How is BoS in VR...

[=IRFC=NakedSquirrel]

I'm shocked at how good BoS is in VR.

Il2 BoS looks fantastic and runs smooth. I've been trying it out in the Vive and although the game gives me frame rate drops, I don't have any issues playing in VR. The reprojection software (AKA Vive's version of ATW) is fantastic at smoothing out frames so you don't get motion sick.

I tried it out in single player, and decided I'd at least try it once in MP, although I didn't have high hopes.  I thought I might be able to sludge around blindly in an IL2 or some other ground pounder, but VR just doesn't have the same resolution as a monitor... so I was ready to take to the skies with the combat awareness of Mr. Magoo.



To my shock, it's not a huge handicap to play in MP against other players. I hopped on the Wing's server and ended my first VR sortie with 2 kills and 2 assists, with no friendlies team killed in the process.  No icons, no helpers!  

I don't say it to sound like a showoff (both of those kills were bomb laden), but the fact I could spot targets without icons, ID them as enemy, and have a chance at aiming at and shooting them is saying a lot for how well the game is rendered on an HMD!

The game is very well optimized for VR. There seems to be some sort of model scaling enabled for VR headsets.  You can still reasonably see contacts with an HMD's lower resolution. They also enabled a 2x zoom function to allow you to ID air or spot ground targets.  Distant targets are still a chore, but you aren't blind by any means.

I wouldn't say these make VR headsets better than a monitor, I find I have to get pretty close to ID targets, but I can still ID aircraft out of gun range. Somewhere around 400-500m if I had to take a wild guess... although it depends on how distinct the silhouette is and what kind of aspect they are at. (Head on and direct 6 is extremely hard to ID).

The only negative points about VR in BoS are the added 'head bump' sound against the cockpit. It gets annoying as your head is pretty restricted as it is. You can't get your face anywhere near the gunsight. This is fine considering most pilots were strapped into their seats. The problem is that you hear a loud bang every time you move your head near the limit. I thought I was being shot at the first time I heard it, but no... it's because your head (which is the size of a small car apparently) is bashing around the cockpit every time you try to glance around.

I also notice some sort of distortion/vertical line near the middle of the display when looking around quickly from side to side... as though the images don't quite line up between the eyes. I think it mainly happens at low FPS. It's a very minute distortion, so It's hard to explain more than that. I haven't noticed this distortion in other games I've tried, even when they reach low FPS. It's not a game killer... it's just an odd quirk I notice. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this in VR? I'd be curious to know. (And before you say it... No it's not IPD)

Those are minor quirks though.  I really didn't expect to be able to run BoS in VR and still be competitive Multiplayer. It is fantastic implementation. You're obviously still at a slight disadvantage vs a monitor. A monitor can ID contacts and ground targets much further away than on an HMD, tracers are a little more difficult to follow in VR, and it is also much more of a chore to check six with VR vs trackir, but who cares when you're sitting in a 3d cockpit!

 

 

Over all it's a very enjoyable experience, and is very well implemented.

Edited May 2, 2017 by NakedSquirrel

[Nibbio]

I also notice some sort of distortion/vertical line near the middle of the display when looking around quickly from side to side... as though the images don't quite line up between the eyes. I think it mainly happens at low FPS. It's a very minute distortion, so It's hard to explain more than that. I haven't noticed this distortion in other games I've tried, even when they reach low FPS. It's not a game killer... it's just an odd quirk I notice. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this in VR? I'd be curious to know. (And before you say it... No it's not IPD)

 

No, never noticed the problem you describe. I'm using a Rift, though.

Otherwise fully agree with your assessment.

[dburne]

No, never noticed the problem you describe. I'm using a Rift, though.

Otherwise fully agree with your assessment.

 

Same here, have never noticed anything like this either. Using Rift as well.

[OrLoK]

I only get the usual ASW distortions around the gunsight and planes flying horizontal to me at low FPS.

 

I tried playing with the head restriction on yesterday, good grief Its a pain.

 

For me, its a thing of evil. (sorry, jason! )

 

other than that, Im really impressed by the VR support/capability of BoX, it doesnt feel like a bolted on afterthought.

 

I wish more seated games had such good VR implementation added.

[marklar]

I wish more seated games had such good VR implementation added.

 

Many games do, and their VR implementation is even better. Assetto Corsa, iRacing, War Thunder...

[OrLoK]

Many games do, and their VR implementation is even better. Assetto Corsa, iRacing, War Thunder...

not enough games though!

