Dead Men Walking

Morning all,

I'm finding this a worrying report:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/elite-dangerous-htc-vive-focus/

I know a lot of folks see VR as very early in it's life cycle but if Frontier, a company who championed the Oculus are now focusing on Vive, what the hell?

Disregard everything in that article. It's outdated hearsay, based on a click-bait article posted by EuroGamer a month ago, which in turn was spun out of Reddit rage posts and deliberate misinterpretation of a post by Zac at Frontier.

Zac made this  (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=221107)post on January 5th.

QuoteHey everyone,

With the news that Oculus are starting  pre order of their consumer version tomorrow, I wanted to just make a  quick post to confirm that we are still actively working with Oculus but currently the only SDK we are able to officially support is 0.6.

We wanted to make sure you had as much up to date information as  possible and will let you know as soon as we have any more information.

Fly safe, Commanders!

From that, EuroGamer and Kotuku spun articles during January claiming that Frontier were making Elite a Vive exclusive and that the Rift was dropped. This was of course, total made-up bull. Sadly many other websites then just cut-n-pasted the article or the content - this article being one such post. Both David Braben and Zac Antonaci at Frontier publicly dismissed the claims, but internet is as internet does.

On March 10th, Frontier made this announcement.

QuoteHi Everyone,
 
We know that you’ve been eagerly awaiting news about Elite Dangerous on the Oculus Rift, which is why we’re pleased to be able to confirm that Elite Dangerous' official support for Oculus Rift's launch SDK will be available with the launch of the consumer version of the Oculus Rift.
 
Oculus made a post about this on their blog, which you can read here: https://www.oculus.com/en-us/blog/el...r-rift-launch/ (https://www.oculus.com/en-us/blog/elite-dangerous-brings-deep-space-to-oculus-for-rift-launch/)
 
Before the Oculus launch we will be releasing an updated Elite Dangerous build which will contains support for the latest Oculus SDK, available at no additional charge. All of the existing and future customers that have an Oculus Rift consumer headset will be able to use it.
 
For our existing and future players who wish to migrate over to the Oculus Store, they will be able to get a free code from the Frontier Store (as they do with Steam keys currently) .
 
In addition, the Oculus Store will be  selling a Deluxe Edition bundle which will include Elite Dangerous,  Elite Dangerous Horizons Season Pass, a starter pack of paint jobs and a  bobble head. As with Steam, Oculus Store customers will also have to create a Frontier Store account (for no extra charge) as part of the purchase process.
 
Frontier and Elite Dangerous are at the forefront of VR, and we’re delighted to be able to confirm our support for Oculus Rift when they launch their consumer headset.
 
As always, I will be on hand answering questions for a while so let me know if you have any questions at all. (https://forums-cdn.frontier.co.uk/images/smilies-frontier/smile.png)
 
Thanks,
 
Zac

So the official news is Frontier is supporting HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and Elite: Dangerous will work with both at launch. Frontier couldn't announce this prior the the launch of the Oculus store on March 10th because of an NDA.

I'm looking forward to my CV1 shipping in a few weeks.

Thanks for the insightful detail as usual Arithon, I knew you would clear the matter up. The Paypal authorisation is still in tact.

I had a little "inside knowledge" in that I knew Frontier had a CV1 and one of the developers had commented that they had made themselves motion-sick while buggy racing SRVs on the Rift. Which didn't sound to me like a company that had abandoned development.

When I read the EuroGamer article, I knew it was total rubbish as they cited Frontier's forum post as their "source" which (as you read) said nothing of the sort. This showed up which websites post news and which ones just repost whatever is trending without checking the facts.

The same doom-sayers are predicting the end of Frontier, because the 2.1 release was pushed into Frontier's next financial year (from mid May to first week of June) six weeks and are citing this as bona fide proof that Elite has failed, instead of the obvious answer, which is Horizons is bringing in lots of money and they've moved the next major update (which will bring more sales) into next financial for tax reasons. Elite has already sold over 1.4 million copies and the take up with Horizons is a little over 40% currently.

