VR Tips & Tricks

[Sneaksie(RUS)]

Here are some tips & tricks you may already know that will help set up your VR for IL-2 (but it may be useful for other games).

IL-2 Sturmovik uses Open VR interface, meaning you need to have Steam VR application installed on your PC. If you have HTC Vive, it is already installed (or you won't be able to use it in other games). However, if you have Oculus Rift, you may or may not have it installed. So, the first step would be installing Steam, logging into your Steam account and installing Steam VR from Steam store.

Run Steam VR to set up your Oculus Rift there: run Room Setup. Make sure it works fine for you in Steam VR tutorial. HTC Vive users have this set up already.

Run IL-2 Sturmovik. If Oculus Home and Steam VR applications are not active, it should launch them by itself. When the game loads, your HMD should be working already and you should see the VR image from one of the eye screens on your regular monitor. Oculus Home and Steam VR windows may obscure the IL-2 window on your regular monitor so minimize them and click on IL-2 Sturmovik window to return focus to it (that's how Windows works)

If you launch IL-2 and VR mode doesn't kick in, make sure that Steam VR (and Oculus Home if you have Oculus Rift) are installed and configured properly, and/or launch them manually before starting the game. If VR still won't kick in, go to graphics settings of the game and check that 'Use VR HMD' option is on. While you're at it, note the new graphics options there: Sharpen and Dynamic resolution factor.

Sharpen is a post process visual filter that makes everything, well, sharper. This is especially useful to increase clarity in VR so you could read your 'real' cockpit instruments better, but it gives good results if you want a crisper picture while playing on a regular monitor as well. It has little impact on the performance, so try it and see if you like the new look.

Dynamic resolution factor is a new method for keeping your frames per second (FPS) steady. Its value can be set from 0.5 (half the original resolution) to 1.0 (full resolution). If you set it to 1.0, you'll be turning it off and everything will work as before. If you set it to a lower value, you're telling the game it's Ok to degrade the rendering quality to this value to keep the FPS close to the value you set in Target FPS drop-down list here. So if you set Target FPS to 144 and Dynamic resolution factor to 0.5, the game will lower the rendering quality up to 0.5 of the original resolution trying to keep that high frame rate you specified. You can experiment with these values to find out what FPS you can achieve on your PC without degrading the visual quality too much. On a regular monitor, quality degradation is more apparent than in VR HMD, so this feature is especially useful for VR.

Please note, that Target FPS value is ignored in VR - it is set to HMD refresh rate (90 FPS or 45 FPS when it is lower than 90 and HMD driver automatically engages ASW if you're using Oculus and Reprojection for Vive). You can Google what these technologies do - basically, they generate new frames depending on previous ones to show you if PC performance level is insufficient to output 90 FPS. Target FPS parameter is also ignored if you use a regular monitor and check V-Sync option here - in this case it ties to your monitor refresh rate.

Another settings screen, Camera settings, include another new option - Limit VR view. When it is on, your virtual head won't be able outside cockpit or inside the instruments panel. While it makes perfect sense, it may be uncomfortable in VR - when your real head continues to move (there is nothing to stop it at your home unless you go too far and hit a wall or your PC), but your virtual head in the cockpit stops because it just hit a canopy, you may have a dizzy feeling. It should be noted that other sims don't have the limited VR view at all, but in IL-2 you can turn this on or off. This option will be ignored (the view will be limited) if Allow spectators option is turned off in difficulty settings (for example, on Expert difficulty multiplayer servers) to prevent cheating.

Now, there are special commands in Camera controls that you'll be using a lot in VR. First one is Default VR view - you can use it to set up a default view. If you're off to the side in the cockpit, look straight in front of view and press this button (Numpad 5 by default) - you'll be positioned in the center behind the gunsight.

Another command is VR camera zoom (hold). This is a special zoom button for VR, press and hold this button and you'll get 2X magnification to spot distant objects. It may cause nausea if you keep the button pressed and turn your head, beware.

Another tip we can give you to improve the performance is turning the in-game HUD off (H key). VR provides unique ability to read 'real' cockpit instruments at a glance, so try to use it! It can give you a huge performance boost, especially in complex missions with many objects. With HUD turned off, you can still see object markers (press I key to turn them on).

Setting the resolution in game settings to a low setting like 1024x768 or even less may significantly improve your perfrormance in VR (VR resolution is fixed and won't change, but the game will spend less time drawing its window on the monitor).

When you look down in the cockpit, you'll see a blue ring. This is Steam VR safety feature called chaperone boundaries so we can't turn it off in the game. You can turn it by editing a certain file on your PC (maybe it will be made easier in the future), Google 'turn off chaperone boundaries'.

