DCS won't launch in VR Mode

[flasper]

Coming back to DCS after a few months of not playing and I noticed that the launch options are different in Steam and my game no longer launches in VR. I have a valve Index and I use Steam. I enabled VR headset within DCS. I tried both launch options that I have in Steam but both open the game in flatscreen mode. I also enabled the launch and tried launching the game in VR mode through the launcher and that didn't work either. What do I need to do to get the game to launch in VR.

[BIGNEWY]

14 minutes ago, flasper said:

Coming back to DCS after a few months of not playing and I noticed that the launch options are different in Steam and my game no longer launches in VR. I have a valve Index and I use Steam. I enabled VR headset within DCS. I tried both launch options that I have in Steam but both open the game in flatscreen mode. I also enabled the launch and tried launching the game in VR mode through the launcher and that didn't work either. What do I need to do to get the game to launch in VR.

Hi, 

might be worth checking which VR layer you are using, is your index setup for openXR? 

[flasper]

When I got to my SteamVR settings, then to the OpenXR tab it says Current OpenXR Runtime: SteamVR

 

Is there somewhere else to check which VR layer I am using?

Edited November 4, 2024 by flasper

[sleighzy]

Can you drop your “C:\Users\username\Saved Games\DCS\Logs\dcs.log” file here after starting the game. Might just be a text document named “dcs” if Windows is hiding file extensions. 

[flasper]

Here is my log file

dcs.log

[sleighzy]

As expected it looks like an OpenXR runtime issue, DCS will open in 2D if it can’t successfully start the runtime. This error is a file access one (I haven’t seen this previously). 
 

Can you disable/remove OpenXR Toolkit and OpenKneeboard, these API layers show up in the log. You can also view them and disable them using this tool https://github.com/fredemmott/OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI

Try again after disabling/removing those layers.

Had you ever added any custom parameters to those Steam launch options?

Edited November 4, 2024 by sleighzy

[sleighzy]

Do you use an Ultraleap controller and have installed software for it?

[flasper]

I did have custom parameters for a while in Steam --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR
Have never used Ultraleap.

Disabling both of those fixed it for me. So do I need to do something special to be able to use OpenXR Toolkit and OpenKneeboard?

[sleighzy]

Can you download the vc_redist x64 from here and then install it, it may ask for you to do a repair. Once you’ve done that then reenable OpenXR Toolkit and try again. If that succeeds then try with OpenKneeboard enabled again. 
 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170

[WillDaBeast509]

On 11/4/2024 at 11:01 AM, flasper said:

I did have custom parameters for a while in Steam --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR
Have never used Ultraleap.

Disabling both of those fixed it for me. So do I need to do something special to be able to use OpenXR Toolkit and OpenKneeboard?

I had the exact same issue as your original post, until I disabled the OpenXR Toolkit. The developer is no longer supporting it, and it looks like something from the last few months (be it steamvr, DCS, or otherwise) broke it. I gathered there's others that can still use it fine, but unfortunately I'm not sure it's an option for Index users anymore.

 

There is a tool called quad-views-fovated by the same developer, which provides an even better version of the fovated rendering, but it broke the Steam motion smoothing. For now I've just resigned to not having the fovated rendering and CAS sharpening.

[sleighzy]

6 hours ago, WillDaBeast509 said:

and it looks like something from the last few months (be it steamvr, DCS, or otherwise) broke it

A log file might show why this is occurring for you, lots of folk still using it without issue, possibly something else you may have which is inteferring with it, e.g. you can use the tool I linked earlier to see what other API layers you're using.

6 hours ago, WillDaBeast509 said:

....but it broke the Steam motion smoothing.

Quad Views has turbo mode enabled by default, which can break motion smoothing. Try disabling that and see if it resolves the issue.

Edited November 9, 2024 by sleighzy

[Qcumber]

12 hours ago, WillDaBeast509 said:

There is a tool called quad-views-fovated by the same developer, which provides an even better version of the fovated rendering, but it broke the Steam motion smoothing. For now I've just resigned to not having the fovated rendering and CAS sharpening.

