VR support 'not at launch' for Odyssey

[Crank Larson]

I've just realised I completely screwed up the transform in that version. I've got a much higher resolution one coming when I can just work out how to move it over to the left.

Must be said, I didn't really expect to be doing any of this. It's odd the way things go.

 

[BurntJello]

sigh if you put couch on a button press your gonna give people motion sickness.

This is not true. Button based crouch is also absolutely essential for playability with a seated VR FPS experience with standard keyboard+mouse controls. Zero motion sickness from ducking. (Half-Life 2 does allow this in VR and I am speaking from experience)

The FSS could've also been optimized for VR players (like a curved panel for example) with more spacing for proper descriptions instead of reusing the same flat panel.

I want to focus in on this and also bring up that the galaxy map is also just the flat panel in VR (not curved unfortunately).
FDev says they want to implement "quality" VR, but... All of us VR players have just had to deal with these not-optimized-for-VR things for years. While they could be better, the game is still 100% playable in VR.
The bar is already set pretty low for VR: As long as it works, good enough. I don't get why FDev thinks Odyssey needs to be anything more than that.

Yeah, I agree with you there. HL:Alyx is the gold standard for VR specific first-person movement and was designed to be precisely that - it wouldn't be fair to expect that level of refinement, and few VR players would.

My grandma with her walker can move faster than that! /joke

...and the option for swishy zoom transitions as well, please!

Yes please!
Also UI shake in VR. Hyperspace and fuel scooping is so BORING in VR...


Now that I have caught up on the last couple weeks in this thread...

I see FDev have said additional noncommittal nothings regarding VR. As such my plan to purchase the Odyssey update is an equally noncommittal "not at launch."
I am exploring many options of how this could work without compromising the quantity of money in my wallet. /mocking-joke-just-having-some-fun

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

FDev says they want to implement "quality" VR, but... All of us VR players have just had to deal with these not-optimized-for-VR things for years

Very true, that's why it really sounds like an excuse the reason why they drop VR now.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

The whole "we don't plan on doing it as we don't know if we can do it good" strikes me as a PR own goal... Why wouldn't they do VR in Odyssey, because they don't want to be embarrassed by a poor product diminishing their standing as a credible games developer; but publicly stating they are uncertain about their own abilities and as such they do not think they could do it has the same effect of reducing their standing by showing that they are incapable of, or unwilling to try to, deliver ambitious* games.

Yes, 400billion star systems space game was revolutionary and tackling that hed on was ambitious, but the company's actions like reverting to park / management games and subsequent updates for Elite being perceived as minimal viable products suggest that they no longer have the ambition and belief in their own capabilities to pull off impressive feats anymore and instead want to stick to their comfort zone. Fair enough - space legs is ambitious, but as details trickle down the list of what isn't included seems to take away a lot of the lustre of Space Legs as a headline feature:

• Walking in ships? - No.
• Walking in Space Stations - No.
• EVA - Space Walks? No.

So what does that leave in for space legs?

• Walking on surfaces or arid planets with tenuous atmospheres? Check.
• Walking on surfaces or planets with weather and full atmospheres? Negative.
  • Gameplay involving Flaura and Fauna on those planets is thus precluded from the update as there are no surface dwelling life forms on the arid dustballs.
• Walking in surfaces designated "social hubs"? Check.
• Walking in combat scenario's? Maybes:
  • Given the hype around "Sphere of Combat" including SRV / ships / troops, is this the (only) combat scenario for legs?
  • Is "Sphere of Combat" an arena kind of thing like CQC, that is to say an external bolt on to the game outside the mainstay of the game?

 

[EUS]

I'm curious as to how many "no VR, no buy" people have LEP.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

The whole "we don't plan on doing it as we don't know if we can do it good" strikes me as a PR own goal... Why wouldn't they do VR in Odyssey, because they don't want to be embarrassed by a poor product diminishing their standing as a credible games developer; but publicly stating they are uncertain about their own abilities and as such they do not think they could do it has the same effect of reducing their standing by showing that they are incapable of, or unwilling to try to, deliver ambitious* games.

