Tuuvas

Currently, the default bindings for console controllers (or at least an Xbox controller) aren't terribly great. From the modules I tested with (A-10C, Flaming Cliffs), the default bindings look something like the following: There are a couple major issues with this. First there's an issue with using the Trigger axis as a "Throttle". I'm aware this isn't the case for all controllers, but for Xbox controllers and Steam users, the triggers are combined into a single axis where the neutral point is 50%, Left trigger is 0%, and Right trigger is 100%. Even if it was intended to use Right Trigger alone as a throttle, it is very difficult to manage speed with an analog trigger that always wants to snap to 0%. This makes sense for racing games since an accelerator pedal behaves the same way... not so much for an aircraft throttle. On console controllers, it would be better to default Throttle to two buttons instead of a single axis as it will offer better control of throttle position during all phases of flight. The second major issue is a complete lack of bindings for fairly important buttons. For instance we have missing bindings for: Trim (except for the flankers, which have Stick to Trimmer) Countermeasures Rudder A third less-major issue is leftover buttons and a whole 2 stick axes which aren't used. For instance, the start and select buttons, right bumper, left stick click, and right stick click. Existing bindings could be rearranged to take advantage of more natural finger positions depending on the action being assigned. For instance, we could move "Weapon Trigger" from "A Button" to "Right Bumper" to emulated the feeling of pulling a trigger. Same with "Weapon Release" and switching it to "Left Bumper" as it too would simulate a left-handed trigger pull. "Camera Look" can be switched from the D-pad to Right Stick X/Y to conform to present-day gaming standards... plus this frees up a whole 4 buttons on the d-pad. If it were up to me entirely, I would come up with default bindings which include actions shared across most modules, as well as 2 default modifiers to almost quadruple the number of available buttons. That said, I do realize that having default modifier bindings might be asking for too much, so instead I would propose at least the following as a new "default" binding for console controllers. This assumes no modifiers are available and only the most important, common actions are bound: With the above, we address a few critical things to consider when setting up console controller actions: Right Stick X/Y to Camera Horizontal/Vertical is the standard for modern games. Also, I've included default axis tune settings for both Left and Right Sticks. Trim is a very important element of flying, so having a dedicated D-pad to all 4 directions feels like controlling a trim hat. Weapon Trigger/Release are bound to more natural "trigger finger" positions: Right Bumper and Left Bumper. Rudder has replaced Throttle in the Tigger Axis as having a 50% neutral point lends better to Rudder control than Throttle. Throttle Up/Down are now B/A respectively. Note, in racing games it's easy to remember "A" for accelerator and "B" for brake, so it may be worth flipping these two around? Chaff and Flare now exist as Y and X respectively, being incredibly important actions in a combat sim. Weapon Change, a uniquely low-fidelity/FC3 action, is remapped to the "Start" button. Wheel Brake Both/On is probably more important than even the throttle when it matters, so having this bound to "Select" keeps it out of the way until needed. Plus holding "Select" still allows the player to control rudders and even throttle at the same time. Now, again, if it were up to me I'd have default modifiers too. This would allow default bindings to extend into TDC slews, target locks, radar elevation/modes, gear toggle, canopy toggle, etc (see this imgur album for some ideas), but alas I do feel like it would be asking too much. Please let me know if you have any questions, or your own input to give! For those who dislike the idea of improving gamepad support in DCS, I'd like to hear your thoughts too! Perhaps dev time is better spent elsewhere? For another gamepad-friendly wishlist topic, see the following thread for opening up the mouse-only horizontal/vertical camera control to other devices:

Layout used for tutorial:

