Wicked.-

What's the easiest way to switch back to the stable release of SteamVR from Beta? Thanks,

Spent several more hours online in the PG map on a private server with about 6 other guys. The experience was better and I was able to set custom screen res to 204% and it ran really well with regards to smoothness. Visual quality was a little better and I'm wondering if there is some tweak I need to do to the positioning that I've not tried yet. I don't think anything is wrong with it as much as the shape of my face and eyesight when it comes to clarity. I already know I can't use the Reverb so I'm probably going to keep the Index. Like I've said previously the build quality of the unit blows away the other offerings I've tried though Vive hasn't put anything new out yet. I'm going to need two base stations because of the way my rig is setup. One doesn't do the job and I lose tracking when checking six. It's definitely a far cry from the nightmare I had with the Pimax5K+. I would be interested if anyone has suggestions for dialing it in to my eyes. Thanks gents.

The need for glasses is something I tested as well. I wear readers/cheaters that are 1.75. With the Rift S I needed them, with the CV1 I don't. I didn't seem to need them with the Index either but I put them on to see if that was the problem with clarity and the image became worse. So, unfortunately that didn't fix it. As to me saying the CV1 is crystal clear, let me qualify that statement. When the "VR optimization" update was released myself and two buddies who bought their CV1 when I bought mine noticed a major boost in clarity and FPS overhead. Prior to the release I would run a 1.8PD, 16X AF, No FSAA and no shadows with everything else set to high and it was so so on clarity but smooth on online servers which is what I cared about. After the release, I stopped using the PD in DCS and set it to .50, then used OTT to set it to 1.6, then turned on FSAA to 2x and AF the same at 16X. All other settings were the same. Now I could read the top DDI's in the 18 without leaning forward whereas before I could not. But, it was not crystal clear to be sure. The closest I've come to that was with the S when I was able to line up my readers with it. Right now, the Index is on par with my CV1.

If you have time can you give me your settings to try? I agree with you that it should be noticeably better than the CV1 but it isn't. To add to what I'm using for settings I have the refresh rate set at 90 FPS with reprojection locked at 45. Believe me when I say I do not want to send it back. If and when my CV1 dies, if the Index doesn't work for me I'm screwed with the other offerings because of my IPD.

I received my Index today and proceeded to install and fly with it for about three hours online tonight. The overall quality of the unit is better than any other I've tried. Those being the CV1, Pimax5K+, Odyssey gen1 and the Rift S. Speakers are good, mic is good, it's super comfortable, IPD works like a champ and with my eyesight. I only bought 1 base station so tracking was meh. Now to image quality.... WTF? My CV1 is clearer and before anyone brings up my settings I'm a pro at tweaking steam from my time with the Pimax. Check my signature for my PC specs but DCS can't even use all of it. The highest I could get my custom resolution before having weird ass graphics issues, like the mirrors in the 18 warping like they were water was 150%. With PD in game at 1.0 and FSAA at 2x. Anything higher and it would stutter and warp. I don't use shadows, my trees were at 80% Preload all the way up but everything else on the right side of settings was low or off. Basically, it's exactly how I run my CV1 but with a lower PD. The DDI's in the F18 free flight could hardly be read without leaning in. They're crystal clear in the CV1. It basically looks like the Pimax5K+ did but runs smoother. I can't use the S because of my IPD, I didn't like the original Odyssey because of WMR at the time and the Pimax was a nightmare. Forgive me for the rant but I really wanted this to work lol. Have other CV1 users experienced the same clarity issues with the Index or does my 4 month old Asus 2080Ti OC have something wrong with it?? Lol Of course my buddy got his Reverb and is drooling about how clear everything is and I can't use the damn thing because of my IPD. I hate this ****ing hobby sometimes. Rant over.

LOL

I tried flying the 15 the other night on TTI and as I loaded into the jet which was in a hangar at Sochi, the jet falls through the ground and all of the layers of the sim come apart. It also happened tonight on a private server when I landed at Qeshm. On TTI I was flying on Caucasus. I can fly single player instant actions with it without issue but I've not tried to land. I flew the 15 on TTI for over a year with no issues, this is new. I'm also using a Rift CV1 and always have. Thanks,

It does override it. For whatever reason, setting PD to 1.6 in OTT and .5 in DCS VR tab, then setting FSAA to 2x is letting me see aircraft out to at least 8 miles. They don't jump out at you but you can see them. It's kind of baffling since PD and FSAA are both supersampling.

I used Process Lasso to have DCS run or real cores and later disabled HT in bios. I can't say I got a performance boost but it was definitely smoother. I tried a different approach to my settings today as well and after 4 straight hours online I'm keeping them. First I set OTT to 1.6PD and move the slider in DCS to .5. MSAA at 2x, Anisotropic Filtering at 16x, both textures high, water high, civil traffic low or off, shadows off, visibility high, SSAA off, heat blur, depth of field, terrain object shadows, cockpit global illumination, verticle sync all off, trees 70%, preload radius maxed out, grass/clutter low, chimney smoke off, full screen and water droplets checked. It looks like a whole new headset and I can spot targets past 8 miles but the pit looks gorgeous. YMMV.

Sweet! I'll try that tonight.

My experience with the Pimax is not good. I have top end specs and can't get it to look as good as my CV1 without it being a stuttering mess. If you fall in to the average IPD category get the Reverb.

i missed the WW2 part. Good luck.

