How do you enjoy DCS?

Years back the DCS World was great, it was 1.2.8 version IIRC. I mainly did fly KA-50, until one day I learned by my open that I did not need to avoid trees, as they didn't damage the aircraft.... Silly me, after flying some time by thinking "don't hit the trees". It as well immediately answered for the wonder that why now and then some MBT managed to shoot me down with their laser beamrider missiles or get shelled out.

After that it was downhill, the lack of simulation started to raise its ugly head... Simplified AI spotting capabilities, just fly inside the circle and you are known and engaged. Each unit in group knows your position exactly regardless do they see you, as long one does.

The damage modeling for rockets, bombs etc are just lacking as there is no fragmentation modeling what so ever etc etc.

Since then all kind fancy modules has been released, bought of course many of them as they are interesting, but still lack of the realism in ground unit simulation etc made the DCS World just feel silly sandbox where virtual pilots are either overpowered with the FLIR and long range weapons. Or then ground units are underpowered against air units by lack of cover, concealment etc.

All the small things finally started to build up, from lack of earth curvature, rendering every air mission just stupid as you could see even a ship from 50km range when flying at 3m altitude etc.

Now the 2.5 finally at least added the collision modeling to trees, so the missiles can't fly through them. That is already big improvement. Now if we could get the ground forces AI to have some basic logic, like conceal their vehicles so you can't see them with FLIR, nor spot them with naked eye from further than 1km distances if even that. Get the radar beam simulation. Get the radio simulation where units need to communicate and share their knowledge with delays. Add AI a reaction times and inaccuracies with basic combat behavior (like don't try to follow a air unit movement when firing with a MG/AA, shoot to predicted point front of the unit and force them to look at you and maneuver so they don't fly on lead, instead now pilot should just maneuver and it is instant avoidance).

The performance with the VR is what I would say, should be taken seriously. As now it is difficult, if not even impossible to get the VR setup that would render DCS World with at least 45fps (haven't tested for a 1-2 months since open beta release of 2.5 how it runs now with stable out!) with default VR settings. But that should be so that with default VR settings the required hardware could run 45fps, while recommend gets 90fps. And really redo the cockpits for the current VR screens so you can read labels and texts without any problem or requirement to lean forward etc.

The potential in the DCS World is huge as was said above. But all that is negated by the dozens of tiny things that should get fixed ASAP. The 2.5 has clearly been one very important requirement to get things done in future, so hopefully now the Combined Arms module gets lots of love and ground units starts to get their logic and behavior corrected etc.

I mainly fly either alone, or then with our flight club members (where we have 8 similar computer as my signature) for local area network flying etc. But the main challenge really is that DCS still lacks the means of the dynamic campaign, dynamic mission generator. That really wouldn't be difficult to program once you add multiple different AI's that each of them does different tasks and handle the whole military organization. So the problem really is that DCS world is following a simple AI logic programming, instead actually simulating the real military command structure and mission generation. It doesn't really take much to make simple AI functions that behave very human manner.

Multiplayer it is for me.

 

If you can get into a squadron, even better ! People you can trust and enjoy flying with.

 

Singleplayer has never been my thing in DCS. Awkward AI (hard to cooperate with them), buggy missions (which require a lot of man hours and testing to get fixed) and static battleground.

 

You can always try and create the missions yourself, see how that works.

 

But playing online and cooperating is the best thing ever when it works out

Same here :thumbup:

... It doesn't really take much to make simple AI functions that behave very human manner.

It always amazes me when I see statements like this :(

yeah programming artificial intelligence is so simple, and it doesn't require much cpu power, so it won't affect the graphics engine that is trying to generate high enough fps on the two screens of your Oculus ...

.. its a piece of cake, I wonder why there are not more computer gaming producers making such simulations.

It always amazes me when I see statements like this :(

 

 

yeah programming artificial intelligence is so simple, and it doesn't require much cpu power, so it won't affect the graphics engine that is trying to generate high enough fps on the two screens of your Oculus ...

 

 

.. its a piece of cake, I wonder why there are not more computer gaming producers making such simulations.

Yepper. 13 isn't very knowledgeable about such things.

2.5 got me back into the A10c again, it has been a couple of years since I flew the Hog but the upgrades to the FLIR drew me back in. I've also taken the Mi8 out on some sightseeing tours of Vegas and Caucasus, I had wanted to fly the Mi8 campaign but the first mission is borked so I made my own entertainment.

I feel the frustration of the last two years of DCS development limbo is coming to an end. I've found the waiting nearly impossible but I am hopeful that by the end of this year all the the campaign content will be working as it should and that longstanding bugs will begin to be addressed now that everything is stable.

I'm giving up on multi monitor with viewports, it still doesn't seem to work and I'm getting used to using the Cougar MFDs without a display, sometimes things are just not meant to be.:)

2.5 got me back into the A10c again, it has been a couple of years since I flew the Hog but the upgrades to the FLIR drew me back in. I've also taken the Mi8 out on some sightseeing tours of Vegas and Caucasus, I had wanted to fly the Mi8 campaign but the first mission is borked so I made my own entertainment.

 

I feel the frustration of the last two years of DCS development limbo is coming to an end. I've found the waiting nearly impossible but I am hopeful that by the end of this year all the the campaign content will be working as it should and that longstanding bugs will begin to be addressed now that everything is stable.

 

I'm giving up on multi monitor with viewports, it still doesn't seem to work and I'm getting used to using the Cougar MFDs without a display, sometimes things are just not meant to be.:)

Get VR.

It always amazes me when I see statements like this :(

 

 

yeah programming artificial intelligence is so simple, and it doesn't require much cpu power, so it won't affect the graphics engine that is trying to generate high enough fps on the two screens of your Oculus ...

 

 

.. its a piece of cake, I wonder why there are not more computer gaming producers making such simulations.

How many AI logics have you designed and programmed? I have many... It really is easy to do a AI that can fool player enough to be closer like a human when it comes to simple things.

That is as well what many scripters are doing, you build the rules and you go from that.

It really ain't impossible when you know what you are looking for. It really is more like a chess game, you build the basic rules and moves and then you go forward from that. There are many difficulties and challenges, but when you keep things very simple then there ain't problems. Even a simple chess AI is easy to do and it works great because you basically have infinite amount of processing power to simply calculate all out. The challenge is to make a AI that doesn't do stupid mistakes but does mistakes that looks human errors.

This is not about asking a human AI to every possible soldier in the DCS from vehicle drivers to vehicle commanders etc. It is about very basic logics to get implemented.

It is like programing a robotic hand to do a one simple task like pick a red object and move it to black area. It is easy and simple and it just works, as long the parameters stay same. And that is one thing that needs to be done that there is something that defines the parameters for others to follow.

Yepper. 13 isn't very knowledgeable about such things.

Maybe I am more than you are....

But seems that you think it is big achievement that DCS AI logic is what it is now.

I took it to mean it wouldn't be hard to make it better than it is.

How do I enjoy DCS?

By mastering skills on Mig-21 and Mig-15 ATM

Lookig forward to F18 and other premium modules.

Sheer complexity of premium modules is what keeps me playing.

If it was up to FC3 I wouldn't be playing by now.

I prefer my DCS pantless while sipping 15 year old Glen Livet Scotch next to a roaring fireplace, occasionally puffing on a massive pipe packed with only legal substances.

i like learning and flying.

combat not so much.