CV1 Delivered Yesterday - Couple of Questions

[CylonSurfer]

Well it finally arrived yesterday and of course one of the very first things I had to do with it was to fire up Elite Dangerous and compare the it my experiences with my much loved DK2. I won't go into detail, overall I love it , however I do feel that the unit is let down by some negatives such as the god rays, which in Elite are very distracting. The resolutions and optics were not as good as I expected they would be. In hind sight, I could have stuck with my DK2 and been just as happy - maybe happier with the lack of god rays....

Any way, on to my questions:

1. I experienced Elite crash to desktop on 4 occasions last night, this has never happened to me before and I have only ever played with Elite with a DK2. Were there issues last night or should I be concerned?

2. The scale in Elite is WAAAAAAAAY off. Not just a little bit but a lot. I feel like I'm looking down at a child's body and no amount of changing the lens spacing on the CV! seems to help. Is anyone aware of a work around or if this issue is being addressed by Frontier?

3. Any tips for reducing god rays, I can see them on the HUD items in my ship, particularly the far edges of the pop up side panels and even more so on white stations during approach when lit by a near by sun.


The only plus side I have at the moment is how much better the tracking is on the CV1 compared to my DK2, the length of the cable alone is a welcome upgrade and the 360 tracking is awesome. I have a good sized home office and even that isn't large enough for me to walk from one side of my Python's cockpit to the other! Everything else is just, well - MEH!

 

[SLeeC]

Yep the old DK2 might be good for some things that are not so hot with the hot new HMDs..

The fresnel glare/smear for me is the biggest prob.. can be reduced on the vive with judicious fiddling with the nVidia settings in Extended mode.

One thing that will help beyond B C G controls will be if some of the silver reflective surfaces right under our noses could be made matte and there are a couple od area lights under the avatars wrists at the throttle and stick which neeeed unscrewing!
..Actually it would be great if the rubbish/unnecessary buttons/graphics round the avatars hands were removed altogether! IMO

grr

 

[Gadroc]

First what are your machine specs and what graphics options do you have set in game. 1.3 runtime with latest versions of elite seem to let you have much higher settings than before (at least based on my reading of the forums... I don't have a DK2 and never really played anything on my DK1). With my 4670k and 980ti I can run everything maxed except super sampling and ambient occlusion. I set Ultra mode then turned off ambient occlusion and made sure super sampling was at 1.0.

1. I have not had a single crash, so don't have any fixes for that, aside from the standard try removin any over clocks if you have them.

2. I don't notice this at all. While the in game model is a little off in terms of arm length and definitely skinny the scale doesn't seem totally off to me. I do notice that when you reset the oculus view it puts your head in the wrong place. I lean forward a bit and then reset position. Then when I sit back in my chair I can see the chest and shoulders when I look down and perspective is much more "present".

3. Three things might help with this. Turn off ambient occlusion, adjust gamma and adjust HUD brightness. The CV1 apparently has a brighter gamma curve than the CV1, I found god rays less after sliding the in game gamma slider one or two notches to the left. Once occlusion is off and gamma is down I set HUD brightness as low as possible while still making screen readable with out leaning in. You can find HUD brightness in the right hand console functions tab.

 

[CylonSurfer]

Cheers, I've been running Oculus SDK 1.3 since before it was publicly released and I haven't changed any of my in game settings since I installed that. The only change in regard to VR and E: D is me moving from a DK2 to a CV1. I have pretty much the same settings as yourself, likely a few things set lower as I have a GTX 980 and not a GTX 980Ti. Performance is fine, it was just odd to get four CTD in one evening, I usually get none - I read on Reddit someone else had similar experiences last night. I guess I'll have to try the game again tonight and see if the problem continues or if the CTDs were due to some server related issue.

The scale is 100% off. My ships looked a lot bigger on my DK2 when I had my IPD set to 68. In my CV1 IPD seems to have no effect on the games scale at all which is broken, the scale of the pilots body is quite off as is everything else.

Thanks for your tip about the god rays, I already dimmed my HUD to try and minimize the HUD based god rays... I'll try moving the gamma to the left and see how that helps with the bright stations.

 

[Stackers]

Still waiting on my CV1. I've read a lot of posts regarding the god rays and how some people say it's really bad and others hardly notice it.
Out of interest do you wear contact lenses and what colour eyes do you have? I've read that the latter may affect how you perceive them.

