Add it for the sake of accessability. This will increase sales for you and have more reach. Those of us who take the time to learn won't be affected.

Yeah, I think add it as an option, that way people can go full sim if they want to and others can opt out of one of the trickiest aspects of it. It is a piece of entertainment at the end of the day.

Nice touch Reflected! I do understand your argument for AAR but the more users, the more vast requirements, sometimes not what you expect. Glad to see DCS permits other options for our campaign creators. Cheers and keep up the good work!

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! I like to give the players options but only as long as it’s not a real PITA to set up and maintain in exchange for very little added value. But I’m fine with this solution.

@AIRWARFAREGROUP

7 ай бұрын

@Andrei...tell them to SUCK IT UP...literally, Connect and Suck up the fuel into your jet...it's EASY!

@AndreiCeleste

7 ай бұрын

@AIRWARFAREGROUP 😂😅😄 aaaah...good one!

The option to not AAR is a good one....one I would almost never use personally, but it is nice to have for those days where you just can't get in the groove of it... Specially with trickier jets like the Viper that use the boom. (I mainly fly navy jets so I haven't quite mastered the boom yet)

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

AAR in the Viper is easy, as long as you see the right hand row of lights. Which I never do :D

@Jakes_1-1

7 ай бұрын

What lights??? Hahahaha

Never even thought about skipping some difficult element in a mission, much less refueling in the air. The closer the mission is to reality, the better and more interesting it is. That's my opinion. I really like your companies and "speed and angels" is the best work!!! Thank you!!!!

AAR is one of the most important skills talking about naval aviation or military aviation in general. It is a skill you need to train to master it. Skipping parts you are not good at won't make you better. But I understand why you are adding it. But I want to encourage everyone to try. I started of with hitting the tanker every single flight. Tried a couple of times (and failed most of the time) then I did my mission. Even now, after l learned this skill I take off from the boat with empty bags and head straight for the tanker, then the mission begins...

Oh, one other comment. Adding skippable AAR makes a campaign more repeatable as someone progresses. They can fly it without AAR, and once they have the knack, fly it with. It makes AAR aspirational, not just an intimidating, frustrating chore. As it is for anyone struggling as they learn.

People who fly modern aircraft in DCS and don't have the will to learn AAR are missing out on a great experience. The feeling when you fly a wingman to a tanker, refuel and continue the mission is just amazing. Yes, you have to learn it, but that's what DCS is all about, right?

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Hear hear

@felippejonsson6078

7 ай бұрын

true that

I think it should be an option, AAR with a cheap or old HOTAS can be a nightmare at times. I not tried the F16 yet but on the F/A-18 I has mixes success including the basket going through the probe several times.

Lol, I like your arguments. I struggle a lot with AAR. after more than 300 (!) trainings I could handle. That supports your arguments ..... training, training, training :-) Btw thanks for your excwellent work , fighting in the Spit with the 611 Squafron for the moment 🙂

I will never use this. But I do appreciated your effort and commitment. You have raised the bar so high that the bar is not a bar anymore...it is just a point :D

Frankly, if your Speed and Angels campaign hadn't forced me to learn how to AAR, I would have never learned! So, thank you! I think keeping mandatory AAR for study-level campaigns is a must, just like you said. However, I think this is a great idea for some of your non-study-level campaigns.

Complexity is it s own reward, thanks for your hard work enabling us to enjoy DCS and the F-14 !

I totally agree with you that skippable refuelling breaks the realism of any mission or campaign, and turn it in an arcade-ish event, so the decision to include it or not in you projects is yours, depending on your aim and expectartions. You can´t satisfy everyone, there will always be someone who wants something different. Having said that, I have to disagree with you about the "not that difficult" about AAR; if it is easy for you, does not mean that it's the same for everyone; in my case, I have been practicing with the F-14, F-18, and the A-10, and still could not manage to stay connected for more than 3 seconds. and I have watched almost every video and tutorial I could find in youtube to try to learn how to do it. This is the reason why I still don´t have any of your campaigns, but I will not ask you to remove or skip AAR from them; first, I will learn and master it, then, and only then, I will try your campaigns. Keep up the good work, the community will gladly thank you.

