New DCS Kola Map | Honest First Impressions | DCS World
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 พ.ค. 2024
- Howdy gang --- The Kola Map for DCS World was released late last week and it's been a controversial Early Access offering. Honest first impressions seem in short supply online so I figured I'd offer one up to the algorithm gods and let the chips fall where they may. Apologies in advance for the less-than-ideal audio on this one. Pressed for time, single take, and it's a short-lived topic, so it is what it is. Enjoy.
- เกม
Thanks very much for the video. I feel you are the only person who isn’t trying to spare anyone’s feelings here and gave an honest review of the state of the map. So many content creators are flying fast through the valleys or flying 30,000 ft over the mountains hiding all the realities of most of the map. I feel I got burned on S/A due to it’s state on release and then last year on the Sinai map with absolutely no updates yet. Early access is really becoming a dirty word with ED and I’m really thinking twice about my purchases now.
Thanks. I’m rooting for Orbx to come through on this one with their proposed update schedule. I genuinely am. I WANT this map to go from Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan. I really wanna get my Red Storm Rising on. 😁
60$ for early access? How about No?
I think early access is ok. It is a risk in case the EA software becomes vaporware, but generally I think it is OK.
Actually, many aircraft in real life are "early access" without their full or even basic capacities. Tornado F3 blue circle radar for example 🙂
And who would not have preferred to fly around with the F-4 even if it is not complete yet, but just to fly around already some months earlier?
Most important to me is the communication: Heatblur could have done better. In the end: what did they win / avoid with their way of communication?
So yes, there is a risk, but as long as developers deliver I think EA could be beneficial to both sides.
With regards to the Kola map: my main concern is disk space: will I buy another map which is maybe rarely used?
My other suggestion re maps: rather than violating copy rights and shamelessly steal from mother nature: why not create a fictional ideal map?
Yes, there is something about flying over known terrain or your own country. But a fictional map would allow to make the map really interesting. Choke points for ground units, deep valleys aka Death Star trench run, maybe a kind of Carrier Command island structure which would allow Carrier Command like scenarios.
@@slowhornet4802 I am not in any way againts EA.
But a MAP in EA for 60$? No... just No. You are essentially using customers as Beta testers and ask a full AAA price for your unfinished product. (and to be clear this isnt complex system modelling, ITS a freaking MAP.)
Pay more later
I have mixed feelings about the map. Some of the areas along the coast are beautiful, but for the rest…. I imagine it’s pretty accurate, but there sure is a lot of nothing up there.
Unfortunately it's not accurate at all. First of all, almost all of the trees are middle european trees instead of what the location actually has. Should be mostly sbruce and pine in reality. There are lots of villages also missing. When it comes to the northern border of Finland and Russia it is in reality brettymuch nothing.
I bought Kola and my first impressions were identical to yours. I basically agree with every single point that was brought up in this overview. I really love the terrain and location but In my opinion this map needs a tremendous amount of work. I'm still perplexed that this passed E.D's quality control process and was even allowed to be released in it's current state, and I say that with respect because they are one of my favorite development studios. I'm fine with early access but the problem is even the areas that are supposed to be high detail still look kind of trash in my opinion. IDK I just hope Orbx can turn this thing into something pretty awesome... but so far I'm fairly disappointed.
I’m rooting for Orbx to come through on this one - I’d really like this map to mature out nicely (and hopefully quickly). But I’m also concerned about that outcome myself. Like I’m sure a lot of us are. Fingers crossed!!
Honestly i like it, obviously very early access, but the stuff that is their is very well detailed. Murnansk might be my favorite city in dcs, and the road base is pretty cool
And I get better performance than syria. They said high res ground textures and a few more of the Norway bases are coming in June I think
@@sageg58 I think its great too. At this point I don't think I'm playing the same game as the clout-chasing youtubers
@@sundog8775 head out west and you'll see a lot of the shitty mountain textures, but you'll be above 10k most of the time anyways. It's easily the most interesting topography in DCS, and the textures are gonna be fixed soon anyways. They said on their discord there was some issues with compression which is why some of the airbases n shit don't match the screenshots
This map has HUGE potential and I’m still rooting for it. It’s a map I’ve wanted for a very long time. I’m really hoping we aren’t sitting here a year from now looking at all those empty roads and city streets where the cities haven’t been built yet wondering if anymore updates will ever come out. Only time will tell. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t wind up in Purgatory with SA.
