TripRodriguez

Hey guys, I'm too busy to do much with the sim currently but still have lots of things rolling around in my head. If anyone has Rift S and a cockpit I'd appreciate it if you'd do a little test for me... or maybe this is something that you already thought of and started using... I'm HF Autistic so my hand eye coordination is pretty poor to begin with. Put a VR HMD on my face and it's god awful which means fumbling around trying to find a switch that is right in front of my face even when the real life switch is aligned precisely with the VR one because I can't see where my hand is relative to it. This kills my immersion and I've been looking for a really good solution for a couple years now. The Rift S "Passthrough Plus" looks like a possible solution.. here is what I have in mind. Set up your Oculus Guardian boundary so it's maybe halfway between your face and your panels. To see the real life cockpit, lean forward until your Passthrough Plus kicks in and you can now see all your switches and such. The idea basically is just to lean forward for just a moment to get the passthrough and put your hand on the control then go back into the VR view to see your instruments etc. I think this should work, the only problem might be the holodeck boundary popping up. Can you reduce it's opacity or make it invisible but still have it trigger the passthrough camera mode? I think once the Quest PC link comes out I'm going to order one and see if I can make it work for me but I'm dying to know if this is a good idea. The passthrough camera mode on my Index is beyond awful, totally useless. Due to planned changes to my simulator (I intend to build a nice G-seat) I think I'll be able to set it up to work well with a base station free VR system which hasn't been an option due to the large range of motion of my sim. I'm almost tempted to try a Rift S, but between the fact that I know from DK2 that my IPD of 67.5 will cause eye strain without a physical IPD adjustment, and because Quest is getting hand tracking which I'm hoping for good DCS implementation of, and Oculus looks like they might be intentionally holding out on giving Rift S that feature to boost Quest sales vs Rift S sales so think I should hold out and try a tethered Quest first. If word comes down that they are going to enable the hand tracking on Rift S maybe I'll buy both, test for a week or so and return whichever one I decide is inferior for my simulator purposes. Thanks for any help, and I'd very much welcome any conversation on this topic. Trip

This is the same method I've been building for as well, but my coordination is poor so not being able to see my hands in VR means I still have to feel around, even when I'm looking right at the switch in VR and the same switch is there IRL.. if I can't see my hand I can't guide it directly to the switch. For now at least OpenVRInputEmulator provides a way to use Vive Trackers for my hands, the only problem is I need someone to make a pair of gloves compatible with the SteamVR native overlay (which is super super fussy about models). For now I'm stuck with using a model of a VR hand controller in place of my hands which sucks. If ED would fix the damned VR controls so that you have to squeeze grip or trigger to interact with anything I'd be able to use the built in DCS vr gloves.... but the way it is now anytime you move your hand around in certain areas switches will be flipping on and off like crazy. I made a post asking them to fix it but it got basically no attention whatsoever from VR users. Probably because very few VR users are using the vr controller support because DCS implementation has been really lousy. ED devs need to check out the XP11 VR controller implementation. They nailed it.

Thank you so much for creating this content! I'm super excited to fly it.

This is what the guy who made "reality blender" was going for, but it had no support for stereoscopic cameras which killed it. Also, for this method to be practical you have to have all your instruments and such working. I'd be happy to do that though if we had a good way of doing this mixed reality pit that worked really well without killing frame rates.

That's a good way to go, but it's just not what I'm looking for. I'm trying to achieve the greatest possible immersion in VR. First is the Huey, later probably the P-51 and then maybe the F-14.

Did you try hitting numpad "0" to fix it as suggested in the post above? I haven't had time to test it yet myself, total chaos in my life right now which isn't super unusual! :joystick:

Curtis, the developer of OVR Toolkit (on steam) told me he would write a little code to make SteamVR display the SteamVR gloves. He's pretty certain it will work but it's a side project and not his priority so I've been waiting a couple weeks. I'm sure he'd be more likely to do it sooner if others came by and asked for it, so join his Discord and ask him about Trip's VR Gloves! I think this will get you there. He's a super nice guy and OVR Toolkit is a must have IMO. https://discordapp.com/invite/rGWjyCz Also in case that doesn't work, google OVR Toolkit Discord. If you don't use Discord, you can try posting on the forums but he doesn't watch it as closely as Discord. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1068820/discussions/ Thanks!

