F16 BMS vs DCS?

[pgm316]

I've got the DCS F16 on trial and underwhelmed..

Looks good but not as good to fly, any thoughts?

[shawn.eary]

Ugh, I can't stand Steam Guard...

I've never tried BMS for legal reasons, but I couldn't get stock Falcon 4.0 to run reliably on modern versions of MS Windows. There is some strange DX9 emulation going on that slows the stock game to a crawl even on hardware that is way faster than the hardware available when Falcon 4.0 came out. In contrast, I've never tried the F16 expansions of DCS, but the free planes run pretty decent on the same hardware presuming the graphics card isn't ancient. Sadly, the new graphics card does nothing for stock Falcon 4.0.

This is a very long boring video, but at 5:58 you can at least see DCS running a stock plane using a GTX1660 Super and the game is playable even when recording in OBSStudio. Then at 13:55, you see me attempting to play stock Falcon 4.0 on GT710 and GTX1660 Super side by side with OBSStudio recording and both instances are "unplayable"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWzSV0MxMo
but the problem gets worse because even with OBSStudio recording off, I still can't play Falcon 4 unless I use an ultra low resolution and it's still jerky.

That's how bad the MS Windows DX9 emulation is on my computer. In contrast, Decent 3 runs well on my current computer in OpenGL mode in both GNU\Linux and MS Windows. The REALLY weird thing about this is that when I can get Falcon 4.0 to run in Steam OS via Proton Wine, it absolutely flies but then my joystick is mapped wrong. While I did hack the MS Sidewinder joystick drivers for GNU\Linux more than ten years ago in my youth to fix a problem, I can't figure out how to hack the new joystick drivers. They've changed and Steam OS is purposefully designed to keep you from messing around with the system. There are ways around the lock down, but in general, you have to be careful.

BTW: The official BMS page seems to indicate that MicroProse and stakeholders have tentatively decided to not sue hobbyists that have a Falcon 4.0 license (like I do) but I would like more assurance on the official website:
https://www.falcon-bms.com/faq/
Seriously, Microprose should license BMS from the BMS developers so we can stop this stupid legal dance around what essentially is a now broken product (Stock Falcon 4.0). I used to have a physical copy of the original Falcon 4.0 program (back in the day) and it ran well on a much less capable computer. I stupidly let it go during an estate sale more than 10 years ago. Now, I have the Steam OS license for stock Falcon 4.0.

[pgm316]

BMS should be in Steam as it's own thing.

I don't think there are any legal issues running BMS, it now lists Microprose on the loading screen after the new owners bought the Falcon series.

Also BMS does run much better than Falcon 4.

[Sparky]

Originally posted by shawn.eary:

Ugh, I can't stand Steam Guard...

I've never tried BMS for legal reasons, but I couldn't get stock Falcon 4.0 to run reliably on modern versions of MS Windows. There is some strange DX9 emulation going on that slows the stock game to a crawl even on hardware that is way faster than the hardware available when Falcon 4.0 came out. In contrast, I've never tried the F16 expansions of DCS, but the free planes run pretty decent on the same hardware presuming the graphics card isn't ancient. Sadly, the new graphics card does nothing for stock Falcon 4.0.

This is a very long boring video, but at 5:58 you can at least see DCS running a stock plane using a GTX1660 Super and the game is playable even when recording in OBSStudio. Then at 13:55, you see me attempting to play stock Falcon 4.0 on GT710 and GTX1660 Super side by side with OBSStudio recording and both instances are "unplayable"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWzSV0MxMo
but the problem gets worse because even with OBSStudio recording off, I still can't play Falcon 4 unless I use an ultra low resolution and it's still jerky.

That's how bad the MS Windows DX9 emulation is on my computer. In contrast, Decent 3 runs well on my current computer in OpenGL mode in both GNU\Linux and MS Windows. The REALLY weird thing about this is that when I can get Falcon 4.0 to run in Steam OS via Proton Wine, it absolutely flies but then my joystick is mapped wrong. While I did hack the MS Sidewinder joystick drivers for GNU\Linux more than ten years ago in my youth to fix a problem, I can't figure out how to hack the new joystick drivers. They've changed and Steam OS is purposefully designed to keep you from messing around with the system. There are ways around the lock down, but in general, you have to be careful.

BTW: The official BMS page seems to indicate that MicroProse and stakeholders have tentatively decided to not sue hobbyists that have a Falcon 4.0 license (like I do) but I would like more assurance on the official website:
https://www.falcon-bms.com/faq/
Seriously, Microprose should license BMS from the BMS developers so we can stop this stupid legal dance around what essentially is a now broken product (Stock Falcon 4.0). I used to have a physical copy of the original Falcon 4.0 program (back in the day) and it ran well on a much less capable computer. I stupidly let it go during an estate sale more than 10 years ago. Now, I have the Steam OS license for stock Falcon 4.0.

What are you talking about? There is no legal dance, BMS is a free mod for people that own Falcon 4.0, just like any other game mod.

[PaThWaYs345]

The game works flawlessly if u own it. The mod is a easy install and if ur having issues theres youtube or google. Mods arnt illegal if u purchased original copies.

[pgm316]

Originally posted by PaThWaYs345:

The game works flawlessly if u own it. The mod is a easy install and if ur having issues theres youtube or google. Mods arnt illegal if u purchased original copies.

Thanks. I've played BMS for some time and was wondering whether to get the DCS F16.

I got it in the end, and it's ok but definitely not as good as the BMS version and currently changing the keybinds to match BMS.