Viper Quick Practice & Proficiency Missions - v. 3.4; Mission Count: 78; 9/5/24

[=617= Evil]

Small update posted today with two missions to practice and familiarize yourself with the new Datalink and HARM targeting functions introduced in DCS v.2.9. 

Includes two new missions: 

- .Basic - TNDL Datalink - Sterile environment with two 4-ships in order to familiarize yourself and practice working with the new Datalink functions.

- Weapons - HARM Datalink - Four emitters as targets for your 4-ship of Vipers. No launchers, no threats. Details in the mission briefing. 

[=617= Evil]

Maintenance update only today. v2.9.1

Apparently, something was introduced in the last few updates that made it so all the missions where 'easy communications' were disabled did not allow for any contact with the tanker aircraft. Until I can figure out what broke, easy comms are enabled for all missions involving aerial refueling, regardless of difficulty. 

If you're having trouble contacting tankers with the version you currently have, please download v2.9.1 and it should fix the issue.

Apologies for not catching this sooner. 

[silverdevil]

23 hours ago, =617= Evil said:

Apparently, something was introduced in the last few updates that made it so all the missions where 'easy communications' were disabled did not allow for any contact with the tanker aircraft. Until I can figure out what broke, easy comms are enabled for all missions involving aerial refueling, regardless of difficulty. 

good find. there are all sorts of users posting about comms issues. at least there is some evidence verifying the issue.

[Soundman766]

As many others have already stated... Kudos to you for creating this package of quick scenarios. Thus far I've done only a handful but have found them all to be useful and very enjoyable. It's great to jump into the pit to complete the missions without spending the time to set up, takeoff, taxi, etc.   If anyone is looking for training and/or fun, this download is very worthwhile. As an example... the landing mission 'Dashing thru the Snow' mission... a little challenging, yet concise and fun at the same time. 

In addition, much appreciate you taking the time to describe detailed mission parameters in the mission briefing. Many of the missions I've downloaded fail to include any detail in that regard.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Soundman766
added context

[=617= Evil]

1 hour ago, Soundman766 said:

As many others have already stated... Kudos to you for creating this package of quick scenarios. Thus far I've done only a handful but have found them all to be useful and very enjoyable. It's great to jump into the pit to complete the missions without spending the time to set up, takeoff, taxi, etc.   If anyone is looking for training and/or fun, this download is very worthwhile. As an example... the landing mission 'Dashing thru the Snow' mission... a little challenging, yet concise and fun at the same time. 

In addition, much appreciate you taking the time to describe detailed mission parameters in the mission briefing. Many of the missions I've downloaded fail to include any detail in that regard.

 

The snowy landing mission is lowkey one of my favorites. haha. But thank you very much for the kind words, fellow Viper advocate. Comments like this really do mean a lot to me and very much help drive my motivation to try to rework, improve and add to the missions. Glad they're helping, and good hunting out there. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by =617= Evil

[=617= Evil]

UPDATE: v.3.0

**New Missions Added**
- Fun: Viper Carrier Landings - Yeah, you read that right. Show those Navy pukes that Vipers can land on boats too. (Yeah, we actually can.)

- Expert: 'Two Dogs' Refuel - Inspired by true events from Dan Hampton's book 'Viper Pilot', this is an emergency aerial refueling situation. There is no margin for error. Link up with the tanker or die. For AAR experts only.

**Mission Improvements**
- .Basic - Beginner Formation Flying - This mission has been reworked a bit. Different location in the Caucuses, more gentle turns, but objective is the same. Formation flying. Learn it, live it, love it. 

- Advanced - Low Level CCRP Strike - Objective remains the same: conduct a low level precision strike with high-drag bombs. Now includes a second client aircraft armed with 12x MK-82 Snakeyes, and a second target following the first one, so you can get more repetitions done in a single playthrough, and practice configuring for bomb release & intervals when loaded with more than two bombs. 

           This will most likely be the final update in 2023 outside of grammatical/triggers/patch related fixes. This mission pack is nearly a year old now, and has over 3,500 downloads since I've uploaded it and I can't be more thankful for everyone's engagement, kind words and suggestions. It's hard to believe this just began as 10-12 missions that I made just for myself to practice dropping bombs, and has evolved to where it is now. 