[Capt_Stubing]

More are coming... DCS supports it and Team Fusion will support VR once they move Cliffs of Dover to DX11.  More titles on the way.  Also beyond Flight Simming there are some amazing applications.  It will be interesting to see what happens once more people jump on to VR.  The one gotcha is you do need horsepower to run these things properly

[dburne]

not enough games though!

 

Don't know if you have the Touch controllers, if you do there are some fantastic Touch enabled games available through Oculus Home.

 

Whilst the bulk of my time is in flight simming, I do enjoy the occasional break to play some Touch shooters - quite fun really. Also exploring the International Space Station is fairly cool as well.

[OrLoK]

Yeah, I have the touch and all the usual good games, but apart from games like Elite or sims like Assetto Corsa or Project cars etc Ive not found any that are all that deep or have any real longevity, for me.

 

I suppose its why ive gone a bit fruitloopy for BoX

[marklar]

not enough games though!

 

If you want more:

 

rFactor 2

RaceRoom Racing Experience

Dirt Rally

Flight Simulator X (3rd party plugin required)

Prepar3D

X-plane 11 (3rd party plugin required)

[OrLoK]

Still not enough!

 

I have my flight sims and race sims of choice we need other experiences.

[Nibbio]

Agreed. Wonder how a VR version of a strat game like Mius Front would be

[dburne]

Still not enough!

 

I have my flight sims and race sims of choice we need other experiences.

 

Yikes!

 

I am retired now and still can not seem to find the time - between BoS and DCS I barely have time to enjoy what very few other titles I have for my Rift.

I have been wanting to add Elite Dangerous and maybe a racing title, but honestly don't know how I would find the time to enjoy them...

[marklar]

Yikes!

 

I have been wanting to add Elite Dangerous and maybe a racing title, but honestly don't know how I would find the time to enjoy them...

 

I do enjoy both but not at the same time. Usually I have 6-12 months intervals. When I get bored of flying I go back to racing and vice versa. Now is flying season .

[nessuno0505]

I cannot spot ground targets so easily. I am a new player and use oculus rift. Without labels I spend a lot of time circling in finding ground targets. With labels on I can spot them with ease and can train my aiming skills (with il-2, still very low). Without labels the main part of the mission is finding targets, mainly if they are a group of tanks lost between patches of country that differ only for the color. I'd like to play without labels, but I find it almost impossible, at least for air-to-ground missions. For air to air combat, things are better, it's quite easy to spot other planes beyond firing range. Identify them can be more tricky, but at least doable.

 

P.S. I can't find a way to toggle the mini-map in vr, all I can do is toggle briefing (but it covers all the cockpit). Is it normal?

Edited July 7, 2017 by nessuno0505

[HunDread]

Dont worry, moving tanks are very hard to spot for everyone. Sometimes in multiplayer like 5 big ground targets are brought down in 10 minutes and the last tank column take like 30 mins as no one can find them. Buildings and other constructions are way much easier.

 

The mini map is not available on expert settings only the main map.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

I cannot spot ground targets so easily. I am a new player and use oculus rift. Without labels I spend a lot of time circling in finding ground targets. With labels on I can spot them with ease and can train my aiming skills (with il-2, still very low). Without labels the main part of the mission is finding targets, mainly if they are a group of tanks lost between patches of country that differ only for the color. I'd like to play without labels, but I find it almost impossible, at least for air-to-ground missions. For air to air combat, things are better, it's quite easy to spot other planes beyond firing range. Identify them can be more tricky, but at least doable.

 

P.S. I can't find a way to toggle the mini-map in vr, all I can do is toggle briefing (but it covers all the cockpit). Is it normal?

Hey mate, that might be solely a settings issue.

 

If you can play on ingame's Ultra Quality Preset, do that. Make sure to disable Anti-Aliasing, as it merges the tanks/low flying aircraft with the background. Use the "Sharpen" Filter, and keep SSAO off. HDR is personal preference.

 

In SteamVR -> Settings, you pull Super-Sampling (Developer Settings) to 2.0 or 2.2 if your videocard can make it. Make sure to disable "Advanced Sample Filtering" directly beneath the SS slider.

 

Disable ASW ingame by using CTRL-Numpad(1), big quality boost for anything within the propeller radius.

 

 

Now you should enjoy a much clearer picture. Use the zoom ingame as well, helps big time!

[nessuno0505]

As for steam vr, I prefer to keep pixel density to 1.0 to maximize performance, but I will try your ingame settings.

