DCS: Why I like the Tomcat

[@blckdrgn813]

Based and catpilled

[@kzrlgo]

virgin comment.

[@PaddyPatrone]

"you probably never heard of the F-14" Lol what?

[@JiveDilletante]

My dream is that one day it might feature in a movie

[@GolddenWaffles]

The F-14’s flight model really is the best defined in DCS! Heatblur and Razbam really make some of the best modules. Heatblur with its incredible emersion into what it feels like to fly a fighter jet in real life, and Razbam with its exceptional emulation of radar and sensor system integration!

[@JiveDilletante]

I agree! The ground mapping in the F-15E is super cool. It's great to see third party Devs really pushing the platform as a whole

[@gungriffen]

Need to practice audio balance in your video's. Your game footage is exceptionally loud and you commentary mumbling.

[@JiveDilletante]

Yeah I realised that a little too late. When I was editing it sounded clear through my headphones. Then after publishing I noticed the levels sounded off when I listened on my phone and TV. I should have checked first, lessons learned

[@gungriffen]

@JiveDilletante Editing was good, content was good, just audio was both to loud and not loud enough.

[@JiveDilletante]

@@gungriffen I appreciate the feedback. That helps me to sort it out for next time 👍

[@JamesW81]

Tomcat was my first module in DCS. I've just bought the Hornet (because Top Gun 2) but not had much time in it. I have however noticed so much difference in the FMs already. Hornet is literally the easiest takeoff there is, it just about flies itself. The Tomcat really is a pilot's plane and I'm still learning it. Need to take a trip across the pond to one of those museums where I can get in the cockpit. Absolutely bucket list item.

[@JiveDilletante]

I actually really like the Hornet, it's the module I recommend the most because it does everything plus boat stuff. However, that Tomcat character is through the roof

[@JamesW81]

@@JiveDilletante I'm gonna recommend the hornet to my nephew as his first fixed wing tbf. (Might even buy it for him!) It's pretty easy to fly which is gonna leave more room for learning systems.

[@JiveDilletante]

@@JamesW81 wise advice!

[@ThatMuricanGuy]

I started with the F-18 as my first module. I can put warheads on foreheads, bop planes on out of the skies, but the F-14, just calls me back every time. It has so much character and is so much fun to fly.

[@JiveDilletante]

Poetry. That's how I felt moving from the 18 too.

[@-bavarianpilot-]

Can´t wait for the A6 and the Multicrew shoulder on shoulder. Love the multicrew and the feeling fly the cat.

[@JiveDilletante]

F-4 and A-6, good times ahead!

[@7eqzz867]

@@JiveDilletante too bad were getting the airforce and not the navy f4, so no carrier action with the f4, altough im pretty sure heatblur mentioned maybe doing a navy f4 later on

[@chukuma4760]

​. They said they will definitely do a navy f4 but i like the af f4 and i think it was the right choice cause it was the most used f4 and will give us alot more multirole choices instead of just dumb bombs and a2a missiles that the bavy f4s had

[@patientmental875]

The F-14 is like flying an old muscle car compared to the F/A-18 which feels like flying a modern Toyota Camry

[@JiveDilletante]

Perfectly said

[@TazziedoesWT]

Took her for a trial for 2 weeks to get accustomed to Jester and that era of tech for the phantom. Sadly ended up falling in love, but not in the position to buy it. Had a few instances of multi-role with a backseater, its absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to have it in the Phantom. If we are lucky, we may get a navalised variant in the far future, but till then, im gonna miss old tech on decks.

[@humanv435]

Ive played dcs for about a year now. Started with the F16 realized that fly by wire was for losers went on to the F14 realized AA wasn't for me went on to the Harrier.

[@JiveDilletante]

I admire your journey 🫡

[@UraNiUmXXpLoSiVez]

I dig the f14 the most its always been my favorite plane - seems like im not the only one who can geek out with it

[@ВячеславФролов-д7я]

My main mistake in dcs was learning an f14 as a first full-fidelity. I've bought several modules after it, but all of them ended in a "that was fun, but now back to the serious stuff" bin

[@JiveDilletante]

I feel you! I had a similar experience with the Strike Eagle. I think the Phantom might be the only true follow up

[@ВячеславФролов-д7я]

@@JiveDilletante I love old and clunky planes with a lot of limited systems, so phantom has a lot of chances of winning my heart. We'll see it soon

[@CodyU571]

Glad to see you're still flying and having fun dude! You make great content, thank you

[@JiveDilletante]

Thanks! I really appreciate it, the wholesome comments have been good motivation

[@chadvader974]

I really like the f14, but I fly mainly multiplayer in dcs. THe current mp "meta" is just a sam fest and in the atg role the tomcat cannot deal with it. It frustrates me.

