"NeckSafer" style enhanced head movement in VR

[dlder]

I've always used the OpenXR plugin "XrNeckSafer" to great effect. And I prioritize this mod over pretty much everything else, like DFR which doesn't work with this addon (= dynamic foveated rendering, which would give me way better performance).

 

The problem seems to be: this tool has been outdated for a long time now and even though it still works, it is resulting in a choppy DCS gameplay, rendering it pretty much useless

So, for the sake of everyone that's older, has a bad neck and/or neck injuries, I'd suggest this to be implemented; as an addon like hand-controllers.

 

For anyone unfamiliar with the tool, here are some screenshots and the most important settings:

• recenter view + NeckSafer with the VR-recenter-button
• set Yaw + Pitch separately
• for left/right/up/down
  • set starting angle (so you can look around the cockpit 1:1 speed)
  • set amplification (how much should the speedup be; ie. how far back/up/... would I like to be able to look)

null

 

Not requiring external tools and hobby programmers that abandon their work like in this case, by incorporating such features into DCS could potentially help everybody!

Thanks for your consideration!

Edited September 19 by dlder
typo

[GPatricks]

I agree, there are a LOT of us out there using VR that have neck mobility issues that need this or something similar. All there needs to be is a modification of how the game reads head movement and allowing an acceleration algorithm\implementation at a given point of movement so (for example) once your head is turned 45 degrees L\R every degree is interpreted as 2-5 degrees of movement, dependent upon your settings, to achieve ~170\190 degrees of view. I know its theoretically possible to implement as even an old game like IL-2 Clod (in the VR beta) has it implemented! 

XRNS is a godsend to people like me, and it's days are numbered (unless @J2_NobiWan updates\fixes it). As of yesterday it has gone tits-up for me in DCS, looking L\R (once it kicks in) slowly moves my body sideways until i;m outside looking down the opposite side fuselage at the tail. Up\Down works normally.. Still works fine in IL-2 GB and BMS 4.38.

And Nobiwan hasn't really "abandoned" it, he has a fairly active XRNS Discord here..

Edited October 29 by GPatricks

[dlder]

Good to know that at least the Discord is still active; the last update to the program itself was ages ago though...

[GPatricks]

He is trying to work with me right now on the "Body sliding"  issue, kind of at a loss... This is where my head ends up at full head turn to the left.. the head turn works normally until (my preset) 30 degrees, at which point my view keeps going but my body slides in the opposite direction until my 190 degree left view is this..image.png

[GPatricks]

22 hours ago, dlder said:

Good to know that at least the Discord is still active; the last update to the program itself was ages ago though...

Yes, https://gitlab.com/NobiWan/xrnecksafer is up, though I don't believe he has released the source code. 

As for my issue (which turns out had nothing to do with an XRNS issue), while trying different things with J2_Nobiwan on his Discord Support, starting, restarting, re-setting all SteamVR Room settings, etc. and I remembered I had started DCS in 2D mode via @SkateZilla "DCS Updater" app (right about when this all started) to check something while all my VR gear was powered off. Since then I was just using the DCS Launcher to start. Had nothing to lose, so opened up the Updater, fired up DCS in 2D, shut it down, then opened it up in VR (using the Updater). XRNS worked perfectly again. Shut down, used the DCS Launcher to open in VR, all is still well.

Have NO idea why, of IF, the Updater changed anything but I do know it now works. Tried flying without it and it was not a pleasant experience in a dogfight.. 

EDIT: I should add a response from the XRNS author regarding updates :

"Well, I have a list of improvements/features I would like to implement... like:

IL2-style cockpit boundaries for DCS,
generic snap views,
inertia when using snap views,
snap views with freeze,
custom curves for "smooth

So I plan to eventually come back to it and fix some of the known bugs on the way. However the last two years showed that I constantly underestimate my amount of real life work and overestimate my amount of free time to work on hobby stuff. So we will see when I will find the time and motivation to work on XRNS...  
In the mean time, yes, XRNS is open source and everyone is invited to play around with the source. It is right here: https://gitlab.com/NobiWan/xrnecksafer Thursday, October 30, 2025 11:27 AM"

 

Edited October 30 by GPatricks

[dlder]

23 hours ago, GPatricks said:

He is trying to work with me right now on the "Body sliding"  issue, kind of at a loss... This is where my head ends up at full head turn to the left.. the head turn works normally until (my preset) 30 degrees, at which point my view keeps going but my body slides in the opposite direction until my 190 degree left view is this..image.png

 

I know that problem VERY well

[GPatricks]

1 minute ago, dlder said:

I know that problem VERY well

Wish I could definitively say why it was solved, just know using @SkateZilla 's DCS Updater to start DCS VR "seems" to have fixed it for me... 

