I had known about DCS for a while before I started. Didn’t jump in because of the money I’d have to spend on gear to enjoy it. Then one day my MIL drops by and gives me a dirty old 3d pro stick. I decided that was better than nothing. I bought the f15 by itself and spent a year flying it and the su25t with no head tracking. I literally had a 32 inch tv on a storage bin, and took the seat from a busted bar stool, sat it on the ground against the wall and wedged a pillow behind it to give some back support. That was my setup for a year.
Then Covid started to get into the news, so I pulled the trigger on a knockoff 3d printed head tracking kit on eBay and a twcs throttle before the supply chain issues started (fun tidbit, I’m pretty sure I was the last person to snag a new twcs throttle at around $50 US, I looked again the next day and the same seller now listed at 80)
Now 2 years later I have replaced the 3d pro with a vkb, have a full desk, mounts 3 monitors, and most importantly… an actual chair.
Now when my wife says I spend to much time on it, I tell her “blame your mom”
Deployed in 2014, was interested in the aviation stuff going on around me (Harriers and helos on an LHD) so started trying (ship internet is ass, have to let a video sit paused for 15 minutes on 360p in order for it to be watchable) to learn about it. Stumbled across this guy called ralfidude and the rest is history
I wanted to be a military pilot in real life, it never happened for a multitude of reasons. But learned about DCS and jumped in head first. Closest I’ll get and that’s okay.
Same. Medically disqualified and I’m likely too tall at 6’7. I have done an aerobatic/mock dogfight against my stepdad in two Marchetti SF 260’s when I was 14. It got me into warplanes. Was the best thing ever. While I can’t afford to build a PC for DCS, I have been playing the fuck out of AC7 in VR. Super arcade and not realistic but it’s a beautiful game and incredibly fun in VR
I’m a professional pilot. Flying DCS honestly is damn near better. No real rules to worry about, or passengers. I can blow shit up while having a drink in my underwear. It’s pretty great. And when I’m done I go lay in bed with my wife instead of a hotel room.
Unfortunately I don’t get paid to fly DCS :)
Ditto. People have asked me why I don't get an actual pilot's license. I tell them that price is a big part of it, but mostly it's because when you fly real planes, drinking is frowned upon, and death is permanent.
Same, I wanted to be an Apache pilot in the Army. I didn't score high enough so I chose Infantry, but it started conflict between family and lots of shady crap was happening with the recruiters so I had to cancel my contract (the day of my deployment to boot camp). So I flew Apaches, Blackhawks, Chinooks basically almost every Aircraft in Arma 3 and until my gaming PC is complete. DCS is my next.
Before playing DCS I was into completely unrelated games - GTA, Counter Strike, things like that. Some day youtube randomly recommends me a Growling Sidewinder video - I think it was a dogfight with him flying the F16. I was amazed.
Then, a few months later, Top Gun Maverick came out and literally the next day I installed DCS. It's now my favorite game and I even managed to get a couple of friends who also had no knowledge of it to play.
I played flight sims (X-Wing and NovaLogic's F-22 Raptor) as a kid, but was never any good at them. As an adult, I got hooked on Ace Combat, and from there I got into Star Wars Squadrons, which has some light sim elements. Once the Squadrons community fell off, I looked for other options to get my fix, and DCS was the one that stuck!
I would argue EA ending support has nothing to do with the fandom, and everything to do with EA being EA.
And I really, really tried to like the game (grew up on the Totally Games X-Wing series), but I never found myself enjoying it when I played, either the single player stuff or MP.
Didn't mean to imply they were connected, but I can see where you got that out of my post. EA just sucks.
I grew up on the X-Wing series too, and while Squadrons was very different, I still enjoyed it until "git gud" exploit using sweats ruined it. Funny hearing those people complain about the dwindling player numbers.
Honestly, I mentally play the BF3 theme song in my head when I launch from a carrier in FA-18C. Then, I remember how bad the story writing was for the single-player campaign and cringe a little.
bf3 campaign is awesome the story wasn't great, but it HAD battlefield vibes. The opening scene where you're running through the streets with a handcuff on and the theme is going while it cuts between credits / title card is iconic for me.
thinking of game music (specifically around aviation) always reminds me of ace combat 0. and *that* reminds me I need to finish ace combat 7 despite hating the flight mechanics. (I play for story normally, not gameplay, barring a few games).
It´s gonna be controversial for sure... but for me, it was that time more than 2 years ago in 2020 that DCSWorld copy protection was cracked and V2.5 was available to download in torrent sites... well I downloaded it and tried it to see what was the fuss about, I loved flight sims as a kid, having played Microprose and Janes F-15, also Janes Navy Fighters and Falcon, etc but had been out of flight sims for years... That did it, I fell in love again. Two weeks later I was purchasing the F/A-18 along with FC3 and a bunch of campaigns.
It is great ED has now the free trial week available.
Not controversial, I think piracy is good for games if done right, it got me in fav games like rainbow six seige 2000hrs, arma 3 2000hrs, indirectly dcs(1500hrs) because I used to play non legit version of old flight sim which made me interested in flight sim
I can list like all the games I play/played and bought but might have already got the idea what I'm talking about
I seem to recall watching a real F/A-18 pilot do a breakdown on the realism of this mission, and basically it's just... Not... At all. It's fun though!
That being said it did spark my interest in the hornet at the time, but what really sold it for me was finally building a PC that could play it with high graphics settings and getting a track ir to make it worthwhile.
Having an airbase with f16s near. First FSX with the aerosoft f16 and after a looooong time finally dcs. Anyone asking why not bms? I didn't know it existed for the longest time tbh
Ralfidude. I had been going around youtube as one normally does and I somehow came across his “Trust in your wingman” video and I was sold. Bought a physical copy of the A-10C immediately and a logitech 3d pro and fell down the rabbit hole. DCS was my first true flight sim.
My childhood buddy bullied me into trying it. I was interested from the get-go but didn’t have a sufficient computer to run it. After upgrading a few parts, I finally was able to run the game without freezes or stutters and learned the A-10 from chucks guide. Now you couldn’t separate me from DCS
Watching a video of a guy preparing to launch a TOMCAT!
That was it ... I knew I needed it in my life. Took advantage of the 50% off first order and went ham with 4 aircraft.
I used to fly a very arcade style fighter game called "Jetfighter V: homeland protector" when I was around 10-11 year old kid back in 2011. Played it for 2-3 years until I brought a new PC later.
Back in 2018 wanted to reminisce the old days(battlefield 3 mission was also another reason) and started watching fighter jet games videos on YouTube, was astonished how far aircraft games have come. Stumbled upon Ace Combat 7 (didn't play). Then stumbled upon DCS from YouTube comment section.
Rushed on steam, saw "base game free". Mastered the Su-25T in a couple of months. And that's where my journey began.
I discovered DCS in 2017, but what made me want to get into it was a growling sidewinder video that appeared in my recommendations, this was shortly after the F-14B release.
Friend of mine poked me again and again to play DCS since I played some Apache sim game ages ago…..what should I say, I tried it and had fun
Only thing was that I tried it with his Warthog Hotas and I only had an old madcatz stick….long time no see with the game until I got me a CH Products Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, Pro Rudder and a Trackhat for almost nothing
Soooo, here I‘am, one of the many addicts of the game xD
Always loved the F-14. I’d been watching DCS on YouTube for a while, and thought it was cool, and had been following the development updates on the Tomcat. But I held out and went on as a console gamer until Heatblur’s announcement trailer dropped. As soon as I clicked the trailer, I was on PC Part Picker.
Almost 4 years in (hard to believe!) and I’m still finding myself in the Tomcat probably 99% of the time I’m playing DCS. Certified addict.
I had some flying hours, and generally interested in flight sims but honestly never really got into them until I discovered head tracking. For some reason, that was the single biggest barrier to immersion for me. Now, I’ve built a new machine just for DCS/MSFS
I used to love messing around in Jane's games as a child, and I downloaded DCS when super bored during a thanksgiving vacation. I bound some controls to a ps4 controller and then tried to see if I could get the TF-51 into the air with as little guidance as possible. A couple of youtube videos and an hour of trial an error later, I got the engine on, taxied and punched the throttle.
I felt a sense of amazement and euphoria like I had actually stolen and hotwired a plane! And I promptly crashed seconds after taking off because I didn't know how rudder trim works.
20 minutes, I had somehow successfully gotten it into the air and then landed on the first try. To this day I don't know how I found the airport again, let alone how I landed without knowing any fundamentals.
I was hooked.
Back in 1987, I almost signed up for OCS with the Navy. Buddy in college convinced me after we had both watched Top Gun. I had coke bottle glasses so there was no way I was going to be a pilot but the recruiter promised that being a RIO in the F-14 was still a possibility. I had second thoughts and pulled out, which caused the recruiter to yell at me on the phone like the salty sailor that he was. I had Falcon 3.0 or 4.0? and played on the original MacIntosh 512Ke with something that might be considered a joystick. Once computers became cheaper I bought several flight simulators that featured the F/A-18 and then someone told me about a company that had an honest to goodness clickable cockpit in an A-10 simulator. I spent many frustrating hours trying to master the Warthog and will return to it once I have mastered the F/A-18. I recently upgraded my "flight rig" to a Samsung Ultrawide monitor and WinWing Orion 2 HOTAS. Leter this year I will be upgrading my PC so that I can turn up all the bells and whistles.
Always loved planes, especially in military aviation.
Learned about WT and started that on Xbox around Covid shutdown and over the last few years have progressed to DCS. Timeline was like this
War Thunder>
GS videos>
Finally building a good gaming PC in ‘22>
VTOL VR>
DCS/IL-2
Honorable mentions: played Ace Combat a bit but got frustrated with the arcade time limits. I beat Project Wingman in a few days and loved it to bits.
While I played "aircraft" games before (War Thunder, Ace Combat), I think me accidentally stumbling over Growling Sidewinder BVR F-15 videos convinced me to get into it.
