Now that we’ve resolved yesterday’s confusion (thanks, @TheSevenflyer!), thought we could get back to a more normal conversation about the new edition of the Top Mach F-22. Since Top Mach won’t be participating here - and since there’s no restriction on our discussion the product among ourselves - I’ve marked it as a community thread.
I’d consider buying it but I have questions.
– I bought the original version through Just Flight, which means that I’m not entitled to the discount for existing customers. That’s for Marketplace purchasers only. So… is it worth the full $37.99 it’d cost me on the Marketplace?
– What are overall impressions? I liked the original - it was a good easy access jet, a bit less immersion-breaking that the DC Designs aircraft (which I like on their own terms, but some of their control interface choices break the mood a bit - turn on the beacon for visible pilot, that kind of thing). How does the new one measure up - same experience, or are there differences?
– How’s the performance. I had bad stutters with the original until I upgraded to an Nvidia 4000-series card. Any such issues here?
At the moment I’m inclined to hold off and wait for other aircraft in the pipeline, like the AzurPoly Rafael and, further into the future, the IFE and/or Blackbird F-16s.
Being very annoyed to have to pay the full price as a former Just Flight customer I will not buy V2 but go for the Azurpoly Rafale. Having the Rafale plus the Raptor V1 seems the better option to me.
The 2020 version works just fine in 2024 so I’m not sure what they could have added to justify even the upgrade price. It’s one of the most expensive upgrade costs I’ve seen so far with most falling into the $5 to $10 range.
Is it just the walk around that’s added? If so that’s not even worth $5 to me.
Then you don t even deserve the actual plane if a starbucks coffee its too much for 1 year of non stop work for this , sometimes I can t believe some of you guys :))
Okay, I paid my entrance fee to write this. I have flown a lot of jets in sims over the years, and the DCS F-16 is the bar.
The textures are good. I was not amazed, but I was also not turned off. It feels like being in a jet.
The flight model is OK. It should fly like an Airbus, but it’s not quite there. Close enough for the average simmer though. I was a little surprised by the 12 degree nose up approach angle, but I hit the numbers with the flight path marker, so yay for me.
I am fussy about sounds, and the sounds are ugh. I had to enable headphone simulation in the sound settings to complete the flight. This is an old argument. But, those are the real sounds (according to YT). But, what does it sound like for a pilot inside a $1M helmet. Is it painful? Is it soothing? As it is, you have two choices: painful or nothing.
System simulation is very basic. If you love buttonology, there’s not much to do in flight. If you are flying into the sunset, forget about reading the HUD. You will have to hunt for the backup display on the right side.
Overall, it’s on par with the other MSFS military jets. I did not use a flight plan or fly an ILS approach.
I keep going back and forth on this plane. I own the original F-22 - in fact, I had the freeware F-22 that preceded it as well, so I go way back with TMS in this sim - and, as we all know, it works quite fine in 2024. So the question is the value proposition of the upgrade to the 2024 version. If you haven’t seen it, TMS posted a quite thorough chart on The Book of Faces comparing the two versions. There are substantive differences, but I think it’s still an open question whether those differences are worth purchasing an entirely new product.
And - as a Just Flight purchaser - the “marketplace only” discount policy has definitely rubbed me the wrong way. I’ve supported TMS since they started - I bought both their products on release - and now I’m getting the shaft simply because of where I purchased. (And note - neither product was even available on the marketplace when I purchased them.) All of this has left a very bad taste in my mouth for a dev I regarded (and still do regard, as far as quality goes) very highly.
In the end I’ll probably bite the bullet and buy it, because (a) I’m fortunate enough in life that I can, and (b) I do want to support developers who produce quality products. But I won’t be thrilled about it for sure.
