I recently started playing DCS because I wanted to fly the P-51 Mustang. I’ve never piloted a plane in real life, but the flight model definitely “feels” realistic (and YouTubers like AgathosDaimon who flies real planes have noted that the feel in DCS is very close to the real thing compared to other flight sims) and I’ve been enjoying the process of learning the aircraft.
Others have mentioned this, but I echo the fact that WW2 multiplayer seems to be hampered by sub-optimal damage models, performance issues, odd bugs (e.g., servers removed the Spitfire because it apparently makes the game crash, and mission builders are struggling with ground targets which are rendered invisible due to bugs inherent to the current version of the game), and lack of players. During the weekdays, the two or three WW2 servers are pretty dead (as in, less than 5 players on at a time total). Even on the weekends, outside of a window of a few hours during which it can get to about 15 players on each side, the servers are pretty empty. I suspect that this is also a vicious cycle, in which the issues mentioned discourage players from logging on, and a small player base makes fixing these issues a lower priority for ED.
Another personal problem I have is spotting. While I’m sure results vary for everyone depending on their rig and monitor, I would venture to say that spotting is incredibly hard in DCS compared to CLOD as a general rule. It is especially difficult if you like to fly high and engage enemies from an altitude advantage, since targets just disappear into the ground textures even with MSAA and anisotropic filtering set to zero. Even if you’re lucky enough to spot the dot, and concentrate 200% to keep eyes on it, chances are you’ll lose it in a few seconds. Various server hosts have tried to put in a workaround by enabling labels in-game (not the full label that shows aircraft name and distance, but just tiny characters like ‘, `, or o), but I’m positive that I missed out on a lot of action because I couldn’t see enemy aircraft flying just a mile under me. I feel like this happens less often in CLOD, and it’s much easier to keep an eye on a target while maneuvering into attack position. Sparsely populated servers + difficult spotting = uneventful sorties.
Like Invictus, I really wish that there is a lot of improvement in DCS in store for us. I love its supposed realism, graphics, and clickable cockpits. However, I’m not sure what will happen once Battle of Bodenplatte hits, since it will basically include all the WW2 planes that are currently in DCS and will presumably do it much better in terms of damage model, map detail, gameplay, and server population… all of that for a much lower price.
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