Great game but very hard for beginners...

[luftfisch]

I am very impressed of DCS and what you get for free. Big compliment to the programmers! :thumbup:

But I must say: it's very hard for newbies because some important things are missing. :cry:

 

- Recommended hardware and the information that you need pedals to fly helicopters and that you have no chance to keep an overview in the cockpit or localize targets without a head tracker.

- Helpful information for selecting modules. I thought FC3 would be easier for beginners until I found out that all available trainings are only non-interactive videos. "Press ESC to take over control" - but it only quits the movie. Is there no possibiliy to learn to fly a new aircraft without starting a mission and being shot down in 5 seconds? Please add real, flyable training missions to FC3 like those at the SU-25T!

- Training for TF-51D. Why are there no training missions for the second plane in the free download?

- Training of basic flight maneuvers. Some DCS newbies may only have arcade flight sim experience, and it took me so long to realize what I always did wrong to crash the SU-25T. I still don't know if and how much one should use rudders in-flight and in combination with roll and pitch...

- Joystick-Profiles. After realizing that my old stick was too crappy for this game, I bought a new HOTAS X52. But configuring all the buttons while you only know very little key commands after the first trainings, is very difficult. Please provide some useful config files for most common sticks like Saitek X52, Warthog, etc.

- Missions and campaigns are great for motivation. But here in the forums everyone tells me that DCS campaigns are much too difficult for beginners. Why don't you add some easier campaigns for beginners that start with easy missions, slowly increase difficulty and motivate newbies into the game.

 

DCS has the concept of giving a great entrance for free and earning money with happy returning customers. But I almost gave up before my first purchase and if I woun't find any playable training missions for FC3, I will probably not buy any other modules, because I got the impression that this game is for hardcore pilots only and far beyond the possibilities of limited free time gamers with jobs and families.

 

I think, a good game today should include a user friendly tutorial :smartass:and not leave beginners alone, searching their harddisk for hidden readme files and pdfs.:book::doh:

[IvanTehFennec]

It is hard because it is NOT a game.

 

Don't kid yourself. It is absolutely a game. It's just got a steep learning curve.

[GeorgeLKMT]

As for the FC3 training missions, there are a few for the Su-27 actually, but they're in missions tab rather in training. It would be great to have them for all aircraft, but at least it's something...

 

It is hard because it is NOT a game.

 

Correct, DCS is actually an accounting software. ED's description:

 

Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) is a free-to-play digital battlefield game...

[S-GERAT]

I am very impressed of DCS and what you get for free. Big compliment to the programmers! :thumbup:

But I must say: it's very hard for newbies because some important things are missing. :cry:

 

- Recommended hardware and the information that you need pedals to fly helicopters and that you have no chance to keep an overview in the cockpit or localize targets without a head tracker.

- Helpful information for selecting modules. I thought FC3 would be easier for beginners until I found out that all available trainings are only non-interactive videos. "Press ESC to take over control" - but it only quits the movie. Is there no possibiliy to learn to fly a new aircraft without starting a mission and being shot down in 5 seconds? Please add real, flyable training missions to FC3 like those at the SU-25T!

- Training for TF-51D. Why are there no training missions for the second plane in the free download?

- Training of basic flight maneuvers. Some DCS newbies may only have arcade flight sim experience, and it took me so long to realize what I always did wrong to crash the SU-25T. I still don't know if and how much one should use rudders in-flight and in combination with roll and pitch...

- Joystick-Profiles. After realizing that my old stick was too crappy for this game, I bought a new HOTAS X52. But configuring all the buttons while you only know very little key commands after the first trainings, is very difficult. Please provide some useful config files for most common sticks like Saitek X52, Warthog, etc.

- Missions and campaigns are great for motivation. But here in the forums everyone tells me that DCS campaigns are much too difficult for beginners. Why don't you add some easier campaigns for beginners that start with easy missions, slowly increase difficulty and motivate newbies into the game.

 

DCS has the concept of giving a great entrance for free and earning money with happy returning customers. But I almost gave up before my first purchase and if I woun't find any playable training missions for FC3, I will probably not buy any other modules, because I got the impression that this game is for hardcore pilots only and far beyond the possibilities of limited free time gamers with jobs and families.

