IL-2 with Open XR "proof of concept" works with Reverb and some other headsets probably

[firdimigdi]

On 5/6/2022 at 12:59 AM, [CPT]Crunch said:

We're getting closer, latest update the tools are now working proper within the hanger and menus, but it will crash the game as soon as you attempt to get in the fly with a plane.  Kind of neat to see the effects in the hanger and on the selected plane, loving the clarity and colors, goodbye to drab WWII monocolor.

 

Some good news on this: the next version of the OpenXR Toolkit will not enable the DirectX API call interceptor and thus it will support all its other features apart from foveated rendering which relies on that.

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Firdimigdi

[paul_leonard]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:57 PM, dburne said:

 

One can always just run it in Steam VR with no Mods.

Pretty simple and really IL-2 has good VR performance anyway.

Bingo.  Many of us play two games at a time.  One is called Tinker the other is [insert game name here].  Been doing this for nearly 40 years. First time was swapping out an 8086 CPU for an 8088 CPU to get Jet to run smoother.  Funny thing is I never seem to get tired of playing Tinker even though it is maddeningly frustrating and takes me away from [insert game name here].

[firdimigdi]

1 hour ago, paul_leonard said:

First time was swapping out an 8086 CPU for an 8088 CPU to get Jet to run smoother.

 

Can't believe in 2022 I get to ask this, perhaps for the last time (nerd joy and sweet nostalgia in one short query!): you downgraded and it ran smoother?

[paul_leonard]

Ooops my bad.  Other way around.  My brain is flattening out.

[303_Bies]

I've tried a ay ago, DCS works,but IL-2 dosn't. Headset screen is black when i try to open IL-2, even though the profile of IL-2 has been created correctly.

Fortunately IL-2 works very good even at SteamVR.

 

EDIT: i reinstalled IL-2 and it works perfectly with OpenXR

Edited May 31, 2022 by Bies

[firdimigdi]

A note regarding the opencomposite.ini mentioned in documentation:

 

If you opt for the system-wide installation of OpenComposite you have to create the opencomposite.ini in the game's data directory, if you do the per-app and download the openvr_api.dll then you have to place it with the .dll in the bin/game directory.

 

It's not mentioned in the opencomposite documentation but supersampleRatio is ignored in OpenXR mode so you either have to set it in the OpenXR Devtool for all games that use OpenXR or wait for OpenXR Toolkit 1.1.1 (or whatever the next version will be) where you can override the resolution just in IL-2.

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Firdimigdi

[firdimigdi]

Quick heads up, the new OpenXR Toolkit is out which plays well with IL2 (without foveated rendering).

 

Here's some instructions for the command line options the companion app now has, which are somewhat useful for setting up hotkey/joystick bindings (via joy2key, voice attack, joystick gremlin or whatever):

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/openxr-toolkit-upscaling-world-scale-hand-tracking-release-thread/493924/2059

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Firdimigdi

[Schwalberich]

As the new version now should no longer freeze IL-2 I wanted to give it a try and see how OpenXr performs in comparison to SteamVR.

I read through the different install guides and seemed like a no-brainer to install....

 

Anyways how did you guys get IL-2 to work with OpenXr?
Based on the guides IL-2 should appear in the OpenComposite App after first running it. But how am I supposed to do this correctly?
I changed OpenComposite to use OpenXr as default and then started IL-2 through Steam (bought the steam version) which wants to start SteamVR first.

It either hangs at the SteamVR loading screen or IL-2 immediatly freezes in the Main screen (I can see the plane and hear music but can't move my mouse).

SteamVR throws some errors and after killing IL-2 through Taskmanager I still can't see the Game in the Opencomposite App listed (just steam is listed there) and default-environment has changed back to SteamVR again

 

Is there a right or other way to do it?

[[CPT]Crunch]

It might not appear initially in the app list, but don't worry, it'll work fine without it listed.  Think I updated it twice before my games showed up.  Necksafer actually showed up as an app later on, and that's steamVR only.  It finds them automatically, and eventually will list them, but don't think you can add them manually. 

