The Personal Blog of Lennart Koopmann _
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Streaming

I'm regularly streaming the DCS World combat flight simulator on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/underscore_lennart/

You will usually find me on the Hoggit DCS multiplayer community, most likely the GAW server.

Gear

HOTAS

"HOTAS" means hands on throttle-and-stick and it's the most important thing for any flight simulator. I use the Logitech G Pro Flight X56 Rhino and absolutely love it. It has a pretty high price point, but there are cheaper alternatives available if you are just getting started

Be careful: This item is currently in high demand and prices tend to be very high in many online stores. Check list prices and also consider local stores.

Pedals

Pedals make a big difference but are not required to get started. They are great for taxiing, cross-wind landings or flying helicopters. I've recently added the Logitech G Pro Flight Rudder Pedals to my setup and so far I am really happy with them.

Same price warning as for the HOTAS applies here.

Head Tracking

In combat flight simulators, you have to be able to quickly look around the cockpit or, even more importantly, to look out of the window to follow a quickly navigating hostile aircraft. Using a key on your HOTAS is how most people get started, but after a while you'll want to add some real head tracking.

I use TrackIR but you can get started with opentrack and your front facing iPhone camera.

Headphones

My Corsair VOID RGB Elite Wireless headphones are most importantly very comfortable. You don't need any specifically sensitive or spatially accurate sound great for flight simulators. As long as the RWR warning sound pierces your brain, you will be OK.

Chair

After sitting on a cheap chair for too long, I switched to a Corsair T2 ROAD WARRIOR because it's comfortable, high quality and doesn't look as bad as many gaming chairs do in my opinion.

UPS

The power grid does not mix well with the very common storms down here, so sporadic power outages are not uncommon. A Cyberpower 1500VA UPS is able to power the whole streaming setup at full utilization for about 10 minutes during a power outage.

Streaming Gear

Gaming PC

Streaming PC

This is currently a powerful Intel NUC, but it can just barely handle the load to encode and stream 1080p. Looking into building an even smaller and cheaper PC that supports NVENC.

The monitor of the streaming PC is mounted on an adjustable monitor arm so I can move it out of the way when I'm not streaming. Peripherals are a Razer Huntsman Mini keyboard and Razer DeathAdder V2 mouse.