Community Question | Who Here Uses VR, And Why?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Sim racing is far more than just the simulations themselves - a long, wide and varied array of hardware can be used to enhance your experience, and one such device is VR - but who here uses it on a regular basis?

VR - otherwise known as Virtual Reality, brings with it the ability to place a driver right into the heart of a virtual racing cockpit. Adding an immersive 3D experience to the driving aspect of sim racing, the technology and immersion are no doubt impressive - but can come with a cost - namely loss of visual performance, high PC horsepower demand and the (potential) discomfort of wearing a headset for prolonged periods of time.

As with much in life, one has to weigh up the pros and cons and VR is no different. With that said, I'd love to know how many of us here at RaceDepartment regularly use their VR headsets when sim racing, and the reasons why they prefer it (or not) over traditional screens.

Fire away in the comments section and poll!

 

[Tr0nic]

Having recently got an HP G2 (my first VR headset), I was very disappointed to discover I suffer from quite bad motion sickness with racing Sims. I'd used headsets previously and never really had that problem with games that you can walk around in, so thought I'd be OK. With Alyx for example I can go well over an hour without any side effects (other than VR frazzle face) , but with racing I struggle to do 10-15 mins.

IMO there is no question that the immersion in a racing sim is massively superior to screens so I'm really incentivised to 'get over' it. I've tried some suggestions - lock to horizon, ginger etc. I'm least affected if I drive on a full stomach, or just do very short stints.

I have some actuators, fans and a butt kicker still to add to my rig so I'm hoping with them and regular exposure, I might trick myself and increase my tolerance - A LOT!

I'm amazed (and slightly jealous) of those who have never experienced any sickness and would be interested to know what pre-disposes people to be prone. No vertigo, but I cant read in the car without feeling sick for example - but I thought everyone had that problem?

Ah, just to add I'm running a 1080 (non-ti) until I can source a 3070/80 - so again, I'm hoping that may be making the issue worse. I've noticed people mentioning that frame drops in VR is nausea inducing. It would be good to know if people who have upgraded to high end GPUs are affected less by the upgrade...

Do you use fpsVR?

fpsVR on Steam

Utility for SteamVR for keeping track of FPS, frame time and other performance metrics in the in-game overlay. Easily change SteamVR settings in the fpsVR settings overlay in the SteamVR dashboard. Headset cable twist tracking and other useful features.

store.steampowered.com

Very good to monitor fps, frame drops, frame time etc...

Frame drops in particular feel very bad if you are not used to simracing in VR.
Nobody wants frame drops imho.
Important aswell: frame time!
Sometimes it's better to lower settings somewhat more and get a lower frame time, even when you have stable frames.
For me up to 10ms is perfect, up to 20ms is ok. Over 20ms starts to feel choppy. (steering aswell) ^^
But fps drops and frame time go hand in hand somewhere...

And I think the majority felt more or less motion sick in the beginning, depending on their experiences with other VR games of course, me too... but now it's fine, as racing on screen... what i nearly don't do anymore, thx to the G2.

By the way: Maybe you are waiting for the 3080ti 20 GB cards...

And maybe try the G2 60Hz mode if not done already!

 

[markie44]

Thanks for the replies - I can see its a common problem now

That's unusual, does RHM work better?

RHM? Sorry what's that? I've tried lock to horizon checked and unchecked. Didn't notice a huge difference TBH

hi there sir,
what sim did you try?

I've only been using AC for now. I thought if I cant get on with that, I doubt I'd have much joy with the others.

Do you use fpsVR?

Sometimes it's better to lower settings somewhat more and get a lower frame time, even when you have stable frames.
For me up to 10ms is perfect, up to 20ms is ok. Over 20ms starts to feel choppy. (steering aswell) ^^
But fps drops and frame time go hand in hand somewhere...

And I think the majority felt more or less motion sick in the beginning, depending on their experiences with other VR games of course, me too... but now it's fine, as racing on screen... what i nearly don't do anymore, thx to the G2.

By the way: Maybe you are waiting for the 3080ti 20 GB cards...

And maybe try the G2 60Hz mode if not done already!

Yes, using fpsVR (first app I bought after getting headset) - AND 60Hz mode now as my card was struggling to get much higher fps in game. The CPU load is usually really low like less than 20%, but the GFX clearly isn't really coping. When you say 'frame time, what do you mean exactly? Is this the same as latency? Does it drop with quality? I've dropped the settings down pretty low - not much joy doing that is there ;-)

Believe me I'd LOVE a 3080ti. Me and the rest of the world. I wasted life trying to get a 3070 + 3080 on launch days - I even tried to get a 3090 though I dodged that pricey bullet. Joke is the scalped 3090 now looks good value compared to the mark-ups on the lower range cards.

