I went VR! My first impressions

Yesterday my first VR Headset has finally arrived!
I'll still have to find a way to record my flights while I'm in VR mode, but we'll get there, eventually!
So while this video is still "old fashioned 2D style" I'll be telling you about my first impressions flying in Virtual Reality. Is it really the holy grail?

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Tools and addons used in this video:
nVidia Shadowplay

My system specs:
RTX3080Ti
32GB RAM
Windows 10 Pro

My hardware:
Thrustmaster Boeing Yoke and Throttle
Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog
Thrustmaster Pendular Pedals

[ADriver]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I am reading through all of them and have started tweaking around with OpenXR. Indeed I can get a MUCH better resolution from it!
Now however my fps are down the drain.
Based on your experience, which are the most fps intensive factors from OpenXR. Any "magic" trick to improve performance?

[armandvzyl]

As mentioned by other people, get OPenXR toolkit and watch some of the youtubers that has tutorials on setting up the headset with super clarity. I fly the PMDG 737 in VR all the time and it is awesome and everything is clear to read. You will have to make another video with your opinion after you have done a proper setup on VR :)

[ceegnz]

The first time I took off in VR (in a GA plane) I actually whooped and burst out laughing, it was AMAZING !!! I'm slowly getting my settings sorted out but I do still need to use the VR Zoom function to read things, and I need to work on remembering not to put the VR controller down on the passenger seat when I'm not using it :) The other huge thing about VR, apart from the spatial awareness that makes pattern work and aerobatics and landing and even taildraggers easy mode, is that you suddenly realise how small these cockpits are. On a 2D screen even with head tracking, when you look from one side to the other you're sitting in a room with lots of space around you and the cockpit feels big, then you plug in the headset and you're actually sitting in it and you swear you can feel the shoulder of the guy next to you.

[peterregan]

The only setting which affects the clarity is the resolution. I fly exclusively in vr and have no problems with ‘blurriness’ at all, and can easily read the first officer’s displays from the captains seat in the pmdg 737. Have a look at a few YouTube tutorials and you’ll soon be getting that clarity plus performance which you’re looking for. Good luck and welcome to the vr addicts club!

[aerofart]

I’ve had my Reverb G2 for something like two months now. I use OpenXR, RTX 3090 and an Intel 7940x. I get decent fps, and have finally learned how and in which direction to change all my settings to optimize for performance or quality. I keep fiddling, not because I’m not happy, but because VR is so good that I want to be even happier. I can read most everything in my cockpit(s), though some models are better than others, and I’m not sure if it’s because they use 4K or 8k texture but also or if there is something else making one cockpit appear clearer than another. The good news is that some aeroplane models (excluding the HJet) so support right-click VR zoom toggle (different from pop-out panel) so when you need to get close to your panels and instruments, it’s not a problem. Beware that not all models support this function.

In any case, welcome to the wonderful world of VR . . . And be sure to keep your coffee mug as far away from your reach as possible while flying. You can thank me later.

[FlightSims]

Absolutely! This “Toolkit” makes a world of difference. Adding that to your vr settings in MSFS (there’s a separate settings tab besides the normal), you’ll be able to read those instruments much better. Not perfect, but better. Certain VR settings must be lowered for best results. One is clouds. If you go to Pie in the Sky YouTube, not only does he have the toolkit setup, he specializes in vr and has it down pat. Finally, yes! VR is unbelievably real. It really does feel like you’re in the ac flying over wherever. Thanks for your take. Well done!

[SunsetRider]

Interesting to hear your opinion on VR. I have the same headset. VR changed the flight simulation experience for me. Even after many years a 2D screen made my struggle for my landings to mention one, but in VR the situational awareness is something else and was for a huge help for me to improve my landings especially. I love it - I just hope the performance gets tuned better still.

[ysteinRnning]

A fellow C337 enjoyer 😄 I’ve got the Reverb G2 as well with a 3080 (not ti) and have gotten it working with nice clarity and fps using the openxr toolkit. Youtubers VR flightsim guy and pie in the sky tours had some very helpful videos for setting up the G2 for msfs. I can fly both GA and airliners in VR and easily read both glass and steam instruments.

[poolhallshark]

Luckily, there are a lot of tweaks that can be done. I'm not saying that you haven't tried any of those yet, but when I see your specs, combined with what you're experiencing, it leads me to believe that your experience will change dramatically, and quickly. I run a RTX3070 OC with an i7-10700k with 32 gb RAM. Like you, I use the Reverb G2. I run everything on medium to high settings and my FPS never drops below 30. And I can read EVERY dial in every aircraft crystal clear.
So I'm positive you'll get there👍
Good luck my friend, and thanks for your content 🔥💯
Love from Norway❤️🇸🇯

[fulatoro]

Check your windows Settings under Headset Display and ensure it is set to Best Quality. I use the Reverb G2 and can easily read all dials on all airliners. It requires some work, but it can be configured to be really good. Not as good as flatscreen but absolutely good enough for us. Your failure to read the gauges is configuration related. Many threads on the forums to help you get setup.

