Al-Azraq

Thanks YoYo. So if I get rid of OpenXR Tools, then it will not overwrite my SteamVR settings and I will be able to control everything from there which is what I want. I will try later!

Hey guys, I like to use SteamVR as the default OpenXR runtime as I want to keep using the per-app resolution settings. However, it seems that the selected resolution in SteamVR does not get applied and fpsVR reports 100% resolution. Is this a reporting problem from fpsVR or is SteamVR uncapable of changing the resolution through OpenXR? Also I have another question: if SteamVR is set as the default OpenXR runtime, is SteamVR in charge of reprojection? Thanks!

So sad to spend 2.000 € and watch the 4090 sit at 70-80% usage due to CPU bottleneck. And that is in a barebones mission.

What a monster of a GPU, but terrible pricing. Makes me consider storing my HP Reverb G2 and come back two years later when I upgrade my 3070 Ti to enjoy VR at 100% resolution. Maybe I just do that and back to TrackIR for now. Happy to know that we can brute force VR now, but that doesn't mean ED has still to do their part and optimise the game.

We have been saying that for a while now, even Nineline said to wait for multithreading before spending that money on a GPU but here we are. Sure the 4090 will offer a huge boost when not CPU bound (I think that in the air) but I wouldn't like spending 2.000 € just to have improvements just under certain circumstances.

Would it be possible to add the option to order Jester to change FOV while using LANTIRN? He stays in Wide FOV and I cannot identify anything.

I would like to know as well, I am missing it and I like to do full start-up procedures.

I don't think Heatblur is aiming to a particular Tranche or block but they will model all those capabilities, systems, and hardware they can get reliable information of. I find this approach the correct one because the representation of these features will be realistic, you will just not be able to say (this is a Tranche 2 Block 10). If they aim for an specific Tranche or Block, they will be limiting themselves. What if they decide to do a Tranche 2 Block 10 but can get information on the Brimstone or Meteor missile? Should they leave these stuff out because they are not for the specific version modelled? In my opinion, Heatblur is taking the right approach here.

I went back to the regular version and it is fine for me.

This is a great point. Every game needs gameplay loops and DCS gameplay loop is system managing. It is what keeps the player engaged throughout the session and it is what the player will try to improve on.

You are missing a big point here which is: we enjoy learning how to operate these planes, we enjoy flying them, we enjoy fighting with them. Yes, we know this is just a game at the end of the day but we enjoy the time we spend in it. I think that simulators are just not for you, and I don't think you should try to convince us that what we do is pointless, because it is not as long as we have fun.

You are right, it looks pretty dark in that video. I guess it depends on how much time has passed since it was last repainted. I would clear for an IFLOLS in DCS looking as clear as in that video!

Yeah, that as well. Also, am I the only one having many difficulties spotting the deck yellow and white lines? It is just a black deck for me until I'm very close. I have a Reverb G2.

I play on VR and the FLOLS is just very bright to the point I really can't see where the ball is exactly.

With the PC on my signup the map is just not playable on VR even if I drop my SteamVR resolution to 50%. Really disappointed because I was looking forward to playing The Big Show campaign here.

I think everything is related, input latency included. Lower FPS and frame times result in better latency which are everything for stability. I would pay money to Digital Foundry to make a DCS analysis including a VR deep review.

Your FPS are the same but you gained smoothness and stability because as shown in the benchmark a couple of posts ago, 1% lows and minimum FPS are much much better which means frame time is stable. I'll explain better: it is better to draw a frame at a constant pace throughout a second, than rendering 40 during the first half of it and 10 during the second half of it. The output for both would be 50 FPS, but as they are distributed equally the smoothness in game will be much much better in the first case.

I’ve read Bignewy or Nineline say that OpenXR support will come eventually. Also in the 15/10/2021 newsletter when they updated the multithreading status, VR support was among the remaining tasks. I don’t think OpenXR support will come with multithreading but with Vulkan, but I’m hopeful for performance improvements with it as well.

Guys, DCS just takes all the VRAM that it is available (allocation) and then uses what it needs. It doesn't mean that it uses everything, it just reserves it for itself just in case. But yes, it is an inefficient process and DCS is full of memory leaks.

Good summary! I’m going to update MSFS 2020 today and try it on VR, see how it looks on Nevada. And yeah, resolution is what impacts performance more. At first I had almost everything on low but then I noticed that I could increase settings without performance impact as I had some headroom and I’m locked at 45 fps due to reprojection anyways. With the PC at my signature, I can run DCS at 80% resolution, medium settings, terrain shadows flat, MSAA off. As we talked before MSAA is increasing pixels which paired with deferred rendering it destroys performance.

Yes sure, you can do both at the same time. TAA as it doesn't render additional pixels it should have a really minimal computational cost but it is not easy to demonstrate because the games that introduce this technique, usually don't offer the option to turn it off because otherwise it breaks lighting, shadows, etc. I don't think LOD has an effect for spotting distance as the object gets rendered at low poly, but the shape remains the same if the developer did its job right.

Yeah same here. I miss the clarity and clear image of 2D as well as the sutter free (most of the time) but somehow I just can't come back.

Thanks a lot for more testing! A couple of notes though: SSAA doesn't affect the VR image, it is supersampling but for a 2D image. The way of supersampling in VR in DCS is going to SteamVR and setting higher resolutions but even if you put some crazy resolution you won't get rid of the shimmering because even in that case, the upscaled image will have jaggies which will not be entirely removed when downscaled to the headset resolution. To clear the image we will also need an AA solution as well. SSAA is a very expensive AA solution because it is not selective and it creates extra pixels for the whole frame. Techniques like MSAA generate extra pixels but only in the relevant areas such as the object borders, that's why MSAA sometimes doesn't apply to every object. So MSAA is sort of supersampling but only in the relevant areas. TAA being the most modern one and less taxing is perfect for VR because it uses information from past and present frames without the need of upsampling or creating new pixels (contrary to what MSAA does). Then it reconstructs the image using these pixels knowing where they were placed in past frames and doing some fancy calculations, that's why it needs motion vectors introduced by the developer.

I think we can be very sure that supersampling indeed improves object identification as what you achieve with supersampling, it is the same you achieve with antialiasing which is providing more information to the renderer so it can output a more defined and rich image. I even tried to increase SteamVR resolution to 150% to try how the image was improved and it did reduced shimmering quite a bit, but it was still there. I really think that the only solution to it is having TAA, because let's not forget that MSAA with deferred rendering will never ever clean all the image. Even with forward rendering MSAA doesn't apply to some 2D objects like fences. Finally, I think that shimmering and contact ID go together because if you can clean map objects, then you can clean aircraft however, take also into consideration that identification of enemy planes is not easy in real life either and we may have been spoiled by the zoom function in 2D.

Yeah I agree, haven't tried MSFS on VR though as I'm too lazy to set it up but I prefer blurry rather than shimmering. Also I think that reducing shimmering via Supersampling in a high resolution headset like the G2 is maybe one GPU generation away and for now we will just have to live with the shimmering. That's why I have been advocating for TAA so much. Sure it tends to blurry the image but if it is well implemented it is not really an issue and it is a very light AA technique. I'll take the blurriness. Also with TAA the door is open for DLSS or FSR 2.0. Regarding contact ID, I also have difficulties IDing even in the other sim where I run at 100% SteamVR resolution with the G2. The lack of AA makes the bandits become a mess of pixels until I'm quite close and I can't afford to turn on MSAA at 100% resolution.