Reading the comments, I would like to add a viewpoint - the thing is that the ability to do AAR easily depends on your equipment sometimes. Personal experience, I really, really struggled with it when I was using a cheaper HOTAS setup where the really small throttle/joystick corrections are complicated because the input is not granular enough. It was not fun at all. I got much better when I replaced my initial HOTAS with some proper ones (but still don't like it :-D). I don't see any harm in adding it as an option, and would make the campaigns more accessible which is a benefit.

@neucoas

7 ай бұрын

100% agree.

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Good point. Then again I could tank with my old T16000m on a 15” laptop, but now with my winwing and vr it’s definitely easier

@istvanfarkas

7 ай бұрын

I absoulutely hated AAR on the Mirage 2000 with the same setup, and failed at it 3 times out of 4 :-D @@ReflectedSimulations

@mzaite

7 ай бұрын

@@ReflectedSimulations You could tank the Tomcat with that? Or the autobug?

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

@@mzaite the Tomcat of course. What’s an autobug?:)

AAR is a difficult skill to master, especially so when one can dedicate fairly little time to DCS. Having a way around AAR in combat focused campaign will be great.

I support this. I personally don’t have a problem refueling. However you need a good throttle to do so and you need to train and repeat. This will make the game more accessible for less hardcover gamers that may not have the gear or time to invest.

I don't have these campaigns and I don't think you MUST add it. If you do though, it may be great for more casual players and I understand why people want it. I suck at AAR, but I haven't spent that much time with it yet. I bet practice matters most, but it may also be a matter of having a cheaper stick, etc. For me, AAR is currently the most difficult flying excersise - landing doesn't come anywhere near. For me, DCS is both a sim and a game, so an option like this can be handy. I like your solution. It definitely must not be a maintenance nightmare for you, the mission creator.

I’ve found AAR to be the most relaxing part of any mission. I used to hate it but now I don’t mind as you’ve said put your pride aside and practice!!

Love the commentary, LOL!!!! Awesome work on your campaigns. I own every one of them and really appreciate the details put into them. Skipping the refueling is a nice option, but it does take away from the complexity of the mission. There are times I wish I could skip it and just get on with the rest of the mission especially when I haven't flown the jet in awhile. Keep up the awesome work.

I think this is a good move, but maybe for a different reason. The way I see it, your campaigns and individual missions within the campaigns have a large degree of replay-ability. That's one of the strongest features of your products. While I wouldn't personally use this feature on the first play-through, I might on a subsequent play-through when I'm just wanting to fight a certain battle.

@samsmith6791

7 ай бұрын

Hey there Greg, I love your content !

I love AAR and it's gratifying once one gets consistent. AAR is a blast because it can break up the monotony of flying realistic distances to objectives.

Even though sometimes I do not have the patience for AF, I still find it a great challenge and it really makes me practice before running a campaign. Nothing is more satisfying that getting stuck in and watching those gauges climb. Even if I am sweating a bit while doing it :P

Praise the lord !!

Personally, this is not an option I will use. I can see why some people might want it, and for campaigns such as Fear the Bones, it might make sense. I completely agree it has no place in S&A or Zone 5, which are intended to actually teach real procedures and skills. I suppose the question for you as campaign maker is "what kind of campaign is this?" If the answer is "it's a 'game type' campaign", then this option should be included, while if the answer is "this is a study level sim campaign" it probably should not. Personally I enjoy the challenge of tanking and try to practice regularly--like a good carrier pass it is a very perishable skill, and if not practiced goes away. We are trying to learn and understand and somewhat experience what real military pilots have to know and do to perform their jobs and survive; this is just part of the job. Having said that, if an option is easy for you to add and maintain, then, well, options are usually good... Thanks for all your work!

