Viewing Pleasure Opinion

[TomcatMF]

I have an Oculus Rift as well as a 34" widescreen monitor, and having played the game in both modes I prefer using the Rift. The immersion is just amazing. The reduced resolution doesn't really bother me one bit.
I have a second laptop computer that I keep handy for the times I need to look up EDSM or Inara. It works very well for me. You will not regret going VR. It is how flight Sims should be run IMO.

 

[dubsdj]

Why not be done with it and have both, it seems you are willing to splash some cash so might as well have the flatscreen for work and casual Elite sessions and VR for the Weekend ones.

I have VR but generally use 4k flatscreen as it gets too tiring with the headset on for extended periods.

 

[Skatez69]

Why not be done with it and have both, it seems you are willing to splash some cash so might as well have the flatscreen for work and casual Elite sessions and VR for the Weekend ones.

I have VR but generally use 4k flatscreen as it gets too tiring with the headset on for extended periods.

unfortunately my budget only extends to a grand, so getting both isn't really an option... =(

 

[Jack Schitt]

unfortunately my budget only extends to a grand, so getting both isn't really an option... =(

Amazing how many times people see "a £1000 budget" and assume that's some sort of nominal with significant error bars around it!

All things being equal nothing's going to beat VR for giving a sense of presence, but it's not something I've personally tried and would likely be of limited utility if I did, so I will defer to others' knowledge in that area.

What I can say with some confidence is that if you're looking a combination of a wide monitor and some sort of head tracker, the wider the ratio the better. During my ED "career" I've gone from 16:10 through 16:9 to 21:9 and in each case it has been a significant improvement. The move from 16:9 to 21:9 was particularly worrisome because the ultrawide monitor I went for is slightly smaller vertically than the 16:9 monitor was. I was seriously concerned that this slight loss of vertical canvas might be all I perceived.

But I needn't have worried. It's all about the peripheral vision. The wider the aspect ratio, the more you can tweak the field of view to more readily match what your eyes see of the real world. Paradoxically this may mean you're not using the head tracking as much, just moving your eyes to the periphery, but the overall experience feels more natural. And of course when you do move your head that also feels more realistic, even with the movement amplification.

I don't suppose for a moment that it's even close to VR for immersion, but then when you're done playing ED that big screen is also great for running a bunch of spreadsheets or browser windows next to each other, which is not something you can readily do in an Oculus Rift. Nor would you particularly want to, I'd imagine.

 

[dubsdj]

unfortunately my budget only extends to a grand, so getting both isn't really an option... =(

If that's the case I would buy the monitor. For a developer like me it would be great to have a wide screen like that.

 

[Slowfiddler]

VR. A flat monitor is now pointless to me. As Arloch stated it is the difference between playing a computer game about spaceships and actually sitting in and flying a spaceship.

I have the Oculus Rift but never use it for several reasons:

• resolution too low
• text not sharp enough
• visible borders
• drink / smoke / eat is problematic
• typing is difficult
• can't check other things while playing

There is also the psychological and social side:

• can't talk to my wife / daughter / friends
• I hate the feeling when I don't know what's going on around me (I also hate diving which is a somewhat similar experience including the blurry view )
• I don't like the idea of escaping reality too much

• My brain has tuned it out
• Try SS 2.0 I can read everything perfectly clearly, even in an Oculus CV1
• You are wearing a space helmet.
• Suck out of a bottle / give up, it's bad for you / grow a beard, I find mine good for catching spillage.
• Oculus Home...

• I play ED to escape all of those things!

 

[Klarg]

There is also the psychological and social side:

• can't talk to my wife / daughter / friends

This is the main reason I don't always play in VR. When anybody else is home it feels kinda rude. If I lived alone I would disappear into VR Elite way more. The lack of text clarity is also deeply annooying. Apart from that, I use a DS4 controller both in and out of VR and all the controls i need are mapped so I rarely use the keyboard in Elite except for typing o7

 

[Bloodsign]

I play on a 42" HDTV, which only cost me a few hundred brand new. I'm not really sure what the big difference between a monitor and TV is, but for the price I like my solution over your $1200 one.

I intend to try VR soon though, building a real PC now.

 

[rhiz]

I have the Oculus Rift but never use it for several reasons:

• resolution too low
• text not sharp enough
• visible borders
• drink / smoke / eat is problematic
• typing is difficult
• can't check other things while playing

There is also the psychological and social side:

• can't talk to my wife / daughter / friends
• I hate the feeling when I don't know what's going on around me (I also hate diving which is a somewhat similar experience including the blurry view )
• I don't like the idea of escaping reality too much

It's still an awesome experience and I am glad that I tried it. The game has an entirely different dimension and it's awesome to see how big everything is. It's definitely like a whole new game. If I would live alone I would probably use it more often (which absolutely doesn't mean that people playing in VR are antisocial or awkward in my opinion, it's just that I already am introvert enough).

Lol, these are precisely the reasons that I love it. That said, it's particularly unnerving when someone walks in undetected and taps you on the shoulder. I swear, I'm going to instinctively slug a family member one of these days...or succumb to heart failure.

 

[galahad2069]

I’d like to add that with VR you’ll probably want a good HOTAS setup, which all the hardcore players will tell you is inferior to keyboard controls...and it is if you’re playing Elite as a game but if you want the experience VR is the way to go....and there’s always Mobius for your HOTAS “handicap”.

