Current state of ED VR and advice needed

Kyennamo

K
Hi all.

Xbox player here

I gave up pc gaming for console simplicity 10 or so years ago and for the most part have never looked back. Xbox live is by far, the best well regulated social gaming network on the planet. Bar none. I just wish the actual hardware was better. (Hopes for the scorpio)

Unfortunately, being a console gamer, i have had to live with god awful decisions on the part of game developers when it comes to settings and framerates. Devs often choosing to jack up settings so the game looks gorgeous sitting still....but turns into a sloppy mess of dog s(poo) in motion because of framerate.

ED on xbox in particular is one of the the absolute worst games when it comes to this. Out in space things arent TOO bad but srv gameplay is so bad it is LITTERALLY seizure enducing(not me...a friend). I dont have a frame counter but my eyes do a pretty good job and srv gameplay is regularly about 23 fps. Near surface installations and alien ruins you get about 18 fps max. Its unacceptable.

I know the xbox is underpowered but i have seen ED run on FAR weaker hardware while running significantly better. FD have created, quite possibly, the most amazing game ever and done a P(urine) poor job of optimizing it on the xbox.

Which is what brings me here.

I am considerning jumping back into the frey with pc gaming JUST for Elite. But its been so long i dont even know where to begin with building a rig....or even just buying one pre built.

It wouldnt be so daunting if i didnt want to add VR to the equasion. Everything i read about the rift and vive is nothing but problems. God rays...lense flare....black smear...low resolution...lack of sli support (this seems like a no brainer for vr) the list goes on and on.

So, i guess what im asking for here is.....

1)advise on pc specs (bought or built) to run ED in VR with as few performance issues as possible.

2)advise on the VR headset itself. Which one am i likely to experience less of said issues with.

I would need EVERYTHING.
Pc...headset.....hotas....ED....maybe even a chair.
Total budget would be 4ish grand but ideally i want to spend less that 3 on everything.

Any help would be appreciated
 

vanfanel

V
1. Graphics are most important and with elite+VR you need the best for the best experience. I'd opt for a GTX 1080 or if you want to wait the 1080 Ti. For hotas I personally use the saitek x52 pro and it works quite well. ED itself modeled the in-game stick to this so that would add a bit of extra immersion :) I'm running an i5 6600K and it works fine for me but going to i7 certainly won't hurt.

2. The issues most people experience with VR headsets are based on each individual's experience and while some may have issues with one thing or another someone else may not be bothered by them. The only way to know for sure is to demo both units yourself.
 

bootsam

bootsam
Oculus has a set of specs

For the full Rift experience, we recommend the following system:
Graphics Card NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
Alternative Graphics Card NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
CPU Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
Memory 8GB+ RAM
Video Output Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB Ports 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
OS Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer

Ive only literally recieved my OR today, so I cant advise on that but the above may be built for £500-600 I'd guess although I still had my case, PSU and SSD from my previous build. I bought an OCUK Bundle above these specs. The OR will cost you the thick end of £800 sobs. So youre probably looking at close to £1500.

Edit: Oops I forgot I also already had an R9 390X
 
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Kellan Fell

Kellan Fell
I did just this specifically for ED. I was playing on the Mac until the Horizons split.
I spent about £1100 on a PC from Chillblast with an i5, 16GB Ram and a GTX 970. Add about £40 for a Thrustmaster HOTAS-X (easily the best value for money hotas setup out there), then the big expense was £700 for an Oculus Rift CV1.

I'll be honest, I've never looked back, and probably couldn't go back to playing on a screen now. This setup works fine for me and gets the 90FPS needed to run SRVs around landscapes for hours on end without feeling queasy at all.

With your proposed budget you could get an even better machine, and I would recommend getting the Touch controllers for the Rift. They can't be used with ED but they come with a second sensor which greatly improves head tracking.

Even with a desk and chair, I reckon you could get set up for £2500.

You could probably do it cheaper if you built the PC yourself, but to be honest I can't be bothered with that faff any more and would rather have it delivered built and soak tested...
 

Kyennamo

K
Kellan Fell said:
You could probably do it cheaper if you built the PC yourself, but to be honest I can't be bothered with that faff any more and would rather have it delivered built and soak tested...
Click to expand...

I was mostly thinking this.


P.s. anyone (or player group) wanna donate me a billion dollars or so to get me going in ED PC if i pull the trigger on this? Not looking forward to starting over in a sidewinder with an empty bank account after 2500 hrs lol
 

bootsam

bootsam
Kyennamo, most OCUK overclocked bundles are soak tested prior to despatch. Its just a matter of slotting them together in a case. Piece of proverbial that takes a day at most. Saves you money for other areas (Your VR). Just costs you time. I assume other companies offer the same service.
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
£4k will EASILY get you the rig you want.

Here's a rough breakdown of what I spent (and in what order) ...

- new PC (this was a few years back now) with i5 4690k, 16GB RAM, GTX 970 GPU, 240Gb SSD, 1TB HDD, 750W PSU
£1000

- Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X
£30

- Oculus Rift
£550

- Asus Strix RoG GTX 1080
£650

With that lot I'm running ED on pretty much Ultra settings and getting a steady 90fps ..

