Coming back after a long hiatus: Advice sought

Hi gents, I am coming back to DCS after about three years away. My PC fell behind the tech curve but now, armed with a great new gaming rig and a Warthog HOTAS, I am eager to dive back in but concerned about what to download and how. I was once a very active member of the DCS A-10C community (from the closed Beta onward) and after getting quite proficient in both the Hog and the Mission Editor I published many full-featured missions. However, that was quite a while back, DCS has come a long way since then and now I am looking for a bit of help with the re-entry, particularly as it relates to reacquiring long-uninstalled modules I bought many years ago (when they weren't even "modules", really). If anyone can weigh in on any of these points, I'd be grateful.

- The consensus seems to be to download from ED and not go through Steam for this. Thoughts?

- I'm told that it's best to install on an SSD. I tend to use my large HDD for games as I do a lot of singleplayer but I could make an exception for DCS and install it to my SSD boot drive if that's the way to go.

- All purchases are made and downloaded from inside DCS World, right?

- When I last played DCS, there was a big advantage to using the Torrent option to download content but the clients were often infested with all kinds of nasty malware. Can anyone recommend a "clean" Torrent client, even if it's paid?

- I never claimed my Nellis map from DCS after earning it by being a Beta participant for the A-10C. Does anyone have suggestions re. how I might now claim it after all these years and get the Hog back even though I might not have any record of a license key?

- I intend to buy all theaters (with Nellis free of charge, hopefully) and fly the L-39 to ease myself back in (I've been lucky enough to have flown it twice IRL so I can't wait). Then I want to learn the Hornet, the Tomcat and the Harrier and eventually get back into mission design.

I think that's it for the moment. I will probably spend tomorrow morning reacquiring the sim and setting up as much as I can. All tips and advice would be very welcome. Thank you!

Welcome back, Bahger!

Knowing that your DCS pre-dates the Steam version, unless you actually registered your old modules on Steam you will want to use the standalone version for that reason alone. The other thing standalone gives you is the ability to have all 3 versions if you really want them (stable 2.5, openbeta, and legacy 1.5.8). With steam, you have to choose one version. Installation is through the DCS installer, which defaults to torrent, but you can disable the torrent and force html downloading instead. Just cancel when it starts downloading the torrent, and it will switch for you.

SSD is definitely the way to go. If your new rig can handle NVMe that's even better. I still run a SATA SSD and load times are borderline painful for the Persian Gulf. I can't even imagine what a platter drive would be like.

You still use the ED website to purchase modules, though you can click on the links from within DCS. However, you no longer need to download separate installer exes for each module. Simply enable the module in DCS and it will install itself. If all goes well, it will even put in your starforce key for your older modules. EDIT: I also highly recommend Skatezilla's Updater GUI to manage your DCS install(s). You can do absolutely everything from a one-stop-shop.

I'm not sure what to say about Nellis, except contacting ED directly. Your entitlement to NTTR should be simple enough to determine based on your purchase date of the A-10C. BTW, NTTR is another reason to go with standalone over Steam; Steam will definitely not honor the free NTTR.

For trainers, I recommend the C-101. It's come a long, long way since the early days, and the bird has a flight director system that is great for IFR training. It also has steam gauges more similar to the A-10C and western aircraft, and the CC version is now available so you can do ground attack as well.

I look forward to your getting back into mission design. I'm happy to help with voice-overs again. You should check out what you can do now with MIST and MOOSE.

Welcome back, I remember you from the Black Shark, early A-10 days. I also took a ~3 year hiatus when my old rig gave up the ghost. Came back about 18 months ago.

-The only con I think people have encountered using the Steam version is they're last in line for the new toys. Steam releases and updates lag behind the direct non-Steam version, sometimes by weeks.

-Yes, SSD is basically your only option anymore, you'll get crazy stutter and lag on an HDD. The good news is they're way cheaper than they used to be and they are worth it for the difference they make.

-Presumably not if you go the Steam route, you'd be purchasing from them, but again, I can't speak to it. I make all of my non-Steam purchases through the DCS World website. There are other options for third party modules, purchasing direct from them, but I wouldn't recommend it. There's been some recent drama in that regard.

-I used to have a shady torrent client as well back when I sailed the high seas, so to speak. I never downloaded one for my current build and DCS downloads and updates just fine.

-I also never claimed my Nellis map, just payed them again for a new one. (You're welcome, ED.) But I know they were honoring such claims. Contact the moderator NineLine (who you may have known as SitHSpawn back in the day) and he'll point you in the right direction.

SSD is required, for all intents and purposes due to massive map sizes. Recommend at least 256gb. My current install is 160gb. The maps are 30gb+ EACH. You WILL need a LOT of space.

Recommended to use standalone usually, but since you have pre-existing modules it's your only option.

You'll have to open a support ticket on the main site for any module related issues.

