DCS - Track IR to Virtual Reality - my experience so far 

hey phil, nice video boss good to see the focus on world war 2 stuff.

Playing in V.R. (anything) adds SO much to the gaming experience for me. Early tech, but it's amazing and will only get better.

My god Phil, those Jugs at the beginning..... Absolutely gorgeous! Hope to see you in the P-47 some more soon :)

I'll be back to watch this enterely ❤..i promised u..keep up to good work by sharing all of this.. thanks bro

Great vid Phil. I would say that I share a lot of similar frustrations with VR. However they are more directed at *DCS's* implementation of VR. For example I have far fewer complaints (and far more frames) in IL2:GB for example. Also really liked what you said about the human/heuristic brain experience; about your body naturally expecting sensations etc. For me, the next step I found was adding transducers and SimShaker. I've rumbles in my sticks and throttle. Vibrations feel so natural and so "right" that now, when its ever turned off, my brain feels like something is wrong, or the engine died, or I'm flying dead stick. I would 1000% recommend transducer experience.

I played flight sims back in the 90s, with the Aces series. I loved it, but found it incredibly frustrating and disappointing playing in 2D. There was just a complete lack of immersion, detail, and depth. VR changed all that. I tried again with a Vive and the resolution just wasn’t there. But after getting an Index, the experience finally holds up. I’m looking forward to improved resolution, forested rendering, and much improved video cards that should make the experience even better over the next few years.

Terrific video, I have both track IR and the G2..the tinkering for VR can and has been frustrating. But you make valid points around the VR experience..and its worth pursuing. I hope the next gen of GPUs will better this experience also.. 👍

I have the Oculus Rift S running on a 1070TI, works fine, obviously have the setting tuned down. I can't agree more with this VR experience summary. It's sometimes a pain to use but so worth it when it does. The majority of my key bindings are around W,A,S,D because I can find those keys in my sleep. It's also worth having a microfiber cloth handy for when the sweat gets on the lens.

This made me chuckle! Re the nose diving and ground handling, When taxing too fast and apply too much brake my body ALLWAYS prepares for that lurch forward, and when diving it took me a long while to push that nose forward. I used to roll inverted and pull the nose down to maintain positive G !?!

Hey Phil- great vid on VR! I’ve been flying VR for a few years now, but my problem was the weight of the VR cord pulling on my head or it getting caught on chair- my solution was to get a floor standing lamp, you know the ones that have the springs on the separate arms so you can articulate it any way you want. Well I took the lamp part off and put a short pice of PVC so VR cord runs through it. Bingo- no more VR cord weight and cord never gets stuck or tangled. Immediate differences for the better

A well considered and thoughtful video. 😎🇨🇦

gs makes some kick ass thumbnails great vids too. subbed thanks for the info!!!

Excellent analysis!

I know what you mean about adjusting to flying. Just dipping my nose down to bomb or strafe really makes me more careful. On a 2d screen you don’t get that feeling of the ground rushing in closer as you dive down.

Cheers. Thanks Phil 👌

Very cool talk through

nice explanation of what VR is cabaple these days and what are the draw backs. I fly in VR since Rift CV1 and never changed back to monitor. To my excuse im only flying non competition single Player and only MP with friends that also own a VR Headset. For me and in regards to my system its ok but the resolution have to increase. Like you said, waiting for the next generation of Videocards. Ive build me a few buttonboxes wich helped alot with keys. Also an awesome addition to VR and DCS is a Jetseat ForceFeedback thing for your chair. I was flying a few times a small airplane myself and now my setup is nearly as close to reality as i can afford. Maybe some time later i spend a few 1000 bucks on a small motion platform. Than i guess its as close to real Life flying as it can be. btw thx for all the good content from your channel and keep going

Now save up for the jet pad seat cushion. Another complete game changer. Feel the rumble of the runway, feel the gear and flaps in transit, feel the buffet at your stall limit. Its an amazing bit of hardware. Good video Phil.