Yes I agree and it's true.
I can FULLY understand they can't make it IN TIME for the initial release.
The fact that they can't commit to confirm that it will arrive for sure later it is a confession that they don't know if they WANT to do it or not.

I'm curious as to how many "no VR, no buy" people have LEP.

Some of them already stated that to compensate this they will not buy ARX or other FDEV products until VR is supported in Odyssey.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

The whole "we don't plan on doing it as we don't know if we can do it good" strikes me as a PR own goal... Why wouldn't they do VR in Odyssey, because they don't want to be embarrassed by a poor product diminishing their standing as a credible games developer; but publicly stating they are uncertain about their own abilities and as such they do not think they could do it has the same effect of reducing their standing by showing that they are incapable of, or unwilling to try to, deliver ambitious* games.

Yes, 400billion star systems space game was revolutionary and tackling that hed on was ambitious, but the company's actions like reverting to park / management games and subsequent updates for Elite being perceived as minimal viable products suggest that they no longer have the ambition and belief in their own capabilities to pull off impressive feats anymore and instead want to stick to their comfort zone. Fair enough - space legs is ambitious, but as details trickle down the list of what isn't included seems to take away a lot of the lustre of Space Legs as a headline feature:

• Walking in ships? - No.
• Walking in Space Stations - No.
• EVA - Space Walks? No.

None of that has been confirmed.

So what does that leave in for space legs?

• Walking on surfaces or arid planets with tenuous atmospheres? Check.
• Walking on surfaces or planets with weather and full atmospheres? Negative.
  • Gameplay involving Flaura and Fauna on those planets is thus precluded from the update as there are no surface dwelling life forms on the arid dustballs.
• Walking in surfaces designated "social hubs"? Check.
• Walking in combat scenario's? Maybes:
  • Given the hype around "Sphere of Combat" including SRV / ships / troops, is this the (only) combat scenario for legs?
  • Is "Sphere of Combat" an arena kind of thing like CQC, that is to say an external bolt on to the game outside the mainstay of the game?

And the stuff that you left out like:

Take on a wide variety of contracts and play your way, from diplomacy and commerce to lethal stealth and all-out combat. Diverse settings, objectives, and NPCs offer endless mission variety and a near infinite amount of content to enjoy.

and

Touch down on breathtaking planets powered by stunning new tech, soak in suns rising over unforgettable vistas, discover outposts and settlements, and explore with unrestricted freedom.

Bolded the interesting bits for me.

 

[Franc Kaos]

• Walking in ships? - No.
• Walking in Space Stations - No.
• EVA - Space Walks? No.

Are these facts now? because if so I'm not sure why they think people will pay £50 (Fdev love charging top dollar) for a basic instance locked shooter and coloured sky boxes.
Aside from the lack of VR (boo hiss), I'm pretty sure Fdev will knock this DLC out of the park and that has to include the above three. This isn't like Horizons, bits spread out over two years, it's one big update.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Are these facts now? because if so I'm not sure why they think people will pay £50 (Fdev love charging top dollar) for a basic instance locked shooter and coloured sky boxes.
Aside from the lack of VR (boo hiss), I'm pretty sure Fdev will knock this DLC out of the park and that has to include the above three. This isn't like Horizons, bits spread out over two years, it's one big update.

Personally I'm not sure that we will get all three and I have not heard anything about a basic instance locked shooter either.

But none of those bullet points have been confirmed as not coming.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

@-VR- Max Factor I'll have to put my hands up to possibly missing some of the more encouraging statements like unrestricted freedom, I have been rather myopically focussed on no VR, but @Franc Kaos as far as I am aware not long after VR was announced as NOT being in Odyssey, others were asking about those points and they were answered with negatives...

 

[VR jefranklin18]

I'm curious as to how many "no VR, no buy" people have LEP.

