Greetings fellow CMDR’s!
I decided it was time to jump into the VR arena and see what all the fuss has been about. I ordered an HTC Vive which was stolen before delivery
and an Oculus Rift…oh yeah, and a MSI 1080 Seahawk to push the pixels.
I never tried the DK1 or DK2, so this was my first time experiencing VR…with one caveat, I tried the Oculus VR phone thingy, which was interesting, but quite uncomfortable and it looked like poo.
The Rift was incredibly easy to setup and calibrate, and I was genuinely impressed with the fit and finish of the HMD and accoutrement. I was a tad disappointed with the range of the sensor, I was hoping it would have the range of a Vive lighthouse, but it does not. The HMD is incredibly lite, but not very comfortable to actually wear (in my opinion). The foam is a bit dense, and Rift-Face is a real thing. I looked in the mirror after about an hour of play and it looked like I was wearing a clear Kylo Ren mask. I don’t think I have an oddly shaped head or anything (or maybe I do!??), but it’s just not very comfortable to wear
Rift Home is pretty cool, though the addition of the Touch controllers will really help out here. I’m not a huge fan of looking at something to select it, definitely looking forward to having hands!
On to Elite: Dangerous! This is pretty much the only reason I got into VR at this point. My initial Elite: Dangerous experience so far has been amazing…and utterly disappointing. I’ll start with the good stuff first.
Firstly, the scale of the game is just plain bonkers. Everyone always says the same thing, but I was still unprepared for the sheer magnitude of the ships and stations. They’re all hyuge! These truly are massive ships that you just can’t get a true sense of on the flat-screen.
The 3D is really cool, and the head tracking feels very accurate. I used the EDtracker on the flat-screen, but it’s so much better in VR. Combat in the RES was a LOT of fun amongst the asteroids, and it was actually a bit easier being able to track the enemy with the good-ole Mark-1 eyeball. The immersion in VR is pretty awesome, a transformative experience indeed.
I was also able to get a very stable 90fps in space even with 2.0 supersampling and VR-High mode with some extra goodies turned up. It clamps down to 45 in stations, but it was still fine. In space it was buttery smooth and I can definitely recommend the MSI 1080 Seahawk to push your pixels as well, it’s a real powerhouse.
I didn’t have any problem with motion-sickness at all, though I’m not prone to motion sickness IRL either. Back in my Navy days I got plenty of time in SH-60’s and C-2’s so maybe that helped as well.
Now to the not-so good stuff. By Odin’s Raven! The glare, smearing, and low resolution is absolutely terrible. I had done my research on how to maximize the graphical fidelity and got to those settings immediately. 2.0 supersampling helped with the resolution quite a bit, but the smearing and glare is still really bad. I’ve spent plenty of time messing with the head straps, IPD, and ensuring the lenses are clean, but I just can’t get rid of the smearing and glare; it’s really really bad. If anyone has any tips on how to rectify, please let me know! I normally play on a 2560x1440 and 3440x1440 screen, so coming from those resolutions, the HMD just can’t keep up, but 2.0 supersampling definitely helps, and anything less than that is pretty rough.
As I mentioned above, even though the Rift’s HMD is really quite lite, it’s not very comfortable to wear. I may just get used to it, or maybe I’ll try fabricating a more comfy cushion.
Lastly, what’s with the avatar body? It’s pretty tiny. I’m not a huge guy or anything, 76” 190lbs, but that avatar is like a little elf or something. I had a hearty lol when I looked down the first time and saw my tiny body.
That about wraps it up for now. Would I recommend getting a Rift at this point? Maybe if you’re very curious about VR or know you’re going to be into it after trying it elsewhere. The CV1 is a good start, and Elite is a good game to play with it; but if you’re on the fence about it, I would say hold off for now and let us guinea pigs wade through the crap and hopefully the next gen units will get some of the quirks worked out. I’ll be back with another report with my Vive experience if I can get one delivered past the thieves!
-CMDR Jypson signing off!
UPDATE 01
I've made the following changes based on comments from our delightful VR community here. Thanks all!
1) Instead of using Supersampling in game, now using 1.0 in game and 1.5 in debug tool, looks good!
2) Changed HUD colors to a pleasant blue and white from the NO2O thread and turned down the HUD brightness by half; helped with some of the god rays.
3) Fiddled with the straps over and over again to lessen Rift-Face which has helped. Lots more support from the back of the head piece and no longer resting on my cheek bones.
Lack of focus is still driving me nuts. It's nice and clear where I'm looking directly, but quite blurry in the peripheral. From what I understand, that's the nature of the beast. Anyone have any tips to mitigate?