Two things on performance. It’s always worse online compared to offline content. Secondly, lower shadow quality a lot and you will get much better fps. But yes, Il2 has much better optimisation for vr in my experience.

Call HP support for a new version 2 cable for the Reverb G2. I had the same USB issues with the same X570 MB. The new cable solved it. They will send a new cable for free if it’s under warranty. It arrived in 2 days.

Very interesting, thank you.

The hair thing I mitigate by using a Under Armor skull cap (I originally got it to keep my hair out of the way in my hockey helmet). It also keeps my facial interface clean since it covers my forehead as well.

Well done sir.....

I had VR for half a year, I can't wait to get back into it. Even with all the compromises that you mentioned it was night and day in terms of immersion and feeling of flight. If I flew in MP more, I would be more worried about its limitations though (spotting, a/c recognition, effective visibility range)

Been flying in VR since 2017.. still using my CV1 :) like others have mentioned get a desk fan for dealing with the sweat. and when you have the canopy open you will even feel the wind in your hair :)

When you get to the next new aircraft which you learn in VR only, It makes a huge difference and very hard to start flying it in 2D.

@phil style Where did you buy the vr headset and how much did it cost? Or can anyone else tell me the cheapest I can buy it in the uk

spatially, my brain just loved it. Haha, what i time we live in, ya?

Regarding the section on performance/visual quality, did you feature the background footage with the settings you would run in 3d?

I know this video is about warbirds, but playing helicopters in DCS in VR is so much easier because you're getting that 3D vision and perception!

Really on Point what i mention about VR in "War" Flight Sims. I tried it Back an forth. For me also IR is the better choice.

Interesting to hear about the G2 perspective, I always imagined it'd be quite a bit more hassle to get setup with the WMR and SteamVR combo needing to run, its a bit simpler with my Rift S, where just the oculus software needs to run that starts automatically when I put my headset on, initial setup was also not very difficult for me. Totally agree on the controls, can be a bit annoying at times, especially since I use a center mount which means I'm even further away from my desk when I fly, to help with this I've bound Left and Right click in the DCS UI Controls to buttons on my throttle, which helps a lot. I then just have to look at the switch and press, instead of needing to lean forward to find and then click the mouse.

Hi phil, thx for the vid. Could you do a video about your graphic settings in the nvidia panel, steam vr and dcs? I have almost the same specs as you and I am interested how you manage your graph settings. I am also flying in vr with g2

Wonderful

When is vulcan being released for dcs is greatly needed I have i9900k 5ghz 32gb memory and a 3080 with reverb g2 and its not as good as it used to be with my older headsets

I suppose since I went with the Valve Index I never encountered any of the VR issues you mentioned when it came to software since everything worked out of the box. In fact I found that trying to get into Track-IR to be even harder due to lack of supply or the need to build my own setup by kitbashing components like a PS4 camera and the obtuse software and setting up curves just to use my temporary face tracking.

Setup for me with the Reverb G2, plug in, install windows mixed reality, install steamVR, play DCS. It took about 15 minutes.

with my current VR setup i can spot aircraft at about 25 to 30 nm, it depends on the weather conditions and the type of aircraft itself though.

Do you remove your hand from the stick to manipulate the mouse?

Yes the usb issue on the reverb was really annoying. My main con for vr is that any plane more than 200m away is just so fuzzy for me. Cockpit stuff is fine.

Great video away even though I disagree with a lot of what you said about VR and its setup and comfort, the only comment I will say is that its not the GPU or CPU that is at fault it really is DCS, its just old technology and needs to improve, its way behind the eightball now on how well VR can run. So it seems the conclusion to me is it helped you get a closer to a real life fighter pilot experience and having all the limitations that they had with the SA and using their combat AC in real life, this seems to me what you really like with DCS and it seems you are there, glad you are sticking with VR, ED could make DCS have VR limitations in the cockpit I just think they are too lazy to implement it. If DCS can improve their game with performance upgrades to the core engine then the mainstream rig you have should run VR really well, I had that setup 6 months ago and it ran fine, I threw money at a 3090 and new CPU for DCS and it most defiantly was not worth it my opinion as im more gutter that DCS didnt preform that much better vs the $$$ I spent.

