Oculus Rift with DCS World Discussion

[ariyaner]

hellas

 

i mean i read somethink about changing fov for the dk2

but i cant find it anymore :(

i just want to fix my limited view (see black lines on each site of dk2 screen)

[dogbite]

I agree that the clarity of current gen VR is an issue for flying combat in DCS. I fortunately bought the Rift to better simulate flight and spend little time flying my birds in combat. I particularly enjoy helos and the P51. The sense of flight for me is reward enough to prefer to do this in VR even at this earlier state. As I also am having a ball in Elite Dangerous and IRacing, these things alone will keep me in the Rift. I am also sure we will see much developed specifically at a level of graphics that this generation of HMD can handle (lower polygon count) that will keep it interesting. When titles are done from scratch for VR, they can look and run quite nicely. Although DCS supports VR, it wasn't originally intended, so I never expected it would run at the required resolution to run all the tasks necessary to be competitive in combat, but being able to fly beautifully simulated aircraft and properly judge distance to the deck is not going to loose it's enjoyment for this pilot.

It may be novel, but isn't wearing off here. I am excited to see what the 160 plus companies developing for Oculus come up with. A very happy early adopter.

[Ferrum Intra]

Labels are still on the table, just saying. They can also be configured to be very unobtrusive. I doubt a cv1 user with 1.6 pixel density, and light labels will find it impossible.

[yellow_jacket]

Does anyone have a youtube video of how the zoom function in the Rift works in 1.5.4?

 

Also is there any way to stop sending picture to monitor while I'm in rift ? it just uses up my graphics card %, while I need as much as I can in the headset. Can I use second card only for the rift instead?

Edited July 23, 2016 by yellow_jacket

[Kuky]

I didn't say I don't like it, I only said that resolution is still too low, I've tried pixel density at 1.5 and 2.0 and it's little better but only little. Spotting aircraft is very hard. I am honest about it, and while immersion with it is really good, it lacks in resolution a lot... I can't even use any FSAA as that reduces FPS quite a bit, at 4x FSAA my FPS is halved.

 

Flying helicopters is definitely more suitable, but fighting in jets where merge is fast and missiles dangerous, and AI is still all seeing within 10km range, you are at quite disadvantage with VR, this version of consumer product anyway.

 

There is no point saying how awesome it is without being honest about its bad sides also.

 

When FPS is high I see no blurring at all, and it feels super smooth even when rolling fast or looking around quickly, but I have to keep settings low-ish and can't use any FSAA. I have to turn off mirrors, one good thing is keeping shadows on low still looks good in the pit.

 

Anyway, like I said, it's not that I don't like it, but I am well aware of the downsides also... and that's all I'm saying ;)

[Einherjer]

Since I use my rift I have a strange problem, after a few minutes a message pops up that trackir is now activated, a few seconds after its deactivated and then activated again...

Trackir / opentrack is off, no trackir hardware connected.

[Kuky]

Since I use my rift I have a strange problem, after a few minutes a message pops up that trackir is now activated, a few seconds after its deactivated and then activated again...

Trackir / opentrack is off, no trackir hardware connected.

 

I've uninstalled my TrackIR software fully. I see no need for it any more.

[Einherjer]

Trackir is deinstalled, open track is still on my HDD but it's not on - so it's strange?!

[Kuky]

I've never used OpenTrack so don't know how it works. Would it hurt to uninstall it also?

[Einherjer]

No it would not hurt ;) but there was not much installation, you just run the program.

But have to say, this message appears IN dcs. Saw it the first time in 1.5.4.

When dcs says "trackir deactivated" - trackir also won't show up in the controls setting panel

[Flamin_Squirrel]

Does anyone have a youtube video of how the zoom function in the Rift works in 1.5.4?

 

Also is there any way to stop sending picture to monitor while I'm in rift ? it just uses up my graphics card %, while I need as much as I can in the headset. Can I use second card only for the rift instead?

 

What you see on your monitor is just the image from the left (or right, can't remember) eye. It doesn't have a performance impact.

[Purg]

For me the CV1 experience will be single player only. Will likely use minimal labels (showing the red or blue dot at close ranges without the info - just have to find out how to set that up again) as spotting targets is much harder given the resolution issues. Dogfighting in VR against someone with a high resolution monitor and TrackIR would put you at a distinct disadvantage, IMO. In a furball, it'd be almost impossible picking friend from foe unless you were right on them.

 

Having said that, I don't think I could go back to playing on monitor again. I tried briefly and the sense of being in a cockpit actually flying the aircraft is just too great to give up. If I do MP in VR, it'd likely be co-op with friends.

[Revelation]

The main disadvantage is simply down to zooming IMHO. Monitor guys have zoom and VR doesn't yet in Alpha but it's coming.

When multiplayer dogfighting I found I can see bad guys pretty easy and we ID each other by calling "are you going up or down?"

I can tell you that VFA-113 pilots use VR every single week in combat missions and we do just fine.

Not trying to argue but if I didn't have Rift yet listening to you guys would put me off, but I find it an amazingly cool experience and worth any of the perceived downsides.

 

It's a learning curve. We, in general, have been spoiled by high quality, pixel dense displays. Going to the Rift can be a little bit of a let down in terms of visual quality. For most, the loss in visual quality is more than equally compensated for in immersion.

