WWII MP Flight Sim from 2D to 3D - Current

[RichardDarkwood]

As I have stated before while DCS and IL2 are multiplayer games, they are not Mass Multi-player games.You need player owned/rented servers and even then, most games cap you at about 80 players max per server, Even AWIII on Gamestorm could handle more than that back in the late 1990s. The highest player cap I have ever seen on a DCS server is 255 and I Honestly doubt those servers could actually handle that many before having issues. AHIII can handle something like 500-1000 per Arena.

Factor in that DCS is way bigger than aces high. if you took all three versions of aces high and even the maps and skins.....DCS would still be way bigger.

And its one of the reason you cannot run more than 80 people on a server.

[The Fugitive]

Factor in that DCS is way bigger than aces high. if you took all three versions of aces high and even the maps and skins.....DCS would still be way bigger.

And its one of the reason you cannot run more than 80 people on a server.

How is it bigger? We talking MB to download or what?

AH can have multiple maps running at the same time. Each arena can have a thousand players in them at the same time. The wars are fought over the capture of  a hundred bases both vehicle and 3 different sizes of airfields along with carrier and battle groups. You can pilot over 100 planes, vehicles and boats. Fights include A2A, A2G, G2G, A2S, S2G all happening real time 24/7.

Can DCS bring up even one arena that does all that? OH wait, isnt DCS the one that just sells MODs and you have to run your own servers?

[Mayhem]

Just answering questions .....

How is it bigger? We talking MB to download or what?

It is bigger in data size (One map can be bigger than all of AH 1-3) depending on map Most maps are also larger in size scale and content. One of the most common problems DCS players have is storage space for their DCS install.

AH can have multiple maps running at the same time. Each arena can have a thousand players in them at the same time. The wars are fought over the capture of  a hundred bases both vehicle and 3 different sizes of airfields along with carrier and battle groups. You can pilot over 100 planes, vehicles and boats. Fights include A2A, A2G, G2G, A2S, S2G all happening real time 24/7.

Each arena would be it's own server. The Damned has 7 DCS servers running 5 maps, each server is capped at 100 players, the highest player cap I have seen in DCS is 255.

Can DCS bring up even one arena that does all that? OH wait, isnt DCS the one that just sells MODs and you have to run your own servers?

Yes you have to run your own server and Unless you "Know a dude" (The Damned has some Talent) or have deep pockets, Your pretty much at the mercy of people that do. That is True with Il2 and most other combat flight sims right now, I wouldn't class them as Mass Multi-Player ... Just Multi-Player.

But a true Mass multi-player flight sim would require a subscription or freemium sales model to stay in business. Last I checked there weren't very many Mass Multi player subscription based Combat Flight sims ... Only one really comes to mind unless Warbirds is still running.

[Meatwad]

Do you lease the servers or physically own them?

[CptTrips]

Do you lease the servers or physically own them?

Up to you. 

You can lease a cloud box from someone like Fox3 and they handle the setup and config and maint, pateches, etc.

You can run your own at home. 

It just registers with the mothership and tells ED to list them as an available server.  There is a separate dedicated server exe.

I have a little refurb box on the shelf in my office I've been running a small server just to play with stuff.  Costs nothing beyond the box I bought.

You need enough bandwidth to support the number of players you want to host.
The rented servers of course are supposed to give you access to bigger pipe.

To host numbers I imagine you'd want a cloud server.

I might could host 10-16 on mine.  I had 12 once and it was still holding.

[Meatwad]

I was given an HP Z4 G4 workstation that was retired and was going to scrap before I saved it. Has a 4ghz xeon processor but will support 256 gb of ram if I reallllly wanted to jam it in there. Currently it just sits on a shelf unused but for the price of free I couldnt let it die in a scrap pile. Sonething like that good for a test DCS server?

[CptTrips]

I was given an HP Z4 G4 workstation that was retired and was going to scrap before I saved it. Has a 4ghz xeon processor but will support 256 gb of ram if I reallllly wanted to jam it in there. Currently it just sits on a shelf unused but for the price of free I couldnt let it die in a scrap pile. Sonething like that good for a test DCS server?

I'm a hardware-tard but it sounds good to me. 

DCS server is currently single threaded.  That is supposed to change eventually.  It's high on their list.  That will vastly improve performance. 

I'd say currently the biggest driver is mem.  Sounds like you have plenty. 

Next you need pipe.  I think I read something like 2 mbps up per client slot is recommended?  Can't remember.  Might be on the Dedicated Server download page listing recommendations.

Iron is a gearhead.  Ping him.

[AKIron]

A DCS server doesn't require much horsepower. Much less than a client machine. You can host a multiplayer session on the same machine you are playing the game on but if more than a few people connect then a dedicated machine for server would be better. I don't know what the bandwidth requirements are but 50mbps up is probably enough to host 15 -20 people, maybe more.

There is separate software for a dedicated server. ED does list recommended hardware somewhere on their site.

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/downloads/world/server/#:~:text=Recommended%20system%20requirements%3A%20OS%2064,Mbps%20internet%20connection%20or%20better.

[RichardDarkwood]

I pay $65 a month for a 16-player server

That comes with setup and service that cannot be matched anywhere. I have a good friend who is stationed at the Embassy in Kuwait, and he is able to log into the server with no issues or lag. Same goes for my friends in Europe. Yeah, it's a little pricey but the quality is outstanding.

