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View Full Version : Eagle Dynamics DCS: A-10C II TANK KILLER (VIDEO GAME INFORMATION)



Artos
09-29-20, 11:01
So freak'n cool...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuVNLaH2i5Q

Aries144
09-29-20, 14:29
So freak'n cool...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuVNLaH2i5Q

Try it with a VR headset and, barring a discovery that you're horribly motion sick, I guarantee you'll have a nice new hobby that will both educate you on the perspective of support aircraft and give you a mentally stimulating option for evenings in. It's relatively cheap as well, as far as adult hobbies go. After the start up cost of building a computer with peripherals to run it, all it costs is electricity and around $50 a month budgeted to stay current; that adds up to roughly $2000 spent every four years to stay current with tech progression and 2 new aircraft modules purchases a year, at roughly $40 per aircraft.

There are several former fighter pilots becoming involved as well.

If you have a son or daughter interested in military flight, I highly recommend looking into it.

FromMyColdDeadHand
09-29-20, 17:17
I like watching the Growling Sidewinder youtube channel. Seems pretty good on tactics and air craft. How different aircraft can turn and what kind of fight you get in are interesting. One loop versus two-loop fights.

What I found interesting is one where they had WWII fighters against modern fighters in guns only fights, bounded by a box. The modern fighters have more problems than you'd think. That said, the fights only seem interesting when you limit them to guns or boreshot sidewinders. BVR and helmet mounted all-axis shots are harder for me to get insight from- other than it seems see-first/shoot-first or die seems to be the way.

That and:
F22s even with out thrust vectoring are a beast
F35s suck as a basic properties fighter plane. They had better have some serious stealth/electronics-fu in the real world.
If we had to fight Mig29s with helmet mount guided Atoll missles in Europe, I don't know how well that air war would have gone before AMRAAMs and 9Xs..

Artos
09-29-20, 19:01
What's the learning curve for a novice...my son is somewhat of a gamer who told me about it & has dabbled in some simulation. Like stated, He says I would need a whole new set up if I jump in but not being a big gadget guy I'm reluctant. Probably don't need to be dumping $$$ into another hobby with deer season either. Tempting as I have a man crush on the warthog.

FromMyColdDeadHand
09-29-20, 19:54
What's the learning curve for a novice...my son is somewhat of a gamer who told me about it & has dabbled in some simulation. Like stated, He says I would need a whole new set up if I jump in but not being a big gadget guy I'm reluctant. Probably don't need to be dumping $$$ into another hobby with deer season either. Tempting as I have a man crush on the warthog.

From what I saw, the software can have every switch and function of the real cockpit- which seemed kind of daunting, but a draw for a lot of people. That was my question too, is there a yank and bank mode? What kind of stick (pedals?) throttle do you need?

Aries144
09-29-20, 20:46
The simulation is good enough to be a switch and button learning sim for real pilots. That said, there are shortcuts as simple as pressing to keys at the same time to execute a "macro" which will automatically flip all the switches to start the engines and get the planes combat ready.

I "fly" frequently with a former RAF tornado F3 pilot and he doesn't even bother to learn most of the start up sequences for the aircraft. He just uses the shortcut keys. Says he 'can't be bothered to learn all that.' :D

You can do as much with it as you like. It's playable with a combo joystick that has at least a throttle lever and allows the stick to twist in lieu of rudder pedals, but I found that the more modern aircraft, like the A-10C, require complex combinations of hitting different switches and buttons on the stick and throttle that, if you have replica flight controls with those actual switches, are easy. Trying to do them by remembering keyboard combinations like ctrl , and then right alt . then hold down left ctrl , for two seconds is much, much harder to remember and execute quickly, and frankly not as satisfying.

If you are a DIY guy and can solder, you can sometimes find deals on old or broken replica aircraft joysticks on ebay. If not, a Logitech Extreme 3d Pro is an ok throw-away joystick with throttle lever and twist stick-for-rudder that will last a year or two of regular use. Otherwise, if you want to jump fully in and get a full set of realistic controls bought ready-to-use, prepare to save up and spend about $600 for the controls alone and at least $1500 on the components for the computer (assuming you have to build a new one.

PM me here when you decide and I'd be happy to talk to you on the phone or discord and walk you through whatever course you decide on.

SteyrAUG
09-29-20, 21:33
Amazing the things they have now.

