Jump to content

few things that could make this simulator simpler and better and possibly get more players


CaptainRamrod1

Recommended Posts

Hello there.   I am a addict.  I think I own every Module with the exception of the Christen Eagle.   It is probably a great plane but just not my cup of tea.   

I would love to make a few suggestions.    so why not Add English Cockpits to every Purchased Module out there as well as Chinese and Russian?   Yes you can download them but after spending what could be said is alot of money it would be awesome if people were able to use there aircraft in there native language.  

 Also could you look into adding somethings into the game like controllers such as the Saitek or now Logitech Flight Panels and switches.  Also add on Mfds would be great if they were detected.   Again yes you could add on by using a bitchute or program someone else added but some folks just aren't comfortable or don't have the computer knowledge and I think it would be helpful and the easier the interface the more customers will use it.   

 

 here is a suggestion,  You have two free planes that come with the sim.  They are alright planes.   There are lots of Mods out there for people to add on for free.   Well some of those mods I think could be pay worthy.  In paticular the T45, A4 skyhawk and the Hercules.   Why not reach out to those developers and see about using those as other free planes to draw in folks to fly.  those mods are better which may just be my opinion then the 2 free aircraft included.   A friend gifted me an aircraft and that is what started this addiction.  Had I not experienced that plane I think I may have walked away.   Yes Eagle Dynamics may have to pay a little but it would be an investment.  The A4 is fully combat capable and can be used on the carrier.   Had I of flown that as a first plane and got to experience a carrier with it I would of been hooked.   

 

Anyways I am sure there are thousands who feel the same and regardless I love this Sim and will fly but it would be amazing if maybe you could do a few tweaks and make it easier for us older folks who are scared to mess with files and such and would just like a easier experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

here is a suggestion,  You have two free planes that come with the sim.  They are alright planes.   There are lots of Mods out there for people to add on for free.   Well some of those mods I think could be pay worthy.  In paticular the T45, A4 skyhawk and the Hercules.   Why not reach out to those developers and see about using those as other free planes to draw in folks to fly.  those mods are better which may just be my opinion then the 2 free aircraft included.   A friend gifted me an aircraft and that is what started this addiction.  Had I not experienced that plane I think I may have walked away.   Yes Eagle Dynamics may have to pay a little but it would be an investment.  The A4 is fully combat capable and can be used on the carrier.   Had I of flown that as a first plane and got to experience a carrier with it I would of been hooked. 

I'd love it if our mod community who don't want to sell their stuff would just donate it to eagle. I do though agree that there should be a free carrier plane 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

so why not Add English Cockpits to every Purchased Module out there as well as Chinese and Russian? 

  Most of them do these days, afaik.

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

 Also could you look into adding somethings into the game like controllers such as the Saitek or now Logitech Flight Panels and switches. 

  Any game USB DirectX compatible controller will work. The Saitek panels do not work because they are NOT standard DirectX items, they're proprietary and made for a specific software (FSX, I think). Complain to Saitek for not using the universally supported standard used by the rest of the planet, not ED.

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

Also add on Mfds would be great if they were detected.

  If you mean Thrustmaster Cougars, they ARE supported (see above). If you mean a video image exported to a separate monitor, also supported, but you still have to set it up, there is no magic way for DCS to know exactly what you're trying to do. You have to tell it.

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

Well some of those mods I think could be pay worthy.  In paticular the T45, A4 skyhawk and the Hercules.   Why not reach out to those developers and see about using those as other free planes to draw in folks to fly.

  Those mods do not belong to ED. They are none of ED's business. If the developers of those mods want to apply for developer status, there is a system in place for them to do so. It is also not up to ED or the developers themselves, either. They must ALSO acquire a license from the owner of that aircraft (Boeing, Lockheed, BAE, etc). So, no. They cannot simply hoover up your favorite mods.

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

Anyways I am sure there are thousands who feel the same

  There are thousands of people around here who do not understand how the dev environment works, yes =)

1 hour ago, CaptainRamrod1 said:

maybe you could do a few tweaks and make it easier for us older folks who are scared to mess with files and such and would just like a easier experience.

  It's a lot more user friendly than it used to be 😃 More importantly, anything you might want to do at this point has already been done by someone else. Don't hesitate to ask around for help if you're trying to do something and are unsure how to proceed.

And don't be afraid to mess with files, either! Always make a copy of something before you change it, that way you can always go back to an untouched version. I've been modding almost since I could reach the keyboard. It's usually not that hard, especially in an established game like this where most the footwork's already been done.

  • Like 6

Де вороги, знайдуться козаки їх перемогти.

5800x3d * 3090 * 64gb * Reverb G2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/9/2021 at 8:13 AM, ST0RM said:

The three FREE mods you mentioned, are so because they're mods. So there is nothing to stop a new player from downloading them and using them inside DCS, of the TF-51 and Su-25T aren't to their liking. 

