A VR Kickstarter? (Hypothetical)

LOL, Tencent already tried. And they're far, far, far... Hutton Orbital far larger than us.

Thank fudge for that.
Or each ship would be on par with the sidey stock, and all engineering materials would be sold in loot crates.

$10 for 10 random rank 5 materials anyone ?
Yeah that's what that would have been.

Nah I'm not interested in buying FD, they are doing a pretty good job all in all.

What I would like to see some more of for VR though is purely performance related, and that wouldn't benefit just VR.
That would benefit the entire engine and all future games the engine is for.
I'm not saying tweaking, but actually implemented render works or whatever they call it this month.
 
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TBH more FDev in Elite, less FDev in other projects for a while would be grand... Because since 2.0 it was exactly the opposite for a few years now! But the chances of that are slim. There is one more franchise promised to shareholders this year. And we don't want to upset the shareholders. After all, they're our main client right now, not these gullible nostalgic dummies on the forum :p
 

Lol, as much as i admire Braben - and he is a don, no question - he will look back on this statement in 20 years and facepalm hard.

Listen to Michael Abrash. That is a man who is focused on solving the problems and forging the science into consumer reality.

He says VR and AR will become the primary interfaces to information in the future and I have complete faith in his vision.
 
Let's not get too caught up in Braben's past comments....

"I see little commercial potential for the internet for the next 10 years," Bill Gates 1994

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, president of IBM, 1943 <<<< (forgiven, it's a long time ago!) :)
 
There’s no doubt in mind that we are on the cusp of something special. I’m giving a lecture tomorrow on simulation theory and how tech has evolved over the last 40 years to create a VR system realistic enough to trick your brain into believing something is there that isn’t.

If we can do that now, then where will we be in another 40 years? I’ll be demoing with a rift, as a student smashed the odyssey in the testing session a few days ago!

I was explaining this to my neighbour (who was actually really interested) and he asked what I’d been doing with VR for the past four years?

“Flying around a life size replica of our Galaxy!” I replied. :cool:
 
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There’s no doubt in mind that we are on the cusp of something special. I’m giving a lecture tomorrow on simulation theory and how tech has evolved over the last 40 years to create a VR system realistic enough to trick your brain into believing something is there that isn’t.

There was that saying... look at adult entertainment from 40 years ago, look at it now (VR!), and think what it will become in 40 years. THAT STUFF IS NASTY! :D
 
Lol, as much as i admire Braben - and he is a don, no question - he will look back on this statement in 20 years and facepalm hard.

Listen to Michael Abrash. That is a man who is focused on solving the problems and forging the science into consumer reality.

He says VR and AR will become the primary interfaces to information in the future and I have complete faith in his vision.

I worry Braben is right, at least for now (and I don't think he means long term). I'm totally sold on VR but VR is at serious risk of becoming the next 3DTV; It is far too expensive, there is limited content, it is almost impossible to express how good it is to anyone that hasn't tried it and if they do try it and like it the technology isn't really ready for the main stream (blurry, complicated setup, and the expense / lack of content).


All that said, I'd absolutely pay for FDEV to improve VR in ED and I have a LEP!
 
I worry Braben is right, at least for now (and I don't think he means long term). I'm totally sold on VR but VR is at serious risk of becoming the next 3DTV; It is far too expensive, there is limited content, it is almost impossible to express how good it is to anyone that hasn't tried it and if they do try it and like it the technology isn't really ready for the main stream (blurry, complicated setup, and the expense / lack of content).


All that said, I'd absolutely pay for FDEV to improve VR in ED and I have a LEP!

That is why we are seeing the big players focusing on devices that are untethered, portable, affordable, comfortable, light. All the factors required for mainstream adoption. Just look at Oculus Quest for a shining example.
 
What about making a list of improvements that we would like to see and suggest to them that we are willing to pay to get a special DLC or something that address those specific problems?

It doesn't sound fair, to be honest, but if Bethesda can charge for Skyrim VR which is basically the same game as Skyrim SE to the point that the mods made for the second work for the first, I guess they can charge for the special feature of perfect VR support.
 
To be honest I doubt that Frontier will invest any more time / money into VR beyond maintenance until it can be shown to be profitable to do so. I can’t say I blame them but I really wish things were different!

This year I won the auction to name a station but next year I’ll be bidding to take the staff out for dinner ... a captive audience to talk about VR the entire night and they won’t be able to stop me!

317gqab.jpg
 
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What about making a list of improvements that we would like to see and suggest to them that we are willing to pay to get a special DLC or something that address those specific problems?

It doesn't sound fair, to be honest, but if Bethesda can charge for Skyrim VR which is basically the same game as Skyrim SE to the point that the mods made for the second work for the first, I guess they can charge for the special feature of perfect VR support.