[Mayhem]

Do you lease the servers or physically own them?

We own ours.

Funny thing about our servers, we have to list them under "VF81 - VB81" it appears that the word "Damned" is a bad word and if your server has a bad word in it's name it won't be publicly listed, and I guess we wanted to make our servers public.

We currently have ...

VF81 - VB81 | Dynamic Training Server (Day) | Caucasus Map
VF81 - VB81 | Dynamic Training Server (Night) | Caucasus Map
VF81 – VB81 | Persian Plunge (PVE Campaign) | Persian Gulf Map
VF81 – VB81 | Sinai Shenanigans (PVE Campaign) | Sinai Map
VF81 – VB81 | Syrian Siege (PVE Campaign) | Syria Map
VF81 – VB81 | HARDCORE Syria (PVE Campaign) | Syria Map
VF81 – VB81 | WWII – Normandy Nightmare (PvPvE) | Normandy Map

https://spectre.securitytactics.com:352/digital-combat-simulator/damned-servers/

[Meatwad]

What are the specs of the servers you run?

[Mayhem]

What are the specs of the servers you run?

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5975WX
1TB RAM
3Gbps Up/Down internet + backup ISP

[CptTrips]

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5975WX
1TB RAM
3Gbps Up/Down internet + backup ISP

Show-off.

 

[Animl-AW]

What are the specs of the servers you run?

Whata dcs puddle of vomit this has turned into. You cannot support the AC you push. Period. You may be lucky to get any new AC from this point. You bomb other sims with your nonsense. Its also way more costly than .50 per day. You need a faster machine. Its an investment whos future is in question, maybe more so than AH. The word elitist comes to mind.

Pummeling another sim is low class. By former players who haven’t played in years is mental mush.

Doesn’t matter what ya did in the past, the ones who maintain class aren’t here doing this. The 5 regulars are just disgusting low class rodents. They earned the AH player respect, zero. No one would miss them. These are pinheads who love to be hated, its a life goal, they thrive on being hated. In RL they prolly have deep issues with ppl around them.

They have next to zero support from AH players to do this crap. So they spit in everyone’s face and laugh while they of it anyway. They are proud to piss everyone off here. Zero respect earned, zero delivered.

Your sim is costly, now unsupported ac, and boring as sin. Elitest know it alls. No thanks. If this is what us there, absolutely not. Dense has reached record highs.

The majority doesn’t want your elitist stink here.

From what I read, refund consist of only getting another plane.

We don’t care if you don’t like this sim. We do. We don’t care if you don’t want to play, we do. We can’t bomb dcs wiyh equal bs. You do, just to be mean spirited idiots. Its not that you have friends hete, ya ruined that. You’re just here to spit on us with dcs bs. No one would miss you.

[Bruv119]

SO what does Aces High has that almost no other flight sim have ....

Large Mass Multi-player arenas, one of the most complete WWII aircraft/vehicle/vessel sets, one of the best implementations of VR, a solid connection to the Air Warrior community from way back and you don't need a beast of a machine to run it.

As I have stated before while DCS and IL2 are multiplayer games, they are not Mass Multi-player games.You need player owned/rented servers and even then, most games cap you at about 80 players max per server, Even AWIII on Gamestorm could handle more than that back in the late 1990s. The highest player cap I have ever seen on a DCS server is 255 and I Honestly doubt those servers could actually handle that many before having issues. AHIII can handle something like 500-1000 per Arena.

Aces High if I'm not mistaken has the largest plane set available to a new user from day one without a grind. Warthunder is a freemium game with most of the plane set requiring a grind and/or is behind a paywall. Il2 you buy the game (And some of the other assets) and DCS you pay by the asset (Module) and while it's aircraft are the most realisticly simulated it's WWII plane set is the most limited of the major multiplayer combat flight sims.

AHIII has one of best implementations of VR in a flight sim ... I can still use my Views with VR and I can't stick my head through the canopy.

Aces High III and especially the Aces High Bulletin Board have the highest concentration of Old Air Warrior and Especially old Aces High (Golden age = mid to late 2000s) then any where else on the internet.

Lastly Aces High III can run on an old 10 year old gaming rig and can even do VR on similar systems.

Unfortunately what people are looking for is either ease of entry with awesome graphics or high realism with awesome graphics. Aces High does not have awesome graphics and is somewhere between "ease of entry" and "high realism".

Other players have suggest that Aces High Needs to catch people on the way from Warthunder to IL2/DCS, which is hard without the pretty pretty bling bling Every other game has.

from my limited experience of DCS (haven't had time to play anything)  there was an organised one life event that had around 110 humans in the server, however it was choking that 80 player max mark seems as best their current server setup appears to allow.   4YA is focused on historical activity so flights and action can be few and far between.  in the past burning skies brought about what I would call an AH like furball arena the map didn't matter just 3 objectives on each team to destroy where the focus was largely on getting kills.  Until DCS start operating an official server with higher number caps leaving arena setup to the community is a recipe for trouble.   Can you imagine what AH would look like today if HT would attempt to follow every wish and whim of all of us crazy people.   

I'm hopeful of getting a VR headset and just appreciating the beauty of AH and DCS.  IL2 has been basic everytime i poked my head in.