Carlos_Tex

Hmmm, you bring an intereting point. The A models had tons of production blocks with different systems. I think that i would prefer maybe an 82 model Tomcat, if i'm no mistaken it was around that time they started delivering or installing TCS on the Tomcats (maybe Caeser can help me here). Either way it doesn't matter Early A or later A Tomcat if Leatherneck delivers a Tomcat module with the same level of quality they did with the MiG-21 i'm in. I think a MiG-23MLD would probably be the best one to give the Tomcat a good fight, any previous model would be a better match against a later model F-4 which i'm hoping that we'll have in the future as well. As a matter of fact if i could choose i would go for a Navy F-4B or an Air Force D model with those pesky Falcon missiles.

As it is right now they have hinted so hard at a Tomcat that people are only waiting for the official announcement. Hints like: Top Gun, Jester, Goose, a pic showing a part ofan AWG-9 antenna, cats and ducks, or even more recently "You've lost that loving feeling" and even the Black Lions VF-213 squadron logo is part of Cobra's avatar... This is just too obvious. Not to mention that in the future banner the plane looks like an F-14 landing shot. When i last posted here i mentioned i would be jumpng in if a proper Tomcat was made. I never actually believed it would be done because of the multi-crew aspect and the Tomcat being a behemoth of complexity to model but Leatherneck works close to the metal and they released an amazing MiG-21. If someone told me there would be a Tomcat on DCS i would think that maybe only ED would do it. But amazing as the MiG-21 is, i have nothing but huge faith in their ability to deliver! So a Tomcat, if we discount all the multi-crew development issue for now the question is....which model? I don't know why but i feel a itch for the A model. I think it just suits better the MiG-21 timeframe, the natural MiG-21 would the the F-4E or the F-8, or even the F-5 at a lesser extent. The idea of flying a F-14A with those fussy engines and mastering the flight model and the AWG-9 is just too intense. The B would be great too, to be able to use all the aerodynamical features of the airframe without fear of choking and stalling the engines. The D model did so well in the the last Tomcat days for the Navy that people today still hypotesize the what if scenario of what could a properly updated Tomcat do against the Super Hornet, this at least if the decent thing was done back in the day and actually test one against the other and then let the Navy decide. But for DCS i don't know, the most modern planes are only FC level of detail so at the moment i would prefer a way older Tom. The greatest news is that they have 2 more planes in advanced development stages. If the Tomcat is indeed coming in i would love to see 2 more fighters that would fit the 1970's timeframe. Another Soviet plane like the MiG-23 and a european fighter like the Mirage III would be great. I like Centurion's sugestion of a Draken, it was an amazing plane, albeit its weak missiles (which for the fun factor can be great!). If Leatherneck keeps developing within a time frame that suits their prodicts nicely i believe they'll become by far the most successful third party DCS developer by far.

I could help with C++ programming, although i never checked documentation regarding planes for DCS so i have no idea how much of an advanced work it is. EDIT: Anyone in the community that can do LUA scripting?

Yes you are correct. Sincerely, i'd rather have a F-14 made by ED themselves instead of IRIS which seems to be vaporware. They announced 3 projects like 3 years ago and none is out. Don't really care about them anymore. What makes me lose hope is that other serious developers might not consider the Tomcat because supposedly IRIS is making one. At least partial good news is that because they're making F-18C, they have to improve the Nimitz and carrier ops, so that might open a better window for the F-14 too. The F-18C is in the timeframe of the F-14B so maybe. I just wish they wouldn't lose so much time on helicopters and at least focus on a specific timeframe instead of being all over the place. I'll crack myself up if they announce a Sopwith Camel...

Myself i lost all hopes of seeing a F-14 on DCS, it's a 2 seater so i guess that makes things a little more complicated. So if at least a F-4 or even a F-8 Crusader are released, i'll probably be jumping in.

Shooting down a F-15C with a MiG-21bis is a major accomplishment even against AI. It's good to keep down in the weeds, but you'll burn precious fuel. Although the MiG-21 is a rocket with wings and can climb quite fast, so can the F-15 and you still have to get your missiles behind him. As far as i know the best you'll have in the Bis is the R-60. You'll have to dodge at least a Sidewinder before getting into the merge. And against human skill that's another story. With that being said i think the MiG-21Bis will be a fantastic addition. I just wish a F-4 was also in the works. Since the F-14 is not gonna happen anymore, i'll be jumping in if the plane additions are more consistent and not all over the place. I have some hope in Belsimtek developer. Although they are focusing a little more on helicopters, they have been delivering consistenly. I just wonder what they are gonna do after the Cobra. Leatherneck is a big hope too. The MiG-21 is absolutely fantastic and i also wonder if they have plans for a follow up plane. In the meantime here's a video for the Bis:

Interesting idea for a campaign, but even in a what if scenario something like this would be very problematic since your background story has small inconsistencies. It is true that the conservative government of Spain was afraid of a communist Portugal, mostly because a communist Portugal could a haven for a ressurgengy of Spanish communists. But even so there were a few issues: - NATO was the only one who could intervene in Portugal with military forces; - Communist Portugal would not have great support of Soviet Union, for several reasons; - Portuguese people would be very hostile against a Spanish invasion, but not against NATO presence; - Spain was not part of NATO and Spanish forces on Portuguese soil would mean a total violation of NATO's directives; - Majority of Portuguese population and several army factions would resist against communism (as they did); In my opinion even for a what if scenario it doesn't seem very plausible. Maybe a Portuguese Civil War would be, but because of what i mentioned above Spain's participation wouldn't be more of protecting their borders and allow for NATO to use their military bases. Just my two cents, but anyway, good luck for your project!!

