Best way to learn?

[Lambda]

I'm coming from the Ace Combat series and Project Wingman. After playing these games, I've been wanting to take a step forward into realistic flight simulators. I'm ready to accept the challenge of learning how to fly. However, is there anything I can do to make the learning process easier? Are there communities that I can join to help teach me how to play?

[SSerponi76]

Follow this algorithm :

 
10 study the documentation
20 do lot of training.
30 goto 10

This is the way :mando:

You can also use tutorials on youtube if you prefer but I strongly encourage you to read the official documentation (or the Chuck's Guides) too, cause it will grant you a much deeper knowledge that you'll never get from a video.

The base game is free, so download it and start with the included Su-25T or TF-51 (if you prefer warbirds to jets). This will allow you to understand if this game fits you ... and if you fit this game.
Once you'll get comfortable in all aspects of flight with at least one of them youn can start to think your first module.

[Paradox1126]

The game is incredibly easy . Finding the Information is not.

[Noobiecanoobie]

As above: Manual + Chuck's Guide + YouTube + Hands on
Treat the learning as the gameplay and have fun.
Best to start with an aircraft you have some interest in.

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by NotJoe:

I'm coming from the Ace Combat series and Project Wingman. After playing these games, I've been wanting to take a step forward into realistic flight simulators. I'm ready to accept the challenge of learning how to fly. However, is there anything I can do to make the learning process easier? Are there communities that I can join to help teach me how to play?

Generally speaking, the manuals used in conjunction with Chuck's guides will get you the most straightforward, most convenient, most accurate results. This isn't to say that you need to treat the manuals and Chuck's guides like some kind of book that you have to memorize. In fact, that is exactly the wrong way to use them. Instead, use them as checklists and a quick reference that you can use as you play.

A couple of words of caution. Youtube can be good for VERY specific things (Redkite has good videos about a somewhat limited selection of topics for example) but as a primary source, it is absolutely terrible. Between the channels that try to teach without actually knowing how to do anything and the ones that are more about humor than actual knowledge, it can be tough to find good stuff that will actually help you learn.

Another thing to be mindful of is relying on others to teach you. A lot of the players you will encounter (especially online) know how to do a very specific range of things but may not actually know enough to really teach effectively. Asking quick questions here and there is one thing but don't count on anything of value beyond that.

[Undead Rufus]

Are you okay reading manuals that look like 1990s websites? Then pretty much everything you need to know can be found in both the official documentation and Chuck's Guides (https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs/).

If you're like me, and you find learning through real-time visuals better than reading, then YouTube is the place the go. One of the best videos I've seen for prospective beginners is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRfa7rGr4M

The information on YouTube will not always be as comprehensive as what you'll find in the manuals, but it's usually fine. Every aircraft I've learned has been learned initially from YouTube videos. Just depends on what works best for you.

[Lambda]

Originally posted by Undead Rufus:

Are you okay reading manuals that look like 1990s websites? Then pretty much everything you need to know can be found in both the official documentation and Chuck's Guides (https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs/).

If you're like me, and you find learning through real-time visuals better than reading, then YouTube is the place the go. One of the best videos I've seen for prospective beginners is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRfa7rGr4M

The information on YouTube will not always be as comprehensive as what you'll find in the manuals, but it's usually fine. Every aircraft I've learned has been learned initially from YouTube videos. Just depends on what works best for you.

Thanks for the info. Will learning other aircraft become easier once I master the Su-25T? And will I have a better flying experience with the more expensive modules?

[Paradox1126]

Originally posted by NotJoe:

Originally posted by Undead Rufus:

Are you okay reading manuals that look like 1990s websites? Then pretty much everything you need to know can be found in both the official documentation and Chuck's Guides (https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs/).

If you're like me, and you find learning through real-time visuals better than reading, then YouTube is the place the go. One of the best videos I've seen for prospective beginners is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRfa7rGr4M

The information on YouTube will not always be as comprehensive as what you'll find in the manuals, but it's usually fine. Every aircraft I've learned has been learned initially from YouTube videos. Just depends on what works best for you.

Thanks for the info. Will learning other aircraft become easier once I master the Su-25T? And will I have a better flying experience with the more expensive modules?

I started two years ago and eventually got all aircraft. This is what I can tell you.

I started with the mig-21 and ka-50. I read the official manual in completion for both of these aircraft. The hardest thing for me was to learn all the systems and interlacing mechanisms. When speaking solely on the actions of the aircraft I found it to be very gamey. It's just more elaborate button presses but at the end of the day still a game.

Once I started tackling those I got super excited and practically bought everything. Reading each manual for each aircraft stopped being a thing. I would say I read around 7 or so. As for the rest? All YouTube videos.

