Correct Setup for Pico 4

[stottyboy]

Good evening,

I have a Pico 4 headset and PC running a 4070ti and 7900X. I run the Steam open beta version of DCS. 

 

I am DYING to know the way to setup my gear above for maximum performance. I just cannot understand the pieces of software and setup I need to maximise performance. 
 

I already have Virtual Desktop. 
 

Is anyone able to write in plain English how I can set myself up for max VR performance?

 

Cheers,

 

Jimbo

[Qcumber]

The simplest way is to start with VD and nothing else. With your setup you should be able to use Ultra. I think your FPS will be about 50-60 depending on the mission. If not then try high as the latest version of VD upscales to Ultra in the headset. If you do use this then keep sharpening to a minimum. If you use VDs synchronous space warp you should be able to maintain 45 FPS reprojected to 90. 

The other factor with VD is latency. Use a dedicated router and connect your PC via gigabyte ethernet. Keep the router close to your headset; the same room but not too close to your pc. The overall latency is basically a reflection of how easily your pc and the headset can handle the game, the compression, transfer and decompression. If you can keep the overall latency to less than 60ms then you are winning. 

Once you have this running OK then you could tweak the settings by using other software such as open xr toolkit. 

I hope this helps.

[Lange_666]

8 hours ago, Qcumber said:

Keep the router close to your headset; the same room but not too close to your pc.

That can be quite difficult. PC under my desk, headset on my head sitting at my desk. Router besides but above desk (no other option).
How far is close to your headset but not to close to the PC and why (interference?)
 

[stottyboy]

Thanks folks. A couple of questions. 
 

Where should I measure the FPS and using what?

Should I or should I not be running SteamVR?

 

Cheers. 

[Qcumber]

2 hours ago, Lange_666 said:

How far is close to your headset but not to close to the PC and why (interference?)

I have a similar issue. I have my router up on a shelf about 3 feet away from my pc and about 5 feet away from my headset. This seems to work OK for me. There is the potential for interference if too close. 

48 minutes ago, stottyboy said:

Where should I measure the FPS and using what?

You can monitor FPS and latencies through the virtual desktop overlay. It is one of the options in the streaming tab. 

48 minutes ago, stottyboy said:

Should I or should I not be running SteamVR?

Steam VR should launch automatically if VR is ticked in DCS VR tab. Alternatively you can launch steam VR from the VD app before running DCS. 

[kerlcat]

On 5/10/2023 at 3:02 PM, Lange_666 said:

That can be quite difficult. PC under my desk, headset on my head sitting at my desk. Router besides but above desk (no other option).
How far is close to your headset but not to close to the PC and why (interference?)
 

It's not that sensitive if the router is decent one(wifi6 or better). Both my headset and PC is about 3-4 meters away from router which in another room. Connection speed can maintain 800Mbps-1200Mbps. Occusionally drop to a bit below 500Mbps and restore back soon. Don't feel any interuption in gaming. 

So WIFI streaming is acceptable for now. Of coz ultimate solution shall be DP connection with next gen headset. Can relax with this set and wait for near future...

[stottyboy]

Another question. Do I have to run Steam VR, or can I connect with VD and launch DCS from the desktop and get VR without SteamVR installed?

[MoepMoep]

vor 12 Stunden schrieb stottyboy:

Another question. Do I have to run Steam VR, or can I connect with VD and launch DCS from the desktop and get VR without SteamVR installed?

same question here. i use SteamVR with VD and would like to play without SteamVR

[kerlcat]

@MoepMoep @stottyboy Most of us mainly launch DCS via VD. Either right click VD icon and select DCS from "Launch Game", or create a .bat file and run that file directly. 

You would wanna avoid SteamVR in that way so have some more performance directly from OpenXR. A lot of usable info shared by quite a few Pico4 owners in below thread. You could learn more tricks if have enough patience.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by kerlcat

[stottyboy]

Brill thanks! That worked.

[stottyboy]

Another question. Should I be setting both the SteamVR resolution % slider and the pixel density slider in DCS, or just one?

[kerlcat]

Since you are not using SteamVR, what’s point to change resolution slider? Just keep it as auto. And I would keep render resolution in DCS as 1.0. If you have 4090, might try higher 1.5 or so to get better clarity. For me 3090 just enough to push 1.0 with partial high set in Graphics.

[Jaroslav_SVK]

Hi guys, Im also new to VR flying. If I understand correctly, when I want play DCS standalone on Pico 4 with Virtual desktop app, I do not have to has installed Steam, Steam VR and Windows mixed reality not at all? Then to run it from mirrored desktop in VD headset enviroment? I still wait for my Pico 4 headset so cant try it, also want to be ready when it arive and dont waste hours by "trying"... :) Thanks for the clarifying answers.