@@ShakespeareSims I doubt orbx would do that, and I don't get comparing murmansk with caucuses. It's much better than caucuses. The textures in the non detailed areas are shit, but they still look good from above, and high res textures are supposed to be some of the things coming in EA
There's two road bases. The second one is Jokkmokk, but for whatever reason it's not marked on the map and you have to place aircraft starting from ground to use it.
Noted. I’ll check it out. Is it the same sort of configuration as Bas 100?
@@ShakespeareSimsNope, it's in Sweden and it's a large multiple runway, hidden in the forrest type setup. Like a small "normal" runway, then long road loops going through the woods and opening into three additional road runways
, with widespread holding areas, even a hangar.
@@shagrat47 oh sweet!!! I look forward to poking around on it. Thanks!
Early access for this map isn’t calling out to me. Numerous reasons.
1. It isn’t multiplayer server friendly right off the bat. Limited spawn locations give me the same vibe as the South Atlantic map when it released. I want it to be good for multiplayer servers but I don’t think it will be.
2. $60USD is too pricey for an incomplete product. It’s also a map and not a full on aircraft that requires much more effort to make. I don’t think the price being in the same realm as a full aircraft module is a good price point.
3. A plus here. The map is a green and not another sand map. It also seems to look great from a fast moving jet. Downside is from a slow moving helicopter at low altitude… it’s not impressive. That’s not a great first impression for those that fly the Apache or other aircraft.
My take? I was super excited when this was announced. After seeing it through the reviews videos and gameplay videos… I’m far less excited and will be holding off on a purchase. I bought the South Atlantic map expecting great things and was very disappointed. I see the possibility of the same happening here and that has me not rushing in.
Another thing to mention, down low, in a helicopter the landscape is really (!) impressive, like the small settlements, farmed fields, valleys and forrests, actual usable roads in the wilderness, without lamp posts every 30 feet! Did I mention the hills and the forrests? ...but there are a LOT of those villages and settlements that are missing and have just names and roads, even in the detailed area, where we hopefully see an update soon, with areas of those procedural buildings, fleshing out populated area in northern Finland and russian border.
The decision to add Bodø from the start is great and a logical one. It is the biggest and permanent NATO airbase in the region.
Yes, it is a longer ingress to a potential AO, than most airquake servers typically provide, but it will require a deep strike mission or BAI to do actual planning, use appropriate loadouts, have a realistic time constraint on target and players may want to not drag down a multi role fighter/strike aircraft with triple MAV racks, armed to the teeth and focus fuel planning and loiter time. 😎
There was talk about the compression used on it. Looks like it has the compression power of a WAV file!! With Data deduplication this should've been massively massively smaller than it is....let among basic of compression....my only hope is that they've reserved storage space with dummy data for what is to come in advance as it is a joke. Also some of the creaters created South Atlantic so says a lot and doesnt bode well for how well its going to go
Seems very odd when Syria map is hovering around 66gb and Persian Gulf 31gb. Both have gigantic satellite textures as well.
Good overview. I haven't played it myself, but it doesn't look like something I'm going to buy anytime soon. I'm still loving Sinai. That map does it for me.
Welcome, fellow aviators, to the exhilarating world of DCS World's latest addition, the Kola map! Prepare to be amazed as you soar through the skies over this meticulously crafted terrain that definitely doesn't resemble a hastily thrown together mishmash of pixels.
Firstly, let's talk about the price. At the low, low cost of a small fortune, you can experience the joy of purchasing a map that costs as much as most AAA games. Who needs food and shelter when you can have pixels, am I right?
Now, onto the visuals. Sure, from altitude, Kola looks stunning! The sweeping vistas and expansive landscapes will have you reaching for your camera (or your screenshot button) in no time. But beware, dear pilots, for the devil is in the details. Up close, you'll be greeted with trees that seem to have mistaken their geographical location, as they resemble something more akin to a tropical rainforest than the boreal forests of the Kola Peninsula. But hey, who needs accuracy when you've got flair, right?
And let's not forget the underdevelopment! Why waste time refining and polishing when you can release a map that feels like it's still in its alpha stages? It's like getting to be a part of an exclusive club of beta testers, except you're paying for the privilege!
In conclusion, if you're a fan of overpriced, underdeveloped, and inaccurately rendered virtual landscapes, then Kola is the map for you. Strap in, buckle up, and get ready for a flight experience that's as exhilarating as it is expensive!
I'm happy with it. We'll see what comes of this at a later point I guess.
what does the area look like in other simulators like msfs?
Pretty much all Finnish forests are cultivated and utilized in wood and paper industry. This results in satellite images with jagged edges and artificial lines between forest areas that have been cut at different times. In russian side of border they let everything grow forever and the wildfires destroy the forests eventually.