[@JiveDilletante]

Have you tried Flashpoint Levant? I haven't played a whole bunch of public MP but I found that server to be fun with the Tomcat (and others)

[@lorenmax2.013]

Would it be heresy to fly the tomcat using mouse & keyboard? My hotas broke,couldn't handle the Gs

[@JiveDilletante]

You fly it with your mind. The cursed hands don't matter

[@J00dy11]

Fantastic video! i might just suggest that you dont narrate over videos with talking in, makes it alittle hard to listen to lol.

[@JiveDilletante]

Yeah I didn't do a great job with the levels. It sounded ok through my headphones but I should have checked other devices. Lesson learned. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wendyandmatthew8637]

well.. here goes more money

[@slicershanks1919]

When the world needed him the most, he came back! Been following you ever since the Flanker dogfighting video from many, many years back

[@JiveDilletante]

The timescales are mad, it doesn't feel like that long ago but damn

[@Tonsofcraft]

As a Viggen enjoyer, I like the F 14 as well, simply because Jester does all the hard work

[@JiveDilletante]

Me too, pure flying 💪

[@GolddenWaffles]

Actually, the “TomKat” was named after Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky 😂😂😂

[@jetman308]

Totaly agree

[@TheBrotherKane]

Jive and BD, nothing better. You guys need to do more DCS vids.

[@JiveDilletante]

We'll hopefully get more soon. Happy to finally have a VR recording solution that I'm satisfied with

[@CAL1MBO]

I agree. The Tomcat is absolutely GOATED in DCS. My favs are F-14, MiG-21 and Viggen in that order.

[@JiveDilletante]

My guy has taste!

[@CAL1MBO]

@@JiveDilletante Taste that's partly influenced by your videos 😅

[@Volcrum]

Would fly this bad boy a lot more if I had a different RIO, Jester is so consistently dropping locks as soon as I fire.

[@JiveDilletante]

I know the feels. Definitely at its best with a human RIO. The Vaicom app for Voice Attack has a cool RIO module included for controlling Jester via voice, worth a look. I use it sometimes. Also the Speed & Angels campaign has fully scripted Jester so you don't have to do anything with him

[@ВячеславФролов-д7я]

There's a setting in a settings-special-f14 menu called something like "allow jester to switch between p-stt and pd-stt". If your jester looses stt lock, disable it

[@pi.actual]

I'm just three months into DCS and the F-14 is the only module I have bought. It's a steep learning curve for a newbie but I took the advice to purchase the aircraft that you really love. If I can master this beast I'll most likely go for the upcoming Heatblur F-4 next but it's probably gonna take a year.

[@JiveDilletante]

F-4 is this winter according to HB! Tomcat will still be a great choice. Highly recommend those campaigns, Speed and Angels teaches you a lot!

[@pi.actual]

@@JiveDilletante yup it's on my list. I snagged the Nevada map when it was on sale a couple of weeks ago.

[@Blade4952]

First one I got too (started on an xbox controller lol), the learning curve really is steep, but is so worth it. After a year and a half, I have gotten pretty good at flying the Tomcat and honestly am having a hard time learning anything else as I just keep going back to the Tomcat haha P.S. I did get a HOTAS setup eventually

[@HawkeyeCM]

Nicest video I have seen, I love you too Jive :-)

[@JiveDilletante]

♥️

[@zachansen8293]

I find the audio on this module to make it miserable to play. Between the awful jester voice acting and the WAY too loud switches being constantly flipped, I find it unpleasant to fly. I've gone through and removed most of the jester voice line files, but still I don't understand why they went out of their way to make this module stick out from the others instead of being consistent.

[@JiveDilletante]

I think there is a switches audio slider in the DCS audio settings now. Jester volume can be lowered by lowering the ICS volume, the dial to turn is on the left panel. Personally I really like the Vaicom & Voice Attack solution to control Jester by voice but of course I prefer a human RIO. The Speed & Angels campaign by @ReflectedSimulations is very good and all Jester functions are scripted so you won't need to interact with the UI at all.

