VR Transforms Sim Racing...So Why Does No One Use It? 

it's more popular than other games for sure. A much higher % of sim players use vr than other categories which exist both on flat and vr (like hitman 3,no mans sky, etc)

Indeed, VR is spectacular to experience, but not to watch.

I have a 49" ultra wide and a quest 3 and I almost never use VR it's fun and amazing for about 15 minutes and then it's hot and sweaty and you start to notice the tiny fov and how you can't really see the brake markers, and you can't really read the dashboard and then you take it off and play on your monitor and it's better

@@kinsellakpI was there. I have a 49" ultra too, the Samsung LS49AG950NUXXU with 1000R curve. Absolutely brilliant for racing. My ultrawides gradually took over from VR for most of the reasons you mention and it was less of a faff to just jump into a sim and get going (especially with proper sound through proper headphones). Thing is, I recently fired up VR again, after at least a year of not using it and I'd forgotten just how superior it is for an authentic sim-experience. So, I'm back in VR for my serious racing (still on a Rift S ). On the monitor for some less serious driving. Sure, the comfort aspect is perhaps the most difficult thing to overcome, especially practicing. In a good race less so, as you kind of forget about it (until sweaty red faced post race wind down).

@@kinsellakp I'd love to try triples or an ultra wide, I just can't justify the price when I can do vr for a couple hundred. would be nice to not have a sore neck after endurance races though.

same

I still do for the more casual or older games that dont have VR

same here

Same here! Although I do wanna put one on so I can play some Sims that don't work well in VR

Same boat. Given I'm lucky to get a couple hours of sim rig time in a week these days, but what time I do get is all in VR since rF2, AC, ACC, AMS2 and now LMU get 99.9% of my play time. Ditched a monitor the minute I got into a high resolution HMD after retiring the trusty and faithful OG Vive after ~7 years of service.

Exactly my experience. I could never follow closely the car in front on a screen where VR depth of field and natural fov fixes that

The cambers just hit different. ❤

​@@freedom_born thumbs down

you said it all

How can i drive in vr without getting motion sick?

Don't feel bad about the logitech setup! I started sim racing with a G920 with 3 pedals and the H-shifter. Now I have a Simagic direct drive setup. It's more fun and engaging due to the high torque (15nm), but do you think it made me a lot faster? Nope. Perhaps a few seconds if I'm honest. Not much more. Sim racing is a very elitist hobby, but in the end it's about having fun and I did have fun for years with my Logitech.

@@Int3x0ryou know a "few seconds" can be the difference between winning and losing in racing lol

@@gumis123PL Yeah, I was talking about Nordschleife hot laps. I don't have iRacing. And I admit I'm not consistent enough for competitive sim racing.

@@Int3x0rI’m looking at upgrading from a G29 to a Moza DD but not sure if I actually want loads of torque like isn’t anything over 10nm just painful after a while to the point where it’s unrealistic? I have no idea how much torque real racing wheels produce

@@teeambird2079 I have the answer for you. A real GT3/GT4 car produces around 12 to 13 Nm. I got this information from a video a watched from an actual GT3 racer who also does simracing. So with the Simagic Alpha with a 15 Nm peak you can dial it down to a realistic 12-13 Nm without any clipping.

Me too, and while racing has grown on me a ton, I'm not sure I'd simrace in 2D. Even though it's the only gaming I do nowadays. I thought the quest 3 was a gamechanger as well. It was the first time I was able to make the world clear, like a monitor. That little bit of extra resolution, combined with 1.5x SS, it's finally pure in there.

same, its the only way i race.

vr + motion rig feels remarkably close to driving a real car

I don't know how. Racing in vr makes my physically sick.

@@DNGOOfficialit takes a little bit of time to get used to it. The first time I used it I was about ready to throw up after about half an hour, maybe an hour and I spent the rest of the night being nauseous. I tried again the next day and I felt a little nauseous during and after but not as bad so I played for 2-3 hours. I just kinda forced my way through it for about a week and at the end of it I could play all day with no issues outside of the headset being sweaty or whatever. And now I can’t really race without it… I’m not very good at racing but I have a hell of a time doing it.

Same. I've been using it since 2019. I bought WRC Generations recently, and I couldn't believe it didn't have VR support. I returned it immediately. Thank god for Dirt Rally 2.0.

