VR support 'not at launch' for Odyssey

[Katie Byrne]

How lovely for you, yet for the a lot of people or is vomit inducing. They will likely build a game that can work for everyone, which means pancake mode. They may add optional VR in but it is pretty silly to expect they will make all the game play loops VR compatible for such a small number of players.

Optional VR is all we're asking for. No one, and i mean no one, is suggesting VR become the focus of the game. simply that it remains compatible.

EDIT - I know that for a lot of people who have never used VR or at the very least do not use it as their primary mode of play the subject of VR is either sometihng they are indifferent too or just bitter/dismissive over it due to not having it themselves, but to VR users it would be near impossible to go back to just the monitor. Non VR users can reitterate on the "i dont see what all the fuss is about" as much as they like but for that small percentage of players who use VR, the loss of VR would pretty much be the end of their relationship with Elite Dangerous

 

[Viajero]

This will not work at all. If Odyssey does not support VR you would have to start ED either in VR or Non-VR, one cannot simply take off the headset whilst in-game and play in 2d for FPS.

Yeah, switching from VR headset to 2D needing to restart the game (or even without restart) would be very very messy. Theater mode for 2D in VR is an option tho, although I can’t see how it could become very popular if at all.

I suspect it is going to be mostly a binary issue: If you run with Odyssey then either VR is in or is out for the whole thing not just the dlc. Now if you don’t run the new dlc (ie just vanilla and Horizons) then you could eventually maybe still run VR like today.

 

[TransTechGirl]

If a game is VR can you no longer play it non-VR?

You can, the issue is that many VR folks are more than a little fanatical (it mainly comes from.needing to justify the cost) and don't want to switch back to non-VR.

I have VR but also play plenty of Elite in non-VR as I often need access to a lot of out of game tools. It took me a while to accept that VR isn't suited to every situation and that I don't have to use it at every opportunity.

 

[TransTechGirl]

Optional VR is all we're asking for. No one, and i mean no one, is suggesting VR become the focus of the game. simply that it remains compatible.

But you are missing the point that Elite is a multiplayer game, VR players in an FPS would get massacred, then they would cry on these very forums.

I suspect they will continue support for ships and SRVs but not new content and I am ok with that, the game needs to grow and evolve, it can't be held back a niche group of players.

 

[Katie Byrne]

But you are missing the point that Elite is a multiplayer game, VR players in an FPS would get massacred, then they would cry on these very forums.

I suspect they will continue support for ships and SRVs but not new content and I am ok with that, the game needs to grow and evolve, it can't be held back a niche group of players.

yeah but that's a choice i would happily make. And you're acting like the game can't "progress" if VR is catered for. grow up

 

[[VR] Orodruin]

the majority of gamers are too dumb to realize what they're missing

Not necessarily too dumb, there is an economic barrier of entry if you want something that is actually good looking. (Even though I started out with a Vive, I soon became annoyed with the screen door effect and it led me to buy an Index.)

However, and I said this in other threads already, VR users will tend to have a larger disposable income - meaning that they will (on average) be more likely to spend money on peripherals and cosmetics, thereby representing a larger fraction of the game's financial viability than they do of the player base. I have no hard data (only Frontier will have that), but it is not much of a stretch to imagine that this is the case.

 

[Sysmon]

yeah but that's a choice i would happily make. And you're acting like the game can't "progress" if VR is catered for. grow up

Just remove keyboard support for maneuvering and combat and we are set!

S

 

[ebbrell]

It would feel like pavlov in space.. a lot of work to do to make everything support VR.

Who knows, it may be there.. let's wait and see on a stream

 

[[VR] Orodruin]

Now if you don’t run the dlc (ie just vanilla and Horizons) then you could eventually maybe still run VR like today.

Perhaps, but this might severely impact your competitiveness in general. Just as an example, imagine that Horizons would not have supported VR and no VR player could do engineering.

 

[TransTechGirl]

yeah but that's a choice i would happily make. And you're acting like the game can't "progress" if VR is catered for. grow up

It's so lovely when people treat each other with respect.

There is a financial cost to keeping full VR support, Frontier are a company and they want to make as much money as possible, if dropping VR helps them do that then that is what they will likely do.

They already programmed themselves into a corner with the base game and that has led tous waiting a very long time for this new expansion. I think they are unlikely to make that mistake again.

I love the game in VR, but I'm not childish enough to believe that FDev owe me anything in terms of support in the new expansion.

 

[Patrick_68000]

It is certainly an oversight.

Often there are oversights in the information.

 

[Katie Byrne]

It is certainly an oversight.

Often there are oversights in the information.

yes i suspect this is the most likely explanation too

 

[Yaga-Shura]

You can, the issue is that many VR folks are more than a little fanatical (it mainly comes from.needing to justify the cost) and don't want to switch back to non-VR.

I have VR but also play plenty of Elite in non-VR as I often need access to a lot of out of game tools. It took me a while to accept that VR isn't suited to every situation and that I don't have to use it at every opportunity.

Justifying cost has nothing to do with it. To me the experience in VR is so much better than on a monitor that it's simply not the same game anymore. I can't and won't go back now.
Also I'd like to point out that you really don't need to play pancake mode to access 3rd party tools, Oculus has built in functionality for accessing anything you want, at any time. SteamVR has similar and there are a number of programs that will let you do this as well if you don't fancy either of them.

