Another surprise map??
Wow, DCS is on fire these days. 2 surprise maps announced in a couple of weeks. That's unheard of. This time we are going to the Sinai, including eastern Egypt, southern Israel including Gaza, western Jordan and western Saudi Arabia. Yes, some are saying it another desert map but the region surely offers tons of realistic scenario. No one can deny this region has its share of modern conflicts.
DCS infantry getting a facelift?
There has been a lot of long time required improvements on DCS world that have suddenly been pushed a little bit higher to the top of the TODO list of the developpers lately, which, we believe, can be due to the success of the DCS AH-64D module released a few months ago. For example, we have recently seen a new landing pad object for helicopters available in the mission editor that is finaly offering a decent looking alternative to the monstruosities of FARP we had to deal with for more than a decade (big thanks by the way to the community of modders who saved the day and our missions for all these years).
But eventhough having a decent looking landing pad is definitively a good improvement, nothing has been more deterent to RW operations than the ridiculous behavior and animations of the infantry in DCS World. Sure, when dropping bombs while comfortably sitting at 35,000 Ft in a heated an pressurized cockpit, these considerations are totally superfluous. Even at low atlitude, who has time to look at this when you are flying between 350 to 500 kt? Now when you are flying a COIN operation at rooftops level and 60 kt, picking up troops in a tight LZ, protecting a ground convoy under attack, watching at the occupants rushing for cover (thank you scripters) or enemy infantry moving into position for an ambush, these details are not details anymore: rigid looking bodies turning without moving their legs, groups stuck because of a slightly too steep climb, infantry guys not able to climb onboard, super human aiming capabilities, spotting and shooting down a chopper flying at 1,500 ft with one shot of an AK-47, no deterence effect (guys keep shooting at you while 30 mm is exploding all around them, Rambo style) are some of the few thing that plague DCS infantry and kills the immersion for rotary wings.
So it is definitively a very welcome move when ED is announcing they are working on this aspect of the game (we were kind of hoping the work on the marshalling personnel done for the F18/F14 boys on the aircraft carrier will someday be used for the benefit of the RW community). And the first animations are very very promising. We are really excited about this eventhough it won't totally address all the problems, it is a great step forward from the dev team!
Kola peninsula announced!
This one was a really good surprise that came out of nowhere. The Kola peninsula will be the next map available in DCS and it will be developped by no one else than OrbX, who, for those coming for the MSFS world, got an excellent reputation for the quality of their scenery. Needless to say the most excited at BlackSharkDen are our swedish pilots, but not only them. This area surely got excellent potential for RW operations. We are not going as far as dreaming of some ASW capabilities for a new RW module, but there is a lot of possibilities for multiple RW operational scenarios, whether on the ground or over the water between Russia and NATO countries. Nice!