Mouse + keypad.

 

[cmdr chequers]

It was the tracking that got me... having to sit really still otherwise your screen was jerking around all over the place. I have a similar fear of VR to be honest... I do like things to be relatively stable

Then you did not have it set up correctly, you can tune the curves to be as slow and smooth as you like.
Trust me TrackIR is streets ahead of any other head tracker when you spend some time tuning the profiles.

 

[Alec Turner]

Then you did not have it set up correctly, you can tune the curves to be as slow and smooth as you like.
Trust me TrackIR is streets ahead of any other head tracker when you spend some time tuning the profiles.

I can't speak for other head trackers but generally I concur. TrackIR is awesome and, once you've got your response curves tuned right, so completely natural to use that it becomes 2nd nature (and not remotely jerky). Basically you want a deadzone in the middle something like this ..

 

[kilvenny]

In your case I would go screen because of the benefit for work and other games. VR is fantastic, I have the Rift and haven't played Elite flat screen since (circa 2 years), but Elite is the only game its used for. Unless your main game is Elite its hard to justify, but its a blast.

 

[Alec Turner]

In your case I would go screen because of the benefit for work and other games. VR is fantastic, I have the Rift and haven't played Elite flat screen since (circa 2 years), but Elite is the only game its used for. Unless your main game is Elite its hard to justify, but its a blast.

As a counterpoint to that I would just add that, despite being a huge advocate of VR I tend to play ED mostly back on 2D these days (with headtracking) but having VR has opened up a whole new world of gaming for me with things like Lone Echo, Robo Recall, Beat Saber, Superhot, Vader Immortal, A Fisherman's Tale, Moss, etc - not to mention things like Google Earth VR and Tilt Brush. Oh ... and Stormland coming in just 2 days time now! (which I'm super excited about).

 

[Ashnak]

Let me throw another contender into the ring: HP reverb. No, I haven't tried it myself yet (waiting for Black Friday), but the reviews I've seen so far attest it the best quality for seated gaming (roomscale would be a different issue due to inside-out tracking and the not-so-nice WMR default controllers). Depending on the deal you might get, about half the price of the Valve Index - which would leave you with 400 pounds left for a nice 3440 x 1440 screen.

Downside: it's not listed as compatible headset for Doctor Who - The Edge Of Time, but neither is the Valve Index. Only Vive or Rift supported.

Your GPU should be ok (I'm flying on a 1080 ti), but your CPU also plays a major role (my 4690k is definitely struggling).

--

Maybe I should have mentioned that I'm flying on a Rift - but southern Germany, not East England.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I swap casually between VR (Rift S) and 32" 4K play - apart from having to resize ED back to 4K after VR sessions, which is annoying - and like both equally, although VR is certainly more immersive, it is just that within a few minutes of getting settled in the HMD inevitably one or other of my dogs will decide it is 'wee-wee time' and force me to get up...

 

[Biff Stryker]

I swap casually between VR (Rift S) and 32" 4K play - apart from having to resize ED back to 4K after VR sessions, which is annoying - and like both equally, although VR is certainly more immersive, it is just that within a few minutes of getting settled in the HMD inevitably one or other of my dogs will decide it is 'wee-wee time' and force me to get up...

Ha, mine is just tall enough that when I'm in my chair playing, she walks up and puts her cold wet nose on my cheek and startles the living space dust out of me.

Rift S here and I play probably 90% in VR and the other 10 is in desktop mode setting routes, checking markets etc.. I don't think I could play the game without VR at this point. I've still got the original Rift down in the basement in a box for a backup but the S definitely is sharper on text and all around graphically to me.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Mouse + keypad.

what's the point of spending money on an immersive VR experience only to ruin it with K+M controls?

K+M is how you play a game. VR is how to fly a space ship.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Ha, mine is just tall enough that when I'm in my chair playing, she walks up and puts her cold wet nose on my cheek and startles the living space dust out of me.

Rift S here and I play probably 90% in VR and the other 10 is in desktop mode setting routes, checking markets etc.. I don't think I could play the game without VR at this point. I've still got the original Rift down in the basement in a box for a backup but the S definitely is sharper on text and all around graphically to me.

Mine are Cav's - I miss the cat flap in my previous place as they were able to come & go as they please - no easy way to do so here without buying a new door!

 

[Ywain]

I made an account just to post here. I play with an original vive and, I gotta say, it's a gamechanger. As others have mentioned, it really is the difference between playing a game about flying spaceships and actually flying a spaceship.

For reference, I spend nearly all of my time in ED mining, exploring, or killing the NPC pirates that harass me while I search for sweet sweet painite.

The hardware has limitations: SDE is present, the "sweet spot" is finicky, and god rays can be annoying, but it is all well worth it. ED is, at the end of the day, a flight simulator in space; we spend the majority of our time slinging our hunks of metal through space from point to point for the sheer joy of it. Objects suddenly have scale, and they appear as three dimensional objects in a world which you are present. To me, VR makes the act of flight pleasurable in and of itself, and I don't think I could go back to pancake mode.

You may want to look into finding a used (make sure it's clean) vive, as they can be had for as little as $300. This would leave you plenty of cash to buy a respectable 4k TV with low input lag, or a gaming monitor proper.