zafgev

I thought I'd write this to perhaps help someone who is contemplating replacing their HTC Vive for a Rift S. Firstly, I've been waiting months to see what the market comes up with to replace my HTC Vive. To be honest I was waiting for the HTC Vive Cosmos, but after many reviews it seems to be a dud so I'm not going there any time soon. Secondly, I have budget constraints so making a decision on a new headset has two implications, spend big on a headset means upgrading PC hardware and not upgrading hardware means not getting the best experience for VR. Thirdly I'm keen on the Valve Index, but, I cannot order one being out of region, but this would also mean having to upgrade hardware. So I decided for now what I need is a resolution bump but at a cheaper pricepoint. Also many would say that most VR titles like DCS, Aerofly, Condor were designed with Oculus in mind. So the Rift S ticked the boxes for me for now. See what the Oculus experience is like, get a resolution bump - seemed like a plan. The Good - setup for me was easy as pie. No hiccups or issues. First up was DCS. I kept all settings as I had them with the Vive. The Bad - IPD for me was fine, set to the default. BUT - it is by far the most uncomfortable headset I've even used. The halo part is fine but the headset "resting" on your face soon feels like someone trying to push a hole in your face. No matter how many time I reset it, I could not help constantly but re-ajust the unit because it became too uncomfortable. I tried different settings, further, closer but the edges of the "mask" are to thin/narrow and they cut into your skin after a while. Also remember that in DCS you can spend hours going at it. I could not manage more than 15 minutes at a time before having to take it off. This is one of the major reasons it's going back. Another problem I've never had with the Vive which the Rift S has evey time I put the headset on is the optics fogging up. Again I have no idea why a modern headset does not minimise this .. definitely not a next gen set. The Good - The optics are good .. great. DCS is pin sharp at a 1.3 sampling. Gauges are clear and readable. Yes, blacks are "dark grey" and you notice that when comming off the Vive. Interestingly the cockpits seem bigger especially the Mirage which alway felt narrow. The bad - FOW - basically the same as the Vive BUT the optics has a weird artefact which I've not seen anyone talk or write about. When you look straight ahead it looks optically as if the outer corners of the lenses become a straight line making the lens appear more square than round (it's hard to explain), but as soon as you turn your eye in the direction you can see the lens is round. I've always heard people talk about the scuba mask effect and with the Rift S for me, it is very pronounced. The Vive never gave me that feeling even though its similar in design. This for me is an emersion killer as I cannot block this optic out of my mind when flying it's so distracting. And no, changing IPD, fit etc did not resolve this. The Good - performance - here is where the Rift S has legs on the Vive. With the Vive, and I think its more to do with SteamVR, I get all sorts of stutter and often dismal performance in DCS. The Rift S is smooth as silk, no stutters and in most cases constant 40fps in multiplayer. This is the one area that impressed me. With the Vive I always wondered if my rig was underspecced, but the Rift S proved it is more than adequate. The Bad - ASW - I was getting a lot of smearing and weird artefacts around the canopies of various aircraft until I installed Oculus Tray Tool to turn ASW off. This fixed the problem. But this also cause a weird blur artefact when flying around. It's not a tracking issue I believe. The Good - tracking is good in my room and I had virtually no issues. I do mostly simming so no standup or heavy movement. Other Sims - I don't want to mention names as this might get bumped, but suffice to say all other flight sims with native Oculus support worked great. The only exception - a Russian WW2 era flightsim with SteamVR support runs terrible compared to the VIVE. I fly that a lot so the Rift having to use SteamVR is a deal-breaker for me. Summary - If you are looking for good resolution bump, not so great optics, not having to necessarily upgrade your pc and native Oculus support, the Rift S may be right for you. But take it from me that it is uncomfortable, terrible for me to be honest. The Vive feels plush and comfy compared to this (I use the audio head strap). The FOV is a disappointment and feels a step backwards from the Vive. DCS performance is good, compared to the Vive - the Vive is good if you can see past the micro stutters (it may be more setup of my rig though than a general problem). So I cannot recommend a Rift S to anyone who is going to spend an hour or more with this stuck to your face. For now, the Vive will do and perhaps the Index will land on our shores. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Since a few updates ago (beta) when I turn on landing lights in any of the places (F18, Mirage, L39) the landing lights do no reflect off the runway not does it show or reflect against anything in front of me e.g. another aircraft. I'm running VR. Any ideas? PS - I've run a rebuild as well. Also tested by turning VR off - same problem.

I can confirm that I have the exact same issue since about two DCS version ago (beta included). Also when looking either left or right while flying I see a constant micro freeze every few seconds which is annoying as well. Do you get this also?

Hi all. Now I know we and some other countries are unfortunate not to be able to order the Valve Index from Steam. However, there are "other" means of getting our hands on them. Question though - are there any DCS pilots in Australia using a Valve Index and was there any regional software restrictions on using it. I don't want to source one and then find out I cannot run it on Steam because they are blocking the use of it regionally via software. Thanks and happy flying.

Hi, Anyone else experiencing flicker in DCS since the last two updates. Does not happen immediately, but starts getting worse after about 30 - 45 minutes of flying. Multiple people on at the time seeing the same issues. Its not FPS related. You can see it especially well when there is water and land on the horizon. Also this is not pixel shimmer, but a band of flicker. Users of HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Rift S noticed this tonight again on AO.

