The VR headset - can you see anything around you, or is it 100% the view inside the visor? The reason I ask is that I’ve got a Logitech Radio and Multi-panel on top of my Honeycomb Bravo, as well as three FIP gauges on top of my Honeycomb Alpha.
VR takes my entire field of view. That’s the point. So I can’t see anything else. You could probably develop muscle memory for your setup. AP buttons would be difficult, but possible I guess…
This is varies from person to person. I am mildly prone to car sickness, and I’m sure to get queasy if I try to read a book or a phone in the car as a passenger. No problem driving ever. Standing VR with smooth motion was getting me a bit queasy after one hour initially. But it quickly developed to hours without a problem. I never use any VR aids, i.e. snap “teleport” movement, snap turns. I only played with smooth turns and smooth movement, and that’s what gets you nauseated the most. Sitting VR is much better in those terms. But there are no guarantees. It’s individual. Motion platform feels natural so I don’t feel any motion sickness while using it in MSFS. However I can only take 6-8 rides in Epic Rollercoasters and I’m done. But that’s extreme. I can only do a few on a real rollercoaster too.
I suggest you buy VR where you can return it, try it and see. If you’re OK in a sim, try standing VR. If your OK in standing VR - you’re golden. Motion platform is definitely not worse.
I definitely got used to VR over the first month of owning it, playing Half-Life Alyx and X-Plane. X-Plane was never a problem (didn’t have motion then). So it does get better. There’s even a term for it, it’s called “VR legs”. You just start from small sessions and then slowly increase time.
Also, my rig has a potentiometer that directly scales all movement, so I can tone it down or up to full as I wish. Usually it’s on full (all full in this video).
Aha! Thank you so much @RomanDesign for the nice reply. I have one friend nearby I believe that has a VR headset right now. I need to bother him to try it out soon!
Your DIY rig is very cool. I don’t mind tinkering with things, and producing it myself would certainly cost a lot less. Thankfully folks like you, the DIY group you mentioned, and other nutballs like Authenti Kit exist This is truly an amazing time to be a flight simulator fan, isn’t it?
I’ve found over the last month or so that while I absolutely detest programming, I can do a little scripting. (shhh, don’t tell my brain they’re related) I picked up SPAD.neXt, and in a bid to force myself to learn it, went into my MSFS control setups, and applied a scorched earth policy. I then made blank profiles there (which I later found I needed to prevent extraneous inputs) and started my journey. I’ve been working on the PMDG DC-6. Learning those ROTOR BRAKE variables has been a bit of a challenge, but a fun one when I get it right! I’m hoping that something like building my own motion rig / VR setup would be similar.
My control boxes are made with MobiFlight, which is free and quite user-friendly. At the core, no programming skills is required, everything is GUI-based. But of course to configure it for your board you need to learn how it works. Some more complicated features need a bit of scripting. It can also get inputs from joysticks and use them. That’s how I programmed my reverse thrust lever axes behavior. It flashed its cstom firmware on Arduino Mega board. It can also output to all kinds of devices, people buld real-size cockpits with it. There’s a site with searcheable database with all variables already for all planes, including PMDG weird ROTOR BRKE ones, with code samples.
There are searchable and classified parameters for virtually all stock and 3rd party aircraft. Code samples are for MobiFlight obviously, but the variables should be the same SimConnect variables, judging from your ROTOR BRAKE reference. Here’s a typical 737 entry. Note that it’s an INPUT - in MobiFlight context inputs are what the software gets from your control (encoder, button, pot, axis) and passes to MSFS, and output is what it gets from MSFS and outputs to your hardware gauge or LED. So if you want to control something in MSFS you need an input.
Thanks. Unfortunately the cheapest 2DOF solution, once you buy everything you need would cost around $3000, and to have all the features I built - over $4000. But you can build it under $500
Update: all design files, Blender design files, 3D-print STL files, build photos and part lists for my Motion VR Cockpit and all controllers are now available for FREE DOWNLOAD (optional donation) on my website. If you are looking into building a similar rig - feel free to use my designs as a starting point.
Check XSimulator forum. Most people there are Germans and Finns. I’m sure they can recommend some solutions. People are using wheelchair motors and truck wiper motors, new or from scrap yards. The motors I got from seller in western Canada are Chinese, so you could probably get them My topic there. User Noorbeast is a real guru and very helpful with advice. Lots of people are showing their project and progress there. Mostly racing rigs, but funcamentals are the same.
