DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) Catch-All

I'll let you know tomorrow or something. I need to get the patches from TF installed and that takes a bit.

Patch / launch / fly quick mission (just start / shoot guns real quick / leave)
apply next patch and repeat till all patches are applied.

For some reason the launching of the quick mission rewrites the files it needs to and will allow the next patch in the succession to install.

I can already tell that just based on the last patch put out by Ubisoft /1C that my framerate over the English countryside is much better. That alone used to make my game come to a crawl no matter how my graphics were configured.

Oh damn you Nyxs.. I just bought CoD.

Edit - All patched up

Cool! Now we fly!

Well, not NOW... but SOON!

Oh boy, looks purty.

Can.. not.. wait..

For A-10 fans like me, can I expect it in DCSW2 anytime in foreseeable future? Or will I slum on the legacy software (irony?)?

Sounds like end of this year, early next year.

Having a blast flying the F-15. The new flight model is fantastic, and I installed a high-def cockpit mod and sweetfx which makes this thing gorgeous.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/sajluBD.jpg)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/SSpkQQI.jpg)

Sweet ride.

Where did you get the HD cockpit mod from?

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.ph...

I suggest installing JGSME if you are going to do any modding. Makes life much easier, as these mods break the game EASILY.

Good summary of what's in store for DCS. This is what caught my eye:

On top of the incredible potential posed by Eagle Dynamics' Digital Combat Simulator NTTR map, they are also hard at work on an F/A-18C Hornet module, which will include (GASP!) complex carrier operations and a Persian Gulf map. This is also a dream come true for flight simulator geeks as the last decent American carrier simulator was Jane's F/A-18 Hornet, a game that was released in almost a decade and a half ago! Thus the demand seems to be incredibly high for such a product, especially one with the realism and attention to detail that the Eagle Dynamics team provides. The introduction of the F/A-18C Hornet to the DCS catalog will also usher in a true multi-role American fighter capability to the the whole LOMAC/DCS universe which has been locked into the strictly air-to-air capable F-15C and air-to-ground centric A-10 since its original release.

I've heard a little about the Hornet, but carrier ops and the Gulf is completely new to me.

I've been waiting for the F-18 for a while...eagerly...

Used to play a lot of Janes F-18, but never got really good at it. This one is on the 'must buy' list for sure.

Yeah, they are really on a roll. You just have to be patient.

Tomcat module in the works. Danger zone!

Wow, this thread's been dead awhile.

Somehow the jet sim bug has bitten me again lately, and I've been looking back into the DCS options. It appears that they've been busy - last I knew they were putting out the P-51 and Huey modules, and now I see modules for the MiG-15, MiG-21, F-86, Hawk trainer, and a few others. Anyone tried any of these?

I've attempted to get into the A-10C module, going through some of the training missions and while I can get through them, it's only because I have an instructor walking me through the 57 steps needed to properly dial in my ILS and ATC comm options so I can navigate to the airfield and land. Or prodding me on the 16-part method for employing Mavericks. I like that these super-detailed sims exist, but holy crap. I either have to memorize 300 different keyboard commands (some of which are entirely inscrutable) or grow a third arm to operate the clickable cockpit controls. It's easier to fly the actual jets. I'm also utterly bewildered by the mission briefings and maps in DCS - why does it take me a solid 4 minutes of searching to find my own plane on the map?

I find myself missing the mid-level flight sim which seems to be sadly lacking in today's PC games. Where are the F-19 Stealth Fighters (yeah I know that's not really a thing), the A-10 Tank Killers or U.S. Navy Fighters? Even the Jane's stuff like Longbow 2 or F-15 wasn't this complex.

On a side note, my venerable and well-used Saitek X-36 HOTAS is definitely on the outs. The stick centering is pretty loose, such that either trimming is impossible, or I have to use a huge dead zone. I've looked at the modern options, but the only one that sticks out is the Saitek X-55 RHINO, and it's well into "silly purchase" level at $199 (plus twist-stick rudder controls, bleah). I can't take Thrustmaster seriously any more, and the rest of the Saitek options look like something out of Power Rangers. Even the X-55 reviews seem to be kind of mixed - are there any "best bang for your buck", solidly-regarded HOTAS controls out there that I'm missing?

