Madmatt_BFC

No worries, let me tackle your questions one at a time. #1 PD - I assume you mean the Pixel Density. So, I believe at the moment I reset it back down to 1.0, but that's because I was doing some tweaking and comparisons. You will see the biggest improvement in quality going from 1.0 to 1.2 or 1.3. Beyond that it becomes a matter of diminishing returns where the improvement in visual quality begins to lesson and impact to framerate increases. You will need to try for yourself but with a 1080TI anything more than 1.5 may be pushing things a bit too far. #2. That resolution number is only the resolution of what is displayed on your monitor, also referred to as a VR Mirror display as its mirroring what you see in VR, Yes, you will most always have that being displayed when you play VR games. The reason you are seeing it say 1280x1024 is because that must be your monitors native resolution. Mine says 3440x1440 because I am using a bigassed 34" monitor and that is the resolution it runs at. #3 Yes, that is normal. As to performance impact, there could be some overhead if your main monitor display resolution is larger that what the VR system is outputting, but in this case its simply rendering out at a lower resolution of what you are seeing in VR so you are fine. I could probably gain a few FPS by lowering my display resolution a bit, and sometimes do but since I alternate between VR play an Track IR, I just leave it at my native screen size then I don't have to screw with it. Again, for you, just leave it alone. #4 No, that would sort of defeat the purpose of the 1 to 1 motion of your head and what is being displayed through the VR lenses. Checking 6 in VR is a chore because of much more limitd field of view than what you get in reality and you really have to crane your neck around to see. My recommendation...Swivel chair. :) As VR headsets evolve and increase their field of view levels, this will get better. I've heard that those playing with a Pimax headset and running at 150 degrees of FOV, checking 6 is very easy. With the Rift S, we are down to maybe 100 degrees, perhaps a bit less. #5 I don't use any voice activated commands, rather I run with a Warthog HOTAS and use the excellent CTS application from HomeFries (check out the Thrustmaster subforum for details on this app if you use a Warthog or Cougar HOTAS) which really expands what my HOTAS can do. I also have 2 Thrustmaster MFD panels placed roughly where they would be in a real cockpit and through muscle memory can usually click the right buttons when needed...more or less. Apart from just a few select keystrokes (like Escape and maybe the keys to toggle on various outside views), I never use my keyboard while playing). Hope that all helps. Really, all the graphics settings are going to be for you to test out. What is acceptable framerate and visual quality to me might not be the same for you. Use my settings a baseline, but don't be afraid to play with then to find your own sweet spot. Good luck and welcome back to DCS! Madmatt

Whoops, I made a mistake with that screenshot. Change Terrain Textures to LOW, not High. Sorry about that.

I guess you want my settings that I just switched over to which give me 80 FPS pretty consistently in VR, right? Assuming so, here ya go. Please keep in mind that I haven't really experimented much to see which settings had the most impact. I pretty much just put everything down to a lower setting than I had been running in the past. Truthfully though, I couldn't really see much of a visual difference between these new lower settings and my maxed out settings from before. Game still looks amazing. Madmatt

Apple Earbuds for the win! Dug up an old pair of these, connected them to the S's 3.5mm audio jack and they make a HUUUGGGEEE improvement. While the stock audio does suck (I may have mentioned this once or twice), this little upgrade just made a world of difference. I also played around with my grfx settings and now running at a consistent 80 FPS in most missions. I am starting to come around... Madmatt

Couple of further results from more testing. Comfort.. Getting better. I just pulled off the top strap and now I can better get the HMD to fit my face. And I totally forgot to mention Field of View. FOV: Lots of people saying its 10 degrees less than the CV1. I wouldn't say it's that much, more like maybe a few degrees on each side less. Its really dependant on how you have the HMD on your face and if you use the lens button to push it in closer to your eyes. Is it noticable? Maybe, if you constantly swap back and forth between a CV1 and a Rift-S you might notice it but the quality of what you CAN see within that field of view is so much better than it was with the CV1 I can't say that it bothers me much. I know I just wrote a big review about all my issues but the headset is growing on me the more I wear it. I just flew the Take Off A-10C Persian Gulf quick mission and the city scape at that time of the morning with the sun rising is just breathtaking. I am going to play some more with some earbuds and see if that doesn't help because some immersion is lost by using my desktop speakers. I will say one thing, this headset is really getting me more excited for the Valve Index... I tried to pre-order one but was told I was too late and put on a list. Madmatt

