Game version 2.009 discussion: Open VR support

[dburne]

I have no Idea what ASW is, but from what you describe, its the procedure that cut down the fps when you cant hold 90 fps steadily. I'm going to test more tomorrow, see what happens when I lower graphics. But I'm almost Shure my graphic card should be able to play this better, when others describe smoother experiences. ( I also have a very good new I7 processor) .  So I'm inclined to think the steam VR window that pops into the game all the time at least to a degree hamper performance

 

Yep, when fps drops much below 90 fps ASW kicks in on the Rift, it drops it to 45 fps and interpolates the missing frames to give an effective end rate of 90 fps for the headset display.

 

Odd that you would have a Steam VR window showing up in the game - I have not seen that.

[CrazY8irD]

so it only launches into theater mode. how do I fix this? vr hmd setting is enabled in the game.

[Beazil]

so it only launches into theater mode. how do I fix this? vr hmd setting is enabled in the game.

right click on the game under steam, look for properties, under properties uncheck theater mode (it's near the bottom)

[CrazY8irD]

right click on the game under steam, look for properties, under properties uncheck theater mode (it's near the bottom)

tried that. then it restarted and froze. then tried launching it again and it now sais

 

"IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle Of Stalingrad does not support VR. it will appear on you're desktop and may affect performance"

I mean it sais It may affect VR performance. which kind of contradicts itself

[Jack59]

Guys,

 

It appears that Valve released a new update to Steam VR today and it may have broken our implementation for some. If you could get into the game earlier today, but now hang on the loading screen please let me know. This is for Vive users. Do any Rift users experience the same issue now, but not earlier today?

 

Jason

 

I'm one of the Vive owners who was able to run the new 2.009 patch earlier today in VR. After playing, and being completely blown away by the awesome VR implementation, I saw SteamVR upload an update. I haven't been able to play since. I'm stuck at the black loading screen, as others have mentioned.

 

Jason, it sounds like you've already got this problem identified, so maybe this post wasn't necessary. But I want to say that I appreciate your efforts to get it fixed. I also want to say that I'm one of those "I can't fly in non-VR anymore" people, and your VR implementation has won me over to your game.

[OrLoK]

Just notes:

 

After an hour long sorte (3 kills!) I landed, parked opened up my canopy and stood up to watch my squad(?) come in.

 

Whilst doing this I noticed 3 things...

 

One, It was excellent and great.

 

Two, The cockpit looked a little too small scale when I moved and stood on my wing.

 

Three, If I moved back about a foot on my wing the cockpit changed to a low res pit with a pilot in it. (reverted back to hi res *my* pit if i moved back towards it.)

 

Again, comparing his size to mine, he was about 20pc smaller than me and i'm a skinny geek type.

 

Not a major issue, but was interesting to note, for me anyway

[SCG_Rabbisaur]

Hi, I am using win10, HTC vive. Just updated the il2. However, if I start il2bos when htc vive already running, then I got launched into the theater mode. If I start il2bos directly, then il2bos stops working when startup.

 

Anyone has the same problem or know what to do? I can play warthunder, DCS or any other game in VR mode on my HTC vive.

[CrazY8irD]

Hi, I am using win10, HTC vive. Just updated the il2. However, if I start il2bos when htc vive already running, then I got launched into the theater mode. If I start il2bos directly, then il2bos stops working when startup.

 

Anyone has the same problem or know what to do? I can play warthunder, DCS or any other game in VR mode on my HTC vive.

right click on the game under steam, look for properties, under properties uncheck theater mode (it's near the bottom)

 

it didn't work for me but you give it a try and let me know.

[CrazY8irD]

so from what I've read in previous post's, steam had an update today and causes the game to freeze on loading. my issue was it would only start in theater mode. it looks like you must start the game with steam vr off and let the game turn the vr on. now it seams to work it's just stuck on the loading with the HMD black but on...I'm assuming I got it to work we just need the dev's to fix this problem or for someone to find a workaround.

[SCG_Rabbisaur]

right click on the game under steam, look for properties, under properties uncheck theater mode (it's near the bottom)

 

it didn't work for me but you give it a try and let me know.

Hi, Thank you for your reply. It didn't work but didn't crash neither. I can hear sound, but no graphics. If I press enter as if login in on the welcome screen, I can hear the buttons are responsive.

[CrazY8irD]

Hi, Thank you for your reply. It didn't work but didn't crash neither. I can hear sound, but no graphics. If I press enter as if login in on the welcome screen, I can hear the buttons are responsive.

it looks like the steam update today messed it up. can anyone else confirm this who had it working earlier today before the update?

[71st_AH_Hooves]

Hi. After today SteamVR update I´m stuck at first loading screen (before login) and game will not start.

Does the game ctd right after the il2 sturmovik splash screen?

