There is, but for games that support VR such as Elite or DCS or pCars. For stuff like Falcon BMS, workarounds have to be found.


@Skate: Thanks for the explanation regarding how the VR headset works. I've yet to try FaceTrackNoIR or OpenTrack. Even if either one works, it's still useless at the moment as I can't get BMS to 3D VR. Even if either tracking option works, I'll still end up having a "TrackIR experience," although with a VR headset instead of just a Track Clip. Being able to at least lock the screen to wherever I'm looking, plus 1:1 head tracking, will be better but I have yet to find a program that allows this.

overall, total oculus support would need to be integrated by BMS, but IIRC, specific Items are still hardcoded even w/ the source files.

just another reason to push for DCS:F-16x, because BMS is starting to show it's limits again

Or the BMS devs just need to integrate VR support... which may well happen before DCS: F-16A!

Skate, you must have big kahoonas to talk about 'limitations' when mentioning both sims in the same sentence!

I hope they do.... I hate flying BMS on a Flat Screen...

But From what I was able to gather, even with the source code, there are several things hard coded that are major blocks.

DCS isnt limited in terms of Graphics Engine and VR,

BMS is Limited to DX9, as well as having specific UI Elements Locked/HardCoded even with the source code.

It's a true statement.

Maybe not.....and I've waxed lyrical about the immersion of VR within DCS cockpits in various threads however, beyond the visuals DCS is VERY LIMITED in every other department compared to BMS.

It's a true statement.

Topic was VR... sue me.

This is a VR thread on a gaming/sim forum.....there is more to VR than graphics alone. I'll take your reluctance to counter any 'limitations' within DCS as acknowledgement of my point.

Don't forget that VR is one thing and like I said has been done very well within DCS with regards sitting in and looking around your cockpit however, with a simulator that includes 'Combat' in the title there is a lot to be desired the minute you apply some throttle and become airborne.

Guys, guys... chillax. Let's not bring the DCS sub-forum discussions here.

Skate, you did bring up DCS first, when the thread was clearly about VR and primarily getting it to work in Falcon BMS. I'm well aware that VR works in DCS but that's not what prompted me to start this thread. As for what is and isn't possible in BMS, well, who would've thought that a full 6DoF, fully-working cockpit was possible with the Falcon engine? Who would've thought they could improve the MP code? So who are we to say whether the BMS devs can make VR work? Or that some 3rd-party program could make BMS work in VR? That's why I started this thread.

Regardless of "true statements," here's one: We won't see DCS F-16 within the next 5 years and by that time, VR may have matured enough that BMS VR is a reality.



Now back to me trying to get BMS to work in VR....

What I don't understand now is how a software that has 6DoF capabilities implemented, and I am not referring to Falcon BMS only, cannot easily be adapted to use those and only those specific features of the VR sets. Or vice-versa.

if the Rendering Engine itself doesnt support SBS Rendering it wont work.

AFAIk, this isnt the problem.

the problem is The UI is hardcoded to specific resolutions that dont work on the VR Headsets.

The only way around that is to have the UI / Menus on tje screen and not initialize the VR Display and Runtimes until the mission loads.

BMS has the source files, the new features in BMS are essentially the base code modified ro run newer libraries and graphics apis etc etc.

They can upgrade BMS to DX12, but it wont matter until they get around some of the base code locked items of the UI Menus.

So the menu system is getting in the way of VR? I wonder if we can launch straight into the mission itself then?

Does the engine have to support SBS rendering? Like I said, TriDef and/or Virtual Desktop can give a small sense of 3D but the picture isn't perfect.

VR rendering is tricky. Not only do you have to have side-by-side stereo 3D, but you have to take the lens distortion into account for both eye buffers. In fact, most of the pixels for each eye buffer are wasted around the edges and especially the corners compared to what you actually see within the HMD proper.

That also leads to a second point I have to make with adapting BMS to VR: you know that communication menu on the side of the screen, along with the textlog of recent radio messages? Those will easily fall outside of the visible VR range unless brought closer to the center. On top of that, you don't want them rendered too close to your face in terms of depth, or they become uncomfortable to look at.

Clickable cockpits may also be a problem when you're working with 3D; I know they're tricky enough to work with in DCS and CAP2 as it is. You can't have a floating cursor at the wrong depth, or you'll have a hard time clicking on cockpit switches because the switch, the cursor and your eyes aren't all lining up. BMS may need some behind-the-scenes rework for a gaze cursor or virtual mouse to work as it should for clicking on stuff.

Then, of course, there's the whole menu situation, though that can be rectified by making the menus a virtual screen, just like DCS, War Thunder, Elite Dangerous and Combat Air Patrol 2 do.

What I want to know is how Flight Simulator X can be made to work with VR via FlyInside FSX, and very effectively at that, despite FSX itself being based on a DX9 engine (can't use DX10 mode with FlyInside). You'd think that similar techniques could be applied to BMS, IL-2: 1946, RoF, etc., but nobody's done it yet.

Heck, at this point, I'd settle for a non-3D image as long as I can have a virtual 360-degree cockpit with 1:1 head tracking!

The menu issue can easily be side-stepped by using a voice control program; the radio response text can be removed but you'll just have to play closer attention to spoken comms.

I wonder if FlyInside can be used on BMS?

That's all I'm hoping for, actually.

Me too. Its what I'm looking for out of a nominal "VR" type headset -- for RPG as well as simulations.

Seems like this is already possible for games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, but I've not tried it yet.

Hi guys. I've been looking for different vr headsets for more than a week now. I've done so with BMS in mind. The application genre most suited for vr is imho flight sim. Nothing else could get the most out of a vr. Following, Falcon BMS is subjectively The flight sim of them all and 70% of the reason I would ever purchase a VR headset for.
Now I realize I should have checked in here earlier before (uselessly) prospecting vr hardware for a week...

It's not there yet, but we're crossing our fingers that it won't be long before we get it... I estimate 3-4 Falcon weeks.