What headset are you using? If possible avoid using Steam VR. QVFR works very well with Virtual Desktop including turbo mode. You might want to try that. 

[NormAllard]

Hi , I have probably the same issue, but I found nothing in OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI, can have help please... 

 

 

dcs.log

[Animal451]

Hoping you all help with a fix but I don't don't use the Steam version.

I tried using my G2 the other day and it wouldn't work and gave up knowing my Crystal Light was going to be delivered any day. Unfortunately, te Crystal Light won't work with DCS either

I installed the Pimax software and tried to run DCS but no luck in getting it to run on the Pimax. 

I installed OpenXR Toolkit but get the same result.

Was really looking forward to this but a little disappointed at this moment . . .

[sleighzy]

5 hours ago, NormAllard said:

Hi , I have probably the same issue, but I found nothing in OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI, can have help please... 

 

 

dcs.log 27.81 kB · 1 download

This log shows that you do not have an OpenXR runtime installed or configured properly. What headset do you use? What is the app you are using for your OpenXR runtime (depending on the headset, e.g. for Quest you need Meta Link app or VirtualDesktop, Pimax will be PimaxXR or PimaxPlay etc.)?

2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [19:49:24.465][Info   ] OpenXR: Environment Access Check timeout is: 25047 milliseconds
2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR failure runtime is not available
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:433
2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR exception: runtime is not available
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:433

 

[NormAllard]

8 hours ago, sleighzy said:

This log shows that you do not have an OpenXR runtime installed or configured properly. What headset do you use? What is the app you are using for your OpenXR runtime (depending on the headset, e.g. for Quest you need Meta Link app or VirtualDesktop, Pimax will be PimaxXR or PimaxPlay etc.)?

2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [19:49:24.465][Info   ] OpenXR: Environment Access Check timeout is: 25047 milliseconds
2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR failure runtime is not available
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:433
2025-01-05 00:49:23.845 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR exception: runtime is not available
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:433

 

I use Quest 2 , with meta link,  

 

before the new updated, I start Meta, and start DCS and every thing works.

 

Yesterday I finally got it working but I used DCS WORLD MT instead of just DCS World

("C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin-mt\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR--force_OpenXR")

 

null

however much less fluid than before and had weird glitches but managed to ''play''

Edited January 5 by NormAllard

[sleighzy]

3 hours ago, NormAllard said:

I use Quest 2 , with meta link,  

 

before the new updated, I start Meta, and start DCS and every thing works.

 

Yesterday I finally got it working but I used DCS WORLD MT instead of just DCS World

("C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin-mt\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR--force_OpenXR")

 

null

however much less fluid than before and had weird glitches but managed to ''play''

Can you please attach another log file for this working now for comparison purposes.

Both bin\DCS.exe and bin-mt\DCS.exe should be the same as there is only multithreaded now. You also don’t need those command line arguments. The —force_OpenXR one is redundant as there is only the OpenXR version so this is the default. 

[NormAllard]

dcs.log

 

The Shortcut for DCS World MT is: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin-mt\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR--force_OpenXR" 

The Dcs World : "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin\DCS_updater.exe"

 

it's because the MT go to DCS.exe and  the other go to DCS updater.exe. ??

 

but this is the log file with the shortcut to MT and that works...  

 

Regards

[sleighzy]

2 hours ago, NormAllard said:

dcs.log 68.33 kB · 1 download

 

The Shortcut for DCS World MT is: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin-mt\DCS.exe" --force_enable_VR--force_OpenXR" 

The Dcs World : "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\bin\DCS_updater.exe"

 

it's because the MT go to DCS.exe and  the other go to DCS updater.exe. ??

 

but this is the log file with the shortcut to MT and that works...  

 

Regards

Those shortcut parameters don't have a space between them so aren't doing anything anyway, you can delete them. Your DCS settings obviously have "Enable VR Headsets" turned on which is why it launches in VR.

