Improvements in VR for 4.2 - great progress!

[whitav8]

For those of us who are really excited by VR flight simulation, the Native mode VR improvements in P3Dv4.2 are very useful:
1) The reflection of sunlight on water is correct for stereo now and flying low over simulated waves is really fun
2) Supposedly - I haven't really verified it - the stereo for clouds is correct (still spinning though)
3) One thing that wasn't mention in the Release Notes is that textured ground between taxiways is stereo correct now - it seemed to be 5 or 6 feet below the surface before
4) The FPS improvement with Nvidia single pass stereo is terrific - even though AMD cards don't support that. I haven't seen any peculiarities although others have reported some artifacts. The speed improvement is still probably not as high as I would like because my 4.2 Ghz 6-core CPU still just isn't enough to get 90 fps but 45 looks pretty fine.
5) There is support for Steam VR for non-oculus VR and WMR users. (I can't test that out though)

I'm not yet sure about what the default Super Sampling (if any) is - I usually use a setting of 1.5 with Oculus Tray Tool. The default image just looks clearer to me than before. It would be nice if we could set SuperSampling directly on the VR tab.

As we move toward better VR HMD resolution, I really appreciate the effort by Lockheed-Martin to make support for VR a solid, robust part of the core product. While we have to run with reduced graphic settings, the feeling of being inside the cockpit is just a lot of fun.

Dave W.

[BG2518]

Bravo Dave !!

BG2518-Bob.

[Kayla Dillon]

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate all our users' comments and always try to improve Prepar3D as much as possible.

Keep us updated on your VR experience.

Regards,
Kayla

[guit32]

Yes I confirm : I can fly in VR now without flyinside ! It is way better than in 4.1
Debug the one single pass mode and it will be terrific (see miscellanous)
Thank you Lockeed !

[Joby33y]

Great comments and I agree, its a big improvement.

However, I just reinstalled 4.2 to a completely clean state, since I thought I previously had done something to corrupt the view I see in VR :
While taxiing at certain airports and set the VR mode to "Single Pass", then slowly move your head around....I'm seeing odd, random scenery artifacts (like random floating roof buildings, large random pieces of buildings, disappearing jetways, etc) flash on and off the view depending on where you are looking. They flash on & off as you move your head around. And this only occurs in Single Pass mode, which I use frequently due to the excellent performance and correct water rendering.

I am running a clean version of 4.2 (not one single add-on as of now for testing...) and I can repeat the behavior. A good test airport is KLAX, start at any gate and taxi around in SP mode and see the artifacts and flashing jetways. It also occurs at other airports. It DOES not occur in normal stereo mode, nor does it occur in-flight.

Anyone else ? Any suggestions?

8700k OC 4.6GHz, 16GB DDR4 3200MHz, Oculus Rift, Win 10, nVidia 1080Ti.

thanks,
JB

[cobrakev]

In single pass VR using Oculus rift im getting severy anomalies and warping of airport buildings and terminals. i was just at KSPS and there was a huge pair of headsets laying on the ground I have a picture but not sure if I can upload it

[whitav8]

Just for fun, try setting Single Pass mode and then exit. Then restart P3D and see if you see the same number of SIngle Pass artifacts and water reflection issues. I get more problems if I startup in Stereo mode ??
Dave W.

[Hippo]

I think the following functionality improvements are URGENTLY needed to make VR usable in practice:

- a 'quick zoom' function, to be able to magnify e.g. small text on intruments
- the ability to unbind the cursor from head motion (i.e. mouse only to move the cursor)
- a kneeboard in VR for checklists, charts, etc

Having said that, I must thank you for all your efforts as VR is running very nicely now.

[MartinM]

The cursor to manipulate the switches is really not good. Sometime it hovers. Sometime it is invisible.
Performance is still not really top notch. I locked frames a 35 in 2D mode. I barely get 20 fps in VR single pass mode.

[RobertM]

Very encouraging post on VR. I borrowed an HTC Vive recently and found the experience incredible but I have stopped using it because I the resolution is so bad I can’t read any of the instruments without leaning so far forward my headset is literally touching my screen.

I really enjoyed th VR experience but if I can’t read my instruments, I can’t make any serious attempt at flying.

Do you have the same issues with resolution ?

I actually found ‘stepping out’ of the cockpit and standing on the runway edge really amazing and looking at ‘my plane’ - very strange experience but great fun although my beloved PMDG 737 the cockpit and nose are there but unfortunately most of the fuselage is missing. Anyone know why this is ? The small GA aircraft are fine.

I am waiting for the new generation rifts and vives before I decide to invest in VR if the resolution issues improve.

