Earlier today, Matt Wagner did the second live stream of the DCS: Persian Gulf map featuring the DCS: F/A-18C Hornet module. This time around we got to see a lot of the Iranian portion of the map checking out some of the terrain in that section. I’m happy to share some of my notes from the broadcast.

Comments from the live stream

Responding to comments from last week that the new map doesn’t feature enough terrain variation, this second live stream shows off some of the added relief that you’ll see on the Iranian side of the map. To drive that point home, both the starting airbase and ending airbase are located within mountain ranges with steep cliffs nearby.

During the stream, Matt also does a small showcase of what the aircraft’s flight model is like and specifically how good the software is in the Hornet for controlling the plane in stall and high-alpha maneuvers.

Plus there’s a look at the latest vapour effects and all kinds of Q&A talking about different items that have come up in the community.

Watch the stream now and/or read my notes below:

My notes from the stream

• Will the Rapier SAM release with the map?
  • Should be integrated soon
• Do you use TrackIR?
  • Yes
• The F-16
  • They are looking forward to doing it
  • Planned in the future
  • Focused on Hornet, Yak-52 and Persian Gulf for now
• Nimitz class
  • A lot of work being done there right now
  • Getting the “meatball” working
  • New carrier model
  • Steam from catapults
  • Aircraft on the ship (so it doesn’t look like a ghost ship)
  • Will then start to move to carrier ops
  • ATC work for the carrier, Marshal, Approach, Strike, LSO
• Pilot model option for the Hornet?
  • Yes
  • Maybe not for the early access
• Blue Angel missions
  • You will be able to
  • Skin will be included
  • Triggers are available
• Squadron skins
  • Most of the Cs are done and now looking at the A and A Plus Hornet skins
  • Doing Canada, Spain, and Australia soon too
• Vapour trails
  • LEX vapour trails working and dynamic
  • As AOA increases you can see the boundary layer separation
  • Will be doing over-wing and Mach shock cone later
• Thrustmaster Hornet stick
  • Currently working on it
  • Hope to hear news in the not too distant future
• Memory “leak”
  • Not actually a memory leak
  • For those with less RAM, having issues with running out of memory because of too many objects
  • The team is focused on improving the memory unloader to optimize memory usage
• Dynamic campaign
  • Something they are looking at right now
• Persian Gulf release
  • Announcement on that in the not too distant future
  • Working on ocean settings, getting visuals right, transparency
  • Size comparisons between air bases actually not much smaller than other maps
  • Still working on routing for air bases
  • Working on some buildings too
• AGM-88 HARM missile?
  • Yes, definitely coming
  • Will give Blue side a long range SEAD option
• A-G radar update
  • Working on targeting pod and A-A radar
  • A-G radar development will be applied to the Hornet
  • Most of the Hornet operations don’t use the A-G radar and instead use the targeting pod
• Any modern Russian/REDFOR jets in DCS
  • Certainly, it’s a possibility
  • Just not on the immediate horizon
• MiG-31?
  • Too much stuff on our plate for now, but maybe later
• Weather
  • First step is work on the clouds
  • Second will be working on fronts and more dynamic weather system technology
• AIM-120
  • Working on different modes in the missile
  • Range and PK issues will be sorted out after that
• Next live streams
  • Showcase some of the island airbases
  • Fun stuff with combat operations

The next stream

Matt has talked about doing more live-stream events and we’re likely to see the next stream soon. He mentioned a tour of the islands in the Strait of Hormuz as being the next stream and that we’d see some more combat operations and other “fun things” sometime after that.

More to come folks!