DCS

[dburne]

I have spent a couple hours so far this morning tweaking and tuning and testing, both in the Caucasus and Normandy. Both with deferred shading and without.

 

It is still very much demanding in VR, performance certainly nothing like one gets in BoX - but it is doable. Lot of 45 fps over land. And that with ASW disabled.  I am running MSAA with Pixel Density set to 1.0.

I have not tried heavy combat yet, will go back into my Spit Epsom campaign maybe later today and see what it does.

 

I think maybe VR in BoX has spoiled me.

Edited January 31, 2018 by dburne

[Jade_Monkey]

Apparently you can flick switches with the VR controllers now:

 

"For those wondering, yes you can interact with VR controllers now.

 

As of right now, holding the grip button on the touch controllers emits a laser pointer (which takes over as the mouse) from your pointer finger. Pulling the trigger acts as a left click on whatever you're pointing at.

 

You can point and click with either hand, but you have to point and click with the same hand.

 

A on the right controller zooms in, B on the right controller doesn't seem to do anything.

 

Y on the left controller recenters your view, X on the left controller opens up the menu.

 

The joysticks didn't do anything that I could find."

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/hoggit/comments/7uapnv/for_those_wondering_yes_you_can_interact_with_vr/

Edited January 31, 2018 by Jade_Monkey

[dburne]

Yes Touch Controller support was added for 2.5 so they can behave as mouse. I have not tried it yet, I have my Controllers put away when not in use and right now just using a button on my throttle for mouse clicks. DCS integration for Touch is still a work in progress as well.

From the changelog:

 

VIVE - controller enumeration fixed , hand transform fixed.

OpenVR - add initial controllers update.

New option --force_steam_VR - to force VR driver to use steam.

Correct picture for oculus headset picture in Steam VE environment.

Touch controllers - mouse wheel speed variation depends on thumbstick depression.

Aspect Ratio setting will not breaks ingame overlays.

Disable applying of scale GUI option in VR mode.

Maxfps value will not affect in VR mode.

 

 

Ran some two versus two instant action missions in the Spit over Normandy, performance was surprisingly not bad for me. Certainly better than I was getting in just the takeoff instant action missions for whatever reason. I saw 90 fps more than I thought I would.

Had some good combat down low , was fun seeing those 109's break apart into flames.

 

Granted two versus two is still not much of a heavy load, hope to try out the campaign later today or tomorrow to just see how it does.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, they also added a manual IPD adjustment for VR. I have not tried it yet , supposedly would change the scale of the image.

Edited January 31, 2018 by dburne

[BeastyBaiter]

The touch controllers on the Rift work well. Squeeze the grip, point and pull the trigger to toggle. I haven't tried them on knobs yet.

[LLv24_SukkaVR]

DCS Steam 2.5 beta is now available

 

http://steamcommunity.com/games/223750/announcements/detail/1664512901652612015

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

Action show after the first mission on 2.5. Cold War Warrior is very scenic and immersive, but hard too. It's a good reminder of just how ugly a war between the Warsaw Pact and NATO would have been - very low chances of survival, air defences are everywhere, and though you fly loaded to the brim with ordinance I find you can only ever get one or two proper passes before radar-guided AAA or the sea of Stingers does you in. Most of the time at this point I'm low on fuel after dodging F-4s and Gepards, and instead of going home to Sochi I need to make a stopover at Maykop for fuel.

 

This time around I was on final at Maykop, with indicated fuel at 50kg. As I approached the runway, a Mi-24 pair was taking the active and the tower told me to go around. Without wanting to crash into them but also not too hot on hitting the grass before the runway, I decided to wait until the last minute to make a decision. Right as I figured I might have to go around, both engines quit. With whatever speed I had, I pitched the nose up to clear the Hinds, and hit the concrete relatively hard but not critically. The nose wheel and main right wheel popped, with the latter retracting from the impact, but besides that the aircraft was safe. I'd reckon a sleepover at Maykop will be needed before I can ferry the wounded rook to the coast.

