I just just thought i would post a message for those thinking about making the jump to VR.
I have played flight sims on and off for over 25 years and have always relied on monitor setups (mainly Falcon & BMS, still the best large scale campaign) however stopped around 2013 due to work commitments / hardware requirements.
I bought a new PC in November (RTX2080 i7 SSD etc) along with an oculus rift and have to say it's been an absolute game changer. This week the lead in my rift broke (rather dog chewed through it ) so awaiting a new one and have just tried to play F18 in DCS on a monitor for the first time.
The difference is absolutely shocking, i can honestly say having played one mission i will not be loading it up again until the lead arrives - having only played DCS VR going back to 2D loses the entire feeling of the simulation, everything is harder having to paddle view on HOTAS, carrier landings, A2G, A2A dog fighting just becomes harder, down in the cherubs it just doesn't give the same feeling of reality. The situation awareness, offsets, ACM in visual range just becomes horrendous and so much harder to immediately assess. I'll normally fly around and only RTB on nothing on the dial but smiths however after under half an hour was back on the boat (just) after pancaking it!
I hear people talk about resolution and being on a monitor is better so i have just played it on a 55inch 4k screen. However, the total loss of immediate situational awareness in close is just not worth the eye candy. I rather suspect the people that go on about this have an over reliance on using the zoom function for target recognition / acquisition and intercept selection course which in reality i think is almost like a cheat mode, sure pilots have historically and do continue to use binoculars in the pit and carried sometimes as back ups however in the split second this is not possible.
I've wrote this for anyone thinking and is capable about making the investment into VR, if you want the most realistic feel, actual benefits in close, especially close ACM and immersion then nothing compares to VR. Sure technology will continue to get better however VR is so good now it doesn't warrant waiting if you have the budget to invest.
