DCS 2.5 Released!

Zeeflyboy said:
Was just about to ask if they had updated the steam version yet, and there you go answering my question before I got to ask it.

I remember trying out DCS when the rift first came out, will be interesting to give it another go. I remember it being quite in depth (even as a pilot I found some of it a bit frustrating to begin with!) so moved on to sims that were a bit more just drop-in and play friendly. I kind of got the impression that given the level of detail you really need a higher resolution headset to get the most out of it as you need to be able to read what the levers/knobs are.

Anyway, if I like the new version I might pick up the mustang since that won't take too long to learn.
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Pro tip if you’re looking to make the most of the actual dials in game - go to VR setting (far right tab in the settings menu) and play with the IPD settings. Changing it effectively changed the world scale and by setting it to 70 (think the default is 60 or something) it makes the cockpit feel bigger. As suck the dials are slight further away (but bigger) meaning you don’t feel cross eyed focusing on small dials that are close to you.

Play with the extremes, 20 and 200 ish to see what’s chaning. The effect is instant so you can quickly change and test to find what works best for you.
 
Cheers for that.

I must say I wish more of the flight sims used X-Plane 11's touch integration where you can actually fly using the touch controllers (if you haven't tried it, you just reach out and grab the stick/yoke and then you can move your touch controller away to a comfortable position and now you control the sticks via tilting the touch controller). Its nothing compared to a real HOTAS/Pedal setup of course but the accessibility is so good for when you want to just have a little poodle around without getting the hotas and pedals out. Great for VR heads who don't have stick and pedal setups but want to try out flying too.

Mind you one day I'll finally get around to building my gaming chair rig, then it won't be a hassle to get it all out and set up.

Had a really brief look in DCS yesterday, performance was very choppy on standard settings (2 x 980Ti hydrocoppers, i7 6700k @ 4.6ghz, 32gb ram). I didn't have time to play with settings but I'm guessing turning off msaa, assuming it's on already, will probably help.
 
Zee>
There's some good suggestions for optimisation on the ED forums. Some of the key ones are:
- Do run Deferred shading
- Disable MSAA if you're having performance issues
- Flat shadows
- Disable your mirrors
- If you've upgraded from a previous version, go into your Saved game folder and rename the folder for Metashaders. This will force the game to create a new folder and to avoid using out of date ones.
 
SITREP:

Got home slightly drunk last night and ran the updater with the repair option as suggested by @RoyMi6. That downloaded another couple of hundred MB (quite quickly!) and after that it actually launched. Appeared in the Vive straight off the bat, which I was surprised by since I thought I'd purged all previous configs etc. Does it auto-detect VR?

Didn't have any controllers plugged in, but went for one of the quick flight options upon which it did a bit of loading and then crashed to desktop.

Still, progress of sorts. Hopefully have more luck over the weekend.
 
I just noticed I have DCS A10 in my steam collection.
What makes this different to the DCS were talking about here?

Also how is the learning curve for this? What kind of game is it? Is it a multiplayer SIM only? Or is there a single player aspect to it?
 
The learning curve is...not easy. It does have a "game" mode, but frankly, if you want to use it, you'd be better of playing Warthunder or similar.
DCS gives it's best when you've invested some real time to learn how to fly well, at which point you can achieve genuine sense of achievement.

The game does include some single player missions, there's some quick to generate missions and a good online option. Be aware that the online is again NOT a Warthunder arcade copy. You need to put in some genuine time to get proficient first (IMO).
The rest is sandbox. The game has awesome mechanics and some amazingly well modelled aircraft. As part of that is a VERY capable mission editor, which allows anything from creation of simple one on one dogfights, through strike missions and upto detailed scripting of ground and air-engagements. Again, down to the level of effort you put in.
 
Each aircraft has a flight manual, typically very detailed.
My experience has been to refer to that manual and ALSO watch some of the online tutorials and guides. The good news is that the online community are VERY helpful and supportive. So for example, starting up an aircraft is NOT always that easy. The Mi8 helicopter requires flicking something like 60+ switches, knobs and dials in roughly the right order to get it ready for takeoff. Doing that from just the manual is not fun. Making up for that, some are frankly dead easy.
In games, there's also two types of aircraft. Most are now "full fidelity", meaning that you can actively use all of the knobs, buttons and dials that you can see in the aircraft using a mouse. There are however also 6 "Flaming Cliffs 3" aircraft. These are significantly simplified in their use and systems, whilst still retaining the core weaponry and flight models. Starting say the F15c is just 3 buttons, though learning to use the radar is a bit tougher.

If you're curious, download the basic game. It's free, includes one terrain (which is huge), it's mission editor and a couple of low fidelity aircraft. That will give you a reasonable inkling of it's complexities.
 
MrRoper said:
Is anyone playing this regularly? Im looking for anyone interested in trying this online together as its a bit lonely on your own!
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Are you UK based?
I've checked out some servers, but most users seem to be in the USA, which is a spot of bother from a coordination perspective. Happy to give it a go and see how things pan out. If you're interested, PM me and we can set something up.
 
Aye I'll pick up my stick and rift from home during the week and join in at some point. Happy to fly anything but need to get used to the game again, not played for ages!
 
Cavallino said:
Thanks Mr. Sukebe.
Are there any... tutorials per se?
Or you are expected to research and read up from external sources?
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There are interactive tutes in-game that light up the necessary switches. And there are some fantastic informal How To's with lots of pictures and examples:
This one for the semi-arcade DCS Flaming Cliffs 3: http://www.mudspike.com/dcs-f-15c-combat-guide-for-beginners/

And these for the full fat sim modules like the A-10C, Huey, Black Shark etc:
https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides/

Having said that, you do not HAVE to learn the cold start procedures: for one, there is the magical LWin+Home button combo that will autostart any sim module, or, secondly, you can select "Hot start" missions and the plane/chopper will be ready to fly straight away. Just configure your joystick axis and have fun. I've completely forgotten how to start up the Huey, but still fly it regularly.

The "Rebel base" single mission for the Huey is incredible in VR - just follow the Hinds and enjoy flying over the gorges and pine forests (they look amazing, with the trees gently swaying with the wind as you fly by).

PS Another little tip for VR in DCS is to setup a zoom button. It can be found at the very bottom of the aircraft list under "UI other" (or something like that) name in configuring controls options.
 
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Right I've just purchased VoiceAttack as it looked like something i needed, very impressed so far. Will be picking up my stick and goggles at the weekend hopefully so will use this week to set up my voice controls for the f-86 and mig 15, pretty much got the a-10 sorted with everything as its much more ergonomic.
 
Boycey0211 said:
Right I've just purchased VoiceAttack as it looked like something i needed, very impressed so far. Will be picking up my stick and goggles at the weekend hopefully so will use this week to set up my voice controls for the f-86 and mig 15, pretty much got the a-10 sorted with everything as its much more ergonomic.
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Good stuff man, nice one.
Give me a shout and I'll drop you the Discord link over. Was out testing something I knocked up to try out some small scale multi-player work.
MrR and I tried out an "inferno" briefly the other night. Was great to get some good wing coordination in, though clearly we've got plenty to work on. MrR apparently mainly flies an F5 or A10, though I get the impression that he has a host of aircraft. For myself, I have FC3, all terrains, combined arms, the 4 warbirds, 3 choppers, Harrier, A10C, F5 and Viggen. Been mainly focusing on the Harrier recently, but am looking to improve my A10C skills.
 
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