DCS size !

[killerwhale]

Ok so now DCS world needs a hard drive of its own? this game is headed for 300 GB drive space, where is DCS going with this? into one terabyte?

[Dangerzone]

Are you talking about a stand-alone server? If so - at this stage I believe the answer is "Yes". From my understanding the dedicated server requires all maps to be installed, even if you're only using one. I believe there have been previous requests before to allow server operators to specify which maps they want on their servers.

If this is a client install, you can probably reduce your install size by removing some of the maps you don't use. Maps are probably the biggest culprit. 

It makes sense to me that DCS will get larger in size as improvements and details are made to maps (and as more maps are created and purchased). I have no issues with that - provided we can control what we have installed on our HDD/SSD's. 

[SharpeXB]

Yeah DCS is gonna need it’s own drive. Every game is gonna need its own drive. They’re all routinely 100GB these days. 
Honestly I think DCS is getting too many maps. I just avoid them unless they’re used in MP or a DLC campaign. I’m not sure why we need a map of northern Australia…

Edited December 30, 2022 by SharpeXB

[BIGNEWY]

As content is created the size will grow, there is no way around this, content can be managed using the module manager however. 

With the base install we will always try to keep the size on the disk as small as we can, and then you can manage which DLC you want to have on disk using the module manager. 

However the fact remains, simulators have always been hogs for space on disks, so its a challenge for sure. 

You can split between drives using symbolic links, some people will use symbolic links to other drives for terrains for example or mods folder. 

 

[sthompson]

6 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

You can split between drives using symbolic links, some people will use symbolic links to other drives for terrains for example or mods folder. 

@BIGNEWY Does ED have any suggestions as to which folders can be moved to slower drives for access using symbolic links that will have the least impact on performance? I'm sure that the easy answer is "aircraft or terrains you aren't using." But what about the rest? Some guidance would be welcome.

[cajundave]

7 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

 

You can split between drives using symbolic links, some people will use symbolic links to other drives for terrains for example or mods folder. 

 

Are there directions on how to do that?  I've been curious because DCS uses up almost all of my SSD, meanwhile I have a 1 TB HDD doing almost nothing.

[Slippa]

I’m having to deal with a bloated drive and could do with arranging DCS better. As of yesterday, my Eagle Dynamics folder got to 700 odd gb. My C drive went into the red so I tried moving things about. Now stable won’t load after repairs and OB has lost all settings. Keybinds, option settings etc..  think I’ll have a 1tb DCS drive set up or as already said, have to manage it all a lot better. Rather that than a halt to any new content.

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, Slippa said:

My C drive went into the red so I tried moving things about. Now stable won’t load after repairs and OB has lost all settings.

Most likely you moved the /saved games/ folder by copy/paste … its a windows special folder and should be moved only by making use of its property sheet rather than copy/paste.

[AKULA_OPTIMUS]

That completely depends of what you have installed, and yes,  it will grow forever (hopefully :P), as long as new modules and terrains appear.

[Slippa]

2 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

Most likely you moved the /saved games/ folder by copy/paste … its a windows special folder and should be moved only by making use of its property sheet rather than copy/paste.

Exactly what I did. I doubted it would work myself but carried on, following a yt thing on it. I’ll look again, cheers.

[sthompson]

4 minutes ago, Slippa said:

Exactly what I did. I doubted it would work myself but carried on, following a yt thing on it. I’ll look again, cheers.

Correct way to move Saved Games is to go into your Users folder (e.g. c:\users\yourname), then right click on the saved games folder, select "properties," and then use the "location" tab. If you copy/paste the current version back to the original location and then follow this method you should be good.

Edited December 30, 2022 by sthompson

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, Slippa said:

.. following a yt thing on it. I’ll look again

 

I wrote a small Guide on this a while back

 

 

 

1 hour ago, sthompson said:

If you copy/paste the current version back to the original location

 

Not sure it can be done that way, as the first copy/paste stripped the folder of its special properties 

 

[MadKreator]

I’m just over 500 gigs on my dcs OB install. Bought a 2TB drive just for games. DCS is welcome to have it all LOL

[Sr.]

I now have dual 2TB NVME

 

Bring it!

[Slippa]

I copied the saved games folder back to where it was on C. Opened D and created a new folder, named it ‘saved games’ and closed it. Then I did what I should’ve done last night to move it, right clicked on the saved games in C and gave it the path to move to D, job done. I deleted the mess and as far as OB goes, it’s all back as it was thank you very much. DCS Stable runs to a black screen on loading after a few attempts at running a repair. I’ll uninstall stable and see what state my drives are in to reinstall it. 
 

To get back to the OP, I’ll go with dedicating a 1tb drive for DCS I think? Mad how it goes I suppose.

Glad to have seen this thread, sorry to the OP for the squeeze but thanks to everyone for the sensible help. - I just uninstalled stable. Eagle Dynamics folder is now 368gb with only OB installed so still no light-weight. Cheers for getting the chocks away all, Happy New Year.

[SharpeXB]

I put a new machine together recently and gave it 7TB of hard drive space

That might keep the situation under control… for now  

 

[pete_auau]

lucky i got  3  hard  drives,   one  for  os  install,  one  for  msfs  and  p3d and  the last one  for  dcs 

Edited December 31, 2022 by pete_auau

[Slippa]

I trust everyone's making backups? As well as backing up the backups. Twice, maybe?

[Rudel_chw]

6 minutes ago, Slippa said:

I trust everyone's making backups? As well as backing up the backups. Twice, maybe?

For DCS i only backup /saved games/ plus my Mods Library. The DCS itself is not necessary as I can simply re-download it if needed

 

[Blinde]

I just wish that these unrealistic national skins would be deleted. I hate these swedish and UK skins on Mig-21 etc liveries on planes that never were even close.  Those take unnecessary space since I doubt most of the players ever use them. They should be optional downloads.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Blinde

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, Blinde said:

I hate these swedish and UK skins on Mig-21 etc liveries on planes that never were even close

 

The MiG-21 is one of the DCS aircraft that comes with lots of liveries, 75 of them in fact ... 4 of them are fictional Swedish and RAF liveries ... they use 70-80 KB each .. are you really so strapped for disk space that 0.3 MB is actually gonna make a difference? 

I don't mind those liveries being there, even if I don't personally use them on my missions, as I'm sure there are swedish and UK players that do in fact enjoy them .. .who am I to take those away from those players?

Why don't you just bite the bullet and purchase a larger drive? We are almost on 2023, a 256 GB SSD drive doesn't cut it any longer.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Rudel_chw

[marcoscosta]

On 12/30/2022 at 12:45 AM, killerwhale said:

Ok so now DCS world needs a hard drive of its own? this game is headed for 300 GB drive space, where is DCS going with this? into one terabyte?

[corn322]

22 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

they use 70-80 KB each

Maybe recheck your numbers. My Mig-21 liveries folder (dcs word/coremods/aircraft/MiG-21bis/Liveries/MiG-21bis) is 3.75GB for 75 files.

Anyway, I just bought a new 1TB SSD for DCS World also.

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, corn322 said:

Maybe recheck your numbers

yeah, my bad, they were 70-80 MB each  

[BuzzU]

I bought a bunch of planes and maps but I only install the plane i'm flying and the PG map. It's still not a small install compared to other games but not too bad when done my way.