Need Idiots guide to DLSS4 implementation into DCS

[LucShep]

2 hours ago, TBarina said:

Thanks. It's fantastic compared to the plain vanilla DLSS in DCS (is it DLSS 2?)

Is there anything we can do to activate Frame Generation as well or RTX4090 is not compatible? I don't find any cue in NVidia Profile Inspector that I set like this:

 

Frame Generation in unsupported games, and pratically with any GPU, can be achieved with 3rd party apps like Loseless Scalling.
Notice that this isn't for VR, only for 2D (monitor, TV, etc).
It's not a free app - it's sold on Steam - but, if you're into this, it's so cheap that (IMHO) is worth the purchase: https://store.steampowered.com/app/993090/Lossless_Scaling/

A couple of tutorials:

Also, with Loseless Scalling you can now set Frame Generation as "Adaptive" instead of "Fixed" if you prefer (and another tutorial for this setting):

 

Edited March 10 by LucShep

[WipeUout]

1 hour ago, TBarina said:

Is there anything we can do to activate Frame Generation as well or RTX4090 is not compatible

Frame generation in VR is already implemented at HMD software level, it is called "space warp" or "reprojection" or "smart smoothing" depending on your HMD's make.

 

[TheAverageJoe93]

I'm having an issue displaying the DLSS Overlay on the bottom left of the window. This is true in both 2D and in VR. This used to show up, but has since disappeared since 1 or 2 Nvidia Driver updates the past 2 weeks or so. I have attempted to change the registry file (as stated in multiple forums). I have tried to use DLSS Swapper to display information, in the game, and this hasn't worked either. I manually added my "BIN" and "bin-mt" to DLSS Swapper Game list and changed them in DLSS swapper to the newest DLSS. DLSS Swapper is showing I have the most recent DLSS on the simulator.  I have ran DDU and reinstalled nvidia drivers with NVCleanstall, and even selected the "Show overlay" or whatever it's call on that installation menu. I have used Nvidia Inspector to set "Preset K" to the Global Driver settings, as well as "Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark" dropdown in Nvidia Inspector. 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why the overlay isn't working. I need this overlay to confirm what Preset I am using. Unless there is another way to display, like a log file, to show what DLSS version and Preset I am using. 

 

Sorry for the long winded comment, this has been my entire weekend, and I'm about to pull my hair out

[sleighzy]

7 hours ago, TheAverageJoe93 said:

I'm having an issue displaying the DLSS Overlay on the bottom left of the window. This is true in both 2D and in VR. This used to show up, but has since disappeared since 1 or 2 Nvidia Driver updates the past 2 weeks or so. I have attempted to change the registry file (as stated in multiple forums). I have tried to use DLSS Swapper to display information, in the game, and this hasn't worked either. I manually added my "BIN" and "bin-mt" to DLSS Swapper Game list and changed them in DLSS swapper to the newest DLSS. DLSS Swapper is showing I have the most recent DLSS on the simulator.  I have ran DDU and reinstalled nvidia drivers with NVCleanstall, and even selected the "Show overlay" or whatever it's call on that installation menu. I have used Nvidia Inspector to set "Preset K" to the Global Driver settings, as well as "Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark" dropdown in Nvidia Inspector. 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why the overlay isn't working. I need this overlay to confirm what Preset I am using. Unless there is another way to display, like a log file, to show what DLSS version and Preset I am using. 

 

Sorry for the long winded comment, this has been my entire weekend, and I'm about to pull my hair out

Use DLSSTweaks to enable the hud overlay. https://github.com/emoose/DLSSTweaks

You don't need to copy any files into DCS, just run the DLSSTweaksConfig.exe file for configuration and set GlobalHudOverride to Enabled (all DLLs)

[TheAverageJoe93]

14 hours ago, sleighzy said:

Use DLSSTweaks to enable the hud overlay. https://github.com/emoose/DLSSTweaks

You don't need to copy any files into DCS, just run the DLSSTweaksConfig.exe file for configuration and set GlobalHudOverride to Enabled (all DLLs)

Thanks for the reply!

But, turns out, I'm an idiot. I was under the impression you could see the overlay in the main menu. Pro tip, you can't. When I was debugging, I was only going to the main menu. Once I actually loaded into a plane, it showed up. lol

[Dr Zaius]

Has something changed recently either with DCS or Nvidia, I had DLSS working on preset J previously but now it seems to be stuck on C, anyone else having issues?