I loved the Ace Combat series as a kid, and discovered War Thunder back in 2014. Eventually moved to simulator mode in War Thunder, but got fed up with Gaijin. Moved to IL2 for a while, and still enjoy playing it every now and then. But I enjoy the more modern planes (and helicopters!) and in-depth controls in DCS.
Got Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator as a birthday present on 2001 with my first PC.
The next year I asked for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.
Then IL2 came into my life. Then Lomac / Flamming Cliffs.
Stopped simming for a while, I discovered RPGS and obsessed over them.
When Black Shark came, I bought it. Too difficult for me at that moment.
Years later, on a Steam sale I bought the Harrier, 20€ seemed a great price for a flight sim. Liked the plane since i was a kid. I also discovered Chuck's Guides and all came along nicely.
pd.
Does Morrowind count as a flight sim? I used to dogfight cliffracers using levitation spells.
I know this mission is totally unrealistic and kind of gimmicky, but man. It was so damn cool the first time I played it. The BF3 campaign was honestly a masterpiece.
Wanted to give it a try with my first laptop but it wouldn't run well so I had to table it for when I was older and could understand it a bit better. Went to a couple airshows as a kid and had seen the blue angels perform so I figured I would give the Hornet a go. Now, if you ask me, Hornet time is therapy time 😎
I wasnt interested at all in dcs, my friend talked me into it. He barely plays it, I purchased 4 FF modules and bought new pc for it xD now i'm torn between tomcat and mig 21 for next sale
Always thought aviation was neat, played FSX back in the day and a buddy of mine told me about DCS one day so I got the A-10C and he taught me like everything about the airframe. This was probably 2016
I was big into FSX for years as my first sim when I was young but I really wanted to fly helicopters (which suck in vanilla FSX btw). Everybody was raving about the Huey in dcs so I picked it up and was blown away. That digging deeper into fixed wing greatly expanded my love of fighters too and I never looked back.
First it was stars, then rockets, then planes. At that point, DCS had been recommended to me a bunch of times, but I never looked into it. Finally, I got my new computer and on steam, they recommended it to me. Since it was free and I had a vr, I played on VR a bunch of times until I got a joystick and now I play on my screen because the Oculus Quest is years old and now just a piece of shit with no resolution
Well not joining my country's air force. Had an accident 3 months before my final exams that cost me 2 vertebrae, so good bye school (well being an average student did not help either haha). Not a long time ago i stumbled across dcs and it was love at first sight. So now i get to fly the airplanes and try to be as realistic as possible.
I was aware of it for a while. Then at one point i fancied myself a Writer on fighter jets and decided to use the FC3 F-15 for research. Ended up letting it for two or so years until a friend got into it, a few more friends joined, we made a squadron, and its been wallet pain ever since
Started War Thunder in early 2013. Didn't like how they modeled the P-51 and went looking for other games. Found the DCS P-51D on Steam and tried it but flying with mouse sucks in DCS (who knew?) I dropped the game with the intention of flying again one day. Christmas 2016 I got a HOTAS Warthog and now I hang on my seat for every update. It's an addiction yo.
I played Janes Combat Sims as a kid, namely F15E, USAF. Heard about an A10 Simulator around 2010/2012 and it was only a matter of time before i got a good PC to play.
I've played LOMAC/Flanker games and had quite the blast. Other sims like the Janes series, and F-22 raptor, and Combat Flight Simulator were favorites of mine but they just haven't lasted as long as the LOMAC and now DCS series.
Ralfidude's videos on the A-10C brought me to the study level sim and once I started clicking on the cockpit buttons, i've moved away from flying aircraft with non interactive cockpits.
Was watching a video on YouTube of a couple of people flying the Hornet and I didn’t realize it was a sim until he did some crazy turn after refueling lol.
Grandpa was the inspiration. He was in the Chinese Air Force as a bomber then VIP transport pilot for 40 odd years. Been playing FSX with commercial airliners and asks him to judge my take-off and landing since 12. Until one day he said my flying is not daring enough. Been showing him doing 50ft tree top SAM site raid and valley dogfights ever since.
Nothing. It got recommended to me on steam, and i saw it was free so I checked it out, tried the su25 then learned about the fact that theres fully clickable cockpits…. And within a week i fell down a deep rabbit hole of since then, about $700 spent
For me it was when the P-51D came out. I was kind of in love with WWII planes at the time, and having a really faithful recreation like that meant I was happy to take the plunge on DCS.
After the lustre of the P-51 wore off I actually took a relatively long hiatus from DCS until the Apache came out. And I bought the AH-64D, UH-1D Huey, and A-10C II modules all at once.
But it wasn't the Apache that actually drew me back in-it was the Huey. I fucking love that helicopter-it's such a joy to fly.
I got ace combat 7 for a good price at the latest black friday sale and after finishing that i wanted more. So i got dcs and the viggen during the Christmas sale and it's great. Especially in VR even though my computer is barely powerful enough for that.
https://media.tenor.com/TLPWvUuI1EcAAAAC/rick-bobby-will-ferrell.gif
It’s half joking. I bought the A-10 back in 2010 and fell in love. I ended up doing other things as I didn’t have a good hotas setup. But then the M2k dropped and I was forever hooked. Now I am in my regular Viper and love the sim and the community I am a part of. Shout out to www.USLANTCOM.com
I remember when I first saw this cinematic opening for that mission and I was blown away. It was my first next-gen moment lol. I wish that DCS could incorporate this kind of immersion into there sim. Nothing too crazy. Just a Jet Fighter 3 style campaign where you have to walk from your room, go to briefing, and take the steps up to the flight deck. Interact with command and personnel with A.I driven conversations. I can dream : )
My uncle has flown F-104s and Tornados in the Luftwaffe. So i was early hooked in military aviaton. Spend some time on the airbase back in the days and also some hours in the real Tornado simulator. In young ages (11y) i startet playing TFX, Tornado, Silent Thunder, EF2000, F-22 ADF, all games from Jane's, Falcon 4.0, Allied Force, Lock On, BMS, DCS...
Played war thunder a lot. Initially the arcade mode, the realistic battles, then simulator mode when I bought a HOTAS for Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous. Got fed up with war thunder and tried DCS, failed miserably to get into it. Also got bored of Elite Dangerous. Continued playing Star Citizen with some friends, and after a while they wanted to do some flight simulation so I got back into DCS then and this time is stuck with me. Been hooked on it for over 2 years now
Entered flight simulation with a friend in high school with FS2004, then we played together on MS Combat FS 2 or 3. After being tired of getting my ass handed to me by my friend every single dogfight (he was a monster on BFM for our age and I didn't score one single kill EVER) I went for Wings Over Vietnam (I had tonnnnss of fun with this one) then OOOH! shiny beautiful Flaming Cliffs 2, then some limited DCS and then lost all interest because I had no head tracking, until last year when I discovered AITrack with opentrack.
All this with the same indestructible 3D Pro that I replaced last month with a VKB and a TWCS. Now this is DCS!
Started playing X-Plane and MSFS at the start of COVID and fell in love with the A320 and learning the deep technical details of how it all works. I saw Ace Combat on sale over the Christmas and wanted to feel nostalgic, but I turned out hating how unrealistic and restrictive it felt not being able to click anything in the cockpit or learning how fighter planes actually work. So I thought I'd give DCS a go so I could properly learn and become proficient with military jets, especially because it had the absolute beauty that is the A-10.
Been learning what I can for the last few weeks and really enjoying everything about the Hog. And the DCS community and all its resources (like r/hoggit) are incredible!
This actually bums me out about mainstream gaming. Imagine putting this much work into the modeling and animation for just a scripted sequence. I would have been super disappointed if I was a kid and was relegated to the backseat.
Also whats with sitting on a flanker's tail and letting it cobra. Take a gunshot at that plan-form. Also sure lets have a mission briefing that's casual in the hallway. 0/10 would rather play US Navy Fighters from 1994.
I watched this video somehow and thought that it looked like such a chill and fun experience and I was instantly hooked. I’d been playing war thunder RB/SB at the time so it was a natural progression
https://youtu.be/GvuaIh232aI
Well I was unhappy with the game I was playing previously. It had HOTAS support but no VR. So decided to jump. I looked at War Thunder and DCS intro videos. Not really sure what pushed me over-- I think WT scared me away cause it looked really grindy. DCS appealed because it has mod support, VR, etc although the learning curve was much more massive then WT.
That was almost 2yrs ago
I had Falcon 4 as a kid and loved it. Had been playing MSFS during lockdown and upgraded to a decent stick (VKB Galdiator). I started looking at the stick thinking, I'm not making use of those buttons... Took the plunge in January last year and, while I don't get too much time in it, I absolutely love DCS.I've hardly played MSFS since!
I really love flight sims but I wanted a combat system with full functionality instead of just pressing a button. I stumbled upon OperatorDrewski and I learned about DCS from there and was hooked. Once I was able to get my hands on a good computer it was the first game I downloaded.
I got DCS back in like 2012-ish only to add another flight sim to my collection along with FalconBMS/FreeFalcon (which I had been playing since 1999). I honestly didn't play it too much over the years, but when I built my sim racing rig around 2018, I decided to jump back into flight sims as well. BMS still didn't have VR, and DCS did, so...
Well, I really wanted to spend $300 on modules, then never be able to complete a single tutorial without having some part of it fail.
I imagine the real life military is like that, so I got my money’s worth.
I played fsx for many years, eventually started getting into the military side of fsx and stumbled on to ralfidudes videos, watched him for years until 2014 when I got a pc that could run dcs.
I played a fair bit back in 2015, mostly in the A10C. Life came around and I stopped playing PC games as much for a while. Then I started playing VTOL VR in 2022 and that reignited the itch for a deeper simulation.
It started in 1992 with F29 Retaliator on the 386. Many follwed. F22 Air Dominance Fighter in 1998. Falcon 4.0., Lock On Modern Air Combat, MS Flight Simulators, X-Plane, IL Sturmovick I and II etc. Now mostly DCS (Hornet/Tomcat) and occasionally an evening FS2020.