Some of our beta testers complained that they see some objects (for example, gunsight reticle) in double vision. There can be several reasons for it, so here are what you can do if you experience this:

1) First of all, make sure your inter-pupil distance is set up correctly. Its control is located on the right of your HMD. Adjust it so the on-screen tip shows your inter-pupil distance correctly (you know its value if you use glasses).
2) Second, understand that playing in VR is completely different to playing on a regular flat screen, even if you're accustomed to Track IR or Freetrack. Objects have different depths, you can focus either on close objects or on distant ones, like in real life. If you focus on the cockpit elements or gunsight body, its reticle will be in double vision as well as a target you're trying to hit (collimator reticle is a virtual distant object). When you're aiming at an enemy aircraft or ground vehicle, focus your eyes on it, then the reticle should be in focus as well (but your canopy and gunsight body will be in a double vision like they will be in such situation in the real life).
3) Third, position your head correctly - your dominant eye should be behind the reticle. You can do this naturally just by moving your head in VR.
4) Fourth, this is a highly subjective issue. Some of the users (and us developers) don't have any problems while using an aiming sight, some resolved them when they accustomed to playing a sim in VR and for some nothing we could adjust helped. This is a highly specialized problem for VR genre - in a usual VR game the developers keep the user from this issue by avoiding situations when you have very close and distant objects at once, but this is impossible in a combat flight sim where a pilot constantly needs to switch focus from close instruments to distant targets. If you have this problem no matter what, it may be best to close one eye and aim with your dominant eye only. You'll lose stereo perception so it isn't ideal, but many people aim their guns this way and do fine.

We spent much time to implement the VR support. We hope you'll like the result and the new immersion level it gives to virtual pilots! See you in the sky!

[Ferengi]

Първоначално публикувано от Sneaksie(RUS):

It's hard to say why are you having this issue with cockpit bounds turned off. In any plane? Two possible reasons come to mind - first is the difficulty level because the cockpit bounds are always on expert difficulty for multiplayer servers that enforce that difficulty and the second is some loss of tracking when you look up or down. Do you have Vive or Oculus?

I have a Windows Mixed Reality headset and I have this issue on any difficulty. The headset is not losing any tracking. The cockpit moves with the headset and it is really disorienting. For example if I was to stand up the whole cockpit would move with me. If you try to move forward to read the guages, the whole cockpit moves forward so you cannot read them.

[Dash]

I havent played the game in months, but I can install it again soon and answer the above.

[Madasafish]

Dash:- I had the same thing (Vive) if you go into Quick Mission, Then Realism tab, and place a tick in Allow spectators (Box). For some reason un limits VR head movements.

[\/\/oodstock]

no touch suport noo point in buying, no immersion with using mouse and key, completely defeats thepuropse of vr, lmao

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

Първоначално публикувано от \/\/oodstock:

no touch suport noo point in buying, no immersion with using mouse and key, completely defeats thepuropse of vr, lmao

nope.

works great with a HOTAS and VR.

touch controllers simply can't equal a decent HOTAS.

[Bandito Earnswins]

Първоначално публикувано от \/\/oodstock:

no touch suport noo point in buying, no immersion with using mouse and key, completely defeats thepuropse of vr, lmao

who's playing a flight sim with Keyboard and Mouse? :S

Completely defeats the purpose of flight sims, lmao.

[markushausner]

Is there a possibility to create a Desktop Shortcut Icon for the VR Games for launching the game directly ?

[Ohjay]

greedy ♥♥♥♥♥

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

Първоначално публикувано от Ohjayway:

greedy ♥♥♥♥♥

?

[capitaine calamar]

@Sneaksie

do you see my topic with the low fps problem in VR? cpu and gpu are not running very fast even at 40fps on ground (between 30/100 to 70/100 of their capacity)

[dinkster]

It's probably been said before, why no native rift sdk support?

It makes a hellofa difference in fps and smoothness, I see the same faults in the VR implementation as I saw in x-plane 11 before they implemented the rift sdk, now x-plane runs like butter on both open VR and native rift....

Some one tell the devs to look at the the change in quality that happened in x-plane after it adopted native rift support... Please.... It makes x-plane very playable on an i5 with a 1070...

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

Първоначално публикувано от s.j.adamson:

It's probably been said before, why no native rift sdk support?

It makes a hellofa difference in fps and smoothness, I see the same faults in the VR implementation as I saw in x-plane 11 before they implemented the rift sdk, now x-plane runs like butter on both open VR and native rift....

Some one tell the devs to look at the the change in quality that happened in x-plane after it adopted native rift support... Please.... It makes x-plane very playable on an i5 with a 1070...

my Rift performance is very poor in xplane. how'd you get it butter smooth?

[Degrease (RUS)]

А приборы в кабине взглядом переключаются как в других симуляторах?

[skiiwa]

I just wanted to say thanks for the VR support! Its AMAZING. The Tiger tank is a sight to behold and I love me G14!

[NYCPCGAMER]

im getting constant crashes in vr. the frames go from 88 down to the twenties and never recovers. the simulation keeps going as i can hear it....and the plane crahes. but the mirror and within the hmd freezes....except not totally as the vr frame counter continues