F-14 Tomcat

Looks promising and way more feature complete than ED's F/A-18 Hornet! Release date 13 March.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet but thinking about it. Although I'm cautious it will get to release day next week and they'll say: "another 2 weeks!"...

https://www.reddit.com/r/hoggit/comments/ay4w0d/dcs_f14_early_access_feature_list/

ED must be the only company using access to betatesters as a release date.
Viggen is still in EA, more than 2 years later, and many features are still missing.
Trust their statements or not, readers decision.

The "I want it now" crowd keep E/A alive and prosperous. So it wont go away until it ceases bringing in money for ED and devs.

Im hopeful it will be a good sim. Heck even if it was like the FC3 F-15 I'd be happy. We don't have anything else for modern versions of some of these planes and doesn't look like the flight sim game library list is going to jump back to the good old days of a new sim coming out each year, so Im very excited for this. I have FC3, F-18, Huey, Sabre, A-10, P-51 and BF-109. I think they are all great, if some sort of campaign system comes out for each aircraft then I think (for me) DCS would be the best. I could not care less if some circuit breakers aren't in the bird, in all the other modules I own I have never had to touch them anyhow. I think people just like to complain now and have to be armchair historians/military savants and count rivets and be the one to find something wrong to prove something. If you are excited like me for the F-14, then get it and just enjoy it for what it is, a game I don't think they will miss the March 13th date, the "I want it now" crowd as Storm said would explode. Besides, from what I understand ED had it for a week to test and gave it the green light. My understanding is then that the 13th is the day, not an estimate.

If after downloading, and installing the module crashes my system, deletes all my files, and kicks my dog; then yes I'll be upset. But if its like what we have seen in some prerelease videos I will be extremely happy.

I can see you're excited LC, just make sure you're running the OpenBeta double install.
Not sure all the "throw money on screen" screamers over at ED does.

Do you beta testers actually have both installs on SSD?
Doable if DCS in the only sim one use I guess but no option for me having ArmA2 and 3 on SSD too.

I only have open beta installed. No need to run alpha or whatever when beta gets everything first and majority of servers are betas. But I could be wrong now with dedicated servers out.

So yes it's possible to have only beta, and I had arma 2 and 3 installed as well. Now only arma 3. I have 2 ssd One for is and one for games.

KIND OF WANT.

I'm interested but, I've waited over 30 years for something like this, I can wait a couple more for it to be finished. Same goes for the F-18 and F-16 ( I'm guessing 2021-2022)

That is optimistic saying 2 years.

Released today and it is absolutely awsome. Discovering the walkman while dogfighting made my evening. True Top Gun feeling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf7236n3V-Y DCS F-14 is very good.

Well so far, I gotta say I like it. Seems like a quality product from Heatblur.

I'll wait 12 months or so before I buy.
Learnt my mistake from buying the hawk as an alpha

I didn't realize that they were doing the Bombcat version of the jet. Makes it a much more attractive package.

Don't blame you but these guys do have a much better track record (of course, everyone has a much better track record than VEAO).

I was excited for the F-14 release, must say I am satisfied and then some with this module. Im not experiencing any real fps hits and this thing actually seems to make DCS look better. I will say though I wish there was an option for a new cockpit instead of a worn one. Can be hard to read some dials when they are worn look to them.

Even with mirrors on, which I have always had off for performance issue, I am not seeing any real hits to performance. I haven't tried multiplayer yet though. Whats everyone elses thoughts now that its out? Its not like flying a state of the art fighter. Its defiantly an analog bird, but its been the best module released in my opinion; and I have quite a few already.

LC, everyone seems to be having a time reading the cockpit text. Check this mod out, might help

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3303911/

Thanks Piper, will have to check that out. Hope they get the integrity check sorted out soon

I have a hard time playing it.

Game seems not smooth (OK fps but microstutter), crashes after some time in the mission, or loading next mission. mirage 2000 and F-18 don't have this problem.

I understand it's due to an overuse of VRAM, my GPU has 3Go.

There's also a crash when using kneemap and switching pages.

Once these are fixed, it will be most probably the best "classic fighter" module so far. Jester AI is really a fantastic implementation, model is gorgeous, both internally and externally, plane has great capacities and variety of models will cover its full lifespan if I understood it right, it's a mut have.