Definitely understand the performance issues with VR right now. It is still maturing as a system, and has some issues to resolve. I'm trying to run VR with a 1080 Ti, so I know what you mean about the performance trade-off. I will, however, recommend you give Il-2 Flying Circus a try in VR. I've found that to be the game currently best suited to VR. The aircraft are simple, the engagement ranges are short, and because all the flying is seat of the pants and eye-balling it, it plays to VR's biggest strengths. Just pop into the quick battles for an 8v8 and you'll see what I mean.

Why don't you try using the built in headphones and mic on the g2? I have the same headset and never had a problem with them.

Phil, can you post your settings somewhere. I basically have the same system as you and I don’t think I am getting the experience you are. I wouldn’t say my cockpit readability is as clear as you describe

I copied and pasted this from my other comment: In regards to performance, an option that helped me is turning motion reprojection on. It cuts the FPS in half but only renders every other frame. So in theory you get the same FPS for half the cost. Some people say they notice artifacts but I personally never have. You have to make sure you download the “Steam VR for WMR (Windows Mixed Reality)” in addition to Steam VR. You can locate the options for this on the bottom left of the steam vr panel and turn it to “always on.” Open XR in MSFS 2020 has the same but it actually renders every 3rd frame. I think Big Newy said Eagle Dynamics is looking to properly integrate Open XR so you’ll be able to rener every 3rd frame instead of every frame or every 2nd frame using Steam VR motion repro. I use motion repro in Open XR while flying MSFS 2020 and again, some sim pilots complain of artifacts but I do not experience this. Additionally, there was a downloadable shaders mod that greatly increased performance in DCS 2.5. I used this on my old rig (i73820 and 2060 Super) and I had settings set pretty liberally (medium/medium high graphics and 120% SS with reprojection turned on) and I was almost getting smooth settings. I was also playing the f-15c fc2 Georgian Campaign. There was also a script mod to fix that campaign. The script mod in conjunction with the shaders mod had a major impact on performance. I’ll do some research to see if there is an updated 2.7-friendly shader mod for VR. ****Edit***** This is the shaders mod. I haven’t tried it myself but it’s made by the same person (who also makes Vr Shaders mods for other titles (e.g. Dirt 2)): www.kegetys.fi/dcs-vr-shaders-mod-update-12/

P-47’s!!! I still want a full multiplayer mission featuring jugs though!

Hey phil, I have a question, should I get the fw190d or the bf109 k4 as my first warbird? Would be nice if you would answer because I can `t decide

18:50 my fav gotta be after a sortie and taxi coming to a full stop. My oh my :D

I have had the same issue with keyboard access and solved it by using voicemacro... a voice command program (a bit like voice attack) and it helps a lot and adds some roleplay style. And for the heating, it has a good side for me, by forcing me to take some rest...

Very close to mine. Key differences for me is the GFX Card and the head set. I have a 3070 Ultra and an Index. I can't play flying games without VR anymore. Note, if you have an index you don't need to have multiple programs running, just Steam VR.

I will only fly in VR despite the draw backs. The feeling and immersion is worth it.

Phil, Have you tried using hat switches for cockpit interaction? I have heard of Sim Pilots doing this. I am currently awaiting my backordered x-56 so I haven’t been able to try this as I am limited to my competent yet basic Thrustmaster T. Flight Hotas X.

I use a quest 2 and it’s very simple to set up. All I had to do was have the Oculus software and a USB 3 allowing me to go into pcvr and then launch the game. It’s was no different than playing any other pcvr game from what I remember.