 

I think, a good game today should include a user friendly tutorial :smartass:and not leave beginners alone, searching their harddisk for hidden readme files and pdfs.:book::doh:

 

The FC3 planes are very simple regarding avionics and systems, so with a few keystrokes you should have the plane ready for take off. Also inside the dcs directory you can find the manual that teach you about the weapon systems usage.

 

I own all modules and usually prefer to read the manual and learn by myself to the training missions.

[Red Dragon-DK]

Wellcome

 

It is true that it can be difficult to start on its own and fly in DCS World. But having said that, you are also lucky enough to get to a society with very competent abilities and willingness to help new coming. Ask your questions and you can be almost 100% sure that there is someone who will come and give you a qualified answer.

 

My advice is. Start with SU25T. watch these videos made by Robert Sogomonian and learn quiet and calm everything from the beginning. They are very detailed explained and easy to understand. When you are through these trainings you begin to have a good idea of how you move around in DCS World. You will find it very satisfying to learn this.

 

[ame]

[/ame]

 

 

Good luck with your future pilot carriere

[Dav IRL]

DCS will reward your patience, time and effort more then any other game on the market. It is a 'sim' so it's very deep in content and rich in reward. Take one aircraft, my advice is the f15c and learn how to start engines, taxi, change weapon load-outs, land, attack etc.. Once you have learned one plane all the basics are out of the way for the next and you start to see a uniformed consistency in the controls for each aircraft. Spend a few months with an aircraft, there is no rush.

[NeilWillis]

You have some very good points, and providing a more gentle intro, plus some simple recommendations would definitely help newcomers.

 

It would definitely benefit ED to provide guidance, and I am sure you're right about the difficulty at the outset putting potential buyers off.

[jcbak]

There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube. There are no shortcuts in this "game." At first there is a good deal of frustration...setting up controls, etc. This isn't unique to flight simulation....try X-Plane or Falcon BMS control set up.....you will want to throw the computer out of the window until you wrap your brain around it. DCS takes some time and commitment but you won't regret one minute of it. Easy is boring......

[TwilightZone]

great point jcbak;......youtube......search Bunyap tutorials and Chuck Owl tutorials .....many more there too......;-)

[JughedJones]

Bunyap on YouTube has got you covered.

 

You really can be good at this with limited time, if you have a couple hours at the end of your day to play... You can watch a Bunyap vid then practice what you learned... You'll be halfway decent in no time.

 

It's awesome because it's difficult. I agree that more and better in-game tutorials would be great, but they only have a certain amount of funds/manpower... I'd rather they spent it on other stuff when there's so many great instructional videos out there.

[Sabre-TLA]

I have to agree with the OP though that many people learn best by doing.

 

We started with our Basic Flight Training Qualification campaigns and do plan on working backwards to provide Flight Training campaigns as well in the near future.

 

Our A-10C BFT Campaign contains practice missions so you can pass the qualification missions but a true Flight Training Campaign would go a long way in teaching users how to fly and use the DCS modules.

 

With the new trainer aircraft we now have we expect to see some Flight Training campaigns for them soon.

[StalkerM]

is DCS a game or something else? there is no clear-cut definitions for videogame so the question is no-sense :P DCS need a lot of patience to be mastered. Having a copy of some flight mechanic book and another one explaining how aerial combat works (like Art of the Kill) is going to be helpful :P

[Ironhand]

I...

DCS has the concept of giving a great entrance for free and earning money with happy returning customers. But I almost gave up before my first purchase and if I woun't find any playable training missions for FC3, I will probably not buy any other modules, because I got the impression that this game is for hardcore pilots only and far beyond the possibilities of limited free time gamers with jobs and families.

 

I think, a good game today should include a user friendly tutorial :smartass:and not leave beginners alone, searching their harddisk for hidden readme files and pdfs.:book::doh:

 

You're right. There is a dearth of missions for beginners. Hadn't fully appreciated that fact until reading your post. Missions that introduce you slowly to the flight characteristics of each aircraft and, only after that, lead you into their various weapons systems.

[HornedGod]

With the upcoming release of DCS 2.0 there's a good chance that ED might actually spent some marketing dollars to announce the update and try to attract new players. But if all those new players hit the brick wall that is there right now it will have been money wasted.

 

New players are not going to go to Youtube to watch tutorial videos or spent forever setting up their controls. I hope that ED does spent time and effort on making the ramp up for new players better; it really is the Achilles heel of the game right now and one that can be fixed.

 

New players means more money for the game, more players in MP, more chance of new aircraft and theatres.

