Dangerzone

Out of curiosity - when you're at the main DCS screen, if you bring up the FPS does it show locked? If you then move the mouse around, does the FPS become unstable?

The last 2 updates have significantly increased their load times, that's for sure. I have had it go non responsive "Program is not responding, what do you want to do. Close, or Wait", but I don't think I've had it crash out completely - just takes ages (and I mean ages sometimes) to actually load in. Some times it can appear as though it's locked up, but it's still working. If your SP only, it may be best to stay on 2.9.14 until this issue get's recognised and fixed. But if you MP, it might be worth pursuing; What are your PC specs, and how long are you actually waiting? Also - are you on SSD's, or HDD's?

Have you been seeing the WIP media? (The latest released about 2 weeks ago showing some incredible lighting / night in the cargo bay). It's very difficult to see your posts as anything outside of trolling. If you are serious, why did you decline to actually engage with the developer with a meaningful response when they've reached out to you so they could actually address your allegations (which personally I don't think holds any weight, but still... they were actually willing to engage with you, and you weren't interested). The actual developer themselves tried to engage you 2 times to address your concerns. They asked you: "Short of a full release trailer, what else would you like to see as evidence that the project is alive?" and "Do you still think the project is dead, though?" You had 2 opportunities, and you said nothing. And now accuse them of being the ones with cricket sounds?

What are the benefits of running on the latest client? I'm still way back on v 1.29 - been too concerned to break something that's not broken. Is there any significant performance improvements with the latter version? (Or significantly better motion smoothing, FFR, etc) that's worth risking updating to the latest client software? I see that the latest version is 'swimming' with Mbucchia's QVFR - although I don't use that.

I've experienced the same. Something has changed that is causing microstutters for me too. What I've found interesting is that I'm running on 72FPS, and get drops to 60FPS momentarily, and then back to 72FPS. If I change to 90FPS, I get 90FPS, and then drops down to around 78FPS momentarily for the stutters, and then back to 90FPS. If I change to 120FPS... same thing. Drops down to may be 105 but then back to 120FPS. Each time it says "CPU Bound" but I don't believe it is a CPU being overworked, because if I can get 120FPS mostly, with the stutters down to 105FPS - why can't I get a constant 90FPS or 72FPS? I tried using a utility called RivaTuner by 3DGuru to lock my frame times in (72FPS for instance). This has significantly improved the stutters, but not eliminated them completely. I find if I set it to 68 - I can get consistent 68 without any stutters at all. Setting it to 72 still has me stuttering down below 68 though - so it's very strange. I'm focused on these FPS rates as this is what my VR headset can set the refresh rate to. If you are on 2D, you might be able to reduce the FPS to whatever gets a consistent 'lock' with FPS. My CPU is running at 5.8Ghz. I can change this to 5.2Ghz and there's no noticeable difference. So it seems that it's not an issue of the CPU not being fast enough either. At a guess - it seems DCS isn't working well with interrupts, or some scheduling is causing some serious hiccups / interference within the main simulator thread. I don't believe multithread wasn't bedded down before they dropped single-thread, and had some issues. I'd say they're still playing under the hood with the multithreading stuff (which honestly - needs to be played with more anyway) - but this has triggered something negative with the latest version. Best you can do really is try the set of usuals: Verify core parking is disabled (Use Park Control) Try Process Lasso and use Sets to reserve P-Cores only for DCS Disable Tacview if installed Set windows Powerplan to Ultimate Try (after DCS has loaded) - going into task manager and disabling DCS access on Core 8 ) Yes, these are bandaid solutions, but until ED do something about this (and I don't expect anything significant to happen until Vulcan) - we need to do our bets to find workarounds. Hope one of these helps.

Aaah - I have hyperthreading disabled. That might be why I don't see the p-cores go beyond 7. Anyway - on the 13900KF, with Hyperthreading disabled, C-State disabled, and DCS restricted to cores 0-7 I'm not seeing the same elevation in CPU temps that are reported here. Could Hyperthreading potentially be part of the issue?

How bizzare. I have a 13900 too (13900KF), and this is what Process lasso shows me - 8 P cores, and 16 E Cores. Wonder what I'm missing... I use Process Lasso myself. I don't know - I hear a whole bunch of different things as to whether to restrict or not. All I know is when I make all cores available to DCS - the menu's FPS was horrible, and I was having serious performance issues. Restricting DCS to only P cores and restricting other non-essential apps to E cores fixed the problem for me. But YMMV because everyone seems to have differing opinions on what you should or shouldn't do. My advise is try it. It can't hurt - just note what you've restricted so you can undo it if it doesn't improve.

