VR tips and tricks - Improving your VR experience! -Updated 9th/Dec/2020

[=X51=VC_]

BTW I just realised the in-game graphics settings don't have an option for shadows... how are you changing this?

[dburne]

BTW I just realised the in-game graphics settings don't have an option for shadows... how are you changing this?

 

Might want to check that again... should be there.

[=X51=VC_]

Might want to check that again... should be there.

 

Yup, serves me right for rushing to ask a question based on bad memory and an out of date screenshot of the settings menu will actually test it later. I also turned "terrain far details" or whatever it's called to "normal". I assume that's the lower setting, not 100% sure what it does.

[dburne]

Yup, serves me right for rushing to ask a question based on bad memory and an out of date screenshot of the settings menu will actually test it later. I also turned "terrain far details" or whatever it's called to "normal". I assume that's the lower setting, not 100% sure what it does.

 

 

 

Yep, normal would be the least setting ( less graphics intensive).

 

Have fun!

[neofightr2]

One final addition to this topic of maximizing performance for VR. Memory speed, for some this is obvious but for others it may not be. I original went with standard 2133Mhz/DD4 memory. I didn't bother to overclock it because I wasn't sure it was worth it.

Well I overclocked it to 2400Mhz combined with my 6700k@4.8Ghz and it did make an appreciable difference in game.

 

Where as before with all settings maxed (mirrors off) I would see dips below 90FPS when flying near dense areas like towns or flying at altitude in a dogfight where the ground is in view those dips became rare once I upped the memory speed. Remember, I have shadows at max setting which is very demanding.

 

This improvement makes sense since memory speed is critical for data transfers between the cpu and gpu and texture data from storage. Having faster memory will improve the overall performance beyond what the cpu overclock alone can offer. 

 

Just keep in mind, based on what is out there from a lot of experts, memory speed will only benefit to a certain extent once you go pass 3200mhz for mem speed, diminishing returns begin to factor in.

 

For me, I went with a ddr4 3000mhz memory upgrade along with the 8700k to be overclocked at 5ghz. I will hopefully have it setup in two weeks. I will post my observations.

[KingHigh]

Has anyone been able to successfully toggle the escape menu with a HOTAS button? There's an assignable input for it in the key mapping settings, but I can't seem to get it to work 

 

My biggest obstacle right now is leaning over to my keyboard to hit ESC...

[Madmatt]

Has anyone been able to successfully toggle the escape menu with a HOTAS button? There's an assignable input for it in the key mapping settings, but I can't seem to get it to work 

 

My biggest obstacle right now is leaning over to my keyboard to hit ESC...

 

I was able to map that function to one of the buttons on my Warthog HOTAS (it's bound to the joystick hat switch on the left that pushes down) without any issue. What type of HOTAS are you running?

 

I think I have it so when i hold pinkie switch and button down it brings up menu, when i push back it Pauses game, up toggles HUD, Forward toggles the on screen waypoint indicators and down brings up minimap. I also have those buttons mapped with different switched settings triggered by holding the pinkie switch at same time. I did this all in TARGET.

 

 

Madmatt

Edited January 17, 2018 by Madmatt

[BFsSmurfy]

Prop blur is my least liked thing, look sideways image lovely, look forwards in a single engined fighter and the prop mildly creates blur. I think I saw a work round for this but can`t find the post??

[dburne]

Prop blur is my least liked thing, look sideways image lovely, look forwards in a single engined fighter and the prop mildly creates blur. I think I saw a work round for this but can`t find the post??

 

If you have a Rift, disable ASW. I use the Oculus Tray Tool with a profile for BoS for this.

https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/47247/oculus-traytool-supersampling-profiles-hmd-disconnect-fixes-hopefully/p1

 

https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/pcsdk/latest/concepts/asynchronous-spacewarp/

Edited January 23, 2018 by dburne

[C6_lefuneste]

Maybe you can add a reference to my mod :https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/30556-3dmigoto-mod-vr/ ?

It looks like there are good feedbacks now, see the end of the thread...

Edited January 23, 2018 by lefuneste

[Magus]

If you have a Rift, disable ASW. I use the Oculus Tray Tool with a profile for BoS for this.

https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/47247/oculus-traytool-supersampling-profiles-hmd-disconnect-fixes-hopefully/p1

 

https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/pcsdk/latest/concepts/asynchronous-spacewarp/

 

Currently OTT does not work with profiles for games outside of the Oculus Home (see the latest update on the post you linked for OTT - UPDATE 01/11

Just found that in the latest Oculus updates (at least in the 1.22 beta), Oculus have moved the location of the third-party manifests. They no longer reside with the rest of the games, which causes them to not show up in OTT. I will need to add a fix for this, but the new version is still a bit away. Might push a small update to the current version just to fix this issue.). 

