Best Racing Sim Games - Xbox One X or PC

[DieselDiner]

Thank you, makes perfect sense.

[TurboSid]

I play Pcars2 because the multiplayer is so much better than AC.

My GTX 1080 runs Pcars2 on the Rift well. Not going to get this gen's VR headsets. Going to wait to see where it goes.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

Index is overall best VR if you judge the whole package, controllers, tracking, software support, etc. It's good if you care about "room scale" VR, ie. walking around your living room, picking stuff up, shooting guns.

None of that matters in sim racing. So you're better off buying something with crap controllers but higher resolution like Reverb.

Index is good, but not $1k good. Unless you don't care about cost and buy it for room scale type of games. Otherwise you buy Quest which is wireless and costs 1/3 as much.

I am fairly tech challenged, but wouldn't the 120hz refresh on the Index be the best sim racing solution? I understand it has less resolution, but is that as big a deal as refresh rate? I watched some reviews and the HP doesn't even compare imo. If I bought the stand alone headset it is only $500 and the HP is $650.

[Kev608]

I ordered the HP Reverb. The Valve Index was out of stock and the HP is on sale for $550. Can't wait to play some of these games in VR! Thanks for all the help!

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

I am fairly tech challenged, but wouldn't the 120hz refresh on the Index be the best sim racing solution? I understand it has less resolution, but is that as big a deal as refresh rate? I watched some reviews and the HP doesn't even compare imo. If I bought the stand alone headset it is only $500 and the HP is $650.

Higher refresh rate is always desirable, but it's diminishing returns. Beyond 90Hz it's just extra comfort, it's not essential. And you need proportionally more GPU power to sustain that frame rate, which is currently the biggest issue in high res VR gaming.

It would actually be better if you could vary the refresh rate to match your comfort level, and for example lower it to 80Hz, so you can free up about 10% performance and put that into supersampling so you can get crisper image.

The biggest problem is the resolution and so called Screen Door Effect, where everything is really blurry, and you see lines between pixels on the screen (you're looking at it through a magnifying lens inside the HMD).

So, resolution (both screen pixel density and internally rendered image) is a lot more important than higher refresh rate.

I really recommend the Reverb for you to start with. It's relatively cheap and much less hassle to use than something like Index, which requires permanent sensors around your room for tracking. Reverb has inside out tracking, you just put it on press a button to center and that's it.

It's not a big investment and if you decide VR is for you, it's good enough for next couple of years until the technology improves.

[dozaiya]

5 min in VR and i feel like im gonna vomit my stomach out

[antych]

Originally Posted by dozaiya

5 min in VR and i feel like im gonna vomit my stomach out

That can happen for few reasons. You could be super sensitive to motion sickness and will never be comfortable with VR. For some it may take some time to get used to. I was uncomfortable with it for maybe first 15min when I tried it first time, but later on I could spend hours in it. Your set up could be the problem. If the frame rate drops, or tracking isn't accurate and there's disconnect between what's on the screen and your head movements, you will get sick.

It's really important to to maintain high and steady frame rate with VR. Even if you're averaging 90fps but have frequent frame drops you will suffer. There is some mitigation like asynchronous spacewarp in oculus which helps to fill in gaps, but that's last resort and can still make you uncomfortable.

That's one of the reasons why VR is so demanding on hardware. You not only need enough GPU power to run it, but it needs some headroom to allow for dips in frame rate.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

That can happen for few reasons. You could be super sensitive to motion sickness and will never be comfortable with VR. For some it may take some time to get used to. I was uncomfortable with it for maybe first 15min when I tried it first time, but later on I could spend hours in it. Your set up could be the problem. If the frame rate drops, or tracking isn't accurate and there's disconnect between what's on the screen and your head movements, you will get sick.

It's really important to to maintain high and steady frame rate with VR. Even if you're averaging 90fps but have frequent frame drops you will suffer. There is some mitigation like asynchronous spacewarp in oculus which helps to fill in gaps, but that's last resort and can still make you uncomfortable.

That's one of the reasons why VR is so demanding on hardware. You not only need enough GPU power to run it, but it needs some headroom to allow for dips in frame rate.

I got the Reverb today. It's pretty great, though a major pain to get working.

I've got iRacing kind of working, but AC will not work at all in Steam. PC2 looks like it's the only racing game that supports the Reverb?

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

I got the Reverb today. It's pretty great, though a major pain to get working.

I've got iRacing kind of working, but AC will not work at all in Steam. PC2 looks like it's the only racing game that supports the Reverb?

Yes, it's a niche technology and not exactly user friendly, so it takes some tinkering.

PC2 is easiest, it has overall best VR support. Everything should work right away.

AC wasn't built with VR in mind, so the menus aren't in VR. But as long as you pick VR as your display output, the game will switch to HMD as soon as the track loads. You may have to use your mouse to adjust setting and start the race, but after that it all works well.

ACC behaves like PC2, you can launch it as a SteamVR game and it works in menus.

Dirt Rally supports VR as well.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

Yes, it's a niche technology and not exactly user friendly, so it takes some tinkering.

PC2 is easiest, it has overall best VR support. Everything should work right away.

AC wasn't built with VR in mind, so the menus aren't in VR. But as long as you pick VR as your display output, the game will switch to HMD as soon as the track loads. You may have to use your mouse to adjust setting and start the race, but after that it all works well.

ACC behaves like PC2, you can launch it as a SteamVR game and it works in menus.

Dirt Rally supports VR as well.

I figured out how to get AC to work. It is super buggy, but I love driving my M4 in that game. It actually feels a lot like when I'm on the track with mine!