Well, as a LEPer I am obviously going to get it without paying more, so my "protest actions" are limited to not buying Arx or any other Frontier products but Planet Zoo does not interest me one iota and JWE I bought a few Steam sales ago - i.e. I do not expect to be able to achieve much (and never expected to). All I can hope for is that Frontier realise that dropping VR support is incredibly short-sighted and do a Microsoft and confirm that it will be made available after launch.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

@-VR- Max Factor I'll have to put my hands up to possibly missing some of the more encouraging statements like unrestricted freedom, I have been rather myopically focussed on no VR, but @Franc Kaos as far as I am aware not long after VR was announced as NOT being in Odyssey, others were asking about those points and they were answered with negatives...

None of them have been answered. There was one person going around saying that it was confirmed, but when asked for the source, that poster mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again. I wouldn't 100% trust what they said.

While I'm not expecting everything to come in this expansion for Elite Feet, I'm also not going to assume to know what is or isn't coming.

What I have heard though is that they have put a lot of work into the Elite Feet part of the expansion and that it is not all combat. What it all entails though, I don't know. I'm as much in the dark as everyone else.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Are these facts now? because if so I'm not sure why they think people will pay £50 (Fdev love charging top dollar) for a basic instance locked shooter and coloured sky boxes.
Aside from the lack of VR (boo hiss), I'm pretty sure Fdev will knock this DLC out of the park and that has to include the above three. This isn't like Horizons, bits spread out over two years, it's one big update.

Yeah but their pricing model for the DLC for their other games puts Odyssey in the £10 to £15 category, where you could get away with a pared-back release.

I am not saying that is going to happen but it could be achieved if they want it.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

None of them have been answered. There was one person going around saying that it was confirmed, but when asked for the source, that poster mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again. I wouldn't 100% trust what they said.

While I'm not expecting everything to come in this expansion for Elite Feet, I'm also not going to assume to know what is or isn't coming.

What I have heard though is that they have put a lot of work into the Elite Feet part of the expansion and that it is not all combat. What it all entails though, I don't know. I'm as much in the dark as everyone else.

That's fair enough, as you know nearly everything I've done in the forums for the last couple of months has been about VR, and I've got sources and quotes up my sleeve to use as ammo in thebickering about Vr - yay or nay, but I had only picked up on things others had said and not checked for direct quotes on them, in the last couple of minutes I've just clicked through the dev posts in Odyssey announcement thread, and sure enough there wasn't anything there, however I think the "good news" about legs on ships / space stations came up in a stream?

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

That's fair enough, as you know nearly everything I've done in the forums for the last couple of months has been about VR, and I've got sources and quotes up my sleeve to use as ammo in thebickering about Vr - yay or nay, but I had only picked up on things others had said and not checked for direct quotes on them, in the last couple of minutes I've just clicked through the dev posts in Odyssey announcement thread, and sure enough there wasn't anything there, however I think the "good news" about legs on ships / space stations came up in a stream?

Didn't come up in a stream either as I've watched them all, hoping for the odd snippet of news.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Didn't come up in a stream either as I've watched them all, hoping for the odd snippet of news.

24 more days and we'll have it. Hang in there

 

[Kelster87]

They've not confirmed or denied much at all, just some outlines.. The 'No VR at launch, it's tricky' thing I've always thought implied that it was on the plan and being developed, just wasn't going to meet the launch date. Yes, I'm aware of the history, but I'll work with the facts I have and what they imply to me. It's been kinda funny watching some of the claims made especially ones that have zero basis in fact. In fact, given the history, FDev really only has one chance to get Odyssey right. Management are listening, my recent attempt to fiddle the share price demonstrated that to me..

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

Management are listening, my recent attempt to fiddle the share price demonstrated that to me..

OOhhhh! That is interesting! What happened, Tell me more...

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Are these facts now?

We have two options here:
1. They are struggling to get it done properly and/or it requires a big amount of work but they wish to have these features in so they don't feel confident yet to release any info.
2. Those will be in but they didn't say anything yet because they want to keep it for later to increase the hype towards release.

 

[thistle]

They have told us this so far ....

.... wait for it ....


.... what's in the trailer. And the bad/but maybe not completely bad VR news.

That's it. (not a complaint, just making the point we have no idea what is in Odyssey)