Core 8 would be the first of the E core's wouldn't it? I have DCS restricted to only P cores (Cores 0 through 7). Could it be E-core related?

Are you saying that DLSS/DLAA taxes the CPU, and that it's better to have these off for those who are CPU bound? I don't mind QV either, but my problem is that my CPU is being hammered single thread, and I get stutters at around 68-71 FPS. (Just under the native 72hz of the Pimax). This is solely CPU related. I found that using QV made it worse - as it seems QV increases the demand on the CPU in the main DCS Render thread. I tried 120 locked at half for 60fps, which definitely helps with the cpu stutters (as it's under that threshold), but I get the other artifacts that come in (blur, and consistent minor stutters out the side). Is this something that Vulcan is supposed to help with when it comes? Reducing the demand on the CPU with additional threading? I'm running a 13900K and the crazy part is, I can run at 5.5Ghz, or 5.8Ghz and it seems to make no difference - as though something else is jumping in and interrupting the core that the DCS main thread is using to create the stutters. I've done all the usual tricks. Rebar enabled, NVIDIA Power to max performance, Park Control off, Process Lasso - P Core only, Disabled Tacview, Windows Power to Ultimate, No gaming mouse / polling rates to turn down, Disabled Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator, XBOX Game bar off, Game Mode off, no_device_hotplug = true, disable_write_track = true, ran "logman stop HolographicShell -ets", VSync off, Thread optimization off, Prerender threads up to 3, windows power to ultimate, etc. Nothing seems to get the CPU to operate at a level that will give me smooth uninterrupted 72fps in VR. I can turn graphics down to minecraft level and still CPU bound. Is there a tool that can inspect anything that's interrupting on the same thread(s) that DCS uses just incase there is a windows function or other process creating issues?

Thanks. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one / not going mad. I'm still suspicious that ther is some setting that I'm missing, or some trick but for me - if my PC can't keep up with the native fresh rate and drops behind - it gives jerkiness that I can't contend with. Hopefully those that are happy with sub-refresh rates will be able to chime in.

Thanks. That explains the reason why I can get 72fps, and the expectation of the super is that it won't get that high with a 5090 - but at the same time, I'm still wondering how people are surviving in VR with less than refresh rate FPS's. Are people really putting up with the jitters that come with running less than that (for those who can't reach 72fps), or is there something basic that I'm missing that allows a lower FPS to work fine with higher refresh hz VR? As mentioned - I was able to run 36fps back 'in the day' with SteamVR and it was quite good on the HP Reverb. Seems that since OpenXR I haven't been able to achieve the same level of smoothness without reaching a min FPS that matches the Hz, so just wondering what I'm missing with OpenXR, etc.

Is there any downfall / sideeffects to using this? Does it take up more GPU or CPU resources? (Just wondering why this isn't done by default with DCS and/or why this is hidden away to implement instead of being standard and what I should be aware of before implementing it).

Hi, I’ve noticed some people running VR at frame rates lower than their headset’s native refresh rate. Back when I used the HP Reverb (60/90Hz) with a 2080S, I could get smooth performance at 30 or 45 FPS using SteamVR and motion reprojection. The key was running at a clean divisor of the headset refresh rate (e.g., 90Hz → 45 or 30 FPS). I couldn't get anything smooth however with not clean divisors. (ie, 55fps on 60hz). Now, with my Pimax (lowest refresh rate 72Hz) and newer hardware, I’m seeing people talk about lower-than-native fps. For instance, @Calvin.Pimax mentioned to expect 65-70fps on a 5090 (which is less than the slowest native refresh rate of the headset). I'm sitting here going "BUT HOW?" (Like MOSS in the IT crowd) If I run less than 72fps (say at 65 as mentioned) - I get poor frame pacing. It's jittery and would definitely cause me motion sickness after a while. I need to hit the headset’s full refresh rate. Anything lower - especially if it’s not a divisor like in the above example - looks jerky. Yet, I keep hearing users talk about flying with 50–55 FPS. (Non-divisor fresh rates). How is that possible? How can VR stay smooth at non-divisor frame rates? I thought maybe they're using 'motion smoothing' to fill in the gaps, but when I use it - it's still a jittery mess for me. Is there a setting, tweak, or technique I need to use in order to use lower than native refresh look smooth in VR? I can't help but think I'm missing something really basic. For now, I'm able to maintain 72FPS (just) with my setup with numerous compromises, but that's with relatively basic missions, but I'd love to know how people are having success with less than 72FPS.

And a robust power connector that won't melt.