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...STAL-CLEAR-D?p=4777257&viewfull=1#post4777257

So, ignoring the fact that I initially bought a GTX 970 (which ran ED in VR OK on moderate settings) and then upgraded to a 1080 for more VR powah, that's still well under £2k.
 
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Kyennamo

K
Anyone know of any places that demo a rift or vive? I would hate to get my hopes up only to have it ruined by a technical flaw that isnt fixable as of now with the current headsets
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
Kyennamo said:
Anyone know of any places that demo a rift or vive? I would hate to get my hopes up only to have it ruined by a technical flaw that isnt fixable as of now with the current headsets
Click to expand...

John Lewis are (or were) doing Rift demos.

I believe PC World are doing Vive demos.

Probably best to ring in advance and, if possible book an appointment, rather than just turning up.

P.S. you probably won't get to try out ED tho! You could always come along to Lavecon in June - definitely get to try out ED in VR there.

P.P.S. sorry - these are very UK-centric suggestions
 
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BigDuke6ixx

BigDuke6ixx
Kyennamo said:
Anyone know of any places that demo a rift or vive? I would hate to get my hopes up only to have it ruined by a technical flaw that isnt fixable as of now with the current headsets
Click to expand...


Technical flaw? It works wonderfully well. Why risk being put off by some half baked demo setup?
 

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
Kyennamo said:
Anyone know of any places that demo a rift or vive? I would hate to get my hopes up only to have it ruined by a technical flaw that isnt fixable as of now with the current headsets
Click to expand...

Posted this in another thread earlier, this should be able to find you a demo location anywhere in the world:

MAIN SEQUENCE said:
You don't say where you are but there are now quite a few retailers that offer demos of either the Vive or the Rift or both:

http://locator.vive.com/
https://live.oculus.com/search
Click to expand...

Of course they probably won't be able to demo you ED.
 

Kyennamo

K
MAIN SEQUENCE said:
Posted this in another thread earlier, this should be able to find you a demo location anywhere in the world:



Of course they probably won't be able to demo you ED.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I found them both near-ish me. I might try to check them out within the next few days. Unfortunately both are 45 minutes away from me in the oposite direction from one another. Of course it couldnt be convenient.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a pre built pc packing a gtx 1080? I was looking at a bunch on best buys website but i know precisely D(Richard) about the current state of pc hardware
 

Mendaharin Tusca

Mendaharin Tusca
Graphic fidelity obviously leaves something to be desired, but it has come a long way in the last few months. And it leaves the 2d version look flat, boring, limited and colorless. And no, this is not at all what you asked about :)
 

Kyennamo

K
I demoed both units today. I loved them. The Oculus was definitely more comfortable but the demo of the Vive impressed me far more so I will be orderinga Vive within the next few days.

Here is the pc i plan to order.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-panzer-desktop-intel-core-i7-32gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-2tb-hard-drive-256gb-nvme-pcie-ssd-white/5715449.p?skuId=5715449&productCategoryId=pcmcat212600050008

Without building one myself or spending another 700 bucks....it seems like a decent rig for what i want.

vanfanel said:
1. Graphics are most important and with elite+VR you need the best for the best experience. I'd opt for a GTX 1080 or if you want to wait the 1080 Ti. For hotas I personally use the saitek x52 pro and it works quite well. ED itself modeled the in-game stick to this so that would add a bit of extra immersion :)
Click to expand...

Im looking at that saitek. Few questions questions.
Does it have vibration feedback?

Does it have controls for yaw and lateral and vertical thrusts without the need for alternate controls?

How does it feel for pip management?

How many extra buttons are on it and can they be used for macros?


So that leaves headset and chair.

Can anyone recommend a good wireless headset that fits well with a Vive? Was hoping to stay in the hundred dollar range. I was considering a Turtle beach 450 stealth.

Finally....a chair. I was thinking of getting a Maxnomic Dominator. I sat in one today and it felt really good on my back but i am open to suggestions.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I shall be with you all very soon. I cant wait to be reborn on elite pc in VR. Still.....not looking forward to that sidewinder though
 
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CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
Kyennamo said:
Here is the pc i plan to order.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpo...=5715449&productCategoryId=pcmcat212600050008

Without building one myself or spending another 700 bucks....it seems like a decent rig for what i want.
Click to expand...

Looks fine. You might be paying more for a Kaby Lake system but at least you know you have latest-gen stuff. The only part that I would question is the 1 year warranty which seems a bit mean for that amount of money. Motherboard is MSI so that's good. Phanteks make good cases. I would want to know the brand of the PSU and what wattage it has.
 

Mendaharin Tusca

Mendaharin Tusca
No, no vibration feedback, that's very rare in hotas setups. Personally I find the x52 too.. "floppy" but that is a matter of preference, I use the t16000m, while worse button placement I find it way superior in feel and precision. But then, I use voice attack to supplement the buttons anyway.
 

Kyennamo

K
Since there is no feedback in the stick does anyone know of a comfortable chair that feels good on a bad back (herniated discs) and also provides vibration feedback?
 
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