But I know to keep my distance or I will have a full up simulator in my home (or as close as that can be done) and I already have enough stuff to siphon off my money.

A-10 is one of those things I used to dream about flying, other than a F4 Corsair.

Firefly
09-29-20, 21:59
I just want a game where I can napalm people and the little dudes run away burning and screaming.

All I want. And I want a tiger stripe A-10 with anime girl nose art.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11/117127/3481619-4730127305-33313.jpg

sig1473
09-30-20, 00:32
I just want a game where I can napalm people and the little dudes run away burning and screaming.

All I want. And I want a tiger stripe A-10 with anime girl nose art.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11/117127/3481619-4730127305-33313.jpg

I loved the Rattler. I was poor so I always got the one-off GI Joe vehicles. For example I wanted the "Mauler" tank and instead I got the "Persuader". Wah Wah......
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iUYAAOSwVJJfA6EJ/s-l640.jpg

Aries144
09-30-20, 01:29
Amazing the things they have now.

But I know to keep my distance or I will have a full up simulator in my home (or as close as that can be done) and I already have enough stuff to siphon off my money.

A-10 is one of those things I used to dream about flying, other than a F4 Corsair.

Man, with a VR headset it really feels like you're in the cockpit. I'm not exaggerating. If you've ever gotten the chance to sit in a fighter cockpit at a museum or something, it's exactly like that except everything works and the resolution is a bit blurrier than real life (though that's getting better every year). There are finger controllers that you wear on your pointer fingers that let you point at switches in the virtual cockpit and flip virtual switches and turn virtual knobs. There's a seat pad that you throw onto your office chair with motors behind your back and on either side of your butt that gives you all the sensations like seams in the tarmac while you taxi, feeling the thump of afterburners lighting, feeling a thump on your right side when you let a bomb go off the right wing... It's not quite Ready Player One, but it's getting there and what's there is good enough for seated things, like flying or driving sims.

That dream I got of being a Tomcat pilot in 1989 when I saw TopGun for the first time? Yeah, they've got the F-14. The B and at the end of this month, the A with the temperamental Pratt and Whitney engines that would flameout if you looked at them wrong.

Of all the optimistic promises an 80's childhood left me expecting- flying cars and stuff- for me VR and flying in DCS is the one that arrived. And VR is cheaper than building your own cockpit replica. Just need the headset, controls, and a fairly high-end PC. $3000 tops. The hype is real.

OH58D
09-30-20, 09:04
I'm not a gamer - the only simulations I've done are in an actual simulator run by the Army and their contractor. Is this a PC based game or something for XBox or Playstation?

Firefly
09-30-20, 11:03
I'm not a gamer - the only simulations I've done are in an actual simulator run by the Army and their contractor. Is this a PC based game or something for XBox or Playstation?

It’s a PC game and in all fairness the graphics are way better than the simulators.

wilson1911
09-30-20, 12:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU8zHYsKAHE&ab_channel=Nobody

Aries144
09-30-20, 12:48
I'm not a gamer - the only simulations I've done are in an actual simulator run by the Army and their contractor. Is this a PC based game or something for XBox or Playstation?

PC only. It's like a home version of military training software. The A-10C module was originally made for the Air National Guard. Each aircraft takes several years to complete, as they model all systems.

It has helos as well. Right now they've got the UH-1, Mi-8, Ka-50, and 3 variants of the French Gazelle. They're supposed to be working on the Kiowa Warrior and either the A or D Apache as well.

There are quite a few former military pilots getting involved with it.

tower59
10-02-20, 16:06
"But I know to keep my distance or I will have a full up simulator in my home (or as close as that can be done) and I already have enough stuff to siphon off my money." -SteyrAUG

Um, I didn't keep my distance! My 13 year old son and I have been working on a full scale simulator of the F/A-18 Hornet. We're all but finished with the ejection seat. The fuselage section is 8' long, and will be about 6' feet tall when completed. We've been waiting to purchase a dedicated PC to run DCS once all the new graphic cards come out (3080/3090/?) and their bugs get worked out. We've been playing WarThunder (more of a game) and looking forward to flying DCS (a true simulator). The time together building in the workshop has been awesome. And we can't wait to land on a carrier!

FLY NAVY!