Just to add another few comments and tricks about the fit. * The nose piece is removable so if you miss having that small gap to look out from under, that's a nice trick to do. As others have mentioned, it also helps with ventilation because by default, inside the headset it does get HOT. * The inner LED light. Last night I wore the headset for several hours and never noticed the LED light in my view, but today, as I am playing I can just see it on the edge of my view. It's probably because I have been playing with the front adjustment and halo top strap trying to get a comfortable fit. It's the center LED light in the headset. Normally it shines white, but there is a small proximity sensor below it and when it detects your face, it switches to an amber/red color. Because I was finding this somewhat distracting to have a tiny red dot just at the inner edge of my peripheral vision I decided to tape over the light. As long as the tape covers just the LED and not the sensor, it doesn't impede the sensor from detecting your face. Madmatt

Originally Posted by nicka117 Before I break it, what's the trick to removing the rubber face mask thingy. I can get the outsides unlatched but not the middle. Do I just pull harder? <<<<< Yup, just pull and it will finally give. Madmatt

So, I hate to be Mr. Wet Blanket but my experiences with the Rift-S so far have not given me a ton of warm and fuzzies. Everything is working now, but for an average user, some of the stuff I had to do seemed a bit excessive for a "polished release device". Let me try and give a fair accounting of what I am dealing with. I had issues with the initial setup. Sensors weren't found etc, but I got that resolved. I have a dedicated 4 port USB 3 card (not the cheap one, the expensive one with individual controller per port) and my Power Settings are properly set yet i still had to finally just plug the USB into one of my USB 3 motherboard ports to get everything running. Okay, no big deal. Since I disconnected my Rift CV1 and its FOUR sensors (I like to go big!) I had lots of free USB ports. Still odd that my USB controller card, thats been working great for over a year with my CV1 and sensors doesn't seem to play nice with the Rift-S. Got that handled and went back into VR. Everything seemed to work but my tracking was wonky and I was getting a lot of jitter in the side to side movement. I turned on an extra desklamp and that seemed to help. I have to wonder if my 61" inches of reflective monitor screen just a foot and half from my head is causing the HMD cameras some grief? Back to my impressions. Wow. Everything is so crisp and clear. Immediately noticeable even just from within Oculus Home! This is how clear the Rift should have always been. After my initial WOW moment, and you will say that when you see how clear everything is, I ran into another problem. Suddenly Oculus Home was reporting an issue and kept saying it needed to be restarted. No big deal, exited and relaunched...same error. Hmm.. I checked to see if I had any pending Windows updates and lo and behold there was one. Let that install, rebooted and Oculus Home launched. Woohoo, I'm in business. Got into Oculus Home again, still very impressed with the new clarity but then I notice a bunch multicolored sparkle or snow all over the view. I've done enough deskside computer support to know a bad video connection when i see one so I unplugged and replugged the Display Port cable. Issue went away. Launched DCS and yes, everything is super clear and crisp. How clear? I don't know... alot! Tracking I will say does not seem as pinpoint crisp as with my old sensors though. I am going to have to read up on how to maximize inside out tracking to see if maybe how my monitors are setup is causing an issue. Frame rates in busy scenes now seems to stick at 40FPS in the A10 flying over Dubai but if I look up through the top of the canopy at the sky it will shoot back up to the 70's and 80's. I do not run with ASW. With my CV1, it would be 45 in the cockpit, 80's to 90 when looking straight up at empty sky. So that's in line with the new lower refresh rate of 80Hz. It is odd that even though AWS is disabled (and confirmed it is off via Oculus Tray Tools overlay) my default FPS in the A10 is exactly half of max framerate. It's probably just a by product of my in-game settings. I may play with those and see if I can get that number to change a bit. Other opinions. New Touch Controllers. Hate them. I can not seem to ever pick them up in the right orientation and they are just a tiny bit smaller than the old ones. After over a year of muscle memory in how to grab the old ones with the sensor ring at the bottom, it's difficult to suddenly use these new ones with