Just a couple of days ago, Eagle Dynamics revealed that many of the aircraft in the Flaming Cliffs 3 bundle pack for DCS World were receiving a visual upgrade to bring them more in line with the latest offerings in the series. I’ve spent some time checking out the visual updates and its time to have a closer look!

Revamping the old

Some of you may have arrived into combat flight simulation and DCS World more recently but my history with the series stretches back to Lock On: Modern Air Combat. I didn’t play it very much and preferred the comparatively simpler WWII combat of the IL-2 series but I do remember being excited and keeping close tabs on that series when they revealed that we’d be able to fly an A-10A, an F-15C, Su-25, Su-27, Su-33 and MiG-29 series aircraft. That was back in November of 2003 when Lock On released and those aircraft are still with us in DCS World 21-years later.

All of these aircraft are now part of DCS World in a pack that is titled Flaming Cliffs 3 and the package of aircraft, their popularity, and relative simplicity versus the full fidelity offerings in DCS World now make them an appealing entry point for some newer pilots and still offer great experiences for veterans too.

I was very happy to see that these aircraft are still seeing updates in 2024. So let’s have a look at each of the aircraft and I’ll show off some screenshots of these updated aircraft in action.

A-10A updates

I feel like the star of the show here might just be the A-10A. This aircraft hasn’t seen many updates in quite a while though it did receive a PFM update bringing it’s flight model fidelity up to the same level as DCS World level modules. That means that it flies with the same fidelity of flight model as the DCS: A-10C and DCS: A-10C II modules.

This visual update now brings its exterior model very close to what we see with A-10C II.

The cockpit has also seen some updates too. Though I don’t have good comparison screenshots on hand, I can say that the textures have all been touched up and their colours corrected and updated to use the new material systems in the latest version of DCS World. It looks much sharper and more cohesive than ever and it positions it well for whatever visual updates may be coming to the DCS World engine in the future.

F-15C updates

The DCS: F-15C Eagle shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to it’s air superiority credentials. It may not have the datalink displays that full fidelity modules do but its radar, weapons load, performance and endurance all make the F-15C into what is still one of the best air superiority aircraft in the sim.

Similar to the A-10C, its exterior and interior have been touched up. On the exterior we see some improved materials rendering which brings it closer to the excellent work on high fidelity modules. That said, its still not quite as good as the intense detailing that RAZBAM did on their F-15E. Still, it looks great and fits in with the rest of the sim in 2024.

The cockpit has also seen the same kind of updates. Improved texture work and tweaked colours and materials.

Su-27, Su-33 and J-11 update

The whole Flanker series has seen a visual update to match what we’ve seen with the two American aircraft. The Su-27, Su-33 and the Chinese J-11 have all seen the same upgrades.

Exterior updates for all three bring the Flanker series in-line with the Fulcrum series which saw visual updates several years ago.

Cockpit updates are similar to what we saw with the F-15C and A-10A. Crisper, cleaner textures with revamped colouring and materials work to make them more in-line with what we see in DCS World in 2024.

What was not updated

There are some aircraft that were not updated in this revamp and I wanted to talk about that too.

The MiG-29, as mentioned before, already saw a significant reworking several years ago and was the first Flaming Cliffs 3 aircraft to see the kind of PBR texture work that is common on DCS World level aircraft. This update catches up the other aircraft in the series to roughly the same level. Additionally, we know that a DCS: MiG-29 full fidelity module is coming too and that promises to elevate the Fulcrum to an even higher level for those who go in on the full fidelity.

The Su-25 is the other that did not see an update although strictly speaking that isn’t quite true. From what I can tell and gather from around the community, its cockpit was at least partially retouched as the colour and materials work in some areas do appear to better match DCS World in 2.9. It wasn’t mentioned in the patch notes but I can’t help but think that it is better than before though there are still some elements in the cockpit that are less than impressive relative to the modern high standard.

Also not part of Flaming Cliffs 3 but worth mentioning is that the Su-25T has not seen a visual update in quite some time. Given the related nature of the two aircraft and the position that the Su-25T occupies in DCS World’s “free to play” structure I do hope that these updates to other aircraft will also eventually translate to these remaining aircraft. It does seem likely though I can’t speak to how quickly it might happen.

Similarly, the Su-25 series are the only ones in the FC3 pack still using the AFM flight model, a slightly less sophisticated model relative to the PFM. Though they already fly quite well, I would assume too that the Su-25 series will eventually catch up to the others.

Final thoughts

It’s great to see an update like this. Flaming Cliffs 3 speaks to the history of DCS World and keeps venerable aircraft releases connected to the state of the art. My impression is that these are not quite as strongly detailed as you might see with a full fidelity module, however, they are still extremely good, they fit in with the modern art and visual style of the series, and they are technologically up to date now with modern physically based rendering techniques. It’s good news all around.

This all appears to have been done without causing any noticeable performance hit. Certainly not on my admittedly strong system. The overall impression does seem to be that the latest version of DCS World has actually contributed to some further optimization and thus better performance overall. Better visuals with better or no performance hit is certainly a good thing.

The big picture here of course is that these venerable DCS World aircraft continue to see updates some two decades after their initial release to the public and I for one always appreciate the effort to keep them visually connected to the state of the art.