Buy DK 2 now for ED or wait?

[Caspar]

Hi folks. I'm really enjoying ED but even with a reasonable sized monitor it feels like it's being experienced through a letter box. I intend to try Freetracknoir or TrackIR to open it up a bit but deep down VR is what I really want.

DK2 sounds promising and from what I can see, there are no guarantees of the consumer edition coming out until 2015 / 2016.

Would you think that it's worth buying this now? DK 3 isn't round the corner is it?

 

[JMC002]

If you can spare the cash then I'd say go for it but remember that it's a prototype (hardware & software). Personally, I have a DK2 and I love it!

 

[Mark D]

Hi Caspar,

I think it comes down to personal circumstances. If you have 'spare' cash then the DK2 might be for you, however it does have several limitations.

I believe Oculus have publicly stated there will not be a DK3. My 'best guess' would be CV1 in approx 12 months. From the Crescent bay prototype CV1 looks to be a massive improvement.

If money is an issue IMHO I would recommend to my friends to wait for CV1.

Good luck
Mark

 

[ghcannon]

pros :
- you're there

cons:
- may be a b*tch to setup and maintain.
-needs monster rig
-pre-quake 1 era graphics
-becomes obsolete with cv1

Go for it.

 

[JMC002]

I'd add that ED isn't the only piece of software that uses the Oculus Rift right now. No sir, there are over 500. Some are rubbish, of course, but then some are wonderful! And one is terrifying and brilliant and awesome.

 

[schurem]

I would wait. In fact, I am going to wait. I had a DK2 on loan for a couple of weeks from a buddy and while yes it is the bomb, the shiznits and truly the besterestest way to experience E thinkable, it does have some 300$ downsides.

First there's the resolution. It's workable but text is hard to read and that gets wearisome. Gauging the movements of distant objects (such as a ship beyond 1000m) is also pretty darn hard in the rift.

Second and even more damning IMHO is the fact that the rift is fracking uncomfortable to wear more than an hour or so. It has foam padding along the edge that goes on your face and that stuff feels like bloody sandpaper after a while.

I for one will wait for the CV which should solve the unreadable text issue, be lighter and have better padding. Won't be easy though because going from VR to regular view scrolling on the monitor is like going from live action to cartoons.

 

[Tony Spaniels]

Hi folks. I'm really enjoying ED but even with a reasonable sized monitor it feels like it's being experienced through a letter box. I intend to try Freetracknoir or TrackIR to open it up a bit but deep down VR is what I really want.

DK2 sounds promising and from what I can see, there are no guarantees of the consumer edition coming out until 2015 / 2016.

Would you think that it's worth buying this now? DK 3 isn't round the corner is it?

There are no guarantees true however it has been said that the Crescent Bay is pretty close to what the CV1 will be like so release is not far off (its a matter of months away not years, but that could be 11 months) so I think its highly likely it will be next year. Probably last Qtr.

If you have the money I would buy DK2, as it will give you plenty of bang for your buck until CV1, and not just Elite but for lots of other stuff being kicstarted and developed as we speak. To name a few...Crystal Rift, Ethereon, Technolust and Loading Human...and plenty of others already out or modded...Qbeh1, Alien Isolation, iRacing, Eurotruck simulator 2 (dont laugh) Assetto Corsa, Project Cars, Minecraft, DCS World, Among the sleep (Soon) HL2 (which works fine with me) Estranged, No limits 2 , Lunar Flight, the list goes on and on..and we're not even in January 2015. There are literally new demos out every second day and its a very exciting and refreshing time for this old jaded gamer.

But yes, if it was just for Elite D and nothing else, it would still be worth it imo

 

[JMC002]

I will never play Alien: Isolation on a normal monitor again.

(and I'll probably die of a heart attack while hiding under a table)

 

[Caspar]

Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciated.

Re: monster rig requirements. Would a Radeon R9 280 dual x have enough power to drive it?

 

[Adam Lusardi]

I have a 7970 same as the R9 280 (don't know the dual bit?) No problems.
Slight stutter not really noticeable to me, think that could be networking etc.
Everything on max with blur and AA off.
More important is the controller and bindings + spending a little time getting to know your setup.

 

[RobinsonUK]

My idea was to buy a DK2 on the understanding that it'll become worthless sometime in 2015 and I'll be buying a brand new one then.

 

[cmdr awesome]

The DK2 has many well documented limitations, but it transforms ED from a great game into space tourism. It shows you the scale of the game in a way that nothing else can.

On a more practical note, I doubt the market for a used DK2 will completely disappear when CV1 arrives. CV1 will be higher resolution and higher frame rate, so will probably need a much bigger rig to run on.