I decided it was time to jump into the VR arena and see what all the fuss has been about. I ordered an HTC Vive which was stolen before delivery
and an Oculus Rift…oh yeah, and a MSI 1080 Seahawk to push the pixels.I never tried the DK1 or DK2, so this was my first time experiencing VR…with one caveat, I tried the Oculus VR phone thingy, which was interesting, but quite uncomfortable and it looked like poo.
The Rift was incredibly easy to setup and calibrate, and I was genuinely impressed with the fit and finish of the HMD and accoutrement. I was a tad disappointed with the range of the sensor, I was hoping it would have the range of a Vive lighthouse, but it does not. The HMD is incredibly lite, but not very comfortable to actually wear (in my opinion). The foam is a bit dense, and Rift-Face is a real thing. I looked in the mirror after about an hour of play and it looked like I was wearing a clear Kylo Ren mask. I don’t think I have an oddly shaped head or anything (or maybe I do!??), but it’s just not very comfortable to wear
Rift Home is pretty cool, though the addition of the Touch controllers will really help out here. I’m not a huge fan of looking at something to select it, definitely looking forward to having hands!
On to Elite: Dangerous! This is pretty much the only reason I got into VR at this point. My initial Elite: Dangerous experience so far has been amazing…and utterly disappointing. I’ll start with the good stuff first.
Firstly, the scale of the game is just plain bonkers. Everyone always says the same thing, but I was still unprepared for the sheer magnitude of the ships and stations. They’re all hyuge! These truly are massive ships that you just can’t get a true sense of on the flat-screen.
The 3D is really cool, and the head tracking feels very accurate. I used the EDtracker on the flat-screen, but it’s so much better in VR. Combat in the RES was a LOT of fun amongst the asteroids, and it was actually a bit easier being able to track the enemy with the good-ole Mark-1 eyeball. The immersion in VR is pretty awesome, a transformative experience indeed.
I was also able to get a very stable 90fps in space even with 2.0 supersampling and VR-High mode with some extra goodies turned up. It clamps down to 45 in stations, but it was still fine. In space it was buttery smooth and I can definitely recommend the MSI 1080 Seahawk to push your pixels as well, it’s a real powerhouse.
I didn’t have any problem with motion-sickness at all, though I’m not prone to motion sickness IRL either. Back in my Navy days I got plenty of time in SH-60’s and C-2’s so maybe that helped as well.
Now to the not-so good stuff. By Odin’s Raven! The glare, smearing, and low resolution is absolutely terrible. I had done my research on how to maximize the graphical fidelity and got to those settings immediately. 2.0 supersampling helped with the resolution quite a bit, but the smearing and glare is still really bad. I’ve spent plenty of time messing with the head straps, IPD, and ensuring the lenses are clean, but I just can’t get rid of the smearing and glare; it’s really really bad. If anyone has any tips on how to rectify, please let me know! I normally play on a 2560x1440 and 3440x1440 screen, so coming from those resolutions, the HMD just can’t keep up, but 2.0 supersampling definitely helps, and anything less than that is pretty rough.
As I mentioned above, even though the Rift’s HMD is really quite lite, it’s not very comfortable to wear. I may just get used to it, or maybe I’ll try fabricating a more comfy cushion.
Lastly, what’s with the avatar body? It’s pretty tiny. I’m not a huge guy or anything, 76” 190lbs, but that avatar is like a little elf or something. I had a hearty lol when I looked down the first time and saw my tiny body.
That about wraps it up for now. Would I recommend getting a Rift at this point? Maybe if you’re very curious about VR or know you’re going to be into it after trying it elsewhere. The CV1 is a good start, and Elite is a good game to play with it; but if you’re on the fence about it, I would say hold off for now and let us guinea pigs wade through the crap and hopefully the next gen units will get some of the quirks worked out. I’ll be back with another report with my Vive experience if I can get one delivered past the thieves!
-CMDR Jypson signing off!
UPDATE 01
I've made the following changes based on comments from our delightful VR community here. Thanks all!
1) Instead of using Supersampling in game, now using 1.0 in game and 1.5 in debug tool, looks good!
2) Changed HUD colors to a pleasant blue and white from the NO2O thread and turned down the HUD brightness by half; helped with some of the god rays.
3) Fiddled with the straps over and over again to lessen Rift-Face which has helped. Lots more support from the back of the head piece and no longer resting on my cheek bones.
Lack of focus is still driving me nuts. It's nice and clear where I'm looking directly, but quite blurry in the peripheral. From what I understand, that's the nature of the beast. Anyone have any tips to mitigate?
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