I'm easy tbh, I'd prefer some dogfighting PvP sort of thing as used to do looads of IL2 back in the day which would take hours doing online campaigns, I just want something these days where I can drop on a server, take off, shoot some stuff, and either do that for 10 minutes or a few hours..
*** Official DCS World Thread ***
- Thread starter lurkio
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Associate
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sounds to me like Growling Sidewinder would be your cup of tea 
- Hot starts
- Fly towards the bad guys for air to air combat
- Kill
- Die
rinse and repeat
- Hot starts
- Fly towards the bad guys for air to air combat
- Kill
- Die
rinse and repeat
Soldato
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I can't wait to upgrade to VKB stecs dual throttle 
The CH stuff is good though so I will take my time upgrading the stick and rudder pedals, but a dual throttle be handy to have for the F18.
The CH stuff is good though so I will take my time upgrading the stick and rudder pedals, but a dual throttle be handy to have for the F18.
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Yeah I watch a lot of his videos tbh, him, Longshot, Grim Reapers, Tabs, a few others..sounds to me like Growling Sidewinder would be your cup of tea
- Hot starts
- Fly towards the bad guys for air to air combat
- Kill
- Die
rinse and repeat
Associate
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- 2 Feb 2009
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- 1,204
Hey @Trig i've flown quite a few times in DCS... but always find the thousands of buttons (and yes I know it's not thousands 
) hard to map easily to my HOTAS..
I can takeoff and land (sometimes!).. but not really figured out how to target and shoot anything.. as it always feels massively complex.. and having to constantly take off my headset to find another key on the keyboard or having to bind another button, when I have no more buttons left to bind..
any tips for a fellow novice..
edit:SP
) hard to map easily to my HOTAS..I can takeoff and land (sometimes!).. but not really figured out how to target and shoot anything.. as it always feels massively complex.. and having to constantly take off my headset to find another key on the keyboard or having to bind another button, when I have no more buttons left to bind..
any tips for a fellow novice..
edit:SP
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To help you remember which buttons you’ve mapped, IMO, the easiest way is to create a diagram in A4 portrait format of the key controls using PowerPoint or similar. The Sniptool an image to PPT format and dump it into your Kneeboards folder. I do that for all my aircraft as there’s just far too much to remember for any period of time.
The more expensive route is to then start adding hardware like control panels and HOTAS with more buttons on them
The more expensive route is to then start adding hardware like control panels and HOTAS with more buttons on them
If the F18 is all you fly, then dual throttle will not be as useful as you might imagine. Its twin engines are very close to each other and it cannot do knife edge type maneuvers, basically split throttle control adds nothing to its maneuverability. The Su-27, F-14, F-15 have their engines further apart and do benefit from splitting the throttles. Hell, even the Su-25 can do knife edge passes... but not the F/A-18
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Which plane? I would recommend starting with FC2024 plane - the F-15C. Practice air combat guns only first (as they do in RL too). For that you only need to set up radar vertical scan (close range radar mode), select cannon and shoot buttons. Then you could add short range IR missiles - still in vertical scan mode, plus one button to cycle missiles and another to launch them.Hey @Trig i've flown quite a few times in DCS... but always find the thousands of buttons (and yes I know it's not thousands
I can takeoff and land (sometimes!).. but not really figured out how to target and shoot anything.. as it always feels massively complex.. and having to constantly take off my headset to find another key on the keyboard or having to bind another button, when I have no more buttons left to bind..
any tips for a fellow novice..
After that proceed to beyond visual range. Add a button for BVR radar mode, 4 cursor buttons to move the lock frame up-down-left-right, one button to lock radar.
A good beginners guide is here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=german&id=329617142. Once you get the logic of air combat, you'll transfer it to other FC2024 planes and the full fat modules like the F/A-18.
I've got the X56, its not 'great' but gives you a load of buttons to map, made even easier by some of the premade configs done by the Grim Reaper guys that include pictures...
Maybe we should see if we can get together at some point and find a server to go practice on..
IL2 was sooo much easier..
Maybe we should see if we can get together at some point and find a server to go practice on..
IL2 was sooo much easier..
We do seem to have a fair number of DCS pilots on here. I'm a little surprised that no one has suggested pulling a squadron together.
And no, I'm not volunteering, though I'd be happy to fly with you guys.
Associate
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I'd be up for flying online, but same as you @Mr_Sukebe I'm not volunteering for organising.
Feel free to message me on the OCUK discord (same ID there).
Feel free to message me on the OCUK discord (same ID there).
Soldato
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I also have the A10c, but it’s more of having a nicer throttle overall as wellIf the F18 is all you fly, then dual throttle will not be as useful as you might imagine. Its twin engines are very close to each other and it cannot do knife edge type maneuvers, basically split throttle control adds nothing to its maneuverability. The Su-27, F-14, F-15 have their engines further apart and do benefit from splitting the throttles. Hell, even the Su-25 can do knife edge passes... but not the F/A-18
Nicer throttles are nice
My previous throttle was also a CH and Virpil CM3 was certainly a step up. I convinced myself that I was upgrading to fully enjoy the Harrier, but somehow I ended flying it less than with the CH... Life is weird.
