klem

Just looked in to find the answer to this problem and it jogged my memory. You are wasting your time guys, ED have a curious head in the sand attitude towards requests and complaints like this. They will not help you. I just returned to DCS after several months away after Normandy regrets and having seen a few patches released mentioning Normandy/WWII. I foolishly created a scenario on the Normandy map (and why not?) for my recently purchased FA-18C then transferred it to my server PC. I had forgotten about this server map nonsense having been building and transferring missions in Battle of You Know Where to my server PC (I was 'warned' for mentioning another sim by name). Of course it won't run without the map even after all the requests (yours aren't the first). The simplicity of the solution and the lack of ED support beggars belief.

I thought I'd post some findings here because, since 2.5, I have been suffering terrible frame rates in the new Caucasus map and only moderate rates in Normandy. It may be old news to some but I didn't find it in the forums. I am running three monitors side by side for panoramic effect and have a central monitor below for cockpit instruments, all generated in game and calling for 5760x2160 resolution. I big ask you might think given my rig (under my sig) and the ever increasing hardware needs of DCS. Well for me the answer turned out to be simple. Disable Surround. Using Instant Action Spitfire Takeoff in DCS on the Caucuses map (the worst case) I got the following off line: Using Surround, running just three side by side monitors as one screen at 5160 x 1080, on the runway the fps was about 17-20, about 25-30 in the air. Disabling surround, running just three side by side monitors as one screen at 5760 x 1080, DCS still happily spread the graphics across all three separate monitors and I got 47fps on ground, 50-60 in the air! Disabling Surround and running all four monitors as one screen at 5760 x 2160 I get 35-45 fps on ground and in the air. Online this gives a consistent 30-40 fps in the Spitfire on low ping Caucases servers which, given the visual reward, is very acceptable.

Great response guys, thanks. If I may add one point. Reorganise the DCS-ExportScript download, removing unwanted stuff. Name it say DCS-ExportScript.zip but contains only:- \Scripts\ folder and subfolder \DSC-ExportScript\. Remove unecessary files in \Script\ folder or put them into docu folder Move docu folder down under the \DSC-ExportScript\ folder. Change name of \Scripts\DSC-ExportScript\ExportScript.lua to ExportScript_ikarus.lua Change installation instructions to: Extract all to \Saved Games\DCS\ (will make \Scripts\ folder if it doesn't exist) Go to \Saved Games\DCS\Scripts\ folder. If ExportScript.lua exists copy/paste all from ExportScript_ikarus.lua to to the bottom of ExportScript.lua If Export.lua didn't exist rename ExportScript_ikarus.lua to ExportScript.lua [ I was always told don't bring a problem to the table unless you bring a solution :) ]

Guys thanks for your replies. H-J-P I'm sorry I didn't notice the wiki under your signature. McMicha, thanks, I can see now how \DCS-Script-Master\scripts\ either creates a new \Scripts\ folder or melds with the existing \Script\ folder if you have one. Thermal. Brilliant. Exactly what I wanted. It works fine now. No offence to anyone else but all the simple steps are there in one text. I had fumbled my way to what you said via various posts but there was a fundamental problem in the way it was described by many and the problem was to do with the name of DCS-ExportScript folder. The thing that led me astray and is still there is shown in your section 3 when you say : "Unzip DCS-ExportScript somewhere." The zipped file is actually called "DCS-ExportScript-Master" under which is a \Script\ folder and under there is the actual \DCS-ExportScript\ folder that's needed to go into \Users\%User%\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts\ folder. It may sound simple but instructions in various posts to 'unzip the contents of DCS-ExportScript' to the Scripts folder was misleading because a) the zip file is not called that and b) the actual DCS-ExportScript folder is 2 levels down. Other unnecessary files and folders in the zip only added to my confusion (surely I need these too?). Anyway it works really well now - Thank you H-J-P! - and I have possibly just confused people even more :huh:

Guys, forgive me for referencing these old posts but I too am having trouble getting Ikarus to work and although I have searched this thread for 'manual' and 'instructions' I cannot find anything to help me get this running. I am running it on a spare monitor on the same PC/graphics card. I can open Ikarus, load cockpits (I am trying to get the Spitfire working as the first one and very nice it looks) but when I load it, show the cockpit and start DCS the instruments do not respond when I load a flight, e.g. Instant Action Spitfire Free Flight. I am actually quite PC savvy but I am not familiar with Ikarus specifics. What I need is a simple full set of instructions on installation and setup. The OP instructions don't help me. For example: "Copy the script folder to your folder: C:\Users\YourUsername\Saved Games\DCS" What 'script' folder? Also sobe you mentioned: "The module-specific scripts are in the folder "Export Modules" in the path "%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts\DCS-ExportScript\ExportsModules" " But that folder isn't there, it's actually buried lower down which is obviously the result of development but I'm not sure what I am to do with that information. I suspect you are giving some helpful insight into Ikarus but I don't need to do anything there. My point is that how to use Ikarus is unclear to we lay-dweebs. Back to: "Copy the script folder to your folder: C:\Users\YourUsername\Saved Games\DCS" In the OP download link there is no top folder named 'script'. There is one named 'DCS-ExportsScripts-master' and one below that named 'Scripts'. Am I to use the latter or am I to rename the former to 'DCS-ExportScript' which is a folder that is mentioned in a few random posts and I can see and in an image of the Ikarus 'Control Panel'? I chose to rename the 'DCS-ExportsScripts-master' to 'DCS-ExportScript' but the instruments still don't respond. I found an image in a post that shows how to change the IP address in the CP and I have tried both the original on (127....) and the IP address of my PC on the network. I have been careful to save the profile when changing IP and then reloading it. No joy, the instruments still do not respond. (and I now forget what the original 127 address was :( ) I don't know if I am to open the the Ports in my router or if they are default open ports. I don't know if I am to load Ikarus first (I think so) and then start DCS. I don't know if I can switch cockpits without restarting DCS. Guys I can see that some people have asked for a short set of step by step foolproof instructions. Some may have been a bit rude about it and have been flamed for being ungrateful and not working it out. Well, I hope I'm not being rude but I can't work it out and what is the point of giving us this excellent utility if we don't know how to use it? Not everyone is as PC savvy or intuitive as some others here and we could really use some help. A decent set of instructions in the OP would make all the difference. Is anyone out there able to help?

Drag80 I will try that, I knew of the idea but I hadn't found any recommended profile to use for DCS. Also I keep hearing to 'go Global' with DCS Nvidia and set all up in game but I will try it. Fragbum, FlightControl, this was my dilemma. I don't see a bottleneck. Even on Low settings Caucasus was only returning 32 fps at altitude and grinding at low level whilst Normandy and NTTR are hitting 50-80 and 50+ at low level. My utilisations in Caucasus are as follows: CPU (4 cores, HT disabled) approx 60% on each of the four cores RAM ~ 8Gb of 16Gb GPU Utilisaton ~60% GPU Ram ~ 60% (2.5Gb of 4Gb). With so much in hand Caucasus map is still choking. I understand that memory speed may be less than optimal but the other maps are hammering much higher FPS on the three screens. I'm a little comforted, yet disappointed, to learn that Caucasus is not optimised yet. I thought that the delay in releasing 2.5 was largely to do with that.

I hope this is the right place for 2.5 crash logs, if not please move it. 2.5 crashed and created a log to be sent to support services but that say not to create a ticket for 2.5 issues so here's the log DCS made. dcs.log-20180409-064110.zip

Well, I seem to have located the problem. Although performance is down on pre-2.5 the real problem is the Caucasus map. I chose to test on that map because from the start I could see it was the worst performer so optimising my settings for that map would leave the others running well. What I didn't realise is just how bad the Caucasus map is. Here are some FPS results using the Spitfire free flight mission on each map at only Medium pre-sets: ........................1 surround widescreen, res 5760 x 1080.............1 surround screen over central instruments monitor, res 5760 x 2160 ......................................6000ft........1000 feet..................................................6000ft........1000 ft ...........Caucasus.................32.............27............................................................16.............15 ...........Normandy.................70.............60............................................................40.............33 ...........Nevada....................80.............64............................................................45.............37 Even running 5760 x 2160 the Normandy and Nevada FPS are good to acceptable. Caucasus is dire. And there's not much wrong with my rig is there?