 

I'm sold, steamVR is bye bye.  The abundance of settings alone is worth the switch even if it didn't run far better, on my system any way.  No more missing connections with the G-2 cable and steamVR, no more shaky spastic menu's, no more flicker on loading either.  So it was steamVR the whole time causing wonky cable issues.  Going to take a while to get optimal lighting and color settings, but we can finally do on our screens what the monitor crowd has always been able to do with their monitor settings.  Bring a lot of color and vibrancy back into the washed out world of VR.

[pepper9881]

20 hours ago, Schwalberich said:

Is there a right or other way to do it?

It looks like you have some remnant .dll in bin\game  directory from pervious VR enhancers as openvr_fsr, vrperfkit or reshade.

You need to return bin\game to vanila state for using an OpenComposite launcher. Or you can try Per-Game manual dll installation as mentioned in README.md 

https://gitlab.com/znixian/OpenOVR/-/tree/openxr

And keep in mind that the game is about 50% likely to hung on first launch. In this case, you need to kill the il2.exe process and start the game again.
SteamVR mustn't  launch. This glitch happened to me a couple of times - only restarting windows helped.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by pepper9881

[chocie1977]

Hi, does this work/help with the Quest 2?

[Schwalberich]

3 hours ago, pepper9881 said:

It looks like you have some remnant .

I did place my Original Backup DLL into the directory first. It seemed to work if I first start IL2 regular, check the VR HMD setting which restarts IL2 and then at least it appears in Open Composite. 

 

Is there a way to directly start IL2 in VR mode. Seems like steam won't start it in VR if SteamVr is not started... 

 

Will probably also try the per game installation from Open Composite, thanks for the hint 

[Serdalf]

I managed to install everything. I have OpenXr working, but ..could someone post here their basic parrameters to get an idea?
I would like to reduce the sine wave problem, with steam vr I had much less! I have a G2 I7 and a 3080TI

[javelina]

On 5/18/2022 at 11:39 PM, Firdimigdi said:

Quick heads up, the new OpenXR Toolkit is out which plays well with IL2 (without foveated rendering).

 

Here's some instructions for the command line options the companion app now has, which are somewhat useful for setting up hotkey/joystick bindings (via joy2key, voice attack, joystick gremlin or whatever):

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/openxr-toolkit-upscaling-world-scale-hand-tracking-release-thread/493924/2059

 

new version of the toolkit is working out just great!  I've taken both the P-39 and Yak-9T out for some test spins, all is well. The graphics and performance are fantastic!

[pepper9881]

16 hours ago, Schwalberich said:

Is there a way to directly start IL2 in VR mode. Seems like steam won't start it in VR if SteamVr is not started... 

 

I always start the game in VR from handmade shortcut:

steam://launch/307960/vr

15 hours ago, Serdalf said:

I managed to install everything. I have OpenXr working, but ..could someone post here their basic parrameters to get an idea?
I would like to reduce the sine wave problem, with steam vr I had much less! I have a G2 I7 and a 3080TI

I have the same hardware. What is "sine wave problem"?

[firdimigdi]

15 hours ago, Serdalf said:

I would like to reduce the sine wave problem

 

I imagine you probably mean reprojection/motion-smoothing artifacts. Disabling motion smoothing is your only option there. You can either do this globally from the OpenXR Tools or per-game in the OpenXR Toolkit. I think they needed to coordinate the naming of those two programs a bit better, especially considering the two dev teams share members. This will be quite a point of confusion for people.

[shirazjohn]

I am already sold on open xr but losing neck safer and world scaling was a bitter pill to swallow but at least with open xr toolkit we have world scaling back hopefully neck safer in the future (don't think I will going back to steam anytime soon). 

 

The upscaing works the same as the fholger mod does in steam vr but if you instal open composite globally there isn't the messing with dll file's in your bin game folder, for me even though upscaling is great for performance improvements it just adds more shimmering but i am quite happy to use the sharpening element without the upscaling. 

 

Anyone know if there are any guides to color adjustment , there are are lot of different adjustments that can be made here just wondering if there is a set order in which to start.

 

Haven't had a chance to play will all the settings yet but happy so far.

Edited May 25, 2022 by shirazjohn

[Schwalberich]

On 5/21/2022 at 9:13 AM, pepper9881 said:

I always start the game in VR from handmade shortcut:

steam://launch/307960/vr

That's what I needed! Thank you very much!
Now I can test OpenXR together with the toolkit. I might be biased but I think it definetly makes a different feel. Can't describe what exactly but at least I don't have that shimmer over the Kuban forest anymore.

