Welcome, I have spent thousands of pounds in hardware but for the first ten years or so I flew with an x52. Lots of profiles about for different planes so don’t worry about spending lots on peripherals until the bug bites.
What part of the world do you live in ?
Also look on the DCS website for the try before you buy offer that was running so you can download a module and try it for 2 weeks without buying it. Same with the terrains.
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@RODEO5150 Welcome to Mudspike. What timezone are you in ? What is your preferred time slot (in local or GMT) that works for you? I could meet up with you on Discord and get you going on DCS.
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For any fixed wing aircraft you need to bind the following:
Pitch - this goes to the pushing forward and pulling backwards axis on your joystick, usually referred to as the Y axis.
Roll - this goes to the moving your stick left and right axis, usually referred to as the X axis.
The next part is where some people are going to grab pitchforks and torches: That’s all you need to actually be able to takeoff fly around and land. You can use keyboard controls for everything else. Now that’s certainly not taking advantage of your hardware, but it’s enough. I would personally add the following to make my life a little easier:
Throttle - this goes to a separate axis or slider that you can use to control the the throttle. Most of the time, you will need to set the axis to “reverse” so pushing it away from you gives you more power and pulling towards you less.
That is it, that will get you up in the air and with any Flaming Cliffs aircraft you will be perfectly able to fly around without any other joystick binds. For your keyboard remember the Z and X keys are left and right rudder (you might need them to go straight down the runway on take off, but most likely not, and that’s really all you need them for when you start out), and you can use the numpad keys to look around (NUM 1 looks up and left, NUM 3 down and right, and so on). NUM5 re-centers your view, NUM/ zooms out, NUM* zooms in, and NUM-Enter resets the zoom value to default.
If you want to blow something up with a Flaming Cliffs aircraft, use the number row above your keyboard. Number 6 is air to air, number 7 is air to ground, the D key cycles your weapons, the C key selects your cannon, and the SPACE bar will fire whatever you have selected.
As you get further into DCS, there are obviously a lot more things you can bind, and modes you can be in, but 3 joystick binds, and about 7 keys are all you need to know to go blow stuff up.
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Come over to the Hollo Pointe servers. There is always folks willing to help out.
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im on the west coast PST. Im willing to do whatever time you are available
ok thnks
where do i find that
Hey guys sorry for my absence. Ive just been trying to fly. Ok update I got the x56 and I swear the game just drops my bindings sometimes. Like airbrake will just stop working in the A10A. And man dont get me started on the A10. I mean I know its a slow plane but I swear Im just floating in the air. the rudder does nothing but flip me over. I cant lock on a target. hell I cant even visually see a target on the ground. Oh Im using htc vive vr btw. thats just a few of my problems
Ive just been trying to fly. Ok update I got the x56 and I swear the game just drops my bindings sometimes. Like airbrake will just stop working in the A10A. And man dont get me started on the A10. I mean I know its a slow plane but I swear Im just floating in the air. the rudder does nothing but flip me over. I cant lock on a target. hell I cant even visually see a target on the ground. Oh Im using htc vive vr btw. thats just a few of my problems
Just in the sever browser within the game. Type in Hollo Pointe and 2 servers should pop up. Some folks might be in there now.
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Try this YouTube channel: Grim Reapers - They have tons of DCS videos and can be entertaining. Dudes are crazy!!! Anyway, the link below should take you to a playlist on how they set up controller assignments for just about every DCS aircraft out there. I tend to set up my controls based on the manuals to get as close to real as possible but I also have certain keys set for specific functions, such as recenter VR view.
Also, try searching the DCS file repository for HOTAS layouts or templates. I have a TM Warthog so I sometimes look at others’ templates to get ideas. There are other templates for some of the more popular HOTAS. Check out the example below for an idea of what they look like.
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3300680/
Hope this helps…
Best,
Go into the settings menu and play around with the response curve for your rudders. I have an old CH Products pedal and it is on the sensitive side. With defaults my inputs would yield undesirable results so, I played around with the curve until I found something I could work with.
BTW, once you master the Hog, you’ll find that it is an air-to-ground monster! It was my first hi-fi module and I still have a soft spot for it. Brrrrrrrrrrrttt!!!