This is not me throwing a tantrum, rage-quitting or anything of the sort, merely expressing concern about a feature (or lack thereof) of a game that I love dearly. I've gotten my moneys worth and then some.

 

[TransTechGirl]

Justifying cost has nothing to do with it. To me the experience in VR is so much better than on a monitor that it's simply not the same game anymore. I can't and won't go back now.
Also I'd like to point out that you really don't need to play pancake mode to access 3rd party tools, Oculus has built in functionality for accessing anything you want, at any time. SteamVR has similar and there are a number of programs that will let you do this as well if you don't fancy either of them.

This is not me throwing a tantrum, rage-quitting or anything of the sort, merely expressing concern about a feature (or lack thereof) of a game that I love dearly. I've gotten my moneys worth and then some.

I know I can access those tools from within VR, but it is easier when not in VR and when I'm working to push the BGS or win a war I want to be as efficient as possible.

I understand people will miss VR if it's not supported, but it is still a great game without and if dropping VR is what it takes for new gameplay loops, better graphics and timely updates then I'm will to do that.

 

[Patrick_68000]

yes i suspect this is the most likely explanation too

Yes, when something is new, there are often omissions.

And then they do not reveal everything immediately several months before.

 

[[VR] DDM_Reaper20]

Hey look a thread full of speculative ultimatum dropping babies!
I made it though one page of "i'm out" "i'm out" "i'm out". What a waste of a thread, of a topic, of a thought. Maybe in a year this will be worth talking about lol

Hmm. I only read many commenters saying that they will not buy the product if it does not support VR. Maybe your perception differs from mine, but I saw nobody acting like babies. It's a simple matter of decision making. Deriding it as "acting like a baby" is obviously your opinion, and therefore as valid as anybody's, but it's actually on the same level as you are accusing others of being: acting like a baby. No offence.

To clarify: Obviously I am not foolish enough to believe FDEV "owes" me anything. They are trying to make money by selling products. If they produce something I like, I'll buy it. If they don't, I won't. This has absolutely nothing to do with malice, or whining, or extortion, or trying to get my way. I treat FDEV the same way I treat anybody offering a service or wares. If their offer is enticing, I'll bite. Otherwise, I'll pass. It's the reason why I never jumped on the nVidia vs. AMD bandwagon, nor Intel vs. AMD. I'll buy what suits me, voting with my wallet, which is MUCH better (and more logical) than buying stuff while grousing about the producer/publisher, as they are bound not to care.

 

[Terekhov]

For me, VR bought me to ED.

I don't (well didn't?? ) consider myself a gamer. I upgraded my graphics bought a rift S last year to get into VR on a niche flight simulator that I fly. Once my rig was upgraded, I had that sim working and bought another basic sim from the Steam store. Whilst nosing around the steam store to see what this 'Steam 'thingy" was about, my eyes fell on ED. "I remember that!.. I used to play it o my BBC micro back in the '80s". It was on sale as well, and it supported VR... I purchased it... "Wow!!" within days I'd purchased Horizons as well, and have mainly played ED since (far, far more than the niche flight sim that I originally bought VR for).

I do recognise that VR in ED at the moment is a compromise in many areas, but the sheer immersion and situational awareness in the ship overrides those issues (just) and programs such as voice attack can paper over some of the cracks...

I do occasionally use 2D when I don't have time to set up my rig for VR, but that is just in separate short sessions for simple tasks.. things like flying a re-positioning flight without cargo (to set me up for my next VR session), or visiting an already unlocked Engineer, or purchasing/bulk outfitting a new ship.

ED without VR in the cockpit is unthinkable to me, and if VR is removed to turn ED into an FPS game, it will lose interest from me. Indeed even last night after seeing the mis-launch video and the realisation that VR would likely be the first casualty of "ED FPS mode", I was left wondering if the mining flight that I was about to embark on was worth it.. I'll carry on for the next few days until the situation clarifies, but I can feel my motivation slipping already.

If the devs have truly taken the decision to ditch VR, then It's almost certainly too late for any amount of lobbying to change that. Decisions will have been taken and work underaken that precludes reversing the decision.

Obviously without full information on the new update, it's difficult to make an informed decision now, but it's likely that if VR really is removed and there is not another yet unrevealed 'killer feature' in the expansion, motivation for me to play ED will diminish and I'd not buy the expansion at launch. As another poster mentioned above - Curiosity might see me purchase it in a deep sale a year or two down the line.

 

[Viajero]

It is certainly an oversight.

Often there are oversights in the information.

I don’t think it is an oversight. I just suspect the answer probably needs a bit more elaboration than a one liner yay or nay.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I don’t think it is an oversight. I just suspect the answer probably needs a bit more elaboration than a one liner yay or nay.

The future will tell us.

 

[[VR] Goooost]

Could you imagine the sheer hype from the VR community if this were a VR release? People who have never played elite dangerous would be stoked as hell. Frontier needs to market the hell out of this. They need to also include some spacewalk mechanics. I just played Mission: ISS and I was having the time of my life flying in and around the international space station. I couldnt help but think that if I were boarding it and fighting off bad guys It would turn this weird tech demo into a fully fledged game.

The world of gaming is changing and I hope Frontier is ready and willing to change with it.