ED and the Oculus Rift DK1 Discussion Thread

[Dejay]

we are put into instances that predominantly have players using that type of input

Nice idea but wouldn't work. 99% of instances will only have like 2-4 players in them. The universe is too big, there are no artificial hotspots or quest regions since missions are generated. So if 2 players meet, the game has no choice but to pair them up in one instance.

PS: @Toumal the difference is that you use a completely different muscle group. It's like having an additional hand to control your view, just better because it's intuitive. I'll need my thumbs for lateral movement etc.

 

[Zieman]

Move along, there is nothing to see here!

Yeah. (<- to meet the 5 character minimum).

 

[ZeeWolf]

I have a rift and I don't see any advantage. At the moment its too low resolution anyway and you can't read the UI elements. If you use your view control properly on your Xbox controller or your joystick hat-switch or your mouse, do you really think somebody using their neck has a huge advantage?

The scanner is the best way to get situation awareness quickly. I use the scanner first even when using the rift. I know where to look before I've looked there. I'm no better at this game when using the rift, I'd say if I'm wearing it I'm doing so for novelty/immersion or doing a nice video and if you watch that video you'll notice I barely hit anything.

When Elite is actually released I can't imagine wearing an OR all the time every time I play, its a nice novelty but I still don't see it as an essential bit of kit for gaming. It gets hot and uncomfortable and even when they bring out the 1080 version it won't be as comfortable as looking at the monitor. I'll put it on to do a bit of exploring, but I won't be putting it on for combat unless its a preempted mission.

Oh and I thought the head padlock thing was deliberately excluded as its basically asking the game to do some of the work for you? It makes the OR a bit redundant, I wouldn't bother using the rift for a game that lets me lock my view to an opponent from my monitor. One of the reasons why WarThunder is completely useless with the OR.

 

[Jorlin]

Even thought it's off topic I could imagine that a VR headset might give you more info on your actual surroundings. Imagine you have 3D cameras all over the house and outside, and also at the front of the headset.

Nope. I'm talking about real impressions.
If you're talking about extending senses by technology... you did not understand what i was talking about. It's all about human senses and interaction with deeper emotions. I don't want my senses to be augmented...i can barely keep up with all the information our pathehic human race is spamming along it's way.
Cameras allover my place are my worst nightmare.
I just don't get it why people might think, a world of absolute data access might be a fotunate thing....even if they think only they (and friends) have access to it.

 

[Barns]

I'm not overly worried that Rift users may have an edge in combat. My worry is that there is an appearance of much emphasis on Rift support from FD and a lack of concern for other desirable support (e.g. decent configurable multimonitor support). And my real concern is that various aspects of the game design are being (to my mind) compromised purely so that it will work well in a Rift.

Bottom line, it's at least a year before Rifts will be available commercially, I think there are higher priorities for FD to concentrate on right now. Keep it working on Rifts, great, but don't make that the main focus.

 

[jabokai]

I'm not overly worried that Rift users may have an edge in combat. My worry is that there is an appearance of much emphasis on Rift support from FD and a lack of concern for other desirable support (e.g. decent configurable multimonitor support). And my real concern is that various aspects of the game design are being (to my mind) compromised purely so that it will work well in a Rift.

Bottom line, it's at least a year before Rifts will be available commercially, I think there are higher priorities for FD to concentrate on right now. Keep it working on Rifts, great, but don't make that the main focus.

See post 15.

 

[Barns]

See post 15.

Ah, yeah, serves me right for not reading everything. Still, doesn't change the fact that FD have said they've no intention of implementing "proper" multimonitor support (where you can configure for e.g. what position and angle each of your monitors is at so the correct view is rendered in each) - they're happy to stick with the most basic support i.e. just having a wide rather distorted FOV across multiple screens assuming they're all flat in front of you (not curved around you as they really are).

Anyway, no biggy, really. The larger concern is still sacrificing of potential features in order to "fit" with OR design ethos (obsession with 1st person only for everything - for example I'm quite concerned that the galaxy and system maps and trading screens will turn out to be some fudge to fit with pretending you're in 1st person looking at them, rather than proper full screen affairs).

 

[ZeeWolf]

Ah, yeah, serves me right for not reading everything. Still, doesn't change the fact that FD have said they've no intention of implementing "proper" multimonitor support (where you can configure for e.g. what position and angle each of your monitors is at so the correct view is rendered in each) - they're happy to stick with the most basic support i.e. just having a wide rather distorted FOV across multiple screens assuming they're all flat in front of you (not curved around you as they really are).

Anyway, no biggy, really. The larger concern is still sacrificing of potential features in order to "fit" with OR design ethos (obsession with 1st person only for everything - for example I'm quite concerned that the galaxy and system maps and trading screens will turn out to be some fudge to fit with pretending you're in 1st person looking at them, rather than proper full screen affairs).

What evidence do you have that they chose the first person view because of Oculus Rift support?

