News Community Update (01/05)

[VR StarLightPL]

legs gameplay, which is difficult to realize in VR

It really isn't, it has been done well countless times before since 2016. This myth has to stop. The only "difficulty" (airquotes) is handling newbies to VR through the initial adjustment period. In which case I wouldn't recommend playing a game like Elite at all before gaining "VR legs". Most people gain VR sickness immunity after a few weeks at most. Some like my wife are completely immune - she jumped right into Onward with no ill effects, I was a bit jealous ;-) I remember times when simply lifting from a pad in coriolis too fast gave me butterflies in the stomach, and not the good kind ;-). Now I can roll and tumble in SRV and not get sick. Some people never get over VR sickness due to some inner ear problems, and some people get sick playing FPS pancake games. Tough.

Unless they're planning a competitive twitch shooter (which will fail badly, due to inexperience in the field and existence of titles with years of experience out there), you can accommodate for VRgins by putting in teleport methods of locomotion and comfort blinders etc. You can also realise it like From Other Suns did - you point where you want to go and your character goes there, without camera movement or wobbling. Also there are a few other tricks, like rendering the nose which fools your brain even more that the things are legit. But that cases are extreme, most of the time offering a teleport + free locomotion method with control over the turn rate is enough.

The VR FPP path has been beaten and it's now a fine concrete sidewalk so to speak. I would be more worried about fps drops in stations and on planets because if that drops too low, reprojection methods can't help and even the strongest iron stomach out there will get sick. And performance never was ED's strong side.

Glossary:
FPP (caps): First Person Perspective
FPS (caps): First Person Shooter
fps (no caps): frames per second

 

[aRJay]

What's really sad is the amount of flat-earthers out there who still believe the COVID-19 is nothing but a hoax and everything can just go back to normal as if it never even happened.

Natural selection, I suppose. "But why didn't someone tell us this was serious???"

Everything eventually will “go back“ to normal however what is normal post pandemic is not going to be the same as it was before, hopefully the differences will be relatively minor but there will be differences.

 

[VR StarLightPL]

I think it is important not to compare free Fleet Carriers release which was probably done on low-resource-skeleton-crew mode like HoloMe once was (one man for a year) to a paid release. I really doubt these things are comparable and you probably cannot draw parallels between them.

 

[Old Duck]

COVID or not, I was expecting a delay for the New Era. Just look at how long it took to get carriers to us (and IMO, they are nowhere near as interesting or useful as the capital ships in NMS). I really didn't expect an on-time release. Frontier can't even keep the launcher updated these days....

COVID or not, I was expecting Frontier to maintain the game I bought (which included CGs and Galnet), rather than shut down all community-related aspects of the game. They did this long before COVID was a thing. I bought a car with a stereo, and the Dealer came a few months later and ripped the stereo out of the car with the excuse, "Sorry, but we need this to build a newer, better car that you may want to buy someday in the future." I'm not impressed, AT ALL, but it's not the first time Frontier has screwed us after-the-fact (PS4 EBL, ADS, etc).

 

[Deleted member 38366]

COVID or not, I was expecting Frontier to maintain the game I bought (which included CGs and Galnet), rather than shut down all community-related aspects of the game. They did this long before COVID was a thing. I bought a car with a stereo, and the Dealer came a few months later, ripped the stereo out of the car with the excuse, "Sorry, but we need this to build a newer, better car that you may want to buy someday in the future." I'm not impressed, AT ALL, but it's not the first time Frontier has screwed us after-the-fact (PS4 EBL, ADS, etc).

Well, I'd have to agree...

I'm okay with them "dancing on many parties" as this is good for their business. Create other Games parallel to ELITE. I understand that.

However, ELITE has been suffering very badly for the last years in favor of creating all those other IPs or spin-offs.
I mean you can only extract blood from a living organism for so long - at some point this donor becomes a patient (excessive blood loss) and needs treatment itself.
Sadly, ELITE is in that condition since quite a while, with severely degraded vital signs. About time it leaves deep maintenance mode and kicks back to life.

 

[CMDR Mayhem]

It would be a safe bet in saying this will be delayed again. Sorry. But i just dont back FD with its current track record.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Hang on, since me and my colleges have been working from home productivity has been through the roof. Without the encumbrance of commuting and needless in-office discussions our company has 'seen the future' and are moving to making working from home the norm. I'd take a long hard look at anyone who works sedentary, but isn't 'producing' during this this COVID-19 pandemic...
Seriously FDev, give the workers the equipment and support to work from home and you'll see the rewards!

Whilst I see your point and indeed can't help but feel this is a convenient scapegoat to announce a delay which was likely inevitable with or without the pandemic (a bit like the open letter causing the delay to fleet carriers) you are being overly simplistic.
I am WFH at the moment and indeed things are going quite well when I work however somtines things which take 2 mins in an office by bending an ear can take longer however the biggest thing which you are ignoring which is wiping out my productivity is children. My wife is a key worker setting up a coronovirus lab which means I am doing childcare of a 4 year old for much of the day. I am working flexibally outside of my normal working hrs but it is totally deluded to expect a full 100% productivity from me after most of a days child care . Until nurseries reopen our work will be taking a hit even tho we can all WFH in theory

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

always handy to get an excuse from the outside to cloak your own inability
still, stay healthy, FDevs!

 

[Ian Phillips]

always handy to get an excuse from the outside to cloak your own inability
still, stay healthy, FDevs!

Hi Rudi,

how are you doing in this time of Global pandemic and lockdown?

Still going to the office? Still meeting all your work deadlines? Healthy?

I do hope your ability to cope and work hasn't in any way been affected by the greatest health crisis in over 100 years. That would be such a shame wouldn't it?

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

It really isn't, it has been done well countless times before since 2016. This myth has to stop. The only "difficulty" (airquotes) is handling newbies to VR through the initial adjustment period. In which case I wouldn't recommend playing a game like Elite at all before gaining "VR legs". Most people gain VR sickness immunity after a few weeks at most. Some like my wife are completely immune - she jumped right into Onward with no ill effects, I was a bit jealous ;-) I remember times when simply lifting from a pad in coriolis too fast gave me butterflies in the stomach, and not the good kind ;-). Now I can roll and tumble in SRV and not get sick. Some people never get over VR sickness due to some inner ear problems, and some people get sick playing FPS pancake games. Tough.

Unless they're planning a competitive twitch shooter (which will fail badly, due to inexperience in the field and existence of titles with years of experience out there), you can accommodate for VRgins by putting in teleport methods of locomotion and comfort blinders etc. You can also realise it like From Other Suns did - you point where you want to go and your character goes there, without camera movement or wobbling. Also there are a few other tricks, like rendering the nose which fools your brain even more that the things are legit. But that cases are extreme, most of the time offering a teleport + free locomotion method with control over the turn rate is enough.

The VR FPP path has been beaten and it's now a fine concrete sidewalk so to speak. I would be more worried about fps drops in stations and on planets because if that drops too low, reprojection methods can't help and even the strongest iron stomach out there will get sick. And performance never was ED's strong side.

Glossary:
FPP (caps): First Person Perspective
FPS (caps): First Person Shooter
fps (no caps): frames per second

To me in Elite, it was rather the SRV, particularly driving around the jagged terrain at the Guardian ruins that was upsetting. However, I became mostly comfortable with it. I also played games like LA Noire VR, with natural locomotion if somewhat limited.
What was over the top for me is SKyrim VR with locomotion - walking down the hillside was just too much, and having wolves attacking me in the back - I almost soiled myself.

Anyway, my point was that it is difficult to realize good FPS gameplay in VR, especially if the experience is mixed-up with pancake players.
There are countless pitfalls including transition from FPS to spaceship mode - and I'd hazard a guess, especially based on what we see at the front-end, that VR is not a priority to divert limited resources on.

To be honest, I don't even expect FDev to realize VR gameplay if FPS is coming, but I still think it would be a reasonable expectation to opt out from FPS gameplay and keep spaceship flight VR as is (I don't play/like FPS anyway).
But, unfortunately, I'm pessimistic about it.

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

Hi Rudi,

how are you doing in this time of Global pandemic and lockdown?

Still going to the office? Still meeting all your work deadlines? Healthy?

I do hope your ability to cope and work hasn't in any way been affected by the greatest health crisis in over 100 years. That would be such a shame wouldn't it?

Thx for asking, Ian, I'm fine.
Actually I have since beginning of this pandemic as a so called "system relevant" more to do at work as usual at this time of the year, which is a shame actually

Ntl, the Fdev politics in stretching their update periods into the ridiculous started IMHO way before this pandemic.
I believe that covid-19 is an issue for productivity and that new era has to be postponed...
Still, the new era update should have been ready way before the first outbreak.

tldr: A liar will not be believed even when he speaks the truth

 

[amigacooke]

Hi Rudi,

how are you doing in this time of Global pandemic and lockdown?

