HerrKaputt

No need to be so defensive. So far no-one has been aggressive to ED regarding the lack of a dynamic campaign, we're just voicing our opinion that a DC would dramatically increase the value of ED's products to us.

I agree with everything but the bolded part, and now I speak from experience (I bought A10C from the bargain bin a while ago). DCS is not close to a DC like Falcon 4 or EECH, not by a long shot. It might be close to something like Gunship 2000 (where if you won a mission you'd progress forward into enemy lines, and if you lost you'd progress backward).

Well, I'd prefer single-player, but it doesn't really matter. The code-base is largely the same: you need a separate process that keeps track of the world, moves units around, generates missions, etc. Definitely not easy. But also definitely a huge value added to DCS. In my case, with a dynamic campaign, I'd buy most modules (definitely Black Shark, A10C, P51, perhaps others). Without it, I picked up DCS A10C from the bargain bin at a retail store for 8 euros. I won't pay much more than that for a game/sim with no replayability. Apparently many others are willing to shell the full 40€ per module even without the replayability, and ED caters to them, fair enough... :)

I guess Eagle Dynamics are being very conservative about this because they don't want to drain their resources. Given that they are using kickstarter to fund the development of some new aircraft, why not use crowdfunding to fund a dynamic campaign module? If it fails they can just return the money.

AH-64D :)

Hopefully before the Sun engulfs Earth :)

As I and many others have stated countless times in this thread: true realism is kinda unimportant as long as it seems realistic. At least for those of us who really want a DC and an enjoyable simulator instead of a realism-above-all-else simulator.

I think Eagle Dynamics is well aware of the benefits of a DC and they are trying to (slowly) reach something like a DC. For now, I will just wait and see the improvements from DCS module to DCS module. If at some point a "real" DC exists, I will buy, otherwise probably not.

I'm with you, except that I didn't even buy the DCS aircraft (I might buy Black Shark one day, I mostly like helos). A DC would make DCS an insta-buy for me.

This is actually a great idea!

Are you talking about financial issues? Because apart from that, I see no reason to avoid developing an immersive DC as in F4.

WRAITH, I don't think you read the thread carefully. Eagle Dynamics already stated that they want to make a DC -- they are just making it small steps at a time, because it is a massive undertaking and they need money in the meantime. So, they will be releasing new planes and new modules to get some money. Each of these modules will bring us one step closer to a real DC like that of F4.

It isn't a wishlist thread.

The graphics of Falcon 4 BMS aren't that terrible if you are somewhat forgiving. EECH is also OK, if you like helicopters. The thing is, DCS is an excellent sim and a poor game, whereas F4 and EECH are good sims (worse than DCS) and good games. What you want is an excellent sim and an excellent game, and AFAIK nothing like that exists in the modern gaming world. (yet)

In a nutshell, EECH excels in many aspects where DCS is lacking, and vice-versa. DCS is a better sim, but on the other hand, EECH is a better game. It has a DC, 5 and a half helicopters fully modeled (the "half" is the AH-1Z, which is a work in progress from the mod community). To me, EECH's "decent realism, lots of replayability" is a better tradeoff than DCS's "realism first and foremost, little replayability". That's my personal preference, of course, YMMV.

EECH begs to differ (even though F4's DC is better).

50 bucks for a campaign add-on! That would make <favorite DCS plane> + the campaign over $100... I also wouldn't mind paying something extra. I don't own any DCS module, so I'd look at the price of plane+DC together. If it's $100, I'll definitely pass. (or wait for Steam sales to bring it to a sensible value, say $40)

My ideal game would be a survey sim, like Lock On, but with helicopters. AND a dynamic campaign. Essentially a modern version of EECH. Obviously, I'm not holding my breath...

That certainly makes new aircraft come out faster, but also makes it harder to ensure proper quality of the product. The future success of the DCS brand depends strongly on creating a strong brand name. People must associate "DCS: X" with the thought "true-to-life sim of plane X", and I'm not sure how many 3rd parties can fulfill that.

Gunship 2000 had that. Surely by now ED can do something a little better? :)

Speed is right. I didn't think of this at first, but I agree with him now: it's probably wiser to update it to DCS. If you don't own a DCS module and don't want to buy one (for testing), maybe wait for FC3 and do it then.

That sounds very nice! Whether you get FC2 now or later depends essentially on your goals and your budget. If you are doing this just for your individual fun, I'd say you can keep working on FC1 until you get FC2 (if you ever get it), and then worry about adapting. On the other hand, if you'd like others to try your work, then it's probably best if you switch to FC2 when possible.

I share this opinion exactly.

If you like helicopters, try EECH. The original game was not that good, but with all the mods it has become very impressive and, IMO, the best helicopter sim overall (because it has a DC, whereas Black Shark does not). I also like the fact that you can fly several helis. If you forget that the Comanche does not exist (to me that is not a bother), you can fly 4 helicopters natively (AH-64A, AH-64D, RAH-66, Mi-28, Ka-50 and Ka-52 -- the two Apache variants and the two Hokum variants count as one only for me). With the mods there is ample support (cockpits, flight models, etc) for two more (AH-1Z, Mi-24). AND: there is still work being done, especially in new textures and cockpits. To be honest, if the source code of EECH2 were released, so that we'd have a Directx9 engine instead of a Directx7 one, we'd be able to make a REALLY good game there. The DC would require virtually zero GPU power. It does require a lot of CPU, but since DCS does not use multi-threading, they can just run two threads at the same time: one for the simulation itself (flight model, etc) and one for the DC. It doesn't mean that it's a piece of cake, but CPU power is probably not a serious problem.

ED are not the only one to do it... and to be honest I don't think they keep us completely in the dark. Let's say they keep us in "dark gray" and we'd like to be in "light gray" or "white". :smilewink: