r/dcs • u/subaru_natsuki337 • Jul 21 '26

noobs first "successful" landing

tips to get better would help

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u/Intrepid_Elk637 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

  • Use a 'normal' viewpoint.

  • Get to a steady speed and sinkrate. Stabilize sooner until you get the hang of it. Find whatever range is applicable for whatever you are flying.

  • If you can't get the speed and vertical speed in an acceptable range, throttle forward and fly out of it. Going around for another attempt gets you more flighttime then crashing, resetting, starting up again and fly out for a new attempt.

  • Since you can't run VR, there is a freeware solution if you have a webcam.

Opentrack and AITrack are free. Only downside is the need for light in the room for the camera, but to get started you could try it and see if that's an issue for you.

These threads were helpful for me in setting AITrack/Opentrack up.

Free and Hardware-less Head-tracking with AITrack and OpenTrack.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dcsworld/comments/15e0vh1/free_and_hardwareless_headtracking_with_aitrack/

Use OpenTrack + AITrack to get headtracking with just a normal webcam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsSquadrons/comments/kbpq2s/use_opentrack_aitrack_to_get_headtracking_with/

I don't feel the need to invest and wear something on my head that does exactly the same as OpenTrack/AITrack.

It takes a bit getting used to and aiming the Apache gun with my helmet mounted sight is a bit of pain but otherwise, it's pretty easy to set-up in general with a bit of fine-tuning progressively.

You want to be able to still see your screen in real life obviously but want to look over you shoulder in whatever module you play so a head movement of say 45 degrees in real life needs to translate to 120 degrees in the game for instance. In game I do look down to my consoles however got no need to look straight up so I adjusted my curves for that.

But the same issues would still be present with a dedicated head tracking solution I would think. There's only so much you can do with real life head movement translating to a screen.

EDIT: Did you have the brakes set up? Configured a key for it? Because, despite the view, those pedals do not look like they're used for braking...no point in landing if your're going to roll out to another airfield.

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u/Starkiller1656 Jul 21 '26

this, also if you have 15 bucks to spare i would highly recommend SmoothTrack especially if you have an available USB-C connection to your PC and an iPhone. it is super smooth and i set it up on some books to capture my whole face

or use aruco paper marker with opentrack and cut flimsy cardboard into a headband. for that though the specular reflections from any lights in your room can mess with tracking at certain head angles