I'm just waiting for the new engine, 1.5 which should be out Wednesday.

Huge list of changes, new engine essentially.

Then I'll be back in... especially for F/A-18.

Boudreaux wrote:

On a side note, my venerable and well-used Saitek X-36 HOTAS is definitely on the outs. The stick centering is pretty loose, such that either trimming is impossible, or I have to use a huge dead zone. I've looked at the modern options, but the only one that sticks out is the Saitek X-55 RHINO, and it's well into "silly purchase" level at $199 (plus twist-stick rudder controls, bleah). I can't take Thrustmaster seriously any more, and the rest of the Saitek options look like something out of Power Rangers. Even the X-55 reviews seem to be kind of mixed - are there any "best bang for your buck", solidly-regarded HOTAS controls out there that I'm missing?

I'm enjoying my X52-pro. If you turn off the LEDs and MFD backlight using the software, they look pretty unassuming.

Having just got my X-55 for Elite, I wanted to try some other games so downloaded this one.

I thought it would come with some sort of default mapping for the X-55, but no dice. I really have no clue how to fly a plane, so I have no idea what all these terms and what makes sense to bind to what.

Anyone have any tips on how to get this thing running?

V1.5 is out, and the graphics are great!

Going to be flying tonight hopefully.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Having just got my X-55 for Elite, I wanted to try some other games so downloaded this one.

I thought it would come with some sort of default mapping for the X-55, but no dice. I really have no clue how to fly a plane, so I have no idea what all these terms and what makes sense to bind to what.

Anyone have any tips on how to get this thing running?

To start with, you'll probably just want to set up the joystick and throttle axes for basic flight controls. There are control options in DCS, and while they're not all that intuitive you should be able to find the screen where you can assign keyboard commands and joystick/controller buttons. Down at the bottom is a button labeled something like "Axis Assign". In there you'll see the basic flight controls that you typically assign to the stick and throttle - pitch, roll, yaw, and throttle. You pretty much just click on what you want and then wiggle the stick or thottle axis you want to assign, and it will detect it.

Once those are set up (it may default a few of them) just give basic non-combat flight a try. There are tutorial lessons for a couple of the included planes (the SU-25 at least) that go through every single step in great detail. It explains what you're doing, tells you the key command, etc. Those will take you through startup, taxiing, and takeoff, basic lfight and navigation, and landing. That part alone should keep you occupied awhile. There are additional tutorials for combat, and after going through a few of those you start to get a sense of which commands are important to have on your HOTAS.

El-Producto wrote:

V1.5 is out, and the graphics are great!

Going to be flying tonight hopefully.

I downloaded the beta last night, and was pretty impressed. It even seemed to run smoother than I remembered. I really ought to save my pennies for a new HOTAS, but I might have to grab another module or two while they're on sale today.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Having just got my X-55 for Elite, I wanted to try some other games so downloaded this one.

I thought it would come with some sort of default mapping for the X-55, but no dice. I really have no clue how to fly a plane, so I have no idea what all these terms and what makes sense to bind to what.

Anyone have any tips on how to get this thing running?

Pretty funny, I also purchased my X-55 for using in Elite and then started playing DCS. Haven't been back in Elite since, DCS was much more interesting to me

Yeah, unless you use a TM Warthog and get in the A-10C you need to manually set up your HOTAS pretty much from scratch, I found this to be a big hurdle to jump when I started out in DCS early this year and didn't have a clue how aviation worked.

Now when I get a new DCS module I just set up the axies: roll, pitch, yaw, throttle and wheel brake. (I use my Logitech G27 throttle and clutch pedals for rudder, and the brake pedal for wheel brake)

After that I run the tutorials and use the keyboard or clickable cockpit to get a feel for the plane and what functions that I use most often and then I map those keyboard bindings to HOTAS switches using the joystick profiler (I prefer having the mapping saved as a file on my dropbox just in case).

Optionally I might take a look at what the real cockpit HOTAS buttons do and see if I have buttons that match up on my HOTAS, and map the keyboard bindings accordingly as a starting point.

