Thanks Matt

[Willie Nelson]

I see @mbucchia has pulled the pin on continued support for OpenXR Toolkit, Quad Views Foveated, Varjo Foveated and other associated VR apps due to work life balance concerns. Completely understandable, but thanks for all the work you've done Matt. Having eye tracking is a significant quality of life improvement for this little community. 

[speed-of-heat]

@mbucchia given my own personal work life balance challenges, i can really appreciate this decision.  I hope that someone else from the community will pick up the mantle, and thanks for all you have done for the VR sim community as a whole!

[mrsylvestre]

QuadViews and VDXR have made DCS VR much more enjoyable to me and many others. Many thanks for your passion-driven work and having shared it generously with us all, Matt @mbucchia !

Edited November 28, 2023 by mrsylvestre

[j9murphy]

It's really too bad that VR is so fragmented from a tech perspective.  It creates opportunity from an innovation perspective (from the HMD developer POV), but also means a PITA from the game developer POV because there are too many thing to support and optimize for.  Matt was a one man unifying force in VR for us all, and unfortunately this means it's up to the game developers and HMD developers to come together and solve the problem (highly doubtful since VR is still a niche group for high end sim games). 

Thank you @mbucchia  for all that you managed to accomplish.  Your efforts were much appreciated and I hope that your vision of a community of developers to carry on this work will come to fruition.  We are all better off in VR given what you accomplished.

 

[Willie Nelson]

Maybe it is perceived as a niche group for the time being, that is perhaps a circular argument. If VR integrates well with platforms like DCS and has a reputation for not needing a wildly expensive pc to run it with 12 apps to integrate it then maybe it will no longer be perceived that way. It is possible. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Willie Nelson

[Qcumber]

@BIGNEWY Please can the ideas mbucchia created become part of DCS? VR is the future of this game (for me at least). You are sitting in a cockpit rather than sitting at a desk. 

[YoYo]

19 hours ago, Qcumber said:

@BIGNEWY Please can the ideas mbucchia created become part of DCS? VR is the future of this game (for me at least). You are sitting in a cockpit rather than sitting at a desk. 

Great idea! +1000 I was writing about the same some time ago.

[freehand]

I don't think that will happen at the moment because ED will be expected to answer questions most days so more work load.  

[slughead]

Many thanks indeed. Perhaps these tools will not be necessary in the future with improvements in technology such as Vulkan.

[hsth]

Is there a post where Matt has announced to stop his developemnts for the sim community?

He has done already so much, it would be a shame to lose his support when future Windows and/or DCS developements would require his software to be updated.

[Qcumber]

16 hours ago, slughead said:

Many thanks indeed. Perhaps these tools will not be necessary in the future with improvements in technology such as Vulkan.

QVFR is a big breakthrough. I'm not sure it will run in Vulkan. The best option would be a version that runs within DCS so it's future proof. 

[slughead]

3 minutes ago, hsth said:

Is there a post where Matt has announced to stop his developemnts for the sim community?

He has done already so much, it would be a shame to lose his support when future Windows and/or DCS developements would require his software to be updated.

Yes. Here:

https://discord.com/channels/933220354401398785/957312128728047626/1178261832545341540

[slughead]

Just now, Qcumber said:

QVFR is a big breakthrough. I'm not sure it will run in Vulkan. The best option would be a version that runs within DCS so it's future proof. 

My point is that QVFR may not be necessary. I'd certainly welcome full-screen clarity and losing the minor pitfalls of QVFR if Vulkan helps our systems step up to the mark.

[Qcumber]

Just now, slughead said:

My point is that QVFR may not be necessary. I'd certainly welcome full-screen clarity and losing the minor pitfalls of QVFR if Vulkan helps our systems step up to the mark.

If Vulkan runs the same as the DX11 with QVFR then I'll be happy. 

