# How does one get into FPV? #
This article I’ve written for SteemIt is intended to help. If this is well received I will make it a series aimed at fast tracking someone into FPV. I should point out that I am no FPV veteran. Indeed, I only took hold of my first pair of sticks just over a year ago. And I hadn’t flown FPV until some months later.
I realised that actually flying FPV is easier for me than Line of Sight flying, although a Hubsan X4 was a cheap as chips entry into flight. It’s a good place to get used to the sensitivity of the controls. But flying it is not the same as flying a full blow FPV mini quad. Actually nothing can prepare you for flying a mini quad FPV so the best thing is just wade into flying acro mode from day one. Acro mode is the control mode you want to fly the mini quad with. It is the most versatile way of controlling the quadcopter so you want to start how you mean to go on and ignore other modes at least until you have got acro mode under your belt. (My intention is to write another article in this series exploring all the various flight modes used by FPV pilots and acro will be the main focal point of that article).
The first time you take to the sticks you will crash. And the second time and the third time and so on. And each time you crash there is good chance that you will be repairing your quadcopter and/or waiting for spare parts to arrive. On that basis it is highly recommended to learn to fly in a simulator and save yourself the time/money of those first few crash rebuilds. This is what I did, and the jump to flying real life was not that much different to the difference switching from one simulator to another. On that basis I can highly recommend others do the same. You just need to buy an RC controller, download the simulator and you are off. You can be assembling/purchasing your first quad while you learn to fly. This is much better than being over eager to get in the air and buying something hastily. As one of the most crucial differences between a bad quad and a good one is that a good one is easy to fly and a bad one can be incredibly difficult. There is a great community and a wealth of information on what to buy and what not to buy. While you decide on all the various components you are going to need to buy, you can check out one or more of the simulators in this article and learn to fly!
# Simulator Roundup #
Note that I don’t intend on doing an involved feature comparison or anything like that - I’m just going to say what I think about each simulator, and then draw a conclusion based on my experience with each. I will post a YouTube clip of each sim so that you can see for yourself.
## LiftOff ##
LiftOff is the first sim I decided to buy. It’s on Steam so it’s a very simple install and updates happy automatically. LiftOff has a good set of environments, ranging from a field of hay bales to an underground car park, and there is a great community of user created tracks in every environment. This is growing all the time so there is never a shortage of a new track to race in. LiftOff also has a ‘workbench’ feature - which you lets you swap out any component of the quad. You can experiment with motors, props, camera, battery and other components to create a custom quad and there are a bunch of known frames such as the Vortex on which you can base your custom quad. The very latest revision has adopted the ‘Betaflight’ format for configuring the quad so what you learn here is transferable to your real quad.
In one player mode, you can have 'free flight', or ‘race’ mode. Free flight lets you select an environment and a track, but only race mode lets you fly against the clock. After a you have raced multiple times, that mode shows you ‘ghosts’ of your previous performances to race against. It starts to feel great when you are neck and neck with your previous flights - you can feel that you are close to your best possible performance on that track.
LiftOff really does well in multiplayer. There are usually people around to race against and it works brilliantly. Some of the pilots on there are great so noobs should expect to get well and truly pwned!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q57NMDMxWng
## DRL Simulator ##
“The Gates Of Hell” - this is the flagship environment in the DRL simulator. It is quite simply the best environment in any FPV simulator that I have tried - and I have tried all the major ones. It is vast - from the suspension bridge along the river to the docks, from the forest to the lake, from the tunnel to the city scape - it is all there - it is a free stylers paradise. What is more, this simulator is absolutely free. The other environments are also pretty good, although all must smaller than Gates of Hell. But the problem with the DRL simulator is that it has been very floaty and unrealistic to fly compared to the other simulators. In terms of stick time, it is still worth it, but it would take more adjusting to switch between sim and real life than the other simulators. They do seem to going towards a new version that will be on Steam. The tracks in DRL simulator are very challenging - I have not flown them since I have become proficient in the other simulators but I never used to be able to complete a lap. I will revisit it when they release the Steam version and write a review here on Steem :-)
https://youtu.be/vJX_Fj7g5-k?t=81 (Note that link advances you straight to 1:22 where the DRL footage starts)
## Velocidrone ##
Velocidrone has been a bit of a favourite of the drone racing community recently. And with good reason as it balances realism with arcade appeal. The levels are well designed with great effects. I particularly love the subway and the industrial wasteland.
