MSFS 2020 in VR is Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!

[OzWhitey 3,353]

2 hours ago, DJJose said:

Rob,

Is this one good enough for a beginner? I want black.

https://www.amazon.com/Oculus-Rift-PC-Powered-Gaming-Headset-pc/dp/B07PTMKYS7

 

 

My only hesitation in recommending that headset is the apparently large number of Oculus users who had a range of problems with MSFS VR. Having said that, I think we've sorted through most of the issues.

I've actually put in a few hours of Rift S time tonight in MSFS, no dramas now.

In some ways, Rift S is a safer choice than the Quest 2 + Link. It's made for PCVR. The Quest is just really, really cool for general, cord-free VR use and in other sims I'm finding it equivalent to the Rift S, even though there's some theoretical reasons (signal compression) why it shouldn't be. I'm about to test out the Quest 2 with MSFS now, if I don't fall asleep after my VR all-nighter last night. 🙂

If you're flightsim only, Rift S will be fine. You don't have the resolution or the colors of the Reverb G2, but it's also a heck of a lot cheaper and better as a general PCVR headset (the G2 is a pretty niche piece of kit, the Rift S is mainstream though rapidly being replaced by the Quest 2).

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by OzWhitey

[Shack95 2,665]

5 minutes ago, OzWhitey said:

No, I wasn't referring to you Shack. You'll remember in the other thread I told you you'd like VR. See, it's pretty cool, isn't it?

You were absolutely right! It‘s a completely new experience. Just flown around in the Cub somewhere in Wales with real weather (heavy rain, almost no visibility) and I nearly sh*#t myself😅.

[OzWhitey 3,353]

3 minutes ago, Shack95 said:

You were absolutely right! It‘s a completely new experience. Just flown around in the Cub somewhere in Wales with real weather (heavy rain, almost no visibility) and I nearly sh*#t myself😅.

Wales is a great part of the UK for flying, I built a lot of very high-res ortho for it in P3D, lots of good memories of virtual flight there. I started with the Lake District yesterday for my first MSFS flight, which is also pretty cool. Tonight, my only UK flight was out of Southampton (also in the cub). Yes, the weather is pretty grim in general in that part of the world right now!

VR achieves a visceral response that you just can't get with a monitor. It's really hard to explain to people who have not experienced it.

 

[DaWu 779]

3 hours ago, Shack95 said:

I‘m completely new to VR simming, so I can‘t say anything about VR in other sims. But what I can say is that I‘m blown away. Being in the cockpit of the c172 for the first time was overwhelming. When I first took of I had to laugh out loud. It felt so real. It was a physical sensation, as if I could feel the forces. I knew it would be a great experience, but this exceeded all expectations. Performance is pretty good with my settings, no stutters, nothing, at least in the c172. Today I‘ll check out some other aircraft and more demanding places to see how far I can go with my settings. Anyway, I‘m having a blast. 

We know that feeling, we all have been there once 

[Shack95 2,665]

25 minutes ago, OzWhitey said:

I started with the Lake District yesterday for my first MSFS flight, which is also pretty cool.

Funny, I did my very first vr flight yesterday also in the Lake District. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by Shack95

[OzWhitey 3,353]

2 hours ago, DJJose said:

Rob,

Is this one good enough for a beginner? I want black.

https://www.amazon.com/Oculus-Rift-PC-Powered-Gaming-Headset-pc/dp/B07PTMKYS7

 

 

Update:

I've done a few flights with the Quest 2 (the white one!) in MSFS now. So far, I don't like it and wouldn't recommend it for this particular sim, though testing is still in its very early stages.

For cheap, beginner VR I'd either go Rift S (works fine, colors and nighttime visuals underwhelming) or an Odyssey+ (better colors, prettier at night, possibly smoother, based on Windows Mixed Reality which plays well with MSFS).

An Odyssey+ is worth considering - it's black, and I reckon you could get a second hand one pretty cheap (they're USD$250 new on sale). As a general headset, it's pretty rubbish, but as an MSFS device it delivers a good experience at a sensible price.

[ahsmatt7 1,201]

2 hours ago, edpatino said:

I would be more happy and start to think about the MSFS VR capabilities only if Asobo fixes: (1) water in coastlines going uphill, (2) AP behavior in all aircraft, including those that were modified in this latest update, (3) FMC functionality in general, (4) performance issues introduced after Update 7 still present (micro pauses, stutters), (5) and now the terrain spikes near some lakes. To me, Asobo is still paying too much attention to eye-candy features instead of concentrating in the most important parts of the sim that apparently remain or are either getting worse after each update.