Should I go monitor or vr for my first setup, my pc isn't that good so I don't think vr would work that well

I did not played sim racing games over 1 year only coz my pc started switching off when played in vr ... now it is sorted and I am back in seat again

Hope you are enjoyin WRC in VR now.

i know i cant. I had a acc race and the vr has a malfunction. i tryed to race with the monitor and i couldn't make it. I retired after 2 laps.

Yes totally agree, I mainly play iRacing in VR, But I also have PSVR2 with GT7. This is the game I love for rare cars with excellent interiors. I got in a Ferrari 308 in GT7, my dad had one when I was a kid, when he he sold it I was devastated. being in it again was like de ja vu, I couldn't even remember what it looked like inside until I saw it again. I was actually like going back in time, except this time I got to drive it.

@@linzkirk very cool

EXACTLY!!!!

Yes, it was a let down the last game from codemasters. RF2 with some DLC´s could be the best rally sim, i just cannot understand the lack of vision, with the people bought RF2 from ISI. Just try the EVO TA in Targa Florio, the best experience to a rally in asphalt, well hillclimb.

Can totally understand that!

Man i thought i was the only one damn

Don't worry, they'll always be watching when you least expect it

I use a 5.1 surround speaker setup with my VR. It's not paranoia for me tho, I don't care if someone is looking at me, I need to be able to hear my wife and kids just in case.

​@@lloyd_r Screaming?

Put him in your rig with the VR. Let him relive the glory days!

@@ccramit I 100% will!

It's not a coincidence. Your life is a simulation.

@@Dethmeister YOUR life is a simulation. I'm living the original one.

@@ThaJay Oh, right right. That's why I keep having weird coincidences and also seeing other people talking about weird coincidences. It's part of my sim.

yup, the beyond is the best headset for sim driving 100%

The thing with the fov on the beyond a lot of people miss cause they take numbers at face value is not having the inertia of the headset when you move your head. It feels so comfortable to move around that you don't really feel the need for bigger fovs like other headsets. Like yea a bigger fov would be great, but I think the lack of inertia when you change direction is a bigger deal for me

How have you found the lenses? Seen some people report internal reflections. With the OLED screens and comfort I think this would be ideal for endurance racing. Still rocking a Rift CV1 here 😅

depends on your face shape, if you can get them close its almost not visible and sits on the bottom, otherwise its very apparent and they go to the center. If you have issues contact support, they will send you a thinner face gasket@@baccattack

Just curious what vr headset are you using?

@@lexus12 hp reverb g2.

I own it too. Not used it for some time because of health issues. I heard Microsoft is dropping support for the headset and it will get unusable? I hope this isn’t true…

​@@Todestelzerjust don't upgrade to win 11

Yea i'm hyped for season 2, GT3 Portimao in VR. yes please

I would love to try. Can you help me? I am one-eye-sighted. Do you on our eye (most) of the view... or just half?

@@hrgunitIt would be like what you see in the real world. Even without binocular vision, VR would still be more immersive than a monitor in that you would be "in" the game and have the ability to move and turn your head to look around from within the virtual space. You would also gain spatial (3d) audio which is a big part of immersive experiences. As you move and look around sounds remain anchored in place within the virtual world.

​@@hrgunit I would try it, the general consensus is yes it will work. firstly depth perception, seeing with 2 eyes is not the only aspect which enables us to perceive depth. Changes of the interposition of objects as you move your head around will still occur if you only have one working eye. I'm sure you will have adapted to this in real life and VR will be similar. As to FOV, it will be the same as driving a real car for you. You can turn you head to the best position just like real life. So no it won't just be half. You will also have an advantage, you will only need to render for one eye meaning the pc does half the work of normal. You dont even need to try on a sim game just any VR game on a quest.

Thank you very much, that was helpful! Somehow I was scared its just ONE classical Monitor "split" into two screens. I could never try VR before. But this would certainly make two-eyed persons brain irritated and sick. So the HUDs or Car-Settings are on "both" eyes as well. I might just need to turn my head more for short distances. I will try, as soon as I can upgrade $$ :)@@linzkirk @StubbyPhillips IRL its as you described. My brain adapted to new clues extremely fast, i.e. while driving on greater distances. Or the benefit for "True 2-eyes" is mostly In shorter distances anyway. Like narrow parking, very near street width got harder to judge. Also Ping Pong. Whereas Tennis or daily life is no problem to coordinate trajectories and distances etc.

