Obvious VR Features that are needed

[MarcG 2,904]

Having played A N Other VR game this weekend I was surprised at the poor implementation of VR coming from an AAA Developer, it therefore got me worried that MSF2020s VR implementation may also be lacking, especially as it's  something that should've been included with the Original Release.....but that's another story, so here's my List of things that simply are very basic & common but simply *must* be included from Day One:

Menus:
- Head Pointer; Simple enough, you look around and having Bound a Button on your HOTAS/Controller to "Enter" (for example) you can easily Navigate through the Menus changing settings, selecting Airports on the World Map etc etc. It's the utmost Basic VR implementation tool there needs to be.
- Mouse Support; This can coincide with the above, where some of us have easy access to a Mouse when using VR this can be a quick & intuitive way to navigate as per normal.
- In-Game SuperSampling; One thing I detest about VR games is the need to Exit - Change SS  - Load Game, Repeat when it's not right. This needs to be a Menu Option that works on the Fly without the need to Exit & Reload every single time, especially with this Sims long loading times.

In-Flight:
- Head Pointer; same as above for Menus, simply looking around the Cockpit, pressing a Button and voila....basic and to me a very obvious must have feature.
- Mouse Support; I think this is a given with the way it's currently but adding here anyway for reference.
- Re-Center VR during Flight; Yep there's VR games out there that amazingly don't have this as an Option when "In Game", you have to go back to the Menu and this is a big No-No. Again such a Basic & Obvious thing so just throwing it out there....
- Turbulence Softening; By this I mean sudden Jolts of the Eye point in VR could have very disastrous side effects 🤢. In Racing Sims we have the Option to "Lock to Horizon" or "Stabilise Horizon" alongside Options to tone down Cockpit Vibrations, this does have a dramatic effect of keeping the Eye point smooth on bouncy race surfaces. Something similar is going to be a "must" have in MSF2020, whenever I've encountered Sudden Turbulence even on a flat screen I've been thinking "this is gonna hurt in VR", and whilst softening these effects aren't  "Life Like" as such you have to remember that we won't have the natural feeling of the plane through our bodies. As our heads are "fixed" the brain wonders what the hell is going on and before you know it you're spewing up Dinner all over your HOTAS 🤮. So something like what the Racing Sims have is needed.
 

[cercata 22]

Recenter is binded to "space":
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/vr-beta-help/305889/30

For the other things, you are not asking too much, I guess that's the minimum to expect.

But "lock horizon" I would never use it. I use it in Elite Dangerus for the SRV, but in a flight sim, I don't see the point. On land you must be quite horizontal, and in the air it's pointless

Edited November 1, 2020 by cercata

[MarcG 2,904]

17 minutes ago, cercata said:

Recenter is binded to "space":
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/vr-beta-help/305889/30

For the other things, you are not asking too much, I guess that's the minimum to expect.

But "lock horizon" I would never use it. I use it in Elite Dangerus for the SRV, but in a flight sim, I don't see the point. On land you must be quite horizontal, and in the air it's pointless

I was using Lock To Horizon purely as an example, hence I said "something like". Whether that be in the form of numbing down Turbulence on the Eye Point in VR or something I don't know, but we'll need "something". Fortunately I don't suffer as badly from motion sickness as other folk in VR so I may be alright in the long run, but it would be good for others.

As for the "space bar" I just hope that's bindable to a Button, if not then that's the perfect example of Poor VR Implementation.

[cercata 22]

Yeah, I don't have motion sickness normally, but "camera shake" softening is a must.

The "space" I hope it's because it's beta, and once all VR features are defined, they'll add binding for everithing, there will be a new tab in the setting for VR with all those things bindable. Maybe it's already there ... we don't know if this is beta is close to an Alpha or close to candidate release.

 

[conundrum 49]

The ability to bring other programs in as a window or on a “tablet”. Eg. charts, moving map, 3rd party ATC.

[precog 98]

Pilot body/head movement shadowing cockpit.  Really adds to the immersion.

Edited November 5, 2020 by precog

[Spit40 197]

On 11/1/2020 at 7:28 PM, conundrum said:

The ability to bring other programs in as a window or on a “tablet”. Eg. charts, moving map, 3rd party ATC.

This is what I struggle with in Aerofly. I tried VRK kneeboard but it wasn't quite there - OK for DCS guys scribbling notes but couldn't handle approach plates very well. On the plus side it uses a real world pen tablet for a nice physical experience. 

 

worth checking out ASOBO if you're lurking!

Edited November 5, 2020 by Spit40

[cercata 22]

On 11/1/2020 at 8:28 PM, conundrum said:

The ability to bring other programs in as a window or on a “tablet”. Eg. charts, moving map, 3rd party ATC.

Avitab !!!!!! And for 3rd party ATC, I think they should integrate it with the game UI via SDK.

So what I expect from Asobo is mainly a good UI API for addon developers, so we have native tools, not "inserts".

[lenidcamper 18]

On 11/5/2020 at 4:10 AM, Spit40 said:

worth checking out ASOBO if you're lurking!

Hopefully ASOBO is evaluating the VR implementations of all the other flight sims (Aerofly, Condor, Xplane, DCS , etc)

Each has done some things well, but missed the mark in some aspects.

ASOBO has the opportunity to avoid some of the pitfalls of the earlier implementations.

As with most flight sim functionality, if you ask 10 pilots you will get 11 opinions on the "right way", so configurable features is the way to please as many as possible.

For example if I have hardware for some controls (as in Authentikit) I don't want VR hand detection to compete with the IRL control for precedence.

Let me configure which controls that do or don't support VR hand interaction.

[Spit40 197]

22 minutes ago, lenidcamper said:

Hopefully ASOBO is evaluating the VR implementations of all the other flight sims (Aerofly, Condor, Xplane, DCS , etc)

Each has done some things well, but missed the mark in some aspects.

ASOBO has the opportunity to avoid some of the pitfalls of the earlier implementations.

As with most flight sim functionality, if you ask 10 pilots you will get 11 opinions on the "right way", so configurable features is the way to please as many as possible.

For example if I have hardware for some controls (as in Authentikit) I don't want VR hand detection to compete with the IRL control for precedence.

Let me configure which controls that do or don't support VR hand interaction.

Hand detection with/without gloves and certain areas disabled where real hardware is would be a great step forward.