 

[CylonSurfer]

No contact lenses, blue / green eyes.

 

[Stackers]

That's interesting as a reviewer who thought the Rays were bad has blue eyes and a post from someone who thought they were OK had brown.
Would be interesting if this was the case.

I had laser eye surgery a few years back, since then I get this effect round street lights at night and I have blue eyes.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

Is it worth rebuilding the shaders - might explain the crashing?

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

That's interesting as a reviewer who thought the Rays were bad has blue eyes and a post from someone who thought they were OK had brown.
Would be interesting if this was the case.

I had laser eye surgery a few years back, since then I get this effect round street lights at night and I have blue eyes.

Yeah, eye surgery will do that. Its a common side-effect.

You should try cataract lens replacement surgery. You get great sedation (but you're still awake), marvel at the surgeon (right in front of you with a scalpel), and get to feel and SEE the scalpel and tools all the while with no pain. Maybe when you're older.

Oh, and lot of god rays everywhere you see a bright light or are in high-contrast lighting.

I'm likely to be underwhelmed by the CV1's god-rays. At least, I hope so.

 

[Flak]

The god rays are pretty bad for me. I have hazel eyes.

However, this doesn't ruin the enjoyment of ED in VR for me - it's awesome!

 

[CylonSurfer]

Is it worth rebuilding the shaders - might explain the crashing

I'll give that a try this evening. As everything was fine the night before on my DK2 I can't imagine the problem being anything too serious (famous last words...).

Thanks for all the replies about the god rays - I'll be honest I don't even know how the panel / lens combo made it to a consumer level product. The god rays are just awful in my opinion, hopefully I can at least minimize their impact. At this early stage of using the CV1 I'm inclined to say that the DK2 was a much stronger product in most areas - even comfort!! I have a huge list of CV1 cons, and only two real Pros over the DK2: Slightly improved perceived resolution and better tracking.

The scale issue is by far my largest bug bear - and one I was concerned about even when pre-ordering my CV1 as FDEV seemed to ignore all the complaints I have seen about the issue. Seems like my concerns were well founded, E: D desperately needs a world scale option.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

Thanks for all the replies about the god rays - I'll be honest I don't even know how the panel / lens combo made it to a consumer level product. The god rays are just awful in my opinion...I have a huge list of CV1 cons...

Oh dear, this is rather worrying (have a CV1 on pre-order), especially as I have blue eyes. People's experiences do seem to differ here, some say they barely notice the god rays others like you say it's bad. Apart from eye colour makes me wonder if there are differences in the batches.

The scale issue is by far my largest bug bear - and one I was concerned about even when pre-ordering my CV1 as FDEV seemed to ignore all the complaints I have seen about the issue. Seems like my concerns were well founded, E: D desperately needs a world scale option.

Interesting, I've not heard about that issue with the CV1 before, I've only heard about that in relation to the Vive. I thought I was following the Rift quite closely, will have to do some searching.

 

[SLeeC]

Eye color has effect on 'God' rays, what a lot of tottenham!

 

[Jonathan E]

Is it worth rebuilding the shaders - might explain the crashing?

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -



Yeah, eye surgery will do that. Its a common side-effect.

You should try cataract lens replacement surgery. You get great sedation (but you're still awake), marvel at the surgeon (right in front of you with a scalpel), and get to feel and SEE the scalpel and tools all the while with no pain. Maybe when you're older.

Oh, and lot of god rays everywhere you see a bright light or are in high-contrast lighting.

I'm likely to be underwhelmed by the CV1's god-rays. At least, I hope so.

ARRGH!! that is my worst nightmare, most anesthetics don't work on me...

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

Eye color has effect on 'God' rays, what a lot of tottenham!

Well apparently people with lightly-coloured eyes are more sensitive to sunlight (it's not a myth...apparently) so it could be related you never know.

p.s. I prefered the first word you used

 

[SLeeC]

Well apparently people with lightly-coloured eyes are more sensitive to sunlight (it's not a myth...apparently) so it could be related you never know.

p.s. I prefered the first word you used

Hmm, You may be right im in Australia from the UK, my eyes are blue and a bit burned by 25 years of aussie sun :-/ Hughh such is life..
(Though i might also be all the alochol)

A steaming pile of hotspur! (Thanks Red Dwarf (holly))

 

[Gadroc]

Still waiting on my CV1. I've read a lot of posts regarding the god rays and how some people say it's really bad and others hardly notice it.
Out of interest do you wear contact lenses and what colour eyes do you have? I've read that the latter may affect how you perceive them.