I will defend Bethesda on this one, because people for some inexplicable reason think developers' work is free. Well, newsflash, it isn't. They had to rework things to get it working in VR, and the fact that mods (most of which are essentially scripts or texture swaps) work, proves nothing. You need to program it, test it, market it, sell it and recoup cost. All for a very small market, apparently (can't gauge the size because vr manufacturers keep this one close to their chests). But you can tell it's peanuts compared to flatscreen gaming. Therefore it is not unreasonable to ask a price for it. How high is that price is another matter, but they're not charity. I think I preordered SkyrimVR or bought at a huge discount on release, so I am cool with it. I wouldn't pay $60/60€ for it, but there are people who did.

Also there are people who have skyrim on every platform they own (PC, Playstation, Nintendo Switch), which is inexplicable for me. Also people buying Skyrim over and over. I am "lucky" to have bought legendary edition ages ago, so I got the remastered Special Edition for free, and only bought VR edition again. And it's worth the money, especially with a headset like Pimax 5k+, or Vive Pro(bably) ;-) Plus it was one of the first "AAA" forays into VR, not being fueled by Facebook's money. So there was risk... You can also read an excellent writeup from Croteam CTO about the challenges of porting to VR: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/76zq9e/croteam_dev_on_why_talos_isnt_sold_as_dlc_and/ . They got pretty salty about it later (for a reason), and even wrote in some patch notes of serious sam "devs flipped magic VR switch in the config files so now it works").

Also what you describe isn't fair. Skyrim VR was not "patching bugs in Skyrim", it was a separate release. While here we bought a game with VR support and you want to pay the devs to fix their faulty product. Such things should be fixed under "warranty" (and are in the real world). Imagine buying a TV. A week later you update its firmware and left speaker stops to work. Do you organise a kickstarter campaign to fix left speaker OR do you demand from the manufacturer that they get their poo together and fix it?
 
I will defend Bethesda on this one, because people for some inexplicable reason think developers' work is free. Well, newsflash, it isn't. They had to rework things to get it working in VR, and the fact that mods (most of which are essentially scripts or texture swaps) work, proves nothing. You need to program it, test it, market it, sell it and recoup cost. All for a very small market, apparently (can't gauge the size because vr manufacturers keep this one close to their chests). But you can tell it's peanuts compared to flatscreen gaming. Therefore it is not unreasonable to ask a price for it. How high is that price is another matter, but they're not charity. I think I preordered SkyrimVR or bought at a huge discount on release, so I am cool with it. I wouldn't pay $60/60€ for it, but there are people who did.

Also there are people who have skyrim on every platform they own (PC, Playstation, Nintendo Switch), which is inexplicable for me. Also people buying Skyrim over and over. I am "lucky" to have bought legendary edition ages ago, so I got the remastered Special Edition for free, and only bought VR edition again. And it's worth the money, especially with a headset like Pimax 5k+, or Vive Pro(bably) ;-) Plus it was one of the first "AAA" forays into VR, not being fueled by Facebook's money. So there was risk... You can also read an excellent writeup from Croteam CTO about the challenges of porting to VR: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/76zq9e/croteam_dev_on_why_talos_isnt_sold_as_dlc_and/ . They got pretty salty about it later (for a reason), and even wrote in some patch notes of serious sam "devs flipped magic VR switch in the config files so now it works").

Also what you describe isn't fair. Skyrim VR was not "patching bugs in Skyrim", it was a separate release. While here we bought a game with VR support and you want to pay the devs to fix their faulty product. Such things should be fixed under "warranty" (and are in the real world). Imagine buying a TV. A week later you update its firmware and left speaker stops to work. Do you organise a kickstarter campaign to fix left speaker OR do you demand from the manufacturer that they get their poo together and fix it?

Please.
After having done doom vfr and fallout vr it is barely OLD assets into to their newest in house engine code and a minor ui tweak.

Skyrim VR is and always was a total rip off not to mention selling it on every bloddy platform for a yet another full price.

Bethesda is right up there with EA to define what is completely broken in the game industry today and I hope they go under.
 
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I am ok with immersion. I want to fly my ship. Which I actually do but without VR, though used eyetracker and edtracker.
I do want some solution which will improve my game experience without trade-offs: way too expensive for still not acceptable quality.
I am sure that current VRs are not the solution I am talking about.
 
Please.
After having done doom vfr and fallout vr it is barely OLD assets into to their newest in house engine code and a minor ui tweak.
Skyrim VR is and always was a total rip off not to mention selling it on every bloddy platform for a yet another full price.

I always perceived you as tech-knowledgeable person, do you really think it is a minor ui tweak? In a spaghetti code which dates back to 2013 or earlier? For a mediocre userbase? Do you think it should be given away free? I agree that it's nothing groundbreaking, it's old game ported to VR. Same with Croteam games, yet both of these examples are bloody brilliant in VR in my opinion. As for selling on every bloody platform , there are people who buy it for every bloody platform. Which I adressed as inexplicable for me :D That Croteam post from Reddit explains how a "minor tweak" that is. Also keep in mind there wasn't a ton of experienced VR developers back then, systems were built from scratch, experience was gained and so on. A port of the old, familiar game is a good way to tread such unknown waters.

