DK1 user here. I only spent about 10 minutes playing without a Rift. DK1 setup was a breeze as long as you remember to plug in the Rift first and start the game second. I would much rather be in a pixelated but completely immersive and comfortable VR environment than a high-res "normal screen." Or triple screen (or more), though I have only tried those in arcades.
I see enjoyable gaming experiences for both VR and multi-screen. But I am in the VR camp. Maybe we should start a VR team in game. I don't know what the retail price for the CV Rift will be, but I suspect it will be less than 3x high def monitors, and in my opinion a better experience. But I have not tried this build in a multi-screen setup and they both have merits and should be treated with equal respect, and this is just one person's experience.
I was a bit skeptical and concerned about the low resolution of DK1 and not being able to read text, but am actually very impressed. I can read most text, almost everything now that I am used to it, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Maybe simply give an option to increase the font size in-game? That solved lots of problems for me in other Rift DK1 games, like Minecraft. For ED, I am using an Xbox360 controller, and the biggest issue for me is switching between gamepad (I will soon order a proper joystick) for normal flight operations and keyboard for communication/menu.
Absolutely zero nausea for me. Flight control/stabilization is a big part of this. I like how games like Lunar Flight and Vendetta Online have options to turn off flight assist permanently (not just a temporary toggle as long as you hold the button down). It really adds to the immersion in game, but also can add to nausea and loss of control. Maybe give the option for either flight assist on or off as default, and a temporary toggle for turning it off (or on in my prefered setup).
If devs read this I have a couple more constructive criticisms. Bear in mind I have only played for less than two weeks, so I am probably missing some options. and have no idea what I'm ranting about.
1) I really like how the game Lunar Flight uses head orientation combined with gamepad up/down/left/right/A/B/X/Y/etc to navigate menus, and maybe I am wrong, but I think you can do this in flight without totally messing up your ship controls. It is very intuitive. Elite Dangerous beta nails the virtual screen pop-ups (similar to Lunar Flight), but navigating them (for me) requires taking your hands off the gamepad and then finding the keyboard, which is frustrating and often imprecise when you are essentially blind to the real world using a Rift. For games using just WSAD for controls and no gamepad/joystick it is less of an issue because you have a point of reference (WSAD) without looking at your hands. But if you go from gamepad or joystick to mouse and keyboard without taking off the Rift, it leads to a lot of missed keystrokes. In Lunar Flight, there are fewer commands, but I think the same button on an Xbox controller can have different functions whether you are manning the vessel or navigating menus. For example, in Elite, I have D-pad down set for landing gear (probably not optimal but that is how it is) but when I am docked (or still in space) I want to use the D-pad for navigating the menus I am looking at.
I could ramble on for hours about this, but in short it would be nice if there was an option for contextual control schemes (maybe there is... again I am new here). I mean when you are looking at a window like local travel destinations, it would be nice to use up-down-left-right on the left analog stick or D-pad of an Xbox controller, even though it is already programmed for pitch and roll, landing gear, target select, hyperdrive or other flight commands.
2) The starmap is very difficult to navigate in the Rift (at least for me). Also due to having to switch to keyboard
3) Communication with other players is difficult in the Rift. I ignore both hostile and friendly messages in multiplayer online because I am too focused on getting from point A to B, and it is too hard to switch from the Rift to finding your keyboard position... I see the VR keyboard to the left. It would be nice if you could hook that up with real keystrokes and maybe even hand/finger tracking if you wear something like a power glove, or even something like a Razer Hydra... Maybe I should get a microphone setup, but I'm not that serious about my gaming (yet).
4) Maybe us Rifters should start up an alliance. It would be interesting to see if using VR actually gives an advantage in PVP/overall gameplay. It has certainly raised the bar in gaming for me.
5) This is an Xbox control issue not a Rift issue, but it seems many of the throttle controls (left analog, LT, RT, etc) are either all on or all off? Maybe it is just how I've set things up.
6) Last point, what is the status of bringing back the old Elite games in VR? I never played them, though I did play vector arcade games as a kid which had a similar visual depth as the Rift experience, but without head tracking or a million buttons and keyboard and multiplayer.
First /post off. Hope it is constructive. TONS of potential here. The game is brilliant and I'm sure it will be fantastic when final release comes!
![[VR] Mad Mike](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/27/27910.jpg?1553527108){kind=avatar}
