doveman

No worries. Just wanted to make others aware that they might need them before deleting. I gave in and ordered a 256GB Samsung EVO SSD yesterday, so that should make my life a lot simpler, not having to mess around with updating RAMDisks anymore :)

Turns out that was bad advice and made it impossible to install MediaPortal which requires "Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redist ATL Security Update", which is v4148, whereas the latest version is 6161. I've reinstalled it now and it's OK, I just hope the others weren't needed for anything.

I imagine 6GB might be borderline as Windows (are you using Win7 x64?) will use maybe 2GB, so that only leaves 4GB for DCS World (and any other programs you might want to run with it, TrackIR/Freetrack, Helios, SoftTH), so 8GB might help, although you might want to just get 2x8GB for 16GB if possible to be safe. If you don't have sufficient RAM and Windows has to use the pagefile to make up for that, then I suppose putting the pagefile on a SSD might help, although it's hard to say how much over your already fast drive, so ideally you'd have enough RAM for it not to need the pagefile and then the storage drive just has to be fast enough to load the data as needed.

OK, thanks.

Sure it makes sense to have the latest, I just didn't see the sense in installing old versions back to 2005 but I just checked and they're all installed anyway except the 2013 ones. Even without those I've got 14 installed though, as there's three of each (x64 and x86) for 2008 and two of each for 2012.

Yeah, I know. As I use a RAMdisk, sometimes, with the pagefile disabled, I'd get low memory warnings even when there was plenty of RAM still free. I'll probably get an SSD soon though as managing the RAMdisks is a pain, even though they're about 6x faster than an SSD this doesn't really translate into loading 6x faster as there's probably a bottleneck where DCS is processing stuff whilst loading and so the transfer speed becomes irrelevant. I'm curious as to why the VC++ stuff should be relevant to DCS though. I'm pretty sure DX9 must already be installed or I doubt it would work at all.

I looked at this fix but on my Win7 x64, the only one of those listed that I have is {C0F51D84-11B9-4e74-B083-99F11BA2DB0A} so I didn't want to try this workaround until I'd checked whether this is normal. I tried to ask on the Super User thread but it's four years old and locked now, so it may be there's a different/better way of supressing the low memory warnings now.

You can probably leave CnQ on, so that the PC doesn't waste energy/heat when idling/browsing and just switch the Power Profile to High Performance, which will keep the CPU at full speed, before playing DCS World and other games. I actually have CnQ disabled and use PhenomMSRTweaker but that was because I had trouble with my overclocking and nothing to do with DCSW. You can switch Power Profiles manually before playing of course but you can also do it with a batch file using powercfg -s 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c You can find the specific GUIDs for the power profiles on your own system by opening a command line window and typing powercfg -list As I have an AMD GPU, I use Radeon Pro and create a profile for DCS.exe and then on the scripts tab, set Pre-Start to run a batch file containing the powercfg command to switch to High Performance and under Post-finish, another batch file that sets the Power Profile back to Balanced. I use the same batch files to overclock my GPU by switching MSI Afterburner to an overclocked profile before playing and back to the normal profile afterwards. You could use a RP profile for Launcher.exe instead of DCS.exe but the loading process is a bit weird and Launcher.exe seems to unload/reload at least once when launching a module/mission, so by assigning it to DCS.exe at least the batches only run once at the start and once at the end of a mission. It's necessary to create a profile for DCS.exe anyway if you want to tweak any of the graphic settings, etc with Radeon Pro as Launcher.exe isn't the actual DX engine so any such settings made under that profile won't have any effect (you can test this by enabling the OSD and seeing that it doesn't appear), so there's not much point making two profiles.

I wonder if it might be possible for ED to code this relative translation directly into DCSW? Freetrack has something similar, although not exactly the same but that's not been updated in a while and is quite buggy, whilst FaceTrackNoIR doesn't seem to have anything like it, so if it was inbuilt into DCSW we'd have more choice as to what software to use and I imagine it could be more accurate than relying on the tracking software to acheive this.

Cool, glad you got it working. Have fun!

Firstly, no need to put it in the /mods/.. folder so take it out of there. I believe it needs to be in both DCS World/bin and /bin/headtracker. That's how I have it and it's working and I recall that when I only had it in one of those it wasn't working. As you've got it working in the Control setup, I think that is probably all you need to do to get it working in-cockpit as well.

