Have Your Say – VR or No VR?

VR Sim Racing 01.jpg

Do you race in VR?


  • Total voters
    214
Sim racing is a perfect gaming format to experience with VR, but some in the sim community are very pro-VR while others are holding back. Have your say in the comments below on whether VR is for you, and why.

A good Virtual Reality sim racing experience is hard to beat, but technical limitations and limited developer support has slowed the growth of VR. So, we want to hear from you. Is VR worth having for sim racers in 2021?

While the global stats on its use on Steam puts the percentage of VR in the single digits, most sim racing polls put the percentage of users who at least own a headset in the 25-35% range. Even with this high level of VR owners, many high-profile racing franchises such as F1 and WRC have yet to implement official VR support. Other sim titles like Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2 and RaceRoom have supported VR for years, and are enjoyed by thousands of sim racers around the world.

For many in the community, VR is the only way to sim race. This crowd even has a slogan: “No VR, No Buy”. Undoubtedly, there aren’t any more immersive or exciting ways to experience sim racing visually than to virtually control the head of the driver. The first sim racing experience in VR is something most people don’t quickly forget. Sitting virtually in cars most of us will never get to drive in real life at a track most of us will never get to experience is undeniably cool.

VR Sim Racing 02.jpg


Contrast the above list of pros with some known shortcomings of VR, and you end up with a divided set of opinions. Among those who have tried VR sim racing and moved on, two of the common complaints are that the video appears grainy and the frame rate is too low. Both issues can be mitigated with higher end hardware, but the cost of such hardware is prohibitive to many. A byproduct of a lower framerate in VR is often motion sickness. Motion sickness can occur in VR at any frame rate, but it’s more common with sub-90 FPS experiences, and makes Virtual Reality impossible for some.

It’s also possible that we’re only in the infancy of VR, and the next generation will improve the visually quality and frame rate even on affordable GPUs and HMDs. Other than flight simulators, no gaming format takes advantage of a VR view quite like racing simulators. If the demand for VR continues from racing gamers, the developers will hopefully look to make support more commonplace in future titles and improve the experience in kind.

So, we want to hear from you. Do you use VR? What keeps you coming back or keeps you away from VR, and what do you think the future will hold for VR sim racing?
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

Autosmoothing and Reprojection is unacceptable for me. I don't feel comfortable with stuttering and it kills the immersion. I always try to stay 2-3ms below the minimal frametimes. Fortunately no problem with 3090 and Index @80Hz.
Never played AMS2 but if it has the same engine like PC2 I could push gfx to the limit with a lot of SS without repro. Does AMS2 look so much better?

Then buy it, it is the best sim for VR, BY FAR imo.
 
Same thing.
With G2 can only do 60hz on 3080Ti, dropping SS and settings can get to 90fps but eyes don't like it.
80Hz with Rift S, worry free, with SS at 1.8 with a 7700K processor and 1080Ti, weird that you have this kind of problem.
When I put on my helmet with AMS2 I am always incredibly amazed by the graphics quality and especially the fluidity as soon as I ride.
Hope you find a solution to your worries.
 
Must suck anytime you get beaten in a race by a flat screen user :x3: lol
But it is not only the victory in the pleasure of driving, otherwise no need for simulation, you might as well play a game on a mobile phone.
I am an old player / driver of a good level, I have some successes, but my greatest pleasure from afar is to feel my car, to become one with it, if I lose it does not matter, if the race is exciting that's what gives the real pleasure, I do not ride for money, so the victory is only the "Cherry on the cake" as we say here.
For that from my point of view the Vr brings an incredible immersion that, always from my point of view, no screen even in 1500000K of 300000000000 of inches will ever render me.
 
twas but a joke :x3:

But it is not only the victory in the pleasure of driving, otherwise no need for simulation, you might as well play a game on a mobile phone.

rather superior to lecture others what they should think
 
Been running VR for years and its absolute stunning to play in Sims.

