Makes me really happy I forked over the extra Dosh for an X570S Board with 4 M.2 Slots and later the 4x2TB M.2 SSDs (2xWD SN850X and 2x Samsung 970 Evo Plus) when they were cheap last year. And that DCS went unified, so I don't need the space for both versions.
*Enigma travels to Finland to cut down all the trees + pings Orbx to make the map more real life accurate = boom mission making problem solved! :) Good video enjoyed the honest take
@@Enigma89 Flygbassystem 90 was by design portable, I find it quite surprising that there are specific road bases modelled, even if there are specific stretches of road built to accomodate it. I don't know much about Finnish road bases though.
@@skatterpro You still need infrastructure for a working road base: huge amounts of fuel, all the ammunition, spare parts, all the tools for working on the jet, shelter so you can work on jets no matter the weather... thats nothing you move around in a truck convoy. And in case of ammo and fuel, nothing you have sit on ground. All the roadbases had concrete shelters overgrown by forest, underground fuel tanks and ammo shelters.
Nobody so far seems to get down in the weeds of Rotor territory to show the level of texture quality. I’m going to wait on detailed reviews. I don’t want another South Atlantic situation.
FINALLY! Someone else who agrees SA is shit and should not be up for sale. I got so many absolutely braindead comments on my video saying South Atlantic was a waste of $60
It's good at helicopter altitudes and the buildings are extremely detailed (more than any other map) But performance is another question. If you're on 4090 then by all means you'll love it but if not then you prob won't be pleased
TBH Enigma seems to run the video at relatively low settings. It might be representative of how it will look in his content, but not of the map itself. Spudknocker's review shows the map as much better looking.
I should have mentioned this in the video but I am going to let someone else do a more rigorous performance test of the map. I am not as technical as other members in the community so I avoided it. I typically got 140 FPS in the unmodeled areas and I would get about 60-70 in the bigger cities and about 90 in the mid-to-smaller sized cities. I do have a Ryzen 5800X + 3070ti. Lastly, the map is about 140gb so keep that in mind.
Thanks for your insight, Enigma. As a Viggen enthusiast I will have to get this map at some point but I will wait for at least another six months before I pull the trigger on this.
Honestly, I was really hyped for this map but just looking at this and the associated knowledge makes me reconsider. 55 USD with discount, 150 GB of space for a map where airfields are too far from each other, which is blatantly incomplete and the textures of which just don't do it for me. Thanks Enigma, this review may have saved me some cash. I do hope to purchase the map in the future if it gets a lot of additional work.
I dont get this point about air fields being too far from each other. It is as it is in real life. There are no additional air fields in Finland that would be closer to the Russian border. Orbx cant just create fictional air fields.
@@ttopiass I was under the impression they haven't added all the airfields yet. If they have, I understand your point, it's not really something they can change but it remains something that impacts how playable the map is.
@@TritonAnimations they havent added all yet, but none of the missing would make it any better (maybe Kittilä is closer than Rovaniemi, but the roadbase still is the closest)
I think SA was too limited in scope. Kola is going to be a huge nostalgia playground for all of us who grew-up playing 90’s sims like Jane’s F-18, and EF-2000.
The map has 3 NATO countries and Russia. And even if Northern Europe isn't heavily populated by central Europe standards it a metropolis vs the part of South America that is in the SA. Also, you can just take dozens of NATO winter exercises. From the 60s to just this year and recreate them as real conflict.
South Atlantic had the triple whammy of 1. visually uninspiring at launch 2. region of the world only cared about because of one low-spectacle conflict and a outdoors brand 3. bad geometry for multiplayer: patagonia is flat, falklands is small, it takes an hour to get between them Kola only suffers from 1.5 of these. 1. Visuals aren't the best, but these will improve and some of them may improve quite soon because they may be LOD bugs 2. LOTS of people care about this part of the world, it would be a primary theater for WW3, and it's the site (or close enough) of salient historical events like the Winter War, the invasion of Norway and Battle of Narvik, the North Sea Convoy engagements, Commando raids, the sinking of Tirpitz, and the motherfucking Battle of Hoth 3. As Enigma pointed out, the geometry at present isn't great, but if you look at the planned expansion airfields, it's going to improve dramatically. The big gap in Lapland will be filled in by Ivalo and Alakkurti, and the Norwegian coastline will be filled in quite densely by Evenes, Andoya, Bardufoss, Tromso, and Hammerfest. It could become a two-theater map for ECW like Caucasus is, one grid on the coast and one in Lapland.
Excellent to have a 'practical' review. The terrain and potential looks stunning, with the fjords etc. Definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future if and when they add more airfields. Also, 140gigs, jeez.
Agreed - I thought the time to target discussion was especially helpful - that's one of the primary topics on our server and how long someone is willing to spend flying to the target
minor note. "people familiar with the module maker reputation from msfs will jump into this". in my case, quite the opposite, orbx is not the same orbx of years ago, they're publishers now. right now, aside from the green colour and the vast area (and unmodeled for the most part), I can't see 55hardEarnedMoneys there.
that can be debatable as most of the modders from Orbx started their own projects, Holger being a great example. Ive a TON of Orbx stuff for both MSFS and P3D/FSX and none of them are 3rd rate.
Enigma, a well done impression on the map! I salute you! Its definitely something else and I am looking forward for more updates to the Kola map by ORBX
I have operated out of Bodo and recognised it immediately before you put up the name. This is a definite for me. The ranges make it challenging. Put some weather in and those not considering Safety Alt are going to have some CFITs.
Have never seen your channel nor any videos you have done. I have to say well done; a solid review in my mind. I'll be holding off on getting this map. Cheers
I served in the Norwegian army and have been to Lakselv a few times. its so strange to see it green as we hardly experience summer up there and is never was when I was there. Summer is the nicest month of the year in northern norway tho.