As I only fly WWII in DCS this does not affect me. But if there would have been refuling in WWII I would totally love to fly it in DCS🤙

Great news, cap! This will make the game easier but I will still continue to train F-14 AAR :)

Many thanks! I usually don't skip anything on my initial playthrough of your missions, but it can be frustrating if for some reason I have to replay the entire thing from scratch and go through that all over again the same day. as much as i love realism, unfortunately, we don't have all the time in the world to spend on DCS.

I agree 100% that mission realism shouldn’t suffer -for everyone- b/c some people don’t want to take the time to learn to AAR. But if there is a way to do it that DOESNT split the mission in two parts and allows those of us who can AAR to do so as part of the mission…then fine. The split mission technique of Cerberus North /Weasels kills immersion for me. Kind if annoys me a bit too b/c AAR isn’t THAT hard; and as you said, it’s an integral part of simulating a combat experience in a western fighter

A shame you have to do that but I get it. ED should just make fuel state scriptable.

Personally I would say don't add it but then again as Wags says, it's just a game. I think you have the right idea on adding it to Fear the bones but not the more "technical" ones.

If it’s not too hard to add, then do it. AAR is one of those skills that just clicks. It did for me, anyway. Creating a bar for those who haven’t been through the days/weeks/months it took me to be comfortable with AAR is restricting for the purpose of.. what? To fulfil the OCD of those of us for whom everything has to be letter perfect? To be able to sneer at those who can’t do it? To restrict your audience ‘until they can do it’ - well, there’s gonna be plenty of people who’ll drop out before they get to that stage and, frankly, your campaigns are the sort of thing that will make drop outs less likely as they are so engaging. If an option makes things ‘less immersive’ for some who don’t care, if it doesn’t increase your overheads and if it expands the user base… as long as it’s an option you’d be mad to shoot yourself in the foot by not including it. You’ve made it clear it’s not for you, but once you try to sell something customers get a say as well. Sure, I assume sales of campaigns aren’t gonna enable retirement to St Moritz, but why reduce potential sales? Some OCD types (and to be fair, this was my first reaction) are gonna grumble. But they don’t have to use the option. So is it bragging rights only? To say I’m better than somebody else because I can complete a campaign? None of that is an adult reaction to a change that’s not gonna make a difference to one’s experience. Really, the way you’ve described it (it sounds like a line added to an existing script) it’s a no brainer.

And will you please share how is done, so others can incorporate on its own long missions? That would be really helpful.

As much as I compliment you for your attitude, you may wanna consider salesmanship. Your hard work should be rewarded appropriately also in a monetary sense. So don’t lose out because of the skippers. The rest of us fighter pilots will AAR anyways. Why? Because it’s challenging. And that’s what it’s all about.

@ReflectedSimulations

6 ай бұрын

Fair point

The only A/A refuel i can't make is f-15/16, cause of DCS boom operator. Maybe a-10c also. But i never flew a mission it has to be a/a refueled.

I personally suck at AAR I’m soooo inconsistent, one mission I’d be like fine and top off with no drama, other times it would take me sooo long I’d run out of fuel. Honestly I practice, I blame my Warthog/F-16C Thrustmaster stick, it’s so stiff 😅. Anyway personally I wouldn’t do the F10 option it’s spoils the immersion etc, also like you point out it’s a study level sim wtf if they don’t like it do Warthunder or some other game. IMHO! 😉 keep up the awesome work and don’t give in 👍

I'll be honest, I was able to skip refueling in the Speed and Angels campaign because I'm sneaky

We all play simulators for different reasons. Making a simulator more accessible is important and I dislike the old elitest attitudes of "you're doing it wrong". Just let people enjoy the experience. We want more people playing flight sims, not less. Good addition here chief, I think there will be quite a few people that will appreciate this for Fear the Bones. Totally understand not doing it for S&A though.