Soldato
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I go through stages of not playing DCS for a few months at times just to swap my time to other hobbies or study, that why I made dust coversNicer throttles are nice
But I really need to learn f18 air to air now as it always been something not easy for me to learn compared to air to ground.
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I forgot to say i only play in VR.. given the immersion in VR.. I just don't see the point otherwise..
So I started looking through this guide.. and even in the first section..
- Start Electrical Systems Right Shift + L
- Contact the air traffic control tower and ask for permission to start up: Backslash, F5, F1, F3
- (the tower should confirm your request, if not, do it anyway as they sometimes don't respond)
- make sure your throttle is all the way off, (if you are using a keyboard it is already off by default)
- Start Both Engines: Right Shift + Home
So ideally i'm looking for a VR beginners guide, with recommended minimum HOTAS mapping to fly and shoot stuffs
If you just want to fly and shoot stuff, DCS might not be the optimum solution, and certainly not the F18.
The Flaming Cliffs (FC) 4 pack includes a bunch of aircraft that have a simplified set of controls and systems, whilst still looking good and sharing the depth of the DCS flight model.
IMO, once you get to the other aircraft (including the F18), the optimum method is to learn to fly as if you were a pilot transitioning to the aircraft, ie. build up the skills bit by bit, such that you can conduct each of the steps in a competent manner, before jumping to the next step up. For the F18, for me that was:
- Learn to cold start
- How to use the communications (e.g. ATC, ground crew)
- How to take off and land
- How to navigate (there are several methods), so each at a time
- How to air to air refuel
- How to use the defensive systems (e.g. chaff, flares, ECM pod)
- How to employ simple ground attack weaponry
etc
To help myself, I wrote a set of Kneeboard files that cover:
- What the mappings of my controls are, i.e. a diagrammatical picture of the controls, with labels
- Pages to cover each of the above
There's a LOT to try to remember, and I certainly can't remember it all. On top of that, unless you're using that specific aircraft really regularly, you will forget.
I'm currently re-visiting the Harrier for my squadron and will be conducting how to setup non-sequential waypoints and Time on Target tonight. I really needed KBs for those.
The Flaming Cliffs (FC) 4 pack includes a bunch of aircraft that have a simplified set of controls and systems, whilst still looking good and sharing the depth of the DCS flight model.
IMO, once you get to the other aircraft (including the F18), the optimum method is to learn to fly as if you were a pilot transitioning to the aircraft, ie. build up the skills bit by bit, such that you can conduct each of the steps in a competent manner, before jumping to the next step up. For the F18, for me that was:
- Learn to cold start
- How to use the communications (e.g. ATC, ground crew)
- How to take off and land
- How to navigate (there are several methods), so each at a time
- How to air to air refuel
- How to use the defensive systems (e.g. chaff, flares, ECM pod)
- How to employ simple ground attack weaponry
etc
To help myself, I wrote a set of Kneeboard files that cover:
- What the mappings of my controls are, i.e. a diagrammatical picture of the controls, with labels
- Pages to cover each of the above
There's a LOT to try to remember, and I certainly can't remember it all. On top of that, unless you're using that specific aircraft really regularly, you will forget.
I'm currently re-visiting the Harrier for my squadron and will be conducting how to setup non-sequential waypoints and Time on Target tonight. I really needed KBs for those.
The original question was
To that the answer is
Those buttons have to be mapped. The beginners guide is a general thing that covers more than "fly and shoot stuff"
Another tip, when you are running short of buttons on your HOTAS (which one is it btw?), you should assign one the hotas buttons as a "Modifier" in dcs. This effectively doubles (triples if you have two modifiers etc) the number of buttons on your hotas. E.g. you have flaps assigned to button1 and modifer to button2 on your hotas. You can assign speedbrake to button1 + button2.
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Associate
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I have a "Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X" at least that's what is says on the bottom
Ah yes.. modifiers.. I shall have to investigate these..
I guess it boils down to, I "want" it to be simple to get into, with minimal buttons to remember as I don't play DCS that often. But i think i'm going to have to face the fact, that either DCS is the wrong game for my level of playing, or I need to invest more time into playing DCS, and then i'll get more used to the buttons / mappings etc..
Given DCS is a reasonably serious simluator then I can't expect to play it like I used to play FA-18 Interceptor on the Amiga
There are settings to help with using DCS in an arcade style (e.g. unlimited ammo), and the FC4 aircraft help facilitate that. At the end of the day though, it's not going to let you run at mach 3, whilst thrust vectoring and spewing out missiles at everything that moves. I'm guessing that Ace Combat better fills that niche (never played it, so can't say from experience).