[@zachansen8293]

@@JiveDilletante It's the frequently terribly misplaced emotion in the jester audio that ruins it for me. And the "jokes" that are barely funny the first time. It has nothing to do with volume other than muted or not muted. Pre-release there was an option for "boring jester" but that seems to have been removed and never returned :( I really wish they would bring that back because there is useful information to be given that is lost when muted. And I'd be absolutely shocked if the pilot in an F14 could hear the backseater throwing switches. There is a switch volume level... though it doesn't seem to be per-module. - again making it a problem that they decided to make their module "different"

[@JiveDilletante]

@@zachansen8293 Ah I understand. There was an active thread recently where people were asking for a strictly professional Jester with the Phantom and Jester 2.0. I expect we'll get it then.

[@TheSkipjack95]

Typical Tomcat propaganda all around tbh. If you need me I'll be in the clutter flying the actual coolest plane, the Viggen.

[@JiveDilletante]

I respect that. Tomcataganda isn't meant for Viggen heroes who put in work

[@jonnyj.]

the superior cat enjoyer strikes again

[@JiveDilletante]

The finest of aviation chads

[@RM-el3gw]

missed your vids

[@JiveDilletante]

It's been fun to be making some again, hope you enjoy them!

[@raylemus72]

The Kitty in DCS is awesome! Is my favorite as well. With this module, you definitely earn your performance flying it!

[@JiveDilletante]

I agree, that's a great way of putting it!

[@TFT-bp8zk]

“Earn your performance”?

[@JiveDilletante]

@@TFT-bp8zk That you don't have many modern assists to help you. Takes a lot manual input from both seats.

[@Charles_Bro-son]

Jo Jive, still pursuing the kicks in VR?

[@JiveDilletante]

I am, exclusively! I only recently got a good recording solution for VR footage, used in the recent F-15E video. Excited to capture some more stuff now

[@Havak37]

Really great video! I enjoyed you sharing your enjoyment of an enjoyable Fighter jet. I also appreciated the Creator and name sake joke :D

[@JiveDilletante]

You have high quality taste 💪

[@Amvienttz]

As a virgin Hornet lover, picked this up on a whim a few weeks back, I'm starting to see the charm every time I step in!

[@JiveDilletante]

We took the same path. It's all about self improvement 😅

[@jefferydhamers]

named after its creater "tom cruise"

[@mleon820]

This video has inspired me to give up on my instrument rating and focus on the Tomcat. Thanks Jive!

[@JiveDilletante]

An IR will only make you a better F-14 pilot, do both!

[@Knubinator]

Maybe the Tomcat deserves to be taken out again before Phantom consumes me.

[@JiveDilletante]

You know this to be true

[@jamesduston9292]

But would you shoot down Zeros in it?

[@Viscarah]

It's a beautiful plane, for sure, and probably the most interesting and unique US fighter we got. Shame that personally I find the non-US planes to be way more interesting, but that's a minority opinion. I'm happy peeps finally get all those multicrew jets they've been asking for.

[@JiveDilletante]

It's good that we have such a diverse choice now with some of the Mirages etc. What's your favourite?

[@Viscarah]

@@JiveDilletante MiG-21, and funnily enough it was your "Why I like the MiG-21" video that prompted me to get it what feels like 20 years ago.

[@questofknowledge8788]

F14 is awesome, most fun I ever had was a full crew 4 ship that everything was prebriefed and figured ahead of time. Nothing is more fun than being in combat spread seeing the same thing and the lead rio just saying sort (identify your targets) and only hearing back sorted (pre breifed procdures made it so everyone knew who was whos responsibility) and the wiping out about 8-10 yargets in a single deadly volly. Also having multiple crews let you employ some crazy tactics with high and low aspect for combat. And clutter filter never servives first contact especially when you have rios who can sort out the clutter from a notching target.

[@JiveDilletante]

Well said! Originally this video was a longer more sincere one before I made it half shitpost. I was going to talk more about how much work goes into making an intercept happen and how much teamwork is required, plus the slightest error from a crew can make it go wrong. I love how you've really earned it when it works out

[@questofknowledge8788]

@@JiveDilletante Yeah, we ran single flight 2 elements and was crazy. We had a leading rio who commanded everything. His order were absolut ex "Element 2, angels 5, elevation 15 4x4". That was his style of comand as he was controlling everything including the other rios, that is the elevation and 4x4 scan callout. Absolute monster of a man.