Sitting in the actual cockpit is worth all the headaches. My samsung odyssey+ was easier than all the headaches you mentioned. I plugged in, opened steam vr and windows program and tuned down my settings and was in the air. There is now a mod you can download to add rotation so you do not have to turn completely around to see out the back. Called "neck safer" for use in steam vr or openXR. It allows you to add rotation degrees to your view. So if you turn 90 degrees and push the keybind, you can add an extra 45 degrees to your look back. So you do not have to turn around to turn around in game. As you mentioned I use the cockpit buttons so much more in VR than in 2D. I can look at the switches and use my mouse button. I use bindings much less. VR is as close to real flying as we can get. You can put as many monitors around you as you want, still feels like playing a game on a monitor.

Just came across this video, and think VR has come a long way even in a year. I started with a reverb VR1000 couple of years ago, and for that your video is spot on. However I just got a Pico 4 and its a real game changer for those with the hardware to run it. You need a heavy duty CPU/GPU, but setup is easy (tweaking is comparable with TIR), and pass through camera and image clarity means you don't have to leave VR once you have the headset on. Immersion is night versus day compared with TIR and even the old reverb. Biggest downside of VR for hardcore simmers, is going to be the need to leave their physical cockpits behind.

New g2 cables allow direct to mobo connections phil , hp are replacing them for free. If your g2 cable has a small power button on hub it's new one . Have some new tips from last we spoke and the sim is looking good , but yeah ... be is a ballache to set up lol. Cheers.

Personally I can't stand the motion sickness I get in VR. I've got the Oculus CV1 and the Valve Index. I was kind of hoping that the higher refresh rate of the Index would improve it and make me less nauseous. But it didn't work out for me. I know you can work towards not getting sick anymore, but it takes too much effort for me to get there. I haven't even connected my Index to my Ryzen 9 5900X with its RTX 3090 which I own since last year. For me TrackIR is the way to go.

VR is the way to go, you can't go back to head tracker afterwards. You just need to find someone who has experience with it and ask them for advice on the graphics settings. I found removing shadows gave me the best performance and I don't notice them missing. Yes, you'll get a sore neck after a while, but that's what happened to pilots in real life too. If you want immersion and realism, buy VR.

Good explanation, I want to get into this but I'm looking at the expense as well as the tech skill in setting up and thinking track IR is simple and cheap but how long would it hold me before I wanted to switch to VR. Any input here would be very welcome.

Even with all the limitations of VR, it still remains the real future of flight sims. I don't see anyway around that for real aviation enthusiasts. Better to get in on the ground floor and acclimate yourself to it as soon as possible, I think.

Finally I found a kiwi DCS youtuber!!!! Love it bro trying to decide between vr or track ir!

Talking about nausea and the reverb 2, I tried an old Oculus Rift before I bought my reverb 2 and it gave me lots of nausea, with the reverb 2 I get no nausea at all.

At 600 quid it's out of reach for me atm but on the other hand am happy with track IR atm Nice review

Whilst I agree that VR requires more stup time and headphones can add weight (I use good earbuds and don't feel I'm missing anything), at the end of the day it is about the experience. Yes it brings you into the real world physicalities/limitations of looking around but it also takes you into the total absorbtion of your surroundings - you are 'in' that world instead of looking 'at' it. Removing the 'cheat' of a 180 rear view given by TrackIR is, in combat, compensated by the need for the real world practice of good wingman flying so a disadvantage turns into an advantage of the real world combat experience. For pure simming such as MSFS2020 the environment can be stunning. It is still early days for VR and yes the technology clould do with an industry standard governing setups, resolutions, and pure guidance etc., but even now it isn't a huge effort to set it up and Phil's description of that is a little unfair. I have found it frustrating getting the best out of it but I think the manufacturers need to spend more time on that aspect and better guidance for a variety of game types. My greatest confusion comes from how in-game resolution marries with SteamVR resolution and, yes, the need for set-up restarts and unfortunately there are too many well meaning gurus out there all with their own unique angle on the subject. Very often what works for them doesn't always work for me. That is where the manufacturers need to step up. Bottom line is that for me the experience far exceeds TIR and I could never go back but in-HMD viewing (sweet spot etc) needs improvement. Wide FOV adds immensely to the experience, I have a Pimax and whilst I close the FOV to 150 degrees with no sense of loss, reducing it to 130 (which I believe is close to many of the other better HMDs) leaves me feeling as though my head is in a box. That's not a Pimax promotion, it's about the better experience of wide FOV. Of course you need top of the line equipment if you aren't to be disappointed but that's the price you pay for 'more'. So if you have an HMD I would say persevere until you get the best you can out of it or give up and stay with the lesser experience of TIR. Having said all that I have huge respect for Phil and his friends for the way they persevere with their mission designs going all the way back to the old IL-2 days.

