Quick (noob-ish) question regarding the campaign COMM ladder
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Hi all!
BMS VR drew my attention and made me decide to install and try it again (after more than a decade of only flying DCS). So, kinda a beginner allover again
First of all, I am blown away by what the BMS crew has done! I mean Falcon 4 in VR?! You guys/girls are wizzards!!!
Anyway, for my noob-ish question:
Obviously I’m enjoying the dynamic campaign, but I was wondering; Is there a way to check the comm ladder when flying a mission? (other than making a screenshot of it, which isn’t ideal during VR play)
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@Sirrah there’s no built-in method AFAIK nor a dedicated kneeboard page through WDP,
but the community always comes to our rescue!Try EZBoards for a quick and reliable solution https://forum.falcon-bms.com/post/19901
Tip: you can even use EZBoards for pages L1 and R1 and WDP (starting with L2 and R2) for the rest of the kneeboard!
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@Sirrah as recommended above, ezboards and ezwatch to automate it are your friends. WDP is great but if you come from DCS you’ll be so used to auto kneeboards that you’ll want ezboards.
That said, the comm ladder is pretty predictable, as long as you can remember your flight’s preset.
Everything else is pretty much 2,3,4 for ATC outbound, 6 for tactical/awacs when airborne, then 4,3,2 for ATC inbound. And tanker of course if you need it.
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@Sirrah Just some noobish advice and you may have already gotten past this point and want the freqs as a backup etc. However, I would say once you learn to load the DTC, you start to memorize which channel is which (like UHF 6 is AWACs, 13 is tanker, VHF 15 is your flight etc.) so you don’t really have to worry about the actual frequencies unless something goes wrong.
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@Sirrah said in Quick (noob-ish) question regarding the campaign COMM ladder:
Hi all!
BMS VR drew my attention and made me decide to install and try it again (after more than a decade of only flying DCS). So, kinda a beginner allover again
First of all, I am blown away by what the BMS crew has done! I mean Falcon 4 in VR?! You guys/girls are wizzards!!!
Anyway, for my noob-ish question:
Obviously I’m enjoying the dynamic campaign, but I was wondering; Is there a way to check the comm ladder when flying a mission? (other than making a screenshot of it, which isn’t ideal during VR play)
I use WDP to change my kneeboards to display but just remember for Comm1 the (main) Presets are - 2/3/4 and 6
Start the jet (Ramp or taxi) with Comm1 set to 2 (you can do this as default in the Data Cartridge)
After Taxi - 3
After Takeoff -4
After Reporting Airborne - 6 (AWACS/Tactical)Approaching base (>30nm) - 4
Final - 3
After landing - 2
Easy Peasy - 2/3/4/6 then 4/3/2Comm2 set to 15 (wingman/element) but sometimes (maybe 5% of the time in previous versions) I had to input the frequency to have it work.
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@Icer crazy! I use 2/3/4 on taking off and coming back 7/8/9
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@Kevstosmart said in Quick (noob-ish) question regarding the campaign COMM ladder:
@Icer crazy! I use 2/3/4 on taking off and coming back 7/8/9
Well you can assign any preset to any frequency so that’s fine. I’m going by his briefing above…
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Thanks for the quick response guys. I suppose the COMM ladder looks more complex than it actually is
I must say I’m impressed on how much more developed and comprehensive the comms in BMS are in reference to DCS
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@Sirrah said in Quick (noob-ish) question regarding the campaign COMM ladder:
Thanks for the quick response guys. I suppose the COMM ladder looks more complex than it actually is
I must say I’m impressed on how much more developed and comprehensive the comms in BMS are in reference to DCS
Yep! Not only do you actually have ground and approach controllers on different frequencies like in RL, you will find that your AI radio commands have many more options. God forbid you actually want to find out how much gas your wingmen have left To be fair, I guess there is zero “campaign” incentive to bring back wingmen in DCS, BMS you will start to not have enough planes in your squadron. Also while they are still AI, I think the wingmen in BMS are more effective and smarter.
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@Snake122 This BMS community and the discord have long raved about how much better the FM, systems etc are than DCS and therefore that’s why people should fly BMS, but that is really not the USP of BMS, especially with the pace of improvement that the DCS viper has hit recently.
The real pros are in the size, scale and realism of the campaign engine and the gameplay it drives, and the cooperative AI - not just your wingmen but the other packages, ATC etc who all (pretty much) do what you expect, what they’re told, and at the right times.
This makes for a simulation of an f16 with a simulation of complex air warfare and a game to go with it.
Whereas DCS is a sim (of many aircraft, f16 included) without a game. It’s a sandbox. Good for some air quake or some simple missions, but it just deliver the scale and complexity that BMS does.
(Spoken from the standpoint of a BMSer who defected for VR, spent a fortune and a lot of hours in DCS and has spent all those hours wanting VR in BMS. Dream come true )
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@Icer it’s whatever it generates I just do the click dance wdp and fly……