Obviously since the Horizons price has dropped to £25 (£20 when it went on offer) it's not a big purchase now and with the content coming in 2.1 "Engineers", 2.2 "Guardians" and 2.3 "The Commanders" there'll be a huge amount of stuff for the money by years end.

Personally I would say if you don't have Horizons, wait until 2.1 lands, as this'll have massive content and you'll be happy you got it then. Also, there's a chance they'll drop the price by £5 again (with any luck).

The Rock Paper Shotgun review (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/04/06/htc-vive-vr-problems/) of the released HTC Vive is less than complimentary.

QuoteSetting up a Vive is no mean feat. The box comes with about two hundred  and seventy further boxes inside, miles of wires, and more cable ties  than I’ve ever seen in one place. It becomes almost immediately apparent  that unless you live in an opulent mansion, getting this set up is  going to be a massive bodge. The idea is you place two base units (some  say “lighthouses”) at opposite corners of your spare ballroom, in a high  enough position such that they can see each other, and scan every  square foot of the room from floor to ceiling. No games journalist has a  room like this, unless they work for Polygon (http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/14/3766080/playgrounds-brian-crecente),  because people tend to put things in their rooms like furniture. And  very little furniture lies flush to the wall, unless it’s painted on.

QuoteEven hooking the wires around things didn’t help me â€" just a few inches  of this elephantine cable was enough to move the marshmallow-light box.  Sticking them with sticky things failed me. And worst, even when I’d  managed to do something close to useful, those arsehole base units vibrate.  Just a tiny bit, but enough. And the vibration changes depending upon  whether it has signal or not, ensuring that they gradually wobbled  themselves loose. Oh, and the one with the loose something-or-other  inside it occasionally steps up from vibrating to RATTLING. My favourite  bit. I know many have managed to get the units in good places and have  them work. I have not. I won’t be alone.

Ouch.

K.I.S.S. I say to Valve. Far too much of well, everything.

A load of early CV1 reviews were slating the rift for "god rays" - a kind of flare on bright images on dark backgrounds - but then someone pointed out that this is caused by its use of Fresnel lenses, which the Vive also uses and (I'm told) is worse for this.

I used the Vive last year (with Fresnel lenses) and I didn't notice this, in Elite ( a mainly bright lights on dark backgrounds game ) so I think it is a storm in a lens cup.

PC Gamer HTC Review (http://www.pcgamer.com/htc-vive-review/)

RPS guy sounds a bit too much on the whiny side.  He knew what the requirements where, so if he doesn't have a room that does not fit its purpose, it's not really Valves problem is it?  Plus, the confines of the "VR Space" can be configured anyhow.

As for the set-up part, does he expect Valve to come install it for him?  RTFM and get on with it, like everyone else purchasing something requiring assembly.

Plus, it's something new, which does not rhyme with perfection.

I found this review (https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4e4s7q/elite_dangerous_rift_vs_vive_comparison_photos/) more balanced and informative.

Quote from: FlyingWaffleEDI used the same PC (3770k + GTX980Ti) to compare Elite Dangerous Horizons on the Vive and the Rift.
  I took photos inside each HMD, trying to focus on text readability (but it's hard to convey with static images).
  Rift photos (http://imgur.com/a/Kb4I0)
  Vive photos (http://imgur.com/a/GMcvR)
  My observations:
 

