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New (again) to DCS with noob plane questions.


davebert

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You can't use DCS default control settings. By default it will map useless things on your joystick buttons. For instance, map the "view change" to one of your hat switch. It's fine if you really want to use it. But a lot of people here either use TrackIR (some go VR if you have the budget, and computer for it).

 

The X52 is a popular joystick, so you will surely find "suggested" button maping and such, but I believe a lot of people will experiment and use their own stuff. At least, that is what I do. I don't mind using suggestions as a starting point, but I will always adjust to my personal preferences.

 

And, I have a joystick that is not that much popular, even though I think it is great value for the price (Thrustmaster T16000m Stick, Throttle and Rudder)

 

Good info. Thanks. I don't have VR and probably won't for a very long time. Now that TrackIR looks interesting so maybe a wish list item for sure. I looked up your TM T1600m package and it looks pretty good for the price. How do you like it? I have mapped my other joystick to other games so I can surely handle the job, just wanted to see what the norm was..

Thanks

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There are existing profiles for some that shared their profiles for X52 (just make sure you use the profile appropriate for your X52 as there is a Pro and a non-Pro). I used one for the Hog with complete cheat sheets and a graphical layout of the buttons. I personally try to map the buttons as close to how the buttons are in real-life, then map the rest of the most frequently used buttons/switches depending on the aircraft.

 

The key is to learn how to fly the A/C first then the mapping becomes intuitive and you can decide what layout makes sense to you. That's why I find it difficult to suggest layouts but they can be good starting points, specially if the ones who made the profile mirrors the actual buttons as close to real-life.

 

Good points. Where do I find these shared profiles? I think flying is the easy part, it's all those switches and buttons that keep you preoccupied. :lol:

Thanks

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edit: Quick question. I do not own any VR Headset and was curious if any module "requires" one or if they are just optional on some module that offer it??

 

No module requires VR.

It is totally optional like is to have a three screens.

 

At least get a trackIR or similar like NoIRtrack etc.

 

The VR in current level is not up to par with screens when comes to accuracy, readability and spotting.

 

But it adds great immersion to sit in cockpit and you get a better feeling about aircraft size and position when doing maneuvers etc.

But when you have difficulties to read cockpit instruments and spot air or ground targets, it can cause frustrations if you would need to learn new modules while using VR.

 

VR just allows you to forget that you sit in a room for some moments.

 

 

--

I usually post from my phone so please excuse any typos, inappropriate punctuation and capitalization, missing words and general lack of cohesion and sense in my posts.....

i7-8700k, 32GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 2x 2080S SLI 8GB, Oculus Rift S.

i7-8700k, 16GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 1080Ti 11GB, 27" 4K, 65" HDR 4K.

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I think over time I will have multiple clickable jets. What is the average number of jets people end up with I wonder. I am thinking I will end up with 4 for some reason... smile.gif

I currently have 8 jets in my inventory, as well as 2 helos and 4 prop aircraft and I'm more or less capable in pretty much all of them :)

 

Very good info for me here. I want to fly sooner than later so I can put the A10C on the back burner for now... I appreciate the "levels of difficulty" comparison. Makes me think of an F5E for starters but I have read ahead in these posts and the Harrier might be in my hangar too. I appreciate the good info.

Thanks,

Dave

The F-5E is indeed a very good starter aircraft as it is rather simple, but still good fun thumbup.gif

 

I don't recommend the Harrier as a beginner aircraft for various reasons:

- It's not a simple aircraft

- It's still very much in development, which means various things don't work yet and it gets a lot of updates with changes to its systems and they sometimes break stuff

- The documentation is rather unfinished as well

So, as someone new to DCS, I would wait untill the Harrier is in a more finished state before buying it.

 

I just looked at the Albatros and it looks pretty cool too. I guess I need to plan on buying multiple planes over time as this looks like going into a gun store and only buying one gun. It's not gonna work. smilewink.gif

Thanks

I personally don't like trainer aircraft in general, but if you don't have this kind of aversion then the Albatros is a really great aircraft for a DCS beginner. It's pretty similar to the F-5E (which also is the USAF jet trainer in its T-38 variant) regarding complexity and capabilities and a good aircraft to get started in DCS. Another feature of the Albatros is multicrewing, which means that you can get in the same aircraft together with another player.

