DeltaMike

Jabbers, thanks for your video on ss vs pd, that's some solid content. Which is good cuz I'm migrating from rift s to reverb sometime in the next few weeks. Just to clarify -- -- Under steam VR general settings -- setting resolution to 100% allows SVR to oversample at 140% so as not to lose data in barrel transform. Lowering that is really bad. -- Under video settings, resolution is how much supersampling is applied to all apps (as anti-aliasing) -- Under "per app" settings, resolution is supersampling applied on top of the prior two settings. Best variable to manipulate. -- DCS PD them would be a fourth pass essentially and is best held constant at 1.0. Yes? No? Close? Question: in WMR4SVR settings, is there *another* opportunity to set per-app resolution? Or am I misreading the instructions Granted, my plan is to set everything at 100% or 1.0 and hope for the best... 5600x, 6900XT, 32GB and fresh install of everything including Win10

Any interest in finishing the nttr map? Seems odd we have like tonopah airport (much as I love tonopah) but not Fallon... There are vets playing DCS who flew outa there, and a lot of people simming navy jets.. My second choice would be Vietnam. I favor Hanoi area ( liked Flight of Intruder even more than Top Gun personally)

The hd is probably for xplane terrain downloads for which he may want as much cheap storage as he can cram in there I've been very happy with amd CPUs in DCS. I had a 3600x before and just bought a 5600x. Personally I think the lower power draw is more helpful than the extra cores. No need to overclock, which won't help anyway. I did water cooling way back in the day when I used an over clocked Ryzen for mining, since then it's been all air cooling. Only thing is, if you go for the 5600x the stock cooler isn't quite enough. I'm currently liking tower coolers, scythe is enough, noctua is arguably the best. Both kind of bulletproof. The fun is just starting my friend! Wait till you start pricing hotas

The CV1 is very taxing on your hardware, because there's a temptation to push the supersampling in a (vain) attempt to sharpen things up. I was able to squeeze some life out of my old Vega 56 by upgrading to rift S and turning my supersampling way down. Iirc I lowered my PD from 1.4 to 1.2. Dunno if that'll work with quest 2 or not. You can only drive so many pixels with your rig. Just sold my old cv1 on eBay for $150... With a little luck you could lateral move to a used rift s and roll with that till you win the Newegg Shuffle! Note most of your "graphics settings" have an equal effect on CPU and GPU. That said you have a really decent CPU. I have 5 cents says a 3060ti would drive a quest 2 satisfactorily. Dunno that I would be eager to try G2 with anything other than a top tier GPU. It's hard to get away from supersampling, among other things they have to use it in the process of distorting the image so it works with the headsets lenses. There's a certain amount of works needs done regardless of the final output. Buying any electronic device to save for future use is probably not a great strategy. In spite of the current state of the market, the long term trend in technology is that prices come down over time. Keep your powder dry.

Made me wonder if quest 2 is putting a hurting on em.

Been reading. Still counting; so far I've found no fewer than four places where you can adjust supersampling, no? Each of which has a synergistic effect with the previous. Sheesh no wonder people get all twisted up. Makes me miss my old rift, sort of. Just dial up the pd until your gpu chokes on it and live with the results. We have new clouds, I see. Sweet. Haven't played in probably a year. Had enough of war, I guess. Still. Just want to take my old scooter up and watch the sun set over the desert. Do some touch and goes. Then maybe blow something up. I remember coming into the pattern one snowy day in the GAW server. The SAM batteries at Anapa were shooting at something, vapor trails arcing across the sky, catching the last rays of sunlight. Terrible and beautiful at the same time. VR has something to recommended it. Bringing some ass this time. 6900xt should make some hay I'll bet. Knew I had some btc lying around. It was either that or play poker, the other place where time and money go to die. Funny. When I was here, I wanted to be there, when I was there all I could think of was getting back into the jungle.

