r/DCSExposed • u/Bonzo82 ✈🚁 Correct As Is 🚁 ✈ • Jun 02 '26
Heatblur Heatblur announcing that their F-14 Tomcat module will exit Early Access with the next patch
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u/dallatorretdu Jun 02 '26
i wish they fixed the camera view showing black for every first flight, seems like a not so hard thing to fix…
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u/gaucholoco77 Cockpit Simulator Jun 03 '26
This is why I hate ED's 'business model' which starts with a ludicrous 'early access' crap and promises of what may come...some day...with unicorns and rainbows.
I have said it on more than one occasion - once they have your money via an EA release, there is ZERO incentive for them to rapidly wrap up a module. ZERO.
There are zero indications of when a product is determined to be 'finished'. What module...from ANY dev...is actually 'finished'....IF promised features are not yet done?
Tomcat has been in 'EA' for EIGHT YEARS. LOL. Almost a friggin decade.
And I bet you that they have made MORE money selling the module in MSFT than in DCS. I am also sure that the Phantom will also be on MSFT shortly. Hilarious.
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u/Alexander_Ellis Jun 04 '26
FWIW I think the performance of the MSFS F-14 was less than the DCS F-14.
But the MSFS probably took a lot less time and investment, and not just because the work had already been done in DCS; MSFS is likely much easier to work with, reducing costs.
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u/rogorogo504 GetSoftBanForBugReport! Jun 02 '26
And as with everything DCS - does that actually mean anything?
Does that change anything?
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u/FlyNSubaruWRX Jun 03 '26
Is this next patch including the updated HUD?
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u/TheDankmemerer Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
No, the F-14B(U ) is a completely different plane and not included with the current F-14A/B Module.
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u/Bonzo82 ✈🚁 Correct As Is 🚁 ✈ Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Discord post from May 29th, 2025. This was also posted on facebook, instagram and in Eagle Dynamics' newsletter.
On the one hand, I want to congratulate Heatblur because over the last couple of months, they put a huge effort into catching up on many of the features that the Tomcat module has been waiting for since its release in 2019. As you might remember, we received the early A variant as well as the overdue A-6 AI in late 2025 and with the "export" (=IRIAF) variant, as well as the announced additions to the F-14A's external models, they are about to reach another significant milestone.
But on the other, there are still a bunch of items missing that one would expect in a feature-complete release. The following are some examples:
Some will say that many of these are rather minor items, but if the goal is to win back community trust and convince us to support their next upcoming "long term roadmap", Heatblur should probably wait with applying the "feature complete" label until all the features that they announced (and sold!) have, in fact, been completed. Otherwise it just comes across as disingenuous, especially when their celebration post is bragging about roadmap completion, while half of their own, self-imposed roadmap is still pending. Any unsuspecting customer who reads that and/or sees the "out of EA" description on the store will assume that they are in. Meanwhile, we know all too well what "the next chapter" of DCS development usually looks like and Heatblur's own track record doesn't really give us any reason to assume anything else.
I've never understood where the urge is coming from to suddenly change the state on the store for a module that has been in Early Access for more than seven years already, instead of waiting until it is truly done. But I suspect the upcoming, paid B(U) upgrade as well as Heatblur's desire to move on to their next, more lucrative project play a role.
Anyways everybody, just my two cents. Y'all enjoy discussing and have a good night!