New Computer for simulation

[Warlock99]

I am setting up a stand alone new computer for DCS. What files do I need to move to the new computer from my current game setup.

Thanks

[diego999]

Everything in the saved games folder.

[drPhibes]

The following methos works fine:

1. Just copy the whole DCS directory to the new computer.

2. Run a repair.

3. Copy over the \saved games\dcs world\ folder to the new computer, overwriting all files (so you don't have to set up control assignments).

 

Or you could skip step 1 and 2 and do a regular install if you don't mind spending hours downloading potentially hundreds of gigabytes of content all over again.

[Warlock99]

On 5/26/2024 at 8:06 PM, diego999 said:

Everything in the saved games folder.

Thought that it  might be something like that but, did not know if there was any hidden stuff.

And just to keep it strait in my head you mean:

C drive >users>username>Saved Games >DCS

Every thing in that folder, right?

Thanks for the help

Edited May 28, 2024 by Warlock99

[TORC]

Yes, that’s the one.

I’ve always had to rebind my joystick and throttle after doing this (complex setup so YMMV), but at least you keep your kneeboards, mods and perhaps they keyboard binds…

[diego999]

2 hours ago, Warlock99 said:

Thought that it  might be something like that but, did not know if there was any hidden stuff.

And just to keep it strait in my head you mean:

C drive >users>username>Saved Games >DCS

Every thing in that folder, right?

Thanks for the help

 

 

Yes precisely that folder. It holds your login, beybinds, options, customizations, most of the mods, etc.

You can reinstall the game from scratch, paste that folder in your new PC and you have your DCS back exactly like it was on the old computer.

 

[Warlock99]

15 hours ago, diego999 said:

 

Yes precisely that folder. It holds your login, beybinds, options, customizations, most of the mods, etc.

You can reinstall the game from scratch, paste that folder in your new PC and you have your DCS back exactly like it was on the old computer.

 

Thanks, really appreciate the help.

[Art-J]

@Warlock99Mind you, new computer means new Windows USB ID numbers for anything plugged into that computer, so your controller files copied from old Saved Games / Config / Input won't be recognized and thus won't work off the bat, unfortunately.

Fortunately, you can import them one by one using in-game "load profile" button, or do a bit of manual file renaming as some players prefer. 

[diego999]

7 hours ago, Art-J said:

@Warlock99Mind you, new computer means new Windows USB ID numbers for anything plugged into that computer, so your controller files copied from old Saved Games / Config / Input won't be recognized and thus won't work off the bat, unfortunately.

Fortunately, you can import them one by one using in-game "load profile" button, or do a bit of manual file renaming as some players prefer. 

Great tip. I forgot to mention that.

[Warlock99]

5 hours ago, diego999 said:

Great tip. I forgot to mention that.

 

13 hours ago, Art-J said:

@Warlock99Mind you, new computer means new Windows USB ID numbers for anything plugged into that computer, so your controller files copied from old Saved Games / Config / Input won't be recognized and thus won't work off the bat, unfortunately.

Fortunately, you can import them one by one using in-game "load profile" button, or do a bit of manual file renaming as some players prefer. 

Too late, I wondered what was happening, not sure how to do what you mentioned. Already started re-programing buttons. But, everything else is in place and that's a great head start to what I thought I'd have to do. Again, rally appreciate all the help from everyone. I really enjoy the simulation but, it's sometimes a fight to get through all the computer stuff.

[Art-J]

Nah, heads up, maybe it's not too late. Do you have that backup available somewhere? If you haven't deleted or overwritten it you can still use it. Unless you're too deep into re-binding already then sure, importing might be not worth the hassle anymore.

Edited May 30, 2024 by Art-J

[Warlock99]

3 hours ago, Art-J said:

Nah, heads up, maybe it's not too late. Do you have that backup available somewhere? If you haven't deleted or overwritten it you can still use it. Unless you're too deep into re-binding already then sure, importing might be not worth the hassle anymore.

 

No it's still on the other computer but, I haven't a clue how or what to do.

[diego999]

Keybinds are stored in Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input. Every folder in there stores the keybinds for that particular module. There's one file for every device you used (joystick, keyboard, mouse, trackIR, etc.). The extension is '.diff.lua'. They're just a plain text file really.

Inside your new pc, open DCS, go to controls, there's a Load Profile option on the top right, click there and navigate to that old keybind file you saved on the old PC. Then you have your old config back again.

 

 

Here are the files, for example, for the A-4 Skyhawk mod.

[Art-J]

Warlock, just follow what Diego nicely explained above. One extra note - you have to highlight a controller column to make "load profile" work correctly, for example left click on joystick column to make it go light blue (as seen on Diego's first screen), click "load profile", navigate to and load your old .diff.lua backup file for your joystick. Done. Then left click on throttle column, do the same to load throttle backup, then do the same for keyboard column to load keyboard backup etc. etc. Repeat for each controller and each aircraft, one by one.

True, It's going to take a few minutes, but still faster than rebinding everything from scratch.

[Warlock99]

Thanks, working through it now. May be a while.

[Warlock99]

Should these be loaded into the same place/folder Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input on the new computer and loaded from there? I placed them on the desktop and was unable to get to them there.

Thanks

Edited June 1, 2024 by Warlock99

[SharpeXB]

15 hours ago, Warlock99 said:

Should these be loaded into the same place/folder Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input on the new computer and loaded from there? I placed them on the desktop and was unable to get to them there.

Thanks

 

Yes I noticed when I tried this that you have to place them somewhere you can navigate to from the DCS menu. What’s actually faster to do is just rename your old diff.lua file names with the new device ID#. You can get the new ID by just assigning a button to each controller once in a particular module. 

[diego999]

16 hours ago, Warlock99 said:

Should these be loaded into the same place/folder Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input on the new computer and loaded from there? I placed them on the desktop and was unable to get to them there.

Thanks

 

It's not mandatory, but if you copy them to the same folder they're easier to find. I did it that way.

 

 

[Warlock99]

1 hour ago, diego999 said:

It's not mandatory, but if you copy them to the same folder they're easier to find. I did it that way.

 

 

Thanks, as I said I really like the simulation but, I'm not real hot with computers.

1 hour ago, SharpeXB said:

Yes I noticed when I tried this that you have to place them somewhere you can navigate to from the DCS menu. What’s actually faster to do is just rename your old diff.lua file names with the new device ID#. You can get the new ID by just assigning a button to each controller once in a particular module. 

Thanks, appreciate the help.