Sounds like and awesome tip! Man how did you figure that one out? It might be a few days before I get a chance to test it, I've got very important real life stuff to deal with ATM. If it works for me though, I'll definitely let you all know.

I'm jealous of your switches and such, I'm usually stuck with using cheap Chinese ebay switches. =/ About one out of every five or ten is so bad I throw it out, but they are super cheap!

Awesome! Thanks for the info and the link. It was really nice to see them pulled out to see just how the bulb fit in there. Many thanks, great reply!

I've tried all kinds of search terms on Google. Finding out what they are may help me find better pics to model them for 3D printing, but more importantly my curiosity is killing me. They look like some kind of vent or something. Circled in yellow, lots of them in the Huey. Thanks!

@jojo This is the method I've been using but it is extremely unsatisfactory due to my very special use case. @Boris It used to work for me a year or two ago exactly as you say, but did not work at all when I tried a few nights ago. I'm pretty sure I was using the correct modifier keys because I had the instructions (from this website) up on my monitor and was looking right at them but I'll try again. Maybe the post had the wrong modifier key listed or maybe my brain didn't manage to keep the instructions straight for the half second it took to put the HMD on and press them! If it works ,I'll come admit it, if not I'll let you know it doesn't work in case someone is curious enough to troubleshoot. Thanks!

Thanks guys! VampireNZ that looks like exactly what I need. I didn't know the "cockpit camera move" were the correct bindings, and I will probably wind up doing it via the LUA myself. Dr_Pain That's what I've always done in the past, I'm just getting tired of having to slide the seat back and hike myself up in the seat and stretch my neck to get my view right in the Huey. Especially since I have to center it over and over until I get the angle, height, left/right, and forward back juuuuust right to match up my simpit to the VR pit. I usually wind up centering the view every few seconds for a couple of minutes before I can actually fly so you can see where that would get old!

Apologies, I now see I worded the question poorly. I will edit the OP in addition to this response. 1) How do I move my VR view forward/back, up/down, and left/right with keys or buttons? R-alt + R-shift + Numpad keys does not do anything. 2) How do I save a new center position permanently so Num5 moves me to that position instead of the default? Thanks for the response though dburne, totally my fault.

Thanks. =) Mostly I just found it curious that the image (the one you posted above) assigns numbers to everything for descriptions but there are no descriptions to go with it!

Hello folks. This is a multi part question so bear with me... First problem, the r-alt r-shift numpad keybinds don't seem to work to move my view around. Nothing happens. I really need to be able to move the view up and forward with keys or buttons. (center key Num5 works as it should). Second, I'd really really like to permanently change the location that the center key (Num-5) moves my view to, especially in the Huey. As I said, I need the "center" to be several inches up and several inches forward from the default position. It's a real pain to have to redo it every time since I'm trying to align my real life switches and knobs with the ones in VR. Is there a way to permanently alter the center view location in an aircraft? Thanks for any info, Trip

This question is purely out of curiosity and for conversation's sake. This isn't about learning to operate the IFF system (since it isn't implemented in DCS). It's just that I noticed when going through the manual (page 90) that the image of the transponder has fourteen numbered items indicating descriptions of each, but there is no text to go with it! Am I missing something? Please remember, it doesn't actually matter! I just had to ask.