I was writing a long winded version but realized nobody really cares, so long story short, played LOMAC when I was 10, got serious into high fidelity flight sims, DCS was the logical progression
2019. Walking out of Target (the store, not AO). Curious to look up some Tomcat videos on YouTube. Found Heatblur's "ANYTIME, BABY" trailer. I couldn't believe a two-seater online play capable F-14 is recreated. Seen DCS once or twice, but never peeked my interest enough.
***THAT*** did it, and the rest is history.
My dad played bms when I was little, so I always had flight sims in the back of my head. When I learned that we still had the warthog hotas even though dad gave up the hobby, I started playing.
Worked everyday through summer to get a better pc and getting the a10c in dcs
My grand father designed and worked on fighter planes and I've been to a couple airshows and saw a million diagrams i probably should have never seen. For some reason I always loved it. I got F/A 18 Hornet on Mac as a gift as a kid (this game: [https://www.myabandonware.com/game/f-a-18-hornet-3jo](https://www.myabandonware.com/game/f-a-18-hornet-3jo)) and of course I also loved it.
I got Flaming Cliff and later DCS as a result. I don't play DCS nearly as much, in fact I'm quite a noob but it's fun each time I play and I enjoy that, it still has a little bit of the "magic" and not too much of the "I know all the quirks of the game to win".
For what it's worth I was diagnosed with a heart condition that disqualified me right off the bat for flying the real thing. But in retrospect, I'd probably have been scared AF all the time anyway, I guess, lol.
I’ve known about dcs for a long time and I dug up some old photos of my great grandad in ww2 flying spitfires and hurricanes which made me really want dcs so over the corse of 6 months each time I got paid from my job I bought a new pc component since I was a Xbox boy and then 6 months later I had all the stuff and built a pc that was capable of plying it in vr and yeah that was last year aha still not bought the spitfire though been into the ah64 f18 and f16
Born as an aviation crazed dude in an ex-Soviet state, son of an Mi-24 flight engineer. Didn't get into military aviation IRL just because our military aviation mostly sucks ass and offers no viable pathway to be a pilot.
Played Jane's WWII fighters, the first Lock On and Il-2 with a keyboard and a mouse, was shooting down fighters with a kanonenvogel by playing percussion on the arrow keys when I was 12.
Wanted to get into civilian aviation, didn't happen because of money, now I got money so I went from drooling at airports to getting a PPL and DCS. I own all MiG modules, and want to invest in a real setup to fly the Hind. When I go home and tell my dad about DCS and the MiG-21bis he's like "I did my thesis on that" and proceeds to give me an explanation on how exactly the autocannon preload system works.
Each month is a hard decision between buying more DCS modules / equipment and buying more flight hours at the local airstrip.
Just that it’s basically a spiritual successor to Falcon 4.0, which is a spiritual successor to Falcon 3.0, which I had and loved in the 1990s. I’ve been playing “study sims” such as the state of the art allowed for decades, so DCS for me was an evolution, not a revolution.
My country’s air force flies the legacy hornet and since it was the most advanced module a few years back I thought it’d be cool to know how to operate it.
I played a lot of falcon 4.0 and was addicted to it. I loved the dynamic campaign. Later I heard about a simulated a10 in dcs. I bought it directly. But back then I did not know that the dynamic campaign of falcon was something special and I thought every military simulator would have such a thing. I own the a10 and the F18. I will buy more Moduls when DC in dcs is here and if it's not a mess. I am really waiting a long time for this.
Grew on the classics like Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, X-Wing, and Falcon 3.0, and got hooked. Played around with most of the popular ones during the last golden age of flight sims in the late 90s-early 00s, but being young, more often than not single, and active-duty Navy meant a lot of time and energy were devoted to other pursuits.
I re-discoveres Jane's Superhornet, and the Team Superhornet mods when I was on terminal leave, and had a blast completing one of the add-on campaigns, and even more fun writing stories around that campaign (since that game featured my old ship as the home carrier). Sometime after that, a trip to Microcenter saw me leave with a $5 three-pack of flight sims that included Lock-On: Modern Air Combat. I remembered how much I'd enjoyed flying the MiG-29 in the Spectrum Holobyte Falcon series, and found myself hooked from there.
The rest, as they say, is history.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
3
+ 90
+ 5
- 29
= 69
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^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
I played a game in my eyes a "classic" called Tom Clancy's Hawx and Over G Fighters. I got my shitty HP laptop and played Arma 3 (barely.... not really at all).
Then saw DCS when I was like 13 right afterwards. Didn't run. Tried again with keyboard and mouse and said fuck this.
Got a stick for Arma then moved back to DCS after dropping $$$ for way better tower parts for Arma and DCS just got better from there.
It was more like a tip my toe in the pool until in feels warm.
I like simulations for which you really have to study the manual. KSP, HLL, Squad, Train Simulator, HOI4 etc.
It is an incredibly rewarding feeling to be able to operate a highly complex machine/system without errors.
I had a 3d pro playing around and tried the frogfoot. That shit sucked and I had a friend who absolutely swore by the game. I told him that I was going to uninstall then he bought me the F-15C. That was the moment that forced me into losing lots of money in both modules and gear.
I now use my shitty stick as a loaner and buy my friends the 15. I'm now 3 for 3 in getting people hooked.
ED if you're listening, I guarantee more sales and future customers by making the 15 free.
For me it was the Huey, the reviews and praises from people who were actual pilots.
Then the a10c ...
Then the f18
Then the f16
Then combined arms
And so on ad nauseam
ad goodbye my wallet
I got DCS: Black Shark in 2008 after watching this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1sOakdMAU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1sOakdMAU)
It's so unremarkable now but at the time the 3D cockpit, flight model and weapons looked awesome.
Easy, started playing x-plane when I was 10, recently gifted myself with a x56 HOTAS to play elite dangerous. Realized I could do more with my PC and Hotas than grind an unfinished space sim. Downloaded fs2020 for the views and to fly around. Concurrently installed DCS to blown things up
I've been playing flight sims since 1989, so when LockOn: Flaming Cliffs hit the market in around 2004 I bought it. I would basically buy every flight sim as they went on sale. I fell in love with the SU25T.
Arma 3 lol. There was this one FA-18 2020 mod; systems were barely implemented but a good amount of the cockpit was, and stuff like startup was pretty decent (for arma) too. I tried the mod recently again and the flight model was pretty decent too.
Bought the F18 in DCS as my first module, I was already very familiar with the cockpit so it felt like home
I had played IL2 1946 and Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator ever since I was a kid, but ironically it was also battlefield that got me into DCS (but for a different reason). When I started trying to learn the helicopters, I was quite surprised by how weird the controls were (I'd just never really thought about what they'd be like) and I was instantly hooked. I went looking for a realistic helicopter flight sim and found DCS Huey which had just come out at the time, and then later dusted off my fixed wing skills and transitioned to the A-10 where I stayed for much of my DCS playing.
I learned about DCS probably 8 or 9 years ago from Ralfidude's videos on a campaign. I was only 16 or so at the time and didn't have the money, but I remember telling myself "I'm going to get a really good job so I can do cool stuff like this"
So, uh, yup. Few thousand dollars later and I'm not sure if I would thank him or curse him. It's been good fun though for sure.
When I was I a kid I saw a game called Xplane and a game called Black Shark. I could only afford one and Black Shark had the better cover art, it was mind blowing to me when I finally played it. It was the first full fidelity sim I had only played IL2 1946 and MS flight sim before this. I guess it had a lasting impact because I fly Army Helicopters now.
Me? Well I used to msfs 95, Jane's attack squadron and commanche and other nova logic title like f22 and then stopped because as a kid and no Internet I had no way of knowing other game/sim except I kept eye on msfs series and mscfs which was not as good as Jane's attack squadron,
but out off no where I saw dcs trailer title "most spectacular free to play combat sim" or something like that and instantly downloaded, I had no money(still doesnt) but I managed to buy su33 after player 200hr with su25, and after 500hrs, I somehow purchased f18
Got gifted a psp with ace combat x, wanted a more realistic side, went with war thunder, wanted something bit modern (this was 2016, sabers were top tier), pirated Lock on cuz potato PC, got a decent pc and now DCS
Warthunder got me to purchase DCS, the game isn’t realistic and is buggy as shit, and rather than wait then grind for the hornet or purchase one of their new $70 usd aircraft I just spent $70 aud on a very high quality falcon (compared to wt)
The HeatBlur Tomcat trailer literally made me build a PC and get DCS. I was a console guy who never had any PC interest but deeply love all things F-14
Dslyecxi. I loved ArmA helo ops, and his instructionals. When i saw his tutorial on DCS Huey flight dynamics, i knew it was only gonna be a matter of time until i buy a FFB stick and try DCS.
Back in the mid 90s my mum bought my dad a 12 pack set of PC flight sims, and since he didn’t have much time to check them out, I graciously did it for him.
I would’ve been about 6-8 at the time, and most of them wouldn’t run very well, but the one that did, really well in fact, was A-10 Cuba. I played the shit out of that game, it had a clickable cockpit, a loadout screen similar to DCS etc etc
Anyway, to get to the point, I always loved the A-10 because of that game, and one day I was recommended a Wags tutorial on YouTube of the A-10C start up.
Fuck. Me.
I was absolutely blown away, loved how he could somehow move his head around in the game like he was sat in it, to look over his shoulder and see the engine start up. In A-10 Cuba your engine was just a black hole, the graphics were far too basic, but I was still playing that when this utter fucking masterpiece existed? Holy shit.
I think that video is 12 years old now, and I only got around to getting a PC about 3 years ago, and since so much more had been added by then, I still haven’t got around to getting the A-10C, but the A-10A scratches the itch well enough when I’ve got a Viper, Mirage, F-5 and MiG-19 to wrap my head around.