I second this.

I've heard it's pretty common that people get motion sick from it.

@@oliverer3 true, I've heard of that as well. However its when they use it, Jimmy implied that its hard to watch VR videos. I don't agree with that

​​@@mikulitsi1819 Hmm would it possibly be 3 cameras, 2 good rigs (PC and seat/wheel)? One cam on driver, one on screen, one on pedals* - or is the race screen automatically synched with the PC. Sounds pricey. I'd like to do it, cos I use motion steering on controller so it'd look hilarious. A+S on GT7

@@mikulitsi1819 Things like oculus mirror can be used to stabilise the image for content. I actually asked some non racing friends which they'd prefer to watch though, with a stabilised and then a raw VR feed, they said raw feed, as it felt more visceral, but milage will definitely vary. I get motion sick playing FPS on a monitor for example! 🤢

Same. I've tried going back to an ultrawide or triples, but the immersion isn't even close, nor is the ability to judge speed, distance, turn in point, etc.

VR is the difference between _seeing_ the game and _being in it._

Same. No more to say.

That's what I mean, I only race in VR, I wish I had a better headset though, only have an original vive, so my resolution is really bad. But regardless, I love the feeling of it.

I sometimes race with VR. The reason for not playing with it all the time is that I get motion sickness in 30 to 60 minutes and the headset I have does get uncomfortably hot after 45 minutes.

When I first got the Rift, I liked how you could pause a replay in AC and get out of the seat to walk around and inspect the scene

This is the same for me, I hear you can build a tolerance to it.

It took me about 10 hours or so for the nausea to go away

You can cure it. I did. I read an article howto and it worked. Rule 1: stop as soon as you feel even slightly weird. Don't try again until the next day. Spend a week training yourself. Start on ovals in a car with a roof. Drive slowly. As soon as you feel weird (not even sick but sweaty, hot, weird): stop. Repeat next day. You'll last longer. Gradually introduce winding tracks and undulating tracks. You can build your resistance to motion sickness. The mistake is as soon as you get sick your body remembers for a long time. I couldn't even look at the headset without feeling queasy. But I cured it.

Only works for some people. I have owned 4 headsets, each better than the last. With better PC hardware each time to push them. Did all the tips and tricks on the internet, even tried medication in the end. It is just not happening for me, I will always get sick from VR. I wish I could get into VR, maybe one day they will make a much better headset that will change w/e is making people like me sick but who knows. @@RobFisherUK

Can depend on track and car. Open wheelers on tight and undulating tracks can bring it on quicker than say racing a 911 at Silverstone. Depending on sim ensure camera is locked to horizon and bumps are filtered in settings. If you’re on Quest via link you can also reduce both the horizontal and/or vertical field of views via the debug tool which will help and also give you a bit of a performance boost at the same time. You will get used to it eventually as most do.

Hey - just curious; which headset did you get? I am considering making the move also.

I got a Meta Quest 2. Look around, they are going on sale at alot of places. I got mine for $250US. Its great!@@asimpleman2585

@@asimpleman2585 Bigscreen Beyond here. Lovin' it! OLED is the ONLY choice as far as I'm concerned. Life is too short to still be putting up with that ugly gray funk where pure black should be.

@@asimpleman2585quest 3 is pretty good

Not only cheaper, but waaay less space required!

Once I have money I dream of this

That is COMPLETELY dependent on your hardware choices lol

​@@RyTrapp0 Your hardware choice can't offer the same immersive experience as VR. No matter how much you spend

You can get 3 32" monitors for a bit over $600 now, so I wouldn't say that cost is a determining factor.

I know it is completly dependend on your hardware, but does the rain bring a big fps drop with it in VR? And how are reflections in the puddles? I still need to test everything. I m in the middle of building my new rig.

@117simracing8 I've found with my set up that I saw maybe a 5 fps drop. But still the biggest draws on fps are the shadows, cars rendered, and your anisotropic filtering/ AA Samples. There's some really good guides online for setting up VR for iRacing. For refrence, I have a I5 12600k and a Radeon 7800xt. Which they say AMD is worse for VR, but I have no issues.

