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Blown away


Nemesis44UK

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Here's the story behind DCS and me.

 

Bought Black Shark 2, PC didn't run it very well. Uninstalled.

 

Upgraded computer some time later, ran BS2, ran great, bought A10, which didn't run very well. Uninstalled.

 

Upgraded computer some time later, ran everything very well apart from micro-stutters.

 

Joystick broke. Uninstalled.

 

New joystick purchased, installed everything and started learning.

 

Had child.

 

Fast forward a bit. Reinstalled all and started playing.

 

Joystick broke. Uninstalled.

 

Anyway, the point being is that I have been away from DCS and not following development for a while until I saw a video on PC Gamer about the new F14 module.

 

It's been a very, very long time since I've been so impressed with a game trailer, which was probably Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 2 or Papyrus' original Indycar Racing, which was around 1993?

 

The flight sim I've spent most time in is Microprose's old F-14 Fleet Defender and I have warm memories of ripple-firing AIM-54s at waves of Bear bombers and your trailer is hitting me in all my feelies. This is like all my Christmasses have come at once.

 

So, I will save and do what I can to get ready, but I just wanted to say that the simulation looks absolutely amazing, you are all to be congratulated on hands-down the best looking sim I've ever seen and I can't wait to play.

 

Cheers.


Edited by Nemesis44UK
Clarification

i5-12400F, 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX, MSI RTX4060 8GB, 1TB Corsair Pro NVME.

Finally, I can run DCS!!!

 

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Second child? :D

i7-2600 @3.4GHz | Corsair 16GB @1600MHz. | MSI GTX1660Ti Gaming X | Samsung 256GB SSD (Win10HPx64)
Samsung G5 32" + Samsung 18" + 2x8"TFT Displays | Saitek X-55 Rhino & Rudder | TM MFD Cougars | Logitech G13, G230, G510, PZ55 & Farming Sim Panel | TIR5
>>MY MODS<< | Discord: Devrim#1068

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Ha, it's actually my second child that threw everything out of whack!

 

What's a good budget joystick to have?

 

I'd love a Thrustmaster A-10, but not for the forseeable future. I don't even mind if it isn't a HOTAS setup, but a single joystick with throttle. I only had a very simple HOTAS anyway, so it won't be a massive problem to use keys for most things anyway.

 

Any suggestions?

 

What's a FFB2?

 

Thanks in advance.

i5-12400F, 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX, MSI RTX4060 8GB, 1TB Corsair Pro NVME.

Finally, I can run DCS!!!

 

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Ha, it's actually my second child that threw everything out of whack!

 

What's a good budget joystick to have?

 

I'd love a Thrustmaster A-10, but not for the forseeable future. I don't even mind if it isn't a HOTAS setup, but a single joystick with throttle. I only had a very simple HOTAS anyway, so it won't be a massive problem to use keys for most things anyway.

 

Any suggestions?

 

What's a FFB2?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

This is the best bang for your buck, solid controller for a great price: https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-16000M-HOTAS-Controller-2960778/dp/B01KCHPRXA/

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Ha, it's actually my second child that threw everything out of whack!

 

What's a good budget joystick to have?

 

I'd love a Thrustmaster A-10, but not for the forseeable future. I don't even mind if it isn't a HOTAS setup, but a single joystick with throttle. I only had a very simple HOTAS anyway, so it won't be a massive problem to use keys for most things anyway.

 

Any suggestions?

 

What's a FFB2?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Stop buying "budget" they break too easily. You should know this by now :)

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What's a FFB2?

 

Short for Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback 2. This stick is a legend. You could buy it in stores in the early 2000s, but there are still some on eBay. Even if it's used, it's still good. Price should be somewhere in the range from 50 to 100 bucks. It's worth it, even though it's not a HOTAS. But you'll have a twist grip for rudder, a throttle slider, 8 buttons and a 8-pos hat. Nothing fancy nowadays, but it gets the job done.

 

The real feature is that force feedback and this stick is undoubtedly the best at it still. This will bring you a trimmer in the Black Shark as close to the real thing as possible at the moment, and it works similarly well in most other modules, giving you some feel for your speed in warbirds and (pre) stall conditions or shifting its center as you trim.

 

If you just take a quick peek into this thread (comments, not the poll), you'll notice that quite some people still use it, but most add a throttle unit and rudder pedals to it. Again, mine works for ~15 years now, those things are quality.

dcsdashie-hb-ed.jpg

 

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I can't believe that no one at Heablur owns a MSFFB2 (they've mentioned it a few times). Now that I've seen how well support for it is implemented in the Mig29 PFM Im sad that we probably won't get this level of support for our force feedback sticks with the F14 :(

Current specs: Windows 10 Home 64bit, i5-9600K @ 3.7 Ghz, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB Samsung EVO 860 M.2 SSD, GAINWARD RTX2060 6GB, Oculus Rift S, MS FFB2 Sidewinder + Warthog Throttle Quadrant, Saitek Pro rudder pedals.