Do you not have an expensive HOTAS but still want to play DCS World? You're in luck! All my DCS World controller layouts can be found below! But first, please take a look at the following tutorial to make sure you set up your controller properly for using my profiles. This video goes over how to set up: Mouse Control on your Right Thumbstick Mouse Scroll Up/Down on your Left/Right Triggers Mouse Clicking on your Left/Right Shoulder Buttons Keyboard Left ALT and Right ALT on your Left/Right Shoulder Buttons (IMPORTANT!) How to download and import controller profiles into DCS World And finally, all my controller profiles can be found and downloaded from my User Files section on the DCS website: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/filter/type-is-profile/user-is-Tuuvas/apply/ Below are all my layout images for each one of my controller profiles, so you can easily reference where each control binding is: TF-51D Mustang Su-25T Frogfoot A-4E-C Scooter https://github.com/heclak/community-a4e-c A-10A Thunderbolt II / Warthog A-10C II Thunderbolt II / Warthog / Tank Killer AH-64D Apache (Pilot) AH-64D Apache (CPG) AH-64D Apache (TEDAC-only) Xbox Profile: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332033/ Playstation Profile: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332035/ AJS-37 Viggen (work in progress) AV-8B Harrier II N/A CH-47F Chinook F-5E-3 Tiger II F-14 Tomcat (Pilot) F-14 Tomcat (RIO) (work in progress) F-15C Eagle F-15E Strike Eagle (Pilot) F-15E Strike Eagle (WSO) F-15E Strike Eagle (WSO Hand Controllers) Xbox Profile: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3332032/ F-15E Strike Eagle (WSO Hand Controllers Simplified) F-16C Fighting Falcon / Viper F/A-18C Hornet F-22A Raptor https://grinnellidesigns.com/f22/ F-4E Phantom (Pilot) F-4E Phantom (WSO) F-4E Phantom (WSO Radar/TGP Only - for HOTAS users) F4U-1D Corsair J-11A Flanker B+ JF-17 Thunder (work in progress) Ka-50 Black Shark 3 Mi-24P Hind (Pilot) (work in progress) MiG-21bis Fishbed MiG-29 (A/G/C/S) Fulcrum Mirage F1CE (work in progress) Mirage M-2000C (work in progress) OH-6A Loach OH-58D Kiowa Warrior OH-58D Kiowa Warrior (MMS-only for HOTAS users) P-51D Mustang Su-25 Frogfoot Su-27 Flanker Su-33 Flanker-D UH-1H Huey

After creating a wishlist item to add relative camera horizontal/vertical view, I decided it was about time to figure out how to get this working outside of DCS. This led me to InputMapper, which unlocked way more functionality in my xbox controller than I thought would be possible:

Currently the only axes available for non-mouse devices to move the pilot's head are the following: Absolute Camera Horizontal View Absolute Camera Vertical View Since these are absolute controls of the first person camera, the "center" is tied directly to the "center" of the axis moving them. For example, if I bind the right analog stick of a console controller, I can look around with the right stick then let go of the stick to let the camera snap back to center. This is useful when you need to quickly go back to a forward facing position, but less ideal if you're trying to keep an eye on an enemy while circling in a dogfight. You're forced to hold the view axis off-center while also manipulating throttle, pitch, roll, rudder, and potentially weapon trigger/release. Additionally, the camera can feel sensitive as a console controller's relatively small throw translates to pretty large head movements in the cockpit. To open up console controller usability to more players, I recommend introducing the following two axis bindings: Relative Camera Horizontal View Relative Camera Vertical View The difference here is that the camera will behave closer to, say, a first-person shooter. Pushing the axis in some direction will begin movement in that direction at a speed relative to the axis position. The more extreme the axis position, the faster the movement is. At zero, the movement will simply stop instead of snapping back to center. Note: it's possible this type of look axis is already available in the following, since the mouse already behaves this way: Camera Horizontal View Camera Vertical View If this is the case, then it might be easier to enable these two view options for other devices than just the mouse:

Having the ability to individually set cockpit textures and external model textures would be a godsend for VR users on 8GB or less GPUs. Currently the difference in VRAM usage is pretty significant between Low and High, especially on heavily populated servers with a bunch of different types of aircraft. For heavily populated servers, I tend to set Textures to Low to avoid choking my VRAM, but the tradeoff is incredibly blurry cockpit labels. See below: So my suggestion is to break Textures into two separate options: Textures (Cockpit) Textures (External)

Confirmed the above suggestion from Wisky corrects this. Plus the 2nd suggestion allows me to bind these to my HOTAS, which is fantastic to have

Currently it is not possible to change the APKWS Laser Code. Even with the engine off cold start, the 1xxx values don't change. See testcase below: Testcase: Launch Instant Action Cold and Dark Bring up Kneeboard (Right Shift + K) Try changing APKWS Laser Code (LS + LA + 1/2/3) Expected: 1xxx should change Actual: No changes

It's really nice having a dedicated TPOD Video Zoom In/Out binding available, but currently it is difficult to use for large changes in zoom. Holding TPOD Video Zoom In/Out only activates the zoom change once, requiring the user to repeatedly press in order to continue zooming in or out. A workaround to this is to simply bind the OSB button for the same zoom function and holding the binding works like I would expect - holding the button continuously zooms in/out while it is being pressed

I mean, sure, if you want to believe it's a placebo then go for it. I absolutely have smoother tracking within the VR headset with the new hotfix. If it's a placebo effect... then I guess I'm happy regardless lol. All I know is that my stuttering was so bad that I couldn't even use Oculus Mirror + image stabilization for recording gameplay because the recording was unwatchable. With the hotfix, image stabilization works EXTREMELY well. This observation is absolutely not a placebo, and is a result I'm incredibly happy with.