 

Rift really shines when it comes to formation flying, landing SU-30s on a carrier, in the future F-18Cs, aerial refueling and just general flight. For now and maybe a generation or two of VR displays monitors will offer better visibility outside of the cockpit.

 

When flying with others that are using a Rift, there's not much of an issue as everyone is on a "level playing field." There are advantages the Rift user has over a monitor user. For now the monitor user has a slight advantage when it comes to having the ability to spot the enemy further out.

 

With proper tactics that can be mitigated by Rift users...

[yellow_jacket]

Sorry to hear you don't like your Rift Kuky, it does seem that guys used to 4K big screens have the most trouble switching over.

 

Half my squad is on Rift now and we tailor our missions to take advantage of VR. You should've heard Comms today, it's literally 3 hours of everyone babbling about how awesome something looks, and that was in Alpha which has no pixel density increase yet!

One of our guys is an active Huey pilot and he says the Huey in Rift feels exactly like flying the real thing.

I've been flying with it for almost 3 months and, as I've stated many times, when I turn the monitor back on I am amazed that I ever bothered to sim on a 2D panel.

 

Horses for courses but I disagree with your appraisal about res, even with 1.0 density it's good enough for me to read gauges and HUD etc. and I never suffer any judder.

I also compete evenly with guys on my squad that are still using monitors in BVR and ACM, plus it's a core workout.

I love the Rift, it's like my favourite thing.

 

Pixel density works in alpha as far as I can tell, but you gotta force it through debugger.

[BlackLion213]

At least for me, this thread has been extremely helpful for understanding the pros and cons of switching to VR (which I hope to do soon). Thank you to all who contributed!

 

It is also clear that DCS in VR is a different game from DCS on a monitor - there are different strengths and weaknesses. Also, long-term DCS players need to change some aspects of their work flow and certain tasks are simply harder to do (am I right?). Practice helps, but not every part of DCS translates into VR perfectly.

 

However, by my estimation, something like 95% of those who have posted are really impressed by VR and "can't go back to a monitor", which says it all. Not everyone feels this way, but most seem to.

 

I am also hopeful that new techniques and tools emerge to help VR users cope with some of the visibility challenges.

 

Overall, it seems to me that if your favorite part of DCS is flying, carrier ops, utilitarian tasks, and ACM - then VR makes DCS a better experience. If you love system management/MFD operation or are really serious about MP and WVR, then it might not be the right choice at this stage (since those tasks are harder or will require technique changes).

 

Lastly, though I have not yet tried VR, it's worth mentioning that fresnel lenses need to be well-centered over your eyes to give a good image (since they are "straightening" the light from the displays) to maximize image quality. Malpositionedlenses will probably work looking straight, but even very small changes to view direction can causes a lot of blurring of the image. Just my 2 cents on the basic science of Fesnel lenses.

 

-Nick

[Flamin_Squirrel]

Lastly, though I have not yet tried VR, it's worth mentioning that fresnel lenses need to be well-centered over your eyes to give a good image (since they are "straightening" the light from the displays) to maximize image quality. Malpositionedlenses will probably work looking straight, but even very small changes to view direction can causes a lot of blurring of the image. Just my 2 cents on the basic science of Fesnel lenses.

 

-Nick

 

The vive uses fresnel lenses, the rift does not. Although it is still affected by position.

[BlackLion213]

The vive uses fresnel lenses, the rift does not. Although it is still affected by position.

 

From what I read it has a "hybrid fresnel lens" and finer facets than the vive. Same tech, but the lens shape is slightly different.

 

http://www.pcopticalengineering.com/fresnel-lenses-and-the-oculus-rift-cv1/

 

-Nick

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I stand corrected!

[cichlidfan]

When I want to just enjoying flying, I would use the Rift. If I want to play at combat, I will use my 4k screen.

[Chivas]

The Rift uses custom lenses, that try to use the best qualities of Fresnel, and normal optic lenses, along with a larger sweetspot. Its definitely not perfect, but they are best solution so far. Oculus is able to spend a considerable amount of monies on R&D, so the next generation combination of higher res displays and improved optics should help flight sims considerably.

[DerekSpeare]

They need to get rid of the godrays...bleck!

[Zettman]

- they can push a button and snap zoom in like a telescope.

 

I'm not quiete sure if I misunderstood you, but you make it sound like we HMD users don't have any zoom feature in the game. But in the current 1.54 version we now have VR zoom, which works okay in my opinion. I would prefer that it would zoom in faster as it currently does, but it works.

 

http://imgur.com/ZnHYCUR

 

Zettman

[dogbite]

They need to get rid of the godrays...bleck!

Sorry your so sensitive to them. I, like many who wear glasses, am not really bothered by the effect. In fact, I really don't notice them any more, even in the black of space.

We're not likely to see much improvement as long as Fresnel lenses are in play. Some of the effect might be lessened through software and sliders, however, this is likely to require other sacrifices in fidelity. Perhaps in a generation or two this will be resolved.

[Dinga]

Can someone who has used the development kit version one of the Rift Please Say if it is able to be used with DCS or no, and is the newer version much better or about the same?

The reason I ask is there is one for sale on Trade Me and it is buy now 180 dollars. Should I get it or forget it?

[awjudge]

I've not used the DK2 myself, but I can say from my reading that the resolution and clarity of the CV1 is much, much better. I guess is that there's a reason the DK2 is going for only $180...