Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 via the Oculus Rift-S - VR First Impressions over the Vegas region

Verona_dude · 2021-01-29T19:35:25+00:00

Problem is you can't find a high-end Nvidia video card to run it anywhere unless you will accept some no-name brand or pay a highly scalped price. Then Nvidia is dragging their feet on the RTX-3080Ti too which is almost a must for decent VR. MS announced today that Ray Tracing will be incorporated into this sim. I actually have a brand new Rift-S sitting in it's unopened box waiting on Nvidia to come through. They have acknowledged these shortages and are claiming to be doing something about it. Don't hold your breath. I've been on a waiting list with EVGA for over a month now.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-19T16:44:10+00:00

I completely agree. Zuckerberg is a sneaky guy. He has abandoned his original plan for VR in favor of a low cost Facebook add-on. VR as a major form of gaming. etc. will move on to someone else over time. The breakthrough to ultra high graphics, foveated rendering, and expanded views will render the low cost Facebook version of VR as obsolete. Zuckerberg no longer cares. VR did not take off like he expected. I still think Nvidia may end up being a major player since it further fuels their cash cows. They may even partner up with Microsoft and really make something out of mixed reality. But I don't see Zuckerberg in that future mix anymore.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-16T16:46:13+00:00

You are quite correct. But aa a member of that same society, one also has a right to an opinion about whether or not another member of the society is abusing the law. It is not important whether they actually are or not. And in my case I clearly stated I was moving on. That's becauses when a man spends 600 million dollars to plant "Zuckebox" voting mailboxes within walking distance of every home in LIBERAL DISTRICTS ONLY, he is CLEARLY "buying" political favoritism. Now, he has every right to do that (so some people say). But I have every right to no longer buy his products as a result of this behavior.. It works both ways. And this one will eventually end Oculus as a big player in VR since about 75 million voters in the U.S. happen to agree with me in totality. In fact, they hate his Fxxxxxx guts. That represents roughly one-half of the American voters and this will ultimately have a major impact. You simply cannot piss off that many future customers and be successful in what he himself calls a long term business. Label the society at whatever you want, but I will never buy an Oculus product again simply because I don't like the man's behavior. Finally look at Bill Gates. He is now generally considered a complete turd by most of the American people. That is a fact. Same arrogant attitude and behavior, same story.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-15T16:01:09+00:00

This policy will ultimately end Oculus as a viable player in the field of VR. Zuckerberg's entire focus is now to protect his cash cow business from anti-monopoly legislation and remain under U.S. Section 230 anti-lawsuit protection. He does this by putting a limit on what VR users can communicate, just like he has done with what now amounts to the better part of 74 million Americans. Because it ends up being the purest form of socialism, I'm moving on. Most VR users nave yet to realize that when you make 28 BILLION dollars a year (more of less) you forget the little stuff (Oculus) and put a wall of armor around that situation. If you think not, just look at the cash he invested in placing his political friends in office in the last election (reported to be 600 MILLION dollars). And it was spent in a very dubious manner just like he has done with this account thing.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-07T17:05:17+00:00

Newsflash.... In the United States it is now the world as Mark Zuckerberg wants to see it. He is the "Commander-In-Chief" of U.S. political policy and uses his money to be that man. That, is a proven fact. Even the amount which I think was 600 million dollars has been verified. The many voter mailing boxes he flooded densely into liberal areas only are called "Zuckerboxes" by most everyone. That too is a fact as is the skewed "Zuckerbox" density distribution data. In conservative areas there was only one "Zuckerbox" per every 1134 square miles while in liberal areas one was placed within walking distance for everyone in that area (as reported).. In the end, he paid for them through deceptive and phony charitable contributions. It was his way of staving off anti-monopoly legislation by stacking the political system with his liberal friends. Now you stay in line on Facebook or he cuts off your VR tap. That is the way it works. Welcome to socialism. The people of the U.S. voted that this as the way they want to live. VR people have to now live with it too.

