Any interest in a tool that lets you override VR cockpit position?

Hey Everyone,

I was curious if there is any interest in a tool that lets you override the default cockpit position in VR. There are quite a few planes whose default position is not great in VR (Eg: Volocity :smiling_face_with_tear:).

There are currently two ways to fix this:

  1. Update InitialXYZ property in the aircraft’s cameras.cfg file.

  2. Setup a custom camera and save using Left Alt + Left Ctrl + 0 - 9. And then press Left Alt + 0 - 9 anytime you fly the aircraft.

I currently use the second approach and it has been working fine for me. However, there is that extra step of switching to the custom camera anytime I fly the plane.

I could write a tool, that basically does the first approach with a more user friendly UI. And I can also set it up so that the InitialXYZ values for the aircraft are pulled from a config file stored in the cloud (makes future updates easy) .

Is there any interest for such a tool?

Thanks!

16 Likes

It seems interesting

yes please do it if you can
 it will be very usefull
thx

Just some questions:

Why would i use an app to set my head position when i can just hit a keybind in game that does the same thing? I don’t need to download and install anything and i don’t need to learn how to use it or potentially troubleshoot it. How would this app benefit me?

What about if/when Asobo eventually fixes the default head position for VR players? How would your app benefit those that may rely on it to keep their custom views?

Can you automate this at all? Bitches love automation.

Does this need to be exclusively for VR players? I can see flatscreen players using this to manage their custom views too

There is probably around 10+ aircraft whose cockpit position currently clips through the seat, or is too far away from the cockpit or just plain wrong, so this tool would allow you to fix this via a button press. The other option is, go into each cockpit and fix it yourself and save to a custom view. Which honestly is a fine option and is what I do currently, but can be tedious. And you will have to enable this custom cockpit position everytime you load into a plane.

If the tool is overwriting the cameras.cfg file for the aircraft, then I think the Asobo fix should overwrite it, so you would get that update. Need to test though to be sure.

I can, but I do think it is important for the user to pick which ones they want to overwrite so they are aware which aircraft’s config has changed.

This is not to manage your custom views, it is only to set the default cockpit position. So if there is a benefit for non-VR players to be able to do that, the tool should be able to do that.

That would be very generous of you; I am in​:heart::+1:

I too would be interested in this. Not long ago purchased the Aerosoft Twin Otter and the default VR position is in the centre as if you’re on a ‘jump seat’. Not ideal and a tool like this to show you the co-ordinates would be fantastic. I’m still wrestling with it to get it right!

I use the POV Hat to move forward/aft/left/right so i can get up to the instrument panel or move back for the sideviews.

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This would be good. It’s frustrating that Asobo did not include such basic and essential VR functionality in the game. Other seated VR games do this easily in the game. 3 axes to click-click-click into place to user’s liking for your head position (per-vehicle and per-view if applicable).

I, for one, would be interested. I personally find the default seating position in the Longitude to be rather awkward, especially in VR. You appear to be too forward hugging the yoke and your head very close to the inoperative HUD. Again, I have been using a custom camera position, but you have to keep reselecting it because whenever you press the re-centre key, it goes back to the original position, not to your custom camera.

Too many steps just to get the seating position right in VR in some planes, so such a tool would be helpful to some of us.

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Yes sir!!
And thanks in advance.

Yes, would be very much appreciated indeed.

Thanks for responding everyone. I agree, even with the custom camera setup, it is a hassle to do it every single time you fly in VR.

With so many new planes coming out and this continuing to be an issue, I would like to start working on this tool. I will keep everyone posted about my progress here.

6 Likes

I would use it
 every time I get in the Fenix A320 my head is on the ceiling.

Here’s some super early progress on the tool.

5 Likes

Hi FriedTofy1275, this looks fab progress.

One thing I’m curious about though - will there be any way (or is there any way currently) of discerning the co-ordinates currently in use while sat in the sim?

The thing I find the most vexxing is the trial and error involved in determining the correct position without knowing the exact values!

Incidentally the following post helped in terms of identifying a rough reference measurement:

Best Regards

Thank you!

There is and it is actually not really documented well anywhere. Here’s is how I go about tweaking the cockpit camera position.

  1. Load into the plane cockpit.

  2. Adjust the camera position using ALT + arrow keys on your keyboard.

  3. Once you have a camera position you are happy with, save it to a custom camera view using CTRL + ALT + 0 - 9 .

  4. Go to C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\SimObjects\Airplanes[airplane name]\cameras.cfg file and you should find the “InitialXyz” in there as shown below. That’s the value you just adjusted.

image

  1. Close MSFS.

  2. Plug the new “InitialXyz” into the source camera config file found here (This is a different file from the one in step 4)

C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Community[airplane name]\SimObjects\Airplanes[airplane name]\cameras.cfg .

  1. Start MSFS and you will notice the default cockpit position is now the new “InitialXyz”.

Hope this helps!

4 Likes

Brilliant, thanks for this - extremely useful info. I just wish MS had simply given us a togglable readout accessible from the sim, but I suppose you would still have to transcribe it, so at least that’s done for you :grinning:

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Yeah, the ideal scenario is we don’t have to do any of this and planes have a decent cockpit position in VR to begin with. But, VR is still new to a lot of 3rd party devs, I think eventually it will get a lot better. In the meantime, I am hoping with this tool it is a one click fix.

Also, for anyone curious, this is the spreadsheet I pull the position override data from.

It is all dummy data for now for testing purposes. I will eventually be updating this with the planes that need the override and I am hoping the community can also help me populate this for planes that I don’t own.

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