EVE VALKYRIE and DK2

[warbaby2]

Read the section "The art of knowing where to look" in this - http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/1/18/10776080/eve-valkyrie-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-alpha - it sums up elements of my view better than I can. But it's still a "have a quick bash now and again" game for me, rather than a must have. CQC was play once/instantly forgotten experience.

Also, no need to be quite so defensive! I do seem to be in the minority (at least here) so you've already "won"!

Ah, Polygon! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Seriously though: Yea, the game has it's appeal no doubt, but the price is still rather high for what's basically is a snazzy VR showcase... and I still think it's stupid you can fly by a dreadnought in a couple of seconds. Those things are supposed to be kilometers long!

 

[Captain Sharky]

Read the section "The art of knowing where to look" in this - http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/1/18/10776080/eve-valkyrie-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-alpha - it sums up elements of my view better than I can. But it's still a "have a quick bash now and again" game for me, rather than a must have. CQC was play once/instantly forgotten experience.

Also, no need to be quite so defensive! I do seem to be in the minority (at least here) so you've already "won"!

This is no matter of "win", I had some expectations for this game, esp since VR space shooters aren't really abundant, also paid for it (no oculus pre-order option for my country) so really wanna like it. Alas. Maybe if it was my first VR experience I would be really excited, like the polygon author tries to express, but got too spoiled with Elite already

 

[[VR] Deggial]

From the linked Polygon review: "... I played Valkyrie on a standard gamepad, although it also supports flight sticks ..."

So... does or doesn't it?

 

[CMDR-Bullsey]

yeh well i think i will take the chance and buy it anyway
i like the idea of something new to play and brake up the grind fest
as some say they will likely expand the game and add extra content and flight mechanics
could be a good one to keep in the library

 

[Captain Sharky]

Ah, Polygon! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Seriously though: Yea, the game has it's appeal no doubt, but the price is still rather high for what's basically is a snazzy VR showcase... and I still think it's stupid you can fly by a dreadnought in a couple of seconds. Those things are supposed to be kilometers long!

From the linked Polygon review: "... I played Valkyrie on a standard gamepad, although it also supports flight sticks ..."

So... does or doesn't it?

Depends on what you mean by support. In my case (thrustmaster hotas warthog & saitek pedals) stick works for pitch and roll, throttle only active in extreme positions with no response in-between. Yaw is missing, although present on xbox controller. Two-stage trigger works for both cannons and missiles. Stage one being cannons and two cannons and missile locks simultaneously. Of other buttons I found only two active - target switch and ecm. Maybe didn't look hard enough, but had little motivation. Definitely no way to call up menu or recenter hmd. Any slight touch to pedals sends ship into uncontrollable spin with no way to recover except shut the game down. And you cant remap any of that.

 

[warbaby2]

Depends on what you mean by support. In my case (thrustmaster hotas warthog & saitek pedals) stick works for pitch and roll, throttle only active in extreme positions with no response in-between. Yaw is missing, although present on xbox controller. Two-stage trigger works for both cannons and missiles. Stage one being cannons and two cannons and missile locks simultaneously. Of other buttons I found only two active - target switch and ecm. Maybe didn't look hard enough, but had little motivation. Definitely no way to call up menu or recenter hmd. Any slight touch to pedals sends ship into uncontrollable spin with no way to recover except shut the game down. And you cant remap any of that.

Yea, there is token support for sticks at best... aside from main and secondary fire, ECM and boost, almost nothing is set with the X-55. I'm also not convinced the throttle really does what it's supposed to do, since non boost speed caps at about 20% max. and the ship never stops, even on 0% (no, that's not inertia, since the ship is still controllable). Numerous buttons are set to center POV, but none on menu/quit, so you basically can't quit an active mission when you want to without a controller.

...but, yea, that's Polygon for you: Uneducated opinions nd publisher marketing material is all you get from those loons.

 

[Caspar]

I wanted to like this game but I have to agree with Sharky here. CQC Already does it - and does it better.

In fairness to Eve Valkyrie - I am under the recommended specs - but I can get far more detail and performance out of ED than Valkyrie - it really shows how well FD have done. As for the game, it's shallow and feels like a framework for in game purchases. Monthly skill accelerator boosts etc - I felt like I was being marched to the bank before I had found a reason to like the game.

I'll keep trying and also revisit the thing when I've upgraded my kit - but ED offers so much more.

 

[Frank]

For CQC (Arena) to compete against Valkyre it will need a bit of love. All Frontier needs to do is add in private game modes where you can play against bots, and also maybe a moon buggy race <grin>

If people look and see Arena offers a whole lot more than Valkyre, and then they are told that it's just a very small offshoot of a much larger game, I think we'd see a few more players coming into the Elite Galaxy.

 

[RAJA]

https://forums.evevalkyrie.com/t/us...e-controller-setup-with-valkyrie-tutorial/733

Setup guide for the Hotas.

 

[Soliluna]

Saw the price and instantly decided to not even look at any more information regarding it.

Similar experience with Planet Coaster, I was really interested but then I saw FD nickle and diming "staff VIP", "Group passes!" etc, where you can create some characters to use in your game (at excessively high prices).

When I started playing games things like that were free - creating a character from the available styles to put in a game - and games that offered such a small amount of play (Valkyrie) entered at a lower price point than more feature complete games and franchises.

As always, I vote with my wallet.

 

[warbaby2]

Yea, and there IS the price argument... I mean, the game is bascially twce as expensive as ED... not CQC, the whole of ED. Considering this, it's really just an overpriced VR showcase.

 

[jabokai]

Yea, and there IS the price argument... I mean, the game is bascially twce as expensive as ED... not CQC, the whole of ED. Considering this, it's really just an overpriced VR showcase.

I agree with that - it should be a similar price to Arena, not ED the full game.

