DCS now supports OpenXR natively

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Update, I could still fly around, run the benchmark in OpenXR, which was great. Then 4 hours later, no change in setup, suddenly I cannot even get to the Main Menu due to crashes.  It was fun with much improved frame rate. I cannot use this OpenXR any more. Shame.

Sorry, was very upset at the time.

Also, in case anyone wonders, OpenComposite no longer works.

Edited January 28, 2023 by VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants

[lefuneste01]

Same here, not able to load a mission if reproj is forced on.

But also  not able to have more than 45 fps if reproj is forced offand helmet is at 90 Hz, even if I have 60 fps at 60 Hz on the same mission !

It's a beta and with last hotfix openXR is no more the default choice and things are working as previously, so let's wait next iteration. There is some potential anyway.

[Belly11]

I can’t seem to get this to launch without steamVR on my G2 no matter what. I tried fully repairing DCS and using the force Openxr line as suggested. SteamVR isn’t set as the runtime for Openxr and windows mixed reality is. Anyone know what could be causing this or what I can try next?

[Hamel]

I'm on a Reverb G2. I don't have an answer for problems some are having, but I have both DCS OpenXR (motion reprojection still not working) and OpenComposite (motion reprojection working) with 2 sperate DCS.exe shortcuts.  I call them DCS OpenXR and DCS OpenComposite.

1.   I uninstalled OpenXR Toolkit.  Ran a DCS repair.  Left OpenComposite Runtime Switcher as "Status OpenComposite"

2.  Set up a DCS.exe shortcut with the --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR command line as explained by BIGNEWY.

Now if I want motion reprojection as it was pre patch I switch "Always on" in OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality then start DCS with the original shortcut.  (Have not tried OpenXR Toolkit with this yet)

If I want to try the new DCS OpenXR no motion reprojection I switch "Automatic" in OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality then start DCS with the new shortcut.

Either way a 2 step process.

That will do for me until DCS fix the motion reprojection in their OpenXR.  I'll just keep updating with patches and wait until it works.  In the meantime the old method works.

I will say I did try both with motion reprojection off to compare and this may be subjective, but the DCS OpenXR looked clearer and smoother. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Hamel

[Ajax_]

PIMAX Users!

Remember to copy the openvr_api.dll back to the {dcs install}\bin folder after the update!

Otherwise, you will get sporadic results at best when trying to run DCS.

 * I fussed for about 6 hours and almost rolled back until I found some old update instructions I had left for myself.

Now DCS starts up like a champ every time.

My procedure for starting DCS:

1. Start PITOOL

2. Launch OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality, click Mixed Reality Tab, then click Set as Active Runtime button.  Close the window.

3. Launch PimaxXR Control Center, Click OK on the windows Error Dialog that will be displayed, then select the PimaxXR radio button on the Control Center and minimize the window.

4. Launch DSC from the PITOOL > My Games. (I created a shortcut for DCS that used --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR and re-imported the program back into PITOOL.

Works every time now!

I hope this saves someone else from 8KX frustration.

Cheers!

[Hotdognz]

Now im home from a long weekend away I have updated DCS, done a clean and repair also, added the OpenXR command line to a DCS.exe shortcut as advised and fired up DCS on my G2, happy to report no issues at all and VR is working well in my go to test mission, then added back in my OpenXR Toolkit app settings as I had set them back the defaults and gained another 15 FPS

OpenXR Toolkit settings (done inside the game with CTRL F2

Enable FSR and set it 80%
Set Sharping at 60%
Set Framelock to 60

Restarted the game and now runs just as good as it was with Opencomposite prior to the patch debacle and then hotfix

I have had to create an instruction step by step on our Discord to help the none tech savvy out who were using Opencomposite which seems to have helped most get it running.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Hotdognz

[TKu]

Works great as intended.

I hope sone users would learn what a beta program means. But I hope ED can iron out those issues for them soon as well.

Edited January 29, 2023 by TKu

[YoYo]

24 minutes ago, TKu said:

Works great as intended.

I hope sone users would learn what a beta program means. But I hope ED can iron out those issues for them soon as well.

 

Which headset? SteamVR or what?

[Snowy55]

While a bit bumpy getting there, DCS with native OpenXR is an improvement for me. As TKu says above, its a Beta release so we can expect issues, however, lessons can be learned from the angst and confusion generated by this big change.  Some forewarning and explanation of how to set it up would have been useful.

