Gman109

1. Nice job, insulting something many vets and players here put a lot of work into

You're making my point for me - again. You consider it "cheating", when someone uses TrackIR vs VR - cheating means an advantage, which AGAIN is my entire point. TrackIR (cheating, unrealistic, or otherwise), is an advantage specifically for the reasons YOU JUST STATED, when doing PvP BFM specifically IMO. While you may consider it an "advantage" to learn to fly in a more realistic way using VR, I can tell you for certain that most of those who just want to WIN in PvP BFM consider it an advantage to have the TrackIR crutch.

It's funny how the same players who will say "VR is absolutely a more immersive and better experience, hands down than 2D/TrackIR", as though it's self evident, will refuse to accept a similar statement about just ONE particular aspect of DCS (dogfight/duel) when it comes to the inverse. Again, the vast majority of my DCS flying is spent in one of the 1/2 dozen VR units we have kicking around at any given time. However, it's not that I just "prefer" TiR over VR in dogfights/duels, it's just as evident to me and anyone else that is truly competitive - this is the key component your statement is missing, I'm talking about those who competed in various large/popular events like the Folds of Honor and other ED/etc sponsored dueling events - that TrackIR is a huge advantage over VR in DCS PvP BFM. Know how many pilots who were competitive in the DCS BFM/Folds tournament recently, and also used VR while doing so? Of course everyone is free do whatever - that doesn't change the facts about what type of hardware benefits each kind of play/flight. Again, nobody seems to want to prove that VR is equal to TiR in BFM online by demonstrating so, which pretty much says all one needs to hear on the subject.

That was exactly my point about peripheral vision. I didn't just come up with that on my own, a good friend of mine I went through school with went a different route of service, and just retired as a 3500 hour Hornet pilot, and has flown the Gripen, SuperHornet, F16, F15, and has done the F35 training as well (he was Canada's CO of the test pilot program prior to recently retiring, and now flies fighters with a private company doing RedAir contracting with various NATO airforces). That was the first thing out of his mouth when using the Pimax5k I had at the time he tried VR on my system. That's incorrect, and frankly ridiculous, if every time a threat aircraft got on your 6 you were ruled dead, there would BE no exercises such as Red Flag/etc. The human eye is first attracted to motion, anyone who has any training at all in low light fighting (or any light condition combat for that matter) knows this. This is and has been exactly my point - is English not your first language? If not then I can understand, as I thought I made this pretty clear...and again, the REASON why when dogfighting in visual range online TiR has such an advantage over VR. Try and find 3 people here on these forums with the XTAL. I know of 2, and one was likely just lying to get attention, as he never posted a single picture of it being in his possession before he "sent it back".

This the only point I take issue with. Care to duel 1v1 using your Reverb, and I'll use TrackIr some rounds, and my Reverb/Rift S/Index in some other rounds, so I can point out where TiR has a massive advantage in A2A dogfighting?

Agreed, as a ratio, there is a good argument that cost/value, that the MFGs are the best as the OP said. Mine held up well to a year of daily flying another online MMO Flight sim that's existed since 1999, a good 4 hours a day when I was using them. $$$ being no object, IMO Slaw, and probably Virpil (we'll soon see so far as my opinion once mine become available and arrive), are unbeatable.

Agreed, IMO Slaw's construction materials, design, and attention to detail is the best among all custom rudder pedals makers (and mass produced such as the TM pedals as well). I haven't gotten a set of the new Virpil pedals as of yet though, as the highest level model they sell is still out of stock, but that's the only set out there really out of those currently used and common that I haven't tried and compared yet. Slaws do cost a lot of $$$ though, but dealing with him is easy, good comms, and relatively straightforward banking instructions (you have to do a xfer, no paypal or credit card, but that's NBD in my experience).

Like I said, VR can't simulate peripheral vision, which is critical to pilots' ability to see in the rear quarter/6. You only need to get your head/neck to about 4 or 8 oclock position, your peripheral vision will take care of the next clock positions (you can see this in your aforementioned Youtube videos in any video of a fighter pilot doing BFM and tracking visual range threat aircraft that are behind him). So far as dot/spotting distance, agree absolutely, I have 3 different monitors that all give differing results/advantage depending on what settings and resolutions I run them at (native or otherwise), from 27" to 34", 1080p up to 4k, etc. And like you said, it depends on what type of online flying one is doing, air quake/dueling or a more realistic type of PvP like say Blue Flag, where VR isn't nearly as much of a disadvantage as on a dueling/dogfight server. I'm sure not giving up VR, and will continue to use it for the majority of my DCS flying.

