I'm sorry.... but like I've stated before, (not that my opinion matters to anyone but me, lol), I am not liking the direction DCS is taking...

They made Lock On and Flaming Cliffs... great games, then they made Blackshark, then A10C... both excellent sims... each of those games/sims are a dying breed for PC gamers, but we have plenty of battlefield games/simulations, why don't they stick with what there great at, and what is needed for PC gamers... true flight simulators.

I'd rather see DCS Apache, DCS F/A-18, DCS Harrier... etc etc

Do you really think this combined arms is going to work? Will the armor be as detailed and great as SB Pro PE? will the infantry support AI be true? Will recon vehicles work? will there be machine gun teams/defenses? TOWS? etc etc... and all modeled true and work well together?

Will tanks have a sim driver position? TC? Gunner... first person, 3D view? etc etc

My point... I don't see how combined arms could ever be as simulation as there individual planes/helicopters they have done... I think sim wise, were going to be very disappointed in this. Game wise, probably not... I see this more as a modern day RTS... like maybe that European Escalation game.

Don't take this post as a attack on DCS... I love there sims and have bought them all, and will continue... just don't think were going to get what we expect or hope with this new direction.

rebuttal? Opinions?

None of the guys that work on aircraft systems like 3D models, avonics, FM ,etc, worked on CA.

Further, CA is more than just jumping into a bunch of vehicles and gunning.

People are already seeing the opportunities for more dynamic play with this module, in MP and SP.

In fact it is the guys responsible for the Ground AI in DCS that are the driving force behind this. I don't think there is any intention to best SB Pro PE - not yet anyway.

BTW ever since Flanker 1 the ultimate goal of Eagle Dynamics was a Digital Battlefield - This is a (Large) step in realising that goal.

I understand your desire for DCS:-US Fixed Wing, I do. You must realise the time and effort required for such a project. Time and effort costs money. Money needs to raised somehow to fund major projects.

It would be so easy to drop sims and develop FPSs if money was the main goal, thankfully it isn't. But it is necessary to stay afloat.

Titles such as CA, FC3 and Mustang are what will eventually get you DCS:-US Fixed Wing. If they did not exist nor would DCS:-US Fixed Wing, nor likely ED for that matter.

As for your questions about CA - you'll have the opportunity to find out for yourself sometime this month.

Nate

good explanation Nate... I understand that point of view better now.

thx

Looks very promising.

I must say I am bit puzzled too, but trying to keep an open mind and optimistic view on that. In any case, I can only wish them to succeed.

I've never played their flight simulators, but I understood they were supposed to be pretty accurate. In the present state that we see here, the screenshots are not- they look like an amalgamation of Battlefield and flight simulation with a pilot's HUD overlay displayed in the vehicle optics, for instance, that HUD overlay over the external AAMG, the graphics displaying the hull and turret orientation prominently in the gunner's sights. The gun being physcially shown in the center of the sight picture looks like the Battlefield games- the sights for these tanks are not mounted directly above the gun with a 1x magnification like that, that's more of a gamey depiction such games do to give you an idea of the gun you're firing.

I think that rather than DCS CA taking away from yhe aircraft i think that it's more about laying a foundation for future projects.

Don't forget that there will be alot of work being done by third.parties to add vehicles etc just as the MIG-21. CA is the perfect foundation to allow a full battle space to happen with the minimum amount of resources being taken away from the guys making the aircraft.

Can't wait to see people adding all manner of vehicles to this.

and how much it will all cost... if add-ons are 10 to 20, how much for the battlefield experience... and what happens when you want to multiplay, all need every add-on?

just questions in my head about all this.

Good point about the cost of having all vehicles playable Magnum. I think that in respect of playing with people with those addons though, maybe there will there will be non-playable, external model only versions which will be able to be downloaded via dcs world so that everyone's on the same page so to speak? Or maybe I'm just being naive