 

It's a win all around. But when new players try the game they have to be eased in. They have to see the potential and understand it's complexity without being turned off by the difficulty.

 

I'm not a fan of doing this via the arcade mode, but rather through more aids that automate things as much as possible in the full simulation mode. These aids can then be disabled over time. The game should explicitly highlight that theses aids are on to new players and what they do to help (and where the settings can be changed if desired).

[MiG21bisFishbedL]

I am very impressed of DCS and what you get for free. Big compliment to the programmers! :thumbup:

But I must say: it's very hard for newbies because some important things are missing. :cry:

 

- Recommended hardware and the information that you need pedals to fly helicopters and that you have no chance to keep an overview in the cockpit or localize targets without a head tracker.

I actually do okay with out pedals or head tracking. However, I'd definitely benefit with them. You just need the P word. Actually, a lot of things can be summed up with that.

 

- Helpful information for selecting modules. I thought FC3 would be easier for beginners until I found out that all available trainings are only non-interactive videos. "Press ESC to take over control" - but it only quits the movie. Is there no possibiliy to learn to fly a new aircraft without starting a mission and being shot down in 5 seconds? Please add real, flyable training missions to FC3 like those at the SU-25T!

 

I'd definitely agree with you in this case. I've never actually gone through the FC3 tutorials, but having a tutorial like the one with the Su-25T would be very, very helpful. Especially when trying to utilize the air-to-air radars of the fighters.

 

- Training for TF-51D. Why are there no training missions for the second plane in the free download?

Well, there's not much you can do with the TF-51D. No weapons. It was honestly a silly addition.

 

I do agree with most else.

[Viersbovsky]

- Recommended hardware and the information that you need pedals to fly helicopters and that you have no chance to keep an overview in the cockpit or localize targets without a head tracker.

 

That is not something the developer can change. DCS World is free to play with two planes. Spending some time with those will show you whether your hardware and equipment is adequate.

 

- Helpful information for selecting modules. I thought FC3 would be easier for beginners until I found out that all available trainings are only non-interactive videos. "Press ESC to take over control" - but it only quits the movie. Is there no possibiliy to learn to fly a new aircraft without starting a mission and being shot down in 5 seconds? Please add real, flyable training missions to FC3 like those at the SU-25T!

 

There are no real "beginner" modules in DCS since DCS tries to simulate a real aircraft as close as possible. Tne FC3 planes are more or less leftovers from EDs earlier title. You are of course absolutely correct that tutorials are lacking. Some modules do not even have proper tutorials, others only show you the start-up procedures. But how do you actually "fly'n'fight" in that airplane?

 

The Su-25T tutorial is actually quite good though - it should be the benchmark for others.

 

The truth is, most of the information you need is either here, in this forums or on youtube - not in the game or the manuals.

 

- Training for TF-51D. Why are there no training missions for the second plane in the free download?

Yeah, this is kind of an oversight. The TF51 looks kind of like an afterthought in the great scheme of DCS things. One can only hope that the P51D tutorials will be adapted to the TF51.

 

- Training of basic flight maneuvers. Some DCS newbies may only have arcade flight sim experience, and it took me so long to realize what I always did wrong to crash the SU-25T. I still don't know if and how much one should use rudders in-flight and in combination with roll and pitch...

That is something that is hard to teach new pilots. The basic is, you would not drive a real car like an RC car- same goes for planes. You will most likely only move the stick within 25% of its maximum throw for most of your time in the air. Also, your aircraft constantly trades potential energy in the form of altitude and airspeed. Dive down, you gain speed, pull back up and you will get back to almost that altitude - except if you pull the stick too much, then your angle of attack is too big and you bleed speed, wasting energy, being a sitting duck... See, it is not easy flying cleanly - it comes with practice. You need to know the theory behind flying as well the exact performance characterstics of your plane.

 

In the end though, it should be expected of players to understand that this is a simulation and not an arcade game.

 

- Joystick-Profiles. After realizing that my old stick was too crappy for this game, I bought a new HOTAS X52. But configuring all the buttons while you only know very little key commands after the first trainings, is very difficult. Please provide some useful config files for most common sticks like Saitek X52, Warthog, etc.