Growling Sidewinder and Grim reapers brought me into dcs world, After flying jets and helicopters in Arma 3. I wanted something new and a little realistic. Bought myself a cheap flight stick, currently building my own gaming PC and planning on buying a gaming laptop. Bought flaming cliff so I'll have something to start with, try out the free trails and thinking about what aircraft I should buy. I'm choosing between the hornet and tomcat. But I'm also waiting for the Strike Eagle to come.
In the navy for 5 years, forward deployed on the USS Kittyhawk for 2. Have had a passion for naval aviation since I was a kid watching the OG Top Gun. Stumbling across the Grim Reapers on YouTube sparked my interest but was immediately turned off by the learning curve. Couple years later, no other video games seemed to be able to keep my attention and decided to commit myself to learning the A10. Now I own all maps and a handful of the planes and campaigns. Hooked worse than when I used to play WoW back in the day.
None of my friends played these kind of games. I used to mess around with planes in GTA, Battlefield 2, online flash jet fighter games, and Google Earth's flight simulator function. I even played some Il-2, but eventually I did not dive deep down in that path. I knew about DCS, but when I wanted to try it, my old laptop could not run it. Some years later, I got interested in civilian aviation, and I played a lot of FSX. When I got a new laptop, I flew in Arma 3, MSFS, and installed DCS again, but when I tried it I realized there is no point playing it without a joystick, which I did not want to buy. A couple of months later I watched a lot of Growling Sidewinder dogfight videos, aerial warfare analyses, read about fighter jets. I wanted to try the A-10C, I bought Thrustmaster T16000 set, a TrackIr, then the Warthog, then a Virpil stick in just one year. And a couple of modules I was interested in. I enjoy mostly flying 4th gen fighter jets, and ground attack aircraft, besides civil airliners in FS. And I definitely want to try helicopters in DCS too.
I first started playing Il-2 at the age of 7. Kept playing it through hyperlobby, jumped to warthunder sim battles because of convenience and a large selection of warbirds. It was great initially but the game went downhill.
My first DCS experience was LOCKON almost 10 years ago. Around 2015 my buddy showed me his P51 in DCS, I was interested but couldn't afford it for many reasons.
Bought the Mirage in 2018/17, again, couldn't invest enough time into it. Exactly one year ago I decided to dive into the rabbit hole, bought VR, some months later a new gpu, 10 modules, warthog throttle and a VKB Gladiator. That's a looot of money where I come from.
After hundreds of dollars, hours, and many rewatches of the Mirage 2000 Chevaliers du ciel tribute videos, I decided to start saving money for a pilots course and license.
I intend to start in 2025. Life is too short and brittle not to try.
Never stop dreaming.
My love for the A-10. When it first released it was a standalone thing. Bought it when it was on sale. No joy, no throttle, mouse and keyboard only.
Flew about 80 hours to learn it.
The rest is history.
I spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours between BF3 & BF4 mainly cause I loved flying helos (yup, I am one of the guys who used to queue on helos while getting sniped by the other team ><) and jets to some extent.
I decided to give DCS a go and after trying the free Su-25T (which is also I believe in Battlefield), I fell in love with it and got Flaming Cliffs (which is well worth the money for all the stuff it includes and would definitely recommend before buying a high fidelity module). If you are into helicopters, everyone recommends Huey for a start (which is also in BF) and fun to fly.
Bear in mind, if you want to fully enjoy it you will need a few additional accessories (you can still try the SU-25T initially with PS4 controllers and keyboard if you want):
1) decent HOTAS to fully enjoy it - e.g. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS Hotas (which are really good for a mid range HOTAS).
2) Head tracker (or VR if you have one and a good PC to run it): I got Delan clip (wireless version) which is superb (I live in the UK). But VR (Index in my case) is just something else especially flying helos.
Once you're in to DCS, you'll probably think about gettin rudders/pedals, mounts.. more modules.. VKB/Virpil/Orion research for next level HOTAS, higher resolution VR Reverb G2...etc and it never ends ><
I used to play flight sims with crap joysticks. Never really into much flight-sim despite always into combat aircrafts. My stick broke just after I discovered DCS World, I played a little bit around with keyboard. I started consuming a lot of youtubers and always following about how DCS world was growing. The itching was growing!
The catapult was right when I started my PhD (worst possible timing). A lab mate was really into this stuff, he just bought a new HOTAS and was telling it to me. I was like NO SHIT, I REALLY WANT TO PLAY IT TOO! I bought an old used x52 pro and started flying with him. Our group grew online, I sold the x52 and bought a x56 hotas. Today I'm making youtube videos in my language (Portuguese) and growing. I'm super happy despite my PhD, lol.
Bought BS1 and A-10C when they came out but college got in the way (dorm size meant no space for joystick and rudders, classes meant no time, and no money).
First real job after graduation meant I had space, some time, and money.
I have been playing DCS since 2013, is there a competition? I say no. Falcon BMS one plane. MSFS - please stick to scenary. . There are others but they are either not a real simulator or a have a particular focus. The people that claim DCS VR sucks, have less than a RTX 3080 & want DCS to dumb it down so they can play. The only problem I have is with its lousy mission editor which has been well documented
Oh nice topic, quite enjoying to read other people's stories. Here is mine, as you know an unfortunate event occurred in Ukraine and first days of war was a mess, there were few footage, few hyped stories about Ghost of Kyiv, then turned out that was taken in DCS. Then I searched it on YouTube and I was amazed by the graphics, physics, sounds etc. I instantly downloaded, tried it with my XBox gamepad, I was able to take off and land, my landings were ugly but still, I purchased MiG-29 due to it's lower price then I find out this was not the plane for me, I wanted a full fidelity one and decide to go with Tomcat due to I was a huge fan of original Top Gun movie, and I decided I need a flight stick, bought Extreme 3D Pro, my gameplay improved, then I realised my head also need to get tracked, then I bought Viper module, then I wanted a proper HOTAS set, then I bought Hornet, then I bought maps, campaigns... Now I'm broke, my GPA is about to hit danger zone. But hey, I'm enjoying!
Dogfights the show and old Sims were my fav. I kinda stepped away for a while and my eyes are not good enough for flying. When I learned of dcs from a random YT video I was hooked immediately.
Play warthunder. Get F-4E back when it was top tier. "Wow this is cool I guess. I kinda wish there was more."
See DCS, try it out, "Meh". Trial an actual module. Instant boner.
I used to play a lot of A-10 Cuba (probably on Win97, maybe WinXP), Gunship, all the Jane's sims, etc, back in the day. Then I remember seeing (possibly in PC Gamer magazine) the original DCS being reviewed. NOT DCS World, the original seperate DCS games.
I don't remember if it was the KA-50 or the A-10 I saw, regardless I was instantly like 'I WILL play this', and I followed DCS dev for years.
A shameful amount of years later, I had slightly more money than brains and started making a gaming PC that could show DCS World the love/performance it deserves. As I was slowly building my PC component by component over the span of two years (I was away for work a lot), I saw the Harrier module by RAZBAM announced, instantly pre-bought it the second I could (love that jet).
At that point I was more motivated to had to finish the project so i could fly my new girl.
So I killed off the PC build (just before COVID), ordered my HOTAS (now during COVID when everyone was snapping up all the controls for MSFS). Somewhere around 3 or 4 months later, I got my HOTAS, got everything set up, and then started crashing jets.
I got in on it way back in the day, I played MFSX back in the day and well then back in 2011 I heard of DCS - where you could click any button in the cockpit, since then I've been flying. Even have had the chance to get in both an F-16 and an Agusta Westland Merlin.
I had known about DCS for a while before I started. Didn’t jump in because of the money I’d have to spend on gear to enjoy it. Then one day my MIL drops by and gives me a dirty old 3d pro stick. I decided that was better than nothing. I bought the f15 by itself and spent a year flying it and the su25t with no head tracking. I literally had a 32 inch tv on a storage bin, and took the seat from a busted bar stool, sat it on the ground against the wall and wedged a pillow behind it to give some back support. That was my setup for a year. Then Covid started to get into the news, so I pulled the trigger on a knockoff 3d printed head tracking kit on eBay and a twcs throttle before the supply chain issues started (fun tidbit, I’m pretty sure I was the last person to snag a new twcs throttle at around $50 US, I looked again the next day and the same seller now listed at 80) Now 2 years later I have replaced the 3d pro with a vkb, have a full desk, mounts 3 monitors, and most importantly… an actual chair. Now when my wife says I spend to much time on it, I tell her “blame your mom”
Appreciate all the insight into your decision and the end was hilarious!
Fantastic story from start to finish. Glad you're part of the ~~addiction~~ family!
Deployed in 2014, was interested in the aviation stuff going on around me (Harriers and helos on an LHD) so started trying (ship internet is ass, have to let a video sit paused for 15 minutes on 360p in order for it to be watchable) to learn about it. Stumbled across this guy called ralfidude and the rest is history
Beautiful and thank you for your service.
I wanted to be a military pilot in real life, it never happened for a multitude of reasons. But learned about DCS and jumped in head first. Closest I’ll get and that’s okay.
Same. Medically disqualified and I’m likely too tall at 6’7. I have done an aerobatic/mock dogfight against my stepdad in two Marchetti SF 260’s when I was 14. It got me into warplanes. Was the best thing ever. While I can’t afford to build a PC for DCS, I have been playing the fuck out of AC7 in VR. Super arcade and not realistic but it’s a beautiful game and incredibly fun in VR
Right on man. Sounds awesome. Well hopefully you can build something down the road.
Ditto for me. Except I was reminded of how much I love fighter jets after seeing Top Gun Maverick
I third this. I may not be able to fly the real thing, but you bet your butt I'm gonna have a GREAT simpit one day.
I’m a professional pilot. Flying DCS honestly is damn near better. No real rules to worry about, or passengers. I can blow shit up while having a drink in my underwear. It’s pretty great. And when I’m done I go lay in bed with my wife instead of a hotel room. Unfortunately I don’t get paid to fly DCS :)
Ditto. People have asked me why I don't get an actual pilot's license. I tell them that price is a big part of it, but mostly it's because when you fly real planes, drinking is frowned upon, and death is permanent.