• The game runs great on my config for both HMDs. I don't notice any jitter (only a tiny bit when doing planetary landing).
• The FOV for the Vive feels a little bit larger, esp vertically.
• The brightness/contrast feels a bit stronger on the Vive (this can actually be a bit harder on the eyes in Elite).
• For same graphical options (FXAA), text is significantly easier  to read on the Rift. The Vive has more pixel crawl going on. In general,  pixel clarity on the Rift feels higher (e.g. image quality in Farlands  is incredible).
• The light/god rays are present on both system. On the Vive, their  structure has ridges, which somehow makes them feels more like optical  lens flare, and easier to ignore. On the Rift, their structure is more  continuous, which makes them feel more like smudges (like you need to  clean your lenses).
• Tracking on the Vive feels slightly better/stable than on the  Rift (probably due to the fact that there are two "stations" vs one for  the Rift). I'm very impressed how solid tracking is on the Vive (esp in  Room VR).
• The Rift is significantly more comfortable to wear than the Vive.  The Vive is way more front heavy, when I move my head from side to  side, I can feel the inertia of the Vive shifting the headset (I need to  re-adjust it more often). The Vive's straps can easily cut into my  ears. The Rift feels lighter and better balanced. A week ago I played  Adr1ft in a single 4-5 hour session on the Rift, and was fine after  that.
• The Rift integrated audio is really really nice. Using the  earbuds that come with the Vive is really impractical (they'll get  tangle in the other cables, esp in Room VR, as you shift the cable  around the back of your neck).
• I had no issue setting up the Rift or the Vive. The Vive  installation is obviously longer/more complex, but it went smoothly for  me.

 My recommendation:
 

• if you consider VR as a way to better enjoy cockpit simulations  (Elite, DCS, Racing sims), then I definitely recommend getting a Rift. The added visual, audio, and ergonomic comfort of the Rift makes a big  difference if you want to spend long sessions in those games. If you're new to VR, the Rift will impress you enough, even without room  VR.
• if you're into VR to experience new stuff beyond DK1/DK2, and  don't want to wait 6 months, then I recommend the Vive. Room VR is  really really cool. Lots of experience in Room VR are currently more  like quirky tech demos, but it's great nonetheless (in Space Pirate  Trainer, the first time l looked down at the controllers and saw that I  was holding two pistols, haha... totally awesome).

 My plan is to use the Rift for all my cockpit stuff (racing seat with  a Fanatec wheel and hotas), and to only use the Vive for Room VR (in a  separate room).
  EDIT:  I did the test for my own benefit, to decide how to setup my systems and space (moving a Vive setup around is difficult).
  I didn't have to take the photos to draw my own conclusions, but I  figured that I could try to document it :P - the differences were pretty  obvious from within each HMD, especially when going from one to the  other (I started with the Rift, switched to the Vive, then went back to  the Rift again).
  Also, the screenshots are only meant as a comparison between the two  headsets (using same graphical settings), not some absolute benchmark  for how Elite looks in VR. It's probably possible to improve how things  look by tweaking AA, etc based on your own system in a typical trade-off  between performance and visuals (just like it was with DK2).
 
 

There's way to much 'hate' between the the Vive and the Rift fan boys on /r/oculus and /r/vive and probably other places around the web.

It's always nice to see some reviews from people that have actual hands on experience with both headsets, I always look forward to reading those. I have a feeling that way to many people jumping on the VR bandwagon (especially those that have not tried VR hands on) have expectations that are way to high. Both the HMD's and the software should be considered first-gen and is nowhere near perfect.

The main reason I opted for the Vive is that I still own my DK2 and did not really see the point in upgrading to CV1 (without oculus touch being available yet).
Had Oculus been able to release the HMD bundled with the controllers, I would've most likely opted for the Rift.  I do own some flight sims and racers, but they're not really my cup of tea and the one thing I always missed during my time in VR was some kind of interaction with the things around you, and in this case Valve got out the door first.

I've gone through various runtime updates with the DK2 and unfortunately a lot of the older demo's and experiences no longer run. Initially I would've said the Rift will have way more titles ready at launch, I'm no longer sure that's the case. In the long run I'm sure things will even out and most games will be made available for all the big name HMD providers anyway. It's early days yet and the best things are yet to come. I'm just happy I can be there from the beginning and experience it all as it happens.

