bilbosmeggins

If your wallet and your pc can take it, then get VR. It’s the bomb! The experience is phenomenal compared to pancake. 1-1 head tracking, and full depth perception. You are placed IN the cockpit of your plane, within the world of DCS. There is nothing quite like it.

Thank you very much for your detailed run-through. That does seem to tie in pretty closely with the Chuck’s guide. I haven’t had a chance to fire up DCS yet, but I’ll give this a bash as soon as I do. When I was playing the training mission yesterday, it took me so long to take out the first target, that I actually ran out of fuel just as the second part of the mission was getting underway, lol. I’m expecting much success later. Well, it couldn’t be any worse could it? :lol:

Thanks for the tip. I’ll try to remember that should I get sticky bombs in the future. Also a little bit reassuring that it’s not just me who struggled. I was getting quite frustrated, and thinking I must be some sort of special idiot.

Having a few issues getting the bombs to release consistently in the auto mode. Can anyone tell me what is the EXACT sequence of button presses and releases. I’ve had a look at a few YouTube videos, but what is on there is very scant. I’m currently entering a dive with the electrical cage button held. Then getting the pipper lined up, then holding the weapon release. Then it all gets a bit hazy..... I’ve had releases by loosing the weapon release first AND by releasing the cage button first. But most times I just get a wasted pass, and no release. On the videos I’ve watched, it is suggested that it is supposed to release automatically, and the reticle disappears momentarily, although it never seems to do that for me. Any suggestions? Edit: Just looked at Chuck’s guide (Keep forgetting that I should check there first), and the process is outlined there, so I shall have a good blast in the morning with my new-found knowledge. What I did notice was that Chuck’s Guide said to set Weapons Mode to Sight Camera Radar, which makes sense to me. What does not make sense, is that the official training mission specifically states to set it to Gun. And the videos I’ve watched also have it set to Gun. Wonder if it actually makes any difference?

What I have noticed a lot on these forums is that the attitude towards the FC3 models can often be very dismissive because they are low fidelity. So anyone new coming to DCS can be forgiven for thinking that they are ultra-basic. They are absolutely not. They adhere to the same sets of physics for their flight models as the full fidelity models. Take-offs, landings, and all of the bits in between are just as challenging And, although simplified to a fair degree, these are not your War Thunder planes. Check out some of YouTube tutorials for the SU25-T to see just how involved these planes can be. There are months and months worth of play out of this plane alone. And it’s FREE! Yes, of course the full-fidelity models are more taxing, and take things to the next level. But the FC3 models are a fantastic springboard. Not only that, but if you buy the full FC3 package, which is incredible value, you get a good spread of planes to try. At the moment, with the sale on, the FC3 full package is $24.99. They are almost giving it away! And that can then be used to steer you towards your full fidelity purchases of the future. And also well worth listening to the guy that suggested VR. It is a total game-changer. The difference between looking at a picture of a world, and being IN that world. Most people who have sampled the delights of VR never, ever go back, myself included. I don’t think I could play “flat” now, even for a bet. Once in, your whole mind and body is fooled. Even when taxiing, when I bring the plane to a stop, my head and upper body nods forward a couple of inches. I just can’t help it. Such a weird feeling. And, after a long sortie, getting back to base and opening the canopy, and genuinely feeling that you are sucking in fresher air, and feeling less claustrophobic. VR is one of those things that you try your best to imagine, but cannot even come close without trying it. It does demand a fairly hefty system to run it though, which is it’s biggest pitfall.

File tweaking is a bit of a black art to me. Would much prefer the stock model to be fixed, but I know that’s probably wishful thinking. I’ve just bought the F-86, which is quite a handful, but the trim is so much easier. You’d think it would be a bit of a nightmare, but it’s right where I would have imagined the F-5 should be.

I agree. I’m not, for one moment, saying that the F-16 is bad. It’s just a flying computer, on as stable a platform as possible. But, to me, it feels like driving a posh saloon car, where the ride is so smooth you don’t realise that you’re doing twice the speed limit. Give me a bone shaker any day of the week.

Do you drive it with the SimShaker software?

Yes, I’ll keep you posted. Although quite a few people on here have already reported positive gains by upgrading to 32gb, especially VR users, so I’m quite optimistic.

You have a better system than me, Lanzfeld. I’m using a 1080ti, i7 6700, and 16gb RAM. And a Rift S. I only get stutters occasionally, and have just ordered another 16gb RAM. Hopefully it will help. I’m getting a bit frustrated waiting for the new hardware to drop. All the rumours are saying that the performance jump will be substantial this time around. If that wasn’t the case, I’d go out and buy a new rig right now. But it would cost a fortune for only an incremental gain. Just got to have patience. I wish the manufacturers would keep us in the loop though. Everyone is remaining tight-lipped about release dates. Not even approximate dates. Nothing.

You are probably right. I do hope to purchase a proper trim box at some point. One with a rotary, rather than me clicking the hat switch. Should have a lot more fine control then.