First things first.

Cheers, Ed

 

 

How in the world is VR considered eye candy?

[CaptBmckay 22]

6 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

VR in MSFS is OK, but let's not get carried away now, Devon. "VR in MSFS is ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE"? Really??? Perhaps would a better title would be: "If you can get it working despite the mass of BUGS, VR in MSFS is actually QUITE COOL...if you've got a Nvidia 30XX video card". Let me expand on this a little further.

Firstly, the people who are amazed by the immersion of sitting in a cockpit in VR have been some how missing out on flying in VR in AF FS2, DCS, IL-2, X-plane and P3D for the past 6+ years or so. Guys, it's 2020, VR for flightsim is not remotely new tech.

Secondly, let's be honest here - MSFS's VR implementation is currently a buggy mess. The performance is pretty awful, even with $2000 video cards and Intels'latest and greatest CPU. If you want your Oculus HMD to work, there's a good chance that you'll need to hack the registry. And then you'll still have black artefacts blocking your view, or everything will be yellow. It's a substandard release, and Asobo should have done some better beta testing before letting this out into the wild.

The performance issues are also not going away any time soon. You need to drop your resolution, turn off half of the eye candy and fly a simple plane in the middle of nowhere to get truly smooth flight. And if you want to use your motion controllers to interact with the cockpit - bad luck.

So is it worth flying? I'd definitely say yes, despite all the issues. I sat up from 1am until dawn this morning, testing things out (am at work feeling sleepy atm). Flying a simple aircraft like one of the cubs is great, with smooth flight being possible. Airliners are certainly not smooth, but cruising through the clouds is a lot of fun. Addon airports in big cities in poor weather? No, MSFS VR is not ready for that yet.

So is flying in VR in general a good thing in flight sims? Absolutely - duh. Should you choose MSFS for your VR flying? You do need a beast of a machine, but the world that Asobo has created is honestly pretty cool, and the lighting effects and clouds look beautiful at times.

I'll definitely not be throwing away the other sims for VR flying, but I can definitely see myself spending a lot of time exploring Asobo's version of the world over the coming months.

Happy Christmas all! 

This is the most honest and accurate assessment I've seen on the subject. 

[SAS443 1,731]

Holy word not allowed.

That video was great, I fly for real, and also tried VR in P3D (meh moment, platform, is too ugly to be convincing), but seriously speculating in buying a new VR-set just for MSFS.

 

[HiFlyer 9,375]

4 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

The performance is poor given the hardware we are running on. Who here is honestly getting a consistent 45 FPS?

Using the Oculus HUD to check my frame rates I see a steady 45 to 50 frames per second. ASW is set to auto.

By the way this was over Tokyo with render quality at 110% and with trees and clouds turned up to Ultra.

Edited December 23, 2020 by HiFlyer

[flightsim1818 79]

2 hours ago, DaWu said:

We know that feeling, we all have been there once 

I miss it like crazy. Not saying I don't appreciate VR now but man...that instant feeling of hope and joy when you try VR for the first time and in a flightsim... word not allowed.

[edpatino 1,979]

1 hour ago, ahsmatt7 said:

How in the world is VR considered eye candy?

To me it is, matter of preference and Navigraph sponsored polls year after year are a proof of that: less than 10% of simmers use it (P3D, X-Plane, Aerofly). MSFS will be no exception IMHO.

Cheers, Ed

[leprechaunlive 1,861]

6 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

Lol, don't be offended if I point out MSFS's VR shortcomings. People are way too quick to leap to defend this sim.

The opposite is also true. 

[ahsmatt7 1,201]

3 hours ago, edpatino said:

To me it is, matter of preference and Navigraph sponsored polls year after year are a proof of that: less than 10% of simmers use it (P3D, X-Plane, Aerofly). MSFS will be no exception IMHO.

Cheers, Ed

Considering navigraph doesn’t have a stake in all of the other sims out right now like DCS and the likes. That 10% doesn’t mean as much as you think it should. 
 

im sure Microsoft is trying to capitalize on all aviation sim users. Not just avsim or hardcore simmers.

[edpatino 1,979]

14 minutes ago, ahsmatt7 said:

im sure Microsoft is trying to capitalize on all aviation sim users. Not just avsim or hardcore simmers.

I have to agree on this!. Call me an Avsim simmer trying to be hardcore at some point in time 😂

Cheers, Ed