Yeah, usable standard configs for the most popular controllers out there should be a thing. What I do: I go to a tutorial, and when I am not sure what a Button does, I open the controls menu. When you press the button, the menu will jump to the line where the button is assigned. This way, you can easily check what the button does. That is pretty helpful when you are rusty in e.g. the Hog, sonce there are a lot of 4-way switches involved. What was the TMS, what the DMS? Just look it up quickly in the Menu.

 

On the other hand, in a new module I first look up the layout of the stick and throttly in the real craft - there is usually a schemaic in the manual. I then mirror this setup as closely as possible.

I then do the tutorials and assign the mentioned buttons on the fly. Weapon change will be needed, and it sounds like it will be needed often? Well, lets assign it to one of these small white switches I can easily reach with my thumb! The buttons used in the tutorilas are usually the buttons you will use often.

 

But yeah, preset profiles for the most common sticks should come with every module. Some users post their profiles on this forums though.

 

- Missions and campaigns are great for motivation. But here in the forums everyone tells me that DCS campaigns are much too difficult for beginners. Why don't you add some easier campaigns for beginners that start with easy missions, slowly increase difficulty and motivate newbies into the game.

Truth be told, I have only flown 3 campaign missions in the 5 years I am now actively playing DCS. They are simply still too hardcore for me. The Huey campaign seems pretty good since the first mission is simply navigation, but it drags on too long.

 

Designers should look a bit closer to the gamier side of things and make a begginners campaign that has a very shallow learning curve while being entertaining.

 

Idea for a Su-25T campaign:

Mission 1: Takeoff, Navigation, Landing, meanwhile some hints and chatter from your wingman, should take 20 mins max

Mission 2: Takeoff, Navigation to Target, Attack some defenseless targets, RTB, Land,

30 mins max

Mission 3: Takeoff, Attack targets, an unarmed enemy plane is in the area to show you the RWR, RTB, Land

Mission 4: Takeoff, Attack targets that are defended by AAA, maybe kill some transport choppers, RTB, Land

etc etc etc

Add some chatter, intruduce a new "gameplay" element in every mission, give the player some quick successes while being entertaining by providing some lore. Boring for experts, but enough to ease in new pilots.

 

The regular campaign (I believe oil war) throws AAA, murderous SAMs, an ongoing battle and an interceptor plane at you in the first mission.

 

DCS has the concept of giving a great entrance for free and earning money with happy returning customers. But I almost gave up before my first purchase and if I woun't find any playable training missions for FC3, I will probably not buy any other modules, because I got the impression that this game is for hardcore pilots only and far beyond the possibilities of limited free time gamers with jobs and families.

 

I think, a good game today should include a user friendly tutorial :smartass:and not leave beginners alone, searching their harddisk for hidden readme files and pdfs.:book::doh:

I agree with you. The learning curve is more like a wall for some. But I started with a gamepad and still had fun - since there is nothing like DCS out there when it comes to systems modeling and flight model.

 

Reading this forum and watching youtube tutorials is pretty much mandatory when getting into DCS.

[Zimmerdylan]

I am very impressed of DCS and what you get for free. Big compliment to the programmers! :thumbup:

But I must say: it's very hard for newbies because some important things are missing. :cry:

 

- Recommended hardware and the information that you need pedals to fly helicopters and that you have no chance to keep an overview in the cockpit or localize targets without a head tracker.

- Helpful information for selecting modules. I thought FC3 would be easier for beginners until I found out that all available trainings are only non-interactive videos. "Press ESC to take over control" - but it only quits the movie. Is there no possibiliy to learn to fly a new aircraft without starting a mission and being shot down in 5 seconds? Please add real, flyable training missions to FC3 like those at the SU-25T!

- Training for TF-51D. Why are there no training missions for the second plane in the free download?

- Training of basic flight maneuvers. Some DCS newbies may only have arcade flight sim experience, and it took me so long to realize what I always did wrong to crash the SU-25T. I still don't know if and how much one should use rudders in-flight and in combination with roll and pitch...

- Joystick-Profiles. After realizing that my old stick was too crappy for this game, I bought a new HOTAS X52. But configuring all the buttons while you only know very little key commands after the first trainings, is very difficult. Please provide some useful config files for most common sticks like Saitek X52, Warthog, etc.

- Missions and campaigns are great for motivation. But here in the forums everyone tells me that DCS campaigns are much too difficult for beginners. Why don't you add some easier campaigns for beginners that start with easy missions, slowly increase difficulty and motivate newbies into the game.