For me, this is the best map in DCS. But I'm a norwegian who has always wanted to simulate our air force operations etc. Now I get to do it in MY OWN COUNTRY?! Yup. Sold. I'm happy 😅
1:50 Yeah, welcome to the north of Scandinavia :) It's pretty empty.
Yep. It's empty because it's realistic.
I actually think that the area around Murmansk is the best cityscape in all of DCS so far, the streets and roads seem more like real neighborhoods and the city itself has real character with buildings that seem a lot less repetitive than most maps…somehow it reminds me of Half-Life 2 a bit and I like it.
I realize that Normandy has Paris and London and Nevada has the Vegas strip but I really see a lot of good things coming for this map if they make the assets destructible - if not, it’s a waste.
Good honest video. I agree with you on the size, the fact that mission planners will have a challenge due to the travel times. I disagree about the Caucuses reference. The developed city areas do not have the Cacauses look of a random smattering of generic buildings, they look, a lot like the real cities. I checked out TH-cam aerial views of Bodo and Murmansk and the vibe from the Kola map is real similar. I am real excited about the development of this map, but it is in quite an early state.
I think they are going to have a very hard time getting people back into their seat after this one. Improving the textures and adding details will likely end up in the map being bigger than the whole game itself when it comes to storage, while being almost unplayable when it comes to performance. The current performance, even with how empty the map is, is already a lot worse than i expected. They really need to deliver now, im unsure how its gonna turn out. This map has so much potential, lets hope they are not just after the money but actually care to deliver a high quality product to their customers.
They really need to redo the ground textures where forests are. They need to make the forest ground texture with dots so it’s not so apparent when the trees grow as you fly over. Normandy map does this the best of any of the maps.
If I were orbx I would withdraw this piece of joke and give refund to everyone they scammed with this ridicilous product. Laughed good when I realized that some of the SP wroked on this nonsense....
Its still nice to have something green......I'm sure it will be a good map once finished 👍
That's how it actually is there. Empty wilderness with towns and settlements peppered here and there 😄
Couldn’t agree more. It should have been cooked longer. The heavy use of normal maps to make terrain shadows is sad. They should have made the same decision ED has with Afghan with sections. Orbx is use to tube liner sims where maps are seen from 30k, they weren’t ready for dcs. Syria map will always be the benchmark now. I wish we had options to return for store credit with dcs. Couldn’t agree more pal. I hope it’s good in future, I want it to be. We need green maps but this isn’t how to do it.
Thanks you for the facts & honesty O7 ED screwed the pooch by letting this out in the wild. How do you drop Sinai & then sh*t the bed like this....Again(South Atlantic release)
Thank you for your honest opinion. Pretty much spot on, same feelings on my end. With the difference I did not jump on the Orbx hype bandwagon. Unfortunately in the recent years it seems Orbx team has questionable quality management..
The way I take it is, it's early access. They will add to the map, but they gave it to us super early, which I actually like. Feedback to the company can help them develop map better for the community. I'd prefer to have the modules come out as early as possible. Look at the Afghanistan map coming out soon. It's in three parts. So they are giving us access while they develop everything. That's pretty awesome to be honest.
It's funny to think maps and other files, gaming content, etc like this will be tiny in the future! 😊
I have to agree Kola is somewhat limited at the moment, but I feel I'm getting my money's worth with this much more than with Sinai. With Kola, I can think of a good 40 mission ideas with the areas currently detailed with the multiple DCS modules that fit with the theater. With Sinai, once I had made 4 missions, I was already tired and uninspired (Sinai has nice airfields, but it also has long flights over bland... sand). Carriers can reduce flight time to fun to fly areas, and the opposition they can get in Kola is interesting to say the least.
Very 90's. That's what I'd call it.
What I here a lot in the video is simply repeating what ORBX themselves announced prior to EA and in the product description.
Not that it isn't true, but it isn't like everyone should be surprised it still needs a lot of work on details. I'm not sure, but could the size be related to the winter textures they work on? 🤔
Chinook preorder looks rough. Weird Afghanistan sales model and preorder. Rushed EA on Kola. Writing is on the wall. ED is in a cash crunch and rushing stuff out the door. And I’d bet they pushed orbx for a too early release.
Kinda looks like Scandinavia if it was detached from Eurasia.
This map is the greatest thing in DCS since the Viggen came out (if you ask me).
You know, if the Viggen is your favorite module (I love the Viggen) then I could actually understand how Kola in any shape or condition could also shoot to the top of your favorite maps list. As the meme says: "I'll allow it." :) Cheers.
