John Hargreaves

Great post, and I would add to this, for anyone who thinks that the work on the Yak draws ED away from completing their own personal wishlist. By working on an extra project like this, it is an extra revenue stream for the company, which results in greater strength and security longer term for ED which in turn means more work can be done on more modules down the line for the rest of us. The Yak wouldn't have been made as a standalone module if it had to pay for itself just by us buying the module, so think of it as a kind of bonus extra. In terms of company resources, it will be neutral in that it has already paid for itself, and whoever commissioned it has agreed to share it with us. I don't think ED have even said what the charge will be yet, you never know, it might even join the TF-51 and the Su-25T in the base game.

The taildragger version looks a lot more elegant, I agree.

So long as the price is right I think this will be a nice bit of variety for DCS. Sometimes it's nice just to fly around in VR without all that blowing stuff up and shooting guns

Lack of a pilot body is a major omission in any sim that employs VR imo, agree wholeheartedly with those above.

Definitely further optimisation for me. I think VR performance has improved in DCS in the last year, but I suspect there is still more they can do. Maybe once we have a stable v2.5 ED might be able to really nail VR performance enhancements.

A little bit of info really helps to put people's minds at rest. Just knowing that there are only two of you working on this makes a big difference I think to how people will view the project. I wish you well for the improvements you have planned and look forward to testing them out.

Keypad 5 works great in the rift, if the eyepoint is too far back, just lean back a bit and reset, and it will have nudged you forward a bit as you return to normal position and vice versa. Get yourself settled before you fly and you're fine.

Yes, I was wondering where he'd gone, his post certainly lit the fuse interesting read though.

I think a lot of DCS WWII planes are pretty tricky to start with, but there are a few things you can try. Make sure there are no conflicts in controller settings, and that one function is assigned to one controller button or axis. I have umpteen peripherals, wheel, button box, Xbox controller etc in my PC, and when you first set up a plane, it defaults to assigning the same function to many controllers, which makes planes almost impossible to fly, so delete all the unwanted assignments. To get started you could dial in a bit of take off/rudder assistance in the options, this can help you get more familiar with the plane. The Mustang settles at about 200mph and above, and you need to be fairly gentle with the inputs. If you set the saturation curve on your joystick to about 20-25%, that will also help you be smooth. Finally read up in the forum on techniques and practise a lot. I'm no expert, and could barely fly both the Mustang and the Spitfire when I first started, despite having some experience in other flight sims, but luckily you can teach yourself through trial and error unlike a real pilot. Good luck and stick with it. Also, I agree, most of the planes in DCS are inedible

Welcome to the rift old boy, we are proud of you For what you'll get for them I'd keep them. I'd recommend Mission:ISS for an amazing simulation of zero-G, the touch controllers do add an extra level of value to the rift. I've had my rift over a year now and I still get a buzz every time I sit in the cockpit of the Spitfire and push the throttle forward. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the feedback, if your 1080Ti is struggling, then my 1070 will pass out

What about the early WW2 fighters?

I'd be very surprised if you are disappointed, please post back when you've had a go

Very cool piece of kit, essentially a WW2 fighter plane made with 21st century tech, like a Caterham R500 sportscar. I'd get this in a DCS module without hesitation. I have the Blackshape Prime for X-Plane 11 and it's a similar idea, great little plane.

Was your original default aircraft in the fixed wing category? I think you have to add helis from the correct tab on the left, and you can have it as another client playable aircraft. I've been flying my Huey round Normandy ok, so it does work without time restrictions, and BTW it's great, well worth the effort.

Wasn't it a directX 9 only thing or did they overcome that?

Me too, when I grow up I want to be Tom Hardy. Did anyone else notice he must have checked the 'Unlimited Ammo' box in the options?

Mmm, slightly disappointing to hear this. I went to see the Dunkirk movie this afternoon and I fancied having a go at being Tom Hardy, so I was going to pick this up at the weekend. I might hang on a bit then instead. @Don, what card did you have before the Ti? Do let us know how it performs in the Epsom Campaign when you get chance. The YouTube videos of this campaign do look good though. (yes I know the difference between D-Day and Dunkirk, just thinking out loud)

Personally I've had more motion sickness with flying and driving in real life than I have with the rift, which I'm pleased about, but if the real thing makes you barf then we ought not to be surprised if its simulated equivalent does too. As you say Neil, it's a question of acclimatisation.

That's an excellent comparison there, thanks for taking the time to write it all up. There are very few direct back to back comparisons out there that include the PiMax, and it is really helpful to see the features measured against each other. As you say, the best of all would be dropping the PiMax screens into a CV1, but I guess we'll have to wait for CV2 for that. One thing I have wondered about, is the framerates between them, as the PiMax can probably do without supersampling, so even though it is a higher res screen, you aren't really having to draw any more pixels on screen. Any thoughts on that?

Aha, that is an excellent tip. Thanks for the advice, I shall report back. Edit: that seems to work well. The live planes on the ground take damage and catch fire, so at least you have an indication that they have been hit. I'll keep the static planes in there just for a bit of atmosphere and window dressing, but they are no fun to shoot at. All I need to do now is practice shooting straight. It's interesting looking at the AI behaviour, scrolling through the F2 views, those planes that are still programmed to take off are happy to do so with about forty bullet holes in the engine cowling. This new incoming damage model will hopefully improve the realism here, looking forward to it. Thanks for all the advice guys, any more tips are very welcome.

So I've been spending a bit more time on this one. It is certainly the case that if you have live aircraft on the runway, they will catch fire after a few good shots of the Spitfire's machine guns. As the Captain says above, they are trying to take off, so you don't have long before any that you don't get on the ground are airborne, then they fight back as they are quite upset. At this point I started to learn more about the AI damage model; they do seem to be able to soak up quite a bit of punishment To be honest, in most of my time in DCS so far I have enjoyed using it as a straight flight sim, I haven't ventured into the shooting stuff phases, but as I get the hang of flying the Spitfire, and start to get to grips with the mission editor, I am beginning to delve a little deeper. The static planes though, do not seem to catch fire or take any discernible damage, they just seem to be inert props rather than planes full of fuel. So I have set up a little practice mission on the Normandy coast, taking off and raiding an enemy airfield down the way, and I'm enjoying it. I have 8 live BF109s which I have two or three passes on before they get airborne, so the more I get on the ground, the better chance I have in the air. However those AIs are tough cookies, and seem to take a lot of damage without any loss in performance once they are airborne. They always seem to get me in the end, but it's fun while it lasts.

excellent idea, I shall try that

That's right, I was basing my question on using the machine guns and the cannons on the Spitfire to shoot German (static) planes on the ground. I would expect a plane to perhaps catch fire even with the spit's guns, but nothing seemed to happen.

Thanks for the help, I'll stick in a few of those and see what happens. It's probably as much to do with my lack of shooting accuracy as anything. Need to practise more.