Hey,

Recently made another thread regarding modding, however I figured I'd make a fresh thread as the topic is a bit different. As I've mentioned before to the active figures in here ( Ice ) I really want to get into the game - There's just something about it that makes me want to play it, learn it, love it. Now the past couple of days I've looked through tutorials, messed around with the game and had my simple fun but man ... Progress wise I'm going nowhere, fast.

Then I look through weapon videos before I barely know the bird, then I get caught up in data cartridges and my brain does a fart loop. Then I make my attempt at cold starting the plane based on videos, which usually leads to a lot of blinking lights and some slight buzzing. I then find some manual which might as well be written in hieroglyphics considering my knowledge.

Ice offered me to join them on their game nights, as a live training session is infinitely more helpful than going balls to the wall with dry manuals and videos. However I like to be somewhat prepared and that's where I'm at, I don't know where to focus my attention.

Tutorials are easy to find, however they vary in quality. I just need someone or be directed somewhere that'll tell me step by step what I can focus on, like getting data cartridges down, how to cold start the plane and explanations of the buttons, communication procedures or whatever is deemed the first step of the learning curve.

Someone out there must have done a laymans guide to newcomers - Unless I'm way out of my league and it's expected people just know this stuff :P

Unfortunately, I don't think what he wants is covered in either topics (might be wrong as it's been some time since I perused them).

The catch with BMS is that you must tackle it one step at a time. Falcon die-hard old-timers can probably skip a few steps or add a couple here-and-there to accommodate the new stuff in BMS, but for the new guys?

For instance, I could give you a copy of my DTC but unless you know how to work the DTC, you'll be ill-prepared each time you launch a mission. As for ramp starts, to be honest, it's fun to do and a great way to know where the switches are, but most flight tend to skip it 99% of the time. HOWEVER, knowing how to do a ramp start is like Chapter 1 in a book --- best not to skip it. And then there's things like the WDP that does absolutely nothing to mod Falcon but has the ability to spit out a sheet or two of mission data that will greatly help with your SA.



What, you mean to tell me you've not finished reading the BMS manual, the Dash-1 manual, and all those various checklists, how-to's and mod guides? HOW DARE YOU POST HERE WITHOUT DOING YOUR HOMEWORK!!

At least that's the usual reply I hear Unfortunately, no, I don't know of any video guides that you are looking for and sadly, Kraus' tutorial is the "best" they have for BMS... which is sad compared to what is available for DCS. I may make a few videos in time, but I'm still learning myself and I don't want to sound like an idiot in the tutorial. And yes, if you post on the BMS forums, you're expected to know this stuff.

Have you sorted out your HOTAS profile yet? It doesn't have to be 100% perfect but you will at least want the basic commands on your stick and throttle. For the stick, that's your trim, pickle, nws/step, TMS, DMS, CMS and shift/pinky button. Notice I didn't include the gun or dual-stage trigger --- you won't need it until dogfighting For the throttle, you want your ministick, push-to-talk, speedbrakes, and the two rotaries. Again notice no mention of the dogfight switch or missile uncage --- again not needed until you actually blow something up. Also note that air-to-air skills are very hard to acquire (real pilots say so!) as it is a very dynamic and fluid situation so I suggest starting the "fun" with A-G. Oh, and of course, the rudders and toe brakes.


So what do you need to start your learning?
1. HOTAS with appropriate profile --- as above, no need for it to be "perfect," but the ability to add functions and modify existing controls will make it easier to make the profile your own.
2. Printout of your HOTAS setup --- a quick graphic showing you which hat is the TMS and which is the DMS (and where the rest is mapped) will save you loads of time and headache.
3. Printout of your .key layout --- download PSKeys and open your .key file there. It'll spit out a keyboard graphic of your key mapping.
4. Printout of Red Dog's checklists --- you'll find them in your \Docs folder in your BMS install but I prefer going to Red Dog's website and download the latest ones. You'll want the Main and Avionics checklist to start with. And grab a copy of the Dash-1 manual as well, but that's for later.
5. Ready-to-Fly BMS --- make sure ports are open, TrackIR is working, etc.

With that, you are ready to take small nibbles into BMS

Hope that helps!

Takeoff mission is your best friend. Start on the ramp, then alt-tab to manuals or youtube startup vids. Map the nosewheel steering button. After that, just tackle each problem as it comes along.

I remember first time i had the plane started up, but i didn't know how to change comms on the ICP, so i just exited, read that part of the manual (you could also ask that on any forum), then re-do the whole procedure again.

Or if your MFDs are blank, search around the forums how to solve that problem. Or when you set off, the plane won't turn, so you search for how to enable nose wheel steering. Those are the most common problems, but cannot be tackled all at once.