Great video!! Wish it was a little longer (only because I was enjoying it so much) but I think it covered all of the main pts your audience would expect. Very informative.
The airfield situation can be improved by adding Ivalo, EFIV. It is a civilian airport, but I'm sure air force would use it if needed. Until 2008 it had two runways, so that could be simulated for campaigns in earlier periods.
Enjoyed the video and interesting take on mission options. I've bought the map as I really want to explore taking out Russian naval operations, ships, subs and sub pens so we can extend the range with multiple carriers for F18,14's and other carriers closer to shore for harrier and apache ops.
I think it's the realistic, modern map that DCS needed. Yes, the area is HUGE. Which is precisely, what Scandinavia is about. A conflict in such sparsely populated areas is much different than what you have in Syria, etc. Long flights with a2a-refueling, long-distance radars and AWACs coverage, long-range SAMs and air-to-air engagements is what it's all about. And of course, near the border you have perfect opportunities to create front-lines. I'm actually looking forward to buying it, despite the hefty price.
@@doltBmB There are servers which are full sim and more game like. Nothing wrong with either, you are not being forced to play either. War thunder would be great if it had the fidelity of DCS jets.
Good video and good comments. Thank you for the review. This will explain to lot of people why Kola is not coming to Enigma at the moment, and for good reasons.
It was mentioned that the non-price for the initial release could increase as the map is developed further. IMO, It’s pretty expensive right now with it being very incomplete. There is a lot of faith needed that this won’t be like another map that disappointed a lot of folks. I’m not sure I’d be in favor of any price increases beyond where it is for the release. I want to get Kola, but not in the current state. I’d hate to wait just to see the price increase.
Very honest and informational analyses of Kola. I really found your 12 minute radius rings, interesting. Especially from a players POV and when they'd get bored or lose interest in the mission. Overall, yeah it seems rushed. But, unlike Sinai, this E/A I can run decently and will anticipate getter better.
I'm in the middle of downloading. Everything I've gotten from Baltic Dragon and Reflected have been solid gold, so I'm looking forward to their Kola campaigns. I hope ED implements field and expeditionary arresting gear for FARBs some day. This map seems like it would be perfect for it.
Good to see your still up and kicking man. With the forest I just wanna play devil's advocate. Norway is not heavily populated so it will be heavily forested. Also with the damage aspect. I believe that is realistic. Trees would naturally provide a breakup of shrapnel and concussion. I think it could be a unique layer to consider during missions
Good video and great points put over with no fuss and refreshing honesty my friend. I for one would be well up for more like this as I love the honesty above all. Maybe one for each map so that people who haven't got them can make up their minds? Cheers Rap 👍👍👍
The problem with COCA KOLA: 1.) Shit performance in urban areas at high settings on anything other than a 4090 2.) Not enough airports at release (who thought these few airports would be enough for DCS multiplayer??)
The tree density issue you pointed out, can't you remove trees in the mission editor with SCENERY REMOVE OBJECTS ZONE? Is there like a performance cost associated with that or something?
Sure you can but then this just adds more of a burden on mission makers to make a map suitable for playing. It would just be nice if the map was applicable to DCS mission making for the majority of the terrain.
Nice to see a server owners viewpoint. I tend to write single (or small squadron) missions and I think this will be great to add something new. I’m already looking at all those tree sand thinking they would be perfect substitute for Vietnam ground strikes on tricky targets :)
Thanks for your analyses. I saw it too late:-) Map already bought. How4ever, I agree with your points, despite I am NOT a Mission Maker. With ORBX I have experience since FSX all the way thru until MSFS and I was never disappointed. So I am confident that at the end this will be a high quality map. Players tend to hype for new content and do not know how much work is behind. For someone not knowing ORBX you may be right, to early and not enough Airbases. But I believe in ORBX. The solution maybe to wait and not to hype :-) Thanks for your video, very appreciated!
@Enigma89 looks super good, love the aesthetic of it. I was very interested in the points you made about distance between airports. As far as the forest go, could areas be cleared in a block(through the mission editor), to provide open space for gound targets or farps, so that the forest isn't really an issue. Or of course targets could be placed on roads where the forest is cleared. Also the fjords and others areas provide options for more water based targets and Air Defense that aren't available for example on Syria except for one part of the map. After considering, for sure the biggest issue of it all is the distance between airports, would be amazing if the developer or ED made it possible to create (rough airfields/undeveloped) through a Mod or Developer tools, that could bridge the gaps! Great Video!
I agree, released to soon. Ground resolution is a real deception even in high detailed areas. Urban areas are really good modelized. Nice map for jets not for helos.
Good review, and another classic DCS release. Could be awesome one day, if they add a few more fixed bases and develop some kind of road base solution. Interesting possibilities for Cold War and modern engagements, Supercarrier integration, fleet battles. Its a map that ought to have it all. But its not even in the same zip code as done, and so youre buying hype/promise rather than actual value. And then you have to ask yourself, what will finish development first Supercarrier (lol) or Kola? Will DCS even be a thing by the time this map gets close to its potential? And besides that, whats a full instal of DCS running these days? 1tb? 1.5? I thought the flight sticks would be my biggest hurdle to playing...
Nice video, and I agree 100% - the map needs a lot more airbases. I already bought the map and it is downloading right now. I am Norwegian so I could not spend a single day without this map. I bought it so fast that I did not even realize that the most finished part of the map is the eastern part, but that is okey as long as they keep working on the map.
For the large distances between airbases, hopefully we'll get Kirkenes airport in Norway and Luostari and Koshka Yavr in Russia. The distances between Kirkenes and those 2 bases is only 30 and 40 nautical miles respectively. There's also the numerous smaller regional airports dotted around that area with Norway, the closest is Vadsø which is about 47 and 57 nautical miles away from Luostari and Koshka Yavr respectively.
