John Hargreaves

Hi guys, a bit of a request for assistance from those with greater knowledge than me. I'm trying to get to grips with the mission editor, and I'm just trying to create something like a simple training mission, with an airfield with enemy planes parked up that I can use for target practice. I've got this set up OK, but whatever I put on the field and shoot it up, nothing seems to catch fire or explode, including fuel tanks. So, in simple terms, I just want to blow some stuff up with my Spitfire, and my question is, out of the WW2 assets, which things have you chaps found that will explode the best? Does it have to be AI controlled, or will static assets catch fire too? I'm steadily adding lots of friendly ships and vehicles just to build the atmosphere, and that is working quite well, but I just feel the need for a bit of pyrotechnic spectacle. Thanks in advance for any advice.

If you haven't yet, read the guides in the sticky posts at the top of this section, there is some really useful information about the behaviour of taildraggers that I found really helpful when I was getting started with the Spitfire. I'm still pretty rubbish, but I can get it airborne and back in one piece again more times than I crash, which I am happy with.

Robo Recall is great fun and very well done for what it is, a big dumb shoot everything that moves type of game, but designed with the rift in mind from the start. The graphics are also very impressive, are they still giving it free with touch or has that offer finished? I would recommend Mission:ISS too, you don't do much other than float around bits of the International Space Station, but you do get a genuine feeling of weightlessness, and I lost a whole morning just floating around looking at stuff, staring out of the window, poking things and flinging screwdrivers and ketchup bottles around in zero-G. It was weird coming 'back to Earth' afterwards.

Welcome to the rift mate, it's pretty good eh? Take your time and enjoy the various demos that come with the setup routine. They are all pretty short, but fascinating nonetheless. Did you order touch with the rift? Not essential for enjoying sims to the full, but certainly lets you get the most out of the rift itself. My favourites so far are DCS Huey, Gazelle and Spitfire, XP11 Bell 407, Project Cars, Mission:ISS and Discovering Space 2. Also Robo Recall is good fun if you get the touch controllers. The attention to detail in the Spifire is so immersive, and flying helicopters in VR is a whole other level above doing it in 2D, it's so much better IMO.

That's a very good point, I guess a lot depends on how much you use them. For light use they would be fine, but I agree they don't look like they would last you a lifetime. You can adjust the tightness with the screws underneath, so it's possible to do a bit of tinkering around. I'd say these are a good match for the Hotas X joystick that I started with, then when I knew I wanted to get a bit more into it I was happy to move up to the Warthog, then add the VKB pedals. You do this stuff in stages so that it's not too painful all in one go, then you can avoid adding up how much it all costs.

I got a set of these when they first came out and for the money I think they are very good. However I have just upgraded to the VKBs at more than twice the price as I was struggling to get fine control for helicopters. I'll expand a bit. For any fixed wing aircraft I think they are excellent value for money, and a big improvement over a twist rudder in terms of immersion and control. The gap/spacing between them is a non issue imo, as it's similar to driving a car, they fall comfortably between your feet. For the DCS Spitfire they are superb, as you can control the naughty taildragger behaviour pretty well. Basically the fixed wings tend to require quite big movements of the rudder, and the TFRPs are fine for that. Now helicopters are a slightly different beast, and what you need there is very fine and subtle movements just around the centre position, and I found my TFRPs having stiction problems, so I just couldn't get the subtlety of movement I needed and I began to get frustrated. I tried various different greases and such, but the metal against plastic rails just didn't have that really fine movement. I'm not saying they were no good, it just felt a bit like driving a sports car in wellies. The VKB MkIV pedals are much better for fine control, and my helicoptering skills have improved since getting them. So, if you are moving up from a twist rudder and fly mostly fixed wing, I would recommend them without hesitation, sturdy enough and excellent value for money.

That's a good find, never heard of that one before, thanks for the tip.

Told you it would fit nicely on the side of your rig there Once you go down the rabbit hole you never look back, glad you like it, welcome to the rift

Although flying the Huey or the Spit in DCS is just about the best thing to do in the rift, there are so many other cool things to do that you ought to sample plenty of the other experiences too. I really feel like I have had my money's worth by trying out all those other things. I think DCS aircraft are the most 'alive' out of most stuff you try in flight sims, and it seems to be amplified in VR. The level of detail really comes to the fore when you strap on the rift, and the Spitfire is such a pinnacle of the art of simulation that you can appreciate more fully imo.