 

Now up to the fine tuning. Unfortunately I always need a complete restart of IL-2 after changing some settings in the toolkit...

I think it' worth it ?

[303_Bies]

I can't run IL-2 through OpenXR. Game freezes immediately. Do i need to manually delete or change some .dll inside the bin folder? 

It there some simple instruction how to use it in IL-2?

cheers

[Schwalberich]

As I am fresh in this topic, I try to explain the necessary steps shortly. 

- If you had Reshade/ FHolgers FSR / etc. in place beforehand, replace the openvr_api.dll with the original one from the game

- Install open composite. For ease just use the system-wide installation. (https://gitlab.com/znixian/OpenOVR) Update the default Runtime to OpenComposite

- Install the OpenXR Toolkit (https://mbucchia.github.io/OpenXR-Toolkit/) 

- If you use the steam version, create a desktop shortcut and as URL enter what pepper mentioned, to launch IL2 directly into vr mode. 

On 5/21/2022 at 9:13 AM, pepper9881 said:

I always start the game in VR from handmade shortcut:

steam://launch/307960/vr

 

The last step was which I needed. Without directly starting to VR I tried to open it via steam and there steam always wanted to open Steam Vr which caused issues with the opencomposite and therefore also froze on the menu. 

 

Hope this helps you and others

[pepper9881]

41 minutes ago, Schwalberich said:

 

- If you had Reshade/ FHolgers FSR / etc. in place beforehand, replace the openvr_api.dll with the original one from the game

 

Not only restore the openvr_api.dll ... But sometimes you need to remove dxgi.dll, d3d11.dll, D3DCompiler_47.dll, Opencomposite.ini from the bin\game folder

[303_Bies]

Thanks, it works like a dream!

Edited May 23, 2022 by Bies

[brownack]

Is the general consensus that this works better than fholger's openvr_fsr? I'm working on squeezing out what I can on a G2 with my 2070s...

[Youtch]

On 5/24/2022 at 8:12 PM, brownack said:

fholger's openvr_fsr

Does it replace fholger openvr_fsr or it complements it?

On 5/23/2022 at 8:51 AM, pepper9881 said:

restore the openvr_api.dll ... But sometimes you need to remove dxgi.dll, d3d11.dll, D3DCompiler_47.dll, Opencomposite.ini from the bin\game folder

How are these getting restored? just deleting it, will the game restor it by itself. Or I will need to reinstall it all?

[pepper9881]

Files starting with "D3D" are DirectX libraries. The real files are part of windows and are located in the windows\system32 folder.
In the game directory there are hooks from utilities like Reshade or vrperfkit to intercept game calls to Direct3D. They inject their code into the game and accordingly conflict with OpenComposite, which tries to do the same.
The same is true for openvr_fsr
Opencomposite.ini configuration file from older versions of OpenComposite. In the new version, it is created by users manually if necessary.

 

Opencomposite is a replacement for SteamVR, not openvr_fsr. The functionality of openvr_fsr and a large number of other options for setting up VR is contained in the OpenXR Toolkit

Edited May 25, 2022 by pepper9881

[GER_GD]

Has anybody gets this to work with a HTC Vive Pro 2?

And if so how you get it to work?

 

Thx

Edited May 29, 2022 by GER_GD
description

[PB0_Foxy]

I'm curious about what settings you guys are using

• value of your Open XR render scale 
• Are you activating the upscaling (NIS / FSR) ?
• if yes what size and sharpness 

 

[EMS_Kurtis_VR]

 

Voilà...

Here is my personnal example : 

1/ OpenXR

 

It gives me the following resolution for the game (file startup.cfg):

 

 2 / And no, I don't use NIS/FSR (cause I'm not GPU bounded and according to the advice of the XRToolkit developers, it is not useful in this case).

Instead, I preferred to lower preset level (and other CU consuming stuff of the game) and disable CPU hyperthreading, to improve the bottleneck of my configuration.

 

Remember : each setting is relative to its own configuration and my settings will not necessarily suit for others.