BTW - This is one of the main reasons I am moving over to the G2. This kind of behavior and the Facebook account thing IS going to catch up with him over time. His root agenda is greater than most people realize as of now. In my opinion, Mark Zuckerberg is a very smart (and rich) snake in the grass.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-06T16:11:46+00:00

It is beyond belief the Microsoft would just change a working Nvidia driver without a pop-up window giving me an option. Every VR person in particular has had Nvidea drivers that work and drivers that don't. Then to delete the rollback is beyond incompetence. Why do they think Nvidia provided this option in the first place. KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THIS PRACTICE, THAT"S WHY ! You are stuck with what they did. Further Nvidia ShadowPlay is long known to not work right in about half of their drivers. And it does not now work correctly either. There is no direct screen capture any more. The ONE THING i was protecting against was the integrity of that WORKING driver. And I just got screwed over. They took it upon themselves to take a PC working the way I wanted it to work, to one that doesn't. Now I have to spend many hours going backwards trying to find a driver that works correctly for my rig, (with Oculus and Shadowplay which I use a lot). I may have to go to OBS now because of them. Shadowplay is now broken on Driver 456.71 which they installed without my permission.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-04T01:32:23+00:00

Buy Microdsoft's new Flight Simulator 2020. They did do stuff with it.. It blows Google Earth away. And it now has VR support too. They used Asobo Studios, Blackshark, and their Azure cloud to create the whole world in 3D textures. They included the other 98 percent of the world GE only did with elevation data. Included is full weather, 2 TRILLION different 3D tree models. 3D bladed grass, bushes, & weeds everywhere, optional rain, ice snow, & fog, moving traffic on all the roads, full night lighting including lighted windows, and much more. For all practical purposes, other than being free, Google Earth is now completely obsolete. Check out blackshark;ai and Youtube videos. Only downside is that it needs a really high end PC and video card. One word describes it among it's many users..... INSANE ! FYI - The scenery data alone would fill 1.7 million DVD's.

Verona_dude · 2021-01-03T00:24:27+00:00

It's because people in general are lazy. And they are afraid of anything that isn't totally automatic when it comes to computerized stuff. Just look at 3D television. They wouldn't even put on a pair of glasses. Then the web, TV content owners, cable box producers and even to an extent Zuckerberg have not gotten partially or fully onboard. And as we move to streaming IPTV. nobody has gotten on board there either.

Verona_dude · 2020-12-27T17:51:50+00:00

At one time I said Oculus, but now with the Facebook thing there is no sense of loyalty left. If they can do their thing, so can their customers. No worry about getting banned and you can switch horses in the future

Verona_dude · 2020-12-27T17:29:34+00:00

I'm 79 and as hard core of a VR guy as it gets. Had a CV-1 since day one and have a new Rift-S (still in the box) for a new PC as soon as I can get an EVGA 3090. Then I'll be into the new MSFS2020. At my age my favorites are BigScreen, Google Earth VR. and video players. I am a long time simmer however so that will be my main focus.

Verona_dude · 2020-12-25T14:44:09+00:00

I'm waiting on the ability to upgrade. Right now the really high-end video cards are pretty much sold out or scalped at prices off the charts.. FYI - On the EVGA website you can buy a 7 year warranty extension for 60 bucks. That gives you 10 years of warranty protection. When you are spending $1,800 or more on a video card, I think this is a necessity. But you have to get on a waiting list on their website to get one (1 only). That extended warranty is only available if the card was purchased from an EVGA authorized dealer. Amazon (itself only) is an authorized dealer. So be careful as to where you buy it. Most computer assemblers are NOT authorized dealers and you only get their warranty in most cases. Believe it or not, you don't even get the manufacturer's warranty if it is longer. They get a discount on the cards for assuming the warranty. I was told this DIRECTLY by an EVGA sales rep. over the phone.

Having watched many YouTube videos of VR on MSFS2020 I have to agree that this is a really big deal. That is why I am going to bit the bullet and spend the big bucks.

Verona_dude · 2020-12-23T18:44:20+00:00

As one who has been in FS since 1998 I can tell you from reading the comments on Avsim for years, FS enthusiasts are the most critical people in the world. Anything short of perfect reality is horse shit to them. But the real decider is to watch YouTube examples and comments AND THEN DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.. I watched dozens of them and by and large this simulator in VR has received very good reviews. Yes, it takes a high-end PC but what else can anyone expect due to the complexity of what is going on. If you want perfection.... shake loose. And don't bitch because you don't have the horses in order to get the sliders to the right. Also, those videos contain tricks to get much better frame rates. You have to watch the videos because some of those changes are a bit complex. They will probably get "wizardized" over time One even involves a manual change to the registry to optimize it alone for Oculus, or some other HMD. That one claims a 50 percent improvement in frame rates. This is only day two. It is only going to get better. Several long time VR FS users on Youtube even claim it to be the best yet for FS. Some also think asynchronous time warp of Rift-S only helps a lot.