SteyrAUG
10-03-20, 00:17
"But I know to keep my distance or I will have a full up simulator in my home (or as close as that can be done) and I already have enough stuff to siphon off my money." -SteyrAUG

Um, I didn't keep my distance! My 13 year old son and I have been working on a full scale simulator of the F/A-18 Hornet. We're all but finished with the ejection seat. The fuselage section is 8' long, and will be about 6' feet tall when completed. We've been waiting to purchase a dedicated PC to run DCS once all the new graphic cards come out (3080/3090/?) and their bugs get worked out. We've been playing WarThunder (more of a game) and looking forward to flying DCS (a true simulator). The time together building in the workshop has been awesome. And we can't wait to land on a carrier!

FLY NAVY!

Most excellent.

kaiservontexas
10-03-20, 20:58
This guy built a simulated Boeing cockpit to play flight sims, and now works for Boeing.

His set up https://youtu.be/NZkzigqFHb0

bp7178
10-03-20, 22:52
There are guys that build 1:1 scale cockpits from the A10 and or F16 for this type of thing. Probably about a $15k investment.

I wish I had the money and time.

I use to play Free Falcon 4.0 and like many years ago. A full startup would take 30 min to get to takeoff. I found it interesting that you would have to use the mouse to get around the cockpit and manually click on the switches to get things going.

bp7178
10-03-20, 22:53
"But I know to keep my distance or I will have a full up simulator in my home (or as close as that can be done) and I already have enough stuff to siphon off my money." -SteyrAUG

Um, I didn't keep my distance! My 13 year old son and I have been working on a full scale simulator of the F/A-18 Hornet. We're all but finished with the ejection seat. The fuselage section is 8' long, and will be about 6' feet tall when completed. We've been waiting to purchase a dedicated PC to run DCS once all the new graphic cards come out (3080/3090/?) and their bugs get worked out. We've been playing WarThunder (more of a game) and looking forward to flying DCS (a true simulator). The time together building in the workshop has been awesome. And we can't wait to land on a carrier!

FLY NAVY!

Do NOT get a 3090. It is a glorified workstation card and not a gaming card. The 3080 is the current top of the heap. Do you know what your total resolution and refresh rate will be for the monitors you are running?

tower59
10-04-20, 08:42
Do NOT get a 3090. It is a glorified workstation card and not a gaming card. The 3080 is the current top of the heap. Do you know what your total resolution and refresh rate will be for the monitors you are running?

We will be getting a dedicated PC system probably early 2021 for the sole job of running DCS & Microsoft Flight Simulator. Plan is to get everything set up on a single monitor of some sort and then when the system is stable (and we learn how to us it!) get into VR. I hope by early 2021 all of the new graphic card and chip releases will have happened and good benchmarking will be resulted so that we can pick our components intelligently. Right now we are having a blast building the fuselage in the workshop- this thing is giant!

tower59
10-04-20, 16:13
My son & I made more progress this weekend on the base layer of the Hornet. Once this level is complete, we'll start on the upper level which includes the cockpit floor and the base of the ejection seat.It's 8' long and divided into quarters, secured to each other by carriage bolts (visible in orange in the attached pic). We'll have to disassemble this beast to get it into the house!

bp7178
10-04-20, 21:59
We will be getting a dedicated PC system probably early 2021 for the sole job of running DCS & Microsoft Flight Simulator. Plan is to get everything set up on a single monitor of some sort and then when the system is stable (and we learn how to us it!) get into VR. I hope by early 2021 all of the new graphic card and chip releases will have happened and good benchmarking will be resulted so that we can pick our components intelligently. Right now we are having a blast building the fuselage in the workshop- this thing is giant!

If you're building a cockpit why not go with projection? There are emerging technologies which track head movement and shift the viewable space accordingly.

tanktop
10-04-20, 22:17
best nickname for the A10 comes from Russia, Satans Cross. They were definitely worried about it.

Aries144
10-04-20, 22:20
For view of the environment, you can do all kinds of things. Projection is one, multiple large monitors are another, but I'd make a strong argument for VR, unless it gives you motion sickness.

For non VR head tracking, well established and proven commercial methods and products exist. The easiest for plug and play is called TrackIR. The cheapest is identical, if not superior in function, and involves a $40+/- DIY project with IR LEDs, a resistor, a USB cable for power, a frame to mount it all to a set of headphones or a hat, a PlayStation 3 Eye Cam, some $10 PS3-PC conversion software, and a free program called Open Track.