Where to Start?

[Jester238]

Hi all,

 

A month or two ago the community here was very helpful in providing advice as to where to purchase the game (Steam Vs. ED site). Hopefully you guys can help me with something else, what to buy first! I'm currently downloading DCS World to make sure the the games will run efficiently on my machine, and after that I'd like to pick up one of the DCS games to start with. I guess I'm wondering what a good starting point would be, given that I am a moderately experienced flight simmer. I've played quite a bit of MSFS and several space flight sims extensively. I have a bit of experience with IL 2 but not an extensive amount.

 

I'm thinking P51 might be a good jumping off point given that the management of the plane will be less complex (I've not seriously played any sims modeling modern day combat aircraft) but I'm not sure what state it is in (I know that prepurchasing gets you the beta) plus I love helicopters and the A-10 as an aircraft. So this all leaves me back at square one, which one would you guys recommend?

 

As an aside, what's up with the Blackshark 2 pricing? $40 seems perfectly reasonable for the game, but the upgrade is only $20? So I could theoretically save $10 by buying Blackshark 1 and the upgrade?

 

Thanks!

[G-Lock91]

That's a toughy.. people enjoy different styles. What I mean is, if you like pushing a thousand buttons to get and aicraft up and running, use its weapons,, and get back home then BS and A10 are perfect.. then again as you said, the more easy going as far as tech goes the Mustang is as good as it comes. I can't help but buy up everything ED puts outs. Damn them. But IF I could only choose one it would be the hog.

[ShuRugal]

depends on what you like to fly, how you like to fly, and what flight models you are comfortable with. The P-51 has no complex avionics package to master like the A-10 or the KA-50, but it is a high-performance fighter in every sense of the word. If you are not used to flying twitchy, torquey, aerobatic planes, the mustang will be every bit as much of a challenge to learn as the A-10 or the KA-50.

 

Once you've decided to grab a sim of the sort made by DCS, the question isn't "which one is easiest to start" it's "what sort of flying am i going to feel the most comfortable with". If you like to keep low and manage cover/concealment while picking off targets one by one, go with the KA-50. If you like the idea of spotting and identifying twenty different targets, from a safe stand-off distance, then rolling in and mopping half of them up in one pass, grab the A-10. If you wanna get down and dirty and have a good, old-school, gun-slinging turning fight, grab the mustang.

 

it all depends on what you want to do. Personally, i have a thing for helicopters, so i started with the KA-50 and fell in love with it after only a couple hours. Got into the A-10 when i started playing online, because that is the one everyone writes missions for, and there is something indescribably sublime about standing off 15 miles away at 20k ft examining the battlefield layout, plotting a safe ingress/egress path, then rolling in, chaining off six mavericks for six kills, and rolling back out safely, all without moving your hands from the sticks even once (HOTAS is ****ing awesome). I'm holding off on the mustang because i cannot justify the purchase with my current financial situation, but it is next on my list.

Edited July 27, 2012 by ShuRugal

[Panthro]

the P51 is a good starting point but if you like rotor wings then simple go for the KA50!! I would still advise you to get the A10 as it's just such a good job...as is infact the Ka50 in BS2

The free SU25T is a good place to start imo......

[badger66]

Also bear in mind , if you want to fly the P-51 , there isnt anything realistic to fly against .

 

Personally , I would go for the A-10 ..... easier to fly than the KA-50 , but maybe a bit harder to get your head wrapped around .

 

I guess its what you prefer , fixed wing or rotary .

[Panthro]

oh yeah the free SU25T is good but the cockpit isnt inteactive and frankly sux by modern DCS standards .... not to look a gift horse in the mouth!

[macedk]

A-10 as you might need those skills in the upcoming jet.

[lokitexas]

I am having a blast in the Ka-50. I am loving everything about it. Takes a bit of time to learn, but its a fun road.

 

I also have the A10 but I have not touched it yet. I will one day, but as of now...the Black Shark is keeping me very busy.

