St4rgun

+1 It would be really important for VR, it's more realistic than pressing the new "trim reset" button. By the way this topic should be in the "bugs" section, not in the wishlist IMHO, this arrow mark clearly missing...

Now it's the time to say a really big thank you for Cathnan for the recommendation and mainly for the OP of the OpenXR quickstart guide and the whole ED team! Let me say, that literally EVERYONE who uses WMR headsets (i.e. G2) MUST make the switch to OpenXR from SteamVR. The quality change is so drastic that this recommendation with the quickstart guide should be pinned to the beginning of the VR topic! Simply unbelievable. As I said I'm using a poor "weak" GTX 1070 with strong CPU (10700k) and adequate RAM (32 GB) with the G2. But now I can set 70% in the OpenXR Tools for custom resolution and without any MSAA and medium textures in DCS the image quality is breathtaking. The crispness, the clarity is like having a used-to-blind to see the light and the world again. It is so good. The performance is like voodoo magic: without any NIS or FSR I can reach even 45 fps with this hardware (in SP free flight, at altitude with seledted A/C like F/A-18), but it's pretty much very usable even az 23-25 fps. The smoothness is from another planet compared to the previous SteamVR. It feels like if someone secretly changed my GPU to a much stronger one... I don't know if the last OB patch yesterday contained any performance improvement because of the coincidence with my switch to OpenXR. But the whole DCS performance is really much better now. If only we could have some AA which is hw supported and not so power hungry then this would be perfect. Now I'm looking for the new engine not for the huge performance gain but for the possible AA technology. Well done everyone!

Sounds really interesting. What GPU are you using? If possible, can you give some hints where to start? I'm still using SteamVR as default with DCS standalone. Thanks!

Thank you very much for the quick response. The performance test results are not needed right now, I asked if it's feasible to get ANY performance data before fall.

OK, let's ask them! Dear @BIGNEWY, can we have any info on the engine rewrite progress? It would be particularly interesting, because: right now the GPU prices are still hugely inflated, but there's a hope that they will be lowered soon (https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-announces-price-cuts-of-up-to-25-in-april-for-geforce-rtx-30-gpus) the new generation GPUs will come to the market this fall, so if someone calculates on still buying from the existing generation nVidia GPU they have to do it in the right moment / price it would be really a must to know WHICH GPU is optimal for DCS with the new graphic engine especially in VR with high resolution headsets. It's easy to advice to buy the strongest GPU (3090), case solved. But it's far from optimal solution price/performance wise. I'd like to make a decision to only buy the neccessary GPU, because right now DCS in VR is the most resource hungry application for me. For every other task my existing hw is more than enough. Do we have the possibility to have ANY performance numbers connected to the new engine BEFORE fall this year? I don't ask for any deployment date for Vulkan / Multicore / VR optimization, just preliminary ballpark numbers to help us to make decisions in these hard times. Thanks for any info!

There's a big fat radio silence about the new engine / Vulkan implementation. I really hope that they not reached to some uresolvable issue since the last news, or just stopped the progress to redesign previously done parts... I know that it's not much what BIGNEWY wrote here sometimes that "they are making good progress", but I'm missing it. More than five months passed since the last "Development report".

Exactly, orbiting is a must in SP, right now George is "not so useful" as a pilot without it. Not to mention the collission avoidance: when set to low altitute holding I had to switch back to pilot seat in the last seconds to avoid crashing into electric wires...

Now what if I boresighted both CP/G and pilot in SP mode and can fire with the HMD spot on, but when using TADS with CP/G then the gun always misses to the right even when using LRF? I never managed to hit anything with the gun using TADS (in hover of course), it always way to the right.

It can't be screenshot, it is caused by human vision, affected by age. I'm R handed and R eye dominant, and also have some problem focusing on the IHADSS with one eye. Or I can better say it causes fatigue, but training helps a lot. As my eyes are far from perfect (almost 49 years old) sometimes (very rarely) I should use glasses for monitor viewing distance (50-60 cm) to relax my vision. In my experience when using this glasses makes my Reverb G2 razor sharp with much bigger sweetspot than using the HMD with naked eyes. So anyone who owns a G2 and having small sweetspot problems should try this (and check your vision with an optician even if you think it's perfect)! The problem you mentioned relies in the current VR display technology. Only multifocal VR lens could make the depth perception correct with one eye. With the current fixed focal length HMD the depth can only be perceived by using both eyes, it's simply impossible with one eye. Your brain will interpret the IHADSS symbology closer that the cockpit because it "seems" closer (hides the cockpit in the background).

I'm also using a GTX1070 right now, but in VR with G2. The VR performance with this hw is only "usable" (22-23 fps) in Apache when using OpenVR FSR, medium textures, noMSAA. Meanwhile getting the same performance as you mentioned in 2D mode. So yes, the 2D part of the graphics engine is unbelievely good, as the visual quality in 2D. But in VR it's another story, like seeing a totally different software. Still waiting for the new engine!

I'm using a VKB stick with 20 cm curved extension, TM F-16 grip and TFRP pedals. Always set to linear axis with no deadzone. Works perfect if i TRIM FREQUENTLY. Don't forget to set the trim mode to center (not the FFB) for both the stick and pedals. As long as the wheels leave the ground TRIM immediately! It'll be much easier.