the ring ABOVE my thumb and fingers. I know in time I will get used to them, but for now, I really miss the old ones. Passthrough feature: Very cool. I use this alot and hope that its implementation will improve with future updates. SDE: None that I can see but then SDE never bothered me in the CV1 either. GodRays: Virtually gone. Super crisp Black Level: Okay, so it's not inky black, but I played Elite Dangerous and I was fine with how space looked. I've seen some call it a muddy gray. I don't think it's that bad. To me, it is not an issue and the blacks are black enough. Mura: None that I could detect. Contrast: Wow, the new lenses really pop and color is nice and bright and clear. Resolution: Yes, it's great. Not other way to say it. It's the number 1 selling point of this HMD. Sweetspot: Seems larger than CV1 but this is probably really dependant on your own IPD. Mine is 67. IPD Adjustment: Seems okay. I set it to 67 and have left it alone. Comfort: For me, at the moment it's horrible. I hate the halo design, I think the adjustment wheel in the back is cheaply made and the cams will slip and it will loosen on its own sometimes. I can't get the headset to fit my head in a way that is comfortable for the longterm gaming sessions. If I tighten everything down, i get a headache because of the pressure or it feels like its not sitting on my face properly. Not to mention how much of a heat sponge the new face gasket foam is, so its get very hot, which creates condensation on the lenses. Another comfort issue is that one you do get it to fit just right, its actually painful to pull the headset off and lift it up on your forehead. On the CV1 you could lift it up and have it on your forehead and while it was a bit awkward, it didn't hurt to do this. With the Rift-S, because of how the cut outs for the nose are molded, there are sharp angles and so when you lift the headset up and try to rest it on to your forehead, it cuts into the skin. Granted, no where does Oculus say that putting the HMD in this position is supported, but lets be honest, sometimes you need to temporarily lift the HMD out of position and with the CV1 you could do so pretty easily and it didn't hurt. With the Rift-S that is not the case. I hope and pray that a 3rd party face pad will be out soon. Audio: It sucks. It sucks more than you will probably think an audio device could suck. I have heard a possible software fix is in the works. I hope so. Unfortunately, none of my cans (Sennheiser and Plantronics) will fit over the halo so I am left with either using a pair of earbuds or use my desktop speaker setup. This is really a huge step backwards from the CV1 and a very poor design decision. Let me reiterate, they really really suck. Head Tracking: For the headset itself it seems okay although every so often while flying I will get a sudden shift of position like the tracking is trying to resync its position a bit. I would not call it butter smooth but that could just be due to my rooms setup. I will be looking into this more to see if I can do anything to help. Controller Tracking: It's fine unless you bring your hands close to your face and then it goes all wonky. For sims, it's a non issue, but I also like to play games like Robo Recall and The Lab and in those games, the tracking is not the same as it was with my sensor setup. And for games where you are drawing an arrow in a bow (like the Lab), that can be very troublesome. Conclusion: Am I going to keep it? Well, it's hard to not fall in love with the new resolution but if I can't get to the point where I can wear it without getting headaches then it will be a tough call. I think it was a review by RoadtoVr that said this headset was two steps forward three steps back. I agree. The resolution is superb. The fit of the headset, for me, is not comfortable. The audio blows, the tracking is decent. The setup was not as simple as it should have been and the overall quality of the device does not seem on par with the earlier CV1. Is it a worthwhile upgrade from a Rift or Vive? Again, I am back to talking about the resolution. It really is a game changer but so much else about this headset just got it all wrong. This is a frustrating device but maybe with time I will grow to love it like I love my CV1. If Oculus can resolve the audio level and quality in software, improve the tracking a bit and maybe do more with the passthrough that would go a long way on making this a solid yes. Pretty sure a new face interface (and possibly audio upgrade) will be forthcoming from the 3rd party developers so there is hope, but right now, 1 day after purchase, I am a bit disappointed in the headset because I see what it could have been, but isn't... yet. YMMV... Madmatt

