Thinking about VR

[reddog=11blueleader*]

Been thinking seriously about maybe going VR? No nothing about it except what I've read. Does is really make a difference in the simulator and is the cost worth it? Do you use a monitor with VR? I will probably have to upgrade my pc ( more $ ) specs to go with VR. My gaming machine is 5 years old. My card is a GTX 980 TI. Any help will be appreciated. 

[[CPT]Crunch]

Honestly I'd pretty much packed up simms until VR brought them back to life, and it just keeps getting better since.  Its a struggle, it's costly, but it can put your head in the sim world pretty good, if you really love aviation and the experience of competitive air combat, nothing else commercially available gets you as close.  Comparatively this is still one of the best and cheapest ways to experience aviation without buying your own aircraft, and the risks and time that go with that.

 

Figure about 3 grand for a good set up and an OK HMD, if you can roll your own parts PC, can't even touch a running bike for that let alone any sort of airplane.  Extra for descent new controllers.

[DD_Crash]

The question is do you want to feel like you are sitting in a cockpit instead of looking at a screen?

[TimSell75]

I was a huge flightsim fan in my teenager time. Never touched it for 20 years and simply was blown away by VR. Flying DCS and IL2 almost every day since then. It´s like a childhood dream came true. For me it makes all the difference.

 

Reverb G2 best bang for the bug you can get currently in my opinion

[dburne]

31 minutes ago, TimSell75 said:

I was a huge flightsim fan in my teenager time. Never touched it for 20 years and simply was blown away by VR. Flying DCS and IL2 almost every day since then. It´s like a childhood dream came true. For me it makes all the difference.

 

Reverb G2 best bang for the bug you can get currently in my opinion

 

Fully agree on the Reverb G2 as being best bang for the buck. But yeah OP you will need to upgrade your PC.

[Sgt_Joch]

Don't play that often, but yes, VR completely changes the gaming experience. You are no longer staring at a flat 2d monitor, you are sitting in a 3d cockpit in a 3d world. Hard to describe, you have to experience it.

 

You will probably find yourself upgrading your kit, but at least GPU prices are getting back to normal. I picked up a RTX3070ti at close to MSRP 2 months ago.

[chiliwili69]

On 6/4/2022 at 5:14 AM, [CPT]Crunch said:

one of the best and cheapest ways to experience aviation without buying your own aircraft, and the risks and time that go with that

Exactly like he said. I will add, and more ecological (unless you fly an electric plane)!  (Note: If I could have the budget to have my own real Spitfire I will not care about the C02 emissions,  ?).

 

In any case, I have learn that VR is not for everyone. About 10% of people (ballpark number based in my own experience) don´t like it.

 

Due the lack of time I don´t flight very often (1 o 2 per month) but when I do it is always like the first time. I said to myself, here I am again inside my old friend, in that remote and cold location being attacked by a pack of wolves looking for blood. My heartbeat rise. When I die in IL-2, it really impress me as well. That my virtual life passed away. When you back to reality it takes a time be again with my family only telling them my battles, it is like the BladeRunner original script:

 

I've known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I've been Offworld and back… frontiers!

I've stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion...

I’ve felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear.

I've seen it, felt it...!

[Oboe]

Have to agree with Sgt_Joch and others here.   Its hard to convey the difference between peering at the IL-2 world through a flat panel screen and using hat-switch views or even TrackIR, with being inside the world; inside your aircraft's cockpit.   You get a real sense of the size of the aircraft, for me especially the P-38J as you look out over that big wing.   I've been in and out of various flight sims for 20+ yrs, and nothing can compare to VRs ability to increase your immersion.   

[Chilli_40]

I couldn't agree more with the sentiments shared above. Having a deep love of aviation, I just got bored of staring at a flat screen, never really feeling a part of the world you were looking at. So, for me I quit playing back in the Janes, era. Then last year my wife started consulting with a company that uses VR and I was introduced to the Quest 2, it blew me away; nothing compares to the feeling of these flight sims in VR. Needless to say, I'm absolutely hooked again thanks to VR!

[dburne]

1 minute ago, Raven4 said:

I couldn't agree more with the sentiments shared above. Having a deep love of aviation, I just got bored of staring at a flat screen, never really feeling a part of the world you were looking at. So, for me I quit playing back in the Janes, era. Then last year my wife started consulting with a company that uses VR and I was introduced to the Quest 2, it blew me away; nothing compares to the feeling of these flight sims in VR. Needless to say, I'm absolutely hooked again thanks to VR!

 

Yeah my flight simming time increased drastically once I got into VR back with the Rift CV1. Course it also helped that I retired around the same time.

[reddog=11blueleader*]

Is it very complicated setting up VR and adjusting everything? A lot of people say it is a struggle to set everything up.......but it's worth it. If I decide to go with VR I will have to upgrade my PC for sure. I'm running a GTX 980 ti and I understand that card won't cut the mustard. So yes.........it will cost more but I just love the idea of feeling you are sitting in the cockpit. I see pictures of people moving their hands all over the place..... lol.  My wife will think I'm crazy a 72 year old man throwing his hands around??? Anyway I'm still on the fence about going VR but I'm really leaning that way. I really love reading all your experiences using the VR system and how to connect everything. Any help will be appreciated! 

