DCS

[Gambit21]

No 15 - no use for it. I’ll get the 17 though.

[Dallas88B]

2 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

I am afraid you have to delete

Thanks for taking the time to reply. You are, of course, correct.
 

Also, DCS support has now finally (on my third attempt) answered my questions. They confirm the only way to fix it is delete the input folder and start again from zero.
They advise that there no way to stop DCS randomly overwriting controller mapping.
 

 

[kendo]

Luckily I haven't had this issue in DCS (or il-2 either for that matter). In il-2 i regularly keep a backup of the input folder, etc.

 

What is the equivalent to back up in DCS? The thought of having to redo all those assignments would definitely mess up your day.  

[Dallas88B]

2 hours ago, kendo said:

The thought of having to redo all those assignments

I could redo the assignments yet again, but with no guarantee that they wont be overwritten again, my motivation is just not there. 

 

[Picchio]

You can export and import your assigned commands per-device and per-module.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Picchio

[Dallas88B]

Thanks for that and yes I had backups of individual .diff.lua files for each device per module, and backups of the entire input folder.

But .diff.lua files frequently do not restore when some DCS update makes them incompatible.

Sometimes .diff.lua files dont restore anyway even without a DCS update screwup.

DCS told me that in my case (for whatever reason) the only way to fix it is delete the input folder and start again from zero. Again.

 

 

[Lusekofte]

7 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

No 15 - no use for it. I’ll get the 17 though.

The Mig 15 is like a fly on steroids, just marvelous to fly. But of course when buying a module I can only say I bought them all and use 1.

So do not search for sound advice on my post

[Lusekofte]

4 hours ago, kendo said:

Luckily I haven't had this issue in DCS (or il-2 either for that matter). In il-2 i regularly keep a backup of the input folder, etc.

 

What is the equivalent to back up in DCS? The thought of having to redo all those assignments would definitely mess up your day.  

I have 4 backup files in IL 2, one I use most get overwritten. And none of them deploy air-brake.

I suspect I need to delete them all. It is kind of a universal correspondence problem between Microsoft and any given sim

Edited April 13, 2022 by LuseKofte

[Art-J]

Never had my custom bindings overwritten in 8 years of playing DCS, but some folks do. Might be individual-hardware-related somehow, just like in case of replay track (un)reliability. That being said, apparently there's a bug with latest version of the game creating duplicated diff.lua extensions, which causes some import/export problems. Fixed intrnally we've been told, so one has to wait for nearest OB patch. @Dallas88B - I'd wait with re-binding for the next patch If I were you.

 

5 hours ago, kendo said:

What is the equivalent to back up in DCS? The thought of having to redo all those assignments would definitely mess up your day.  

 

Backup the whole C:\Users\[user profile]\Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input folder and you should be fine. Mind you, when you reinstall the system or migrate to new PC, changed USB IDs will make these backup files not recognized from the get go if you just paste them in new Saved Games location, but you can always import them manually, using in-game interface.

[Bremspropeller]

 

[Gambit21]

2 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

The Mig 15 is like a fly on steroids, just marvelous to fly. But of course when buying a module I can only say I bought them all and use 1.

So do not search for sound advice on my post

 
I’m a long time MiG 15 fan. There’s just nothing for me personally to do with it in DCS. The 19 and 17 on the other hand leave me more options.

[Dallas88B]

1 hour ago, Art-J said:

Never had my custom bindings overwritten in 8 years of playing DCS, but some folks do. Might be individual-hardware-related somehow, just like in case of replay track (un)reliability. That being said, apparently there's a bug with latest version of the game creating duplicated diff.lua extensions, which causes some import/export problems. Fixed internally we've been told, so one has to wait for nearest OB patch. @Dallas88B - I'd wait with re-binding for the next patch If I were you.

 

Thank you very much for posting that information about the bug.

I take heart from your 8 years of experience without having bindings overwritten. 

I will do as you suggest and wait with re-binding for the next patch.

I was thinking I would just set DCS aside and maybe have another (third) attempt at the bindings, hopefully without getting overwritten, when/if my motivation returns. (seemed better than just deleting DCS)....

but your idea is much better so I will go with that... see what happens with the next patch ... thank you again.

 

Meantime I will focus on IL2 Great Battles, which, touch wood, has always worked flawlessly for me.

