Oculus Rift S to fly DCS Helicopters quick review

[BaD CrC]

When it comes to VR, there is no better experience in DCS than flying a helicopter: flying below tree line sitting inside a plexiglass bubble provides an amazing immersion feeling and increases your situational awareness by an order of magnitude. The big critic I had with the first Oculus Rift was the poor definition of the screens and the screen door effect, making the gauges very hard to read and spotting enemies difficult. The new Oculus S screens basically remove this problem: the gauges now are crystal clear and you can read all the labels and see even the smallest graduations on your compass or HSI, making it possible to navigate and fly your aircraft with a very good accuracy. The cockpits in general look really crisp. A huge difference with the older Oculus Rift.

 

Two things that still need improvement though:

 

- the ABRIS on the KA50 is still extremely hard to read in moving map mode with the names of the villages or towns readable only if you virtually stick your nose against the ABRIS screen,

 

- the labels on the SA342 cockpits are still very difficult to read, the font used being too small even for the new definition.

 

Screen door effect is now pretty much invisible. Audio is horrible. You can forget about flying with the default Oculus Rift S audio system. So you can either use your audio headset over the VR one (heavy) or plug earphones into the audio jack available on the Oculus Rift S headset. In DCS and running on a 2080 Ti, with a pixel density of 1.8 and all textures set to high, frame rate was almost all the time maxed out at 40fps (80Hz) over any map. Not a visible difference with the 45fps of the previous Oculus. There was though some visible stuttering with the landscape when looking on the sides. Let's hope the VR optimization promised by ED in the soon to be released DCS 2.5.5 will solve that.

The new shapes of the controllers allows a bit more to grab your physical flight controls while still holding the said VR controllers.

 

With such a price tag, the Rift S is an interesting upgrade for DCS Helicopter pilots: the increased resolution makes it much easier and nicer to fly a rotary wing. For those who did not use VR before, you can expect a significant increase of your flying skills with this device; the increased situation awareness allows to land in very tight landing zones that you would have avoided before for fear of clipping your rotor blades or breaking your tail rotor. You will still need to use your audio headset to stay immersed in the beautiful flapping sound of the Huey, or the enchanting music of the SA342 turbine, and I wish there was some key bind available in DCS to activate the external cameras view of the headset in order to be able to use the keyboard or activate some elements of a physical cockpit without having to remove the headset or rely on muscle memory.

[Svsmokey]

(Sigh) Guess i'm gonna hafta invest in a collective . I keep hearing choppers are THE thing in VR . Thanks for the S review !

[Harlikwin]

Are the rift s controllers different from the touch controllers.

[dax]

Are the rift s controllers different from the touch controllers.

Different, but actually very similar.

Main difference is the location of the protective plastic ring.

In hand they feel the same.

[BaD CrC]

Yes. The plastic ring being above the handle (like for the vive) instead of around. So with big enough hands, you can keep the controller while holding at the same time the cyclic or collective.

I am using helisimmer.de set of controls based on the real Huey ones and funny enough those match exactly the ones in game position wise so my virtual hands are perfectly matching my real ones when I grab the cyclic and collective. Of course, that doesn't work for the other choppers.

[hansangb]

--snippage--

Two things that still need improvement though:

 

- the ABRIS on the KA50 is still extremely hard to read in moving map mode with the names of the villages or towns readable only if you virtually stick your nose against the ABRIS screen,

 

- the labels on the SA342 cockpits are still very difficult to read, the font used being too small even for the new definition.

 

 

 

 

Is the Arbis operational on the ground? have BS2 and haven't flown it in YEARS. Not since the standalone DVD version. I can check with P5K+ to see what I see. I'll check Gazelle as well.

[Thunderchief2000]

frame rate was almost all the time maxed out at 40fps (80Hz) over any map. Not a visible difference with the 45fps of the previous Oculus. .

 

 

Just a quick correction here, 40fps is 40hz not 80hz so that is actually running at half frame rate. (which is normal in VR in DCS, My Vive Pro on a 2080ti only hits 45 fps 45hz) but "maxed out" would be 80fps.

 

 

Cheers.

[toutenglisse]

Thunderchief2000 - 40fps is 40Hz only if you disable ASW (reprojection) - if ASW is enable 40fps is 80Hz.

[p1t1o]

This is nice to hear, since Im interested in the Index, but was worrying myself over whether to go for the higher resolution Reverb.

[Thunderchief2000]

Thunderchief2000 - 40fps is 40Hz only if you disable ASW (reprojection) - if ASW is enable 40fps is 80Hz.

 

Not really, ASW simulates movement frames to make up for the missing 40 actual frames. The displays of course always run at 80hz, (or 90 depending on HMD type) but that is not the same as a true 80hz, there will be artefacts.

 

 

I was mainly pointing out that in order to truly say it was "maxed out" it would have had to have been running at a true 80hz ie, 80FPS.

 

 

Cheers.

[p1t1o]

Not really, ASW simulates movement frames to make up for the missing 40 actual frames. The displays of course always run at 80hz, (or 90 depending on HMD type) but that is not the same as a true 80hz, there will be artefacts.

 

 

I was mainly pointing out that in order to truly say it was "maxed out" it would have had to have been running at a true 80hz ie, 80FPS.

 

 

Cheers.

 

Agreed. "Max" kinda precludes modifiers.

 

But I get it, 40fps "maxes" out the 40Hz step, because there is a big change to get up to 80 true FPS.

