I’m finally going to pull the pin on getting Tacview, but I haven’t messed with it. I am currently away from my sim setup, so I can’t really try it out and see if the starter version is enough or if I need the standard. The only reason I’m not just trying it out myself is that the are running a 40% sale that ends tomorrow. So if standard is the way to go, I’d really like to take advantage of it.
I only fly offline, and it would primarily be for DCS, though the integration into Command interests me as well. So if anyone can recommend which version to get I’d appreciate it.
I’ve been using it since…crap!..10, 15 years now. How time flies. Get it!!!
It really enhances the enjoyment of neatly all the sims most people here play. It’s worth just to see the thousands of units, rounds, ricochets and near-misses you probably never knew were there. And it’s a great training tool.
Odd how some knowledge becomes so baked in that it never gets mentioned. And therefore it doesn’t get passed on. TacView is like TrackIr or a HOTAS. It’s almost essential to be able to enjoy the full experience of flying in and learning from a sim.
It works with most sims but the steps to review the flight are not always the same. For instance, in Falcon you must record the flight and have allotted enough disk space to get everything you wanted. In DCS you don’t really need to do anything. BUT I seem to recall that there might be a config line entry. It’s all quite easy but I struggled for half an hour until a proper RTFM put me on the straight and narrow.
TacView recordings can knock a percent or two from your FPS in game, however it’s well worth it. The ACMI replay files are accurate, detailed, and you can easily rewind and move the camera around to all angles. Really it’s only inferior if you want to see if you forgot to toggle a switch or hit the wrong button.
At the same time a Tacview ACMI file is about 10% the size of the DCS track for the same mission playthrough. Really!
While it comes across as a bit pricey, Tacview is way better for sharing AAR information when a MP flight goes wrong than hoping the track file is intact. I’ve not used it a ton so far but I’d still happily buy it again if I had the choice to reconsider my purchase.
It can (will, in my case) reduce your FPS a tad. I haven’t used it in many months though. Digging into the Export.lua file (again, months ago) I could see why. YMMV.
My SimShaker For Aviators takes about 3-4 frames away too, for same reason, but I can’t live without that one.
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