Intel i7-12700K @ 8x5GHz+4x3.8GHz + 32 GB DDR5 RAM + Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 (8 GB VRAM) + M.2 SSD + Windows 10 64Bit

 

DCS Panavia Tornado (IDS) really needs to be a thing!

 

Tornado3 small.jpg

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Good info. Thanks. I don't have VR and probably won't for a very long time. Now that TrackIR looks interesting so maybe a wish list item for sure. I looked up your TM T1600m package and it looks pretty good for the price. How do you like it? I have mapped my other joystick to other games so I can surely handle the job, just wanted to see what the norm was..

Thanks

 

As somebody else pointed out, a lot of people share their user config files on the DCS site, so I would strongly suggest starting from there. Then you fine tune depending of what you like and don't like.

 

VR is expensive and requires a powerful rig (though you seem to already have that). TrackIR is a very good, and cheaper alternative (but not super cheap either). I had been on DCS for a year when I finally decided to get a TrackIR and jesus man... you will not want to go back when you try it.

 

As for the T16000, I am very happy. My very personal opinion is that there isn't really another joystick that is worth buying apart from the actual Warthog replica, but it's 4 times more expensive. Don't get me wrong, there are other very good products, such as the X52. But, it's still significantly more expensive than the T16000m and I'm not sure the added features justify the price difference. The only critic I could make would be about the rudder pedals. These are entry levels rudder pedals and you can feel it. For the price they are fine, but they are worth what you paid for. Don't expect top quality rudder for that price. That being said, I'm still glad I bought them.

Windows 10-64bits, i7-8700k, GTX 1080Ti, 32 Gb RAM, MSI Monitor 32in 165Hz.

 

Mirage 2000C, F5-E, Mig21bis, A10-C, FC3, F-18, AV-8B N/A, F-14, F-16, SuperCarrier

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No module requires VR.

It is totally optional like is to have a three screens.

 

At least get a trackIR or similar like NoIRtrack etc.

 

The VR in current level is not up to par with screens when comes to accuracy, readability and spotting.

 

But it adds great immersion to sit in cockpit and you get a better feeling about aircraft size and position when doing maneuvers etc.

But when you have difficulties to read cockpit instruments and spot air or ground targets, it can cause frustrations if you would need to learn new modules while using VR.

 

VR just allows you to forget that you sit in a room for some moments.

 

 

--

I usually post from my phone so please excuse any typos, inappropriate punctuation and capitalization, missing words and general lack of cohesion and sense in my posts.....

 

 

I see a tracker of one kind or another in my near future. I am going to go the DIY route for starters. I ordered some PS3 Eyes and some LED's and can fabricate the rest but was curious which software is better:

 

FaceTrackNoIR

 

OpenTrack

 

FreeTrack

 

Thanks for the info on the VR too.

Dave

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I currently have 8 jets in my inventory, as well as 2 helos and 4 prop aircraft and I'm more or less capable in pretty much all of them :)

 

That is what I was afraid of...:P I think over time it will happen but no need to buy them all at once.

 

The F-5E is indeed a very good starter aircraft as it is rather simple, but still good fun thumbup.gif

 

Good, I am ordering the F5E today. :)

 

I don't recommend the Harrier as a beginner aircraft for various reasons:

- It's not a simple aircraft

- It's still very much in development, which means various things don't work yet and it gets a lot of updates with changes to its systems and they sometimes break stuff

- The documentation is rather unfinished as well

So, as someone new to DCS, I would wait untill the Harrier is in a more finished state before buying it.

 

Yeah, I read that from a few other people too. I will put that on the back burner for now...

 

 

I personally don't like trainer aircraft in general, but if you don't have this kind of aversion then the Albatros is a really great aircraft for a DCS beginner. It's pretty similar to the F-5E (which also is the USAF jet trainer in its T-38 variant) regarding complexity and capabilities and a good aircraft to get started in DCS. Another feature of the Albatros is multicrewing, which means that you can get in the same aircraft together with another player.

 

I don't like trainers either but a 2 seat fighter would be great in the future. Thanks for all your responses.

Dave

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As somebody else pointed out, a lot of people share their user config files on the DCS site, so I would strongly suggest starting from there. Then you fine tune depending of what you like and don't like.

