u/Roymus99

I've been trying to test Dream Air performance with the sboys3 driver (Win 11 / 32gb / 5090). Lately on my tests with MSFS 2024, I've been getting a black globe on the Free Flight menu (you can see all the cities lit up but the entire globe is black, basically it looks like the whole world is being eclipsed). I've been able to run MSFS 2024 with sboys3 before, not sure what has changed...has anyone seen this behavior before? I've tried lowing SteamVR resolution and other settings...thanks!

I've been doing a lot of playtesting with the Sboys3 driver (Dream Air, Win 11/5090), and comparing it to Pimax EVO. IMO, the Sboys3 driver really improves the base headset image if you apply one of the sharpening filters (I prefer the Luma one), but I've also observed using native Pimax EVO / PimaxXR driver gives great results with better performance than Sboys3 in certain games. One surprising thing I've found: setting the Pimax EVO sharpening to a high level (at least 0.8, even 1) seems to give a visibly better image using Pimax OpenXR, even though normally setting the sharpening level this high in Quest games results in visible aliasing (fuzzies)...maybe it has something to do with the DA micro OLED panels or with Pimax's software?

Here's a quick summary of my results (note also that I'm using DLSS set at either Quality or Auto for games that support it):

Cyberpunk 2077 VR (Luke Ross) - Sboys3 is the clear winner here, with unbelievablly good visuals and good performance. SteamVR motion smoothing OFF, RealVR rendering at 1/3, PPD slider at 33.

MSFS 2024 - I get a much better experience using Pimax Play / EVO. Motion smoothing generates too many artifacts so it's set OFF. One thing I've found is that the Pimax sharpening really seems to improve the overall image, so I've got it set to 1...so far I haven't noticed any bad sharpening artifacts. I really tried to get the Sboys3 driver working with MSFS using SteamVR motion smoothing, but it generates conspicuous wavy artifacts on building windows and other surfaces and performance isn't as good as with Pimax.

Star Citizen VR - Pimax Play / EVO for the win here, again motion smoothing OFF and sharpening set to 1. The image is pin-sharp and FPS is typically 50 or better even in stations and asteroid fields. Sboys3 usually crashes the game.

Skyrim VR MGO - Sboys3 driver with Luma sharpening gives good FPS performance and a clear, vibrant image that I prefer, although the Pimax Play / EVO driver does work well.

Half-Life Alyx, Gunman Contracts, Kayak VR Mirage, etc. - All these games look incredible using Sboys3, probably because they require native SteamVR anyway.

TL/DR: My results using Sboys3 vs. Pimax OpenXR vary significantly from game to game, with Sboys3 typically providing better colors and clarity in most games if it can bve used. Pimax EVO / Pimax OpenXR gives good results and better performance over Sboys3 in certain games, especially MSFS 2024, with sharpening set to at least 0.8 or even 1.0.

I've been playing SC VR for almost a year now on different headsets (Quest 3, Dream Air, 5090 GPU), and I have to say that SC VR has become my favorite go-to PCVR game. It's arguably the best looking PC VR game I play ((Skyrim VR MGO 4.0 is a close contender), and unlike so many PCVR games it performs consistently well with a minimum of crashes. And unlike other resource-hungry PCVR games it launches relatively quickly (Skyrim can take 2+ minutes to fully launch), which makes SC VR a great test bed for new headsets and settings configurations. Plus, the mix of dark outer-space and sunlit planetary environments in particular really gives the Dream's OLED panels a chance to shine.

Kudos to Sylvan and the SC development team for delivering an amaxing PCVR experience for a flat game without the need for complicated and buggy external mods! I'm hoping that an upcoming release will feature VR controller support and more dedicated VR features and functionality (performance tweaks, working rifle scopes, etc.). Thanks again!

I've been testing the Dream Air with a mix of games (MSFS 2024, Star Citizen, Skyrim VR MGO, HLA, Cyberpunk 2077 VR Port, etc.). For the most part, I've been running all these games with the same Pimax Play settings, including Quad Views (DFR) on. With the exception of MSFS, most of these games don't support DFR natively. My question: does leaving Quad Views on impact the performance of non-DFR games positively or negatively? Empirically having DFR on seems to improve FPS on some of these games (SC and Cyberpunk are good examples). What are the best practices/tips for using DFR on the Dream Air? Thanks!

Been testing Dream Air SLAM for the last couple of weeks (5090 GPU, coming from Quest 3/VD). I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised so far...while Pimax Play is still kind of janky compared to VD, I can't argue with the results: amazing colors, clarity, pin sharp resolution compared to my Quest 3. I've tried a couple of Pimax headsets (OG, Super OLED) and the DA is easily the best of them...waiting for release/reviews of the Frame and Pico Space Pro, but the DA could be a keeper!

My questions: the latest version of Pimax Play adds the Wide FOV switch. I've given this a try and can't really determine a significant difference in FOV, although I can report that my eyes feel a bit strained with this setting on. What is Pimax actually doing here? Is this recommended for general use or for specific games only, or should it be avoided?

