DCS Integration

OpenKneeboard supports integration with DCS, including:

  • a clock in OpenKneeboard’s footer showing the current mission time, both in local time and zulu time
  • various tabs showing files or data related to the current mission

Supported Files (Pages)

OpenKneeboard aims to look for kneeboard files in the same location as DCS’s built-in kneeboard, however it is only able to display image files; it is not able to display any kneeboard pages written in Lua; for example, these are not supported, and are unlikely to be supported in any future version:

  • generated charts
  • carrier landing grading
  • built-in kneeboard page that control the aircraft or its’ payload

Configuration

DCS must be listed in OpenKneeboard Settings -> Games, and the ‘Saved Games’ path must be correct. If you have any trouble, check the troubleshooting guide; if the steps there don’t resolve your problems, check out Getting Help.

The clock and DCS tabs are shown by default; if you have removed the DCS tabs, you can re-add them by opening OpenKneeboard Settings -> Tabs, then either:

  • restore the default tabs
  • click ‘add tab’, and pick the tab type you want to add

The ‘DCS Aircraft’ Tab

This will show any image files for the current aircraft, from:

  • DCS saved games path\KNEEBOARD\aircraft
  • DCS installation path\Mods\aircraft\module\Cockpit\KNEEBOARD\pages
  • DCS installation path\Mods\aircraft\module\Cockpit\Scripts\KNEEBOARD\pages

‘aircraft’ and ‘module’ are usually the same; exceptions include:

  • The F-16C module in the DCS installation corresponds to the F-16C_60 aircraft in Saved Games
  • The FA-18C module in the DCS installation corresponds to the FA-18C_hornet aircraft in Saved Games
  • The AH-64D module in the DCS installation corresponds to the AH-64D_BLK_II aircraft in Saved Games

For example, I put my A-10C kneeboard images in C:\Users\fred\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\KNEEBOARD\A-10C_2.

You can see the full paths that OpenKneeboard is looking for files in Settings -> Tabs, with a tick or cross next to them showing whether or not the folder exists.

These paths are the same as the paths that DCS itself uses.

The ‘DCS Briefing’ Tab

This will show objectives, briefing images, briefing text, and weather from the current .miz file - the same content you see before starting the mission. It will also show the coordinates and magnetic variation at the bullseye, along with the A-10C CDU wind calculations at the bullseye (not your initial starting point) if you’re flying an A-10C.

It currently does not show forces, airfields, or frequencies.

This tab is mostly useful for missions or campaigns which do not include custom kneeboard images - which will appear in the ‘DCS Mission’ tab’ - but the weather and bullseye information here can be useful even with kneeboard images.

The ‘DCS Mission’ Tab

This will show any custom kneeboard images inside the .miz file; the .miz file is essential a zip file, and this tab shows any files that the mission designer has put inside the KNEEBOARD/IMAGES subfolder.

This could be empty, the same as the briefing images, or entirely different - this is up to the mission designer, and matches DCS’s built-in kneeboard.

The ‘DCS Radio Log’ Tab

This shows all radio or mission messages that include text, similar to the ‘Message History’ feature within DCS; it does not log any spoken radio messages from voice chat.

This is particularly useful for AI or scripted campaign JTAC 9-lines.

The ‘DCS Theater’ Tab

This will show any image files from:

  • DCS saved games path\KNEEBOARD\theater
  • DCS installation path\Mods\terrains\theater\Kneeboard

Most DCS maps do not include any kneeboard images.

DCS’s built-in kneeboard will only load kneeboard images for maps from the DCS installation path; OpenKneeboard also will load any from saved games for convenience.