Though I think a good mod manager and better mod support would be nice.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The main things I would like to make things a little more user friendly would be some graphics and control wizards.

The graphics wizard- the bare minimum would be a button that says auto configure amd gives us the optimal settings for our hardware. I mentioned that here

 

Then controls wizard- we would have a profile called default helicopter and airplane wich will just be a template with the most common controls. Then when we install a mod it will read from that then we would have to configure what is left or fine tune if needed. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, upyr1 said:

Though I think a good mod manager and better mod support would be nice.

OVGME is pretty darn easy to use. 
It's usually the installer (exe wrapper) that forces some extra bit of file structure building to make it work and that stumps some users. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ST0RM said:

OVGME is pretty darn easy to use. 
It's usually the installer (exe wrapper) that forces some extra bit of file structure building to make it work and that stumps some users. 
 

Alternatively, ED could create a nexus of sorts where all mods get uploaded, and when someone wishes to download a mod, it's coming from a secure location. Then, when there's an update to that mod, it gets uploaded to that nexus, and the game updates the mod for you. The problem with the 3rd Party Programs is that it's all manual. You have to initiate the check, or update the mod yourself, and that's even assuming you know that there is an update to it. So why not have a system made by ED that makes it as easy as: 1. Select Mod. 2. Install mod. 3. Enjoy mod.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/9/2021 at 12:17 AM, CaptainRamrod1 said:

Hello there.   I am a addict.  I think I own every Module with the exception of the Christen Eagle.   It is probably a great plane but just not my cup of tea.   

I would love to make a few suggestions.    so why not Add English Cockpits to every Purchased Module out there as well as Chinese and Russian?   Yes you can download them but after spending what could be said is alot of money it would be awesome if people were able to use there aircraft in there native language.  

 Also could you look into adding somethings into the game like controllers such as the Saitek or now Logitech Flight Panels and switches.  Also add on Mfds would be great if they were detected.   Again yes you could add on by using a bitchute or program someone else added but some folks just aren't comfortable or don't have the computer knowledge and I think it would be helpful and the easier the interface the more customers will use it.   

 

 here is a suggestion,  You have two free planes that come with the sim.  They are alright planes.   There are lots of Mods out there for people to add on for free.   Well some of those mods I think could be pay worthy.  In paticular the T45, A4 skyhawk and the Hercules.   Why not reach out to those developers and see about using those as other free planes to draw in folks to fly.  those mods are better which may just be my opinion then the 2 free aircraft included.   A friend gifted me an aircraft and that is what started this addiction.  Had I not experienced that plane I think I may have walked away.   Yes Eagle Dynamics may have to pay a little but it would be an investment.  The A4 is fully combat capable and can be used on the carrier.   Had I of flown that as a first plane and got to experience a carrier with it I would of been hooked.   

 

Anyways I am sure there are thousands who feel the same and regardless I love this Sim and will fly but it would be amazing if maybe you could do a few tweaks and make it easier for us older folks who are scared to mess with files and such and would just like a easier experience.

As stated, don´t ever hesitate to ask for help with something here. There is a lot of people keen to help where they can (myself included), i try to help whenever i can with my limited experience and i always find help when i needed it too.

We are all from different countries, different cultures, ages and beliefs but we all share the same passion in my point of view.

Be safe and happy flying.

Regards from Lisbon, Portugal.

F.


Edited by fagulha
  • Like 2

 - "Don't be John Wayne in the Break if you´re going to be Jerry Lewis on the Ball".

About carrier ops: "The younger pilots are still quite capable of holding their heads forward against the forces. The older ones have been doing this too long and know better; sore necks make for poor sleep.'

 

PC: I7 4790K 4.6ghz | 32GB RAM | Zotac GTX 1080Ti 11Gb DDR5x | Water cooler NZXT AIO Kraken x53 | 3.5TB (x4 SSD´s) | Valve Index| Andre´s JeatSeat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tank50us said:

Alternatively, ED could create a nexus of sorts where all mods get uploaded, and when someone wishes to download a mod, it's coming from a secure location. Then, when there's an update to that mod, it gets uploaded to that nexus, and the game updates the mod for you. The problem with the 3rd Party Programs is that it's all manual. You have to initiate the check, or update the mod yourself, and that's even assuming you know that there is an update to it. So why not have a system made by ED that makes it as easy as: 1. Select Mod. 2. Install mod. 3. Enjoy mod.