$150 off on hp website. Still more than quest but starting to get into no brainer territory, inasmuch as I am a little curious what's on those blurry green things on either side of the UFC

We have instructors in Europe and one in Australia, also we have sessions on the weekend that can accommodate everyone NEWS We now have four official servers and two private, affiliated servers offering a variety of experiences. Carrier ops training is up and running. Typically we will have a group of 3 or 4 take off from land, find the carrier, interact with marshall and get em all on the deck with-- eventually, we hope -- a minimum amount of thrashing around Multiplayer events tend to coalesce spontaneously. We typically have some kind of event Monday evenings, either carrier ops or formation practice. AIC training has traditionally been on Friday nights. And we usually have ATC practice early Saturday, at a time that's convenient for people all over the world. On the Saturday morning practices, we have one real-life military ATC controller, several IRL pilots and ATC trainees manning the radios, and level 1 cadets practicing navigation, formation flying and approaches. Our first cohort is moving into Phase 2. Some are focused on RIO, most are starting to move into BFM after mastering formation flying and aerobatics at the end of Phase 1.

We had the same thing happen when running unlimited fuel.

Interesting. What was the difference in total cost between the AMD and Intel systems? 2070S should be plenty with Rift S Whether you're CPU or GPU limited depends on what you're up to. You can make yourself GPU limited by running extreme amounts of anti-aliasing (PD 2+, pretty much any amount of MSAA). So, don't do that. Even so, you'll find yourself CPU limited on busy multiplayer servers. You can mitigate that to a certain extent with settings but for the most part, it just is what it is I wouldn't dig in too deep on the HOTAS and pedals just yet, I'd look at the T16K set as a starter. You'll probably want to upgrade all of that stuff eventually; meanwhile, I think that stick will get you farther than the logitech. When I fly formation with people using the X56 I just don't think they have the fine control, and this includes people you would think have excellent stick skills. The throttle as it turns out is based on the F18 throttle; the radar control and the mini-stick work really well with the F18 module. End of the day, both in day to day operation and later on doing formation flying and aerial refueling, you may wind up getting a little more with the thrustmaster set, for less $

I personally found the Grim Reapers' video tutorial on mapping the F15 to be very helpful, same principles apply to every jet. Map everything in game, has to be repeated for each jet, gets easier after the first. I'd suggest learning how to fly first, then learn how to blow stuff up. Saves you from having to un-learn bad habits later. MB-339 is a free mod and that's a great trainer, among other things you can get someone to hop in the back seat with you for coaching. A4 is another free mod with more stuff, and ability to practice carrier ops, see how you like that. The C-101 is a high fidelity trainer, frickin excellent mod, can't say enough about it. Outstanding instrument trainer. In game tutorials are really good. Really want to nail things down, get the C101, do the in game tutorials, practice your takeoffs and landings, have some fun flying around. Learn some aerobatic maneuvers, do some manual bombing runs. Then start thinking about a modern combat aircraft now that you have some transferable skills Attached an orientation file I used to use for the Academy, perhaps some useful stuff in there for ya FirstFlight.pdf

Step 1, go easy on that CPU. Civ traffic, grass, smoke all off. "Shadows" off, "terrain object shadows" flat at the most. Vis range medium. Step 2, try to make it look decent. Pretty important to get textures to "high" if you can. You can probably get away with at least some anisotropic filtering, but you can set that low or off for now if you want. Cockpit display resolution 1024. Step 3. Having done that, see what you can do with anti-aliasing. Note, anti-aliasing is pretty much all on the GPU, and you need some help there. Turn off MSAA, and don't run the oculus tray tool, keep it simple and make your adjustments in-game. Start with a PD of 1.0. Keep bumping up your PD until you start to get stutters. You probably won't be able to get much higher than 1.2 and wouldn't be surprised if 1.0 is as good as it gets. Step 4. Can't tell you what to do with NVIDIA driver but I understand there might be some tricks you can do with post-processing. Might also want to check and see if overclocking will accomplish anything.

^Good suggestion, easier said than done. We've kicked around the idea of doing cadet interviews, but hate to put up barriers (real or perceived) for people new to DCS, or new to multiplayer. In the meanwhile, can't hurt to strike up a conversation. Couple of comments on "conversation." Please keep in mind we maintain a positive atmosphere. For example, as you read through the forum, isn't it more pleasant to read posts by people who are enthusiastic, thankful for what we have here with DCS, and eager to share knowledge? We feel the same way. With that in mind, BlacleyCole, I'm really looking forward to flying with you! Some general advice: yall be mindful of how you manage your first impressions. You don't have to be obsequious -- certain amount of swagger is to be expected right -- just be careful not to appear gripey or (heaven forbid) whiney. Steely eyed aviators don't whine.

