*** Official DCS World Thread ***

Soldato
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Harrier......whats not to love, ground pound, more speed, Tpod, and vertical landings / takeoffs
It's the only 3rd party aircraft that I own and, as of itself, it is pretty amazing (ok physics are not quite to ED standard, but good enough). One problem with it is the lack of single player content, especially so when compared to A-10C or Ka-50.
 
Associate
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Thanks for the suggestions... it's so tough knowing what to go with, but I opted for the F18.

Sale doesn't finish till Tuesday, so I might bite again :)
 
Soldato
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FOlks... Ive been looking for a decent Combat sim to get into.
ANd funny story is that I have DCS from many years ago but Ive NEVER played it.
I know it has an incredible learning curve.

Is there anywhere I can go that gives me info to break me in gently into this game?
 
Soldato
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FOlks... Ive been looking for a decent Combat sim to get into.
ANd funny story is that I have DCS from many years ago but Ive NEVER played it.
I know it has an incredible learning curve.

Is there anywhere I can go that gives me info to break me in gently into this game?

see below;)

FlamingCliffs3 with its simplified F-15C, Su-27/33, Mig-29, Su-25 and A-10A planes would be the most fun to begin with imo. With them you'll still enjoy same advanced aerodynamics model as the full fidelity modules, you'll also get to learn to operate radar, IR sensors and mavericks, learn to dogfight and deal with SAMs. It is plenty enough to learn and not having to worry about complex avionics of full fat modules makes learning the above less of a drudge. My vote is for FlamingCliffs3 and a nice scripted campaign by Baltic Dragon for FC3's F-15C. "F-15 C: The Georgian War" it's is called I seem to remember. It is kinda like Ace Combat with better physics and weapons - lots of acted dialogue, gentle learning curve, good plot and memorable setups with a few branching choices.

Otherwise, if you feel like diving into the deepend, go straight for the full fat A-10C: it's fully complete, next to no bugs and has tonnes of single player content.

Last but not least I'd also recommend getting voice attack, it's immersive and super useful for ordering stuff to AI without using the deep F keys menus.

My advice is get FC3, pick the F-15C fighter and learn its simplified systems, basics of radar, missiles and beyond visual range and close range combat. This is a good guide on the matter: https://www.mudspike.com/dcs-f-15c-combat-guide-for-beginners/

With that under your belt, you'll be able to hold your own online (even against the full fat modules) and perhaps proceed to a fully modelled plane/chopper.

Having said all that, there are multiple ways to enter DCS :)
 
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Man of Honour
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The core game of DCS is free to download and includes a couple of (not so great) aircraft to fly. You might want to check that out first.

There is a pack of fairly "simple" aircraft to fly, i.e. the Flaming Cliffs 3 pack, which has 7 aircraft included for a very good price. By simple, I mean that the controls are deliberately simplified. The flight model and visuals are all very good. That's the easiest way to get started and as the sale is currently running, pretty cheap.

After that, the rest is down to you, i.e.
- what era would you prefer to fly in, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Cold war and would you prefer to fly a helicopter, warbird, early jet, the generation all singing and dancing
- the game includes a mission editor. Takes a while to get your head around it, but it's very powerful and allows you to build some very complex scenarios
- There are lots of online squadrons if you wish to fly with someone, varying between fairly chilled, to full on serious, focusing on just a few aircraft, full ATC etc
- the "full fidelity" aircraft allow full interaction with the buttons and various controls in the aircraft via mouse control whilst you're flying. Makes it MUCH more immersive, but they do cost more

Regarding learning to fly any of the aircraft, IMO the easy way is to do what a real pilot would do. ie. get and understanding of the aircraft by reading first, then practice take off, landing, radios etc, until you're proficient enough to work on weapons.

Be aware that DCS works best with a well specced PC, good HOTAS, pedals and in VR (again, IMO), so it's a slippery slope from a cost perspective.

Have fun.
 
Soldato
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FOlks... Ive been looking for a decent Combat sim to get into.
ANd funny story is that I have DCS from many years ago but Ive NEVER played it.
I know it has an incredible learning curve.

Is there anywhere I can go that gives me info to break me in gently into this game?
I've just been getting into DCS too, bought Flaming cliffs at start of sale, then 2 days later bought the MI-8 which is a bugger to fly but brilliant and an M2000 Mirage, which is a dream to fly.

Best thing I've found is you tube channels with videos on all the planes ie. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuXjkFY00p1ga3UyCBbR2w/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=5

Lot's more people videos too, pick your poison :)

I found sync (freesync and gsync) to be very important to the play experience, everything being smooth added to the immersion - real life is smooth!

Then you will be eyeing up jotstick's, X52 or x56 bye bye another 200 notes :D

VR is also amazing, though not sure we are there yet with the gfx to be able to see all the controls, YMMV depending on what headset and gfx card you have.

Brilliant game, have fun with it, I am :D
 
Associate
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It's a slippery slope. Not been playing it long and already spent money on a thrustmaster T.16000M, a F18 Hornet, the Vegas and Dubai maps, and I still fancy picking up a Helo before the sale ends tomorrow.

It's also got me looking at hardware upgrades and VR, which looks/sounds epic.

Guess this is what happens when you've had your fill of BR games. :)
 
Man of Honour
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Looks like we'll be getting the F16c this THURS. Awesome stuff. Looking forward to learning that. Had a poster of one on my wall when I was a kid.

Perhaps as important is that ED had initially suggested that it would be a very limited initial release, as per the F18, i.e. with no guided A2G missiles etc. They've apparently managed to re-use technical components from developing the F18, meaning that it'll come straight away with a good deal more, for example a targeting pod.
 
Soldato
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Looks like we'll be getting the F16c this THURS. Awesome stuff. Looking forward to learning that. Had a poster of one on my wall when I was a kid.

Perhaps as important is that ED had initially suggested that it would be a very limited initial release, as per the F18, i.e. with no guided A2G missiles etc. They've apparently managed to re-use technical components from developing the F18, meaning that it'll come straight away with a good deal more, for example a targeting pod.
Same man I grew up hearing about the f16s in the skies. However, the hornet is just a a better package. :(
 
Soldato
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Lols at F-16 .. so incomplete

anyway ... DCS sale is on get those modules while they are cheap

Yeah saw a couple of reviews of it and will definitely give it a pass for a year or so.

Any recommendations for DLC? I see the mig 19 is looking pretty reasonable, only other one I really want is the f14 but that's still full price.
 
Soldato
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Yeah saw a couple of reviews of it and will definitely give it a pass for a year or so.

Any recommendations for DLC? I see the mig 19 is looking pretty reasonable, only other one I really want is the f14 but that's still full price.

It depends on what your thing is, Air to Air , Air to Ground, helis ?
 
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