Regards
Rob

[whitav8]

@RobertM,
As far as reading the instruments (us VR folks admit that we want better resolution for sure ), you have to first make sure that your head (eyepoint) is just in front of your seat when you look straight down. Frequently you are too far back and need to use the CTRL+Backspace or whatever keys to get yourself into proper position. I assign buttons on my HOTAS joystick to do that instead of using the keyboard. The other issue is to make sure you have IPD set correctly and your headset in the "sweet spot". Then for even better clarity, we use the Oculus Tray Tool to set SuperSampling at 1.5 or better. These were things you probably didn't know about when you borrowed the Vive.
Also the choice of aircraft makes a big difference. The 737 or any airliner in general with EFIS displays instead of "steam gauges" is harder to read. A more basic aircraft like the 172 or the A36 Bonanza (but with 4xSSAA AA settings) really works well.

Dave W.

[Vince00]

I agree with much of what is stated here already. Great improvement over past implementation.
- Supersampling in the Menu would be great
- Kneeboard so I can bring up A2A popup windows, checklists etc
- Ability to ZOOM in, similar to flyinside is a must, playing with the eye location currently but need to map like 8 buttons

Besides those I am almost able to use it start to finish for a great experience, still only a test sample for me without the above zoom and ability to see my enlarged GPS etc.

[powayjoe]

Great comments and I agree, its a big improvement.

However, I just reinstalled 4.2 to a completely clean state, since I thought I previously had done something to corrupt the view I see in VR :
While taxiing at certain airports and set the VR mode to "Single Pass", then slowly move your head around....I'm seeing odd, random scenery artifacts (like random floating roof buildings, large random pieces of buildings, disappearing jetways, etc) flash on and off the view depending on where you are looking. They flash on & off as you move your head around. And this only occurs in Single Pass mode, which I use frequently due to the excellent performance and correct water rendering.

I am running a clean version of 4.2 (not one single add-on as of now for testing...) and I can repeat the behavior. A good test airport is KLAX, start at any gate and taxi around in SP mode and see the artifacts and flashing jetways. It also occurs at other airports. It DOES not occur in normal stereo mode, nor does it occur in-flight.

Anyone else ? Any suggestions?

8700k OC 4.6GHz, 16GB DDR4 3200MHz, Oculus Rift, Win 10, nVidia 1080Ti.

thanks,
JB

See my post under Misc it’s a known issue and they are working on it

http://www.prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic ... 6&t=128492

Joe

[captflyby]

As of 03-13-2018

i7 32 gig SSD Nvidia 1080Ti Win 10 64bit all updates.
P3D v4.2 updated.
Using VRS F/A 18E & Tacpack all updated for P3D v4.2

Discovered VR - got an HTC VIVE and will NEVER go back to flat screen simming!

With that said, as P3D v4.0 came out, tried the VR and it was not working right.
It CAN be done right - right out of the box:
1. New flight sim program (don't remember the name right now) - flawless plug & play VR - nothing to add - works perfect.
2. DCS - perfect VR.

I had to stop using P3D because I got tired of it indiscriminently locking up on me. Takes a long time to prep and takeoff a modeled 777 just to have the program close for "some unkown reason" yet to be discovered.

Came back to it last night (about a year now - maybe slightly less).
Updated v4.0 to v4.2
Updated my VRS F-18 to v4.2
Tried to fly in VR.

I managed to fly a few times before the program just would not open any longer. Crashes consistently on startup.

But, from what I did see, significant VR improvement - not enough yet for me to return to P3D, but progress is being made.

Suggestions:
1. Take out the "mono" option. Those of us who use VR, at least me, use it for the 3D immersion. Poke out one eye and you have an uncomfortable, sweaty close up flat screen monitor. Much better to use one of my 55" in cockpit if I'm going to do that.

2. When I twist my head to the right or left, the entire VR cockpit rotates with my head. That does not happen in real life. Cockpit should remain stationary while my head moves.

3. Need a keyboard function (that can be mapped to a joystick) for recentering the VR headset view. And the centering must improve - it does not center, just moves it in a different direction. You cannot center in VR if you have to take your VR off to find the drop down menu to activate with your mouse.

4. Need a zoom feature. This is handy for seeing up close, a small dial that cannot otherwise be read.

5. Also, when I twist my head to the side, my 3D vision "separated" into two distiguishable views, overlapping each other. Neither view useable.

That is all I notice before P3D started failing to initialize.
Back on the shelf for another year until things improve.

Lockheed Martin is a multi billion dollar company, employing 10s of thousands of top notch programmers - for the real aircraft. This sim can be done right, I have faith in you guys...but just like I wouldn't fly the real thing with the software glitching, you cannot train on training software that is down 90% + of the time (at least for me).

Thanks for listening.

[BrianU]

1. Don't take out the mono option, it works the best if your simulating real flying and it works very smooth.
2. There is something wrong here this does not happen for me at all using native VR.
3. There is a keyboard function for that, called reset eye point. Better...Chaseplane
4. Chaseplane
5. I have not seen this in native VR yet but I'm using Oculus.

I highly recommend chaseplane, it will completely enhance your VR experience.
The superbug works amazing and smooth with my set up which is high end, in mono and stereoscopic views.
I'd recommend FlyInside, but it doesn't work with TacPac.

Brian