I decided to turn off all the labels. Now the problem is, I have no clue where anything/anyone is. If I do manage to find something I don't know if it is friendly or enemy. Do you play with labels? If not, how do you know where to look and at what to shoot?
Warning: after writing the post and rereading it- it May sound like I'm speaking from atop my little mountain of m4d skillz.
Please noes- I'm pretty average.
It took me a long time to be proficient with the A10 and I've still quite a road to go. All I'm writing comes from simple experience.
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I think the issue here is more tied to the atavic need to see/know all.
Whether this is caused by the typical all-seeing-eye of past games or a more common of fear of the unknown- I can't tell.
I know I had the same issue, for a bit of both this causes.
My suggestion here is very very simple- take it easy.
Consider this, many pilots have little to no clue about most of the forces on the ground. It's quite unnecessary- really.
What you (and we all, I can add) DO need is a thorough briefing and a realistic mission.
All you need is to know what you have to do in the mission, therefore you must have a target with a location, the areas with active threats, and quite possibly the direction and distance to closest friendly forces.
Usually the mission target is close or under a specific waypoint.
Use that a starting point and use the best sensor you have for the task you need.
At night pick IR, during daylight... too.
I jest, I jest... beside the IR representation in DCS is pretty lacking...
Take the time you need to enrout to the target to do some housekeeping, check the sensors range and azimuth, sort out in your mind possible approaches, think forward to an egress versus- etc. etc.
I know these suggestions don't look like much, but give it a try and load the first Instant Action of the A10C (Summer Georgia? If memory serves me right). It gives you very simple and increasingly difficult tasks.
All with the aid of very well structured waypoints and voiceovers.
Do that over and over again, until you build your proficiency. Which must be twofold, if you allow me to write a little longer.
Don't forget that you're not simply learning to use a vehicle, but that same vehicle must be used to best other ones.
So you need to build your proficiency INSIDE the office (building muscle memory, learning to set and employ given pieces of electronics without thinking singles steps) AND flying the thing within useful flight envelopes!
Since I don't know anything about your skill level I'll be very basic.
My suggestion is to actually learn these two things separately.
Not necessarily mutually exclusively (you master the plane and only them master the electronics), you can easily alternate flight-mission with combat-missions...
But to do both at once can really prove frustrating.
To help me with this I made a couple missions where I simply take off with a full fuel load and the Sniper pod and simply try to fly at my best to a randomized enemy group at a semi-random position. Then I try to find the fokkers.
Start with ships of different size in the water and when you feel good, move to smaller ones on the ground.
Then I can fly back and practice circuits for landing.
Second mission includes some mix of un/guided weaponry and then landing.
This landing thing is very important. If you value immersion in flight sims, I find that bringing back your bird to home plate is a multi-sided interesting business.
Firstly it helps you realizing that cycling takes time and pushes you (well it does for me) to use wisely every minute you spend over the target.
Secondly, it makes you fly a bird with different dynamics in the same mission. You start with an heavier load (fuel and payload) and come back with little of both.
It's funny how funny procedures do quite change...
And lastly makes you actually practice with something you really need to. For every landing you make in good condition, makes you a little better for when you'll be (eventually) back with a wounded 'Hawg or maybe in caustic weather...
You may even want to try and learn the ILS system (:P Guilty here, never even powered once, sorry!)
Third part has shooting guys and eventually bad or low light weather.
I'll stop now- sorry for the lengthy post.
Cheers!
PS: Let me know if you want to read a bit more, if you need any more info or suggestion about missions, or even if you want to fly the Hawg together. I know some guys who would love to have a new Brother in Hawgs (The Professionals of course!).