It's only value, currently, is as a pre-order freebie - anyone paying that price for it is nuts (even though I still think it's more fun than CQC )!

 

[warbaby2]

I agree with that - it should be a similar price to Arena, not ED the full game.

It's only value, currently, is as a pre-order freebie - anyone paying that price for it is nuts (even though I still think it's more fun than CQC )!

Well, even with the DK2 combined it was cheaper then the CV1, so I'm kinda ok with it... but it's not good value, no matter which way you slice it.

 

[Bakkster]

True, then again, Oculus seams to be determined to make VR a luxury item, so it's logical the (flagship) games are as expensive...

On the hardware, I think it's a very safe bet. It's basically the same strategy Tesla Motors has used to great effect. Bring the new technology to market at a very high quality level with an appropriately matching high price (the Roadster, at $110,000), because people are willing to pay for the new technology on a luxury good. Then they began a steady, sustainable march towards the mainstream: the $70k Model S, and now the $35k Model 3. They didn't start with a $35k car, because they'd never be able to make their money back at that price while spinning up a brand new set of technology, because people who buy $35k cars don't want anything that isn't polished, and they'd need to make too many compromises to reach that price back when they started. Not to mention the better press of a no-compromise high-end design compared to the EV-One or a Nissan Leaf.

Software is very different, and I'd argue that has more to do with CCP choosing to price it high, hoping to make back their costs from what is still a very small market for VR-only games. Elite has a PC and Console version, with tens of millions of people who have systems capable of running it. The VR market is, at best, hundreds of thousands of installed units, and Valkyrie doesn't have a flat-screen version to recoup expenses like most of the other games we're seeing.

In other words, if you're going to sell one-hundredth the number of copies, you might need to sell for 100x the price. With Elite: Arena selling for $7 to 100x more people, CCP's pricing isn't out of the ballpark (though I certainly wouldn't buy it if I didn't get it for free with my pre-order).

 

[warbaby2]

Problem is, Tesla doesn't have as big a competition as Oculus already has... if they don't follow the market, they will not be able to hold their position, let alone have any form of market dominance. Not that I care, mind you, I still think VR should become an affordable mass market technology... a sentiment Oculus did share once, by the way, before they got picked up by Facebook.

 

[Frank]

I agree with that - it should be a similar price to Arena, not ED the full game.

It's only value, currently, is as a pre-order freebie - anyone paying that price for it is nuts (even though I still think it's more fun than CQC )!

I was checking to see if the price you paid for Arena would be refunded if you went for the full game. It is, but looking at the spiel I doubt very much that Arena is VR compatible. There's no mention of it in their advertising.

 

[Bakkster]

Problem is, Tesla doesn't have as big a competition as Oculus already has... if they don't follow the market, they will not be able to hold their position, let alone have any form of market dominance. Not that I care, mind you, I still think VR should become an affordable mass market technology... a sentiment Oculus did share once, by the way, before they got picked up by Facebook.

I'll quibble a bit with that. Tesla is competing against Nissan, and Toyota, and BMW, and GM, and... well the whole automotive industry. Just like VR is competing with flat-screens. Both VR and EREV cars are niche products for a niche audience at this point.

Yes, Oculus has competition, but their only competent competition is targeting similar quality of the technology. It's not like Oculus is targeting some level of cost far above their competitor, they're actually both targeting the high-end (with practically no attention given to the low-end by the media).

Maybe you'd have a point if the masses of people were skipping the CV1 in favor of a $300 headset instead, but they're not. Anecdotally, the number of times I heard "I'm skipping DK2 because it's nowhere near good enough, I'll get the consumer version" seems to justify that call. Remember, before Facebook all Oculus hoped to do was produce something like the DK2 and call that 'consumer VR'. If they did that (at $350-400, mind you), and HTC released the Vive as it is now, do you think the DK2+ would be the preferred headset?

 

[jabokai]

Problem is, Tesla doesn't have as big a competition as Oculus already has... if they don't follow the market, they will not be able to hold their position, let alone have any form of market dominance. Not that I care, mind you, I still think VR should become an affordable mass market technology... a sentiment Oculus did share once, by the way, before they got picked up by Facebook.

It will become an affordable mass market technology. There's nothing going on here (re: your Facebook reference) that hasn't happened with every bit of new technology that's ever come to market. Also, DK1, DK2 and CV1 are all being sold below cost. I suspect the Vive is too... so although the price seems high, it really isn't. If Oculus hadn't been bought by Facebook I suspect we'd have had a lesser AND more expensive product.

 

[warbaby2]

It will become an affordable mass market technology. There's nothing going on here (re: your Facebook reference) that hasn't happened with every bit of new technology that's ever come to market. Also, DK1, DK2 and CV1 are all being sold below cost. I suspect the Vive is too... so although the price seems high, it really isn't. If Oculus hadn't been bought by Facebook I suspect we'd have had a lesser AND more expensive product.

Maybe... all I remember is that the original pricing target 2+ years ago was nowhere near what it turned out to be... ever<ything else, I agree with. It's the start of this tech, and it could go either way, as far as mass market appeal and pricing are concerned.

 

[jabokai]

Maybe... all I remember is that the original pricing target 2+ years ago was nowhere near what it turned out to be... ever<ything else, I agree with. It's the start of this tech, and it could go either way, as far as mass market appeal and pricing are concerned.

Well, it's more than originally estimated but look at the tech they were using back then and the improvements since. I think prices could go in both directions - up and down! There will be premium products and there will be cheaper products (Gear VR and Sony VR are already starting to push into that end.) Bleeding edge PC gamers and business/industry will be willing to pay a lot more than the current price for a better product and Oculus (and others) would be foolish to not cash in on that as and when they can... while keeping the mass market range "affordable".