 

So currently you have to force it through the main settings.

 

I've recently just picked up BoX again and playing through the Blazing Saddles Campaigns but since maybe a few month ago my performance has nose dived in VR, whether as a result op GPU/W10/SteamVR/Oculus Home/Box update(s), I really don't know but the game has become somewhat unplayable for me in combat using the same settings as I had before.  When I get behind a plane the distortion, stutter and blur just makes it horrid.  Was never like this before so unfortunately have retired the game again after changing; GPU drivers, various in-game and VR settings, & using Process Lasso to no success.  

 

My GPU usage (980Ti) rarely hits 60% usage, so all I can assume is my oc'ed 4.7Ghz 3930K is holding it back in iL2, so something, somewhere has definitely changed as this was never the case before. 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Magus

[[DBS]El_Marta]

Left Ctrl + NumPad 1 should disable ASW anytime.

[dburne]

OTT still working ok for me, in the Public Test Channel of Oculus Home.

At least I know it is disabling ASW properly.

[Boneboys]

No need for OTT to be running in this game.

Everything can be set through Steam VR advanced Dev settings.

Set Oculus launcher to Admin (all users) to prevent startup.

No need to run Steam, game will fetch Open VR.

Just start the game exe.

 

Left Ctrl + NumPad 1 will turn off ASW.

Left Ctrl + NumPad 2 will turn it on.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Boneboys

[dburne]

No need for OTT to be running in this game.

Everything can be set through Steam VR advanced Dev settings.

 

 

For me I prefer using OTT, whether one uses Steam VR advanced settings or settings in Oculus is really personal preference.

[Magus]

@dburne

 

When BoX 1st implemented VR I took your advice rightly and implemented the terrain.cfg file.  Has anything changed in the last 2/3 months in il2 that could possible result in this file lowering my VR performance significantly?  Or has there been an update that has changed this file or possibly the file updated? 

 

I'm just trying to figure out why my performance has become unplayable and because I have been away from flying for a while there are so many variables that might have caused it and just trying to discover what it might be. 

[Boneboys]

OTT was a god send and is still useful if running older games that do not have SS options through Oculus home.

I used it in the past for the Fresco driver tweeks but since Fresco drivers are now defunct I only use OTT to restart Oculus services, if and when required, which is rare.

I shut down OTT as it may interfere unnecessarily.

 

Personal preferences rule...

[A_radek]

Magus. Terrain.cfg file no longer works. Devs broke the mod in v2.011. Having the file there won't make a difference.

 

My guess is your problem lies in the updated shadows. They are probably set at "normal" and especially in VR require more CPU than the old ones. Try lowering a step or two and performance should go back to how you remember it.

[Magus]

Thanks a-radek.  So should I delete that file from my x:\1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\graphics folder?

 

I will try turning Shadows off and see how it goes.

 

EDIT: Unfortunately turning Shadows OFF and Terrain to Normal hasn't changed anything, as soon as AI are involved I have stutters & blurring.  I'm going to uninstall the game a install a fresh copy and see how I go.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Magus

[A_radek]

Sorry to hear it didn't work. Still only thing I can think of that's changed game performance lately.

 

A clean game version is a good start. At one point a 4K skin pack was giving me issues and it took me a while to find the culprit. Also make sure to check if your CPU is holding that Oc while running the game.

[Nibbio]

Magus I have the same 3930k oc to 4.3 and the game runs fine, with LOW graphics preset and shadows off. GPU is gtx 1060. Almost always 90 fps with oculus asw off.

[Magus]

I'm not sure what is going on with my system then.  I'm using SteamVR Beta & Home Beta with 388.31 drivers & having real drops in frame rates as soon as other planes are around me.  I have Shadows OFF and SS at 1.7 with AA @ 2 but these were ,y settings before and had no real issues, occasionally at low altitude I would have ASW kick in but now it seems any air battle it dips below 45. 

[dburne]

I'm not sure what is going on with my system then.  I'm using SteamVR Beta & Home Beta with 388.31 drivers & having real drops in frame rates as soon as other planes are around me.  

 

Have you tried not using the Beta of Steam VR?

I know it has been somewhat problematic in the past. Might give the release version a try if you have not.

[A_radek]

Magus, your not using the mirrors are you? 

Do check your cpu frequency when running the game. Cpu-z is free and will do the trick. As your framerate drops when Ai is near it most definitely sounds like your cpu is bottlenecking. Why I'm not sure.

[Nibbio]

Magus, just to make sure, and since you have been away from the game for a while, you do remember that the hud should be turned off for acceptable performance in VR, right?

[Magus]

@Nibbio, yes absolutely, HUD is disabled.

[Magus]

Magus, your not using the mirrors are you? 

 

Do check your cpu frequency when running the game. Cpu-z is free and will do the trick. As your framerate drops when Ai is near it most definitely sounds like your cpu is bottlenecking. Why I'm not sure.