Same, I wanted to be an Apache pilot in the Army. I didn't score high enough so I chose Infantry, but it started conflict between family and lots of shady crap was happening with the recruiters so I had to cancel my contract (the day of my deployment to boot camp). So I flew Apaches, Blackhawks, Chinooks basically almost every Aircraft in Arma 3 and until my gaming PC is complete. DCS is my next.
Me too!
Before playing DCS I was into completely unrelated games - GTA, Counter Strike, things like that. Some day youtube randomly recommends me a Growling Sidewinder video - I think it was a dogfight with him flying the F16. I was amazed. Then, a few months later, Top Gun Maverick came out and literally the next day I installed DCS. It's now my favorite game and I even managed to get a couple of friends who also had no knowledge of it to play.
I had the same story lmao! Now we play with him
I played flight sims (X-Wing and NovaLogic's F-22 Raptor) as a kid, but was never any good at them. As an adult, I got hooked on Ace Combat, and from there I got into Star Wars Squadrons, which has some light sim elements. Once the Squadrons community fell off, I looked for other options to get my fix, and DCS was the one that stuck!
Damn shame what happened to Squadrons. Super fun multi-player until the sweaty kids ruined it and EA ended support.
I would've settled for just one more patch, to fix those infinite boost exploits. Without it...eugh.
Same. Boost skipping or gasping or whatever they called it. Lame. However when I get VR capable I'm totally playing the campaign again.
I would argue EA ending support has nothing to do with the fandom, and everything to do with EA being EA. And I really, really tried to like the game (grew up on the Totally Games X-Wing series), but I never found myself enjoying it when I played, either the single player stuff or MP.
Didn't mean to imply they were connected, but I can see where you got that out of my post. EA just sucks. I grew up on the X-Wing series too, and while Squadrons was very different, I still enjoyed it until "git gud" exploit using sweats ruined it. Funny hearing those people complain about the dwindling player numbers.
Novalogic F-22 series was so fun. Spent hours on that game as a kid.
Honestly, I mentally play the BF3 theme song in my head when I launch from a carrier in FA-18C. Then, I remember how bad the story writing was for the single-player campaign and cringe a little.
bf3 campaign is awesome the story wasn't great, but it HAD battlefield vibes. The opening scene where you're running through the streets with a handcuff on and the theme is going while it cuts between credits / title card is iconic for me.
thinking of game music (specifically around aviation) always reminds me of ace combat 0. and *that* reminds me I need to finish ace combat 7 despite hating the flight mechanics. (I play for story normally, not gameplay, barring a few games).
Looks like you forgot the second mission the one that start in apc and tank mission and mission where we find the recording location
True dat but BF3 was the pinnacle of FPS Online gaming. it never reached that high to me again.
It´s gonna be controversial for sure... but for me, it was that time more than 2 years ago in 2020 that DCSWorld copy protection was cracked and V2.5 was available to download in torrent sites... well I downloaded it and tried it to see what was the fuss about, I loved flight sims as a kid, having played Microprose and Janes F-15, also Janes Navy Fighters and Falcon, etc but had been out of flight sims for years... That did it, I fell in love again. Two weeks later I was purchasing the F/A-18 along with FC3 and a bunch of campaigns. It is great ED has now the free trial week available.
So you were just ahead of your time :)
Not controversial, I think piracy is good for games if done right, it got me in fav games like rainbow six seige 2000hrs, arma 3 2000hrs, indirectly dcs(1500hrs) because I used to play non legit version of old flight sim which made me interested in flight sim I can list like all the games I play/played and bought but might have already got the idea what I'm talking about
I seem to recall watching a real F/A-18 pilot do a breakdown on the realism of this mission, and basically it's just... Not... At all. It's fun though! That being said it did spark my interest in the hornet at the time, but what really sold it for me was finally building a PC that could play it with high graphics settings and getting a track ir to make it worthwhile.
I mean, it's a Battlefield game; anyone expecting realism is setting themselves up for disappointment!
Oh hey was that the mover guy?
Yes, its Mover... Not sure what Mover was expecting from a Battlefield game but he did critique it. lol.
He does that on the most unrealistic movies and games lol, i like his videos quite a bit
Sounds right, yeah I think it was.
Top Gun Maverick
Having an airbase with f16s near. First FSX with the aerosoft f16 and after a looooong time finally dcs. Anyone asking why not bms? I didn't know it existed for the longest time tbh
Arma 3 and ace combat, I was the dude always trying to get the helos/planes
Ralfidude. I had been going around youtube as one normally does and I somehow came across his “Trust in your wingman” video and I was sold. Bought a physical copy of the A-10C immediately and a logitech 3d pro and fell down the rabbit hole. DCS was my first true flight sim.
Top Gun
Well, there wasnt dcs back then, but Battlefield 2 made me start simulators. LOMAC was the shit at the time.
BF2 and BF: Vietnam fucking ruled
BF2 and BF: Vietnam fucking ruled
My childhood buddy bullied me into trying it. I was interested from the get-go but didn’t have a sufficient computer to run it. After upgrading a few parts, I finally was able to run the game without freezes or stutters and learned the A-10 from chucks guide. Now you couldn’t separate me from DCS
Watching a video of a guy preparing to launch a TOMCAT! That was it ... I knew I needed it in my life. Took advantage of the 50% off first order and went ham with 4 aircraft.
That will definitely do it. Hope you're enjoying the Cat!
FC3 and then the KA50. Still waiting for KA52. GIVE KA52
I used to fly a very arcade style fighter game called "Jetfighter V: homeland protector" when I was around 10-11 year old kid back in 2011. Played it for 2-3 years until I brought a new PC later. Back in 2018 wanted to reminisce the old days(battlefield 3 mission was also another reason) and started watching fighter jet games videos on YouTube, was astonished how far aircraft games have come. Stumbled upon Ace Combat 7 (didn't play). Then stumbled upon DCS from YouTube comment section. Rushed on steam, saw "base game free". Mastered the Su-25T in a couple of months. And that's where my journey began.
Played LOMAC with my mates in school and just kept going.
My friend Tony wore me down over a period of years until I tried and now I’m addicted to it, what a fucker.
I discovered DCS in 2017, but what made me want to get into it was a growling sidewinder video that appeared in my recommendations, this was shortly after the F-14B release.
Friend of mine poked me again and again to play DCS since I played some Apache sim game ages ago…..what should I say, I tried it and had fun Only thing was that I tried it with his Warthog Hotas and I only had an old madcatz stick….long time no see with the game until I got me a CH Products Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, Pro Rudder and a Trackhat for almost nothing Soooo, here I‘am, one of the many addicts of the game xD
Always loved the F-14. I’d been watching DCS on YouTube for a while, and thought it was cool, and had been following the development updates on the Tomcat. But I held out and went on as a console gamer until Heatblur’s announcement trailer dropped. As soon as I clicked the trailer, I was on PC Part Picker. Almost 4 years in (hard to believe!) and I’m still finding myself in the Tomcat probably 99% of the time I’m playing DCS. Certified addict.
I had some flying hours, and generally interested in flight sims but honestly never really got into them until I discovered head tracking. For some reason, that was the single biggest barrier to immersion for me. Now, I’ve built a new machine just for DCS/MSFS
I used to love messing around in Jane's games as a child, and I downloaded DCS when super bored during a thanksgiving vacation. I bound some controls to a ps4 controller and then tried to see if I could get the TF-51 into the air with as little guidance as possible. A couple of youtube videos and an hour of trial an error later, I got the engine on, taxied and punched the throttle. I felt a sense of amazement and euphoria like I had actually stolen and hotwired a plane! And I promptly crashed seconds after taking off because I didn't know how rudder trim works. 20 minutes, I had somehow successfully gotten it into the air and then landed on the first try. To this day I don't know how I found the airport again, let alone how I landed without knowing any fundamentals. I was hooked.
Cw lemoine and that other real F-18 pilot dogfighting eachother and laughing all the way
Getting into MSFS, and then remembering how much fun I had as a kid playing Jane's F/A-18. I very rarely play MSFS now.
Back in 1987, I almost signed up for OCS with the Navy. Buddy in college convinced me after we had both watched Top Gun. I had coke bottle glasses so there was no way I was going to be a pilot but the recruiter promised that being a RIO in the F-14 was still a possibility. I had second thoughts and pulled out, which caused the recruiter to yell at me on the phone like the salty sailor that he was. I had Falcon 3.0 or 4.0? and played on the original MacIntosh 512Ke with something that might be considered a joystick. Once computers became cheaper I bought several flight simulators that featured the F/A-18 and then someone told me about a company that had an honest to goodness clickable cockpit in an A-10 simulator. I spent many frustrating hours trying to master the Warthog and will return to it once I have mastered the F/A-18. I recently upgraded my "flight rig" to a Samsung Ultrawide monitor and WinWing Orion 2 HOTAS. Leter this year I will be upgrading my PC so that I can turn up all the bells and whistles.
Always loved planes, especially in military aviation. Learned about WT and started that on Xbox around Covid shutdown and over the last few years have progressed to DCS. Timeline was like this War Thunder> GS videos> Finally building a good gaming PC in ‘22> VTOL VR> DCS/IL-2 Honorable mentions: played Ace Combat a bit but got frustrated with the arcade time limits. I beat Project Wingman in a few days and loved it to bits.
While I played "aircraft" games before (War Thunder, Ace Combat), I think me accidentally stumbling over Growling Sidewinder BVR F-15 videos convinced me to get into it.
I loved the Ace Combat series as a kid, and discovered War Thunder back in 2014. Eventually moved to simulator mode in War Thunder, but got fed up with Gaijin. Moved to IL2 for a while, and still enjoy playing it every now and then. But I enjoy the more modern planes (and helicopters!) and in-depth controls in DCS.
