Shibbyland

I was just going to go off the poll results at the top. I've got all the required modules for any of the campaigns in the poll.

So many awesome looking new campaigns, so little money and time. Got a poll here, help me out.

I'm beginning to realise why there aren't many anti-ship missions. I'm working on a mission where 2 flight of Hornets must depart from the carrier, overfly Guam and attack 3 enemy ships (2 Destroyers and a Chinese support vessel). I've dialed the enemy ships' intercept range back to 10% to give my initial 16 harpoons a chance to get through. Most still don't but the few that do and hit one of the enemy ships cause only about 50% damage to one of the 3 ships. Other than turning off the enemy ship ability to shoot down my missiles, how else can I improve this mission? I'd like to add more flights which I can command through the 'Other' menu in the comms menu but I don't know how to do that. Alternatively, the enemy ships don't engage until I am very close if I stay under 200ft. Can I get my AI flights to do that?

Hi All, I'm still learning my way around the mission editor. I've got some experience setting up triggers and victory conditions etc. I'd like to make enemy response a bit more random in my missions so they are replayable. Anyway, here is the mission I really want to make and am wondering if people could give some tips on what features of the editor I could use to achieve it. -I want opposing carrier task forces to attack each other with the client being able to choose their role, I.E attack the enemy carrier group or defend their own. -I want the player to have the opportunity to return to the carrier, re-arm and depart again. -I want the mission to end in victory when the enemy carrier is destroyed or defeat when your own carrier is destroyed. Your own survival does not matter. -I'd like to incorporate a submarine but I don't really understand how they fit in this game. Questions: -Can I make it so that the ships do not engage each other and rely solely on aircraft? -Can I make it so that enemy attacks come at random times and from different directions? -Can I make it so that enemy ships do not have anti-air missiles and rely on other weapons? -Likewise, can I equip both sides' aircraft with shorter range weapons so they have to get in close?

I just installed Normandy and the WW2 assets. There are only instant action missions available for P-51, Spitfire and BF109 on that map. The F/A-18 has a mission on the Normandy map. Have I missed something with the installation or do the WW2 aircraft only come with instant action missions on that map?

I'm in this group here. I only play single player for a whole range of reasons but mainly it's that my connection where I live sucks, I play stable where there really isn't any meaningful multiplayer and I find the comms a bit of a drag to get set up. I think the WW2 content for this game is great if you consider each module by itself but it really doesn't mesh together very well. There just isn't any cohesion to the WW2 content. I bought a couple of the single player campaigns and they're pretty good but there's not enough of them. If I want to really enjoy the Mosquito or P-47 I've got to buy the channel map. So I've bought Normandy which I get little use out of, I bought the assets pack because for some reason it didn't come with the map, I bought a few aircraft and in terms of hours of gameplay for money spent it hasn't stacked up. If I could go back and not buy them, I would. I have stopped buying the WW2 content even though I really want to get into it. It's just because I get a short period of enjoyment from flying them and then quickly find there's not much more to do with them unless I spend hours in the mission editor and I just don't have time for that.

I came to DCS from one of ED's competitors who focus on WW2 flight sims. All I can say is, DCS stands head and shoulders above them (at least for me). Unfortunately, despite really wanting to make DCS my sole sim given it has both WW2 and modern combat, I just can't get into the WW2 stuff. I own Normandy, the assets and a number of warbirds all of which I like. But it just doesn't mesh together very well. It seems with each aircraft released, the content on a whole is watered down rather than enhanced. For example, the Mosquito looks fantastic as does the P-47 but it seems in future to get the benefit of those aircraft you'll need the channel map. The Normandy map still hasn't really come into its own and a lot of us will already own that. So the price starts to sky rocket not just in terms of buying modules, assets, maps and campaigns but the hardware to store it on. The files are massive so to constantly be uninstalling and reinstalling because you can no longer fit maps takes so long. I just wondered what everybody else's thoughts on this were. I didn't buy the P-47 despite really liking it and I probably won't buy the Mosquito because the WW2 content is just not consolidated into a workable package at a reasonable price. Just my thoughts on it, obviously others will feel differently.

