1.5.8 and 2.2.0 to 2.5 transition Discussion

You provided very clear steps about how to install fresh the full release version.

Is there not a way just to update the 2.5 Open Beta to full release?

Following your instructions the program would copy all data from Open Beta into a new folder "DCS World" so my HDD should have room for another 80GB (more or less). Now that's a problem cause i only have 40 GB room left :(

Apologies if this has already been covered; searched the thread but, didn't find the answer I was looking for.

I have ver 1.5.8 installed on one SSD and ver 2.2.0 OpenAlpha installed on a different SSD. I tried to install 2.5 on the same SSD as the OpenAlpha but, ran out of space. Can I uninstall 1.5 and install 2.5 on that SSD without creating any issues for myself or do I have to install 2.5 on the same drive as the 2.2 OpenAlpha so that the 2.2 gets updated to 2.5?

Thanks for any guidance/help.

Is there not a way just to update the 2.5 Open Beta to full release?

Yes, when you upgrade release version 1.5.8, it will copy needed files from open beta so you have minimal download of files.

Apologies if this has already been covered; searched the thread but, didn't find the answer I was looking for.

 

I have ver 1.5.8 installed on one SSD and ver 2.2.0 OpenAlpha installed on a different SSD. I tried to install 2.5 on the same SSD as the OpenAlpha but, ran out of space. Can I uninstall 1.5 and install 2.5 on that SSD without creating any issues for myself or do I have to install 2.5 on the same drive as the 2.2 OpenAlpha so that the 2.2 gets updated to 2.5?

 

Thanks for any guidance/help.

Yes, if you have installed 2.5 openbeta the "normal" way using the installer the 2.5 release installer will copy your openbeta files and install the new release folders. You can safely uninstall 1.5.8 if you don't play it or need it to look at older missions etc.

EDIT: But keep a copy of the saved games settings in the DCS folder as there you have all your Input files.

Clean 2.5 Install Crashes on loading

Completed Clean install, downloaded all my aircraft and maps, all good, go to mission editor, try and load an old mission or make a new mission but it crashes all the time.

Here is the log file.

dcs.log-20180407-035017.zip

OK had a good look around my files and found an old 1.5.8 folder that may have been causing a conflict. Copied files to another drive and then deleted them and now it loads up ok so going to have a look around the new neighborhood!

Has steam auto updated dcs to the release version without me noticing? Or do i have to do something because it still says open beta.

Yes, when you upgrade release version 1.5.8, it will copy needed files from open beta so you have minimal download of files.

I don't have 1.5.8 release version installed. I have 2.5 OB and 2.2 OA. I'm pretty sure one of those overwrote my older 1.5.8 at some point in this ridiculously confusing set of update pathways over the past year.

Is there any way to update one of my two installs to the 2.5 full release version? Why won't 2.5 beta just update to the full release version? There is no good reason for it not to that I can think of. Most people won't want to keep a beta version installed.

I don't have 1.5.8 release version installed. I have 2.5 OB and 2.2 OA. I'm pretty sure one of those overwrote my older 1.5.8 at some point in this ridiculously confusing set of update pathways over the past year.

 

Is there any way to update one of my two installs to the 2.5 full release version? Why won't 2.5 beta just update to the full release version? There is no good reason for it not to that I can think of. Most people won't want to keep a beta version installed.

Hi Griphos,

I believe if you launch DCS 2.2 OA now it should ask you if want to upgrade to DCS 2.5 Release Version. Though I am not 100% sure about that since I deleted it when it gave me that option when the 2.5 OB came out at the end of JAN. But I am pretty sure that's what happens

Furthermore:

2.5 OB and 2.2 OA at no time would overwrite the old Release Version of DCS 1.5

- When 2.5 OB came out at the end of Jan., I believe the only option available was to delete

DCS 2.2 OA, that is all. I chose to delete it, but I didn't have too.

- So up until this current release of DCS 2.5 release version that just came out, everyone

should have had DCS 1.5 release version. If someone did not have It, then it was most likely

uninstalled manually by accident or manually deleted by accident.