 

VR is expensive and requires a powerful rig (though you seem to already have that). TrackIR is a very good, and cheaper alternative (but not super cheap either). I had been on DCS for a year when I finally decided to get a TrackIR and jesus man... you will not want to go back when you try it.

 

As for the T16000, I am very happy. My very personal opinion is that there isn't really another joystick that is worth buying apart from the actual Warthog replica, but it's 4 times more expensive. Don't get me wrong, there are other very good products, such as the X52. But, it's still significantly more expensive than the T16000m and I'm not sure the added features justify the price difference. The only critic I could make would be about the rudder pedals. These are entry levels rudder pedals and you can feel it. For the price they are fine, but they are worth what you paid for. Don't expect top quality rudder for that price. That being said, I'm still glad I bought them.

 

I looked at the downloads section on the main DCS page and did not find much related to the X52 Pro so I will continue searching the forums and see what I can find.

 

I am going to build me a tracker for now as I like to do stuff like that. And if that doesn't work well enough I will buy something better. But I have a feeling the free versions will work if properly made and configured.

 

Good feedback on the joystick/rudder setup. If not for me maybe my stepdad will be cheap when he needs a new controller setup and this may be just the ticket.

 

Thanks,

Dave

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And one more thing...I ordered the F5-E, the F/A-18C Hornet, and the Persian Gulf terrain a few minutes ago. Thanks for all the comments and recommendations. I will be buying more later this year. You know, birthday, Xmas, 1st day of summer, last day of summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving...etc :helpsmilie: :megalol:

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Before buying any plane do two things one grab chucks tutorial guide for the airframe as he will let you know what your info the only bad thing i. He uses the thrustmaster warthog for all controls so he maps the controls similarly your x52 should workuntil it doesn’t work any more or you get addicted and go to a VKB or virpil setup. You have two ac free the of-51 and su-25 something. I’m a helo guy but have 90% of the mods out there . I bet there’s 50% of the helos I’ve never loaded yet iirc I’ve only loaded the huey my fav and primary ac, and the gazelle the other two are waiting until I perfect the huey. The only fixed wings I recall loading up are the f-15, a-10c and spitfire. Also you should look into voice attack to help over come a lot of kbing.

 

The second thing is each developer has a list of their mods here both aircraft and campaigns go read all you can on the ac your interested in read the main forum,read the wishlist forum (shows what is lacking) and read the bugs and problems forum that tells you what should be working but isn’t.

 

I try to pick up mods at reduced prices and use bonus points when I can.

BlackeyCole 20years usaf

XP-11. Dcs 2.5OB

Acer predator laptop/ i7 7720, 2.4ghz, 32 gb ddr4 ram, 500gb ssd,1tb hdd,nvidia 1080 8gb vram

 

 

New FlightSim Blog at https://blackeysblog.wordpress.com. Go visit it and leave me feedback and or comments so I can make it better. A new post every Friday.

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Before buying any plane do two things one grab chucks tutorial guide for the airframe as he will let you know what your info the only bad thing i. He uses the thrustmaster warthog for all controls so he maps the controls similarly your x52 should workuntil it doesn’t work any more or you get addicted and go to a VKB or virpil setup. You have two ac free the of-51 and su-25 something. I’m a helo guy but have 90% of the mods out there . I bet there’s 50% of the helos I’ve never loaded yet iirc I’ve only loaded the huey my fav and primary ac, and the gazelle the other two are waiting until I perfect the huey. The only fixed wings I recall loading up are the f-15, a-10c and spitfire. Also you should look into voice attack to help over come a lot of kbing.

 

The second thing is each developer has a list of their mods here both aircraft and campaigns go read all you can on the ac your interested in read the main forum,read the wishlist forum (shows what is lacking) and read the bugs and problems forum that tells you what should be working but isn’t.

 

I try to pick up mods at reduced prices and use bonus points when I can.

 

Blacley,

Wow! This post contains more good info that I really needed right now. Voice attack sounds pretty cool for sure and I didn't even know about Chucks Guides. I am studying a lot now to make this Sim the best it can be and hope to be flying *better* soon. I appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Dave

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I am studying a lot now to make this Sim the best it can be and hope to be flying *better* soon.

Ah great to have an influx of new people filled with enthousiasm! :joystick:

DCS appeals to a niche withing a niche, so the more people DCS attracts, the better for everyone: both us Chair Force Pilots and developers - squadrons have more active people and more modules get sold which leads to more investments into the highest possible quality standards.