Just a quick update: With the new OpenXR Motion Compensation - I actually have motion compensation working with my rig! It’s even better, feels more natural and seamless now. Motion compensation is not required with limited motion design, but it helps and is a welcome addition. Basically what it does is it takes a “virtual tracker” output from FlyPT - it tells it what position motion rig is at the moment, and it calculates where my HMD would be via offset distances in the ini file, and then corrects HMD position inside the sim, so it stays at the same place relative to the cabin, instead of moving inside the cabin along with my head moving in real space. This movement is not so large as it looks completely unrealistic, but with OXRMC my head is basically “glued” to the seat in the cabin. If I lean etc. - all my motions still translate into VR, but the rig motion is now compensated, so it’s ignored. It does feel more realistic now.
I also programmed the FlyPT outgoing tracker to go through a low-pass filter, so it ignores very small movements - I has a “shaking” problem due to a “road noise” routing I had going for the rig.
Congrats! Good luck with building one. Once it works, you’ll enjoy it twice as much as an off-the-shelf one: because you’ll know it’s something you have built yourself.
I’ve tested the motion compensation on my rig and I don’t think I can run it, as I have to run through the Steam VR (I’m on Oculus) and I honestly hate Steam VR. It also introduced additional overhead on my system which at this point is barely able to run MSFS in VR as it is.
Regardless of my rant on how I don’t like Steam VR, the thing that I kept experiencing with the motion compensation is that I was loosing a lot of the motion ques from my rig. It wasn’t hardware or software, everything was working as expected, but without the compensation I would essentially get twice the movement in the VR as the rig’s motion in real life would displace my head in the VR environment.
I guess I got so used to this additional motion, without it, it feels like the rig is barely moving and I’m not feeling it as much as I do without the motion compensation.
This has happened on multiple occasions in both flight sim and racing sims.
I honestly prefer it without the compensation as I get bounced more in VR and it just extends the motion of the rig and makes it a lot more “dynamic”.
My rig is nothing crazy, I’m only getting around 7 degree of roll to each side and 30mil heave, so the motion is very limited. I guess if you are on a crazy 6DOF system with hundreds of mil displacement, it would make sense, but in my case I prefer the extra movement in VR.
I’m not familiar with Oculus in context of MSFS, but if you are saying that you run in OpenXR but you would have to run through Seam VR OpenVR if you want to use motion compensation, that’s not correct anymore. It was correct before, where the only motion compenstaion was available through OVRMC layer, but now there is the new OpenXR Motion Compensation layer, so MC is finally available through OpenXR. It’s an early build, so may not be perfect yet. It needs to be activated in flight, and then you need to recenter VR (space). I use virtual tracker in FlyPT, same as you would use for OVRMC, and OXRMC gets this data, and it can also use hardware controllers. I don’t see any noticeable overhead at all, MSFS runs the same with or without it.
Ah, I get what you’re saying. My rig is 2DOF (no true heave, which is mixed a bit into pitch) but I think I have much more than 7 degrees, though I haven’t measured. I’d say at least 15 degrees pitch and roll to each side, maybe up to 20. So I also felt that there’s “less motion” with MC, but it feels more natural. I think motion cues feel more realistic when your head is not bobbing inside the cockpit. If it makes sense, I feel less motion but more pronounced and meaningful motion cues. I guess it’s because before a “motion cue” which is not supposed to just mirror the position but the acceleration feel, was announcing rig position too much with my head bobbing motions. So my brain translated motion cues back to real motion which was less connected with aircraft motion. But now motion cues can convey acceleration and I won’t see that translated to head motion, which feels more natural. I got more onset motion sickness initially, which I didn’t feel without MC, so you do have to get used to it a bit. Also, you can tune the settings and dial back MC a bit, so that you don’t have a lot of head movement but still get some. I would suggest with 7 degrees you should accent motion cues more (or exclusively) than position, especially if you run MC.
But having tried both, I agree that MC is not required with limited motion rigs. I still prefer MC on. But that is highly dependent on the rig and individual setup.
I was not aware of the new OpenXR motion compensation. I was using the OVRMC as suggested via the FlyPT site and their implementation of it as an output.
I’ll definitely check it out, once I figure out how to make it work with my setup. Thanks!
machine.
This is truly an amazing time to be a flight simulator fan, isn’t it?