Whatever device people opt for, it'll be a great investment :)

Eh.

I still view these as prototypes, despite what Oculus/HTC are saying. If they ever sell enough units to start mass producing at a reasonable price, I might take interest.

If you've got the Vive Penuts and I've got the Rift, we can have a play at the October LAN possibly? Could be fun!

My delivery ETA has been moved back to mid-July. I think it was late June before anyways because I ordered late, but it will allow me to see how the Oculus is received and make a more informed decision whether to cancel or not.

You can now play oculus exclusives on Vive (http://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-rift-exclusives-may-be-playable-on-vive-with-this-trick/)

Some modder solved it.

Most of the article is about how the open source hack got them working but they are "less than idea" with sound issues and need an XBox controller.

I can't see how both VR platforms cannot work with all games, exclusives are stupid.

It's a work in progress project.

There's a branch on github as well.  Agreed, exclusive are stupid, and only hold back technology.

I received my Oculus Rift CV1 last Friday. Speaking specifically about Elite, I would say the experience is enhanced 10 fold. The immersion, quality of detail, areas of the game that are so easy to miss in 2D are amazing in 3D, like the hangar, the modules being installed, the scale of the ships. In space, it is literally haunting suspended in nothing when you are actually placed into the cockpit.

I don't see the technology as a work in progress, I see the software development as variable.

Most of the other software I have used with the Rift is average. Eve Valkyrie I gave 15 minutes and went back to Elite, it seems a 3 out of 5 game a best. The VR experiences, meh, interesting the first time, gets boring fast. But I haven't bought any so maybe the free stuff is very limited.

No Limits 2 Rollercoaster Sim, bought at full price, utterly amazing, physically feels like being on a roller coaster. Can't wait to edit my own. Apparently Minecraft has VR support, so Libs Rollercoasters may be fun.

I have a few other games that are VR ready. Project Cars, yet to try out. World of Diving, made me ill and want to puke. Descent Underground, not tried. Verde Station Not tried. Ultimate Booster, swinging park ride over a city, scared the crap out of me, awesome.

I personally would buy the Rift only for Elite and if we get Star Citizen supported by it, even if only in space then that will be a massive bonus. I personally don't think SC can miss the boat with VR but they took TrackIR out of the game a while back (possibly just for making the dev process easier).

Anyone who dismisses this as a prototype or not mature enough yet are for sure missing amazing gaming fun. Maybe it's just the costs of entry, which I can understand.

There are runtime switchers for the Rift, if you can be bothered installing them you could go through some of the older (and free) content pre-CV1. There was a lot of good stuff out there.

I spent a number of hours tuning the VR setup for Elite with my GTX 980 and here's what I concluded.

VSync needs Triple Buffering and the nVidia and AMD client apps cannot enable it reliably. Its a Direct3D function therefore there is one very old big good app that works: D3DOverrider. Load before starting Elite and leave Triple Buffering and VSync enabled. http://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/84-d3doverrider/ - This is extracted from Rivatuner.

The Oculus Debug Tool has a config element called Pixels Per Display Pixel Overide. Enable it to make the pixel density higher, similar to super sampling. Tune this to the highest level (between 1 and 2) so you still get 90FPS in space. It may lead to lowred FPS in stations or in planetary landings. But it does make the VR visuals better and seems less of an impact on FPS than the SS option in Elite.
https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4k80g4/increase_the_render_resolution_of_the_rift/

I set everything to Ultra in Elite then I Turn off: Blur, Bloom and Ambient Occlusion.

I have done this with the Oculus Debug Tool (1.3 pixels is about the right value for my GTX 970) and in-game graphics settings put on "VR High" I get 80-89fps pretty steady. Even on planets it remains high.

The visual clarity is startling!

Landing on the surface of Merope 2A last night was more like looking out the window than playing a computer game.