Captain Penguin, I had a thought (first time for everything!). Launch DCS without the Oculus Home running so that you go into normal 2D desktop mode. Check in the settings VR tab and see if the option to Enable Virtual Reality Headset is checked. Just an idea, but maybe worth a look. Also, check and see if you also have SteamVR running. If you do, turn it off first and see if that helps. I've had (and still do have) the same issue as you, but for me at least, using Skatezilla's launcher and selecting the VR/ON option allows it to fully load everytime. This has to be an easy fix, we just need to dig a bit. Madmatt

I have the same issue if I launch DCS from within Oculus Home and did before with my Rift CV1 too so its not specific to the Rift-S. My solution has been to always launch DCS with the DCS Updater Utility by Skatezilla and click the VR/ON button. When I do that, DCS launches fine. Give that a shot. Madmatt

okay okay, i can't take it anymore. I just placed my order for one at a BestBuy 20 miles from here (only one that still had them in stock). I should get it in less than a hour. Full report forthcoming. Madmatt

I decided to clear out all my controller settings, rebuild the script and rebind everything fresh from inside DCS. So, I figured out the issue with the Trigger Zoom. Apparently TARGET seemed to get out of synch with my actual landing gear status and once I got that synched up so it knew my real wheels status, suddenly Trigger Zoom started working again. One interesting data point was that during the time it wasn't working, the LEFT MFD right LED was not flashing when I tried to activate Trigger Zoom. Now that that its working in game, the LED does blink again as it should which Trigger Zoom is activated. However, although the issue with Trigger Zoom is resolved, I still can not get Trim Reset to function properly. All other Hold S3 (TEMPO LONG) combo controls work for whatever reason, but this does not. As you said, I am just using the default key commands for the time being. In reality this isn't a command I would normally use very often, just odd that it seems to be the one command that for whatever reason isn't working for me. Would it be worth the effort for you to send me your primary test config, that I could load and test with? Might be interesting to see if that works or not. Anyway, thanks for looking into my report. Madmatt

File attached. I tested with this same .tmc file a few minutes ago and trim reset was still not working. All in-game bindings and modifiers were created and checked. I also doublechecked the Windows Joystick panel and only devices listed are Thrustmaster Combined and my Crosswind rudder pedals. One other thing that I noticed in the past week or so (and not sure it's related as this had worked before), but I also noticed that my TriggerZoom functionality stopped working as well. I haven't dug too deep into the settings for this but figured I would mention it all the same as I didn't make any changes to it. Madmatt DCS_World.zip

It does two down trims and never resets. I am indeed holding down S3. As I mentioned before, even when I check the bindings and hold S3 and do a doubletap Hat1 down, it does register that as a Reset Trim command in the command binding screen, but back in the cockpit that command is still seen as two down trims and no reset. I am seeing the same in all aircraft profiles that have trim commands. Likewise, the TrackIR pause and unpause commands which use S3 Hold plus H1D down long and S3 Hold and H1D doubletap still work fine.