Drag80, thanks for the comments, I welcome any helpful advice for the system I have. In fact I am already running 2 x GTX980s o/c in SLi. norbot, that's my point. I and probably many others don't have $3000 to upgrade to latest generation i5/i7, 32Gb DDR4 RAM and 1080Ti++. My rig is running other sims very well. fragbum, that's what I mean by "It has moved to a place where only the very highest spec systems can run it reasonably well". And even with lowered settings when nothing on my rig is maxed out I get poor fps. My friends have long walked away from DCS for these 'beyond-reasonable' reasons which I hoped 2.5 would solve. In fact in some ways it has got worse. btw some of my friends are happily running VR in other sims where I am I am running Ultra settings. But if anyone has any more helpful suggestions regarding my current rig I'd be glad to hear them.

Let me say up front that my Nvidia control panel profile is 'Use Global setting' and 'Application Controlled' where available. I am using the Caucasus Spitfire instant action free flight mission (adopted as my 'test' mission because its much worse than the other maps). Normandy used to grind out about 10-20 fps in 2.2 but now it jumped to more like 30-40 in 2.5, some good news. Meanwhile Caucasus which used to run around 30-40 in 1.5 has dropped to about 10 in 2.5 leading me to lower my settings from generally high to medium or less. Meanwhile NTTR has dropped from 50-60 in 2.2 to 40-50 in 2.5. I have gained some fps by changing from 3 viewports to 1 widescreen viewport for my 3 main screens and dropping my 4th in-game monitor for instruments. That gets me about 30fps at 6000ft, 20fps at 200ft in Caucasus Spitfire instant action free flight. Still not good. Of course the trees have taken their toll although in the Caucasus Spitfire instant action free flight mission they look positively anaemic. I have also had several freezes but that may be because I kept Alt+Tabbing to look at CPU and GPU figures. Strange thing is that in the Spitfire/Caucasus free flight mission when running Medium settings, nothing in CPU/RAM/GPU/GPU Memory is maxed out and still it only delivers about 30fps at 6000ft, 20fps at 200ft. I am wondering if EDGE graphics is all it's made it out to be. I prefer the intentions of DCS (FMs, cockpits etc) over "another sim which shall not be named" but that sim consistently delivers good graphics on the highest settings at 40-60 fps in three screen surround with tree collision models and it's important that comparisons be drawn in this competitive world. I expect a certain person here will think I am just whingeing again but that's only because DCS simply isn't delivering on graphics performance at reasonable settings on reasonable rigs. It has moved to a place where only the very highest spec systems can run it reasonably well and that narrows it's market. As it stands I would have to spend about $3000 dollars to get what I get in other sims. I will continue to fly the best of the aircraft on the better performing NTTR map but only as a flight simulator. Multiplayer is out of the question. I had hoped 2.5 would bring my friends back to DCS but at the moment it isn't likely.

OP: Stage 2: 2.5.0 Release. The 1.5.8 Release version will be updated to the 2.5.0 Release version. You will be prompted before updating to 2.5.0 surely that means that when 2.5 is available and you start up 1.5.8 it will offer you the 2.5 update automatically, just like any other update?

The question asked was simple enough, how to set up 3-4 screens. No talk of MFDs etc. The answers seem to have gone off-track. 3 Screens is already catered for. Yes, if a fourth is to be used say underneath for instruments that's not hard at all. Copy '3 Screen.lua' and simply add the fourth as 'Bottom'. It's simple sums. This is exactly what I do, see spoiler.

No it isn't difficult. It doesn't take much understanding. There is plenty of guidance here and ED have provided the basic facilities that need no special skills. If your monitor are different sizes why would you even bother, it's self defeating.

Go to \DCS World\Config\Monitor Setup\. You will see various options including 1 Screen and 3 Screen. You don't have to do anything there unless you want to tweak it later, it's just to let you know where these things are kept. In-game go to Settings... System. For Resolution set whatever your total width is, e.g. 1980+1980+1980 = 5760 x 1080. For Monitors set either: 1 Screen to give one panoramic view across monitors but side screens will stretch OR 3 Screen which will give you a front, left and right view and cost a lot more GPU power. IMHO a much better view and if you get your monitor size and viewing distance right those odd-looking side screens won't actually seem odd any more and it all tends to visually 'scale' with the TrackIR movement as you look around. I run 3 27" screens with side screens angled in about 40 degrees and I sit 70cm from the centre one. Very nice.