So basically you tackle each small problem as it comes along, then repeat everything again, until you can start up in 5 minutes, contact ATC, taxi to the runway and take off. IMO it's better this way than "you need to know this and this and this and this before start".

Then proceed following the waypoints and staying on time. Then you can add some bombs on the plane and dropping them. You don't need to go in separate AG mission, because the avionics will be differently setup and that can confuse you.

For these missions, i read falcon AF manual many times, where the procedure is much better explained.

Appreciate the replies.

I know asking for a training guide was a bit like getting a crash course in building a moon rocket, probably takes a bit more than that. The problem isn't that I don't want to read manuals, lists and guides - The problem is that I need a 'reason' to do it, so to speak. Learning a study sim is a serious time investment but you also need to get your feet wet and get some easy access help to get said feet wet. Hence why I'd love a roadmap where to begin, where to go, what to read and which videos to watch but by the sound of it, it's all a bit more muddled and you basically just buckle up and almost follow the in-game training missions, study those before and after.

So it's just going chapter by chapter, start the plane - Get that down, data cartridge, communications with tower, take-off procedures ( break, full burn, let go etc. ) communications with tower then move into the planes many features and just keep going.

Now the lovely Ice sent me a text last night, offering to take me up on a familiarization flight and I agreed. So I wanted to get ready by printing out as much material as I could before my rubbish home-printer ran dry, so I managed the entire keyboard layout on the joystick layout.

Decided to test out my profile one last time and ... god dammit, now my stick is all kinds of messed up. Okay most things seem to be working, then there's a POV hat not doing what it's supposed to and next thing; entire stick goes unresponsive. Did it 3 times where it completely dies. I can re-plug it but that'll wipe the profile. Tried various USB ports to no avail ( On PC and hubs ), still does it. Basically means I can't play.

The info display also just cut out a few times, not being able to switch modes etc. and since day 1 the LED display has been displaying some weird, weird stuff. Here's how it looks with the BMS profile loaded;



Always done that, completely jumbled language, missing letters, half-spanish crap. So I suspect my stick took a dump.

Until I get that fixed / get a new stick ( NON-Saitek!) I probably need to stick with the manuals. Also means my training night with Ice is on standby was looking forward to it actually.

As for learning, come up with Ice, CTR, me and Crash on a Tuesday/Thursday night (mostly).

We transitioned from DCS:A-10 to BMS and are still learning.

My advice (and I’ve done the whole "WTF manual do I need?" would be to use the Falcon AF / Falcon 4 manual's training mission chapters as they tie pretty much into BMS training missions as they are mostly historic.

Once you get as far as weapons then the old manuals are not much use as BMS combat avionics are way more advanced. At that point (or during), read the BMS manual. The Dash-1 is for after, when you are practicing ramp starts, etc.

Good thread! I am in a similar boat to the Sethos, so the advice provided in here is most welcome. One thing I can add is that I found a good set of Youtube videos that explain the cold start procedure and recommend them.

This one is quite thorough:


This one is a quick start walkthrough that seems to closely follow the procedure describe in the Falcon AF manual (Takeoff tutorial):


I've focused mostly on the 1st source (it is a 3 part series). If you have an Android phone or tablet, there is a BMS app called BMS Electronic Flightbag (can be found in the Play Store), which is a handy reference for both checklists and navigation information. I am currently working through doing a cold start using the full checklists in this app, which is very similar to what the first Youtube videos above goes through. When I can't find a switch or don't understand something, I am trying to do a search inside PDF copies of the manuals to learn more about them.

Just having a quick look at Red Dog's checklists, I can see doing the same thing just using his lists.

the original falcon 4 lecacy manual (in your docs folder), has the triaing missions used in game. many were updated and more added for AF, and BMS added more i believe. The core 1-15 or whatever are falcon 4.0 era.

do them with the manual is my advice. i wouldnt worry about DTC / cold starts, till you can takeoff/land/navigate.

crawl-->walk-->run

sorry if you are beyond that level. i may have misunderstood your post.

we've been flying for a while with bms but still regularly get caught out. "my TGP wont track", "by bombs wont come off", "WHY WONT THAT STUPID TANKER FLY IN A STRAIGHT LINE!! LET ME SHOOT IT", etc, etc.

it's a learning adventure

Wizard's tutorial is top-notch but TBH is way too much than what you need. Sure, the real guys check it that way but in the sim, your cold-start jet is setup the same way every time plus some "faults" and "BITs" are not really modeled (ie, you'll never get faults with them) so while it's "cool to do it," it's really just a waste of time. A quick-and-dirty rampstart such as the one in Gerry's video (second video there) is a good way to do it.