[Art-J]

^ Keep in mind there's no guarantee the patch I mentioned will help with your particular issue, but if it's going to affect code responsible for control assignments, I'd say it's just safer to wait. We're all lucky to be able to switch between at least two flight sims while one of them is acting up.

[dburne]

Yep I have been flying DCS since 2009 starting with the stand alone original Black Shark. Can't say I have ever had any problems with my controller settings getting messed up. I have successfully exported and imported the files when doing new PC builds. I routinely back up each controllers buttons and axis settings via the export option in DCS to have just in case.

 

I personally think their controller setup GUI is the best I have seen in any flight sim. Once you get the hang of it - it is very user friendly. Easy to have separate axis and button assignments. Since they are not tied in as one, you can utilize both button and axis functions to a single control. Modifiers are easy to assign and use allowing one to easily double the number of button presses available to them on a button or hat.

 

I am so excited to see 1CGS is reworking theirs to be better and airplane specific. Can't wait to have that in my hands. I have been wishing for so long that they would rework their controller setup, and finally they are!

[Dallas88B]

2 hours ago, dburne said:

Yep I have been flying DCS since 2009 starting with the stand alone original Black Shark. Can't say I have ever had any problems with my controller settings getting messed up.

 

That is good to know.

Like the comment from @Art-J I take heart from your advice... pleased to know it possible to have years of use without buttons getting messed up. Mine has messed up 3 times in a bit over 1 week.

For me I don't think its a matter of getting used to the controller setup GUI. I think I understand how that works. I have have made progressive backups of the .diff.lua files for each device created by doing a save from within the game ("save profile as") for each device as well as saving the entire input folder.  Same motherboard USB ports for each device (unchanged) same PID and VID, no hardware changes to PC.

But when I restart the game I find DCS has reallocated device buttons I have mapped for one function, changing them to another function. DCS adds additional mapping that to the device that I did not set. (These same controller devices and PC do not have the problem with IL2. I would have thought if there was device ID corruption of some sort that IL2 would be impacted too - but maybe not)

When I started out I deleted the default device profile using the "clear category" command and then added button mapping one at a time for the device (crosswinds, VKB Gunfighter, CM3) that, initially, seemed to work OK. It did for the VKB and crosswinds but not the CM3. DCS 'support' response to delete the input folder and start again (presumably, and again, and again) just makes me angry.

Anyway, I sound like I am whining and really don't want to. I appreciate your, and Art-J's input.

[Art-J]

What is this CM3 thingy? Google doesn't help me much on this one. 

 

Does the mess-up happen with only stick and pedals assigned as well?

[Dallas88B]

Sorry, CM3 is the Virpil VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle
Stick and Rudder have not exhibited the problem. Though I did the mapping for each of those two quite quickly, less than a couple of hours.

The Throttle took much longer, a couple of days, while I worked out what button mapping to use (way more buttons available on the throttle and some are set in mode groupings that needed to be logically established) and then to select that mapping.

[Art-J]

You might be better off searching or asking around in Virpil section of ED forum. Maybe some folks have experienced similar issue to yours.

https://forum.dcs.world/forum/330-virpil-controls/

Does this throttle require some proprietary software to function? From my experience it's safer to avoid any profilers and whatnot, just bind things directly in DCS controls menu. Never used Thrustmaster's t.a.r.g.e.t or Logitech's profilers for that reason, only installed the drivers.

[9./JG27golani79]

I am using a CM3 throttle as well but haven´t run into such problems so far.

[Dallas88B]

Yes, thank you for that. I am very sure its not the throttle.
Cut a long story short, its new, its been back to Virpil and had a very detailed test done. It works with IL2 100%.

[dburne]

1 hour ago, 9./JG27golani79 said:

I am using a CM3 throttle as well but haven´t run into such problems so far.

 

Same here - Virpil CM3 Throtte, Gunfighter stick, and Crosswind Pedals.

[Picchio]

2 hours ago, Dallas88B said:

Yes, thank you for that. I am very sure its not the throttle.
Cut a long story short, its new, its been back to Virpil and had a very detailed test done. It works with IL2 100%.

 

From your description, it might be a device ID issue. You could try using USBDeview and remove-uninstall all of the devices that correspond to your throttle (usually the name is given when you configure the throttle for the first time). The software comes with the tools installed with the Virpil software suite.