He's probably been living under this deluge of endless pages of repeat questions. No sooner do I get an email saying 'a new post' than I face another 10 pages. I think I'll get off this thread before I get motion sickness.

errrmmmmm..... let's see...... The people who have taken the time and trouble to test 1.5.8 Open Beta over the past many, many months will be upgraded first so that they can go on testing 2.5 before general release, locating bugs and actually being useful. The people who didn't want the bother of testing in 1.5.8OB suddenly decide they want to be "first" to get 2.5 although they probably won't actually do any testing of it not to mention unnecessarily loading the server with their d/loading. And they won't be able to play with their mates who are content to wait. And in any case it will probably have to be upgraded before general release once the OB testers have finished testing. Of course I could be wrong.

Absolutely. Add disc space requirements to the OP, strip the rest off to a discussion thread and lock this one. All these pages ware making it sound more complicated than it is.

Thank you too. It seems we never stop learning.

Thank you for explaining. I added a second GTX 980 in SLi and was admittedly disappointed that the fps only increased by 20%. Various forums I visited only ever said that SLi was, in itself, not very successful or not worth the cost. I don't recall aanyone saying it was somehow due to the games trying to use it. Thanks again.

Would you care to explain that? How does DCS decide whether SLi is to be 'utilised'? I thought that was implemented in the GPU setup not controlled by the application.

ED, regarding: Home folders (Saved Games\DCS) remains the same (Saved Games\DCS and Saved Games\DCS.openbeta). New Saved Games\DCS.release_1_5 will be created for 1.5 Final version and all content will be copied into it from Saved Games\DCS. We also strongly suggest to remove Saved Games\DCS\Config\options.lua and make graphic tuning from scratch using DCS GUI because of 1.5 and 2.5 renders are significantly different. If I'm updating 1.5 standard and I also have 2.2 will it copy the options.lua across from 2.2 to the updated 1.5>>2.5 version? In other words, do I really have to recreate all my old 2.2 options again?

Don't hold your breath.

I've resisted visiting these issues for a while now but with 2.5 due for imminent release and as you've told us it is in the hands of a third party, not ED, perhaps they could be persuaded to comment.

What speed are you buying from your provider? It is usually expressed as the Download speed in mbs (mega bits per second). What you see as the game download speed is Mega Bytes per sec written as MB/s or MBytes/s. There are 8 bits in a byte so 8mbs = 1MBytes/s. If you are seeing 360KB/s on the download screen that's 0.36 MBytes/s and really crap in this day and age. If it is 360kbs then it's even worse at 45KBytes/s. Your modem can't deliver more than your supplier (ISP) is providing. Check with them. If they are not delivering anywhere near what they are selling you, kick up a stink. If you are buying say 10mbs you should be getting at least near 8mbs at busy times. You can check what you are really getting by going here: http://www.speedtest.net/

@jamesp1 (post has disappeared?) I still have reservations about the ground handling but the one thing I have learned is that the view from the cockpit is very misleading. Do not try to judge the 3 point landing attitude by looking out of the cockpit, flare to an artificial horizon image as in the attached (it's actually sitting on the ground there so it shows the 3-point attitude for landing). That attitude indicator is critical when learning. Also, I find a high approach avoids the risk of coming in too low and slow. Also practice with a direct headwind, the instant actions don't always give you that. I'm attaching three simple curving approach missions into a headwind down the runway - read the briefs very carefully, they are all the same. Batumi is v1.5, the others v2.0. Critical points: 1. Keep your height until beginning the turning descent to the runway. 2. Try to be at 90mph at the runway threshold to give you the speed to enter the flare and hold off from as low as possible. 3. Be certain that your wings are level, no yaw drift (too late for trimming, use very fine rudder adjustments if necessary), be sure the attitude indicator picture is correct. Allow speed to bleed off until touchdown which should be at around 65-70mph. That should put you on a clean touchdown. Then it's a case of staying right on top of the run-on. Use rudders quickly but moderately and only as necessary. When the rudder begins to lose effectiveness support it with mild braking. Stay focused. Try not to overdue the rudders or braking or you will start a strong weave and probably lose it. Runways are long enough, reduce speed slowly. Remember you are flying a simulator not a spitfire and you probably never will so the precise pilots notes may not do it for you, you have to use what works. Other methods will work too but I now get 100% success if I focus. Also, talk of wheeling on and other ideas are fine if you have had the practice but "first catch your Rabbit". Then you can fine tune and experiment with crosswinds etc.. Spitfire MkIX Drem landing at Batumi.miz SpitfireLFMkIX_Landing_Tangmere.miz SpitfireLFMkIX_Landing_Laughlin-Nevada.miz