Now for the DCS 2.5 release version that came out the other day, if you download and

install it, what it will affect is:

- Old DCS 1.5 release version - Update it to the new DCS 2.5 Release Version and give you the option

to save DCS 1.5 as a separate install

- DCS 2.2 OA - It will be merged/deleted/removed(whatever you want to call it). Anyways the

DCS 2.2 OA folder will be gone. I don't think there was any choice given on that. They don't

support it anymore.

- DCS 2.5 OB - No effect

Hope that helps :)

P.S. There is always going o be a beta version going on. It is like that with most software, games etc. Usually, the only time I see betas being upgraded to full release for other games is that it's the grand opening launch of a game. After that they ALWAYS have an ongoing beta version (that is optional).

No, when I try to update the OA 2.2.0, it tells me the version is "deprecated" and that I need to install either 2.5 release or 2.5 OB.

Perhaps I deleted 1.5.8 manually. I don't recall. That's the problem. There are too darned many versions to try to maintain/update!

They should just let the updater change the 2.5 beta to full release with an option to maintain the beta for the few that want to do that.

And, no, most software and games don't maintain open betas. I have hundreds of games and sims, and it's the rare exception where there is an open beta, and you have to opt into it. In almost all of my other games/sims, when full release comes, it overwrites the beta version and updates the same SINGLE install.

There are too darned many versions to try to maintain/update!

 

And, no, most software and games don't maintain open betas. I have hundreds of games and sims, and it's the rare exception where there is an open beta, and you have to opt into it. In almost all of my other games/sims, when full release comes, it overwrites the beta version and updates the same SINGLE install.

When you installed OA and OB, you volunteered to do that. ED didn't make you do it. There should be no confusion on the versions if you look at what you download and install on your own computer. The install folders clearly say DCS World, DCS World Open Beta, etc..... You not having a firm grasp on the way they classify their installs is not their fault.

At this point wipe your whole machine of DCS stuff and just install the release candidate and stick with that only. Don't download alpha or beta versions if you get confused on so many of them.

Oh, really! They didn't make me do it. They just offered stuff for sale (stuff they want me to buy to help them stay in business) that didn't work at all in 1.5.8. They offered stuff they wanted me to buy that only worked if I installed several versions of the game.

I haven't complained about any of that. I didn't mind maintaining two installs (the regular and Open Alpha installs), but somewhere, when Open Beta came out, there was a thread about how things would update when 2.5 full release was available and it stated that updating 1.5.8 to Open Beta would then update to 2.5 full release. I shouldn't have trusted that, I guess.

That's what I'm complaining about now, the silly update path that they've done a bad job of communicating. I don't need you to offer any advice, Slick, and I'm not going to take any from you. And if I followed your advice, I'd be downloading stuff forever, since wiping my current installs before installing the release candidate would mean I would lose all my settings and configs and have to download everything. You give bad advice.

And 2.5 Open Beta is not clearly marked as Open Beta on my drive. It's just DCS World, and that's how it installed. I didn't change its folder name, so you don't really know what you're talking about at all, do you?

Surely you recognize that the process of selling lots of modules that don't all work in the same version has been noted by many as less than ideal. Particularly when two of the three maps (the only two for sale) and the planes and missions that work with those DIDN'T WORK AT ALL in 1.5.8. You're telling me that it makes sense that with three versions of the game, ONE OF WHICH barely worked with most modules, and TWO OF WHICH did, that NEITHER OF THOSE TWO are the one that will be updated?

I can state my frustration with this stupid update path without needing any input from you. I wasn't asking for any help. I was asking why the open beta can't be updated to the full release like any other reasonable software.

Is 2.5.0.15365.345 release version?

If I launch either 1.5.8 or 2.5 OB updater, I get this option. I guessed the updater would offer "release version" instead 2.5.0.15365.345. I am confused because now I guess this (2.5.0.15365.345) is the Alpha version after the release version, and I just want release version... I am sorry, but I have a metered connection and I don't want waste my gigas, so: Is 2.5.0.15365.345 release version?

Thanks.

Is 2.5.0.15365.345 release version?

 

If I launch either 1.5.8 or 2.5 OB updater, I get this option. I guessed the updater would offer "release version" instead 2.5.0.15365.345. I am confused because now I guess this (2.5.0.15365.345) is the Alpha version after the release version, and I just want release version... I am sorry, but I have a metered connection and I don't want waste my gigas, so: Is 2.5.0.15365.345 release version?