[dlder]

For me, the biggest issue was not just the "body moving", but also extreme lag / FPS loss. When I pressed the Recenter button, it would take several seconds, until XNRS would have registered it...

This was then also apparent with OKB; after I disabled XNRS, OpenKneeboard worked without lag again.

I'm gonna try it again (on the Gitlab page were a few suggestions I could try).

2 minutes ago, GPatricks said:

DCS Updater to start DCS VR

That's... unfortunate. I'm not sure I will be able to find out more...

[SkateZilla]

2 hours ago, GPatricks said:

Wish I could definitively say why it was solved, just know using @SkateZilla 's DCS Updater to start DCS VR "seems" to have fixed it for me... 

the only thing my launcher does w/ the launch VR On / Off Command buttons is bypass the ED Launcher.

[GPatricks]

1 hour ago, SkateZilla said:

the only thing my launcher does w/ the launch VR On / Off Command buttons is bypass the ED Launcher.

Thanks for the response Skatezilla., I love your app and I REALLY have no idea what happened, but this is the series of events.

1. Using DCS Launcher launch into VR, all was well with XRNS

2. Installed new Steam HTC Vive Controllers, but they are\have since been turned off and unseen by SteamVR

3. Wanted to check something quick in DCS settings, used your app to start it in 2D as I had no VR running. 100% by chance as it's icon sits next to the DCS Launcher icon

4.Ran DCS Launcher in VR, and XRNS did what I describe and show above

5. Troubleshot with XRNS author, resetting Steam Room, Recenter, reboot, trying DCS VR after each change.. same issue.

6. Remembered using DCS Updater for 2D, said WTH, and used your Updater to launch VR. XRNS worked perfectly (with no reboot or other changes anywhere).

7. Used DCS Launcher and its been perfect since.. and I have 0 clue why.

 

IF DCS is set to VR and you use the Updater to run it in 2D, is anything changed anywhere?

Edited October 30 by GPatricks

[SkateZilla]

On 10/30/2025 at 1:48 PM, GPatricks said:

Thanks for the response Skatezilla., I love your app and I REALLY have no idea what happened, but this is the series of events.

1. Using DCS Launcher launch into VR, all was well with XRNS

2. Installed new Steam HTC Vive Controllers, but they are\have since been turned off and unseen by SteamVR

3. Wanted to check something quick in DCS settings, used your app to start it in 2D as I had no VR running. 100% by chance as it's icon sits next to the DCS Launcher icon

4.Ran DCS Launcher in VR, and XRNS did what I describe and show above

5. Troubleshot with XRNS author, resetting Steam Room, Recenter, reboot, trying DCS VR after each change.. same issue.

6. Remembered using DCS Updater for 2D, said WTH, and used your Updater to launch VR. XRNS worked perfectly (with no reboot or other changes anywhere).

7. Used DCS Launcher and its been perfect since.. and I have 0 clue why.

 

IF DCS is set to VR and you use the Updater to run it in 2D, is anything changed anywhere?

my app uses the command line keys to over ride any lua settings,
there are settings for VR Enabled in the options.lua so if you goto DCS Settings and enable VR and relaunch, it saves in the LUA as VR Enabled = true.

[dlder]

Maybe it's because of the new Windows update (still on 24H2, but for whatever reason, there was a "24H2 repair update" in WinUpd... never seen something like that before.

Or it's because I'm the XRNS tips:

• "When you are experiencing FPS loss with XRNS try to minimize the XRNS App and/or disable angle output for the GUI and disable joystick auto reconnect (there is no such option, but I did uncheck this inside the DCS control settings!) under options."

But XRNS works for me again... (and no, I'm not using any launcher, as I have my own Batch with which I set everything up)

Cheers and Thanks!

-> Nevertheless: an official support - just like hand control or QuadViews - would be very much appreciated. Because OpenKneeboard does list a warning that this OpenXR tool might cause lag, problems and crashes and should not be used...

 

[GPatricks]

Well, updated to latest Nvidia GPU driver (581.80) and the good ol' sliding butt issue is back! Did a Full Repair and Clean, issue still there. Used NVCleanstall to go back to 581.57 and it's "fixed".. crazy.