The race mode in Velocidrone is exciting and in single player race mode the way the gates/steps are marked is very inventive - Lift Off uses a white hot spot - Velocidrone uses Neon and other effects. So over all I would say Velocidrone has the edge over LiftOff in terms of visuals.
This simulator has a great selection of quads to choose from, and most of the variables that count can be adjusted, and like LiftOff, setting up the quad is done using the ‘BetaFlight’ format for Rates and PIDs.
Velocidrone has been very much embraced by the community - perhaps the sponsorship from Team Black Sheep helped in that respect - is it any coincidence that some of my best race times have been when flying the TBS Vendetta!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8V48j9T47A
## FPV Freerider ##
This was the first simulator I tried - there is a free version and a lower price paid version. First impressions are that it is less polished than some of the others and perhaps the most bare bones of the simulators. The range of environments is pretty limited and the feature set basic - there is no multiplayer. It is a while since I played this so I downloaded the latest version. It didn’t look like it had been refreshed since I played it last year but it still serves as a way of getting to grips with ‘Acro mode’ control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUDw_uIEWLw&t=39s
## Rotor Rush ##
Finally, there is Rotor Rush (formally known as FPV Event). This simulator is more focused on racing than the others and does not cater so well for freestylers. Although I believe that might have changed in the update since I last played.
It seems to take racing very seriously, and with good reason as it has a very fast engine and is as realistic as any of the others to fly. If not more so.
Rotor Rush comes with a price tag though - in the form of a monthly subscription. But it is good enough to justify giving it a go. You can pay for one month and then cancel.
I must admit I don’t really go for the subscription model and I do mean to cancel this. However if you a serious racer it is great and probably it is worth the money but I am more of a freestyler. The other group which this would appeal very much to is the TinyWhoop community. TinyWhoops don't really float my boat, but they are super popular at the moment so am sure Rotor Rush will be a hit with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egq84I6gEz4
# Conclusion #
**LiftOff and Velocidrone get joint first place for me.** LiftOff has an excellent physics engine, a great array of environment with countless community created tracks, and an exciting multiplayer mode. And there are always people around on that to play with.
Velocidron also has a great selection of environments, and the physics engine is good. I don’t rate it as highly as the latest LiftOff engine. For a while LiftOff was lagging behind in the realism stakes, but since their milestone 0.10.0 release, the liftOff engine has just had the edge. It is my favourite ever computer game experience bar none - but I switch backwards and forwards between Velocidrone and LiftOff to stop my muscle memory ‘locking' into any one simulator. I have found that I can go straight to real life flight from either of these 2 sims and it feels completely natural.
Rotor Rush is just as impressive as LiftOff and Velocidrone in terms of how the quads are to control and it is great for racing and I wouldn't want to deter anyone from trying it, but the others win out on cost and their suitability for frees tyling as well as racing.
*I can see that I will need to do a recap of this article in a few months as the simulators are evolving very quickly so LiftOff and Velocidrone should not take their current advantage as assumed.
I think all of these simulators are worth trying, and apologies to HotProps - I only tried it in the early days and it was pretty buggy, and at the time of writing I have not had a chance to go an evaluate the latest version. I recently listened to a podcast with Mattystuntz being interviewed (Mattystuntz = legendary FPV pilot) and he swears by HotProps. If this review attracts some interest, I’ll do Hot props and then edit this article to include it. In case you are interested, I will cap this article off with a clip from the aforementioned Mattystuntz . Mattystuntz is big user of simulators and says they skyrocketed progression:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5xzTJ80IAc
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