Great video! I’m holding off for now as it does seem quite a ways away from being to where I’d want to play it. My suggestions for your next map review: I get that you’re less on the graphics than most… but I would have liked to see a bit more on how things are detailed, and maybe some particular sites of interest. Not sure what your methodology is for deciding video times, but I think this could have been 12 or 15 minutes. Really enjoyed it!
150GB is an awful lot for so few airfields, no winter version, and meh terrain. Agreed with the assessment that it looks unfinished, even for Early Access. I'll pass until it's much more fleshed out.
I've only just got around to buying the South Atlantic green map because it's taken this amount of time for it to get somewhere near finished.I will probably be buying the Kola green map in about 18 months time.
Loved the map review. Hope you do more. As for flight times, are there potential roadbases to make it reasonable? While I was excited for South Atlantic to have a DCS map in a place I want to vacation, I was disappointed in the lack of content, which is my mistake entirely. Lesson learned as a primarily single player guy, I'll hold off on Kola until the Baltic or Reflected single player campaigns come out for it. Those guys are top tier so any map is worth it if one of their campaigns are set there.
I did test this but very little. I am from California so my expertise in this particular subject is not great which is why I left it out of the video. Winter at 4pm did have a really interesting lighting situation as it was nearly dark but the sun is at an odd angle on the horizon. As for the northern lights I do not know or think it's in
When it starts looking like the high detail msfs terrains I’ll buy it , even if it takes half a terabyte or more , or let user select a high definition section of it to DL like msfs
Perhaps with this map DCS is attempting to expand its user base by giving the less-than-hardcore simmers something pretty to look at besides just staring at a HUD or radar screen.
I appreciate your points that touch on how the user experience would be in its current state. I'm excited but will hold off til it's a bit more solid. This EA stuff is not my cup of tea anymore, I don't want to pay for a backlog.
I'm in, Orbx are renound for their great MSFS scenery so I have faith. But yes still a little underdone at this point. But I'm happy to take the discount by getting it early.
I'm always buying the maps early because I like the early access discount. Even if I don't have missions to play on them right away, I enjoy flying them early on and seeing how they progress. I'm in DCS for the long game, so I'll still be here and excited about how mission makers will use this map.
So how do you feel about South Atlantic being out for 2 years now and still being complete sh**? 2 years and not a single user mission or campaign, not a single mission for any DCS module except the one single mission for F-15E that requires 2-4 people and is just flying 200 miles to bomb one ship. Getting 6-15fps. Being spawned on unfinished airfields outside the playable area. Textures look like crap and there are trees bushes and rocks everywhere and in places they shouldn't be. Major problems with tiling that is more and more obvious the flatter the terrain. Worth the $60 right? And the description for it on the DCS website... Saying mission makers will love it blablabla making you think there will be tons of content for a 2 year old map when there is literally NONE Yeah. Stop buying pre-orders for EA modules. Otherwise they are just going to keep making more and more and more without working on things they've put out already. You can't finish the last EA module if you're working on the next one to put up for pre-order. STOP giving them money until they stop doing this.
@@RedTail1-1As I said, I'm in it long term and I believe it has improved since release. And I'm not going to stop buying EA as long as I feel I'm enjoying my purchases. You can choose to do otherwise. ... I bought Afghanistan too.
I'm good. ED isn't getting any more money out of me until they stop pushing all these pre-orders and focus on fixing the game and finishing Early Access modules. South Atlantic(my last, and last purchase) has to be the biggest waste of $60 and is such a scam to have up for sale like it is. I'm tired of DCS getting yet another EA module that ends up going years without being finished. Stop giving them money until they start releasing finished products and fix the awful AI, stop breaking missions and campaigns each update and never fix them, stop screwing over 3rd party devs, stop screwing over the customers and the mod community.
I bought this at the first moment it was possible but this was gonna be my last EA purchase relating to DCS anyways. I don't hate ED but I do hate the way they do business. Endless stream of EA modules that take years to get finished and slow improvements to core game and this isn't going to change. Sooner or later I'm gonna make BMS my main sim.
First PvP experience was BMS Falcon Online in this region last winter. I had more free time then and the mission distances were WAY to far for quick sorties between putting the kid to bed and me passing out. I’ve barely dipped me toes in ECW and with limited time won’t get bored of Syria/cauc for a long time.
I was hoping that maybe eventually theyll optimize textures and reduce the size but to my surprise from their FAQ there's this: "At the time of launch the map requires approx.150GB of free hard drive space. With more content planned in the future, especially a full set of winter textures, this will likely increase further. That being said, with additional optimisation being worked on in parallel with new content, we hope to not increase the overall map file size much more. "
Yes, I will be buying. About distances, I can understand that for a casual PVP server like yours this could be a downside. But for my personal DCS needs it is perfect, I play single player campaigns, or Multiplayer PVE with my Milsim focused naval squadron, so this is a plus for us. Of course the more the merrier, and so I also am looking forward to new airbases, airports and road runways. Also this map takes a special place in my heart, as it brings me memory from my favourite sim of all times, Jane's F/A-18E...how I would have liked for that source code to be leaked.
Good review. I was curious what the unfinished areas looked like and it's what I expected. The detail really up close is a little lacking at the moment however I know Orbx put a lot of work into the details of their products. Their Oregon terrains for XPlane look so damn good and accurately model every bridge and well-known building in Portland for example. I am looking forward to flying through the mountains and exploring the forests. I'll have to wait until I have more hard drive space for more maps. I can reasonably install 2 of the current maps at one time.
I don't understand this trend of "let's release unfinished things" lately. I just saw another video comparing MSFS to DCS Map terrains. I think that's relevant here.
I will buy it eventually but I'm gonna need a bigger SSD first. As it is right now I have a 500 GB drive dedicated entirely to DCS and it's almost full...
