Aluminum Donkey

Sounds like a plan, Imma try it out now :) Peace AD

In a nutshell, if you want to use VR, get the fastest card you can find. As of now, that would be the GTX 1080 Ti, or even a Titan if you're willing to spend the cash. I still think normal monitors are better, they don't suffer from the 'screen door effect' you get with VR headsets. VR resolution isn't quite up to snuff for flight simming yet. A 4K VR headset would be good, but even if one existed, you'd need a Titan V to run it. So, for a normal screen, the regular 1080 is great, and for VR, get the 1080 Ti.

Thanks everyone for replying! I guess I'll have to see what 2.5 brings to the table. It oughta be good, but I'm willing to bet it'll be an Open Alpha for a couple years... Oh well, so be it. 2.2 was a fantastic update, almost like a whole new sim in some regards. ED (and 3rd party devs) have kept bringing us great modules over the years, but it seems to me that when 2.5 comes out, it's time to stop putting so much time and effort into new aircraft modules, and start really polishing the content that's already here. The Ka-50 would be a great place to start. I'd love to just be able to fly what's already here, without so many rough edges. (Don't get me wrong, I'd still love a PFM for the MiG-29!) Peace and happy warfare AD

Really? I've never had that problem, maybe you should try deactivating the module, and uninstall it. Then wipe out any traces of it in the game directory and Windows registry, then re-install and reactivate it. See if that works. Ka-50 is a great module, I wish they'd fix all the bugs! I guess they're still working on 2.5, and frankly, for now, I'd prefer that! :) Peace AD

Greetings, In DCS 2.2 all the other modules are great, but in the Ka-50 the cockpit textures are very dark. As mentioned, it's nearly impossible for me to tell what my weapons system or autopilot modes are set to because the blue lights are nearly completely obscured. Any suggestions? I'd rather not mess with monitor settings or the Gamma setting in the sim. Is there a texture mod I can install that will make it easier to see everything in the 'pit, especially those blue buttons? Thanks AD

I'm just looking for one that doesn't have awful light bleed :) I'm not fussy about color accuracy or vibrance. That's what ReShade is for :) Works just fine on my cheap Viewsonic TN panel. Backlight bleed is the killer for me. Apparently it's worse on larger screens. And frankly, does that ever suck. I've bought maybe 5 or 6 monitors over the years that were 2K ~32" models (10 years or so) and taken them all back because of really bad backlight bleed. I've probably really irritated my local shops! For now I guess I'll just stick with my crappy 27" 1080p TN display, because after checking out some really nice big, high-res ones, my crappy one isn't that bad!!

Those things are about $1000 here in Canada, I hope they're good at that kind of money for a 27 incher!! My whole computer didn't cost much more than that. 60Hz is fine with me, even for FPS games, and I'm fine with the color of TN panels. IPS is slightly different to me, but not necessarily better. I'm used to using a TN, I'm using one right now... A Viewsonic 27" 1080p. I was pretty pumped when I brought home that 32" 2K one! Oh man what a disappointment. I hope there's a better one out there. That backlight bleed is the one thing I can't stand--color accuracy be damned :) Peace AD

Greetings everyone, I recently got an Asus 32" 2560 x 1440 IPS monitor, and while it certainly looked great in the shop, when I got it home and tried it out, the backlight bleed was awful--especially in the two lower corners. Instrument panels were badly washed out, even flying in daylight. So, I returned it. I'm partial to anything 2K (2560 x 1440) and about 29 to 32 inches. I don't want a 4K because text looks bad when scaled, I like to run in native res and I really like 2560 x 1440! It's a great resolution for my GTX 1070 to run. I'm not fussy about whether it's IPS, VA, TN etc... but, I can't STAND backlight bleed. Even a little ghosting/streaking doesn't bother me much--flight sims tend to have smooth action anyway, and aren't twitchy/jerky like FPS games. So, it doesn't need to be a 1ms or 2ms panel. I just can't stand the awful bleed, especially flying at night! Any recommendations, anyone? Thanks AD

Good point, although I don't mind making it, I like making things... But I don't have to pay for shipping either, or wait a month or two for it to show up. That's one of the reasons I like to buy stuff locally. Anyway, I got the webcam working nicely, it's a shame my new Asus 32" IPS monitor was total shyte. :) Oh man, do I ever hate backlight bleed, and this one was just awful. I'm surprised they're allowed to sell such a thing, it was that bad. I hope they don't make too much of a fuss when I return it today. I really wanted it, I even got a "good" one with zero dead pixels. Dang. AD

I just bought a cheap webcam (Logitech c270) to play with. 30 bucks. :) I also bought a nice new Asus 32" IPS monitor today, 2560 x 1440, and MAN OH MAN does the backlight bleed ever suck! Now I have to decide if I want to keep the stupid thing or not! At least it doesn't have any dead pixels, but holy smokes do low-light missions ever look awful! Does *anyone* at all make decent large monitors? They all seem to suck.