 

 

I use core temps that shows my freq and temps on the task bar, there is nothing indicating a CPU throttle but I realise that it could just be on one of the cores, however frequency seems to max at 4.5Ghz but I do run my OC on a per core basis to ensure low voltage so iL2 must be using cores 5-6 as 0-1 are 4.7, 2-3 = 4.6 & 4-5 are at 4.5Ghz.  I have HT enabled & always have, but might try & disabling it and see if there is a difference.  I also use High Performance power mode along with max GPU power in Nvidia CP.

 

All things point to a CPU bottleneck but I'm trying to figure out why, and why now as this was not an issue before.

 

EDIT: I should add I've not updated W10v1709 with the Intel patches that came out a while ago, my last WIndows 10 update was on 20/12/17 - KB4058043

Edited January 31, 2018 by Magus

[CVGridley]

 

VR Tips and Tricks

 

Some of our beta testers complained that they see some objects (for example, gunsight reticle) in double vision. There can be several reasons for it, so here are what you can do if you experience this:

 

3) Third, position your head correctly - your dominant eye should be behind the reticle. You can do this naturally just by moving your head in VR.

 

I'm new to VR but never going back!  This thread helped immensely, particularly number three that I've quoted above.  I have the double-vision reticle issue, but what I've learned is that in many cockpits there is a physical "iron sight" on the right of the gun sight.  If you line your right eye up so that is aligned, your left eye will see the projected crosshair in the hud on-target!  This might not be in every cockpit, and might be more accurate in some than others. This might be obvious or posted elsewhere, but really helped me, so i thought I'd share!

[CVGridley]

OTT was a god send and is still useful if running older games that do not have SS options through Oculus home.

I used it in the past for the Fresco driver tweeks but since Fresco drivers are now defunct I only use OTT to restart Oculus services, if and when required, which is rare.

I shut down OTT as it may interfere unnecessarily.

 

Personal preferences rule...

I've been using OTT to keep Win10 from shutting off my USB devices which was causing some tracking disconnects. Is there a way to do that permanently without OTT and without opening device manager on every restart of the PC?

[Boneboys]

I've been using OTT to keep Win10 from shutting off my USB devices which was causing some tracking disconnects. Is there a way to do that permanently without OTT and without opening device manager on every restart of the PC?

Are you using the inatec card and drivers ?

If so you should remove the drivers and let windows install the Fresco Logic USB 3.0 eXtensible - 1.0 (Microsoft) 07/12/17

Ver 10.0.16299.125

Nvidia driver  390.65 is known to be causing disconnects with the Rift and should not be used, 338.59 is recommended.

I use 388.71 without any apparent issues.

 

If you need to reset concentrator energy management at every start I can only assume you have a Family version of W10, my Pro keeps the settings.

There is no harm with letting OTT run in the background if it solves the sleeping / disconnect) problem.

 

Since the last Windows & Oculus updates my Rift will go to sleep if not being used after a couple of minutes with IL-2 (openVR) and almost immediately with DCS (native Rift).

I consider this to be working correctly.

 

NOTE : I always let OTT start with Windows, then close it down.

 

Might help, might not.

[dburne]

I've been using OTT to keep Win10 from shutting off my USB devices which was causing some tracking disconnects. Is there a way to do that permanently without OTT and without opening device manager on every restart of the PC?

 

You can go into device manager and look in the Oculus VR Devices, under it you will see your sensors listed. You can from there set each one to keep from shutting off, by right clicking- click properties-click power management tab. Uncheck "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power", then click apply.

 

As Boneboys mentioned, if you have the Innatek card and are running the Fresco Logic drivers for it, the above may not stick during a PC reboot. Hence the Oculus Tray Tool having this feature to always turn power saving off each time it starts. With the later MS drivers for Fresco, they should stay unchecked.

 

I have the Innatek card and have the MS drivers for it, I still use the OTT though as I prefer it for setting game profiles for things like SS settings, ASW setting, audio switcher.

[TG-55Panthercules]

You can go into device manager and look in the Oculus VR Devices, under it you will see your sensors listed. You can from there set each one to keep from shutting off, by right clicking- click properties-click power management tab. Uncheck "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power", then click apply.

 

 

Thanks for saying this - I had turned off this "power saving" stuff everywhere I could find it but had not looked for it specifically here, and sure enough the stupid thing was checked.

[dburne]

Thanks for saying this - I had turned off this "power saving" stuff everywhere I could find it but had not looked for it specifically here, and sure enough the stupid thing was checked.

 

 

 

Glad it helped!

[CVGridley]

Are you using the inatec card and drivers ?

