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I'm Afraid To Buy The FW 190 Dora


BuzzU

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Wow, I saw the topic starting and it was all greetings and happiness about DCS, then I'm back a days later and it turned out to be a harsh discussion :huh: .

 

 

I don't know (perused the whole thread a bit, but it's too long now) how or why it turned out to this discussion, and some things has been answered now, I think. But if you let me squeeze in,

 

My complaint is what's charged for DCS with a flight model no better than the others.
Well, I don't know if you know the "old days" in where a flight simulator were the ultimate piece of software (way back now, yes), but most important, they used to be mostly "study sims", that means a whole simulator were dedicated to a single aircraft to the last consequences. That is, Falcon for instance, but not necessarily Falcon 4.0, the last one, Falcon 3.0, or 2.0, or 1.0, or the great great grandfather of DCS, SSI Su-27 Flanker, then Flanker 2.0, then 2.5. What were one buying there? a single aircraft, as a whole simulator with environment, usually a single map, luckily a Campaign or some single missions. One paid happily 50$ (and that was 25 years ago…) for those simulators, just because those were really good study simulator, and nobody complained about having one single aircraft, people understood the effort to make that single aircraft as real as it gets (with the available computers) was enough, though it's true it came with all the stuff surrounding it, the map, the environment, the possible campaign and missions, all right.

 

Then another developer invented a different platform, in where you could have a lot of stuff, not so accurate as a study sim, not even close in fact, but hey, we had lots of stuff with more or less "believable" FM though not so accurate, and the developer was happy to release aircraft not as single ones but lots of them quite easily with that "believable" FM though very general indeed and lacking specific detail to specific aircraft. That was a product of their time, but looking at it critically nowadays, we have to agree it was kinda arcadish style even though we were happy to have hundreds of aircraft in a single platform.

 

 

Now what are we having? DCS study simulator, just ED had the idea after 20 years to create a common platform called DCSW in where every single study simulator of an aircraft could be installed and used together with other aircraft, but all of them study simulators and you shouldn't mistake the fact of all the modules installed all at once in a single environment with that meaning this is an easy to develop generalist arcadish style simulator. No sir, this is still a study simulator not to be confused with others generalist simulators trying to sell how realistic they are when they are not. That said, is it cheap or expensive? Well bearing in mind time of development, complexity, and the fact that you are buying a study simulator "as real as it gets" with our current computers, which is really close to RL, not a generalist one releasing "believable" (only more or less I would say) though not detailed at all aircraft in a short period of time, well it's still not cheap though DCS simulation quality can be tell from a distance and 50$ is the same price we paid some 25 years ago for any study sim :shocking:. Is DCS FM better… hell it is by far, but maybe the question for you is, is it worth it should you not going to appreciate why is it better? That's what one have to ponder, and it's fine, though I still don't understand what happened since your first post for you to change your mind like that :lol:.

 

 

Talking about the real pilots stuff. That's not always completely reliable. I have several friends, real pilots, that tried my rig and simulator and they weren't very happy to see how hard it is to get used to a simulator lacking feeling. One of them having flying lots of agricultural and fire fighting high powered aircraft can't get used to take off in DCS propeller engines, he never used simulators before. Other one, is a vet with 3000 F-5A hours among others and also was a basic instructor using T-6 and several other tail dragger props. He's very happy with DCS when he discovered it some time ago, though still props in DCS isn't his best liking because he can't get completely used to the lack of feeling, and his controls set is not the best I have to say. On the other hand another friend, PPL pilot, aerobatic pilot that managed to be champion in lower categories, he got his license at the same time than me but we both were "simulator pilots" since early ages. He wasn't very sure about some details in the 109, but he's using a short stick, the time he got at home and flew with my long stick he discovered why he wasn't sure about those details and flew like a charm with the 109. Told me he should get a long stick :lol: . I myself, well, I haven't fly any warbird (well a Tiger Moth does count? :D) but being a simulator user since my childhood I'm absolutely happy to see the real deal I know perfectly depicted in DCS like it is not anywhere else. Does it count better my own experience or the experience of the more experienced than me real pilots that I have to advise about simulators? :smilewink: Think the first time your P-51 pilot friend tries to take off in your sim if he's not able to do so he may be ashamed of it in front of you and will probably say it's not real at all. Does that kind of bad experiences with a sim count?

 

 

S!


Edited by Ala13_ManOWar
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"I went into the British Army believing that if you want peace you must prepare for war. I believe now that if you prepare for war, you get war."

-- Major-General Frederick B. Maurice

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I think it is excellent point that study sims should retain their realism. I think DCS excels at this amongst its competitors. However it should be noted that with advent of more WW2 aircraft, they are venturing into relatively uncharted waters. I think ED knows this...

