Suggestion: remove the main menu image background and replace it with THIS

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

One of the issues that DCS has is that its interface is a bit cluncky, it's one more thing that makes the game feel like an unpolished experience. Now, while the sim community really doesn't mind - and me neither - I believe it is one more barrier that keeps new players away from the game.

While I suspect an interface remake will eventually be on the to do list, I suggest for now changing the menu background image with some of the theme videos ED is spectacularly good at making, such as this: 

 

Now that would be a main menu that makes me want to play the game. And I imagine it also is the type of motivational video a new player much needs - while struggling for hours to assign keybindings and learning their first plane - in order to get through the first and hardest steps into the game. I feel like a lot of people give up at around that point.

Just a simple suggestion, a quick change that could probably be made without much effort and that could maybe add some more "emotion" to the experience, so to speak.

Cheers

[draconus]

You can already set your own background images and music. Video in the menu would be a major turn off for me and maybe fits some arcade game, certainly not a study sim. People that never make it through the controls setup would not stay for long anyway.

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

What do you mean study sim? This is a game. A game with a decent amount of fidelity, but a game nontheless.

The point here is to have fun, not to study.. besides, both plane and ordinance paramenters are all guesstimated here, even if you were a real pilot, training in vanilla DCS would be a horrible idea.

I think there is nothing wrong with trying to make the interface more appealing, it would not make the game any more "arcade".

Edited May 30, 2022 by 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮

[Rudel_chw]

2 minutes ago, 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮 said:

I think there is nothing wrong with trying to make the interface more appealing

 

I'd love to have a more appealing interface, but trying to animate it with a video background is not what I would prefer .. I'd rather have an interface that can better adapt to different screen resolutions, without wasting space; and the ability to place the Modules icons wherever I choose within its desktop.

[bies]

Yes, i liked this old simulators tematic images, GUI, atmospheric music, moody campaigns sometimes with written briefings, carefully made training missions etc. and this is the main reasons many guys still remember them inspite of old graphic and poor physics.

DCS still has untapped potential here, right now - even when simulation part is unmatched - it looks clean, even sterile, business like, similar to civilian MSFS.

[Svsmokey]

You couldn't be further off...

3 hours ago, 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮 said:

What do you mean study sim? The point here is to have fun, not to study....even if you were a real pilot, training in vanilla DCS would be a horrible idea.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40620/a-10-warthog-pilots-are-using-the-digital-combat-simulator-video-game-to-train-in-vr

 

[5ephir0th]

I don’t see the problem with the IU, simple but it works, what I would change is:

 

1. Most of the modules wallpapers are meh, many of them are horrible, like the developers doesn’t care

2. Lack of option to turn off the hangar in VR, i don’t need an hangar every time i push F10, using resources for nothing

3. The annoying behavior of refresh rate on server list using VR

 

 

[Rudel_chw]

2 hours ago, 5ephir0th said:

1. Most of the modules wallpapers are meh, many of them are horrible, like the developers doesn’t care

 

But ED gives you the choice to use your own ... so, a non issue 

 

 

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

15 ore fa, 5ephir0th ha scritto:

Lack of option to turn off the hangar in VR, i don’t need an hangar every time i push F10, using resources for nothing

You can remove the 3d hangar and fix the jittering in loading screens with mods, but then again I don't like the idea of having to install 10+ mods to turn DCS into a smooth experience. Expecially for new players, they are going to be turned off by all these issues.

The multiplayer server page refresh might be fixed with Vulkan, so we can cross fingers for that.

Then again I don't dislike the idea of having a 3D hangar in the VR main menu. It just need to be high quality (rn the textures are very low quality), and it needs to have the 3D model of the plane you have selected - or to have all the planes you have purchased, not a random mig29. Also it needs to be removed when you're on a server. No point keeping it in the f10 map view..

13 ore fa, Rudel_chw ha scritto:

Looks pretty nice 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

16 ore fa, Svsmokey ha scritto:

You couldn't be further off...

 

Wouldn't you develop bad habits by training with the ordinance we have in game as a real life pilot? After all, all the MARs are off, albeit us civilians don't know by how much.

[5ephir0th]

11 minutes ago, 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮 said:

You can remove the 3d hangar and fix the jittering in loading screens with mods, but then again I don't like the idea of having to install 10+ mods to turn DCS into a smooth experience. Expecially for new players, they are going to be turned off by all these issues.

The multiplayer server page refresh might be fixed with Vulkan, so we can cross fingers for that.

Then again I don't dislike the idea of having a 3D hangar in the VR main menu. It just need to be high quality (rn the textures are very low quality), and it needs to have the 3D model of the plane you have selected - or to have all the planes you have purchased, not a random mig29. Also it needs to be removed when you're on a server. No point keeping it in the f10 map view..

 

 

Yes, i have the no hangar mod installed, but is so simple i don't know why ED dont give us the option to disable it, and i agree with you, a 3D hangar with the selected plane at backgroud, something like the main menu options you have in Starcraft II, BUT, on a mission, it doesnt load on F10 scree would be great, the one we have now is useless

[draconus]

10 minutes ago, 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮 said:

Wouldn't you develop bad habits by training with the ordinance we have in game as a real life pilot?

Don't worry, USAF has the correct version.

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

12 minuti fa, draconus ha scritto:

Don't worry, USAF has the correct version.

That's kind of the point. Real life pilots might use a heavily modified version of DCS, with correct MARs and a correct RADAR engine for instance. Air forces of the world are free to mod out the game-like interface if they think having videos in the menu is not "airforce like" enough or whatever.

The guy that downloads and plays DCS - the main source of players in the DCS community - is people that want to satisfy their child dream of being a jet pilot. If you want to increase the size of the DCS community, so that ED has more funds to give us a better and better simulator, then you need to have as smooth of an experience as possible for new players.

And I think that a main menu that entices and fascinates as much as the godly videos ED puts out every once and a while, would allow the game to keep more players in the early phases of their experience. That's all.

[SharpeXB]

The thing about imbedding HD video in a game is that it actually takes up a lot of drive space. I can’t think of other games which do this to their menu. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by SharpeXB

[𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓮]

6 minuti fa, SharpeXB ha scritto:

The thing about imbedding HD video in a game is that it actually takes up a lot of drive space. I can’t think of other games which do this to their menu. 

 

Eh, my semi-vanilla DCS folder is 117 GB, adding a 300Mb 1 minute video wouldn't really make a difference.

As far as what games, all JRPG games i played do that. The Yakuza series, Nier, DMC.

Also there's Detroit: become human, totally different genre compared to DCS ofc, but they had a really interesting idea of how to make a main menu. Not very sutiable for DCS, but interesting nonetheless. Check it out on youtube.

Anyway, the point here is to make the menu experience more enticing, and adding those videos seemed to be a very easy way of doing it.

[toutenglisse]

Nice idea, it would look cool. (reminds me of some battlefield iterration - 2 ? - where you had the intro movie in B&W runing in menu background, with helos and tanks action)

And as my DCS folder is already 296Gb big (probably soon much more), I would accept 1 more Gb for a background menu aircraft video/animation.

EDIT : at a time there were animated clouds in main menu (I wasn't sure as it was a bit old) :

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by toutenglisse
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