Virtual Reality

[GiftGruen]

Hmm … maybe try to give the GPU more ‚headroom’ by setting the Headset e.g. To 72Hz and quality to 0.7 to really achieve solid 72fps and some headroom left.

OLED with 72Hz should be okay.

Having fps steadily below headset setting imho is not a good idea.

My 5090 is not able to handle 1.0 ( neither in Korea nor in BoX ) with a Crystal Light - and a DreamAir even has sligthly more pixels to render.

Since you use OpenVR you should also doublecheck your Steam resolution settings.  fpsVR to check your ‚real‘ InGame resolution maybe also makes sense.

Just some ideas ..

[Marc_63]

For now, I haven't optimized for better FPS. I was just trying to get a good image at medium and long distances to start with. I'm using OpenXR from Pimax Play; my game isn't a SteamVR game. Thanks for your help, I'll run more tests in the next few days.

[Jade_Monkey]

On 7/19/2026 at 4:45 PM, Dash,Polder said:

How I fixed my lousy VR performance, deleted the startup.cfg file, let it build a new one and started over fresh with every setting set new. 

Eveeryone using VR listen to @Dash,Polder and delete your startup.cfg file in the IL2Series\game\data folder.

My frametimes became incredibly smooth. I used to have high usage and spikes even on the menu. Now they sit at a stable ~5ms on the menu.

Same thing in game, especially on the runway, i see a hug improvement!

 

Thanks Dash!

[YoYo]

2 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

Eveeryone using VR listen to @Dash,Polder and delete your startup.cfg file in the IL2Series\game\data folder.

My frametimes became incredibly smooth. I used to have high usage and spikes even on the menu. Now they sit at a stable ~5ms on the menu.

Same thing in game, especially on the runway, i see a hug improvement!

 

Thanks Dash!

It was just because of the large number of experiments he did, I guess ;)? Then someone wrote that something happened to his zoom and camera, so it's worth making a backup beforehand. Ok, I'll delete the current one, if it has something to offer, why not try it, although I didn't change much in CFG.

[Husar]

 

1 hour ago, YoYo said:

It was just because of the large number of experiments he did, I guess ;)? Then someone wrote that something happened to his zoom and camera, so it's worth making a backup beforehand. Ok, I'll delete the current one, if it has something to offer, why not try it, although I didn't change much in CFG.

This is yet another revelation from the VR gods in his  endless quest to find smooth citie 😂

Edited July 24 by Husar

[YoYo]

In VR, we still have those nights without any lighting, but I think it's the same in 2D. I can still see it on the screen. Actually, not much, and it looks more like spilled gasoline mixed with diesel fuel.

However, lighting in VR still renders differently for each eye (for example this runway). While it seems okay from inside the plane, switching to the external view (F2) shows that the left eye has a different light intensity than the right. The difference, in my opinion, is more than 50%. The lighting for both eyes should be the same in VR.

[Ultonia]

19 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

Eveeryone using VR listen to @Dash,Polder and delete your startup.cfg file in the IL2Series\game\data folder.

My frametimes became incredibly smooth. I used to have high usage and spikes even on the menu. Now they sit at a stable ~5ms on the menu.

Same thing in game, especially on the runway, i see a hug improvement!

 

Thanks Dash!

I got a 10 frame improvement in the menu. Unsure really if it's related to CFG being repopulated and settings set back to like for like.

It would be helpful if during testing people would post images of their frame timings or FPS, otherwise it's basically meaningless without some kind of data.

Before is the bottom graph and after deleting is the top, sitting in the main menu.

[YoYo]

8 hours ago, Ultonia said:

I got a 10 frame improvement in the menu. Unsure really if it's related to CFG being repopulated and settings set back to like for like.

It would be helpful if during testing people would post images of their frame timings or FPS, otherwise it's basically meaningless without some kind of data.

Before is the bottom graph and after deleting is the top, sitting in the main menu.

As I wrote earlier, deleting CFG causes graphics options to be set to low/medium, disabling many things. It's no wonder you can feel a few extra frames. The comparison shouldn't be to deleting the file, but to deleting it plus restoring the settings to their original state. After testing, I can say one thing: it's exactly as it is. The idea came from someone who forgot what they had changed and wanted the default settings. Unfortunately, it's not some magic trick. Developers need to continue working on optimizing the cities.

My benchmark - low pass over Seoul shows the same fps level (from before and after removing startup.cfg), and the airport next to Seoul is unusable due to low FPS. In my case, it made absolutely no difference. Of course, before testing, I used the same graphics and realism settings as after removing them.

Edited July 25 by YoYo

[T24_Martin]

I am on a Dream Air and I also think that 8k displays are not working correctly. The game performance so bad compared to DCS and GB. Even if I set everything similar to my GB setup and the lower everything it performance only half as good. 