Personally I put my modules into four categories, those that I am just not interested in and not matter how much they cost I won't buy them. Those that I will wait on until the price drops to below $30, those that I buy the second they come out, and finally those that are an aircraft or theater that I want but am not convinced of the quality of the mod prior to release to purchase. I will call this the K category because I lump the Kiowa and Kola map into it. This map doesn't look at this time ready for map doesn't look ready for me to invest my money into it. Hopefully in the future it will grow and become a worthy competitor to the Syria map for top billing but personally I would rather pay $10-20 later than pay $55 now for a module that will just leave me frustrated
Thanks for this informative video, once again! To be honest: I bought Kola (actually downloading^^) because I'm gettin sick of all the other maps in DCS. And I have all except the cannel. And yes, I'm with you when you say, that Syria is actually the best map in DCS. But I can't fly 7 days/week in Syria ;-) As you demonstrated with the cirlce-zones and flight-times this map looks wide and empty! But let's see (and hope) how this map get's fuller in the next months. I'm confident that this map will reach the level of Syria, not next month and not this autum. Kola could become a real great map and that's what DCS mostly needs: cool maps! And the Phantom + the Fulcrum(FF), but that's another story ;-)
It's a cool area but I think I'll give it a miss until it's further along. To be honest I still really haven't sunk my teeth properly into the Falklands or Normandy yet so I have some green (ish) to explore.
One day I will buy it but not this day or any day near. I just don't have any spare funds for the foreseeable future. And buying it when it's more cooked is wiser choice anyhow.
I have found it a little dissapointing so far, but have faith they will work on it and bring the best DCS has to offer. I know I will never get that DID EF2000 feel, that was weird, but will be fun when we get the EF2000 I think!
Bought it, love it. Finally the best terrain maker for MS:FS has come to DCS. This was instant buy for me due to Orbx stunning track record in FS. So far I'd note this map has the best looking terrain mesh of any in DCS. Highly detailed mountain peaks and exciting fjords to buzz around. I did find some texture blocks that did not match their neighbours, a couple spots where mesh needs to be tuned up. The terrain textures are also the best of any in DCS IMHO. I think the performance of this map is a little better than Syria's or Marianas, but not as good as Caucasus or Persian Gulf. If you're on the fence about buying this map, do not buy it yet. Wait until its complete. Don't be that guy who spends their allowance on incomplete items that probably won't be feature complete for 2 years and then complains incessantly for the next 5 years... We've got enough of those guys already. This map may not work well for ECW, or many other MP servers out there where gameplay depends on flying somewhere in 10 minutes; at least until more airports / road bases are added. However, for deep strike, carrier air wing, or more A2A PVP, I think this map will work out great. 1. It's EA 2. Yes, it costs money 3. It's barren, as in reality, and modeled wonderfully
Will you be buying Kola? Let me and your fellow gamers know below.
"From there you can decide if you're going to purchase it"
Me watching this video while downloading KOLA: ...
:D
Yes. I like having more areas to explore and do things. Mostly SP, but have dabbled in MP
Probably not for now. It looks very early access.
"Waiting to see" about airfields, detail and if ED & DCS will be a thing (at least as a viable online game) a year from now.
I Will pass this map
150GB is too many calories for my diet. I need a Diet Kola.
Certified Orbx TrueEarth moment 💀
I was shocked when I saw that, ooof
Oh well I needed another SSD anyways.
That is downright unreasonable
Makes me really happy I forked over the extra Dosh for an X570S Board with 4 M.2 Slots and later the 4x2TB M.2 SSDs (2xWD SN850X and 2x Samsung 970 Evo Plus) when they were cheap last year.
And that DCS went unified, so I don't need the space for both versions.
*Enigma travels to Finland to cut down all the trees + pings Orbx to make the map more real life accurate = boom mission making problem solved! :) Good video enjoyed the honest take
Two words - Road bases
I hope they add more of them.
@@Enigma89 Flygbassystem 90 was by design portable, I find it quite surprising that there are specific road bases modelled, even if there are specific stretches of road built to accomodate it. I don't know much about Finnish road bases though.
@@skatterpro finland has fairly many road bits that are wider than usual to be easily converted into a roadbase
Aren't the wheel physics on rough terrain pretty fucked?
@@skatterpro You still need infrastructure for a working road base: huge amounts of fuel, all the ammunition, spare parts, all the tools for working on the jet, shelter so you can work on jets no matter the weather... thats nothing you move around in a truck convoy. And in case of ammo and fuel, nothing you have sit on ground. All the roadbases had concrete shelters overgrown by forest, underground fuel tanks and ammo shelters.
Nobody so far seems to get down in the weeds of Rotor territory to show the level of texture quality. I’m going to wait on detailed reviews. I don’t want another South Atlantic situation.
Yeap, not gonna fly helicopter down low with that texture.
FINALLY! Someone else who agrees SA is shit and should not be up for sale. I got so many absolutely braindead comments on my video saying South Atlantic was a waste of $60
It looks like absolute garbage down low tbh. Like NTTR map.
It's good at helicopter altitudes and the buildings are extremely detailed (more than any other map)
But performance is another question. If you're on 4090 then by all means you'll love it but if not then you prob won't be pleased
TBH Enigma seems to run the video at relatively low settings. It might be representative of how it will look in his content, but not of the map itself. Spudknocker's review shows the map as much better looking.
I should have mentioned this in the video but I am going to let someone else do a more rigorous performance test of the map. I am not as technical as other members in the community so I avoided it. I typically got 140 FPS in the unmodeled areas and I would get about 60-70 in the bigger cities and about 90 in the mid-to-smaller sized cities. I do have a Ryzen 5800X + 3070ti. Lastly, the map is about 140gb so keep that in mind.
I believe 140gb is the largest DCS map to date, correct?
