World Photographer mode -- Couldn't take photograph VR

Bug Reporting Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:

I was unable to take a photograph in World Photographer mode. I was able to enter photo mode (L+R shoulder pads on XBox controller, or Ctrl+V) and was able to click the “take a photo” button (space or A button) and got the shutter click sound, but did not get the thumbnail appearing in the lower right. This did not count as photographing the objective (The Mackinac Bridge in my case) and when I went to the photo gallery later, the photo I attempted to take was not there.

I don’t use any mods, though this was done in VR mode, which may be relevant. I later did some experimenting in Free Flight mode, and was able to take one picture, though this was in a fresh run of the sim, before I had turned on my VR headset. I was not able to take pictures in VR, nor after returning to flatscreen mode.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?

I was only able to take a photo once. Every other attempt failed.

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Wearing my VR headset, and in VR mode (Ctrl+Tab) I went into World Photographer mode, selected an objective (photograph the Mackinac bridge, in my case), and started the mission.
  2. I flew to the objective, and when I got close enough, entered photo mode (Ctrl+V).
  3. I took a picture of the objective (the bridge, looking up at one of the towers from my helicopter which was flying low near the water) in the usual way (A button on controller, or space key).
  4. I got the shutter click sound, and the center square of the reticle contracted as it does when taking a picture, but no icon appeared in the lower right corner of the screen, like I am used to it doing.
  5. The photographer mode did not react to me having taken the picture–it did not count as having met the objective, and I didn’t see the image appear on the screen.
  6. When I went into the photo gallery in my profile, there was no photo of the bridge there.

I did some experimentation afterwards in Free Flight, and was also not able to take any photos there. Again, I was able to enter photo mode, and it acted like I was taking a photo, with the shutter sound, but no icon appeared and no photo was actually taken.

I finally was able to take a photo, but to do this I had to exit the sim, restart it, and before entering VR mode (with my headset turned off even) go into Free Flight and, once it loaded in, enter photo mode and take my photo. After I did this, I turned on my headset, put the sim into VR mode, and tried to take another photo, but this time I was not successful (same behavior described above that happened in World Photographer mode). After I exited back out of VR mode, I tried again, and this time it was also not successful. So either I got lucky the first time, or perhaps the act of entering VR mode broke something such that exiting VR mode later did not fix it.

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?
I do not use developer mode.

[PC Only] Many issues may be due to an outdated graphics card. Please state your Graphics Card Driver Manufacturer (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD) and Version:

I have an NVidia GeForce RTX 3090 and am using version 32.0.15.7260 of the drivers.

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

Because the one time I was able to successfully take a screenshot was in flatscreen mode, I am suspecting that it may be VR related. I have a Quest 3s, and am using Virtual Desktop to connect it to my computer. Note that I have taken many photos in VR in previous versions of the sim, with this same setup.

MEDIA

I was unable to take a screenshot, due to the issue described above.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute on this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
•

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
•

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

2

I did some experimenting in Free Flight, and have some updated information:

I went into Free Flight and did a whole flight in flatscreen mode, without ever turning on my headset, hitting Ctrl+Tab, or anything like that. Startup, takeoff, cruise, landing, and shutdown. I took several photos during this flight without incident, and they showed up in my Screenshots directory. Each time, I saw the little thumbnail appear in the lower right.

After landing and shutting down, I took one more picture, and then put on my headset, went into Virtual Desktop, and then once I was looking at the sim, I pressed Ctrl+Tab to go into VR mode. Once in VR mode, I walked around a bit outside my plane, and attempted to take some more pictures. None of these worked. In fact, the first time I attempted to take a picture, the reticle disappeared entirely, though I could continue to click the button to “take more pictures” and I would hear the shutter sound, but at no point after entering VR was I able to actually take a photo, see the icon, and have it save to the directory.

I then pressed Ctrl+Tab again to exit VR. I quit out of Virtual Desktop on my headset, and shut it down. I was once again watching the sim on my actual monitor, no VR involved at all. I again entered photo mode and attempted to take a picture. Still nothing–shutter sound, but no thumbnail, and no photo stored to the directory. At least the reticle didn’t disappear this time.