@mzaite

7 ай бұрын

We also all play simulators with different Time constraints. And different competing activities. Some players may be able to “practice practice practice” where as other players may only have 1-3 hours in a WEEK to put into playing. Count update downloads and it’s not what you could say was a good practice to performance time line.

My two cents: it's a great feature, but as you stated: for beginners or medium difficult campaigns. In hardcore campaigns, it wouldn't be welcomed. The only thing is to make it very clear on the advertisement.

While I understand the reason for supporting this, I'm curious about the solution - freezing the fuel level. I'm curious how it's done (as a MM myself) but won't that also mean you will be flying around with a lot of weight too? Fuel planning includes planning for a certain weight at various phases of the mission and I wouldn't want to go land with all that weight still bearing down on my bird. :-)

Out of curiosity, was refueling to max a no go, instead of setting to unlimited fuel? I'm curious because I'm working on an custom LUA scripted endless respawn ACM/dogfight mission, and was wanting to make a fly through zone for re-arm/refuel so I didn't have to start over. I was considering something similar like flying up to the AWACS and getting a custom menu for it.

Just remember bro, It’s about fun too. Some people wish they could be pilots but just might not be able to master the refuelling. There are some who just won’t be able to get it…… maybe I’m worried I’m one of them lol. I’ll be honest though, I’ve been turned off of mandatory refuelling campaigns just because I know I’ll need to master it before I can properly do the campaign. I only want to be a simulated Doctor, can you make the blood optional so I can learn to deal with the blood when I want to :)?

What next, skip landing?

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Better yet, skip taking off 😆

When they click F10 and choose to skip AAR, a message should come up saying, 'Go Play War Thunder Momma's Boy!"

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Haha, I’ve had a couple of ideas like this 😆

Ok I know that tanking can seemingly appear like an impossible task and excuses about poor quality Hotas, I don't ever need to tank ect ect all come streaming in. But all it is, is practice, practice practice. Learning to tank in the F-14 and F-18 were the first things I learnt and still practice as much as I can. (perishable skill) 😅 But here's my point, if you can learn to do tanking every other part of flying becomes so much easier. You will have so much better control of your jet. You'll be able to get those dog fighting manoeuvres honed quicker and have more control when going for that guns kill! Formation flying (which is basically what AAR is will be a doddle) So many more skill sets come from learning AAR than just AAR. As for i can't cause my Hotas stucks, sorry not buying it. Practice enough and you can tank with keyboard and mouse or an Xbox controller. Only a bad pilot blames his equipment rather than his own willingness to practice a required skill and a skill that gives so many Benefits, landing on the carrier will be easier in the F-14 ( already an easy skill in the fly by wire😂 F-18) But if it brings more people into your amazing campaigns and you get more (well deserved) profit for the work you do for us then so be it

I dont see any garm in the option being there for those who want to use it.

AMEN BROTHER...Nobody Kicks A$$ Without Tanker Gas! In fact, the fundamentals of military aviation are crucial to being a lethal "One-G Weenie" in DCS. "Get the 'F**K' out of here" LOL Keep up the great work and TAKE NO PRISONERS...J

Refueling is a pain in the ass because my joystick sucks.

I have spent HOURS trying to tank with the F-14B. Haven't been able to do it. It IS NOT easy. There is a lot that goes into it. Not just the flying, but getting your HOTAS calibrated, and axis curves right. We'd all probably do better flying the real jet.

i personally think in the f14 atleast the option shouldnt be added since refuelling whith navy planes is easy but in f16s and other air force planes it should be since the refuelling there is just annoying

I'm rubbish at aar but I don't think it should be in training campaigns. The others I'm not sure. If u cant say finish mission 3 because you cant tank then players won't carry on and them maybe think twice about buying another. I suppose if more people will buy your stuff because you can auto tank then in some respects everyone wins.

