On 1/26/2025 at 3:43 AM, Rusty Spanner said:

Hopefully  ITB will do a review shortly

Or cgaviator, he is an ex-RAF Tornado pilot.

1 hour ago, jon b said:

There’s a video on YouTube of someone letting off a couple of missiles and bombs, the missiles actually looked really good as they snaked away through the sky.

The one I saw looked OK, no Missile Animation from the aircraft, they just disappeared from under the wing then appeared in front of the plane and then shot off with the trail smoke. The Parachute looked a bit naff as its physics ignored the runway, flares looked pretty cool, only saw one video though so others may show this better.

These sorts of things could of course mature of time as devs find new ways to animate stuff like this, for now it's a decent start.

This is the video I saw with weapons firing towards the end

 

Can anyone say...

TacPack

On 1/25/2025 at 10:27 AM, MarcG said:

The weapons section certainly is interesting, if modders can start to utilise ways to include more than just "visible" aspects then that could be a game changer for combat mods and fans, as it'll open up a whole new success to the flight sim.

I've also often wondered if anyone could code A-A laser tech, like what they use in training scenarios to indicate a "kill". i.e. Safe Combat so to speak (I don't know the technical term!), that'd be cool for dog fighting with mates in C172s over the Isle Of Man or wherever!

VRS (developers of the very good SuperBug F/A-18E Super Hornet for FSX/P3D) created TacPack for P3D. It was/is:

"The normally benign landscape is transformed into a live battle space with realistically modeled weapons, countermeasures, team-based IFF and early warning systems. Weapons will appear on the various aircraft stations just as they have with previously static models, but instead of a "sigh" when trigger is pulled, TacPack magic takes over, seamlessly unleashing a deadly accurate weapon simulation. Your aircraft can destroy (or cripple) your adversaries, and you yourself can become the prey, taking partial or critical damage. All systems work in both single and multi-player. Weapons ranging from Air-to-Air missiles to Zuni rockets are all modeled with realistic weights, physics, performance, effects, and lethality envelopes rivaling stand-alone simulators. Take out aircraft and ground targets, evade air defenses like SAM and AAA, or try to penetrate carrier point defenses with sea-skimming missiles - all in single or multi-player."

It was free to addon aircraft developers, and required a single license for the end user which enabled it for all TP-enabled addons. Basically, it was a weapons addon for aircraft addons 😉

Alas, it never really seemed to catch on, with only a handful of 3PD's integrating it with their aircraft.

I fear the same fate is likely for anyone doing the same in MSFS, though I would gladly buy TacPack for MSFS.

12 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

I'm tempted but I have no use for military aircraft in MSFS. Unless it will have something similar to VRS TackPack (which I doubt it will)

I have it in DCS World. Aside from being an excellent fighter/interceptor, Mirage 2000C is a sublimely pleasant aircraft to fly. It has some genuinely cool avionics (including synthetic runway representation for "Cat III" landings), and is obviously a wickedly maneuverable and blisteringly fast aircraft. It's also a bit challenging to land well, which may come as a surprise and just adds to the fun of vpiloting it.

MilTech have been doing a good job with their aircraft for MSFS, so though I have the M2K in DCSW, I will probably buy this for MSFS when it goes on holiday sale.

I'd dearly love to see a High Fidelity modern fighter with a DCSW-quality flight model in MSFS. It would likely become my most flown aircraft.