DCS | A Simple 'how to get started' Beginners Guide from a DCS 'Pilot' with 100 hours

JOIN ME
as I try my best to relay some simple steps and pass on some of my early lessons to help you get your wheels off the ground in DCS.

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IMPORTANT! - I COMPLETELEY FORGOT ABOUT TACVIEW! I may do a video on it at some stage in the future. as this is my first channel and it's very new i don't really know where to start. anyway Tacview is massive for helping you from your mistakes and assessing your flights

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Flight sticks /Hotas/Hosas

Head tracking
VR - there's so many options i couldn't really choose and i don't know enough about VR to make a recommendation.

Aircraft
Educational -

Channels with great DCS content and some great educational stuff as well -

If you enjoy my videos like & subscribe!

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Peripherals
VKB SIM Gladiator NXT EVO RH stick
VKB SIM Gladiator NXT EVO LH Omni throttle
track IR5
Logitech G502
Logitech PowerPlay
Logitech G915 TKL
Steel Series Arctis pro Wireless
AOC CQ27G3S 27" QHD 165Hz Gaming Monitor x2

PC specs
Nvidia GTX 2080 Super
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
Gigabyte Aorus RGB DDR4-3600 32Gg
Corsair HX Series HX750 High-Performance ATX Power Supply 750
Samsung 860 Evo 1TB SSD
Samsung 980 Pro 2TB M.2 Internal SSD
NZXT H710i Premium Mid-Tower
EKWB EK-AIO 240 D-RGB Liquid Cooler

[ClustrFunk]

Yo team! I just wanted to thank you all for the support! I put a fair amount of work into this and it was my first real go at a “high effort video” I’m so humbled and stoked by its reception!

I’m thinking of doing a video around trying to “force the merge” in online PVP, it’ll most likely just be footage of me being blown out of the sky over and over again, I’ll try do live commentary as I go. Would you all be keen on seeing something like that?

Cheers

[jdzzl]

As someone with a bit of time in DCS (under 500 hours talking but around there), I 100% advise you to go into full fidelity aircrafts and take advantage of 50% off deals with your first purchase. I got the F16 and A10 warthog for $80 total. Now this is someone coming from a previous 900+ hours in Microsoft Flight Sim, flying realistic airliners, and someone who enjoys real procedures. If you haven't done anything like that before and you don't wanna spend the money or just don't know how much you will like it, nothing wrong with starting with the Flaming Cliffs offer, however, I hate keybinds in DCS for basic things and I wanted the real deal so I went straight for full fidelity and haven't looked back.

I will say, head tracking is very much a necessity if your planning on flying with a stick in your right hand. I say that because I was flying with a left handed stick from MSFS and could use my right hand to look around with my mouse. Once I got a VKB right handed stick, the game was unplayable without tracking). I tried OpenTrack although that never worked great for me because I did not have a great webcam.

If you have a friend that is played the game (sim) for a bit of time and invites you to play with them, I really really hope that you at least take them up on the offer because it is truly its own world of simulation. Please, just take the time to play with your friend in the game once, because I personally have no friends (in real life that I know) that are interested in flight sims, moreover DCS.

I looked at DCS before, but never bothered to try the game because I didn't want to fly low fidelity planes etc. etc. Well then I found the two week trials by going directly thru DCS and started out with the hornet, figured it wasn't for me (although I got hooked on the game once I started learning how to fly the jet and use its systems), and then I went to the F16, enjoyed that, and went to the A10C2, really enjoyed that!

For me at the time, I have TrackIR and everything now, still struggling to get a perfect tracking profile but I have a pretty good one right now. Hoping to get to the point where I can get comfortable dog fighting or looking around behind me or over me a lot better because I struggle with that and thus prefer hitting ground targets.

If I have one thing to say, **DON'T PLAY DCS THRU STEAM, GO THRU THE DCS WEBSITE PLEASE I BEG YOU**

[burnbarrelnetwork]

I first started with the x56 and returned it after 3 days. Picked up the gladiator with a twcs throttle. The gladiator is way above the x56. Been using the acuro marker in opentrack with a webcam and surprised with how well it works. Was not aware of the 50% off first purchased and started with dcs through steam. Great video to help people get started. *update* Ended up switching to stand-alone and picked up f16, f18, a10, carrier, Syria, and PG with the initial purchase. Should keep me busy for a long time.

[EbonySeraphim]

It's fine if your significant other doesn't want a simpit in the living room. But if you already have an office/computer area and they're against you building into that area, you should find a new partner.

If you're playing DCS, the min-spec I'd ever go for HOTAS is T-1600/TWCS or X-52. Anything below that and you're leaving too much on the floor and you will immediately notice, even as a beginner.

Before you jump into guides, I'm starting to realize (after failing to get a friend into DCS) you might want to jump into some basic free flight. Take in the graphics and potential, and then set expectations on learning time and what a person expects to do right and what a person might get away with no really learning. Since DCS is a combat sim, you can somewhat get away with no knowing how to land effectively because you can always go suicidal, and at least the ED base campaign missions don't require you RTB successfully and are completable without a rearm/refuel (that I've played at least). Same with A2A refueling -- this is pretty optional though with the F/A-18 you can get a lot further on some servers if you can do it. After setting expectations, you will know what it is you need to learn and how much effort versus practice and hopefully you have a healthy amount of patience for it. The reality of DCS is this: it's an adult hobby. It rewards you the more learning and practice effort you put into it. If you put zero learning and practice and just try to "do" it won't be very fun.