The problem like I said with using the legacy manuals with BMS is that when you do go to the actual training mission TEs, "what you see" in the game isn't what the manual tells you should be seeing, so that can cause a lot of confusion. However, the "theory" that is presented in the legacy manuals, ie energy management, takeoff, navigation, and landing techniques, how the radar works, etc. are all good lessons that will help you understand HOW THINGS WORK in the sim and are still relevant to BMS.

As for our trouble with the tanker, Coolts, I think that has more to do with the tanker waypoint setup and things like that rather than us being wrong about something.

Actually, I appreciate hearing that the faults and tests are really not necessary in BMS. I had wondered to what extent things were modeled and if random issues were possible, necessitating the need to do the tests. I am happy to go forward with the assumption that the plane is configured with all switches in their correct safe positions on cold start. Then it is just the quick start procedure that is needed. Appreciate the insight!

I think there was a random failure option somewhere in the .cfg file, but I got it disabled. Much as I like realism in my games, I don't like doing all the pre-flight prep only to have to abort as my jet suffers from some mechanical problems. So I'm not sure if you enable the random failure option if the BITs find anything. Maybe they don't and the random failure just kicks in once your in the air.

After my stick took a dump, Ice made some compelling arguments for me to get the Thrustmaster Warthog, arguments like "Get a Thrustmaster Warthog" and "it is quite a good setup" But the Danish prices were just outrageous.

However I found one for almost half the price, so it seems every other place just tried to extort their customers. So I ordered one. It's however not in stock so might not arrive for a week or two.

So don't tell me I'm not a little bit dedicated :P

AFAIK 99% of the random failures are no showstoppers. If you have emergency procedure manual with you you dont have to abort the mission.
But this feature is also disabled on my side...for now.

After a hard week at work i look forward to "flight nights", and to FINALLY get to angels 20 and then some random sodding failure take out my targeting ability IS a showstopper. I'd rather just spend the night reinstalling windows to be honest.

I have enough "random system failures" with forgetting to initialise trackIR, launch my TARGET profile, make sure my pedals are working, make sure my curtains are closed for trackIR, make sure I’ve taken one of my light bulbs out so as not to confuse the sensor, make sure all my MFD lights are on and they are working, make sure Teamspeak is working, test IVC.....

.....and then i MAY be able to fly.....;) For the game to then say "HAHA" and ruin my flight is not an option

<sethos> you won’t regret it. Heavy metal, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So, Ice or whoever owns the Warthog - Any suggestions for profiles / other tips before it arrives?

Morphine's profile is what we seem to be all using, with a bit of tweaks and such. I'm not using the WH switches on the throttle as I can never remember which is where, but I got it all on my Helios setup so that's not a problem. I've always been itching to make a template I can put over my WH throttle switches to remind me the functions but just couldn't find time.

Congrats on your WH purchase, Sethos. Do be careful though, I know a few "questionable sites" here in the UK selling the WH so I was careful to buy from an established retailer even if it was about £30 more than the "cheapest available option." Just a bit curious about that "cheap price but not in stock."

Thanks, I'll check it out!

As for the retailer, it's a very trusted one here in Denmark - Even won a few 'Store of the year' awards but it's a pretty expensive stick to have sitting around with so few buyers, so not many stores keep them in stock. However I found one that charges a bit more but had them in stock, so I cancelled my order and placed it there instead. They just sent it today from their warehouse in Norway and should be here Friday. Can't wait

Haha! Congrats on finding one in stock! I wonder if you have any Cougar MFDs as well?

Morphine's profile is easy to use and easy to install, just make sure you setup your in-game controls axis as well. Hope to see you in the air soon!

Sorry to verify the "bad" news: there aint no FBMS one-stop guide.

You really need to know Falcon Allied Force first.

Then you might read the FalconAF to FBMS Conversion Guide I wrote last year (1700 downloads to date).

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?6gz00qdlad7hgcf

Get the basics down first and forget cold starts for now.

Taxi/take off, traffic pattern, ATC and landing - stage 1

Navigation, waypoints, HSI, Tacan - stage 2

comms - radio, awacs stage 3

Weapons and avionics.......this bit is open ended and takes a long time but the fun is in the learning.
Once you are here you are ready to go online and buddy up with a more experienced flyer. (Or one of us clowns as long as you've got a sense of humour)


A few weeks ago we found out that one of our group had never got the datalink working in his jet. (We all assumed he had) We’ve all read and re-read the relevant manual bit many times, read posts, seen YouTube clips, etc. Time consuming.

Online, it was a case of, “your datalinks not working? Nay problem. Press this, then that. Working now? Sorted!” 2 minutes and now he can use his datalink.

There sure are guys who have mastered all weapons but they mostly carry lightsabers and frequent bars nearby hives of scum and villainy.

The rest of us? We bumble along, have fun, ignore ATC and hopefully cause North Korean insurance premiums to rise