[Hammer3246]

46 minutes ago, Jaroslav_SVK said:

Hi guys, Im also new to VR flying. If I understand correctly, when I want play DCS standalone on Pico 4 with Virtual desktop app, I do not have to has installed Steam, Steam VR and Windows mixed reality not at all? Then to run it from mirrored desktop in VD headset enviroment? I still wait for my Pico 4 headset so cant try it, also want to be ready when it arive and dont waste hours by "trying"... Thanks for the clarifying answers.

 

That's how it works for me.

[Lange_666]

Correct me if i'm wrong but you still need something to get you into VR. Virtual Desktop will just put up a Virtual Desktop inside your headset. If you launch DCS from there without SteamVR or Oculus opening up, it will be in 2D.

[kerlcat]

He said DCS alone with Pico. With that, Oculus is the enabler (w/ Runtime set as OpenXR). Doable to me. SteamVR could be for other Steam based games.

[mrsylvestre]

I think that if you have DCS standalone and no steam, no steamVR, no WMR,... installed but just Virtual Desktop (VD, as streamer) DCS will use Oculus mode for VR. I had it running like that once, even though I never installed anything from Oculus on my PC.

Nowadays, I use steamVR which DCS sees as the OpenXR runtime (no special setup, vanilla install, everything in steamVR left to auto or default and DCS started without any special command line options) and VD as streamer on high or ultra (with a 6950xt). Currently, I don't use MSAA in DCS options but set Pixel Density to 1.3 in the VR tab. I can get 36 or 45 fps with VD's SSW (which, I understand it, is retroprojection done on the HMD side rather than on the PC side), depending on the settings in the system tab of DCS options (tip: start with the VR preset and build your favorite settings from that).

Between the need to optimise the link between the PC and the Pico 4 and then all the possible settings in the streamer, steamVR and DCS, it can be quite a journey to VR bliss.

Edited May 19, 2023 by mrsylvestre
Addition: I launch DCS from the start menu without any special command-line options

[stottyboy]

So, I have been able to connect nicely with VD and SteamVR. It seems like in the VD performance overlay, the runtime is Open VR. Is that the same as Open XR? Now, I want to know what 3rd party plugins I should use to improve performance, including reshaders, and how to set these plugins up. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Qcumber]

14 minutes ago, stottyboy said:

anyone have any suggestions?

I would advise optimising the setup with VD first as it does a lot of the real work. After that then you could use openxr toolkit for adjusting the contrast, colour and sharpness. You can also use this to independently control resolution and upscaling. 

[Alkaline]

To new players that dont want to use another layer such as SteamVR, just use Virtual Desktop VDXR.

In Virtual Desktop App, underneath where u check what kind of Encoder/Codec you use, there is OpenXR runtime. Prioritize VDXR.'
I tried SteamVR so many times, but it.... Sorry to say this, but it sucks.... Hard...

DCS Ingame, Set pixel density at 1.0 (for now). In Virtual desktop settings when u have connected to ur computer in VR, open settings and set the bitrate to max (Thats what I do atleast). Me personally use HEVC at 150 mbps. I use H.264+ occasionally with maximum bitrate, but I cant decide which one it best accounting for compression artifacts/blockiness in dark areas)

Turn off "Automatic bitrate adjustment) in Virtual Desktop streamer app. Enable Game Boost priority

Now its time to tune your ingame settings.
I keep it all high. Especially Textures and the other filtering thing.
Shadows on medium, SSS on, Secondary shadowqs on.
2x MSAA
Resolution of cockpit displayus - Im tryiung to find what really is best, im trying all of them.
Water - Low or medium
Visibility - Ultra
Cloud - Ultra
SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) - On (This is basically Ambient Occlusioon such as HBAO. This adds shadow and lioghtning to get more depth ingame)
SSLR (Screen Space Lens Reflection ) Adds better reflections on objects. Keep it on if u can. But priority other rthings, such as MSAA or textures.
Depth of field - None

SLIDERS
Preload radius - Half (I got 64MB of DDR4 RAM, but see no reason why to max it)
All sliders are at like between 50-70%. 
LOD (Level of Detail) - max.

I get good frames. Around 40-50. Sometimes around 60. Im running my headset in 90hZ mode.

Hardware
VR Headset - PICO 4
CPU - Ryzen 7 5700X3D
GPU - AMD ASUS DUAL 7800 XT 16GB VRAM
RAM - DDR4 64GB at 1631 mhz (I do BCLK overclocking)

Edited October 8, 2024 by Alkaline