If so you should remove the drivers and let windows install the Fresco Logic USB 3.0 eXtensible - 1.0 (Microsoft) 07/12/17

Ver 10.0.16299.125

Nvidia driver  390.65 is known to be causing disconnects with the Rift and should not be used, 338.59 is recommended.

I use 388.71 without any apparent issues.

 

If you need to reset concentrator energy management at every start I can only assume you have a Family version of W10, my Pro keeps the settings.

There is no harm with letting OTT run in the background if it solves the sleeping / disconnect) problem.

 

Since the last Windows & Oculus updates my Rift will go to sleep if not being used after a couple of minutes with IL-2 (openVR) and almost immediately with DCS (native Rift).

I consider this to be working correctly.

 

NOTE : I always let OTT start with Windows, then close it down.

 

Might help, might not.

 

Not using inatec - I use on-board USB3.0 on my asus strix mb.  Also on Win10 Pro.  However, I am using a newer nVidia driver so that must be my issue. Didn't realize that was an effect of the driver!  THANKS!

 

You can go into device manager and look in the Oculus VR Devices, under it you will see your sensors listed. You can from there set each one to keep from shutting off, by right clicking- click properties-click power management tab. Uncheck "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power", then click apply.

 

As Boneboys mentioned, if you have the Innatek card and are running the Fresco Logic drivers for it, the above may not stick during a PC reboot. Hence the Oculus Tray Tool having this feature to always turn power saving off each time it starts. With the later MS drivers for Fresco, they should stay unchecked.

 

I have the Innatek card and have the MS drivers for it, I still use the OTT though as I prefer it for setting game profiles for things like SS settings, ASW setting, audio switcher.

Thanks for this too!  I'll check out the device settings...

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Edit: 07-02-2022

I will rebuild this post this week and update it to modern FSR/NIS options as well. The Q2 will join the bunch too, as well as the Varjo Aero.

 

Hey guys,

please remember the settings here are to make spotting and IDing most competitive, not to give the very ultimate best graphical experience. 

 

- 06.09.2021 Update

- Included fholger's FidelityFX SuperResolution (FSR) Upscaler and how to use it.

- Reworked SteamVR Settings for each headset in light of FSR

- Adjusted Vive Pro 2, Reverb G2/1, Samsung Odyssey, added Index and Vive Pro --- ingame settings

- Re-added Pimax 8KX

 

 

Previous Updates in Spoiler

Spoiler

- 15.06.2021 Update

- Added Vive Pro 2's How-To disable Automatic Display Resolution and disable Variable Automatic Lighting

- 12.06.2021 Update

- Adjusted SteamVR section, adjusted Vive Pro 2 Vive Console (Motion Smoothing)

- 10.06.2021 Update

- Added Vive Pro 2 Setup, Vive Console, Settings for SteamVR/IL-2

- 06.05.2021 Update

- Added Link to headset comparisons to bottom

- 09.04.2021 Update

- New Absolute Quality VR settings for Reverb G2 ("How to use SS100% / Motion Smoothing while AVOIDING artifacts!")

- 17.03.2021 Update

- Fixed SSAO setting, added Golden Rule to avoid heavy performance hits due to heavy cloud cover

- 24.01.2020 Update

- Added "Fix to fisheye problem in WMR"

- 05.01.2020 Update

- SSAO = 0

- 20.12.2020 Update

- Reverb G2 Supersampling recommendation added

- 11.12.2020 Update

-Fixed Reverb G2/G1 setting (no msaa)

- 09.12.2020 Update

- Golden Rules added

- SteamVR section reworked

- WMR section reworked

- Free performance boost for all WMR added

- Color banding fix on clouds added

- Propeller Disk selection added

- SteamVR Chaperone fix reworked

- Benchmark and hardware analysis link added

- Pimax 5K+ support deprecated (end of post)

 

 

Use CTRL+F to search for keywords in this post!

 

### Introduction ###

Spoiler

Hello fellow Simulator Enthusiasts,

 

Steam's SuperSampling reduces the size of aircrafts and tanks at range, so much that spotting contacts can be quite difficult, because they start becoming invisible. 

That is because using Supersampling information gets merged and hence lost. The result is that an aircraft at 15km range may be less than a (few) subpixels in size and is consumed by the sky around the subpixel. Supersampling too high makes aircrafts invisible as a result. But we cannot fly completely without it, as distortion profiles and sweetspot depend on it. Drop it too low, and the outer edges of your vision get more blurry.

 

### Golden Rules ###

Spoiler

- 90Hz and a steady framerate help spotting and gunnery more than any other setting.

- Don't run your headset 1:1 at its physical resolution, it requires a bit more for the distortion profile, around 1.3x minimum.

- These settings are meant for the average computer.

- You want a static picture, to spot moving objects against that. This is why landscape filter is "blurry" and shadows are either "Extreme" or "Off" (they flicker).

