Tutorial UI
Now that you have started a new campaign, let's go through the UI to get an understanding of what the various elements & buttons do.
use browser zoom function to see all details on the picture above
Buttons from left to right
- New Game - starts the process of a new campaign as described in the Getting Started guide.
-
Open - Load a previously saved campaign file
*.liberation - Save - Save the currently active campaign
- Discord Server - Link to the DCS Liberation Discord server
- Github Repo - Link to the DCS Liberation Github repository (code & wiki)
- Settings - opens current campaign settings dialogue
- Stats - opens current campaign statistics dialogue
- Notes - opens the campaign notes
Displays information about ...
- selected factions
- current turn number including date and time
- weather forcast
pro tip: If you mouse hover over the weather forecast, you will get information about the cloud base altitude
Provides access to ...
- Budget - opens finances dialogue, showing income sources and amounts
- Intel - opens intelligence dialogue, showing details on the air & ground forces numbers (can also show enemies data)
- Misc - opens air wing dialogue, showing details about squadrons and the inventory
Lets you ...
- check the number of available human player slots, as set up via the planning panel
- Pass turn - skip turn
- Take off - opens the mission dialogue
Read the information given in this dialogue carefully!
Here you can edit/remove packages and flights of various types
Check out the details on available task types
Here you can see the campaign map with the following elemtens
- A - Ruler - meassure distances, similar to the DCS F10 map feature
- B - Overlays - enable/disable various overlays as shown below
- C - Display filters - enable/disable various filters
Showing system output
General information
- You can hover the mouse over a point of interests to get details
- Every point of interest will get a name assigned, e.g. CATFISH, ROACH, SILKWORM, for easy identification and reference
Friendly airbase
You can left click on a friendly airbase to open airfield management dialogue
- buy/sell aircraft
- buy/sell ground units (HQ static defences)
- initiate unit transfers
You can right click on a friendly airbase to open the mission planning dialogue
- setup BARCAP missions
Enemy airbase
You can left click on an enemy airbase to open the airfield dialogue
- Intel - Attack airfield
- Departing convoys - show departing convoys and order an attack on them
FOB = Forward operation base
Since version 5.x , FOBs host FARPs that can be used for rotorwing operations.
You can left click on a friendly FOB to open FOB management dialogue
- buy/sell ground units (HQ static defences)
- buy/sell rotorwing aircraft (Heliport)
- initiate unit transfers
- IF he FOB is the control point closest to the frontline, you can set the frontline ground units stance, e.g. defining their speed of advancement
Lines to and from a FOB:
- red line indicates route to the frontline
- white line indicates friendly convoy/supply route
Objective locations are structures of various types.
Those structures yield income for the player/enemy, depending on ownership.
Right clicking an enemy objective location will open the strike mission planning dialogue.
Enemy buildings are automatically captured when the nearby airbase or FOB has been captured. They can't be repaired after capturing them, so be smart about strikes.
Friendly SAM sites
Enemy SAM sites
Damaged SAM sites will show a "health bar" underneath the icon.
In the example above, you can see the friendly FOB in dark blue, surrounded by SAM sites and static defences. A red line leading up to the front (orange bar), going further to the right, leading to the next enemy control point. This red line is a representation of the supply route to the frontline. Note that the actual route taken by convoys has nothing to do with where the red line is placed. That is purely for aesthetics. The orange bar indicates a frontline. A campaign can have multiple frontlines, depending on the campaign setup.
You can right click on a frontline to open the mission planning dialogue.