When I was a streamer I had an idea to set up an eject cue on the 6DOF motion sim. It would be a very sudden and fast movement about 7 inches upward to simulate ejection when I pull the handle. I also wanted to set it up so it went off without warning when a viewer made a donation. :D

Thanks for the advice, I might consider it. I'm not convinced I actually need it and the idea of having to deal with a mask on my face seems to me like it would do more harm than good but I guess not. The sleep study only came up with snoring, but she was convinced that if I did the at home sleep study thing a couple more times she'd find the evidence needed to get me on a CPAP. I'm only a little over the top of the BMI standards and I have pretty bad RLS so I just don't see any reason to think I have any apnea going on. Maybe you are right though, anything that improves my sleep problems is a big deal. Once I get to the P-51 pit I really will look into this idea of using a CPAP for oxygen. I love this kind of thing and I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one crazy enough to do stuff like fans and oxygen masks. =D

My doctor wanted me to do some more tests so that she could give me a CPAP (paid for by insurance). I didn't want it. Maybe I should go for it and use it for the pit! LMAO I wouldn't commit a fraud like that, but if I was using one for sleeping I'd totally hook it up for the P-51. =)

I love it! When I eventually build my P-51 pit I'm going to have to look into this. =) Exactly the kind of stuff I love for increasing immersion.

You only have to pay for the SimTools software itself. For the plugins they have an interesting system. If you do some posting on the forums you earn coins, which you can use to get a one week (FREE) unlock of all plugins. Unlimited downloads for the duration of that week. If you don't want to spend some time chatting on the forum, you can pay with real money instead of coins but honestly that forum is an absolute pleasure to hang around on and it's not hard to earn enough coins to get the one week unlock. I believe I can even gift you enough coins if it's a problem for you, just contact me. Once you have your plugins, if there is a plugin update you need you will need to get another week unlocked to download it. There's at least one experimental DCS plugin right now that you don't even need the coins unlock for, it's just posted in the forums. If you get that far, send me a message and I'll be happy to help you out.

Got the frame for the overhead console roughed in tonight. It seems to be plenty stiff so I'm happy! It will have two more crossbars and paint etc. Everything white will be painted black or grey.

More work done, no pictures yet but very soon! Built the new Pedestal frame. I had to come up with a design that allowed as much clearance as possible to my motion sim motor housings. Next up is the supporting framework for the overhead console which is a bit of an interesting project that I'm not super confident in. =D So, much to my excitement I determined that with my lower seat height I have just enough overhead clearance to get the overhead panel placed more or less correctly. It will probably be a half inch to an inch low at the back edge, matched up to DCS at the front edge. I am able to do this with very little or possibly no reduction in motions sim travel which I didn't expect, but there is definitely a risk of the overhead console hitting the ceiling if I don't tone down the motion. What I decided to do about that is build the overhead console frame with some flex in it, so that if it hits the ceiling at some point there won't be any real damage to repair. Maybe a little scuffed paint. I also need it to be as lightweight as possible. So what I came up with is building the support structure out of PVC plumbing pipe. I think with proper design it will be stiff enough to keep the panel in position, but just flex if it hits the ceiling. If the initial design isn't stiff enough in the lateral axis I should be able to add an additional support to stop any excessive movement. I intend to build this frame tomorrow, and once I have it laid out I'll take a photo or two and post here. After that, I have make the pedestal panels, do some finishing work and paint, and then wiring... lots and lots of wiring. I hate that part. I've got two BUO-836A with breakout boards, and one BBI-32 on hand for the project. I'll have to see how far that gets me on the switches, pulse rotaries, a couple of real rotaries, and pots. I haven't counted the switches and knobs but I think that may be enough to do the job.

Looking forward to seeing those projects. I posted a bug report a day or two ago and it's gotten no replies of any kind. Very disheartening. This is a serious issue that should be a pretty quick fix. No trigger press, no switch interaction.... is that so hard? I've revived my Huey motion pit thread now that the project is back underway. Since it's for VR it's very light on the cosmetics and details and doesn't involve working instruments or anything so it's on the fast track. I hope to have it fully operational and presentable by the end of summer. I seem to have lost my files for the pedestal panels but that's not a huge deal.