A map idea

Given that LNS has started making maps in addition to aircraft, I have an idea for a stand alone map after the current projects are released. The map is the northern rim of the Persian Gulf. If you look at it, it's easy to have a map with relatively little land mass, lots of water and Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on it. This particular area was host to a lot of fighting in the Iran/Iraq War, 1991 Gulf War and 2003 Gulf War. It fits the upcoming F-14 perfectly as well as half the FC3 planes, the A-10C, Mi-8, UH-1 and most of the planned upcoming fighters such as the F-5E, Mirage 2000 and F-18. In fact, nearly every major military aircraft type built since 1970 has seen combat there. It is the map to make for reasonably modern combat aircraft.

I think such a map is beyond what could reasonably be included packaged with a plane, but it's perfect as a stand alone module. I bring it up since none of the in progress maps have seen much action on them. To me, NTTR is nothing more than generic desert map 1 and SoH is more of a hypothetical Iran/Saudi Arabia war map than anything else. The northern Persian Gulf is where the wars have actually been fought, so it makes sense to develop a map based on it.

Edit: Map area I'm thinking of:

Awesome idea! If I were making this I would include more of Saudi out to the west and most of Iraq since it has been a historical hotbed for military action and extensive air campaign's for quite some time now.

+1 I really like that Idea King_Hrothgar! :thumbup:

Yea this is the perfect scene to fly jets like the A10, F14, F15, etc..

And Mission builders could make some missions based on real life footage (Flying the A10 in the Gulf War for example... :music_whistling:)

Regards

Griffon26

SoH is more of a hypothetical Iran/Saudi Arabia war map than anything else. The northern Persian Gulf is where the wars have actually been fought, so it makes sense to develop a map based on it.

 

Edit: Map area I'm thinking of:

That's funny, because SoH doesn't have any Saudi Arabian territory. :)

I love the idea of more Persisn Gulf theaters and this looks good. The only issue I see is that there is only a tiny strip of Iraq and one Iraqi city (Basra). It's mostly Iran, Kuwsit, and Saudi Arabia. If you shift the map North, it will include more Iraq.

One challenge is that many of Iraq's big cities are pretty far from the Gulf, requiring a big map and long flight times. Many Desert Storm and OIF strike missions required 6+ hour flight times. The benefit of SoH is that the real combat missions that occurred involved short flights to the targets. Makes the map realistic with practical game play benefits.

The Hornet may get a separate theater as well (rumored to be the Persian Gulf), but there have been no specifics mentioned. I think it's supposed to be separate from SoH, but it's all hearsay.

All that said, I love this idea and it could support a wide variety of scenarios, especially with more Iraqi land mass.

-Nick

The pic is just a quick screen grab off google maps, I didn't intend for it to be taken too literally. For the map to work, it would need at least 1 significant military airbase per country and preferably a few other smaller ones. Map dimensions and location would need to be adjusted to make that happen. That said, the gulf itself is an important feature for the tanker wars and any scenario with USN involvement. So I wouldn't want to shrink that part too much.

Oh, blacklion, is the SoH map area posted somewhere? I haven't seen anything on it other than it's in progress and expected after NTTR. I assumed the dimensions on it would include Saudi Arabia but perhaps that isn't the case.

+2, liking a map for this area as well. :thumbup:

The pic is just a quick screen grab off google maps, I didn't intend for it to be taken too literally. For the map to work, it would need at least 1 significant military airbase per country and preferably a few other smaller ones. Map dimensions and location would need to be adjusted to make that happen. That said, the gulf itself is an important feature for the tanker wars and any scenario with USN involvement. So I wouldn't want to shrink that part too much.

 

Oh, blacklion, is the SoH map area posted somewhere? I haven't seen anything on it other than it's in progress and expected after NTTR. I assumed the dimensions on it would include Saudi Arabia but perhaps that isn't the case.

The basic borders of the map were shown in the first and second live streams. It includes Iran, UAE, and Oman - the southern extent of the map is Abu Dhabi and it extends north about 100 km north of Bandar Abbas. Eastern border is just east of Jask, and Western border is around 20-50 km west of Abu massa. This is for the high detail area. I'll try to post a google map photo when I can.

Iraqis had a big base at Basra where they launched their Exocet strikes. If you extend the northern border of your map 100 km it would be better, as you said. :)

It would be a really great map, no doubt about that. I bet it's only a matter of time and don't rule it out as the Hornet map.

-Nick

This would make a great map. I'd also like to see the South China Sea but that's probably a pipe dream :)

I think the SoH map is indeed the Hornet map. It was stated in an earlier newsletter. Still, all maps that allows gulf war scenarios would indeed be great.

I'd buy a map based on this zone, definitely.

Here are the borders of the upcoming Strait of Hormuz map, this is interpolated from what could be seen during the Twitch live streams.

There may be additional low detail area around this as well, but unconfirmed.

-Nick

A Desert Storm map will be a wonderful playground for almost every airplane in DCS arsenal, present and near future. From Su-25 to F/A-18C, including the Mi-8, the F-15C, the MiG-21Bis, the F-14... All the planes we have have been used on the area. But of course it will require a good portion of Iraq itself to be realistic.

What I would love to see is a map for the Pacific. Just a shitload of ocean with nice colour and some islands here and there. What a great theatre!

A Desert Storm map will be a wonderful playground for almost every airplane in DCS arsenal, present and near future. From Su-25 to F/A-18C, including the Mi-8, the F-15C, the MiG-21Bis, the F-14... All the planes we have have been used on the area. But of course it will require a good portion of Iraq itself to be realistic.

+1 for great big playground! This would be awesome to be flying around with all the Kuwait oilfield smoke everywhere. :thumbup: (Yes I know it was a bad thing, it would just look really cool in DCSW 2)

Frisco1522

+1 for great big playground! This would be awesome to be flying around with all the Kuwait oilfield smoke everywhere. :thumbup: (Yes I know it was a bad thing, it would just look really cool in DCSW 2)

 

Frisco1522

I can just see the particle calculation bringing every PC to it's knees :thumbup:

What I would love to see is something that isn't again West vs Middle East but more about alternative possibility for Cold War era escalation:

So of course the famous Fulda Gap

It would be great place for DCS:CA players and different helicopters to fly. Of course carrier ops fans would be out of luck and so on but those terrains would be just awesome.

And your computers would scream from tree counts (but that's why you have improved algorithms to draw long distances of forests etc).