VR Shaders mod for better VR experience

As far as the grass goes - mine is off, so no difference! The only complaint in visuals for me is the trees, which look pretty dire, except for the every closest ones.

Point is, to have 2.5 run well enough on my 1060 I have to have everything on minimum and PD of 1.0 anyway - so anything that improves anything at all is already better than what I run at.

I've been able to put the PD up to 1.4 - and this makes a large difference in the cockpit, but still get the awful trees. I don't mind running without the grass/clutter - doesn't bother me at all. I also put the AF to x4.

Not finished testing, yet, but as I said, anything above the minimum is a bonus, so I can't go wrong with this mod, really.

also, about the renamed folders, it seems that rather than using the \terrains\Caucasus\misc\metacache\dcs folder, the mod seems to make much more use of the fxo and metashader2 folders under C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta than when running without the mod...

Yes, but what does that folder do? As I said, DCS runs fine without it when the mod is not running!

You're losing out. Do more tweaking. Apparently you can remove some of the reduction in graphics without losing the MSAA and rendering mask.

That's something I need to do, but know very little about it. Does anyone have a nice "in the middle" setting they can share with the group?

Yes, but what does that folder do? As I said, DCS runs fine without it when the mod is not running!

its seems to populate a list of META2 files by default... but without the original folder name, all META2 files are written to the C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\ fxo and metashaders2 folder... which is much more populated with FXO and META2 files than when running DCS in stock form... usually,.. in stock form, there will only be one FXO file in the fxo folder.. with mod enabled, there are now 226... as i recall, a few updates ago, there were changes to the way DCS stored its metacaches in its main file structure... this might be mitigating that... but not sure why... guess we could see what happens if we dont rename the Caucasus\misc\metacache\dcs folder..

In the terrains\Caucasus\misc\metacache, do you re-name the dcs folder or the dcs LUA file?

In the terrains\Caucasus\misc\metacache, do you re-name the dcs folder or the dcs LUA file?

the folder.... just rename it to dcs.old

Yes, but what does that folder do? As I said, DCS runs fine without it when the mod is not running!

A wise man said "You should allow a man his allusions".... If it works for some of us, or even only makes us THINK it does, why are you bashing it? Just because someone doesn't know how to build a plane there is no denying it flys. I think we are all thrilled that it DOES work for a lot of us. VR goggles don't have the best quality control and they are not all the same quality of view. Maybe you don't see a difference but it has certainly improved MY experience!! If it doesn't work for you then maybe you and your system are different. I am also thrilled that smart people are finding ways to improve the visuals even further.

A wise man said "You should allow a man his allusions".... If it works for some of us, or even only makes us THINK it does, why are you bashing it? Just because someone doesn't know how to build a plane there is no denying it flys. I think we are all thrilled that it DOES work for a lot of us. VR goggles don't have the best quality control and they are not all the same quality of view. Maybe you don't see a difference but it has certainly improved MY experience!! If it doesn't work for you then maybe you and your system are different. I am also thrilled that smart people are finding ways to improve the visuals even further.

I have no idea what you are talking about! I am simply asking what function a particular folder has. Not knocking anything. Please read before pontificating!

its seems to populate a list of META2 files by default... but without the original folder name, all META2 files are written to the C:\Users\Username\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\ fxo and metashaders2 folder... which is much more populated with FXO and META2 files than when running DCS in stock form... usually,.. in stock form, there will only be one FXO file in the fxo folder.. with mod enabled, there are now 226... as i recall, a few updates ago, there were changes to the way DCS stored its metacaches in its main file structure... this might be mitigating that... but not sure why... guess we could see what happens if we dont rename the Caucasus\misc\metacache\dcs folder..

Hmm.. not sure about that. My fxo and metashaders2 get full when running in stock form.

I'm going to try a few things with the mod running and not renaming the folder and see what happens. I'll report back!

"Can we take a breath here and look at what this mod is doing.

There is a lot of enthusiasm by some people over how wonderful this is, but I am in the not-completely-convinced camp.

1) I can see the benefit of the MSAA masking. There is no doubt that must reduce resources used simply by the fact the whole screen is not being processed. A definite positive. First question here is, can we have that effect without taking away some of the graphical effects that this mod seems to do?

2) Without the mod, what sort of performance increase would we get simply by disabling some of the effects in the main GUI settings screen?

3) There is something going on with grass when using this mod that I can't quite explain. I get effects that I didn't see before.

4) Seems to me that it's people with higher end kit that are not seeing any great benefit of this mod. In my case, I am able to put on x4 MSAA rather than x2, but I haven't tried simply turning things off in the GUI settings to see if I get the same thing without the mod.

5) I don't understand what is happening with the folders of type C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\terrains\Caucasus\misc\metacache\dcs. We are told to rename them in the mod readme file, but even when renamed and without the mod, DCS runs as normal, so I don't know why we are doing anything with these folders. I have asked here a couple of times on that, but no reply was given.