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Fair point

@jep1103

7 ай бұрын

you could put autotank in as an option, you will always get the people who wont use it but then again you may get more people using your campaigns because they do get that option...just a thought@@ReflectedSimulations

Add optional AAR to all your campaigns. Not everyone has the time and/or equipment. I think it's unreasonable not to consider that. AAR is a real barrier for some players to have the ability to fully enjoy DCS campaigns. This is the standard for other campaign makers.

Not Everyone plays DCS as a “study” sim! Some people don’t have the time to practice A2A refueling and some of the other things in DCS, they are too busy with real life and others might not want to spend that much time to get good at it. I personally Cannot spend the time flying DCS because of severe back pain issues. I’m lucky if I can spend 1/2 hour every few days flying in DCS because it’s just too painful for me to do. When I do, I have to fly laying down on my bed with my HOTAS setup on my bed while looking at my big screen TV or if I feel up to it, in VR. So when I do get the chance to fly I’m Not going to be spending it learning how to get good at refueling from a tanker. I will usually spend that time online with a friend or two flying missions that we enjoy. Saying things like it’s a “study” sim and Not learning how to A2A refuel is like cheating in med school or whatever you said is Not a very cool thing to say and very closed minded! Back in the late 90’s when I had time & wasn’t plagued with back pain issues I loved studying the manuals of Falcon etc and learning all the in’s and out’s of flying military aircraft and also studying for my pilots license. That’s Not the case anymore! I don’t have the time and I don’t really want to spend that much time studying a Flightsimulator game nor deal with the pain I will have to live with from spending a few hours on DCS. Just Not worth it for me as I’m sure there’s other people with similar issues. I still enjoy a good mission and I have enjoyed some of your campaigns and having an option to skip over this would be a very nice option in my opinion. Also, wouldn’t this help with your sales as more people would be willing to play your campaigns if they knew there were options to turn down the “realism” if they choose to? Just a thought!! Thanks…

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Sorry to hear about your back problems. The medical school analogy was used for the Speed & Angels campaign if you watch the video again. Its purpose - among other things - is to teach you to refuel, so skipping refueling in a refueling lesson is nonsense. In Fear the Bones, as I said, I just added this option exactly because of what you said.

@ricbish4122

7 ай бұрын

@@ReflectedSimulations That’s great glad to hear you added this option for people! You’re right on the comment, my bad for getting it incorrect.🤙

I don't know if it's good or bad decision but for my over 15 years career in Flanker and DCS sims I did zero AARs. This is beyond my capabilities.

If you can't tank then you have no business flying around the boat.

Although personally, i don't skip refueling, i can see how this would benefit others, so yeah.... i say go for it. For the record, AAR is NOT easy. Yes, we have mastered it, but it takes some effort. And i know plenty of DCS users who's motoric impediments won't allow them to, at least not without frustratingly high levels of effort and time involved. Should we just let them quit DCS for it? I mean, some of these people have issues flying in straight line...

Hi Reflected... I'm really sorry to hear that. Actually it's like only 3-4 kids asking for it, just creating huge number of false accounts using bots (now called AI). Believe me, nobody who plays and enjoys your missions never ever want to skip anything. We just learn to refuel as any other pilot.

Probably shouldn’t be an option, I don’t really get the argument for it. Just learn and practice

Personally I say, nah! Keep the difficulty as is. I still struggle with F-16 refueling but I dont want it to be a breeze either. I learned to properly tank with the A-10 and Hornet only because I threw myself at a campaign. If I wanted to pass I had to get it done. Best way to learn. I dont understand wanting to turn this amazing game into Ace Combat.

In short: If there is skippable AAR I will buy the campaign. If there isn't I won't buy it.

So does this mean you can fly with After burner all the time... Not for me thank you.