 

Its just semantics.

[John Hargreaves]

(Sigh) Guess i'm gonna hafta invest in a collective . I keep hearing choppers are THE thing in VR . Thanks for the S review !

 

 

 

Go on, you know you deserve it

 

 

Messing about in VR helicopters is one of the great priveleges of being alive in the 21st century.

[Bullant]

As much as I love my Hornet, I think the first thing I am going to do when my Rift S arrives is go for a low level flight in the Huey over Normandy. Just saying :)

[Jyge]

(Sigh) Guess i'm gonna hafta invest in a collective . I keep hearing choppers are THE thing in VR . Thanks for the S review !

 

 

You don't need a collective for flying a helicopter, any reasonable HOTAS is good enough. Pedals are way more important. First try it and if you get the bug start showeling your money to hardware. I am a heli enthusiast but I am not even considering a collective.

[some1]

Ditto. Just swap the throttle axis so that it increases the collective when moving AFT, and you can get a very good helo experience with a regular hotas.

[hansangb]

You don't need a collective for flying a helicopter, any reasonable HOTAS is good enough. Pedals are way more important. First try it and if you get the bug start showeling your money to hardware. I am a heli enthusiast but I am not even considering a collective.

 

 

 

 

You *can* fly it with Thurstmaster throttle (inverted). But the long throw of a collective *REALLY* gives you the fine control when coming to a hover, or landing. So you don't need it, but it makes it sooooo much better when flying helos.

[Svsmokey]

What are you using for a throttle if you use the throttle axis as a collective ?

[Fri13]

Is the Arbis operational on the ground? have BS2 and haven't flown it in YEARS. Not since the standalone DVD version. I can check with P5K+ to see what I see. I'll check Gazelle as well.

 

Yes it is. As long you have power, you have ABRIS operational and you can do all work.

 

It is just sad that so many things need to be transferred between it and PVI-800, that it just takes time.

[Fri13]

Different, but actually very similar.

Main difference is the location of the protective plastic ring.

In hand they feel the same.

 

It ain't protective ring, it is the tracking ring. That ring has all the IR LEDs integrated in it, and in CV1 the sensors tracked the controllers well from that position, but in S the sensors are in HMD so the LEDs needsto be set upward visible to them.

 

That is reason why the ring is upside compared to CV1.

[eaglecash867]

What are you using for a throttle if you use the throttle axis as a collective ?

 

For helicopters that have a throttle, I'm just using the grey slider to the right of the throttle on my TM Warthog. The main problem I think the stock TM Warthog HOTAS has for flying helicopters is too much spring force on the stick. A cyclic should stay pretty much where you move it, without immediately springing back to center. The default spring force tends to make flying a helicopter exhausting very quickly.

[hansangb]

What are you using for a throttle if you use the throttle axis as a collective ?

 

 

Helicopters use auto-throttle (not sure if that's the correct term) and rarely require actual throttle adjustment. The collective is what you have to constantly adjust. I do have komodo setup, so the collective has a twist control for the throttle.

 

 

 

 

 

For helicopters that have a throttle, I'm just using the grey slider to the right of the throttle on my TM Warthog. The main problem I think the stock TM Warthog HOTAS has for flying helicopters is too much spring force on the stick. A cyclic should stay pretty much where you move it, without immediately springing back to center. The default spring force tends to make flying a helicopter exhausting very quickly.

 

 

Yup, either a spring mod (where you remove the main spring and move the bottom four springs up - youtube vids available) or a WH stick extension to overcome the main spring is MUST. You should be able to move your joystick (cyclic) with just your thumb and one finger. That's how light it should be.

[eaglecash867]

Yup, either a spring mod (where you remove the main spring and move the bottom four springs up - youtube vids available) or a WH stick extension to overcome the main spring is MUST. You should be able to move your joystick (cyclic) with just your thumb and one finger. That's how light it should be.

 

Yup. Flying a helicopter with the TM Warthog in its default stick configuration feels pretty much the same as moving the cyclic in a 407 without the engine and hydraulic system up and running. You can do it, but it takes a lot of effort.:weight_lift_2:

[Svsmokey]

Helicopters use auto-throttle (not sure if that's the correct term) and rarely require actual throttle adjustment. The collective is what you have to constantly adjust. I do have komodo setup, so the collective has a twist control for the throttle.

 

Yup, either a spring mod (where you remove the main spring and move the bottom four springs up - youtube vids available) or a WH stick extension to overcome the main spring is MUST. You should be able to move your joystick (cyclic) with just your thumb and one finger. That's how light it should be.

 

Thanks for the answer . Does the Huey have an autothrottle ?

[eaglecash867]

Thanks for the answer . Does the Huey have an autothrottle ?

 

Nope. The UH-1 throttle is a twist-grip on the collective. Usually you're only messing with it after engine start. You start off at a low RPM, engage the rotor clutch, and slowly ramp up the throttle to get the rotor RPM into the normal operating range. After that, you're pretty much all collective, cyclic, and anti-torque pedals.

Edited May 26, 2019 by eaglecash867

[hansangb]

Nope. The UH-1 throttle is a twist-grip on the collective. Usually you're only messing with it after engine start. You start off at a low RPM, engage the rotor clutch, and slowly ramp up the throttle to get the rotor RPM into the normal operating range. After that, you're pretty much all collective, cyclic, and anti-torque pedals.

 

but in the sim, you can just pull the collective and go! :D