[Cab]

Never before in the history of VR gaming have so many owed so much to one person. (Apologies to Winston Churchill)

Best of luck to you @mbucchia

Edited November 29, 2023 by Cab

[j9murphy]

7 minutes ago, Qcumber said:

If Vulkan runs the same as the DX11 with QVFR then I'll be happy. 

Based on what happened when Xplane adopted Vulcan (maybe not a good comparison) but it only did the following...

- brought more consistency to framerates (not necessarily more fps, but smoother fps - at least until xp12 came out lol)

- created the basis for making further performance optimizations (this is a long road and one that only STARTS with implementing vulcan.) 

I would expect Vulcan to (at best) allow DCS to maintain current performance as they pursue more features (better flight models, better weather, more units active, more realism, etc...)

Until then, at least we have Matt's great work to bridge the gap while hopefully ED decides to adopt at least some of the functionality natively.

[hsth]

@slughead Thanks. I'm hoping Pimax reacts on this because they themselves recommend his software to be used with the Crystal. 

[Willie Nelson]

It is genuinely in ED’s interest to keep working on VR as their gear is used by commercial clients in VR so although it may not be easy to adopt for all hardware platforms, it will help their business model to keep up the good work and continue to pursue whatever performance pathways they can wether they be Vulkan or a QVFR, etc. 

[diego999]

Sad to hear this but thanks for all what you've done @mbucchia

[Dangerzone]

What does this mean for the future of DCS and VR? Does it mean we're going to lose things like Quad Views Foveated, Varjo Foveated , OpenXR tools, etc as either DCS continues to be developed or Windows continues to make changes? 

I've relied a heap on OpenXR and OXRTK to get me by with DCS in the past when I first delved into VR and SteamVR performance was tanked. 

Recently I've been toying with the idea of upgrading from a HP Reverb to possibly an Aero, but if the features currently available may be unavailable soon, I'm going to have to have second thoughts on my investments. VR is the only way for me now to play DCS. Years of VR has spoiled me to a point where I honestly don't think I could go back to 2D, and it was obvious to me that OpenXR literally saved DCS and VR for me at a time when I was close to walking away with the issues I was having.  Matt has done everyone (including ED) an incredible service!

Edited November 30, 2023 by Dangerzone

[Willie Nelson]

20 hours ago, Dangerzone said:

What does this mean for the future of DCS and VR? Does it mean we're going to lose things like Quad Views Foveated, Varjo Foveated , OpenXR tools, etc as either DCS continues to be developed or Windows continues to make changes? 

I've relied a heap on OpenXR and OXRTK to get me by with DCS in the past when I first delved into VR and SteamVR performance was tanked. 

Recently I've been toying with the idea of upgrading from a HP Reverb to possibly an Aero, but if the features currently available may be unavailable soon, I'm going to have to have second thoughts on my investments. VR is the only way for me now to play DCS. Years of VR has spoiled me to a point where I honestly don't think I could go back to 2D, and it was obvious to me that OpenXR literally saved DCS and VR for me at a time when I was close to walking away with the issues I was having.  Matt has done everyone (including ED) an incredible service!

 

Matt states on the now defunct Discord page that the source code is available should either a hardware or software platform wish to develop it. Made any money from this venture and I amof the understanding that he is allowing others to tinker where they wish to. For now at least, it still works and there is no problem. It is up to others however to take on his legacy, which is probably a better way for the industry to deal with this as there is mork work than one man alone can do. 

[TenienteDan]

I tried QVFR very recently when I thought that I couln't do anyhting else to improve the experience with my Quest2 and my 3080ti.
This little tool was a god send. Thanks to this gentleman who has made my DCS experience way better.

[Dogmanbird]

Thanks Matt! Amazing what you've achieved for us over the last couple of years, especially when others couldn't or wouldn't 

[YoYo]

@mbucchia thx for your support! You did great job! 

This is a huge loss for us, VR users, and I know 100% that we will miss it. 

Have a god day!