My VR setup after 8 months

[FTC_Mars]

Hi all,

 

I've been tweaking my VR setup for 8 months now, so I thought it would be a good time to share my setup and hacks.  Hopefully some of you find this useful.

 

Hardware

• HP Reverb G2 v2
• VKB Gladiator NXT
• Honeycomb Alpha Yoke
• Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant
• Thrustmaster T.Flight pedals

 

Hardware mods

• I used the velcro strip from an old laptop power cord to replace the never-stays-on HP Reverb cord clip.
• Removed the HP Reverb's inner lens spacer to get a couple more degrees of peripheral vision.
• I have a USB cable extender to get the T.Flight pedals' power switch up on the desk where I can power-cycle them easily. T.Flight pedals do not play nice with Windows' sleep/wake cycle and go wonky after you wake the PC.

 

Software

• OpenComposite + OpenXR Toolkit - free FPS and better render quality
• XRNeckSafer - because ouch
• VoiceAttack - very nice for immersion
• OpenKneeboard - very nice for immersion
• Joystick Gremlin - because I tweak things
• A windows .bat file to start all this stuff before flying

 

Software config

• VoiceAttack IL-2 custom profile.  It's like giving commands over the radio to a real crew.  I also have commands for "menu", "pause", "engines", or anything where I don't want to touch the keyboard (which is most of the time).
• OpenKneeboard pages: I took screenshots of Requiem's Youtube video pilot's notes.  I like the colour scheme and readability - perfect when you are about take off and don't remember your power settings or landing speeds.  I also grabbed a screenshot of the VoiceAttack command list.
• Joystick Gremlin:
  • Pitch input curves for finer pitch control on the Honeycomb Alpha yoke
  • Yaw input curves for finer yaw control on the T.Flight pedals
  • I wrote some plugins to:
    • Turn the Honeycomb Alpha buttons into joystick axis so I can fine-tune trim (looking at you, RAF Mosquito).
    • Turn the trim wheel into an axis and make it move the trim wheel faster the farther you turn it.
  • 3(!) vJoy output devices to accommodate the hardware
  • I use HidHide to tweak which games can see which hardware.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Garafrax

[J2_Seya]

Thanks I have the bravo and never got it to work on IL2 I haven't tried for like a year since.

[Broadway]

Great overview , i do need to write a bat file. 

 

A couple of things I’ve added in last few months

 

-  added actuator type noises to voice attack commands, so i know they have been enacted, an audio feedback 

-  using openxr  tooklkit have adjusted visual settings  in post processing and use VA to turn on and off depending on lighting / spotting conditions . Looking to do same with the Zoom setting 

[FTC_Mars]

Also I just tweaked/refreshed my VR settings according this thread for the HP Reverb G2, and holy cow things look a lot nicer.

 

 

[kestrel79]

When I have some time I really need to do the OpenComposite + OpenXR Toolkit thing.