Whats the status of simracing in VR in mid 2018?

[Christian Militzer]

I don't own a VR headset and did not follow the discussions about it regularly, but I am interested how the thoughts of the community are about VR in mid of 2018? From what I've read, some people really love VR, others don't and it seems that there is not really much progression on the VR market? I know some people are waiting on the second generation of VR headsets, but I didn't hear any news about it. Do you think there is still live in VR after the initial hype?

 

[Pär Öqvist]

I run VR exclusively for racing simulations so yes of course. It is the most effficient way to get the most realistic visual experience if that is your goal.

I am not prone to motion sickness so the only negative is it get a bit hotter in my oculus Rift.

There is plenty of development if you compare to the 2d panel market development it does move fast. But headsets like vive and Rift really get all the basics right the big updates will come from new panels and optics. Headtracking is spot on already.

 

[Gaudin]

Using the Vive 2nd generation headset with AC, and planning to use it for ACC, still loving it, during this hot weather though, not a lot of sim-time recently.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

I only run sim racing in VR, using a monitor now for me would be the equivalent of going back to my G27 after owning a DD wheel. What's more natural than the perspective of actually sitting in the car? But I would understand people with triple screen setups would have difficulty giving those up after the such an investment and effort.

The gen 1 headsets are still held back by even the 1080 Ti which can't handle sim titles at maximum settings. That's not to say they still don't look decent, but you do give up the bells and whistles visual effects that make them look amazing on a monitor. So either we'll need to see a brute force method or faster GPU's or gen 2 VR headsets employing clever rendering tricks along with eye tracking.

As for new VR headsets anytime soon, it's not looking good. Outside of our hobby looking at the VR gaming landscape things have ground to a halt since Skyrim VR beyond mostly indie trash hitting Steam which is gauge to what the big developers feel about VR if they aren't investing in game development. And I can't see Occulus or Vive pushing out new headsets for quite a while. Not just because of what they would consider poor adoption rates of gen 1, but because gen 2 needs to be a speculator upgrade and I think that's still in development.

If you're sitting on the fence I wouldn't wait just grab a second hand one off eBay, or maybe look out for a Windows headset which in my mind is would be perfect sim racing only headset and the cheapest.

 

[maelstrom]

Two things I would say are that you have to accept that the resolution is not great and if you're at all prone to motion sickness, you'll almost certainly get it with a VR headset. I would definitely advise you to try before you buy (with a racing sim) if at all possible.

 

[RobertR1]

VR is the only reason I'm into sim racing. Get a rift, turn on supersampling at 1.3-1.5 You'll be fine.

First few times I got motion sickness. Now I can do an hour+ no problem. You will heat up more but I say part of that is due to the extra tension you feel from immersion.

 

[DW1]

There's not so much about sim racing that exacerbates motion sickness... not in the same way as artficial translation movements in FPS games. Cockpit-based simulations suit VR incredibly well (they're pretty much the original "Killer App" for VR), as your viewpoint is always the result of accurate physical simulation instead of arbitrary motion, and having a cockpit around you gives your eyes an anchor-point. Having a force-feedback wheel also connects you to the action and helps overcome motion sickness.
Besides that, it'll just take a little getting used to, especially when heading into the dip after the first turn at Brands Hatch :-P

I'll echo the same sentiments in this thread. I can take-or-leave VR for a lot of game genres, as it's mostly driven on novelty. For sim racing, I consider it an absolutely essential tool already... and I would never go back to racing on a monitor. The fact that it feels incredible is just a bonus :-P

 

[Khyber]

i'll never racer on triples ever again. been triple free for over 2 years

 

[ykap1]

I've been using a rift for nearly a year and I found two major issues with using VR for sim racing.

First is resolution, while you can bump super sampling to above 1.0 (1.5 or so is the sweet spot in terms of performance hit and visual improvement) there is still a grainy, soft feel to the visuals. This can be particularly annoying if you're looking very far ahead, as you try to squint out more details that simply aren't there. Looking ahead at upcoming apexes is usually not an issue though it's only very far parts of the track. Note that your brain and eyes do adjust to this after a while and it eventually becomes a non-issue as you focus on the racing. However if you're doing hotlapping, and jumping in and out of cars it will keep 'resetting' your perception of the blurriness. AC is number 1 culprit for this as you have to take the headset on and off between menus and races.

Second is motion sickness, although this is not a hardware issue. I've always had an iron stomach, and i adapted within a couple of hours to VR driving. However, lots of friends can't stand more than 5-10 mins before they throw in the towel. One in particular is a competent drifter in real life but also suffers motion sickness, with the rift he lasted about 30 seconds before he gave up and napped for 30 mins out of sickness. This leads me to believe even competent real world drivers will have a hard time overcoming the inherent motion sickness that comes with the disconnect of seeing movement but not feeling it. If motion sickness applies to you then definitely test out a headset before you buy. If you want to really test your VR resolve looking out the side window while turning will quickly reveal your tolerance.

Having said all of that, the games that do support VR are very fun and the sense of immersion for simracing is truly a leap to the next level. It's very lacking when you race on a monitor after experiencing 1:1 headtracking from a virtual drivers seat. I choose to use VR every chance i get.