What’s your system like? I’m playing in VR, and the only real issue I’m having is the clouds hurting my eyes occasionally, when a small cumulus will render in just one eye momentarily. I would love higher frame rates, but accept that ED are pushing an awful lot of detail, rendered twice, into my headset. I’m getting by, and waiting for the next wave of hardware to give me the performance I’d like. Zen 3, DDR5, and the 3080 range. Couple that with a HP Reverb 2, and I should be good to go. And by the time I’ve paid for that little lot, ED might have released the Vulcan upgrade :)

Well, I am working my way through the training missions and really enjoying this module. In fact, I think it is my new favourite plane now. I’ve been flying the F-5 a lot lately, and really enjoyed the flight model, but the Sabre seems to have so much more personality about it. And, should you push it hard, it really comes alive, and is an incredible handful. I totally suck at old-school navigation, so need to spend some time drumming that into my inept brain. But wow! And it’s superb in VR. I’ve watched one or two reviews where the graphics have been slated a bit, but it fits my needs perfectly. I’m hoping to buy one of Andre’s Jet-Seat gizmos in the next week or so, and cannot think of a better reason than the Sabre.

Nice. The P-47 might be a purchase for me later on down the road. What do you think of it? And the Channel Map looks stunning, but would bring my system to it’s knees. I need to wait for my new PC before considering that.

DCS related purchase? I’m intrigued. Regarding the F-16, I’ve only taken off and landed a few times. The systems are well beyond me, so I haven’t so much as scratched the surface. But the bit of flying I did told me that I don’t particularly like the flight characteristics. Sluggish to manoeuvre, and feels like it’s on rails, with zero character. The absolute flip-side to the F-86, which has bags of personality. Not saying the F-16 is bad, or anything. It’s just that we all have our preferences, and I tend to like obsolete and quirky.

With the sale on at the moment, there are many bargains to be had. Anyone bagged anything interesting? I’ve had a mini splash out, and grabbed the F16, F-86 Sabre, a Sabre Campaign, and the Persian Gulf. I can see the F16 gathering dust, but am loving the other stuff. Was vaguely toying with the notion of the Super Carrier, but common sense talked me out of it. I don’t fly naval jets, and my system is borderline.

Just a quick thought. If the fighting of the controls seems a bit extreme, it may be worth just double checking in the axis menu, and making sure there are no double entries. DCS seems to automatically assign duplicate commands to whatever flight gear you’ve got plugged in. I’ve had my rudder controlling the throttle and all sorts, lol.

Well, I’ve taken the plunge and ordered it. Just waiting for my housemate to piss off out now, so I can download it, and have a good, uninterrupted session. Splashed out on the campaign too, but shan’t be playing that for some time, as I have much learning to do first. Wish me luck :D

Hi all. Just wondered if the F5 was supposed to be inherently pitchy, or whether it’s just ineptitude on my behalf. Ordinarily, in a plane that is fairly well trimmed, in a hands-off moment, it will eventually either begin to descend slightly, at which point it gathers speed, and therefore lift, and will gently porpoise itself towards straight and level. Or, at the other end of the scale, if it starts to pitch up first, it will lose airspeed, and generate less lift, and eventually pitch down and regain speed and lift, and again begin the gentle porpoising until it finds it’s happy place. In the F5, if I go hands off, even for a short while as I set up TACAN, or play with the fuel system, or weapons or whatever, then all hell breaks loose. As soon as I lift my head up, the plane is either pointing at the sky, about to stall, or it’s in a death dive. I always try and trim it as best as I can, but seem to be forever chasing it, or permanently adding some stick input. I don’t mind any of the above. If it’s meant to be this quirky, then so be it. I actually quite like that it has character. Also wondered if the auto flaps help to exacerbate the situation or not? Anyone else find it to have a wandering nose, or am I alone?

Thanks for the great write up. You’ve definitely got my interest piqued. Watched a few YouTube videos after reading your impressions, and I must say the Sabre looks great. I’m not one for the ultra-complex modern jets either. As much as I find them impressive, it’s just information overload as far as I’m concerned. The Sabre looks like just the right level of difficulty. Enough to give me a challenge, without overwhelming me. Given that the sale is on, I shall grab both the Sabre, and the campaign that you recommended too. I purposely didn’t look up the campaign on YouTube as I prefer to watch things unravel as I play. No point spoiling any surprises. I’ll probably grab these in the morning, so shall be secretly praying for rain, and an excuse to have a good session. I did look at the other campaign, but that requires the WWII Assets Pack, and I’m not cluttering up the hard drive with that if I can help it. So, once again, thanks for the slab of text. It made for great reading :)

I don’t actually use the mouse, once in the cockpit. I just use my HOTAS, and one of my Oculus Touch controllers. Are the Touch controllers seen as the mouse somehow? I’ll have a check in the control pages, and make sure I don’t have any buttons triggering the mouse cursor or anything like that. Regarding McAfee, I don’t have any anti-virus software running at all. I’m very select about how I use the PC online, as it’s purely for simming.

That could well be it then, because on the one bombing run, my weapon release button did nothing. So I went straight to the control setup, and the proper joystick button was listed but not registering. I had to clear it, then add it again, and then all was well. I thought that was just a bit of a glitch. Didn’t realise it was a “thing”. Ah, bugger! This is going to be one of those DCS bugs to live with by the looks of things. I’ll try both of the above suggestions, and hope I get lucky. Thanks :)

I’ll try that, and see if it has a positive impact. Thanks :)

Ooh, I’m not sure. I kinda figured that by virtue of the fact that I’m able to fly perfectly with the HMD without there seeming to be any hiccups, that DCS was doing its thing properly. If it lost its focus, would I not lose my feed, or does it manifest itself by creating other issues?

Good choice. I love it in VR :)