- HDR enabled + HQ clouds + heavy clouds on map + high resolution (Reverbs) = engine grinding to a halt even on RTX3090. So I'm running with HDR disabled now.

- Keep the gamma at 0.8000 or even 0.7000, which makes far distant aircrafts as dark as possible - they are usually black dots.

- Look into one direction and hold your head steady - notice any "bugs" moving around? That can be a bandit. 

- Check your six for SCG.

 

### SteamVR settings ###

Spoiler

Go to the SteamVR settings, enable "Advanced Settings".

1) Know your headset's vertical native resolution. For the Valve Index it is 1600, for example. For the Reverb G2 it is 2160, for the Vive Pro 2 it is 2448.

2) in General tab, select custom and set resolution: 1.5x of the vertical physical resolution per eye, so that the distortion profiles are properly drawn. The vertical resolution is the second number. In our example with the Valve Index: 1.5 x 1600 = 2400. Then you will see around 2160 x 2400.

Do not go higher, or you may experience scaling issues (contacts not rendered at long range).

 

3) Advanced Supersampling-Filter: Disable it. It blurs the picture too much.

Pause VR while headset is inactive: Disabled, or you cannot take it off during flight.

3) Start/Close: Turn Screen Off: 5 Minutes, Turn Controllers Off: 5 Minutes.

 

### fholger's FSR Upscaler --- giant performance boost for all high-res headsets ###

The sections for Vive Pro 2, 8KX, Reverb G2/1 are based on using this.

Spoiler

For all High Resolution Headsets like: Vive Pro 2, Pimax 8KX, Reverb G2, DecaGear (upcoming). For headsets of lower resolutions, I still recommend it and keep renderScale at 1 and still use FSR's sharpness.

 

I disable post_sharpen ingame, as FSR explicitly asks to disable any post processing or antialiasing ingame to avoid loss of information for its upscaling. If we keep IL-2's own sharpening on, we may miss a lot of aircrafts especially those that are higher than us.

 

FSR is an Upscaler that allows you to improve performance with almost no picture quality loss.

 

Steps:

1) Download FSR here

2) Navigate to ...\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\bin\game and make a backup of openvr_api.dll

3) Place files from FSR into ...\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\bin\game

4) Open openvr_mod.cfg with Notepad++ (or similar Editor)

5) Replace contents of file (or edit manually) with

{
  "fsr": {
    "enabled": true,
    "renderScale": 0.67,
    "sharpness": 0.67,
    "radius": 0.4,
    "applyMIPBias": false,
    "debugMode": false
  }
}

 

Now you want to take a good look at   "renderScale": 0.67, and set it to an individual scale depending on headset.

Vive Pro 2: 0.67

Pimax 8KX (75Hz) : 0.82

Reverb G2: 0.77

 

Now we want to look at    "sharpness": 0.67, I found this to be a good middle ground to avoid too much shimmering. Shimmering creates a too flickery picture and makes spotting more troublesome.

 

In this case, for the Vive Pro 2 it would render ~2400x2400 pixels and upscale them with the good algorithm at 0.4 of the radius from the center of the lens, and in the periphery use a faster algorithm. This saves performance.

 

### Vive Pro 2, guide to setup ###

You must go through the steps to get it working properly. Otherwise you may get a blurry picture or performance issues.

 

Setup Guide - tidy up!

Spoiler

1. If you had another headset before, uninstall all remains. Remove PiTool, in %USER%\AppData\ in Roaming, LocalNow, Local you need to find all Pimax/PiTool folders and delete them. Remove all Mixed Reality Software and plugins, uninstall SteamVR. Go to your ..\Program Files(x86)\Steam\config\ folder, in there delete "Lighthouse" and file "steamvr.vrsettings".
2. Reboot, freshly install SteamVR and opt into SteamVR Beta.
3. Update your graphics drivers - this is essential or you can't select Ultra/Extreme in the Vive Console!
4. Install Vive Console.

 

Vive Console Settings & how to handle

Spoiler

1. General, uncheck "Launch VIVE Console when the headset is connected". Now the headset won't launch by itself.
2. Video, keep Motion compensation checked off. 
3. Display settings, uncheck "Let VC choose the best settings" and select "Ultra".

 

How to handle the VC? 

To turn on: Start Windows. Then, turn on Linkbox. On Taskbar, you can click on VIVE Console. It will automatically start SteamVR and the Basestations, if you have linked them to SteamVR properly.  

To turn off: Press "Exit" in SteamVR, the VIVE Console will automatically go to sleep. The Linkbox will put Basestations to sleep.