That device uses gyros, I can only imagine they drift over time. Using lights and a camera doesn't do that.

Thanks so much :) I'm probably gonna get a cheap webcam and cobble together a 3 or 4-point clip. Sounds entertaining for a little while :) Peace AD

Greetings eh, With 2.5 coming up I'm thinking about checking out head tracking... I've never tried it before. Does anyone have any recommendations? I know about Track IR... it's expensive as all heck though, I'm curious if anyone has tried anything else. I've heard of FaceTrackNoIR but apparently it's a bit glitchy and is a pain to set up... has anyone had any luck with it? What sort of camera do you need to make it work right? Almost anything? Also, do any headtracking methods cut into framerates much? Thanks so much! AD

I've been running my i5-6600K at 4.4 GHz and I hardly ever notice DCS reaching more than about 50% load on one core, maybe 25% on another, and close to nothing on the other two. However, I like to fly with the visual goodies cranked up and it's really hard on the graphics card. I find my GTX 1070 is 100% loaded around downtown Las Vegas and the framerate drops down to about 35-40 FPS. That's with everything on absolute max including Extreme visibility distance, mirrors on, all visual goodies maxed, 4X MSAA, and no depth of field. That last one is the only thing I don't like to use, I prefer everything sharp. Also, that's flying-around-looking-at-stuff framerates, expect FPS to drop a bit for a second or two when you blow a bunch of stuff up :) So, a hefty graphics card is what you need! Actually, I find that Normandy is easier on the vid card than NTTR, but for whatever reason I get more micro-stuttering in Normandy... Practically none in NTTR. The new Caucasus map will be interesting, you know, if it ever gets released :)

CCR were the bomb, Cosmo's Factory was the mutt's knees :)

Woooow, oh man, that's rough! I feel for you, here in Canada we don't get royally screwed on things like video cards, but we make up for it with other problems :) I can't believe it's that expensive. Maybe it would be cheaper to go on vacation in the States, buy the desired graphics card at 1/5th of the price, shove it up a choice bodily orifice, and fly back home. Of course, if you get caught in airport security with a poo-covered video card, it's off to the gallows. If you can, try to get your hands on a used GTX 980 Ti, locally if possible... a regular GTX 980 at the least. It's Brazil, so there must be some guy in a trench coat with dark glasses standing on a downtown street corner willing to sell you one, as long as you don't tell anyone where you got it from :) Peace AD

Not really, not anymore :) Have fun anyway

Greetings, I had a look at your computer specs and it looks like you have a really great system--almost. Even though it's not brand spanking new, your i5 4670K is certainly a very good CPU... I'm just wondering what clock speed you're running it at. Reason why, is that if you look at cpubenchmark.com, the older generations of Intel processors have pretty much the same single-thread performance as the newest ones at a given clock speed, and since DCS World only uses two threads, none of the newer, 'fancy' stuff will help. So, keep your current system and overclock your CPU to 4.0 GHz or higher, and you're good to go--anything from 4.0 or more is perfect. So, you have just about an ideal CPU, and have plenty of memory--but as others have stated, your system is really hurting in the graphics card department. That said, I just don't recommend a GTX 1060 6GB card for DCS... You're probably better off with a used GTX 980 Ti, which is almost on-par with a GTX 1070, but only has 6GB of video memory. It's still very good, but stay away from the regular GTX 980. It was pretty good when it was released, but it's not up to the task today. Flight sims in general are *really* hard on video cards, and for DCS World, what you really want is a GTX 1070. If you're trying to stretch money, don't get a 1060, try to find a used 980 Ti at a decent price. The 1060 just doesn't have the GPU power for DCS. You're still better off with an 8GB card, though. Rough equivalents: GTX 980 ~= GTX 1060, but 1060 has 6GB version GTX 980 Ti ~= GTX 1070, but 1070 has 8GB, is slightly faster GTX 1080 ~= older Titan cards GTX 1080 Ti really has no equal! (and costs a small fortune) So, you really want a 1070 :) It really is the least expensive "great" card for DCS. If you're buying something lesser than that, get it used--like a 980 Ti.

