Hi all,

Bit of background first; I've been using VR for a few years with 99% of that time spent in Racing Sims where the key is to get as smooth & fluid a display/FPS as possible preferably at 90FPS. In that time I've owned an Oculus CV1 and for the past year and a bit I've had the Reverb G1 (Second Revision) which is a fantastic bit of kit, FOV could be better but the visual resolution is great.
Anyway in that time I've learnt how to tweak and find ways of making Racing Sims work very well (Rfactor2, iRacing, Automobilista2 & RaceRoom) and I've spent a fair few hours on MSF2020 since the Patch doing the same and coming up with a very decent Balance across most flying scenarios.

Now before I begin I will stress that Your Mileage Will Vary, even if you have similar specs to mine (below) you will get differing results, this is because everyone has their PC setup differently, different background tasks, different versions of the OS (if not fully updated), different Peripherals etc etc.

My Specs: i9-9900k, 2070Super, 32gb RAM, Aorus Pro Gigabyte Mobo, 2x 1tb M.2 SSDs

With my Rig and following settings I average roughly 35fps, which for me being used to Racing Sims is scarily low but for VFR and Dials it's all just fine in Flight, *ALL* tweaking was done using the C172 available in the Standard Package so I can't yet comment on what it's like with other planes (I'm still a relative newbie to this flying lark!), I can read the important Garmin/Dials when sat back in the Seat, when Zoomed in everything is clear (enough) and readable. The FPS does dip at Ground Level and over high detailed Photogrammetry areas as to be expected, but once up in the air it gradually increases the higher I fly to the point where some settings could easily be Raised.

Final thoughts before we begin;
As with all VR Simulations be it Race or Flight they are constantly evolving, the Devs will release a Patch that changes something, breaks another (Hi Asobo!), increases Performance etc etc. So these settings are valid as of the First VR Update, if you're reading this 3 years from posting date it's likely to be a different World! (However I will try and keep it updated if time permits). Also it's still fairly early days just after the first Update, I may still tweak in the coming days/weeks, these are just my overall first impression settings so to speak.

First Steps for a nice FPS Balance:
- Firstly to see FPS I'm using the nVidia Overlay which shows on the Top Right of the Mirror (on the monitor), not ideal but as FPSVR bogs down in MSF (for some reason, I'll investigate that later) it's the only way other than using Dev Mode and the in-game FPS meter, but for me that shows in the Left Eye in VR so I don't use that it that much. The nvidia one is small and easy to see.
- I always and I mean always keep all my Software Drivers/Firmware etc up to date, that includes the latest GPU drivers, all Windows Updates, BIOS updates the lot. I've been building and using PCs since the early 1990s' and I've found keeping everything up to date in this era of PC Usage is the best way.
- Go to your Add/Remove Programs and Uninstall 'nVidia Frameview SDK' if you have it, I read this on the Official Forums and just did it anyway (I had it installed for no reason), whether or not it makes an actual difference I can't say, but essentially it was doing nothing for me so better off without.

*DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK* - If you don''t know what Regedit is *DO NOT* do this part; Changing Windows Registry Entries can be FATAL for your OS so only change if you know what you're doing;
- In the link below change the Registry Entry to point to SteamVR - Personally I get 10fps more in certain situations than I did with OpenXR using the WMR Entry, unsure why but as I know SteamVR very well I was quite happy with this!
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/dont-set-location-of-openxr-runtime-with-the-registry-use-openxr-loader-specs-instead/323323

- SteamVR Settings; You may ave to have MSF running in order to change these (I did at first but then it shows up in the drop down box thereafter):
- Under VIDEO choose PER-APPLICATION VIDEO SETTINGS and select MSF
- Custom Resolution Multiplier (SS) = 80%
- Motion Smoothing = Disabled (I hate any form of this or Reprojection in any Sim, the "wobbling" of objects and visual nuisances is annoying so I prefer it off)
- Use Legacy Reprojection Mode = OFF

- Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) Settings; As I race a lot I keep these settings the same for all Sims, constantly changing them to suit one Sim over another is a faff I can do without:
- Level of Detail = HIGH
- App Window Red = 1080p
- Under 'Change' = Best Visual Quality
- Adjust Display Res = 4320 x 2160 (best quality)
- Adjust Frame Rate = 90hz (60hz may be better to help increase Visuals and SS/Render Scale but as above I have to Race with 90hz so I keep this here, personally I don't like the slight flickering you get with 60hz even in Flight Sims)

