Option to remove certain content

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

Since the past two or so months, the size of DCS World has ballooned to the point to which my SSD can just barely store it with 10% of its space left. I have nowhere else on my computer to install DCS, since my other SSD is a cheap, relatively slow one. I was hoping an option can be added to remove certain AI units and 3D models (perhaps from the new launcher) to try and reduce the size of DCS as much as possible. I really don't have the ability to buy a new SSD right now, and I am concerned that in a few more updates, DCS will no longer fit on my SSD, since it's already chock full.

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

I was hoping an option can be added to remove certain AI units and 3D models (perhaps from the new launcher) to try and reduce the size of DCS as much as possible.

 

While I can sympathize with your storage situation, you must realize that the real space mongers within DCS are its maps ... AI units and 3D models are very minor space user, as you can see on this graph of my DCS install:

 

 

Rather than wait for an ED-supplied option, you can get some space by deleting the high resolution liveries of some aircrafts that you maybe dont use, for example the F-14, F-4E, Mirage F1 and SA342.

But the real long term solution is to increase your disk capacity, even if it costs the same as 2 or 3 DCS modules. I just replaced my 1 TB SSD with a 2 TB unit and the freedom that it awarded me is a true relief, I'm now even able to keep an old version of DCS alongside the newest one (to run incompatible Mods).

 

Eduardo

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

I see, but the thing is, I only have two maps installed. Syria and Caucuses. The modules I own are F/A-18C, AH-64, F-16, FC2024. I only have a few maps and mods taking up my storage. Also, can you mention how I can see this graph for my own installation? Plus, the deleted liveries would probably come back after each update/repair, It would be great if ED integrated an option to remove them if I don't need them, similar to what MSFS has

[Rudel_chw]

16 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

I see, but the thing is, I only have two maps installed. Syria and Caucuses. The modules I own are F/A-18C, AH-64, F-16, FC2024. I only have a few maps and mods taking up my storage.
 

 

True, if you only have a couple of Maps then the space used by CoreMods would be a much bigger proportion of your DCS.

 

16 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

Also, can you mention how I can see this graph for my own installation?
 

 

I made it with a disk utility, this one:

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/spacesniffer.html

 

16 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

Plus, the deleted liveries would probably come back after each update/repair

True  

Edited August 11, 2024 by Rudel_chw

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

Thanks for the utility! As for the textures thing, I hope ED sees this post and adds an option to remove unnecessary liveries via the launcher

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

nullAlso, In case you're interested, here's the space DCS takes up on my SSD. Coremods is the biggest in them, and within that the aircraft folder. A lot of aircraft eating up space are like the F-14. F-4E, and Mirage F1, which I have no interest in purchasing any time soon. Also I never use WW2 units, and the ability to remove them would be greatnull

[Rudel_chw]

16 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

A lot of aircraft eating up space are like the F-14. F-4E, and Mirage F1, which I have no interest in purchasing any time soon.

 

Remember that you need the aircraft basic files even if you don't fly them, that's why they are divided in two parts: On CoreMods are the files needed for depicting the aircraft as an AI unit on any mission you fly (at Campaigns or on Multiplayer servers), while on Mods is the cockpit and other files needed for the player to actually fly the aircraft.

 

16 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

Also I never use WW2 units, and the ability to remove them would be greatnull

 

Agree, but at 8 GB they are a relatively small part of DCS, removing them would not make a real difference when you have the disk almost full.

Edited August 11, 2024 by Rudel_chw

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

5 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

On CoreMods are the files needed for depicting the aircraft as an AI unit on any mission you fly (at Campaigns or on Multiplayer servers)

I thought so as well, but 13 gigs seems a lot more than necessary to simply get the aircraft to work. But then again, you told me how a lot of AI aircraft have been given a ton of liveries so I'm guessing the majority of the space being taken up, are those liveries.

 

7 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

Agree, but at 8 GB they are a relatively small part of DCS, removing them would not make a real difference when you have the disk almost full.

