Elite Veteran, VR noob

I recently purchased the Oculus Quest 2 to experience ED in VR. I’ve been playing ED for a long time but when I first loaded the game and reached the Main Menu, I was knocked to the floor and came over all emotional. There was my Phantom sitting in the dock in all its glory. You must understand, I’ve seen this screen 1000's of times and never taken much notice of it, but in VR, I spent 5 mins just looking around the hanger and at the ship. The sense of scale VR gives you is astounding. I’ve grown so used to 2D, I don't realise how big the ships are in ED but with VR I felt very small and insignificant.

I logged in and just sat there in my ship just in utter awe at how detailed the ships internals are: the various patterns on metal surfaces, wires poking out here and there, wear and tear details on the floor and some surfaces, dirt on the windows and elsewhere (I feel conned into buying this ship now, it was sold as new ;P). The cockpit/flight deck is huge too and I had a sudden urge to walk around but I don’t have the space in my room to do that atm. In 2D, I’ve done the usual things and accessed the various camera viewpoints, of course, but man, VR gives a whole new perspective. I looked out the window and could see the nacelles of the phantom jutting out in front (I’m sure they have another name) giving a sense of depth and height .. And even weight. They look so small on flat screens. The dashboard holograms pop out in greater detail too and the radar is much, much easier to interpret.

I took off and flew around my fleet carrier. Due to the speeds of ships in ED, you can be forgiven thinking that FCs are small as you boost over and away from them so quickly (wow, these ships can move and are very responsive considering their size). And although even in VR this perspective still occurs, I deliberately flew close to and flew slowly around the FC, and wow, these FCs are huge. I know this of course but I’ve never had this sense of scale before. The level of detail on the ships is astounding too. Of course, I’ve flown around my FC before, but not like this :).

VR has essentially given me a new lease and freedom to a familiar game; with many previously experienced aspects to experience a new.

I’ve done various things now in VR: landed on a planet/moon and boosted close to the surface (so much more fun in VR), rode around in my SRV, flew around various stations, and done NPC PvP. And not once have I experienced motion sickness like some others have.

Despite all this, VR isn't perfect. It doesn't give you the same resolution your monitor provides - you have to put up with some blurring, some fringing, lens flares from the lenses on the VR headset, lower resolution with some things (particularly distant objects) etc but all this is nothing in comparison to the immersion VR provides. Your brain slowly learns to ignore these things as you seek out more exciting depths you have never experienced before. I wish i dove into VR a long time ago but, later is better than never i suppose.

I realise Odyssey is not VR supported with some things, particularly space legs, but at least all current VR content will crossover to Odyssey, and that’s good enough for me and I can’t wait to see the level of detail Odyssey will provide in VR. Yep, I’m a convert and would recommend VR to everyone!
 
Last edited:
Hopefully posts like this will explain why VR users were so upset when the original Odyssey launch announcement didn’t include VR, especially to those who were so dismissive of their concerns.

@Cyberblitz - sounds like you’ve already done a good selection of wow things, but I’d also recommend trying out SLFs for high speed messing about 👍
 
First VR experience is always a memorable one :)

If you have a fleet of ships, it is worth sitting in the cockpit of each just to experience the different sizes. The Sidewinder cockpit feels cramped :)
Its funny you should say that, I went through my entire fleet yesterday. The only thnig i noticed was the condas nose just didnt seem that long, and i know it is. The corvette, however, was mesmerising. The contours, the bevels and depth of its nose and its safety lights shining of it surface was incredible.
 
...The only thing i noticed was the condas nose just didn’t seem that long, and I know it is...
This is unfortunately due to a subtle depth cue that’s missing in current gen VR, and a difficult thing to solve - everything is in focus all the time.

When looking at the little pointy-up bit on the front of the ‘conda (looks like a bonnet ornament but is actually the size of a human) then the bridge around you should be out of focus, but it isn’t. Thus our brains think it’s more like the size of a car bonnet instead of the fo’c’sle of a frigate.

It’s something that needs eye-tracking and stuff to solve - earlier this year I read about a prototype VR screen that used multiple screen layers to achieve the variable focus, apparently it’s a better solution than trying to move a single screen forward and back.
 
Do yourself a REAL favor OP and hop in some fighters! ESPECIALLY some guardians, look around as you boost, such an amazing sight but those fighter cockpits, ALL of them are amazing in vr, tight, cramp, but so amazing zooming around at those speeds in vr is the best feeling EVER.

As well, welcome to being ruined on this game now, you won't ever be able to go back to pancake again, it will never be the same.
 
Looks pretty damn good in the G2, resolution-wise!

SLF are the best, pretty much my favorite update to the game for the VR experience alone. I wish Squadrons had that kind of feel!

Hope we come up with a cheap, ship-able varifocal solution for consumers in the next five years.
 
Every time i read posts like this it makes me want VR even more. Just need to upgrade my pc to handle it then i am in!
 
I don‘t own a VR headset myself, but my brother-in-law does, he brought it all round for me to try ED with it. My god - it is spectacular is it not! My favourite trick was to get up and wander around my ship and be blown away by all the detail you never normally see - including my headless avatar still sat in his seat!!

I never did understand the odyssey VR crowd until then, the funny thing is now - is that I won’t buy a VR headset until it’s all implemented, due to how amazing it all was.
 
Despite all this, VR isn't perfect. It doesn't give you the same resolution your monitor provides - you have to put up with some blurring, some fringing, lens flares from the lenses on the VR headset, lower resolution with some things

Get yourself a HP reverb, I went through all the Oculus product's from the DK2. My mind was completely blown when I used the reverb. Crystal clear.

Great story though, I haven't used ED or my VR rig much since lockdown (Been flying Mavic drones a lot for entertainment) I recently put my girlfriend in an F16 and sent her around the Alps and Grand canyon in the reverb, she is hooked, can't wait to try Elite. True bliss and a game changer for sure.

@
jefranklin18

First VR experience is always a memorable one :)

I was hungover, badly hungover, will never forget that for sure. Never drank using ED since 😵
 
I’m glad I wasn’t a VR user prior to starting to play ED. I had the same kind of experience you did, all those well known ships and sights but as never seen before. Fantastic.

I received my Reverb G2 yesterday, with its much longer cable, and have been standing in the hallway whilst looking around my Type 9. VR sends you daft:)
 
Congrats on the upgrade. ED in VR is incredible, and always the one you should show your friends. Never fails to get an OMG out of 'em.

I love my Vulture in a HazRES. Or even just sitting in a dock watching traffic.
 
Back
Top Bottom