Edited April 11, 2017 by [TWB]Hooves

[Wolferl_1791]

Yep, the SteamVR update messed up everything. Now we have to wait a bit more. 

For those stuck, just put or_enable = 0 in your startup.cfg file to get back to monitor mode.

 

Anyway, in my few hours of testing I've noticed some incredible fps in solo flight (just a few ground targets around).

1. On my hunch with how WT worked, I've decreased resolution to minimum. I couldn't click the Login button, but pressing ENTER on the keyboard allowed me to get in the game. After that, no issues. The mirror display did show a very low resolution, but in game there was no difference. Gained quite a bit of FPS from this alone.

 

2. SSAO robs a ton of fps. I really can't tell the difference quality wise. The screenshots do show a bit of difference in the shadows, but the HMD image seems to be exactly the same. I was about to test with SteamVR Compositor screenshots, but... steamvr updated and you know the rest.

 

3. HDR robs even more. To be honest, I'm not sure I like HDR, makes everything washed out. But using SS 1.8, framerates jumped from about 60 fps to 90 fps just from disabling this. 

 

4. AA at 4x didn't seem to take more than 5-10 fps, but with sharpening effect on, AA didn't seem to make any improvement in image quality. And of course, using high SS just makes AA meaningless.

 

Just before SteamVR crashed, I was playing at SS 1.8, with Highest quality, just HDR and SSAO turned off. I was having 90fps in the air and around 70 fps near the ground. Simply astonishing performance, considering I have just one GTX1070. I can't wait to test some more.

[71st_AH_Hooves]

Oh damnit. Now I have to wait to play in VR again. Lol. Crappie timing steam.

[critical_mach]

Guys,

 

It appears that Valve released a new update to Steam VR today and it may have broken our implementation for some. If you could get into the game earlier today, but now hang on the loading screen please let me know. This is for Vive users. Do any Rift users experience the same issue now, but not earlier today?

 

Jason

I'm having this issue. I can confirm that it started after a firmware update for my vive. Even before the update was installed, I would CTD on the login menu

[-TBC-AeroAce]

from a non VR user I am happy to report my FPS i through the roof!!!!!!

 

I dont like how they have messed with the arrow icons thou! They are too nig now!

[CrazY8irD]

Yep, the SteamVR update messed up everything. Now we have to wait a bit more. 

For those stuck, just put or_enable = 0 in your startup.cfg file to get back to monitor mode.

 

Anyway, in my few hours of testing I've noticed some incredible fps in solo flight (just a few ground targets around).

1. On my hunch with how WT worked, I've decreased resolution to minimum. I couldn't click the Login button, but pressing ENTER on the keyboard allowed me to get in the game. After that, no issues. The mirror display did show a very low resolution, but in game there was no difference. Gained quite a bit of FPS from this alone.

 

2. SSAO robs a ton of fps. I really can't tell the difference quality wise. The screenshots do show a bit of difference in the shadows, but the HMD image seems to be exactly the same. I was about to test with SteamVR Compositor screenshots, but... steamvr updated and you know the rest.

 

3. HDR robs even more. To be honest, I'm not sure I like HDR, makes everything washed out. But using SS 1.8, framerates jumped from about 60 fps to 90 fps just from disabling this. 

 

4. AA at 4x didn't seem to take more than 5-10 fps, but with sharpening effect on, AA didn't seem to make any improvement in image quality. And of course, using high SS just makes AA meaningless.

 

Just before SteamVR crashed, I was playing at SS 1.8, with Highest quality, just HDR and SSAO turned off. I was having 90fps in the air and around 70 fps near the ground. Simply astonishing performance, considering I have just one GTX1070. I can't wait to test some more.

 

Just so I understand, VR is not working? Not that I'm blaming the Dev's for this little hiccup, it's understandable. it's not there fault the steam update messed it up. However, I am quite upset at the fact that they have been advertising this game as VR ready in the Steam Store. I've heard a lot of people have bought this game specifically for VR and then they had to wait MANY months for it to work. I'm one of them.

[SCG_Rabbisaur]

Oh no, crappie timing steam +1. I should have bought the oculus rift...

 

Anyway, from the feedback that I read. Nice job dev team!

 

Looking forward to see the VR effect myself.

[dburne]

Just so I understand, VR is not working? Not that I'm blaming the Dev's for this little hiccup, it's understandable. it's not there fault the steam update messed it up. However, I am quite upset at the fact that they have been advertising this game as VR ready in the Steam Store. I've heard a lot of people have bought this game specifically for VR and then they had to wait MANY months for it to work. I'm one of them.

 

Well to be fair it seems to have only affected Vive users, and maybe not all of them - not real sure on that one.

Rift does not seem to have been affected by this, I know mine is rock solid < keeping fingers crossed>.

