14 October 2022

Dear Fighter Pilots, Partners and Friends,

Our third party developer OctopusG is happy to announce the upcoming La-7 for DCS World! We are thrilled to introduce another legendary warbird to the DCS World War II aircraft hanger. Please read the details below.

This week we are delighted to present the DCS World 2.8 update. Version 2.8 will contain a weather system update that includes moving clouds, Mission Editor controls, and much more.

Thank you for your passion and support.

Yours sincerely,

Eagle Dynamics

DCS: La-7

Introduction

The Lavochkin La-7 is one of the most famous Soviet fighters that saw action towards the end of the Second World War. It was the crown jewel of Soviet World War II aircraft design and saw great success at the hands of Red Army Air Force ace, Ivan Nikitovitch Kozhedub, with 60 kills, the vast majority of which were Fighters!

The La-7 aircraft is equipped with the 14 cylinder ASh-82FN radial engine which was a derivative of the ASh-62, itself based on a license built version of the American Wright Cyclone R-1820. The ASh-82 was truly the pinnacle of Soviet air-cooled engines, reliable and easy to maintain, it developed 1’850 hp. The aircraft was also well armed with two formidable 20-mm ShVAK cannons. The wooden airframe was light and sleek yet extremely rugged. It offered excellent overall performance, and was loved by its pilots for its handling and capabilities, making it easily as good as the best Axis fighters in air combat.

The OctopusG team has leveraged their experience developing the DCS: I-16 to develop the most accurate La-7 possible. Their La-7 will have a fully interactive cockpit, detailed systems modeling, and an outstanding flight model based on years of DCS World development experience.

The module is very far along, and it is planned to be released into Early Access in the first part of 2023.

Dynamic Weather

Coming soon

After extensive testing of new moving clouds and effects like rainbows, we are ready to update DCS World weather in the upcoming 2.8 version. The Weather System includes optimization for VR, and we are confident that this will result in a more stable and smooth experience.

Version 2.8 will be a large update to DCS, and you will be able to experience new atmospheric effects like rainbows and ice halos. The ice halo effect settings have been added to the Mission Editor Weather tab, and clouds will now move according to wind direction and speed. The rain effect has also been enhanced, and there have been fixes to rare volumetric clouds artifacts.

Adjustments have been made to the tone-mapping process and exposure control. We recommend a gamma setting of 2.2. Flat shadows on MFDs and cockpit shading have also been improved.

We are excited to bring you this Weather System update, and we look forward to your feedback. Please stay tuned for more DCS 2.8 news coming soon.

Thank you again for your passion and support,

Yours sincerely,

Eagle Dynamics