Pielstick Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 (edited) If you haven't heard about it already, the latest title in the Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) series has been released... DCS: A-10C Warthog This title has been developed by the Russian team Eagle Dynamics who have a distinguished pedigree - Su-27 Flanker, Flanker 2, Lock On, Lock On: Flaming Cliffs, Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2, DCS: Black Shark - some of the most impressive and accomplished flight sims of the last 15 years. The new A-10C simulator is a spin-off from a desktop simulator they were asked to develop for the US Air Force to train real A-10 pilots. It models the latest A-10C in excruciating detail. It uses the same simulation engine as the earlier DCS: Black Shark (Kamov Ka-50 sim) and same location, Georgia and the Caucuses. This is a seriously impressive flight sim that will require many hours of study and practice. This is what old-time flight simmers call a "hardcore study sim", and if you are a fan of this type of flight sim then you definitely shouldn't miss out on this. It won't be in the shops because they use digital distribution only so as to avoid having to answer to any publishers - all your money will go directly to the people developing the software and no middle men. It's also worth supporting Eagle Dynamics because they are the only developers still making flight sims like this. They plan to release more titles in the DCS series, and rumours already abound as to what the next title will be. If you are a fan of the old fashioned hardcore flight sims (think Falcon 4, the old Jane's Combat Simulations titles, etc) then you really should be considering this new sim. It deserves all the exposure it can get so they continue to develop the series and bring us even more types of aircraft in such amazing detail and fidelity. Nick Edited February 27, 2011 by Pielstick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Hi Nick, I picked up DCS A-10 on the pre-purchase open beta thingy in the summer last year, but I have had hardly any time at all with it. My PC does not boot reliably, and I couldn't be arsed fixing it as I play so few games now, and fixing IT problems is my day job! However, I have narrowed it down the to VGA card, a replacement for which is arriving on Thursday to coincide with the start of my long weekend. If the new card eliminates the fault, I'll be throwing myself in to the sim. Have you seen what one of the members at SimHQ is developing for the iPad? It's very, very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony7 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I fly the A10 in Flaming Cliffs 2 which is excellent, will this one be much herder to fly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 It's certainly very much more in depth than LOMAC. Whether that makes it harder I couldn't say as I've had very little time with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pielstick Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 I fly the A10 in Flaming Cliffs 2 which is excellent, will this one be much herder to fly? Depends what you mean by harder... This new sim models the A-10 to a much higher degree of fidelity than the Lock On sims. There's a lot more interaction with the aircraft and its systems now, and they've implemented a realistic FAC system, where you check in and get a 9-line brief from the ground controller. They've also done the A-10C which is quite a different beast from the A-10A in Lock On. With the C model they've turned the A-10 into a modern strike platform with both laser and GPS guided weapons. They've implemented all the new systems in the A-10C too like the embedded GPS, Tactical Awareness Display, Litening II targetting pod, etc. If you enjoyed the A-10A in Lock On and want more realism and fidelity (and of course are prepared to put the hours in reading manuals and learning how to operate the aircraft) then the new DCS A-10C is going to be worth getting. Have you seen what one of the members at SimHQ is developing for the iPad? It's very, very cool. Would you happen to be the same "goon" who has been on SimHQ for many years? I used to be a regular on there many years ago. Do you remember in 2002-2003-ish when the Current Events forum turned nasty with arguments about invading Iraq? A breakaway forum was created called "Last Refuge Of The Sane" - that was me I wasn't popular with some of the staff at SimHQ, one of whom seemed to take it rather personally. I stopped to visit the site after that, it turned into something I didn't like, but that's another story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrvr6 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I fly the A10 in Flaming Cliffs 2 which is excellent, will this one be much herder to fly? i fouind it very nice to fly in lomac but nerfed by a terrible weapons fit theres no counter sam fit cant get close enough with mavericks i want dcs a 10 but dont have any money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Sorry, I forgot about this thread. Yes, that's me. I don't specifically recall the incident, but the name of the forum rings a bell. I purposefully avoid politics sections on forums so it probably passed me by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pielstick Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 I must admit I don't visit SimHQ any more. It used to be a great site when the membership was quite small - it had a good atmosphere. The Skater affair (when one of the mods was found to be telling porkies about being a US Navy SEAL) left a bad taste in my mouth, especially how the then owner of the site was forced to give it up or lose his job. After Combatsim went subscriber-only and the huge exodus of members from there turned up at SimHQ the place changed a lot. It became very American-centric and the various jingoistic discussions post 9-11 and attitude of the moderators turned it into a place I didn't want to visit any more. That's when I started LROTS, it worked for a while but in the end I didn't have time to run the forum so handed over the keys to someone else, and a year or so after that I think it died. Way back I used to be friends with a guy from the UK who was a staff member at SimHQ - he told me some stories about the way the site was run, and in his opinion Skater wasn't the only staff member who was telling porkies to big himself up Still, the place has probably changed a lot now - I see nearly all the mods and staff are new names now I don't really recognise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 That must have been before I came over from CombatSim. SimHQ was my secondary site until CS went subscription. You're right, there was a huge influx of new members. As I said, I purposefully avoid the politics forum (which disappeared totally at one time). It's a surefire way to get really cross about something totally inconsequential. Doug Atkinson is in charge now, and he does a great job with the site. He's put a huge amount of effort in to the sim racing series over the last few years, and it's paid off with official sponsorship from Logitech for the Endurance championship. Shame I can't enter as I don't spend anywhere near as much time simming now, but I still visit the site daily for a mooch around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pielstick Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Ah last time I was a regular there Dan "Crash" Crenshaw was in charge, staff members were John "Spoons" Sponauer, Andy Bush, and of course the infamous Ed "Skater" Lynch etc. Long time ago now! I dare say back in 2003-2004 I wasn't very welcome there, but I'd imagine it's a totally new regime now, I'll have to pop in one day and see what's new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrvr6 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 i bought it can i buggery play it lol iv tried the start up tutorial twice and just cant remember it at all lol having said that i did manage to rip half a wing off pulling out of a dive and still land the thing safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipper Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Just stumbled across this one in a magazine and then checked it out. It looks awesome, does it take long to download as my connection at home isn't all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pielstick Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 The download weighs in at about 4GB or so. They've split it up across 3 or 4 files though, available on multiple mirrors in Europe and the US. There's also a torrent file so you can download it P2P, which is probable the best way if you have a ropey connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipper Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Just ordered a hard copy from Amazon for £29.99 with free postage, but also noticed that there is $20 off the price if you download it, only up until sunday 14/08 I think it is, works out to be a few pounds dearer from amazon but would prefer a hard copy though. Now, just got to save up the £275 for the thrustmaster warthog HOTAS that looks Awesome! Looking forward to getting this on the system when it arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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