starts you can handle. you just tick one box. I can literally do it in about 20 seconds.

[CBStu]

I'd like to have the option of choosing cold or hot starts. I am a beginner at campaigns so learning a lot of new stuff and I do auto starts. I can certainly see that cold starts can add to the realism/immersion but some of you may want to think back to when you were in your 1st or 2nd years flying DCS. 

[QuiGon]

2 hours ago, CBStu said:

I'd like to have the option of choosing cold or hot starts. I am a beginner at campaigns so learning a lot of new stuff and I do auto starts. I can certainly see that cold starts can add to the realism/immersion but some of you may want to think back to when you were in your 1st or 2nd years flying DCS. 

That's why you have the autostart feature, which is made especially for beginners on cold start scenarios.

Edited February 3, 2021 by QuiGon