Edit: Scratch that, I got it working again - I think you need to double check all is working OK after a Nvidia driver update

Edited May 7 by Dr Zaius

[Dr Zaius]

Quick question please, are people generally using the preset K (0x0000000B) over J?

[Qcumber]

3 hours ago, Dr Zaius said:

Quick question please, are people generally using the preset K (0x0000000B) over J?

K has the edge for me but mainly subjective. 

I did a test in VR and there is a slightly better performance for K over J but I really need to check this more thoroughly to see if it is significant. 

 

[C3PO]

Out of interest, why isn't this natively supported in DCS so we can do away with these workarounds?

Edited May 12 by C3PO

[StratosFalcon]

I tried it today. Thanks for the instructions. The ghosting of the planes didn't improve, though. I use VR. Has anyone had any other experiences?

Edited Tuesday at 08:56 PM by StratosFalcon

[Qcumber]

9 minutes ago, StratosFalcon said:

I tried it today. Thanks for the instructions. The ghosting of the planes didn't improve, though. I use VR. Has anyone had any other experiences?

In VR you need to push the resolution high to remove ghosting. I don't know what headset you use, or PC specs, but try increasing the resolution to about 4800x4800 pixels. I use Quad Views Foveated Rendering to increase the Foveated resolution to this level and it removes most of the ghosting. Spotting dots are still not great though. 

[sleighzy]

1 hour ago, StratosFalcon said:

I tried it today. Thanks for the instructions. The ghosting of the planes didn't improve, though. I use VR. Has anyone had any other experiences?

Not sure what your use case was but DCS has native support for this now so instructions re: Nvidia Profile Inspector, Nvidia app, etc. are no longer needed if you're just wanting to use in DCS.

[StratosFalcon]

vor 22 Stunden schrieb Qcumber:

In VR you need to push the resolution high to remove ghosting. I don't know what headset you use, or PC specs, but try increasing the resolution to about 4800x4800 pixels. I use Quad Views Foveated Rendering to increase the Foveated resolution to this level and it removes most of the ghosting. Spotting dots are still not great though. 

My Meta Quest 3 is far from that. The resolution is 1.5 in DCS. Still, there should be some improvement, right?

 

vor 21 Stunden schrieb sleighzy:

Not sure what your use case was but DCS has native support for this now so instructions re: Nvidia Profile Inspector, Nvidia app, etc. are no longer needed if you're just wanting to use in DCS.

I followed your instructions. Is that no longer necessary? Is it now sufficient to set the “DLSS Override – Model Preset” option to “Latest” in the Nvidia app and activate DLSS in DCS? I use a RTX 5080. In 2D, the following appears:

Edited Wednesday at 07:31 PM by StratosFalcon

[sleighzy]

1 hour ago, StratosFalcon said:

I followed your instructions. Is that no longer necessary?

You mean the ones in this post, or from another one? The ones in this post are out of date. To use the native support in DCS do the following:

Add the below line to your C:\Users\username\Saved Games\DCS\Config\autoexec.cfg file to set the DLSS preset, this is still C by default. You will need to create this file if it does not already exist.

The second line there is optional but will mean that DLSS is not applied to MFDs or the HUD which can reduce ghosting on there, i.e. moving cursors on radar screens, etc. Nvidia App overrides will likely override that setting, so remove it, unless you have other games you want to apply it to.

DLSS_Preset = 'K'
HUD_MFD_after_DLSS = true

[StratosFalcon]

Thank you very much. I'll try it tomorrow.

[StratosFalcon]

It didn't work for me in VR. The ghosting didn't improve. Even if you move the cursor, it is still there.

Is it possible that the values "K" and "true" in the configuration file both need to be enclosed in apostrophes?

The config file itself is written with a text editor and the file extension is changed to .cfg

Have you noticed any changes with your meta quest?

Edited yesterday at 07:59 PM by StratosFalcon

[sleighzy]

25 minutes ago, StratosFalcon said:

It didn't work for me in VR. The ghosting didn't improve. Even if you move the cursor, it is still there.

Is it possible that the values "K" and "true" in the configuration file both need to be enclosed in apostrophes?

The config file itself is written with a text editor and the file extension is changed to .cfg

Have you noticed any changes with your meta quest?

Check your DCS log file. Look for the text about DLSS preset and K (if it says C then it isn’t using that file). If it says K even without that file then it means you’re overriding it somewhere else.

