Not sure if anyone does flight sim, but I got in to DCS a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure if it is fun or not, as I've spent most of my time learning to take off, fly, and land. Last week I learned how to fire weapons. I've got the full rig, now, though: HOTAS, pedals, head tracker...
I'm a big fan. Been on a break the last few months, but I fly the Hornet, F-5, and F-86. I've been working on the P-51.
Since things have been free to fly (and 50% off for non-Steam folk like me), I picked up the Hornet and the Viper, and Nevada and Persian terrains. Have only flown the Viper, as I only play about once a week. But me and a guy I've gamed with for about 20 years off and on, and a buddy from the Marine Corps play when able. We host a little 12 man server with a mission on loop.
Ya, I have a friend who writes scripts for a server that allows for dynamic mission assignment. I have the F-16 module but haven't gotten to it. The Persian Gulf Terrain is the only pay terrain really worth it. I have them all, though. The only US plane I don't have is the A-10 C. My only complaint on the simulation is that splash damage is not well done.
That's cool. I've been reading and watching a lot of videos. I suck and landing. Dreadfully. I've got a closed loop mission for the Viper to just work on it. I'm really good at getting shot down by SAMs. It's been fun trying to learn all the crap, and buttons I have to push. Me and anyone else trying to fly together is a study is really bad flying. We can't rejoin, and when we do, we end up not being able to match speed. My current "return to base method" is eject over water, escape, select role and grab a new plane. Total newbie.
Https://Digitalcombatsimulator.com The game is free, and you can fly two planes free, the p-51 trainer, and an armed Su-2x jet. The other planes and stuff have to be bought. I started on the p-51. Wish I had started on the Su. The p-51 doesn't really translate well to armed combat... Hard to play mouse and keyboard, but doable with an Xbox one controller over USB, but throttle is still hard to control. Found it much more fun with a HOTAS.
I do hotas, peddles, and track ir. the p-51 is great at combat against ww2 era stuff. the tf-51 you get free has no guns but obviously has all the same flight systems. The frogfoot is not full fidelity, so has no clicky cockpit. It takes a decent computer to run this well.
Since I started Xbox controller, with no pedals, or throttle... trying just to keep the 51 on the runway while getting enough speed to get lift was rough. The clickable cockpit does make the game, though. And made it worth it I guess. But still, rough take offs at the beginning before the hotas. I have HOTAS (thrustmaster 16000m set, which was about all I was able to find, everything sold out), pedals (came in the set), and EDTracker I built myself from sourced parts off eBay. I'll end up with TrackIR one day. EDTracker worked in a pinch, and was like $15. But I already had dev boards, soldering station, wire, push buttons, and everything needed to build one out.
I have the same hotas and peddles, but will likely upgrade the hotas in the next year. everything is hard to find because dcs has exploded in popularity these last several months. it's been around for years, I've played it for several. not sure what has increased interest. the hornet, f14, and f 16 I guess.
the subreddit hoggit is a good big community for dcs info. be weary of the official forums. it is a russian developer and they overreact to the slightest criticism or wrong question in terms of performance/features/release dates. Volnation like moderating.
Knowing someone that plays drew me in. And head tracking. I have the old Falcon 4.0, original CD and manual... the thing I always hated about flight sims was how clunky moving around was. Head tracking sold me. DCS and not Falcon BMS just because of the Hornet, and that someone else I game with played. I don't care about the Tomcat, but I will bounce a Hornet across the deck of a poorly named carrier. Now that I'm committed, probably Falcon BMS in the future.
if you want a single player experience with a dynamic campaign, it's falcon bms. if you want high fidelity graphics, multiplayer theater, it is dcs. for years people have been trying to get dcs to get some sort of dynamic campaign. they have for years claimed to be working on it. but here we are. falcon 4.0 is in some ways still the premier combat flight sim. but dcs is the next best thing and still improving
That's a good way to put the difference. Seen on reddit once to effect: "you play DCS to pretend to fly a fighter plane. You play Falcon to pretend to be a fighter pilot." I've enjoyed my limited time so far in DCS. But I really like the videos. C.W. Lemoine screwing around. Lex's carrier videos on paper.