Still going to the office? Still meeting all your work deadlines? Healthy?

I do hope your ability to cope and work hasn't in any way been affected by the greatest health crisis in over 100 years. That would be such a shame wouldn't it?

Some might say that it's ironic that the item that has slipped most often is apparently arriving on revised schedule in June despite the pandemic. It's a funny old world.

 

[Ian Skippy]

tldr: A liar will not be believed even when he speaks the truth

Just because they didn't release as many DLC as you would have liked doesn't mean they are liars.

 

[Snowymonk]

Not been active on these forums the last month or so?

as I understand the past few weeks

• pent up frustration at the lack of information about the Fleet carriers
• Frontier announce Fleet carriers via a pre recorded stream
• most commentators express concern
• DSSA announced. A number of people sign-up
• beta 1 allows the concerns to be demonstrated
• Frontier acknowledge changes will be made for beta 2
• Forum calms down a bit. Some people now accept Fleet Carriers, others continue to complain about decommissioning costs and the ongoing upkeep
• DSSA closes it’s sign-ups as it is over loaded by people willing to buy a Fleet Carrier and donate it to the DSSA cause.

that counts a degree of good will

- Frontier provide the bad news of slip of delivery date (without any good news to soften it)

 

[Neutronium]

Personally I don't think its a big deal. I was expecting something like this. It was inevitable given the current global situation. I am actually surprised that they said its going to be only 3 months. Given the magnitude of the update, previous much larger delays of (comparably) much smaller updates (FCs) and current situation, I was expecting at least one year delay - possibly two or even more.
A cancellation of the entire project was a very valid fear for me with servers running in maintenance mode and an announcement similar to the Mac death coming at some point within the forthcoming year(s)...
So basically its no news good news..

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

Just because they didn't release as many DLC as you would have liked doesn't mean they are liars.

It's a saying....
Usually they shouldn't be taken literally to understand them. I'm no native English speaker, so if it's different in your tongue, my apologies.

 

[Viajero]

• VR support as feature has been removed from the Elite homepage

Do you have an archive view or screenshot about how it was described?

 

[Martind Forlon]

Common questions about SteamVR.

Here are some of the most common questions we've been asked about SteamVR and Elite Dangerous compatibility:What is SteamVR?SteamVR is Valve’s virtual reality platform, accessible via the Steam cli...

support.frontier.co.uk

Common questions about SteamVR
Updated: Friday 15th February 2019


Here are some of the most common questions we've been asked about SteamVR and Elite Dangerous compatibility:

What is SteamVR?
SteamVR is Valve’s virtual reality platform, accessible via the Steam client. For more details please visit the official SteamVR page.

Does Elite Dangerous support SteamVR?
Yes.

What kind of PC do I need in order to play Elite Dangerous using SteamVR?
You can find the minimum system requirements for playing Elite Dangerous in VR modes here. You can also use Steam's VR Performance Test here.

Which VR headsets are supported by Elite Dangerous using SteamVR?
Elite Dangerous supports the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive via SteamVR and aims to target 90FPS in “VR Low” graphics settings for both.

Other headsets supported by SteamVR should be compatible with Elite Dangerous but performance will vary depending on your hardware. We recommend contacting your headset’s manufacturer to identify its specific requirements.

Can I use an Oculus Rift DK2 with SteamVR?
Unfortunately Oculus Rift development kits are no longer compatible with SteamVR or Elite Dangerous.

 

[AveCandido]

It is a strategic error for a content creator company, with AI engine and own "COBRA" Graphics; in the medium and long term; abandon Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Well, when developing content for those qualities of VR and AR, it feeds itself with the own development of "COBRA".

The VR and AR are on the way to stay and get ahead, falling behind, entails technical losses, having to depend on others for the appropriate developments with the consequent economic expense

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Do you have an archive view or screenshot about how it was described?

See this example, bottom of the page. I hope the link works.

Elite in 2016

 

[thistle]

It's true there's no mention of VR on the new website, as Paige said at the time the new website not having something explicit about VR shouldnt be taken as any change to VR support in Elite.

Incidentally the other thing missing from the ED website is a way to buy ED from frontier. But we still can.

I wouldn't panic about VR support unless or until there's any reason to.