Phil, I agree with all points and observations you mention in the video, beside one. "Our CPU and GPU have to catch up in order to allow our PC too bump the graphic options". I have 3090 and 3800x and I can assure you that problem is not in ours PC. The problem with low frame rate in DCS is not due high graphics scenes but old single threaded graphical engine of the game that still use DX9 in the core (with hack's). Try play other VR titles like HalfLife Alyx and you will clearly see that Vulkan API and multicore design of the engine is a must. Those titles have faaar superior graphics and still able to output 90FPS while my PC in DCS is struggling to hold 45. Creators like you should put much pressure on Eagle Dynamic in order to improve that by clearly pointing where the problem it's.

1000th like 🎉

Right on about the real world presents… i love the blacking out graphics. Check them out. I run a fan to cool myself , I get the red face but it keeps the sweat away. You don’t happen to work in plastics do you Phil?

I have a G2, a 3080 Ti and a 3700x and DCS runs pretty well at 70% resolution. I'll have to try FSR as that will probably make things even better. It seems like a bit more GPU grunt goes a long way in DCS VR. I got a USB button box which was designed for iRacing, it has buttons, rotating dials and toggle switches. The buttons are very tactile so I can feel what I'm pressing. There's a program for IL2 called "VR neck saver" which lets you press a joystick button and it rotates your VR view 180 degrees to easily check six. This doesn't currently work with DCS but the author says he's working on getting it to work. This will probably mostly solve issues checking six. Generally I agree with this video. You lose a bit of clarity bit you gain a lot of immersion and head movement is way easier in VR. I couldn't really go back to 2D.

