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TrackIR or VR? why?


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If you've ever flown DCS in VR, you would not be asking this question. So, to answer your question, VR. When in VR, you are no longer in a room looking at a monitor. You are in DCS World.

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You need a powerful PC to play VR. So I guess it´s a budget thing.

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I don't have a gaming PC, and I find it difficult to be good at DCS while using the HAT switch to look around. Would you suggest Trakir or VR (which type)? Pros and Cons of each?

 

What are you PC specs?

Don B

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I don't have a gaming PC, and I find it difficult to be good at DCS while using the HAT switch to look around. Would you suggest Trakir or VR (which type)? Pros and Cons of each?

 

 

I use both, as Mission Editing/Testing & recording Demo Videos, is much easier with TrackIR. Once the mission is finished, I fly it on VR :)

 

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VR for me, the choice might be partly personal preference. If you want immersion it's VR all the way but you do loose resolution which can be a disadvantage for some.

 

You hardware will be an influencing factor but if your prepared to not have all the eye candy still doable on modest hardware.

 

Harlikwin posted some info on using low end hardware Link here

 

Be warned if you fly rotory VR is a game changer. :thumbup:

Control is an illusion which usually shatters at the least expected moment.

Gazelle Mini-gun version is endorphins with rotors. See above.

 

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My 2 cents

 

VR

Immersive, 1:1 tracking

Poor FPS, 30-45 on high-end PC (90 if there is just the sky in the background)

Glance to the side, blurry mess due to narrow sweet spots

Distant objects, blurry mess

Reflection is poorly implemented

Difficult to operate keyboard (try pressing R-ALT + F8, can take awhile)

 

TrackIR

Not as immersive

Cheaper option

Very scalable, much higher FPS (up to 190 on my system)

Superb image fidelity on a good monitor

Poor tracking if there is high background contrast (lights from window)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Edited by Supmua
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1:1 tracking is an incredible experience.

The large field of view is incredibly useful, particularly for flying helicopters.

 

But the image quality possible with a conventional monitor is amazing.

TrackIR with a large monitor (i.e. 50 inch+ 4K TV with HDR, etc.) is a nice experience if you have only flown with a normal 24 inch display.

 

If you have the money, I would get both. I use both, about 50% of the time on each depending on the experience I want: amazing graphics with high frame rates and nearly flawless anti-aliasing or 1:1 tracking and large vertical field of view.

 

If you can only afford VR, you can probably afford to get both anyway because you either already have a good PC or you don't mind spending $600+ on a gpu and another $400 on a VR kit, so what's another $140 on TrackIR?

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If you've ever flown DCS in VR, you would not be asking this question.....

pretty much sum's it up.

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VR for me, the choice might be partly personal preference. If you want immersion it's VR all the way but you do loose resolution which can be a disadvantage for some.

 

You hardware will be an influencing factor but if your prepared to not have all the eye candy still doable on modest hardware.

 

Harlikwin posted some info on using low end hardware Link here

 

Be warned if you fly rotory VR is a game changer. :thumbup:

 

I second this. Helicopters are especially awesome in VR, but not only that, performance is better and just the way one flies and fights in the is more conducive to perform well in VR especially is not using MS or ASW.

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Many, many threads on this subj. and this is the first time I have responded. I have a very nice virtual cockpit with TrackIR, 32" QHD monitor, exported instruments to 2 smaller LCD's. I was intrigued by VR but had decided to wait another generation or 2. My loving wife bought me Oculus Rift for Christmas, which came as a total surprise.

 

 

The 3D effect is so realistic that I was blown away, and the sacrifice in resolution and frame rates is worth it IMO. I occasionally find myself trying to lean against the canopy rail. Now, I have a high performance PC: I5-8600, GTX 1070, etc., so frame rates are still decent with relatively high graphics settings.

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Just read all the VR threads about how poor the performance is from even top level machines and how the resolution is so low you can’t see anything.

Seriously.. go with a TrackIR. VR isn’t ready for something like DCS.

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The real cost of flying VR for me was the Rift and the 1080Ti. Totally worth it for me when I did it - I'd never go back.

 

What is the R7 comparable to? I had a 390X and had to upgrade for the RIFT in DCS.

 

If faced with the VR or not TODAY, as much as I love it I might hold off until better hardware emerges.

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...

Seriously.. go with a TrackIR. VR isn’t ready for something like DCS.

 

 

man, I can't... VR is too addicting....

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I personally use both. I wouldn't say one is better than the other:

 

 

VR is more immersive and it makes it a lot easier to track other aircrafts with your eyes. Formation flying, helo cargo hook up, AAR is a bit easier. It is however a bit harder to read stuff in cockpit, things become hard to spot in the distance, and it becomes really hard to take notes and use reference material while you fly. It is also pretty tiring after 1h30+ of play, especially in the summer months.