God rays are there. On a black screen with a bright white logo or character they are really annoying smudges radiating across almost the entire display that can not be ignored. Thankfully this is really only the case in intro / logo splash and loading screens. Ironically oculus themselves are the worst offenders of choosing this bad visual combination for their software (oculus logo, henry credits, farland's bright white robot loading screen...)

In elite I can see them if I look for them, but they tend to "blend into the visuals". The hud and blue lights on your suit will cause them and I find that stars / planets and rings less so. They are most notable when looking at the hud while moving your head around. Thankfully again you don't normally do this. If your look at any of the HUD or screens you tend to have your focal point locked in one place. When you're in combat, landing or other activity that puts 'your head on a swivel' you tend to have the god ray elements in your peripheral vision and they are far far less noticeable. I bought into elite in the original beta phases, but never really played much until I got my CV1. I'm up to a couple days of play time now, I didn't "notice" the god rays in game until several hours in when I started looking for them.

All that being said I have worn glasses / contacts for 30 some years until LASIK a little over a year ago, so I may just be more used to filtering out light artifacts like god rays / star bursting. I do have hazel / blue eyes.

 

[PIXEL]

Blessed with blue eyes and an optimistic outlook on life and all, I look forward to being able to play with the CV1 when it arrives later this month here in the UK (-:

 

[Stackers]

God rays are there. On a black screen with a bright white logo or character they are really annoying smudges radiating across almost the entire display that can not be ignored. Thankfully this is really only the case in intro / logo splash and loading screens. Ironically oculus themselves are the worst offenders of choosing this bad visual combination for their software (oculus logo, henry credits, farland's bright white robot loading screen...)

In elite I can see them if I look for them, but they tend to "blend into the visuals". The hud and blue lights on your suit will cause them and I find that stars / planets and rings less so. They are most notable when looking at the hud while moving your head around. Thankfully again you don't normally do this. If your look at any of the HUD or screens you tend to have your focal point locked in one place. When you're in combat, landing or other activity that puts 'your head on a swivel' you tend to have the god ray elements in your peripheral vision and they are far far less noticeable. I bought into elite in the original beta phases, but never really played much until I got my CV1. I'm up to a couple days of play time now, I didn't "notice" the god rays in game until several hours in when I started looking for them.

All that being said I have worn glasses / contacts for 30 some years until LASIK a little over a year ago, so I may just be more used to filtering out light artifacts like god rays / star bursting. I do have hazel / blue eyes.

Nice review, thanks for sharing. Most days I consider cancelling so the more feedback the better. Rift not due for shipping until 23/05 so time yet.

Elite will be my main use for VR so my hope is that they blend in as you mentioned they do for you. I really don't notice the god rays / bursting these days after my LASIK unless my eyes are really dry.

 

[B1ll Adama]

Nice review, thanks for sharing. Most days I consider cancelling so the more feedback the better. Rift not due for shipping until 23/05 so time yet.

Elite will be my main use for VR so my hope is that they blend in as you mentioned they do for you. I really don't notice the god rays / bursting these days after my LASIK unless my eyes are really dry.

For me, the 'godrays' are not an issue... have blue eyes and wear specs (so maybe the specs have conditioned me to ignore some artifacts).

My opinion, the CV1 is great and worth every penny and i would not go back to playing ED on the projector under any circumstances.

 

[CylonSurfer]

My opinion, the CV1 is great and worth every penny and i would not go back to playing ED on the projector under any circumstances.

Nor would I. However coming from another VR HMD, the DK2, which was a much cheaper device and provides a comparable experience (arguably better in some areas) I cannot say that it is worth every penny at all. I'm honestly considering getting rid of my CV1 and keeping the DK2 at the moment - I would do this in a heart beat if future compatibility was guaranteed for the DK2. I find the DK2 a more comfortable device, it lacks god rays and only has a slightly poorer perceived resolution and SDE than the CV1, making it, in my eyes the better bit of kit per UK pound of the two.

The ONLY things I would miss about the CV1 is the 360 tracking and longer cable, for £500 that ain't good value. I'm pretty disappointed by the CV1 in all honesty.