DCS: Black Shark Preview Report #2 from Chris "BeachAV8R" Frishmuth here:
http://www.simhq.com/_air11/air_347a.html

Oh man, what a great preview Beach!
I love what your`r showing in this video! Now the shadows of the blades are there.
It was nice to see:
- the flow of the river
- the rotor downwash on the lake
- the rotorhub
- the improved ground details
- these new trees

I have to look it again to fully understand what you did with the ABRIS and INS... ;-)

Greetings, Eagle

btw.: I was there on these two bridges to while my play time on LLTM event. :-)

Thanks for the article, Beach!

Downloading the video, but I love those screenshots. I just watched the producers videos this week, and I'm really hoping it will be out soon.



How does this compare to the complexity of some of the addons for MS FS9, like the PMDG 747 or the LDS 763? The ABRIS seems a distant cousin of the FMS found in both aircraft, which have much more capabilities than just programming waypoints and giving altitude restraints (which is how I mostly use it).

Ouch. I'm really intimidated by the complexity of the avionics. I literally don't have the free time to devote to a sim with that much depth. How is the scalability?

Roosterfeet,

you can either start with a cold cockpit or with all systems and engines running, its up to you / the mission designer. There is also a "Game Mode" where all the avionics are on "simple" mode, you have a radar screen and can simply start the game and have fun without learning all the system. Obviously learning it all will give you a big satisfaction in the end

Great article, Beach! I can just tell you're loving every minute of it D/loading the movie now.

Okay, nice video as well--that was really neat to see how you "figured out" what was wrong with your satellite configuration. A unique and interesting way to present this preview!

im surprised that a sim of this caliber is completely done with unclassified info, as the ka-50 is "relatively" new...

Russia's more in the business of selling this stuff, than anything else. I've been surprised at how happy their engineers are to blab about their newest stuff's capabilities. No cold war paranoia at all.

Does Russia have a GPS-type system of their own? Inertial navigation...eek...becoming ill just thinking about managing that old technology.

Nice article Beach, I'm look forward to watching the video.

I have a question for you, or anyone that can answer it. How does the complexity of the Ka-50 as represented in Black Shark compare with the complexity of the F-16 as represented in stock Falcon 4.0 or Allied Force? If the Ka-50 is more complex, is this a product of having more options available for some things or is it a product of less intuitive avionics?

Absolutely phenomenal. Loved the video. Can't wait for the sim.

Great article Beach. Yup, count me in for a pre-order.

I'll try to answer this. Note: it's been a long time since I've flown F4.

I would say that blackshark takes 1st place in complexity. I think it is a sim that both has more options available (can F4 show you your satellite constellation, and is that system in F4 affected by line of sight problems?), and that the the avionics are less intuitive. However, I have a feeling that they are not as intuitive only because I 'grew up' flying aircraft with Western avionics suites. I don't know--if you pinned me down, I would be confident in saying that the systems modelling--not only avionics, but mechanical systems, every freaking system, is at least on par with, and usually surpasses the complexity of the systems represented in F4.

What we have with Blackshark, is what I'd like to call, an "extreme fidelity" Ka-50 simulation. The developers focused on one aircraft. They did not spend 5 years on a dynamic campaign--though the campaign they did come up with sounds intriguing.

Hope this helps shed some light.

Thanks for the insight BBQ, I didn't know you were a tester.

My thought are along the same lines are yours, if I had to guess on what I've seen. Beyond a ramp start, many of the functions of the F-16 are unavailble in stock Falcon. You can see this just by how many swtiches do not work on the side panels. While some of this makes sense (who cares about controlling the oxygen?), it seems as if all the switches have some function in BS. The avionics of the F-16, as presented in F4, are fairly intuitive seeing as how you mainly have the MFDs and ICP to focus on. Most importantly, I think the user-friendliness come from how much you can accomplish with just the F-16's HOTAS.

That makes me wonder, can you operate any of the ABRIS functions using the stick and collective in the Ka-50?

FYI, I'm not a tester. I'm putting some time in on the manual. I'm sorry I can't answer your question about the ABRIS functions on the HOTAS--I honestly don't know, and with the NDA, I probably couldn't say, even if I did know! Perhaps you could ask your question on the Questions and Answers page over at the official forum?

Wowzers!

I really enjoyed that. It is nice to see drift in the hover and some confusion (much more exciting than perfect competence would be)!

Damn you, Beach!

Ever since I watched that video (3 hours ago) I've been struggling to concentrate on my work! If our game sucks, I'm going to blame it all on you!

Great video Beach, loooking forward to the next one and the release date.

Very nice vid Beach, even without sound (my vista set up went tits last night) it was impressive. Love the new trees and think I am going to have to invest in Track IR (and a new set up)! Thanks again.

I watched the video and yes, that was fairly amazing there, even that little bit. Every time I watch a video of BS, I forgot just how much slower a helicopter is than a fighter. TBH, it will be a nice change. So will flying NOE.

Thanks for the comments all..I'll get back to you guys later with answers to your questions. I'm out of town right now but should have some better net access in a couple days.

Regards..
BeachAV8R