 

Thanks.

Yes 2.5.0.15365.345 is the release version.

Right now, Open Beta and release are the same. You can check here:

http://updates.digitalcombatsimulator.com/

I was asking why the open beta can't be updated to the full release like any other reasonable software.

Because it will remain the beta branch

Yesterday I downloaded the release version 2.5 and installed it on my hard disk.

I did a fresh install with everything except Nevada which I simply copied over from the beta and 2.5 found it, I didn't have to reactivate anything and controls copied correctly.

Overall a simple process, have no idea what the drama from some forum members is all about. Sure, its not fun downloading and reinstalling but its good that we don't have to reactivate modules and ever worry about different versions again!

Once that is done you can just dump the beta in your recycling bin and enjoy the release.

I went ahead with the separate install of the full release. Even after using the files from open alpha, it was almost 20 gb of download on my crappy DSL that didn’t have to happen since open beta, which is exactly the same as the full release version was sitting right there on the same hard drive already installed. And after downloading, I had to download another 5 modules (another 1gb) I already have downloaded. I haven’t checked to see if controls were retained because it was very late after downloading, but I doubt it.

So, that’s why the drama. For poor internet and metered connections, it’s ridiculous to have to download 20 gb I'VE ALREADY downloaded. That’s about half a day for me.

Why do all of this just to dump the exact same thing in the bin because it’s called a beta?!? It’s stupid. That’s the problem. Unnecessary stupidity.

Only you fanbois can’t admit that.

I went ahead with the separate install of the full release. Even after using the files from open alpha, it was almost 20 go of download on my crappy DSL that didn’t have to happen since open beta, which is exactly the same as the full release version was sitting right there on the same hard drive already installed. And after downloading, I had to download 5 modules (another 1gb). I haven’t checked to see if controls were retained because it was very late after downloading, but I doubt it.

 

So, that’s why the drama. For poor internet and metered connections, it’s ridiculous to have to download 20 go I'VE ALREADY downloaded.

 

Why do all of this just to dump the exact same thing in the bin because it’s called a beta?!? It’s stupid. That’s the problem. Unnecessary stupidity.

 

Only you fanbois can’t admit that.

It's not very smart indeed, as you could have just avoided this if you would have used the updater to just convert your beta to the full release. It would not have needed to download anything then and your settings would have been retained...

I wish that were so, but after asking over and over again in this thread and elsewhere, and not alone, whether the beta could be updated to the full release, I was told repeatedly that the answer was no (such as, for instance, all the responses above yours on these past several pages). I did update my beta and kept it updated. But EVERY response so far other than yours has insisted that the updated Beta will remain a Beta and separate from the full release. And that's what the OP in this thread still states as well.

Where is your authority in saying that the updated Beta IS the full release? I'd sure like to see something official about that (and it wouldn't hurt to be somewhere in this official thread). And where were you when I and others kept repeatedly asking this question? It's easy for you to suggest a simple course of action that is nowhere actually stipulated, and, indeed, rather the opposite is constantly repeated.

You'll notice that the very first (official) post in this thread still shows the update path in which the 1.5.8 full release AND the 2.2 OA would be updated to full release! This, of course, is not the case.

I guess my mistake was also to rely on the official threads of this forum for any clear help. I've spent a great deal of money on this sim. I've enjoyed it to some extent, even in its past balkanized state where few things work together well. But the support for it has always been quite poor.

I wish that were so, but after asking over and over again in this thread and elsewhere, and not alone, whether the beta could be updated to the full release, I was told repeatedly that the answer was no (such as, for instance, all the responses above yours on these past several pages). I did update my beta and kept it updated. But EVERY response so far other than yours has insisted that the updated Beta will remain a Beta and separate from the full release. And that's what the OP in this thread still states as well.

That's because you were not listening/comprehending. There's not a direct way to update open beta to full release. When you hit "update" on open beta it will say it's up to date. You either "update" 1.5.8 release version and it copies the open beta files or (If you do not have any prior release version installed) you download and run the release version file at which point it will also copy the files from your open beta install. It's really not rocket science.