I wonder if the CastAR, at least in AR mode, will allow us to use our hands to flick the cockpit switches, which would be really cool and a big advantage of VR-only systems like the Rift. Imagine, no more need to use keyboard commands or mapping (and remembering) commands to nondescript joystick buttons!

So has anyone got any experience with both the 16000M and the CH Fighter Stick and can comment on which is better? I don't think the Fighter Stick has the Hall effect magnetic sensors, so it's probably not as accurate but I don't know if the difference is enough to worry about. If it's still accurate and sensitive enough, with no drag/resistance/dead zone around the center so that it can be used to make the necessary constant small adjustments when flying helos, then I think that's probably enough and the button layout and hats is much more preferable to the 16000M. If it's not good enough though, I guess I'll have to hope and wait for a stick with both the hats like the Fighter Stick and the magnetic sensors of the 16000M, as there doesn't seem much point buying the 16000M for the magnetic sensors if the button layout and lack of hats is going to hamper me, although I guess I might be able to use voice activation in place of the hats.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks.

I can't afford one of those custom long shaft sticks though, not to mention I haven't got a dedicated space to install one. I'm sure plenty of people are getting by with standard desk-mounted sticks anyway, it's just a matter of which one to get. An FFB-stick might be ideal but I don't think it's worth getting one of those (if there's even anything decent available within my budget) if it means sacrificing in other respects, such as the precision of the stick or the amount of hats/buttons. I'm leaning towards the Fighter Stick for it's hats and triple-mode switch (with indicators which is vital I think to see which mode you're currently in. I've used Xpadder to implement modes but without any indication of the current mode it gets too confusing, unless you only use "Switch mode whilst x is held") but I'd still be interested to know whether the 16000M is vastly better in terms of precision. I also read some comments that the Fighter Stick is very loose and doesn't center very well but I'm not sure about that as it was only one person who said that.

At least it's not just me then! It was only £25 so I guess I shouldn't be surprised really. I think I'll give this to my Dad as it's probably good enough for his occasional Cesna flying in X-plane and get myself something more suited for helos.

Just tested the Hotas X in the Huey and there does seem to be a slight lag between moving the real stick and seeing the cockpit stick move, although I'm not sure it's as much as 1/3s but I'm not really able to judge that sort of time by eye. Certainly moving the stick to the right I have to move it further to make the cockpit stick move than I do when moving it left, so that's not very good. I'll have to test in the KA-50 later to see if that's the same.

Why is it that some people are saying that 1080p on the Rift would be inadequate to read dials/text in the cockpit, when most users are doing so at the moment without any problem on 1080p monitors?

Having seen these CastAR glasses which can do augmented reality and virtual reality I've been wondering if they could be utilised in DCSW in any way. I do think they look less cumbersome and awkward than the Rift, even if the VR isn't quite as immersive but I understand they intend to have different lenses to increase the FOV from 90 to 100-110 degrees anyway. Aside from VR, I'm wondering if the AR side could be used to project the cockpit in front of the user (with the main view on a separate monitor or projector), which he could then interact with, flick switches and so on with his hand. The headtracking would have to move both the main monitor and the AR projection in sync of course. So what do people think? Perhaps you can you think of some other ways to use these with DCSW?

I've only got the two screens, one 1920x1200 and the other 1920x1080 but I've been thinking about doing something like this, with the smaller monitor below the main one and showing either the cockpit or a Helios layout, for a while now, so thanks for the guide. I'm not sure about the maths involved though, so if anyone could help me out with that, I'd be grateful. To avoid having the main monitor too high, I'm planning to build a wooden box to hold the lower monitor at an angle (something like 30 degrees) so that I look down at it. Would this affect the calculations required?