Hi BN, Just a thought - Instead of treating this as a bug in DCS - would it be possible to approach it from the perspective of a feature request instead? (Ability to move the IHADSS's position like the recital can be in the KA-50)? This way - replication of the issue that users are experiencing wouldn't be a requirement/obstacle to overcome in order to provide a solution. Just adding that option as a feature for the AH-64 in the same way as the KA-50 would go a long way to solving a 3 year now issue for people (plus add a new feature in even for those not having an immediate issue with it)? Cheers DZ

I used the option to display information when running NVCleanstall to update my driver (which has an option to show the information in game). I was choosing preset-K in the inspector, but it's showing as C in DCS.

Thanks for confirming. I was still seeing a different mode showing up in DCS, so I’ll have to go and check it out again. If I still can’t get it, I’ll try the swap method to see if that makes a difference.

I understand that’s needed using the overwrite method, but I thought I read somewhere that the dll didn’t need to be overwritten in DCS bin anymore with the latest nVidia drivers and inspector. That setting the two settings in inspector was all that was needed to force the driver dll over the DCS one. Guess I got that wrong. Maybe I need to try the dll swap method instead.

I tried using nVidia inspector. Set override to true and presser to K in the global section. However it seems DCS still shows that it’s using preset C. Is there something else that needs to be set? I’m under the impression there’s no need to overwrite dll’s or use any other software other than the inspector, so not sure what’s missing.

One thing I'd suggest is re-checking all your external settings. ie: NVIDIA settings - make sure that you still have Ultra performance - Highest plan, etc - and that settings haven't been changed or defaulted during a driver update. ReBar - Make sure these settings are still enabled. (Check with NVIDIA Inspector, and in your BIOS). Confirm XMP profile for your RAM. Core Parking - Make sure that Core parking is still disabled. (Windows updates have a habbit of undoing many of the performance changes that you've made). Windows Game Mode - make sure that's disabled. ...etc IDK how many times I've had performance impact to find out that it was an external setting that had changed or 'reverted' during an update. The fact that this has occurred to other maps indicates that it could potentially be an issue with a setting changed on your system rather than in DCS. Might be something else, but that's where I'd start.

Here's a brief demo on how it works: Information on how to install it is here. Keep in mind - it does require you to have Voice attack first in order to work. Hope this helps.

I hope that ED take your suggestion onboard for an option for Carrier Quals. Especially this - allowing people to go straight from trapping to launching on another CAT, as it's definitely needed. For now, I would just disable the plane directors for the carrier while you do that. It will take you back to the old way of doing things without having to revert to the Forrestal. Have you just tried calling 'Hornet Ball' without worrying about inbound calls. The LSO I think should acknowledge you after that. (I'm not 100% sure if what works for me will work for you (as I use VAICOM and I'm not sure how much is VAICOM, and how much is DCS) - but using VAICOM I've been able to bypass a number of steps or get the AI to trigger into a different state without needing all the conditions to be met). For instance, I'm able to call COMMENCING and PLATFORM with VIACOM in CASE 1 conditions (when the menu isn't available to DCS) - and it will trigger the ATC to go through the CASE 3 landings such as the 8 mile radar contact, approaching glideslope, etc. Things that otherwise have not been possible to do with the standard DCS interface. If I recall correctly - I can call Hornet Ball as well in VAICOM after taking off for CQ, and I'll get the LSO calls. It may be worth trying binding the 'Hornet Ball' option and using that when rounding out. Hopefully this will get the LSO's attention - but if not and it's only working for me because of VAICOM - you may want to consider checking out VAICOM. It certainly adds to the immersion.

You have raised some good points - that it would be good for them to include full tutorials for the carrier. But the supercarrier module is still in Early Access, and things are still being added to it. Given that the procedures have changed (the most recent being with the plane directors, and at a guess - quite possibly ATC procedures being next) - I can understand the decision to wait after all the development changes have been done to avoid the risk of having to re-create tutorials and doubling workload. Starting from scratch with the Early Access AH-64 module - Wag's video's was a staple diet as things progressed. The supercarrier has been out a lot longer now, so there's a lot more options to choose from when it comes to learning, but as you've found - tutorials aren't going to be one at this point in time. As for campaigns, I loved Raven One. I read the book in sync while doing the campaign and found it a fantastic experience - as it made the campaign far more immersive. The campaign does start out with more basic knowledge - but does progress and advance to where you need to know the advanced systems of the FA18 before completion - so it may not be the best one to begin with, but definitely worth keeping an eye out for and something to look forward to. I hope you are able to get past your initial frustrations and find enjoyment in it. I know for me - the SC and navy ops are one of my all time favorite parts of the simulator and gives me great satisfaction!

Aaah - the operating system is doing the old "Make it look like it's fixed the issue... until solution posted the solution on the forum" trick. Been there too many times to count myself before too.