Returning perpetual newb pilot baffled with BMS
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Hi all, trying to wrap my head around the latest incarnation of a sim that I have been going back to since 3.0!
So after dusting off the X52 and deciding to jump back in the first thing I notice is nobody seems to be playing AF anymore, its all BMS. Got the latest installed, reading docs, watching videos etc.
First thing I noticed is the profiles for the Saiteks are very different - no more SST, all of them seem to be using these key files. Which I gather is supposed to be more powerful or something but what is tripping me up is I can’t even do the tutorials - i.e. I got the Hard Deck X52 profile (since I have a non Pro) and have the mappings printed out so I can reference them, but trying to do the in game tutorials is futile because all the of keyboard assignments have changed. Even the U key which is supposed to be uncage changes the view…. (?!) It includes a PDF with the remaps but I don’t get it - why change the default keyboard layout to go with the HOTAS? For what its worth this particular x52 profile shows the E fire as Uncage and that doesn’t work either - so maybe I have more issues. Anyway here is what I mean:
Trying to do the A-G training mission for laser guided bombs - first thing to do is hit backspace to enable AG mode. But that doesn’t do anything except show both MFDs as blank. I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the familiar ground radar and TGP view working. And everything seems to be TMS and DMS something or other…huh?
Is there a smoother way to get back into this? It looks like BMS has added a lot, especially graphically (clickable 3d cockpit finally!!!) and as much I love sinking my teeth into some sim goodness the learning curve just to get the controls working is about as crazy as the SIM itself!
:eek:
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take a look at my Hot List I believe u will find many answers - help there.
The good way is to go to the docs folder and start reading.
But cause we Old Farts rule take a look at the vids and along side do your reading…
Welcome back and don’t forget to join the OldFarts club…
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Thanks Arty! I know that this is not an easy sim, in fact that is why I keep coming back. Track IR is on the way too, should be here next week
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I recently had to redo my X52 Pro profile (so not X52 but quite similar) and ended up going with a slightly modified version of Scuby’s profile. I really like the layout and how it aims to “make a copy of the real F16 flightcontrols, and also consider what would work when considering the BMS simulator in general”. The profile has some nice pictures which could help you build your own profile, if you are interested in taking that route.
My $0.10 is the concept of a HOTAS is essential to the design of the real F-16 pit, and so to the extent one can think of flying BMS in terms of real controls, the more effective and real the sim experience will be. So as you are writing “everything seems to be TMS and DMS something or other…huh?” rather than thinking of these operations as keyboard presses, I would encourage you to think of them instead as TMS down etc - because this corresponds to something you would do on the actual HOTAS, e.g. pressing the TMS 4-way switch - and in the end it becomes a lot more intuitive and easy to remember.
Someone older and/or fartier may give you better advice, but hey … I only promised $0.10 worth of input
PS. there is a lot of new stuff to familiarize with (I also came from AF originally), my advice is to (re)train one thing at a time; if you focus on only one single thing, it gets a lot less overwhelming. I remember reading an AF to BMS conversion guide, I don’t have the link here now but just googled “af to bms conversion guide” and there are a number of hits. -
Trying to do the A-G training mission for laser guided bombs - first thing to do is hit backspace to enable AG mode. But that doesn’t do anything except show both MFDs as blank. I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the familiar ground radar and TGP view working. And everything seems to be TMS and DMS something or other…huh?
Is there a smoother way to get back into this? It looks like BMS has added a lot, especially graphically (clickable 3d cockpit finally!!!) and as much I love sinking my teeth into some sim goodness the learning curve just to get the controls working is about as crazy as the SIM itself!
:eek:
1. You need to setup a data cartridge (DTC)
otherwise your MFDs will be blank
2. Watch my other tutorials on how to use the TGP with laser guided bombs https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?5822-Krause-s-BMS-Tutorials -
My first thinking is “be careful pressing keyboard keys.” Whenever you can while learning click in the cockpit or otherwise know what real cockpit control you are interacting with. There is some danger to know the keyboard but not the airplane or to use fictional callbacks instead of real ones.
Regarding blank MFDs, all master modes (5) have individual preferences for MFD shortcuts. What you found out is that the default MFD pages for various modes are the BLANK page. As stated above the DTC is the ideal “set it and forget it” way to have MFD preferences but not the only way. You should know the manual way of changing shortcuts too for a few reasons. You need to change to the DTE page in the first place to load the DTC. You might want to alter the DTC preferences while in flight. Lastly you should want to know everything.
Once you get that far good luck employing LGBs.
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Read the BMS -1 and manual. Quite a LOT of commands have changed from the first version of 4.0. BMS is striving to be much more acurate to reality than the earlier versions of 4.0. You remember the book from 3.0? 4.0 Has one too, and BMS has its own list of information. Your basic flight controls haven’t really changed, though the response may have. Set your realism rating to 100 to have less troubles with things. The program itself doesn’t seem to like less acurate settings and I’ve seen some really odd things happen because of it.
Tip #1 - Be ready to read.
Tip #2 - Try basic flight.
Tip #3 - Read some more.
-Babite -
This is starting to make sense to me….once I got over the initial “ZOMG WHERE IS THE LOCK BUTTON” and a better understanding of Tms/Dms/cms I can see how this release is just getting closer to the real thing.
Now if that Track IR would ever get delivered!
Thanks so much for the tips, guys. Good stuff here.
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Oh and, is the flight model that much better or am I just getting better at landing? Never was able to land this bird since 4.0 but I nailed it first time and subsequently already. Yee ha.