One last test–I exited back to the free flight menu, picked a different aircraft, and started another flight from the same aircraft (in flatscreen mode–my headset was still turned off and on the shelf). Upon spawning in, rather than doing the usual walkaround, I immediately entered photo mode and attempted to take a picture of my new aircraft–still no photo taken.

So I’m pretty sure now that this is VR related, and it’s not as simple as “you can’t take pictures in VR mode.” That would at least make sense, as while I could (and often did) take pictures in VR mode before, judging what was “in the shot” and not was difficult since the photo seemed to be my whole FOV not just what was in the reticle. No, somehow entering VR breaks something, such that exiting VR (or even exiting back to the menu and starting a new flight) doesn’t turn it back on again. This breaks World Photographer mode unless you’re willing to go flatscreen the whole time (you can’t even just turn off VR long enough to frame your shot and take it, and then go back into VR once you’ve taken the picture) but isn’t unique to that mode, and affects photography in any mode.

1 Like
3

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
• Yes

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
• I was previously able to take photos in VR till about 2 weeks ago when I after a flight, during which I had taken several photos, I noticed not all of the had saved. Since then I’ve not been able to take a photos in VR.

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

4

I just opted back into the Beta to test a few things, and one thing I saw was that this was still happening. However, this time I noticed something different. I did the following:

  1. Set up a long flight plan (long enough that I would only be flying the takeoff, climb, descent, approach, and landing in VR, with the cruise spent in flat screen mode so my headset could rest and recharge).
  2. Start the flight in flatscreen mode, and take a selfie in front of my plane.
    a. The selfie was taken successfully–I saw the thumbnail, and the image was saved to the HD in the usual place.
  3. Start the plane, taxi, takeoff, and climb as usual, in VR, without taking any pictures.
  4. Reach cruise, leave VR mode, and take a few pictures of the plane.
    a. These pictures were also taken successfully.
  5. After nearing TOD, put my headset back on and go back into VR mode.
  6. Land the plane.
  7. Park the plane and get out, switch back out of VR mode, and take another selfie in front of my plane.
    a. This selfie was also successful.
  8. explore the local area in VR, and take more pictures, always remembering to switch out of VR before pressing that shutter button.
    a. All of these pictures took successfully.
  9. Forget to switch out of VR mode, and try to take a picture.
    a. I hear the shutter sound, but the photo mode UI disappears, and no picture is taken.
  10. Attempt to take additional pictures, both in VR mode and flatscreen mode.
    a. None of those pictures are taken successfully.

Now I am pretty sure of what is happening. It is attempting to actually take a picture in VR that breaks things, and once they are broken they stay broken. Just entering photo mode in VR and then exiting back out without taking any pictures doesn’t break anything–as long as I don’t hit the shutter button while in VR mode, everything is fine. I think that when the UI disappears, this is a symptom of something crashing under the hood, and staying dead.

This does suggest a workaround (always switch out of VR before taking pictures) and also a potential fix if VR photo mode is no longer going to be possible (disable photo mode while in VR, to prevent this scenario from ever happening. It sort of makes sense that you’d want to take photos in flatscreen mode, since it gives a better representation of what the (flat) photo will look like, and because (at least for me) I don’t get the fancy depth of field effects in VR, but I do in flatscreen.

5

Yes, this is still a problem in SU 2 release. In order to do World Photographer, from start up, you need to exit VR prior to taking pictures in order to have World Photographer analyze it and give a star rating. If you forget at any time after the sim starts and take a picture in VR, the World Photographer mode is broken until restarting the sim. If I want to do World Photographer, I always exit VR before going to camera mode to take pictures and I always exit to the Main menu after taking a successful picture. I then go back into VR, then back to World Photographer, pause when I’m in the location I want, exit VR, take picture. I can go in and out of VR to get in the position I want. exit VR before taking a picture again. If I forget and take a picture in VR, it breaks things until another full sim restart. Has this been reported and officially logged as a bug? The work around is to remember to always exit VR before taking any pictures, but it is a bit cumbersome.

7

Thank you for the bug report.

We have created an internal ticket to see if our team already has this logged, and if not they will attempt to reproduce the issue and create a new bug report. This item is now marked as feedback-logged. If there is an existing bug report or one is created, we will move this thread to bug-logged.