DCS Huey, DCS Spitfire are my favourites. If you have a wheel then Project Cars, Assetto Corsa, Live For Speed, for space experience Mission:ISS, Discovering Space II. Robo Recall for dumb fun. Google Earth VR. There is a ton of amazing stuff out there for VR.

That's a very good point, we are a year closer to CV2 than when I got my CV1, so there is less of a wait for the better headsets. Even so I do believe that if you can reasonably afford it, you won't regret it. Just do your homework first so you have realistic expectations.

Just match up what your pedals are doing to the animation in the cockpit, but pushing the left pedal will turn the heli to the left. I think the one axis controls both left and right in DCS, some sims have separate left-right rudder assignments

Yes I'm pretty sure it's rudder in the Huey control settings. Make sure you clear all assignments for any other input devices you have attached, as they can cause conflicts against each other. By default, every device you have attached to your PC will be assigned an axis for the basics, rudder, cyclic etc even if they don't do proper axis commands. If you just plug and play it will end in tears and flames and you won't know why. I only know this by crashing in tears and flames many times and trying to figure out why.

I doubt you would be disappointed with a Rift in DCS, but with a cool setup like yours, I would just run both, depending what mood you are in. You have plenty of room to keep a Rift on those shelves at each side of your rig. Sometimes it's nice to have all the detail and resolution on screen, but there is nothing like the sense of being inside the cockpit that you get from the rift. I only really use my monitor with DCS when I'm tinkering with settings or using the mission editor. For that kind of thing I still think the monitor has it, but the whole 3D-ness of VR is amazing and worth the entry fee IMO.

I just bought a set of these last week and they are born for helicopters. The level of precision around the centre is the big advantage here, you can place the heli exactly where you want it. I have been using the plastic TFRPs for a while, and they were ok, but I was having real stiction problems around that centre point, so I just couldn't control a helicopter finely enough. The VKBs are 100 times better in that regard. The main drawback was that they squeaked like mad when I first set them up, so I had to strip them down and grease the moving parts and they are fine, but for £200 you'd think they could have done that out of the factory. They work pretty well on the Spitfire too as the brake is on the stick, so I mapped the pinky finger lever on the HOTAS to the brake lever, and you get good differential braking control. I'd say they were expensive but worth it for the quality and the extra level of control they allow, and they do complement the Warthog nicely in terms of looking cool.

Yeah, 20m/s is about 45mph, I don't think I'd fancy flying around in that sort of wind, but I'd like to appreciate the eyecandy of those lovely waves. +1 for a bit more waves at a bit lower wind speed.

Watch out they don't pinch your frites.

That's great to hear, I shall look forward to that

Ah thanks, at least it's not just me. Any ideas how I can reproduce the flight in one of Wag's videos where he was flying over the coast with lots of ships below? Is that available anywhere in the game or would we have to place all the assets ourselves? I've had a look through the built in missions for the Spit, and on the DCS downloads section, doesn't seem to be much there yet. I'm no expert on mission building, so DIY would be quite a long process. I'd like to fly around and see some activity. Thanks chaps

I can't seem to be able to set up a fast mission in Normandy, it just returns to the main menu screen and never launches into the mission. Is that a known issue? What's the best method to just get up and fly around to check out the scenery and assets? Do I have to create a new mission from scratch?

Shouldn't be too much longer now

Ok, so when it does drop, I want you all to form an orderly queue, so first man can download the update, then post here to tell the others you've finished, then the next person can download, each one taking it in turns. How does that sound?

The Gazelle is certainly a different experience, it's really light and agile, and once it's up in the air it's a pleasure to fly. Personally I have a niggling suspicion that hovering in ground effect ought to be a bit easier, it seems to launch skywards very easily, but that could just be my lack of skill. Having said that I don't have any problem doing it in the Huey or the XP11 Bell 407. It's a beautiful model and flies like an angry wasp, so it's definitely got a different character to the others. In VR you get a good sense of the intimacy of the cockpit too, everything folds around you and it feels like a sports car compared to the Huey which feels more like a Land Rover. Also, don't overlook the Bell 47 mod, which is worth a look. Flies more like the Huey but feels a bit lighter. Again, great in VR.

That's because New Zealand is in the future Gotta love these release days, bunch of grown men behaving like kids on Christmas Eve. (I consider myself firmly and proudly in that camp too btw)

It has to be the Spitfire first for me, then the Huey, or even the Bell 47, so I can float around and enjoy the view. I'll fly along the coastline first I think, then follow the road south from Cherbourg down the peninsula, looking for cool stuff. Bank holiday weekend, good weather forecast, garden needs work+Normandy release = big fight with wife coming, wish me luck.