Switching from VR to Triple Screens - Which Keys to Bind?

[WhteRbt]

Hey guys,

 

I need your help and I hope this is the right place for asking these kind of questions.

 

After thinking a lot about it, I want to sell my Valve Index and return back to my triple screen setup. I have a rig dedicated to Sim Racing; but flying old warbirds in IL2 has become my second hobby… As flying in VR is just great, with time it's been also a bit uncomfortable. I enjoy the crisp-clear resolution with my triple screen setup, but I have to work something out about view management. I never had to think about binding some „pilot view“ controls to my joystick, but it seems that I have to do this now.

 

Does someone have an idea which key bindings are the most important and some Best Practices about the location? My current setup is a VKB Gunfighter III with the Space Combat Grip and a Thrustmaster throttle. I replaced the analog hat on my SCG with the digital one… maybe I should switch them back? What do you think, is someone out there who uses a triple screen setup, too, and has some advices?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

PS: Is there ANY way to get the menu only use the middle screen area? I have to move my cursor from the far left screen to the far right screen nearly every time… I am using Nvidia Surround for the tripes, every one has a resolution of 1920*1080.

Edited December 21, 2020 by WhteRbt

[keeno]

Hi WhteRbt,

 I use a triple monitor set up with a Nvidia card resolution 5760x1080 and it's ace. The menu is across the 3 screens but the portion for key binding is right in the middle of the centre screen only. In settings have you got the UI set to auto? Are you using a TRACIR, if not I suggest you get one, that way you only need  button to centre your view. 

 

I would also suggest you work your way through the key bindings and work out what is best for you with regard to views, engine management, weapons etc.

 

Finally I would suggest getting "triple loading screen" MOD and the "Hanger triples" MOD as they work beautifully with a triple screen set up.

 

Good luck!

Edited December 21, 2020 by keeno

[PatrickAWlson]

@WhteRbt Something that I cannot recommend highly enough is Voice Attack.  It allows you to bind voice commands to keystrokes.  In my case I use VA for wingman commands and odd things like view map, time compression, etc.  Basically everything that does not control the plane or weapons.  That leaves my precious HOTAS keys available for engine and weapons management.

[Georgio]

All I will say is ditch the valve and triple screens get a Reverb G2 instead; you have the clarity and immersion.

Nothing can replace VR once you've seen the light.

[Guest deleted@83466]

12 minutes ago, Georgio said:

All I will say is ditch the valve and triple screens get a Reverb G2 instead; you have the clarity and immersion.

Nothing can replace VR once you've seen the light.

 

To each their own.  I prefer the ability to see my controls and to grab my beer without knocking it over.  

[Props]

Some of us cannot use VR, period. Not in it's current state of technology. I for one get extremely nauseated and headachey within minutes whenever I have tried it and this is more common than many realize, just check the web for info on this. It may be due to my vision and strong prescription, but there are no corrective lenses being produced in my prescription by those that are making quality inserts for the VR headsets, so there's no reason for some of us to sink money in it. I get a bit bummed that there are VR exclusive games out there that I simply cannot have a chance to play and it marginalizes a majority of players in the PC gaming market. Not to mention limiting the profits that are available by making games and sims open to all users, VR or not VR.

 

It's funny in a way, because I never get airsick when I fly in the real world, nor do I get seasick on ships, nor do I get woozy using my Track IR. I would love to experience VR when it becomes more user friendly but for now no thanks.

[Creep]

2 minutes ago, Props said:

Some of us cannot use VR, period. Not in it's current state of technology. I for one get extremely nauseated and headachey within minutes whenever I have tried it and this is more common than many realize, just check the web for info on this. It may be due to my vision and strong prescription, but there are no corrective lenses being produced in my prescription by those that are making quality inserts for the VR headsets, so there's no reason for some of us to sink money in it. I get a bit bummed that there are VR exclusive games out there that I simply cannot have a chance to play and it marginalizes a majority of players in the PC gaming market. Not to mention limiting the profits that are available by making games and sims open to all users, VR or not VR.

 

It's funny in a way, because I never get airsick when I fly in the real world, nor do I get seasick on ships, nor do I get woozy using my Track IR. I would love to experience VR when it becomes more user friendly but for now no thanks.

Which headset(s) have you tried? This makes me wonder if the issue is with the headset itself, the refresh rate, IPD, etc. For instance, when I have tried running my headset at 60Hz instead of 90Hz, I thought it looked godawful - some people don't. Makes me wonder if whatever you tried was running at 60Hz, had an incorrect IPD for the distance between your eyes, etc.