As for Bethesda being what's wrong... 2018 was a bloody bad year for gaming in general. AAA industry is in some kind of crisis, and after each crisis there are changes. Let's hope for the best. Also I am unfazed by the whole FO76 drama because I am not interested in this title.

I am ok with immersion. I want to fly my ship. Which I actually do but without VR, though used eyetracker and edtracker.
I do want some solution which will improve my game experience without trade-offs: way too expensive for still not acceptable quality.
I am sure that current VRs are not the solution I am talking about.

Actually you can get a very nice experience in ED with Windows Mixed Reality which is a fraction of the cost of "big league" headsets like rift/vive/pimax. Guys from our Polish forum here are using WMR for ED without problems. It will be leaps and bounds better than TrackIR. As for tradeoffs... you can always go back to flat screen if that's your thing, but the general consensus is once you go VR you don't go back.
 
Seriously I would be very very very surprised Bethesda did much more than say what valve did for half life source.
But unlike valve, they shut up about it and charge $50.

And the assets they have been making since oblivion is usable and being used in current engines.
This is a great benefit for a lot of things, particularly business wise and they have been very in house focused on maintaining compatibility with older stuff.

I hold to it, Skyrim VR is a hack job, and has a lot of bugs, and certainly not worth what Bethesda want for it, wouldn't recommend anyone pay more than $15 for it.
It has less polish on it than steam releases of PS3 games.
 
I will defend Bethesda on this one, because people for some inexplicable reason think developers' work is free. Well, newsflash, it isn't. They had to rework things to get it working in VR, and the fact that mods (most of which are essentially scripts or texture swaps) work, proves nothing. You need to program it, test it, market it, sell it and recoup cost. All for a very small market, apparently (can't gauge the size because vr manufacturers keep this one close to their chests). But you can tell it's peanuts compared to flatscreen gaming. Therefore it is not unreasonable to ask a price for it. How high is that price is another matter, but they're not charity. I think I preordered SkyrimVR or bought at a huge discount on release, so I am cool with it. I wouldn't pay $60/60€ for it, but there are people who did.

Also there are people who have skyrim on every platform they own (PC, Playstation, Nintendo Switch), which is inexplicable for me. Also people buying Skyrim over and over. I am "lucky" to have bought legendary edition ages ago, so I got the remastered Special Edition for free, and only bought VR edition again. And it's worth the money, especially with a headset like Pimax 5k+, or Vive Pro(bably) ;-) Plus it was one of the first "AAA" forays into VR, not being fueled by Facebook's money. So there was risk... You can also read an excellent writeup from Croteam CTO about the challenges of porting to VR: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/76zq9e/croteam_dev_on_why_talos_isnt_sold_as_dlc_and/ . They got pretty salty about it later (for a reason), and even wrote in some patch notes of serious sam "devs flipped magic VR switch in the config files so now it works").

Also what you describe isn't fair. Skyrim VR was not "patching bugs in Skyrim", it was a separate release. While here we bought a game with VR support and you want to pay the devs to fix their faulty product. Such things should be fixed under "warranty" (and are in the real world). Imagine buying a TV. A week later you update its firmware and left speaker stops to work. Do you organise a kickstarter campaign to fix left speaker OR do you demand from the manufacturer that they get their poo together and fix it?

Hey, I'm just like you, I paid for Legendary, got SE for free which was very nice but the price tag for the VR version seemed out of place. Then, probably it is because VR is still a niche market, that's why after a decade War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition from Matrix games still costs around $100 USD. I bought a game called BattleFleet 2 years ago, but somehow they gave me the VR version for free a few months ago, same with Hellblade: Senua's sacrifice.

I was just trying to make fun of that price and point out that if VR market is not becoming profitable and/or the players using VR is rather small, FD will not invest on it unless somehow they charge us extra for it or get some profit other way from it.
 
It's cool. The price was out of place, like said I think I paid somewhere around 37€ for Skyrim VR preorder if I remember correctly. Around 16€ for Doom VFR. I think those were good prices for what I got :) Recently Skyrim VR was on sale for around 18€.
 
1 1/2 years ago I got a Vive after hearing that Bethesda was bringing Skyrim to VR. Waiting for SkyrimVR to get released I found Elite Dangerous VR and OMG I fell in love with VR and Elite Dangerous but my Computer would barely run the Vive so I badly needed to upgrade.

Let’s put getting Elite Dangerous VR to run in prospective with the cost of the game about 45.00.

Getting a VR capable system

Computer with i7-8700k ~ 1300.00
GTX-1080 ~ 680.00
Vive ~ 650.00
Vive Pro = 800.00
Hotas ~ 180.00

I now have 2000 hours in ED-VR and don’t care about SkyrimVR at all.

I fell Fdev is losing interest in supporting VR in Elite Dangerous, expressly after 3.3 update.
I would for sure support anything that would give Fdev incentive to improve game VR performance and features.

A VR premium would be a cheap investment compared to the above system cost, expressly if it saves me from upgrading to a 2080ti lol
 
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