Newbies questions blue flag / play together with F15c & Huey

Hello,

i already posted this in the steam forums, because could not create a thread here. now it works.

we are 2 new Pilots, that are interested in playing blue flag. We bought our modules a few days ago, and it feels, like there is nothing like problems. I have some questions and i hope you can help me:

Here my questions:

- Why so few lives? My friend and i wanted to play together, and he lost all of his 3 lives to bugs quickly in a row. And now we are not allowed to play together for 6 hours? Is there a way to get lifes? Cause if that happens every time we play, this will definitivly make us abondan this game.

We basicly need to play blue flag, because he flies the F15c and i fly the huey. There is not much to do with this combination outside of blue flag.

- Is there another mode, where i can do transport jobs, while my friend can fly around and attack / protect me?

- If i load up AT troops in the huey, and place them near ground vehicles, will they attack those vehicles? If not, why are there different types of infantry?

- Is there a better blue flag wiki than this: http://91.205.184.66:8085/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

cause this is not really sufficent for such a complex mode

- Is caucasus played much? Cause the price of persian gulf is way to high. I get these prices for the vehicles, but i will not pay this much for a map.

- Is there any way, we can see each other easier? I get this should be realistic, and it's completly okay if not. Just asking...

All in all, we really try to love this game.But the game makes this very hard. Everything feels like this is early access and not a released game.

thank you in advance

Caucasus is much played - I'd say more than any other map.

Persian Gulf map is currently at 50% sale.

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/shop/terrains/persiangulf_terrain/

I'd suggest you to find another server without lives restrictions and more new users friendly. You can also try to get in touch with some kind squad - they usually have their own servers - more fun with dedicated friendly people. Finally one of you can setup dedicated server to have your own mission and rules.

Why lives restriction? To force players into more realistic behavior, fear of death and not taking unnecessary risks. That way fooling around or trying to win Rambo style will cost you.

http://91.205.184.66:8085/wiki/index.php/Pilot_Lives

To see each other better you can use lables (DCS option) but it has to be allowed on the server. Tips:

- Eagle has good radar, so if set right (wide RWS, Med. PRF, angled more into the ground) he can find you if he has any idea where you might be

- as a heli you almost appear as staying in one place compared to the jets so you can describe the area where you are, fly to the nearest easily recognizable structure/place

You took a hard pair to cooperate closely :)

Edit: "why are there different types of infantry?" - because they differ from each other with weapons, tasks and looks.

yeah i agree very few servers have live restrictions you have been unlucky

- Why so few lives? My friend and i wanted to play together, and he lost all of his 3 lives to bugs quickly in a row. And now we are not allowed to play together for 6 hours? Is there a way to get lifes? Cause if that happens every time we play, this will definitivly make us abondan this game.

As draconous said, this restriction is active on the Blue Flag servers to enforce more realistic gameplay as people need to be more careful (like in real life) and can't just do rambo stuff. That's one of the things I really like about the Blue Flag servers. Most other servers don't have such live restrictions as Blue Flag has.

I wonder though, what bugs caused your friend to loose his lives? I'm not aware of any such bugs. Are you sure it really have been bugs, because as you guys are new it might have been some intended behaviour that your friend did not know about and wasn't able to handle correctly.

We basicly need to play blue flag, because he flies the F15c and i fly the huey. There is not much to do with this combination outside of blue flag.

That's indeed a rather difficult combination if you want to work together.

- Is there another mode, where i can do transport jobs, while my friend can fly around and attack / protect me?

I guess by "mode" you actually mean "server". In that case I gotta say that Blue Flag is at the very top in regards to public coop gameplay across all different types of aircraft.

- If i load up AT troops in the huey, and place them near ground vehicles, will they attack those vehicles? If not, why are there different types of infantry?

Yes, they will, although it is almost impossible to get them close enough to most ground vehicles without getting killed first.