ED shouldn’t spend any time or effort managing mods. The whole deal with mods is that they’re mods. You’re on your own with this stuff since it’s all outside the game. 

i9-13900K @ 6.2GHz oc | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | 64GB DDR5 5600MHz | iCUE H150i Liquid CPU Cooler | 24GB GeForce RTX 4090 | Windows 11 Home | 2TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe | Corsair RM1000x | LG 48GQ900-B 4K OLED Monitor | CH Fighterstick | Ch Pro Throttle | CH Pro Pedals | TrackIR 5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

ED shouldn’t spend any time or effort managing mods. The whole deal with mods is that they’re mods. You’re on your own with this stuff since it’s all outside the game. 

Did I say anything about ED managing it? I'm talking about a safe and secure area where the mods get uploaded or updated, with a mod manager that's part of the game doing all the tedious work of downloading, installing, and updating done for you. Unless you like going through all the tedious work of searching out the mod, downloading it, putting it in the right install folder, crossing your fingers that it's the right version when you log into a server, and so on and so on. The only managing that ED would need to do is to keep an eye out for malware that gets uploaded to the nexus, and respond to issues that get raised. For example:

Plater: "ED, this Tornado mod contains malware."
ED Staff: "Thank you for your report, the mod will be disabled and the makers notified."

Heck, you could even have a basic bot handle that and be in good shape.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

ED shouldn’t spend any time or effort managing mods. The whole deal with mods is that they’re mods. You’re on your own with this stuff since it’s all outside the game. 

While I tend to agree, I also see the point in robust support for mod *management*. If there was an easy way for players to manage their mods (along with guidelines for devs/modders how to organize their mods  - and complying with these guidelines would then virtually guarantee simple management), this would go a long way to make the overall experience with DCS much better. Adding/removing modules for mission designers is a real pain that can be alleviated. For the same reason I'm hesitant to try new (community) mods: managing them is painful. If I had a central resource to see what is installed, and simply, by clicking them could enable/disable them, that would make my life easier. And I wager it would also encourage more people to experiment with them.


Edited by cfrag
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

ED shouldn’t spend any time or effort managing mods.

They already do, and they do so for a very good reason. It would be incomprehensibly stupid for them to stop given the significant mod ecosystem that has sprung up around the game, to its great benefit.

❧ ❧ Inside you are two wolves. One cannot land; the other shoots friendlies. You are a Goon. ❧ ❧

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tank50us said:

Did I say anything about ED managing it?

You just did

1 hour ago, Tank50us said:

The only managing that ED would need to do is to keep an eye out for malware

No, why should they bother with this? 

1 hour ago, Tank50us said:

I'm talking about a safe and secure area where the mods get uploaded or updated

There’s a section in the User Files section for Mods. Problem solved. 


Edited by SharpeXB

i9-13900K @ 6.2GHz oc | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | 64GB DDR5 5600MHz | iCUE H150i Liquid CPU Cooler | 24GB GeForce RTX 4090 | Windows 11 Home | 2TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe | Corsair RM1000x | LG 48GQ900-B 4K OLED Monitor | CH Fighterstick | Ch Pro Throttle | CH Pro Pedals | TrackIR 5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

You just did

No, why should they bother with this?

There’s a section in the User Files section for Mods. Problem solved. 

So not only are you saying that ED shouldn't improve the game — they should go so far as to stop doing things that make it a good platform to begin with. This is… a wild take. 😄 

  • Like 2

❧ ❧ Inside you are two wolves. One cannot land; the other shoots friendlies. You are a Goon. ❧ ❧

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, cfrag said:

If I had a central resource to see what is installed, and simply, by clicking them could enable/disable them, that would make my life easier.

 

I do have such a central resurce, where I can see which Mods are enabled (those with green tick marks), can enable/disable simply by double-clicking on them, can disable all Mods with a single menu selection, can define "profiles" (sets of Mods usually used together, like for example WW2 ships), etc:

 

9b3Ccop.jpg

 

True, it does not came pre-installed with DCS, but it does provide the functionality and it does make my life easier  👍

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

True, it does not came pre-installed with DCS, but it does provide the functionality and it does make my life easier  👍

Wouldn't it be nice though to see these things in-game though? Like, have the mod installed sure, but when you're in the ME, go through and select which mod objects or even modules can appear in the mission. It could be as simple as clicking a button, and moving modules from one window to another in the same manor as we do for the countries when selecting who's Red and Blue Force. And when you move something out that's in the map, it will give you a warning "Hey, you have this unit from this mod pack/module in your mission. If you proceed with this, it will be deleted from the mission. Are you sure you want to do this? [Y/N]" It would be quite useful to avoid adding paid-pack units to a mission by accident, that's for certain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Thanks, @Rudel_chw -- is ovgme still current? I seem to recall that at some point in time it was deemed deprecated, and so I am currently not using it.

 

Well, its developer is not maintaining it anymore, opting to work on a sucessor instead (I tried it a year ago and didn't like it at the time).