True, but I'm trying to get out of the redzone here. 8 gigs provides a decent buffer against major windows updates, or further future DCS updates

[Rudel_chw]

22 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

I thought so as well, but 13 gigs seems a lot more than necessary to simply get the aircraft to work. But then again, you told me how a lot of AI aircraft have been given a ton of liveries so I'm guessing the majority of the space being taken up, are those liveries.

 

Actually, its not the number of liveries, but some DCS aircraft have really high resolution livery textures ... the first Module with this kind of liveries was the MiG-21 ... which at the time was much criticized by some users for its large space usage, but the newer modules are even more heavy than the Mig-21, for example the F-4E uses 12 GB of disk space just for its 60 liveries.

On my case, I enjoy the detailed liveries, so rather than not having them I elected to upgrade my storage space and to finance it I skipped the purchase of the last few modules (the Kiowa, Chinook, and Afghanistan map) using the money saved for the storage upgrade 

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

On 8/11/2024 at 11:31 PM, Rudel_chw said:

 

Actually, its not the number of liveries, but some DCS aircraft have really high resolution livery textures ... the first Module with this kind of liveries was the MiG-21 ... which at the time was much criticized by some users for its large space usage, but the newer modules are even more heavy than the Mig-21, for example the F-4E uses 12 GB of disk space just for its 60 liveries.

On my case, I enjoy the detailed liveries, so rather than not having them I elected to upgrade my storage space and to finance it I skipped the purchase of the last few modules (the Kiowa, Chinook, and Afghanistan map) using the money saved for the storage upgrade 

Got it. But the thing is, I use a 1920x1080 monitor, and wouldn't have much to do with the hi-res textures anyway. Plus, I enjoy well-done 3D modelling more than the liveries themselves. There should be an option for players like me to go from, lets say, 8K liveries to 4K or even 2K if need be.

[Ignition]

The liveries for the F-14 (specially the A) and many other aircrafts are a waste of space in my case. ED and Heatblur are very bad in space optimization.

I lose at least 30GB in aircrafts I never use.

Edited August 12, 2024 by Ignition

[Rudel_chw]

2 minutes ago, Ignition said:

The liveries for the F-14 (specially the A) and many other aircrafts are a waste of space in my case.

 

On my case, its a great use of space, as I truly enjoy well made, detailed and realistic liveries.

 

2 minutes ago, Ignition said:

DCS and Heatblur are very bad in space optimization.

 

I couldn't tell, since I know nothing about how to optimize liveries and their textures, I just enjoy them.

[draconus]

9 hours ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

But the thing is, I use a 1920x1080 monitor, and wouldn't have much to do with the hi-res textures anyway.

This is not true. You can see and benefit from DCS high-res textures in FullHD but I welcome you to join the never ending discussion here:

• Please remove all those liveries, they take my precious disk space and I don't need them, I don't own these aircraft
• They are for AI too which you can fly against or with
• I want optimization and livery manager
• Disks are cheap these days, case not worth the fuzz
• Let them keep one default livery per aircraft, other optional
• Devs have more important tasks on hands
• Let us choose liveries and manage other files
• Maps are the biggest space eaters
• ...

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

16 hours ago, draconus said:

This is not true. You can see and benefit from DCS high-res textures in FullHD

I see. I don't notice much difference between 8K and 4K, or even 2K versions of the same livery, so I believed it didn't matter.

 

 

16 hours ago, draconus said:

I welcome you to join the never ending discussion here

Thank you! Although I'm a little concerned that this had been going on for a while, and ED hasn't done anything about it

[PawlaczGMD]

7 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

I see. I don't notice much difference between 8K and 4K, or even 2K versions of the same livery, so I believed it didn't matter.

 

 

Thank you! Although I'm a little concerned that this had been going on for a while, and ED hasn't done anything about it

You can move some part of the content to a different drive. You do it by making a symbolic windows link to another location. If you're really pressed for space you could try moving some content to a slower drive. I once tried that with maps, but the game stuttered like hell (on these maps). Perhaps moving planes would work ok?