- Is there a better blue flag wiki than this: http://91.205.184.66:8085/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

cause this is not really sufficent for such a complex mode

See here for more detailed guided, although they might be a bit outdated, but most of it is still valid: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1TVmuQqqG1aAeDYQz8QaRCIT8uYDoWtep

- Is caucasus played much? Cause the price of persian gulf is way to high. I get these prices for the vehicles, but i will not pay this much for a map.

In general Caucasus is the most played map, as it comes free with the game. In regards to Blue Flag this is not true though, as most people prefer to play on the Persian Gulf Blue Flag server.

- Is there any way, we can see each other easier? I get this should be realistic, and it's completly okay if not. Just asking...

Some servers allow you to see friendly units on the F10 map. This is not the case on the Blue Flag servers though, so there is no way to see each other as neither the F-15 nor the Huey have any kind of data link system that other planes have.

All in all, we really try to love this game.But the game makes this very hard. Everything feels like this is early access and not a released game.

The game does make it indeed very hard to get into, because this is a very complex and realistic simulation of air combat and combat aircraft. That makes it rather unaccessibly compared to more arcade style games like War Thunder or Ace Combat.

I'm not really sure what you mean by Early Access? Both the F-15 and the Huey are completely finished modules.

Hello,

thanks for your answers.

As draconous said, this restriction is active on the Blue Flag servers to enforce more realistic gameplay as people need to be more careful (like in real life) and can't just do rambo stuff. That's one of the things I really like about the Blue Flag servers. Most other servers don't have such live restrictions as Blue Flag has.

I wonder though, what bugs caused your friend to loose his lives? I'm not aware of any such bugs. Are you sure it really have been bugs, because as you guys are new it might have been some intended behaviour that your friend did not know about and wasn't able to handle correctly.

I'm pretty sure this were bugs. We got on the server, 1 of the weapons of the f15 was restricted. so he changed that. Waited for confirmation, then he took of. Than he got a message invalid loadout. So it didn't change. Before he was able to land again, he blew of.

Spawned in another slot, not able to change loadout it all (the communication menu didn't show anything), so disconnect and reconnect.

3rd try, he gets the loadout changed, takes of, and after 5 minutes, there was a solid 5 seconds freeze, getting him killed.

I guess by "mode" you actually mean "server". In that case I gotta say that Blue Flag is at the very top in regards to public coop gameplay across all different types of aircraft.

Yeah, but are there other that you would recommend? We don't mind if thats PVE or PVP. I find it strange to believe, that there is just 1 Server that has transport jobs

Some servers allow you to see friendly units on the F10 map. This is not the case on the Blue Flag servers though, so there is no way to see each other as neither the F-15 nor the Huey have any kind of data link system that other planes have.

Okay, so like i thought. Thats okay, we are getting along^^

The game does make it indeed very hard to get into, because this is a very complex and realistic simulation of air combat and combat aircraft. That makes it rather unaccessibly compared to more arcade style games like War Thunder or Ace Combat.

I'm not really sure what you mean by Early Access? Both the F-15 and the Huey are completely finished modules.

With early access i didn't mean a specific module, but more the whole game.

Our journey was just not very fun yet. Just to give an idea:

Bought the Huey because i read, that blue flag exists, and we could do tasks together.

Tried to get into blue flag, but could not find the server. Searched everything, didn't find a hint. So i thought it was deleted.

So i bought the K50, so that i'm at least able to do something with my friend, just to realize, that the shkval is bugged like hell, and nearly unusable

So i have a transport heli, that can't transport, and a combat heli that half of the time can't combat

Then i found the open beta branch. Installed, we joined server, client crash. Joined server, client crash. Joined server, than my friend got the problems decribed above.

I've had several crashes in multiplayer, though i have an absolute high end pc.

That's also the reason i'm not willing to pay this much for a map. My first 2 buys didn't really pay off^^

I'm pretty sure this were bugs. We got on the server, 1 of the weapons of the f15 was restricted. so he changed that. Waited for confirmation, then he took of. Than he got a message invalid loadout. So it didn't change. Before he was able to land again, he blew of.