Great to see you having made the jump :) 4:25 That's a pretty common mistake. The USB-C on graphics cards is a so-called Virtual Link port, which is made for connecting VR headsets - and especially that has lots of potential to confuse people since it seems to be an USB 3 Type C port and it somewhat does even work like that. It's an interface made for connecting them instead of having to use a HDMI or DP port transporting the video signal to the HMD - but none of the consumer headsets on the market do use that yet, they all come with either HDMI (mainly the older ones like Rift CV1 and the original VIVE) or DP. Also, probably because of that, nVidia dropped that port, the 30 series doesn't have it anymore. So you did just the right thing by taking a USB C port directly on your motherboard instead. Which again might get complicated when one doesn't have such a port. But the G2 ships with an adapter that fits into Type A ports for that matter, but that being one more possible source of errors. 5:30 I can tell by my own experience now: In the case of the G2 you're right. I've never been troubleshooting the stuff so much with my Rift though. Oculus has the advantage of being supported directly by DCS, so you install your Oculus software, connect the headset (which is trickier with the Quest ones using a link cable, IMHO using Virtual Desktop or Air Link is much easier and less troublesome), run DCS and have fun. The G2 however requires the WMR portal and SteamVR at the same time. By the way, it was just yesterday that I found something called "WMR TrayTool" which helps running all the needed things in proper order and also fix some issues that might come up. Just google it, it's great to have. 6:57 You might have heard that advice already: Set up a fan blowind at you, makes it much better and also helps against motion sickness issues if present :) 7:49 Same here. Not that I'm having real issues, but VR does make me move and work that stuff more which, in the end, is good thing, especially when having some spinal disc issues - as long as the movement doesn't hurt, of course. As a side note, there's a tool called "VR Neck Saver" which can be found on the Il-2 forums that makes it possible to shift the view to a set amount of degrees with some HOTAS binds. For example you can create bindings that turn your head by 60° or even 90° (left and right each), so you're easily able to check your six still by simply turning just 90° (which the neck alone can still do normally) and using that mapping. This probably is extremely valuable for people who do have issues with their mobility or simply can't turn around completely because of their room/simpit setup. I for one have the problem sitting on an office chair with wheels that's on a flat laminate floor - and it likes to just slide away when just using the pedals sometimes if I don't turn the base a bit while sitting at the right spot (so the wheels being perpendicular to their legs act a bit like a brake when trying to push the chair away), but it basically happens everytime I try to turn myself around with the whole upper body... 8:56 That will get better if you use a VR Pulley system for cable management. I just did a small trick though by pushing a part of that cable just inbetween the frame and the matress of my bed that's right behind me, so that the cable coming from there is just long enough for all movements. That already made it noticably better. For anyone being uncomfortable with cables, there's the Quest 2 with Air Link or the brilliant Virtual Desktop software which works well enough with a 866+MBit/s cabable router or access point in the same room. 9:12 That's really something to consider - the G2 has the same headset audio drivers that the Valve Index has, and those are clearly the best on the market. I'd say the only reasons to use a separate headset are to keep the noise to yourself (because of the open off-ear design of the VR headset's audio) or if you want to have a better mic as the G2's isn't the best out there. Personally, I prefer to use my 5.1 Teufel Concept E Magnum for flying and have the comms routed though the VR HMD's audio system, guess that is as real as it gets (cockpit noise coming from around you and headset audio coming through an actual headset, plus separate volume controls) - as long as that doesn't bother anyone in your house. 10:30 Same here, but I actually do use the VR controllers for that instead. Took a bit getting used to, but it's more intuitive in the end - I mean, you just grab a different device, but that one's not tied to your HMD screen, but the virtual room you're sitting in. So you just take the controller, point at the thing you want to switch (with the help of some sort of laser pointer, I know, this might break immersion for some) and do it. Having more troubles with the mouse, searching the cursor. There's also the PointCTRL thing that many prefer which kinda moves the mouse around with your hand/finger, definately worth checking out. BTW as for the keyboard, I still use it mainly for view controls, time control (well, in offline training) and things like the kneeboard. There's a good bunch of keys that's rather easy to find even if you don't see them, especially the F keys, cursor keys, the block above that, numpad, Ctrl, Shift, Alt, Spacebar... (basically anything at the edge of the main block) and even some of the letters (WASD and adjacent keys for example, or , . - ö ä # ü + on a German keyboard since they're right next to the bigger keys). That's one thing that also needs getting used to, but works well enough in the end. Of course, removing the nose flaps of the headset (if present) and looking though the small gap can also help, totally valid procedure :) 12:23 I also run my G2 at 60% SteamSS. That's 4912x2404 instead of 6336x3100 total res and makes a lot of difference on my 1080. 13:10 I can't see it either, just like many of the reviewers on RU-vid. That 2160x2160 per eye display really is glorious. I can still notice it somewhat in my Quest (1440x1600) and it's very noticable in the CV1 (1080x1200). If you really want to have no screendoor effect, you basically have to get either a Quest 2, Reverb G2 (or the old one, same res, but the overall headset isn't as good) or the VIVE Pro 2. 16:17 I guess you're still pretty good with the 2080ti there, since DCS is CPU bound a lot anyway - when the 30s were new, I've seen people not getting noticable performance increases because of that until they started tweaking things and using shader mods. I also don't thinkt that Vulkan alone will do that much, but it certainly will open some doors. The real gain will come from multi-threading and better VR support (single pass stereo especially, which can be enabled already, but still is WIP).