As much as I struggle with AAR. I don't want this option. Like you said, we play DCS because it's a simulation. Real pilot can't skip, so do us. If I want easy things, I will go on war thunder or ace combat. We are on DCS to have a little feeling of what those men and women live up there. Stay true to realism 😉

Fwiw coming from a guy with 20+ years of game development including high fidelity sims - include it. Players would rather play the game the way the want rather than be told how to play it. I get realism as part of this sim, but frankly I would avoid the dogmatic approach, as this comes off as too elitist. Best to allow the skip. Hard core guys will still do the refueling, and it’s an opportunity to turn a more casual guy into a high level player. Enjoy ❤

Honestly, do not add this feature. Just learn how to do the task. It took me about a year before I could refuel with the tanker consistently. Now it’s second nature and I find it to be a rewarding experience because I practiced hard to learn the skill. You should make your campaigns how you see fit and if someone can’t handle, they shouldn’t buy it. I love your work man keep it up.

@SeanAnwalt

7 ай бұрын

Here, here!

@generic_luke

7 ай бұрын

Not everyone has to time to dedicate to learning how to AAR. You're free to not skip it yourself, but it'd be a big help for people with less time on their hands.

@jeremy7383

7 ай бұрын

Saying someone should spend a year to learn something to play a video game. Lol

@digitalperson108

7 ай бұрын

@@jeremy7383then you are playing the wrong “video game”

@jeremy7383

7 ай бұрын

@@digitalperson108 lol

i don't understand this debate, AR with F14 is very easy compare to other planes like F16. get the 3rd wire is hard, but AR is not

@Intrepid11

7 ай бұрын

I learned how to do this on the Hornet, but on the Tomcat it’s a problem for me, I can’t get the basket... Any tip ?

@Rik915Sks

7 ай бұрын

move your head to be the closest to the probe, it is easier to see the probe approching to the basket, and listen freebird song !

I dont see the big deal in having to tank and if it was up to me i wouldnt add it. If you dont want to learn how to fly then theres another game for you. And thats coming from someone whos not good at tanking.... but i make it work

@ryantrahan2240

7 ай бұрын

Its not like you have to worry about the basket going into the engine if you over shoot causing you to have to restart the mission.

I haven't mastered AAR yet. And I managed to get through the F-16 Red Flag campaign without refueling. So I guess I should love this feature, but I don't. Just don't do it, please.

No, if you can’t tank go play war thunder or whatever video game that isn’t a study level sim

I don't care. I fly only warbirds 😀

I get your motives to increase viewership/participation. Why not select infinite fuel in settings? Or learn to do it. 104th Maverick has some great primers on the subject. Add some curves if your equipment is dodgy. It is going to take 100 attempts to get it. Then it's a visual thing.

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

True, “anti-aar-ers” can just select unlimited fuel and that’s it…

At this point, just go play War Thunder

no. if you cant refuel, go play war thunder ;)

AAR is already super easy in DCS. It snaps onto the probe when you get close enough. Here I am trying to get ED to make it more realistic, because it's too easy. Guys learn how to trim. You have to constantly trim when you AAR. With the F-14 if you need to go up or down use trim only. The boom is even easier. You just get into place and the boom operator connects for you.

@ReflectedSimulations

7 ай бұрын

Agreed! We need a basket that doesn’t snap into place and hose dynamics.

Boooooo

I like the option of skipping AAR. I don't like the attitude you have about the game though. It reeks of elitism, like you look down on everyone who doesn't play DCS the same way you do. It's a game dude. Everyone has their own way of enjoying how to play it. The more people you can cater to with options like this, the better. I don't buy the DLC campaigns because I don't want to be forced into playing how the mission designer wants me to play, and they aren't dynamic campaigns. I'd much rather play Liberation/Retribution, or Digital Crew Chief, or the Pretense missions. I can jump into just about any module I own, fly and fight for 20-30 minutes, not have to worry about most of the dull milsim parts like AAR, or following every little procedure like a real life military pilot, and whatever happens in the mission, actually matters in the next one. That's how I like to play. The DLC campaigns just have no appeal to me. I know I'm not the only one.

Dont.

Nooo 🤣🤣 play ace combat folks 🤓