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

I have wanted the Tomcat since I began playing, but other modules just seemed more utility. But when ED had their 15th year sale, I couldn't resist any longer and got it. Only been flying it for a few months and the way I approach a new aircraft is I start with the basics before anything. Cold start, taxi, take off, flying, approach, landing, etc. before I even attempt to fire a weapon at a hostile. Most just go up the second it is loaded and start shooting shit out of the air. So now I am just now getting into the strength of the Tomcat, which is dominating the sky. Getting used to Jester is much harder that George in the Apache, but like anything, it just takes getting used to and practice. And it's only been airfield work, no carrier stuff yet. I have the F18 Hornet down cold for carrier ops. We'll see if it applies to the Tomcat at all. Liked and subbed my new friend.

[@JiveDilletante]

Thanks for subbing! I recommend checking out the Vaicom community application for Voice Attack. It makes all the Jester controls into voice activated lines, it works super well. Follow the setup instructions carefully and imo VSPX is the better voice recognition option to select within it. Also the Speed & Angels campaign might be a great next move for you. No jester control required, it's all scripted, and the campaign teaches you loads of fundamentals

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

@@JiveDilletante Hell yeah! Magic!

[@EvilTwinn]

Aww thanks Jive. I luv u 2.

[@JiveDilletante]

😊♥️

[@b0zz1ll4]

What are your system specs? I can't get my game to look that good and run it at such stable framerates edit: nvm I saw your channel description, my bad for not checking before commenting (bad habit)

[@JiveDilletante]

I had some stuttering recently that I fixed with Core Unparking. There's some good tutorial vids on this, fixed it right up.

[@b0zz1ll4]

@@JiveDilletante Holy moly, that did indeed give me a good boost, but I'm still getting some issues here and there, might be because I'm running with 16gb of ram. What do you think?

[@JiveDilletante]

@@b0zz1ll4 I'm no expert but I heard extra ram stability

[@b0zz1ll4]

@@JiveDilletante Another issue I'm having is carrier performance, I can't get more than 19 fps no matter what I do. I keep messing up my landings with the Tomcat because of this

[@JiveDilletante]

@@b0zz1ll4 the Tomcat is a performance intensive module. Apparently something to do with it rendering both seats fully even if you only occupy one but I don't know for sure. Carriers are where I see my worst performance too. Try turning off SSLR and/or SSAO. Also the Multithreading version of DCS, you probably already are but I didn't want to assume.

[@M4tr00s]

Just beautiful

[@JiveDilletante]

You're beautiful

[@theflyinggasmask]

My problem Isn't that I don't have any friends.. The problem just is that they're all too incompetent, to operate anything more advanced, than a door handle.

[@JiveDilletante]

😅😅😅

[@gibbo_303]

And a hornet will still kick your ass in every aspect including ACM, BVR and A/G

[@JiveDilletante]

In BVR and style factor the Tomcat is the hero you deserve

[@TFT-bp8zk]

The voiceover is trampled by the ics comms and game audio. Your witty remarks are lost in the sauce. Remix this and think about timing and pace.

[@JiveDilletante]

Yeah someone else pointed this out. It all sounded balanced at the time through my headphones, I should have checked other devices and adjusted the levels. Lesson learned going forward. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.

[@Levexter69]

Sadly I cant afford it. I got FC3 and the MIG-21 with Persian Gulf. Picked them up for low price but I m just broke and I can’t get this beautiful kitty. I will have to wait like 5 months since ehh well I dont have a job lmao

[@JiveDilletante]

MiG-21 is so good, takes real skill to make that work 👏

[@Levexter69]

@@JiveDilletanteIve been enjoying it quit a lot, sadly i cant play DCS for some time since my game broke and my PC is kinda lame so re-installing it would take me days. (I dont fix the game since it didnt work, only re-installing fixes my issues idk). But yeah thanks for the comment, gave me a need to re use it since FC3 got me quite entertained with very simple missions lmao.

[@MrSomethingdark]

Are you accpeting recruits?

[@JiveDilletante]

Unfortunately not really. A small number of just fly DCS as part of the Arma community, ShackTac. We don't have a squadron per se.

[@MrSomethingdark]

@@JiveDilletante best regards then

[@davict97br]

The plane

[@JiveDilletante]

👑

[@JainZar1]

My two favorite flight sims: Heatblur F-14 and FSLabs A320...

[@JiveDilletante]

As someone hoping for an A321 course next year I'm happy to hear this 🫡

[@JainZar1]

@@JiveDilletante Do a video if you can!