PicklePicklePickle

I recently got the Vive Pro2 as well. Pretty disappointing and it is now part of my VR cemetery(they are really piling up)....still using the Index. The sweet spot is tiny. Everything even slightly out of center is blurry. The FOV vertically is awful and the horizontal is still not better than what I get with the Index. The only good thing about it is that in the tiny region in the center where you can see the display clearly, it is indeed a very good display. Another issue I had was that I couldn't adjust the IPD such that both the cockpit and the landscape did not give me 'cross eyes'. It was one or the other. I seem to be getting better FOV results with the Index than others, maybe my eyes are just different. My IPD is 64.1 and I move the Index lenses all the way until they hit my face. The FOV is fantastic in every direction and the 'sweet spot' is practically not a spot at all because I feel like I can see clearly almost edge to edge. Yes, the resolution and screen door on the index is not great, but I find that the optical clarity, FOV and FPS just make it leaps and bounds over all the other headsets for DCS combat. I feel DCS is all about turning your head and being able to scan a large area with your eyes for that bandit or ground target. My wishlist for Valve Index2: Reduce the god rays without affecting the current quality/FOV of the optics Slightly increase resolution/reduce screen door effect. No need to go crazy here, nobody can run it anyway. If you do go crazy with resolution, make sure we can still run it at a lower resolution with no performance downside. It would be nice to reduce the black level for night missions and maybe run the panel at 2 more bits to improve sky/ocean banding This would be an awesome DCS headset imo

Thanks for the replies. So I had originally read about the lvl5 'death dot' however the problem is I never saw the dot come up. I assumed it was not implemented yet, and was trying to just use the funnel. Yes, I always radar lock. I did some experiments yesterday and I found that if I setup a few targets in single player I can get the dot to come up, and it works exactly as you described, I can hit the target! However, I always play online and for some reason on the server I play the dot doesn't seem to come up(?). I've had issues like this before where the TWS/radar did not work on this server but worked in single player. So at this point it sounds like it is some sort of issue with the server I use, but it is good to actually hit something with the gun for a change! Thanks again.

Can someone who knows how to use the EEGS give any tips please. Before the F-16 i flew the F-14 and had no problems with the pipper-on-diamond reticle, worked like a charm. I've been flying the F-16 for months now and while I am competent with all the other (working) systems, I'm embarrassed to say I can't hit anything airborne with the gun. I can maneuver the aircraft to get the other aircraft such that the wingtips touch the funnel lines, but when I fire it doesn't hit. The few that I have hit, it feels like luck. There must be something I am missing, any suggestions?

Wow, I haven't done this but I'm definitely going to try it now. Can you elaborate on exactly what you changed on the 3090 and what tools you used? I have experience overclocking CPUs in the BIOS but I have never messed with GPU overclocking/undervolting. I will give it a try and let you know.

I agree with others this is the least of the worries going to VR. I use a Kensington expert mouse next to my hotas. It never moves, so it is no different than say, knowing where the speedbrake switch is on the hotas without looking. Your hand just goes to it automatically. I've been flying the F-16 and have a RealSimulator FSSB. All the switches have hidden directional functions, for example you can push the weapons release button up/down/right/left for additional functions. I've been meaning to try assigning those to get rid of the mouse by just looking and clicking with one of these hidden buttons on the hotas. I'm not sure how i'd do the scroll like uncaging the SAI though. Just my opinion, but the biggest concerns going to VR are: 1.Finding a headset that gives the indivdual a comfortable experience without eye strain, etc. 2.Getting DCS to run smoothly enough, again the thershold is different from person to person. Personally I find VR brings so much to the table, I will never go back to 2D. There are some that seem to prefer TrackIR and 2D however, so it's all personal preference.

Just my opinion, others have had better experiences, but awful. Yes the panels have a lot of pixels, but that's pretty much where it ends. If I actually try to drive the pixels the performance is bad. On my machine the Index runs at 90Hz most of the time. The only way to get the Pimax to do that is to drop the resolution to that of the Index. The fov is wide but it looks like crap outside the very center. I have both the 8K+ and 8KX. Bland colors, and dim compared to other displays like the Index or G2. The audio is a joke, so expect to wear headphones. Incredibly uncomfortable and leaks light so expect to modify it. Heavy. IMO the biggest problem is the fact that the screens don't move with the mechanical IPD adjustment, and you are on your own to figure out how to adjust this. You have to spend a lot of physically painful time tweaking software X/Y offsets to find the least vomit-inducing configuration, and this varies from headset to headset. It also has significant mura of high spatial frequency so it feels like I am looking through a dirty pane of glass. I had to return the 8KX and wait 3 months for a replacement because it arrived with bad displays from the factory. My vote is stay away and get a G2 or Index. I also had to return the G2, but at least it is a good headset.

