I keep trying to think of some really memorable moments, but far too many stand out over this past year. Playing around on Hollo Pointe with @Wes, @WreckingCrew, @Dark_Star, @Andrew116, @AndyE, and so many other guys has been quite a hoot and probably the most fun I’ve ever had simming since my IL2 and LB2 days.
I did my first real mission with scripting for DCS, Offensive Posture, which has been running on Wes’ Hollo Pointe North server, and it has been quite the experience. While I’ve been adjusted to the FP/ArmA series SQF language (which I still consider a lot more flexible), learning some LUA has helped to enable a lot of concepts that aren’t possible with just triggers alone. It’s not quite to Wrecking Crew’s level, but overall I’ve been pleased with how it managed to mimic the environment of Allied Force, which it was loosely modeled on (this past year was the 20th anniversary of the operation). It’s steadily grown as more modules have been added and my understanding of LUA has increased, though naturally some compromises had to be made. It opened the door for the much more complex Divine Falcon which is a Hormuz Strait/Persian Gulf mission built to leverage knowledge gained over the past year.
The 2019 screenshot thread has more memorable moments on record, like when we first got the F-14B on Erl Sis, with me hopping into a MiG-29 to test against Wes in a F-14 and some F-16s came in to attack me, but ended up shooting Wes down instead!
I’d have to say that the Heatblur F-14 has been pretty much the best module/addon of the year, with incredible detail and depth of simulation; one could get that module alone for DCS and never get tired of it. As I’ve said many times, I was never a Tomcat fanboy, being partial to the old Intruder instead, but I’ve spent so much time enjoying the Tomcat over the past year that it’s grown on me. Playing it in Wrecking Crew’s Red Sky mission is one heck of an experience and one that will push you to the limits!
I also started getting into IL2 Box/Great Battles, getting Stalingrad, Kuban, and Moscow earlier this year, and Flying Circus plus Bodenplatte this fall. I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like with it, but what little time I have, I’ve been impressed. It’s finally starting to grow to the point that old IL2’46 had reached and the future looks brighter still. I’m glad that 777 Studios has been keeping it alive, especially Flying Circus which has been a lot better than I anticipated!
Hardware-wise, I upgraded from a 980GTX to a 2070RTX this past spring, which was quite a leap ahead, though I’ve yet to see good prices on the 2070s since then. I bought a few things throughout the year for an inevitable system upgrade which coincided with late summer, getting myself onto Windows 10 before the EOL came for Windows 7; it was mostly a painless move, though I was reluctant at first to commit. I thought about upgrading my stick several times throughout the year, but couldn’t justify throwing the money at some of the fancier sticks from VKB and Virpil, so my CH setup will soldier on quite a bit longer. I’m half tempted to try and build my own stick that better conforms to my needs, but that’s one hell of a can of worms to open!
For 2020, I’m looking forward to seeing Heatblur add the F-14A and A-6 AI, along with the Forrestal carrier to DCS. I’m planning to spend more time with IL2 Great Battles and get some more entertainment out of it, though I’ve yet to find a group to do MP with which is the main draw for me. Since I’ve already got a pretty solid array of modules for DCS as well as most of the BoX content, now it’s all about using it. I’ve got two things on my mind: an AAR series for the Heatblur Viggen campaign which was recently added and an AAR series for IL2 BoX as a Shturmovik pilot. Hoping I’ll have the time to make these happen!
Thanks for a great year, Mudspike!