ETS2/ATS 1.40 Quality settings (8kX)

[DonricM]

For some reason after the latest patch my old settings dont work any more. i used to play 1.0 Pitool and 130 SS and got tolerable Antialiasing with HDR Off and mostly ~75 hz with some drops down to 65 in crowded areas wich was ok for me. with 1.40 update they changed something in the engine and HDR isnt a selectable option anymore. Additionally everything seems more blurry and AA is way more noticable then before for me. I have to crank up stereo buffer scale in config file and turn on smart smoothing to come as close as possible to pre 1.40 quality, but it looks still not as clear and smooth than before.
Has anyone found good quality settings for ETS2 after the latest changes?

[zuiquan1]

1.40 completely changed their lighting engine and its definitively more performance hungry then it used to be but it looks amazing!

I do however notice a slight left eye/right eye mismatch in some of the reflections that weren’t there before the new update but since the game is so performance hungry as is I really don’t want to turn on PP and make it even worse.

[Rick.D]

wait you play with pp disabled?damn looks like i missed something. will give it a try!
…
doesnt work for me. how are you using pp off in ETS?

[acegamer]

I use the method in the below link to run ATS in oculus mode so that PP is not needed.

work around for no PP in ETS and ATS

[Rick.D]

thanks a lot! ill check this out

[Rick.D]

ok, struggling a little bit.

1. downloaded LibOVRRT32_1.dll and LibOVRRT64_1.dll from Oculus dll - Google Drive
2. copied both dll files to ~\steamapps\common\Euro Truck Simulator\bin\win_x64
3. created the steam_appid.txt in same folder with 227300 and saved
4. added eurotrucks.exe in pitool and tried to start but the game is only starting in 2D and i cant jump in VR using F11
   do i have to use revive additionally?

[acegamer]

@Smeghead

I also play Automobilista 2 and use the oculus mode as you’ve started.
However I can still use oculus mode though with a different method.
create a shortcut to C:\Program Files\Pimax\Plugin\OCSupport\OVR_Launcher_x64.exe
and then add the following argument to the target:
G:\Steam\steamapps\common\Automobilista 2\AMS2AVX.exe -useoculussdk
Obviously change the G:\ to wherever your steam installation is

So in my case the Target will read:
“C:\Program Files\Pimax\Plugin\OCSupport\OVR_Launcher_x64.exe” G:\Steam\steamapps\common\Automobilista 2\AMS2AVX.exe -useoculussdk
that’s all in 1 line with a space between the …64.exe" and the G:\steam…etc

The key is to create a shortcut as described above. Just substitute ETS2 for Automobilista. You don’t add the game into pitool, that method does not currently work anymore. You will start the game with the shortcut. What I do is just start the game from within the Desktop mode of Pimax Experience by clicking the shortcut. When creating the shortcut add the “-oculus” syntax at the end of the game exe file as shown in the below example

[Rick.D]

@acegamer

What I do is just start the game from within the Desktop mode of Pimax Experience by clicking the shortcut

this was the key! now i got it working! this is f***** awesome!

[DonricM]

Thank you very much for the instructions. this worked well for some days, now suddenly the game is stuttering like mad when i launch the ovr_launcher_x64.exe from within PE desktop and the headtracking is freezing every few seconds. After closing the game the movement of my mouse is way slower and the whole system seems to be broken. I have to do a restart everytime. When i launch the game in steamvr again with PP on everything is smooth and no problems. any ideas?

[Gared]

In oculus mode, projection is automatic ON. Think for yourself. At Pimax, the lenses are angled. The game engine cannot rotate VR cameras at angles. So it always displays images from parallel cameras. There is no way you can avoid this transformation until you teach the game a new render method. And if you teach, then it will work without problems without PP in any mode.

