Hi, I’m new to flight simulations, I started with DCS in 2021 and then bought MSFS a few weeks ago. Overall I’m happy with the experience, the graphics are amazing, the flight dynamics are great and there’s lots to like about the simulation overall.
But I have to ask, Why is VR still in beta after two years and more?
Almost straight away I started to find game breaking issues that affected my flights, seeing the bug reports from 2021 on these issues was disheartening. As was researching and watching the past Q&As whereby the VR Dev team had been disbanded, why? There’s is obviously a lot of work still to do, if I can see these issues so quickly as they are really reproducible then why have they not been fixed? I notice the Q&A response to VR was the same last month as it was last year, nothing has changed and yet serious issues remain.
It must simply change, as a newcomer I am disappointed in this, VR was not noted as still in beta when I bought the product which it clearly is, it must get better soon please, attention to the main issues.
There is a stat somewhere that it is less than 10% of people who buy a VR headset are still using it a year later. So the VR market may buy lots of games, but they are absent as time goes on.
The only other PCVR I’ve played is Elite Dangerous and that launches in VR mode and I had no issues with it.
MSFS changes to VR in game, if you are lucky, sometimes. Other times it just gives up unless the exact sequence is followed for your setup. When I started a few months ago I could start MSFS using the shortcut, then in game go into VR.
Since then, the different ways of getting into VR have changed and at the moment there is only one way and when that fails it is the end for me.
What needed to be done from the beginning was taking away as many variables as possible, so no matter what the headset, there was only one VR launcher.
Many here, as well as the ‘fallen’ who have given up on MSFS in VR, share your concerns but no one really cares enough at Asobo and Microsoft to improve things.
VR has worked nearly flawlessly for me since the beginning. There is still a lot to improve, and it probably differs from system to system, but I do not understand why people are being so negative towards it. Then again, the survivor bias is strong in this one, because only the disappointed users will speak their mind, the ones that enjoy VR from day to day just carry on.
An RTX 3080, Reverb G2 and DLSS Balanced or Quality, resolution to 140% and you will be happy as a bird.
The resolution setting in OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality ( not the Open XR Toolkit ).
It anti-aliases and thus makes things sharper by down-sampling an very high res image to the native G2 resolution.
I agree with you. I have been using VR since it was implemented and have never had any problems.
First with a samsung odyssey and now with an Oculus Quest 2.
I wasn’t very impressed with msfs in VR when it first came out. It had lots of bugs and didn’t include Heli’s (which I love). So I parked it for a little over a year and went back to X Plane 11. I came back to it when they released the 40th Anniversary Edition 11 Nov 2022. Since then, I could not be happier, and it has become my goto flight sim. When I upgraded my PC to a i9 13900k/rtx4090/32Gb 5200ram about 6 months ago, it’s even better.
I run a dual VR headset setup with a wired OG Vive Pro 1 (amoled screens, Etsy lens mod, and Index controllers) and a Quest Pro, mainly wireless with Air Link. Both VR systems work well and it’s nice to be able to use the best headset depending where and when I’m flying. I mainly use my VP1 for night flying because the amoled screens look soooo good.
I certainly don’t think msfs VR is beta, lol! Hopefully after you’ve had a chance to get more stick time with msfs you’ll feel the same. Cheers.
I think it is pretty amazing, but there is a tonne of work to do if you want to make it sing. I came into the msfs VR thing about 2 and a bit mths ago and it has been a full time job to get it to a place where I’m happy with it…trying not to tweak any more, and just enjoy myself.