 

However, a Mod manager is a piece of software that does not really depend on DCS, so the DCS updates do not affect it in the least (tough, of course, the individual user Mods can be affected by DCS updates).

 

This means that I will be able to continue using it for the foreseable future, much in the same way that the prior JSGME was used for many many years after its developer no longer supported it, however the JSGME was a 32 bit software, so it had a file size limit of 2 GB which rendered it inoperable with DCS terrain Mods, that's why I moved on to OvGME (which is 64 bit).


Edited by Rudel_chw

 

For work: iMac mid-2010 of 27" - Core i7 870 - 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz - ATI HD5670 - SSD 256 GB - HDD 2 TB - macOS High Sierra

For Gaming: 34" Monitor - Ryzen 3600X - 32 GB DDR4 2400 - nVidia GTX1070ti - SSD 1.25 TB - HDD 10 TB - Win10 Pro - TM HOTAS Cougar - Oculus Rift CV1

Mobile: iPad Pro 12.9" of 256 GB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Tank50us said:

Wouldn't it be nice though to see these things in-game though?

Maybe someone could make a mod manager mod 🤣


Edited by SharpeXB
  • Like 1

i9-13900K @ 6.2GHz oc | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | 64GB DDR5 5600MHz | iCUE H150i Liquid CPU Cooler | 24GB GeForce RTX 4090 | Windows 11 Home | 2TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe | Corsair RM1000x | LG 48GQ900-B 4K OLED Monitor | CH Fighterstick | Ch Pro Throttle | CH Pro Pedals | TrackIR 5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tank50us said:

Wouldn't it be nice though to see these things in-game though?

Yes, especially since the third-party tools have a nasty tendency of going out of date, no longer being maintained, and becoming trickier to get your hands on as they get abandoned.

It would also help avoid the possible situation where tools simply no longer work because they base game changes its structure and/or restrictions (cf. last year's changes to the database and to the IC mechanism), where any obsolescent mod manager that is built on the assumption that files can be replaced willy-nilly will simply no longer be viable and from one day to the next have no replacement. A built-in tool, using the game's own mechanisms for altering game data, would by necessity have to follow along and be compliant with any such game changes.

❧ ❧ Inside you are two wolves. One cannot land; the other shoots friendlies. You are a Goon. ❧ ❧

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Tank50us said:

Wouldn't it be nice though to see these things in-game though? Like, have the mod installed sure, but when you're in the ME, go through and select which mod objects or even modules can appear in the mission. It could be as simple as clicking a button, and moving modules from one window to another in the same manor as we do for the countries when selecting who's Red and Blue Force. And when you move something out that's in the map, it will give you a warning "Hey, you have this unit from this mod pack/module in your mission. If you proceed with this, it will be deleted from the mission. Are you sure you want to do this? [Y/N]" It would be quite useful to avoid adding paid-pack units to a mission by accident, that's for certain.

That would be awesome. Also the mod manager might have a feature where we can search for mods and download them 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/13/2021 at 10:27 AM, SharpeXB said:

ED shouldn’t spend any time or effort managing mods. The whole deal with mods is that they’re mods. You’re on your own with this stuff since it’s all outside the game. 

  An increasingly large number of games have included mod management. To name just few the entire Arma series, BattleTech, Elder Scrolls, Mount and Blade, I am sure I could go on at length. We're not exactly taling revolutionary technology or something that hasn't been done 9000 times as a quality of life UI function in other games.

  • Like 1

Де вороги, знайдуться козаки їх перемогти.

5800x3d * 3090 * 64gb * Reverb G2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Mars Exulte said:

  An increasingly large number of games have included mod management. To name just few the entire Arma series, BattleTech, Elder Scrolls, Mount and Blade, I am sure I could go on at length. We're not exactly taling revolutionary technology or something that hasn't been done 9000 times as a quality of life UI function in other games.

Yeah but DCS is a niche game. I don’t think ED should devote their scant resources towards things that can be done by the uses or community. 

i9-13900K @ 6.2GHz oc | ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO | 64GB DDR5 5600MHz | iCUE H150i Liquid CPU Cooler | 24GB GeForce RTX 4090 | Windows 11 Home | 2TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe | Corsair RM1000x | LG 48GQ900-B 4K OLED Monitor | CH Fighterstick | Ch Pro Throttle | CH Pro Pedals | TrackIR 5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

Yeah but DCS is a niche game.

…therefore, even more reason to make it as open, welcoming, and hassle-free as possible.

Since you can't think of anything better that ED should devote their resources towards, this is as good a feature as any — probably even better than most.

  • Like 2

❧ ❧ Inside you are two wolves. One cannot land; the other shoots friendlies. You are a Goon. ❧ ❧

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...