Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 now offers support for PC VR headsets, but be prepared to gear up with a powerful machine to get it running smoothly. Excitingly, the much-anticipated fixed foveated rendering feature is now here to save some computing power and enhance performance.
Fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator have been eagerly awaiting foveated rendering, and the wait is finally over. With the release of ‘Sim Update 2’ in beta by developer Asobo Studio, fixed foveated rendering is making its debut in the game.
Foveated rendering cleverly reduces the resolution of what lies in your peripheral vision, easing the burden on your GPU and boosting frame rates. Once you activate it via the VR Settings menu, it utilizes Quad View rendering. A word of caution from the studio: this might add some load to your CPU.
A recent screenshot (shown courtesy of ‘IceManDBB’) highlights this setting, which is now accessible to all PC VR headset users who opt into the beta. However, there’s still no timeline on when dynamic foveated rendering will be available. This advanced version adjusts to where you’re looking, rendering only your direct line of sight in full detail, while dropping resolution elsewhere. It has shown potential to significantly improve performance, provided you have a VR headset equipped with eye-tracking.
However, dynamic foveated rendering seems to be on Asobo’s radar. The settings screen notes it “[…] can be used with Eye-Tracking when available for best use,” although no definitive timeline has been shared.
Progress is being made in collaboration with Pimax, which joined as an official peripheral partner for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 back in November. Together, they’re working to integrate this and other VR-specific features into the game.
Interestingly, the official Sim Update 2 changelog doesn’t mention these advancements. To stay informed, I recommend checking out YouTuber ‘VR Flight Sim Guy.’ He regularly explores MFS2024 updates and was among the first to showcase the benefits of the new fixed foveated rendering. Don’t miss his video that spotlights these recent performance gains.