I understand fully those wanting to wait though, having frustration waiting for it to be playable at the moment.

They just released an update that I think fixes the kneeboard crash, otherwise:

Thanks for letting us know, I'll download asap

Well, I saw no improvements and now HUD seems porked (need to put my fpm at +5 to get a steady altimeter), plus carrier cat seems now broken. No need to frustrate myself right now , off to games that work for the moment

Weird, seems ok to me - cat works fine in SP haven't tried MP, RE the HUD I'm assuming you mean in Landing mode? I find it hard to get use to the old school HUD no altitude no airspeed... I think the FPM needs to go on the horizon, and the other symbol (equivalent to VV) needs to go on the 0 deg pitch ladder. Anyway I need to learn more about this HUD

I guess it's a 1st Gen HUD...!

Edit I think the right side scale is radar alt?

If I put the fpm on HUD horizon (at least in carrier landing training), aircraft descends fast. Since it's possible to trim the HUD horizon (bottom right button), I think it's just improperly trimmed, not very practical for a training mission.

The Hotfix really helped performance for me, load times are better previous to the Tomcat and no lock ups

I had to add 8 Gbs RAM to make this game playable as well, up to 16 Gbs

The pitch ladder on the HUD is not aligned with the actual horizon. Think of it as a regular ADI that just happens to be placed in the wind screen. The FPV however, shows your path in relation to the horizon...1st gen HUD like mdwa said.

I' m sorry but I can't use an ADI on which I must point 5° up to keep a level flight. If you have any written evidence that supports this affirmation I'd be glad to read it.

edit: using the HUD trim (rotary on VDI right side), one can set the HUD relative to earth horizon in order to have a usabe HUD.

Why it is 5° too low by default is still a mystery.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3844547&postcount=2
Explanation from user Victory 205 (former tomcat pilot, If you don't have already, read also all his pinned posts)

Thanks! I was looking through the NATOPS but couldn’t find any text saying what Victory 205 explained. It’s a very odd solution compared to what we are used to today, or even just a few years later in other aircraft.

Didn't find anything in natops, but the hud trim rotary description.

No procédure, no mention of the offset.

Thanks for reference jag.

Anyone knows if he was a Phantom pilot prior to flying the tomcat ?

What sort of procedure are you thinking of? The pitch ladder and the reference symbol works just like any ADI.

Well I don't think of any in particular, but usually when a button/rotary/switch exists in a cockpit, there is often (not always, but often) a procedure (standard/supplementary/abnormal) that calls for its use. For this rotary, I didn't find its mention anywhere but in system description.

I see. I guess we are free to trim it to our own liking then. This usefulness of this HUD is quite limited to target indication, which is strange since the A-7 Crusader had a HUD similiar to what became standard later on. I do find the quirkiness a bit interesting though.

The pitch ladder on the HUD is calibrated when you're on the ground. It will introduce an error the higher you climb. You can re-calibrate it when you're flying straight and level by using the adjustment knob provided. The FPM is something else entirely and that's where I feel the confusion sets in. Anytime your fpm is on the (actual-) horizon [NOT the HUD 0 degr. pitch ladder!), you're flying level. If you line it up with the 0 degr. pitch on the HUD it is anyone's guess where you're going to end up.

This is from an era when knowing pitch/power and using your steam gauges was all you had to fly your airplane properly. The HUD really is just there for aiming your weapons and VERY rudimentary flight path control. Use your Heads-Down instruments for that as well as your outside references.

I watched a few the grim reapers youtube vids on this aircraft.....I thought I was watching japanese anime cartoons in cockpit view.
personally, I'll wait another 12 months before I invest, and that Jester popup needs a complete overhaul as in remove it completely and bind it to just keyboard\joystick functions.
It looks like a copy and paste from the battlefield series with a cartoon version of a maverick ..gif in the middle.

They used the circle as it is to enable use by VR users, and of course TIR users. You can bind a lot of the consistent jester commands, but not anything that is filled dynamically.
Maybe they could add a 'jester' keybind that doesn't bring up the circle, then you have a choice for it to appear vs. not appear.

I don't know that GR are the best at presenting aircraft and their features. I believe Jabbers did a lot better.

DCS F-14 Hammerhead stall.