We have a dedicated chopper instructor, who gets rave reviews. Swing by the discord and check it out

We have people all over the world, including Oz. Keep an eye on the discord for announcements. You have to really try to time out of the program, like you have to completely disappear for a long time. Which people do. Our thing is, instructor time, and more specifically instructor energy is a precious commodity as you can well imagine. We have to manage that talent carefully. I will say, the management leads from the front, you won't see any of the instructors dropping off the face of the earth; we expect the same from the cadets

Both. Yak-52 is already in the server, curriculum is in progress AIC is an ongoing process (that curriculum preceded the academy) and in the future we are hoping to have red flag style exercises so there will be plenty to do, plus I imagine from an academic viewpoint it should be really interesting to see how a realistic implementation of Eastern Bloc doctrine plays out. Too bad we don't have more full fidelity Eastern Bloc modules, but it'll be really cool to see the JF17 in action

Guys at the Academy really dig MFG crosswinds, although for the love a Pete $300? As a predominantly F16 driver (currently) my feet are on the floor the whole time, and even when I'm buzzing around in the C101 -- which is really hard to fly without pedals -- my TFRP's are enough. Guess it depends on what you're driving, and how perzackety you are. Chopper pilots tend to want really nice pedals. I imagine if I were predominantly flying an F14 I might spring for the MFG's. But for most DCS jets, I would submit that something cheap like CH (which I used to have) and TFRP (which I'm using now and I really don't hate at all) is enough. If money is no object yeah I'd love to have some crosswinds. But if you have to set priorities, I'd take the computer for a spin first, don't be surprised if your priorities get re-ordered. Quality of life in DCS often boils down to a lot of non-glittery things. Chips, drives, coolers. Stuff like that.

Maybe back off on supersampling (or PD, whichever one you're using, same thing) and see if that helps. Supersampling makes edges squirmy. According to one thesis (which I can't find right now) MSAA might help with text legibility. Can you run MSAAx4? Does it help? Be advised, the way DCS handles rendering, MSAA really flogs your GPU (well, I don't know that it's any worse than supersampling, but it's not any better, and less granular. Net result is, in DCS, MSAA takes a lot of oomph)

OP, note Rudel's system specs. In general, the more pixels you're driving, the more GPU you need. You're driving a fair number of pixels with Oculus products. Because of the pixellated "screen door effect" you get with the pre-S Rifts, you're gonna want to push your supersampling ("pixel density") to fairly high levels, so the low physical pixel count doesn't help you much. You'll be driving plenty of virtual pixels. But that's not even the main problem. In VR, you have to render each image twice. That computation puts a real strain on the CPU and RAM so you need some real horsepower there. That said, gen1 Ryzen CPU's are up to the task, and if you get the right motherboard (at least a B350, B450 is better) you have an upgrade path. Why don't you look around and see if you can find a used system -- or maybe even build one new -- like Rudel's. Shouldn't cost a fortune, especially if you think you can live with 16GB RAM for now. (And you can, long as you aren't frequenting busy multiplayer servers) I don't know that I would dig in too deep in the GPU department right now, a new crop is due out this summer. Maybe worth trying the system upgrade first and see what happens to prices. I expect to crown the 5700XT the new "el cheapo king" before the year is out (surpassing the Vega 56, which is surprisingly good enough) Don't despair! We live in exciting times! Go for it! Believe me this: DCS in VR is cool af