 

[RaceNut]

VR is great for Sim-racing use once you get past the reduced image-quality and focus on the driving and racing itself. The overall immersion is really strong and the more feedback devices one has, the more convincing it becomes. Most of the time, I play titles with VR support but, there are times where I use triples to play some titles that don't have it. If it were a matter of only having a single monitor, I'd definitely always use VR for Racing / Flight-sims.

If there are significant gains in VR-HMD tech happening, developers are keeping them mostly under wraps but, there are some signs that good things are coming in the next year or two although, I suspect they may be more costly than we'd like given the small market that exists.

I don't think VR is going away - as some like to suggest, it's just going to be a lot slower growth and adoption rate than the industry forecasts suggested. Sim-racing is a niche market but, the adoption rate for VR should be relatively high compared with most other genres of PC-gaming because it works so well and is so much more immersive and enjoyable in VR imo.

I agree that "try before you buy" is a good practice but, there are some good deals on used HMD's if one doesn't have access to test one. If one suspects the chances of suffering VR-sickness are high for them, it's worth noting that some with very bad initial reactions have overcome them with some determination and patience but, it all depends on the individual. Slow and gradual is the key because when overdone, the consequences can be difficult to get over.

When combined with FFB, tactile and motion cues, the immersion with VR is stunning. It really is amazing to me that we have this tech to enjoy today in our own homes and I'm glad that I'm able to utilize it to enhance my Sim-racing.

 

[DW1]

...
First is resolution, while you can bump super sampling to above 1.0 (1.5 or so is the sweet spot in terms of performance hit and visual improvement) there is still a grainy, soft feel to the visuals. This can be particularly annoying if you're looking very far ahead, as you try to squint out more details that simply aren't there.
...

While admittedly VR clearly needs all the resolution it can get, I'd say that for racing sims, it's not nearly as much of a handicap as it is in something like flight-sims - where you're primarily looking at instrumentation or distant dots in the sky... VR may be too big a trade-off in those cases.
For racing, it's already good enough to be almost entirely a matter of aesthetics. You're mostly concerned with big, chunky forms, like nearby cars, the track limits, glowing rev-limiter lights... none of what you're doing really requires reading fine text or spotting fine details on the horizon. Even most of the typical integrated dash displays have chunky enough fonts to be easily readable in VR, especially with a hint of supersampling.

 

[Hor-hay]

I think what's holding VR back is price and the pc specs needed to run it. Once this is not an issue VR will take off and they can look at gen 2 for those who can afford it. The experience and immersion out-ways the lack of resolution IMO.

 

[Boby Kim]

Right now VR is about the experience and that experience is expensive and you loose visual quality. The gap between gpu requirements and better visuals make the price so high that only a few can afford, just like the ultra cockpit builds.

 

[Nevini]

I used to run triple screens with Track IR 4 then 5 loved it, then along comes VR.
Game Changer and IMMERSION that,s the key, However the resolution is poor.
I sold my triples, bought a single 4K screen, in reality should have bought a 2K screen.

I cannot race without VR, I still fly with Track IR as the resolution limits visual identification of enemy aircraft.

I think VR is a waste of time with other types of games outside of sims.

I think another 3 or 4 video card generations before VR will look as good as a 2k screen, the limit is not VR its the actual Video hardware.

With a 1080 I can max most games, with VR I run low to medium.

I cannot wait to buy a 1180, or a 1280 or a 1380. I find around £700 quid over two years is a good investment. Less than a £1 a day with a good return via ebay at the end.

How about we that have VR offer to let none VR users come round to try our KIT, Let me start.
I live in North Yorkshire UK, If you live near and are interested in VR yet on the fence send me a PM and we can arrange a time for you to try.

I have all the sims apart from ice racing had enough of that one ;-)

 

[muzikant]

I have VR buy in March... all I can say.. try it somwhere in a shop. For me is outstanding what ever the resolution..Wtf.. the experience... Your driving the racingcar in 3d and that feel is fantaatic.. In the future it will be better and better soon!! and for now I have so much pleassure. can`t back to single or triple display.

 

[wajdi]

I cant race without VR anymore....

 

[Nevini]

Sim Racing with VR is like porn with VR, yet no mess and no fuss ;-)

 

[Boby Kim]

1000 euro's for a GTX 1080ti, Vive Pro 1400 euro. That is 2400 euro's for a VR experience

 

[hypertek]

I get motion sick in real life car rides and flights .. I used to get motion sick in VR, but after a while, your body adapts to it!! (reverse can be tricky). Its hard to play anything on a single monitor unless im playing with a gamepad now.

Low quality mods (like assetto corsa or rfactor) with unfinished interiors can be an eye sore.. High quality content like the original Assetto corsa cars, project cars 2, iracing and raceroom cars all have high quality interiors, which makes VR soo much fun, to look around in the cockpit while you race.

 

[RobertR1]

1000 euro's for a GTX 1080ti, Vive Pro 1400 euro. That is 2400 euro's for a VR experience

Most people go with a rift which is a fair bit cheaper. I'm on a 980ti overclocked and with ASW on the Rift enabled. With that combo, the performance is good. More is always better but it's very much functional and I'm comfortable putting that money into other parts of the rig.

For me, VR is the main reason for the hobby. If it went away in the future, I'd jump out.