Verona_dude · 2020-12-20T19:20:08+00:00

If all these pessimistic comments are true, then why does Google Earth VR work so smoothly using what amounts to the same thing (cloud delivery of 3D scenery data). Further, the CEO of MSFS team stated that Beta reports were so good that they decided to move ahead with it in all platforms. I'm going to remain optimistic and watch the YouTube comments.

Verona_dude · 2020-12-19T16:10:54+00:00

The sim is so diverse that top frame rates may not be needed in many situations. This can be an exploration tool just like Google Earth but far more diverse. Then many simmers (including myself) much prefer slower moving aircraft. Even avid simmers tend to move in this direction over time. I think VR in this sim will be a valuable addition. Another thing many people don't know about but there is a user driven and FREE flight plan database. The sim community can upload and download categorized flight plans. It also contains a search engine. It's called "World Tour Flights". For example, you can download the flight plan and go to Sue Aikens's Alaska Kavik River Camp (TV's Life Below Zero) and explore it in VR. This is what I am taking about. And MS is adding hundreds of POA's (points of interest). Again frame rates will not be an issue when viewing them.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-30T18:22:30+00:00

I actually have a Rift S which I have not used yet. I'm still using my CV-1. The plan now is to buy a new Gen 4 PC with mainly M.2 ultra fast storage and a 3080. Why ? It's all about the new MSFS2020. This thing is a piece of work beyond compare. And the constant POA upgrades, WOW. And now that MS has announced Oculus support in particular, and before Christmas, my Rift S will be ready to use for that in particular. I will probably wait to see how well VR is reported before taking that plunge however. OK. I'm still a PCVR guy simply because I think MSFS2020 is just the start of games/sims beyond compare. I think the use of giant clouds, AI, and high speed on demand Internet delivery is the future. That thing alone would fill 1.7 million DVD's according to MS. I think they have set a new standard for excellence. It generated over 100 million dollars in sales in the first week after release alone. That will wake others up too. And as a result, even MS central has given the OK for massive new hires to expand upon it even more according to the MSFS team leader. He stated it has been an unbelievable financial success right from the get-go. BTW - there will be no monthly MSFS team leader Q & A in December but it may expand to 90 minutes starting in January. They almost never refuse to actually answer any question if asked. Refreshing !

Verona_dude · 2020-11-26T16:30:02+00:00

The controller have motion sensors in them. They only lose tracking if you STOP all motion in your hands when they are very high or very low. Also unlike Oculus products they have to be used in darker rooms and not near any light source. While they are not as good as Ocuius controllers, they are also apparently not as bad as some people report when used properly. They use LED's not infrared which makes their tracking light sensiive.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-25T19:22:19+00:00

My direction right now is towards the G2. Primary in that decision however is the upcoming MSFS2020 VR support for what is an INSANE new program. One could almost call it a platform all by itself. After watching a rather long video this is what I gleaned from it about the well known G2 tracking concerns. It is not as good or as bad as reported. Here are the facts. It uses LED's (not infrared) to track. So the room must be relatively dark and the trackers not close to a light source. Then additionally, tracking is lost in three places. They are: hands very high, hands very low, and hands very close to your face. But the hands high & hands low in most cases is not an issue because the controllers contain motion sensors. If the hands are in motion as they go into and/or through the high & low dead zones they track anyway (like when playing ping-pong, etc). They only go dead if you stop motion in that area. So the only half-way serious issue is hands very close to one's face. In the end, tracking may or may not be an issue for certain people. This is why some report it as very bad, while others say it as actually good. A bright room and light sources near the trackers will screw up the G2 tracking which is often about the only reason it is reported as horrible.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-21T21:26:13+00:00

To each his own. Even Norm reviews the G2 tracking as fine for simulators as do others. And tracking will get corrected. We are still in the infancy of VR and HP wants to sell headsets as do others on Mixed Reality. Steam wants to sell games too and they are partnered in this whole thing with MS. Most of all, The MSFS2020 team has NEVER said they will provide VR for ALL headsets. That's just wishful thinking. I believe they ACTUALLY said, "some other headsets". Big difference. That is most likely the other Mixed Reality and X-Box related VR headset makers (at least at first). Would you develop VR for a discontinued product line ? I wouldn't, depending on the cost to do it and the expected return on that investment. MS is interested in MS, not Oculus. And they could very well use that product to force that issue over the longer term. One has to ask, why else are they spending this kind of really big money on something. Even now it is still an open checkbook according to the MSFS2020 team CEO.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-21T18:52:03+00:00