 

How-to disable Automatic Display Resolution

Spoiler

If you do not do this, your resolution in SteamVR will remain dynamic - even if you select SteamVR's supersampling to be manual and at 200% or 300%. Some people experienced blurry pictures and sent their headsets back. Here seems to be the solution:

 

If Vive Console was installed normally, go to

C:\Program Files (x86)\VIVE\Updater\App\ViveVRRuntime\ViveVR\ViveVRServer\config

 

If Vive Console was installed via Steam, go to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VIVEDriver\App\ViveVRRuntime\ViveVR\ViveVRServer\config

 

then open 

default.vrsettings

 

find line

"DisplayResolutionAuto" : true,

 

change line to

"DisplayResolutionAuto" : false,

 

How-to disable Automatic Brightness Control

Spoiler

If you do not do this, the Brightness may dimm darker areas of the picture even more towards black, which may be great for Elite Dangerous and to get close to OLED blacks, but not for Cockpits or Night time. Here seems to be the solution:

 

If Vive Console was installed normally, go to

C:\Program Files (x86)\VIVE\Updater\App\ViveVRRuntime\ViveVR\ViveVRServer\config

 

If Vive Console was installed via Steam, go to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VIVEDriver\App\ViveVRRuntime\ViveVR\ViveVRServer\config

 

then open 

default.vrsettings

 

find line

"EnableBrightnessControl" : true,

 

change line to

"EnableBrightnessControl" : false,

 

find line

"BrightnessPercentage" : 80,

and set it to 99, .

 

SteamVR Settings (setting supersampling will have no effect until you have disabled Automatic Display Resolution!)

Spoiler

• The General tab (using RTX 3090, please adjust accordingly)
• Please note the absolute pixels of 3520 x 3520 , not the percentage. It fluctuates sometimes.

 

### IL-2 settings Vive Pro 2 ###

SteamVR target resolution 3520 x 3520, then use FSR at 0.67 (RTX3090) or lower slightly until you get steady 90fps. Keep IL-2's post_sharpen off, use FSR's sharpening feature.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\startup.cfg

Spoiler

[KEY = graphics]
    adapter = 0
    bloom_enable = 0
    canopy_ref = 0
    desktop_center = 0
    detail_rt_res = 1024
    draw_distance = 0.00000
    far_blocks = 0
    fps_counter = 0
    fps_limit = 0
    full_height = 1024
    full_width = 1280
    fullscreen = 0
    gamma = 0.90000
    grass_distance = 0.00000
    hdr_enable = 1
    land_anisotropy = 2
    land_detail = 0
    land_tex_lods = 3
    max_cache_res = 1
    max_clouds_quality = 2
    mgpu_compatible = 0
    mirrors = 2
    msaa = 0
    multisampling = 0
    or_ca = 0.00000
    or_dummy = 0
    or_enable = 1
    or_height = 3228
    or_hud_rad = 1.50000
    or_hud_size = 0.75000
    or_ipd = 0.06680
    or_sipdc = 0.00000
    or_width = 3228
    post_sharpen = 0
    preset = 2
    prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = 155
    rescale_target = 1.00000
    shadows_quality = 4
    ssao_enable = 0
    stereo_dof = 5.00000
    vsync = 0
    win_height = 768
    win_width = 1280
[END]

 

 

### For All Windows Mixed Reality Headsets ###

Setup Guide

Spoiler

1. We always want the latest Windows 10 Update. Updates outside the USA are often delayed, to make sure, use the Windows 10 Update Assistant !

2. Install SteamVR

3. Install Mixed Reality Plugin

 

Start-Up Sequence

Spoiler

1. In Windows, open Mixed Reality Portal

2. Put on headset, let it recognize the room

3. In Steam, start SteamVR, then your game

 

Failing to do so may put your head locked in a center position.

 

A free performance boost for WMR

Spoiler

 

Description:

Windows Mixed Reality pre-allocates monitors in VR. Take a look at your Windows' monitors (Rightclick to Desktop -> Display Settings)

You will suddenly see many monitors while Mixed Reality Portal is active. These are rendered live, even if you don't use them. The more monitors you have, the higher the performance cost. Get performance boost by disabling them:

 

[...]
1. Launch Registry Editor
2. Navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Holographic"
3. If the "PreallocateVirtualMonitors" REG_DWORD is not present, create it by selecting Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and entering PreallocateVirtualMonitors as the name
4. If the "PreallocateVirtualMonitors" REG_DWORD is present (or you just created it), double-click the entry and change "Value data" from 1 (its default value) to 0 (zero)
TRUE - 1
FALSE - 0
5. Virtual monitors will now allocate when you attempt to launch a Win32 application in Windows Mixed Reality instead of pre-allocating. To reset this and re-enable virtual monitor pre-allocation, return the DWORD "Value data" to 1.

6. Restart computer.

 

 

Source 1 u/NEMRCMDY

Source 2 Microsoft's Mixed Reality Enthusiast Guide

 

 

### HP Reverb G2 / G1 ###

SteamVR target resolution 3100 x 3100, then use FSR at 0.77 (RTX3090) or lower slightly until you get steady 90fps. Keep IL-2's post_sharpen off, use FSR's sharpening feature.

