DCS & campaigns questions

[tselepides 9]

Still plighted by the ignorance of a newbie. So excuse my ignorance.

 

What does DCS mean?

 

What on earth is FC Flaming Cliffs? Anything to do with the Battle of Britain Cliffs of Dover? 

 

I downloaded some files from the DCS section.

 

And by the way, is the DCS section the only place where one an download campaigns?

(I was looking for a full campaign that does not require me to get downloads from the Capun site--is there such a section and such a campaign? I mean a section where one can download "campaigns" only).

 

The files I got have a xxx.cmp file. Where does it go?

 

One download, named "Between Two Powers". has a Readme that says:

 

[This campaign is a fictional war based on (nearly) WWII 'teams'. You fly American F-15's against the European nations.

 

To Install:

-----------

Extract the files in this ZIP file to your lomac/Missions/Campaigns directory.]

 

 

What are these WWII 'teams'.? How can you have F-15's and WWII together?

 

I cannot believe the number of weird things and unusual associations I see in SF.... A possible explanation is my own ignorance, of course...

 

My games are unpatched--all October 2009 versions, in one merged folder.

 

Nick

 

[33LIMA 972]

Hi tselpedes

 

I'll let the DCS players cover the detail but Digital Combat Simulator is the current umbrella name for a range of simulation products:

 

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/world/

 

Its origins lie in Lock On - Modern Air Combat which featured modern US and Russian warplanes with a campaign set in the Crimea (IIRC). I have 'LOMAC' as ot was known but haven't played it much.

 

The 'Flaming Cliffs' series was the next iteration of LOMAC, which has now spawned in turn the DCS series. Though it features some WW2 planes and an F-86, there is as yet no campaign or suitable theatre for these, ahead of the mooted WW2 product.

 

There is no relationship with the Strike Fighters series, a long-running and fully-fledged set of complete combat flight sim products, with planes and campaigns including WW1 (First Eagles) and from the Cold War onwards, including Vietnam and Middle East.

[tselepides 9]

Thanks for the info. 

 

Have you played these games?

 

Nick

Edited December 25, 2014 by tselepides

[+streakeagle 871]

DCS is not for everyone, but if you liked flying F-15As and A-10As in the Strike Fighters series, then flying F-15Cs, A-10As, MiG-29s, Su-25s, and Su-27s in DCS:Flaming Cliffs 3 is somewhat similar, but with generally better graphics and slightly more detailed avionics, though not quite at the full-realism complexity level. The F-15, A-10, Su-25, and Su-27 have had detailed/accurate flight models recently added that are superior to Strike Fighters series. If you don't mind flying Falcon 4.0 at full difficulty/realism levels, then the DCS:A-10C is for you. The amazing range of aircraft available (or soon to be available) at full-realism levels is pretty cool: WW2 era, Korean War era, Vietnam era, and very recent/modern. 

 

But the cons are bad for some people:

To this day, only one terrain, though that is supposed to be fixed slowly but surely starting sometime next year.

No dynamic campaigns.

AI for single player has limitations.

The atmosphere is only as good as the mission, for many it is as sterile an environment as IL-2 is/was.

A lot of the aircraft modules have bugs that are slow to be fixed, usually with new bugs replacing ones that do get fixed.

Gameplay can either be dumbed down to an easy arcade level or ramped up to full-realism, but hard to get the right mix for people that want a "lite" sim.

 

For me, DCS is the best thing going right now for an air combat sim.

Unparalleled detail/realism, yet I can bypass a full-blown realistic rampstart and do some quick dogfight missions without using any more buttons than Strike Fighters.

Each aircraft is very unique both in controls/systems modeling and handling/flight performance.

Unlike Strike Fighters, this sim is built for a good multiplayer experience.

 

You can try DCS:World for free with the Su-25T and the TF-51D.

These sample aircraft give you a great glimpse of what DCS is all about.

The Su-25T is similar in detail/complexity of the other Lockon/Flaming Cliffs aircraft.

The TF-51D gives you a good taste of WW2 aircraft and systems modeling of full-blown DCS modules.

If you catch modules on sale, they are very affordable.

 

In its present format, DCS World does need a fairly strong PC to run it at high detail/visual quality with reasonable framerates.

Hopefully, the imminent DCS:World 2.0 release will improve that situation with its updated rendering engine.

[tselepides 9]

StrealEagle,

 

Thanks for the detailed review. It helps a lot.

 

I may try the version with the two aircraft only.

Where do I download that?

 

Nick

[+Dave 2,322]

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/downloads/world/dcs_world/

[+EricJ 4,274]

The biggest thing to remember about DCS is that it's a steep learning curve but once you figure stuff out it becomes much easier of course.  While the official people that run it are much to be desired in some respects the simulation is the best you can get.  And while the BMS guys have their views.... well they have their views too but overall DCS in my opinion is the best out there.