Review Chillblast - Fusion Nimbus 2 Rift Edition Flight Sim PC

[mutley 4,498]

 

Just published is my review of Chillblast's Fusion Nimbus 2 Rift Edition Flight Sim PC.

 

This offering from Chillblast is a marriage of their flagship flight sim PC along with a VR headset. Is this the way forward? Read on...

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Looks like such a blast. Have to wait for either a lottery win...or till VR becomes normal for PC monitors...next year or so???

[Kevin Firth 114]

Had a try with a similarly specced machine at Cosford myself.

 

I thought it was a great step forward from the first gen VR I tried 3 years ago, but for me, it's not there yet.  The displays are still too low a resolution for me - with a normal monitor I can spot the PAPIs and the relative angle of a runway from a long way out, making positioning for finals quite easy, but with the VR headset only the PAPI was visible and I couldn't make out the relative position of the rest of the airfield until I was right on top of it   I'd say it's promising technology, and definitely immersive, but not quite there yet...

 

And for me ( a sufferer of motion sickness in tehe best of circumstances!) I found the quick onset of nausea to be a big downside.  Bob Sidwick of RC Sims thinks he's got the solution for that with an active motion cockpit he demo'd at Cosford, but that's in addition to a PC like this and comes in at between £1500 and £10000   No chance of getting that past the wife!

 

It's good to know that PC companies are making the best possible stab at the tech though with setups like this, it's not for me but I'm sure it will suit some people

Cheers K

[mutley 4,498]

Thanks Kevin,

 

It's always good to hear other people's perspectives, I am sure in a couple of years the in-headset experience will be perfect in relation to resolution, but I feel the spatial immersion is already there?

 

The baton is presently in the hands of FlyInside and Oculus to deliver the technology.

 

Cheers,

 

Joe

[brett 2,316]

Thanks Joe, great information for us to drool over.

 

I'm not sure I would be into a VR headset at this point in time but I do think Chillblast deserves kudos for tailor making this setup. What a sweet looking case too, I wish they had a US division because I like their business style and custom produced flight sim machines.

 

 

[J G 927]

Hello Joe.

 

Reading the review it seemed to be saying that there is no mouse cursor in the headset view.  Have I understood that correctly? 

 

Coming out of the headset every time you want to flick a switch seems to kill it as a practical piece of kit for FS use.  From what I have read it would seem that the mouse cursor can be seen.

 

J

[mutley 4,498]

3 hours ago, J G said:

Reading the review it seemed to be saying that there is no mouse cursor in the headset view.  Have I understood that correctly? 

 

Hi JG, only if you were using the native P3D support as shown in the screenshot, I never saw the mouse cursor first to last, but then I spent all my VR time using the 3rd part app FlyInside where you do see it. The other thing is you don't get the P3D menus in the headset unless you use the FlyInside program.

 

The Oculus Rift doesn't support flight sim naively either, you have to set it up to allow "games and apps from unknown sources" and use the native P3D interface or more preferably the FlyInside program. There is a device called Leap Motion https://developer.leapmotion.com/vr-setup#oculus-cv1 which will work with the rift which allows hand gestures, the "bolt on" device tracks your hand movements and you can reach into the sim to operate knobs and switches with your hand, what you see in the headset is a computer generated hand. That's still in development and I haven't tried it yet.

 

I'm happy to answer any other questions if I can, the PC and headset has gone back to Chillblast now so I can't try things out 

[wain 879]

Am I the only one who looks at this VR and does not find it interesting?....power to your elbow if you are developing and I am sure it will sale it truckloads, but I am out..I like to multitask with other stuff whilst flying and can still get imMersed it the sim without the need for VR....but like Brett said well done Chillblast for getting in there, as a business you have to be ahead of the game to stay in the game....

[Kevin Firth 114]

I have tried the cgi hand controller.. It was very accurate movement wise (and cool to make finger gestures to my daughter with) but I found it difficult to instantly access cockpit controls with any degree of swift accuracy.  Maybe that comes with a lot more practice I dont know, or possibly it was partly the setup sensitivity, or maybe it needs some more work still  most likely a mixture of everything!  Still, it is a very impressive technology that will no doubt find a home in some simming situations...

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

I am pretty excited about VR technology, but it's way outside my price range right now. What I'm not excited about is the idea of sticking my face into a dark room in order to use VR technology. I'm looking forward to something more like a wrap around Google Glass setup. Something that's more like a heads-up display but can be made translucent or opaque as you desire. I would like to be able to turn down the VR and let in the real Environment around me with a simple knob twist or something like that on the side of the unit. Like Wayne I also like to multitask and taking a gizmo on and off of my head in order to do that would be quite a nuisance. It specially a bulky looking thing like the units that are currently available.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Captain Coffee

[J G 927]

Thanks Joe, I will do some research into Flyinside to see what it offers. 

 

I saw Leap Motion at the show, it looked like it might have promise, but I am not sure I would want it myself, at least not yet. The device gives you blue wire frame hands that follow the movement of your own hands, so if you point a finger and move your hand forwards you will see a dismembered blue wire framed hand do the same in the VR image.

 

It seemed to mimic hand gestures well enough but it looked a bit clunky at operating small cockpit switches. The jury is still out with me with this device.  What I would want to have is a mouse cursor in the VR image that you can use in the normal way that you would with a very good VC.  I use a trackball so finding the pointing device with my face in the VR set wouldnt pose too much of a problem.

 

Edit.

I have just watched Froogle's video review of Flyinside, and it looks like it provides all that I would want and more.  On frame rates I think it would be a must have.

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by J G

[mutley 4,498]

Yep, Pete's experience was pretty much the same as mine. 

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

VR is probably Thr Next Thing...looking forward to rapid developement and price dropping soon (crossing fingers). I just spotted a 30 dollar "VR headset" for smartphones in a Frys Electronics...hopefully a sign of mass production on the horizon.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Captain Coffee

[J G 927]

This weekend I will be dismantling my cockpit and extracting all the panels and selling them off to raise some cash towards an Oculus rift headset and a licenced copy of Flyinside. No more generic cockpits for me, VR is the way to go.  

[wain 879]

best of luck with it JG you will have to post your experiances once you have it up and running........

[J G 927]

Thanks Wain.

 

However I have to save up my pocket money for it yet!

 

Looking at the spec of the PC Joe tested it on, my FS PC is slightly better except for the graphics card.  I have a 970, but the blurb says that this should be ok. otherwise I will have to save up some more.  If the graphics card is ok I hope to have the VR set by the new year.