Im also pretty new to VR in MSFS, and I share the same thoughts as OP. Im still not sure that what Im doing to get MSFS to work in VR is the right way. There are so many VR platforms (oculus, wmr, steamvr, virtual desktop etc) and so many things and settings that have to be 100% right otherwise you will have a bad experience. Then there also are all the toolkits (openxr, openxr dev tools, oculus tray tool, debug tool) that make it even harder to look through whats exactly supposed to be what… I mean VR works for me somehow capped at 36 fps and its ok, but you always have the feeling of “it could be a lot better” with the same system you are using… worst thing for me is anti aliasing… other vr games look spectacular, crystal clear and sharp. With msfs, no matter what setting I use, even TAA 200% render scale (which will result in 5-6 fps for my 4070ti) the terrain in the distance still looks like some mushy, blurry whatever. which makes VFR really hard lol… sometimes I think maybe I expected too much from flight sim in VR. the first few days were awesome and exciting, now I find myself constantly tweaking and changing things…
I’ve been flying 100% in VR for almost 2 years and it has been working just fine for me so I don’t know why it would still be considered beta.
I started with a 5950x/3090 with Reverb G2, later upgraded to Varjo Aero, and most recently I upgraded to a new pc 7950x3d and 4090.
To me VR is the essential thing about MSFS that gives me an experience close to real as possible. I would probably not still be so engaged with MSFS if not for VR being such a good experience for me.
The Quest2 is probably not the right headset if you want a “crystal clear” image in MSFS since there’s image compression going on.
And for better terrain clarity at distance you need to set Terrain LOD to 200 or higher.
I already have terrain LOD at 200…
I got into VR because my brother borrowed me his G2… which is the most recommended and distributed headset in the msfs community I guess? If you dont want to spend a fortune. And even though it has display port, I was not really impressed. But I wanted to dive into VR myself… So I got a Quest 2… Because 1. The G2 is nearly nowhere available
2. The G2 did not convince me
I think I get about the same results regarding clarity/sharpness to performance ratio with the Quest 2 as I had before with the G2…
If Asobo had informed me that to move the MSFS fluently in VR I would need an i9 13900k/rtx4090/32Gb or 7950x3d and 4090 equipment, I probably would not have bought his simulator…
Another vote from me for the absolute pleasure and immersion i get using VR - particularly in gliders and helicopters. I got into VR as soon as it was available for MSFS and almost immediately gave up flying outside VR. i7, 3070, 32Gb, G2 35-42fps
I must say, I am pretty sick of people announcing that they have a Varjo Aero and a 4090 and how great everything is. Well, obviously! If I could afford that I’m sure I’d be whistling Dixie too!
I bought a G2 not long after the Radeon 6800XT came out, only to find that there was a bug with AMD cards that meant I could not fly for longer than 15-20 minutes before the sim would crash, plus another bug would sometimes see me stuck on the runway with only 5 FPS. So not a great introduction. That was fixed when Asobo released the Xbox version. Even then though, I could never get motion reprojection to work properly on the 6800XT.
Now with a 4090 and a 50800x3D, it all works very well for me, with MR and resolution override at around 4,400 I get smooth gameplay and greatly increased sharpness.
Next up will be a Pimax Crystal, if it ever shows up.
Playing exclusively in VR and not having any startup issues. I setup my flight in 2D, then once in cockpit just hit ctl-Tab and put the headset on. Works all the time. Never had an issue. I then use my MSSW FFB 2 joystick and the mouse and away I go. I don’t use VR Controllers because they are all awkward and I hate using them in anything.
I only play VR in cockpit sims (racing, flight, space etc). Never play any of these run around the room type games. I played about 4 hours of HL:Alyx and got bored. Was never really that impressed with it tbh. Simming on the other hand… would never play any other way than VR.
The whole game feels like beta, not just vr part. Just check bugs section on this forum. ATC loosing voice in almost every flight, areas covered in snow when temp is +20 degrees, terrain mesh morphing in front of your plane, black lines on water, live weather with only two types of clouds…
Survivor bias is very strong. It is survival of the fittest. I have been PC gaming since the 90s having started on the original Doom, and I have never had so many issues with a game, or any program.
I have supported, helped and commiserated with so many who have never been able to get MSFS to work or it has just failed after working. It is almost beyond rational cause and effect.
You and the others who have no problems are lucky, and I wish that you continue to enjoy your success, but it should also be recognised that MSFS is problematic for many and inherently badly designed and supported for VR.