See picture, excuse the poor quality, used a phone. But thats about 5600ft and with target elevation of approx 6000ft there's not a whole lot of room to make an attack. End result: Got hit on the way into the target but managed to hit it by bombing the waypoint symbol in the HUD. Couldn't see the hills to turn around so did an Immelmann back onto the target in IMC, intending to just fire rockets through the fog at the waypoint symbol, took more hits. For your entertainment: Lost No 1 Engine, lost TAD information, lost targeting information, lost countermeasures, lost both altimeters and HUD airspeed. Launched rockets anyway but probably missed. Somehow managed to fly limited panel and get clear of the weather using VSI, standby compass and airspeed, began to make my way back to base...shot down by SAM a few minutes later (heartbreaking, I was so chuffed to have survived all those failures and still destroy the target)...now I have to try again. At this point I'm contemplating loading up with JDAMs taking my chances against the SAMs.

Hey, Just trying mission 20. Once I turn into the target I can't see anything due to sunstrike and cloud. Even at treetop height I'm in cloud. I've tried blindly dropping the bombs but then trying to turn around in that valley just isn't an option for me at the moment, all I can do is go straight up. I've looked at a youtube video of 3.0 and the weather looks totally different, they have lightning, I don't, they have rain, I just have solid cloud, they can see and have room to move, I'm basically flying in fog at treetop height. Any ideas?

I know it's been said before but I'm going to add to it. This campaign is awesome, possibly the best campaign I've played yet although I also have the enemy within but haven't tried it yet. There's no single reason it's awesome, it just comes together really nicely. It's exciting but at the same time believable. It is rare I play an entire mission without accelerating time, I just don't feel the need on these missions, the pace is perfect. I wish all modules came with a campaign of this length and quality. Well done Baltic.

Yea for sure, everything kept up to date, I don't run additional programs in the background. I'm getting good power output and cooling appears to be sufficient. The 80% reduction is only on Marianas (20FPS over land), Syria runs much better but I can't manage more than a moderate number of units and I don't even try multiplayer on it.

Oh I totally agree with your comment and Baldrick's above. It's a given that DCS (or software in general) evolves and our machines must be upgraded to keep up or we must accept a reduction in performance. I also agree DCS has a smaller but more niche userbase and as such many of us are prepared to pay a bit more. My point is that I fit in that exact category, between hardware and modules I've spent thousands of dollars since 2017 when I first got into it and during that time as we went from 1.5 to 2.7 I've had to adjust settings. However, my own experience is were now at the point where the degradation in performance is so significant and so much more sudden than what is typical. For example, my last big upgrade was less than a year ago and it was to my processor, RAM and hard drive. At that time I was achieving circa 90-120FPS, had plenty of memory spare and had used less than half my hard drive. Fast forward a few months and on the most demanding maps I've got an 80% reduction in framerate, 90% memory usage and have used 75% of my hard drive, still a relatively low CPU usage. I'll add I'm running custom settings with some of the more important bits set to high and other things reduced as a compromise. I don't expect to run DCS maxed out and to attempt to do so wouldn't provide enough of an improvement in experience to warrant the cost. Granted there will be a small number of users who can keep up with this but I suspect the majority can't.

Hi BIGNEWY, It's certainly a fantastic looking terrain. I just wonder if we're at the point where the recommended system specs need to be looked at particularly if the long term plan is to incorporate the technology used in the Marianas map into Caucasus. I'm running a 9700k, RTX 2060 Super, 32GB RAM and installed on an SSD with plenty of space. By no means a top of the line system but no slouch either. Fantastic performance on Caucasus and Persian Gulf on a mixture of high settings and some dialed back but abysmal on Marianas. I can only speak for myself but I'm really happy with the quality of graphics and performance on these maps and would prefer not to have to reduce things like shadows and reflections in order to play the more detailed maps such as Marianas. I see somebody earlier commented on things progressing faster than the average user can keep up. I tend to agree with that, I've upgraded my system multiple times over the last few years including replacing the GPU three times, the CPU twice, more cooling, double the RAM etc. I pretty much use DCS as the bar by which I judge the outcome of these upgrades. You guys are pushing the envelope which is commendable but it might come at the cost of leaving quite a few customers behind. This is by no means a criticism, DCS never fails to impress but personally, I just can't keep up. Thanks

As a 2D user I'm not faring much better with the Marianas map performance. Down to 20FPS when low level over terrain when I'm typically at around 100 on Caucasus, even Syria performs much better and to date I found that to be the most demanding on my system. Not really playable for me at this time. Looks good tho, hopefully performance improves.

