JaseGill

Thanks Tom. Just PM me with where to pay and I will pay as soon as you are ready to take payments/ship. A nice Christmas present to myself methinks ;) J.

JG, That was half my question I guess, learn LUA or just use HELIOS. I think I know which way to go now. Hans, Thanks, much appreciated. I have configured both On/Off/On switches and On/Off switches to be tracked in LUA (you simply get it to recognise the release of the button given that toggles used above are always On once on). I used this as an example: http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1559307&postcount=10 That said, as I already have HELIOS running and once set it wont change with a DCS update I think Im going to change my home built panels to HELIOS from LUA. Thanks again guys, just confirmed what I had already in mind I guess. J.

Hi, What is the group consensus on this? It seems that the LUA scripts for control sets are often changed or sometimes reset to default with some patches? Is this true? With that in mind would you use HELIOS as the connection between USB Button Boxes and the such instead of messing about with LUA? I already use HELIOS on a 2nd screen for displaying some gauges and was thinking that maybe I should go that way with switches rather than play with LUA. Is there a time that you'd always use LUA for one reason and HELIOS for another? Probably not looking for a definitive answer, more a sense of what others use and whether one or the other has any major benefit? Thanks in advance, J.

JG, Yup, been there and downloaded everything available. Also have all the stuff that DCS has on the website that is some help too. I'm more thinking about the practical uses of it. I guess with the LUA Reference and the DCS guidance you could say that you have all you need. That said with an Operators Manual and a rudimentary knowledge of physics one could go fly an A380 too... We know how that would end :) I guess though that I do need to just go monkey about with it a while and come back with some more direct questions with problems if I have any. J.

Can anyone give any insight if there are any decent LUA books? Are they worth the expense or is the Internet your best friend here? I'm a pretty good C++/C#/VB/Arduino/Netduino programmer so I'm not looking for an introduction to programming, more a grounding in the LUA syntax. Thanks in advance, J.

I'm just getting into LUA and wonder if anyone knows if one can remove all references to other controls in a LUA file. By this I mean that I have a Leo Bodnar Button Box. It currently has the AHCP and Electrical Panel attached to it. Can I remove all other references from my ButtonBox.lua script other that those that it needs and still have it work when I load it into the DCS Control settings? Also I notice that if I change the LUA script (add an up as well as down function for a single ON/OFF Toggle) if I make other control changes/additions these are lost in the script when I save it. Is that a bug or expected behaviour. I'm effectively trying to get to scripts that are as short as possible per controller, only the actual configuration used is in the script, and keep a little set of LUA scripts, per device should there be any need to reload them. Thanks in advance, J.

Tom, Id be up for option 2. This is just what I have been looking for. How long before you believe they will be in production? J.

All, I'm looking for a wireless headset and have come across a few. There is the G930, but that seems to have its own USB sound card on its "dongle". Does this add overhead on the processor that's significant? Also has anyone that uses one had any issues with having a sound card and a G930 (I'd still like to use my sound card for other things outside gaming or when I'm not flying and don't want a headset/Track IR running. There are generic Sennheisser ones that work over wireless and I guess plug into the sound card and just transmit wirelessly the signal, none are cheap! Lastly there is the Razer Chimera which looks the best as it uses the sound card and the headset is specifically for gaming. Its expensive but seems to work as I want it to though I wonder if its worth the money? Does anyone have any experience of any of the above or any other ideas? Thanks, J. MODS: Please feel free to move this to Hardware if thats more suitable.

Alexbap, Well it seems like you've found your sweet spot with performance. Congratulations. Again though this is all based on personal views though and the 660Ti comments I made were only based on my personal perceptions. My AA had already been dropped to 4x before I bought the 670 so the difference I saw was from a simple swap. I didn't feel the performance was smooth enough with the 660Ti but it is with the 670 and I'm happy with that. Everything else is still at Max and I get the performance I was looking for for the money I was willing to spend. Congratulations to me too ;) You did say though in your 1st post that settings are almost maxed and that you're playing windowed. You didn't mention resolution so it was hard to determine what it was. I guess 3286 x 1080 you're combining the two windowed resolution not quoting a single full screen resolution (which I thought was the general consensus of best performance though I may be wrong). That doesn't match any kind of resolution I can think of though for 2 screens, I guess its a typo? Again though, like you say I guess its what works best for the user in mind and not what works best for other users. I wasn't happy so I upgraded, you are and therefore haven't. I guess in our own two opinions, and that's all that counts when its us who chooses to spend our money and what we spend it on, were both right :) J.