It never would have happened without all of you. Thank you. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by =617= Evil
Words are hard.

[=617= Evil]

Question for all those following: 

This mission pack has always been 'not tutorials', but I'm trying to gauge interest in if I did YouTube videos of step-by-step tutorials for each of these missions. Basically an accompanying YouTube channel specifically for this mission pack, where you could queue up the video for the mission you're doing and follow along. Or at least the Weapons employment missions (which were always the bedrock of everything else). So, if you DIDN'T have a basic understanding of the systems in the jet, you could watch me do the mission you're flying and follow along. 

I'm just searching for ways to make this mission pack better and more inclusive for all players that want to learn the Viper and rather than try to build in tutorials to the Mission Editor, I thought an accompanying YT channel would be not only easier, but more fun for me. 

So, if you think this would be a worthwhile endeavor, I'd love to hear what you think. Interact with this message, send me a private one, or respond here, whatever works for you. 

[simo-dj]

10 ore fa, =617= Evil ha scritto:

Question for all those following: 

This mission pack has always been 'not tutorials', but I'm trying to gauge interest in if I did YouTube videos of step-by-step tutorials for each of these missions. Basically an accompanying YouTube channel specifically for this mission pack, where you could queue up the video for the mission you're doing and follow along. Or at least the Weapons employment missions (which were always the bedrock of everything else). So, if you DIDN'T have a basic understanding of the systems in the jet, you could watch me do the mission you're flying and follow along. 

I'm just searching for ways to make this mission pack better and more inclusive for all players that want to learn the Viper and rather than try to build in tutorials to the Mission Editor, I thought an accompanying YT channel would be not only easier, but more fun for me. 

So, if you think this would be a worthwhile endeavor, I'd love to hear what you think. Interact with this message, send me a private one, or respond here, whatever works for you. 

I found you pack very useful and entertaining. In my opinion YT videos would be a real boost to this mission pack. Plus, if you say that you'll get a lot of fun in doing these videos, then... why not?

Thanks for your superb work!

[Eaglewings]

Question for all those following: 
This mission pack has always been 'not tutorials', but I'm trying to gauge interest in if I did YouTube videos of step-by-step tutorials for each of these missions. Basically an accompanying YouTube channel specifically for this mission pack, where you could queue up the video for the mission you're doing and follow along. Or at least the Weapons employment missions (which were always the bedrock of everything else). So, if you DIDN'T have a basic understanding of the systems in the jet, you could watch me do the mission you're flying and follow along. 
I'm just searching for ways to make this mission pack better and more inclusive for all players that want to learn the Viper and rather than try to build in tutorials to the Mission Editor, I thought an accompanying YT channel would be not only easier, but more fun for me. 
So, if you think this would be a worthwhile endeavor, I'd love to hear what you think. Interact with this message, send me a private one, or respond here, whatever works for you. 

I say yes to an accompanying YouTube videos.
It would be easier to learn the missions especially for those of us who would want like a refresher course.

Sent from my XQ-AT52 using Tapatalk

[MacEwan]

I just made the switch from the F18 to the F16 and this is exactly what i needed.

Thank you for putting this together.

[=617= Evil]

Happy 2024 to everyone!

No mission update today, but I do have a couple of things to report: 

- Thank you to Forum user @tanr for diagnosing what was going on with Easy Comms not working in the advanced tanking missions. Apparently, now, you need to disable easy comms on the global game settings, and also use the alternate comms menu keybind and not the '\' easy comms keybind in order for it all to work. Bearing this in mind, I'm going to leave easy comms in place and update the mission briefs to reflect this. I don't want anyone to have to mess with global settings on their game just for a couple of my missions that still offer a good challenge even with easy comms enabled. 

- I think I've pushed this particular project about as far as I can, and am considering this mission set essentially complete. Over the next few weeks I'm going to go back over every mission and ensure all briefings, triggers, etc. are correct and functioning and may add some small quality of life improvements like more client aircraft, cold start options, etc., but the actual missions will remain unchanged. 