 

Hopefully this will be very temporary for those that are affected.

[CrazY8irD]

Oh no, crappie timing steam +1. I should have bought the oculus rift...

 

Anyway, from the feedback that I read. Nice job dev team!

 

Looking forward to see the VR effect myself.

AGREED! don't take my comment in a negative way! I've heard good things so far. wish I could try it for myself right now :/

[critical_mach]

I'll just sit here refreshing until it gets fixed or my fingers drop off. Sad thing is the Steam VR update that broke it was adding improvement to the Rift support. Good guy Valve being all open source. Oh well. I feel like a junky. I got ants and I need my fix!

[Beazil]

Just so I understand, VR is not working? Not that I'm blaming the Dev's for this little hiccup, it's understandable. it's not there fault the steam update messed it up. However, I am quite upset at the fact that they have been advertising this game as VR ready in the Steam Store. I've heard a lot of people have bought this game specifically for VR and then they had to wait MANY months for it to work. I'm one of them.

This appears to be an issue specific to HTC Vive users.  The one PIMax customer has no issues, and the Rift people seem to be having success.

[CrazY8irD]

I'm having this issue. I can confirm that it started after a firmware update for my vive. Even before the update was installed, I would CTD on the login menu

Weird, if I start il2 with steam vr already on, it go's into theater mode. I figured out I HAVE to start it without Steam VR on but it freezes at loading and it sais my HMD needs a firmware update. I update it and it keeps telling me I need a firmware update. what is going on with my vive damnit lol

[Jade_Monkey]

AAAAARGHH!  Just bought the Vive today and it's not working as of today?

 

Damn, that's bad luck!

 

Hopefully Valve or the devs can figure it out. I was so exicted.

[Wolferl_1791]

(snip for ping)

 

Jason, two questions based on today's experience with the game:

 

1. the camera limit feature: I understand the reasons behind it, and the implementation shows a lot of effort was put into it. But most cockpits are very small so you end up clanking your head on the window just by trying to look up (just check the 109), or by inching forward for a better aim (Ju87). I have disabled it and yes, I know I'm supposed to use Custom Difficulty or just Easy difficulty to get rid of it, but... I like playing on Hard difficulty, even if just in singleplayer. Can't it be linked to an extra option? In any case, maybe also make the collision box a bit bigger for each plane?

 

1bis Some (if not most) planes had adjustable seats. I haven't been able to test if seat shifting works in VR, but if it does, it might help A LOT. In the Ju87, if you try to get close to the instrument panel and aiming device, the camera stops way to far from it. I guess pilots could've loosened their seatbelts a bit to allow slight movement forward. So the collision box should be a combination of "hit actual window" and "go too far from seat center". 

 

2. the camera center: in German planes, the aiming device is shifted to the right. That's how it's supposed to be, of course. But when I reset the camera, it centers me on it, slightly to the right of the cockpit. I am familiar with this from WT, so I know that I just have to shift my head right a bit before pressing the reset key. While in VR mode, can we get a real "seat center" instead of "reticle center" when we press the recenter key?

 

3. slight bug with the Sun, when it's covered by the window frame. One eye can still see the disk of the sun. Not sure if that's the actual sun, or just part of the lens flare effect.

[Ribbon]

Nice job on those trees, looking forward to july update!

[critical_mach]

Weird, if I start il2 with steam vr already on, it go's into theater mode. I figured out I HAVE to start it without Steam VR on but it freezes at loading and it sais my HMD needs a firmware update. I update it and it keeps telling me I need a firmware update. what is going on with my vive damnit lol

The firmware update along with a Steam VR update to improve the experience of Rift users (ironic, right?) broke it for us. As for the firmware not taking, I rebooted my pc and that has gone away. I'm sitting here hoping for a fix tonight!

Edited April 12, 2017 by critical_mach

[Wolferl_1791]

However, I am quite upset at the fact that they have been advertising this game as VR ready in the Steam Store. I've heard a lot of people have bought this game specifically for VR and then they had to wait MANY months for it to work. I'm one of them.

 

I was one of them as well. But I've seen how it looks now. Trust me, it was worth the wait. I haven't played this game in ages, I played War Thunder instead (oh, the agony). Granted, WT has gotten better after the last patch with the lobby system. But if you check the VR section of the forum, you will see my requests to improve the VR in the game, months old. Not hard stuff, simple stuff (for example, G-Lock warning not working in VR). No reaction from the devs. Nothing. For months.

 

Meanwhile, in these same months, IL-2 has gotten VR, and it's better than I expected, seriously. Performance, at least in singleplayer is fabulous, allowing better supersampling than WT (2.0 compared to say 1.7 on my card). The game looks amazing, much better in VR that WT. The scale is perfect (although I think we can tweak it in the config file, can't test it now). It has zoom and sharpening. 