HP has relesed a new cable that solves the USB issues connectivity on AMD systems. Contact HP support, they will send the new rev2 cable!

The essential problem is that you have two simulations running on a monitor. You're simulating a 3D environment on a 2D surface. VR addresses this. This is also why pilots with lots of experience in actual high performance aircraft initially struggle with a flight sim on a monitor. Early VR had a major air sickness issue. This was actually a frame rate issue. When flying for real I could cure a passenger feeling airsick by having them take the stick. It's a control issue. Early VR had low frame rates which reduce the feeling of being in control.

Kinda new to DCS... is the ww2 aspect even really active? It definitely interests me but the amount of time and energy that goes into learning something in DCS really makes me worried I'll just be playing alone haha

The Reverb G2 has a faulty USB cable design that is very recently updated. I heard that HP is replacing the original cable with a new model that has no connection issues free of charge if you contact them. So might want to do that.

if you have revision 1 of the cable you must contact HP for new cable ask for a x570 cable

Добрый день, друг! Очень хочется летать онлайн на сервере с реальными людьми, но мой компьютер слабый. Ваша система актуальна для полетов на сервере на сегодняшний день? В России дорого стоит собрать хороший компьютер. А Ваша система на сегодняшний день бюджетная. Ваш процессор Ryzen 7 3700x?

Great comment, except for the setup with VR. I didn't find it problematic, and I own quite a few headsets. But the rest, I mostly agree.

I would argue that the fact of having to find or make a TrackIR profile would make VR less of a hassle for most people. Anyone I have talked to, with VR and coming from TrackIR, has said that VR requires far less set up and tweaking.

AS much as I love VR, You nailed it It's a f ing Annoyance Even with a 5800X & 3090, 32GB ram (waiting on 64GB) I have the impression I've outlived the whole 32GB is enough club on FUll server Online. There's no good guide from manufacturer, there is no Set Standard, It's just one big clusterfuck after a other, when it's not the game, it's the driver, When it's not the driver it's the OS, then Full loop back to The game. But The immersion is addictive....

The setup sounds like an issue with the G2. I have an oculus and the setup is much easier, you only need the oculus home program running and you do not need steamVR and it was just plug and play ONCE you have gone through the setup within oculus home which guides you through where you position your sensors and map out your VR area.

phil: *uses WMR headset* me: well there's your problem

I wonder... will this game work good with VR on my pc (Ryzen 5 5600x, Amd 5700xt 8gb, 32gb 3200 RAM)

Yes, upgrade. Wait for 12th gen and get yourself the 3000 series graphics card. Although, I had a Inno x4 Ichill 3080 Ti running "reverb g2" This vga blew up for an rtb. Heads up!

Fly a helicopter mission (e.g. land a Huey on an oil platform) with TrackIR and after that do it again in VR. This will tell you, which is better. Spoiler alert: The VR experience is so much more immersive and intuitive that you will fly better and also feel like a much better pilot. 😄 TrackIR has it's benefits but when you have tried VR once and got it working fine there is no going back in my opinion.

USBC TO USBC from the video card is the best way to go with VR.

Brave to get a G2 with those pc specs.

Il2 player here. In terms of programs running while playing. it depends entirely. The Vive platform, and th index dont require anything other than steam vr to operate. while oculus needs the oculus app and all the others work through windows mixed reality in the end the performance hit is actually very apparent. Those programs(at least in the case of oculus) beat my performance down. I switched to a vive from a rift s. On top of no extra programs, there is a lower res per eye in the vive. but i was abe to counter act that with heavy antialiasing and supersampling. keeping at 90fps experience with that varies on headset and hardware 3070 ryzen 7 5800x 16 gb 3600mhz ddr4 ram ran off of hdd

Most problems listed are windows MR headset specific a valve index is much better and the wider field of view is better for flight sims

You will never GO BACK !