[Qcumber]

10 hours ago, StratosFalcon said:

It didn't work for me in VR. The ghosting didn't improve. Even if you move the cursor, it is still there.

Is it possible that the values "K" and "true" in the configuration file both need to be enclosed in apostrophes?

The config file itself is written with a text editor and the file extension is changed to .cfg

Have you noticed any changes with your meta quest?

You cannot get rid of the ghosting with DLSS in VR. Even with the latest DLSS version and preset K. The advice I gave above regarding the super sampling will minimize this but you will still notice a fuzziness in spotting dots and a slight bleeding effect from moving objects against some backgrounds, particularly low over trees and dense areas. In most situations though it looks very good. But this comes at a massive performance cost unless you use fixed Foveated Rendering with QVFR. Then you can push the centre region high and keep the periphery low. Not everyone can cope with that though. It would be worth giving it a go if you have not already tried. You have basically the same PC specs as me so you should get some decent results. 

I have been trying out using MSAA again. It's not as good for an overall smooth image but is much sharper when it comes to spotting and moving objects. As with DLSS you need to super sample in order to get the best results. 

The ideal world would be to be able to use QVFR with DLSS applied to the periphery and MSAA applied to the centre.

@sleighzy I am not sure that this is even possible!? Could someone potentially work such "magic"?

[StratosFalcon]

vor 22 Stunden schrieb sleighzy:

Check your DCS log file. Look for the text about DLSS preset and K (if it says C then it isn’t using that file). If it says K even without that file then it means you’re overriding it somewhere else.

It says preset C, and I don't know how to get the K setting right. I've tried various settings in the driver (see image). It just doesn't overwrite! The autoexec.cfg is a normal TXT file with a .cfg extension, right (It should be normal for a CFG file to appear as a TXT file (type)? Should I try another tool like DLSS Inspector?

For example, the log file contains the following (I'm surprised it mentions DX11 and not DX12):

2025-09-19 19:10:13.208 INFO    DX11BACKEND (300): Use DLSS preset 'C'
 

[StratosFalcon]

vor 12 Stunden schrieb Qcumber:

I have been trying out using MSAA again.

I've already used it. It behaves as you described. I don't like the flickering, so DLSS at a higher level might be a better alternative. If only I could activate the K preset. 

[Qcumber]

1 hour ago, StratosFalcon said:

I've already used it. It behaves as you described. I don't like the flickering, so DLSS at a higher level might be a better alternative. If only I could activate the K preset. 

You set use preset K with the NVIDIA app. 

[sleighzy]

1 hour ago, StratosFalcon said:

It says preset C, and I don't know how to get the K setting right. I've tried various settings in the driver (see image). It just doesn't overwrite! The autoexec.cfg is a normal TXT file with a .cfg extension

Here's the actual file, drop it in that location. This approach definitely works. So either it's in the wrong location, or your text editor named the file autoexec.cfg.txt and your Windows is hiding file extensions and you're only seeing the .cfg part, or you're overriding it somewhere else. Your screenshots show you overriding stuff so may be conflicting  Try the file first.

 

autoexec.cfg

Edited 1 hour ago by sleighzy

[StratosFalcon]

Thank you, that's very kind of you.  I'll try it out tomorrow. Exactly, my editor renamed the file to autoexec.cfg.txt, even though I used the .cfg extension. How can I work around this?

[sleighzy]

12 minutes ago, StratosFalcon said:

Thank you, that's very kind of you.  I'll try it out tomorrow. Exactly, my editor renamed the file to autoexec.cfg.txt, even though I used the .cfg extension. How can I work around this?

This generally is caused by using Notepad (which is a terrible editor and can corrupt files so use Notepad++ instead). So either, use a different editor, or rename the file manually afterwards in Windows. This can cause the same problem for other files as well, e.g. people not understanding why a .lua file isn't taking effect, which they don't realise is actually being named .lua.txt  

EDIT: you should change your Windows settings to always display file extensions so these things don't get hidden in the future.

Edited 1 hour ago by sleighzy

[StratosFalcon]

Ich habe es herausgefunden. Das entsprechende Kontrollkästchen fehlte in den Ansichtsoptionen des Explorers. Ich habe es eine Weile nicht benutzt. 

Oh, you were faster. That's exactly it. 

Edited 1 hour ago by StratosFalcon