 

What is in the works next?

I'm going to expand the expert level missions present here into their own stand-alone mission set, improving the current ones, adding two-player options, along with adding more missions.  I'll most likely make a separate thread for that, but will also update here and use this OP as a download hub for anything I add in the future.

YouTube tutorials are still coming for the current missions. I've done a few rough first drafts and am still settling on the format and pacing that I think is appropriate. Trying to keep them all under 2-3 mins and I have a tendency to be long winded, and I also suck at video editing, so WIP, but they're coming. Look for the channel link to be posted here and in the OP very soon. 

Thanks again to you all for keeping me engaged and passionate about this project. Truly it's awesome. 

Until the next update; Good hunting, Vipers.

[MAXsenna]

22 minutes ago, =617= Evil said:

- Thank you to Forum user @tanr for diagnosing what was going on with Easy Comms not working in the advanced tanking missions. Apparently, now, you need to disable easy comms on the global game settings, and also use the alternate comms menu keybind and not the '\' easy comms keybind in order for it all to work. Bearing this in mind, I'm going to leave easy comms in place and update the mission briefs to reflect this. I don't want anyone to have to mess with global settings on their game just for a couple of my missions that still offer a good challenge even with easy comms enabled. 

To be honest, it's your missions and thank you for your hard work. IMHO you are doing all users a dis-service to not future proof the missions. As it's better for users to learn how to use the radios correctly with their respective PTTs. ED has stated that Easy Comms will be removed. (Most professional campaigns have disabled Easy Comms already, and it does not really work correctly either. Never has). And no. It's not an "alternate" comms menu keybind. RAlt + \ is the actual default correct radio PTT for single radio aircraft. (Which a lot of dual/triple radio aircraft doesn't even use. Like the Viper). Backslash "\" do not even work in the air anymore. This is just a suggestion of course.

Cheers! 

[=617= Evil]

2 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

To be honest, it's your missions and thank you for your hard work. IMHO you are doing all users a dis-service to not future proof the missions. As it's better for users to learn how to use the radios correctly with their respective PTTs. ED has stated that Easy Comms will be removed. (Most professional campaigns have disabled Easy Comms already, and it does not really work correctly either. Never has). And no. It's not an "alternate" comms menu keybind. RAlt + \ is the actual default correct radio PTT for single radio aircraft. (Which a lot of dual/triple radio aircraft doesn't even use. Like the Viper). Backslash "\" do not even work in the air anymore. This is just a suggestion of course.

 

Cheers! 

Thank you for sharing your feedback! 

Quote

ED has stated that Easy Comms will be removed.

I hadn't heard this before. Interesting. 

Quote

Backslash "\" do not even work in the air anymore.

It certainly still works for me. Though again, I do still have easy comms enabled globally so that could be why. 

I do agree in principle about folks learning the PTT systems properly. I guess at it's core, this mission set is aimed mostly at newer or returning players, and the backslash easy comms menu is still predominantly what is listed in tutorials and videos, so I'm wary of removing that functionality. I'll certainly keep abreast of any changes, and if that utility is removed, I'll rework whatever I need to make sure everything works as well as it can within the framework of whatever ED decides to implement. 

Bearing all this in mind, communications practice/tutorials is something that the mission set is missing, so I may look at adding missions that teach the PTT functions and how to use them, and then I may feel better about removing the easy comms aspect that exists currently throughout. 

At the end of the day, you can't please everyone, but I always enjoy hearing others' thoughts, so again, I appreciate you taking the time! 

[MAXsenna]

1 hour ago, =617= Evil said:

It certainly still works for me. Though again, I do still have easy comms enabled globally so that could be why. 

My bad! I guess I just got so used to people complaining that it didn't work anymore, so I thought it was already changed. I guess Easy Comms were forced OFF in those missions.