Alexbap, I'm not saying I don't believe you as I haven't seen your rig running or your settings. But, and its a big but I didn't have the same experience on a GTX660Ti 2GB never mind a 570. I went to a 670 2Gb as per my signature to get good (and I mean 30+ all round) frame rates without noticeable stuttering in most circumstances. That is with 2 screens, HELIOS, SoftTH and Track IR. So I'd love to see a FRAPS capture and your settings to see what I'm doing wrong. Windowed I haven't tried but all pointers seem to indicate this is worse than full screen with SoftTH. Also, do you run with the cockpit showing? Without cockpit I get 70+ FPS but not much use without a fully working home cockpit to make up for the missing click-able controls. It also I'm sure depends on resolution used. I could drop my resolutions I'm sure and get massive frame rates but it wouldn't be at native resolution and look pretty crappy on my displays. I'm also no fan-boy of buying the latest and greatest (if I'd done that with the 670 I have some time ago I'd feel pretty peeved at the price I got it for some short time afterwards) and I don't have a never ending supply of cash to do so. Even if I could I'm not sure I would justify a £600 graphics card anyway just to keep at the leading edge of technology (especially as so far DCS cant use it fully given that its stuck in DX9 at the moment). Like I say I don't doubt your post, I'd just like to know how you do it and the settings/resolutions and how you measure smooth game-play that's all? J.

Hi, I caught mine whilst building my cockpit and it landed on the Lights Pinky on the outside of the throttle. Busted it up internally and I was mortified. Contacted TM, assured them that I could solder some wires and they sent me the whole end enclosure panel of the switch with the switch and wiring installed. All I had to do was de-solder the old and solder the new. Awesome after sales and even though I admitted I broke it they still sent it free. J.

I'm on a 670 2GB and almost same specification as Cali and I too have good performance. It seems if you want to go above 2 screens ATI is the thing. I'm an Nvidia guy though and don't actually need more than 2 so more than happy with the 670 for that. I tried to find a 4GB card but it was out of my price bracket, in the UK anyway and quite difficult to find someone with one in stock anyway. You however, requiring 3 screens I think need to go the ATI route and find someone here who knows them well. I'm afraid I don't. J.

As Skate says don't buy 660 and expect more than 1 screen with good performance. In all other games the 660Ti I had was the perfect performance/price point. In DCS it wasn't unfortunately. I was on one for 3 weeks. Luckily the shop allowed me (due to internet order and distance selling rules here in the UK) to pay the extra and get a 670. I now run mine with that and its 30 + usually with dips in very busy times around 25. Still eminently more playable than a 660Ti I had before though. If you can push, or wait and save a bit more, for a 670 I would. J.

All, well that did it. MSIGTX 670 OC Twin Frozr and I get average 30 min on the ground, 45 in the air and up to 65 when its quiet. Thats with no change of settings from before too and having 2 x MFD, HSI, ADI and flaps display exported to 2nd screen and using SoftTH to run fullscreen. Quite a difference. Im well impressed. I did see dips to low 20's when lots on screen happening but that I think I can live with given I was getting less than 10 at tims using the 460 and the 660Ti. Thanks for the help all and I can heartily recommend a GTX670 if anyone's thinking of upgrading. J.

Nice :)

Well, Those lovely people at Novatech UK allowed me to pay the difference between the 660Ti and a 670 and upgrade. The price has dropped by £60 in the 3 weeks since I bought the 660Ti so I figured why the hell not. Custom PC seems to think that the 670 is the sweet-spot in price/performance so lets see shall we. I cant afford a 680 or 690 anyway witrh Christmas coming so this is the end of the FPS chase for now. I will try it tonight and let all know how I fare. As a lucky aside I got Assassins Creed III and Borderlands 2 free with it too :) Win, Win, Win once hopes. Skatezilla, If its 15 FPS more I'll be happy to be honest. I know its good enough for other software I play (World of Tanks, SW:TOR and the beta of War Thunder) so any increase in FPS I'll be happy with :) J.