 

 

Good, I am ordering the F5E today.

Excellent choice! I recommend the F-5 as well for a first full fidelity module :)

Spoiler

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Pro Flight Trainer Puma | VIRPIL MT-50CM2+3 base / CM2 x2 grip with 200 mm S-curve extension + CM3 throttle + CP2/3 + FSSB R3L + VPC Rotor TCS Plus base with SharKa-50 grip mounted on Monstertech MFC-1 | TPR rudder pedals

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I don't like trainers either but a 2 seat fighter would be great in the future. Thanks for all your responses.

Dave

 

The F-14 Tomcat will be released within the next few months and it will have multicrewing ;)

Intel i7-12700K @ 8x5GHz+4x3.8GHz + 32 GB DDR5 RAM + Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 (8 GB VRAM) + M.2 SSD + Windows 10 64Bit

 

DCS Panavia Tornado (IDS) really needs to be a thing!

 

Tornado3 small.jpg

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Blacley,

Wow! This post contains more good info that I really needed right now. Voice attack sounds pretty cool for sure and I didn't even know about Chucks Guides. I am studying a lot now to make this Sim the best it can be and hope to be flying *better* soon. I appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Dave

 

Dcs world will let you get out what you put in. Learn the aircraft procedures the rl (real life) way or hope in autostart and fly around killing things, I prefer the former once you get tire of single player or flying with your neighbor and family check out the multiplayer side the squads run from strict by the book flying and fun camaraderie groups to relaxed flying procedures and camaraderie. Imo somewhere in the middle with guys willing to help with the setup of TeamSpeak, simple radio standalone(srs) and discord apps. Also there’s guys that like to fill in as atc when not flying or while trying to prefect their flying.

 

So you can fly by yourself building simple to the most complex missions using the scripting in the mission editor. Once you get tire of blowing the hell out of the opposition and no one to share it with try finding a home on the multiplayer side some have regular flight nights other are there to help and when someone builds a map mission they test it out then when profected they. Host it for a joint squad flight or anywhere in between and more

BlackeyCole 20years usaf

XP-11. Dcs 2.5OB

Acer predator laptop/ i7 7720, 2.4ghz, 32 gb ddr4 ram, 500gb ssd,1tb hdd,nvidia 1080 8gb vram

 

 

New FlightSim Blog at https://blackeysblog.wordpress.com. Go visit it and leave me feedback and or comments so I can make it better. A new post every Friday.

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Ah great to have an influx of new people filled with enthousiasm! :joystick:

DCS appeals to a niche withing a niche, so the more people DCS attracts, the better for everyone: both us Chair Force Pilots and developers - squadrons have more active people and more modules get sold which leads to more investments into the highest possible quality standards.

 

 

 

Excellent choice! I recommend the F-5 as well for a first full fidelity module :)

 

I always liked flying simulators even with a C64 computer. AH-64 was a hoot. I had Lock-On but back then there were many conflicts with hardware and now with clickable cockpits I am all excited. I am doing my share to help keep DCS alive and well and am going to have a lot of fun.

 

I like the F-5 but am still in training and joystick mapping mode until I get that all sorted. But I have flown it and it looks like a winner.

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The F-14 Tomcat will be released within the next few months and it will have multicrewing ;)

 

I heard about that and I will definitely be getting it. I hope my stepfather makes a good crew member. :smilewink:

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Dcs world will let you get out what you put in. Learn the aircraft procedures the rl (real life) way or hope in autostart and fly around killing things, I prefer the former once you get tire of single player or flying with your neighbor and family check out the multiplayer side the squads run from strict by the book flying and fun camaraderie groups to relaxed flying procedures and camaraderie. Imo somewhere in the middle with guys willing to help with the setup of TeamSpeak, simple radio standalone(srs) and discord apps. Also there’s guys that like to fill in as atc when not flying or while trying to prefect their flying.

