I’ve got a few previews coming up for DCS World and the first one is going to be a look at DCS: Sinai by OnReTech! This new map is a large one that covers a huge area that includes the Sinai desert region but it also covers a lot of the rest of Egypt, most of Israel and more. Part one is going to focus on Egypt, Cairo and the Nile river delta region. Let’s have a look!
Feels like a big map!
My first impression of DCS: Sinai is that this is a rather large map or at least it feels like it. In the images below you can see what it looks like in the mission editor with the Egypt side of the map extending north to the Mediterranean and south beyond the Egyptian cities of Faiyum and Beni Suef. It then extends east to the Sinai peninsula, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba, with a small slice of Saudi Arabia, pieces of Jordan, and most of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and more.
The area that I’m looking at today is just a piece that includes Cairo and the agricultural lands to the north as well as the important port cities of Alexandria and Port Said. The screenshots that you’re going to see have been taken without any added elements from me and is just the pure raw map itself.
The Nile river delta
I started with this area intentionally both out of personal interest but also to show that this map has some range. While the Sinai peninsula is a very arid region with a typically desert landscape, the Nile region is very and starkly different.
39-million people live within Egypt’s Nile river delta and between the major cities of Alexandria and Cairo lie smaller cities like Tanta, Damanhour and Mansoura. In between densely packed cities are fields of agricultural fields that stretch as far as the eye can see. This is true in DCS World as well.
In addition to the agriculture there’s also major shipping routes that go through here. Port Said lies at the northern end of the Suez canal, a key shipping route in the world, and a strategic choke point for shipping in the event of potential conflicts of the present and in the past. On the other end of the delta, on the western end, we have Alexandria – another major port city. I’ll talk a bit more about the canal and ports in another section too.
Cairo
There’s also, at the very southern end of the delta, the capital city of Egypt – Cairo. This is one of those world cities that is steeped in legend, lore, and history that goes back through the ages. Cairo is also a modern city of the 21st Century as well with modern buildings, sports facilities, and buildings. It’s all mixed in together here with the ancient and the modern.
A dense cityscape sits alongside desert and some extremely iconic landmarks. Here we have the Sphinx as well as The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Djoser and more. These are all represented in the sim.
Night lighting has come a long way in DCS World and it looks like DCS: Sinai is making use of some more recent technologies and techniques. The cities appear well lit and roadways have their own lighting.
Ports and the Suez canal
Mentioned earlier and prominently featured on the map, the Suez Canal and the major ports represented on this map by the previously mentioned Alexandria, Port Said (at the northern mouth of the Suez), as well as Ismailia and Suez itself at the southern end of the canal are all there. There are parked ships, intermodal facilities, industrial terminals, storage facilities and more.
Airports and other landmarks
Finally, I want to look at airports. These are important after all as these are where some of your flights may begin and end. The region I’m looking at today has at 12-major airports as well as over two-dozen independent helicopter pads.
Airports are a mix of civilian and military facilities including Sphinx International, Cairo International, and Capital International Airport all of which have both civil and military facilities located on them. The differences are stark with hardened bunkers and military style taxiways as well as more typical civilian parking areas and terminals. There are lots of details around these including various markings, parked vehicles, and other “doodads.”
Up next….
I’ve got some more previews in the works. I’m going to continue to feature the Sinai map so you have a solid look at the map before it releases giving you as much possible information as I can at the moment. The next preview will focus on the Sinai itself before the third preview shows off Israel and surrounding regions.
I’ve also got the F-15E in the works although my first preview will likely be very basic as I’m just starting to learn its systems.
Give me a shout in the comments if you have any questions that you’d like me to try and answer. I’ll do my best to tell you what I can! More soon!
Stormbirds 
Envy thy name is Padinn.
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Sorry! 🙂
I suspect that some of us getting the preview means that we’re getting awfully close. I’ve been saying that for ages now but maybe this is the time.
Any questions you might have that I can *try* to address in a preview?