 

[lovemesomespeed]

Having recently got an HP G2 (my first VR headset), I was very disappointed to discover I suffer from quite bad motion sickness with racing Sims. I'd used headsets previously and never really had that problem with games that you can walk around in, so thought I'd be OK. With Alyx for example I can go well over an hour without any side effects (other than VR frazzle face) , but with racing I struggle to do 10-15 mins.

Interesting you do fine in other games but not sim racing games. I’m the opposite - I’ve spent many hours in VR with sim racing and never had a problem with motion sickness, but last week I tried a non-VR game for the first time and got sick.

I’m only using a 1080Ti.

 

[markie44]

Just to update, I seem to have considerably improved my motion sickness issue.

I did a fresh 'SIM only' install on my system to avoid putting on some of the initial test junk, and when it came to defining the WMR setup I chose 'setup for seated'. Wow! This made a BIG difference for me.

It seems obvious now, but I was using VR for other apps like Alyx , Climb and Google earth so it required not being in a fixed position. Clearly the 6DoF offered by this setup is not conducive to a natural feeling in a car. It's night and day.

I'm now going to do a build on another drive and dual boot to support non-SIM apps in the future.

 

[mgh24]

Don’t mean to high-jack the thread, but thought someone here may be able to help me with a couple of questions.

I bought a second hand Rift S a while back, it was in worse condition than described, so fitment was not great.

I had two issues with it.

First was the resolution (coming from triple 2K monitors), and I guess hand-in-hand with that, the terrible screen door affect. That was enough for me to never spend much time with it.

Other issue I had was navigating through menus, simple things like switching cars or tracks. Embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember what kind of navigation was possible with the hand controllers, but I remember having a hard time pointing at menus with it. I ended up having to pull the headset off continually to find my mouse and keyboard.

If I try VR again, probably end up with the Reverb G2. Luckily I have an RTX 3080ti, so I should have enough GPU to support the G2.

How do you all navigate through menus? Is it just a matter of me practicing with the hand controllers so that I can reach for it and know which button to use for what function?
Or is it better to have mouse nearby where I can feel around for it, and use it to navigate through menus?

One of the reasons I am considering VR again is that it would open up flight SIM to me also. With my current SIM racing rig, there is no way for me to switch between wheel and yoke or joystick. Though maybe mount a joystick on a keyboard tray, or shifter mount, to the side?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[blekenbleu]

navigate through menus

• I don't
  • launch SimHub and Content Manager before donning HMD
  • 2 button box/mouse/trackball hotkeys
    to center VR view and launch mouse menu
• I had originally programmed a joystick to replace VR hand controllers,
  but used it too seldom to remember the mapping

maybe mount a joystick

That or e.g velcro a trackball on some vertical space:

 

[metalnwood]

Don’t mean to high-jack the thread, but thought someone here may be able to help me with a couple of questions.

I bought a second hand Rift S a while back, it was in worse condition than described, so fitment was not great.

I had two issues with it.

First was the resolution (coming from triple 2K monitors), and I guess hand-in-hand with that, the terrible screen door affect. That was enough for me to never spend much time with it.

Other issue I had was navigating through menus, simple things like switching cars or tracks. Embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember what kind of navigation was possible with the hand controllers, but I remember having a hard time pointing at menus with it. I ended up having to pull the headset off continually to find my mouse and keyboard.

If I try VR again, probably end up with the Reverb G2. Luckily I have an RTX 3080ti, so I should have enough GPU to support the G2.

How do you all navigate through menus? Is it just a matter of me practicing with the hand controllers so that I can reach for it and know which button to use for what function?
Or is it better to have mouse nearby where I can feel around for it, and use it to navigate through menus?

One of the reasons I am considering VR again is that it would open up flight SIM to me also. With my current SIM racing rig, there is no way for me to switch between wheel and yoke or joystick. Though maybe mount a joystick on a keyboard tray, or shifter mount, to the side?

Thanks for any advice.

For flight, racing you generally still need a mouse and if you are on a title that does support controllers I still find it to be more convenient with the mouse anyway.

Rift S was the worst VR headset I have had so far for comfort and eye fatigue. G2 is a much better racing headset.