I'm rather in favor of having every single module being available free of charge without any weapons, kind of like the included TF-51... that way you can just try 'em out whenever you feel like. Like to fly it? Buy it, and get all the 'goodies'. Don't? Uninstall and free up some of that cramped SSD for another :) Seems like the best plan for me. They're all great modules, and I have some I don't fly much, like the Huey or FW-190 because despite my best efforts I absolutely suck with them :) Every one is well-done though, and having them all for free but unarmed is a great way to sort out which ones you'd like to buy. And yes, some people will just install the free DCS Caucasus map, and fly the free versions of every single module like a civilian sim--unarmed, and just flying around and admiring the scenery, instead of paying for anything. But, they'll only do it for a little while :) AD

Even the rudder pedals! Oh man, you must be *really* into DCSW :) AD

Good music is always great, even when you've been burnt out on it for years like me :) Not to make anyone roll their eyes, but I love Green Day, and the Offspring :) There's a guy playing great bass covers, check him out whether you're a bassist or not and just like to rock out: Oh yeah, and these guys go great with a couple beers! :thumbup: Peace AD

Well, I am a bit of a crazy ol' coot :) hehehe But, desktop PCs with high-polygon count 3D graphics certainly were around in those days. They weren't all that common yet, and framerates, lighting & shadow effects weren't anywhere near as good as today, but 3d models and textures were already very good. People had high speed cable Internet (although I don't remember the service provider, we 'only' had a DSL line, but it all was around). Gamers were into watercooling, overclocking and the whole gaming-rig hobby thing in the mid 80s. Some people also started using their PCs as home recording studios, playing instruments and recording & mixing their tracks. They even had those cheesy LED-lit computer cases with plexiglass side panels so you could ogle your gear :) And, programmable flight sticks (think TM Hotas Cougar kind of deal) were available. The 80486 CPU was considered near obsolescence, but still good for many things and cheap to mass produce. Multi-core desktop CPUs, 4 cores on two dies and approaching 2.0 GHz, were on the horizon in the mid to late 80s if you didn't mind forgoing that new luxury car and bought a computer instead. And that was way back in the old days, here in the boondocks (Canada) :) We also played KSP back then. It's been around forever, and I remember it clearly. I guess I've just been out of it my whole life :) Not messing with anyone, or being a troll, this stuff has been around a while. If you were looking for a CAD system, it's entirely possible your company was being fleeced because they simply didn't know what was available in non-business-market computers, *despite* otherwise being experienced and in-the-know. It happened all the time in those days--A product design and/or engineering company would spend an absolute fortune on the latest-and-greatest mega-workstation, only to find out that a decent desktop PC would do the same thing and use a hell of a lot less electricity to boot! That was one of the things that went on in the 80s here in Canada; in the States it might have happened later (although generally your country is far ahead of us). Anyway, have fun and peace :) AD

Well, you said so, so I guess I didn't then :) Peace anyway.

I'm not confused, misguided or deluded. I've played with this sim since the middle 1980s. Don't know where you get your info from, but the gaming industry as a whole essentially keeps re-releasing the same stuff decade after decade after decade, with various graphical improvements. I flew DCS with the F-15, Su-27, Bf-109, FW-190 etc. over the Caucasus map and the NTTR back in the mid 1980s. If it's not the original software and/or 3D assets, then it sure as hell was close, and it was actually called DCS and was produced by Eagle Dynamics. That was back in the mid 80s. Yes, some desktop PCs were good enough for it back then, and so were some video cards. Stuttering was common too, and we all griped about it :) I was 8 years old back in 1985, and we all were looking forward to the development of consumer-grade SSDs. DCS World was re-released as a consumer video game in 2008 or thereabouts; but it was not "new" by any stretch of the imagination. It has been around for a very, very long time--and so has the desktop PC hardware required to run it. That's one of the reasons I like DCS... It makes me feel nostalgic. I played it about a third of a century ago. I'm rather curious about where it will go in the coming years. If I had any coding skill, I'd join the development team.

Nope, it's been around since the mid 80s if not sooner. People were playing DCSW back then. I'm not off by 10 years--it actually was around. There were even laptop computers that could run it.