@@itsmerker Yeh. Syria is 66GB. SA might be inbetween Kola and Syria.
Thanks for the reminder of your specs. I have a 5800x and AMD RX6800. If I do buy I would expect a similar FPS but with medium shadows.
Passing on this map for now will reevaluate in the future
It's kind of hard to make this part of the world without a forest (lol). Thanks for the video.
Thanks for your insight, Enigma. As a Viggen enthusiast I will have to get this map at some point but I will wait for at least another six months before I pull the trigger on this.
i am a single player / co-op dcs player so maps are always an instant buy for me. the more places to fly in the better :)
Honestly, I was really hyped for this map but just looking at this and the associated knowledge makes me reconsider.
55 USD with discount, 150 GB of space for a map where airfields are too far from each other, which is blatantly incomplete and the textures of which just don't do it for me.
Thanks Enigma, this review may have saved me some cash.
I do hope to purchase the map in the future if it gets a lot of additional work.
I dont get this point about air fields being too far from each other. It is as it is in real life. There are no additional air fields in Finland that would be closer to the Russian border. Orbx cant just create fictional air fields.
@@ttopiass I was under the impression they haven't added all the airfields yet.
If they have, I understand your point, it's not really something they can change but it remains something that impacts how playable the map is.
@@TritonAnimations they havent added all yet, but none of the missing would make it any better (maybe Kittilä is closer than Rovaniemi, but the roadbase still is the closest)
@@ttopiass fair enough. I suppose we'll just have to cope with a long range map
"first green map"
I'm worried this will end up like the south atlantic map where everyone forgot about it in a month.
I think SA was too limited in scope. Kola is going to be a huge nostalgia playground for all of us who grew-up playing 90’s sims like Jane’s F-18, and EF-2000.
The map has 3 NATO countries and Russia. And even if Northern Europe isn't heavily populated by central Europe standards it a metropolis vs the part of South America that is in the SA.
Also, you can just take dozens of NATO winter exercises. From the 60s to just this year and recreate them as real conflict.
SA was terrible quality though, this is OrbX, not a barely held together mess from Razbam
South Atlantic is mainly ocean with a little bit of terrible quality land sprinkled in
South Atlantic had the triple whammy of
1. visually uninspiring at launch
2. region of the world only cared about because of one low-spectacle conflict and a outdoors brand
3. bad geometry for multiplayer: patagonia is flat, falklands is small, it takes an hour to get between them
Kola only suffers from 1.5 of these.
1. Visuals aren't the best, but these will improve and some of them may improve quite soon because they may be LOD bugs
2. LOTS of people care about this part of the world, it would be a primary theater for WW3, and it's the site (or close enough) of salient historical events like the Winter War, the invasion of Norway and Battle of Narvik, the North Sea Convoy engagements, Commando raids, the sinking of Tirpitz, and the motherfucking Battle of Hoth
3. As Enigma pointed out, the geometry at present isn't great, but if you look at the planned expansion airfields, it's going to improve dramatically. The big gap in Lapland will be filled in by Ivalo and Alakkurti, and the Norwegian coastline will be filled in quite densely by Evenes, Andoya, Bardufoss, Tromso, and Hammerfest. It could become a two-theater map for ECW like Caucasus is, one grid on the coast and one in Lapland.
Excellent to have a 'practical' review. The terrain and potential looks stunning, with the fjords etc. Definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future if and when they add more airfields.
Also, 140gigs, jeez.
Agreed - I thought the time to target discussion was especially helpful - that's one of the primary topics on our server and how long someone is willing to spend flying to the target
minor note.
"people familiar with the module maker reputation from msfs will jump into this".
in my case, quite the opposite, orbx is not the same orbx of years ago, they're publishers now.
right now, aside from the green colour and the vast area (and unmodeled for the most part), I can't see 55hardEarnedMoneys there.
that can be debatable as most of the modders from Orbx started their own projects, Holger being a great example. Ive a TON of Orbx stuff for both MSFS and P3D/FSX and none of them are 3rd rate.
Enigma, a well done impression on the map! I salute you! Its definitely something else and I am looking forward for more updates to the Kola map by ORBX
I have operated out of Bodo and recognised it immediately before you put up the name. This is a definite for me. The ranges make it challenging. Put some weather in and those not considering Safety Alt are going to have some CFITs.
As a Norwegian I will be running Bear intercepts from Bodø, and Tom Clancy red storm rising “dance of the vampires”
How about the full invasion scenario ca. 1980s?
@@norwegianwiking most definitely my good sir 👍
@@jw8042 I have most of the FFI reports used for the 70s defense study, just have to figure out how to turn that knowledge into missions
@@norwegianwiking jeg kan gjøre ett forsøk 😊
@@jw8042 søk etter 75-NDRE-S-12
Det er Kampflystudien som gir mye gode detaljer om hva luftvåpenet skulle gjøre
Have never seen your channel nor any videos you have done. I have to say well done; a solid review in my mind. I'll be holding off on getting this map. Cheers
good review! I love map making so that was a good thing to include! as a finn, this map was a must buy for me, despite its flaws.
I served in the Norwegian army and have been to Lakselv a few times. its so strange to see it green as we hardly experience summer up there and is never was when I was there. Summer is the nicest month of the year in northern norway tho.
Except for the mosquitos the size of A-10s. Armed with GAU-9 suckers.
@@Gunfreak19 yep. The mosquitos with support elements still gives me nam'flashbacks.
Excellent video with very useful information, objective and straight to the point.
Awesome review. Never thought about a map from the mission maker pov. Thanks
Love it, very informative. Keep it coming, and thx for your amazing server.
I think this map will could be very good when it is finished, but in this state, I'll leave it for now
Great video!! Wish it was a little longer (only because I was enjoying it so much) but I think it covered all of the main pts your audience would expect. Very informative.