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I can't believe that no one at Heablur owns a MSFFB2 (they've mentioned it a few times). Now that I've seen how well support for it is implemented in the Mig29 PFM Im sad that we probably won't get this level of support for our force feedback sticks with the F14 :(

 

It would be nice if another peripheral manufacturer would make a new, more modern Force Feedback stick compatible with Thrustmaster grips.

Modules: FC3, A-10C, M2000C, MiG-21bis, F-86F, AV-8B NA, F/A-18C, F-14A/B, F-16C, F-15E, F-4E, A-29, Eurofighter Typhoon, A-6E, MiG-23MLA, Nevada, Persian Gulf, South Atlantic, Syria, Afghanistan

 

Specs: Intel i7 2600K, Nvidea GTX 980, 16GB RAM, NVMe SSD, Saitek X-55, TrackIR 5, Samsung Odyssey VR

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to all responders

 

Thanks all for your comments.

 

A quick explanation - I have uninstalled DCS if there is a prospect that I won't be able to play it for a while. Hard drive space is at a premium until I can land my 4TB HDD, so if I don't play a game regularly, it gets removed to make way for one that does.

 

Sadly, with modern games occasionally topping 100GB in size, a 2TB drive fills up a lot faster than it used to.

i5-12400F, 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX, MSI RTX4060 8GB, 1TB Corsair Pro NVME.

Finally, I can run DCS!!!

 

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Thanks all for your comments.

 

A quick explanation - I have uninstalled DCS if there is a prospect that I won't be able to play it for a while. Hard drive space is at a premium until I can land my 4TB HDD, so if I don't play a game regularly, it gets removed to make way for one that does.

 

Sadly, with modern games occasionally topping 100GB in size, a 2TB drive fills up a lot faster than it used to.

 

Nemesis I recommend if you want to have an enjoyable DCS experience that you install it on an SSD all of its own. I've got a WD Blue 250GB one which works great with DCS and drastically reduces load times and preload stutters during gaming as well.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-WDS250G2B0A-Blue-Internal/dp/B073SB2MXW/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1540826600&sr=1-3-spons&keywords=ssd&psc=1

Proud owner of:

PointCTRL VR : Finger Trackers for VR -- Real Simulator : FSSB R3L Force Sensing Stick. -- Deltasim : Force Sensor WH Slew Upgrade -- Mach3Ti Ring : Real Flown Mach 3 SR-71 Titanium, made into an amazing ring.

 

My Fathers Aviation Memoirs: 50 Years of Flying Fun - From Hunter to Spitfire and back again.

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Nemesis I recommend if you want to have an enjoyable DCS experience that you install it on an SSD all of its own.

 

 

I second this. I run my OS on an SSD, and it keeps things humming along. SSDs are nice for things where you want quick access, if you didn't know. Like a race car, though: they go fast, but are (slightly?) more prone to failure. A platter drive is more like a truck: slower, not as flashy, but more reliable for the long haul.

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Short for Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback 2. This stick is a legend.

 

 

Definitely. I absolutely loved mine until it broke. Still have it awaiting the inclination to fix it though, it was that good. Went with a cheap (at the time) HOTAS X to replace the Sidewinder. Though it's not the greatest, it was within the budget, and while I'm not perfectly happy with it, it did the job for a great price, and hasn't failed in years of hard use.

 

 

Next up is a Warthog, though, despite a few negative reviews, and, of course, the outrageous expense. If you're serious about something, you do it right, and hang the expense.

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Nemesis I recommend if you want to have an enjoyable DCS experience that you install it on an SSD all of its own. I've got a WD Blue 250GB one which works great with DCS and drastically reduces load times and preload stutters during gaming as well.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-WDS250G2B0A-Blue-Internal/dp/B073SB2MXW/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1540826600&sr=1-3-spons&keywords=ssd&psc=1

 

I'd recommend one up though - 500GB. A 250GB drive actually just has ~230GB and my DCS installation is 142GB without any mods and I'm lacking a few modules (Gazelle, that GPS thing, Hawk and C-101 as well as all those campaigns). DCSs needs up to 50+GB already in the patching process, so just a single map on top of that might cause problems already plus the 500GB has a better bang/buck ratio rainbowdashwink.png

 

There's definately no need to stay on HDDs these days anymore. SSDs become pretty much affordable. Keep those magnetics for data. I'm running SSDs since 2009 (OCZ Core 64GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB and 240GB, Micron/Crucial MX100 256GB and 512GB) and none of them failed to work as of yet.

 

Definitely. I absolutely loved mine until it broke. Still have it awaiting the inclination to fix it though, it was that good. Went with a cheap (at the time) HOTAS X to replace the Sidewinder. Though it's not the greatest, it was within the budget, and while I'm not perfectly happy with it, it did the job for a great price, and hasn't failed in years of hard use.

 

 

Next up is a Warthog, though, despite a few negative reviews, and, of course, the outrageous expense. If you're serious about something, you do it right, and hang the expense.

 

I got my TM warthog used off eBay for 220€. I'd totally miss that throttle unit it if went haywire. My FFB2 has a jerky pot in the rudder twist thing though. Got a spare one with the same problem, but I just solved that issue by getting some rudder pedals and that's 12 years ago already rdlaugh.png

dcsdashie-hb-ed.jpg

 

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