[dock999]

4 hours ago, Hotdognz said:

Now im home from a long weekend away I have updated DCS, done a clean and repair also, added the OpenXR command line to a DCS.exe shortcut as advised and fired up DCS on my G2, happy to report no issues at all and VR is working well in my go to test mission, then added back in my OpenXR Toolkit app settings as I had set them back the defaults and gained another 15 FPS

 

 

 

I have got a bit different story.

if I run the program with the shortcut + command line , I have to set the toolkit in a safe mode , otherwise the DCS just crashes . I have repeatedly tested this scenario. 

Alternatively I can run the program installed the hotfix patch ( the latest patch) with toolkit through the OpenComposite running time. I have got exactly the same FPS figure  as what I got before installing the  "broken" patch . By this method , the toolkit and the program run normally for some reason.

that is a bit strange.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by dock999

[Nealius]

I'm lost on this OpenXR stuff. My Oculus client is set to "Oculus is set as the active OpenXR runtime," but I understand we need to add a command to the .exe properties to force OpenXR. Are those the only two steps for Quest 2? There's so many posts about complex dances with 3rd party software so I'm lost.

[Nuggetz]

7 hours ago, Ajax_ said:

PIMAX Users!

Remember to copy the openvr_api.dll back to the {dcs install}\bin folder after the update!

Otherwise, you will get sporadic results at best when trying to run DCS.

 * I fussed for about 6 hours and almost rolled back until I found some old update instructions I had left for myself.

Now DCS starts up like a champ every time.

My procedure for starting DCS:

1. Start PITOOL

2. Launch OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality, click Mixed Reality Tab, then click Set as Active Runtime button.  Close the window.

3. Launch PimaxXR Control Center, Click OK on the windows Error Dialog that will be displayed, then select the PimaxXR radio button on the Control Center and minimize the window.

4. Launch DSC from the PITOOL > My Games. (I created a shortcut for DCS that used --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR and re-imported the program back into PITOOL.

Works every time now!

I hope this saves someone else from 8KX frustration.

Cheers!

Thank you for your suggestion. I did try this approach and it didn’t work for me as I couldn’t get back into VR. I reverted to the DCS shortcut with command line and re imported it into Pitool. 
 

The downside is SteamVR powers up albeit with OpenXR runtime but I am still missing 10-12 FPS. It’s the only way I can play Multiplayer. Using the DCS shortcut direct only works fully in SP for me. 
 

Fingers crossed ED are able to offer a comprehensive fix in the coming week. 

[diamond26]

9 minutes ago, Nealius said:

I'm lost on this OpenXR stuff. My Oculus client is set to "Oculus is set as the active OpenXR runtime," but I understand we need to add a command to the .exe properties to force OpenXR. Are those the only two steps for Quest 2? There's so many posts about complex dances with 3rd party software so I'm lost.

Quest2 can run both OpenVR and OpenXR without additional SW. With the latest patch if you do not add any switches to DCS.exe then it will run OpenVR (like it was all the time before 2.8.2). If you use the switch for OpenXR then it will run DCS OpenXR. With the latter you will have the option to use OpenXR toolkit to enable additional functions like upscaling or sharpening, color saturation etc.

Hope that helps

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

I cannot speak for others, running OB is a consciously chosen path, which means taking risks, accepting there are chances reinstallation is needed to taste new stuff early. Upset yes, disappointment, yes, but I can always fall back to SteamVR and VRNeckSafer.

I hope people here understand reporting != complaining and ED will iron out all the issues some day.

BTW, always submit crash reports and open support ticket where necessary.

[Nealius]

34 minutes ago, diamond26 said:

Quest2 can run both OpenVR and OpenXR without additional SW. With the latest patch if you do not add any switches to DCS.exe then it will run OpenVR (like it was all the time before 2.8.2). If you use the switch for OpenXR then it will run DCS OpenXR. With the latter you will have the option to use OpenXR toolkit to enable additional functions like upscaling or sharpening, color saturation etc.

Hope that helps

The "switch" being "Oculus set as active OpenXR runtime" setting? I tried appending the forced OpenXR command to DCS.exe and got "unrecognized command" error.

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

On 1/26/2023 at 8:52 AM, BIGNEWY said:

If you need to force openXR in DCS command parameter is --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR

Nerdy question, are the switches case sensitive?

I am wonder if I reset the GPU voltage back to normal, will it help?