I can hardly wait for ED to create the whole world... It's gonna blow the tubers' mind how much empty wilderness is in the world! lol
And hard disagree on the textures below 10,000' -- looks pretty damn good to me, but I think my expectations are more realistic for a combat sim.
Personally I think ORBX should have cut the map size in half, focusing on the east half. There are many airbases and airfields that are not completed in eastern Finland that would really help mission makers.
Then better prepare to buy that 1 petabyte drive soon...
I've given up on buying any new maps until I see if the MP servers are actually going to use them... I own everything that is currently RELEASED other than Kola and literally use Caucuses and Syria.... Handful of times on Nevada, Persian Gulf and Sinai. So Kola and even Afghanistan are on the back burner for me until I see if I'll even end up using them.
We need destructible buildings and map objects, or it just MFS not a military sim.
Just got it and done some low level flight East of Bodo, and the ground is just 2 tone green and black smudge with nothing 3d, think FS2004 did a better job. Reminds me of some parts of the South Atlantic map and the link is that it’s the same 2 guys who done this map afaik. Pretty disappointing but still glad to have it.
The problem with this map and SA is that the texture blending near the shoreline looks very unrealistic.
True 👍 agree 100%
Those areas ARE mostly empty! :D
I’m talking about all the road and street networks that haven’t had structures filled in yet and the hundreds of named points of interest on the map that don’t have so much as a shack built on them yet. If THOSE are supposed to be empty, then the map IS in trouble - but I don’t think they’re intended to stay that way.
Everyone is clamoring for a Vietnam map! But the distances involved between the RTAFB's and the NVAF bases are much easily 300-400 miles. This isn't a nine minute run from Tel-Aviv to El-Parish, or a 15 min hop from Ramat David to Damascus. I believe a proper SEA map would be nearly twice as large with all the bases on each edge. I would love to see a good Vietnam map, but this is making me think twice
I’d still take a Vietnam map though. I’d even trade in my Kola for it. 😂
Who is that Everyone guy? Strange name. 😇
Why complain about it being empty wilderness when that’s basically what it’s like irl?
So in real life there are hundreds of sites through the region where clusters of street of road networks have been laid down, but nobody ever got around to building towns on them? I thought that only happend at the Salton Sea. Neat. In other words -- You and I are not talking about the same thing when we say "empty."
@@ShakespeareSims yeah you're right. roads without cities would make more sense in a UAE or China map.
People need to stop saying "mixed feelings" Just say its shit. And for the love of god stop buying early access bs
Except I actually have mixed feelings, rather than think its all shit. So. There's that. There's a lot of potential visible in this map. Assuming it continues to progress. There's some things to like. Some things not to like. On the whole about a 33/33/33 split between the Like, Dislike, and Meh.
Currently I buy nothing for DCS. First they should finally kick scambam out and give me my money back for the F15E vaporware.
I will be waiting to purchase. From what I've seen it looks like an amazing MSFS map. :)
IMHO, this is the best looking map in DCS now, even unfinished. When the winter textures are done it'll be awesome
Well, I have flown there. The map is pretty accurate in color and texture. And, there is a LOT of wilderness IRL in that area.
A no from me, I’m more interested in Afghan/Iraq
Halfghanistan
Kola is a terrible release, not any better than SP. Maybe in 3 years, but living in the region I can say that this is catpuke ! Epic failure alltogether..... DCS is dying slowly
The map was announced 2 years ago, the same people worked on it, who made the Falklands - released at the same time (+/- a month), so if what we have with Kola is a work of that team for 2 years, then finishing it will take... 6... 8... more years? It is very difficult to me to find anything "finished" on this map, everything needs to be redone one way or another.
Is it possible to get my 10 min back? I cant stand to hear a grown man complaining like a 5 year old.
Every add, video promotion, and the order form clearly says early release. Also there will be a massive updated to this map by the end of June.
Your given the option to save a few dollars by getting it early. Its your decision. You complain about brown maps now you complain about green maps.
You people are driving me crazy.
1) Clearly you’ve never seen a 5 year old because they are SOOO much better at complaining than this. 2) If you spent all 10 minutes here hating it then I can’t do much about your lack of time management and decision-making skills. 3) If people having differing opinions about a map in a video game is “driving you crazy” your mental health was already shot before you got here. In other words: Cheers!
@@ShakespeareSims yes I should have stopped what I was doing and shut you off. But you came up after a Grim reapers video so I thought I would give it a listen. Unfortunately I got busy taking a dump and had no chance because I left my phone on the desk.