Thanks, will try that. Hadnt noticed that was set so will try. Got to say as usual everyone here more than helpful again generally. Skatezilla, Thanks, I was joking, honest. I've tried my old 460 for the 2nd screen and that just slows it more. I read on here a while ago that if you can its best to limit yourself to 1 card if you can as more than one just adds more stress! Not sure if thats still the case? I was thinking of a 670 at the time I bought the 660Ti but the cost was over £120 more here :( I kind of wish I'd pulled that trigger now... May have to sell the 660Ti and get a 670 I guess. J.

Thanks for that. Constructive. Now where's that Rep button ;)

All, All of the above checked and rechecked. Still at or around 20 FPS on ground, at or around 30 in the air but goes down to 15 with TGP at times. As far as settings: SoftTH is: Total res = 1920 x 1980 (1920 x 1080 Upper, 1440 x 900 lower). Keep Aero on Unticked, Smooth Framerate ticked, dont render unused area ticked, debug mode unticked. No Overides set, AntiAlisaing is Application, VSynch Off. Nvidia Control Panel has VSynch off, DCS has Disable Aero Unticked, VSych unticked. Mirrors, HDR and TSSAA Off. Full screen and Cockpit shadows ticked. If I go to CTRL F1 frame-rate is constant, if I go to ALT F1 its up around 60. I've even disabled the in cockpit MFD's as they are exported to lower screen and Helios is only running the Flaps Indicator, HSI and ADI. SoftTH and Cockpit Exports LUA's attached and screenshot of my settings. is there anything else I can try? SoftTH.lua configSoftTHconfig.txt

JAG14, Thanks for the guidance. yes to Fullscreen, Yes to correct file as produced by the SoftTH Configurator and living in the DCS folder with the DLL, V Synch off in DCS, will check and reset the MAXFPS to 120, SoftTH Vsynch is off, no limits set and both same card, local, Will Check Gfx card settings. One assumes you mean in Nvidia Control Panel? Aero is not diabled in DCS or in the SoftTH configuration. Im on my way home in about an hour so will check all these and report back in case this helps someone else out. I hate threads that go quiet with no news on whether remedies worked. Thanks again, J.

As far as I remember no in both cases. VSynch is not on, MAXFPS not set (well it is but to about 300 if I remember rightly). J.

Hi, See my sig but I have: P8P67Pro Motherboard, MSI GTX 660 TI 2GB OC Edition, 8GB Patriot Viper 2 Sector 5 Menu, 1x 120GB SSD for the OS (Win 7) and 1 x 120GB SSD for games install. I'm still after an upgrade from a 460GTX 1GB almost stuck around 30 FPS. 2 screens 1080P 37" LED TV and a 1440 x 800 as the secondary running HELIOS. I use SoftTH set with TV above, secondary below. Should I be getting better frame rates? I don't think I'm processor maxed yet as it makes no difference whether I'm on min or max settings. The graphics card is quite powerful in benchmarks and other games. Its just DCS. Would I benefit in getting another MSI GTX 660 TI 2GB OC Edition and SLI'ing them? Thanks in advance, J.

I'll throw some cash at that. Loved Elite and Frontier :) The Wing Commander guy (name escapes me, Chris something) has done the same. Seem to remember he is at $1m plus already :) J.

None of the above. The Puma, then Sea King then finally the Merlin. Though I'm probably biased having crewed all 3, 1 of them in combat. As far as Normandy 1991, that was kind of a one off. SEAD in helicopters is as good as dead. That's what standoff air and ground launched missiles are for now, less flesh in harms way. Norm Schwartzkopf wanted to show the strength of his new, shiny AH64's and found himself the perfect target to do so and be able to use the MFD footage to show the press how effective they were too. Win Win in his mind. Now if only Colin Powell hadn't seen the same footage on "The Highway of Death" and wimped out of letting us finish the job in 91 (cant have voters see how brutal war really is on CNN now can we) maybe I wouldn't have buried so many friends in the last 10 years. That though is another topic altogether!

I just ordered one of each of the USB and Ethernet one. Will be fun to try them out and try a bit of C++ out too. Hopefully they will arrive by time I get back from holiday :) Just need to read their extensive schematics now. J.