I can't afford VR, let alone the system required to run it. It must be pretty good although I really hope as the years go on and VR userbase grows, those of us who still need 2D don't get forgotten.

Hi, I'm finding the CCRP line sits to the far left of my HUD when using laser guided bombs and JDAMs. I'm used to it being in the center and me keeping the bird in the middle. Is this something I'm doing wrong?

What’s the front sight up the front though? He’s got the main sight we use but there’s that glass/Perspex sight directly infront that I can’t see a use for with the weapons we have planned unless maybe he takes over as pilot perhaps following the incapacitation of the pilot…but then if that were the case you probably wouldn’t remain in combat

Who has managed to complete the H4 attack on the Syria map? I'm really struggling with it. Most of the time I'm getting smoked by the AAA before I can get a shot off on them and using the wingman is pretty hit and miss, he gets shot down or aborts his attack and then gets shot down very early on. On those occasions where I manage to get rid of the AAA and have free reign to pick off the remaining targets I find my AI gunner loses the plot and can't actually stabilize the sight no matter how steady I fly. The friendly ground units get wiped out. What do I have to do to pass this mission?

Welcome back, yea it's terrific isn't it. Better save your pennies, you'll quickly be spending them. I added up what I've bought since 2017 and that sent chills down my spine, but not in a good way haha

Hi All, What are the roles of the gunner beyond firing the ATGM? I'm just speculating in real life that the gunner would be handling a number of non flying tasks such as comms and nav enroute. Given the guns and rockets are fixed in position and operated by the pilot, I'm not sure what the gunner will be doing if you're not armed with ATGMs. Cheers

My pre-load radius is very high, I'll try turning that down. I'm not finding much difference lowering graphics unless I set them all to the lowest setting in which case the game isn't worth playing. I'm getting pretty decent frames on mostly high settings (about 80 FPS) with reductions to 45fps low level over cities such as Damascus. I don't think my graphics settings are the issue as such, I think Syria just needs so much memory and 32GB RAM is already way beyond what I need for anything else I have on my PC. I haven't yet bought Syria, I want to, so far its my favorite map but if I'm maxed out on memory just doing the simple instant action mission then it's probably going to be unplayable when campaigns start coming out for it.

Hi All, I've been trying out the Syria map with the idea of buying it. Absolutely fantastic terrain but I'm finding it's just wreaking havoc on my memory usage and as a result I get crashes, particularly when trying to quit to desktop or quit then load another terrain. I have the following system specs: i7 9700k 3.6GHz 32 GB RAM (reasonably new RAM) Geforce RTX 2060 Super Samsung 500GB SSD (with 170GB free space) Here's what I'm getting with mostly high graphics settings: Caucasus: 45% memory usage, 99% GPU usage Syria: 98% memory usage, 99% GPU usage Reducing graphics to low/medium results in very little change to GPU usage. If I have everything set to the absolute lowest value I'll get around 80% GPU usage but then the game just isn't worth playing in that state. The CPU varies but is around 40% or so, sometimes it spikes as GPU usage drops. Does anybody know if Syria is likely to be able to put less strain on systems as it is updated? Would love to buy and it's playable at the moment but I prefer not to run things so close to the limit and it is a pain having such a hard time quitting DCS after playing on Syria, multiplayer is likely to be totally unplayable but I haven't tried yet. I frequently have to restart my PC after playing Syria.

Hi, Having difficulty getting my wingman to engage in any of the Hind instant action missions. I've tried telling him to attack ground targets and to attack AAA and I either get the reply "unable" or "negative". How do I fix this

Hey man, have you managed to get your wingman to engage ground forces? I am stuck because I'm pretty much lone wolf with the wingman refusing to engage.

Oh right, so in that case do I need to exit the game before attempting to play another map? Is it worth having? It's a very beautiful map with some awesome features but I can't find much single player content available for it even in user files.