DCS VR 4K | F-15E Strike Eagle | Burning Skies US | CAS.. Strike Eagle Style

I'm back in the Strike Eagle and once again on the Burning Skies US Command Center Server. I run a couple of CAS sorties in this longer video. I have a little picture in picture view of me using PointCTRL and my STECS throttle. I will be releasing some videos explaining what I am using and how it impacts my time in DCS.
Mods Used:
Better Smoke:
www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...
Echo19 Core Ultimate:
echo19audio.gumroad.com/l/cor...
Main System Specs:
AMD 7950X3D
ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero (WiFi 6E)
PNY RTX 4090 XLR8 Gaming VERTO Overclocked Graphics Card
645 G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO RGB Series SDRAM DDR5 6000
SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 Gaming M.2
Additional Device List:
Varjo Aero
PointCTRL
ButtKicker Gamer2
JetPad
VPForce Rhino Stick Base
Thrustmaster F/A 18 Grip
VKB STECS Max Throttle
Razer Tartarus v2 Gaming Keypad
SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless Gaming Headset

[@mondomando3393]

The HRM modes for the Mudhen are amazing, and way underutilized in multiplayer at the moment. I really hope when we get some missions/campaigns, the use of and need for high res mapping is included. Things like infrastructure strikes are what I see it being best for (Buildings, compounds, airfield structures, etc). Seeing the scintillation on the radar dishes is too cool! Edit: the A2A guns pipper drives me nuts! Whether in a lock or not, It seems like you need to lead a little more than what is shown.

[@StrIIker-TV]

I completely agree. Notso (the Razbam Subject Matter Expert on the Strike Eagle for those who don't know) has mentioned that the A2G radar is best employed in an area where you know or suspect enemy are situated. He said this in response to people wanting to use it to find where enemies are situated by blindly looking around.I am increasingly using it in the Strike Eagle while I am flying on the servers. It's really awesome in higher threat environments where you can grab a scan of an area, freeze it and fly off to get weapons prepped for an attack. This is particularly handy with JDAMs where one could program a full load of them and fly in and release them all in a single pass. I used the scintillation of the radar dish returns to get some accurate drops on an active SAM site which was on some high ground. I found some terrain from which I could get a close enough pop up to lob my JDAMs and take out the SA-15 and ST radar of an SA-6 which then allowed me to roll in and take out the rest at high altitude. This was a night mission which made it all the more fun.

[@mondomando3393]

@StrIIker-TV I have yet to check out any sam sites on the HRM, but I wonder if some sites like the S-300 light up like a Christmas tree (having sometimes 3 radar components). I'm going to have to try out some pop up SAM attacks with it, that seems like a great use case. I've just been going cowboy mode with my TPOD until I get a good designation, then toss bombing at altitude... and usually dying.

[@StrIIker-TV]

@@mondomando3393Actually, on the Burning Skies server, many of these troop concentrations have a bunch of SAM vehicles (usually SA-19's) with them and I often see 6 or more showing up. You will definitely see several returns with the tell-tale whisker scintillation at these sites with track, search and other radar types

[@cmdrbigity6914]

I must say I like the idea of using the HRM to find radar vehicles.

[@StrIIker-TV]

It works really well (until you mess it up like I sort of did) . I’m planning a demonstration video to illustrate how well it works using a little custom video.

[@AR_Parker]

The helicopters are a bunch of fun. I will warn that the apache can be a bit of a resource hog. I have found it too be the toughest module to run in vr. The textures are brutal. Very fun to fly though

[@StrIIker-TV]

Yeah I did do some flying in the Huey, Apache and Blackhawk but very basic stuff. I love being down low and seeing the awesome detail. I am actually taking delivery soon of the Virpil Apache collective and plan to spend a lot more time in helicopters. What’s funny is that I am spoiled with the speed of fighter aircraft so I need to learn patience.

[@AR_Parker]

@StrIIker-TV they are definitely a slow dance that's for sure. Make sure you check out the hind and the mil 8. They are both extraordinary modules. A bunch of fun

[@GustavoSilva-lx2eb]

Nice, good job!