In last year's January newsletter they hoped that Vulkan + Multicore will be ready by the end of Q3 2021. Maybe that was too optimistic, but according to the one and only "Multicore development report" which published on 15th October 2021. the progress is going well. Since then we did not see any detailed status report like that one. In October I assumed that Vulkan + Multicore can be ready in half a year soonest, but realistically a whole year should be neccessary (so maybe we can aim for the fall of this year). In fact no one from ED ever wanted to reply on any assumption according to deployment date which is normal, but that project goes on for 4-5 years by now. In the first week of 2022 when newsletter was not posted they started a topic where us, the users were able to write about the most anticipated features for this year. Vulkan + Multicore won in conjuction with AH-64D. The Apache hype can now settle down, meanwhile the core programming team is still working hard on the engine (at least I hope so). In the following months the VR performance issues should get the maximum focus, because buying new GPU hardware is a big NO GO until I see what should I need for the new engine. Right now the 3090s are even "basic" for good performing VR with high resolution headsets, which is pathetic.

It's becoming more and more funny how people with GPU monsters like 3080, 3080Ti and 3090 are struggling to lower their graphics settings to get a "decent" 45 fps in VR. In 2022, 10 GB VRAM, and MEDIUM textures?! Come on... I hope this will drastically change with Vulkan + Multicore because right now this VR performance is .... (ok, I censored myself) ... not satisfactory.

All this performance with the fastest available GPU (3090) and ridiculously high amount of RAM (128 GB), and merely 36 & 42 fps average. PATHETIC. We NEED the Vulkan + Multicore + VR optimization engine rewrite for decent VR performance, it's now not evitable. It would be nice to have any info on that also...

+1

I think this is a massive limitation in current VR HMD technology, which can't be solved. A varifocal lens would be a solution, but that only will be in the future HMDs. Right now your eye can't "feel" the depth because everything on the display is in focus, so the lens in your eye does NOT have to bend as it would in RL. When using stereoscopic image with both eyes open then the depth perception is feasible, but using only one eye it will be corrupted. That's why the monocle's symbology (which should be collimated to infinity) is always sharp even when try to look at very close distances. This is higly disturbing (for me). In the AH64 one thing is also very weird and causing eye-strain: the protruding TADS display at the CP/G seat. It is MUCH closer to the viewpoint than anything else in other modules, so it's very distracting (at least for my eyes) to switch between the different depths. I had very high hopes in the AH64 in VR, but it seems that current HMD lens technology is not good enough for this, sorry.

Use the two weeks free trial to check out the module on your system.

Very immersive, but I hope the performance will be polished (about 100% per.f gain can be used, worse than Mi24 right now). We REALLY NEED the Vulkan + Multicore + VR optimization for this one, I hope that development is still going well... Buying GPU is not feasible nowadays, as even a 3090 or 3080Ti can struggle sometimes with high resolution headsets. The monocule symbology also seemed a bit inflated for me, is it at correct scale? I have to tudn off the helmet / monocule frame to have the symbology only.

1. Say a prayer to my GTX1070 with Reverb G2. 2. Start the free flight mission in Caucasus map. 3. If the framerate tanks, then close DCS and wait for Vulkan with further hopes.

After reading the first tenth of the manual and seeing Casmo's video my first thought was: "No way, I will not be able to learn this". After experiencing years and 20 modules with DCS this night vision based mess I saw in the video was thrilling. I was not able to see a thing and I was only able to understand what they are communicating in the 10% of the time, while the team was totally confident in the situation... I'm not a native english speaker, so for me the rapid radio comms was hard to interpret. This time I'll have to watch this video at least 5-10 times to analyze it thoroughly. I will have to experience myself how the monocule night vision can be interpreted by my brain in VR, but in this time I'm sure that the learning curve will be steep. MUCH steeper than with the A-10C II was. Now it makes sense what Vitaly from ED said in an interview that learning the Apache will be at least a YEAR. The sheer work ED made to prepare this module is simply mind boggling. I can really understand ANY delay we experienced before to have THIS quality.

As Wags replied before: first George AI, then countermeasures, the startup video comes only after those.

Hmm, let me see, whal could have happened? If you see the news there's something in Ukraine, which can be called a WAR, I mean a REAL WAR, so maybe that COULD cause some itty-bitty disturbances. For everyone who claim for the patches: in these times there're more important things is our lives than patches for a game. At least for me. Let's hope that all the team and 3rd parties will go well. Peace for all.

I completely understand why ED always refuses to give any ETA on the engine rewrite project. To avoid the bugfest it's a must to thoroughtly test the whole engine. I personally think that it would be a real shame for a new, hypothethic "DCS 3.0.0" to debut with some parts worse than the current one even temporarily. I vote for the longer test in this case and even more test before going OB. According to the last drops of info I'm not expecting the new engine debut before mid summer / autumn at the best, if everyting goes perfectly. Which nowadays is not the case, unfortunately...

That really would be a problem, as BIGNEWY already said that Vulkan alone is "not the magic bullet", but the multicore development will have much better gains. Now if gains with the multicore would be minimal, then the whole Vulkan+Multicore rewrite would not worth even a slight work, not to mention 5 years (!) of work. So I hope that the gains will be huge.

Back in 2005 I used to have some Genius FFB stick and used with Condor soaring simulator for practice soaring for my IRL lessions. That was a blast, to just stand still on the field waiting for the winch and have my ailerons moved by the headwind and my stick moved with in sync with it... According to my knowledge the whole FFB era faded because of some mandatory royalty fees (patents). Right now I'm using VKB stick with curved extendsion and TM F16 grip. It's falwless and extremely precise, but for helos it would be nice to have some forced trim.