[Osvaldo_Oz]

So glad you jumped on VR!
I promise you that you just need to be a bit patient and play with your settings and you will be able to run MSFS in a Fenix 320 or PMDG 737 at full resolution and full clarity and smoothness with the hardware you have. It took me about 2 months to get there :-( but once I did, it was nirvana. I will look you up in discord so I can share my settings. I have similar hardware and could not be happier. BTW the CRJ 1000 runs better in VR than Fenix or PMDG.

[FSLTL]

The key is OpenXR Toolkit. Without it, VR is not what it supposed to be.

[yootoob]

It’s twice as expensive, but the Varjo Aero is amazing. Much better edge to edge clarity than the G2 and better performance. When you use the OpenXR toolkit and dynamic foveated rendering with the Aero, you can get FPS consistently above 45 with very high settings in MSFS and no stutters. No issues seeing the smallest text on cockpit displays or gauges. Granted that’s with a 3090 and 5900X and 64G RAM

[JorisKoolen]

Welcome to the VR club! I hope you manage to set up everything in a way that works smooth for you. I still have an old Rift S, and I think it actually helps because the resolution is a lot smaller...it may not be as clear, but at least it's easier to run smooth. I installed the beta for sim update 10 yesterday to see how the upcoming DLSS works, and while it does effect the graphics a bit, it effects the framerate a LOT, and I guess smoothness will always come before clarity in VR.

I tries MSFS in VR on an old system, but I just upgraded my PC and now flying smoothly through the clouds over some of my favourite places on earth in VR was a profound and emotional experience.

[stephenmckinnell]

In that case I would prepare to be blown away. 🤣
For me VR was/is a total revelation. Yes, for now it may be a bit blurry, you might be able to try a Aero and even find it works consistently on your setup and that will surely remove any doubt? But no matter what, these VR clarity issues will be solved soon, and the positives will surely blow any negatives away.

Glad to hear you found out what a game changer VR is for flight simulation and I'm looking forward to hear more from you once you've spent a bit more time into looking at various settings etc to have a better experience and as a result, will be able to give a more fair conclusion.

Looking at this clip, it sounded more like it was VR in itself that wasn't good enough. When in fact the problem was caused by you not spending enough time to have things setup correctly. As others already mentioned, there's a ton of good setup tutorials out there that will sort the issues you mentioned. I have thousands of hours myself in various VR headsets, currently using the same headset you got - the HP Reverb G2. I'm using this headset successfully both with the PMDG 737-700 in MSFS as well as other aircraft and I can read things in the cockpit just fine with no issues. Such as the speed and altitude tapes on the PFD you mentioned.

So again, once you have spent some more time learning how to setup VR correctly, you'll have a truly great time I'm sure!

[VirtualAirTour]

The newer headsets like the Varjo Aero and future Pimax Crystal will totally address the clarity issues you experienced. I upgraded from the HP Reverb G2 to the Varjo Aero and I can tell you it is significantly clearer than my 3440 X 1440 monitor - I could not say this with any previous VR headset. Hopefully future upgrades to the sim (e.g. DLSS) will help with the VR performance issues.

[rfarley]

20ish years ago I used e-dimensional stereo glasses on a crt monitor 1024x768 resolution. TrackIr had just released. Even had a small back pack device called Aurora interactor for vibration. Used a headset for splitting atc audio from aircraft sounds via speakers. I struggled to keep two extra monitors running with sub 2gig processors. Was running two PC's to assist performance. VR headsets were expensive and only had 640x480 resolutions. Which was a step backwards. I finally got so frustrated with it, I gave up simulation...

A couple of years ago my daughter showed me a vr headset called oculus rift. I thought, this could get me back into the simulation world. I was way behind. I began researching.

Two years ago I set up as big a system as I could. The valve index released just before reverb. I never looked back. I built a sim platform, updated the old precision flight controls to Brunner FFB, added buttkicker to shake the platform. I would consider a motion platform, if priced properly.

Anyway, VR is awesome for flight simulation. Thanks to all that take the time to mentor, research, coach, instruct, such as yourself. VR can be tweaked in sufficiently to suit one's needs.

I try to pass it forward by capturing flights in VR on YouTube. Nothing fancy, just pure VR flight.

[catshot]

VR is amazing. I even used it before and during my PPL training in real C152. It helped me a lot in flying traffic patterns, keeping right aproach angle and speed.

[whammo]

Someone brought over an Occulus Quest 2, so I can see how it would work in MSFS and DCS. After installing the software and creating an account, which I was not happy about. The software showed that the device was connected, but it would not connect to any of the sims! Kind of would've been pissed if I purchased it and couldn't get it to run!