Just bought the Quest 2. It is my second headset after the Oculus CV1 which I bought in 2018 and loved using for driving- and flightsims.

The new Quest 2 is a real gamechanger for me because I can use it witout any cables attached to a PC. Not a problem if you´re sitting in a "cockpit" setup though.

But using it for games like virtual golf, where you can happily move and swing freely without worrying about the cables is just another experience.

You might want to look into an Augmented Reality setup, such as the NReal Air glasses.

We're still probably at least 5 years away from the point where the majority of major games titles are developed from the ground up for VR, but I'm already at the point where I'm not really interested in playing first person games on a screen anymore.

Once they get the controls and movement schemes figured out it'll be a wrap.

Either use a mouse or learn muscle memory on where those buttons actually are.
Unless you got a home 1:1 cockpit setup, then just fly and flaunt it.

IL-2 works well, quite a few racing games work well (I mostly us Raceroom Racing Experience), plus there are some gems here and there in the FPS and other action categories. There are some good sports games, like Thrill of the Fight (which can be a serious workout), Creed, and NFL Pro Era.

For those wondering about input, as F4UDash4 says, the mouse still works in clickable cockpits. You also will find a HOTAS to be useful, and remember voice command programs like VoiceBot, especially for things like comms. Even in racing games it's a good thing, as you can call the pits or spotters etc..

VR is quite amazing, and you can experience things that you just can't on flat screens. Actually checking your six while flying, finding yourself ducking behind your instruments while someone in a 109 breaks the glass on your Mustang, nailing the apexes in an open wheeler because you can actually truly see what you are doing, trading paint in tin tops, shutting your eyes to block out the sight of some terrifyingly huge monster looking for you as you hide, these are all things that are just different in VR.

I'll give you an example of something that happened in a game of Onward recently. During a gunfight on a street in some dusty town, brought my weapon up to nail someone...empty mag. Actually physically dropped to the ground behind a Jersey barrier, dropping my M4 in the process, and crawled into better cover...then had to pop smoke and crawl back for my rifle, did a fast reload while hugging the dirt, and then blindly dumped the whole mag over the barrier with one trigger pull (and hit a guy coming into the smoke!). I just never experienced that mix of panic and muscle memory in old school flat screen FPS games.

As noted by others, the Quest2 is excellent, although best tethered for long sessions in flight or driving games. If you are only going to be doing simming, then a surprisingly good last generation headset is the Samsung Odyssey+, which has the same resolution as vastly more expensive HTC stuff, and good inside out tracking and no base stations. Some dude is selling one in Miami here:

https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/vgm/d/miami-samsung-hmd-vr/7618904924.html

Let us know how you get on!

Thanks for that very informative post James!

And thanks to those who replied to my questions as well, much appreciated!

In DCS, I have the Thrustmaster MFD's that are mounted about where they look to be in the actual cockpit, so finding them is intuitive. I've added a small tactile dot to the center button of each side of the MFD to help out as well.
I can also use my hand controller to flip switches and stuff in the cockpit, I don't find it to be much of a hassle tbh. I also recently picked up an Elgato Stream Deck and use it as the F-18's UFC. It seems to work pretty well. Again, tactile dots on specific keys.
I don't personally find it cumbersome or awkward, and as others have said - the immersion is outstanding! And, as others have said, I have no interest in flying flatscreen after tasting VR.

My problem with current VR offerings is that no one (that I am aware of) makes a headset that is optimized for flight sims / driving sims. Everyone is concentrating on virtual world socializing and mixed reality. Things like facial expression / body tracking and pass through video are meaningless to flying/driving sims.

My ideal VR headset would be:

1- optimized for resolution and field of view
2 - eye tracking with foveated rendering
3 - no pass through video of any kind
4 - no onboard game storage
5 - no wireless capability, must be connected to PC via cable (not an issue for sit down sims)
6 - no audio, I prefer to use my headset

Such a headset should be cheaper to make by eliminating un-needed features and concentrating on the features important to sit down simulations. Or taking the Quest 2 as an example for the same $400 price tag a headset that eliminated my items 3-6 and took the savings from those items and put it toward 1 and 2 would better suite the needs of a flight sim user.

well what is your Budget F4UDash4?? there are a few meeting those requirements I am thinking maybe checkout the pimax 8KX or 12kX?? Maybe even the varjo..

the main thing I see here from my experience is having the GPU Horesepower especially with DCS. I had gotten a 3070RTX and it is still underpowered for DCS 2.8 MT. I found it runs best and still looks decent with about 50% Resolutuion in OpenXR.. I prefer FPS over visual beauty but would loved if I had gotten that 3090 for not much more then I got the 3070 for but that shipped sailed and I am stuck with this 3070..

I can say what you see when you look at VR as it is very subjective but I could play with the lower rez and still think itlooks good, I seen some guys run @300% and still complain it looks crappy LOL!! it is a very subjective thing. but if possible and you have a friend who has one or even if you could go to a store and get a demo if it then you will have a better idea of what you like because it is a very subjective item..