 

DCS has the concept of giving a great entrance for free and earning money with happy returning customers. But I almost gave up before my first purchase and if I woun't find any playable training missions for FC3, I will probably not buy any other modules, because I got the impression that this game is for hardcore pilots only and far beyond the possibilities of limited free time gamers with jobs and families.

 

I think, a good game today should include a user friendly tutorial :smartass:and not leave beginners alone, searching their harddisk for hidden readme files and pdfs.:book::doh:

 

 

 

DCS is pretty much like any other flight sim software. Steep learning curve, little actual instruction on how to prepare, and a he!! of a lot of intense fun.

The difference with DCS is that this thing is the most realistic sim out there in both detail, flight characteristics, and quality. Not to mention it's price.

Just hang out, ask whatever questions you need to, and enjoy. People here are all too happy to get you going in the right direction. If you have issues with the planes, you can ask here or Youtube is a wealth of information, and instructional videos.

Trust me (and all of us). You'll love this simulator, and you'll learn quickly if you ask questions, and make friends.

[wumas0201]

Do you feel difficult about this..............

 

BECAUSE THIS IS NOT "WARTHUNDER"~~~

[Windsortheater]

I agree with OP even though I am very familiar with DCS.

 

Youtube is fine, reading forums ...OK.

 

Integrated, user friendly tutorials are important. Same goes for pre-loaded profiles for common devices that leverage 'expert' experience in terms of mapping etc..

 

An investment in this area I think would go a long way towards converting folks from dcs world free version 'tasters' to paying 'addicts' - not to mention creating a more user friendly, lower effort and enjoyable experience for all of us.

[XeNoise]

As for the FC3 training missions, there are a few for the Su-27 actually, but they're in missions tab rather in training. It would be great to have them for all aircraft, but at least it's something...

 

 

 

Correct, DCS is actually an accounting software. ED's description:

 

Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) is a free-to-play digital battlefield game...

 

I think you should understand what e meant without him to explain it exactly and precisely.

 

It is a videogame because in the end we sit in front of a computer and have fun through an interactive software. It is sold with the same conditions as a regular videogame and so on but you guys can't deny that this is different from anything else on steam.. i mean come on, a serious simulator is not a regular game because it works totally different. The user needs to actually learn how to use it in order to enjoy it and specially: the developers don't base them decisions on what is more fun, but on what reflects the reality.

 

Anyways in the end everything comes down to one difference: if you want to enjoy the game you need to invest time by researching.

 

You don't need a headtracker, if you get used to the pointing stick which you should have (x-52), you'll be able to keep the overview anyways. It will be slower but surely possible. (I also use an x-52 and no problems, don't want to buy an headtracker since i'm waiting for oculus rift or htc wive)

 

The interactive videos are not the best solution, my advice is to take notes and apply what you learned in a mission which you can create by simply placing your plane on a random airfield in the mission editor. You could also try to buy somewhere lock on, a really old version of dcs where the tutorials are actually interactive.

 

About the flight maneuvers: practice and more practice, the best thing is to place enemy aircrafts without any weapon, only in dogfight you can learn to know what are the limits of your machine.

 

Joystick profiles: dcs has a LOT of key commands, that is true. You can find on the forum a lot of configurations, only the most important commands should go to the stick at first. After this you can start to customize your own config. With dcs worls you have a great thing: during a single players mission you can customize your settings and see how to perform certain actions. Back in my days this wasn't possible, i needed to print all key settings and pin them to the wall at first. :D

 

Btw, welcome :) It won't be easy but soon enough you will be having tons of fun.

[Dav IRL]

Do you feel difficult about this..............

 

BECAUSE THIS IS NOT "WARTHUNDER"~~~

I agree this is certainly not "Warrrrthunnnnnderrr"

 

- please insert coin

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[CaptJodan]

I think there are some fair criticisms here for new simmers. I don't think any compromises should be made to the level of detail for advanced users, but certainly there could be some help for beginning users.

 

I remember back in the Black Shark and A-10C days (okay, I'm still in the A-10C days sometimes) when nothing made sense to me and I didn't have the motivation to learn everything at once. There's a distinct lack of scalabilty with a lot of DCS. You either put it on game mode, and everything is ridiculously simplistic and arcade-like, or you do simulation and are overwhelmed all at once. I didn't even have the mentality back then to devote hours and hours just to learn how to start the engines and then remember how to do it across different platforms.