Thanks for all the help!

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

I figured out how to get AC to work. It is super buggy, but I love driving my M4 in that game. It actually feels a lot like when I'm on the track with mine!

Thanks for all the help!

Glad you got it working. I recommend you get https://store.steampowered.com/app/908520/fpsVR/

and tweak supersampling in steamvr to match your GPU's performance. Set it as high as you can as long as you maintain 90fps.

You can go over Reverb's native resolution in AC if you have a powerful GPU like 2080Ti. It will give you really crisp image.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

Glad you got it working. I recommend you get https://store.steampowered.com/app/908520/fpsVR/

and tweak supersampling in steamvr to match your GPU's performance. Set it as high as you can as long as you maintain 90fps.

You can go over Reverb's native resolution in AC if you have a powerful GPU like 2080Ti. It will give you really crisp image.

I only have a 2070 Super. I'm considering installing a second one with the NVLink though. I've got a Ryzen 2700x OCed to 4.1 mhz and 4x 8GB of DDR3200. Average FPS on the 4K tv with everything maxed out in AC was 150fps.

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

I only have a 2070 Super. I'm considering installing a second one with the NVLink though. I've got a Ryzen 2700x OCed to 4.1 mhz and 4x 8GB of DDR3200. Average FPS on the 4K tv with everything maxed out in AC was 150fps.

Most games don't scale with Nvlink/SLI anymore. It's technology that both Nvidia and AMD are abandoning. It's not worth it. Sell it and get a 2080Ti instead.

AC is quite old and has low requirements, but your PC won't cope with ACC in VR. Even PCars2 won't run very well unless you bring the resolution down.

SteamVR automatically sets resolution level based on your hardware (unless you override it), so you might be running it at lower resolution thinking everything is fine, but you're not taking full advantage of Reverb's high res display. Of course, if you're happy with the results, or only play AC, there's no need to spend more money.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

Most games don't scale with Nvlink/SLI anymore. It's technology that both Nvidia and AMD are abandoning. It's not worth it. Sell it and get a 2080Ti instead.

AC is quite old and has low requirements, but your PC won't cope with ACC in VR. Even PCars2 won't run very well unless you bring the resolution down.

SteamVR automatically sets resolution level based on your hardware (unless you override it), so you might be running it at lower resolution thinking everything is fine, but you're not taking full advantage of Reverb's high res display. Of course, if you're happy with the results, or only play AC, there's no need to spend more money.

I've been forcing 4096x2160 resolution. Using Open VR in AC.

Have you tried this .dll file?

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

I've been forcing 4096x2160 resolution. Using Open VR in AC.

Have you tried this .dll file?

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr

I haven't. Isn't that just the same as SteamVR? I'm usually running SteamVR beta through Steam. That's where you can adjust resolution per game. So you can give AC more, but lower it for ACC for example.

That's a good resolution if it runs well. I was running it at over 6000x3000 on 2080Ti.

[BMWM3Wannabe]

I play iRacing as well as DCS World for Fight Sim. Both really amazing Simulations.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

I haven't. Isn't that just the same as SteamVR? I'm usually running SteamVR beta through Steam. That's where you can adjust resolution per game. So you can give AC more, but lower it for ACC for example.

That's a good resolution if it runs well. I was running it at over 6000x3000 on 2080Ti.

All of my games keep loading angled off to the side. I can't figure out how to straighten them. I have to drive with my head turned about 30 degrees to the left to be looking straight out the windshield. The arrow on the floor in SteamVR is pointing that way as well and my play space is about three feet behind me and to the left.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by BMWM3Wannabe

I play iRacing as well as DCS World for Fight Sim. Both really amazing Simulations.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZEPQZ41TF6YWcYd88

iRacing is great, when I can get it to load properly. This VR stuff is really testing my tech skills!

I don't have a joystick, but the flight sims look pretty cool. Any recommendations on an affordable option?

[BMWM3Wannabe]

Originally Posted by Kev608

iRacing is great, when I can get it to load properly. This VR stuff is really testing my tech skills!

I don't have a joystick, but the flight sims look pretty cool. Any recommendations on an affordable option?

If you want to fly military aircraft, DCS WORLD, PERIOD! If you want to become a private pilot and learn how to fly say a Cessna then I don't have any really experience there.

I had trouble with iRacing as well until I got a Static IP from my internet provider and that cleaned up my issues.

Link to a thread I just made about Flight Sim.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1670059

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

All of my games keep loading angled off to the side. I can't figure out how to straighten them. I have to drive with my head turned about 30 degrees to the left to be looking straight out the windshield. The arrow on the floor in SteamVR is pointing that way as well and my play space is about three feet behind me and to the left.

You need to reset your seating position. Some games allow you to map it to a key or a button on a wheel like project cars.

In AC I think it's ctrl+space.

There's also an option of doing that through SteamVR hud, when you go into settings.

It varies from game to game.

[Kev608]

Originally Posted by antych

You need to reset your seating position. Some games allow you to map it to a key or a button on a wheel like project cars.

In AC I think it's ctrl+space.

There's also an option of doing that through SteamVR hud, when you go into settings.

It varies from game to game.

Tried the reset many times and it doesn't change anything.

I am going to try a system restore point.

[antych]

Originally Posted by Kev608

Tried the reset many times and it doesn't change anything.

I am going to try a system restore point.

Resetting should work, but you need to do it every time you start the game. Easiest way to verify it is with pcars2, where you can just bind it to a wheel button, it also has an option to auto center when the race starts.