Spawned in another slot, not able to change loadout it all (the communication menu didn't show anything), so disconnect and reconnect.

3rd try, he gets the loadout changed, takes of, and after 5 minutes, there was a solid 5 seconds freeze, getting him killed.

I see what you mean now.

Well, the first one (invalid loadout) wasn't a bug of the game, but a mistake of the Blue Flag server and its missionm, as it probably showed a weapon as valid that isn't valid. That can happen sometimes, as the server admins sometimes change what weapons are allowed in the server scripts, but make a mistake in the weapons list that is displayed to the players.

I'm not sure what you mean by saying that the communication menu didn't show anything. Never had that issue before. :huh:

Alternatively you can also bring up the rarming window by pressing Alt + '

The third one was obviously a bug. Freezes and crashes can happen on busy servers like Blue Flag if your PC isn't very good.

Yeah, but are there other that you would recommend? We don't mind if thats PVE or PVP. I find it strange to believe, that there is just 1 Server that has transport jobs

Unfortunately I can't, which is why I love playing on Blue Flag.

With early access i didn't mean a specific module, but more the whole game.

Our journey was just not very fun yet. Just to give an idea:

Bought the Huey because i read, that blue flag exists, and we could do tasks together.

Tried to get into blue flag, but could not find the server. Searched everything, didn't find a hint. So i thought it was deleted.

There are actually five different Blue Flag servers running on the Open Beta, but if I understand correctly you have figured that out by now.

So i bought the K50, so that i'm at least able to do something with my friend, just to realize, that the shkval is bugged like hell, and nearly unusable

I have flown the Ka-50 just a few days ago and the Shkval was fine for me :huh:

What exactly was bugged for you?

Then i found the open beta branch. Installed, we joined server, client crash. Joined server, client crash. Joined server, than my friend got the problems decribed above.

I've had several crashes in multiplayer, though i have an absolute high end pc.

That's odd and definitive not how it should be. Have you reported those crashes and attached your log and track file?

I'm sorry, that you had such an unfortunate experience with DCS so far, but a lot of what you are describing really makes me wonder, as I don't have such issues at all :dunno:

First of all: Thank you for your help. I really appreciate that

I see what you mean now.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by saying that the communication menu didn't show anything. Never had that issue before. :huh:

Alternatively you can also bring up the rarming window by pressing Alt + '

Yeah, it was weird. He pressed the key for the communcation menu, and there were no points in it.

I have flown the Ka-50 just a few days ago and the Shkval was fine for me :huh:

What exactly was bugged for you?

It often moves of in a random direction without any input from me. Seems to be a bug, which is known for long. I also made a thread about that

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=4409558&posted=1#post4409558

This is also no search mode or something like that, cause the direction is random

That's odd and definitive not how it should be. Have you reported those crashes and attached your log and track file?

no, cause we wanted to play^^. Will do next time

I'm sorry, that you had such an unfortunate experience with DCS so far, but a lot of what you are describing really makes me wonder, as I don't have such issues at all :dunno:

Well, i hope it's getting better^^

Blue Flag is not really friendly for newcomer IMO. Its probably the most realistic setting server, mission obj etc for DCS. But if you can live through it then it can shape you to become a better pilot just like it did to me. Players who live there are mostly battle hardened and very experience, so its gonna tough for newbie.

As for PvE server you can try Inferno or hoggit (this one is passworded) but I'm not sure they have transport mission for helos.

Good luck and have fun.

Would agree with above. Blue Flag can be hard for people new to DCS. Also, when you are out of fighter lives you can still do reconnaissance work on the free TF-51. Also other people with more modules may have a few more lives to spend on attackers and helicopters.

But Blue Flag isnt the simulator, its a group of guys that work hard to put a good game together for the last few years. There is a vast choice in server and you can make your own games togehter and no need to depend on a single server.