 

[Colin Peach]

i have one of them small Bluetooth keyboard /track pad controllers that i can see through the gap by my nose

 

[Slapped]

First was the resolution (coming from triple 2K monitors), and I guess hand-in-hand with that, the terrible screen door affect. That was enough for me to never spend much time with it.

You're overlooking the "being there" part of VR, but if high res graphics are your thing then yes VR isn't going to suit you now, or possibly even in 3 years time. Dual 8K at 120 fps isn't going to happen any time soon, and that's the point where VR is likely to become "retina", but just for 90° to 110° field of view.

Other issue I had was navigating through menus, simple things like switching cars or tracks. Embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember what kind of navigation was possible with the hand controllers, but I remember having a hard time pointing at menus with it. I ended up having to pull the headset off continually to find my mouse and keyboard.

Some games have VR bolted on to what is a flat screen game, meaning keyboard and mouse use is a must. I use a Logitech K400 keyboard with integrated trackpad for those games which don't support controllers. You just need to grab the keyboard and not worry about a separate mouse.

If I try VR again, probably end up with the Reverb G2. Luckily I have an RTX 3080ti, so I should have enough GPU to support the G2.

Nope, you'll probably need to wait for at least the next gen of graphic cards to even begin to show what the G2 is capable of. Stuff like the original AC, AMS2 and PC2 will run fine, but ACC is a no, Raceroom is CPU bound so a high end GPU doesn't help there, as is rFactor in my experience.

VR is still early days.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'm really hoping that the combination of the upcoming 40 series GPU's and what will obviously be more expensive headsets with built in image processing to offload the GPU will deliver something very impressive by the end of 2022 or early 2023. I know it won't be cheap, but I'm hoping it will be a large jump.

Finger crossed, there is just no telling what will actually be released this year.

 

[mgh24]

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.

I race in AC 80-90% of the time, and the rest of the time in ACC, but sounds like maybe I still need to wait a bit before trying VR again. When researching VR I read of folks finding the G2 on sale for $400, though I don't know when they found those sales. At that price it may be tempting.

Also, I might be able to make room for a small removable shelf to set a joystick/HOTAS controller up for flight SIM. No way that I can see to get a yoke in place to use my triples.
Hindsight being so good , if I had set my seat on sliders I might have room for a yoke.

 

[RCHeliguy]

If you can manage with a stick you'll be fine.
A yoke would require a removable wheelbase.

 

[blekenbleu]

finding the G2 on sale for $400

Add a Deal Alert for "HP Reverb" on e.g. slickdeals.net

wait a bit before trying VR again

An Intel i5-12600K appears adequate to drive GPUs for most sim racing games.

"Every day without VR is a honestly speaking a lost day"

 

[jgf]

VR is still in its infancy, particularly on a consumer level. I've used it in FlightSim, and briefly in a race sim, and find it quite distracting ...I'm too conscious of wearing something. Ultimately it's like wearing headphones - I want to hear the music in the room, not in my head.

I would like a "cinemascope" monitor, about three feet tall and eight or nine feet wide, in a large arc so I could turn to look at different areas (multiple monitors are also distracting due to the frames, like watching a game through a window).

 

[mgh24]

If you can manage with a stick you'll be fine.
A yoke would require a removable wheelbase.

View attachment 535674

Nice!

What are you using for throttle in flight sim?

 

[mgh24]

Ha ha - just checked HP site, and they have dropped price by $100USD. (haven't ordered one yet)

 

[RCHeliguy]

Nice!

What are you using for throttle in flight sim?

For helicopters this.

For planes this.

 

[blekenbleu]

dropped price by $100USD

US$499 is quite usual and $449 is fairly frequent, per slickdeals.net
Buy It Now @ eBay can be had < US$350

 

[Colin Peach]

VR is still in its infancy, particularly on a consumer level. I've used it in FlightSim, and briefly in a race sim, and find it quite distracting ...I'm too conscious of wearing something. Ultimately it's like wearing headphones - I want to hear the music in the room, not in my head.

I would like a "cinemascope" monitor, about three feet tall and eight or nine feet wide, in a large arc so I could turn to look at different areas (multiple monitors are also distracting due to the frames, like watching a game through a window).

I like wearing vr and a headset, its more like wearing a helmet

 

[turen009]

US$499 is quite usual and $449 is fairly frequent, per slickdeals.net
Buy It Now @ eBay can be had < US$350

eBay versions are all the version 1 though. HP is selling the v2.