Once I got to understand systems and how DCS worked as a game all I needed from there on out were key bindings and the sequence of buttons to execute an action.

You'll start to see similarities in planes such as the AV-8B and f-18. Russian aircraft mi-8, hind, mig-21 all share similarities.

You will start compartmentalizing specific things. Towards the end it just became easier to pick a plane, bind it, and then figure out the sequence. You do not need to know technical data to do anything in this game but it will help you operate more proficiently.

All flight operations pretty much become similar at a point. Once again, the game aspect start to become more evident. I felt towards the end of my learning that it's nowhere near as difficult as it comes off as.

My best advice is this: go to wingman finder and just look for one individual who will teach you how to operate the aircraft. This should take no more than 2 days tops. Once you know how to operate the aircraft you can then go back and learn about the systems so they make sense.

If you treat this like a game you will be up and running in no time. If you treat it like a sim you'll have a tedious road of information to surf through. The reason I started backtracking my learning was because some days I just wanted to play instead of learning.

To answer your other question about expensive aircraft giving you a better experience.. my personal answer is yes and no.. after you learn the aircraft it's all tedious at a point. There is no reason for me to start my aircraft anymore. I'm over the click. As much as I appreciate it I love the gameplay more so. I always felt with fc3 aircraft. I just simply enjoy them, same with the w2 aircraft. These are all point and click aircraft but still allow great flying experiences.

Sorry for my long rant. I'm off of work this week so if you are messing with a modules that I know well I'll be more than happy to help you get off the ground.

[Undead Rufus]

Originally posted by NotJoe:

Thanks for the info. Will learning other aircraft become easier once I master the Su-25T? And will I have a better flying experience with the more expensive modules?

If you learn the free Su-25T, you'll have an understanding of the game, and you'll get a feel for how an aircraft behaves, as opposed to the action games you mentioned in the OP. All of the lo-fi planes operate basically the same way. Learn one, you've learned them all.

With high-fidelity modules, the realistic feel you've adjusted to will carry over, as will some system concepts, but there will be a learning curve with every aircraft. Some are easier than others. The easiest high-fidelity module for me was the M-2000C.

If by "flying experience" you mean just the simple thrill of controlling an airplane and making things explode, rest assured that lo-fi aircraft like the Su-25T have great flight models, just simplified avionics. If the experience you're after includes exploiting systems to their fullest, following procedures and pushing buttons in the cockpit, then yes, you'll probably have a better time with one of the high-fidelity modules, like the Viper or Hornet. (There's also a free A-4 Skyhawk mod that's partially high-fidelity, and highly recommended.)

[Hootman]

I highly recommend you spend $10 and get VoiceAttack. There are TONS of key commands, and with a HOTAS, voiceattack, and lots of time building your control bindings within the sim and voiceattack, you will be able to fly pretty much not touching the keyboard and mouse, as it should be.

I also found that while building and testing the voiceattack/bindings and referencing the aircraft documentation as I went along, I learned a lot about the aircraft systems and what they do.

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by NotJoe:

Originally posted by Undead Rufus:

Are you okay reading manuals that look like 1990s websites? Then pretty much everything you need to know can be found in both the official documentation and Chuck's Guides (https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs/).

If you're like me, and you find learning through real-time visuals better than reading, then YouTube is the place the go. One of the best videos I've seen for prospective beginners is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRfa7rGr4M

The information on YouTube will not always be as comprehensive as what you'll find in the manuals, but it's usually fine. Every aircraft I've learned has been learned initially from YouTube videos. Just depends on what works best for you.

Thanks for the info. Will learning other aircraft become easier once I master the Su-25T? And will I have a better flying experience with the more expensive modules?

As others have already said, the Su-25T's general focus on flying and lack of focus on systems fidelity will teach you a lot of the underlying basics of how flight works, how to avoid stalls/spins, and how to just handle the aircraft. That being said. The lack of higher fidelity systems modeling will mean that you won't really get much useful experience when it comes to operating systems like radios, sensors, or configuring weapons. You will get a bit of a rough idea but the limitations of the Flaming Cliffs 3 style aircraft do limit their utility when it comes to easing players into higher fidelity aircraft modules.

In regards to your second question. It really will depend on what you are looking for in terms of experience. The higher fidelity modules give you MUCH finer control over systems, sensors, weapons, and the like but that also means that you will have to learn how those systems work in order to actually take full advantage of them. Despite popular notions to the contrary, learning the full fidelity modules isn't really "harder" in the sense that they are not made to be operated by geniuses. Once you get over the initial familiarization hump, a lot of stuff becomes VERY straightforward to learn. For example. Once you learn how to use a INS navigation system in one module, the INS systems in others will be largely the same in theory so learning them becomes almost trivial.

