My friend, that’s all any of us got. 
2 Likes
Just watched that interview yesterday and thought the same.
At least he’s fully aware of the empty DCS world. The “we don’t know how to do that” hit hard. I didn’t get the feeling he’s planning to change that.
Regarding the 2024+ video I have to admit I’m a little tired of the hype train. It’s gonna look a lot like last year’s video, I guess
I’m looking forward to the Phantom in 2024 though.
2 Likes
I cannot stop remember with fondness the greatest achievement of early simulators… the MicroProse Debrief animations.
BEST. FEATURE. EVER.
After a long mission, coming back damaged but having annihilated half the Sovjet air force or unleashing an ungodly rain of guided munition to stem the “red tide”… the tensions of managing a landing, and then the big sigh of relief as the quick animation shows the canopy opening, and the debrief with the line of the flight path and all the hits, kills, actions, praises, and eventually the medals
Big grin on my 10 years old face…
Which, let me be honest- nowadays managing a “simpler” mission in DCS, more realistic, more grounded, with all the systems to handle and really real guided munitions and all that- yes, there’s a lot to be proud of
but
Dunno, part of the fun was also achieving the impossible.
3 Likes
For me, the best thing about dcs (but could also be said about any game) is the multiplayer, the team work required to do a difficult task, or just having a blast with mates, this is what’s it’s all about for me😀 talking of which what mp servers can people recommend
Don’t know if I a wishing a bit too much, but would love to see a depth of campaign, where for example the front line farps would be running low on ammo or fuel. And a player could jump in a mi8 or chinook and do a couple of supply runs, to keep the troops fighting
5 Likes
one wild speculation : F14A-early from HB 
4 Likes
so the MP recommendation is BlueFlag then. my favourite servers for supply runs in helos.
3 Likes
Do you ever get that guilty feeling in the back of your mind when you do have time to study a high fidelity module, that you really should be studying the airplane you actually fly in the real world. There is always something to learn…. Probably why I can’t describe myself as as anything more than an advanced casual simmer 
.
3 Likes
I want a ‘world’ to operate in. One where there is ‘stuff’ going on - this stuff need only be implied; provide some grist for my imagination. And a purpose to it. This can be single-player or multi-player; the former allows me to have this anytime I want, the latter is hit-or-miss.
Everyone has an idea of ‘realistic’ I’m not convinced a lot of people want 100% realism (or close to it, not that it is possible). There’s never any consequences other than your time commitment - like getting your disk reformatted if you die :). Thus the benefit of having a purpose to it all.
I did agree with Mr. Gray/Grey concerning the ‘fun’ is mastering a system (operating all the buttons and knobs correctly and efficiently) and having complete control over a [simulated] machine. Then what?
Its cool that we have excellent flight models, and that things are modeled to the nth-degree (forget to dust off the tubes in your F4-E RADAR and they get too hot; RADAR starts acting ‘funny’, for example). I don’t even need to leave parking to exercise all the buttons. Or many of them.
My wish is they would provide some basic fundamental tools (won’t go into this again) to allow the community to create more richer ‘worlds’. Then they (ED) wouldn’t need to spend years writing a dynamic campaign - the community would do this. Not sure anymore how much I care about a DC unless it is VERY flexible. But that would add another few years to build, perhaps.
4 Likes
Give me the Falcon 4 dynamic campaign in DCS and I would be a happy camper. I still scratch my head as to why it is so difficult to emulate in 2023.
4 Likes
Good start for sure. That DC gave me a ‘reason’ to fire up the sim; got to win the war!
But each was more or less the same…
Note I’ve not used BMS for quite some time now so may be talking out my arse here):
off the top of my head; could it do a Falklands-like campaign, or Afghanistan/South African Border War type of environment - a COIN thing? There is/was some variation allowed (last time I looked) but still all roughly similar.
But, again, a F4 DC is the ‘gold standard’ for sure.
HUGE task. I was thinking the other day that it might be easier to start with a realtime strategy game THEN build a flight sim - you’ve already committed the cycles to the ‘game’ part - but the other way around? Gotta be near impossible, while still keeping it pretty [looking].
4 Likes
you hit the nail. even the most realistic MP DC wont work for everyone.
and even the F4 SP DC doesnt.
why? people always want what they dont have 
and as @PaulRix mentioned above. we have usually real work to do while we are siming instead 
4 Likes
Guilty here!
3 Likes
For a game with such an amazing modding community, it is ridiculous how terribly maintained the runtime scripting interface is. Everything built on it rots away as if it’s made of sugar. By the time I learned how to use CTLD, it had broken already.
Olympus is looking pretty cool though. Hope it will survive!
1 Like
Lets not compare the complexity of our two aircraft…
But yeah, i’ve had to tell myself to study for the sim that pays first, when a bi-annual sim check is approaching…
2 Likes
I get what you guys are saying about wanting a world, dynamic campaign and game, in DCS.
But then we have guys like Reflected…
I wish we had many more like him.
6 Likes
Exactly!!
Reflected, Baltic Dragon, Groundpounder Sims and probably more creators whose campaigns I haven’t flown yet are doing an amazing job!
It’s a shame Nick didn’t mention them… Understandable as he apparently only does free flight aerobatics, but still.
This is what we have right now to fill the World and it’s amazing!! Not sure if a DCS Dynamic Campaign will ever come close to the experience you get flying these works of art.
4 Likes
I haven’t really flown a lot of the scripted campaigns. Mostly from Heatblur and recently that one high-fidelity mission for the F-15E. While I appreciate the high level of effort that clearly went into creating them, for me the expierience they offer is just too tightly scripted. They almost feel like interactive movies or joy-rides. There is basically always a narration that tells you everything you are supposed to do (and not following instructions runs the risk of breaking the script/mission). Fly to waypoint X, turn to this heading, engage this target, refuel now etc. In one of the Heatblur missions I was on CAP and approaching one end of the race-track, wondering whether I would break the scripting if I turned around now or if I should wait for a scripted event. Promtly a few seconds later I was being told to turn around. A total imersion breaker for me.
I like to be the commander of my aircraft, taking my own tactical decisions. Executing a well planned mission is great, but I want to do more than pressing buttons when being told to.
7 Likes
Thinking about this further. Following minute instructions during the whole mission. Losing any own initiative. Fear that doing anything without being explicitly told to do it could break the mission. Thats basically like flying for the Russians
5 Likes
I know what you mean. If you’re ever going to try a scripted campaign, you should choose one of Groundpounder Sims.
This is the most flexible and robust campaign I have flown so far, with a lot of choices offered. Groundpounder put a lot of effort into setting up the scripting to be flexible under any circumstances, even AI malfunctioning.
You do not need to worry about fragile scripting here, and have plenty of meaningful choices to make.
6 Likes
For scripted campaigns, it depends much on the creativity, skill, and campaign goals of the designer. If there is a lot of variation in the missions and tasks, as in Reflected’s Paradise Lost, then I find myself in great anticipation of the next mission. On the other hand, if it’s climb in my Spitfire, sortie 45 mins or longer across England, the Channel, and France to fight for 10 mins, followed by a 45 min return leg, then rinse and repeat, as in Reflected’s Beware Beware, then I find myself losing interest. Finishing the campaign becomes more prideful than interesting. If the rinse/repeat missions affected the outcome of a war, as in a DC, then I’d probably stay more engaged. So variation of missions is a key element for scripted campaigns to be compelling, IMHO.
5 Likes