[@StrIIker-TV]

Thanks! It was a lot of fun flying. I have since then figured out solutions to some challenges I was having after re-arming and also some important details around the Burning Skies Command Center server which I was doing incorrectly. The re-arming bugs were driving me nuts. The JDAM getting stuck issue was maddening and then the targeting pod was not allowing me to designate after re-arming. Finally I have learned how to address them thanks to others on the Razbam Discord.

[@redtailpilot]

Man I'm still learning the Mudhen and can't find enough time and hardly fly anything else since it came out, lol. I would love to try the board for tactile feedback, but I have a motion rig and it would be a challenge using it with motion, not to mention mounting it. Love PoinCtrl. I'm one of the early adopters who put in my order the moment Miles announced them. I usually only use the right hand FCU for my setup which is sufficient for what I do. Amazing units! Definitely fits the title of "Game changer" for those of us who use VR

[@StrIIker-TV]

Hah! That was me for a while and even today! I am still learning so much in it (much of it around the bugs which the very early access version has) and have not spent much time in the Hornet (an aircraft I really love). I get addicted to the power and capacity of the Strike Eagle. That thrust... nothing like getting up to .95 mach and pulling 45 degrees up and blasting through to 25k feet while barely slowing down! A full load of A-G ordinance and still room for 4 AMRAMMs! And fuel..? Oh yeah, we have plenty to spare! Bandits near? Use that insane radar to reach out and lock them up and get a missile off at them from 30 miles away! Ahh, a motion rig.. It's on my list.. some day.. I know of a guy who is on the PointCTRL discord who did manage to mount one on his motion rig. I'll need to track down the info for ya to see if it's something you can do. I think he has the 4 degrees of motion type but I think it's still doable on the full 6 degrees ones. The boards are very handy to help keep my hand in place while interacting with the cockpit buttons and switches in VR and it kind of pulls me in a little bit more to the VR world. I placed my order back when Miles was still using Firecat's list as well but I hadn't heard of it until a few months had passed. I consider the PointCTRL to be a must have which is why I bought a second set. I don't want to be down for a few weeks if something fails.

[@redtailpilot]

@@StrIIker-TV I actually just ordered a second set (Version 2) a few months ago as well. Appreciate whatever you can find on any decent mounting options. Yeah the Strike Eagle is amazing! Coming from the Viper and Hornet, I was in awe of the raw power of it and the faster excelleration on my first takeoff. It's something you notice immediately. As for motion, if you ever get one, it will be similar getting VR. There's no going back! 😂

[@StrIIker-TV]

@@redtailpilotWhat vendor/platform did you go for? There are a few that I know of. The guy I mentioned has the DoF H3 I think. He said he wished he had opted for the H6 but still loves it.

[@redtailpilot]

​@@StrIIker-TV Yeah I was tempted to go with DOF reality H6 and I did reseach for about a year. I also got a lot of tips from the guy with the YT channel GYGO (he has the H6) and from Jeff Weaver of SRS studios who makes software for motion rigs. That research (and the advice of Jeff) led me to the conclusion that for flight simulators you really need the smoothness of actuators. So based on my experience with the V3 seat mover, I never liked the jerky feeling it provided (which is the same with the DOF systems). So with that, I spent the extra dough on the PT-Actuator 6DOF system (7 actuators) double traction loss. Paired up with a P1-X cockpit from Simlabs. Since this is my lifelong hobby, I wanted something that I wouldn't have buyers remorse over once the novelty wore off. I heard that the DOF systems are great for sim racing and other road vehicles because you don't notice the jerky movement as much. With aircraft you need higher fidelity for the finer movements. I'm very please with my purchase! One issue I had to solve was the heavy EMI interference that the servo drives produce. Man that wrecks VR tracking if you used base stations! I found the solution online from others and that fixed it. Now I'm in the process of working on VR motion compensation issue. I have to mount a tracker to my rig, which I'll be doing soon. Expensive, but still cheaper than my real world private pilot hobby 🤣

[@JPH11]

Just found your channel and really enjoying it. Would love to see more about your setup but also would appreciate to know more about what your VR setup, e.g. what programs you're using such as Virtual Desktop and what your various settings are as it looks amazing and it's a struggle to make DCS look good in VR!