 

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

I have OpenXR set to Custom render scale=100%

In OpenXR Toolkit I have set it to override OpenXR resolution = 22?? X 2160 to get native G2 resolution as closely as possible

No NIS/FSR

Edited May 29, 2022 by SvAF/F16_Goblin

[[CPT]Crunch]

I run FSR at 76% for 2574x2524 and OpenXR at 115% for 3388x3320 giving me 90 FPS in almost every situation and most importantly the best combo for eliminating most shimmer.  Sharpen kept to a minimum 10% relying on the in game sharpening for the most.  If you jack it too much with in game sharpening on you get more shimmer.

 

Color gains boosted each to 60 RG and B.  Contrast 70, Brightness 60, Exp 45, Sat 70, Vib 50, Highlights 100, shadows 5.  Worldscale 110%.

[PB0_Foxy]

3 hours ago, [CPT]Crunch said:

I run FSR at 76% for 2574x2524 and OpenXR at 115% for 3388x3320 giving me 90 FPS in almost every situation and most importantly the best combo for eliminating most shimmer.  Sharpen kept to a minimum 10% relying on the in game sharpening for the most.  If you jack it too much with in game sharpening on you get more shimmer.

 

Color gains boosted each to 60 RG and B.  Contrast 70, Brightness 60, Exp 45, Sat 70, Vib 50, Highlights 100, shadows 5.  Worldscale 110%.

Thx for all your answers guys and thank you Crunch for that very detailed answer.

I've applied your settings and after some tweaking (especially about the colors, found your setting a little bit too flashy in my G2) I find them really great.

I've got great framerate and everything looks super smooth even when I'm flying at tree top level.

 

Still have to see how it looks like in a crowded multiplayer server as most of the times performance drops there 

[Youtch]

15 hours ago, PB0_Foxy said:

especially about the colors, found your setting a little bit too flashy in my G2

What settings you ended up putting?

[DD_Crash]

I would like to try this. I use a Reverb G2 with a new type cable and I have a 5GHZ CPU and a 3090. I take it that this will replace the Steam VR. Do I still need to run WMR? what is the start procedure to get the game running. I plan to play DCS as well and also Elite Dangerous. Thanks in advance.

[PB0_Foxy]

22 hours ago, Youtch said:

What settings you ended up putting?

Open XR at 115% was a little bit too much for me. (I'm running an I7 9700k @ 5 Ghz - 32 GB of RAM and a 3080)

Could see small stuters when I was flying at tree top level and watching at 3 or 9 o'clock therefore I've set open XR render scale at 100% with motion reprojection disabled.

 

Regarding the settings of open XR toolkit

• FSR is set at 76 % which give me the native resolution of the Reverb G2 (2210 x 2162).
• Sharpen is set at 10% and is combined to the in game sharpening option (tick box is checked in the game graphic options)
• for the other settings here is what I'm using at the moment : color gains  R 60 G 60  B 60.  Contrast 70, Brightness 60, Exposure 42.5, Saturation 60, Vibrance 50, Highlights 100, shadows 5.  Worldscale 101%.

 

1 hour ago, DD_Crash said:

I would like to try this. I use a Reverb G2 with a new type cable and I have a 5GHZ CPU and a 3090. I take it that this will replace the Steam VR. Do I still need to run WMR? what is the start procedure to get the game running. I plan to play DCS as well and also Elite Dangerous. Thanks in advance.

Open XR does replace steam VR.
You don't really need to run WMR, it's gonna be launched when you're starting your game automaticaly so basicaly you just have to click on the game icon and that's all.

 

You'll need 3 little pieces of software.

• OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality (if you're using FS2020, you're probably already using it, it is available in the windows store. Here is a link just in case)
  https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/openxr-tools-for-windows-mixed-reality/9N5CVVL23QBT?hl=en-us&gl=US
• Open Composite, this tool is used to define what game will use steam VR or openXR. It's a really simple tool and it's often updated by the dev's
  Here is the download link : https://znix.xyz/OpenComposite/runtimeswitcher.php?branch=openxr 
  You can find all the informations about it on that page (they also have a discord if needs be) https://gitlab.com/znixian/OpenOVR/-/tree/openxr
• Open XR toolkit 1.1.2, this is not mandatory but it's a must have, this tool will let you use FSR/NIS and adjust colors , contrast, saturation etc ... See it like a reshade tool which help you to adjust the game exactly how you want it. Settings are set through an UI in VR when your game is loaded. Some settings are adjustable live and some will need a VR restart but the tool will let you know don't worry.
  Here is a link for this : https://mbucchia.github.io/OpenXR-Toolkit/

Let me know if you need any help.