M1Combat makes a good point, but I also understand some of the frustration that many feel with this prolonged wait. Please allow me to opine a bit on this matter. The original Black Shark came out 11 years ago in 2008 and the current version we all play now (BS2) came out in 2011. Since that time, apart from some smaller maintenance patches that were released over the years, it hasn't seen much attention. And that's fine, it looked great and plays well and for me at least has been a source of joy for over a decade of sim flying. That's a remarkable achievement. However, during that same time frame, people that owned and loved the Black Shark watched as new modules were announced and released, and huge engine changes came about which transformed this simulation into the masterpiece we have today. Some of the those changes, most recently the implementation of the new lighting shaders, also broke some features that had to that point worked without issue (the AP button backlighting and cockpit lighting) and this just compounded a bit the feelings of abandonment some may have felt. Issues with the Datalink are also perceived as "easy to fix" since they work in other modules. The truth of the situation is only really known by ED, and they have gone on record to say that changes for the Black Shark are forthcoming. Excitement began to build and now that we are getting deeper into 2019 with those changes seemingly postponed for undisclosed reasons, that frustration is again building. I get it. I really do. I can sympathize with those that come off as negative as they feel their issues with the module are unheeded or ignored. I also know exactly what ED is feeling as I was a game developer myself and know that priorities shift, projects and work gets delayed and that list of open issues never seems to get any shorter and communicating this stuff to an audience that is often very vitriolic can sometimes be counter productive. People often demand constant updates but often there are simply no updates to provide. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I have faith that ED is aware of the issues with the module. They know what they have said about what is in store for this module and I am certain they know we all want those issues fixed. They are also keenly aware of the fact that they once said it would be out last year and then they were unable to do that. I would be willing to bet they weren't happy about pushing the release of the new cockpits for the Ka-50 and A-10 out anymore than we were when we found out it wasn't coming out in time for Christmas. This is where we are now. ED said a new cockpit is in the works and I take them at their word. When will it be released? I don't know, but I am not letting this fact keep me from enjoying DCS any less because of it. It's April 17th and my AP buttons don't light up and haven't in a long time. Okay, that's annoying but its far from the end of the world. Maybe my Datalink doesn't share data like it should. Hell, my Shkval tracking gates have sometimes acted with a mind of their own after destroying a moving target for 11 years now but I have managed to deal with it all this time and will continue to do so. I paid my money for Black Shark. Actually I paid for it multiple times as I bought the Russian version of BS, then the English, then the upgrade to BS2. And I feel like it was worth every penny and if ED decide they want to make a BS3 and charge for it, I will buy that too. Why? Because I believe in the mission that ED is doing. I believe in their products and I believe in their desire to make the best products they can make. It's the same desire all good game developers have, even when they miss a release date or introduce a few bugs into their code. Equally true is that I understand how some people are inpatient and maybe a bit negative and frustrated. That is their path and for them it's justified. I opted to go a different path and hopefully in time those paths will join again in the skies of DCS as we all have something new to play with in our beloved Black Sharks. Take care everyone! Madmatt

It's not mine to hand out publicly which is why I said to PM me. I also sent it to Griffon to host as he offered above. I assume at this point he's awaiting permission from dimitriov to make it available. Madmatt

I have a saved copy if you need it. PM me your email address and I can send it to you or if permitted I can attach it here. It's just a 9k .rar file. Madmatt

It did not work. I even tried increasing the TEMPO Doubletap value all the way up to 550ms but it still does not work. When I check the controls bindings, as before, if I hold S3 and doubletap H1D, on the first tap it shows the command registering as Trim Nose Up and then on the second tap it highlights the Reset Trim command. So DCS seems to show it mapped correctly, but in the cockpit, it does not work. Madmatt

duplicate posting

Was able to check my CTS settings and test some more today in-game. My TEMPO DoubleTap was set 350 which is the default value. When I go into the controls bindings, if I hold S3 plus Double Tap Trim Switch Down (H1D), it does register as the command to reset trim in the key bindings, however when playing, this combo does not work and trim is not reset. What is interesting to me is that this same combo (S3+H1D doubletap) does work to unpause the TrackIR when it is paused. I also checked to see if the default trim reset keystrokes in the game function (LCTL+T) work, and they do. Holding LCTL+T will reset the trim. Perhaps as you said, lengthening the keystroke duration would work. Madmatt

