Better acces to the manuals.

[Mike_Romeo]

In the last few days some of you have probably noticed that there were a lot of new people who wanted to try out DCS through the f2p event. Of course, there were always questions about the individual modules, but it seems to me that most of them are not aware that the manualls exist. When they find out about it for the first time, they don't know where to find it.
I would therefore like to ask ED to give us access via the main menu. It is certainly somehow possible to add a "Manuall / Doc" section under which you can access the individual manualls of the modules. The following pictures show how I imagine it all and what it could look like. It would definitely be more user friendly.

 

This is how it could be to take a look into the F-5 manuall

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Mike_Romeo
Missing tags

[Northstar98]

Awesome idea! +1

 

And even bundling all the manuals and documentation into one folder in saved games or documents would be an improvement.

[killkenny1]

Making them accessible through start menu would also be nice.

[SharpeXB]

I don’t imagine most people read them via the game GUI. They put them on iPads or print them. 

[Dragon1-1]

That works best when you aren't in VR. This idea would really make it easier for VR users to access the manuals, which you currently need to either remove the googles to read, or peek at them through the nose gap. Neither is particularly comfortable.

[killkenny1]

8 minutes ago, Dragon1-1 said:

That works best when you aren't in VR. This idea would really make it easier for VR users to access the manuals, which you currently need to either remove the googles to read, or peek at them through the nose gap. Neither is particularly comfortable.

 

Or you can add the manual to the kneeboard.

[Dragon1-1]

Not really an option given how long those are. Also, it would render the kneeboard very hard to use for mission-specific stuff, which is kind of important in older planes. There's a reason real pilots don't have a full NATOPS or whatever strapped to their knees.

[sthompson]

18 hours ago, Mike_Romeo said:

In the last few days some of you have probably noticed that there were a lot of new people who wanted to try out DCS through the f2p event. Of course, there were always questions about the individual modules, but it seems to me that most of them are not aware that the manualls exist. When they find out about it for the first time, they don't know where to find it.
I would therefore like to ask ED to give us access via the main menu. It is certainly somehow possible to add a "Manuall / Doc" section under which you can access the individual manualls of the modules. The following pictures show how I imagine it all and what it could look like. It would definitely be more user friendly.

 

 

This is how it could be to take a look into the F-5 manuall

 

 

 

I also wish they were easier to find and that a collection of links to installed manuals were available somewhere. However I suggest that the place for this is not the main GUI interface. When I want to review a manual while flying I do not want to exit the mission just to open a manual. A "DCS Documentation" subfolder of the Eagle Dynamics start menu folder seems like a better place for these links. I actually keep such a folder handy already, but it needs a lot of manual updating. Alternatively there could be an entry on the Escape key menu (similar to the one for adjusting controls) that would let you open a manual from a paused game.

[Mars Exulte]

Yeah, even I think the manuals are needlessly squirreled away. Ideally they should all be available on the main menu, and the one you're flying should be accessible from the ingame ESC.

 

I know I'm one to be like RTFM DUM NOOB but when 90% of the time they're like ''there's a manual???'' I can't really fault them for not knowing to dig through the labyrinthine directory structure in search of them. Hell, main reason I know where they are is because I'm a modder that likes tinkering with game files, digging through that stuff is usually like... the second thing I do after buying a new game.

Edited December 29, 2020 by zhukov032186

[killkenny1]

On 12/29/2020 at 11:34 PM, Dragon1-1 said:

Not really an option given how long those are. Also, it would render the kneeboard very hard to use for mission-specific stuff, which is kind of important in older planes. There's a reason real pilots don't have a full NATOPS or whatever strapped to their knees.

 

Fair point. Although, I thought they do have flight manuals in the plane, not strapped to the knees of course.

 

In my case I just copy a few pages, or just make my own small "cheat sheet" in order not to clutter the kneeboard. Making my own actually is kinda beneficial, as I find it easier to remember something then I write it myself.

 

Otherwise, maybe a second kneeboard containing just manual would be a cool feature, with all chapter bookmarks available for easier navigation. Maybe even search, but not sure if ED would want to do that.