 

[Jade_Monkey]

Just downloading the Steam beta. I don't feel like a peasant anymore.

[Urra]

So they stated that the sim is now Vulcan compatible. Is there any way to check if its running now on dx11 or Vulcan?

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

It's not Vulkan-compatible yet, that's just a part of the development pipeline with no public ETA as far as I know.

[LLv24_SukkaVR]

Happy to see that 2.5 runs slightly better than 1.5 with my old and crappy computer and the game looks great (Xeon E3 1231v3, 16gt DDR3, R9 290).

[Urra]

It's not Vulkan-compatible yet, that's just a part of the development pipeline with no public ETA as far as I know.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

[DetCord12B]

I've been absent from DCS for quite some time. 

 

I tried to download the latest client, only to be met with the same issues that were present in 2013. Shit download speeds. How the ever loving fuck are they still having download issues to this day? It's been five fuckin' years since this issue was first reported and they haven't done [Edited] to fix it. Oh...uhhh...well its in Russia. Explain IL-2 then.

 

97 minutes spent attempting to download on a FiOS connection that just times-out. I give up. I shouldn't have to spend more time downloading the core game than actually playing it. 

Edited February 1, 2018 by Bearcat
Profanity

[dburne]

Something that seems to have helped my performance in 2.5.

 

I noticed my options.lua file ( graphics options) in the DCS saved game folder was dated 2015. I deleted it and went back in and reset all my graphics options. Also deleted all the metashader and fxo files to get a fresh start with those also.

 

Might be worth a try, certainly can not hurt anything. 

Edited February 1, 2018 by dburne

[Nibbio]

Downloaded the 2.5 beta this morning and took the huey for a short spin in the caucasus map with my ancient system (i7-3930k oc 4.3 and gtx 1060, oculus rift).

 

Found out that MSAA in VR is a big no-no, either with or without deferred shading. Game is also unplayable for me with deferred shading, even with MSAA off.

 

Surprisingly if I disable both MSAA and deferred shading performance is quite good. Like 90 fps good where with 1.5 it rarely went above 45 fps (of course shadows of any kind are off).

 

Didn't try the steamVR version, don't know if there are any differences in performance, will experiment some more. Alas the time to upgrade to a new machine is fast approaching... and I'm not at all ready to fork out the dough

Edited February 1, 2018 by Nibbio

[dburne]

Yeah it is gorgeous, but so very demanding especially in VR. I have been tweaking and tuning a good part of yesterday and this morning, got it about where I want it - at least as best as I can for now.

 

I was able to run it with deferred shading and 2x msaa , which looks pretty good. But again, that performance is tough.

 

I am planning a new rig build toward the end of this year.

Edited February 1, 2018 by dburne

[Plesski]

Quick question guys if you don't mind - which of those several steam client beta version should I install to get 2.5?

 

P.

[Jade_Monkey]

"Open beta"

[Plesski]

"Open beta"

Thank you very much, I was really confused .

[Jade_Monkey]

They put the version numbers for all the others but the open alpha and open beta, no wonder people are not sure which one to use.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

After a few quick flights in 2.5, it seems performance on the Caucasus map is good. The new terrain looks very nice (more like Il-2 Kuban rather than the empty 1.5 wasteland). 

 

In my opinion, DCS has finally become a compelling product for those interested in combat. 

Edited February 3, 2018 by Mitthrawnuruodo

[Solty]

I am still sad that no improvements to the DM have been done.

 

Yes, the new/old terrain looks promissing but the lack of proper DM still makes me unwilling to come back for long.

[dburne]

Got a chance to play around with the new Touch Controller support for the Rift in 2.5 this morning.

 

Kind of cool really, I loaded up a Spit takeoff instant action mission and with Touch enabled there were my gloves,  and made all my take off trim adjustments using Touch.  More of a novelty I guess than anything but one can manipulate many cockpit buttons with the Touch controllers now.