- nVidia Control Panel; just the one change in 'Manage 3D Settings, select MSF from the drop down box, it probably doesn't need to be changed from default but I do it anyway:
- Virtual Pre-rendered Frames = 1

- In Game Settings;
I'm not gonna go through these individually as the Picture speaks for itself, Render Scaling is the biggest Performance Hog and with SteamVR at 80% I've got that nice balance of Visual Clarity whilst maintaining a steady Frame Rate. Most other settings don't really affect FPS that dramatically, but add them together and you'll notice the FPS will drop.
- Airport Vehicle/Ground Aircraft/Worker Density = 20
- Leisure/Road/Ships = 10
- Traffic Variety = MEDIUM

Conclusion;
Whilst I'm happy with these settings as above I will still tweak here and there, I've done a few VFR flights without changing anything and it all seems decent enough, I do need a better GPU one day but I'm not gonna shell out for a 3XXX Card at todays prices! This will do me for now and the foreseeable future.

Good Luck & Happy Flying 🙂

How many do you have FPS here? I think 30 only ...? Clouds on High its an FPS killer. For 30 isnt still good. 40-45 is minimum level for me. Thx for sharing your settings.

5 minutes ago, YoYo said:

How many do you have FPS here? I think 30 only ...? Clouds on High its an FPS killer. For 30 isnt still good. 40-45 is minimum level for me. Thx for sharing your settings.

I said above how many I'm getting, I've found Volumetric Clouds don't hamper FPS that much on my system, at Altitude I had them on ULTRA and it was just fine.

15 minutes ago, MarcG said:

I said above how many I'm getting, I've found Volumetric Clouds don't hamper FPS that much on my system, at Altitude I had them on ULTRA and it was just fine.

I find it hard to believe 😉. When it is overcast with real weather, there is a difference of 10+ frames between High and Low in my Reverb. I think you maxed too much this all settings, even upscaling rendering but if 30-35 frames are ok then of course you have nothing to change 🙂 and enjoy the flight! 🙂

Edited December 24, 20205 yr by YoYo

Just now, YoYo said:

I find it hard to believe 😉. When it is overcast with real weather, there is a difference of 10+ frames between High and Low in my Reverb. I think you maxed too this all settings, even upscaling rendering but if 30-35 frames are ok then of course you have nothing to change 🙂 and enjoy the flight! 🙂

I'm not here to argue what I see with my own eyes thank you 🙂 as I very clearly stated everyones mileage will vary

Thanks, Marc! This is great! What affects motion sickness the most? Is it FPS?

Also, I have the MSFT store version of FS, but I setup SteamVR for the first time the other day to use with x plane. The two issues I’m seeing are that it doesn’t seem to have the right resolution for the Reverb G2 (yet), and when I put on the headset and view SteamVR home world (or whatever it’s called :), everything is a mess - almost like a satellite TV signal that’s going in and out, with the floors and walls jumping all over the place. Can’t figure out what’s going on...

Also, OpenXR/WMR seems to have a scaling feature in the latest version, but I haven’t tried it yet.

Marc. In the SteamVR beta settings > Video > choose PER-APPLICATION VIDEO SETTINGS and select MSF

I don't see MSF in the list. I have tried to do this with MSF running, then not running. But the list doesn't change. I don't know if it is supposed to or not (being a complete and utter noob). Here are my choices ...

32 minutes ago, Tinribs said:

Marc. In the SteamVR beta settings > Video > choose PER-APPLICATION VIDEO SETTINGS and select MSF

I don't see MSF in the list. I have tried to do this with MSF running, then not running. But the list doesn't change. I don't know if it is supposed to or not (being a complete and utter noob). Here are my choices ...

 

In my case, I did not see it until I ran MSFS, started VR, shut down VR and exited FS. Then it showed up in the list for me. It may have shown up when I started MSFS but with it in the foreground I couldn't see my Steam list so I closed MSFS and there it was.

16 minutes ago, ZoblebV8 said:

In my case, I did not see it until I ran MSFS, started VR, shut down VR and exited FS. Then it showed up in the list for me. It may have shown up when I started MSFS but with it in the foreground I couldn't see my Steam list so I closed MSFS and there it was.

Thanks ZoblebV8 - I shall give this a go.

16 minutes ago, Tinribs said:

Thanks ZoblebV8 - I shall give this a go.