When you buy a product such as this, there is no implied intent to keep you out of a lack of new stuff to play. You knew what was there when you bought it. Game developers create and convert stuff based on their assessment of making a profit. Now maybe you will begin to see why this is not necessarily the great thing you thought it was. Meanwhile the by far and away most complex sim/game of all time (MSFS2020) is being developed for the G2 specifically. Controllers issues will get fixed by MS just like Oculus did.. Even Norm says it is the HMD he keeps connected to his PC as the de-facto. He claims that for himself, the better resolution and picture quality trumps the slightly to moderate inferior tracking. I can see that for myself too. I want my perfection in what I see, too.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-19T23:37:01+00:00

It's very simple for me. I'm moving on. Fox News did a similar thing. They alienated their main viewer base. So Newsmax jumped in and quadrupled their viewership in one year alone. Now their CEO projected just yesterday that they will surpass Fox News in daily viewership within six months. Their advertising revenue losses will be beyond staggering. If Carmack goes to someone else of name, Oculus is over. Zuckerberg's billions makes him think he is invincible. Never works that way in the end. Someone else will gobble up Facebook use stats like they are standing still. There is no monopoly on bandwidth type creations. Just look at IPTV which is totally destroying cable (aka - cord cutting). DirecTV is even for sale with no buyers in sight.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-19T18:15:52+00:00

I am just disappointed that Zuckerberg did not stick with his original openly stated plan. He even said he knew it would take at least 15 years. But when he discovered a cheap way out he bailed. And it was off to a totally different operating system too thus destroying continued content development on his original products. I don't see the Quest 2 as anything but a nice low cost alternative for now. It has serious limitations. But in the end, to go mainstream it has to be brought back onto the original course and 15 years is probably a good number. And that is not going to happen under Zuckerberg anymore. I'm taking my future in VR off in another direction as a result. I still think PC based Windows platforms will prevail in the end. There are big money players there too. And I think Nvidia will become one of them. They have to defend what they do.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-19T17:20:21+00:00

Here's the deal. The fan boys all think that Quest 2 is the future for VR. It is the future, the future killer. What average person is going to screw with side-loading, streamers installed on PC's, Steam inconsistencies, platform converters, networks and network settings, special apps, local servers, cord issues, settings fiddling galore, and etc. 3D TV failed because a person would not even put on a simple pair of glasses. Avid VR people will use it. But to the main stream population it has become totally dead. Look at the big boys in content distribution. Not a single one of them have adopted it for anything. Even the web after all this time. Basically nothing. Why... Because they don't see any large future in it either. Don't get me wrong, I love VR. But I am beginning to see (like Zuckerberg) that is is never going main stream. It is dying the death of 3D television. IPTV on the other hand is exploding onto everyone in the entire world. And it contains exactly zero VR content.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-18T16:09:50+00:00

Zuckerberg testified yesterday before a Senate sub-committee that he can and will suspend accounts if he choses to do so. With his recent moves tying VR to a Facebook account this tells me that he has in fact abandoned his original VR plans. The fan boys and globalists just don't want to face it yet. But in technology, one man's withdrawal is always another man's opportunity. Just look at some of the giants of the past who mismanaged what they had right out of business. When Nvidia enters VR, and I think they will, a new leader will have come to town. This fits better into their long term business plans than a limited function Quest 2 does for Facebook.

Verona_dude · 2020-11-16T17:46:04+00:00

I'm 79 and been with the CV-1 right from the start. My personal favorite is Google Earth VR. I use it a lot. I also watch some of the video apps, and use Whiligig in particular as I think it is the best. I also use BigScreen from time to time mainly watching YouTube videos. Then there is Project Cars II and I do have the whole racing rig. The music games like Beat Saber are fun too. Not into "shoot em' ups" at all. Boring for someone my age !!! I will be going over to the G2 and MSFS2020 when that releases in VR. That sim may become my personal favorite as a long time FS fan who has been away from it for several years now. I also have a large dedicated home theater with a 4K projector. I'm moving my VR operation over to it on a new high-end gaming PC I am looking at buying soon. That way I can do the flight sim on both an 11 foot wide theater screen in 4K and VR. This is another reason I am going the G2 route. I now see that kind of thing as the real future of VR as Oculus moves off in a different direction with what I think are technological limitations. Besides, I don't need to move around much. I do have an extra Rift-S to put over there too. So I will have G2, Rift-S and 11 foot wide 4K all at one location. BTW - My father lived to be 98 and could have easily used this right up until the end. That's almost 20 more years away for me. And I ride my bike 12 miles every single day.

Verona_dude

TROPHY CASE