I have ASW switched on in auto mode, so I only tend to see 45fps or 90fps anyway. I have it switched on, otherwise it's too easy to see 'double image' type artifacts on instrument gauge readings when moving head left and right quickly.

I think a bit more investigation is needed here."

So exactly what investigation is needed? You are telling people that find it does indeed work that they are wrong and that you don't think it should/does... Pontify on that for a minute... lol

Hmm.. not sure about that. My fxo and metashaders2 get full when running in stock form.

I'm going to try a few things with the mod running and not renaming the folder and see what happens. I'll report back!

cool..... curious myself!!... but currently doin the update...:music_whistling:

cool..... curious myself!!... but currently doin the update...:music_whistling:

OK, so I tried a few missions without renaming the DCS folder, and the mod seems to work just as well as it does with renaming the folder, which could be good news as it means an easier install with OvGME.

A comment from Kegetys would be useful on this, but looking good! I'll do some more tests.

Geez this install is taking forever. I sure hope it doesn't break the mod.

Geez this install is taking forever. I sure hope it doesn't break the mod.

I hope too! Almost 12GB for me. Interesting this reference in the Changelog:

"Viggen canopy glass now uses glass shader - compatability with Kegety's VR mod"

Geez this install is taking forever. I sure hope it doesn't break the mod.

It doesn't!

I hope too! Almost 12GB for me. Interesting this reference in the Changelog:

 

 

"Viggen canopy glass now uses glass shader - compatability with Kegety's VR mod"

OK, so I tried a few missions without renaming the DCS folder, and the mod seems to work just as well as it does with renaming the folder, which could be good news as it means an easier install with OvGME.

A comment from Kegetys would be useful on this, but looking good! I'll do some more tests.

This is written in the readme.txt of Kegetys :

- Remove terrain metacaches. For example:

Mods\terrains\Caucasus\misc\metacache\dcs

Mods\terrains\Nevada\misc\metacache\dcs

Mods\terrains\???\misc\metacache\dcs

rename those directories to dcs.old or similar. This ensures

the metashaders will be recompiled correctly.

So it is usefull when you've just installed the mod for shaders to recompile. So just for the phase when launching DCS takes a while.

I understand that at this moment, if you have not renamed the folders, recompilation won't succed.

After that ... no more function related to folder's renaming. I think it was quite clear in the readme.txt.

mariner3302 I'm also sweatting a bit. There is much good stuff for F/A-18c and openbeta in the update ... and remove/reinstall mod is ok... so I'll do it but I just hope like you.

So it is usefull when you've just installed the mod for shaders to recompile. So just for the phase when launching DCS takes a while.

I understand that at this moment, if you have not renamed the folders, recompilation won't succed.

 

After that ... no more function related to folder's renaming. I think it was quite clear in the readme.txt.

Sure the statement is quite clear in the readme, but my point is that in practice it seems to make no difference. The shaders recompile whether the folder is renamed or not. If so, that is good, as it makes enabling via OvGME much more simple.

Does this mean people with the mod can now go on multiplayer without it complaining? Odd that it's only in the viggen change log.

The Viggen was mentioned in the first post as one of the aircraft that the mod wasn't totally compatible with, so Heatblur have updated it, which is great news.

'* This optimization does not work with planes which do not use the glass shader for the canopy glass. For example the A10C, Hawk and Viggen. It works at least with the Hornet and Harrier'.

hmm... mod seems to not be working now for me after the update...

Sure the statement is quite clear in the readme, but my point is that in practice it seems to make no difference. The shaders recompile whether the folder is renamed or not. If so, that is good, as it makes enabling via OvGME much more simple.

Yes. I should have said "recompilation eventually won't succed" according to readme.txt's : "This ensures the metashaders will be recompiled correctly."

Dflippink, did you just update with mod installed (and logically mod being altered), and than see the mod not working ... or did you re-install the mod after the update and than see it not working ?

hmm... mod seems to not be working now for me after the update...

Same here, but I did all steps again and works fine.

The Viggen was mentioned in the first post as one of the aircraft that the mod wasn't totally compatible with, so Heatblur have updated it, which is great news.

 

'* This optimization does not work with planes which do not use the glass shader for the canopy glass. For example the A10C, Hawk and Viggen. It works at least with the Hornet and Harrier'.

hmm... mod seems to not be working now for me after the update...

Sorry if you know this already, but it is important to uninstall all mods before doing any DCS update. This is where OvGME really comes into its own. Just the click of a button and all mods are installed/uninstalled and original data backed up.

That makes more sense, interesting. I hope ED really finds a way to use it and implement it.

Well, one of the mods - BIGNEWY, I think - said earlier in this thread that ED were looking into it. How long it will take to evaluate and integrate is another thing altogether!