I have several pairs of peds - CH pedals x3, Saitek Combat pedals x 2, Simpeds, VKB pedals, Slaw 109Cam pedals, MFG xwind, and Slaw RX Viper pedals, among others. While MFG are good pedals, claiming they are the "best" is a bit of a stretch right now IMO with the Slaw Viper RX out there, and the Virpil peds as well.

I've had every VR headset, several of each in fact, except the XTAL. Still using VR, both the Rift S and Reverb. That said, for doing PvP competitively online (particularly 1v1 dueling with SRM and especially guns), IMO you're at a massive disadvantage in VR versus TrackIR. Not so much because of the resolution, but because of how much more difficult and slower it is to look behind your 3-9 line. I've heard many in the VR forum say this is "nonsense". Anyone who wants to prove they can beat me, or say Growlingsidewinder/etc using TrackIR with their VR headset on, PM me and show me how. VR is great, but for competitive online play, IMO it's a big disadvantage when you get into visual range fights. Swivel chairs and all the other "tricks" simply can't make up for the speed and ease TrackIR users can simulate looking back and tracking the threat. Peripheral vision, which in r/l allows the eyes to make up for that last 20 or 30 degrees the neck/head can't turn, isn't modeled in VR (yet) either. I do 3/4 of my DCS flying in VR still - but when it comes time to fly online PvP, the Reverb gets parked, and the TiR goes on. For now. To each their own, but I agree with most in this thread, that VR is a must have - I only state the limitations it still has with regards to being competitive in online PVP duels IMO.

Redgum, check the used sections online in your country's Craigslist/Kijiji type outfits. I have a dozen places here in Canada as wells as various flight sim forums that I check daily (I've collected Hotas since the 90s). I recently found a brand new, like the twist ties never unwound, CH FighterStick and CH Throttle for $25 USD delivered. This would be perfect for you IMO, something along those lines/prices, and then buy a pair of VKB Pedals (the best bang/buck in custom pedals IMO, and someday if you upgrade your HOTAS they'll still serve you well).

I too have a medium-ish astigmatism in my right eye, which increased the cost from 99 to 122$ CAD, but IMO this is still an extremely good price and value for these lenses. Considering I paid MORE from 2 other makers, which provided a vastly inferior product, I'm very satisfied with the cost to value ratio that this company provides. Must have IMO for any VR user that needs near sighted correction, and should be budgeted into any VR purchase, again IMO. The Rift S has been the only headset that my glassed fit comfortably in, the Reverb is awful on that count for me. Chapa - have you any experience with lenses without the added Blue filter they offer, in order to compare what it's like with or without it? Even if not, could you perhaps expand a bit on how that Blue/filter option is? I've not gotten it on any of the lens sets I've purchased, and now I'm wondering if I should email them and get them to add it to my current order which is just beginning it's process.

+1, I've had prescription lens inserts from 3 different companies for 6 different headsets now, and VR Opticians is by FAR the best to deal with. Best comms, they sent me a link within a day of ordering each time to track the progress of my lenses, and their product IMO is superior - big time - to the competition. As Vince Offer from Shamwow says - You know the Germans make "good stuff".

I just got a VFX grip, and am having a similar problem with the set screw (the non twist was out of stock, boo). The set screw is very deep, as it should be as per the pics in this thread, but it's not catching the stick, and it still twists freely, without the point of the set grub screw making contact at all. It's not cross threaded, I'm using a very good driver, but if I push any harder/further it's going to strip it, or possibly break/crack the stick. It literally won't go any further, and it's not locking the twist. Anyone know what size of set screw grub/whatever the silver/metal colored screw is, so I can try and find a longer one locally? From Virpil forums it looks like support is pretty busy/overwhelmed right now, and this will be a pretty low priority I'll bet, and I'd like to try and fix this myself. All I need is the M1/M2/whatever number for the set screw, and I'll order/find one myself that is longer and will work (hopefully). Edit - fixed this, thought I'd post my experience in case anyone else has a similar issue as me and the other in this thread. There is two cylinder sections this set screw most go through to lock the stick. What happened with mine is that they weren't lined up quite perfectly, so the set screw would stop/get stuck prior to the tip hitting the metal/black cylinder part it needed to in order to lock. I took the stick apart to see what has happening, re assembled it, and just wiggled the stick left/right about 1/2 a MM or so (twist action movement basically) while gently backing off/moving forward the set screw until it started moving through the 2nd cylinder, and driving about another 2 or 3mm further than where it got stuck for me at first. Then it locked up perfectly as it should. If anyone else here at DCS has a similar problem in the future, PM me as I have vid/pics of what happened with mine which will help, including disassembly/etc of the stick. Now it's locked, what a great F14 stick this is.