[Dallas88B]

On 4/15/2022 at 5:57 PM, Art-J said:

You might be better off searching or asking around in Virpil section of ED forum.

Yes I did post there but after a week with zero replies I deleted my post. I raised a ticket with DCS and their response is that I am to delete the input folder and start again.

 

On 4/15/2022 at 5:57 PM, Art-J said:

Does this throttle require some proprietary software to function? From my experience it's safer to avoid any profilers and whatnot, just bind things directly in DCS controls menu

Yes I agree, I map direct to the game from each controller device. That is how I have done it for IL2 and that served me well - so when I started back at DCS early this year I just did the same thing. There is Virpil software, but it just facilitates device firmware updates, calibration and on-board configuration - like Axis to button or mode selection features. It doesn't interface between the device and the game.

 

 

20 hours ago, Picchio said:

From your description, it might be a device ID issue. You could try using USBDeview and remove-uninstall all of the devices that correspond to your throttle (usually the name is given when you configure the throttle for the first time).

 

@Picchio that is an excellent idea. I have USBDview installed already ( I used to use it to turn off the USB port that my Warthog was connected to - otherwise the throttle panel would be on when my PC was on - and it had a bright backlit display).

 

Anyway I updated it to the latest version and ran it - it shows one "VPC Throttle 50CM3" connected. It has the correct VID and PID.

There are many disconnected devices listed with names like "Port_#0008.Hub_#0001"

So I sorted the columns by VID and found 4 other listings for VID 3344 (The Virpil Vendor Identification Number is 3344) - two using a PID 8179, two using PID 0121. My connected Throttle PID is 0197. So, using USBDview I have 'uninstalled' these 4 disconnected devices. So this is very promising.

 

I will delete the content of the input folder, start up DCS and use "load profile" to restore the button mapping data for each controller into the game using the backup .diff.lua files. Then just wait to see if the configuration remains stable with no more overwrites. I sure hope that it does ! 

 

Thank you very much for your suggestion.

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Dallas88B
Added picchio address

[dburne]

I am slowly getting there in the Apache. Can do cold start, takeoff, hover , fly around , return and land mostly ok. Landings I am still a little rough on especially landing from a hover but getting there. Am reasonably proficient with the rockets now. Have started learning all the navigation stuff now with entering different nav points in the system. Like cold starts I will have to do it over and over for it to start to retain in my mind. Once I feel reasonably proficient with all that will move on to I guess guns and hellfires.

 

There may be hope for me yet, lots more to learn but at least I am enjoying the process and not got so frustrated that I would give up on it- at least yet. If I get bored I will just choose a map and do a cold start mission, take off and go blow some stuff up with rockets just for fun. Or just load up a campaign mission in the Hornet, need to keep somewhat fresh with it as well. And the occasional PWCG Spitfire Campaign mission so I stay fresh in it too. Whew. Oh and I still have to learn how to co-ordinate with George in the Apache also, have not even begun to approach that one yet.

 

I will say after all the years that have passed since I played Janes Longbow I and II, it is so incredibly cool to now be flying a full fidelity Apache in VR. I am literally in that cockpit now and it is a wonderful thing. I could be wrong but at this point I am thinking I will be sticking with it.

[Lusekofte]

Startup is easier than all choppers, takeoff is easy if you stop overcontrolling. I landed on a cruiser with it on first attempt. It is easy if the boat move. It means you hover over it in 12 kn.

Navigation is intuitive. But the damn weaponsystem is Greek to me

[dburne]

1 hour ago, LuseKofte said:

Startup is easier than all choppers, takeoff is easy if you stop overcontrolling. I landed on a cruiser with it on first attempt. It is easy if the boat move. It means you hover over it in 12 kn.

Navigation is intuitive. But the damn weaponsystem is Greek to me

 

Rockets are fairly easy to learn, I am able to  hit things with them without any training on them. I can hit and disable moving trains using rockets with no problem.

My biggest issue with landing is doing so from a hover. My take offs and flying around are fine. Landing wheels rolling on the runway is no problem. Maintaining a consistent hover - big problem for me so far.

Working on navigation and adding points now. I am determined lol.

 

Thanks to a large stroke suffered a few years ago that left me half blind and with a cognitive memory impairment, I have to just keep doing the same thing over and over many times until it starts to sink in. My learning process is way longer than it used to be. But good for my brain to be exercised in this manner. Way better than staring at a TV.