Hi Phil, I'm in the process of switching over to DCS from IL2, or at least giving DCS a serious try. I'm mostly flying the Dora, I have been on Storm of War a couple times. I have two questions I can't figure out. 1. How do I end the mission? After I land I don't see any option to end and go to a debrief screen. I can exit the server or the game, but that doesn't seem right, I should be able to end and then see a debrief or summary. 2. How do I use the chat menu. I have looked both of these things up and can't find the answers. I have watched your videos and don't see a debrief screen, so maybe there isn't one. Thanks.

I would have to disagree or lets say, maybe my headset doesn't have the setup issues you had/have. I have the Valve Index and I run DCS from Steam. It was a breeze setting up the headset and all the games work without issues on a one time setup. DCS is one click and it turns everything I need on, same with other games. Sorry you have issues with yours. Mine doesn't get hot and I don't ever sweat playing DCS. The vertigo you are talking about will eventually go away.. It completely went away for me after a couple weeks. get Vaicom.. no more keyboard and its possible to control the switches in the cockpit. I know not everyone can afford an amazing computer, so I agreed with you about having low quality graphics when running an older computer. But if you can run an up to date computer, the graphics are probably better than what you are thinking. After playing VR, I won't go back to Track Ir or a flat screen. No way! But again, Im running a computer with almost all the latest equipment. Your visual range is most likely limited to your 50% settings you have. I can see them much further than what you're describing.

The current gen of VR headset is missing the killer feature that is foveated rendering. Once we get consumer headset with eye tracking and games and engines start allowing foveated rendering the strain on the pc hardware will be reduced by 60-90%. I hope we'll see some headset announcements by the end of the year. Until such a headset hits the market I'll stick with my old vive. Edit: As for getting more sensation of the plane out of VR. Have you ever heard of bass shaker mods or commercial products like the Buttkicker gamer 2?

The problems with usb you described are problems of the Reverb G2. HP recently announced that they send out adapters for free for people who have problems with the USB connection and in the new boxes these adapters are included. All in all the G2 has a good display but compared to other headsets like these from Oculus or Valve it has a much worse software and worse controllers/tracking. So I wouldn't recommend this headset for VR-beginners since it can be really frustrating when you compare it to an Oculus Quest.

There are two mods to help a lot with VR. 1. One thats adding FidelityFX 2. ReShade - This makes everything much more sharp. Makes ID easier and looks way better...not so blurry in distance.

lol the tail numbers on the plane, TIR and 420 VR

Great video phil! I'm personally biased towards VR and I want to address a few things from the video if you don't mind. Why would you drop the built in audio? By most accounts the off ear speakers are incredible and could alleviate your feeling of isolation while in VR. There is an option in DCS to have the mouse cursor controlled by the HMD and have mouse buttons assigned to controllers. I find this less intrusive than looking for and using a mouse in VR. We are combat flight simmers. We are used to setting up hardware. As far as I'm concerned, setting up a VR headset is much easier and less time consuming than setting up most flight sim hardware. I'm fortunate enough to have a ceiling capable of supporting overhead cable management which is awesome.

I just built a system to handle DCS VR with the g2 I'm having shaking or Jitter issues. Is there any chance you'd be willing to share your settings?

GTX 2080 ti hmmm shouldn't it be RTX 2080?

Thanks for the insight , I just don't like the fact that you have to have a box strapped to your head to get the vr experience.

I like it… but still find I need tracker IR if I want to see things far away

I would sum it up this way: Will the switch to VR from TrackIR make you a better combat pilot? Probably not, since TrackIR is in some instances partially a cheating (easy checking of six, dynamic zoom, better resolution, change of field of view) and as always "cheating" gives you some edge over a non cheating player. But... the fun factor and immersion of the flight in VR is vastly higher, that I dont care if I win cos I have huge amount of joy and fun. When playing IL-2 Flying Circus I found myself to wink to other pilots out of joy... silly I know, but why not. So at the end of the day I simply cant go back to TrackIR from VR.