Regarding VR, I have a Reverb G2 but still fly with labels on. Sometimes they get in the way, sometimes it feels like I’m cheating, but they help me locate targets. I have a keybind to toggle them off once I have an idea where my target is located, just to add a little “realism.” I’m a play it how you like it guy, so it’s labels for me. 
Best,
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Trust me dude I’ve been to grim reapers and I watch his stuff and everything and but he never shows what button he’s doing he talks really fast because he knows what he’s talking about so you know you just breezes thru it I’m the kind of person that I have to be hands on doing it as I’m learning it you know what I mean I can’t read it or be told “it” and without knowing what “it” is ( you know they talking about I’m going to turn on that ICS navigation, or whatever and I dont know what the hell they’re talking about I don’t know what that stuff is ) then go into and then go try to apply it without knowing what or where to even look. I need to be told while I’m doing it is the problem
Could you elaborate on the cheaper versions
Okay I’m going to go look for it next time I’m in there she said in the server browser inside the game okay I’ll look for that
I’m just so lost man I can’t navigate to know where I don’t even know where to look for my headings on my cockpit or anything so I don’t know what anything doesn’t work and it’s just lost in there I never know where the hell I’m going or where I’m supposed to go or where you can find out how to where you can find out where I’m supposed to go or what to do or anyting
I haven’t used them myself, but I know they exist.
Have a look at this video. There are some useful links in the video description.
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I learned A-10 entirely from the training missions. Yes that takes patience and repetition, and Chuck’s Guide to round out some knowledge, but for almost any module the built in training is sufficient to know how to turn it on, go somewhere and kill something.
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Problem is, when starting out, sometimes the lack of aviation knowledge makes it harder. Like when I started, I didn’t know what was an APU, how INS worked (and why it needs to be aligned) and a ton of other stuff. So sometimes, when starting out really from scratch it’s hard even with all the chuck’s guides and training missions. Hard but not impossible as I am proof.
I’d love to help out but I don’t have the A-10. My advice would be to download Chuck’s Guide. Give it a read until before you get in the weapons systems. Go to the Hotas commands and bind your controls the best you can. Setup curves on your rudders to make them more delicate around the center, and make sure your joystick rudder and thrust axis are all correctly mapped. Also make sure there are no duplicate controls (sometimes the axis are duplicate and rudder left also makes throttle forward or nose down, stuff like that). Make sure you can go into a free flight mission or takeoff mission and fly the plane with all the controls. Make sure you can handle it on the ground on the takeoff mission. Roll a little on the runway, break. Taxi a little bit to the left, then to the right (probably gonna need to learn about nosewheel steering for that - chuck’s guide for the bind). Align again with centerline. Free flight, turn left, turn right, nose up nose down, rudder. etc. If you don’t get the binds right you might end in a loop of confusion eternally, and as the systems start to get more in depth it gets very disorienting if you are not confident in the controls.
IDK the level of your ack but from my years of experience tutorialing people to how to pilot virtual aircraft etc. I recommend you to start from the beggining.
Its easy to see some videos of DCS and get an erection and think wow i want to be a fighter pilot (when not even know why and how an aircraft fly) and get DCS and became overflooded by the tons of ack that you should know.
Many people see that videos, install the DCS and their first thoghts are: “were can i shoot the missile?” when they not even even know how to takeoff (not to mention how to land…).
Before that aircraft are a weapon, it first is an aircraft, so before think about radars, aam, agm, bombs, ecm, etc etc, think about how to cold and dark start, taxiing, takeoff, cruise, navigation and land.
If you know how to shoot an missile but dont know how to fly, its for nothing.
Real fighter pilots have months and months of studies without enter into weapons, some airforces they should even start with gliders and small trainners without even a cannon.
If you don’t know how to land, use an ILS, do a C&D start, tune a VOR and fly with it, knows what is a ADF, NDB, knows the difference between IAS vs TAS etc etc etc, forget for now the weapons.
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Eh, VOR, NDB and ADF I wouldn’t count as prerequisite to flying the machine as a weapon. Knowing about basic aerodynamics and how to fly a circuit, yeah.
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