Nah, it seems like you'll only need the module you want to play on. What I don't know, is the way extra models are going to be handled. Like, if you don't have the Mig-21 module and you join a server that runs a mission where the Mig-21 is the opponent, will your client download a lower quality model of the a/c right when you join the server, when you get the mission or when you see one? This could make things a bit awkward.


Also, don't forget that the main attraction to the Combined Arms is the JTAC and the strategic layer. Think the ground unit control as a bonus. And with the addition of Iris as a 3rd party developer (who, btw, they're announcing 3 new aircrafts for DCS today) I wouldn't worry about the series future as a flight simulator.




Don't forget that even right now you don't have to own both the A-10C and the Ka-50 to be able to play with/against them in DCS. I can't see that changing right now.


EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fy30-qGoFg&feature=player_embedded

Cost is 29.99... Ok for me.

But this extract from the forum is priceles...


Posted by HiJack
I will definetly try to command ground units and do JTAC tasks.
Does the Combined Arms make it possible to just do ground wars between two humans on each side and no aircrafts or heli's?


Answer by Nate
Yep - and it makes for great Multiplayer too.
Nate


Can you imagine?
This is the next step in Dynamic Campaigns!

I for myself understand this DCS CA thing more than their P51...
ED is on its way to a Virtual Battlefield to enlarge possible income through
a wider customer/user/land-armor-range...
With the P51 you an/one old plane nothing else...only a test/propeller-plane, to show what is possible...

I'm looking forward to trying CA out. If it is simpler than DCS: A-10 and Black Shark, that ends up being a benefit to me because I play too many other games to commit to the massive learning curve that A-10 has.

Perfectly understand your concerns though Mag.

I would think all external 3d models will be included in the base "DCS World" engine and new models will be added via patches. The parts you DL and activate (like the 750MB one for A-10C for example) include the cockpit, missions/campaigns for that plane, the symbology in cockpit/HUD...all the things that you'd need ONLY if you're flying it yourself.
This is a bit different from ROF's way, where every plane is in everyone's install, you just pay to unlock it, but that's because otherwise everyone would have GB's of extra data in DCS World for flying all the planes even if they own just one. However, the bright side is someone with just the Ka-50 can fly with someone who has just the Su-25T with no fuss, just the issue of getting a mission that allows it (which honestly has become difficult in recent years as DCS mission makers all seem to be keeping their MP missions on their own--sometimes locked to their squad only--servers).

This is sort of the inverse of the Arma way. In Arma, infantry is modeled in detail, while vehicles on sea, ground, and air are modeled more simply and are there just to support the infantry side. Here, the flying is the focus and this will enable support on the ground side.
ADA too dense for those A-10s or 50's to get to you? Take out the SAMs yourself and then they can come in and help you stop the tank column you couldn't alone...


The Jedi Master

"Inverse ARMA" - I'm going to steal that if you don't mind JM

Nate

Or if they made them all playable, they will use more or less generic sights for all of them- getting accurate fire control representations of these vehicles can be very difficult if not impossible for some vehicles; the US military has actually been fairly cooperative and transparent as far as nations go, you tend to see more detailed depictions of US simulations than any other- not just because they are popular for the US market, other countries have been much more stingy with this information.

Even here, there are things that are puzzling- they have the depiction of the M1 Abrams gunner's auxiliary sight with stadiametric range finder (for manual operation), rather than the computer controlled gunner's primary sight- and it's glowing as if it's a projected image like an aircraft HUD, it shouldn't be glowing, those markings are actually etched into the glass. The semi-circle appearing in the upper portion of the Abrams gun sight looks like the T-72 analogue range finder, except instead of displaying range, it shows the turret bearing.

CA is not intended to be a high fidelity first person ground vehicle simulation. Although features and depth of modeling will undoubtedly expand as it continues to be developed, the primary goal at this point is to introduce entirely new gameplay elements to the DCS player and take a big step toward a real-time electronic battlefield, where players can work together and against each other in the sky and on the ground.

So long as realistic actions taken by the player in any situation leads to plausible outcomes, I for one will not worry if the vehicle simulation is not as high fidelity a simulation as I understand the simulated aircraft are.

My take is like this.

Consider the MiG-21bis. It's going to be as close as you can get to jumping into a real one. It's a third party aircraft, realistic-to-the-switch. Created by Beczl, a Hungarian who grew up loving the aircraft that protected his country, and obsessively detailed. Beczl also created a very detailed AI S-125 surface-to-air missile for FC2. It's a beauty.

Now consider another Hungarian, Hpasp, and his "SAM Simulator." Which models, among other things, the S-125 in exacting, and amazing, switch-for-switch detail.

Now imagine ED reaching out to Hpasp and proposing the S-75 and S-125 systems designed into DCS World. Switch-for-switch missile systems. Up against players in IRIS F-15s or ED's fixed-wing whatever, or Beczl's MiG-21.

Imagine some tank nut who grew up with the "Dolly Parton" T-72B creating a T-72 module with Steel Beasts-level precision for DCS World. Or some ex-U.S. tanker doing the M-1A1(HA) or Bradley the same way. This isn't impossible. If they can do the MiG, they can do the ground vehicles the same way. It is just a matter of time and it's got to start somewhere. DCS World got its start with the original Su-27 Flanker.