Munkwolf

Welcome! All good choices. I can help with a couple of the questions. I haven't used PointCTRL, so I can't speak to how well it works. I would still recommend Vaicom, as it is more than using voice control to help control instruments. I use Vaicom mostly for radio stuff ("request landing", "carrier, inbound") that PointCTRL wouldn't really help with (afaik). Speaking into the mic instead of using keys for the radio commands is worth it by itself imo. But it also has a separate kneeboard extension that's great, and the other extensions are cool. I got the bundle that has em all and definitely do not regret it. Also, yes, the G2 has a built-in mic, and it's worked well for me. Only issue with the G2 I've had was the right speaker blew, but I had a good experience with HP support where I had a replacement set of speakers within a week. Due to the speaker issue I had though, I would recommend turning your system volume down to 50% or so though before putting much signal through the G2 when you are first setting it up, and work the volume up from there (if needed).

It would be nice to have a trimmer mode available like that, where it does the trim on release. I've been using the center mode Volk mentioned, and for me it's better than the default. But I do wish I could push the button, then move stick back to center, and then release the button for the trim to happen. Maybe even have it where the trim amount is based on the joystick movement while the button is pressed. So if I only move it halfway back to center then release, it'd trim half as much as it would've with the stock trim methods.

I have a few devices with the same names, and if I unplug them and replug them back in, there's a good chance they'll get mixed up. Using the Profiles in the DCS controls menu has been really useful. After I get a plane setup I save profiles for each device ("MFD Right", "MFD Left", etc). Then if the bindings get mixed up, I just reload the profiles for the devices that switched.

just fyi you can also assign buttons for the tabs, or for next / previous tab. i got tired of speaking to change tab. i have a hat configured in shift mode where press is show/hide, up/down is next/previous page, and right/left is next/previous tab. the actions to setup in the voiceattack profile are 'kneeboard.tab.prv' and 'kneeboard.tab.nxt'

Thank you for the heads up. Just ordered one.

They'd be fine, probably even unpowered. I daisy-chained 2 hubs off of another hub, all unpowered, one usb cable to computer, and got to about 10 or 11 devices (including hotas) before I started running into some issues with it.

I think I'm coming around. I'm starting to like the lighter weight more and not minding the feel of the plastic. I did get a TM adapter at the same time, but want to try out the VKB grips before I switch one of my TM grips onto it. I still haven't used it in-game - I went down a rabbit hole with the config utility last night checking out the options there, and trying out different combos with springs and clutch dampers. Really cranked down on the grip attachment and it's stayed put. The config utility is really nice. I was getting an access violation using it at first but found a beta of the config utility on Oz's site that worked well. Read something somewhere about the multidevice version of the bios that allows hotswapping of the grips(?) but didn't want to flash a beta bios (yet). Got the hats configured to stay as an analog axis but also throw buttons. Looking forward to getting through work today.. then one more set of adjustments to put 2 more turns on the dampers and maybe up the springs by 10#.. and then finally get into the virtual skies with it.

i think it's enough, but i'm not really uising it. Not sure about the U, but the MCG Pro I have has two spots for a pin to set it at 0 or 15. I have mine mounted on the 0 pin. Then the 200mm extension has an arc the pin can sit in that looks like 0 - 15ish. Seems like you could do the 15 pin on the grip and rotate the extension to get more than 15 if you wanted, but the extension would be rotated a bit with the curve.

i ordered new stick from vkb a week ago and got it yesterday. i think it's a great option for a center stick. imo the design of it, like with the clutches, gives it an edge over virpil or winwing. unfortunately vkb doesn't have a throttle available (yet). it's great as a side stick, i wouldn't recommend it as a center stick though.

fwiw, i ordered F-14 GFIII, 200m extension, and MCG grip on 2/23, and got them yesterday.

Dang. Based on the pictures and how it looked to be on the same cylinder as the levers I was hoping it'd be an axis.

There is a limit of 128 buttons and 8 axis device. Can you setup a 2nd virtual device with Target? I couldn't find a way. I went to vJoy/Gremlin since it's easy to do that way.

You can do it with programs like Target or Joystick Gremlin. I use Gremlin to have the slider on my warthog throttle throw buttons at 33% and 66% for the P51 mixture lever.