One question that comes up early and often: how do I do two things (or four, or twenty) at once? Your first lesson on landing will probably sound something like this: "What's pattern altitude check your speed make the call turn turn TURN make the call what's your altitude dirty up slow down don't break the flaps you're plummeting speed you're drifting to the inside when do you turn base altitude altitude you're plummeting see that road over there follow that no that one turn turn make the call TURN altitude EASY let go of the rudder come left EASY are you high or low no you're low power POWER go around throttle throttle throttle give it all ya got are your flaps up is the brake in I didn't think so what's your climb speed what's it supposed to be turn turn turn turn make the call watch your altitude" etc etc etc Good times! Reality is, you can only do two things at once if one of those things is so over-learned and automatic that it can be done without any conscious attention. In your first lesson, you'll likely realize you don't have any of those. The answer is, to alternate. If you have four things to do, don't get stuck on one. Always be shifting your attention from one to another. One thing will typically have priority, and when you are in visual conditions, the like-duh-obvious priority is, be looking outside the window. The real horizon works much better than the artificial horizon, that's why it's so fun flying around on a nice day. Eventually you'll see that you can judge altitude and distance in the pattern. If you have VR you can even judge your sink rate. Glance at the "minute hand" on the altimeter frequently, just a glance is all you need. Occasionally glance at the speed indicator. How to divide your attention depends on what you're up to, and how smart you are. On downwind, it'll be like runway-speed-runway-altitude-speed-runway-altitude-runway-altitude-runway-speed-runway-altitude. What makes that smart is, you entered the pattern at the right altitude and speed, so you don't have to fix anything, all you have to do is maintain. On final, you focus your attention on the end of the runway and use peripheral vision to determine alignment, distance from threshold and sink rate. What makes that smart is, you flew a stabilized approach starting on the downwind so there's really not much work to do on final. This comes up over and over and over. You think you got it all down then you start IFR training -- you'll feel like you're juggling monkeys sometimes. You get that down and next thing you know you're in a complex dynamic battlespace and haven't even got your flight joined up properly and Magic is already in your ear about a bunch of bogeys that just popped up at bull's 340 40 miles aspect hot and you've gotta get your flight fenced in kicked out and ready to fight rikki-tik. Which is where we are going with this. Take her for a spin, make sure your controls are mapped how you like em. Be familiar with your aircraft, do some in-game tutorials. Spend some time flying around, and while you're at it, try keeping your eyes outside the cockpit. It's a beautiful world out there. Most of the time.

Bitmaster -- do you think Vulcan (if/when we get there) will favor amd gpus?

I see Radeon VII is already coming down. Still think that card might have a little sumpin extra for DCS, it just needs to get a liiiiiiiitle lower

DCS Academy news: - We have several new instructors - A couple of our star cadets have been invited to be early-phase instructors. One is focused on naval aviation, another is offering European time zone slots. All are fine gents and good teachers. - We also have some advanced instructors either active or in the pipeline. So we have some really advanced capabilities now in A2A, ATC, AIC, and RIO. - We are starting to spool up our REDFOR program, so those who are dying to get into a Yak, L39 and JF-17, stay tuned! Slots open up every Saturday night. Be advised, the reason for that is we purge every Saturday morning. You don't have to quit your day job -- in fact 90% of this is self-paced, learning on your own and with the other cadets -- but you do have to maintain proficiency and you do need to kind of move things along to make room for the new cadets.

^ See, you did fine! Yeah get DCS up and running. If you're brand-brand-new, please consider making the C-101 your first module. Yeah it's kinda slow. You'll see the beauty of that soon enough, things happen REAL quick sometimes and it's nice to have a little extra time to sort things out. It's a well behaved plane, helpful for learning a stabilized approach right out the gate. And all the systems work, so you you'll be working it out all the way through Phase 1 of the curriculum. Finally, you'll save yourself some misery by only having to familiarize yourself, and maintain competency in one aircraft. Do the in-game tutorials to familiarize yourself with operation, and take it for a spin to make sure your controls are mapped. Pay special attention to brakes (which is tricky if you don't have rudder pedals -- you'll quickly see the beauty of that, too), trim, and flaps. If you don't have a joystick yet, I would strongly recommend the T16000 set. The stick is excellent, the throttle is very functional, and the pedals are adequate. Great value for the $. I finally invested in a Warthog joystick but I still can't get away from the throttle and pedals -- definitely got my money's worth out of that one. Differently-abled people who don't use pedals might not like the twist grip, it's a little awkward and I hear it breaks easily, but the slap-paddle on the throttle works like a charm for rudder control. Post any questions about how to set up the brakes.

RE GPU's make sure you're focused on performance in flight sims, and DCS in particular. Historically, pound for pound, NVIDIA seems to work better than AMD in that setting. In the current market, way I see it, the problem with NVIDIA is you have to pay for ray-tracing, which you won't use in DCS. But at least it hasn't lost any ground. Quite the contrary, I'd way rather have a 2070S than a 1080. Meanwhile, what's been happening in the AMD world? Vega for example isn't bad in DCS, about on par with a 1080. But I see AMD is dropping its TMU count, which up until now seems to generally correlate with performance in DCS, near as I can tell. What does that mean (if anything) for the 5700XT? I'd like to see some data. And there is precious little of that out there. Same goes for the VII, which I find very interesting, but likewise there's virtually no data. It would need to come down in price a little more before I'd take a flyer on it. DCS is different, it's crunching a different set of numbers than most of the games you see benchmarked.