Totally agree. I upgraded my Zotac AMP Extreme 1080Ti for the RoG Strix 2080Ti and on Heaven benchmark the difference in minimum FPS (which is really all that matters) is 3 FPS. I did one comparison simply swapping out the Video cards in my new system which is in my sig. I did a separate comparison with my previous rig which is: i7 7700K @ 4.5GHz, 32GB 3200 memory, Zotac 1080Ti with stock core boost clock of 1.9GHz and Samsung 256GB Evo 960 M.2, against my new rig (again it's in my sig) and got the same results. The only performance increase was in max FPS which was around 100 FPS more for the 2080Ti. The max FPS doesn't mean anything because you're not hitting that frame count all the time but every once in a while. The minimum FPS tells exactly how far below 45 FPS you'll go which causes stuttering.

Turn down your PD in DCS. The higher the PD (super sampling), the smaller the the objects at distance become. Unfortunately that's the only solution. For the CV1 1.7 PD is as high as I'll go and I can spot aircraft up to about 6 miles. YMMV

I don't have the stable version installed and really don't want to lol. I can post what I'm getting and with what settings for OB with the 18 but he asked specifically for FPS from both DCS versions using the Mustang. I don't mind helping the beta testing but that's a bit much. lol

What are you're frame rates?

I've seen noticeable improvement in the CV1. I can run at 1.8PD with shadows at medium and everything high no problem. The cockpit in the 18 is much clearer as well. That being said, it's not a 50% improvement. Also, my Pimax 5K+ is a disaster but I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the update.

Exactly. While I have a very narrow IPD, something like 57.8 I think, it's not 55 which I use in the 18 or 63 in the A-10C. It's world scaling as stated above. Different planes need a different scale, especially the A-10C which was already out long before VR.

Where would I set DCS to use all cores? Is it a registry hack? I hope it's not already doing it by default on my rig but it makes me wonder about the performance increase and better image quality I've seen with my CV1. Thanks for the explanation!

First and foremost, the resolution in settings has nothing to do with VR. You can set to 4096x3840 and it won't matter. Those settings only refer to your monitor when VR is not being used. Cockpit displays do matter and I would set it to the lowest option, 512 I think. Turn OFF MSAA, shadows, heat blur, depth of field, cockpit global lighting, terrain shadows and SSAA. Set water to medium, textures to low (to start with), basically set everything to medium when available or low to start with. Then go to the VR tab and set Pixel Density to 1.3. This is the main adjustment that has the most effect on framerate and image quality. Those settings should get you a smooth 45FPS in the single player missions. Also, 45FPS with ASW is the goal. Don't think of it like a monitor. If these settings work start upping other settings like textures but forget about shadows and MSAA. Your system isn't strong enough. Or you can try to raise the PD to 1.4 and leave the other settings alone. It should be flyable and look good since you're new at it. Oh yeah, set preload radius to 2/3 of the max, take trees to 60%, turn off civilian traffic (low,if you must ;)), chimney smoke off, grass to like 10. Good luck.

I would caution on the Pimax. Currently it's a crapshoot if it's going to work for you regardless of your system. You get a real sense of speed and visual cues with any VR HMD as opposed to a monitor. You are in the jet. You're not in your room, office, man cave or whatever but inside the cockpit of the jet. Everywhere you look around you is DCS world. But yes, the wider field of view increases the feel of speed as you're able to see more of your surroundings flashing by peripherally. I would consider the Index a safer bet than the Pimax and I have one. Pimax is a kickstarter company whereas the Index has the money of Valve behind it and I'm sure it will be a more polished product. It will still suffer from lack of pixel pushing hardware that all of them do though. It's still worth making the switch however, even if only to a CV1.

It doesn't matter how many cores your processor has, DCS can only use one with 2 threads. @sharpedge, I don't know what to tell you on performance of the Pimax. I have the 5K+ and the fastest system I could buy (fastest being GHz clock speed). For me it's worse than my CV1 and I fly with my CV1, not the Pimax. My issue with it is more to do with the IPD and fit of the unit. I have a 58 IPD and it sits too close killing the bridge of my nose. Also I wear readers and unlike the Rift I need them with the Pimax. I've ordered the Vive wide face cushion which will hopefully fix these issues. Apart from that, regardless of settings I have judder or blurring when looking at static objects outside the jet. On the other hand there are many people that have no issues and love it. Hopefully things will get better when DCS releases the VR optimizations and Pitools gets more refined as a driver. Regardless, there's currently no hardware available, that will work with DCS, to push enough pixels at decent framerates. At least well enough for me to enjoy it.

Sold!

@ -voight- agreed sir lol but I'm a sucker for new toys! I really should have held off on the Pimax but a good friend is having no issues with his 8K so I said to hell with it. There's so many subjective attributes to an HMD being the right one it really sucks not to be able to get a demonstration before buying. My expectations are probably ridiculous as well. I want to be wowed again like the first time I flew in the Rift but that's probably not going to happen until a true gen 2 comes out. I've emailed Pimax support to see if they will sell me a new cable. It seems most people I talk to on different forums are not having the same issues I am. Specifically with the disconnects and lighthouses not tracking. I thought I had solved it but it's intermitten. We'll see.