Hi HomeFries, here are the answers to your questions. I'm assuming since you have TrackIR that you're using Head Tracking Hardware set to 1. Is this correct? Yes, that is correct Cougar or Warthog? Warthog What is your setting for TEMPO - DoubleTap (in the Timing Values - TEMPO category)? I don't think this is the issue because you can unpause TrackIR, but just covering bases. I am not home at the moment so I will need to check when I get back but I don't recall ever changing that value from the default. Do you still get this issue even after pausing/unpausing TrackIR? Yes, pausing and then unpausing the TrackIR did not seem to influence this behavior. Do you start the script with the A-10C as default, or do you switch into it from a different profile? If you start with the A-10C, do you still get the issue when you switch to a different profile, load that profile, then switch back to the A-10C? I have the A10C set as my default profile. I have never tried to switch profiles and then back again. Will test that and report back my findings. If you do start with a different profile, which profile do you start with by default? I always start with the A10C profile as my default profile Madmatt

Hi Home Fries, Really been using the A10C profile lately as well as some of the more advanced settings and I noticed something recently. No matter what, I can't seem to get the Reset Trim functionality that is defaulted to S3+H1Down (with a double tap ) to work. The padlock views all work with S3+H1Up, S3+H1L and S3+ H1R, and even the TrackIR pause and unpause are working fine, but no matter what, the Trim Reset doesn't. When I press those keys, the game just adjusts trim downward. I checked the bindings and I think its set properly. The binding is currently listed under Thrustmaster Combined as JOY_BTN30 + JOY_BTN32 + JOY_BTN_POV1_D (pic attached). If I use the game default of LControl+T, trim does reset correctly. Any ideas? I really love CTS and am using it daily and am astounded by all the functionality you have built into these profiles. Thanks for all your hard work. Madmatt

Yeah, I was 1276 or 1278 I think and I am located in Ohio. Never got an email about shipping although maybe it got hung up in a spam filter. Mine arrived this past Tuesday afternoon. it comes in a small little brown cardboard box and was sitting in my mailbox. I honestly didn't know what it was at first until I noticed that it was an international shipment. Madmatt

Don't force anything! You don't have to take the side all the way off. You should be able to reach to the old slew controller from the amount you have off now. If it's too tight a fit just be careful and see if it's hanging up somewhere down near the controller board. I was able to get the side off about the same as you did and get everything installed. The screws all go through cylinder shaped sleeves (the directions mention these), that can pop off. It's possible the one at the very bottom of your controller is jamming everything up slightly. Just be patient and easily work the side a bit and you should be able to get it out a little more. Once you get it out of the way enough to reach inside, remember to pinch in one of the two ears on the old slew control and then you can work it out the front. This was the hardest part for me. The instructions describe how to do this but it still took a bit of effort and was hard to get too. I used a small flat bladed screwdriver to push in one side and then was able to pop the old slew controller out the front. I read earlier that you just have to push in one side and that's what I did to get it to loosen and then I just gently pushed the old switch from behind and it popped out. My new slew controller did come with the square plate already attached, something the instructions did not account for, so yes you have to use the included tool to unscrew the two small screws to remove the plate and remove the hat (just pops off), then position the new slew controller into position as the directions show, then screw it in from the front using either the round or square plate. Once you do that, put everything back together, be careful to not pinch any cables, put the slew hat back on and you should be ready to calibrate and rock and roll. Good luck! Madmatt

I never saw a shipping notice but my kit arrived tonight. Spent about 10 minutes installing it, ran configuration and then jumped into a A-10 weapons delivery mission. WOW! What an incredible difference. Slewing is a joy now. It was a bit too sensitive at first but I adjusted the axis some in game (as suggested in the install directions) and it's great now. The quality of the kit is impressive and the instructions are logically formatted and well written. Installation was a breeze. If anyone is on the fence about this upgrade, don't be. It's a must have! Madmatt