I am not convinced about the Quad Views topic. DCS runs so smooth and sharp and I bet it is more demanding in many areas, as it's engine is pretty old.

Not sure about DLSS. I am on a 5090 and DLSS doesn't impact as strong as in DCS. Also not as sharp and clear even with the same preset.

Also, my ground textures take minutes until they are loaded. They stay very blurry vor a long time and even when they are loaded they are blurry. 

Overall I really like the game, but the VR performance issue is a real downer and I often play DCS or GB because I can not stand the bad performance.

[GiftGruen]

Ah, the first DreamAir pilot here?

May I ask how happy you are in general with the DA and what Headset you used before? Is it LH or SLAM?

I am considering to change to DA also, atm I am using the CrystalLight.

[GiftGruen]

3 hours ago, YoYo said:

As I wrote earlier, deleting CFG causes graphics options to be set to low/medium, disabling many things. It's no wonder you can feel a few extra frames. The comparison shouldn't be to deleting the file, but to deleting it plus restoring the settings to their original state. 

Well, I assume that everyone who tried this, of course restored the settings again he used before. Otherwise any comparison obviously is complete nonsense.

However, I came to the same results/conclusion as you.

I tried it just to validate if there is maybe a profile parameter you cannot set by GUI ( like eg bloom_enable in BoX ) that changes after re-initializing. This could have been the case but, well, probably isnt.

Edited July 25 by GiftGruen

[YoYo]

42 minutes ago, GiftGruen said:

However, I came to the same results/conclusion as you.

Of course, you can always check. At most, it will only cost you time. However, you must remember the placebo effect – all that glitters is not gold .

[Marc_63]

2 hours ago, T24_Martin said:

I am on a Dream Air and I also think that 8k displays are not working correctly. The game performance so bad compared to DCS and GB. Even if I set everything similar to my GB setup and the lower everything it performance only half as good. 

I am not convinced about the Quad Views topic. DCS runs so smooth and sharp and I bet it is more demanding in many areas, as it's engine is pretty old.

Not sure about DLSS. I am on a 5090 and DLSS doesn't impact as strong as in DCS. Also not as sharp and clear even with the same preset.

Also, my ground textures take minutes until they are loaded. They stay very blurry vor a long time and even when they are loaded they are blurry. 

Overall I really like the game, but the VR performance issue is a real downer and I often play DCS or GB because I can not stand the bad performance.

 

I also use Dream Air. Visually, I really don't like what I see in Korea. Like you, I find the textures very blurry; it looks good up close, but not at medium or long range. That’s the reason I’m not playing it right now. My DCS looks really good compared to Korea.

[Ultonia]

36 minutes ago, YoYo said:

Of course, you can always check. At most, it will only cost you time. However, you must remember the placebo effect – all that glitters is not gold .

Yeah I restored the settings as before, which I mentioned in my post.

[Tezza]

Whenever I’m flying any mission in VR, after 5 minutes the VR display freezes but the actual game seems to continue running as I can hear the comms and eventually my plane crashing! I have to cntrl alt del to get back to the desktop.

Im running a 9800X3D, 5090 and 64Gb Ram. My settings are quite low, enough for me to maintain 72FPS using a Pimax Dream Air at medium quality settings in Pimax Play. I’ve tried it using OpenVR and OpenXR. I also tried it using a Quest 3 through Virtual Desktop but it still freezes after 5 minutes like clockwork. I’ve disabled openXR toolkit etc. 

The other thing I notice is that when I start the game it takes nearly 5 minutes to reach the menu. It’s installed on an Nvme drive.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue? I’ve already submitted a ticket but I don’t know how long it takes them to reply. I’ve no issues with DCS or the other IL2 titles, just Korea.

[Husar]

1 hour ago, Tezza said:

Whenever I’m flying any mission in VR, after 5 minutes the VR display freezes but the actual game seems to continue running as I can hear the comms and eventually my plane crashing! I have to cntrl alt del to get back to the desktop.

Im running a 9800X3D, 5090 and 64Gb Ram. My settings are quite low, enough for me to maintain 72FPS using a Pimax Dream Air at medium quality settings in Pimax Play. I’ve tried it using OpenVR and OpenXR. I also tried it using a Quest 3 through Virtual Desktop but it still freezes after 5 minutes like clockwork. I’ve disabled openXR toolkit etc. 

The other thing I notice is that when I start the game it takes nearly 5 minutes to reach the menu. It’s installed on an Nvme drive.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue? I’ve already submitted a ticket but I don’t know how long it takes them to reply. I’ve no issues with DCS or the other IL2 titles, just Korea.

What is yours monitor Hz ? 

[Tezza]

19 minutes ago, Husar said:

What is yours monitor Hz ? 