I never used a Torrent here, download rates usually max out my DL so it's not really an issue. Unsure if the option remains available.

Welcome back!

Try if you can recover your ED account if that fails contact support.

You can buy a 500GB Samsung SSD for quite cheap.

Harrier is still a bit bugsy. Viggen and any of the helicopters are solid modules but there are other good buys as well, obviously the F-14 and eventually F-18 will be great experiences. Many other good picks too. Don't miss the WW2 and Korean side (hope the latter would get more love than just aircraft) are not to be missed today.

Pick Combined Arms from a sale if you don't have it. Might be more useful in the future though the UI isn't the greatest still.

DCS has come a long way in those years and much more is planned but might take 5 years to realize!

- When I last played DCS, there was a big advantage to using the Torrent option to download content but the clients were often infested with all kinds of nasty malware. Can anyone recommend a "clean" Torrent client, even if it's paid?

It sounds like you used to need to download the torrents yourself, but that has changed now.

The updater still uses torrents to download faster, but handles it internally so you don't need a separate torrent client.

You really should use a standalone SSD for games, not a HDD. Games load MUCH faster from SSD's. There is no comparison really.

Got to: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/

Make sure you are logged in and click on Profile in the top right corner.

It will show you everything you have purchased in the past (if on same account) with serials #'s etc. When you download DCS World (Beta version gets everything first) you can go to module manager and it will probably tell you what you have that needs downloading.

If something you bought there isn't showing I guess you would have to contact ED.

Thanks for the warm welcome back and sound advice, gents. Home Fries, it's good to see you again; I was lucky to find a small group of guys who were prepared to help me out with authentic voices on mission comms, it really enhanced immersion and I'm glad I figured out how to do it. And you often made my comms scripts better.

Just to clarify, I have a 1 TB SSD as my boot drive and a 2 TB HDD for data and games. Having read what you guys are saying, I'll break my rule for DCS and put it on the SSD.

If trying to claim my free Nellis is a headache, I'll pay for it. Having flown and designed missions only for the Caucasus map since Lock-On, it's going to be a real kick to acquaint myself with the other theaters.

Thanks again for all the good advice.

If trying to claim my free Nellis is a headache, I'll pay for it. Having flown and designed missions only for the Caucasus map since Lock-On, it's going to be a real kick to acquaint myself with the other theaters.

There's probably an updated from ED around where they explain how to claim codes/whatnot. If you buy, go for Persian Gulf as that's getting popular and will have good mission support from the community. Nevada has the SP Red Flag campaigns some of which are apparently very good.

Ok, I am now in the thick of rebuilding my DCS install and adding to it. There appears to be no official channel through which to pose the question about the free Nellis map I never claimed so if any of you guys has a contact I can approach directly, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!

There appears to be no official channel through which to pose the question about the free Nellis map I never claimed so if any of you guys has a contact I can approach directly, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!

I would open a trouble ticket and let ED run with it.

I am coming back

Now there's a name I haven't heard in quite a long time..

Ok, I am now in the thick of rebuilding my DCS install and adding to it. There appears to be no official channel through which to pose the question about the free Nellis map I never claimed so if any of you guys has a contact I can approach directly, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!

Having been through a similar scenario, as long as you remember your DCS e-shop username to be able to recover you're password, then you're all set. If the profile contains an A-10C key from the open beta then your NTTR key was automatically added to your profile.

Yup, it was a very efficient business in the end and I am now up and running with all modules available and a new Nevada map! It's so interesting to note the improved state of DCS after all these years (Starting with Lock-On). The things I am seeing now were not just unavailable when I last played but almost inconceivable. Thanks for all your help and encouragement, guys. I am in the process of setting up the HOTAS (with TM TARGET...wish me luck) on my "starter" jet, the L-39, which has a sentimental association for me and should be relatively easy to learn.

I am in the process of setting up the HOTAS (with TM TARGET...wish me luck)

If you have MFDs, you should check out the TARGET profile in my signature .

Thank you, Home Fries. I am having a bad time trying to get this profile, which looks very good, to work. I did all the file transfers using great advice from this thread but every time I activate the combined virtual device in TARGET it disables my joystick and I have to get out of TARGET and recycle the joystick's USB connection to get it working again. You are obviously a Warthog power user; can you suggest an L-39 profile that works? I am gnashing my teeth. If there isn't one, I will map all the commands in DCS but it will be a trudge.

Thank you, Home Fries. I am having a bad time trying to get this profile, which looks very good, to work. I did all the file transfers using great advice from this thread but every time I activate the combined virtual device in TARGET it disables my joystick and I have to get out of TARGET and recycle the joystick's USB connection to get it working again. You are obviously a Warthog power user; can you suggest an L-39 profile that works? I am gnashing my teeth. If there isn't one, I will map all the commands in DCS but it will be a trudge.

Wait, I think I fixed it. I had forgotten how quirky all this stuff can be, with so many devices having to play nice...