No on the cores. DCS currently uses 2 threads. Maximize clock speed. The CPU's have a 'turbo' frequency that is faster than the base clock, sometimes it just says 'up to 5.3GHz' or something like that. With an overclock, one thing you can do is lock the frequency higher than the nominal baserate. For example, I ran my 10900K at 5.4GHz always, and that worked best (for DCS). This is not a constant though, overclocking strategies vary from CPU to CPU. On the 11900K I found the best strategy was to let it adjust the frequency itself, just up the limit. With 2.7 it runs smooth most of the time on the Index, even online. There are still micro stutters, it's never flawless all the time. The comment on the HEDT platform is interesting. We use those at work, has anyone actually benchmarked that against the usual maxxed out gaming PC? I would be willing to run a fixed benchmark on mine to compare...always want to know if there is something faster out there!

A disclaimer, I don't own or have tried the xtal or varjo although I admit I also have been on the verge of getting one of these, but this changed my mind: I started my DCS VR life with the same question as the OP. I found DCS so remarkable that I just wanted the best VR experience, and build a dedicated machine for it. I bought(and often returned) a bunch of headsets. I found that some of the 'higher end' ones like the Pimax 8KX were (my opinion) technically flawed and unusable. Even putting the quantifiable aside, there is also the eye strain issue which I think is more of a personal/biological thing...some people feel more comfortable/relaxed with some headsets than others, I don't know why. The bottom line for me was that unlike regular displays, in VR you can't just look at the specs. I would be cautious of expecting a VR headset to be the best just because it is expensive, but I could very well be wrong. In the end, and after a lot of trying headsets side-by-side, I am using the Index which on paper, the specs are actually among the worst(lowest resolution, etc). Yet, for DCS I feel it is by far, the best. Try as many as you can, see what works for you, and always expect disappointment around the corner.

I agree the CPU is key. I have tried the fastest overclocks I can muster out of both the 10900K and 11900K, and that gave me the biggest improvement vs the GPU alone. It is by no means perfect but very playable. I would also recommend a simple test: If you reduce all your DCS/SteamVR settings to the minimum(including PD 0.5), do the fps max out at the chosen headset rate? If it doesn't then that could point to another bottleneck in the system. I experienced this when trying to run DCS with a 3090 external TB3 enclosure.

Hi, I just updated to the 2.7 stable, clouds look great now in VR. However, I just noticed today that when I fire HARMs in HAS mode, they loft like crazy and head off in some seemingly random direction, even though they were locked to a target that is clearly active in RWR. I shot 8 HARMS at different targets with the same result. Has anyone experienced this? It was working before the update. Also, this was online. POS mode seemed to work fine.

I downloaded the first 2.7 open beta when it came out, and had to roll back to stable 2.5 due to the cloud jitter and even with the jitter the clouds only looked marginally better if at all. When saw the 2.7 stable notice I installed it (yesterday) and was pretty blown away how great they look(i'm using the Index). Now, I run them at Ultra and have not tried the lower cloud settings, but I haven't noticed any gross issues with the clouds. At least in my VR setup, they are a huge, huge improvement. And it's not just the clouds themselves, I ran a winter mission and you get a way more realistic limited visibility range below the clouds, as you do in real life with snow fall. Oh and performance was not as good at first until I rebuilt the shaders.

Came to post this. I uninstalled the 2.7 Beta with the jumping VR clouds. Just upgraded to the stable 2.7...absolutely blown away. Magnificent work ED.

This has been exactly my experience as well. There is no denying the G2 inside the FOV that it can show looks gorgeous. But when I actually get into flying, whether dogfighting or doing A-G, the Index has been way more 'functional' for me. I can see more out the corner of my eye, and the size of the sweetspot is really remarkable. The overall motion is a lot smoother not just due to the lower resolution but also the tracking seems so much better. I do use the reshade and like others have said, it feels like a 'free upgrade'! Every week or two I go back to the G2 and I always endup switching back. The only issue I have had with the index has been when cleaning the lenses. I have found that there seems to be a glue in the rubber gasket around the lenses which eventually gets smeared on the lenses when cleaning. It takes some effort to clean them when this happens, but it is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Agreed, a lot is subjective so there is no right answer. I should point out that on the index I have the FOV adjustment such that the lenses are almost touching my eyes. I push it all the way until they hit my face and then backoff one click. So definitely give this a try OP! The clarity and fov in this configuration is pretty great imo. I also use 200% SteamVR with PD 1.0. I opted for maxing out the shadows vs the MSAA, but I just really like the cockpit shadows. I also have reprojection disabled, it runs near 90fps about half the time. I'm surprised the audio is the same between the G2 and Index. I have tried them back to back many times and it is a really dramatic difference, must be some setting...i'll play with it some more tonight thanks for pointing this out.