For flight simming, VR is OK for immersion sessions, but I still prefer TrackIR for more serious sessions. I tend to do 50-50 between the two, I have a good time in both.

Main issue with cockpit-based gaming is really that in VR you are getting a 3D cockpit, and everything outside is too far away to appreciate the 3D-ness of it. Other than just "that stuff is far away and this stuff is near". Basically anything outside of your cockpit is a very far away 2D render.

It's different for driving/racing games however, these games are ideal for VR, you have your vehicle around you, and all the stuff outside is very near to you so you get a full sense of a 3D environment. Nearby cars, road surface, corner markers etc are all in "human appreciable " 3D and of course you're sitting in a chair with a wheels + pedals + gear shift and this lines up exactly with what you see in-game. Even if you don't really like racing games I suggest trying it out for the high levels of immersion it gives you, I can recommend Project Cars 2 (NOT 3) as it's cheap, lots of content (from ordinary cars through high powered street cars, racing cars, F1-style racing cars, rally, carts, boatloads of tracks, all the weather setup you could want etc), and very good. Avoid the most recent one.

Of course, Alyx represents the gold standard for "normal" VR gameplay. I highly suggest that one, you won't need any others unless you decide it's for you.

Other than that, games like Pistol Whip are just good fun, and will give you a workout.

Google Earth is very good too, and free.


As for the hardware, I have the HP Reverb G2, I'm VERY happy with it. The headset is sharp & clear, the sound is an off-the-ear setup that I really like (and was surprised by how excellent it really is), the controllers are OK, nothing good nothing bad. Inside-out tracking so you don't need "lighthouse" type external tracking devices.

Well that's the problem, those are $1500-$2000 headsets (but I did just get a $300 off coupon offer from Varjo). My point is that my $400 headset has things (passthrough video, internal storage/cpu, wireless, audio) that I paid for that I don't really need and that I would trade their value (say $150) toward better resolution, wider FOV. But such a $400 headset doesn't exist. Not that $400 is my absolute upper limit but the concept holds true if we're talking about a $600 or $800 or $1000 headset... all of them are going to have these "frills" (to me) that I would prefer to trade toward features I do want (res/fov/foviate). But I'm just a niche (VR) of a niche (flight sims) so I understand that is why no one makes the headset I would prefer.


Anywho....


PM, just to make your decision process tougher something new:

That's cool stuff, thanks for posting!

Useful thread.

Relevant to a couple recent posts:

I'm "all about" full wrap around field of view at perfect (for my eyes) resolution in all use cases. Other features are very secondary or tertiary. Price is a factor; but, I expect to "pay for it".

I get that, I do, but what I will say about that is this. Before I got my eventual VR (I tried a few before settling) I had the same concerns: that I need a wide FoV with great resolution. Now, I agree about the resolution, that hasn't changed and my current headset meets that requirement.

But as for FoV... I will say that if HP bring out a much wider FoV with no dropoff in resolution I will buy it. But pragmatically, the current one I have I simply am not aware of the restriction. It's all about how engaged I am in the experience, if I'm having a good time in VR I really don't notice any FoV restriction at all. In my VR sessions I have never once come out of it and wished I had a wider FoV, it simply did not enter my thoughts while I was playing. I'm pretty sure that I could go into a game and deliberately notice that restriction, but it would be a conscious effort for that purpose, and I'd perhaps wish there were more, but in my normal VR sessions I simply do not register it at all. I notice clarity & smoothness.

My Quest 2 has a rated FOV of 97 degrees. Now it isn't something that is always at the front of my mind while flying but when I need to see back over my shoulder... it's real obvious how restrictive it is. Rather than just turning my head as far as is comfortable then turning my eyes to see over my shoulder I instead have to rotate my entire body in the direction I want to see. The effort to see 30-45 degrees back past my shoulder in VR is as much or more as turning to see directly behind me in "real life". And at 60 years old I don't bend as easily as I once did.

I could easily use at least another 10 degrees per side of additional horizontal FOV in such situations, 20 per side would be enough to make me never complain about FOV again. Maybe

Just found an EXCELLENT website for VR comparison: https://vr-compare.com/compare?h1=H...08-j&h4=HdfjN_0UlPY&h5=pDTZ02PkT

Nice find!!!

Yes! Nice link.

I bought (and returned) a Pimax in late 2019.

I see they are still #1 (by some measures) in the linked article.

In particular the wide field of view (important to me). The one I bought had that. But the images were imperfect (to my eyes).

The newer top rated one has much higher resolution than the one I bought. But, my issue was not just about raw resolution -- there was more to it (hard to describe).

Thanks F4U. I'll be checking this link out today.

Pico 4 vs HP G2

https://www.reddit.com/r/hoggit/comments/13xufvb/pico_4_vs_hp_reverb_g2_mini_review/