VR and FS2004 possible?

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Hello all,

I think the time has come for me to finally bite the bullet with VR. 

A couple of questions first though.

1. Is it possible to use Occulus Rift or Pimax 4k with FS2004? I do not believe there is any native VR built in to FS2004 so I would have to use FlyInside as well I think. Hardware specs (below) Is this set up ok for  FS2004 initially? See para 3.

2. Would my hardware support VR and what else would I need? I am hoping to use mouse in lieu of controllers and I need to know if this aspect is viable.

3. Ultimately, I want to migrate to P3Dv4 and/or XPlane 11 but I think a hardware upgrade is going to be required first. Again, my specs below,  I see the CPU as the weak link but to upgrade that I would require Motherboard, CPU and RAM upgrade which 

ups the fiscal ante somewhat.

4. Is any one using this FS2004 and VR combination, bearing in mind the scenery and aircraft limitations, what is the experience like (if, in fact, it is possible)

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Regards to all

Tony

[jozeff 95]

Maybe vorpx will work. Works great for some games for me. But, why would you want to use a 15 years old flightsim in VR? FSX seems like a better option. I got steam edition for 5 dollars. It runs very stable and has great fps.

 

Cheers

 

Jozef

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Josef,

Thanks for your response.

Offhand, I have no idea what vorpx is or what it does so I will have to do some research.

As for going to FSX. I already have that and FSX-SE. As far as I can see there are no benefits for using them and this is because I have no add-ons, whereas FS2004 (for me) is complete. that makes for a very simple choice of temporary platforms. I stress Temporary.

As stated earlier, I ultimately want to go to XPlane 11 or P3Dv4 (both of which I own) but I believe I need to upgrade hardware.  I think (I do NOT know) that I will suffer a very inferior experience if I go to the 64 bit platforms without the upgrade, and I do not want to be put off VR because of the expected poor performance. Hence the original questions.

Performance wise, I think that fs2004 is also a better choice for the initial VR experience.  I simply wish to know if my current hardware can handle the load, whether or not VR can be used with fs2004 , what the experience is like, and what I need to buy, other than HMD and controllers etc... ie, what do I get for my USD400. 

That is the information I seek and not really what platform to use etc as I have a fair idea of where this will ultimately end and this will definitely not be with FSX, FSX-SE or any other 32bit platform.

I do appreciate however, your response and I will be doing the required research re vorpx

Thanks again

Tony

 

[dmarques69 316]

Thats a question i never expect to read :) very likely mate, please do your self a favour and upgrade to P3D or XP11, or even both, fs2004 is from the past century, considered a simulator from the dinosaurs age :) although still as a lot of fans and even addons support, but please dont try to couple VR with fs2004 , you gonna struggle and very likely to have success.

Your system is already VR capable, i agree with you, your weak point is the CPU, and your 1080ti needs food from a powerful CPU, but you can go with those specs into the wonderful world of VR, just dont abuse from supersampling ;)

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Marques,

As I keep trying to point out, FS2004 is temporary.  I am currently using it full time but only because my system is using 6 monitors and FS2004 is the ONLY platform (to my knowledge) that can handle it.I have ALL the the platforms including DCS and Aeroflyfs2. I fly with them only to make experiments in utilising 6 monitors. Nothing so far works.  It is this frustration (accepting the almost defunct platform) that led me tyo VR in the first place.  I actually want to use the 64bit sims but I want the immersion I get with 6 monitors.  Every flight with 3 or 4 monitors in use are NOT satisfying for me.  This is definitely a personal preference and I am not complaining.  I still love my FS2004 and am happy with its performance.  I would LOVE, however, to have better aircraft, utilities, weather, and sceneries and this is not possible with FS2004 because next to nobody is developing for this platform.  I fully realize this and have done so for approximately the last10 years.

Again, the reason for the attempt to marry VR and fs2004 is simply that I do not want to go to the other platforms and just fly the default aircraft in default sceneries. In essence, I see that as a backwards step. Another problem for me is that I live in Indonesia.

I simply cannot walk into a shop in Indonesia and try Occulus Rift on any flight sim (or any game for that matter) This, or similiar assets, do not exist here. As an example, I walked into a computer shop to look at some GPUs. I spoke to the owner who was also the senior technician and asked him if I could look at some. He asked me (seriously) "what is a GPU?"  Nor did he understand what a video card was and when I explained he said "but that comes built in to the motherboard." At this point I walked out.

I mention this because this automatically gives me no option to look at or experience VR in any shape or form. I further, do not want to upgrade all my hardware and software yet to accommodate VR.  Even utilising Occulus Rift and FS2004 could well be for me, a USD400 throw away experience.  If I do not like it, I am never ever going to be able to sell the HMD here and shipping it overseas is probably going to prove impractical.

So I am in a position of relying on posts and requests for information here and even then, having to make a possibly ill informed decision.  By utilising FS2004, I am simply trying to minimise initial fiscal outlay, and as an aged pensioner this is not only practical, it is essential.

I am not denying your advice is right ... I am simply trying to get the information I have asked for and trying to clarify my position and the reasons for doing so.  

FS2004 is NOT the future and never will be. The road to the future firmly lies in 64 bit or greater platforms.

Thanks again,

Tony

[jozeff 95]

What cpu do you have?