[OrLoK]

Got a chance to play around with the new Touch Controller support for the Rift in 2.5 this morning.

 

Kind of cool really, I loaded up a Spit takeoff instant action mission and with Touch enabled there were my gloves,  and made all my take off trim adjustments using Touch.  More of a novelty I guess than anything but one can manipulate many cockpit buttons with the Touch controllers now.

can one fly using the touch controllers as in Xplane11 beta?

[dburne]

can one fly using the touch controllers as in Xplane11 beta?

 

Hmm, not real sure but kind of doubt it. I think currently they are mainly for manipulating buttons/wheels. I tried grabbing the stick and moving it around but did not have much luck with it for the little bit I tried.

 

Also Escape, VR Zoom and VR Recenter is mapped to buttons on the Touch controllers.

I also did all my menu choices using Touch, so I did not have to lean far forward to reach the mouse on my desktop. I have a center mounted stick so I sit kind of far back from desktop.

Edited February 3, 2018 by dburne

[OrLoK]

Touch implementation *might* just bring me back to DCS

 

Ta for the info!

[dburne]

Well I certainly enjoy both for what they offer, DCS is of course  more complex and harder to get into the meat of it than BoX. But I find they both kind of compliment each other nicely.

 

BoX though will always get the bulk of my gaming time. Much easier for me to get into some great SP combat action in BoX and less learning curve for the planes. 

[dburne]

From ED re: Touch support:

 

Palm grip axis is used for selection of interaction hand (with green ray)
Index trigger used as left mouse button mouse
Thumbstick as mouse wheel, X as escape button, Y as centering, A as zoom

Specially for Oculus in Steam VR: new command line option -force_steam_VR added, it allows to use Steam API for Oculus

Known issues:
- GUI renders on front
- no controls mapping for VIVE

[nirvi]

I made a short test with the touch controllers.

It works ok, but the system is in a early testing phase. Only left click works at the moment, so there are a few planes you can't start with touch controls only because you need to right-click something.

 

[Monostripezebra]

2.5.. is awesome!

 

[Jade_Monkey]

Ground AA units acting like Bouncing Bettys

[Danziger]

I'll probably just wait until I can have internet for a straight week so I'll be able to download it...

[Archie]

Why do the trees look lime green in every user made video I see? Is it a set up issue?

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

A shaders installation issue. You need to delete or rename the metashader and fox folders in Saved Games, then they'll show properly.

[Archie]

Thanks Lucas. Not had chance to d/l 2.5 yet.

[Monostripezebra]

The tunnel physics are quite interesting.. the mig has learned to bounce hard!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBROaLSVKQ

 

And you can not roll into the tunnel just yet:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCPvT6RwP0o

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Too bad. Hiding in tunnels would allow some rather interesting scenarios. 

[Boneboys]

I spent most of yesterday just going through the tutorials and setting up keybinds, I must say that I'm quite impressed by the new 2.5 version.

I'm using the VR preset (Rift) + a bit of stack smoke which works well on my GTX1070 +2500k @4.2.

 

High settings work if just flying around, explosions will (as expected) stutter & shake all over.

Going to dig a bit deeper today to see how far it can be pushed.

 

First impressions are good, runs smooth and looks pretty.

[Danziger]

Finally got it downloaded and installed. It looks way better than the old Caucasus map. The biggest surprise is it plays smoother than the old version and Nevada as well. On my laptop no less. Now if LN will finally finish the MiG-21bis I'll be happy.

[Monostripezebra]

On 6.2.2018 at 2:15 AM, Mitthrawnuruodo said:

Too bad. Hiding in tunnels would allow some rather interesting scenarios. 

 

Well, you can fly through it in Mig and Harrier... that alone makes for fun moments, I kind of wait for someone to pull that off in MP while beeing chased ;=)

 

https://youtu.be/g7rvJ3DF7XU

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Monostripezebra
video source changed

[ST_ami7b5]