[@StrIIker-TV]

Hey! Welcome to the channel! I did make a video which shows all of what I had at the time in terms of the gear. I've had a plan in the books to revisit it and make some which are focused on the individual components as I do get requests for it. In the video description, I list all of my hardware and mods which I use. I also made a video which shows how I record videos. To sum it up, I don't use anything special other than an audio program for virtual audio cables so that I can separate some of the audio feeds into individual tracks in OBS (which I use to record). I simply record the VR game mirror into OBS and then pull that into my video editing software (I use Final Cut Pro on a Mac). As for my settings in game, I will happily post them. I'll aim to grab a few screenshots and post them in the community section. One thing to bear in mind though.. Anyone recording VR in DCS is using the game mirror which is not 100% representative of what you will see in the recorded videos. This is the case regardless of the headset being used. People will often mention it's a Varjo Aero or Pimax Crystal in the titles I think to drive views but it's misleading. In the Varjo Aero, on my high end (for now) computer, the visuals are close to the video but not as crisp and sharp. It's close though and this is due to the lens technology in the headset and display technology in the headset. It takes a lot of power to render that amount of pixels at a high enough frame rate which is why using dynamic foveated rendering and the best CPU, fast memory, storage etc. is needed to be able to enjoy it in the headset. Even then, I have to dial some settings back in DCS and get poor performance on some maps in multiplayer (very situationally dependent). To record decent videos, I need to not lower the resolution of the peripheral (non focus) areas in my headset because the game mirror is based upon the resolution of the peripheral. I had actually noticed this in a recent video (I think the bunker busting one in the Hornet) where the radar scan lines were pretty messy (when I was going after an F-14). They didn't look like that in the headset. I determined it was because I had played with the DLSS setting which turned off anti aliasing. Anyway, I will certainly work on getting more into my system to help you and others out!

[@JPH11]

Thank you so much for the detailed response @@StrIIker-TV ! I didn't know that it is the case that the recordings are a game mirror and not actually what's being viewed in the headset - that's interesting to know , thank you. Setting up DCS for VR is a real time investment but so rewarding in the end, the immersion is unreal and even if mine doesn't look as amazing as yours I just can't go back to playing on a flat screen monitor! 😊 Keep up the great content, really enjoying your videos

[@StrIIker-TV]

@@JPH11 Thank you once again for your kind words. I completely agree with you about VR. There's just no going back for me now! I remember my first time in the Hornet in VR. Wow! It felt so cramped! I came from playing flight sims in the 80's on my Commodore 64. I would happily play DCS at much lower settings if I had to because it's still a world away in experience! I am very fortunate to be able to have the stuff that I have for playing and I am very appreciative of that fact and never take it for granted. I had the HP Reverb G2 and that was an amazing VR headset for DCS. The sweet spot was incredible to see after my old HTC Vive (original gen). The most important thing in my opinion, is to get as good a display as you can manage for VR. Being able to read the displays and dials etc in the cockpit is an absolute must. Small details like shadows, or crap on the ground are unimportant and can come along in the future with newer PC builds or improvement to the core DCS system. So, don't chase what you see in videos. Get it to a level which lets you have fun and suspends disbelief enough to forget you are not in that cockpit! Actually, the jetPad and buttkickers are two incredible things to add to a VR simpit experience. It's pretty wild!

[@cmdrbigity6914]

What the heck are you doing to that poor plane

[@StrIIker-TV]

I know.. I know.. I got way too low and thought I was closer to the friendly airbase than I was! I was in afterburner to evade the F-15C coming down from orbit at me and suddenly had about 6 SAM smoke trails reaching out to tap me on the shoulder. Pulling too hard when over Mach 1 at low altitude is not the best of ideas (along with all of my other poor decisions). It’s a good learning moment for anyone watching.. never let me fly!