Title says it all, I started using onboard FPV video cameras on my R/C models ten years ago and that evolved into head tracking Fatshark goggles and full telemetry with HUD and variometers etc. In short I fly a lot of fixed wing electric powered planes and gliders as well as multirotor drones, always using (2D) headtracking headsets with corrective inserts from Germany, as I wear glasses. I had a PPL but a heart condition grounded me. Flew mostly gliders. I like the immersion of flying a real model plane, but miss the 3D…and you can’t fly too far.
So, thinking about getting into VR with MSFS. Currently using a 32" 1440p monitor and TrackIR. Flew the Spitfire last night on my 55" Panasonic Viera 3D TV, using 2D to 3D conversion and it worked pretty well, all things considered. First time I’d tried that and well, I like 3D.
So I have the money for a G2 headset, but I have narrow set eyes (57mm separation) and I wear glasses (I’m near 70). Oculus Quest 2 or G2 at twice the price? Any suggestions or just keep on reading the threads and stop wasting people’s time?
Check your motherboard first, the Reverb G2 has been having issues with the X570 chipset, so you might get more hassle than it’s worth for now. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPReverb/comments/jvd61a/issues_the_amd_x570_were_investigating_this/
Reverb G1 is one to consider for detail and resolution, but that would be used, so could be a problem. You probably just need to work your way through the various youtube videos, there are plenty out there that specifically test MSFS in VR.
Once you do get it sorted though, there’s no going back, you’ll love it.
Thanks. As a matter of fact I do have an X570 motherboard, though AMD is working on some issues with the latest Ryzens such as USB devices playing up and a fix will be out in a couple of weeks via a chipset driver update, which the mobo makers then have to integrate into a BIOS flash…no idea though if that is part of any issues with the G2.
I love flying models via a headtracking headset, even in 2D (3D is possible for r/c models, but needs two cameras, two transmitters and receivers and all sorts of hassles). Anyway, with Covid I haven’t been out to the the club in a year. So I miss that hit.
VR in a flight sim is looking good for me, even if not all the time.
I was just telling my sons how wonderful the VR would be for pilots who have lost their medical. I am totally amazed by it. However I have found it to be awfully fiddlie.
Long story short I bought the quest 2 and was trying to use with an i5 9600k, Vega 56, and 32GB. That just wanting cutting it for me. So I bit the bullet and got a ryzen 5800x and Radeon 6800xt. Night and day performance!
I too where glasses and I like how quest 2 has 3 eye settings to help adjust for people with different eye spacing.
For me I find it works best using virtual desktop with WiFi router in the same room. Link cable just isn’t up to snuff. I think you will love the realism so I wish you the best getting it set up properly!
Thanks for your input. I’m surprised the link cable sucks on the quest 2 for MSFS. But my WiFi router is right on my desk next to my gaming rig, so no biggie if that works better.
May bite the bullet, as that flight in 3D with the Spitty in and out of the clouds on the TV and then down on the deck flat out was epic fun, same as it is flying an r/c model Spitty and cutting grass with the prop in front of the guys and turning my head to see them give me the finger, lol. VR is great.
You think the quest 2 is up to scratch for MSFS compared to the G2? the resolution difference is not that great and so it could be the more sensible choice. I’ll still fly 2D with TrackIR and all the peripherals like my alpha yoke and bravo quadrant for some stuff, like tubeliners, but I love VFR and low level stuff, as well as aerobatics and just the sheer joy of flight.
Hey, I used to do a lot of FPV - I even made a eurofighter with cockpit, animated controls and a HUD which was a lot of fun to fly.
VR in MSFS is different… in many ways it’s better (such as much bigger FoVs from even the cheaper VR headsets, stereoscopic 3D as standard without needing to mess around with larger and heavier dual camera/transmitter setups, fly anywhere in the world without restriction, high fidelity interactable cockpits etc), but it doesn’t get the adrenaline pumping in the same way as eg flying the eurofighter did.