One big thing that doesn't get discussed a lot with new players is the difference between the fully fidelity and Flaming Cliffs 3 level aircraft in terms of controls. Since the FC3 aircraft modules don't have any mouse interaction for the cockpit, you end up having to lean very heavily on the keyboard or whatever joystick/HOTAS you have. Even a very expensive high-end HOTAS will struggle to keep up with all the bindings one might need for the FC3 stuff. In contrast, the higher fidelity modules let you only really assign the HOTAS based controls to your stick/HOTAS while leaving the other stuff for mouse interaction in the cockpit. it is pretty convenient and makes learning a lot easier since so much of it will be more visual and "hands on".

Don't be intimidated by the higher fidelity stuff. A lot of the reason that people say they are hard to learn is because they are using incomplete sources of information. If you stick to the manual alongside Chuck's guides and take it at your own pace (don't try to learn everything all at once, just go one step at a time), you will get very comfortable, very quickly and without a lot of unnecessary/crippling gaps in knowledge. I know I am probably making this sound more severe or serious than I really mean to so I will just say this. DCS is one of those games where learning can be a ton of fun if you approach it with a open mindset. If you let it be fun, it will be a whole lot of fun. If you try to find shortcuts around that learning process, you will just make things harder for yourself and will very easily fall into slumps where you find you spent more time trying to find ways around the learning process than you did just taking it head on and having a lot of fun in the process.

[Lambda]

Originally posted by startrekmike:

Originally posted by NotJoe:

Thanks for the info. Will learning other aircraft become easier once I master the Su-25T? And will I have a better flying experience with the more expensive modules?

As others have already said, the Su-25T's general focus on flying and lack of focus on systems fidelity will teach you a lot of the underlying basics of how flight works, how to avoid stalls/spins, and how to just handle the aircraft. That being said. The lack of higher fidelity systems modeling will mean that you won't really get much useful experience when it comes to operating systems like radios, sensors, or configuring weapons. You will get a bit of a rough idea but the limitations of the Flaming Cliffs 3 style aircraft do limit their utility when it comes to easing players into higher fidelity aircraft modules.

In regards to your second question. It really will depend on what you are looking for in terms of experience. The higher fidelity modules give you MUCH finer control over systems, sensors, weapons, and the like but that also means that you will have to learn how those systems work in order to actually take full advantage of them. Despite popular notions to the contrary, learning the full fidelity modules isn't really "harder" in the sense that they are not made to be operated by geniuses. Once you get over the initial familiarization hump, a lot of stuff becomes VERY straightforward to learn. For example. Once you learn how to use a INS navigation system in one module, the INS systems in others will be largely the same in theory so learning them becomes almost trivial.

One big thing that doesn't get discussed a lot with new players is the difference between the fully fidelity and Flaming Cliffs 3 level aircraft in terms of controls. Since the FC3 aircraft modules don't have any mouse interaction for the cockpit, you end up having to lean very heavily on the keyboard or whatever joystick/HOTAS you have. Even a very expensive high-end HOTAS will struggle to keep up with all the bindings one might need for the FC3 stuff. In contrast, the higher fidelity modules let you only really assign the HOTAS based controls to your stick/HOTAS while leaving the other stuff for mouse interaction in the cockpit. it is pretty convenient and makes learning a lot easier since so much of it will be more visual and "hands on".

Don't be intimidated by the higher fidelity stuff. A lot of the reason that people say they are hard to learn is because they are using incomplete sources of information. If you stick to the manual alongside Chuck's guides and take it at your own pace (don't try to learn everything all at once, just go one step at a time), you will get very comfortable, very quickly and without a lot of unnecessary/crippling gaps in knowledge. I know I am probably making this sound more severe or serious than I really mean to so I will just say this. DCS is one of those games where learning can be a ton of fun if you approach it with a open mindset. If you let it be fun, it will be a whole lot of fun. If you try to find shortcuts around that learning process, you will just make things harder for yourself and will very easily fall into slumps where you find you spent more time trying to find ways around the learning process than you did just taking it head on and having a lot of fun in the process.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info!

[BirdDog]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1LW888jCR6IZ7crfdZxDg thats the place ii learned DCS / Lockon .

[consolepcgaming]

Grim Reapers Channel is very good and easy to follow
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuXjkFY00p1ga3UyCBbR2w

Growling Sidewinder is good for seeing what you can achieve when you get good!
https://www.youtube.com/c/GrowlingSidewinder