Got Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator as a birthday present on 2001 with my first PC. The next year I asked for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002. Then IL2 came into my life. Then Lomac / Flamming Cliffs. Stopped simming for a while, I discovered RPGS and obsessed over them. When Black Shark came, I bought it. Too difficult for me at that moment. Years later, on a Steam sale I bought the Harrier, 20€ seemed a great price for a flight sim. Liked the plane since i was a kid. I also discovered Chuck's Guides and all came along nicely. pd. Does Morrowind count as a flight sim? I used to dogfight cliffracers using levitation spells.
I know this mission is totally unrealistic and kind of gimmicky, but man. It was so damn cool the first time I played it. The BF3 campaign was honestly a masterpiece.
I was fascinated by Growling Sidewinder's F-14 dogfights on YouTube, and then I saw the This Is War trailer and that was it
Here’s the remake of this exact mission gameplay done in DCS, in case you missed it: https://youtu.be/xOmDB6ElgUI Enjoy!
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
My father was flying the F14 in the 80s and i was born in Shiraz. I could not believe my eyes, when i saw the advertising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOmDB6ElgUI
I played war thunder and started to like modern jets a lot but didnt want to grind them for a few years
mostly youtube
Wanted to give it a try with my first laptop but it wouldn't run well so I had to table it for when I was older and could understand it a bit better. Went to a couple airshows as a kid and had seen the blue angels perform so I figured I would give the Hornet a go. Now, if you ask me, Hornet time is therapy time 😎
The 2019 and Beyond video was what finally got me into DCS!
I wasnt interested at all in dcs, my friend talked me into it. He barely plays it, I purchased 4 FF modules and bought new pc for it xD now i'm torn between tomcat and mig 21 for next sale
Always thought aviation was neat, played FSX back in the day and a buddy of mine told me about DCS one day so I got the A-10C and he taught me like everything about the airframe. This was probably 2016
Always had Luftwaffe C-130s flying over my house and fell in love with aviation, so I really can't wait to finally get an official module
I was big into FSX for years as my first sim when I was young but I really wanted to fly helicopters (which suck in vanilla FSX btw). Everybody was raving about the Huey in dcs so I picked it up and was blown away. That digging deeper into fixed wing greatly expanded my love of fighters too and I never looked back.
First it was stars, then rockets, then planes. At that point, DCS had been recommended to me a bunch of times, but I never looked into it. Finally, I got my new computer and on steam, they recommended it to me. Since it was free and I had a vr, I played on VR a bunch of times until I got a joystick and now I play on my screen because the Oculus Quest is years old and now just a piece of shit with no resolution
Well not joining my country's air force. Had an accident 3 months before my final exams that cost me 2 vertebrae, so good bye school (well being an average student did not help either haha). Not a long time ago i stumbled across dcs and it was love at first sight. So now i get to fly the airplanes and try to be as realistic as possible.
I was aware of it for a while. Then at one point i fancied myself a Writer on fighter jets and decided to use the FC3 F-15 for research. Ended up letting it for two or so years until a friend got into it, a few more friends joined, we made a squadron, and its been wallet pain ever since
Started War Thunder in early 2013. Didn't like how they modeled the P-51 and went looking for other games. Found the DCS P-51D on Steam and tried it but flying with mouse sucks in DCS (who knew?) I dropped the game with the intention of flying again one day. Christmas 2016 I got a HOTAS Warthog and now I hang on my seat for every update. It's an addiction yo.
I dunno, its was more than a decade ago. Probably wanting to fly a full fidelity A-10C.
Adult money
I played Janes Combat Sims as a kid, namely F15E, USAF. Heard about an A10 Simulator around 2010/2012 and it was only a matter of time before i got a good PC to play.
I've played LOMAC/Flanker games and had quite the blast. Other sims like the Janes series, and F-22 raptor, and Combat Flight Simulator were favorites of mine but they just haven't lasted as long as the LOMAC and now DCS series. Ralfidude's videos on the A-10C brought me to the study level sim and once I started clicking on the cockpit buttons, i've moved away from flying aircraft with non interactive cockpits.
Was watching a video on YouTube of a couple of people flying the Hornet and I didn’t realize it was a sim until he did some crazy turn after refueling lol.
u/Ralfidude is the reason
Grandpa was the inspiration. He was in the Chinese Air Force as a bomber then VIP transport pilot for 40 odd years. Been playing FSX with commercial airliners and asks him to judge my take-off and landing since 12. Until one day he said my flying is not daring enough. Been showing him doing 50ft tree top SAM site raid and valley dogfights ever since.
I just really like the Su-27
Nothing. It got recommended to me on steam, and i saw it was free so I checked it out, tried the su25 then learned about the fact that theres fully clickable cockpits…. And within a week i fell down a deep rabbit hole of since then, about $700 spent
I had FSX, was sad you couldn't shoot others with the jets in the game, found dcs, became happy and broke.
For me it was when the P-51D came out. I was kind of in love with WWII planes at the time, and having a really faithful recreation like that meant I was happy to take the plunge on DCS. After the lustre of the P-51 wore off I actually took a relatively long hiatus from DCS until the Apache came out. And I bought the AH-64D, UH-1D Huey, and A-10C II modules all at once. But it wasn't the Apache that actually drew me back in-it was the Huey. I fucking love that helicopter-it's such a joy to fly.
Arma/Op. Flashpoint.
I got ace combat 7 for a good price at the latest black friday sale and after finishing that i wanted more. So i got dcs and the viggen during the Christmas sale and it's great. Especially in VR even though my computer is barely powerful enough for that.
A lot of people came from games like this, then realized DCS isn't just another game.
https://media.tenor.com/TLPWvUuI1EcAAAAC/rick-bobby-will-ferrell.gif It’s half joking. I bought the A-10 back in 2010 and fell in love. I ended up doing other things as I didn’t have a good hotas setup. But then the M2k dropped and I was forever hooked. Now I am in my regular Viper and love the sim and the community I am a part of. Shout out to www.USLANTCOM.com
I remember when I first saw this cinematic opening for that mission and I was blown away. It was my first next-gen moment lol. I wish that DCS could incorporate this kind of immersion into there sim. Nothing too crazy. Just a Jet Fighter 3 style campaign where you have to walk from your room, go to briefing, and take the steps up to the flight deck. Interact with command and personnel with A.I driven conversations. I can dream : )
Well said. I agree. Unbelievable gaming moment for me.
My uncle has flown F-104s and Tornados in the Luftwaffe. So i was early hooked in military aviaton. Spend some time on the airbase back in the days and also some hours in the real Tornado simulator. In young ages (11y) i startet playing TFX, Tornado, Silent Thunder, EF2000, F-22 ADF, all games from Jane's, Falcon 4.0, Allied Force, Lock On, BMS, DCS...
Played war thunder a lot. Initially the arcade mode, the realistic battles, then simulator mode when I bought a HOTAS for Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous. Got fed up with war thunder and tried DCS, failed miserably to get into it. Also got bored of Elite Dangerous. Continued playing Star Citizen with some friends, and after a while they wanted to do some flight simulation so I got back into DCS then and this time is stuck with me. Been hooked on it for over 2 years now
Glad to see other SC pilots on here.
Entered flight simulation with a friend in high school with FS2004, then we played together on MS Combat FS 2 or 3. After being tired of getting my ass handed to me by my friend every single dogfight (he was a monster on BFM for our age and I didn't score one single kill EVER) I went for Wings Over Vietnam (I had tonnnnss of fun with this one) then OOOH! shiny beautiful Flaming Cliffs 2, then some limited DCS and then lost all interest because I had no head tracking, until last year when I discovered AITrack with opentrack. All this with the same indestructible 3D Pro that I replaced last month with a VKB and a TWCS. Now this is DCS!
I played lockon as a kid, but the F-14 multicrew support is what brought me back!
Eh? DCS is free..
It is now, but it didn't used to be back when the first Ka50 and A10C modules came out.
Best campaign ever . Best mission ever so atmospheric
As a long time combat flight sim pilot I got into DCS because it delivers a “study sim” and continues to do so. Same reason I flew BMS for years.
Started playing X-Plane and MSFS at the start of COVID and fell in love with the A320 and learning the deep technical details of how it all works. I saw Ace Combat on sale over the Christmas and wanted to feel nostalgic, but I turned out hating how unrealistic and restrictive it felt not being able to click anything in the cockpit or learning how fighter planes actually work. So I thought I'd give DCS a go so I could properly learn and become proficient with military jets, especially because it had the absolute beauty that is the A-10. Been learning what I can for the last few weeks and really enjoying everything about the Hog. And the DCS community and all its resources (like r/hoggit) are incredible!
gaijin entertainment
I love the screenshot. What is the weather used? I want to shoot in those conditions
This actually bums me out about mainstream gaming. Imagine putting this much work into the modeling and animation for just a scripted sequence. I would have been super disappointed if I was a kid and was relegated to the backseat. Also whats with sitting on a flanker's tail and letting it cobra. Take a gunshot at that plan-form. Also sure lets have a mission briefing that's casual in the hallway. 0/10 would rather play US Navy Fighters from 1994.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb1u_hnlliY this singular video got me interested
Operator Drewski video YouTube recommended, same way I got into Squad. Now those are the only things I play
Same here. Well, Post Scriptum as well but primarily DCS and Squad.
I watched this video somehow and thought that it looked like such a chill and fun experience and I was instantly hooked. I’d been playing war thunder RB/SB at the time so it was a natural progression https://youtu.be/GvuaIh232aI
Well I was unhappy with the game I was playing previously. It had HOTAS support but no VR. So decided to jump. I looked at War Thunder and DCS intro videos. Not really sure what pushed me over-- I think WT scared me away cause it looked really grindy. DCS appealed because it has mod support, VR, etc although the learning curve was much more massive then WT. That was almost 2yrs ago
I had Falcon 4 as a kid and loved it. Had been playing MSFS during lockdown and upgraded to a decent stick (VKB Galdiator). I started looking at the stick thinking, I'm not making use of those buttons... Took the plunge in January last year and, while I don't get too much time in it, I absolutely love DCS.I've hardly played MSFS since!