The Reverb G2 has more room inside of it to allow for corrective lenses.

[cardboard_killer]

3 minutes ago, Props said:

I for one get extremely nauseated and headachey within minutes whenever I have tried it and this is more common than many realize, just check the web for info on this.

 

Yes, me too, except that I also get airsick flying, too. The headache really sucks, too.

[WhteRbt]

First of all, thanks a lot for your replies!

 

I used a Valve Index and have zero issues with airsickness or nausea. That is not the reason I want to sell my headset; I just can't justify to have a 1.100 USD headset (including controllers) which I only use for flying a few times a week… I have a GTX-1070ti which is the absolute minimum for the Index, so a GPU upgrade would be great, but this costs even more money. I don't know if a huge GPU upgrade (looking at you, RTX-3080!) would be a game-changer for my VR experience…

 

As I bought the Index, I thought that I will play VR games more often. But there are some concerns about selling the Index… maybe I give myself a few more days to think about it during the holidays.

 

To answer the question: I don't have TrackIR and currently no plans to get one…

 

Thanks a lot!

[Georgio]

18 hours ago, Props said:

Some of us cannot use VR, period. Not in it's current state of technology. I for one get extremely nauseated and headachey within minutes whenever I have tried it and this is more common than many realize, just check the web for info on this. It may be due to my vision and strong prescription, but there are no corrective lenses being produced in my prescription by those that are making quality inserts for the VR headsets, so there's no reason for some of us to sink money in it. I get a bit bummed that there are VR exclusive games out there that I simply cannot have a chance to play and it marginalizes a majority of players in the PC gaming market. Not to mention limiting the profits that are available by making games and sims open to all users, VR or not VR.

 

It's funny in a way, because I never get airsick when I fly in the real world, nor do I get seasick on ships, nor do I get woozy using my Track IR. I would love to experience VR when it becomes more user friendly but for now no thanks.

 

I'd suggest that your VR experience is down to your PC not VR as such.

People just don't get it that yes a laptop or low-spec. PC will 'run' VR however the experience will be exactly what you describe.

 

It's like anything, you get what you pay for and if you're not prepared to invest the cash into the hardware then your experience will reflect this, you can't do VR on the cheap basically.

[kalbuth]

44 minutes ago, Georgio said:

 

I'd suggest that your VR experience is down to your PC not VR as such.

People just don't get it that yes a laptop or low-spec. PC will 'run' VR however the experience will be exactly what you describe.

 

It's like anything, you get what you pay for and if you're not prepared to invest the cash into the hardware then your experience will reflect this, you can't do VR on the cheap basically.

But there are still big differences between people for the same performance. We are not, at all, all equal when in VR, and some people are simply affected MUCH MORE than others by different nausea and headaches, at the same FPS & performance, than others.

I'm lucky enough to be rather immune to VR induced sickness, but I consider myself lucky. I've seen many struggling while having far better hardware than mine, because they cannot sustain low FPS in VR, even average, or are affected by some other aspect of VR.

Also, fatigue has a huge impact on how much you can sustain VR.

[Props]

No it's not due to my PC. I have tried these headsets on other setups and good PCs. It's a no show. It is well documented that many folks experience these issues, just go and do a simple search on the web. I have looked into several makers of prescription inserts for VR headsets and none of them provide a prescription to cover my needs, my left eye being worse than my right, they simply don't cover that high prescription range. I'm sure higher resolutions and highend headsets help alleviate these issues for some folks, but that is not my experience.

 

I want to play VR. I have nothing against it and feel it is the future of simming, but I also feel that the technology must mature quite a bit before someone like me can effectively use it. My point is that sim and pc game developers need to remember that there are still a lot of folks who do not or cannot use it in it's current state and costs, and should not exclude that large community of players in said development. And my immersion in this sim is not dependent on it, I get tons of satisfaction flying full real with my large monitor and Track IR and HOTAS setup. I still sweat in a heavy scrap with the enemy;-). My PC is highend (my AMD 5800X shows up next week, my RTX 3080 is already installed, along with a 850W PSU and 32Gb RAM, SSDs, etc.) and more than capable of running a VR setup, but I see no reason to spend $ on it yet, so any game that goes VR exclusive just plain is ignoring my dollars, not good business sense in my mind.