Edited April 16, 2022 by dburne

[Lusekofte]

2 hours ago, dburne said:

My biggest issue with landing is doing so from a hover. My take offs and flying around

If you take a look at real pilots flying sims videos, they always take a Hoover stop when take off and always do a glidepath like a plane to landing.

Looking at real choppers too, they do the same , but not always directly to helipad, then slowly moving to helipad. 

AH 64 is extremely sencitive in hoover with groundeffect unlike the MI8 witch is actually helped with it.

I think this is a issue, that will be corrected. Huey can stop at a blink of an eye with ground effect, its lazy engine suddenly get help. But not with Apache, key is not to overcontrol, easy on the controls, it is like the Gazelle just over the ground

[Dallas88B]

@Picchio @Art-J @dburne  @LuseKofte @9./JG27golani79 @kendo I just wanted to thank you all for replying in this thread with suggestions and with comments about your own reliability  experiences. The suggestions, particularly from Picchio, has led to me resolving the problem and the comments about your own experiences stopped me from just giving up on DCS.

 

So, as mentioned in my last post, I used USBDview to uninstall 4 disconnected devices. Where did the extra PID entries come from? I think I know now.....two of the extra PID listings date from early March. At this time the CM3 throttle failed and it was sent back to Virpil for repair (they replaced main controller board) - I am guessing the throttle pushed DCS new device ID's when it was failing.

The other two are from early April (when I first received the throttle back from Virpil) at that time I had the change the PID to 0197 which was the PID I had been using before it was sent for repair. DCS would have seen these as new devices and that resulted in corrupted configuration.

 

Anyway, thanks again. Your help was very, very much appreciated.

[9./JG27golani79]

4 hours ago, Dallas88B said:

Where did the extra PID entries come from?

Also when you update your firmware it is possible that the device will get a new ID - so it might be a good idea to note the ID of your Virpil devices down so you can change them back.

You can do this in the profile panel in the Virpil software - just change the VID/PID back if it should have changed by some reason and save to device.

 

[Dallas88B]

1 hour ago, 9./JG27golani79 said:

a good idea to note the ID of your Virpil devices down

 

So very true ! Good of you to post that here.

[AndyJWest]

I'm a bit out of practice with the A-4E, resulting in a 'heavy landing' as a result of trying to avoid hitting the approach lights that DCS thinks should be installed right next to the runway piano key markings. Flames appearing around the cockpit suggested I should get out fast, so I did,  expecting to see a pile of wreckage. But no, once I was out, the poor little A-4 scooted off on her belly, more or less intact, to seek revenge...

 

I'd landed on (or rather impacted) the left runway, but Scooter, perhaps disoriented, decided to attack the lights on the right-hand runway instead, setting them on fire. I went off for a closer look.

This was probably unwise, as eventually Scooter decided to disengage from the lights, and instead run around them, emitting sparks. Getting in the way didn't seem sensible.

Eventually Scooter found her way onto the grass, and stopped sliding. Engine still going, and probably not going to stop until her tanks were empty. Since the fun seemed to have ended, I left her too it.

[Veteran66]

DCS Lancaster April Update, i like it

 

 

 

[Gambit21]

21 hours ago, Veteran66 said:

DCS Lancaster April Update, i like it

 

 

 

 

Neato...but frankly all of these "community" mods are useless for me. I can't use them in missions for official content, so from my perspective they might as well not exist.

For the average user, (meaning not a content creator) of course very nice, but that isn't me unfortunately. I can't use the A-4 as scenery for instance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I blame Thomas for this. ^

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Gambit21

[Gambit21]

I call this my "I Blame Thomas" series of photos.

 

Low level ingress at 150' AGL into Syria. Lead interprets the "350 kts" speed to about 332 kts. We'll have to work on that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air brakes work well for a 'hockey stop' when I overcook it...feels like the Viper in that regard.

If this is going work, we'll need a different paint scheme too. So far I like it.

 

 

 

 

 

[busdriver]

8 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Lead interprets the "350 kts" speed to about 332 kts. We'll have to work on that.

 

Imma gonna keep hammerin' you guys...modern fighter pilots typically plan/fly a groundspeed that is a multiple of 60.