Now I'm playing at high settings with aa and ssaa on, so I will try that changes, maybe without supersampling my 1070 can handle. 

But Black_Sab answer is ok for me... I suppose spotting tanks was difficult in real life too.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

With a GTX1070 that's not necessary. I can spot aircraft right on the deck from 5km altitude, ground target buildings from 10km away (max of the rendering bubble), and tanks/vehicles from around 4km in a JaBo. I agree that finding the tanks is still hard - they crawl off position, or into forests as well.

 

 

By coincidence I had the 1070 as well, here are good settings you can use directly:

 

Put ingame-shown resolution to 800x600, windowed, Vsync off.

Now check SteamVR: you'd want SS of 2.2 to 2.0 in SteamVR, Advanced Supersample Filtering = Off in SteamVR.

Balanced Game Settings, AA off, Sharpen on, SSAO off, HDR off, Land distance x2, Landfilter to Sharp. Now go to your IL-2 root folder, open data folder, find Startup.cfg and open with text editor: Gamma 0.7 , Grass Distance to 1m. After that, do not check Graphics settings ingame or it will reset to 0.8 / 100m.

 

Ingame, press and hold CTRL+Numpad(1) until ASW turns off (no more flashing Crosshair). 

 

Have fun with your newfound awareness.

 

 

P.S.

2.2 SS is ~1.5 PD. 2.0 SS is ~1.37 PD. SSAO leads to crawling ugly shadows, and HDR to a haze-like environment. "AA" and "SteamVR's Advanced Supersample Filtering" make planes merge with the background, making it very hard to ID aircrafts in VR.

Edited July 7, 2017 by 1CAG_Fenris_Wolf

[BazzaLB]

With a GTX1070 that's not necessary. I can spot aircraft right on the deck from 5km altitude, ground target buildings from 10km away (max of the rendering bubble), and tanks/vehicles from around 4km in a JaBo. I agree that finding the tanks is still hard - they crawl off position, or into forests as well.

 

 

By coincidence I had the 1070 as well, here are good settings you can use directly:

 

Put ingame-shown resolution to 800x600, windowed, Vsync off.

Now check SteamVR: you'd want SS of 2.2 to 2.0 in SteamVR, Advanced Supersample Filtering = Off in SteamVR.

Balanced Game Settings, AA off, Sharpen on, SSAO off, HDR off, Land distance x2, Landfilter to Sharp. Now go to your IL-2 root folder, open data folder, find Startup.cfg and open with text editor: Gamma 0.7 , Grass Distance to 1m. After that, do not check Graphics settings ingame or it will reset to 0.8 / 100m.

 

Ingame, press and hold CTRL+Numpad(1) until ASW turns off (no more flashing Crosshair). 

 

Have fun with your newfound awareness.

 

 

P.S.

2.2 SS is ~1.5 PD. 2.0 SS is ~1.37 PD. SSAO leads to crawling ugly shadows, and HDR to a haze-like environment. "AA" and "SteamVR's Advanced Supersample Filtering" make planes merge with the background, making it very hard to ID aircrafts in VR.

Hey, thanks for this. I'm running i7 3770K@4.5 with GTX1080 (Vive) and have been struggling to get a sweet spot set of settings for best performance / visuals without stutter during fights (especially over smoking stalingrad with total of me and 7 AI). These settings look great , have great clarity and perform really well. Its the best VR experience I've managed so far with IL2:BOS.

 

So , thanks again. I wish steam VR allowed for game specific settings that it remembers.

[Lobstrosity]

With a GTX1070 that's not necessary. I can spot aircraft right on the deck from 5km altitude, ground target buildings from 10km away (max of the rendering bubble), and tanks/vehicles from around 4km in a JaBo. I agree that finding the tanks is still hard - they crawl off position, or into forests as well.

 

 

By coincidence I had the 1070 as well, here are good settings you can use directly:

 

Put ingame-shown resolution to 800x600, windowed, Vsync off.

Now check SteamVR: you'd want SS of 2.2 to 2.0 in SteamVR, Advanced Supersample Filtering = Off in SteamVR.

Balanced Game Settings, AA off, Sharpen on, SSAO off, HDR off, Land distance x2, Landfilter to Sharp. Now go to your IL-2 root folder, open data folder, find Startup.cfg and open with text editor: Gamma 0.7 , Grass Distance to 1m. After that, do not check Graphics settings ingame or it will reset to 0.8 / 100m.

 

Ingame, press and hold CTRL+Numpad(1) until ASW turns off (no more flashing Crosshair). 