I do a visual grid system that works well for me. The red inner 2 columns on the side 80-keys are my instrument and action layers. Top 2x4 for instruments (per side.. using l/r win, shift, alt, ctl), where I lay out the side instruments into that grid. Some planes I only use one column (the inner one on each side) of those instrument layers, when the plane only has one column (F-16, FA-18). Some planes I do use the 2 columns (A-10). Like on the right 80-key, the top-left instrument layer is for the CMS in the A-10. Then below the instrument layer buttons on each side in that red block are 2 buttons that are my left/right actions (Kkeypad - and Keypad +), and the bottom red key is a down action (Keypad dot). Up is when I'm not holding an action button. Toggles I do as up/down, dials are left/right. Things like the FA-18 wing fold I'll use down as pull, up as stow, and then left/right.. with those all on one wing fold control button. The 6x6 blue block outside of the instrument/action buttons are my control buttons. That's another visual grid. Using the CMS in the A-10 as an example again.. the OSB buttons are the first 4 buttons of first row, the toggle switches are the 2nd row, etc. I find I'm rarely using half of the 6x6 control buttons per instrument, except for instruments like the CDU. The bottom blocks sectioned of at the bottom of the side 8-keys are dedicated to system things like function keys, kneeboard, time accel/decel, music controls, etc. I find I don't really have to memorize what keys are for what buttons, I just need to look at or visualize the cockpit and instruments to remember what to push, and then keep consistent with my system. INS dial in FA-18? That'd be the 3rd instrument layer button on inner row, then 2nd button of 2nd row in the 6x6 control block. Hold down KP+ action button and tap to turn it right. 1st button on 2nd row is the radar dial. I feel like I'm learning more about the plane and the instruments than if I abstracted the instrument/control locations away and had the same buttons mapped to the same controls regardless of what plane I'm flying. Sometimes the same instrument (TACAN, UHF) is just in a different spot in a different plane, so I'll have the same controls but on a different instrument layer. Or the FA-18, the two VHFs are same controls just on different layers on the left side. My center console I usually don't use modifiers for, though there are a few exceptions. Overall it maps out well. The top center 80-key is 10-wide, which works out perfect for the A-10 UFC. I use separate up/down buttons for the toggles on it. The F-16 and FA-18 UFC/IHCP I have a couple of blank columns for so that they are centered. The 40-key strip has worked out great in a few ways. That 4x2 block maps out perfectly to the nav mode selection part in the middle of the A-10 where you select EGI. The left side 2x7 block is perfect for the F-5, with the 7 pylon switches going on bottom row. Then on my joystick, when in shift mode, TMS hat doubles as my action buttons (left for KP-, right for KP+, down for KPdot). DMS up or down doubles as instrument layer toggles, if I need them. Also I've got a lot of bump dot stickers in a pattern on the x-keys which has really helped me find the right keys in VR. This past weekend I got to spend a lot of time flying with about 150mm extension on the warthog. Such a difference. Did my standard loop with FA-18 of launch, AAR, trap, repeat. AAR is so much easier. Then yesterday my VKB shipment arrived a couple days early. Was able to at least get it setup before I went to bed. Tonight'll be the first time in-game with it. I do really want the Ultimate, but it's not in-stock right now and I didn't want to wait. I'll be ordering one when they are back in stock for sure. So far I'm alreading loving the GF base, but the VKB grips haven't had the best first impression with me. Very cheap plastic feel compared to the TM grips, and the attachment mechanism is just plain bad. The process to switch a grip is much more of a pain, and the MCG even just popped off of the attachment point when I was just moving it around to calibrate it. Guess I should tighten it more than I did, but didn't want to break the plastic on the first day of me having it.