If you get this going please report here how you managed. I have the G2 and have done the registry edit, started MSFS, selected VR shut down, and every combination and order I can think of including re booting between changes. Still MSFS does not show in steam dropdown list.

Was hoping to see if I got better results running MSFS under steam than the default Mixed reality portal.

 

Thanks

48 minutes ago, Romeo_Tango said:

If you get this going please report here how you managed. I have the G2 and have done the registry edit, started MSFS, selected VR shut down, and every combination and order I can think of including re booting between changes. Still MSFS does not show in steam dropdown list.

Was hoping to see if I got better results running MSFS under steam than the default Mixed reality portal.

 

Thanks

I know all this is very confusing R_T and I think people could have explained it all a bit better.

You run SteamVR beta AND this starts WMR automatically. which you should see in your Steam Library (you should see the WMR open on your desktop too).

At the bottom of your Windows Screen you should see a small windows named "STEAMVR beta 1.15.16", it is version 1.15.16 at the time of writing anyway!

I don't think the Registry hack is needed if running the G2. In SteamVR Settings > Developer > Click Set SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime - does the same thing without you having to edit the Registry. See below, this explains what I am waffling on about.

 

So this is what I have done - which is a total fail:

1. Started SteamVR beta
2. This kicked off Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR beta
3. Started MSFS from the Desktop Icon (the one installed way back in August) - raise a family with a member of the cleaning staff while you wait for it to load.
4. Once at the Welcome Screen in MSFS - Press LCTL-TAB to enter VR
5. The SteamVR window disappears.
6. No matter what Key-Combination I press, I cannot get the SteamVR Window back.
7. Exit the game - SteamVR has shut down. However, WMR is still running.
8. Opened the SteamVR Settings > Video - There is no MFS in the list.
9. Have a beer, scratch head. Look like a complete dumb word not allowed. Is SteamVR and WMR supposed to run alongside each other or what?

Thanks

1 hour ago, Tinribs said:

I know all this is very confusing R_T and I think people could have explained it all a bit better.

You run SteamVR beta AND this starts WMR automatically. which you should see in your Steam Library (you should see the WMR open on your desktop too).

At the bottom of your Windows Screen you should see a small windows named "STEAMVR beta 1.15.16", it is version 1.15.16 at the time of writing anyway!

I don't think the Registry hack is needed if running the G2. In SteamVR Settings > Developer > Click Set SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime - does the same thing without you having to edit the Registry. See below, this explains what I am waffling on about.

 

So this is what I have done - which is a total fail:

1. Started SteamVR beta
2. This kicked off Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR beta
3. Started MSFS from the Desktop Icon (the one installed way back in August) - raise a family with a member of the cleaning staff while you wait for it to load.
4. Once at the Welcome Screen in MSFS - Press LCTL-TAB to enter VR
5. The SteamVR window disappears.
6. No matter what Key-Combination I press, I cannot get the SteamVR Window back.
7. Exit the game - SteamVR has shut down. However, WMR is still running.
8. Opened the SteamVR Settings > Video - There is no MFS in the list.
9. Have a beer, scratch head. Look like a complete dumb word not allowed. Is SteamVR and WMR supposed to run alongside each other or what?

Thanks, I followed your advice, you are correct. With the G2 there is no need for the registry edit. Unfortunately, like you I am stuck wondering why MSFS does not appear in the dropdown list under video.

Think ill go have that beer. 

I should have noted that I have the Valve Index. One item I have different is my OpenXR Runtime is set to STEAMVR. I wonder if you click the button to 'Set SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime' if that would help - assuming you can change it back if it doesn't...?

11 hours ago, YoYo said:

I find it hard to believe 😉. When it is overcast with real weather, there is a difference of 10+ frames between High and Low in my Reverb. I think you maxed too much this all settings, even upscaling rendering but if 30-35 frames are ok then of course you have nothing to change 🙂 and enjoy the flight! 🙂

Agreed!

Spotty volumetric clouds on ultra are doable at high altitude when the sim doesn't need to render ground detail as much.

Start throwing overcast and layers on while on ground and it will surely have your FPS for brunch.🤣

24 minutes ago, ZoblebV8 said:

I should have noted that I have the Valve Index. One item I have different is my OpenXR Runtime is set to STEAMVR. I wonder if you click the button to 'Set SteamVR as OpenXR Runtime' if that would help - assuming you can change it back if it doesn't...?

I tried this. Still stuck without MSFS appearing in the dropdown list. (Using G2)