J-1775

I don't know if anyone ever mentioned it, but I feel like making the devs a BIG compliment for their implementation of the rear mirror in the P-51 and the Spitfire. It really is an ingenious piece of (software) engineering. Every time I stretch myself and stick my head up until I see part of it reflected in the mirror I'm amazed to see MY head: I can turn it left and right, up and down or move it sidewards until I hit the perspex, the mirror «knows» exactly what I'm doing. Sure, I know it's the Rift's/Vive's trackers that know the position and attitude of my head. But it needs a dev's obsession with details to translate that into the mirror's view! :notworthy: Unfortunately the mirror is a framerate killer and therefore probably most pilots have turned it off. But if you're looking for some eye candy and love such details, it's certainly worth to turn it on for certain occasions. The mirror makes me quite confident, too, that ED's devs will bring us VR pilots a hand/fingers interface based on Leap Motion or alike. Especially WWII aircraft were not meant for flying with HOTAS gear...

Believe us, with a VR HMD you'll never have the wish of adding a "dead zone". The amazing thing of todays low latency VR HDMs is exactly, that the cockpit struts SEEM so absolutely rock steady, whether you move or turn your head fast or slow, or keep it steady. The first thing that I noticed and wrote about when I got my DK1 (how long is that ago?) was, that its head tracking was WAY BETTER than the IR5. The button on my HOTAS which I had used to recentre the IR had probably been the most pressed button! Now I recentre right after game start and seldom need to repeat, even in very long sessions! The IR is as much rubbish as it is overpriced. I didn't dare to resell it and just threw it into tech recycling!

Well, for ME the purpose is a cutting edge IMMERSION into the combat life of a WWII pilot and the current Spitfire canopy certainly helps a lot with that. Even more so in VR, when your eyes' focus usually is far beyond the perplex! No matter how clean a canopy was, after a few months it would have many micro scratches. In fact I think the beautiful screenshot you supplied reflects more that than dirt. BTW, to my understanding, in today's 3D gaming environments the reflections that your screenshot shows are only to a small amount bound to the texture(s), but rather a result of how the 3D material is defined and how its attributes (e.g. reflection, specular, transparency) are set. I'm glad someone submitted a "clean" canopy as an option, thus everyone can be happy! :)

Normandy (beta) is going to be released «this winter». Since winters, especially Russian winters, may be quite long just this thought: How about if ED, alongside with the release of the Spitfire IX for DCSW 2.0, would release some small spot of the map? Just an airfield with its infrastructure, a few barns with cows in the vicinity and maybe a tiny village, maybe just 3km x 3km and beyond everything just green (or blue for the ocean) ─ rembember MS Flight Simulator 3.0? Just enough to practice engine run up, taxiing, takeoff and landing on a historic looking (gras?) strip. The best thing of this is, now listen Marketing Department, this teaser map could remain a free part of DCSW forever with the effect of ─ nomen est omen ─ teasing people to buy the whole Normandy map. :smartass:

Fortunately, with really large FOV, pixel count and necessary GPU power do not go side by side and synchronious. Especially at the edges and even more in the corners of our FOV, we do not see as sharp as in the retina's center. Those regions will need MUCH less CPU/GPU power than the center! They will enhance the immersion very much, but the actual information we get from those far out zones is limited to light, shadow and a general sense of color (e.g. blue sky or earth), but to make out any details we have to turn our head or eyes and FOCUS on them. In future we may be able to define our field of sharpness and how much "haziness" towards the edges we tolerate ─ which in return will affect FPS.

I think StarVR is a very interesting project with the right focus (broader FOV)! Since I first read about it, every time I put the Oculus DK2 on my head, it comes to my mind, that its FOV really is very narrow and you have the feeling of looking thru some porthole. Of course, in the "heat of the battle" I soon forget about it. But a broader FOV in both directions will definitely enhance the immersion very much. All the more for all the VR apps focusing on architecture or recreation/meditation and alike. I hope VR support comes by GPU drivers and game devs won't have to worry, what brand and resolution of VR goggle is at the user's end. Then we'll even have VR support in IL-2...

I wonder if anyone has experience with the motion platforms by motionsystems.eu? Especially their PS-3TM and PS-6TM models. How's support of DCSW?

When I contacted them (sales) and told them that a working DCSW "motion code" is a sine qua non for me, they admitted current problems, but said they were in contact with Eagle Dynamics about that and promised me updates on that matter as soon as available. Anyways, I think we have to wait for the announced release of DCSW 1.5 with the EDGE next month, there can't be any sound (and satisfying) answers or solutions before v1.5. But I'm quite confident you'll get your platform working later this year ─ they simply can't ignore DCSW.

Unfortunately I can't help you, Stephen, but because I consider buying a motion platform and a D-Box is among my favourites, their support for DCS world (2) is a most important issue for me. I understand very well that once you have a motion platform it's not much fun anymore to fly without it :(. Since the D-Box isn't exactly an out-of-the-box solution, can you give some information on your gear, how many and what type of actuators you use? THX and good luck! :thumbup:

I think there's good reason why the newletter's screenshot of the Spit looks like clipped. I'd make a bet: 9 of 10 Spitfire fans who look at the picture complement it (mentally) with a round wingtip ─ after all, that that's how the "classic" silhouette of a Spitfire is engraved in our minds. Therefore the devs are well advised not to drop their plans for presenting us both variants. Personally, I'd happily trade in some roll rate (and €s, too) for the "classic" silhouette!

Simple things are sometimes the hardest. I'd like to copy an existing input (controls) profile, say the F-86's, to a new aircraft like the MiG-21. «Save Profile» and «Load Profile» look like they could do the job, but (to me) they act like random. Even when (sometimes) highlighted I'd never see a popup for a name or a path. Is there a documentation that shares some light on this issue? THX.

I fully second you! :thumbup: User skins (well, sound, pilot and other mods, too) are an attractive part of (buying an) aircraft and previewing, adding and removing skins should really be made easier and safer. The current system reminds me much of FS98...:cry: But DCS deserves better!!

So you have OR detection checked and I also assume you run in extended mode? Did you close the OR service? You can easily do it with Bilago's small managing tool - search for a download link or you'll find one in this Reddit thread: Try it ─ you miss a lot. Yesterday I started the Dora landing mission, but after aborting the final approach the Oculus kept me in the night sky for a full hour, because it was so absolutely marvelous! Flying low over the beaches into the sea, I slowed down, opened the canopy and took a deep breath. Only then, missing the salt in the air, I suddenly realized it's just a sim... Another thing not to miss: the P-51 RR's sparkling in the dawn. The new head tracking is so much better than TrackIR!

I'm so glad you brought that up (and hopefully into the attention of the DCS devs!). In a 3D cockpit the MYO armband will make interacting with buttons, switches, knobes, levers and even cranks completely natural and intuitive. And it doesn't interfere with your HOTAS hardware, it's the perfect addition to it as it is for the Oculus Rift. Gee, this year brings so much gear for a better flightsim immersion, can't wait. Meanwhile I pray for software support...