In this short DCS: F-16C Viper video, we’ll be discussing the new option to select how the control stick Flight Control System dead zone and force gradient is calculated. Until now, the dead zone and force gradient has been calculated based on the actual F-16C FLCS input logic. However, this has been best used with Force Sensitive sticks, and not self-centering, spring-loaded sticks that the vast majority of DCS pilots use.

In the last update, we added the option to either use the actual dead zone and force gradient settings for the F-16C or one that mimics your Axis Tuning values.

Select the Option gear icon, then the Special Tab, and finally the F-16C.

When enabled for pitch and roll, the actual FLCS control gradient is used, and best for force sensing sticks. When not enabled, it uses a linear gradient and best for traditional self-centering sticks.

When enabled, the pitch dead zone is also set to a realistic value of 4.375% and roll dead zone of 5.9%, but again, this is best used for force sensitive sticks. If not enabled, the dead zone will mimic your Axis Tuning dead zone setting.

Please be careful when setting the dead zone if you are not sure about the centering of your joystick. A dead zone setting of just 0% could result in commanded inputs like disabling autopilot. Remember that even a little control stick input can result in disabling the autopilot.

From the Special Tab, you also can manually set pitch and roll dead zone values.

We hope that this improvement will better allow players, regardless of their control stick type, to get the maximum performance out of their DCS Viper.