 

 

TrackIR sucks when it comes to tracking other aircrafts or ground targets during a fight. But it allows you to see things more clearly in and out the cockpit. It is also much easier to take notes and read maps and charts.

 

 

So I tend to use VR for short casual flights and TrackIR for longer and more complicated missions. I think the way to go is to find a buddy to try VR first and if you like it there are very cheap track IR alternatives that can complement it (Delan clip, Trackhat etc).

 

 

My rig is a i7, 16gb RAM with GTX 1070 and I wouldn't say performance is a big factor for me. I use the standard VR preset profile when I play in VR and the High preset with a few tweeks when I don't.

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I'm gonna echo alot of what people have said about VR vs TrackIR. But at this point, even with my low end system, I use my Rift 90%+ of the time, about the only time I don't is when using the mission editor. I've got a thread on low end VR in the VR forum. The main thing i'd say is if you have a lower end system don't get a high end VR headset, get a rift, they are cheap and work well as an intro to VR.

 

It does take some adjustment going from TIR to VR though. You have map your stick much better since using the keyboard is quite difficult. But you quickly learn the pit more and which "real" buttons to push rather than use the keyboard. The other thing to get if you go VR is voice attack. You can then map whatever is inconvenient (like the radio calls) and just have voice attack deal with it for the F1, F3, F whatever button you need (also works for external views).

 

That all being said, I'm no expert on anything from AMD, but I'm not sure your system would even run DCS on a flat monitor very well, though it sounds like it does? Do you have just the built in on chip graphics or a seperate card? Just do a google search on whatever card you have vs a GFX 980M (the M is important) and see how it compares, if its about the same or better, you should be ok for VR albeit at low gfx settings (which don't look great relative to a monitor, but are usable). I was getting solid 70 ish frames on my low end system with many DCS settings set to high on a flat screen, and I struggle for a stable 45 with ASW on, and it often dips into the 30's with VR settings that are mostly set to low or medium, and it doesn't look anywhere as nice, but its vastly more immersive. I was also planning an upgrade even before I got VR so it kinda made it the test case for the current low end system. You basically want enough performance to run a stable 45 fps in VR (though it still seems ok for me into the 30's, once you get into the 20's forget it).


Edited by Harlikwin

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There was a time I was sticking with TrackIR because I was waiting for higher resolution VR HMD's. Then the Vive Pro was released, and I also learned about the Samsung Odyssey. After plugging my Odyssey in the first time and flying in a sim, my mind was blown. I had no idea what I'd been missing out on.. and in fact - going for a higher resolution HMD gave me further cause to want to upgrade my gpu which at the time was a 980Ti.

 

VR really puts you in the perspective of being in the cockpit, and you can really feel/see the effect of having depth perception. In WWII aircraft my aim improved, but mostly what put the poop eating grin on my face was looking left or right and seeing a life sized wing in either direction.

 

If you have the hardware for VR - it is by far the best simming experience. Graphics quality wont be what you get on your monitor, but the experience is just better.

 

If you don't have the hardware for VR, but have the money to build a rig - worth it imo. It's just really hard to explain how awesome it is without putting on a headset.

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If you have the hardware for VR - it is by far the best simming experience. Graphics quality wont be what you get on your monitor, but the experience is just better.

 

It's just really hard to explain how awesome it is without putting on a headset.

 

It is hard to explain, but even with inferior GFX settings I'm forced to use I find everything much easier to fly/shoot/have situational awareness in VR. Before VR I had a hard time flying helicopters at treetop height or higher. Now, I'm threading them under power lines and between trees, I think tree-top height is "too high". The difference is amazing for helicopters any sort of low level flying. The 1:1 headtracking is just so much better than trackIR because your brain is already programmed for it. You glance at an object thats moving some way and you glance back to where it should be a few seconds later, and there it is. With TIR and flat screens I always had issues with SA and would get "lost" often. Never an issue in VR. The only thing that sucks is the limited resolution compared to flat screens currently, hopefully Gen2 or Gen3 HMD's will "fix" that, but it may be a while. That being said, even Gen1/1.5 HMD's are well worth it IMO.

New hotness: I7 9700k 4.8ghz, 32gb ddr4, 2080ti, :joystick: TM Warthog. TrackIR, HP Reverb (formermly CV1)

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If you've ever flown DCS in VR, you would not be asking this question. So, to answer your question, VR. When in VR, you are no longer in a room looking at a monitor. You are in DCS World.

 

I've had VR and do not use it. The current tech is not nearly mature enough yet.

 

@OP

VR is more immersive and 'fun' but not very practical, the displays are very low resolution and not well suited to 'spotting dots on the horizon'.

 

TrackIR is an external headtracking utility that allows you to use a normal, full resolution monitor. I.E. it's not as 'cool' but is 10x more practical.

 

The above points may not apply when nextgen headsets drop, but the 1st gen headsets are mediocre.

Де вороги, знайдуться козаки їх перемогти.

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