After you have proper expectations, pick a module/plane and stick to learning it at least 70%. As a baseline understand how to interpret your RWR and air radar for contacts if you have one. You absolutely must know how to operate any situational awareness displays (SA page on F/A-18, HSD on F-16, TAD on A-10C, etc). If it's A2A only, then have an understanding of both BVR and dog fight modes and how to defeat missiles both with counter measures and energy. You shouldn't be wondering "why can't I see/lock this target" and know how datalink (Link16) shows you stuff versus what your plane sees and the meaning of it. If it's A2G know how to use CCRP/CCIP, set up JDAMs and LGBs and drop with reliably on targets. I don't mean "complete training missions and move on." Actually fly missions because stuff will happen and the moment you need to "pickle" and you'll get HUD or stores page indicators about what's wrong that you should understand how to fix versus getting lucky that you set it up right (but don't know exactly how). My point is this, you have to truly "understand" one plane and there's a difference between following instructions blindly, versus being able to read an error/issue and/or troubleshoot and determine what is or what did go wrong. I'd much rather see a learning pilot make a startup mistake 50% of the time but 90% of the time be able to fix the issue mid-air after they observe it; than a learning pilot do things right 95% of the time correct on startup but have a 25% chance of fixing it midair. The former pilot likely fixes their startup over time, and properly sorts out "fence in" checks. The latter pilot likely gets frustrated and blames the plane for messing up at battle time. Startup is important, but just about everything can also be resolved mid-flight if you know the plane well enough.

[JustWild-kg]

Thats such a usefull video for beginners, I'm already in DCS. But we actually needed a relatively new and well made vid, covering this topic :)

[mikewright]

Note the 50% is for your first order I believe, so if you order every single plane, you still get 50% off. It's a one-time deal I wish I had taken better advantage of. I started with the F-16 but for 50% off I should have snagged at least the F-18 as well.

[JVIce-]

Thanks very much for the advice. It reminds me of my time when I was a student at UNI, several years ago, where I did some work in the lab to get a few bucks in the pocket showing older inexperienced people how to use a PC and because I was only a couple of pages in front, I could explain better than someone who was fully familiar with the stuff. Some people forget that they weren't borne with all the knowledge. So yes, thanks for putting things over in a way that makes it easier to grasp.

[SiemaZiomek]

I tried VR once before I got it- on my pal's PC, he was playing Elite Dangerous on it.
I immediately knew I have to have it in my life for IL2 and DCS :D

[domdown]

Thank you!! I'm excited to get started. My X56 Rhino and rudder pedals should be here today or tomorrow from mightyape. Cannot wait!

[allantotti]

Great tutorial mate. I've been flying in DCS for 3+ years now but it is always good to see what else is out there. I have the Warthog HOTAS at home with VR and I travel with the Extreme 3D Pro to play on the go. I never knew about the entry level eye tracking, it might be worth considering when I am away. Did I hear a slight kiwi accent?

[swenic]

Pretty sure there are some low fidelity planes included for free in the "base game".

[shaneduc]

I went from a X52 with no ped. to a Winwing HOTAS Orion2 Max and logi ped's. I have TrackIR and Tobii. I use TrackIR less as the light pollution issue.
I agree FC3 is the best starter pack... Also 99.9% of all the free mod's use it.

[Rhoedision]

hi there im a new flyer in DCS cheers for the learners info that really helps

[michaelfriscia]

She told me it was her or the sim pit, so I threw her out and use the money I saved to upgrade my video card, I figure if she had problem seeing me enjoying the fruit of my labor she doesn't really care about me....

[inZaneSK]

This is a bit of good info. I started DCS in 2021. Started flying with an Xbox Controller (that was hard) and bought an X52. The X52 lasted about 1.5 years before it needed replacing. I replaced it with a Winwing Orion2 trottle and stick. I use PuckIR from Grassmonkey Simulations (alternative to TrackIR) and sometimes use my Oculus Quest 2 in VR.

[BrockvsTV]

MYSH has a great video on flights sticks. The most interesting combo from that video and what I’ll probably do is using the thrustmaster 1600 throttle matched with the VKB gladiator as the stick. Little more pricey breaking things but but you get the best if both worlds it seems

[kasper_]

1:50 Same here. I played BF2 and the OG Microsoft Flight Sim with that stick. Good times.

[RCAndrewuk]

Honestly, pick one hi fidelity plane and then join a friendly multiplayer group like RAF Air that will teach how to fly properly.
The multiplayer aspect of this simulation is what sets it apart.

[seatslider]

Audio here is fine too. Great video. Keep it up :)

[zortex_]

Thank you for ur help its a very good video for me who just started and i had no idea what i should by for the plane what plane is the best to begin with usw. Ty so much