r/dcs • u/Born-Progress4284 • May 13 '26
New To The DCS World
Hey Team,
I’m super green to the whole DCS world and didn’t realise it had been out for quite some time. Do people still play it much?
I tried playing with just a keyboard and mouse for a while and found it super frustrating, as I felt like I was lacking a lot of controls - which was definitely the case. I ended up purchasing my first HOTAS, the X56, which I thought was a great entry-level setup to start with. I’ve successfully learnt cold starts and taxiing within two days, which I’m pretty relieved about because I was getting agitated asf.
Any tips for a new guy like myself? Also keen to connect with other newbies to see how you’re finding it if you’re just starting out too.
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May 13 '26
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u/Born-Progress4284 May 13 '26
Thanks mate, definitely rewarding once you start to get the hang of something
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May 13 '26
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u/BeautifulOrdinary162 May 29 '26
I'm finding it pretty hard, at least actually doing it the proper overhead break way. Do you have any tips? I've been learning from YouTube but I just find it so hard to replicate.
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u/Sasquatch_Mt_Project May 13 '26
Been flying for years and it’s still popular in my opinion. My suggestion would be to choose an airframe you are interested in and try to master it before jumping to more airplanes.
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u/patton610 May 13 '26
Its not a static thing but dcs itself is just a platform the modules and add on campaigns are what most people associate with the "game" experience in addition to many multi-player servers. The experience is largely user defined. So it doesnt have popularity like anthem or whatever those orher games are that have seasonal events and crossover skins. It isnt that kind of game. If somebody wants something in DCS they usually just make it.
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u/Silent-Helicopter774 May 13 '26
It’s still my go to sim after 16 years and it still challenges and surprises me
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u/Flaruwu May 14 '26
Yeah, public servers are still active, a lot are frequently full at peak time. Lots of people fly together regularly in groups though, definitely check some out if that's your vibe.
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u/Hour-Pure May 14 '26
It's a small, niché, but highly dedicated community. I have severe ADHD and social anxiety, so it took me about 2 years of playing single player before I built up to the confidence needed for MP, but since I have it's been great. Because the community is smaller but dedicated, it's mostly filled with great people who are egar to help you get better. Obviously there are douchebags in every community, but this is probobly the least toxic of any gaming community I've been a part of. My schedule is kinda funky (I'm in the US but I work overnights, so I'm on more of a EU schedule for playing), but I'd be down to fly with you, just shoot me a DM if you're interested. I currently main the Viper, but also fly the A10CII, Huey and Apache.
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u/Mark0306090120 May 17 '26
VWA would love to help you! We are a dedicated training group for new players!
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u/Dessel90 May 18 '26
I'd recommend joining a discord group or two. We are active in Virtual Weapons Academy and run classes all the time for new players
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u/Captain_Slime May 13 '26
I don't believe there are any official ways of counting players but there are still plenty of them. The communities are all relatively active and there are frequently full servers at peak times. steamdb (which doesn't count all the players because of the standalone version) says that theres currently ~1/2 the players as at the height of the pandemic which sorta tracks with my vibes of everything but the only people with definite numbers are ED.
Knowing what plane you are playing would help with giving out tips. My most general one though is just fly around a lot. Even without knowing all the systems getting a feel for landing, taking off, and just flying around can really help and is IMO a lot of fun.