I'm getting a bit fed up with my Thrustmaster Hotas X http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-Joystick-PS3/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=pd_cp_vg_h__0 mainly because it doesn't feel very accurate around the center and has a lot of resistance which makes it difficult to use to balance helos. In fact I just read this post by someone in relation to X-Plane: "The T hotas X worked quite adequately with fix wings, but when I tried helicopters, I had hard time learning. I read all the books and tutorials and flight school docs on this site and was still progressing very slowly. Until i came to a subject about changing field width to 90 or larger, where I could actually see cyclic moves and that was when I noticed a lag between my movement and what Xplane sees and portrated in sim. I timed the lag to be roughly 1/3 of a second. I had no problem flying a small plane like cesna 172 in that config. With helis its another story because they are unstable by nature so this lag became an issue even when I tried to anticipate the delay in input. So to prove my theory right, i went ahead and ordered the 16000M. I got it in my hand about 15 min ago and proceeded to fire up Xplane, calibrated new device, reversed collective input, and i was hovering on first try! granted still moving a bit but difference was day and night!!! Looking at cyclic's movement, it's not exactly in sync but very close! So I think it's fair to conclude that 1. T hotas X is fine for fix wings 2. T hotas X is probably not a good choice for Helis. now if i can figure out how to soften the springs in the 16000M, right now it's quite stiff..." So I'm wondering if my stick is just as unsuitable for flying helos in DCSW or if that's just an issue with X-Plane. It seems strange as I thought Thrustmaster were generally regarded as making good quality sticks. The 16000M costs about £45 and has a nice lot of buttons on it but I think I'd miss having the big throttle in my left hand with the buttons under my fingers that I get with the Hotas X. I might well adapt to it though. Of course there's the option to buy something like the CH Pro Throttle as well but that is a lot of extra money to spend. The other option is the CH Fighter Stick and it would be good to have all those hat switches, which effectively give as many "buttons" as the buttons on the 16000M. I haven't spent much time with the A10-C yet but the hats would be very helpful for that I think. Of course, it's a lot more expensive at around £90 but my other concern is that it's reportedly quite a broad stick and can be uncomfortable for those with small hands, like myself. I also wonder if it's going to be as good/accurate, particularly for helos, as the 16000M with it's Hall effect magnetic sensors? I note that the CH Fighter Stick and the CH Pro Throttle both have a 3-way mode button and wonder if these can be chained, so that pressing one would switch mode on both devices, as I imagine it could get a bit confusing having to switch modes individually on each device? If I get the Fighter Stick, I wouldn't be getting the Pro Throttle anytime soon though and would have to make do with the throttle slider on the stick, so is that usable for the helos and aircraft? I also note that the mouse stick on the CH Pro Throttle is self-centering and I wonder how it can be used in DCSW, for things like clicking on cockpit controls, if it moves the cursor back to the centre position whenever it's released?

I haven't used Freetrack much before but I just tested with 1.2.6 Update 3 (no mods other than the Headtracker dll) and it did seem a lot more stuttery than I remember. I was only getting 20-35fps, so for me it doesn't seem to need 60fps to be noticeable.

When I benchmarked with various software and my DDR3 at 1066Mhz I got about 3000 MB/s sequential and SSDs are about 500MB/s. I'm not sure there's much point caching from SSD to RAMDisk though, as the I/O doesn't appear to be the bottleneck once you get to SSD speeds.

I found this comparison of HDD, SSD and RAMdisk for ArmA2 which shows that despite the RAMDisk being about 10x faster than the SSD, it makes no real difference in loading times, etc anyway. I guess it must be that other components bottleneck and make the transfer times somewhat irrelevant after a point. I wonder if anyone's in a position to do the same for DCS? You'll need at least 16GB and to strip the unneeded files from the RAMdisk copy as described in this thread (if you've got 32GB you won't need to do this). You don't need to make a video but it would be good if you could compare loading to the Main screen and then a mission with the three different devices. I haven't bought an SSD yet as the only benefit for me would be to stop using the RAMdisk, which would save me some time but it only takes a few minutes to load the RAMdisk whilst I get a drink anyway, so it seems hard to justify spending £125 on a SSD at the moment. Then again, updating the RAMdisk when DCS updates is a bit of a pain, so I'm still thinking about it! EDIT: This thread explains why we don't tend to see much benefit from RAMdisk over SSD for gaming http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2270087

Tested without the gadget enabled/visible and no mods (other than headtracker dll, which in fact I wasn't using before when I had all my other mods enabled) and still had the same problem. As others have confirmed they're having it too, I'm thinking it might be something ED needs to fix.