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Hello Jozeff,

CPU is i7 2600K ... specs in signature with only difference is that I now have 4 x 250gb SSD 

Regards

Tony

[KL Oo 706]

Those specs are fine for P3D -  I mean the CPU is quite old but there are still plenty of people running them - particularly if you're able to overclock. 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Kael,

Thanks mate.

It would appear that there appears to be very few people using VR and FS2004 and those who are, are keeping it quiet.

Given my previous post, can you possibly imagine the hillarity or confusion generated by a request for help with overclocking a CPU here in my village?

Personally, as an old codger, I am reasonably terrified of overclocking because of the cost if it is stuffed up. Please bear in mind that I have a Minus 10 score with reference to technology. Encouraing though, to know that the CPU may be able to manage P3D and, if it can handle that, it should be able to handle Xplane 11 as well.

My next question is ... Will VR handle aircraft complexity or scenery better.  By this, I mean, for aircraft, I would have a large preference for P3D but scenery I would opt for the XPlane Ortho scenery. At this stage, I have no add ons for either so it is not like I am throwing money away on addons. I would like to know though which way most people would go with their VR preferences and where their priorityies lie.

Thanks again

Tony

[jozeff 95]

Hello, I have the same cpu! Clocked to 4.5ghz. I have the gtx970 GPU and I am pretty happy with it in vr. I use monoscopic view in p3dv4.1 which really helps fps of course. Stereoscopic view is ok but the gtx970 is the bare minimum for that..... Clear skies and not to complex scenery and you'll be fine because you have a 1080. Xp11 does not work smoothly in vr however. Fps are low and stuttery. Aeroflyfs2 works amazing with my hardware but simulation wise it is on a ( much) lower level. Good luck with you decision. I have the Oculus rift btw..

[Murmur 3,968]

8 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

I have ALL the the platforms including DCS and Aeroflyfs2. I fly with them only to make experiments in utilising 6 monitors. Nothing so far works.

Hi, sorry for the slight off-topic, but what FPS do you get on AeroflyFS2 on 6 monitors?

 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Murmur,

As far as I know, Aeroflyfs2 is not configurable for multimonitor use.  I have to admit, however, that it has been a while since I have tried this with that platform. I have emailed the devs regarding multi monitors and they have simply replied that this is on the agenda. Nothig further heard.

Tony

[hc606me 0]

Hi there, 

You're not alone Himmelhorse. I still use FS9 and because I have so many add-ons I am not going to switch to soon. 

A couple of years ago I had an eMagin Z800 HMD 3D visor but the resolution and field of view was too low. 

About a year ago I've got a Vuzix iWear but still the resolution is too low to read the instruments and the field of view is not enough too.

In my case I just need a HMD with enough field of view. I don't need 3D or head tracking ( I have a NaturalPoint ). I just need a simple monitor in a HMD.

I guess our hope will be the OSVR wick is more "open source" than the rest. Unfortunately I'm not a programmer.

Cheers,

Ian

 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Ian,

Thanks for your response.

I am in a position where I would realy like to update to XPlane 11 or P3Dv4.  I see the only way forward is to go VR as my level of immersion with 6 monitors is brilliant. However, as stated many times previously, this is simply not possible with any other sim and nor is it likely to be in the future. I firmly believe that MAYBE VR can replace this sense of immersion.

Because my hardware is now fairly ancient, I arrived at the conclusion that, if at all possible, I could upgrade to VR with FS2004 using my hardware and all my FS2004 addons.  Despite repeated requests for information on this specific move to VR, I remain in the dark. I live in Indonesia where it is impossible to get local support or information regarding VR.

I am assuming that, IF, using VR with FS2004, I would require Flyinside at least. I do not even know if this software is compatible with FS2004. I do not know what other peripherals I would require either, so in essence, I am completely in the dark. 

I know I can get a minimum of 40FPS from P3Dv4 using a single screen, but I somehow doubt whether this is sufficient to run it in VR and the same largely applies to XPlane11. In any case, I have decided to wait for the reviews of the Pimax 8k which promises to be the be all and end all of the current gen of VR HMD. In reality, I am assuming I will settle for the Rift or Vive which says a lot for my expectations for Pimax. I live in hope though. I am also looking into a little research on the Samsung Oddessy MR set up which apparently has better resolution than the current Rift or the new Vive. Regardless of all this however, is the fact that I am fully aware that it is going to require a big hardware upgrade to get the ultimate (or close) benefits of any VR experience.

So, in the meantime I patiently and frustratingly await on any information which says I can(or cannot) use VR with FS2004 and what I am going to require in the way of software and hardware (all specifically related to FS2004.

Thanks mate

Tony

         

[hc606me 0]

Hi Tony,

If you want to combine your six monitors with 3D you might check this

http://www.simprojects.nl/3_lcd's_with_3_fresnel_lenses.htm

Again, years ago I've bought a fresnel lens to fit my 21" Mitsubishi crt monitor ( at that time I was using 3D glasses with nvidia stereo graphic drivers ) to make the image bigger but the fresnel really gives you a 3D effect too without any 3D glasses. Was sold by 3dlens.com and the part # is F550 but later when I tried to buy more I could not find them in stock ( I still have my six HP lcds plus two Triplehead2Go ).

Unfortunately because of my work I didn't have the chance to pursue this project but I didn't abandoned the idea : )

Regards,

Ian