I hate everything about it!
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I just purchased the DC Designs Tomcat for MSFS.... and I wish I could get my money back. I hate everything about it. The cockpit controls aren't right. The displays aren't right. The audio is horrible. And those are it's good parts. The flight model is absolutely atrocious.
I realize this isn't a DCS aircraft and I wasn't expecting it to be. But for $35 I expected allot more than this.
Anyone know if DC Designs has a refund policy? -
@brettt777 As Derek has mentioned, you're in a deep minority there and given the huge amount of coverage the Tomcats have received since launch, there is no good reason that you would not have had the means to find out in advance precisely what you were purchasing. Furthermore, the flight model is actually highly accurate and the audio was recently confused by a DCS user as having been from the DCS Heatblur Tomcat - it was actually created by Sim Acoustics, from actual F-14 engine recordings ( both the TF-30 and GE engines ).
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@dc1973 said in I hate everything about it!:
@brettt777 As Derek has mentioned, you're in a deep minority there and given the huge amount of coverage the Tomcats have received since launch, there is no good reason that you would not have had the means to find out in advance precisely what you were purchasing. Furthermore, the flight model is actually highly accurate and the audio was recently confused by a DCS user as having been from the DCS Heatblur Tomcat - it was actually created by Sim Acoustics, from actual F-14 engine recordings ( both the TF-30 and GE engines ).
With respect, I have to disagree. That audio is NOT what a Tomcat sounds like. I spent 12 years in the US Navy and many months on the flight deck amongst real F-14's. They did not sound like that.
The biggest issue I have with the audio is that when I move the throttle, the pitch of the audio, i.e. the engine RPM, changes almost instantly. There is no spool up or spool down time. If I go from idle to max power, there should be a spool up time on that engine of at least four or five seconds. But the DC Designs Tomcat is almost instant. I also have the DCS Tomcat. It has the proper spool up/down time like it should. I'm honestly not sure how anyone could mistake this one for the Heatblur F-14. I did not expect this aircraft to be at the level of the DCS F-14. But I did expect it to sound and fly better than a 20 year old 2D play station game. I mean no disrespect to anyone. But that is what it reminded me of.
Now, perhaps the flight model can be adjusted a bit through the controller settings in MSFS. I will give that a try. That being said, I recently purchased the Milviz FG-1 Corsair for MSFS. It was about the same price as the DC Designs F-14. It looks and flies beautifully, without any tweaking of any controls. I have an older but pretty decent joystick/pedals/throttle setup that seems to work just fine in other sims. -
@brettt777 On the subject of spool times, we are struggling with a base flight model which does not appear to allow us to adjust it (at least, the way we did in previous sims does not work and there is no documentation to let us know if this new sim does have the facility). The core engine model has a high response to throttle adjustment in the low rpm range, low response in the very high rpm range. That's the core sim, and it is the exact opposite of what you would expect for a turbojet. Sounds are tied to rpm, so the lack of spool time on sounds is down to the fast movement of the engine from idle to near max which we are currently unable to adjust.
Just for clarity, I am not the flight dynamics dev of the F14 - just chipping in because I see and know the background to the problem. Hopefully Asobo will fix this sometime soon, the problem is theirs entirely.
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@brettt777 said in I hate everything about it!:
I spent 12 years in the US Navy and many months on the flight deck amongst real F-14's. They did not sound like that.
That's because you were not listening to them via a set of headphones or using a PC or games console. The science of perception is complex but, in a nutshell, all of our experience of the world is subjective. Different coloured things, for example, can sound or smell different - despite the cues of sound or smell being identical.
Likewise, if you play someone the recorded sound of helicopter and then the recorded sound of a helicopter slowed down by 25%, the slowed down helicopter is usually perceived as the more accurate - even by people that fly them. -
@brettt777 As stated, there is a tremendous amount of coverage of these F-14s that has been available since before the launch, so there was no lack of information about how they were designed, who they were designed for, and whether or not they would be "right" for you by simply watching / reading reviews.
The Tomcat's flight model is matched to the available NATOPS data and is very close to it, as were the F-15 Eagles. Again, comments from DCS Tomcat users say they found the transition easy and the handling similar ( although less refined than that in DCS, a platform with a 12+ years timeline of aerodynamic improvements ). MSFS aerodynamic quirks aside, it's as close as it can be at this time and is constantly revised as MSFS aerodynamics are improved.
DCD products clearly are not right for you. That, however, does not make them "wrong" for everybody else.
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@brettt777 DC Designs makes products for a certain type of customer.....you need to know what to expect. I also dislike the Tomcat (and all their releases) for the reasons you mentioned.
For example, DC Designs have showcased a Concorde for MSFS, it has an FMS which looks like it was taken out of an Airbus. It's not for simmers with an interest in experiencing anything like a real concorde.
On the other hand, the Just Flight Hawk, I LOVE (I suggest you get that, it's really really good).
For a good Tomcat, go to DCS.