 

Some of the other points also seem like fair criticisms. Having said that....

 

I think you should understand what e meant without him to explain it exactly and precisely.

 

It is a videogame because in the end we sit in front of a computer and have fun through an interactive software. It is sold with the same conditions as a regular videogame and so on but you guys can't deny that this is different from anything else on steam.. i mean come on, a serious simulator is not a regular game because it works totally different. The user needs to actually learn how to use it in order to enjoy it and specially: the developers don't base them decisions on what is more fun, but on what reflects the reality.

 

Anyways in the end everything comes down to one difference: if you want to enjoy the game you need to invest time by researching.

 

You don't need a headtracker, if you get used to the pointing stick which you should have (x-52), you'll be able to keep the overview anyways. It will be slower but surely possible. (I also use an x-52 and no problems, don't want to buy an headtracker since i'm waiting for oculus rift or htc wive)

 

The interactive videos are not the best solution, my advice is to take notes and apply what you learned in a mission which you can create by simply placing your plane on a random airfield in the mission editor. You could also try to buy somewhere lock on, a really old version of dcs where the tutorials are actually interactive.

 

About the flight maneuvers: practice and more practice, the best thing is to place enemy aircrafts without any weapon, only in dogfight you can learn to know what are the limits of your machine.

 

 

These are some pretty good tips. DCS comes with a powerful mission editor, and that editor has seen far more use by me than any campaign or mission. Setting up whatever mission I need to learn a particular skill has been the way to go. Often, it requires a YouTube video or two to get the hang of things.

 

Practicing just flying your aircraft, loaded and unloaded, in the sky can also be a huge help as stated. At least half the fun is learning the aircraft's flight characteristics, seeing what it can and can't do, even without people shooting at you all the time.

 

This sim ultimately won't be for everyone. We're a niche market that is, quite frankly, lucky to have something as complex and well modeled as DCS. There are small things I think ED could do to make the experience easier for newbies without sacrificing the core of the game or wouldn't take a huge amount of development time to implement (you have to balance that last part carefully, otherwise you're not working on new modules or a dynamic campaign!), but in the end, the player has to come ready to learn too.

[DrDetroit]

Don't kid yourself. It is absolutely a game. It's just got a steep learning curve.

 

Correction my friend; It's a sim, NOT a game. Candy crush is a game. Flying the A10C and others is a simulator (mid fidelity at best for most mods) - vast difference.

 

Good day,

 

DrDetroit

[HornedGod]

Ideas to help ease in newbies:

 

1/ When the game is run for the first time have a tutorial that walks the player through creating a pilot profile, explains what planes come with the base game and asks which one they'd like to try out first. This then loads that plane up and starts the tutorial for that plane.

 

2/ Base plane tutorials need more upfront instructions: setting up flight stick/controls (defaults for all the main sticks out there, etc), how to restart/repeat instructions, etc.

 

3/ Since the P-51 already has decent tutorials, and it has guns (an important part of a combat simulator), I'd add it as one of the default planes that is free with the game. Just add more initial instruction on game and control setup before the cold start tutorial.

 

I think the P-51 is a better choice too in that DCS should be putting its best foot forward when making a first impression and that should be a plane with a fully interactive cockpit. Nothing against the Su-25, I just think the P-51 makes a better first impression and should be pushed more as the first plane seen.

 

3/ Put the Tutorial option at the top of the list on the main menu.

 

4/ Have more tutorials, especially ones that gives examples of BFM. Make tutorials a mandatory part of 3rd party planes (full release), along with an easy campaign.

 

5/ Have a tutorial or on screen prompts for first time users that try to join a multiplayer game. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen chat requests in a MP from someone who can't figure out how to select a plane once they've joined a server.

 

I'd love to see more, such as TacView integrated directly into the game, bookmarks/save points in missions that players could go back to quickly without needed to go back to the main menu and restart a mission (especially useful in training missions), etc. but those are more for intermediate players.

 

To start with ED should focus on the initial 60 minute experience of a newbie that tries DCS Free. I'm sure they have numbers from Steam on the number of people of who have installed the free game. I would not be surprised if the attrition rate is atrocious. Everything that could be done for more people to stick around helps us all, even if it takes away from planes and theatres in the short term.

[cichlidfan]

As long as the manual doesn't even properly explain how to save a controller profile, I don't think ED is going to put any effort into explaining the rest of the sim.