Monitor 120Hz, VR 72Hz

[Husar]

7 minutes ago, Tezza said:

Monitor 120Hz, VR 72Hz

There was a bug in some graphics card vendors' firmware that caused black screens after a few minutes of gameplay (audio was working), both in 2D and VR, when running monitors at high refresh rates. The workaround was to lower the monitor's refresh rate or undervolt the GPU

Edited July 25 by Husar

[Tezza]

Further to my last post I’ve spent hours over the weekend trying to find out why the sim freezes when using Pimax Play. I completely reinstalled the game and it runs perfectly in flatscreen. I enabled OpenXR, restarted and it ran perfectly on the Quest 3 using Virtual Desktop. I restarted the PC and loaded Pimax Play instead of Virtual Desktop so I was using PimaxXr. When I start the sim it now takes 5 minutes to get from the ‘Play’ screen to the hanger and a flight only lasts for 5 minutes before the whole thing freezes again. It stays frozen for about 5 minutes then starts again so it hasn’t actually crashed. It’s as if the sim is waiting for something in the Pimax runtime. If I shut down Pimax Play and start Virtual Desktop it will still freeze unless I restart the PC so that Pimax Play hasn’t been running in the current session. I’ve tried Pimax Play 1.4, 2.02 and EVO, OpenVR and PimaxXR but it made no difference. The only way I can complete a mission is if I use the Quest 3 and Virtual Desktop providing I haven’t ran Pimax Play since boot up. I’ve got no issues with DCS, MSFS 2024 and loads of other games so I don’t know whether it’s a Pimax issue or an IL2 Korea issue bearing in mind it’s early access. Is anyone actually running the game successfully using Pimax Play and a Dream Air?

[YoYo]

18 minutes ago, Tezza said:

Is anyone actually running the game successfully using Pimax Play and a Dream Air?

The symptom is similar to what I experienced when using the OpenXR Toolkit: the simulator freezes after a while. I have a Quest, and after disabling the Toolkit, everything works fine in VR, no any CTD. There are many people here who fly on Pimax, and from what I can see, everything seems to be fine. Perhaps you're using some software or feature that's causing CTD?

[Tezza]

The Quest runs fine, it’s just the Pimax and I’ve turned everything else off including OpenXR toolkit, quad views etc. It’s a mystery.

[Eldur]

I'm still experiencing all previous issues with the most recent update...

Menu basically spawns about 20cm in front of my eyes, IPD being completely ignored.

When selecting a mission (like the free flight from the museum), the subsequent briefing screen has the menu spawning right inside my head instead, still ignoring IPD completely.

When entering the actual sim, the cockpit moves around with my head movement, but that stops after unpausing. Still pretty darn weird and almost motion sickness inducing (which I usually do not have any issues with even remotely!). IPD is fine at least here now, BUT!

The menu, which being the first to spawn where it's supposed to, follows my head movement as well. Also, with that noticed, I realized that the main menu does the same as that also keeps wandering with my head movements required to even see the corners after centering like 20-30cm leaned forward.

Also, it completely ignores my Quest 3 centering, I do have to press NP5 to recenter - not sure if it was like that in GB, haven't flown that in a while, but it felt different - but I'm 100% sure the menus are staying in place in Il-2 GB.

An on top of all of that, while not requiring any admin elevation, it completely blocks off any keystrokes that would trigger stuff outside like hitting the Win key (which can be great if you keep mis-hitting it), but also key combos assigned in other software that does run elevated like the ones I use to toggle between VR and Desktop modes as well as toggling passthrough in Virtual Desktop. Not being able to do stuff like that is quite a pain in the rear.

[TCW_Brzi_Joe]

I have to use reprojection in VR 😞 

Default setting "or_rpm_max = 155" has artefacts trough propeller. It is like looking trough waterfall.
I tried -1, that didn´t help.

Can you make more-less static disc instead of propeller effect incompatible with reprojection?

Thank you!

 

Edited July 30 by TCW_Brzi_Joe

[Dash,Polder]

Try a couple of different numbers, you can't ever get rid of it but some may greatly reduce the effect.  I always had pretty good luck with = 55 in the past, but run in 72 hz these days.  

[Brociopath]

I don't have a .Mission file to share right now, but I have been having insane crashes any time I play in VR, crashes that will lock my whole PC up to the point I have to manually hold the power button down for a few seconds. I have a screenshot of the reliability monitor at the time of the last crash though, I attached it here. I don't have the crashing issue when using TrackIR, it's only in VR. Sometimes it will happen when I'm leaving/entering a mission, and sometimes it happens while I'm flying around. Either way, it ends up making my entire PC unresponsive and the only solution is to hard reset it. Keyboard commands won't work, Youtube/Spotify stops playing, etc. My specs are technically under the recommended for VR, but not by much. I wouldn't expect to see my PC lock up so often due to my specs, and this is the only game it happens on. I play with a Quest 3 through Virtual Desktop. I'll try to play later and if I get a crash during a mission I'll upload the .Mission file.