Valve Index Hands On

[imacken]

same goes for cockpit shadows

Shadows have a big effect on performance, I would say.

 

The shimmering doesn’t bother me especially in 80Hz mode, the blurriness from MSAA on the other hand makes it hard to spot runways. With 2D setup I run MSAA 2 plus Reshade’s clarity+sharpening filters to mitigate the blurriness, wish there was something similar for VR.

I feel the opposite when running MSAA. Everything, including runways, seem much clearer with it on.

[Nagilem]

@imacken - if you are running MSAA anyway you should consider using MFAA as it will provide more AA for very little performance cost. You set up MFAA in the Nvidia Control panel.

[imacken]

@imacken - if you are running MSAA anyway you should consider using MFAA as it will provide more AA for very little performance cost. You set up MFAA in the Nvidia Control panel.

 

I always have MFAA switched on.

[Badger633]

what do you need with valve index for DCS

 

Sorry to just drop in discussion but seems you people would know. What do you need to purchase for running Index in DCS?

Can you run and successfully set up the index with just headset and one laser unit and no hand units.

 

To be used seated for DCS only

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Running i9900k 5ghz / waterforce gigabyte 2080ti / 32gb ram 3600 / 2tb m.2 Samsung storage

[Baldrick33]

Sorry to just drop in discussion but seems you people would know. What do you need to purchase for running Index in DCS?

Can you run and successfully set up the index with just headset and one laser unit and no hand units.

 

To be used seated for DCS only

 

Thanks

Yes, one base station (can be v1.0) is all you need

[Supmua]

I use NVIDIA control panel to do AA for me at 2x, with Enhance App Setting as well as MFAA. It actually is a good compromise with minimal effect on my framerate.

[Supmua]

Sorry to just drop in discussion but seems you people would know. What do you need to purchase for running Index in DCS?

Can you run and successfully set up the index with just headset and one laser unit and no hand units.

 

To be used seated for DCS only

 

Thanks

 

Running i9900k 5ghz / waterforce gigabyte 2080ti / 32gb ram 3600 / 2tb m.2 Samsung storage

 

 

You can get by with headset and one base. Certain settings inside SteamVR headset such as Display Brightness, volume adjustment, etc. might require a controller to do it though--haven't found a way to do it without.

[dburne]

I use NVIDIA control panel to do AA for me at 2x, with Enhance App Setting as well as MFAA. It actually is a good compromise with minimal effect on my framerate.

 

So did at some point the settings in Nvidia control panel start working for VR?

For the longest they did not.

[imacken]

So did at some point the settings in Nvidia control panel start working for VR?

For the longest they did not.

 

Good point, Don. I also thought they had no effect in VR, but maybe something has changed.

[Nagilem]

@Glyn - I would get one headset and two base units. You can use v1 base units if you can find them to make the cost lower.

 

While 'technically' you could get away with one, you will be moving around a lot to check six and one base may not give you enough coverage.

[Supmua]

So did at some point the settings in Nvidia control panel start working for VR?

For the longest they did not.

 

Perhaps it was placebo or it was just MFAA, but my shimmering does not seem as bad--may be that's why my FPS stayed the same.

 

Anyhow, I'm back to using the stable SteamVR again since the framerate seems unstable with each of the new betas that Steam keeps cranking out. The stable version seems more predictable and reliable in terms of gameplay for me.

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with my current DCS VR settings (still getting crappy framerate related to CPU frametime spike at the parking area in Khasab even with my new expensive RAM, but I'm just going to ignore that spot for now).

 

The latest DCS OB also seems to have fixed the right eye rendering of Taxi lights which is nice, the prior version had incomplete lighting in the right eye view in external view.

[Supmua]

Valve Index Hands On

 

Here is my current NVIDIA setting, in case anybody wants to try. Other than some shimmering without MSAA in DCS, the buildings and ground objects look pretty sharp in Dubai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

 

 

Might be on to something here. It seems negative LOD bias in texture filtering can increase sharpness in VR. At -2.0 it's so sharp at the expense of sharpening artifacts (best seen when flying above water in PG) so might not be good, lowering it to -1.0 seems better with minimal artifacts. With this Negative LOD bias, I am able to turn on MSSA and reduce SteamVR SS to 150% while retaining image sharpness close to SteamVR SS 200% without MSAA (without negative LOD)--also yields similar FPS.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Supmua

[Wicked.-]

I had negative LOD bias set to clamp from the CV1. I have no clue what it does, a buddy told me to turn it on. I installed the latest Nvidia driver earlier but didn't change any settings that I previously had enabled. Basically just performance settings. I also got another update from SteamVR to .14. I'm interested in the LOD adjustments though. Sharper is good lol.

[imacken]

Sorry to just drop in discussion but seems you people would know. What do you need to purchase for running Index in DCS?

Can you run and successfully set up the index with just headset and one laser unit and no hand units.

 

To be used seated for DCS only

 

Personally, I would recommend getting a controller as well, as without one, you can't access SteamVR in-app settings, etc.

