What mode do you most play?

[Archaic]

I'm absolutely loving this sim, but coming over from Falcon as I'm sure a lot of you are, I find the campaign very poor. How do you guys play the game most often? How do you give the missions meaning?

 

I haven't ventured into multiplayer yet as I'm just starting to feel competent and as I have a warthog HOTAS in the mail, it's going to take some getting used to when it gets here, so I'm sticking to single player for the time being.

 

I'm finding that in creating a quick mission the JTAC doesn't give enough targets, or they're killed before I get there. Any tips?

 

Why doesn't the A10C have an A-G Radar?

[Feuerfalke]

Then why not try a multiplayer game? :thumbup:

[joey45]

It has no radar because..... It wasn't fitted with one.

 

Best place to learn is in multiplayer..... And asking a lot of questions or looking through some threads...

 

Welcome to DCS.

[Nealius]

The only caveat with asking questions here is the frequent "RTFM" response, despite the fact that the manual does not have everything.

 

I would second multiplayer. I myself haven't tried it yet because I can't fly an actual mission without the game becoming a slide show.

[pyromaniac4002]

I'm absolutely loving this sim, but coming over from Falcon as I'm sure a lot of you are, I find the campaign very poor. How do you guys play the game most often? How do you give the missions meaning?

 

I haven't ventured into multiplayer yet as I'm just starting to feel competent and as I have a warthog HOTAS in the mail, it's going to take some getting used to when it gets here, so I'm sticking to single player for the time being.

 

I'm finding that in creating a quick mission the JTAC doesn't give enough targets, or they're killed before I get there. Any tips?

 

Why doesn't the A10C have an A-G Radar?

 

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't mind a dynamic campaign like they did in Falcon so many years ago now, but we've got some good stuff until ED works that in too. In quick missions I wouldn't rely purely on the JTACs for targeting information. It's taken a lot of practice but I've learned how to pick out the targets either with the targeting pod or visually, but an easy, if not cheap, alternative is to just turn labels on (somewhere in settings, can't recall off the top of my head) and have at it. Enemies will have a red dot over them and when you get close enough they'll have a little tag saying what they are. JTACs only give you info on a few enemy groups, and like you said, it takes time to go through all the prompts and whatnot and oftentimes friendly AI (air or ground) will take out your targets before you even get your sights on them.

 

Congrats on the HOTAS! I got mine about a year ago and have loved every minute I've spent using it. I'm sure you will too.

[Archaic]

I don't know how RTFM applies to which game modes are most popular in the community.

 

I can't bring myself to use labels. :)

 

I'll have to try online.

[ApoNOOB]

Haven't touched singleplayer with the A10C in a long time, it's just not rearlly fun. MP/custom mission's is where the fun is! :D

 

In FC3 its fun to just fly the interception mission or do some quick start with our without labels.

 

Edit: The A10 is sorely missing something like the 'Instant Action' stuff from the P-51D, Final, Take Off, maybe easy gun targets, ILS Landing etc. Would be awesome. :D

[Laurius]

If I may share my experience, I would say : try to achieve the 4 single missions (2 easy, 2 medium and 1 hard) found in the quickstart folder. With them you will learn a lot about the weapon's systems, situational awarness and about the JTAC.

 

Then there are a lot of single player missions you can download from the DCS website and I'm sure you'll find some of interest for you for practicing what you need.

 

But, as said by Joey, multiplayer is the way to go. There's no better way to interact with others and learn from those who have already the experience in the many aspects of this wonderful sim.

 

And searching this forum will also bring you a lot of answers to the questions you might have

 

Cheers and all the best

[NullSpace]

I'm a relative newbie, and I've found flying online with people to be a great way to learn. I recommend looking for a squad of people who are fairly laid back, and going to fly with them, ideally, you can find more experienced players who'll be willing to teach you.

 

Also, read the manual. Yes, it's massive, but there's lots of good info in there, and you can avoid people simply telling you to RTFM when you ask questions :) (Okay, maybe they'll still tell you that, but you'll know they're wrong)

[skouras]

play the campaign

also there are tones of campaigns and singleplayer missions in user files section

why you dont try multiplayer

lot of fun out there..

[Nerull]

To answer the original question: I personally mostly play downloaded single player missions (no MP so far since I only recently upgraded my PC to something capable of MP).

They don't give much in the way of continuous immersion but they're varied and, since they're made by different people, have different difficulty/complexity levels which make the m fun to fly, imho.

[PFunk1606688187]

I mostly practice on my own in modest sandbox missions that just have stuff to shoot, stuff to blow up, recently scripts to tell me how on target my bombs are.

 

When I play with friends we find missions, we play stuff we make for each other.

 

I don't have much use for single player outside of practice. Its rather disappointing.

[Sharpe_95]

 

Why doesn't the A10C have an A-G Radar?

 

A) Because it wasnt a requirement

B) Odds are on the GAU gets in the way :-S

 

Can I highly recommend Dragons mission and training packs for missions.

-Sharpe

[Irregular programming]

I find the campaign to be pretty good and fun to play, there is a lot going on and I guess if you don't follow it then it can seem like a bunch of disjointed missions.

 

 

It's no Falcon campaign of course.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Irregular programming

[WildBillKelsoe]

I'm absolutely loving this sim, but coming over from Falcon as I'm sure a lot of you are, I find the campaign very poor. How do you guys play the game most often? How do you give the missions meaning?

 

I haven't ventured into multiplayer yet as I'm just starting to feel competent and as I have a warthog HOTAS in the mail, it's going to take some getting used to when it gets here, so I'm sticking to single player for the time being.

 

I'm finding that in creating a quick mission the JTAC doesn't give enough targets, or they're killed before I get there. Any tips?

 

Why doesn't the A10C have an A-G Radar?

 

Follow the route timings and you should find close to 8 or more tanks to kill. Monitor bullseye calls or remove other aircrafts gr ound targets assignments from the mission ( I do not recommend that cuz you'll have a hard time finishing with one sortie). Play multiplayer, best I recommend is Shrek, 104th, dcs mercenaries..

[Exorcet]

I've played a Falcon 4.0 AF. The dynamic campaign was great, but even then 90% of time was spent flying missions I created. In DCS, basically all my offline time is spent flying my own missions. I feel they have plenty of meaning and are fun to fly.

 

I prefer online because of interactions with other players, but I actually spend more time offline with the A-10. Most public server missions for the A-10 I don't like that much, and it's hard to find missions with CA integrated, so it's just AI ground forces.

[Feuerfalke]

Online is not online.

 

There are some nice freeflight-servers available with many experienced players who are willing to do everything from explaining startup to flying formation or blowing stuff up.

 

Most of them have slots for all modules.

 

And then there are a lot of mission-based servers. You can easly hop on and join teamspeak or just chat a bit (which is a bit difficult in tense situations).

 

Biggest challenge are PvP-servers. They usually have larger missions and maps and allow for both sides to be played. It makes the A-10C a lot more intense to fly, as you quickly go from hunter to hunted. Some also contain CA-slots, so even groundunits may be player-controlled.

I strongly recommend using teamspeak on these servers, though.