Hey everyone, today I updated my rig, and I'm pretty excited about it, and feel the need to share with some people that will (hopefully) understand. I present to you my Openwheeler / X-keys "Maximum Button" rig. A primary goal was being plane-agnostic. I love the replica pits everyone sets up, but it's not for me until I could have multiple replica pits setup for the planes I want to fly. I'm really liking having that 80-key work good enough for A-10 UFC, F-16, FA-18, AV8.. vs having something that would work perfect for one plane and notsomuch the others. Then the red keys in the main blocks on the side 80s are modifiers for different instrument layers (top 2x4 block), and actions (bottom 2+1). 6x6 block per side for controls. Below that are keys mapped for function keys, time controls, etc. I had the Openwheeler as a racing rig before, but re-purposed it for flight a few months ago and have been adding to it since. The upgrades never end, as you all know. The structure is a bit of a frankenstein of Openwheeler and NLR parts I had sitting around. Recent upgrades: + RSSB-R3L arrived today, several days early! 2nd A-10 (F-16, natch) grip arrived too! That is my new side-stick, and I moved my warthog to the center with a stick extension. I've never used a force stick, nor had a center stick, nor a stick extension. This is the root of my giddyness. + Vesa mounts, also today, to mount spare 24-keys on tubes. I used to have them on the sides, but replaced them with the 80-keys. + Used 2 of the Openwheeler keyboard trays to create a new center console. I used to have that stuff mounted on the wheel plate that the center-bottom 24-key is now mounted on. + New keyboard, so I don't have to move my main one. It swivels, so I rotate it out of the way when in-game, and rotate back in if I need to ESC and do something. + Cupholder, which is getting far more use than I anticipated. + Not shown, a big red button as a dedicated eject button to mount behind headrest. I figured "why not". + Also not shown, spare 8-key under right rear of seat, dedicated to kneeboard controls. Here is an alternate view, compared to my "v1": Underneath the seat are 2 of the dayton shakers, mounted on two 6x12 aluminum plates. Powered with a 2x50 amp visible in above pic on rear bar of seat. Center console has a USB hub on the back, so there's one wire from there, to one of the two USB hubs I have mounted under each side of chair. One USB cable o my PC for pedals, one other for everything else. Brake bias knobs are pulled from my racing rig, as I wasn't using them there and wanted some dials for rudder/airelon trim in at least the P-51. Next up: + VKB stuff arrives next week for new center stick! Gunfighter + MCG grip + F-14 grip + 200mm curved extension. Between what's already next to me, and VKB stuff, I haven't been this happy about anything in years (me having surgeries, family deaths, 2020 in general, etc). + Virpil collective pedal, whenever that releases. Or at least see how that plays out and re-consider Komodo. + Buy a house so I can do a fresh 80/20 with hydraulics, crank up the sim shakers, and not have to worry about bothering neighbors. Also, just a general shout-out to ED. I think only iRacing has captured me as much as DCS has. I bought the A-10 many, many years ago.. but was intimidated by the controls, and only had a Logi Force 3d Pro, and avoided really giving it the shot I knew it deserved. Once I got my v1 setup last year, I sat down one night determined to learn the TF-51, and got hooked. Bad (obviously). Sure, things are delayed or cancelled, sure the engine isn't as current as the latest AAA title. I'm used to those things from iRacing. What's already available is something special, and what's planned for the future is just plain exciting to see.

I did some tuning a couple of weeks ago, and am fairly happy with how it's running now. The biggest improvement was being able to minimize the shimmering shadows i was having. Problem is, I can't really remember all the stuff I changed. Fortunately, you provided all these screenshots. Not too many differences. NVIDIA: Ambient Occlusion: Performance Anti-Aliasing - FXAA: On Anti-Aliasing - Transparency: 8x (supersample) Max Frame Rate: 90 FPS Monitor Technolog: ULMB Texture Filtering - Quality: Performance I bolded frame rate as that sticks out as the main thing I remember changing when things started running better for me. I read someone else's post about how that helped them, and it kinda made sense to me in a way.. depending on how the engine is built, it trying to max out frame rate with no cap could be starving other parts of the engine of resources and dragging the whole down some. Its at 90 as I play on a G2. Maybe try capping yours at 60 (half of your 120hz)? GAME: MSAA: 2x A few other differences that wouldn't help (high civ traffic, visibility ultra, lens effects dirt, etc) VR: I run a game pixel density of 1.1 and a steamVR resolution of 110%. An old photoshop trick was resizing in 10% increments to minimize aliasing artifacts when scaling. I was having really bad issues with shimmering, and to me it seemed to be anti-aliasing transparency, especially with the shadows. So i was trying everything I could related to anti-aliasing and transparency (thus the 8x in my nvidia settings), including old designer tricks. It seemed to work. Some combo of that and my nvidia changes led to having very little shimmer. 9700kf @ 4.2ghz (sustained, all cores.. sometimes i'll go 4.6 or 4.8), rog strix 3090, 32GB

afaik you can just delete the folders for the planes you want to remove out of your <DCS_Install>/mods/aircraft directory.

