Hi everyone. I am relatively new to MSFS and now I have an Oculus Question 2. I have managed to use Virtual Desktop with it so far. So here are some questions:

 

1. Can I use the link cable and run MSFS VR without Virtual Desktop? If so, what are the steps?

2. If I use Sidequest to change the resolution of the headset and then disconnect the cable, does that change stay active in the headset until the headset reboots? What about after a reboot?

3. I want to learn more about the Oculus Tray Tool. I have it installed but I need a good tutorial about using it, especially with MSFS.

4. Any links to the best Oculus Quest 2 /  MSFS settings and performance tuning would be greatly appreciated. I know there are lots of YouTube videos out there about it but it's hard, without help, to know which ones are worth listening to.

Thanks so much in advance for your help. I love this forum.

Not sure which virtual desktop you are referring to, there is the payware virtual desktop (for wireless) which I haven't used and the built in one for connecting to your desktop via the link cable.

If you are using the oculus application on your desktop there are options to set graphics preferences such as the hz 72,80,92.  72 is the default.

The other setting in the oculus application is the render resolution.  This defaults to a setting based on you system and has a large impact on you frame rates.  One has to restart the app (which knocks you out of vr for the desktop) for changes to take effect.

Oculus tray tool has preset setting which must be in place before starting the oculus app.  any changes one must restart the service.  This app has presets for different graphics cards (bottom menu) that can be changes and changing these requires a restart of the oculus service.  On the main page you can set the Default Super Sampling (huge impact on frames by the way)  and I don't think it's real time anymore and may require a restart of the service to take effect.  Asynchronous Space Warp is a frame limiter and can be helpful to limit frames (hz).  It also has a hud that you can switch on and off.

So basically you have to  start the try tool on the desktop, make changes there, enable the link in quest 2, that opens the oculus app. If making changes in the app you have to restart the app and re enable the link in the quest 2.

As far as what to set, that depends on your hardware.  I just recently bought a new system but I'll give both settings, one is low end the other high end:

 

Alienware R4 with GTX1070, i7 7820HK, 16 gb ram

Oculus App:  72hz, not sure of what render res I had but it was on the low end.

Tray Tool Settings: Default Super Sampling set to 0 (which means whatever value oculus has as the default)

ASW Mode: set to 18 hz.

On the Quest Link menu I have no settings (using defaults from the oculus debug tool).  

Everything else disabled except the ovr server priority which i have a above normal.

MSFS VR settings, Render resolution set to 80, all other settings set to either low, med, some high, texture res to ultra.  100 lod and 100 object detail.

Flew mostly bush flights and the performance hud had me between 15 and 20 fps. Stuttery, or shudders if you will.  Not fully smooth but did the job.

 

New System: i9 10800K, 3090 gpu, 32 gb ram.

Oculus App:  72hz, Render resolution set 2 notches down from max.  

Tray Tool Settings: Default Super Sampling set to 0 (which means whatever value oculus has as the default).  I've changed this to 1.1 and restarted and my performance dropped by about 10 fps.

ASW Mode: set to Auto.

Everything else disabled except the ovr server priority which i have as high.

On the Quest Link menu I have it set to low distortion, 3648 encode resolution and 500 bitrate.  

MSFS VR settings, Render Res at 100, most settings set to med to ultra, texture rest to ultra, 100 lod and 100 object detail.

Straight 36 hz.  No stutters or shudders, very smooth, cockpit very readable.  City flying (Philadelphia tested so far) or bush, no difference.

 

I've found the biggest impacts are the oculus app render resolution and the msfs render resolution, the Default Super Sampling also has a large impact.

In msfs, start low, 80 render resolution and low settings and then turn things up to see the impact.  I've always set Texture Resolution to either high or ultra, baring in mind this requires msfs restart to take effect.

Hope this helps, it's all very confusing.

 

Edited March 7, 20215 yr by slashed2

On 3/6/2021 at 2:27 AM, Rob G said:

1. Can I use the link cable and run MSFS VR without Virtual Desktop? If so, what are the steps?

The current Oculus implementation of OpenXR is sub-optimal, as such you better off with using Virtual Desktop and SteamVR OpenXR client.  So bottom line is this, don't bother with Oculus link.  I am in the same boat.  In fact, I shelved MSFS 2020 altogether right now because the VR experience is so bad with my Quest 2 with Oculus Link.  My household is busy, so the Virtual Desktop solution does not work for me because my traffics to the router is not the only one.

10 hours ago, slashed2 said:

Not sure which virtual desktop you are referring to, there is the payware virtual desktop (for wireless) which I haven't used and the built in one for connecting to your desktop via the link cable.

If you are using the oculus application on your desktop there are options to set graphics preferences such as the hz 72,80,92.  72 is the default.

The other setting in the oculus application is the render resolution.  This defaults to a setting based on you system and has a large impact on you frame rates.  One has to restart the app (which knocks you out of vr for the desktop) for changes to take effect.

Oculus tray tool has preset setting which must be in place before starting the oculus app.  any changes one must restart the service.  This app has presets for different graphics cards (bottom menu) that can be changes and changing these requires a restart of the oculus service.  On the main page you can set the Default Super Sampling (huge impact on frames by the way)  and I don't think it's real time anymore and may require a restart of the service to take effect.  Asynchronous Space Warp is a frame limiter and can be helpful to limit frames (hz).  It also has a hud that you can switch on and off.

So basically you have to  start the try tool on the desktop, make changes there, enable the link in quest 2, that opens the oculus app. If making changes in the app you have to restart the app and re enable the link in the quest 2.

As far as what to set, that depends on your hardware.  I just recently bought a new system but I'll give both settings, one is low end the other high end:

 

Alienware R4 with GTX1070, i7 7820HK, 16 gb ram

Oculus App:  72hz, not sure of what render res I had but it was on the low end.

Tray Tool Settings: Default Super Sampling set to 0 (which means whatever value oculus has as the default)

ASW Mode: set to 18 hz.

On the Quest Link menu I have no settings (using defaults from the oculus debug tool).  

Everything else disabled except the ovr server priority which i have a above normal.

MSFS VR settings, Render resolution set to 80, all other settings set to either low, med, some high, texture res to ultra.  100 lod and 100 object detail.

Flew mostly bush flights and the performance hud had me between 15 and 20 fps. Stuttery, or shudders if you will.  Not fully smooth but did the job.

 

New System: i9 10800K, 3090 gpu, 32 gb ram.

Oculus App:  72hz, Render resolution set 2 notches down from max.  

Tray Tool Settings: Default Super Sampling set to 0 (which means whatever value oculus has as the default).  I've changed this to 1.1 and restarted and my performance dropped by about 10 fps.

ASW Mode: set to Auto.

Everything else disabled except the ovr server priority which i have as high.

On the Quest Link menu I have it set to low distortion, 3648 encode resolution and 500 bitrate.  

MSFS VR settings, Render Res at 100, most settings set to med to ultra, texture rest to ultra, 100 lod and 100 object detail.

Straight 36 hz.  No stutters or shudders, very smooth, cockpit very readable.  City flying (Philadelphia tested so far) or bush, no difference.

 

I've found the biggest impacts are the oculus app render resolution and the msfs render resolution, the Default Super Sampling also has a large impact.

In msfs, start low, 80 render resolution and low settings and then turn things up to see the impact.  I've always set Texture Resolution to either high or ultra, baring in mind this requires msfs restart to take effect.

Hope this helps, it's all very confusing.

 

All good stuff. Could I just say though, that you don’t need to keep restarting the Oculus app, as it can handle the changes on the fly. To test this, have the OTT app open on the desktop, then go to Oculus Home. Once there, if you look out at the view, the leaves on the trees give the best indication, and then start changing the Pixel Density on the OTT app, you will see the changes in clarity instantly.

Edited March 7, 20215 yr by Bilbosmeggins

On 3/6/2021 at 3:27 PM, Rob G said:

3. I want to learn more about the Oculus Tray Tool. I have it installed but I need a good tutorial about using it, especially with MSFS.

4. Any links to the best Oculus Quest 2 /  MSFS settings and performance tuning would be greatly appreciated. I know there are lots of YouTube videos out there about it but it's hard, without help, to know which ones are worth listening to.

 

3. Oculus tray tool causes problems with Quest 2 and VR. In P3D VR, it's an automatic crash when I use it. Works fine with Rift S. The main reason you use it is for the supersampling function, which you'd be unlikely to use with the Quest 2 in MSFS anyway (it's already struggling to push the pixels that you have).

4. People tend to overcomplicate things. Just start with the default VR settings in MSFS, and then tweak if you want to. The render scale is the main one that affects performance, it controls the number of pixels that will be displayed. My default is 80%, and I normally try and get it up to 100% so I'm actually getting to see all the VR pixels that my headset can display!