 

If you want more explanation you can always check that tutorial made for DCS:
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/295123-update-155-final-openxr-guide-for-wmr-headsets/

[DD_Crash]

Thanks that is really useful for me?

[GOA_Karaya_VR]

Some questions, and i'm sorry if they are on out of the topic, it's possible to use this program on oculus devices ( like rift s) and what benefits i get agains open composite and oculus tray tool? I read on other topic that necksafer can be run through openxr, is that possible? 

 

Thanks for your help.

 

[Youtch]

Having a system wide installation means that all the VR games will now use by default OpenXR instead of SteamVR, including Alyx in Steam for instance? Or it can be still defined games by games?

 

For local install of Open Composite for IL2 with JSME (not the system wide), do you just need to copy the 64 bits version of the the openvrapi.dll or you need also to copy in /bin/game/ all the other files from the original post (which I understand corresponds to older version)? 

 

Thank you very much in advance again.

[PB0_Foxy]

32 minutes ago, Youtch said:

Having a system wide installation means that all the VR games will now use by default OpenXR instead of SteamVR, including Alyx in Steam for instance? Or it can be still defined games by games?

 

For local install of Open Composite for IL2 with JSME (not the system wide), do you just need to copy the 64 bits version of the the openvrapi.dll or you need also to copy in /bin/game/ all the other files from the original post (which I understand corresponds to older version)? 

 

Thank you very much in advance again.

I'm using the system wide installation. You don't have to worry you can choose what runtime you want for the game you want and it is done in 2 clicks so it's super easy to revert if you don't like it or if you want to compare the performances. Game will be automatically added after the first launch.

 

Here is a screenshot of the interface to give you an idea (the bottom window is what you get when clicking on configure and the small windows in the bottom window is obtained with a RMB click): 

 

At the very begining, we were only able to use the local install so I've used it. I was using JSGME to activate/deactivate it. 

It was also pretty easy to use too but had to update it from time to time and also have to deactivate it during game updates.

 

Here are the installation instructions for a local install per game :

Quote

Per-game installation

Download the DLLs: 32-bit 64-bit

These come from AppVeyor - whenever I push some new code, it will be compiled and uploaded to those links automatically.

Find your game's openvr_api.dll file, and replace it (though I highly recommend keeping a copy of the old file if you want to switch back) with one of the DLLs available above. Be sure to get the matching platform - if the game is a 32-bit game you need the 32-bit DLL, even though you're probably running a 64-bit computer. Simple solution: if one doesn't work, try the other.

Some time in the near future I plan to release a system-wide install - run an EXE and all your games will open via OpenComposite, and you'll be able to switch back by starting SteamVR. This will make updating much easier.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by PB0_Foxy

[Schwalberich]

1 hour ago, GOA_Karaya_CRI*VR* said:

possible to use this program on oculus devices

From what I understand it should be possible as OpenXr would communicate with the Ocolus Software but honestly I do not know. Would be worth a test.

 

Necksafer is currently in development for openXr.

 

38 minutes ago, Youtch said:

by default OpenXR instead of SteamVR, including Alyx in Steam for instance? Or it can be still defined games by games?

 

By default OpenComposite turns all SteamVr Games to OpenXr, yes.

You can either change the default runtime back to SteamVr through Opencomposite or by Starting SteamVr directly.

 

You can also define to Start certain games always with OpenXr/vr regardless of the default runtime.

 

So no need to manually copying files in order to work.

 

Edit: @PB0_Foxy was faster 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Schwalberich

[dgiatr]

2 hours ago, GOA_Karaya_CRI*VR* said:

Some questions, and i'm sorry if they are on out of the topic, it's possible to use this program on oculus devices ( like rift s) and what benefits i get agains open composite and oculus tray tool? I read on other topic that necksafer can be run through openxr, is that possible? 

 

Thanks for your help.

 

if you want to use openxr opencomposite with Oculus its quite possible that you will have to create opencomposite.ini file near the .dll file that should contain only the following line : initUsingVulkan=false  .....see here :  Files · openxr · Campbell Suter (ZNix) / OpenComposite · GitLab    what Dev says especially for Oculus. 

( i discovered that after a lot of pain)!!!