a) for hotas controls, i try to bind them as close as possible to the stick and throttle layout for the plane in question. for other controls, i have a few x-key devices... which leads to... b) that x-type looks a lot like the x-keys i am rocking, except for the pre-determined sections with the x-type. with x-keys, can put in blank spaces to create those types of sections. i really, really like the x-keys and keep ordering more of them. i wanted to be agnostic with type of controls, and thus didn't want to go the replica panel route. then having a few x-keys around me, i feel like i'm reaching to where the control really is in the plane, which helps the immersion imo. also, i only play in VR, so how the panels looked weren't important to me. i currently have an 80-key mounted in front, with an 8x6 block that handles the ufc/icp controls for differnet planes (and any other top-middle controls). a blank row above that block, then a block of keys on the top row i use for esc, space, active pause, and ejecting. mfd's sit on either side of this 80-key a 40-key strip below the 80-key, that's blocked into 14x8x14 sections. the 7x2 block on the left is perfect with the f5, where there's a key for each pylon. a 3rd mfd below the 40-key to be my center console. then on either side, behind my throttle and stick, are 24-key x-keys, landscape orientation. the inner column of each i have mapped to win/alt/ctl for that side, and use those as instrument layers. at bottom inside i have 2 keys bound for left and right shift. the shift keys are my action layers. so, like, the CMS countermeasures panel in the A-10, i'll hold the top-right windows key on the right x-key to reach my 'right-side forward' instrument layer, and then it maps out pretty well.. with the OSB buttons and toggles going as rows across the x-key. key press is toggle, for dials i'll hold left-shift for down, right-shift for up, etc. last weekend is when i remapped the A-10C against this new scheme, and got every single mappable button in the cockpit assigned. even the CDU, where unmodified the right 3x4 block of the right 24-key is the 0-9 portion, hold left shift makes it the 1st half of letters, and holding right-shift is the 2nd half of letters. not like i'd ever use all the mappings even rarely, but i wanted to stress test my layout scheme before i started remapping everything. also it's been oddly intuitive for me to remember the layouts for different planes so far, since it's based on where instruments are in the cockpit. also, sometimes the controls line up nicely... like the 2 radios on the left in the A-10. Holding down Ctl on my left keypad is the front VHF, holding down Alt is the back VHF. Then the buttons for the controls are the same - just a different 'layer' for the second radio. same with like tacan or ils instruments that have the same controls but are just in different spots. having my scheme per instrument and then just having to push a different layer to get to them (like tacan on left vs right console) i'm about to redo the side x-keys configs so i have 2 columns of instrument layers, left and right win/ctl/alt/4th-modifier-tbd on both keypads, with some new 80-keys to replace my existing 24-keys. then i'll be able to break it up even further. with 8 keys for my instrument layers instead of 3. and a 6x6 block of 36 keys for controls on each side, instead of my current 18. example, on right keypad, left-win would be top-inner instrument on right console (CMS panel in A-10), and then the right-win would be the top-outer (electrical panel). then i'll have a blank row, and dedicated blocks for F1-F12 and radio/spotify/time controls, instead of having to use shift layers for those like i do with my current 24s. a bit of a long post. i've been geeking out over control schemes lately.

A few things that I learned over the hours that have helped me.. When loading up a plane you haven't setup, any device DCS doesn't specifically have a profile for will get assigned the Joystick profile.. this is what leads to having pitch/rudder/throttle/etc all being bound initially. In the DCS control setup, the header of the device column, where the name is, has a caret with a dropdown menu. You can use this to clear all bindings for one device. Also you can save/load profiles for a device through this menu. On the left side, for each category grouping, is a similar caret, where you can clear all the bindings just for that category, and also select which devices you want to clear it for. So, I'll go through and do a combination of clearing a column (for a device I totally need to rebind because it loaded the default joystick profile), and clearing control categories (like for categories where I know I don't want any keyboard bindings). Then start binding. After bindings are done, I use the 'save profile' option for each device column to save out profiles, like "A10CII_MDF_Left" and "A10CII_MDF_Throttle". At least with the A10, an advantage with the profiles is that you can load the same profiles between the A10C and A10CII, and it covers most everything except for like the HMCS. Also I have 3 MFD's, and sometimes the bindings for the two with ID of 'MFD 1' will get switched. With profiles, I can easily load the left profile back on my left MFD. The profiles get saved in '<user>\Saved Games\DCS\InputUserProfiles'. I created a folder for each plane in there to group profiles.