 

For example, today I took out some the 109, the 190 and the ju87 out for some ground strafing. Without VR I couldn't hit anything. I also had basically no warning when I was flying too slow or about to overdive into the ground. Again, haven't played this game in many months. I didn't even have my controls set up properly. Yet I was able to hit every damn truck with every plane. Not crashed once. Every landing perfect. 

 

So cheer up.

[critical_mach]

Weird, if I start il2 with steam vr already on, it go's into theater mode. I figured out I HAVE to start it without Steam VR on but it freezes at loading and it sais my HMD needs a firmware update. I update it and it keeps telling me I need a firmware update. what is going on with my vive damnit lol

If you right click the game in your steam library and go to properties, there is a check box to prevent it starting in theater mode.

[dburne]

 

For example, today I took out some the 109, the 190 and the ju87 out for some ground strafing. Without VR I couldn't hit anything. I also had basically no warning when I was flying too slow or about to overdive into the ground. Again, haven't played this game in many months. I didn't even have my controls set up properly. Yet I was able to hit every damn truck with every plane. Not crashed once. Every landing perfect. 

 

So cheer up.

 

 

 

I have had some pretty good success against 109's in my Yak-1 today in the few dogfight quick-missions I have set up and run.

[AldoUSMC]

Jason,

 

HTC Vive user.  +1 stuck at the please wait loading screen.

 

Pretty sure it was the Steam VR update as you suggested above.  I was running Beta (couldn't get VR launch).. then opted out and validated local tool files (Steam VR)...

 

Also tried turning steam overlays off.. no effect.

 

Will check back later.

 

From the sounds of feedback... Great work for the 1C/777 Team... looking forward to experiencing IL-2 in VR.

 

Semper Fi

AldoUSMC

[seafireliv]

I wish the game didn`t throw you out of the cockpit when you crashed upside down. Would be nice to see how things looked both with VR and TR5, just sat there in the pit.

Edited April 12, 2017 by seafireliv

[Boris_Putz]

First time player here, in VR. My controls were auto assigned to the thumbstick on my throttle, and the throttle and ailerons were inverted. While reaching for the P key, I accelerated time, lost control, and crashed. It looked great, btw.

 

I have a GTX 1080, 4790k, and Rift. I had all default settings, which were graphics high. ASW was kicking in, so I'll have to see about disabling that like I have to do in ED. Anyway, initial impressions are that it looks awesome. I can't line up on a truck convoy worth a damn, and crashed in the trees couple more times, but it still looks like this game will be great fun (once I figure out the instruments and get a feel for the controls).

 

But I have stuff to do, so that's it for tonight.  

[Beazil]

 

From the sounds of feedback... Great work for the 1C/777 Team... looking forward to experiencing IL-2 in VR.

 

Semper Fi

AldoUSMC

 

Amen.  Here's hoping for a speedy and simple solution.

[Wolferl_1791]

 

I have had some pretty good success against 109's in my Yak-1 today in the few dogfight quick-missions I have set up and run.

 

Me too, but I took the FW190 against unworthy targets such as bombers and P40s. I did notice that the visibility of the targets is much better than what I was expecting, and what I was accustomed to in WT, even without zoom. At one point I was following an IL2 and I was shooting from a distance (no idea how much, but much more than I would've dared in WT). I could tell when I was shooting just above, or just below. The tracers are just marvelous in 3D. Also, I think the 3D is a bit better overall, my snapshots were very precise, even without training. And the bombs? Hehe... Shallow 20 degree bombing run with the Ju87 on a small house, from about 200m height. Direct hit. Impressive for a newbie like me. 

[JG27*AD]

 

 

(O)bjectives map view, it opens weird (for a second i can see the map very small in the top left corner of my screen

 

I have the same issue too....

AD

[SimFreak]

For folks that can't start IL- VR ( screen hangs) - Try turning "Start SteamVR when an application starts" OFF. 

 

 

 

[UrufuShinjiro]

Pimax 4k is working and looking nice...no 6dof but everything else is there with beautiful resolution. I will play with visual settings later but so far amazing for only 300$ & head tracking improvements in the works.

I'm looking to get the pimax 4k just for this so please let me know if you have anything else to add. I don't have the game yet as I haven't had desk space for my hotas since CoD, can you set up the other three degrees, or at least lean left/right on a hat switch or something? I'm looking at getting the pimax 4k and then maybe adding NOLO VR later.

[SimFreak]

 

 

No go still for me.

 

 Do not start SteamVR....just steam. It worked for me. 

[SimFreak]

That's what I did. Are you able to start Steam VR after launch? Or are you just playing on screen? If you want to play normally until it is fixed, you can change the value for OR in the cfg to 0

Using oculus. Open steam - start IL2 VR. Everything works on this end. (after changing that setting)