 

Have fun with your newfound awareness.

 

 

P.S.

2.2 SS is ~1.5 PD. 2.0 SS is ~1.37 PD. SSAO leads to crawling ugly shadows, and HDR to a haze-like environment. "AA" and "SteamVR's Advanced Supersample Filtering" make planes merge with the background, making it very hard to ID aircrafts in VR.

Is ASW asynchronous time warp? I haven't noticed a flashing crosshair. Does this happen in the gunsight of every plane?

 

Thanks for the other settings. I'm giving them a try and framerates seem to be much better as well as clarity.

[dburne]

Is ASW asynchronous time warp? 

 

Asynchronous Space Warp.

https://developer.oculus.com/blog/asynchronous-spacewarp/

[HunDread]

With a GTX1070 that's not necessary. I can spot aircraft right on the deck from 5km altitude, ground target buildings from 10km away (max of the rendering bubble), and tanks/vehicles from around 4km in a JaBo. I agree that finding the tanks is still hard - they crawl off position, or into forests as well.

 

 

By coincidence I had the 1070 as well, here are good settings you can use directly:

 

Put ingame-shown resolution to 800x600, windowed, Vsync off.

Now check SteamVR: you'd want SS of 2.2 to 2.0 in SteamVR, Advanced Supersample Filtering = Off in SteamVR.

Balanced Game Settings, AA off, Sharpen on, SSAO off, HDR off, Land distance x2, Landfilter to Sharp. Now go to your IL-2 root folder, open data folder, find Startup.cfg and open with text editor: Gamma 0.7 , Grass Distance to 1m. After that, do not check Graphics settings ingame or it will reset to 0.8 / 100m.

 

Ingame, press and hold CTRL+Numpad(1) until ASW turns off (no more flashing Crosshair). 

 

Have fun with your newfound awareness.

 

 

P.S.

2.2 SS is ~1.5 PD. 2.0 SS is ~1.37 PD. SSAO leads to crawling ugly shadows, and HDR to a haze-like environment. "AA" and "SteamVR's Advanced Supersample Filtering" make planes merge with the background, making it very hard to ID aircrafts in VR.

 

These are really good instructions.

 

So far 1.9 steam vr SS works best for me. 2.2 gives much worse shimmering without any noticeable improvement in clarity.

 

What do you think of driver AF? Does that help or hurt spotting and ID'ing?

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Adv filtering (referring to ss) or anisotr.filtering ?

 

The first makes it worse, the latta makes it betta.

 

Or rather, would - I do not know yet whether hardware AF affects VR. It would be interesting, please share your results

[dburne]

 

Or rather, would - I do not know yet whether hardware AF affects VR. It would be interesting, please share your results

 

I am fairly sure both AA and AF settings in Nvidia Control Panel have zero affect on the VR image.

These need to be set in game GUI. 

You can inject some FXAA through the Nvidia panel, but that is about it.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Aw yeah, please do not do that. It blurs the picture and makes it much harder to ID and spot planes at SL, from above. :S

[dburne]

Aw yeah, please do not do that. It blurs the picture and makes it much harder to ID and spot planes at SL, from above. :S

 

Yeah I gave FXAA a try and did not much care for it either.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

There is FXAA already. Ingame AA function.

 

Makes planes melt and diffuse visually into the clouds or ground behind them. Not advisable imo if you want to properly ID at range, big hindrance!

[BlznSaddles]

POST 19!!!

 

 

These settings work GREAT for me.  Thanks!  I have a 1070 and i5 6500 with 12 GB Ram installed.  I am using Oculus Tray Tool and setting the Super Sampling there to 2.0, ASW OFF.  This really cleared up the guages for me as well, they are totally legible now.  I was originally trying to use something like 1.3SS and 2xAA and it is not anywhere near as nice as your settings.

Edited August 30, 2017 by BirdDogsBlznSaddles

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Glad to help 

[amlemans224]

Yeah this setup helped me as well, now I can see the gun sights while having a good compromise.

 

POST 19!!!

 

 

These settings work GREAT for me.  Thanks!  I have a 1070 and i5 6500 with 12 GB Ram installed.  I am using Oculus Tray Tool and setting the Super Sampling there to 2.0, ASW OFF.  This really cleared up the guages for me as well, they are totally legible now.  I was originally trying to use something like 1.3SS and 2xAA and it is not anywhere near as nice as your settings.

 

 

Glad to help 

Yeah this helped me too. Now I can see my gun sights while living with a decent compromise. Thanks