Maybe, seems plausible that the control issues would depend on what devices and such. Seems like the root of the MFD issue is they come in pairs, named MFD 1 & MFD 2.. so buying a second set to get a 3rd means having 2 1's or 2 2's. Really it's as much or more of a Thrustmaster issue than a DCS issue. Not related to updates, though. 50% chance my two MFD 1's will be switched in DCS whenever I power my rig up. That's where the Save/Load profiles stuff has really helped me out. Also if I'm playing around with different mappings I can easily save a device's mappings as a backup. Or using the profiles to easily move the mappings between the A-10C and A-10CII. It struck me a bit odd that you bolded the part about not using save/load profiles, then said you didn't use them, and then correlated that with why you've never had control issues. The save/load profile stuff is very useful to me. I've had control issues, but the profiles were a remedy, not the source of the issue.

Odd. I got into using Save/Load Profiles exactly because DCS was messing my assignments up. The most prominent issue being that with 3 MFD's, two of them are the same name, and DCS will switch them up, so that my middle MFD gets mapped to the controls I setup for the left MFD, and vice-versa. I have those profiles saved like "A10C_MFD_Left" and "A10C_MFD_Center" that I have to reload at least once a week when I launch DCS to get the right mappings to the right MFD.

if you are looking to upgrade and are going to stick with intel, i'd definitely recommend waiting a few months for rocket lake to get released

I can't add much to the excellent replies already posted, except a little bit about #4 with force feedback.. No good options for FF joysticks due to patent issues as TLTeo mentioned, but you may find bass shaker / butt kicker stuff to be a decent substitute. I recently bought a cheap 100w amp and a couple of the 50w Dayton bass shakers, and it added more to the DCS experience than I thought it would. I'm using it with the Sim Shaker for Aviators software: https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/147495-official-simshaker-for-aviators/ All the effects really add up. A thunk when the cockpit closes or when gear extends/retracts. High frequency vibrations when the APU is running. A rumble from the engines at higher throttle. Similar electric motor vibration as the APU when the flaps are extending/retracting. Then the shake from firing cannons.. or a hard landing. Imo it's cooler than a FF feeback joystick would be. I've been seriously hooked on DCS the past couple of months, after years of being focused on iRacing. Modern options like VR + hotas + bass shakers.. it's an amazing time for flight sims.

Getting Index or G2 and running it at lower settings and/or pixel density isn't an option? That way you'd have a better headset for if/when you do upgrade your mobo/cpu in the future. I started with a CV1 Rift, and currently have the Index and G2. I exclusively use the G2 because the picture is really good. Imo, Index is the best overall (comfort, tracking, controllers, speakers), but the picture is the main thing I care about, the the G2 is better in that regard.

I haven't flown it yet, so not familiar with where the button is to make sure it was pressing. I did hear a clicking sound and didn't have anything else bound to my test key, so I think it should work? Added it to the other Flaps controls in the VSTOL Controls group: {down = fcs_commands.Button_FLAP_BIT, cockpit_device_id = devices.VREST, value_down = 1.0, name = _('Flaps BIT Button'), category = _('VSTOL Controls')}, That'll go in your AV8BNA\Input\AV8BNA\keyboard\default.lua file. I've been adding a few controls for the F-14 (wing sweep lever) and A-10CII (hmcs power switch) lately and was feeling inspired. My process based off my limited knowledge: 1) <plane>/Cockpit/ holds the files defining the controls and what is clickable. Like for this change, i opened up clickabledata.lua and searched for "flaps bit", since you mentioned it's already clickable. then the important bits are what device it's a part of and what command ID it has. 2) <plane>/Input/ holds the files that map the above controls to input devices. here, i went to AV8BNA\Input\AV8BNA\keyboard\default.lua, and then searched for other flaps controls. Then copied one and replaced the command reference with the one from the clickabledata.lua file (Button_FLAP_BIT). other flaps commands were already mapped to the VREST device, so no change needed there! EDIT: Re-reading, if the button doesn't go back up on release, then add a value_up = 0 to it, so on release the value gets set back, like: {down = fcs_commands.Button_FLAP_BIT, cockpit_device_id = devices.VREST, value_down = 1.0, value_up = 0.0, name = _('Flaps BIT Button'), category = _('VSTOL Controls')},