TomOnSteam

Great looking stick, but I'm wondering it would be more ergonomic to swap the position of the Red Pickle button and the HAT switch below it? From the pictures it feels like the HAT switch would get in the way when using a thumb to press the red Pickle button. I think the middle of my thumb would bump the HAT. It's hard to tell from picture though, I admit :-)

Agreed. It feels VERY solid compared to anything I've owned from saitek and logitech in that price range. It's even better than a CH Products stick (although you lose a few buttons on the T16000M)

T16000M or FCS package seems like a good buy. I was surprised at how solid it felt after I tried it. It's plastic yes, but the action of the stick was not far off from the Warthog. Far far better feeling than a logitech or saitek HOTAS, these feel like toys to me. I can't speak for the FCS pedals, have not tried them, but I have owned both CH and Saitek combat pedals, and neither of them were that impressive, better than nothing, yes, but I felt I was fighting them more often than not (especially after trying KOMODO's pedals, smooth as cashew butter). If it breaks you can always take it back to the store right? The Warthog is great overall, but the slew sensor really bothers me. If you don't plan on flying an A-10C or F-16C, then it's probably too much for your budget. But if you plan on having a "cockpit" style seating, where you want to mount the Warthog stick between your legs and even add on extension, then it's great for that, since the base plate comes off.

If it's an Apache I will s**t my pants from excitement :-)

F-15E is a must buy for me after experiencing the F-14 with a human RIO or human pilot. 2 players in the same aircraft is just too much fun :)

You can try asking on the oculus / wmr / vive / valve forums - this is likely a global setting you'd change in the drivers or software of the various headsets. There is likely a way for it to render only one eye's view spread to both lenses or something like that. But I agree, even in 2D a VR headset is far more immersive than TrackIR, because everything is the right scale for starters, and looking around is far more natural than TrackIR (where you are doing some acrobatic movements with your eyes in opposite direction to your head movement hah). For existing VR users, just close one eye, and you can see that you don't lose that much immersion (compared to flat screen and TrackIR).

But now that I think about it, you could put a PC or a Laptop in a backpack, and then the limit is the length the of the powercord or how long your laptop battery can last. Doing a quick search on the internet (https://www.ecosia.org/ is amazing btw) I found someone that walked 170M away from the origin point using an Oculus headset haha!

The limitation will be the length of the cables attached to the headset :-) If you can somehow mount your computer on the ceiling so that it is in the center of a large room, you will get quite a large radius out of your headset potentially.

There are some interesting upgrades coming to the new Warthog - one of which is a radar pod - rumored to be the https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104604/anasq-236-radar-pod/ source: How much of a beast will the A-10 be with a synthetic radar pod for detecting ground targets?! I would love this for my warthog :-)

Oculus Rift S also has the best "sweet spot" thanks to the lenses. In many headsets as your eyes deviate from the centre of the lens you get a blurry image, which means you cannot look around with your eyes very much, and instead have to use your head to look and keep your eyes pointed forward - basically the opposite of a TrackIR. With a good set of lenses like on the Oculus Rift S you can use your eyes to look around and glance at things, which is a little bit more natural. I found with WMR (granted I had a crappy Dell Visor) I was constantly adjusting the headset on my head to keep that sweet spot of the lenses directly in front of my eyes.

I also came to DCS without ever flying a simulator (or any knowledge about planes other than it looks cool) so hopefully this can help: It's hard to know where to start when there is so much to learn, not just DCS, but flying in general, and then employing all of the sensors and weapons on a plane, and not only knowing how to do all of those things, but doing them effectively, let alone tactically. You'll have more fun flying the plane you enjoy the most, so don't make it a chore by flying something you aren't interested in! :-) Also the F/A-18C is easier to land, and fly in general as it got better performance characteristics since it's a fighter plane. You don't need to worry about being too accurate with the controls or monitoring speeds and what not, it'll beep or shake when you are going too hard, so it gives you a lot of freedom to fly in a way that is enjoyable. Eventually you might decide to concentrate on precision flying such as air-to-air refueling or formation flights, but in the mean time, fly to have fun, and you'll see that your flight skills get better over time anyway without much focus on it. You're on the right track though, start by simply flying. Landing does take some practice to do well, but hey, you aren't paying for the tires in a simulator, so just let it develop naturally, or when you want a challenge. I started with the A-10, but I would do the same process with the F/A-18. -Basics of flight -Infrared missiles -Unguided weapons (ground gunning, and rockets) Then you should be familiar enough with to feel comfortable to just pick anything else you want to learn one at a time. There's a lot to do in the F/A-18 so there's no reason to try to learn it all in one go, so just do whatever you are interested in, and fill in the rest when you want to learn something new. Personally I'm not into reading the huge manuals, so I like to watch videos of how something is done, and then try it for myself. It's a simulator after all, so I like to do as much in the cockpit as I can rather than reading about it. (of course it's good for the fine details and references). Also watching youtube for complete missions is a pretty good way to pick up subtle things which aren't necessarily in the manuals either. Little things that aren't obvious to us non-pilots :-) Also if you don't have any kind of head-tracking device or VR, then I highly recommend it, it's a game changer. Being able to naturally glance down or sideways, and to track your targets is must imo.