FYI, since you missed the point I'll be more direct. Grow up and act like a man. DCS is one of if not the most expensive Sims available. Children can't afford to be in this hobby. Yet more and more the " men" act as if they are children.
The average DCS player has $5,000 to $8,000 USD invested in a game. But your going to cry about an unfinished map that you were told was unfinished before you bought it.
You will go spend $500 to get 10 more FPS. But an unfinished map in early access with a 10% discount is just a bridge too far.
Chasing that youtuber dream!
Whats crazy is that hardly any of these negative tuber reviews have spent enough time looking at the map to find the problems I find with it... They complain about stupid lazy shit like "wilderness is too large" lol
@@ShakespeareSims Imagine you get shown awesome textures, pine trees everywhere, so many details for month, a release trailer that hides the shortcomings very well and then, without further notice, after buy you realize it suddenly all looks like 2008 crap... and compaining about that makes you a 5 yo :D Cope-level of some fanboys is astonishing. Thanks for the great and honest review, not like other YTers (advertisers, who got the map for free). I agree Orbx burned a lot of fuel. Might be they work on it and it becomes a map worth to buy some day, but by that time, a lot of other maps will be out too and compete. Looking how they (not really) communicate, i'll rather pick some other future map. Until then, Syria is just an awesome playground.
Thanks to ShakespeareSims review and other's, I was given the option to save 55.99 $ by NOT GETTING THIS MAP at all. Hopefully, ShakespearSims can feel younger thanks to you. Cheers.
I wouldn't have downloaded it and use it even if it was free and I would have the space for it. ED leadership is simply dumb. Instead of focusing on selling and improving te game core and modules like planes they try foolishly to milk the community with such blatant deal breakers. 145GB of wilderness to fly over and get bored... for 55$... Laughable!
My sincere hopes at this point is that ED goes bankrupt and free its devs and assets! It will be painful for a while but you know... from ashes... etc...
You are aware, that it is pretty hard to "sell" the game core of what is ultimately a free(!) to play simulator, where you sell the aircraft and maps? ...talking of "dumb".
The thing is, everyone who can read, should read the product description, the "what is early access" explanation and maybe, just maybe, put in a little google search on the early access product they buy, and get the necessary info to manage their expectations. That would maybe prevent the "disappointment", about the state of the product and the "still on the to-do list" items. 😉
@@shagrat47they make a lot from each plane so why not use those funds for the core game? They just chose not to and repeat their flawed cycle.
@@RW-zn8vy That's a blatant lie. What do people think, paid for the 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8 and 2.9 upgrades? I don't talk about the bug fixes, but major changes and addition to the core game engine and asssets (multi-core, rendering technology, logistics scripting access to warehouses, ground model addition, ground model updates, rework of path finding, new missile flight models instead of table look ups, FLIR system, performance optimization, etc.)?
Btw. free additions paid for by the models and maps, not a "New DCS next" for full retail price with incompatibility to old aircraft, like any other prime game developer does to milk hid customers.
You ever noticed that infantry now use bounding overwatch when moving in line? The new infantry skins, for Soldier Georgia M4? The new trucks, new western NASAM, the new C-RAM, the new busses, the new weather effects, and lots of work already done and constantly ongoing on the core game?
🤔
@@shagrat47 wow 15 years and that’s all they can do? Small little things that all could’ve been done in one update? There’s still no working Ai neither air or ground, no dynamic campaign no logistics but yet they went to release yet another helicopter with logistics knowing damn well it’s just not coming. There’s no good wether in dcs whatsoever it’s just not simulated well. Clouds don’t exist either the way fox 2s can just track right through them. There’s no ATC but yet it’s a flight sim? Hell there’s so many promised features from five years ago that’s still not even in the game. I could go on and on. There is literally no excuse for them anymore seriously. I use to side with them and be understanding but all they do is lie and create drama.
@@RW-zn8vy That's what they did in the last(!) year... 😎 And of course working on the rewrite of the core for Vulkan, developing the basis for full fleshed logistics (required for a dynamic campaign), the complete remodel of ground troops (skeletal model, tactical movements) weapons effects (realistic fuzing, including air burst, penetration etc.), new models to accompany the Afghanistan and Iraq theatres of operations and IIRC started on the Global map. And in parallel likely a dozen things we will only know about, when they are revealed.
The point is, NO they are not sitting on their hands and counting dollar bills... they actually work a lot(!) on improving and upgrading the core and they don't go the Popular Flight Simulator 2024 "please pay again, for the bugfixes and improvements to basically the same game" route, but pay for the core development by investing the revenue from their paid products. Simple as that. 🤯