Performant VR settings

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\startup.cfg

Spoiler

[KEY = graphics]
    3dhud = 0
    adapter = 0
    bloom_enable = 0
    canopy_ref = 0
    desktop_center = 0
    detail_rt_res = 1024
    draw_distance = 0.00000
    far_blocks = 0
    fps_counter = 0
    fps_limit = 0
    full_height = 1080
    full_width = 1920
    fullscreen = 0
    gamma = 0.90000
    grass_distance = 0.00000
    hdr_enable = 1
    land_anisotropy = 2
    land_tex_lods = 3
    max_cache_res = 1
    max_clouds_quality = 2
    mgpu_compatible = 0
    mirrors = 2
    msaa = 0
    multisampling = 0
    or_ca = 0.00040
    or_dummy = 0
    or_enable = 1
    or_height = 2164
    or_hud_rad = 0.85000
    or_hud_size = 0.85000
    or_ipd = 0.06599
    or_sipdc = 0.00000
    or_width = 2216
    post_sharpen = 0
    preset = 3
    prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = 155
    rescale_target = 1.00000
    shadows_quality = 4
    ssao_enable = 0
    stereo_dof = 5.00000
    vsync = 0
    win_height = 1080
    win_width = 1920
[END]

 

### Pimax 8KX ###

SteamVR target resolution 12345654? x 3100, then use FSR at 0.82 (RTX3090) or lower as you only need to get to 75fps. Keep IL-2's post_sharpen off, use FSR's sharpening feature.

Best to play the game on "Normal" FOV, with Motion Smoothing disabled. If you are lucky and your 8KX makes 90Hz, it's absolutely preferable and lower FSR accordingly. Allows to track and ID moving targets much better.

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\startup.cfg

Spoiler

[KEY = graphics]
    3dhud = 0
    adapter = 0
    bloom_enable = 0
    canopy_ref = 0
    desktop_center = 0
    detail_rt_res = 1024
    draw_distance = 0.00000
    far_blocks = 0
    fps_counter = 0
    fps_limit = 0
    full_height = 1080
    full_width = 1920
    fullscreen = 0
    gamma = 0.80000
    grass_distance = 0.00000
    hdr_enable = 1
    land_anisotropy = 2
    land_tex_lods = 3
    max_cache_res = 1
    max_clouds_quality = 2
    mgpu_compatible = 0
    mirrors = 2
    msaa = 0
    multisampling = 0
    or_ca = 0.00040
    or_dummy = 0
    or_enable = 1
    or_height = 2164
    or_hud_rad = 0.85000
    or_hud_size = 0.85000
    or_ipd = 0.06599
    or_sipdc = 0.00000
    or_width = 2216
    post_sharpen = 0
    preset = 3
    prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = 155
    rescale_target = 1.00000
    shadows_quality = 4
    ssao_enable = 0
    stereo_dof = 5.00000
    vsync = 0
    win_height = 1080
    win_width = 1920
[END]

 

 

### Samsung Odyssey (Plus), Vive Pro 1 , Valve Index ###

SteamVR target resolution ~ 2160 x 2400, then use FSR at 1 (RTX3090) or lower it slightly until you get steady 90fps. Keep IL-2's post_sharpen off, use FSR's sharpening feature instead.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\startup.cfg

Spoiler

[KEY = graphics]
    3dhud = 0
    adapter = 0
    bloom_enable = 0

    canopy_ref = 0
    desktop_center = 1
    detail_rt_res = 1024
    draw_distance = 0.54500
    far_blocks = 0
    fps_counter = 0
    fps_limit = 0
    full_height = 1080
    full_width = 1920
    fullscreen = 0
    gamma = 0.80000
    grass_distance = 0.00000
    hdr_enable = 1
    land_anisotropy = 2
    land_tex_lods = 3
    max_cache_res = 1
    max_clouds_quality = 2
    mgpu_compatible = 0
    mirrors = 2

    msaa = 1
    multisampling = 1
    or_enable = 1
    or_height = 2179
    or_hud_rad = 0.85000
    or_hud_size = 1.00000
    or_ipd = 0.06763

    or_sipdc = 0.00000
    or_width = 1748
    post_sharpen = 0
    preset = 3

    prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = 155
    rescale_target = 1.00000
    shadows_quality = 4
    ssao_enable = 0
    stereo_dof = 5.00000
    vsync = 0
    win_height = 1080
    win_width = 1920
[END]

 

### Trouble with suddenly blurry graphics (Vive Pro 2, Pimax 8KX), low resolutions ###

Spoiler

Your gpuSpeed might clock in too low. This is a pesky SteamVR Feature aimed at keeping the experience smooth for the simplest user. However, we are awesome, so we use the SteamVR-ForceCompositorScale by elvissteinjr !

