Aluminum Donkey

Everyone's arguments here are reasonable. I personally think it's fair for ED to charge money for the Supercarrier module. Doesn't mean I'm buying it, but it's cool with me. I'm sure those that are willing to pay money specifically for a place to take off and land will love it. I'll only buy it if it's cheap :) On the other hand, it looks like they're spending a whole lot of time putting together new modules, instead of actually FINISHING what's already there! How long has the F/A-18 been in 'early release' (unfinished?) How long will the F-16 be in early release? What about the new WW2 damage models? New, realistic weather and clouds? Not to mention the talk about implementing Vulkan API a long time ago. What became of that? I'd prefer it if they'd finish the existing content and work on the core sim engine now, rather than releasing a bunch of new stuff that isn't gonna be finished for years! One of the great things about DCS is the huge variety of aircraft modules. Now finish them! :) AD

Why ever bother? ED have their hands full already. Windows machines are the go-to universal standard for gaming. Yes, you can get games for OS's besides Windows. Just like even if you live in North America, you can get cars that run on Diesel fuel and have manual transmissions! ;) AD

Interesting... I wonder why it's non-existent in ED modules so far.

Cool, glad it worked for ya :) AD

First things first: Does it do it with any other module? If not, probably a controller conflict. Delete any other axis assignments for pitch & roll on both the WH and any other controllers you may have plugged in. AD

It wouldn't surprise me if the ground-mapping radar mode, such as for the F/A-18, was coded originally for Vulkan... That's probably why we don't have it yet. When/if ED gets around to releasing a version of DCS with Vulkan API then that's probably when we'll have ground radar. AD

Logitech G603 user here. I just set my mouse to "endurance mode" (125 Hz polling rate, instead of 1000 Hz.) It gives much longer battery life, and I really can't tell the difference in any kind of game, and am mostly convinced that a 1000 Hz polling rate for a mouse is more of a gimmick than anything. 125 Hz is excellent for gaming and works well in DCS. AD

Because all the ones that couldn't are long gone :) AD

If you're using AIM-120C missiles as opposed to the older AIM-7 and R-27 jobs, assuming they're modelled in DCS with any degree of realism, it'll be a lot harder to spoof them with chaff. Modern missiles aren't as dumb as older ones and are better at rejecting the chaff cloud and only tracking the actual target aircraft. Their radar units are designed to be able to tell the difference, instead of just blindly chasing after the biggest & juiciest radar return they can 'see'. AD

If you have DCS installed, you already have Caucasus. The Caucasus map is free--it comes with DCS World when you download it and is installed automatically when you run the installer. AD

I'm not inclined to think that DCS would be terribly great on only 4GB. The amount of graphics memory tends to increase as a GPU gets more powerful, and for DCS, you'd probably not want a card with less than 8GB of VRAM. AD

You're looking at expensive CPUs and cheap graphics cards. For a gaming rig (including for DCS) you'd want to go more in the opposite direction. i5-9600K is a great CPU for gaming in general, as well as all other typical home computer use. Stay away from non-unlocked ones because they have slower default clock rates and can't be overclocked. The 9600K is decently priced and has great performance. Graphics cards... Absolute best one you can afford. You're better off with a lower-end CPU (such as an i3-9350K) and a great card instead of the other way around. DCS World is happiest with "beast" cards (1080 Ti, RTX 2080+) AD

That sort of deal is either a graphics driver bug, or caused by excessive overclocking of the GPU or VRAM. Either reduce any GPU/VRAM OC, or roll back to an earlier driver. Also, check to make sure your GPU isn't overheating. AD

In a nutshell, the F/A-18 is shaping up to be an unbelievably complex module. The Su-25T is extremely simplified as far as the aircraft's electronic systems go--just like the Flaming Cliffs 3 pack. The Hornet is a full-fidelity module, and it's also a complex aircraft with a zillion and one buttons, switches and dials, and lots of them do something different depending on what mode the systems are in. The Su-25T (and un-armed P-51) will give you a great taste of what's to come. Get decent at flying and/or landing those, then buy the module you like the most! Get good at setting up your controls, setting deadbands and curves, assigning buttons/switches to the HOTAS. It's a good way for you to get warmed up without spending any more dough :D AD

I've noticed it myself... The F-15C, SU-27 and MiG-29 don't do it. Just a dumb blind guess, but maybe the real aircraft is like that? I'm not the person to ask, though. AD

Greetings, Just wondering if anyone got a handle on this. I have plenty of graphics memory (1080 Ti) and DCS normally uses about half of it, but I still get the blurry textures in the distance. Any way to fix it? I'm using Windows 10 ver. 1909, Nvidia driver 441.66. I remember years ago everything was really sharp and ran well. Now, stuff is consistently blurry, especially out to the horizon. The cockpit, and aircraft external views, are nice and sharp though. It's the ground textures that look rough. Any ideas? AD