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After moving mostly to MSFS over the past few years, this is the first DCS module to really pique my interest in a while, based on the fond memories I have from Jane’s F-15. I appreciate that RAZBAM are clearly taking their time on this one, but given their poor track record of vast amounts of time elapsing between updates on earlier aircraft, I am a bit concerned that this one will also drag on for several years before being fully functional. That being said, I am extremely pleased to see that you’ve got early access and it’s not just the Youtubers!
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Thanks Greg! I’ll do my best to write and report on this jet as much as I can very soon!
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Great to see you’re getting early access.
Happy to see some big airports. That’s something I’m looking forward to. How is the night lighting at Cairo Int.? I love night landings in a big city with a well lit airport.
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Hopefully these previews are helpful!
I will definitely check on Cairo Intl and other big airports for night lighting for preview 2.
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Gracias jefe.
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How are the binds looking for the f15? Some modules seen to launch without a lot of them.
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That’s a great question! I’ve only just begun to explore but I will be sure to answer in my preview.
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As always, thanks for great content!
You strike a good balance between objective facts and your opinion. And you ask for our input!
I’m grabbing the map but not the bird. Too demanding and time consuming to learn to be worth it for me. Too bad because I really like the plane..
My question is How much more demanding on the pilot (me) is the Strike Eagle than my F-16 or an F-18? Learning curve for basic operations compared to the others?
Thanks and keep up the excellent work!
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Many thanks! I’m coming from both of those jets as well so I’ll do my best to find out what that experience is like. So far I’d say it’s a little bit of its own thing but there’s a lot of transferable concepts.
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I wonder if the intention is to release the 15 and the Sinai map at the same time.
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It’d be cool if that happened but would be brutal in terms of infrastructure load on day 1 if both shipped simultaneously.
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I feel like this is what X-Plane 12 could look like with better clouds and better autogen. Though I think to call the obviously hand-curated objects on this map autogen would be an insult to OnReTech. It’s a very great-looking map, which I had intended to completely ignore until I saw this!
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The key thing to remember is that X-Plane has actual atmospheric phenomena & weather (not just cloud visuals), combined with real world, real time weather. Not to mention a global “map” with nearly 40,000 (accurate to real-world) airfields, major & minor cities, FUNCTIONAL navaids everywhere, water that works for planes, etc., etc., etc.
When you realize how much more of the world & physics is *accurately* represented in X-Plane than all DCS maps combined, the “autogen” makes a lot more sense.
A balanced comparison to DCS World maps is more along the lines of the Orbx TrueEarth sceneries (and priced about the same), etc.
Now, don’t get me wrong – all that said, I still spend most of my flight time in DCS 😉
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“This is one of those world cities that is steeped in legend, lore, and history with a rich history that goes back through a few centuries worth of history.” A little bit too much history 😉
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Oh yep… you know when you read these things back it sounds fine but when someone points it out its horrific. I’ll be adjusting that right now 🙂
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Thanks for the write-up.
Look like the northern part overlaps the Syria map? Stitching those together would be Bad Ass, but possibly crash most PCs…
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Another vote for including you in the Preview Journalists! The screenshots combined with your commentary definitely increase the interest because there’s time to take a look at all that glorious map detail instead of screaming overhead in combat at 600 kts 🙂
I know it’ll take “a while” to get used to the F-15, but may I request a few glamour shots while you get the review ready?
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Screenshots are really something else aren’t they? Helps to freeze the moment and just look at a static image. Seeing it in motion is useful too.
I’ve got some initial thoughts laid out in an article and a ton of screenshots coming soon. I’m not fully up to speed on the F-15E and that will take a while but I can give some overall impressions as part of the preview for sure.
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I can’t quite pin it down but in some shots this looks like a late 2000’s game. I’ve never been a big fan of the land to water transition in DCS but I think it’s where fields and cities meet that the transition is too stark
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So… I’ve just realized that I was an idiot and some of my settings were on Low. Render distance and pre-load were maxed out but some of that look might be as a result of me being an idiot.
The next round of screenshots will be better!
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