Steps: 

1) Download it here

2) Make sure SteamVR is running, then execute SteamVR-ForceCompositorScale.exe. It is irrelevant where you keep the files, as long as you don't move them afterwards.

3) Restart SteamVR. Now the ForceCompositorScale will be in the overlay section of SteamVR settings for you to check, if you want.

4) Close SteamVR and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\steamvr.vrsettings and open it with Notepad++

5) Add into    

},
   "steamvr" : {

      "supersampleManualOverride" : true,

       "supersampleScaleCompositor" : 8

   },

Make sure to put it in correctly. The last line of what is in section "steamvr" should not have a comma. All those before it should have a comma. Look at my screenshot and then at what you have written, double check - or the entire file may reset.

 

 

6) Save the file, now start SteamVR.

 

### Remove color banding on clouds (some players have this issue) ###

Spoiler

1) Rightclick Desktop, open "Nvidia Settings"

 

2) Select "3D-Settings", then Program Settings, then select IL-2 Sturmovik.

3) Set "Texture Filtering - Quality" to "High Quality".

 

If you don't sport a GPU from 2014, you won't need Anisotropic Filtering.

 

### Performance Issues ### 

Please remember that all systems are different, and adjust a few details accordingly. I recommend you use the application fpsVR to see whether your performance is limited by the CPU or the GPU. Look for the frametimes. Here are some suggestions to reduce the stress:

Spoiler

 

Performance boosts for CPU:

Disable Grass

Lower Main Presets

Disable Mirrors

Disable Distant Buildings

Lower Horizon Draw Distance

 

Performance boosts for GPU:

Disable Grass

Disable Mirrors

Disable Canopy reflections

Disable SSAO

Disable MSAA

Lower Shadow Quality

Lower Cloud Quality

 

 

### Instant Zoom ###

Spoiler

 

It is possible to have the zoom work in an instant. This is better for combat pilots, for that instant snapshot. 

Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\startup.cfg

Open with Notepad. You can make VR zoom instant, look for and edit the line:

 

### Chaperone Ring in SteamVR ###

Spoiler

Start SteamVR, click on: Settings -> Developer -> select Large/Gigantic Room -> press Quick Calibrate

 

### Old Propeller Disk ###

Spoiler

The prop blur at 155 is meant for VR, removes artifacts with motion reprojection, and takes less performance. To get the old prop disk back, navigate to startup.cfg and edit line to:

 

prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = -1 

 

### Fix to "fisheyed" problem in WMR ###

Spoiler

1) Update Windows 10 to latest version

2) Go into Mixed Reality Portal -> Settings -> Headset Display -> select

 

Options for User Experience: "Best Visual Quality" 

Resolution: "4320x2160 (Best Quality)"   //Resolution value can vary by headset

Frequency: 90Hz

 

### IL-2 Benchmarks, performance and hardware analysis ###

Spoiler

 

Find out more about your hardware, if you have the following questions:

- Where is my bottleneck?

- How is my computer actually performing?

- What part should I upgrade next for biggest performance gain with lowest cost?

 

Benchmark your Hardware in IL-2 and ask for help on hardware in @chiliwili69's thread!

 

 

 

### PCVR Headset comparisons ###

 

Link to the thread in which I will compare headsets while focussing on IL-2, future headsets as well

 

 

 

Enjoy the hunt! ?

Edited February 7, 2022 by SCG_Fenris_Wolf

[JG1_Lipfert]

Kameraden,

 

Tried it and with Lefuneste's mod in combination my scores on Coconut's server have gone up right away. Much better ident now even when not zoomed it. I've gone with High settings as I tune this in better.

 

S! FW

[SCG_motoadve]

Combining sharpen in game and blurried terrain , now there is no need for that much SS anymore.

Kind of you can control the amount of shimmering you are willing to see , by reducing or adding SS.

 

Looks better and performs better.

Its a win win setting.

[71st_AH_statuskuo]

Finally tried this mod and it is game changing for VR (I have a Rift).   Mapped it to my joystick zoom button with joytokey and able to ID way further away now.   Now I won't get killed in Coconut's as fast, thanks Lefuneste. 

[SRF_kaltokri]

Hi,

 

in my  steamvr.vrsettings I found this line:

 

"supersampleScale" : 2

 

Is it the new renderTargetMultiplier?

 

If I set graphics to Ultra my PC reboots after some time in the mission. On low it didn't reboot. I think this is really strange, right?

 

Regards,

Kal

[A_radek]

Gave these settings a go and agree they considerably improve contact spotting. Easy now even in bad weather. The only thing I run differently is "high" rather than "ultra" as at ultra heavy cloudcovers a kill my fps. Wish clouds had their own setting.