Where is your authority in saying that the updated Beta IS the full release? I'd sure like to see something official about that (and it wouldn't hurt to be somewhere in this official thread).

Directly from one of the moderators: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3445591&postcount=4

Also a screenshot from my machine that shows both versions are now identical. See the thumbnail. If those directories on the thumbnail do not match where yours is installed then you either changed the default location on your installs or have STEAM.

I wish that were so, but after asking over and over again in this thread and elsewhere, and not alone, whether the beta could be updated to the full release, I was told repeatedly that the answer was no (such as, for instance, all the responses above yours on these past several pages). I did update my beta and kept it updated. But EVERY response so far other than yours has insisted that the updated Beta will remain a Beta and separate from the full release. And that's what the OP in this thread still states as well.

 

Where is your authority in saying that the updated Beta IS the full release? I'd sure like to see something official about that (and it wouldn't hurt to be somewhere in this official thread). And where were you when I and others kept repeatedly asking this question? It's easy for you to suggest a simple course of action that is nowhere actually stipulated, and, indeed, rather the opposite is constantly repeated.

 

You'll notice that the very first (official) post in this thread still shows the update path in which the 1.5.8 full release AND the 2.2 OA would be updated to full release! This, of course, is not the case.

 

I guess my mistake was also to rely on the official threads of this forum for any clear help. I've spent a great deal of money on this sim. I've enjoyed it to some extent, even in its past balkanized state where few things work together well. But the support for it has always been quite poor.

The OB will remain the OB. That is correct and I said nothing contrary to that. What I said is, that you can manually convert your OB to the full release, using the DCS updater with this command: DCS_updater update @release

More info on how to do that can be found here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1876747

About where I have been: Well, I'm sorry, I'm not watching this thread 24/7. I have answered this question many times before in this very thread, starting in January: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3374417&postcount=771

Also here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3393626&postcount=883

here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3393770&postcount=886

and here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3390349&postcount=855

Edit: And to answer this question specifically:

Where is your authority in saying that the updated Beta IS the full release? I'd sure like to see something official about that (and it wouldn't hurt to be somewhere in this official thread). And where were you when I and others kept repeatedly asking this question? It's easy for you to suggest a simple course of action that is nowhere actually stipulated, and, indeed, rather the opposite is constantly repeated.

The OB currently IS EXACTLY the same as the full release as is evident here: https://updates.digitalcombatsimulator.com/

What I said is, that you can manually convert your OB to the full release, using the DCS updater with this command: DCS_updater update @release

More info on how to do that can be found here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1876747

Thanks QuiGon! I forgot about the command prompt method you referenced. That is a quicker and more efficient method than what I listed in my last post. :thumbup:

The OB is the same as the full release NOW, as I also mentioned. But it won't stay the same. The OB will only be updated as a beta and not receive the same updates as the full release and vice versa.

As for the command prompt, I do now recall reading about that (perhaps from your own mention of it at some point when I was researching how to deal with the various iterations of the sim once before this recent update). You didn't mention that, though, in your initial response to me. And it's hardly a user friendly method of updating.

That is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks. A bit late (through no fault of your own).

My query as to where you were was in response to your tone, not your content. Perhaps I read you wrong, but you seemed to be indicating, after pages of contradictory information being given by others, mostly to the contrary of your statements, that I should have just known how to do what you were suggesting. Of course, I didn't, hence my repeated queries lately in this thread (beginning on the 6th in this thread).

And if you can be forgiven for not monitoring the thread 24/7 (of course), I think I can be forgiven for not reading all 100 pages of it again, since I did try to follow it pretty closely when it was started, trying to get ready to do the updates in the sanest possible way.

I'll stand by my main point, however, which is that this sim, and its multiple versions, and the official support on how to deal with those leaves a great deal to be desired.

And I'll thank you for your help.

EDIT: Just for other's information, I attempted the update of my Open Beta version as described above and it worked quickly and well. Hard to tell how it would work for someone not already having installed the full release, since it found all the files it needed from there on my hard drive, of course. So it might still involve some significant downloading. It appears to have gotten roughly 16gb of files from my full release install.

So, that’s why the drama. For poor internet and metered connections, it’s ridiculous

Yes you have a slow internet connection but that's not ED's fault now c'mon.