[Outlaw24]

The Hog is the way to go IMO. I have all DCS products and they are all great it just depends on the individual.

[Kuky]

If and when you decide to get the BS, get the BS2 full version as saving $10 is not worth the hassle of having to have BS1 installing in order to install BS2.

And what ever module you decide to get you'll have a blast

Edited July 27, 2012 by Kuky

[Jester238]

Awesome, great input guys, I really appreciate it!

 

I think I'm going to go with either the KA50 or the A-10. Still a tough choice as I can only afford one at the moment and I'm sure the time investment required to learn either will mean I'll only want to start with one. My only problem now is performance, I crush the system requirements for A10 (confirmed with CanYouRunIt though I know you can't trust that alone) but the frogfoot still runs sub 20 fps on low settings at 1366x768. I'll try to figure that out as it's an issue for another thread I suppose.

 

Thanks again!

[EtherealN]

CanYouRunIt isn't only something you "can't trust alone", it's outright misleading and way too simplistic. My recommendation really is to never ever use a site like that, but rather spend a little time learning what the components of a computer are and how they impact system requirements. No need to be an expert, just a cursory understanding is usually enough.

oh yeah the free SU25T is good but the cockpit isnt inteactive and frankly sux by modern DCS standards .... not to look a gift horse in the mouth!

 

True, but it is still a hi-fidelity sim compared to most other sims out there (outside of DCS). Plus, it's a very satisfying bird to fly!

[joey45]

Awesome, great input guys, I really appreciate it!

 

I think I'm going to go with either the KA50 or the A-10. Still a tough choice as I can only afford one at the moment and I'm sure the time investment required to learn either will mean I'll only want to start with one. My only problem now is performance, I crush the system requirements for A10 (confirmed with CanYouRunIt though I know you can't trust that alone) but the frogfoot still runs sub 20 fps on low settings at 1366x768. I'll try to figure that out as it's an issue for another thread I suppose.

 

Thanks again!

 

What's your specs???

[luza]

I'd start with the A10, it's fairly easy to start and get in the air, and once you do that, you still have plenty of small things to learn, which keeps it intrigueing and interesting :)

 

All products are great, but for me the ka50 might be a little tough as a beginner, and p51 meh, boring imo :P

[G-Lock91]

Awesome, great input guys, I really appreciate it!

 

I think I'm going to go with either the KA50 or the A-10. Still a tough choice as I can only afford one at the moment and I'm sure the time investment required to learn either will mean I'll only want to start with one. My only problem now is performance, I crush the system requirements for A10 (confirmed with CanYouRunIt though I know you can't trust that alone) but the frogfoot still runs sub 20 fps on low settings at 1366x768. I'll try to figure that out as it's an issue for another thread I suppose.

 

Thanks again!

 

I've seen a few people post that BS was going for $5 on Steam.. Crazy!

[Witchking]

I agree....the hog is totally worth purting the effort in. Personally that would be my recommendation too. Nothing is as satisfying as getting details from the JTAC and successfully completing a CAS mission or dropping a JDAM from 15 angels or watching the cbu97 skeets engage a column.

 

Another tip...If u are overwhelmed with the startup sequence like me and wish to enjoy the flight and missions, just use the engine start and stop cheats to get going. As u get interested and begin to love the hog, u will start to intuitively look up the other functions/buttons and operations in the cockpit.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Witchking

[Jester238]

What's your specs???

 

Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit

Intel Core i3 CPU @2.40 GHz

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 @ 2740 Mb memory

4 gigs of ram

 

I'm pretty sure the GPU is my bottleneck. Sadly I can't afford a new rig and I'm on a laptop so upgrading isn't really an option. I hear that DCS World introduced a slew of performance issues, so maybe it'll get ironed out in the near future, if not then I am planning on picking up a new Desktop with next year's tax return :)

 

Thanks for the help!

[bigian]

I've bought all three - the hog is the one, the more you learn the better it gets and suddenly ramp starts and landings are a cake walk as you're trying to master mavericks and LGBs and a million other things.