fyyyyy / dcs-for-msfs

Connecting DCS Flight Model with Microsoft Flight Simulator

DCS for MSFS

Bringing the DCS Flight Model to Microsoft Flight Simulator.

See it in action on youtube.

See installation options.

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Tested Aircraft

Working

Tested aircraft combos are

1. DCS F-18 -> MSFS Standard F-18 ( The SuperWarrior F-18 Mod does not work well - collision issues )
2. DCS UH-1 -> MSFS UH-1 Gunship free download
3. Grinnelli F-22 -> MSFS F22 free download
4. Heatblur F-14 -> DCdesigns F-14 ( wing sweep and tail hook not synched on external model. wing sweep is controlled by MSFS logic and roughly the same as DCS)
5. ANY other aircraft combo MAY work out of the box, just special mechanics unique to the aircraft may not be synched in MSFS.

External control surfaces, gear, speedbrakes if available are synchronised. Most avionics instruments work in MSFS correctly, other instruments like engines, hydraulics etc probably dont work yet. If you want click buttons in the cockpit, do it inside DCS not MSFS. Or bind them to your HOTAS. Most of the cockpit controls in MSFS are not yet synched to DCS. So the aircraft you select in MSFS doesn't matter, as long as you like the exterior and cockpit model. It's purely cosmetic.

Not Working

• The MSFS H-60 Mod unfortunately does not work yet, leading to a crash of MSFS. Developers were contacted.
• The SuperWarrior F-18 Mod does not work well due to collision issues. Use the standard MSFS F-18 instead.

Takeoff and Landing

Landing / Takeoff is not possible unless you run python DCS_MSFS_CONNECT.py DCS which sets MSFS world position to the same location as DCS. This is also ideal for comparing scenery between DCS and MSFS, for example Marinas below:

We're working on a solution to allow takeoff and landing even when flying in different world locations in DCS vs MSFS

VR

VR was tested and works. Note, there is no reason that it shouldn't work, as you are running regular MSFS in VR. DCS should run in 2D, so you need to bind your important buttons and controls to a HOTAS system. Interacting with VR cockpit buttons in MSFS does not yet have any effect on DCS

Weapons

When you fire a weapon in DCS, it is not yet shown in MSFS. Our goal is to make them visible in MSFS as well, but this requires 3D models, textures and effects to be created.

AI

AI aircraft from DCS are not shown in MSFS. Only the player aircraft is synchronised. We plan to extend the capabilities to synch DCS AI aircraft into MSFS. This would allow dogfights inside MSFS as the presentation layer, while all the logic and physics are calculated by DCS.

Installation

The version on GitHub is only for developers with python3 installed. Regular users please go to itch.io to download a compiled exe.

Script

This is just to download, not install.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fyyyyy/DCS-for-MSFS/master/install.sh | bash

MSFS

• Open a terminal / powershell window. Prefarably a shell that supports color (you can get one of those by going to the start menu and typing "cmd" or PowerShell)
• Type python (or python3 depending on what is currently installed) and enter. If python is not installed, Microsoft Store will open. I recommend using a different solution to install python 3
• At the Windows command prompt install Flask: pip install -U Flask
• Install Python-SimConnect: pip install SimConnect
• Start MSFS, span mid air 1000-5000 ft MSL with a similar aircraft that you fly in DCS. But it can also be a totally different aircraft, as it's flight physics are disabled in MSFS.
• Run python DCS_MSFS_CONNECT.py in the MSFS folder.
• IMPORTANT: Set MSFS General Options > Camera > HOME COCKPIT MODE > ON. Otherweise the camera will jitter on rolls
• Create a new joystick binding to unset all joystick controls. We dont want joystick controls to interfere with MSFS
• Preferably mute MSFS audio and listen to the sound from DCS

DCS

• Add the line in DCS/Export.lua to your DCS/Scripts/Export.lua or copy the file if it doesn't exist
• Copy the entire DCS For MSFS folder into DCS/Scripts/DCS For MSFS
• If you run DCS on a different machine, it must be connected via Wifi or LAN to the same network. Enter the IP address you see when running the python script in the DCS/Scripts/Dcs For Msfs/config.lua file.
• If you run DCS on the same machine (not recommended) make sure you set it to LOWEST graphics and resolution. If you have a laptop, set DCS to be rendered with the * INTERNAL graphics card if available.
• With the python script running and already connected to SimConnect, start a DCS mission 1000-5000ft MSL. If you want to save render frames in DCS, go to F10 ingame map this will save about 30-50% CPU and GPU