They chose it for reasons of immersion long before they looked at supporting 3D. That being that Elite is not a game that has ever gone with what is expected from contemporary games. Leaping in and out of your characters head was something console games put heavy emphasis on due to limited screens and resolutions.

Honestly this thread weird. We might as well expect the game to balance out users with fancy joysticks or expensive graphics cards!

 

[Slawkenbergius]

Anyway, no biggy, really. The larger concern is still sacrificing of potential features in order to "fit" with OR design ethos (obsession with 1st person only for everything - for example I'm quite concerned that the galaxy and system maps and trading screens will turn out to be some fudge to fit with pretending you're in 1st person looking at them, rather than proper full screen affairs).

Not trying to jump on you or anything, but the galaxy map proposal was posted on 18/05/13 and made specific mention of the galaxy map being a hologram in the cockpit. The Oculus Rift announcement was made on 10/10/13, so around five months later. My impression is that Oculus Rift fit neatly with their vision, rather than them changing their vision for Oculus Rift in any significant way.

In terms of priority, I'd actually put decent Oculus Rift support fairly high. If they can make it a 'Top Ten VR Experience', then when the newspapers and online media starts reporting the release of the Rift, you can bet that Elite will get a mass of free exposure. Given that Frontier probably don't have a lot of marketing budget, my crystal-ball gazing tells me that the cost/benefit analysis is strongly in favour of spending money on Rift support.

I also suspect that within Elite's life-cycle, we'll see Oculus Rift users dwarfing the number of multi-monitor users. Laptop users won't be playing multi monitor. If it comes out for console, they won't be using multi-monitor. Recently I put my second monitor up in the attic because I changed my room up and it no longer fit...

 

[SAB380]

At least as of right now, I don't really see OR giving anyone much of an advantage. The dev kits are low resolution, so I imagine the low graphical fidelity and lack of perceptible distance would actually put users at a disadvantage. I haven't even used mine with Elite D yet, because I imagine the nausea would set in pretty quick

Having an OR headset but not even trying to use it with Elite: Dangerous ??


You sir are a crazy person.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Having an OR headset but not even trying to use it with Elite: Dangerous ??


You sir are a crazy person.

To play or to vomit, it is necessary to choose

 

[Adept]

I've heard at least one person describing Elite with OR being nausea free, unlike ground movement 1st person games. The crappy resolution is still a big problem, of course.

 

[ZeeWolf]

I've heard at least one person describing Elite with OR being nausea free, unlike ground movement 1st person games. The crappy resolution is still a big problem, of course.

I have found all games on the dev-kit make me slightly nauseous and I'm not especially prone to motion sickness. However the only time I have felt a little queasy playing ED is inside the Dreadnought.

 

[Beezer]

I'm using the current development version of the Oculus Rift and I can confirm that in Elite-Dangerous:

a) It does make tracking opponents easier.
b) You quickly run out of programmable joystick buttons!
c) The low resolution display makes any text on the user interface impossible to read.
d) The lag is noticeable but (for me) bearable.
f) The first time I used it I genuinely felt quite nauseous but ...
e) ...combined with headphones the quality of immersion is absolutely amazing.

I've had multi-monitor set-ups before for flight sims etc. but a half-decent laptop and the HD consumer version of the Rift is the way forward for me - absolutely no question about it!

 

[Rog]

The first commercial consumer grade OR will be an awful lot better than the current DK1 version. Nausea, low resolution and blurriness will not be an issue.

FD are doing the right thing: OR support for something even resembling a flight sim simply won't be an option in the future. Building it in from the get go is a total no brainer..

 

[jabokai]

b) You quickly run out of programmable joystick buttons!

Sounds like you need this thread.

 

[OillyRag]

Padlock view is where you press a button and your view will follow your targeted ship wherever* it goes. So it basically simulates someone with a Rift keeping the target in the centre of his vision.

*If you lose visual due to it flying behind you, for example, the lock would/should break.

Now that's a good idea.

Does anyone know if this is being implemented in the game ?


.

 

[jabokai]

Now that's a good idea.

Does anyone know if this is being implemented in the game ?


.

Mike Evans responded on the thread I linked to in a previous post. It's in the PBF so if you don't have access, here's what he said...

This isn't in our plans for the moment but it isn't a locked off issue. We'll have to see how the game goes but my personal opinion on this is that to make it truly fair and realistic in application would make the whole thing not much better than using a stick or HAT switch in the first place. I'm talking about limiting padlock so it can't be enabled on ships that aren't already in your FOV, limiting the range in which it can rotate to keep a ship in sight through the cockpit canopy and limiting the speed it can track at to sensible values.

 

[Commander Maugham]

Absolutely they should try as much as possible to level the playing field for non-Rift users (i.e. extended 'off-screen' HUD indicators) but it's vital they don't artificially nerf this new technology.

 

[OillyRag]

Thanks Jabokai