 

It's only when thrown together in a combat situation, especially with prop planes, where minor differences matter. Manifold pressures that are off, or cooling regimens which are off, can dictate win or lose. Gun damage is harder to simulate than missile damage. Dogfighting is more prolonged and differences in aircraft performance are much more closely perceived.

 

Prop planes are the toughest to simulate right, especially in a relative way, while maintaining the level of accuracy that DCS is known for and, which is expected of it. Not only because of the complex aerodynamic effects that a prop throws into play (bringing in much of the same complexity that helos have), but also because they are flown on the edge routinely, with smaller performance margin differences between aircraft than say two modern jet fighters.

AKA Venturi

 

 

"You can tell a bomber pilot by the spread across his rear, and by the ring around his eye, you can tell a bombadier; You can tell a navigator by his maps and charts and such, and you can tell a fighter pilot - but you can't tell him much!" -523 TFS Fighter Pilots Song Book

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I am looking forward to ED bringing out the best in simulation fidelity amongst what I consider to be the most immersive and purely-skill driven combat period in aviation history. That will include fleshing out existing fighters and making sure they are complete, including weapons packages and looking at comparative accuracy of their FMs.

 

I believe ED is going to lead the way in this regard, and I hope their philosophy continues with a firm commitment to detail-oriented realistic simulation - and not to deviate to pander to the masses (however tempting, this is a short term solution, only).

AKA Venturi

 

 

"You can tell a bomber pilot by the spread across his rear, and by the ring around his eye, you can tell a bombadier; You can tell a navigator by his maps and charts and such, and you can tell a fighter pilot - but you can't tell him much!" -523 TFS Fighter Pilots Song Book

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For me personally there's no doubt that the DCS flight models are the best. They should be with the amount of time and effort that goes into them. That's not to say all the other WWII sims have bad flight models, but the DCS ones are something special. DCS also excels by a country mile in systems modelling, nothing else comes close. That's not just clickable cockpits, it's the level of detail that all the internal systems are modelled with: it's just remarkable.

 

Where DCS currently falls down as a WWII combat sim (IMO) is:

- damage modelling: planes flying with 1 wing, wings falling off all the time, engines that smoke but never die, very weak MG damage, etc.

- stability: DCS crashes quite frequently for me, and it has lots of bugs and glitches that have gone unfixed for a long time.

- netcode: multiplayer is very laggy in a way other simulators are not.

- performance: even a monster rig struggles with flying over the cities in caucuses.

- scenery and environment: is not (yet) appropriate for a WWII scenario

- price: DCS is very expensive

- AI: are very bad, don't fly anything resembling the real flight model, and even worse damage model.

- visuals: other sims (IMO) currently look better (although the Nevada terrain is simply stunning).

- plane selection: not well balanced, or even particularly representative of the time period. No bombers, and currently no plans for player flyable bombers.

- size of community: the WWII community in DCS is currently pretty small.

 

For me DCS is currently a great flight simulator that happens to have some WWII planes, but not particularly a WWII aerial combat simulation. Different story with modern aircraft, but with WWII planes that's where it currently sits for me: more like X-Plane, or Prepar3d.

 

So as for whether the OP should buy the Fw190 - buy it if you think you'd enjoy flying it, and learning the systems because that's where DCS excels.


Edited by Tomsk
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The last real acft I trained on was a Piper Cub... learned in Cessnas/Pipers as a kid.

 

Trust me when I say there is NO EQUAL to DCS' taildragger/prop acft flight model. It simply isn't duplicated anywhere else, no other sim, not even close, can't hold a candle. As long as you've got a good stick/throttle/pedals/trackir setup, its quite literally as close as you'll ever get to the real thing, and the upside is, you don't have to blow $200/hr for flight instruction and maintenance... plus no fear of death :P

 

I've got more time in the 190 than any other taildragger in DCS, I really enjoy flying it. Its the most user-friendly, well-balanced and fun to fly tailwheel in the sim. Once the spitfire is polished up and out of beta... it may be pretty close. Honestly they're all a treat to learn and fly but the 190 is kind of the goldilocks mix in my opinion.

 

Though... I recommend you learn the 109 first, then move on to other taildraggers. If you can safely takeoff/pattern/land in a 109, you can fly aaaaanything.

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... you don't have to blow $200/hr for flight instruction and maintenance... plus no fear of death ...
Tell me about it :lol: :lol: :lol: :thumbup: .

 

 

S!

"I went into the British Army believing that if you want peace you must prepare for war. I believe now that if you prepare for war, you get war."

-- Major-General Frederick B. Maurice

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