If you enjoy flying FPV you will 100% enjoy flying in VR but one doesn’t really replace the other yet imo. For pure thrills FPV is well ahead, for general enjoyment and wonder, perhaps VR is the winner.
I own a G2 but if I was just looking to get into VR I wouldn’t hesitate at getting a Quest 2 to try out as long as you have no particularly strong feelings about facebook and their privacy concerns.
I have a G2 and love it. I also have pupil distance (IPD) that is quite narrow but setting the headset to its lowest setting worked for me. You can always try the G2 and you have 30 days from HP to send it back. I agree too that because VR is only a few months old on MSFS there is some fiddling and trial and error for your specific rig to get it where you like it. Its clear that MSFS is not yet optimized for 2D and 3D usage on how it uses CPU cores and the GPU so I expect it will get better over time. I was totally overwhelmed the first time I tried it how you really feel like you in the cockpit. Most folks really love it if they can get a smooth 30 FPS and there are a few YouTube guys (VR Flight Sim Guy is one of them) who have done a lot of videos showing their settings for the graphics card, VR software and for the sim. Oh, and I also bought the lens inserts for my G2 since I wear glasses and it’s helped with comfort and even helped a bit with my field of view too (I bought from widmovr, google G2 or Oculus prescription lens inserts…widmovr had good customer service on a question I had and they ship quickly, weeks sooner than the other company I found). Also, the VR subsection of this board is really helpful. There are lots of posts specific to the G2 and also to the Oculus so you can see real use cases from others with similar hardware. Good luck.
Thanks guys. Just got off the 3D TV flying the Spitfire again for over an hour and yeah that was pretty darn good with TrackIR and the 3D glasses on…man, what a sweet, sweet plane that is. Pity 3D TV is dead now and that there is no option for MSFS to port to one properly.
Will gather more info and definitely get me some VR goodness. Flying real planes, however small, is a real rush, but VR on this admittedly buggy early days sim I think will round out things for me while I wait out the pandemic and my vaccination, so as to get back to the R/C club.
Did some more research and watched lots of YouTube videos and decided I like the better resolution of the G2, despite some probs with X570 Mobo’s (for which a fix will be out in April). The G2 was on special here and so ordered one just now. Fingers crossed.
I got the G2 about 3weeks ago and love it! My PC is Intel based and haven’t had any issues. Graphics card is the nvidia 1080 and settings for VR are a little finicky. But overall I like it. When you do get VR, stay seated and don’t walk around to check out the cockpit (might walk into something )
I have an ASUS x570 MB/R7 3700x/32gb Za mem/RX6800 xt (and G2 purchased in December with WIDMOVR precription lenses) working just fine since using a USB adapter for the USB-c without issue since Update 3. Just flew an ULTRA dusk flight from KASE - KTEX in the 172 ! the ONLY issue I have with flying VR now in MSFS … is that my 1440p 32" curved monitor … is just wasted now as it never gets used.
Once you go VR(and MSFS is working on your rig) , it’s SO HARD to fly any other way !
My advice … go for it .. YOLO !
Oh believe me, I already know that one. When I first flew r/c model planes in First Person View wearing headtracking goggles I fell over on the first turn after take off. The monkey gallery behind me at the club went wild. I quickly bought a fold out camping chair for flying planes and drones with goggles on, lol.
It was flying the MK IX Spitfire that really made me want to pull the trigger on the G2, I got be in VR to get the full effect. Now I’ve just got to fiddle around with settings for my 6800XT to get things right for VR. More thread reading, lol.
I paid the tenner to sit in the cockpit of the Spitfire at the RAF museum at Hendon, and after having sat in the DCS World Spit for hours, it was a completely familiar place to be. The FlyingIron one is lovely too, it’s just like being in the real thing. Only thing you miss in VR is touching things in the cockpit, and the MSFS one has no pilot model, which is a bit weird, but to be honest you don’t care, when you look out and see that roundel on the wing as you fly over the Dover cliffs, you are in a happy place.
)