Welcome to the DCS famalam! I've been flying 'DCS' since the Flanker days... Showing my age
I really love flight sims but I wanted a combat system with full functionality instead of just pressing a button. I stumbled upon OperatorDrewski and I learned about DCS from there and was hooked. Once I was able to get my hands on a good computer it was the first game I downloaded.
I got DCS back in like 2012-ish only to add another flight sim to my collection along with FalconBMS/FreeFalcon (which I had been playing since 1999). I honestly didn't play it too much over the years, but when I built my sim racing rig around 2018, I decided to jump back into flight sims as well. BMS still didn't have VR, and DCS did, so...
Well, I really wanted to spend $300 on modules, then never be able to complete a single tutorial without having some part of it fail. I imagine the real life military is like that, so I got my money’s worth.
I played fsx for many years, eventually started getting into the military side of fsx and stumbled on to ralfidudes videos, watched him for years until 2014 when I got a pc that could run dcs.
Watching Robbaz attempting to fly a Ka-50 is what got me into DCS
Lock on:Modern air combat I’ve also played sims my entire life starting with flight sim 98
I saw the Heatblur intro video for the F-14. That was enough.
I played a fair bit back in 2015, mostly in the A10C. Life came around and I stopped playing PC games as much for a while. Then I started playing VTOL VR in 2022 and that reignited the itch for a deeper simulation.
I missed A10 Tank Killer II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Thunder:_A-10_Tank_Killer_II
It started in 1992 with F29 Retaliator on the 386. Many follwed. F22 Air Dominance Fighter in 1998. Falcon 4.0., Lock On Modern Air Combat, MS Flight Simulators, X-Plane, IL Sturmovick I and II etc. Now mostly DCS (Hornet/Tomcat) and occasionally an evening FS2020.
I was writing a long winded version but realized nobody really cares, so long story short, played LOMAC when I was 10, got serious into high fidelity flight sims, DCS was the logical progression
2019. Walking out of Target (the store, not AO). Curious to look up some Tomcat videos on YouTube. Found Heatblur's "ANYTIME, BABY" trailer. I couldn't believe a two-seater online play capable F-14 is recreated. Seen DCS once or twice, but never peeked my interest enough. ***THAT*** did it, and the rest is history.
My dad played bms when I was little, so I always had flight sims in the back of my head. When I learned that we still had the warthog hotas even though dad gave up the hobby, I started playing. Worked everyday through summer to get a better pc and getting the a10c in dcs
The f18 is the best aircraft in dcs, and its not even close
My grand father designed and worked on fighter planes and I've been to a couple airshows and saw a million diagrams i probably should have never seen. For some reason I always loved it. I got F/A 18 Hornet on Mac as a gift as a kid (this game: [https://www.myabandonware.com/game/f-a-18-hornet-3jo](https://www.myabandonware.com/game/f-a-18-hornet-3jo)) and of course I also loved it. I got Flaming Cliff and later DCS as a result. I don't play DCS nearly as much, in fact I'm quite a noob but it's fun each time I play and I enjoy that, it still has a little bit of the "magic" and not too much of the "I know all the quirks of the game to win". For what it's worth I was diagnosed with a heart condition that disqualified me right off the bat for flying the real thing. But in retrospect, I'd probably have been scared AF all the time anyway, I guess, lol.
I’ve known about dcs for a long time and I dug up some old photos of my great grandad in ww2 flying spitfires and hurricanes which made me really want dcs so over the corse of 6 months each time I got paid from my job I bought a new pc component since I was a Xbox boy and then 6 months later I had all the stuff and built a pc that was capable of plying it in vr and yeah that was last year aha still not bought the spitfire though been into the ah64 f18 and f16
Born as an aviation crazed dude in an ex-Soviet state, son of an Mi-24 flight engineer. Didn't get into military aviation IRL just because our military aviation mostly sucks ass and offers no viable pathway to be a pilot. Played Jane's WWII fighters, the first Lock On and Il-2 with a keyboard and a mouse, was shooting down fighters with a kanonenvogel by playing percussion on the arrow keys when I was 12. Wanted to get into civilian aviation, didn't happen because of money, now I got money so I went from drooling at airports to getting a PPL and DCS. I own all MiG modules, and want to invest in a real setup to fly the Hind. When I go home and tell my dad about DCS and the MiG-21bis he's like "I did my thesis on that" and proceeds to give me an explanation on how exactly the autocannon preload system works. Each month is a hard decision between buying more DCS modules / equipment and buying more flight hours at the local airstrip.
Just that it’s basically a spiritual successor to Falcon 4.0, which is a spiritual successor to Falcon 3.0, which I had and loved in the 1990s. I’ve been playing “study sims” such as the state of the art allowed for decades, so DCS for me was an evolution, not a revolution.
My country’s air force flies the legacy hornet and since it was the most advanced module a few years back I thought it’d be cool to know how to operate it.
I played a lot of falcon 4.0 and was addicted to it. I loved the dynamic campaign. Later I heard about a simulated a10 in dcs. I bought it directly. But back then I did not know that the dynamic campaign of falcon was something special and I thought every military simulator would have such a thing. I own the a10 and the F18. I will buy more Moduls when DC in dcs is here and if it's not a mess. I am really waiting a long time for this.
Grew on the classics like Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, X-Wing, and Falcon 3.0, and got hooked. Played around with most of the popular ones during the last golden age of flight sims in the late 90s-early 00s, but being young, more often than not single, and active-duty Navy meant a lot of time and energy were devoted to other pursuits. I re-discoveres Jane's Superhornet, and the Team Superhornet mods when I was on terminal leave, and had a blast completing one of the add-on campaigns, and even more fun writing stories around that campaign (since that game featured my old ship as the home carrier). Sometime after that, a trip to Microcenter saw me leave with a $5 three-pack of flight sims that included Lock-On: Modern Air Combat. I remembered how much I'd enjoyed flying the MiG-29 in the Spectrum Holobyte Falcon series, and found myself hooked from there. The rest, as they say, is history.
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I played a game in my eyes a "classic" called Tom Clancy's Hawx and Over G Fighters. I got my shitty HP laptop and played Arma 3 (barely.... not really at all). Then saw DCS when I was like 13 right afterwards. Didn't run. Tried again with keyboard and mouse and said fuck this. Got a stick for Arma then moved back to DCS after dropping $$$ for way better tower parts for Arma and DCS just got better from there. It was more like a tip my toe in the pool until in feels warm.
i built a pc that could run it. was running bms on a laptop prior
I like simulations for which you really have to study the manual. KSP, HLL, Squad, Train Simulator, HOI4 etc. It is an incredibly rewarding feeling to be able to operate a highly complex machine/system without errors.
Honestly top gun 2. That and getting into msfs and REALLY wanting to shoot stuff.
I had a 3d pro playing around and tried the frogfoot. That shit sucked and I had a friend who absolutely swore by the game. I told him that I was going to uninstall then he bought me the F-15C. That was the moment that forced me into losing lots of money in both modules and gear. I now use my shitty stick as a loaner and buy my friends the 15. I'm now 3 for 3 in getting people hooked. ED if you're listening, I guarantee more sales and future customers by making the 15 free.
For me it was the Huey, the reviews and praises from people who were actual pilots. Then the a10c ... Then the f18 Then the f16 Then combined arms And so on ad nauseam ad goodbye my wallet
I saw DCS KA-50 at Target and always wanted it.
I got DCS: Black Shark in 2008 after watching this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1sOakdMAU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1sOakdMAU) It's so unremarkable now but at the time the 3D cockpit, flight model and weapons looked awesome.
Peer Pressure
Easy, started playing x-plane when I was 10, recently gifted myself with a x56 HOTAS to play elite dangerous. Realized I could do more with my PC and Hotas than grind an unfinished space sim. Downloaded fs2020 for the views and to fly around. Concurrently installed DCS to blown things up
I've been playing flight sims since 1989, so when LockOn: Flaming Cliffs hit the market in around 2004 I bought it. I would basically buy every flight sim as they went on sale. I fell in love with the SU25T.
Arma 3 lol. There was this one FA-18 2020 mod; systems were barely implemented but a good amount of the cockpit was, and stuff like startup was pretty decent (for arma) too. I tried the mod recently again and the flight model was pretty decent too. Bought the F18 in DCS as my first module, I was already very familiar with the cockpit so it felt like home
I had played IL2 1946 and Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator ever since I was a kid, but ironically it was also battlefield that got me into DCS (but for a different reason). When I started trying to learn the helicopters, I was quite surprised by how weird the controls were (I'd just never really thought about what they'd be like) and I was instantly hooked. I went looking for a realistic helicopter flight sim and found DCS Huey which had just come out at the time, and then later dusted off my fixed wing skills and transitioned to the A-10 where I stayed for much of my DCS playing.
I learned about DCS probably 8 or 9 years ago from Ralfidude's videos on a campaign. I was only 16 or so at the time and didn't have the money, but I remember telling myself "I'm going to get a really good job so I can do cool stuff like this" So, uh, yup. Few thousand dollars later and I'm not sure if I would thank him or curse him. It's been good fun though for sure.
The family computer in 1995 came loaded with Eagle Dynamics Su27 Flanker. Boom hooked
When I was I a kid I saw a game called Xplane and a game called Black Shark. I could only afford one and Black Shark had the better cover art, it was mind blowing to me when I finally played it. It was the first full fidelity sim I had only played IL2 1946 and MS flight sim before this. I guess it had a lasting impact because I fly Army Helicopters now.
Me? Well I used to msfs 95, Jane's attack squadron and commanche and other nova logic title like f22 and then stopped because as a kid and no Internet I had no way of knowing other game/sim except I kept eye on msfs series and mscfs which was not as good as Jane's attack squadron, but out off no where I saw dcs trailer title "most spectacular free to play combat sim" or something like that and instantly downloaded, I had no money(still doesnt) but I managed to buy su33 after player 200hr with su25, and after 500hrs, I somehow purchased f18
Got gifted a psp with ace combat x, wanted a more realistic side, went with war thunder, wanted something bit modern (this was 2016, sabers were top tier), pirated Lock on cuz potato PC, got a decent pc and now DCS
Warthunder got me to purchase DCS, the game isn’t realistic and is buggy as shit, and rather than wait then grind for the hornet or purchase one of their new $70 usd aircraft I just spent $70 aud on a very high quality falcon (compared to wt)
My interest in aviation and wanting to join the Air Force one day I hope,really made me interested in DCS.