 

[th3_fr4gil3]

Hi folks. I'm really enjoying ED but even with a reasonable sized monitor it feels like it's being experienced through a letter box. I intend to try Freetracknoir or TrackIR to open it up a bit but deep down VR is what I really want.

DK2 sounds promising and from what I can see, there are no guarantees of the consumer edition coming out until 2015 / 2016.

Would you think that it's worth buying this now? DK 3 isn't round the corner is it?

my personal opinion is wait for the consumer version, and i have more faith in that releasing in 2015 than starcitizen.
and try EDtracker over trackIR, trackIR is a complete ripoff imo, it should be half that price.

edit:
i do have a friend who bought the DK2 during a depressive period and has pretty much not used it since (he dosn't play E: D), if i manage to convice him to let me try it out here i MAY change my mind on buying DK2.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Hi Caspar,

I think it comes down to personal circumstances. If you have 'spare' cash then the DK2 might be for you, however it does have several limitations.

I believe Oculus have publicly stated there will not be a DK3. My 'best guess' would be CV1 in approx 12 months. From the Crescent bay prototype CV1 looks to be a massive improvement.

If money is an issue IMHO I would recommend to my friends to wait for CV1.

Good luck
Mark

I think mark pretty much nails it. if you have a high end rig to run it right and a spare £280 you can write off for a 12 months experience then you should have fun with it.

if you have other things you need to upgrade however or if cash is tight, then the DK2 is only a stop gap solution whilst waiting for the real deal.

 

[saviornt]

Wait for CV1 to be released in 2015. There are alot of bugs and quirks and you need a power-house of a rig currently. However, there are 3 things going to be released in 2015 that you will want to get:

- Obviously, the Rift CV1
- Windows 10
- DirectX 12

Right now, if you get the DK2, if your experience is anything like mine.. you will be frustrated, irritated, and then awe-struck when you finally get everything tweaked correctly. Mileage may vary of course.

PS: While I do play games with the DK2, I also got it for doing an indie steam-punk desert exploration game, so it made sense. If I was only to use it to game on, I would have waited.

edit:

The DK2 has many well documented limitations, but it transforms ED from a great game into space tourism. It shows you the scale of the game in a way that nothing else can..

+1.. I wish there was a "multiplayer" version of the game where I could have someone sit in the passenger seat while I flew the ship. It would make for great Rift demos!

 

[Alric]

I definitely recommend people who have a rift get E : D, but the other way around I'm not so sure.
It's great in many ways, but to buy a rift and potentially a bunch of other hardware upgrades just for E : D, possibly not.
When CV1 comes out it should be more comfortable for long sessions and have higher resolution - which is important for things that aren't close.
Also E : D should be more optimised, and have worked out a lot of the kinks in VR (such as the maps). Hardware to run it should also be a little more attainable.
But of course, if you have the money spare.. go for it. It's definitely a good experience.

 

[Baton]

Hard to say. The experience in ED is great, but there are so many flaws, it is definitely experimental support at the moment
Other games mentioned - Alien, unbelievably great in Rift but again, unsupported, problems with interface, I had to play normaly to learn how to use menus, because what you see in Rift is ment for normal screen and doesn't show well in VR. Lots of small graphic issues an constantly loosing tracking, I need to reset position all the time, annoying. Eurotrack, tried for 15 minutes, couldn't get it to run in OR, will try one other day.
I love Battle of Endor, but this again you play for 5 minutes and you are done

So at the end you need to decide, or you will fall in love with it like lots of people here, and then it is tottaly worth buying it, or not which will cost you some money, but it is not a fortune.

As for release date of CV1 they keep saying months not years, the thing is I heard this one for a first time almost a year ago, so I'm not so sure, and when I see how many issues OR has at the moment I'm not sure it will be ready soon for consumer market. Today I spent 15 minutes just to get Rift to detect in Windows, because it decided not to, support for device like this will be a nightmare and will cost them a fortune, so it needs to be a lot more user friendly.

So yes, I love it, but I hate it too (usually when trying to adjust text in ED to be better readable and fail again)

 

[JMC002]

I totally agree with "Baton"; the Rift is currently a prototype - both hardware and software - and requires a lot of messing to get it to work well. Having said that, once that "messing" has been done and the thing is working.... WOW! I won't try to describe what it's like because it's a new medium, so there really isn't a frame of reference! Maybe "WOW" will do for now.

 

[Caspar]

What are the import duty costs - about £50 ?? - Also, what were the shipping costs?

 

[Milomaine]

What are the import duty costs - about £50 ?? - Also, what were the shipping costs?

I can't remember the exact break-down but mine cost me £290 in total. I ordered it on the Sunday and it arrived just 3 days later on the Wednesday morning!

Like others have said, it's a bit fiddly to set up but once you do....OMG!!

I don't regret buying it for one minute and I'm sure you won't either