Here you go :-) (There might be better ways to do it, but I just printed to PDF from the browser.) Portrait: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3lbkou1ad9xhs1d/F-14BGuide.pdf?dl=0 Landscape: https://www.dropbox.com/s/58f0sze84bi55f6/F-14BGuideLandScape.pdf?dl=0

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1861644772 This is a step-by-step picture and text tutorial for two friends or pilots who want to jump into the F-14B together and get flying as soon as possible. You can both learn by playing at the same time, in the same aircraft :-) The two sections (for Pilot and RIO) are written to match, and this means both sections can be performed at the same time by the two crew members / players. You don't need any prior F-14 knowledge, configure your basic controls, and then get straight into the cockpit!

It's probably that AH-64D Longbow that they've been working on in complete secret:music_whistling: (I'm joking! :D I too truly am curious whether that is something yet unannounced or if Wags is referring to the mi-24 HIND, which certainly is highly anticipated) EDIT: I do remember ED asking about M1A1 Abrams experts, but that's no aircraft. And I'm not sure whether it was related to DCS World or simulator being built for a private/government organization.

If anyone is feeling generous during this sale, I would love to fly on the Persian Gulf map :music_whistling: All I can offer in return is my eternal gratitude however:D

Is there no tech support from Rift customer service or from their forums? Post your error message and screenshots of the issues, and that will give something for people to work with.

That is a lot of buttons and hats for sure! I wonder if it would be easier/faster/better to make an FC3 style simulation for the Apache - at least initially. I normally don't like that idea, but with so many new aircraft in DCS, and with so many modern ones, I have trouble keep up with them all. I know the Warthog like the back of my hand, but that took me a few years to master, so I'd actually think I'd like an FC3 style Apache just so I get to fly and shoot it without years of training hah :-) I'm also thinking for a multi-crew two player aircraft, it would be much easier to get my friends into the gunner's seat if they didn't need all of the HOTAS gear - which is where FC3 style Apache would be advantagous (more copies sold to ED, and more people to fly with for me :P). If they could target and shoot with a basic controller and mouse and keyboard, then I know I'd have a few dedicated gunners to fly with. EDIT: I forgot to mention what an awesome looking cockpit that is!

Does anyone know if there is a naming convention for military equipment and vehicles and aircraft? Or is it just thought of at the time of development? E.g. how would missile or tank get it's name? M1 or M945 etc Some make sense to me like AH-1 (which I'm assuming stands for attack helicopter) But it's the vehicles that start with the letter M is that I'm mostly confused about.

I would recommend the Warthog IF they fixed the slew sensor out of the box. I'm really not sure why they haven't made a new revision of the Warthog with a proper slew sensor on the throttle. It's really disappointing to see such a cheap and hard to use thing on what is otherwise a solid feeling kit, and they haven't done anything about it in 10 years. So for now I must agree that it is over priced.

I need it in my veins! :megalol: I hope this is a sign it is coming soon, because playing multicrew in the F-14 is just amazing, and I cannot wait to do this in the F-15, and some of the upcoming attack helicopters too.

Thanks for the encouraging words everyone. It took quite a bit of time to make this, so I'm really happy to see that people are finding it useful! I'm one of those weirdos that enjoys learning by doing - at least when it's a new concept or topic. Only after I get the hang of something do I like to dive into the text books. I guess it's a gamer's mindset perhaps. But that's why I make these :-) I also figured it's a good gateway to get people hooked onto DCS. Especially with the RIO in the F-14, you don't need the whole 'HOTAS and Headtracker' kit a DCS pilot would require to get the most out of DCS. The RIO can happily do the job with a mouse and keyboard, so the typical non-simulator players can experience the joys of DCS this way.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I started with LOMAC in game mode..... :-) btw Ferrari released what are essentially 4 door hatchbacks some years ago, as well as the Porsche SUVs :P Ferrari FF and also this

I have created a step by step guide, where the idea is to make the learning hands on. You and your buddy can load up the F-14 module together, and follow the corresponding guides either on your phones or second screen and have fun learning together :-) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1861644772

I don't think it's dumbing down DCS, it's simply making the it more accessible, and that's only a good thing for new comers - without changing our experience of DCS at all. Think of it as a gateway to get people hooked ;-) As long as the mouse controls work like OP's video when you are in the cockpit view too, then I can see it being a good option. If someone has to $20-$50 to spend, I'd imagine ED would rather that money goes to them, instead of a stick manufacturer. The other thing is, a 1080ti is going to be useful for a whole manner of games and sims, where as a HOTAS is basically useless outside of DCS and perhaps that one popular space simulator which has been in alpha for the last 7 years :P. But it's easier to justify the cost of a graphics card because of the many uses.

Some phones have a 4k resolution, so it could be alright. But I have a feeling the sensors in a phone aren't good enough, so it would require constantly re-centering for DCS or other sit-down games.