DCS VR Optimization - META Quest 3

[DocQuicksand]

Hello!

Though I have logged more than 500 hours in DCS, I am new to VR in the DCS World. I have searched this forum for setting up VR, but my searches bring me to threads that are almost 5 years old. I have been successful with getting in to DCS (Steam launching OpenXR Mode) using my META Quest 3 (MQ3) and have been able to fly some missions, but I feel like there is more that I can do to optimize the VR gameplay.

I continue to read about ASW, in game PD, DLSS Quality, etc. However, not exactly sure where to find these settings? Folks also continue taking about the Oculus Tray Tool, but I have searched all drives on my computer and have found nothing about this tool.

If anyone running a similar setup could be kind enough to share their settings, and where they are adjusting them, I would be extremely grateful.

My current system is as follows:

System: ACER Orion 5K running on an Intel Core i7-14700F @ 2.10 GHz
OS: Windows 11
RAM: 32GB (I know I can bump this up to at least 64GB)
Graphics: NVIDIA 4070 Ti Super
Controllers: TM A10 HOTAS, TM Rudder Pedals, TM MFDs, Buddy Fox

[Falconeer]

First off, Oculus software sometimes is a hit or miss ( don't know how it is nowadays, as i moved over to Pimax)

Oculus tray tool is something you need to download, it doesn't come with the software, but it's not a "must have" The other one is located in: C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-diagnostics\OculusDebugTool.exe There are some good guides around, but they depend it you are using the Quest wireless or with a link cable

Don't touch the ingame PD unless you have a super powerful computer, it will bring your PC to it's knees. You can set DLSS mode, but it will make everything a bit more blurry, but will give you some more fps, it's a trade-off between quality or fps.

One tip i can give you is note how much fps you are now getting ingame and if it's stable. If you set the headset refresh rate too high and you cannot get to that refresh rate, it will stutter. Lets say you have 60 fps ingame, but your headset lowest is 72 Hz, than you will have some stutter. It would be better to then set your headset to 90Hz and set ASW to on. That way, your fps will be locked to half refresh rate of the headset (in this case 45fps) which will result in a smooth gameplay.

Tip 2:, don't get fixated on FPS, you want smoothness in VR, or it will make you sick, litteraly...

Tip 3: don't use SteamVR, ever....

(ex Quest 2 and 3 user)

[Randy Lahey]

Don't worry about all the extra stuff (Toolkit, etc) initially. I played with all of that endlessly for months and eventually gave up as I saw no benefit to any of it, other than setting 'Encode Bitrate' to 500 in the Debug tool. People in DCS just like to fiddle I think, and many convince themselves that it has a benefit.

You have a strong enough system to bump your PD up to about 1.2 or 1.3 in-game (I had a 4070ti). It can make a big difference to the clarity of the gauges. Like Falconeer said, smooth is more important than high fps.

I can only use MSAA as DLSS just looks too bad in VR, even with sharpening turned way up. If you don't fly helicopters, you can set terrain textures to Low, and experiment with shadows. The big fps killers are PD and MSAA. Shadows set to 'Flat' is very smooth, but makes the cockpit look really weird and bright.

They made a big change (i.e. moved into this decade) where you can actually change graphic settings now (other than PD and Terrain Textures) and not have to completely restart DCS. I had actually stopped playing in VR altogether this was so annoying before.

I do use OpenXR Toolkit for the performance overlay (advanced, similar to Afterburner). And forget about the Apache in VR...it's a mess and is virtually unplayable unless you turn everything to low.


My system and settings for reference:

4080 Super
5800X3D
32GB Ram, Win 10, Standalone DCS

90Hz (45fps ASW)
MSAA: 4X
PD: 1.4
Textures: HIGH (strangely, MED increases GPU latency)
Terrain Textures: HIGH
Shadows: MED (look across the gauges and your lap and if you see stuttering, adjust this)
Water: LOW
Clouds: STANDARD (doesn't seem to make a difference on HIGH though)
View Distance: HIGH
AF: 16X
Terrain Shadows: Default

[Falconeer]

Originally posted by Randy Lahey:

And forget about the Apache in VR...it's a mess and is virtually unplayable unless you turn everything to low.

Agreed with the rest, but this line is nonsense. Apache is one of my most played module in VR and it runs butter smooth

[Randy Lahey]

Originally posted by Falconeer:

Agreed with the rest, but this line is nonsense. Apache is one of my most played module in VR and it runs butter smooth

You must have a special version I guess, or is your comment just 'nonsense'? Are you just ok with low settings? I'm not. DCS VR looks bad enough already on high settings compared to a monitor.

Just tried the Apache again yesterday, complete sh!tshow. It took almost 3 min for the 3D model to load, and when it finally did, it was struggling to keep it at 36fps. It isn't my system either, obviously. There are plenty of complaints about poor performance of the Apache in VR.

EDIT: tried it again today and I can get it smooth (Syria map) by turning all textures down to Low/Medium. This was after waiting for a LONG time for the textures to load in and the framerate to settle. The GPU latency is also much higher than on other modules. They've obviously improved it since the last time I played with it however as it WAS unplayable on anything other than the lowest settings, even with my relatively powerful PC.

[Falconeer]

I'm running DCS in nearly maxed out settings, I locked my fps at 45 FPS and it's butter smooth. If you are experiencing ♥♥♥♥♥♥ performance, doesn't mean everybody has the same issues.

I see that we do have the same cpu, but i'm at 64GB ram and have a card with 24GB of Vram and that alone makes a huge difference and for the love of god, turn down ingame PD. It's a real killer

[Troll Norris]

ED have in the forum dedicated topic for VR optimisations.
See reccomendations:
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/faq/VR/#3319261

Also I can see that you have 14th gen Intel. Make sure that you have disabled core parking.
Follow this video guide, then restart PC:
https://youtu.be/sFz8HRk4WfI
Core parking at Intel's CPUs is big issue which causes damn a lot stuttering.

To get some more performance you may try to turn off core isolation - memory integrity in Windows Defender settings. For the price of lower security you may get +15% performance or more.

[Troll Norris]

There is also known issue caused by MSI Afterburner software. Some HW measurements may reduce performance up to 50%. Make sure to disable Afterburner or disable exact GPU power monitoring telemetry:
https://youtu.be/bQH3DYNboM0