You're GPU limited. Getting 30 FPS on a 4K screen in DCS with a GTX 1070 sounds about right to me. Instead of buying a new CPU, RAM, and motherboard, you should have gotten a 1080 Ti or RTX 2080/Ti to run your 4K monitor. Make sure MSAA is turned off! It's a performance killer and you won't need it with a 4K screen. Also, if your monitor supports Freesync or G-Sync, use that instead of VSync. AD

You have a lot of leeway with CPUs and mobos. Just make sure you stick with anything you can overclock to well over 4.0 GHz and you'll be fine. But, I'd really advise you to get a CPU and mobo that will use DD4 memory, so, 6th gen CPU or newer. As for the graphics card, that GTX 1080 Ti should be great--very good card for DCS. Don't go with anything lower than that for VR though--it's *extremely* demanding. AD

I'm sure everyone would love the MiG-29, Su-27, and F-15 released as a full-fidelity module. Probably ain't gonna happen. Government and all that :) AD

Of course you can flare it, the Hornet is just an airplane like any other. No reason you can't. The reason for not flaring when landing on the carrier is that you want to land at a very exact spot to catch one of the arresting cables. But, for a runway, it doesn't matter. Flare away :pilotfly: AD

You're right, and the jet sims are very well-done, but there's a certain appeal to the stick-and-rudder flying of WW2 fighters for me. They're very 'distilled' combat aircraft. Unfortunately the 'other' WW2 sim currently popular has very wooden flight models. I had no idea that all those WW2 fighters had fly-by-wire controls with auto-trim! :) DCS for me, just does a much more convincing job of feeling like flying an airplane instead of just playing another nice-looking video game. That's why I really want much more detailed damage models for the WW2 fighters. AD

Dang, now you've got me thinking that the AI flight models aren't realistic! :) (Hint: They never have been.) For the best dogfighting experience in the sim, you MUST fly online. No other way to do it. The AI flight models fly like UFOs with the thrust to weight ratio higher than the bloody missiles in the sim. AI flight models are greatly simplified, so that DCS World can have huge missions with an enormous number of aircraft, without bogging down your CPU. When flying online against human opponents, each person's CPU is running their own (realistic) flight model. So, there's no bogging down of any one system, and all the planes fly with the high-fidelity flight model (and, of course, each human pilot's skill level.) Of course, online WW2 flying kinda sucks because you can't just join a server whenever you feel like it and dogfight for fun. WW2 online servers tend to be very organized and you have to join a group, and plan your whole day around it. You can't just jump in and fly--you'll be flying around the map for hours, wasting your time, with nobody to dogfight. There never seems to be anybody flying in the WW2 "jump in" servers, and that really sucks, because the WW2 fighters are one of the best parts of this sim! It just seems people are much more into the really complex modern jet modules. AD

Any news on the new damage models for WW2 fighters? I've been looking forward to that for a long time, and there's been plenty of jibba-jabba about it for an equally long time. Any time soon? I'd really like to see that even before Vulkan API gets implemented. WW2 dogfighting really needs it! Not necessarily for modern fighters with missiles, but certainly for the WW2 stuff! Peace AD

Are you using adaptive refresh (G-Sync/Freesync)? If not, you should, because it's the only way to get this sim to run smoothly. Any time something happens in the sim, your CPU has to do some calculations, and the next frame comes later than it normally would, even at high framerates. So, the monitor drops a bunch of frames while it's re-acquiring the video signal from your graphics card. G-Sync/Freesync is the only way to iron it out, and make it subjectively unnoticeable most of the time. It's the only thing I've ever used that ever made any significant improvement. AD

I had a looksee at your video... I can definitely see what you're getting at. The GTX 980 Ti version is a good performer even by today's standards. It should run DCS pretty well! It's roughly the equivalent of a GTX 1070, or maybe an RTX 1060. I notice you're using the latest Nvidia driver, ver. 441.20. Have you tried reverting to an older version of the graphics driver? Sometimes, new drivers mess around a lot with DCS World, and it can be a real booger to sort out because it depends a lot on which graphics card you're using. First, try deleting the fxo and metashaders2 folders from your Saved Games folder, and try that. If that doesn't work, roll back to an older Nvidia driver and try again. Also, make sure you're running a clean system--try shutting down any and all extra programs you're running in the background, which can cause stuttering. Finally, if possible make sure you're using G-Sync/Freesync (adaptive refresh) because it works wonders in DCS to reduce stuttering. I'd consider it a must-have for this sim. Keep us posted AD