You can get it on Steam or directly from the developers. I got it maybe 3 years ago on Steam and it is regularly updated. Usually there is a release version and a beta version. The good thing is that it is free and came with 2 free (pretty basic) planes. Performance and graphics on my PC (i5 7600k/2070S/48 gb RAM) are outstanding but bear in mind that you are flying on maps (e.g. Caucasus, Persian Gulf, Syria some of which are payware) and you don’t have access to the whole world like FS2020.
The payware aircraft can be expensive (£60ish for the best or some are cheaper but the sensible thing to do is to buy them when they are on sale) but ones like the F18, F14 Tomcat (TopGun), Huey helicopter are worth it imo. They are extremely detailed and can take weeks (months ?) to fly competently. Basically, they are the military equivalent of the very best aircraft X-Plane 11 has to offer and you are not going to realistically fly missions with any skill for maybe 6 months. They are designed to be as accurate as possible to the real aircraft and are not ‘pick up and play’ in a couple of days. You can also make or download free campaigns and the multiplayer is massive fun.
Not too sure about storage space tbh. I think you may be struggling with 500 gb but trying it out is free with the 2 very basic planes which will give you an idea of what the sim is about.
For me, FS2020 is the best Civ. aircraft sim and DCS the best Military sim.
I think it’s great to have different options especially when some of these are free. Why not try it out? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Also, VR worked for me with one quick press of a VR tab.
I have a Q2 and the sweet spot I’ve found is 1.4x (4464x2256 90hz)in Oculus app and in game render 80-100 (depending on the area and aircraft) with ASW disabled. I get anywhere from 35-42fps which I am happy with as its very smooth. I have a 3080 and Ryzen 5800x.
Follow CptLucky8’s guide for Nvidia settings to get rid of stutters.
These settings are way too high for my system. I’ve tried everything… and been tweaking this thing for the last couple weeks. I can run it mostly smooth, but have to downgrade too much on the quality (reflections, clouds, contact shadows, object density, etc) On my 2070 super + 3600x. At the current state I am enjoying more the 2D experience… The sweet spot on my system for VR is leaving it at 80Hz/ recommended resolution. Render scale to 80%. ASW ON at half. This runs fine, but still shows the ASW sync issues. I cant stand ASW off… the juddering is extremely annoying to me. I’ve also tried 1.4x supersample, like you said and render scale at 50%…this will also work fine, but my 2070s cant stream high resolution at 90Hz and give a smooth experience.
My system can render 40 fps with readable cockpits etc and good enough quality, but the ASW bugs are killing the experience to me. I believe a fix will come soon and it will allow it to run fine. It will probably be a fix or an update on the oculus app/headset. Not sure if the problem is with MSFS.
it is for me running at 1080p with an Intel I9 32gb ram and a 1660 ti graphics card with a mixture of high and medium graphics but I am using a Microsoft WMR headset.
I’ve been posting some recommendations and settings to get the most of the Index and the G2 on a given system (9700K+2070S) and there are interesting differences regarding performance:
I can run the G2 with Motion Reprioj. at 90fps/30Hz and stutter free
I can’t run the Index with Motion Smoothing comfortably
I can run the G2 without Motion Reproj. at about 35 to 45 fps depending.
I can run the Index without Motion Smoothing at about 30 to 38fps depending and only if I reduce Terrain LOD from 100% (G2) to 50% (Index).
NB: all 4 with the same base settings for comparison.
At this time, WMR OpenXR is working better than SteamVR OpenXR. However, this might also be due to some “proprietary” or “specific” OpenXR implementation details in the WMR driver which is serving custom needs for FS2020 (both Microsoft apps). It might be nothing but the WMR OpenXR v104 includes specific references (code) internally to “FS2020” (I didn’t check v105).
Otherwise it is just SteamVR lagging behind in terms of OpenXR implementation and they didn’t address performance yet, just conformance (they just officially released their first OXR driver back in July).
[update 07FEB2021]
Since the release of SteamVR 1.16.6 the trend is reversing. I can now push more rendered pixels (render resolution) with Index + SteamVR than with G2 + WMR in general. It is in fact constantly evolving and the next WMR OpenXR preview due anytime soon might again reverse this. Also, this is on my test system and your mileage will vary, but one thing for sure, with SteamVR you get updates more often too.
Oculus is suffering from the same problems that you found on the Index. It is true to Quest and Rift S. Recommendation is the same: Turn off reprojection… but you need to accept the juddering/ghosting. I found that on the Quest 2 I can run it ok with reprojection, at around 40 fps, but yes…turn terrain LOD way down and also other settings to give plenty of headroom for the Oculus service.
Also it says a lot that you need to join the Beta version to get Oculus to even start on MSFS. I believe the OpenXR implementation on Oculus is not ready and bugged, should be fine on the next official update. Same for the Index, I believe.
Not sure what the bug is… but It doesn’t work as it should. Instead of smoothing and rendering more stable and fluid fps, it will increase the juddering and stutters. You can tell that there’s something out of sync, off, like if the frames are not getting on the headset at the correct times. You can also clearly see that it is being applied, but only in a portion of the frames. Also, because of the sync issues, it creates exaggerated distortions that are also not normal. It is very obvious, if you ever experience correct ASW. Playing with settings, etc, can minimize the issue, but never fixes it entirely… and that’s why a lot of people are preferring ASW off.
I’m using the original HTC Vive, screen door and all, and with the input of @CptLucky8 and others, I am running this stutter free and at a resolution where I can read the instruments even on the Vive. I have an i7 9700k w/ 32 GB RAM & 2080 Super. I currently have most settings at ‘High’, one or two are even at ‘Ultra’, and I’m getting ~30 FPS, except for extreme urban areas or major starred airports.
For my money, the immersive experience of VR far outweighs the additional eye candy of a flat screen. And as far as I’m concerned the visual sacrifice is minimal. And remember, I’m using the original Vive, so I don’t have anywhere near the clarity you’d get with an Index or G2. Everything is so much easier in VR due to the sense of presence. Landing is a whole different experience with depth perception and the ability to see your surroundings as you would in a real plane.
YMMV, but I don’t see myself going back to the flat screen for this anytime soon. In fact, I’m planning on an HMD upgrade because the experience is so cool. But in the end it has to be a personal decision based on what you value out of the experience.
must be the oculus head set. regarding a hp reverb g2, i literally plugged in 2 plugs (DVI and USB-C), started up msfs, and was ready to go. i didn’t even synch the hand controllers as i would not use them.
so this is a highly subjective experience which seems to depend highly on the VR headset you use, it’s not an objective description of what to “expect” from VR in mfsf or how cumbersome the setup is.
To me its like going on a nice vacation with a little buzz, and looking at the pictures back home. Sure, the pictures may be sharper and nice looking, but that wont be the experience being there. After my first VR Flight i was hooked, flying for over 25 years. Build a custom flight seat, FF Joystick + VR, cant go back 2D, but in the end everyone is different.
a simple programming error … before starting the flight, enter vr mode … then start the flight, and everything works fine, if instead you start the flight and only then enter vr, the simulator runs badly, perhaps because it does not load what it needs for the vr and keeps what it has loaded for the monitors … then simply hit the vr button before starting the flight and start it with the headphones on from the dashboard … sorry for the translation with google