The airfield situation can be improved by adding Ivalo, EFIV. It is a civilian airport, but I'm sure air force would use it if needed. Until 2008 it had two runways, so that could be simulated for campaigns in earlier periods.
Enjoyed the video and interesting take on mission options.
I've bought the map as I really want to explore taking out Russian naval operations, ships, subs and sub pens so we can extend the range with multiple carriers for F18,14's and other carriers closer to shore for harrier and apache ops.
I think it's the realistic, modern map that DCS needed. Yes, the area is HUGE. Which is precisely, what Scandinavia is about. A conflict in such sparsely populated areas is much different than what you have in Syria, etc. Long flights with a2a-refueling, long-distance radars and AWACs coverage, long-range SAMs and air-to-air engagements is what it's all about. And of course, near the border you have perfect opportunities to create front-lines. I'm actually looking forward to buying it, despite the hefty price.
Enimga doesn't care about realism, he wants war thunder with jets.
@@doltBmB There are servers which are full sim and more game like. Nothing wrong with either, you are not being forced to play either. War thunder would be great if it had the fidelity of DCS jets.
Good to hear it from a designers perspective thank you.
Good video and good comments. Thank you for the review. This will explain to lot of people why Kola is not coming to Enigma at the moment, and for good reasons.
Interesting perspective, thanks!
Nice work Enigma. Thanks for the analysis.
I am from Lakselv, and the terminal and airport is pretty much spot on.
It was mentioned that the non-price for the initial release could increase as the map is developed further. IMO, It’s pretty expensive right now with it being very incomplete. There is a lot of faith needed that this won’t be like another map that disappointed a lot of folks. I’m not sure I’d be in favor of any price increases beyond where it is for the release. I want to get Kola, but not in the current state. I’d hate to wait just to see the price increase.
Very honest and informational analyses of Kola. I really found your 12 minute radius rings, interesting. Especially from a players POV and when they'd get bored or lose interest in the mission.
Overall, yeah it seems rushed. But, unlike Sinai, this E/A I can run decently and will anticipate getter better.
I'm in the middle of downloading. Everything I've gotten from Baltic Dragon and Reflected have been solid gold, so I'm looking forward to their Kola campaigns.
I hope ED implements field and expeditionary arresting gear for FARBs some day. This map seems like it would be perfect for it.
9n the old days playing EF2000 you could use the fjords to creep in, looking forward on doing that again.
Good to see your still up and kicking man. With the forest I just wanna play devil's advocate. Norway is not heavily populated so it will be heavily forested. Also with the damage aspect. I believe that is realistic. Trees would naturally provide a breakup of shrapnel and concussion. I think it could be a unique layer to consider during missions
Good video and great points put over with no fuss and refreshing honesty my friend. I for one would be well up for more like this as I love the honesty above all.
Maybe one for each map so that people who haven't got them can make up their minds?
Cheers
Rap 👍👍👍
The problem with COCA KOLA:
1.) Shit performance in urban areas at high settings on anything other than a 4090
2.) Not enough airports at release (who thought these few airports would be enough for DCS multiplayer??)
I love your speaking style. Very to the point. Can't tell if you're annoyed or not.
Hey remember a couple years ago when DCS was totally going to catch up to Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1 and have a whole globe?
Yea, good times
The tree density issue you pointed out, can't you remove trees in the mission editor with SCENERY REMOVE OBJECTS ZONE? Is there like a performance cost associated with that or something?
Sure you can but then this just adds more of a burden on mission makers to make a map suitable for playing. It would just be nice if the map was applicable to DCS mission making for the majority of the terrain.
Nice to see a server owners viewpoint. I tend to write single (or small squadron) missions and I think this will be great to add something new. I’m already looking at all those tree sand thinking they would be perfect substitute for Vietnam ground strikes on tricky targets :)
Great review! A must buy map, as I am a Norwegian.
Thanks for your analyses. I saw it too late:-) Map already bought. How4ever, I agree with your points, despite I am NOT a Mission Maker.
With ORBX I have experience since FSX all the way thru until MSFS and I was never disappointed. So I am confident that at the end this will be a high quality map. Players tend to hype for new content and do not know how much work is behind. For someone not knowing ORBX you may be right, to early and not enough Airbases. But I believe in ORBX. The solution maybe to wait and not to hype :-) Thanks for your video, very appreciated!
@Enigma89 looks super good, love the aesthetic of it. I was very interested in the points you made about distance between airports. As far as the forest go, could areas be cleared in a block(through the mission editor), to provide open space for gound targets or farps, so that the forest isn't really an issue. Or of course targets could be placed on roads where the forest is cleared.
Also the fjords and others areas provide options for more water based targets and Air Defense that aren't available for example on Syria except for one part of the map.
After considering, for sure the biggest issue of it all is the distance between airports, would be amazing if the developer or ED made it possible to create (rough airfields/undeveloped) through a Mod or Developer tools, that could bridge the gaps!
Great Video!
I agree, released to soon. Ground resolution is a real deception even in high detailed areas. Urban areas are really good modelized. Nice map for jets not for helos.
Good review, and another classic DCS release. Could be awesome one day, if they add a few more fixed bases and develop some kind of road base solution. Interesting possibilities for Cold War and modern engagements, Supercarrier integration, fleet battles. Its a map that ought to have it all. But its not even in the same zip code as done, and so youre buying hype/promise rather than actual value. And then you have to ask yourself, what will finish development first Supercarrier (lol) or Kola? Will DCS even be a thing by the time this map gets close to its potential?
And besides that, whats a full instal of DCS running these days? 1tb? 1.5? I thought the flight sticks would be my biggest hurdle to playing...
