DCS Control 0.5.2 preview

New in 0.5.2:

• Pupil shift (experimental, eye-tracked Quad Views): when your eyes turn, each pupil moves a few millimetres, but DCS renders from fixed eye points, so near objects shift slightly against far ones as you look around. A new OpenXR layer renders each eye from where its pupil is, then hands the headset its own poses back. No GPU cost, off by default, not yet confirmed in flight; it has its own page and an in-flight switch (Ctrl+Shift+F10) to compare.
• Engine status in the headset: the diagnostic panel says whether all the engine optimizations are working, only some, none, or that you switched them off, and shows Pupil shift's state.
• Refresh rate read from Pimax Play as it runs (SteamVR on Sboys); no need to set it by hand.
• Engine Optimizations: they no longer sit idle in scenes with many views (the F-4), and the multi-threaded G-buffer covers 99.8-100 % of its passes there (22-33 % before).

Also in 0.5.1: a sturdier multi-threaded G-buffer, faster multi-threaded shadows, CPU Boost that follows DCS's own launcher, a working uninstall and a clearer interface.

DCS VR Control is now DCS Control. It is no longer only for VR: the CPU optimizations are for every pilot, on a monitor or with any headset. The VR features remain for Pimax headsets.

Early beta. Flown mostly on one PC so far (Pimax Crystal Super at 90 Hz, RTX 5090, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, DCS 2.9 Steam, single player). Expect rough edges and please report what you find.

For every pilot (monitor or any headset)

• Engine Optimizations: a small module DCS loads by itself from Saved Games takes CPU work off DCS's render and model threads (multi-threaded G-buffer and shadows, faster culling, leaner memory and state handling) with exactly the same image. About +50-60 % FPS depending on the scene and p95 −34 % at a busy VR airfield when DCS is CPU-bound (image verified identical pixel by pixel; with everything on, the GPU becomes the limit). Once applied it stays on every time DCS starts, also from Steam or a desktop shortcut.
• CPU Boost (optional): DCS priority and core placement from DCS's own CPU ranking, plus a fix for DCS's terrain prefetch loop (≈1.7 cores freed in traces). The prefetch fix now also works when DCS starts from Steam.
• Free VRAM (optional): close VRAM-hungry apps before the flight and reopen them after.
• Optimizations only: for a monitor or any other headset. DCS runs exactly as you set it up; no OpenXR runtime, layer or VR option is touched.

For Pimax headsets

• Foveated rendering: bundled Quad-Views-Foveated (eye-tracked); the focus area follows your Pimax Play settings (Quick/Fine). Keep Quad Views on in Pimax Play.
• DLSS-NR ("DLSS 5") on the focus area only, through a modified Cheeky Foveated DLSS, with an optional smaller central area and an in-flight on/off hotkey. Bring your own nvngx_dlssnr.dll (tested 310.8); the app keeps a verified copy.
• Frame generation: OFXR (djules75 fork + DCS pacing patches). Auto 2×/3×, in-headset diagnostic panel with optional VRAM counter and Engine and Pupil shift lines.

One-click Launch DCS and Back to stock DCS (every file and setting the app touched goes back).

Download

• DcsControl-0.5.2-preview-win-x64.zip: the app (self-contained .NET). Unzip it anywhere: inside are only DcsControl.exe, Install DCS Control.cmd, README.txt and a files folder that stays next to the exe. Double-click DcsControl.exe; Install DCS Control.cmd adds it to the Start menu (and replaces an earlier DCS VR Control install; your backups and profiles are kept). Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (tested on 11). Needs the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, which the installer adds if missing.
• DcsControl-0.5.2-preview-sources.zip: complete corresponding source, including the modified OFXR (LGPL-3.0) and Cheeky (GPL-3.0) components.

Please note

• Single player only so far: the app places a dxgi.dll loader (and optionally dxgi2.dll) in DCS's bin folder and, with Engine Optimizations, a hook in Saved Games\DCS\Scripts. Multiplayer and integrity checks are untested; use Back to stock DCS before joining a server or updating DCS.
• Start the app from the Start menu or Explorer.
• Frame generation adds latency, especially in 3×.

See the README and docs/USER_GUIDE.md. Support: https://ko-fi.com/nigos