 

But in this case, even 360 KIAS/KCAS (essentially 6 NMs per minute at low altitude) would be tactically too SLOW for a low level. So what's a typical planned groundspeed? 420 or 480 and perhaps accelerating to 540 for the IP to target run. Even with a TOT programmed in the magic stuff, guys/gals would work backwards from the TOT to derive desired times at turn points using a groundspeed of 420 or 480. We would work backwards all the way to the low level start point then add the time from takeoff to the start point at ~360 KGS to come up with a takeoff time.

 

Or as some guys would do, just takeoff early enough to give you some slop making your start/entry time by looking at the map using a plotter, a piece of string or your thumb and nose picking finger to measure an approximate distance from your base to the entry point and divide by 6 (as in 360 KGS or 6 NM a minute).

 

So then we knew a desired takeoff time, a desired start low level time, planned times over each turn point, and the "no sh*t" TOT. At any point from a late takeoff up to the TOT we could fly a bit faster to make up lost time provided we weren't grossly behind schedule. The green stuff in the HUD would provide a speed carat to help you get back on schedule, the analog F-4 was a bit more challenging.

 

Now all you kids get off my lawn!

Edited April 19, 2022 by busdriver

[Gambit21]

10 hours ago, busdriver said:

 

Imma gonna keep hammerin' you guys...modern fighter pilots typically plan/fly a groundspeed that is a multiple of 60.

 

But in this case, even 360 KIAS/KCAS (essentially 6 NMs per minute at low altitude) would be tactically too SLOW for a low level. So what's a typical planned groundspeed? 420 or 480 and perhaps accelerating to 540 for the IP to target run. Even with a TOT programmed in the magic stuff, guys/gals would work backwards from the TOT to derive desired times at turn points using a groundspeed of 420 or 480. We would work backwards all the way to the low level start point then add the time from takeoff to the start point at ~360 KGS to come up with a takeoff time.

 

Or as some guys would do, just takeoff early enough to give you some slop making your start/entry time by looking at the map using a plotter, a piece of string or your thumb and nose picking finger to measure an approximate distance from your base to the entry point and divide by 6 (as in 360 KGS or 6 NM a minute).

 

So then we knew a desired takeoff time, a desired start low level time, planned times over each turn point, and the "no sh*t" TOT. At any point from a late takeoff up to the TOT we could fly a bit faster to make up lost time provided we weren't grossly behind schedule. The green stuff in the HUD would provide a speed carat to help you get back on schedule, the analog F-4 was a bit more challenging.

 

Now all you kids get off my lawn!

 

D'oh! ?

 

A friend of mine told me a funny story about his flying lessons once, and why he quit, at least with this guy.

He was sitting shoulder to shoulder with this older guy in a 172 cruising along and the instructor finally goes.

 

"see how you're sort of going up a little........then down.....then up just a bit....then down?"

 

"yes"

 

"WELL STOP DOING THAT!!!" 

[dburne]

Going through guns training in the Apache now and getting that down pat.

I must say there is something exhilarating about using them in AUTO mode, looking at the targets with the HMD and firing those 30mm's at them and nailing them. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by dburne

[DD_Fenrir]

 

 

A peek from a CVW-17 mission - 5x Hornets went in SEAD/DEAD clearing the way for 3x Cats to flatten a bridge, a Serbian MoD building and multiple aircraft on a nearby airbase... with also a flight of 2x Mirages to use their runway blasting bombs on same airbase. 2 hours and nearly 40 minutes on a single mission... phew!

Cool to have a human RIO in the backseat, though I was somewhat relegated to stick-monkey; fly here, fly there, press the fun button now - he was just too good!

[Gambit21]

Feeling Aggressive...

 

The AI is a mess to fly formation with right now...and I'm already not that good. He porpoises up and down...it's really bad with these recent builds.

So I snapped this during a brief moment when I wasn't that far out of position. We were on a familiarization hop to the range, but he refused to climb to the assigned altitude so about 40 miles east of Incirlik I finally gave up. 

 

 

 

 

[busdriver]

Reflected's Mosquito campaign is kicking my keester...I'm finding ground ops to be a challenge. The flying is pretty cool especially the winter environment.

 

The airplane is gorgeous!

 

The atmosphere is convincing.

 

 

 

Took some 20mm hits south of Calais and east of Boulogne, nothing the erks can't handle. Thankfully it didn't damage an engine.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by busdriver