Dear friends,
A couple of weeks ago i was watching a Phantom video. It went on about how Jester would make comments about your flying, your landings… jokes…suggestions… The Tomcat has been doing this for years to some extent. The Phantom brought us Jester 2.0. 2.0 hints at what Ai can really do. He is asking the right questions and making the right comments. And btw, he does it in style… Looking at you, HEATBLUR.
So i suddenly had an epiphany… What if Jester’s main job was as a Pilot Instructor or PI?
Then i saw this. It made me wonder, Are we are there?
I think its safe to say trainers in DCS have not been extremely successful. They we boring when ccompared to fighters. This may be about to change. Yes, we have had training missions for years. The instructor talks and we follow along. While some of this may be incorpoarated into the PI, he will also correct and suggest. He may even scorn. ED doesn’t own the Jester Ai. Thats a Heatblur thing. So lets call him Chester. And the T-38 is being produced (for free) by a new team. It will be an official module. I wonder, has ED learned enough and has Ai become advanced enough to make an Ai PI?
I for one, would welcome this. After all, if you are going to sit in a trainer, might as well learn to fly. This could be educational, entretaining and even exciting. I envision Jester teaching basics like takeoff and landing, then moving on to navigation, communications and avionics. Could he be your BFM instructor?
As we all know, Ai has evolved heaps in the last 3 years. I sit and i wonder, is dedicated PI (pilot instructor)in our future?
I do like your thinking. A virtual flight instructor would be cool. And Chester grabbing control off you if you spook him would be appropriate!
But just last night I was backseating for a friend in the T-45 (which allows the instructor to take control with a buttonpress) to get him comfortable with what he needs to see to land the plane successfully- and this is how I’m planning to use the T-38 when it is released. I am super looking forward to this module… T-38 (with a friend instructing) to A-4E (with a friend flying alongside) to your first paid module is a good way into the game IMO!
This is something that Longbow 2 did that DCS has tried to approach in recent years with their training missions but still hasn’t quite reached.
LB2’s training with walkarounds, handing off control between instructor and player and back, and highlighting things on screens, was just perfectly done given that this was almost 30 years ago.
I had really hoped the VSN T45 would evolve a bit more. I found it to be a great trainer for learning the ropes on basic jet flight, as well as carrier take off and recovery.
I’m hoping the T38 will take training jets to the next level. I don’t mind the lack of weapons. a Good steady, free module, that is forgiving, and teaches good basic flight skills will be a real asset to people who might be struggling with the power on the hornet, viper, et al.
I found when I was getting back into the sims a few years ago, it was really nice to use the T-45 to just learn the basics again.
And the T-38 is being produced (for free) by a new team. It will be an official module. I wonder, has ED learned enough and has Ai become advanced enough to make an Ai PI?