I have both the Index and the G2, as well as 2 pimaxes. I only use the Index. The main reasons (my opinion only) vs the G2 are: Field of view is way better than G2, which I find is very valuable in DCS (note there is a fov adjustment on the index, it needs to be set properly otherwise it is just like the G2) Lower resolution yields better playability(more fps) The tracking is practically flawless Brightness is better Audio is way better Overall, Index has been rock solid. Both the G2 and 1 pimax have been in for repair. The G2 definitely looks gorgeous, but it feels like looking through a toilet roll tube after using the Index. I'll say it again, if they released an Index with no screen door effect it would be pretty awesome.

Another thing I have noticed regarding Mavericks...when you target on the D's themselves without the TGP, the IR works way 'better' and it is possible to pick out 'hot' targets in white. On the TGP, the white hot doesn't really seem to do anything. The black hot works a bit better, but still not as well as aiming the mavericks directly. Hot vehicles just seem to blend into the background. I say 'better' in quotes because while the mavericks are easier to target, I don't really know which one is more realistic. Maybe using the TGP is really that difficult in real life. I have used FLIR systems and they have no trouble picking out hot vehicles so I think the maverick flir is probably a tad closer to reality right now. Just another reason to skip thr tgp right now, while it is finished.

The TGP for me has been an exercise in frustration. I wish we could jettison it, at least I could throw it at the enemy. However I do use mavericks all the time and just skip the TGP all together, aim each one individually. Works fine except each missile has to be aimed individually. I have been able to use the TGP for laser guided bombs. If there is a steerpoint near the target, it works just ok. If there isn't, you have to currently use snowplow mode and it is really buggy but doable. If the target is moving(like a sub) i find the gbu's miss even though the laser is right on the sub. If the target is static it works, but mavericks and tgp handoff, i gave up a while ago.

No reason other than they come in pairs and in my VR extravaganza I ended up with 4. I have this cludgy but easy mounting method where I just pinch them with ceiling tiles, so it was simple to mount all of them.

OP: This is a great question, and as you might already see there are many answers. For me personally currently flying the F-16, I have the Cougar HOTAS which covers the stick and throttle precisely. I then have a Kensington trackball right by my side stick that I can effortlessly reach with the VR headset on, and use it to click any cockpit controls. There's a few things that are on the keyboard, ESC and the map key. I don't use those often but for those I just press on the keyboard. ESC and the map key can be found with the VR headset on with some practice.

Hi all, Do any gurus know what are the differences between the throttle from the block 50 F-16C modelled in DCS and the F-16A/B throttle? I want to say the A has a 2-way comm switch while the C has a 4-way but i'm not sure. I think I have seen differences in the radar cursor as well. Thanks!

3090 here, I saw a marked performance improvement, and was even able to bump up the clouds to Ultra and shadows from low to the max setting, and still have ~90fps most of the time. I did a few online flights on servers that supported it and it was noticeable smoother, even in MP. That said, the new clouds in VR(I have Index, 200% SteamVR PD 1.0) look almost the same as before to me (except for the jumping bug). In fact, I reverted DCS to get back on the 162nd server and they had an overcast mission running, honestly they looked almost the same as on 2.7. I don't know what the deal is with that, the clouds in the 2D videos look amazing.

I see the jumping clouds as well, and like others was somewhat underwhelmed by the clouds in VR, compared to what was shown in the trailers. It could be that this is just in VR, I haven't tried 2D yet. However, I experienced a performance improvement, even with clouds in Ultra. In fact I figured I could up one of my settings so I'm now using shadows at the highest level and runs great. I'm using an Index at 200% steamVR and PD 1.0.

Came here to post this. Did not expect the VR performance increase with 2.7, a definite boost! It is even noticeable in the menus when clicking on certain things. DCS is just overall snappier.

bandit648, when you did your test did you enable rebar support in the asus bios? I just noticed that they have a rebar support switch in the latest beta Asus BIOS 0704. I noticed it this weekend while benchmarking the 11900K but I was too benchmarked out to try it.

Hi all, I just started using the Cougar throttle(currently connected through the stick as normal) and have an annoying issue, I was wondering what is the right solution. When I first started using it, I found that the radar cursor stick did not work in DCS because it defaults to the last 2 DirectX channels. I opened the Cougar software and reassigned them to the toe brakes and clicked 'Apply' which makes it work in DCS. However, I find that I have to do this every time I restart the machine. when I open the cougar software, it clearly remembers that I changed the radar cursor channels, but it is not applied on the throttle. I have open the software and just press 'Apply' every time i restart the machine. Is there anyway to make this automated? As far as I can tell the memory in the Cougar itself is volatile so it has to be programmed every time?