Installed 3 monitors recenlty as well,but this was due to certain games having no VR support and i missed the Immersion hence why i bought a Triple setup to try and get some of that back....But nothing beats VR imo
 
no vr no buy. i even havent tried single or triple screen again after my first vr experience.

i have used cv1 for 2 years and then g2. when i was using cv1 i thought if i should go for triples or not but after g2 and its great visual quality i never looked back again.
 
twas but a joke :x3:



rather superior to lecture others what they should think
You should siter my whole post rather than a single little piece that doesn't mean anything or distorts what I meant.
I thought you meant the VR headset brought an edge to winning races (maybe I misunderstood?)
I just wanted to say that in my opinion the most important thing is not the victory but the pleasure of feeling the reality of driving as much as possible.
I think you are very sensitive or that we did not understand each other well.
Good pleasure as you wish.
 
VR is the last thing on my mind as I'm just getting back into the sim racing game. I just pulled the trigger on a G29 and still getting used to that.
 
I lack a flat screen to play. I only have hmd and a basic display to use basic windows features. So for me is no vr no buy cause I don't have a screen anymore
 
At this point, I can't imagine doing sim racing without VR. It just provides such immersion and better awareness of your surroundings when driving. As the article states, if you have the money, the vast majority of the negatives can be reduced or outright removed. I hope it eventually becomes a standard inclusion in every racing game. It really is a game-changer, with the right setup and proper game implementation.
 
Jimmy Broadbent's honest opinion on VR


A top tier VR setup ( which is expensive ) will always trump even the best Triple Screen set up. That is a fact and the only people who argue this ... haven't had the experience of a Top End VR set up running on a Top End PC / RTX 3090.
 
That is a fact and the only people who argue this ... haven't had the experience of a Top End VR set up running on a Top End PC / RTX 3090.

Eh, this is basically me. And yet still, I've managed to find a way to return to even a single screen over VR. I am not going to argue AT ALL that VR is the more immersive experience. It absolutely is. But saying that VR 'trumps' all other ways to drive completely ignores that there are far more things to consider than just immersion when choosing which way to drive. There are MANY things that VR does NOT do better than monitors. I tolerated them for 2+ years exclusively because of the positives VR has to offer. But they aren't for everyone and they aren't always more important than what a single/triple/ultrawide monitor setup will offer.

There's always a balance to find, especially when dealing with sim racing.
 
Eh, this is basically me. And yet still, I've managed to find a way to return to even a single screen over VR. I am not going to argue AT ALL that VR is the more immersive experience. It absolutely is. But saying that VR 'trumps' all other ways to drive completely ignores that there are far more things to consider than just immersion when choosing which way to drive. There are MANY things that VR does NOT do better than monitors. I tolerated them for 2+ years exclusively because of the positives VR has to offer. But they aren't for everyone and they aren't always more important than what a single/triple/ultrawide monitor setup will offer.

There's always a balance to find, especially when dealing with sim racing.
I agree, what I am missing mostly in VR is seeing the buttons and knobs on my wheel and button box so I really have to remember them blindly. It's a matter of preference. I so enjoy the realistic 3D view that I only use VR anyways.
 
My vote is for VR all day. Sitting down in the sim cockpit and putting on your VR "helmet" and being able to look around the car naturally, it just feels right. If a racing game doesn't support VR, I find myself not interested in it anymore sadly. But I come in late to the VR world, and never had that bad first reaction. First VR game was on a Quest 1 running something native.

I have since played PC/VR through Assetto Corsa, AMS 2, IRACING with Quest 1, Quest 2 and now HP Reverb G2.

The driving I do is mostly tandem drifting, so two cars on track typically. Being able to spot a clipping point flying past your bumper, or being able to turn and look back right at the guy trying to bash your door. Priceless....
 
No VR no BUY. Well I have no choice since my monitor and computer sit behind my rig. But in all fairness love watching the beautiful graphics on youtube vids, but would never go back becouse of the complete immersion you get from VR.
 
Jimmy Broadbent's honest opinion on VR


A top tier VR setup ( which is expensive ) will always trump even the best Triple Screen set up. That is a fact and the only people who argue this ... haven't had the experience of a Top End VR set up running on a Top End PC / RTX 3090.
I actuality have a top set up ( 3080 not 3090 tho) ordered a g 2 last week and send it back.
Too much discomfort and missing the resolution of my screen, sure immersion level is unmatched in VR but that s not the ONLY factor !
I prefer resolution over immersion and confort over sweating, that’s not a FACT it s an OPINION and it’s mine.
You’re entitle to yours too.
Jeez those statements
 

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Mike Smith
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