[jurinko]

8 hours ago, Hamel said:

I'm on a Reverb G2. I don't have an answer for problems some are having, but I have both DCS OpenXR (motion reprojection still not working) and OpenComposite (motion reprojection working) with 2 sperate DCS.exe shortcuts.  I call them DCS OpenXR and DCS OpenComposite.

1.   I uninstalled OpenXR Toolkit.  Ran a DCS repair.  Left OpenComposite Runtime Switcher as "Status OpenComposite"

2.  Set up a DCS.exe shortcut with the --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR command line as explained by BIGNEWY.

Now if I want motion reprojection as it was pre patch I switch "Always on" in OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality then start DCS with the original shortcut.  (Have not tried OpenXR Toolkit with this yet)

If I want to try the new DCS OpenXR no motion reprojection I switch "Automatic" in OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality then start DCS with the new shortcut.

Either way a 2 step process.

That will do for me until DCS fix the motion reprojection in their OpenXR.  I'll just keep updating with patches and wait until it works.  In the meantime the old method works.

I will say I did try both with motion reprojection off to compare and this may be subjective, but the DCS OpenXR looked clearer and smoother. 

 

You also need to swap openvr_api.dll to get motion smoothing working in OpenComposite.
Fact is, DCS openXR method gives perceptibly better performance than OC with turbo/smoothing off. If you pile DLSS, MT, Vulkan on it..

[Hillman]

Hi,

Starting DCS with:
"C:\DCS World OpenBeta\bin\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR

I get this in the log:
2023-01-29 09:53:39.772 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): LAUNCH IN VR OpenXR: SteamVR/OpenXR : oculus

The problem is that the DCS menu and aircraft is positioned ca 1-2 meters too low to the VR world. Recentering in Steam does not fix this. It does recenter me correctly in the Steam VR world and if the azimut is wrong, but DCS itself is too low. Se pictures below. Any ideas?

Makes for an interesting flying experience though...

(BTW: I'm using a Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop and a RTX 4090. Works great apart from this. Love the lenses, the wireless and the active cooling!)

 

 

[Baldrick33]

Have you recentred in DCS - default numpad 5

[Hillman]

@Baldrick33 >Have you recentred in DCS - default numpad 5

Ehh...no, actually

And that did the trick. Thanks, never occurred to me to try that one (a bit new to this VR thing )

Looks like I have to do it every time I restart start, but maybe there is some way to save the default position?

[Baldrick33]

 

8 hours ago, Hillman said:

Looks like I have to do it every time I restart start, but maybe there is some way to save the default position?

I just have it bound to a button and press it once DCS starts.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Baldrick33

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

It is an interesting behavior between DCS World and OpenXR by default. Dunno why.

[YoYo]

2 hours ago, Hillman said:

Hi,

Starting DCS with:
"C:\DCS World OpenBeta\bin\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR

I get this in the log:
2023-01-29 09:53:39.772 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): LAUNCH IN VR OpenXR: SteamVR/OpenXR : oculus

The problem is that the DCS menu and aircraft is positioned ca 1-2 meters too low to the VR world. Recentering in Steam does not fix this. It does recenter me correctly in the Steam VR world and if the azimut is wrong, but DCS itself is too low. Se pictures below. Any ideas?

Makes for an interesting flying experience though...

(BTW: I'm using a Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop and a RTX 4090. Works great apart from this. Love the lenses, the wireless and the active cooling!)

 

 

Notice only: if you see this screen of Steam you dont use OpenXR as native system for VR. Native OpenXR for DCS doesnt open SteamVR, it even kills the SteamVR if it works at the beginning.

Edited January 29, 2023 by YoYo

[Moxica]

23 hours ago, Jive said:

It all works fine as before, including MR, if you revert to the previous methods for using OpenComposite. 
ie. not having a command line in the shortcut and then replacing the openvr_api.dll with the OpenComposite one https://gitlab.com/znixian/OpenOVR

Sorry, I could not find any "openvr_api.dll" in that link. In what folder should I look?

[Moxica]

I'm still confused.
What does OpenCompsite really do? And where do the "64bit file" that it downloads when it updates go?
And what is the significance of that "openvr_api.dll from 2021? (In the BIN folder of DCS)
Am I using both the WMR and openXR or is it OpenVR?
(Yes, I just replaced Quest2 with Reverb G2 this week, so it is all new to me)

Edited January 29, 2023 by Moxica