​@@astraracing1099somehow I had a completely different experience with the update. I had to reduce the settings quite a bit.

@@denboogie9199 For VR, SSR (Screen space reflections) being on during rain is the big FPS killer. If you turn it off the rain doesn't seem to hurt performance all that much. Also make sure to take a screen shot of your current settings, and in the iracing UI go into settings -> interface and click Run Graphics Config. Set up your existing settings again and somehow I got much better performance than before. This is recommended in the iRacing forums to run after every major update.

Somehow I did not experience and performance hits even when driving in heavy rain

That's how I feel as well. I just always have this disconnected feeling when racing in VR so I ended up getting triples and I'm much happier with them

I like looking at and using the cockpit I spend so much on to simulate a real race car. Also with Vr you have no peripheral vision. With triples you can feel the speed more because objects zoom by around you.

@@roadrunner-ln4by LMFAOOO bro whattttt 😂😂😂👆👆👆👆 you strong in VR 🤓

Not many poor experiences with VR here but I had a similar experience to you

Same, I'm sad that I live here, but was born too late to have ever been able to experience a race here.

@@kylemachen5452 Get down to AMP.

Keep trying (but stop when you feel sick). I couldn't stomach it but one day it just clicked for me and it's changed the game for me

If you have the chance jump in and do some laps.. stop as soon as you feel that horrible feeling... get back in as soon as its gone.. it does ease

a fan placed Infront of you can help massively with that feeling

Have you tried racing/driving/flying games in VR yet? Having a fixed point of reference in the form of a cockpit is a big help in preventing VR motion sickness. If all you've played is games where you navigate a space by walking/teleporting I recommend giving it a go, you might have a much better time of it.

I echo this mate, VR was shockingly nausea inducing at first even though I knew it was coming, and now I can stand still in real life but walk around in the game like an FPS for hours and be fine, you'll get there 😊

A definite purchase once that happens.

Why wait? , turn it on yourself from the command line.

Oculus Rift Dev Kit or Consumer Version 1 (CV1)? I'm still on a CV1, and I'm starting to wonder if the newer headsets are better in a way that I should upgrade 🤔

​@@DerekMoore82cv1 js trash hurry up and upgrade

@@GapeGang Can you give me your thoughts on the pros and cons of the available headsets on the market today? I wear glasses and would not want to spend a crazy amount of money. Which one should I get?

@@DerekMoore82 Currently the Pimax Crystal has the best image quality. But you need a quite bit money for it.

@@DerekMoore82 oh lol if you see how the Pimax Crystal looks now, you wont trust your eyes and your CV1 would make a flight to the trashbin faster than light 😂

Same. I love playing other titles in VR like Holopoint, Beat Saber, Robo Recall and others... while I love the wraparound view of everything.. I ended up going triple monitors to get most of the benefit of VR without something strapped to my face.

​@@selflesswanderer exactly what I did. I don't like the feeling of a big hunk of plastic on my face and being disconnected from everything around me. Very happy with my triples

"Those who would give up the immersion of VR to gain a bit less friction deserve neither." 🙃

Those who would judge others for enjoying things the way they want when it affects no one else, are just weird. -insert upside down face here-

@@selflesswandererWas shooting for humor. Sorry.

How do you like the Varjo? I am currently on an index that is made of about 20% electrical tape and kragle. Considering upgrading.

@@Tiffany_TurboAlso still on the Index. Get occasional flake outs where the screen will go black or it will tell me it’s disconnected when it’s not, and the left earpiece stopped working, so I just use regular headphones with it now. I’m only just getting back into iRacing this season after over a year away from any sort of gaming, though not to the point where I want to upgrade or change any hardware yet - but am still keeping an eye on new headsets and really wish Valve would announce an Index 2 - seems like none of the new headsets match the FOV of the Index, other than the really wide Pimax headsets.

dont get rid of the varjo immediately. the big screen is a hit or miss for some people. may need to refund it.

@@Derpynewb sent my beyond back for ipd swap. Their app said 64mm my usual IP is 63.5 on the aero. Big screen have suggested 63mm... Also I think I need the thinner face cushion. My sweet spot is very small roughly 50%. Removing the cushion increasing this dramatically. It feels like a beta product but only because it's a custom made product. I think once I have everything ironed out it will be ok. The aero has some niggles that varjo refuse to fix which really is very disappointing.