Edited August 14, 2024 by PawlaczGMD

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

On 8/14/2024 at 6:35 AM, PawlaczGMD said:

You can move some part of the content to a different drive. You do it by making a symbolic windows link to another location. If you're really pressed for space you could try moving some content to a slower drive. I once tried that with maps, but the game stuttered like hell (on these maps). Perhaps moving planes would work ok?

 

I thought of that as well, but my other SSD (Too slow to run DCS well) Is also full of game files for MSFS. There is very little space for me to move around. Thanks to I managed to free up 20 gigs on my small SSD, but there isn't any guarantee that space will be free in 3/4 months. I just wish ED took this issue seriously and added an option in the launcher to remove liveries/units I don't want, similar to the one MSFS hasnull

[PawlaczGMD]

35 minutes ago, COMRADE_CAT1991 said:

I thought of that as well, but my other SSD (Too slow to run DCS well) Is also full of game files for MSFS. There is very little space for me to move around. Thanks to I managed to free up 20 gigs on my small SSD, but there isn't any guarantee that space will be free in 3/4 months. I just wish ED took this issue seriously and added an option in the launcher to remove liveries/units I don't want, similar to the one MSFS hasnull

Well, you can uninstall modules you don't use selectively with the module manager, and liveries don't take much space. The reality is that you need to buy a 2TB SSD to keep up.

[buceador]

As @draconus points out, the question of liveries is, and has been, hotly debated!  On my installation .dds files account for a little more than 100 GB, the majority of which I will never use.  I personally think that ED will, in the fullness of time, integrate a livery manager...

[COMRADE_CAT1991]

6 hours ago, PawlaczGMD said:

liveries don't take much space

I respectfully disagree. An aircraft that I absolutely never use, even as an AI unit, shouldn't be eating up 10 gigs on my drive (in liveries). All such modules' liveries combined make up about 40-50 GB of space, which is kind of ridiculous considering I haven't touched them in years.

 

 

6 hours ago, PawlaczGMD said:

uninstall modules you don't use selectively with the module manager

I have. I've uninstalled free in-game modules like the Marianas and a paid one (Persian Gulf) to save on space, but truth is, DCS just eats up storage

 

 

6 hours ago, buceador said:

ED will, in the fullness of time, integrate a livery manager

I can only pray. Well, I guess this discussion should end here then

[SharpeXB]

It’s inevitable in gaming that at some point it becomes necessary to upgrade your hardware. At least a hard drive is about the cheapest easiest upgrade there is. 

[Ignition]

On 8/15/2024 at 11:25 AM, SharpeXB said:

It’s inevitable in gaming that at some point it becomes necessary to upgrade your hardware. At least a hard drive is about the cheapest easiest upgrade there is. 

It is inevitable when there's bad development.

Why waste 50-100GB of space when you don't need them. These files aren't part of the core game.

[SharpeXB]

10 minutes ago, Ignition said:

It is inevitable when there's bad development.

Why waste 50-100GB of space when you don't need them. These files aren't part of the core game.

If you mean liveries they are indeed a part of the core game. If DCS did have a way to let players manage these then there would have to be a way to enforce their use in multiplayer. That’s certainly possible but it makes things complicated. It’s better to manage your DCS install with the maps. They’re easy to add and remove plus they’re very large. 

[Ignition]

2 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

If you mean liveries they are indeed a part of the core game. If DCS did have a way to let players manage these then there would have to be a way to enforce their use in multiplayer. That’s certainly possible but it makes things complicated. It’s better to manage your DCS install with the maps. They’re easy to add and remove plus they’re very large. 

You can delete these files and the game will be playable.

For multiplayer is easy, 1 livery default for all the liveries you don't have.

 

[SharpeXB]

25 minutes ago, Ignition said:

You can delete these files and the game will be playable.

For multiplayer is easy, 1 livery default for all the liveries you don't have.

Just saying that altering or deleting the liveries in MP could be a form of cheating. For some aircraft the default livery is bright metal. 

[draconus]

8 hours ago, Ignition said:

It is inevitable when there's bad development.

You expect the game to stay the same size through all updates?

They are not mandatory. You're free to use old version.