EGX 2015 Vive Demo vs. Todays Issues

[VR Dextrovix]

Until recently I've owned a DK2, I now have a Vive and I tried the FD demo Vive at EGX 2015 (at the HTC demo area rather than Frontier's, but it was still a chap from Frontier running the demo).

I can certainly confirm the text quality is definately lower quality now, than when it was at EGX. The EGX demo was really clear and colours quite vibrant- I remember seeing throughout the cyan chaperon grid above my head, and the dev confirmed it needed calibrating because I was the first person to try it that day (I jumped those registration queues by chatting up a HTC rep- sorry peeps!).

There were no god-ray effects either, so I'm assuming the Vive units at EGX (before they turned into the Pre designs we have today) didn't have Fresnel lenses, so more akin to the DK2 lenses.

I was trying to make a mental comparison at the time at EGX between the DK2 and the Vive, so I could decide if I was going to purchase one- hence I commit this to memory! The pixels to me looked like hexagon shapes, with very little black inbetween but I was impressed with the quality at the time, hence I pre-order the Vive. However, my Vive today looks like standard pixels like a DK2 has (higher quality and brighter though), but it's the god-rays and smearing that really let it down.

I just think that we're stuck with this until Frontier allow us to either change the contrast / brightness ourselves with sliders, or put in some sort of changes to this type of setting when VR mode is selected.

I've found a way of changing this through the video adapter, but it's a lot of fiddling around and hardly something that would suit for all VR titles because it would make the display the same for all VR games then:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=244296

I can't work out why it looked much better at EGX really. Most strange. Well done to the OP for bringing this up though- it is definately worthy of discussion!

Oh, by the way it's only ED where the Vive isn't looking very good. All other VR titles are brighter overall, so it's only when you have black and then bright colours over that (so most of ED sadly) when the glare really doesn't look too good. I'm really enjoying the Vive for everything else, so nobody should consider cancelling unless they only want to play ED!

 

[wstephenson]

There were no god-ray effects either, so I'm assuming the Vive units at EGX (before they turned into the Pre designs we have today) didn't have Fresnel lenses, so more akin to the DK2 lenses.

Vive DK1 lenses are Fresnel, see the photo of them (and their smearing) figure 10 here: http://doc-ok.org/?p=1414

 

[VR Dextrovix]

Vive DK1 lenses are Fresnel, see the photo of them (and their smearing) figure 10 here: http://doc-ok.org/?p=1414

Fair enough, I wasn't sure. But wow, that link shows my point about the glare- look at how well the DK2 handles glare compared to what those of us with consumer units have now!!

 

[shadragon]

Oh, by the way it's only ED where the Vive isn't looking very good. All other VR titles are brighter overall, so it's only when you have black and then bright colours over that (so most of ED sadly) when the glare really doesn't look too good. I'm really enjoying the Vive for everything else, so nobody should consider cancelling unless they only want to play ED!

Knowing that, my original post was to highlight that obvious disparity. I know the FDevs are tight lipped about issues until they get a solution in place. It is understandable as VR technology is remarkably complex and difficult to work on. Please don't get the wrong idea, I'm not slamming the devs in any way. I know they will solve this in time.

I'm still getting my Vive. Until they solve their issues I have a 1080 24" 120 Khz monitor and can use the Vive for other games. BUT, I am getting the Vive primarily for use in E: D long term. As long as the HTC Vive logo is on the elitedangerous.com page then I'm happy to wait. Frontier tends to knock it out of the park with regularity, it just takes time.

It would be nice if we knew what those issues were and what the estimated time frame for fixing it is though.

 

[VR Dextrovix]

It would be nice if we knew what those issues were and what the estimated time frame for fixing it is though.

I wonder if the release version of the Vive is what has caused the perceived differences, as certainly the glare is something I've not seen before.

It's also possible that the Titan X they were using (I forgot to say earlier that I did ask the Frontier chap at the time at EGX what was in the PC) was used with a specially compiled version of ED? E.g. one that just had those training missions, and had the graphics turned up.

We know now that graphics fidelity has been reduced for top end machines since ED was released, and there was talk that the 2.1 would change that. I wonder if when showing the game off at shows, the versions we see are ones that are streamlined to show the game at it's best, with all settings turned up? Conjecture I know!

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

We know now that graphics fidelity has been reduced for top end machines since ED was released, and there was talk that the 2.1 would change that. I wonder if when showing the game off at shows, the versions we see are ones that are streamlined to show the game at it's best, with all settings turned up? Conjecture I know!

It's an interesting point but it doesn't really explain how people with both (like Slopey) can see a vast gulf between the Vive and the Rift when playing ED. If I were to put my programming head on I'd say some optimisation has happened that works fine for the Rift but is causing issues with the Vive. The resolution actually changing is fairly fundamental!

Certainly Slopey's post have been far from derogatory about the Vive as a whole, some of the games have got rave reviews and the resolution appears about the same on both devices for other titles. Like Shardragon I was surprised when people started complaining about ED on the Vive as they'd showcased it months before.

I don't, for one second, think this is an insurmountable issue. Just really annoying for those that currently have a Vive. On the plus side if that's you then you currently have a Vive

 

[VR Dextrovix]

It's an interesting point but it doesn't really explain how people with both (like Slopey) can see a vast gulf between the Vive and the Rift when playing ED. If I were to put my programming head on I'd say some optimisation has happened that works fine for the Rift but is causing issues with the Vive. The resolution actually changing is fairly fundamental!

Certainly Slopey's post have been far from derogatory about the Vive as a whole, some of the games have got rave reviews and the resolution appears about the same on both devices for other titles. Like Shardragon I was surprised when people started complaining about ED on the Vive as they'd showcased it months before.

I don't, for one second, think this is an insurmountable issue. Just really annoying for those that currently have a Vive. On the plus side if that's you then you currently have a Vive

True, I do have a Vive, and very grateful and happy with it I am too! And you're right, it's not insurmountable and I believe it wiil be fixed.

But regardless, I would like to know what has gone on between EGX and now, and I was hoping more people might have posted what they thought of what they saw at the time, although I realise there will be less who have also already used VR who might notice.

I've only just sold my DK2, and as that uses the same runtime as a CV1 Rift, I know it does look better than the Vive currently does, although being a DK2 not by much I feel.