I can’t understand another thing … is it really so difficult for game developers to add the ability to rotate the VR camera to the desired angle … I wrote a 3D engine (tried) and I know perfectly well that there is nothing complicated in such a rotation. The hardest part of this is to take the desired parameters from the steamVR and rotate the cameras to the desired angle.

[DonricM]

Thank you all. Finally i got decent visuals and performance without the need of smart smoothing. Game is pretty much enjoyable again.

[reptilexcq]

Mine only load up inside the desktop mode? What do you put for Project Cars 2 steamid? Is yours still working? Please share instruction in details…I would appreciated. I tried the above instruction but it doesn’t work…maybe I am missing something, i am not sure.

[sethw]

@Gared

I can’t understand another thing … is it really so difficult for game developers to add the ability to rotate the VR camera to the desired angle …

it’s absoloutely trivial. however in a mature projects many visual effects/shaders or other systems might have made assumptions about the camera rotations and these are what break. they’re still bad developers though, for making those assumptions in the first place. (and often smug thinking they’ve found a smart optimization)

[elin77]

Hi acegamer,

thanks for that hint, it finally worked again for me, too, since I discovered your how-to yesterday

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This afternoon and evening, I did some performance FPS testing in ETS2 with my 8K-X in Oculus mode (incl. FFR) vs. SteamVR.

tldr;
A) Oculus trial #1: PP Off, FFR balanced, Smart Smoothing Off
.- Noticeably less FPS (<50, avg ~45) - no significant impact or none at all of FFR
.+ Better and more even frametimes
o GPU workload 90-100% (unfortunately not in screenshot)
.+ Low GPU power consumption <250W !!

B) Oculus trial #2: PP Off, FFR Off, Smart Smoothing Off
.- Noticeably less FPS (<50, avg ~45)
.+ Better and more even frametimes
o GPU workload also 90-100%
.- High GPU power level up to 330/340/350 W

C) SteamVR: PP On, FFR Off, Smart Smoothing Off, gpuSpeed set to 5000
.+ delivers noticeably more FPS (always >= 50 FPS, avg ~60-65)
.- worse and noticeably frametimes
o GPU workload 83-98%
.- Same high GPU power as in Oculus mode #2

_PC setup: _
Ryzen 5600X @stock
16 GB RAM @3800 MHz
Gigabyte RTX 3080 1950 MHz @0.918V
NVidia 465.89
Pimax 8K-X, PiTool 1.0.1.270, Firmware 2.1.255.296 (75 Hz)

FOV “normal”
PiTool 1.0
SteamVR SuperSampling 100%

_ETS2 setup: _
VSync: off
Scale: 100%
SMAA: low
SSAO: off
DOF: off
All graphics and details high/ultra/maxed
Mods: Grimes Spring Mod, Fael’s Environment, HD Water Lite, Real Companies and Advertising, and a couple of other mods probably not affecting graphics so much.
Route for all three tests: Iberia/Spain Badajoz to Ciudad Real, appr. 30 minutes per session (in the third session, I already got used to the route, so I was a little bit faster )

Here are the graphs from Afterburner:

A) Oculus with FFR balanced

B) Oculus w/o FFR

C) SteamVR

(Besides FPS, furthermore:
Playing with PP via SteamVR shows me slight pixel sparkels from time to time in dark scenes, i.e. driving at night, but in SteamVR Home already as well when watching the black screen to the right.
I noticed, that this is completely gone in Oculus mode - absolutely no sparkles at all.)

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Nevertheless, in total I think I will stay with SteamVR although having slightly worse frametimes and those pixel sparkels from time to time…
Frametimes with Oculus mode are better, and therefore the lower FPS feel more “even” and “balanced” compared to SteamVR mode -

=> …but this cannot absorb 25 up to 40% better FPS SteamVR mode provides. The whole game and driving feels more natural with 60 FPS+, and in desert or steppe locations both in ETS2 or ATS, I sometimes can even keep 70-75 FPS for a longer time.

Just wanted to share my latest experiences here

CU