I might have some X-55 profiles still on my dropbox if you are interested to see how I setup my stick (these usually vary with taste), however I upgraded to the TM Warthog a month ago so I'm not actively working on these anymore.

Boudreaux wrote:

Wow, this thread's been dead awhile.

My guess is that most people were waiting for version 1.5 to drop, it is out as open beta now and it is amazingly gorgeous as well as performing at much more stable framerates on my machine.

Boudreaux wrote:

Somehow the jet sim bug has bitten me again lately, and I've been looking back into the DCS options. It appears that they've been busy - last I knew they were putting out the P-51 and Huey modules, and now I see modules for the MiG-15, MiG-21, F-86, Hawk trainer, and a few others. Anyone tried any of these?

While waiting for a detailed western fighter (F-14 or whatever else comes first) I mainly fly the MiG-21bis nowadays, it's a really well made module and I think the most detailed jet fighter in DCS right now. It is a quite simple aircraft to handle, there is no computer to work with, no gps, nothing fancy like that but also the instrumentation is quite limited.

For example, the radar only scans in a cone forward and up from nose so to find planes lower than you you have to point the nose downwards, it runs on alcohol [insert russian stereotype joke here] which makes it only last for something like 20-30 minutes in active mode and about an hour in standby.

The plane is really fun to fly, and is pretty much like flying a lawndart (see 3m12s into the video below).

You can see Ralfi make a nice walkthrough of the MiG-21bis here:

I have bought but barely used the MiG-15, so I can't really pass any judgements on it.

Out of curiosity, anyone have experience using TrackIR 3 with the vector expansion to enable 6DOF tracking? I don't have the money to splurge on a new TrackIR5 right now, but I could swing the $25 for the TIR3 vector expansion and trackclip. I've been using TrackIR3 for years and have no real issues with it, but I'm intrigued by the 6DOF option - especially for zoom. Just curious if this is something that only kinda works with TIR3 and really needs the newer hardware to work well.

Any DCS Huey experts out there?
I've changed my video card, and it looks like there was some kind of update on January 03.
I now have no access to my campaign progress.
I've read that hardware changes and updates can both cause problems like this.

I have up to 15 un pilot .miz files in the campaign folder.

I just don't know exactly what I should be doing to recover access.

Does any of that sound like something sensible?

Also, Huey question:

Does the fixed point, third person camera make the aircraft look like it's side slipping?

When I replay my tracks, I look from outside and it looks like side slip, but ball is centered and upright.

Great Scott, people!

Flying the P51 in a VR set is just obscene. It only makes me slightly sick, but in a good way.

Having never flown the Mustang before, I made an "unforced belly landing" (ie. I didn't know how to put the gear down, and thought I had). The whole thing slid sideways in a terrifying mess of swirling vectors and screeching metal.

When it was over, I was so engrossed that I could not let the moment go. I looked over, unwound the canopy, then physically stood up and climbed out onto the left wing, where I stood for a while contemplating the damage and my undeserved and lucky escape.

Too good.

Is anyone flying Normandy? Any interest in getting a flight together to go hunting 109s (or Spitfires) on Burning Skies?

Arise!

Dipped my toes back in DCS, having fun getting back up to speed. 2.x is gorgeous.
Waiting for the inevitable Autumn sale and I'm going to pick up Either the Mirage or the F-5 module while I wait for F-14 and F-18.

Would still love to dabble in some co-op if there are any goodjers still flying?

Oh, and CAN NOT WAIT.

BNice has kindly added a Flightsmit voice channel in the GWJ Discord. You'll find me there.

I keep trying and failing to get into DCS. I've gone through the A-10C training missions multiple times with no problems, but as soon as I'm supposed to operate the entire avionics suite myself with no prompting, NOPE. I feel like I need either 200 hours to memorize everything, or a -1 flight manual open on my lap while I play.

My other problem is that I fly a full-up Super Hornet sim/trainer a couple times a month as part of my day job. The visuals in that F/A-18C video look amazing, but it really can't compete with an actual cockpit and 360-deg dome.

As soon as they perfect DCS in an Oculus/Vive setup with good fidelity touch control gloves, I'M IN.