Nineline/ED, that's a crazy amount of projects. Very ambitious, I like it. Can't wait for all of the things listed today, it's pretty mind bending the number of new products coming, not to mention the new aircraft modules in the works. You keep making it, I'll keep buying it.

Ditto, I have the Index, Rift S and Reverb. The Rift S is "bulletproof", or at least has been for me, very simple to set up and run. Occulus has that nailed compared to WMR IMO - plus ask any sim developer, and they much prefer working with the Oculus drivers/etc, much more robust so I'm told. The Rift S isn't as high a res, but it still looks great, in fact I replaced 3 Samsung Odyseey + with 3 Rift S for our gaming PCs back when it came out, and the Rift S surprised me, as based on specs I didn't think it would perform in DCS so well as it does. Again, while there are higher res options available, I still have no problem enthusiastically recommending the Rift S, especially for first time/newer VR users. Even for $ no object more veteran VR users, the Rift S is still a good option too.

I see in a similar thread that RAZBAM has acknowledged this bug. Hopefully it's a priority now (it should be), and they can fix it, as it's been very frustrating trying to do Assault Carrier ops. Great module otherwise.

Agreed, +1 here, and the other 2 sim pilots in our home vote the same. I was so impressed with Heatblur's F14 release, and this JF17 release from Deka has shown that Heatblur's work doesn't have to be a one trick pony in ED's family. Congrats Deka. Every person I know who has bought the JF17 has a similar opinion too. Fanastic.

Wow, both of those were on my wishlist for Deka's next future module. Fantastic if that's correct information! I'd love to see them do a J10 as well, that's a superb modern fighter that would be a great addition to "red air" here in DCS. I'm SO impressed with the work Deka has done with the JF17 - I can't wait to see what they come up with next. They really do have a lot of options, J16 and JH7 for 2 seaters, the J8II F or Q5 as stated, J10, etc.

+1. The amount of incredibly hard work/time that goes into developing these simulation games, for an incredibly small market compared to typical AAA games (and even non AAA games)...we're so fortunate to have something like DCS/3rd party devs at all. Do I wish we'd get more complete modules in EA release? Sure, everyone does, but the reality is these companies have business models with very, very slim margins IMO, and ED doing it the way they are right now is very likely to be the only way it's even financially feasible. Just my opinion, but I'd bet the farm I'm correct that it's either EA or nothing. It would however be nice if EA releases gave more information to the customer about our expectations in terms of time frames/etc on future updates to EA products.

Heh, if they were telling me 2 weeks (I've sent back 2 already), I'd be buying one of those new ones, and then do a return immediately once I got it, and send them the broken one back in the box.

+1, great job ED, keep up the amazing work.

That video is using the 2080 Super for the 9900k, and a 2080ti for the Ryzen. I've seen a few instances of any AMD cpu with the same video card being faster in games than the 9900k - but it's not the majority, by far. You're right though that 4k/VR it's very, very close all things being equal other than the CPU.

I see a few people said NO to the OP question - all opinions are valid here, and I understand why someone would say No, and that a "proper" full HOTAS is almost a requirement for DCS. I said in my first response that the OP would be fine with the setup he mentioned, but it is true he would benefit in the future with a better hotas setup. To that end, I really highly recommend searching various used markets for a new DCS player like the OP, once he's ready, wiling, and able to get himself into a higher end HOTAS. I've collected hotas since the 1990s, and have several dozen hotas set ups as well as a bunch of stand alone sticks/throttles I've been sent for review and/or bought over the years. I have all the new VKB/Virpil models, 6 custom rudders and 4 factory peds, and will have 2 Hotas/Sticks more once the VKB GF 3/F14 setup is on sale, and my RealSim base gets here. Based on this experience, IMO the best bet for a new pilot like the OP is to find himself a good used set of CH Products F16 Combat/fighter stick, throttle, and pedals. They aren't absolutely ideal, or the best now, but as an upgrade from the OP's current setup, are an excellent step up, and can be found for very good deals. I've picked off 2 full CH setups in the last year from the sources I check daily here in Canada, one was a F16 Fighterstick/CH throttle combo for $40 CAD, and they were new, as in brand new and not touched (wife's husband had left her and left his PC gaming stuff behind with the house contents). I've seen CH pedals in good condition for $50 CAD. Anyhow, point being, the OP will be able to find something like this with a bit of patience and searching as well, and is again why I strongly suggest searching used markets. CH Products are a good used option, as their price is usually pretty good, and the quality and longevity is good as well. Pre 2006 CH stuff is actually better than the newer stuff, as one CH was bought out that year it went from a company of caring sim workers to a large place that has their stuff made in a mass production company.

Not only will you be fine, some actually prefer a simpler setup for DCS. LOTS of players of all kinds of sims prefer to have a rocker/twist/whatever for rudder axis.