 

So you can fly by yourself building simple to the most complex missions using the scripting in the mission editor. Once you get tire of blowing the hell out of the opposition and no one to share it with try finding a home on the multiplayer side some have regular flight nights other are there to help and when someone builds a map mission they test it out then when profected they. Host it for a joint squad flight or anywhere in between and more

 

Good advice. I plan on setting up my controls to be as real to life as possible and want it to be as real as possible. I already run a Teamspeak Server as I play Battlefield 4 too. :P I will set up a channel for the neighbor and step dad so we can grow together. I have a lot to learn but am a pretty fast learner. One day at a time and although some things will be hard or challenging at first, once I figure them out it will be so much fun. I am going to make an IRTracker and use one of the free softwares for now and will also get the Voice software in your sig.

Thanks

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The F-14 Tomcat will be released within the next few months and it will have multicrewing ;)

 

I haven't really followed the development of the F14 and I have a really dumb question but...

 

Is it "only" going to be multicrew? Like, if you buy the F14, do you need a buddy to be the radar operator, or can you also fly it solo? (which would require some kind of AI radar operator).

Windows 10-64bits, i7-8700k, GTX 1080Ti, 32 Gb RAM, MSI Monitor 32in 165Hz.

 

Mirage 2000C, F5-E, Mig21bis, A10-C, FC3, F-18, AV-8B N/A, F-14, F-16, SuperCarrier

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Is it "only" going to be multicrew? Like, if you buy the F14, do you need a buddy to be the radar operator, or can you also fly it solo? (which would require some kind of AI radar operator).

 

Tons of good info in the Heatblur section.

 

To the best of my knowledge, they plan to implement "Jester AI", an artificial RIO that should help the human player (much better than AI copilots do so far in DCS).

 

I believe the aircraft will also get a simple AI pilot so that the player can check out the RIO seat in single player.

 

And of course two humans can man a Tomcat as Pilot + RIO. :thumbup:

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I’m an ex C=64 guy myself. I remember sublogic’s flight sim where you flew mail routes it was later bought by Microsoft and became flight simulator. I drop out and switched to the 8080 pc that my mil had and then bought a 286 and built up from there i finally got tire of ms bugs so I started boycotting them as much as i could switching to Mac then xplane 10 then xp11 then found out about the great huey model in dec in dec last and here we are.

 

I’m using vr and cant. Wait until we get a way to interact with the switches and knobs without a mouse or touch controllers that you have to pick up and drop to use you hotas

BlackeyCole 20years usaf

XP-11. Dcs 2.5OB

Acer predator laptop/ i7 7720, 2.4ghz, 32 gb ddr4 ram, 500gb ssd,1tb hdd,nvidia 1080 8gb vram

 

 

New FlightSim Blog at https://blackeysblog.wordpress.com. Go visit it and leave me feedback and or comments so I can make it better. A new post every Friday.

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Nice BC. I didn't do flight sims when I had my C64 but started when I moved up to the Amiga about 1989. My favorite sim on that was F16 Combat Pilot.

Steve (Slick)

 

ThrustMaster T.Flight Hotas X | TrackIR5 Pro | EVGA GTX 1070 | Win10 64-bit Professional | Dell Precision 7920 Workstation | 1 TB SSD | 128 GB Memory | Dual Intel Xeon Platinum 2.0 GHz 16 Core Processors (64 Total w/HT ON) | 24" Dell Monitor

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I’m an ex C=64 guy myself. I remember sublogic’s flight sim where you flew mail routes it was later bought by Microsoft and became flight simulator. I drop out and switched to the 8080 pc that my mil had and then bought a 286 and built up from there i finally got tire of ms bugs so I started boycotting them as much as i could switching to Mac then xplane 10 then xp11 then found out about the great huey model in dec in dec last and here we are.

 

I’m using vr and cant. Wait until we get a way to interact with the switches and knobs without a mouse or touch controllers that you have to pick up and drop to use you hotas

 

 

Oh the stories I could tell with the Commodore 64 and 128. I ran a BBS in Houston many years ago on a C64 with LTKernal SCSI hard drives. It was lightning fast. :) I too went to an 8088 for my first pc but although I have had a few Mac's, I am a Windows guy. Even though MS can get on my nerves here and there... I still have my Amiga (for sale) too.

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BBC Micro here, bought in the early 80s and flew a Spitfire sim called 'Aviator'. things have definitely moved on since then. :)

 

http://www.migman.com/sw/Aviator/Aviator.php

 

 

I loved Commodore 64 Gunship. But now after seeing it I am amazed how low tech it really was. Back then I felt like I was really flying a helo. :D Amazing what we can do now that is for sure...:thumbup:

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