DCS Crash just before loading cockpit

[OmasRachE]

For everyone who has severe performance issues with VR, or even a DCS crash right after selecting an aircraft, the following might be helpful. Recently, I had several cases where DCS crashed after I hit “fly” in MP or SP. So, immediately after selecting the aircraft but before the briefing screen. It kept happening over and over again, though not always. At first, I thought I had solved it by deleting the metashaders. However, that turned out to be just coincidence. I had extremely long loading times and frequent crashes, and nothing seemed to help.

Until I rather accidentally noticed that in the graphics settings, “3 monitors” was selected under “Screen.” In fact, my graphics card was trying to render not only the VR headset but also both of my monitors. (And sometimes it even managed to do it!) I was already wondering, since the last few patch notes talked about performance improvements, but I was experiencing the exact opposite. After setting it back to just one monitor, everything started running smoothly again.

How exactly that setting got changed—whether through an update or a user mistake—I no longer know. Occasionally, I switch the graphics settings to 2D for screenshots. Most likely, when switching back, I picked the wrong preset. It would be nice if the player presets could be renamed so you know which one is the right one. With presets one, two, and three, it’s not very clear.

Hope this helps someone out there.