Nice video, and I agree 100% - the map needs a lot more airbases. I already bought the map and it is downloading right now. I am Norwegian so I could not spend a single day without this map. I bought it so fast that I did not even realize that the most finished part of the map is the eastern part, but that is okey as long as they keep working on the map.
Thanks for the review in great aspcets. Big help!!
Thank you for this review. It made a though, unsure decision easy. I will be passing on this one.
For the large distances between airbases, hopefully we'll get Kirkenes airport in Norway and Luostari and Koshka Yavr in Russia. The distances between Kirkenes and those 2 bases is only 30 and 40 nautical miles respectively.
There's also the numerous smaller regional airports dotted around that area with Norway, the closest is Vadsø which is about 47 and 57 nautical miles away from Luostari and Koshka Yavr respectively.
Great video! I’m holding off for now as it does seem quite a ways away from being to where I’d want to play it.
My suggestions for your next map review: I get that you’re less on the graphics than most… but I would have liked to see a bit more on how things are detailed, and maybe some particular sites of interest. Not sure what your methodology is for deciding video times, but I think this could have been 12 or 15 minutes. Really enjoyed it!
150GB is an awful lot for so few airfields, no winter version, and meh terrain. Agreed with the assessment that it looks unfinished, even for Early Access. I'll pass until it's much more fleshed out.
Thanks for the review
LOL scooped ED by 4 mins. Well done sir!
Let's just all agree to say that a 50 to $70 map of 150go should not look as horrendous as this, I smell greed
Really needs winter textures. Can't wait for those.
I've only just got around to buying the South Atlantic green map because it's taken this amount of time for it to get somewhere near finished.I will probably be buying the Kola green map in about 18 months time.
Probably a good timeline but i am not involved with the timetables
Loved the map review. Hope you do more. As for flight times, are there potential roadbases to make it reasonable?
While I was excited for South Atlantic to have a DCS map in a place I want to vacation, I was disappointed in the lack of content, which is my mistake entirely. Lesson learned as a primarily single player guy, I'll hold off on Kola until the Baltic or Reflected single player campaigns come out for it. Those guys are top tier so any map is worth it if one of their campaigns are set there.
But there's a ME trigger that will help you remove vegetation, which includes forests. This might help place targets.
Ah yes, big circular gaps in the woods marking targets. Great idea!
The triggers for scenery-removal can be circular or polygonal.
Is this a new feature or nah?
@@DokuganRyu28 What do you think happens when you try to build in a forested area?
@@ChrisPBacon-my7yt It's not new. Been there for a while.
Is there polar night? Does Latitude in DCS affect gyrocompassing align time?
I did test this but very little. I am from California so my expertise in this particular subject is not great which is why I left it out of the video. Winter at 4pm did have a really interesting lighting situation as it was nearly dark but the sun is at an odd angle on the horizon. As for the northern lights I do not know or think it's in
@@Enigma89 I think it could be caused by non-spherical engine. But the Sun never set down. It travels along the horizont.
When it starts looking like the high detail msfs terrains I’ll buy it , even if it takes half a terabyte or more , or let user select a high definition section of it to DL like msfs
Perhaps with this map DCS is attempting to expand its user base by giving the less-than-hardcore simmers something pretty to look at besides just staring at a HUD or radar screen.
1:24 is the airfield count taking road strips into account? Edit: also their not being a winter version is crazy
I appreciate your points that touch on how the user experience would be in its current state. I'm excited but will hold off til it's a bit more solid. This EA stuff is not my cup of tea anymore, I don't want to pay for a backlog.
I'm in, Orbx are renound for their great MSFS scenery so I have faith. But yes still a little underdone at this point. But I'm happy to take the discount by getting it early.
Map currently in work :) I was pleasantly surprised at how things are so far working out in the first 30 minutes or so
I bought it just because of the area. I'm also just getting back into PC sims so adding to my available maps.
I'm always buying the maps early because I like the early access discount. Even if I don't have missions to play on them right away, I enjoy flying them early on and seeing how they progress. I'm in DCS for the long game, so I'll still be here and excited about how mission makers will use this map.
So how do you feel about South Atlantic being out for 2 years now and still being complete sh**? 2 years and not a single user mission or campaign, not a single mission for any DCS module except the one single mission for F-15E that requires 2-4 people and is just flying 200 miles to bomb one ship. Getting 6-15fps. Being spawned on unfinished airfields outside the playable area. Textures look like crap and there are trees bushes and rocks everywhere and in places they shouldn't be. Major problems with tiling that is more and more obvious the flatter the terrain. Worth the $60 right? And the description for it on the DCS website... Saying mission makers will love it blablabla making you think there will be tons of content for a 2 year old map when there is literally NONE
Yeah. Stop buying pre-orders for EA modules. Otherwise they are just going to keep making more and more and more without working on things they've put out already. You can't finish the last EA module if you're working on the next one to put up for pre-order. STOP giving them money until they stop doing this.
@@RedTail1-1As I said, I'm in it long term and I believe it has improved since release. And I'm not going to stop buying EA as long as I feel I'm enjoying my purchases. You can choose to do otherwise.
... I bought Afghanistan too.
So much hype for the Kola, but at this current state, I will pass for now. looked too early access. I will save the money for Kiowa or Afghan
Enigma have you seen the new oh6a mod for dcs are you going to add that to your server
I don't see a compelling reason to add it to the server.
I'm good. ED isn't getting any more money out of me until they stop pushing all these pre-orders and focus on fixing the game and finishing Early Access modules. South Atlantic(my last, and last purchase) has to be the biggest waste of $60 and is such a scam to have up for sale like it is. I'm tired of DCS getting yet another EA module that ends up going years without being finished. Stop giving them money until they start releasing finished products and fix the awful AI, stop breaking missions and campaigns each update and never fix them, stop screwing over 3rd party devs, stop screwing over the customers and the mod community.
