I have a very similar setup to this and it works really well for VR. The AP buttons are easy to use once you get a little practice. I do find the black flip switches a little hard to find in VR, so the only ones I use are the far left and far right ones. Besides that everything works great and enhances the VR experience immensely.
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Throttles and buttons are so easy to remember and control while in VR, youāll be fine. Donāt cancel your order it adds to the immersion.
I have the HP Reverb 2. At first I wasnāt sure if Iād stick with it or not, but now, a month later, I canāt put it down. Initially, I found the headset a bit too blurry for my taste. This was especially disappointing given that I saw a bunch of comments in the forums about the great resolution. The mistake was largely mine. There is a small slider on the bottom side of the headset, which is used to improve clarity based on your interpupillary distance (IPD). Well, I thought it was as simple as sliding it back and forth until you had the clearest image possible, but I was totally wrong. I saw a post in the forums that set me in the right direction. I had recently purchased computer glasses, so my IPD was right on my prescription. It is 68, which just happens to be the extreme upper point of the scale for the IPD (appears in Windows Mixed Reality Portal app). When I first moved the slider to the far right, the image became much blurrier than before, but then I also read how important it is to wear the unit properly. The key for me is to wear the back supports as close down to my neck as possible, and then I rotate the bottom of the headset toward my face, so the unit rests on my cheek bones. Iām not saying it was totally clear, I doubt any VR headset is these days, but there was a significant improvement, and it is extremely comfortable to wear the headset for at least a couple of hours at a time
My advice, no matter which headset you decide to go with, is to give it time. Donāt expect the images to look like your 2D version of MSFS. Today, I can tell you that I would describe what I see in my headset as different, but also so much better and true to the real world than the 2D version. For me, there is no going back. If your experience is half as good as mine, youāre going to look at this sim in a very different way.
Sorry, I tend to ramble. I hope you do try out the VR version, and I wish you well in selecting the right headset for you. Take it easy.
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Iād like to say a general thank you to all of you who responded to my original post. I must admit that I am a bit surprised, but also encouraged, by the consistency of your feedback. Immersion is obviously a top goal of any flight simmer, and you have convinced me to go through with getting the throttle quadrant. I already have the Honeycomb yoke, so I know Iāll be getting a quality product. Thanks again guys for your help.
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That looks nice. What are those stands? Are they supplied by Honeycomb?
They look like wheelstand pro, polish companyā¦ make stands for racing , flight siming etc. I had one for Xbox steering wheel.
Very good quality and well made, they ship internationally.
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Yep they are the wheel stand pro for the saitek yoke, but they work nicely with the honeycomb products as well. I initially bought one for the alpha and was blown away at the quality and ended up buying another when my bravo arrived. If youāre in need of something like this itās 100% worth it.
It also helps with clutter. I feed everything into one USB hub so I can easily move the setup out of the way when not in use.
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Cheers, guys. Iāll look into them.
Need feedback @SquarishBacon68 !
I also own a G2 and I can find a pretty good fit now but initially it wasnāt always the case. For pulling the back down as far as possible works but I have a small head so if I pull it right back I feel the headset is a little loose.
Interestingly though I used to wear the G2 on my cheaks because thatās how I had my CV1. Iāve found the G2 to be slightly different where I can point it down slightly so the bottom part is off my cheeks. I think itās definately worth experimenting with the angle on your face as I think this can provide a lot more clarity if you get it right.
Back to the topic, I hope youāve kept the bravo quadrant - I believe thatās customisable as well so you can match the order of throttle controls in the smaller GA planes, sound invaluable for VR, just need to memorise where things are but it will be totally worth it.
Personally for the rest - I know hand controllers are being worked on, however in the future Iād like to see hand tracking - I donāt see how picking up a controller and pointing it to a button as being any more immersive than moving a mouse cursor.
In truth, Iāve got knobs, buttons, sliders, pedals, dials, headsets, joysticks, etcā¦ everywhere. But when in VR, once synced with the cockpit, I can find things pretty quickly, and seldom reach for the mouse.
I am curious though, what things might change once the VR Controllers are supported.
Jim-Sim
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Motion controllers will probably be incompatible with this kind of setup.
VTOL VR has the best implementation of cockpit integration in my opinion. When I play that game, I want to sit on a small chair with adjustable armrests and nothing else around me. It gives me better immersion than any other sim. To be fair, VTOL is not really a sim, and it has fictional aircrafts custom made for VR. Still, I hope MSFS can copy at least some of the ideas.
The big sell for me is the trim wheel. So much easier to get the plane trimmed out using my real hand on the trim wheel.
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Imho the bravo will be a little harder to use in VR, at least the switches and the AP buttons as they are ābehindā the levers.
Others, like the CH throttle quadrant I use, have them below were they are much easier to find while blinded by the headset. I glued some small tape strips to the both middle ones so I can touch and feel wich button it is.
Have all my flaps, gear switch, altitude selector and so on there.
Probaly a similiar method will work on the bravo too.
An throttle quadrant is anyway an very useful addition in VR. The so called āimmersionā is much deeper with your hands on it. I wont miss it.
When I need quick mouse/typing action I use one of these and keep it within reach(on my lap)ā¦as I have no place to mount a mouse pad/area on my setup.
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This is where controllers, if implemented in a similar fashion as XP11, will help in my opinion: accessing all simulator options directly on the controllers without the need to popup a menu with the mouse, and without interrupting the flight. But letās see what they come up with in terms of āintegrationā and āergonomicsā first.
As a matter of fact Iāve been thinking about this since I got my Alpha Yoke and my low-cost Saitek Throttles (they are much better than the mouse or the small throttle lever of my FF2 though).
When I used to fly XP11 in VR with the FFB2, it was easy: grab the Index box (amazingly the right size for this), put the FF2 on top, and since it has all controls integrated (joy+throttle+rudder) I didnāt have to use anything else but the controllers, therefore, I could just rotate 90 deg on my chair from the desk and have ample space around me interacting with the cockpit switches with the controllers.
Now with the Alpha Yoke, the rudder pedals on the floor and the throttles, 2 of which are firmly attached to the desk, I realize there will be situations where using the controllers will make me hit the desk forgetting it is there in the action. In this case the mouse is practical, not more immersive though.
I like the solution posted by @CalmEspresso because you can place it anywhere around the desk like my Index box cheap solution, and be done with attaching/detaching the yoke and throttles every time.
@CalmEspresso:
what about the rigidity of the assembly when pushing the yoke with force for example?
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I donāt feel like anything could be quicker and more effective than a simple head aimed VR cockpit interaction pointer/crosshair that you could map to a yoke/stick trigger button.
No need to even reach for an awkward touch controller while your hands are full with a yoke/stick/throttle quadrant already.
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There have been a few users here on the forum that have attached this, or something similar, directly to their Alpha yoke.
[Edit: Here it is.]
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A virtual head tracked VR mouse pointer for MSFS?
I would love to have it. I could ditch my little Rii mini keyboard if so.
The stand with the yoke is very stable because your of your feet resting on the pedals and the weight of the pedals. The bravo stand is a little less stable without that, but I counteract that with a 15lb plate from my home gym resting where the pedals would be. With those things they are both very stable. I am sure itās not as good as a large desk, but Iād guess itās around 95% as stable. That stands are very high quality and made of heavy/sturdy materials. I think the 5% less stability honestly comes from playing on a carpet, and not the stand itself.
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+1, the most-used part of the Bravo!
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