It doesn't matter that the other one goes to "DCS_updater.exe", this just checks for updates and then will go to DCS\bin\DCS.exe automatically.

If you go into that DCS\bin directory and double-click DCS.exe (don't use the shortcut) what happens? Does it still fail then? Both of the DCS.exe files in bin and bin-mt are identical so it shouldn't make a difference.

Are the file sizes of the DCS.exe identical in both of those directories?

Edited January 5 by sleighzy

[NormAllard]

Yes both have the same size,   and now I try the one in the  DCS\bin directory and that works.

 

maybe the shortcut they have a problem?? 

I have start with the Launch and after clicking I go to meta apps to connect link.

 

maybe the order for the start was different .  I don't know.

 

But seems to work ...

 

Nice and Thanks

[sleighzy]

9 minutes ago, NormAllard said:

Yes both have the same size,   and now I try the one in the  DCS\bin directory and that works.

 

maybe the shortcut they have a problem?? 

I have start with the Launch and after clicking I go to meta apps to connect link.

 

maybe the order for the start was different .  I don't know.

 

But seems to work ...

 

Nice and Thanks

Awesome, glad it's working. Yeah normal start process would be to connect your headset via Link and connect that first, and then go to your desktop and start DCS. Happy flying!

[Bingo911]

I'm having the same issue. Just got a pimax and it won't start in VR. Any suggestions? I've tried with a shortcut forcing openxr and without.

dcs.log

[sleighzy]

19 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

I'm having the same issue. Just got a pimax and it won't start in VR. Any suggestions? I've tried with a shortcut forcing openxr and without.

dcs.log 68.89 kB · 3 downloads

You have ReShade installed which is causing your OpenXR runtime to fail. Install this tool and untick the box for the ReShade OpenXR API layer: https://github.com/fredemmott/OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI

 

025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR: Available Layers: (1)
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR:   Name=XR_APILAYER_reshade SpecVersion=1.0.0 LayerVersion=2 Description=crosire's ReShade post-processing injector for 64-bit
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR:     Available Extensions: (14)
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR:       Name= SpecVersion=0
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 WARNING LOG (17628): 13 duplicate message(s) skipped.
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR: Enabled extension: XR_KHR_visibility_mask
2025-01-17 03:17:58.457 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR: Enabled extension: XR_EXT_hand_tracking
2025-01-17 03:17:58.458 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): [22:17:59.347][Info   ] OpenXR: Enabled extension: XR_EXT_eye_gaze_interaction
2025-01-17 03:17:58.459 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR failure XrResult failure [XR_ERROR_FILE_ACCESS_ERROR]
    Origin: xrCreateInstance(&createInfo, &instance)
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:410
2025-01-17 03:17:58.459 ERROR   VISUALIZER (Main): OpenXR exception: XrResult failure [XR_ERROR_FILE_ACCESS_ERROR]
    Origin: xrCreateInstance(&createInfo, &instance)
    Source: Projects\Visualizer\Source\OpenXR\openxr_program.cpp:410
2025-01-17 03:17:58.460 INFO    VISUALIZER (Main): render thread initialization..

You can remove those parameters from your shortcut as they are not required. They'll also force VR if you attempt to run DCS not using VR.

Note, your issue is not related to the original post so in future you should probably raise a new one of your own.

Edited January 17 by sleighzy

[Bingo911]

Turns out I did NOT have reshade installed but I had to turn off a layer with OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI-v2024.12.07.187. It was an error in an OpenXR Layer. Once I clicked the layer and fixed it, Pimax would launch.

 

Edited January 18 by Bingo911

[sleighzy]

18 hours ago, Bingo911 said:

Turns out I did NOT have reshade installed but I had to turn off a layer with OpenXR-API-Layers-GUI-v2024.12.07.187. It was an error in an OpenXR Layer. Once I clicked the layer and fixed it, Pimax would launch.

 

That API layer comes from ReShade. If you yourself did not explicitly install ReShade then another application must have installed it (which seems odd).