Yeah definitely, it's super helpful in my case so thanks very much for posting the link to the hotfix. I hope it'll help Yoyo's case as long as fpsVR is turned off.

Yeah sorry about that, just reading it like that sounds like it's simply pointing out a problem exists. Almost like a "no, duh" reaction right lol As far as I know, Nvidia has addressed the stuttering issue when no monitoring tools are being used, and a future fix will be made when using monitoring tools.

Also worth mentioning that turning off fpsVR has helped the people in this thread:

[Steam VR game]: Stuttering and lagging occur upon launching a game (Without using any Hardware monitoring tool). [3152190] It specifically mentions "Without using any hardware monitoring tool" because there's still issues when using one. Try turning off any sort of hardware monitor (ie. FpsVR, afterburner, etc) then see if your experience feels smoother

I just wanted to add that I'm seeing this issue as well. After crashing/ejecting, my VR frame rate goes from 45 to 24. I dunno if this helps at all, but the following are my specs: 2070 Super 8GB 64GB DDR4 3600 M.2 SSD Intel Core i9 9900 People have said that alt-tab into Task Manager (and only task manager?) will sometimes get rid of the issue. I haven't had success with this myself, but I've read at least two confirmed cases where it has worked. See this reddit thread:

I have the same issue, but there's a couple workarounds you can try and see if they work out better for you: Use mouse option. Basically, instead of having the mouse tied to the center of your vision, it'll be moveable using an actual mouse. The downside is you'll need a mouse on hand while in VR, but this isn't ideal for my setup. I don't use this workaround. Re-center VR position towards and looking away from desired console. Basically, you lean towards the console you want to click, look away from it, re-center, and now it should be way easier to access with your head-bound mouse. See below: https://imgur.com/R6CUmty

Will there be a way to set target coordinates directly from the TPOD? Or will we have to read the coordinates from the TPOD display and manually enter into the CAS page?

Fantastic news about the Harrier changes. The idea of not having to WINC long for every JDAM release is going to be so much better! Now... for the real question... Harrier II+ when? :P Also, I'm a QA Engineer for my day to day job, so if you would like any testing assistance (especially if it involves the plus), let me know and I'll do my best.

For anyone curious or adventurous, here's an XBox Controller bindings layout for the A-10C. Give it a shot if you're up for the challenge:

Hey all, here's a video I put together in an attempt to address one of the bigger problems with DCS - the HOTAS barrier to entry. We all know it's generally believed that a good DCS pilot needs to have a proper HOTAS system, but this preconceived notion could drive a lot of potential DCS players away the moment they realize they'll be spending literally hundreds of dollars in a "free" game. I'm hoping that with this tutorial video, it will break through the hardware barrier and allow even more people access to this notoriously inaccessible game/simulator. Let me know what you think and I'll keep suggestions in mind for the next video.

Hmm, I don't think there's a way to not snap back to center for the shift camera options. The only way you'll be able to prevent the snap-back is to put a modifier to the axis binding, hold the modifier and shift the camera, then let go of the modifier. Your camera position will stick in place from there as long as you don't press the modifier and manipulate the axis again.

Lol thanks for the high praise man, just looking out for the new guys so they don't feel it's impossible to get into DCS. It's complicated enough as is, so removing this one hurdle is a step in the right direction. I intend to make additional gameplay videos using just an Xbox controller to demonstrate what can really be done with enough practice

You should be able to bind the lateral/vertical/etc camera movements just fine to an axis, but I don't think you're going to need anything more than the left/right movements. If you want to see the instruments a bit better, it's best to just bind the zoom axis - this is covered in the video posted above. I'd highly recommend basing your layout on the video, then develop your own setup from there as you get used to it.

In my journey to research which aircraft are adequately usable with only an Xbox One controller, I thought I'd shoot straight for the most complicated FC3 aircraft and work my way down. Turns out... it's fully capable of: - Carrier Ops - Air-to-air Refueling - Ground attack - BVR (EO, RWS/TWS, Freq select, radar elevation) - Dogfighting (also helmet mounted site) And all this strictly using only the gamepad, with the exception of radio calls to contact tanker.

After thinking about what kind of video to do next, I realized that there was very little discussion about probably one of the most important topics related to DCS - how can we get more people passed such an expensive barrier to entry? Not all of us can afford things like TM Warthogs, or even x52 HOTAS devices. Instead, most probably only have access to a simple gamepad like an Xbox One controller. In this video, I decided to step through all the different controls needed to perform the basic functionalities in the free SU-25T and map them all to just a simple Xbox One controller. This will demonstrate that a player can still perform just fine in DCS without spending a single penny on additional peripherals. It's a long video unfortunately, but I genuinely hope it helps any DCS beginners willing to sit through the whole thing.