Does VR in BoX require Steam VR still?

[WWGriphos]

Do I need to install and run St am VR to use my Rift S in BoX?  

[WWZed]

Short answer. Yes

[WWGriphos]

K.  I downloaded it. Had lots of house chores today. Had to power wash the house and wraparound porch. Will give it a try tomorrow. Are there any settings I need to know to optimize things?

[WWChunk]

There’s a thread on the IL-2 forums about particular settings. Sorry, this is on my phone or I’d scrounge it up for you. 

[WWGriphos]

I've been digging around in those threads.  

I tried it out today.  First, it's pretty damned amazing.  Everything has depth.  I guess that's the best way to explain the difference.  On the monitor, there's height and width.  TrackIR lets you move your head, but those movements are translated on the screen in terms of direction of view.  When you move closer, the picture gets bigger.  When you move back, it gets smaller.  So, it's like a camera zoom.

In VR, things are in space in relation to you.  It's not that you are surrounded by a world (although that is true as well), it's that the world has depth.  I flew the Camel, and the wires crossing in front of me had a particular location in space.  If I moved toward them, they didn't get bigger, I just got closer.  And the wires had a relation in space to themselves.  They had a definite front and back and one was closer to me.  

In XP11, for instance, I flew the Aerolite 103.  It has a compass in front of the panel, and a pen velcroed to the panel, and in VR, those things are IN FRONT of the panel.  It's so clear.  It's like looking at the world with both eyes instead of one.  

It's pretty wild to look left and see your wing and see how it extends into space.  It has a definite space it takes up.  I found myself taxiing and checking that my wings cleared objects, and it was so natural and automatic to see whether they did or not.  Landing is a whole different operation since my height above the ground is something I can see now.  Not guess at.  See.  

So, it's pretty damned cool.

I tried some of the settings from the forum.  I turned down shadows and some other things.  Turned off SSAO and HDR.  It helped.  I was getting in the mid-30s with my normal ultra settings.  But although I would go as high as high-70s with the new settings, I seemed to spend more time in the high-40s.  And still down in the 30s sometimes.

I forget who (if anyone) uses VR in BoS.  Anyone who does, can you help me out a bit tuning the sim to get the FPS I need for smooth operation.  I don't notice jitters or stutters unless I'm down in the 30s, I think, but I was a bit too fascinated with the visuals to pay much attention to performance so far.

[WWChunk]

I need to look at my settings when I get a chance, Griph. I had to turn a lot of stuff down to get it to perform smoothly. 

[WWGriphos]

Okay, thanks, Chunk.  Let me know when you get a chance.  

[WWChunk]

YMMV, and I change these a lot depending on the scenario. I also have the original Rift, and your hardware can probably handle a lot more. It’s a good baseline though, and I aim for 45 FPS. Also, play with the ASW setting in SteamVR, and make sure the HUD is off in game; it’s an FPS hog.

In Game - Graphics:

General: Balanced/High                                       

Shadows: Low

Mirrors: Simple

Distant Landscape Detail: X2                                     

Horizon Draw Distance: 70km                         

Landscape Filter: Off                               

Clouds Quality: High                                           

SSAO: OFF           

HDR: ON

Bloom: OFF

Sharpen: OFF

Use 4k Textures: ON

Antialiasing: 2x

[WWGriphos]

Thanks, Chunk.  Those are pretty close to what I'm using now.  I'll make the few changes and try it out.  I changed a couple of things yesterday (forget just what now) and was pretty much pegged at 80 FPS (which is what the Rift S runs at).  But with your input and the things I've tried, I think I'm in the right ballpark and can tweak a bit from there.  

[WWChunk]

For me, on this aging PC, there a definite level of compromise when it came to visuals vs. performance. That being said, even with slightly degraded eye candy, the experience is something that’s impossible to describe, and it’s just a fantastic experience. My favorite part of my very first flight was turning in on an IL-2, having the shadows move across the cockpit and experiencing a feeling a warmth as the sun made its way across my shoulders. Weird, but incredible sense of immersion. 

[WWGeezer]

So regarding controls are you all using voice commands like Zed?

[WWChunk]

I am not, but that’s probably due to the fact that I don’t use VR 100% of the time. The vast majority of my controls are mapped to my HOTAS/TQ setup. 

[WWGriphos]

My controls are mapped to my HOTAS. I have Voice Attack, the paid version, but haven’t tried it in any sim yet. I’ll see if I can make do with the mapped controls. I have both ny regular throttle and a CH throttle quadrant, with buttons. I seem to be able to feel my way to the right switches so far. Remembering which switch does what though....

[WWGriphos]

I found this thread on the IL2 forum.  It's helpful.  And pretty close to your settings, Chunk.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/28660-vr-tips-and-tricks-improving-your-vr-experience-updated-5thjun18/

Here's what I wound up with:

                   In Game - Game                               : 50km

                   In Game - Graphics                          Resolution: 1280x720                // Only changes how it looks on the monitor, lower = marginal performance gain

                   In Game - Graphics                          General Setting: High

                   In Game - Graphics                          Shadows: Low  

                   In Game - Graphics                          Mirrors: Simple                     //Having them on will save your neck!

                   In Game - Graphics                          Distant Landscape Detail: X2                                     

                   In Game - Graphics                          Horizon Draw Distance: 70km                                         

                   In Game - Graphics                          Landscape Filter: Off

                   In Game - Graphics                          Clouds Quality: High                       // Try High first, FPS greatly improved on Medium but spotting is harder

                   In Game - Graphics                          SSAO: OFF

                   In Game - Graphics                          HDR: ON*                // ON = More contrast, better spotting, turned off bloom in startup.cfg

            Game/data/Startup.cfg                          Bloom: OFF* (0)                 // Removes the bloom - save and set startup.cfg to read only

                   In Game - Graphics                          Sharpen: ON                  // I go back and forth on this.  On for now.  Helps spotting       

                   In Game - Graphics                         Use 4k Textures: ON                           // Less stutter with setting ON   - nil performance impact

                   In Game - Graphics                         Antialiasing: Off     // I set Oculus to 1.5 SS with the debug tool.  Don't double up SS and AA - huge performance impact

                   In Game - Graphics                         Gamma:  1.0                                       

 

DISABLE HUD WITH "H" for more FPS if you go below 45

* HDR adds contrast, good for spotting. Also introduces bloom (terrible for spotting, negates all benefits from HDR). Bloom can be disabled in startup.cfg

 

With these settings, and the HUD off (I like the HUD off anyway), I stay at my Rift's 80 FPS for the most part, at least in quick missions dogfighting one on one.  

Edited May 29, 2019 by WWGriphos

[WWChunk]

Very close to what I use. Nice find Griph!