... that Mobile Strike Fighters Israel is not available on Apple store anymore? I really don't care about mobile versions, but i was wondering if TK is having trouble with the people at Apple. Strike fighters Attack is now available for the other devices, Android and Kindle, so these last weeks i've been thinking that TK is working it for IOS too. Or is Apple boycotting Israel? Or maybe this means nothing at all and it's just a temporary problem. But i noticed and felt quite weird. Wondered what you guys might think.

Naahhh mate, my personal wish is only for a F-14A_82 with a working TCS by Third Wire. And that could be used for TISEO F-4's as well. I was talking about a more diversified experience while we play the game. Plus, when you mention the new planes we get, think about the Su-9. Does it fit in any of the PC scenarios we currently can play? It was only tasked with Anti Air defense in Soviet Union nothing more. Unless Third Wire releases SF2: Mother Russia, you wouldn't see it in the PC version. My point is that since SF: Mobile is pretty much Air to Air, we can potentially see new aircraft that is added to these mobile versions be reused in PC version as AI only. Also, part of my point, is that it is unlikely that we see aircraft that had primarily a Air to Ground role being added even as AI Only to the PC series unless it comes from a dedicated PC game or Expansion Pack. That's why i mentioned it was more likely to see Flagons (same role as the Fishpot), Foxbats (it's already in the mobile version), Fulcrums (same as Foxbats) and Flankers (though kinda in the limit of the series timeline) than Su-17 Fitters or Frogfoots. No doubt it's cool we are getting new models. I actually thought there was gonna be a MiG-19PM, since the Alkali missile was introduced. I didn't read the Pack description properly only later to find it was an Egyptian modified Farmer. So the mobile series is afterall bringing some benefit to the PC version. I'm like Grim Viper, enjoying more these AI plane packs than the repainted flyable ones. I guess it's because i feel they actually bring something new to the game. And i'll repeat what i've been saying in the TW boards for a long time. I would easily give 50$ for a new flyable than a bunch of repainted ones for an average of 3$. 25 flyable DLC's times 3$ is something like 75$ total. Except the problem is that no one wants to spend 50$ at once, but won't mind spending more than that in 6 months. And more and more eventually. But all in all, TK is executing well in DLC department. Can't wait till next monday!!! EDIT: BTW Tie fighters are waaayyy overrated. Ever wondered why they are called TIE fighters?:

Absolutely!!! Makes for a more diversified experience. Thing is, it seems that he is using assets from the mobile games. As these mobile games only support Air to Air for now, we will only get fighters, fighter bombers seem more unlikely. So maybe Flagons, Foxbats, Fulcrum's and Flankers are much more of a possibility than Su-17 Fitters or Frogfoots. Still it is nice to see the Soviet planeset increase.

Don't say that, you're scaring me!!

Things i don't like in the AI: - They have no clue about what they are flying and who they are flying against. They just turn. So they do pretty well in MiG-17, Hunters, etc... They suck flying F-4's and MiG-21's. Tomcats too. - No sense of self preservation. They are cyborgs that only want to complete their mission. If you find an AI that is going back to base, you can try and shoot him, put your aircraft right in front of him and nothing happens... It's like you are not there... Of course these are all common AI problems, because yeah they're AI. And let's face it, it is by far one of the most difficult things to program. At least, it would be nice that AI had routines, for instance if player is flying a Hunter and AI is flying a MiG-21 the AI won't keep trying to out turn you, instead will use speed and go vertical. I guess AI programming is the job TK considers the most costly.

What do you guys think about quality of models and textures of these new AI planes? Are they close to the flyable planes standard?

TK could at least bring the red jets like the MiG-25 and the MiG-29 as AI to the PC version.

The Phoenix did show some quality problems with AIM-54C rounds, cracks on Rocket motors, but this was a production problem and stuff like this can happen. That does not mean the Phoenix was a poor weapon system. It just did not have the opportunities in USN service. The Iranian experience tells us that it was indeed a valuable weapon system capable of defeating the most dangerous air threats.