Thanks - that was the first thing I turned off when I saw it in the settings. With that off I still have major stuttering which makes it horrible to fly. I still don't have a workaround for the problem unfortunately.

How is it performing with motion smoothing turned off? Since the SteamVR 1.1.3 and now SteaVR 1.1.4 versions I am seeing a lot of stuttering in DCS which was never there before for my setup. Its un-flyable now for me.

Anyone experiencing major stutter issues with Vive and latest SteamVR 1.1.3 drivers? By stutters I don't mean ghosting or low frame rates. This is high framerate freezes/stutters. Prior to this - previous stable SteamVR version was running smooth as silk. Any ideas how to rollback to previous SteamVR stable versions or any other bright ideas?

From what I understand the Yak52 does not currently have a LOD model therefore impacting multiplayer server frame rates dramatically - even if the Yak is not anywhere in the vicinity. Do we know if the developers are planning on enhancing this with LOD features? If not its becoming harder to justify having Yak's on MP servers we host because of the impact especially on VR users.

Stop teasing us ...

One question - "When?" - and please don't give me the "two weeks" response :)

Thanks SkateZilla. Much appreciated. DarthMelbius

Hi - is there a way to turn off the pylons in the Modelviewer please?

This usually happens when the lenses are much cooler than body temperature (like after taking a hot shower). I just use a blow/hair dryer, on warm, and briefly warm up the lenses. Note - warm them up, not blowtorch them :) - Once you break the "cold" your body temp will warm them enough for no moist to build up.

I wont be prepurchasing anything until ED starts delivering that which I have prepurchased already.

It would be great to have the option where rather than be exposed to screen flashing while a mission loads up, a static image with a progress bar is displayed and only once everything is loaded up for the mission it displays the roles screen. I cant help but feel like I'm going to have some kind of seizure behind those strobing VR goggles. Could ED at least investigate some kind of alternative to this way of loading into missions.

It would be great to have the option where rather than be exposed to screen flashing while a mission loads up, a static image with a progress bar is displayed and only once everything is loaded up for the mission it displays the roles screen. I cant help but feel like I'm going to have some kind of seizure behind those strobing VR goggles. Could ED at least investigate some kind of alternative to this way of loading into missions.

Hi. We tried the file on a multiplayer server, using similar conditions reported initially. Files were copied both to client PC's as well as a scenario copying the files to the host server. Problem remains unfortunately. No apparent improvement at all.

I've logged a track a while ago. The track is now getting some attention. However seems they can replicate the issue but for multiplayer is seems they are struggling to figure out what is causing this. Also seems only two people have logged this as an issue. Please head over to their website and log this. The more people do the more critical this is and then gets attention. Don't vent on the DCS forum as I don't think they necessarily use the forum to be notified about bugs. Log issues here : https://leatherneck-sim.mantishub.io/

Hi, Is anyone experiencing an issue when you sit tin the cockpit of a plane and you go into adjust settings options the frame rate drops to sub levels causing massive stutter and switching in and out of DCS basically making it impossible to interact. Has anyone found a workaround please? Cheers

To pre-purchase or not to pre-purchase? I've made the mistake in the past to pre-purchase, and I cannot get myself to do the same with the Harrier, even if it is the most anticipated plane for me. I just feel that paying money to the devs and filling their pockets gives them no intensive to make sure they iron out bugs by releasing a good-enough product and release time. There are so many planes out there - and I own just about every one of them - some that have questionable support. Quite a few come to mind. Anyways I'm holding on to my money this time till I'm sure the Harrier is not a dump-and-run.

Mig21 Formation Problem Hi Teodor. Keen you hear your feedback on a problem we have with the Mig21 flying in close formation. To be clear this is flying more than one Mig21 in close formation. Couple of us wanted to look into flying the Mig21 as a formation team. So last night on the AO 1.5x we tried flying close formation. Most of us fly using VR. This problem cropped up as soon as we get close (a few meters) - frame rates drop to below 15's in VIVE and Oculus. So basically unflyable in formation. Its a great pity though as this would be a great addition to the formation flying fraternity which is gaining momentum. But until this is solved the planes are grounded. Do you have this issue flying the Mig21s in formation?

Planes grounded Couple of us wanted to look into flying the Mig21 as a formation team. So last night on the AO 1.5x we tried flying close formation. Most of us fly using VR. This problem cropped up as soon as we get close (a few meters) - frame rates drop to below 15's in VIVE and Oculus. So basically unflyable in formation. Its a great pity though as this would be a great addition to the formation flying fraternity which is gaining momentum. But until this is solved the planes are grounded :(

IS there a resolution to this yet. I've never had this problem. However last night this showed up and now its a common problem. Is this mission dependant. Last night I was on the AO server - problem shows up. I connected to a different multiplayer server and the problem was gone. Any ideas?

Hi all. I've been flying on Aerobatics Online for many months now and I've always enjoyed low ping rates (I live in Australia). Since Sunday I've been kicked from the server due to high ping (300 +). All the other servers I fly on are fine with low pings but for some reason since Sunday, Aerobatics Online kicks me. Now if the other servers also showed high pings since Sunday I would have though my network setup is an issue but since its only AO I asking. Is anyone else experiencing anything similar since Sunday on AO. I've checked every night now and the ping is constant above 300 - only on this server - (actually NTTR is the same AO above 300). Any ideas?