EDTracker/TrackIR vs Oculus rift

[Polusk]

Hi CMDRs!

I know that my question could seem silly, those are two different equipments.
But in someways they share the same goal: have a more immersive game.

If Oculus rift looks to be the best option, a tracker has some advantages:
- clearly cheaper.
- you see the world around you, so you can -in same time- take a look on your kid, or anything else
- you can still have a normal human behavior with other real people
- You can write messages on the keyboard!

So I would be interested to know if anyone tried both for comparing the feeling.
How far is the feeling of Oculus Rift, compared to a Tracker?
Did anybody try tracker with 3D screen? A tracker with a wiiiide screen?

In other words, what I would miss if I take the choice to use only a Tracker?


Thanks a lot!

 

[Polusk]

Edit:
There is a thread about 3D Vision. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27283&page=7
For what I understand, it is not perfectly implemented in ED.
So I assume EDTracking on a 3D screen would be problematic, isn't it?

 

[Ancipital]

I own TrackIR 5 and a DK2, and there's no comparison. Once you get used to the dreadful resolution and screen door effect of the Rift, and tweak it all out to get decent visual quality and performance, it's day and night.

Yes, it's crappy and low res.
Yes, the screen door effect is obnoxious.
Yes, the galaxy map is awful in VR.
Yes, it's hard to make and read notes.
Yes, it's hard to type.
Yes, it's weird for others around you.
Yes, you have to drink tea with a straw.

but..

Yes, it's ALL worth it. It's the best way to experience the game, by a country mile.


The way that TrackIR works is with "gearing" between moving your head and moving your view. Even if you tweak the FOV and curves, it's never 1:1. It's to allow you to look around- though if you want to look a long way off-axis, you need to turn your head one way, and your eyes the other. It's markedly unnatural. It's a great way to allow you to look around, and improves the game no end, but it's in no way comparable to having the cockpit literally wrapped around you, with 1:1 tracking. Turn your head, look behind your seat, be amazed. Everything is just bigger.

With a decent and well-mapped HOTAS (I added pedals too, as it goes), and TrackIR, it's a fantastic game to play. With VR (even with all the compromises and half-finished rough edges), it's simply amazing.

 

[Caspar]

If you want to play the game casually then sure --- trackIR etc (I used to run FreetrackNoIR).

But the point of the Rift is that you don't want a hybrid world of life/game with a mini postage sized stamp universe in front of you - you want to be IN the game and you want to feel the scale.

You should only have three exceptions to this rule:

1 - Air / Breathing
2 - When you shout "DRINK" ... someone guides a straw in to your mouth and when you suck, you get the beverage that you demanded.
3 - When you shout "SNACK", you get the same response as 2 but you get food directed in to your chops rather than a straw.

Once the Fremen Stillsuit becomes reality, you probably won't even need to worry about number 2.

 

[Khaldur]

I switched from ED Tracker and a 19' 2D screen to Oculus Rift DK2.

It acutally doesn't compare at all.

The ED tracker is a nice cheap tool that allows you to change the view inside of the cockpit and is particularly useful to quickly access the side panels during flight and also allows you to look out of the side or top windows without needing to reach for the mouse.
It's definitely an improvement compared to playing without one.
But turning my head sideways while still looking at the monitor in front of me always felt a bit awkward. And the constant need to re-calibrate the yaw drift (which can be time consuming) was annoying. That might be better with the magnetometer version they offer now, though.
But in the end you are still sitting in front of a screen. It may be practical, but doesn't do much to improve your experience.

The Oculus Rift puts you into the pilot's seat inside of the cockpit. It really does. You can look all around you and the view adapts without noticable delay. Not only does it adapt to your heads rotation, also to your lateral movement. You can lean forward or sideways to look for an object that's behind your window's corner, or lean in to better read the (slightly blurry) letters on your GUI panels. Everything looks much bigger than on the largest screen because it fills all of your view. When you are close to a star or a planet you have to move your head around to see all of it, so you get an impression of how big it really is.
And you have 3D. That's actually not the main feature, just a nice addition. The main feature is that you are sitting INSIDE of the game.

Sure, typing isn't easy if you can't blind type (and even then I struggle to find the correct position on the keyboard). And if you are more concerned with how you look to others than with what you are experiencing for yourself then Oculus Rift isn't your thing.
You're all alone inside and you can't share your experience with others.

 

[Jonathan E]

I haven't been on for about 4 weeks, just had a quick fly around in the DK2 and I'm in love with it again... nothing beats it for "being there"

 

[Soda Popinski]

Also depends on your play style. Originally, once I got the DK2, I wouldn't play without it. Since then, I've been gathering a lot of background simulation data. It's hard to type in Excel / Google Forms when I've got the Rift on. So when I'm doing that stuff or even running trade missions, I don't bother.

If I'll be doing combat / exploration - Rift on. Another reason I've been lazy about it is, I need to put my contacts in first.

 

[Oheck]

Kinda apples and oranges here. The only thing the two share is motion tracking of your noggin. One you are looking at a monitor(s), the other you are in the game 'world', in 3 dimensions.

Currently using a Trackir at the moment, and its great for what it does. But once VR is consumer ready.....Trackir is gonna be on the shelf.

 

[Polusk]

Thanks for all your comments!

Ideally it would be great to have a camera on oculus rift, for being able to switch (or even merge) view IRL/Game without having to remove the headset.
For sure I will give a try to OR when it will be released. But the danger is to be not able to come back to a more traditional screen after that

 

[who?]

Never used the OR, but have a TrackIR.

I'm sure it's a "poor man's VR", but I think I may stick with it even when VR headsets hit the mainstream. I tend to play in long sessions, and I don't think a long VR session is a good idea. If there are any focus or latency issues, you'd really notice them over time. Plus, I don't really like being 'cut off' like that.

Head tracking certainly isn't 100% natural out of the box, but it's surprising how quickly you get accustomed to it, and you forget you are twisting your head one way while turning your eyes back. The only time it ever becomes awkward is if you're trying to look directly behind you and you have too low an acceleration curve in the TrackIR profile.

Still, I have no doubt I'll end up buying an OR (or equivalent) too...