I use a paid add-on to the Quest 2 called Virtual Desktop. This installs both on the Quest and the PC. It works well with SteamVR and it seems to perform better for me than the Oculus Link or Air Link. It has many in-Quest tweeks and settings available within the settings menus but it worked pretty well for me out of the box. It has other benefits such as a built in “sharpening” tool for example. It is also regularly updated and improved. My rig is fairly lowly with an I5 multi thread processor and an RTX 1070 however I get very smooth running with Aerofly FS. I occasionally try the Oculus Link and Air Link route to see if things have improved re my setup and they don’t seem to have.
My PC is some distance from my router so I have effectively got a wired connection through my home electrics using a TP-Link TL-PA7017P KIT 1-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit.
This worked great for me but I understand it might not be effective in some homes. I also use a Milano Tech Wi-Fi booster roughly half way between the router and wherever I am using the Quest. Without these two items the performance of any PC software in VR mode is somewhat degraded to the point where it is unusable.
I use the link cable and run aerofly using the following steps
Turn on quest 2 and connect link cable
Start up the oculus app on the pc
Through the quest 2 menu connect to the pc
Open steam and start Aerofly. You'll get the choice to run aerofly using steam vr or oculus vr, both work but if you select steam vr then steam vr will need to load first.
One crucial issue is to ensure that you set your OpenXR runtime correctly. For example if using a steam VR it needs to be set to Steam VR rather than Oculus or Meta. I had a lot of issues with this initially.
Do IPACS have a quest 2 they can use to test their software with?
If not it might be quite a useful addition, there's a few minor problems when using the quest 2 which would be nice if they could be fixed
Thank you for the quick replies, it's really appreciated. We think the most common issues arise due to the fact that one can connect the Oculus Quest 2 in various ways, there is no single way as far as we can see.
There are really only 2x ways to run AF FS4 with a Q2. You either use Virtual Desktop or you use the Oculus desktop app with either Link or Air Link.
Virtual Desktop is probably the easiest for many who don't want to take the time and effort to learn how to properly setup their Q2 using the Oculus Desktop app and Oculus Debug tool (and maybe also the Oculus Tray Tool). All you need to do is startup VD from your quest home and connect to your PC (need their streamer app installed and active beforehand). You then select SteamVR (which you need to have installed already, but not active). This will take you to the SteamVR void and you can select fs4 from the library panels (don't use the Steam home house option). Everything should startup fine and you can exit by using the fs4 menu. VD also has a number of graphics options that you can play around with to finetune things. Overall, VD works very well, and again, many find it much simpler to use. The main point with VD is that it does require you to run fs4 though SteamVR and because of this, you may lose a little performance.
For me, the best way is to use Link or Air Link because it does not require you to run fs4 through SteamVR. Both startups (Link and Air Link) are basically the same. From the Quest quick menu you select whichever one you want to use. Once you are in the Rift Home void call up the virtual desktop. Then select the Steam shortcut (not steamvr) and this will display your steam library. Select fs4, then play, then pick the oculus runtime option. This will then startup fs4 as normal. Easiest way to exit is use the fs4 menu. If you've properly setup your Q2 beforehand this will give you the best overall performance. Like VD, you can also run it through SteamVR but your performance may suffer a bit. I'd estimate I lose about 10% performance running it though SteamVR and it also does not run as smooth (= odd stutter).
I mainly use Air Link because I have a very good recommended (by both VD and Oculus) router/wifi setup (i gig router ethernet connected to my pc and dedicated 5Ghz wifi within 3-4 m from my play area). If you don't have this than you should use a Link cable.
Anyway, I hope that helps clarify the fs4 startup options using a Q2 (or Q1 and QPro). If anyone needs further clarification please feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to try to help. Cheers.
One crucial issue is to ensure that you set your OpenXR runtime correctly. For example if using a steam VR it needs to be set to Steam VR rather than Oculus or Meta. I had a lot of issues with this initially.
Actually, with any Oculus/Meta headset you should select the Oculus OpenXR runtime option from the Oculus desktop app settings/general tab, and just leave it there. You only need to use SteamVR OpenXR with a non-Oculus headsets (eg. Index). In actual fact, not all that many apps use OpenXR yet anyway. Some like msfs do though.
Thank you very much, this is very helpful. We will try to get a Quest 2 ourself and try to reproduce the various options mentioned here.
If you can afford to do so, get the new Quest Pro. Works much the same as the Quest 2 but heaps better clarity and fov imho. This is now my go to headset for everything!
That’s quite a jump in cost for the Quest Pro. I have just seen it on sale for £1,500. Hopefully the higher specs will start to appear for a more modest cost, otherwise I am going to be waiting for a long time!
Acquiring and evaluating the relatively affordable QUEST will be a greater service to users than trying yet another big bucks elite device.
Better get a Quest 2 and the new Pico 4 for testing purposes...
The Pico 4 is a very nice hardware upgrade over Quest 2 for wireless PCVR !
I always had a good experience with Aerofly fs2/4 in steam VR with Virtual Desktop on Quest 2
Same for Pico 4 and Virtual Desktop wireless.
Only the menu handling in VR with Pico 4 is a bit off but usable, the Pico controllers are maybe in a different angle compared to Quest
Hi, here are my settings for an Oculus Quest 2. I also have an HP Reverb.
The key point - in the Oculus app you must set the OpenXR runtime to Oculus (Set Oculus as active).
I use a link cable. You must enable Oculus link before starting Aerofly in Steam, and you must select "Launch Aerofly FS 4 in Oculus VR Mode".
If you do not enable Oculus Link first, or you try starting with Steam VR mode you will get an error.
I actually find getting up and running on a Quest 2 very quick and easy, although the HP Reverb gives me a slightly more high resolution picture in VR (but the heavier headset and bulkier cable offset this).