@morteeza I seriuosly doubt that IIAF supplied Phoenixes were as good in terms of ECCM in comparison with USN rounds. And like migbuster says that doesn't mean Iranian Phoenixes were duds, as most research proved otherwise that the Phoenix did well in the war. There were two incidents in OSW in 1999. One where F-15's and F-14's engaged the same group of IrAf MiG-25's. From what i could understand reading from the DoD report, F-15's engaged with Sparrows and the MiG's turned around. When the Tomcat crew fired its Phoenixes at long range, the MiG's were already flying back. Missiles have fuel too, and fuel runs out. Had the Tomcats fired the Phonixes in a similar situation the Eagles fired their Sparrows the outcome of this engagement could have certainly been different. A MiG-25 flying at high speed, and even at high altitude should not ignore a Phoenix shot event at its Rmax range. The shot doesn't even need a High Speed/High Altitude to maxime further its range, because the closure rate will be incredibly high. Either the MiG-25 spoofs the missile with ECM or it turns back ASAP. According to Tom Coopers research MiG-25's that stayed went down by F-14/Phoenix and the ones that turned back... most survived, one was killed by an opportunistic F-5 crew while the Foxbat was returning to Iraq and one was seriously damaged by a Phoenix when the missile detonated behind the Foxbat who was returning to base at a mere 2.8 Mach. Something similar happened in another occasion in OSW. A pair of MiG-23's also turned back at full speed when a single AIM-54C was fired and the missile eventually ran out of juice before it could reach its target. It was a long rang Link-16 JTIDS shot. LTCDR Ron Candiloro, a Hornet pilot, was flying on the wing of a VF-2 F-14D flight witnessed this event. Because his Hornet lacked JTIDS he had no idea why the Tomcat crew suddenly turned north and accelerated. At that moment he wasn't on the same radio frequency as the Tomcats were, so he was surprised to see the white trail of the missile lofting and guiding to its target as he never heard a Fox 3!

It my bad, i have a custom install so... Anyway i just created another Phoenix for the Iranians. AFAIK, Hughes downgraded the ECCM as the Navy felt uneasy about Phoenix exports.

Come on Soulfreak, you live in Germany how much for a beer or a pack of cigarrettes in there? Yeah we need MiG's.

Specific station code is fine. There's no mismatch. EDIT: I checked Phoenix so it could be exported and now it works. Anyway, Iranian Phoenix had its ECCM downgraded so there should be a new entry and not just make the USN Phoenix to be exported.

I got it. And no Phoenix whatsoever. Can anyone check their weapons.ini to see if the Phoenix has a check on Export? Becuase i went to see and mine didn't.

A word of sympathy from Portugal sophocles. We also have our enough share of problems right now. Hope that not only you can save your business you can also prosper in the near future! Amazing work!!!

I can agree with you to a certain extent up to the point where Russian Bias is being blatenly noticeable to the point of being just ridiculously exaggerated. I respect that they love their motherland but itis just too much. LOMAC was the perfect example. Someone mentioned AI naval combat in that game, and back in the day when i bought the game and noticed something was very wrong i did some tests like that. Went as far as a whole fleet of American ships against a single Admiral Kuznetsov carrier. All American ships sunk and Kuznetsov didn't take even one hit. About SF series how about the uber MiG-17? And if TK is so biased why didn't he made the F-4's much more manouverable than the MiG-21's? Flying both with Thirdwire FM's i find it easier to score gun kills in the MiG-21 vs the F-4 than the other way around. I agree the F-104 is not very well modeled though. I remember how difficult it was in Fleet Defender to shoot down MiG-29's and especially SU-27's. In that game developers even admit the historical inaccuracy of flying only B tomcats on scenarios that only the A was available. The Phoenixes do seem to be a bit stronger than they should in the earlier campaigns where only the A Phoenix was fielded. Regarding your post about mock combats between MiG-29's and F-15's remember the israelis had a chance to use their DASH helmets and Python 4's with 90 degrees off boresight vs 45 degrees of their exported models R-73's. I do believe the Germans could even fly the MiG-29's better than the Russians could as they had much more flying hours. Let's not talk about BVR which is the culprit of people complaining (and being rightfully so) about AMRAAM usefulness in ED games/sims. I can sound biased too if i mention that Navy F-14D's managed to achieve victories vs the MiG-29's in the same exercises i previously mention. And at least there is footage that proves it. And i very much agree with you, there's no need to worry too much about this.

I'm happy that he's still doing PC. And i'm not to worried about when Exp. 3 comes, but rather on what is he going to do about the series as far as his statements about making the game more accessible. Isn't the game accessible enough in EASY mode? If he wants to provide better documentation, better UI etc... i'm fine with it. Dumbing the game down? Arcade gamers play in consoles, occasional gamers in tablets/smartphones. SF2 is accessible enough for PC. More than enough actually. EDIT: BTW, isn't Thirdwire gonna spend a lot of money making the game more accessible? And i'm not being sarcastic i really wanna know. I really feel the temptation of asking him, but he will probably not answer anyway.

Having bought all of the DLC's this one is a must for me. Why not? Portuguese A-7's were awesome.

TK could be my boss too... Last year boss threatened us all he would move factory (multinational) to Poland if we did not accept changes on contracts (working 12 hours a day and money the same). Meanwhile we knew that in Poland workers there were threatened that factory would be moved to Portugal... I better just grab woman and all my stuff and move to Texas... As i'm light years away from the category i'll just a question to all the talented modders out here: How many of you would officially collaborate with ThirdWire (content creation) for free, so that ThirdWire resources could be saved for other areas?