1 hour ago, =617= Evil said:

I do agree in principle about folks learning the PTT systems properly. I guess at it's core, this mission set is aimed mostly at newer or returning players, and the backslash easy comms menu is still predominantly what is listed in tutorials and videos, so I'm wary of removing that functionality. I'll certainly keep abreast of any changes, and if that utility is removed, I'll rework whatever I need to make sure everything works as well as it can within the framework of whatever ED decides to implement. 

Fair point!

1 hour ago, =617= Evil said:

Bearing all this in mind, communications practice/tutorials is something that the mission set is missing, so I may look at adding missions that teach the PTT functions and how to use them, and then I may feel better about removing the easy comms aspect that exists currently throughout. 

If you do that, I think you'll be everyone's hero, as I don't believe anyone has done that properly except for some of the missions in trainers. The C-101 comes to mined, but I might be wrong. The major issue here is that the first new users see, is the Su-25T, (which everyone knows is not and FF module), and even that one doesn't have any relevant training missions for comms. Could I encourage you to have a look at the free community modules the A-4E-C and the T-45? They actually have proper radios.

1 hour ago, =617= Evil said:

At the end of the day, you can't please everyone,

It's a bitch, ain't it?
Thanks for listening!

[Keith Briscoe]

On 2/12/2024 at 11:40 AM, =617= Evil said:

Happy 2024 to everyone!

No mission update today, but I do have a couple of things to report: 

- Thank you to Forum user @tanr for diagnosing what was going on with Easy Comms not working in the advanced tanking missions. Apparently, now, you need to disable easy comms on the global game settings, and also use the alternate comms menu keybind and not the '\' easy comms keybind in order for it all to work. Bearing this in mind, I'm going to leave easy comms in place and update the mission briefs to reflect this. I don't want anyone to have to mess with global settings on their game just for a couple of my missions that still offer a good challenge even with easy comms enabled. 

- I think I've pushed this particular project about as far as I can, and am considering this mission set essentially complete. Over the next few weeks I'm going to go back over every mission and ensure all briefings, triggers, etc. are correct and functioning and may add some small quality of life improvements like more client aircraft, cold start options, etc., but the actual missions will remain unchanged. 

 

What is in the works next?

I'm going to expand the expert level missions present here into their own stand-alone mission set, improving the current ones, adding two-player options, along with adding more missions.  I'll most likely make a separate thread for that, but will also update here and use this OP as a download hub for anything I add in the future.

YouTube tutorials are still coming for the current missions. I've done a few rough first drafts and am still settling on the format and pacing that I think is appropriate. Trying to keep them all under 2-3 mins and I have a tendency to be long winded, and I also suck at video editing, so WIP, but they're coming. Look for the channel link to be posted here and in the OP very soon. 

Thanks again to you all for keeping me engaged and passionate about this project. Truly it's awesome. 

Until the next update; Good hunting, Vipers.

2 player options!!!???  I literally just came back to this post to ask about this.. So cool.  Any idea of timing to do that?
I don't have any experience with the Mission Editor and I guess I was hoping to avoid having to editing your current missions (if that's even possible)

I use your Viper Proficiency missions SOOOO much.  Thank you again.

[=617= Evil]

4 hours ago, Keith Briscoe said:

2 player options!!!???  I literally just came back to this post to ask about this.. So cool.  Any idea of timing to do that?
I don't have any experience with the Mission Editor and I guess I was hoping to avoid having to editing your current missions (if that's even possible)

I use your Viper Proficiency missions SOOOO much.  Thank you again.

I don't want to promise a time table, but I think within the next couple of months is realistic. Slapping a second plane into a mission is actually really easy, but I don't want to  half-ass it either and make sure both players have fun and reasonable objectives to meet. Some missions will need more reworking than others, but, yeah. Call it April. If it's not out by then, please come yell at me. lol. 

Glad you're enjoying the missions.

[RyanR]

Thanks a bunch for this!!

-Ryan

[RyanR]

These missions are so much fun. I did tweak the guns-only air engagements to allow abbreviated labels. Usually, I only use dots, but I'm new to head tracking, and the gun engagements have been a great way to calibrate my real-life head to the in-game head.

