Getting started

How to get DCS Liberation?

Download:

You have two choices, either download a stable or a preview release:

1. Stable release
2. Preview builds

Installation:

1. Extract the zip file to any directory other than Program Files and Program Files (x86). C:\Users<Username>\Saved Games\ is a recommended location (it would look like C:\Users<Username>\Saved Games\dcs_liberation\ when you're done). This will be the install directory. It should preferably be a directory that's accessible without requiring Administrator privileges. Otherwise, in the shortcut's compatibility tab, select "Run this program as an administrator".
2. Then launch liberation_main.exe to launch DCS Liberation.

First launch splash screen

Important Note before you launch DCS Liberation :

DCS Liberation will modify the following file in your DCS installation: <DCS Installation Directory>/Scripts/MissionScripting.lua. This allows Liberation to record information about mission events. This will not prevent you from passing the integrity check to join multiplayer servers.

This file will be modified whenever DCS Liberation is opened and the original will be replaced when DCS Liberation is closed.

You must always launch DCS Liberation before you launch DCS.

If you don't, DCS will load the file before it is changed and DCS Liberation will not be able to retrieve mission progress.

If DCS performs an update after you have already launched Liberation, you should relaunch Liberation and DCS after the update is complete. This is because the update will have overwritten the MissionScripting.lua file that Liberation had modified.

Permanently modifying this file (e.g. editing it and setting it to read only) is not recommended as connecting to multiplayer servers with an unsanitised MissionScripting.lua is a potential security risk. This is why Liberation replaces the file with the original upon exit.

Experienced users can also disable the automatic modification of the MissionScripting.lua. This can be achieved by leaving the DCS Installation Directory preference empty.

Warning: If you leave the DCS Installation Directory empty, you have to manually edit the MissionScripting.lua. Otherwise DCS Liberation can not work properly. This is only recommended for expert users. A description on how to manually edit the file can be found in the Dedicated-Server-Guide.

Start your first campaign

New Game

In the top left corner, click on File --> New Game to start the new campaign wizard.

Introduction

Click on next to start campaign configuration

Theater configuration

Choose your campaign/map and start date

1. Choose your campaign (implies the DCS map)
2. Campaign author & remarks
3. Performance impact
4. Invert Map - Inverts the factions starting positions
5. Time period / starting date (start date will affect weapon availability if turned on via options at a later stage)

Faction selection

You can use the default factions shown (what the author intended) or choose your Player Faction and Enemy Faction. Note that the list of available aircraft is what's available for the campaign designer and not necessarily what will be available in the campaign.

Generator options

Select any additional generation options you'd like to use. Note that the supercarrier option can be enabled or disabled later in the game settings.

Generator settings:

• No Aircraft carriers - select if you don't want any CVNs in your campaign, even if the faction you selected has them available
• No LHA - select if you don't want any LHAs in your campaign, even if the faction you selected has them available
• Use Supercarrier module - if you own the DCS Supercarrier module, you can select which CVN type will generated in your campaign
• No Player Navy - select whether you want combat ships in your campaign being generated or not
• No Enemy Navy - select whether you want enemy combat ships in your campaign being generated or not

Mod settings:

• If you want any of these mods considered during your campaign generators, please select accordingly
• You are required to have the selected mods already installed and operational prior to DCS Liberation campaign generation

Difficulty and automation options

Economy options:

• Player income multiplier - defines the multiplier of the player per-round income which depends on the type and number of objectives held
• Enemy income multiplier - defines the multiplier of the enemies per-round income which depends on the type and number of objectives held
• Player starting budget - amount of available money at the beginning of the campaign, to procure aircraft / ground units
• Enemy starting budget - amount of available money at the beginning of the campaign, to procure aircraft / ground units

Player assists:

• Automate runway repairs - system will automatically repair player owned, destroyed runways if enough budget is available
• Automate front-line purchases - system will automatically buy front-line ground units
• Automate aircraft purchases - system will automatically buy aircraft

The system currently will spend 50% on aircraft and 50% on ground unit purchases

Adjust difficulty and economy options as desired. A greater budget and income multiplier for the enemy will increase campaign difficulty. Note that more purchasing power can result in the campaign becoming busier as more units such as aircraft and vehicles appear during play. If this affects FPS, try reducing the income multipliers.

The player assists section enables automatic management of repairs and purchases so the player can focus on other aspects of the campaign. These options can be toggled later in the game settings. These options are described in detail in the manual.

Conclusion

Air Wing Configuration aka Squadrons

The list of available squadrons is affected by the following factors:

• Campaign configuration, done by the campaign author
• Chosen faction
• Available squadrons (custom & auto generated)

See Air wing configuration for more details.

If you are happy with your choices, close the squadrons window and trigger the campaign generation.

Voila! Your campaign has been generated! We recommend you save your game at this point.