SharpeXB

I realize that. I was venturing that if ED tried to make DCS appeal to the masses that would mean simplifying the game or adding gamey features that the core sim audience likely wouldn’t find acceptable. So in the end this will always be a niche game which is fine, that’s how the players like it. But you can do this by yourself without a tandem cockpit. You can play along online and do things like share screens etc. Literally having a trainer style aircraft isn’t necessary. And these already exist in the game and are already free to try. Anyone can get a feel of what the game is like with the free aircraft that are already in the game. There isn’t an obstacle in this regard. A primary benefit of dual controls in the real world is the ability to feel what the instructor is doing with them. That’s not possible in a PC game or maybe it would be with FFB but a beginner isn’t going to have hardware like that. In terms of flying they’re actually more complex but don’t have combat systems, in that regard they’re less so. But in terms of these “obstacles” to broad appeal they’re the same. Yet they’re much more popular and without any multiplayer “trainers”. Those players don’t seem to have any trouble jumping right into the game. The reasons that CFS games are so niche is due to other factors IMO

Well if you figure this is a niche genre then by definition the majority of people out there aren’t interested. That is what it is. Hey if the Devs can figure out a way to popularize DCS, great! But I don’t think this is it. Again civy flight sims are very popular and have all the same “problems” yet that doesn’t seem to affect their popularity. So what is it with CFS games? But in order to do anything with a free module they’ll need to do that. They’ll also need to install the game and configure that too. If someone is too mentally feeble to assign a joystick, this isn’t the game for them. Note how console games have every command pre-assigned. That’s what the typical gamer is like, they aren’t savvy enough to do anything more. Which is amazing to me. Again to do even this they’ll need to do all the setup. And anyone I can imagine starting into a game is going to want to fly the plane themselves. I’ve shown DCS to quite a few people and none would find it interesting at all to just ride along. Certainly. Realize that DCS doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s within a whole spectrum of sim and flying games. I’m sure many people find their way into more complex sims after starting out in simpler games. So the whole path doesn’t have to exist here. Simplifying DCS too much to appeal to novice players is sorta counterproductive. For myself I started with arcade style flying games, moved on to more sim-type games, then discovered DCS on a Steam sale and got hooked. I suspect that’s not uncommon.

Yes I was going to say that too but it’s outside the spec the OP listed. I agree it’s about the best monitor available today. Hey if you’re looking at 45” screens maybe just go a bit larger.

Well like NL just said, it’s too high value to give away. That question has already been asked and answered, not even the topic here really. DCSW is free, so just have a separate install to trial modules with. If trials are something anyone really wants so much they can convert away from Steam altogether.

How are you privy to EDs sales figures? Well again, every aircraft in this game has a free trial. This has been discussed before. “no plans” to give this away since it’s too high-value…

Common sense dictates that you shouldn’t give away a product that probably brings in a lot of revenue. And all the aircraft in DCS have free trials. The FC F-15C is on sale now for $7.49 which is nearly “free” in any case.

As far as I know the big civy flight sim doesn’t have a dual cockpit feature at all and yet has probably 10-50x the number of players. So clearly that’s not the reason CFS games are so niche.

I got it figured out. For some reason adding a curve interferes with this even though the control reaches 100%. Flattening that out fixed it.

I suppose you were looking at this on the eStore: “Recommended system requirements (HIGH graphics settings): OS 64-bit Windows 10/11; DirectX11; CPU: Core i5+ at 3+ GHz or AMD FX / Ryzen; RAM: 32 GB ; Free hard disk space: 500 GB on Solid State Drive (SSD) + extra space for paid content ; Discrete video card NVIDIA/AMD with 8GB VRAM+; joystick; requires internet activation.” Or this for the Germany map: “CPU: Intel or AMD 4.5Ghz+” Indeed those descriptions are pretty worthless. They could mean anlmost any CPU and clock speed alone isn’t so relevant. The 14700K you have is very good for DCS. You definitely should not overclock it though with the troubles these have had. Running it with the default BIOS settings and stock speed is fine.

The stick is reaching 100% on the chart

The mission won't proceed past this point

I tried assigning the Jester cursor to a mini-stick on my throttle, but it won't reach the outer ring of commands. That's as far as it will go.

Not fixated, again just making an obvious point. There isn’t a need for trainers in a game like there is IRL. Sometimes the choices in modules here seem pretty random. Personally I can’t see why someone would feel the need or purpose for making these. Since this is a combat game you’d think the priority would be on matching up opposing aircraft or pairing them with maps and so on. Look how long it took for the MiG-21 to get its rival here. Why did it take so long to get a FF F-15C? It’s puzzling that the limited resources of this game sometime go towards these obscure aircraft.

Nobody is bent out of shape. Just pointing out that such a free trainer would not likely be a draw for new players as the topic suggests. An F-35 is more like what new players would get pulled in with and would buy. You can see the spike in players when something like the Phantom launches. That’s where the appeal is.

Sure but why does it matter, really? Go at your own pace. This is just for entertainment. I hate the break the news but the vast majority of players are never going to fly these aircraft for real, so none of this matters. Sure it’s all fun and immersive to play Walter Mitty fighter pilot. But it’s only a game.

Yeah and that’s just so pathetic for both roles…

I can’t fathom anyone needing such instruction to play a game. A teenager could teach themselves this stuff. It would be if one of us was playing with it. Very very very few of us will ever fly these or perhaps any aircraft for real. DCS is a game to us. A realistic game but still just that. Nobody’s life depends on how well you play this. That should be obvious.

A simulator is a subset of game. All sims are games, not all games are sims. DCS is a game because nothing you do here has any real consequences. It’s a fantasy world where cost and safety don’t exist.

Sharing screens on Discord is a good way to turn any aircraft into a “dual trainer”

I’m sure we all wish there was a way to popularize this genre. But I think it’s just a niche by its very nature. What’s interesting is that the civy flight sims are massively more popular despite being just as complex or potentially even more so. So I don’t think that’s it. And DCS already has less complex aircraft options.

Isn’t the idea of buying and learning two different aircraft an entry barrier? As it is now anyone can grab a module on sale or do a free trial and get started. If they’re interested enough. Odds are they’re just not interested. I think you might be overestimating the appeal here. Getting a ride in a real jet = awesome! Getting a ride in a video game airplane… yeah not so much.

It’s worth realizing that is a very old module and the spin-off of a paid product. And a simpler aircraft. You’ve got it backwards. The paid combat variant would come first, then possibly followed by a free trainer version. A full fidelity trainer would be just as complex as one of the combat aircraft. So why bother? New players don’t need “training” here like IRL because this is a game. A 14 year old kid could tech themselves to fly an F-14 here in a few hours. Honestly I think trainers more appeal to enthusiast players who are simply interested in different aircraft. But they don’t help any with the learning curve or draw new players in. They’d literally just be another aircraft to learn. A player here wouldn’t buy and learn a trainer if they really want an F-14. They’d just go buy the F-14.

Full fidelity modules are too costly to develop and then give away for free with the game, besides a free trial is available for every aircraft. Also “trainer” aircraft aren’t needed since all the reasons these exist in the real world aren’t relevant in a game.

As many as you can get . If I understand the Multithreaded system here it will use anything you have. I think up to 32 virtual cores. There used to be a Multithreading FAQ topic that explains this but maybe it’s been moved or deleted.

I’ve seen it recommended to use Windows 11 with the Intel hybrid CPUs (Gen 12-14) as it utilizes the cores better. If you post this over in the Bugs/ Performance section I’m sure someone can look at these logs and such.