-Ryan

[=617= Evil]

Edit: May 30th, 2024 - I mistakenly had CBU-87s loaded in the CBU-103 practice mission. This has been fixed. Apologies. 

AND WE'RE BACK! 

Apologies I've gone so long without updates on this one. Been a very busy Spring and Summer for me, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. Today, we have a small quality of life update, including adding 2-player functionality to three of the Expert level missions already existing within the pack. 

Full Update Notes (Also listed in the OP):

v3.1 - May 28th, 2024

**Quality of Life/Mission Improvement Updates**
- Weapons: JSOW -  Added additional target of inert SA-10 battery with accompanying Steerpoint.

- Weapons: GBU-10/12 - Added moving targets just West of primary target area.

- All Wild Weasel Missions -  Now feature client aircraft without HTS/TGPs for low-tech Weasel practice.

- 2 PLAYER MISSIONS ARE HERE!  The following Expert missions now have multiple client aircraft allowing for multi-player fun: 

- On the Run

- Gecko Hunt

- Go for the Head

As always, thank you for everyone for the engagement, suggestions and feedback. It's always welcome. Please let me know if you experience any issues with the most recent update and I'll get them fixed! 

Fly high and think fast, Vipers. Out.

Edited May 30, 2024 by =617= Evil

[=617= Evil]

**CRITICAL UPDATE***

Sorry for the multiple drops in a short period of time, but this one was important.

- When DCS v2.9.5.55300 introduced bomb fusing options, it defaulted all CBU burst altitudes to 300 feet, which is essentially unusable. Previously it defaulted to 1500 feet. Additionally, it rendered CCIP and CCRP bombing modes essentially unusable in the older missions by causing the bombs to drop far beyond their targets. 

- This broke a number of missions within the proficiency pack. 

- v3.2 now has all CBUs set back at 1,500 feet and all missions involving using any CBU, iron bomb, JDAM or GBU have been tested and verified to work correctly, but if you run into any issues please let me know. 

Apologies for not catching this earlier, and for any frustrations or inconvenience it's caused anyone. 

Edited May 30, 2024 by =617= Evil

[=617= Evil]

And we're back! 

I cannot believe we're already this far into 2024, but this mission pack has most certainly not been abandoned. 

Relatively small update this time, just added a couple of 2v1 Defensive BFM missions and fixed a few niggling issues in existing missions. Check patch notes in the OP for details.

I hope everyone's 2024 is going well and thanks, as always, for your continued input, engagement and support! 

[=617= Evil]

Small update for today; no new missions but the issues were such that I didn't want to wait for the next major update. 

- Fixed an issue with F4s appearing as other jets due to not being switched to the new Heatblur model - Fixed

- AI jets tasked with refueling on the Expert and Advanced AAR missions stay plugged indefinitely if they beat you to the tanker - Fixed 

- A few small grammatical and mission header errors were discovered. - Fixed

 

[mkel2010]

@=617= Evil I really like your missions, but I'm confused about your reason for using a leading period in the filename for the Basic missions. The leading period makes the files invisible in Windows systems. It's a bit of a pain to go through and strip them all out to be able to use the miz files.

[silverdevil]

1 hour ago, mkel2010 said:

@=617= Evil I really like your missions, but I'm confused about your reason for using a leading period in the filename for the Basic missions. The leading period makes the files invisible in Windows systems. It's a bit of a pain to go through and strip them all out to be able to use the miz files.

i do not seem to have this issue. it sounds to me you have an Explorer issue.

null

[=617= Evil]

18 hours ago, mkel2010 said:

@=617= Evil I really like your missions, but I'm confused about your reason for using a leading period in the filename for the Basic missions. The leading period makes the files invisible in Windows systems. It's a bit of a pain to go through and strip them all out to be able to use the miz files.

As @silverdevil mentioned, I think this is an explorer settings thing as well. I've never experienced this before and it hasn't been reported as an issue until now. The leading period is simply there to make the 'Basic' missions both easy to find and appear at the top of the mission selection, since this mission pack has at it's core, always been for newer players just finding their sea legs with the Viper. I'm sorry for any inconvenience it caused, and I hope you continue to enjoy the missions!