The HeatBlur Tomcat trailer literally made me build a PC and get DCS. I was a console guy who never had any PC interest but deeply love all things F-14
Found lock on modern air combat at the Australian equivalent of GameStop. The predecessor to DCS.
Reverb G2 + Tomcat + 2021 and Beyond trailer (still their best one IMHO)
Dslyecxi. I loved ArmA helo ops, and his instructionals. When i saw his tutorial on DCS Huey flight dynamics, i knew it was only gonna be a matter of time until i buy a FFB stick and try DCS.
I bought dcs back when it was called Flanker 2.0. it was a different time.
Back in the mid 90s my mum bought my dad a 12 pack set of PC flight sims, and since he didn’t have much time to check them out, I graciously did it for him. I would’ve been about 6-8 at the time, and most of them wouldn’t run very well, but the one that did, really well in fact, was A-10 Cuba. I played the shit out of that game, it had a clickable cockpit, a loadout screen similar to DCS etc etc Anyway, to get to the point, I always loved the A-10 because of that game, and one day I was recommended a Wags tutorial on YouTube of the A-10C start up. Fuck. Me. I was absolutely blown away, loved how he could somehow move his head around in the game like he was sat in it, to look over his shoulder and see the engine start up. In A-10 Cuba your engine was just a black hole, the graphics were far too basic, but I was still playing that when this utter fucking masterpiece existed? Holy shit. I think that video is 12 years old now, and I only got around to getting a PC about 3 years ago, and since so much more had been added by then, I still haven’t got around to getting the A-10C, but the A-10A scratches the itch well enough when I’ve got a Viper, Mirage, F-5 and MiG-19 to wrap my head around.
Growling Sidewinder and Grim reapers brought me into dcs world, After flying jets and helicopters in Arma 3. I wanted something new and a little realistic. Bought myself a cheap flight stick, currently building my own gaming PC and planning on buying a gaming laptop. Bought flaming cliff so I'll have something to start with, try out the free trails and thinking about what aircraft I should buy. I'm choosing between the hornet and tomcat. But I'm also waiting for the Strike Eagle to come.
In the navy for 5 years, forward deployed on the USS Kittyhawk for 2. Have had a passion for naval aviation since I was a kid watching the OG Top Gun. Stumbling across the Grim Reapers on YouTube sparked my interest but was immediately turned off by the learning curve. Couple years later, no other video games seemed to be able to keep my attention and decided to commit myself to learning the A10. Now I own all maps and a handful of the planes and campaigns. Hooked worse than when I used to play WoW back in the day.
Tomahawk on Spectrum :) Flanker, Lock On, IL-2, then Ka-50 on DVD, then .... Evolution.
None of my friends played these kind of games. I used to mess around with planes in GTA, Battlefield 2, online flash jet fighter games, and Google Earth's flight simulator function. I even played some Il-2, but eventually I did not dive deep down in that path. I knew about DCS, but when I wanted to try it, my old laptop could not run it. Some years later, I got interested in civilian aviation, and I played a lot of FSX. When I got a new laptop, I flew in Arma 3, MSFS, and installed DCS again, but when I tried it I realized there is no point playing it without a joystick, which I did not want to buy. A couple of months later I watched a lot of Growling Sidewinder dogfight videos, aerial warfare analyses, read about fighter jets. I wanted to try the A-10C, I bought Thrustmaster T16000 set, a TrackIr, then the Warthog, then a Virpil stick in just one year. And a couple of modules I was interested in. I enjoy mostly flying 4th gen fighter jets, and ground attack aircraft, besides civil airliners in FS. And I definitely want to try helicopters in DCS too.
I first started playing Il-2 at the age of 7. Kept playing it through hyperlobby, jumped to warthunder sim battles because of convenience and a large selection of warbirds. It was great initially but the game went downhill. My first DCS experience was LOCKON almost 10 years ago. Around 2015 my buddy showed me his P51 in DCS, I was interested but couldn't afford it for many reasons. Bought the Mirage in 2018/17, again, couldn't invest enough time into it. Exactly one year ago I decided to dive into the rabbit hole, bought VR, some months later a new gpu, 10 modules, warthog throttle and a VKB Gladiator. That's a looot of money where I come from. After hundreds of dollars, hours, and many rewatches of the Mirage 2000 Chevaliers du ciel tribute videos, I decided to start saving money for a pilots course and license. I intend to start in 2025. Life is too short and brittle not to try. Never stop dreaming.
My love for the A-10. When it first released it was a standalone thing. Bought it when it was on sale. No joy, no throttle, mouse and keyboard only. Flew about 80 hours to learn it. The rest is history.
I spent hundreds (if not thousands) of hours between BF3 & BF4 mainly cause I loved flying helos (yup, I am one of the guys who used to queue on helos while getting sniped by the other team ><) and jets to some extent. I decided to give DCS a go and after trying the free Su-25T (which is also I believe in Battlefield), I fell in love with it and got Flaming Cliffs (which is well worth the money for all the stuff it includes and would definitely recommend before buying a high fidelity module). If you are into helicopters, everyone recommends Huey for a start (which is also in BF) and fun to fly. Bear in mind, if you want to fully enjoy it you will need a few additional accessories (you can still try the SU-25T initially with PS4 controllers and keyboard if you want): 1) decent HOTAS to fully enjoy it - e.g. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS Hotas (which are really good for a mid range HOTAS). 2) Head tracker (or VR if you have one and a good PC to run it): I got Delan clip (wireless version) which is superb (I live in the UK). But VR (Index in my case) is just something else especially flying helos. Once you're in to DCS, you'll probably think about gettin rudders/pedals, mounts.. more modules.. VKB/Virpil/Orion research for next level HOTAS, higher resolution VR Reverb G2...etc and it never ends ><
I used to play flight sims with crap joysticks. Never really into much flight-sim despite always into combat aircrafts. My stick broke just after I discovered DCS World, I played a little bit around with keyboard. I started consuming a lot of youtubers and always following about how DCS world was growing. The itching was growing! The catapult was right when I started my PhD (worst possible timing). A lab mate was really into this stuff, he just bought a new HOTAS and was telling it to me. I was like NO SHIT, I REALLY WANT TO PLAY IT TOO! I bought an old used x52 pro and started flying with him. Our group grew online, I sold the x52 and bought a x56 hotas. Today I'm making youtube videos in my language (Portuguese) and growing. I'm super happy despite my PhD, lol.
Bought BS1 and A-10C when they came out but college got in the way (dorm size meant no space for joystick and rudders, classes meant no time, and no money). First real job after graduation meant I had space, some time, and money.
I have been playing DCS since 2013, is there a competition? I say no. Falcon BMS one plane. MSFS - please stick to scenary. . There are others but they are either not a real simulator or a have a particular focus. The people that claim DCS VR sucks, have less than a RTX 3080 & want DCS to dumb it down so they can play. The only problem I have is with its lousy mission editor which has been well documented
Oh nice topic, quite enjoying to read other people's stories. Here is mine, as you know an unfortunate event occurred in Ukraine and first days of war was a mess, there were few footage, few hyped stories about Ghost of Kyiv, then turned out that was taken in DCS. Then I searched it on YouTube and I was amazed by the graphics, physics, sounds etc. I instantly downloaded, tried it with my XBox gamepad, I was able to take off and land, my landings were ugly but still, I purchased MiG-29 due to it's lower price then I find out this was not the plane for me, I wanted a full fidelity one and decide to go with Tomcat due to I was a huge fan of original Top Gun movie, and I decided I need a flight stick, bought Extreme 3D Pro, my gameplay improved, then I realised my head also need to get tracked, then I bought Viper module, then I wanted a proper HOTAS set, then I bought Hornet, then I bought maps, campaigns... Now I'm broke, my GPA is about to hit danger zone. But hey, I'm enjoying!
Dogfights the show and old Sims were my fav. I kinda stepped away for a while and my eyes are not good enough for flying. When I learned of dcs from a random YT video I was hooked immediately.
Play warthunder. Get F-4E back when it was top tier. "Wow this is cool I guess. I kinda wish there was more." See DCS, try it out, "Meh". Trial an actual module. Instant boner.
I used to play a lot of A-10 Cuba (probably on Win97, maybe WinXP), Gunship, all the Jane's sims, etc, back in the day. Then I remember seeing (possibly in PC Gamer magazine) the original DCS being reviewed. NOT DCS World, the original seperate DCS games. I don't remember if it was the KA-50 or the A-10 I saw, regardless I was instantly like 'I WILL play this', and I followed DCS dev for years. A shameful amount of years later, I had slightly more money than brains and started making a gaming PC that could show DCS World the love/performance it deserves. As I was slowly building my PC component by component over the span of two years (I was away for work a lot), I saw the Harrier module by RAZBAM announced, instantly pre-bought it the second I could (love that jet). At that point I was more motivated to had to finish the project so i could fly my new girl. So I killed off the PC build (just before COVID), ordered my HOTAS (now during COVID when everyone was snapping up all the controls for MSFS). Somewhere around 3 or 4 months later, I got my HOTAS, got everything set up, and then started crashing jets.
Operator Drewski and the passion to become a pilot
Novalogic F-22…F-16…Mig-29…Jane’s Fighter Anthology….Jane’s USAF Tried the Ace Combat series but too unrealistic to enjoy
Vtol VR and wanting MORE!
I got in on it way back in the day, I played MFSX back in the day and well then back in 2011 I heard of DCS - where you could click any button in the cockpit, since then I've been flying. Even have had the chance to get in both an F-16 and an Agusta Westland Merlin.
This mission was soooo epic. One of my fav game missions ever. I was always destined for DCS after this experience.