Erik "EinsteinEP" Pierce reviews the latest version of the popular helo sim.

http://www.simhq.com/_air14/air_504a.html

Thanks for the nice review.

Just one question, do they (DCS) still intend to someday link the sims together (Black-Shark, A-10, future titles) ?

What's disappointing is the way one has to obtain this stuff.
Call me outdated but I'm still VERY VERY restrictive about where I post my Credit-Card information.
Of course, doing it that way will bring more cash for them, but is less convenient/secure for the one wishing to purchase their product..

very excited to read and see what the new edition offers.

as for credit card purchasing over sagepay. even if you did it, you'd like get an error anyway. that particular agency is notoriously inept. this is something of an issue if the response on the official forums are any indication, so hopefully they'll get the message and do a retail version.

Nice review but with all the time they spend on design you think they could implement a dynamic campaign.

Thanks for the review. A more detailed look into the improvements would have been nice, tho.

FokkerDVIII,

I wouldn't hold my breath for seeing a dynamic campaign in an ED product in the foreseeable future. The impression I have is that they view DC as a complete waste of dev resources. Still, you might like the new mission generator. It is not bad at all.

Good review and nice screen shots. Unfortunately, I kinda gave up on BS because I found the AIs ability to shoot you through trees meant I had to adjust my tactics to suit the game rather than the mission (especially in the flat areas with lots of trees but few hills). It's a shame really because I'd like to buy this upgrade, but I guess for me it would ultimately be unforfilling.

You just have to fight like the USMC and Army learned in Iraq...shoot while on the move!

Too hard to do in a single seater? Well, the Russians agree, hence they're not buying any more 50s and are instead getting 52s and Mi-28Ns.



The Jedi Master

Thanks for the feedback, Lurker! In this reviewer's opinion, the single biggest improvement was the graphics, and I tried to capture that in the screenshots I uploaded. I hit quickly on a few of the other differences I had noticed (Mission Generator, mission editor, etc.) and there are a number of other improvements that I didn't fully evaluate.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81117&highlight=black+shark+flight+model

Some things I plan on exploring in the future are the new helicopter AI and the updated radio comm logic, but all in all the remaining "differences" were introduced to the community in A-10C and I really wanted to hit on the new things for Black Shark 2.

Yes as in multiplayer compatible. A-10C patch within a week (apparently) will make A-10C compatible with Blackshark.
Then missions can be run with both aircraft.

IMO the review shouldn't have mentioned the pricing/upgrade/patch argument - it would have been better to have remained impartial by simply ignoring it.

Real nice review Einstein. Enjoyed reading it. But...I would respectfully disagree on your choice of "single biggest improvment." The graphics are indeed superb...you swear you are in the real world they are so beautiful. But I have been tinkering with the mission editor the last few days. The things one can do with the AI, both ground and air are simply amazing. One simple little thing I like, probably no big thing but do you know you can now set up an ai aircraft on the ramp and it will not start up and take off immediatley when mission starts? It will start only when certain triggers are executed by you. So many new and creative triggers have been added to the sim. The sky is the limit now in mission creation.

Great write-up EinsteinEP, it's looking great. Upgraded!

I don't agree. One of the main reasons people read reviews is to see if a purchase is justified. Not to mention the price point would have wrong IMO.

Yes, because reviewing the latest Camry and saying it's a great car without noting the price doubled over last year's model would leave many scratching their heads with a "WHAT???"

As ED never made one peep that this wouldn't be free but would cost before the moment of its release, it is natural to comment on it. Had this been something announced months ago, such as around the time of A-10C's release, it probably wouldn't have been as important, but the fact that it has separate upgrade and standalone pricing is relevant when so many games do NOT have an upgrade or previous customer discount.



The Jedi Master

I know it's a sore subject but I really hate being told that my position is bad like a child. Black Shark 2 is absolutely, absolutely, absolutely worth the small cost of the upgrade. Anyone who says all those features should have been included in the price of BS1 are crazy.

The problem is that BS2 utterly precludes any more patches to BS1. If you have BS1.02, how long will you have to wait for patch 1.03 that fixes so many game-breaking bugs? Yeah, never ever ever going to happen. For people that bought BS1 for $50 will never get their complete product. The fact that BS2 exists is a red herring. The lack of any more development on BS1 is what's wrong.

BS1 is fully playable as it was sold.

The DCS series even in Beta the A-10C was more functional than the fully released cliffs of dover and some other sims the same applies.

Frederf, you make a good point: BS2 does seem to ring a death-bell for BS1. Will ED support it with future patches? I would expect only for issues that are truly broken, but, just like Taipan points out, I don't know of any part of BS1 that could be considered truly broken, as in "OMG ED better patch this or ima demand my money back!"

What application, after any number of patches/fixes/updates, is ever really "complete" in the sense that there's nothing left to change?

Thanks for the review!

I disagree with that statement. I don't know of any sim that has ever been released that reaches "completion". Heck..13 years later and Falcon 4 still isn't finished..

Read more like the back of a box than a review. Could have used a lot more detail on the improvements like the AI. Examples, etc.