I bought this at the first moment it was possible but this was gonna be my last EA purchase relating to DCS anyways. I don't hate ED but I do hate the way they do business. Endless stream of EA modules that take years to get finished and slow improvements to core game and this isn't going to change. Sooner or later I'm gonna make BMS my main sim.
I think I should have watched the video before purchase 😅😅 I like the idea of the map, the area, the size, the rest will be delivered later.
I just migrated DCS over to a new 2tb ssd, so I'll most likely get it. I may wait until it gets more completed, though
First PvP experience was BMS Falcon Online in this region last winter. I had more free time then and the mission distances were WAY to far for quick sorties between putting the kid to bed and me passing out. I’ve barely dipped me toes in ECW and with limited time won’t get bored of Syria/cauc for a long time.
Thank you for your analysis. I was planning on flying MiG-21, but the distance between airbases might delay my purchase.
What do you think about upcoming FC2024 module?
Are the buildings destructible?
I was hoping that maybe eventually theyll optimize textures and reduce the size but to my surprise from their FAQ there's this:
"At the time of launch the map requires approx.150GB of free hard drive space. With more content planned in the future, especially a full set of winter textures, this will likely increase further.
That being said, with additional optimisation being worked on in parallel with new content, we hope to not increase the overall map file size much more. "
150gb is FAR too big for a single map to occupy
Can they add more airports on multiplayer?
Yes, I will be buying. About distances, I can understand that for a casual PVP server like yours this could be a downside. But for my personal DCS needs it is perfect, I play single player campaigns, or Multiplayer PVE with my Milsim focused naval squadron, so this is a plus for us. Of course the more the merrier, and so I also am looking forward to new airbases, airports and road runways.
Also this map takes a special place in my heart, as it brings me memory from my favourite sim of all times, Jane's F/A-18E...how I would have liked for that source code to be leaked.
Good review. I was curious what the unfinished areas looked like and it's what I expected. The detail really up close is a little lacking at the moment however I know Orbx put a lot of work into the details of their products. Their Oregon terrains for XPlane look so damn good and accurately model every bridge and well-known building in Portland for example. I am looking forward to flying through the mountains and exploring the forests. I'll have to wait until I have more hard drive space for more maps. I can reasonably install 2 of the current maps at one time.
Bought just as it launched.
For me it was more of a nostalgia thing, with Microprose's F-19 Stealth Fighter and DiD's EF2000.
Can we get a low level flight from Kilpisjarvi through the Skibotn valley to Skibotn?
I don't understand this trend of "let's release unfinished things" lately. I just saw another video comparing MSFS to DCS Map terrains. I think that's relevant here.
I will buy it eventually but I'm gonna need a bigger SSD first. As it is right now I have a 500 GB drive dedicated entirely to DCS and it's almost full...
Personally I put my modules into four categories, those that I am just not interested in and not matter how much they cost I won't buy them. Those that I will wait on until the price drops to below $30, those that I buy the second they come out, and finally those that are an aircraft or theater that I want but am not convinced of the quality of the mod prior to release to purchase. I will call this the K category because I lump the Kiowa and Kola map into it. This map doesn't look at this time ready for map doesn't look ready for me to invest my money into it. Hopefully in the future it will grow and become a worthy competitor to the Syria map for top billing but personally I would rather pay $10-20 later than pay $55 now for a module that will just leave me frustrated
Thanks for this informative video, once again!
To be honest: I bought Kola (actually downloading^^) because I'm gettin sick of all the other maps in DCS. And I have all except the cannel. And yes, I'm with you when you say, that Syria is actually the best map in DCS. But I can't fly 7 days/week in Syria ;-)
As you demonstrated with the cirlce-zones and flight-times this map looks wide and empty! But let's see (and hope) how this map get's fuller in the next months. I'm confident that this map will reach the level of Syria, not next month and not this autum. Kola could become a real great map and that's what DCS mostly needs: cool maps! And the Phantom + the Fulcrum(FF), but that's another story ;-)
this will be a good map for fast jets and interceptors
Really exited to fly the viggen and the huey on Kola
I am going to buy it as is. South Atlantic will be shelved for a while to open up the space
It's a cool area but I think I'll give it a miss until it's further along.
To be honest I still really haven't sunk my teeth properly into the Falklands or Normandy yet so I have some green (ish) to explore.
One day I will buy it but not this day or any day near. I just don't have any spare funds for the foreseeable future. And buying it when it's more cooked is wiser choice anyhow.
Great video, disappointing map tbh. That price tag is just way off especially for the deeply EA state at the moment.
I have found it a little dissapointing so far, but have faith they will work on it and bring the best DCS has to offer. I know I will never get that DID EF2000 feel, that was weird, but will be fun when we get the EF2000 I think!
Definitely i will consider it and check it out on May 2025
Bought it, love it.
Finally the best terrain maker for MS:FS has come to DCS. This was instant buy for me due to Orbx stunning track record in FS.
So far I'd note this map has the best looking terrain mesh of any in DCS. Highly detailed mountain peaks and exciting fjords to buzz around. I did find some texture blocks that did not match their neighbours, a couple spots where mesh needs to be tuned up. The terrain textures are also the best of any in DCS IMHO. I think the performance of this map is a little better than Syria's or Marianas, but not as good as Caucasus or Persian Gulf.
If you're on the fence about buying this map, do not buy it yet. Wait until its complete. Don't be that guy who spends their allowance on incomplete items that probably won't be feature complete for 2 years and then complains incessantly for the next 5 years... We've got enough of those guys already.
This map may not work well for ECW, or many other MP servers out there where gameplay depends on flying somewhere in 10 minutes; at least until more airports / road bases are added. However, for deep strike, carrier air wing, or more A2A PVP, I think this map will work out great.
1. It's EA
2. Yes, it costs money
3. It's barren, as in reality, and modeled wonderfully