Edited September 6, 2019 by imacken

[ahaka]

Personally, I would recommend getting a controller as well, as without one, you can't access SteamVR in-app settings, etc.

 

Does the SteamVR in-app menu work with an xbox controller?

 

If I only get one 1.0 base station and one vive controller, will the headset connect and run normally or will it give some error and refuse to run if it does not detect the other base station and controller?

[imacken]

Does the SteamVR in-app menu work with an xbox controller?

 

If I only get one 1.0 base station and one vive controller, will the headset connect and run normally or will it give some error and refuse to run if it does not detect the other base station and controller?

 

No, it doesn't work with XBox controller.

It'll run OK with 1 controller and base station, but as someone else pointed out, you really need 2 bases as when checking your six, you'll lose tracking.

[Nagilem]

Doing a bit of reading - I don't think MFAA does anything UNLESS MSAA is already on. The algorithm forces MSAA to use frames over time to improve the AA. If you have MFAA on without MSAA I don't think its doing anything.

[ahaka]

No, it doesn't work with XBox controller.

It'll run OK with 1 controller and base station, but as someone else pointed out, you really need 2 bases as when checking your six, you'll lose tracking.

 

Thanks. I will try it with one station first. I did some testing and when checking the six o’clock position the side of the headset should still be pointing slightly towards the base station. So if that is enough to keep tracking, it might work for my purpose. Since you pointed out that the controller is needed I guess I will buy the first gen HTC Vive controller for that purpose. You can get one for a relatively cheap price these days.

[imacken]

Thanks. I will try it with one station first. I did some testing and when checking the six o’clock position the side of the headset should still be pointing slightly towards the base station. So if that is enough to keep tracking, it might work for my purpose. Since you pointed out that the controller is needed I guess I will buy the first gen HTC Vive controller for that purpose. You can get one for a relatively cheap price these days.

 

Hmm, not sure where you are located, but certainly in the UK, they are not particularly cheap. eBay shows £65-£85 for used Vive original controllers and £80-£90 for used base stations mk1.

[Supmua]

Thanks. I will try it with one station first. I did some testing and when checking the six o’clock position the side of the headset should still be pointing slightly towards the base station. So if that is enough to keep tracking, it might work for my purpose. Since you pointed out that the controller is needed I guess I will buy the first gen HTC Vive controller for that purpose. You can get one for a relatively cheap price these days.

 

 

 

In my early days with Vive I was playing DCS with one base station unplugged for a while (unintentional), and didn’t realize it until I started playing roomscale VR games. It worked ok for just headset tracking.

[Gunnergolly]

Thanks. I will try it with one station first. I did some testing and when checking the six o’clock position the side of the headset should still be pointing slightly towards the base station. So if that is enough to keep tracking, it might work for my purpose. Since you pointed out that the controller is needed I guess I will buy the first gen HTC Vive controller for that purpose. You can get one for a relatively cheap price these days.

 

I'm only using one base station mounted on top of my monitor angled down slightly towards my head and i have had absolutely no issues with head tracking.

 

I didn't buy any hand controllers either, no issues with setting the Index up and haven't needed them since.

 

There is a small button underneath the headset which opens up various menu's and it appears that you would need a controller to access them.

[imacken]

There is a small button underneath the headset which opens up various menu's and it appears that you would need a controller to access them.

 

That is the SteamVR system menu where you access everything SteamVR related, including the new brightness and vertical line calibration options, your library, etc.

You need a controller to do anything in SteamVR.

[Baldrick33]

That is the SteamVR system menu where you access everything SteamVR related, including the new brightness and vertical line calibration options, your library, etc.

You need a controller to do anything in SteamVR.

The only settings I am aware of that aren't (yet) in the monitor SteamVR GUI are the new brightness and vertical line calibration. Everything else in the Settings menu accessible from the SteamVR window shown on the monitor. Where they should be!

 

Otherwise I have had no reason to use the in-headset SteamVR menu.

[Supmua]

They should add keyboard bindings to these in-headset control functions, can’t be that hard to do.

 

Btw, the 1.7.14 beta is the release candidate for SteamVR, so it will likely become the next stable release.

[imacken]

The only settings I am aware of that aren't (yet) in the monitor SteamVR GUI are the new brightness and vertical line calibration. Everything else in the Settings menu accessible from the SteamVR window shown on the monitor. Where they should be!

 

Otherwise I have had no reason to use the in-headset SteamVR menu.

 

Sure, if you want to use SteamVR without a contrroller then fine, but having one enhances the experience, especially if you do any more than just use it to run DCS.

 

Your statement about 'everything else in settings menu is accessible from the SteamVR monitor window' is simply not true. There are various things like how you want the image from the camera on your Index to look, power management (not base station), etc. Now, you may not to use these functions, but that is a different matter.

 

Also, if you use any other tools, e.g. OpenVR Advanced Settings, you need a controller.