What do I need to fly MP?

Hi All,

I'm going to try some limited MP for the first time. Ideally I'd like to start on a small server or even a private server and fly with an individual or small group at first to dip my toes into the water. Not interested in the large scale public servers (yet).

Caveat: I have never played an online game in my life (really) despite being an avid Flight simmer and IRL mil pilot. So what is the best setup to be able to connect and play with others? Both in terms of SW and HW? I'm thinking some system to be able to talk to the others while flying is first and foremost. So how do I go about that? Again, don't assume I know anything at all, which is absolutely true.

I've heard of SRS and viacom and such, but have no clue what they do or what I need to make them work. I fly in VR (HP Reverb) only and have a mic on my earbuds that are plugged into the headset. So I assume I can use that to talk to wingmen and such.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hey sorry if my response may not be what you looking for, so you have 2 options with the small server. You can host one yourself but that puts a lot of stress on your PC if you flying with other people like 4+ for example or you can find a small server to join that doesn't have a lot of players. You can avoid hosting on your PC but then you would probably need to pay a server provider and then you dont have to host off your pc but a PC built to host games like DCS in a large scale.

Regarding your question with talking to others and flying, SRS is the best way to go in any situation with communication.Its a built in radio system that works with your planes radio.Lets say the carrier frequency is on 127.5 am if you switch over to that frequency and speak with other players on that freq they can hear that you are "inbound" and things like that. You call out your words yourself to other players, however the AI atc cannot hear this or respond, you will have to do the ATC calls manually. Lets say you and your flight are in flight and on your own frequency you will be able to hear them as long as you are on the same frequency. I dont know how to explain in words i tried my best with the SRS but overall, SRS is easy to install and easy to use and very very helpful.

i dont know much about VR, but i think maybe a different choice to earbuds as the Mic quality may not be as good or clear as per normal while in flight. If it does work and your friends can hear you with the earbuds great use em, If you struggling with them invest in a cheap-ish headset with a decent mic or just a plain mic.

I hope i answered your question in this long reply, if you want any other help add me as a friend on discord and ask away!

Regards

Ethan

EthanM#5048

Hey sorry if my response may not be what you looking for, so you have 2 options with the small server. You can host one yourself but that puts a lot of stress on your PC if you flying with other people like 4+ for example or you can find a small server to join that doesn't have a lot of players. You can avoid hosting on your PC but then you would probably need to pay a server provider and then you dont have to host off your pc but a PC built to host games like DCS in a large scale.

 

Regarding your question with talking to others and flying, SRS is the best way to go in any situation with communication.Its a built in radio system that works with your planes radio.Lets say the carrier frequency is on 127.5 am if you switch over to that frequency and speak with other players on that freq they can hear that you are "inbound" and things like that. You call out your words yourself to other players, however the AI atc cannot hear this or respond, you will have to do the ATC calls manually. Lets say you and your flight are in flight and on your own frequency you will be able to hear them as long as you are on the same frequency. I dont know how to explain in words i tried my best with the SRS but overall, SRS is easy to install and easy to use and very very helpful.

 

i dont know much about VR, but i think maybe a different choice to earbuds as the Mic quality may not be as good or clear as per normal while in flight. If it does work and your friends can hear you with the earbuds great use em, If you struggling with them invest in a cheap-ish headset with a decent mic or just a plain mic.

 

I hope i answered your question in this long reply, if you want any other help add me as a friend on discord and ask away!

 

Regards

Ethan

 

EthanM#5048

Thanks Ethan. I'll give SRS a try. It seems the most useful and easiest to setup. I currently use VoiceAttack and it picks up the audio from the Mic in my earbuds just fine. So am assuming it would work with other live players as well.

If I understand you correctly - If I and the other human players are all tuned to the same frequency in game, we should be able to then talk to each other via SRS correct? But if one is off freq, then no go. If so I like it, as it's more like a radio rather than just an intercom. I assume you still need to Push to talk and it's not just Open hot mic with the other players?

One last question.... Is there any conflict that you know of between VA and SRS? I guess as long as I'm not using VA specific voice command, it will ignore my other chatting on the radio with the live players.

Thanks again.

If I understand you correctly - If I and the other human players are all tuned to the same frequency in game, we should be able to then talk to each other via SRS correct? But if one is off freq, then no go. If so I like it, as it's more like a radio rather than just an intercom. I assume you still need to Push to talk and it's not just Open hot mic with the other players?

Hi there, Notso!

Yes, SRS basically works like a real radio. As a matter of fact, in non FC3 modules, SRS is completely transparent to the user, you just use the PTTs of on-board radioes to talk to people (more correctly, the keys or buttons of your controllers you have bound to those functions), and have to tune them to the correct frequency to talk to someone.

EDIT: As for VR, I don't know if you can see airplanes and missiles without labels on, in SP (with Oculus CV1 I can't, until it's too late), so, when choosing a server, keep an eye on the options they have chosen, most of MP servers have labels turned off. If I might suggest, if you're not looking for a player vs player environment, Hoggit's servers are a great choice, they run continous cooperative wars against the AI, both on Caucasus and Persian Gulf map, have room for around 40 players at a time and have labels on for aircrafts (you'll still have to fly "blind" against missiles and ground targets): https://wiki.hoggitworld.com/view/Georgia_At_War .

So i dont know if there is problems between the 2 but from what i know they should both work perfectly, and yes if you and your buddys are on a frequency and you speak they will hear you as long as you on that freq. SRS is such an amazing tool for flight simmers in DCS. Makes it very realistic, regarding your question with hot mic or ptt. You can choose in you SRS settings.

If you ever need help setting up SRS message me on discord and i can help

regards

Ethan

So i dont know if there is problems between the 2 but from what i know they should both work perfectly, and yes if you and your buddys are on a frequency and you speak they will hear you as long as you on that freq. SRS is such an amazing tool for flight simmers in DCS. Makes it very realistic, regarding your question with hot mic or ptt. You can choose in you SRS settings.

 

If you ever need help setting up SRS message me on discord and i can help

 

regards

Ethan

Sweet, thank you. Now the trick is finding the time to do this. IRL flying is getting in the way.... :lol: