VR with Fenix

[Zimmerbz 168]

I recently got my hands on a VR headset (Oculus Quest 2) and I am thinking of trying it out in MSFS.  I have never flown in VR.  I have a few questions before I go down that road...

- Is this headset compatible with MSFS, and if so, based on my PC specs in my sig, will the experience be good flying with the Fenix?

- How easy is it to set up VR?  Do I simply download some software from Oculus on my PC, turn on my headset and then turn on VR within MSFS?

- Are the images / graphics as clear and good as when not in VR?

- I have used TrackIR in the past and felt that any little movement of my head caused there to be too much movement on the screen?  Is VR more stable in that sense?

- Assuming everything works, can I still click on buttons in the VC with my mouse or do you have to use the VR pointer thing?  

Thanks!  I guess i just want a little more info before I go down this road to see if it will be worth it.

 

[JacquesBrel 644]

Most of your questions I will really just answer: "Just try it and see for yourself."

55 minutes ago, Zimmerbz said:

Is this headset compatible with MSFS

The Quest 2 is the most popular and best-selling VR headset on the market. So yes, it is compatible.

55 minutes ago, Zimmerbz said:

based on my PC specs in my sig, will the experience be good flying with the Fenix?

Probably. But VR is a very subjective experience where "good" for one person can easily be "not good" for another. You need to try it and see for yourself.

56 minutes ago, Zimmerbz said:

How easy is it to set up VR?

The Oculus software will guide you through the basic setup of the Quest 2. When it comes to MSFS, well... It is the most demanding VR game by a mile. It is easy enough to put on the headset and start VR in MSFS. It is by no means easy to configure and test all setup parameters to the point where you get the most performance and smoothness in MSFS VR.

I have spent perhaps 50 hours testing, tweaking, reading, resarching, learning until I have reached a point where MSFS VR is running acceptably - for me. Others might get there faster. Others might never get MSFS VR running the way they like.

The two most important setup tips:
1. Turn off Asynchronous Spacewarp. It can work well in a lot of other VR games. In MSFS it ususally doesn't.
2. Install OpenXR Toolkit and read the whole user guide from start to finish.

1 hour ago, Zimmerbz said:

Are the images / graphics as clear and good as when not in VR?

Depends on what monitor resolution you have. Just try it and see for yourself.

1 hour ago, Zimmerbz said:

I have used TrackIR in the past and felt that any little movement of my head caused there to be too much movement on the screen?  Is VR more stable in that sense?

Yes. But just try it and see for yourself.

1 hour ago, Zimmerbz said:

can I still click on buttons in the VC with my mouse

Yes.

[Zimmerbz 168]

2 hours ago, JacquesBrel said:

Most of your questions I will really just answer: "Just try it and see for yourself."

The Quest 2 is the most popular and best-selling VR headset on the market. So yes, it is compatible.

Probably. But VR is a very subjective experience where "good" for one person can easily be "not good" for another. You need to try it and see for yourself.

The Oculus software will guide you through the basic setup of the Quest 2. When it comes to MSFS, well... It is the most demanding VR game by a mile. It is easy enough to put on the headset and start VR in MSFS. It is by no means easy to configure and test all setup parameters to the point where you get the most performance and smoothness in MSFS VR.

I have spent perhaps 50 hours testing, tweaking, reading, resarching, learning until I have reached a point where MSFS VR is running acceptably - for me. Others might get there faster. Others might never get MSFS VR running the way they like.

The two most important setup tips:
1. Turn off Asynchronous Spacewarp. It can work well in a lot of other VR games. In MSFS it ususally doesn't.
2. Install OpenXR Toolkit and read the whole user guide from start to finish.

Depends on what monitor resolution you have. Just try it and see for yourself.

Yes. But just try it and see for yourself.

Yes.

Thanks.  This is all good info.  Looks like I'll just have to give it a try!

[Bozdog 63]

You must run the  Oculus software before switching to vr in msfs.  Also depending on what you have been running before sometimes it’s a stutter fest , reboot and its smooth as silk.   I could never go back to 2d.  I am not a purist setting up flight plans etc  I just get in a prop and enjoy the view   Love vr !  I remember when hills were just 3 lines made into a triangle. In 10 years who knows what we will have in pur own homes  if it keeps getting better like this 😀

 

 

 

[Bozdog 63]

If you have problems post here people will help .  I find best to use a good quality link caBle to connect headset , not via wi fi, but that’s  just my experience 

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Bozdog

[andreh 125]

Go easy on the MSFS graphics settings. They will have to be signficantly lower than your 2D settings.

A lot simmers push settings way above what you would be able to see in real life in terms of seeing detail in the distance, for instance, to be able to see scenery details far off in the distance in outside views, which would be totally unrealistic in real life. A rule of thumb is therefore, if you can't see it in real life, no need to do so in MSFS in VR either.

Many settings also only bring marginal quality improvements, at the price of severe performance penalties. Rule of thumb, If you can't see the difference, keep the lower setting.

I'm also not convinced that a previous poster's comment about ASW is correct. I use it at 30hz on the Rift S and it works just fine. Different headset, but an Oculus nevertheless but I suppose that could be the difference. 

The Fenix itself works fine in VR, provided that you don't overdo it with the graphics settings. You can use the mouse to control buttons and knobs. It works just fine. I don't know if VR controllers are supported, but you don't need them, at least. I personally prefer the mouse anyway.

Edited October 21, 2022 by andreh

[Lange_666 167]

2 hours ago, andreh said:

I'm also not convinced that a previous poster's comment about ASW is correct. I use it at 30hz on the Rift S and it works just fine. Different headset, but an Oculus nevertheless but I suppose that could be the difference.

Same here (was thinking the same thing).

[avhpilot 156]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:06 PM, Lange_666 said:

Same here (was thinking the same thing).

I on the other hand, do need to disable ASW (sometimes with, sometimes without the 45 FPS limit) in the debug tool in order to get rid of forward/backward shaking effect.

Quest 2 via (official) link cable to 5800X3D, 32 Gb RAM, RTX3090

 

 

 

[JacquesBrel 644]

I will admit that my advice about ASW off was worded a bit to brief and categorical. My intent was just to provide some very quick, basic starting advice, but it should probably have been worded as: "Experiment with the ASW settings, and try it without the default ASW Auto setting."

In my experience, with my system and my Quest 2, ASW Auto doesn't work well. Because the framerate in MSFS VR often fluctuates, ASW Auto will often fluctuate between On/Off and ASW High/Low (ie ASW45 and ASW30), which causes jitters and stutters when the auto setting change. My VR experience became a whole lot better when I set ASW to ASW Off.

However, if I am in a large city airport with lots of traffic like KLAX where MSFS VR is really brought to its knees, then ASW30 often works OK if my framerate can stay around 1/3 of the refresh rate. But once I am airborne and up where performance isn't as demanding, then I switch back to ASW Off.

So that at least is my experience, and how I prefer to set ASW.