@@brettgrieves a friend of mine had ordered one and it took too long to ship so they cant refund it. its now a litteral paperweight to them. their issue was the lenses are worse than the q3 and that the sweet spot is way too small. got any other tips?

hey what mods is he using? i want to try the combo myself

The motion sickness thing has turned off far more people than it should have because so many people show VR to newbies with "smooth turn" (continuous pan like a camera) enabled instead of "snap turn" (snaps around more like eyes do.)

@@StubbyPhillips Also a lot of people could develop their motion sickness tolerance really quickly (like ~2 weeks) by using a giant virtual monitor for some time before going to full VR mode. You get used to turning your head in VR and feeling immersed without feeling as much sick when going fast into a corner or crashing.

I'd had my VR legs for over a year, and then racing in VR started making me sick. Can't do it anymore.

I should say at the moment its either super wide FOV that is smooth. Or Smaller FOV and more accurate view buts its very shaky. I've learned for AC going into Settings>Assetto Corsa>View & UI> and checking "Lock onboard camera to horizon" help recording AC in VR quite a bit, but its a very different feeling to get used to when racing.

It also helps to have some sort of haptic feedback in your seat, really boosts the immersion

The historical tracks and F1 cars with custom skins are superb and with historical weather too. Just did the 1970 season and can’t wait to race Hunt and Lauda in 78. Can’t be arsed with 2024 😊

AMS2 is so good

I was about to make the same comment about AMS2. Tried a vintage McLaren F1 car with Pico4 headset. The sense of speed was breathtaking.

Except the jaggy shadows that ruin the immersion for me..

Yeah, I agree on that 100%! AMS2 in my opinion offers the best VRsimracing experience so far!

Though I appreciate GT7 on the psvr2 being really plug n play friendly, and you can take advantage of the game's extensive suite

beamng is probably the most physics capable driving sim that'll do VR. It's not really a race sim though, but it does have a massive amount of content to enjoy.

A few people have mentioned "set up" but I'm not sure what they mean. My HMD and controllers are always ready to go. I just put on the HMD, grab the controllers and I'm in. Do some people unplug everything and pack it away every time for some reason?

"Set up" might be the wrong wording. But the main problem for me is how much you have to do outside of VR sometimes. Joining a lobby, tweaking your FFB, looking at a discord message, grabbing a drink, etc.. You can do a lot of those things with your headset on of course, but you are so much more restricted. It's quite the hassle.

Sounds like a skill issue. Just simply get used to Vr.

@@JubbLaRacing Sounds like another elitist joined the chat, don't you understand that some people have medical conditions that actually don't allow them to get used to it? Where's the respect gone in society nowadays...

@@spidi500 He did not say anything about having a medical condition.

@@JubbLaRacing didn't say he had that medical condition though, i own a quest2 myself and i don't have those issues, but i know some that do

@@JubbLaRacing if you do a quick google search, you will find the following: "Roughly one-third of people are highly susceptible to motion sickness, and most of the rest get motion sick under extreme conditions. Around 80% of the general population is susceptible to cases of medium to high motion sickness." I am definitely in the third of the population, that has serious issues with motion sickness. i tried a rollercoaster in VR once, for about 30 seconds maybe and i couldn't walk straight for the next hour. my sense of balance was just fucked completely. it took like 3-4 hours to wear of. so yeah, it's rather common knowledge that MANY people have problems with motion sickness, be it in VR, on boats, trains, cars, or whatever else there is, where it can occure. I really envy people who can drive in VR or even read a book on a train, where i cant even fucking check my phone for longer than 10 seconds without feeling dizzy. there you go, i hope you learned something.

Yeah, on a monitor you see the game, but in VR you're IN IT.

I have my old vive on my sim rig, also an index on the living room pc. Enjoy both thoroughly 😁 Tbh imo resolution aint the be all and end all of VR, yes it makes it look more photo realistic, you can read stuff easier etc, however the feel of connection to the virtual world and depth perception are still there with lower resolutions, that i love ❤ In a world where we play 8 bit looking games, all the different art styles, from block to realistic graphics, having a picture made up from dots you can easily see is still damn cool and can hit the spot 😂 Tbh in most games when playing i don't appreciate graphics anyway after the first minute or so, however when watching others it is something I do notice so much more and then can appreciate lol.