Another question about smart smoothing: I've tested this in high-demand games (primarily Star Citizen VR and Cyberpunk 2077 VR Port). It seems counterintuitive, but I seem to get better performance overall with Smart Smoothing off. My understanding is that SS is only active if the headset can maintain a minimum of 45fps per eye (I assume that's 90fps overall, may be wrong). In SS, I can't achieve that minimum most of the time so the reported FPS is typically in the high 30's or low 40's (as reported by the Pimax performance utility). If I turn SS off, I can crank the SC settings higher and still achieve FPS in the high 80's. I'm actually not sure if the reported FPS is per eye or both, can anyone clarify how this works? Thanks!

I'm very interested in the potential of the anticipated Swan headset. Last I heard it was slated for release in "late 2026", but I haven't seen any substantial news updates since March. From a specs standpoint it looks like it could be a game changer, but given the delays we've seen to the Steam Frame and other headsets due to the chip crisis I'm starting to think the new Pico might never happen. Anybody have any inside info?

Quest 3/5090 Virtual Desktop. Been giving MGO 4.0 beta a tryout, but unless someone has a bright idea I think I've hit a brick wall. It's too bad, because late this afternoon I completed Bleak Falls Barrow and got the Dragonstone in one glorious bug-free session (CS Quality & DLAA, the game looks unbelieveable). SkyrimVR with MGO is unequalled when everything is working!

I was so psyched after my my Dragonstone win, I decided to stay in tonight and get my first dragon kill at the Western Watchtower. All seemed fine until I tried to leave Whiterun...the second I step across the Whiterun gate to the Western Watchtower at the crossroads, the game freezes and crashes. Tried restarting and cranking down the settings, no joy...still crashes at exactly the same spot. Checked the crash log, but it's all over the place...each crash seems to pin the blame on a different mod (higgs_vr.dll, UltimaSteedsVR, etc.), it's just not consistent (not even sure why UltimaSteeds would be a factor as I'm not riding a horse and there isn't one in sight). Tried turning UltimaSteedsVR off anyway as I don't need it, but that caused the game to crash on startup, not sure why so I had to restore it to get back to the crossroads.

Did a google search on crashing in the same physical location and it suggested turning off Community Shaders as apparently this can happen when changing cell locations, tried it...no joy, still freezes at the crossroads. Spent close to 3 hours trying different combinations and restarting (it wouldn't take so long if the game would start quicker, but what can you do), never got past the crossroads of death. Seems like I'm a prisoner of Whiterun for now, so I'm giving up, reluctantly. I'm willing to follow up on any suggestions (no voodoo please), but failing that I guess I'll pick this up again when RC3 is available, hopefully that'll fix it but I'm concerned as I never saw this behavior on any of the other MGO 3.x versions, and I've played a bunch. Thanks for reading!

Longtime Skyrim VR MGO fan here (Quest 3/5090/Virtual Desktop). I downloaded RC1 a few days ago, just replaced with RC2. Overall I think it's a significant step forward, although I have a few concerns/quibbles I'd like to see addressed if possible:

1. 4.0 replaces the legacy Skyrim menus...maybe not a bad idea in theory, although IMO it's trying to fix something that's not really broken. The new "dramatic" menus aren't really that (they're actually kind of plain monochrome), and the UI is actually a step backwards (example: the main game menu that appears with the Skyrim logo lacks submenu hints to "press T" to select, "grab" to cancel, so if you're a new user it's not clear what to do). Also, and this is my personal opinion: the new rotating gold Skyrim logo is just plain gaudy, it looks like it belongs in the Oval Office (sorry).

2. My bigger problem with the menus actually surfaces once you're in game and you're accessing Favorites, Inventory, and MCM. The performance of these new menus is slower than the legacy ones, and occasionally the menus just "hang" to the point where I can't select anything and have to back out and restart the game. A particularly bad example is the Favorites menu, which really doesn't seem to work at all (at least for me). If anyone who's gone deeper into the beta knows how to reliably turn off the new menus in favor of the legacy, please share...I was hoping it was a single switch, but apparently there are many spread out throughout the MGO sections.

3. One of my biggest recurring issues with Skyrim VR is with the Spell Wheel VR mod. While it's great in concept, I've always found it kind of tricky to use in game conditions. I typically use the Spell Wheel configurator in MCM to separate weapons and spells for each hand, and while that functionality is still there in 4.0 it doesn't seem to work any better (in fact it's a bit jankier if anything...for some reason if I've been using Flames even if I use the wheel to equip a new spell, it usually will continue to spit flames unless I unequip the Flames spell in the menu. Also as mentioned above, the configurator menu isn't nearly as responsive as MGO 3.8x, and the Favorites menu in 4.0 is...well, fuhgeddaboutit.

4.. On the plus side, the beta's performance seems to be significantly better than MGO 3.8x. I personally use the Open Composite runtime; however I've been continuing to use Virtual Desktop's SSW as my performance with the 5090 is pretty good even with most of the CS/DLSS settings cranked up to High. I watched VRDad's excellent video but outside of the new OC Configurator app (very nice, especially the virtual keyboard) but I'm a bit suspicious of what I've read about the new OC ASW frame interpolation (there's even a warning about it on the OC dialog, not very reassuring).

Sorry for the novella, and in spite of the issues I'm actually pretty stoked for the improvements in MGO 4.0, I'm just hoping RC3 and (hopefully) the live release will address the above. I'd definitely be interested in hearing other impressions (note: please don't tell me to check the discord, I actually do but like many Redditors I hate posting there because of admitted tendency towards verbal diarrhea). Thanks!