[dburne]

5 minutes ago, reddog=11blueleader* said:

Is it very complicated setting up VR and adjusting everything? A lot of people say it is a struggle to set everything up.......but it's worth it. If I decide to go with VR I will have to upgrade my PC for sure. I'm running a GTX 980 ti and I understand that card won't cut the mustard. So yes.........it will cost more but I just love the idea of feeling you are sitting in the cockpit. I see pictures of people moving their hands all over the place..... lol.  My wife will think I'm crazy a 72 year old man throwing his hands around??? Anyway I'm still on the fence about going VR but I'm really leaning that way. I really love reading all your experiences using the VR system and how to connect everything. Any help will be appreciated! 

 

VR is an absolutely incredible experience. I love it, started gaming in VR in Jan 2017 and have not gamed on monitor since. Through several headsets now. But yeah you will need to upgrade your rig to get a pleasant experience with it.

Edited June 5, 2022 by dburne

[reddog=11blueleader*]

4 hours ago, dburne said:

I love it, started gaming in VR in Jan 2017 and have not gamed on monitor since.

Hi dburne, so you don't use your monitor with VR. So I have made my mind up that as much as I love flight simulation I've decided to go ahead and jump into VR. Found out you can use VR with MSFS 2020 although I don't have that sim but started flying IL 2 about the same time you did.  I have a few questions that maybe you can help me out on about VR as I know nothing about how to connect it up.

1. Since you don't use your monitor do you just plug it into your pc? Surly it's not that simple.....lol.

2. If you don't mind can you tell me the steps you take from out of the box to ready for air combat? Thanks dburne.

[chiliwili69]

11 hours ago, reddog=11blueleader* said:

I'm running a GTX 980 ti and I understand that card won't cut the mustard. So yes.........it will cost more but I just love the idea of feeling you are sitting in the cockpit.

 

Being new to VR I would not invest too much on it until you know you like it.

 

I think the 980Ti is still powerfull engouh to run with the Rift-S adjusting properly the Supersampling factor.

 

The Rift-S can be acquired easily for 150$ in ebay and I think it is a good product for the price (eventhough I am a very much an anti-Meta guy).

 

I don´t know what CPU and RAM you have, but they are also important in VR.

 

The Rift-S will not give you the best VR experience, but it will be good enough to test the water. Then, if you like it you can upgrade your PC and your headset and sell again the Rift-S.

[dburne]

9 hours ago, reddog=11blueleader* said:

Hi dburne, so you don't use your monitor with VR. So I have made my mind up that as much as I love flight simulation I've decided to go ahead and jump into VR. Found out you can use VR with MSFS 2020 although I don't have that sim but started flying IL 2 about the same time you did.  I have a few questions that maybe you can help me out on about VR as I know nothing about how to connect it up.

1. Since you don't use your monitor do you just plug it into your pc? Surly it's not that simple.....lol.

2. If you don't mind can you tell me the steps you take from out of the box to ready for air combat? Thanks dburne.

 

1: I use my monitor when not in VR of course for other things like browsing forums, launching VR software when ready for gaming,  etc. It always stays plugged in and on when my PC is on,

2: Going to be headset dependent really.

Edited June 6, 2022 by dburne

[Dagwoodyt]

2 hours ago, dburne said:

 

1: I use my monitor when not in VR of course for other things like browsing forums, launching VR software when ready for gaming,  etc. It always stays plugged in and on when my PC is on,

2: Going to be headset dependent really.

I use an Index with two lighthouses. I have them isolated to a separate power strip which I turn off when the HMD is not in use.

[slikslik]

Hi reddog.  Before any proper HMD etc. recommendations can be made, it's important to know your budget.  Buying second hand or cheaper model VR products will save you some money, but if you're not happy with the FOV, sweet spot, clarity etc. etc., then the money saved is actually wasted.  Know what I mean?   If money isn't really that much of a problrm, your options are significant.  I too am a bit older than most members here, but the one thing I learned here, was, if you're going to do it, do it right.  Hope you get pointed in the right direction reddog.   Good Luck!... take care....

[reddog=11blueleader*]

13 hours ago, chiliwili69 said:

 

Being new to VR I would not invest too much on it until you know you like it.

 

I think the 980Ti is still powerfull engouh to run with the Rift-S adjusting properly the Supersampling factor.

 

The Rift-S can be acquired easily for 150$ in ebay and I think it is a good product for the price (eventhough I am a very much an anti-Meta guy).

 

I don´t know what CPU and RAM you have, but they are also important in VR.

 

The Rift-S will not give you the best VR experience, but it will be good enough to test the water. Then, if you like it you can upgrade your PC and your headset and sell again the Rift-S.

Hi chiliwili69, thanks so much for your advice and good advice I must say.  I'll go the Rift-S route to test the waters and see if I like it. Like you said if do like VR I can upgrade my PC and headset. Happy flying and watch your six!

[Crocogator]

On 6/6/2022 at 10:54 AM, reddog=11blueleader* said:

Hi dburne, so you don't use your monitor with VR. So I have made my mind up that as much as I love flight simulation I've decided to go ahead and jump into VR. Found out you can use VR with MSFS 2020 although I don't have that sim but started flying IL 2 about the same time you did.  I have a few questions that maybe you can help me out on about VR as I know nothing about how to connect it up.

1. Since you don't use your monitor do you just plug it into your pc? Surly it's not that simple.....lol.

2. If you don't mind can you tell me the steps you take from out of the box to ready for air combat? Thanks dburne.

 

Re 1. You use your monitor whilst you have your vr goggles plugged in.

 

The monitor will mirror what's on your goggles in a window, but will otherwise display your normal windows like steam, Windows desktop, browser, whatever you have open.

 

Your vr goggles work like little high resolution monitors strapped to your eyes so it's very demanding on a computer. You are rendering il2 more or less twice, at high resolution, besides this GPU demand, the CPU is being taxed too.