Elite Dangerous in VR needs a good round of polishing

[Vithigar]

I will start off by saying that Elite Dangerous in VR is by far my most played VR game. The experience of actually sitting in your cockpit and looking at the world around you is fantastic. That having been said, there are some issues with the game in VR that place it in stark contrast to the more polished VR experiences currently available, such as Lone Echo or Robo Recall. I'm pretty used to dealing with all of them at this point, but that doesn't make them less bothersome, and I shudder to think what a new player who isn't good at troubleshooting would have to go through to get things working "properly."

There are a few things that I think are straight-up broken. By this I mean that you cannot safely assume that a new player with minimal knowledge would be able to resolve them alone, and they directly impact the game experience:

• Lack of automatic audio switching to the VR headset on all platforms
• Lack of automatic centring on loading into main menu
• Lack of useful galaxy map default control bindings for navigation in VR without a mouse (edit: missing bindings is possibly just an issue with my setup based on comments here and elsewhere, but there are enough threads elsewhere complaining about the galaxy map in VR that something should probably be done to improve it.)
• Lack of ability to effectively even use the galaxy or system maps with a mouse in VR

Beyond these are issues that I simply consider inconvenient or aggravating. They won't (usually) impact a person's ability to play the game, but they're small annoyances which impede enjoyment of the game regardless.

• Starting Elite Dangerous in VR immediately overrides your screen resolution and fullscreen/window settings, forcing you to manually reset them if you switch between playing in VR and on a monitor.
• Manually recentred headset position is not remembered between game launches.
• Elite Dangerous doesn't seem to reliably take window focus when starting, requiring users to manually click on or tab to the window before it will accept input. If you're already wearing a headset when you launch the game, this is awkward.
• No native way to input system names on the galaxy map. Not everyone keeps a keyboard in arms reach of their cockpit setup, and not everyone can take advantage of the Rift's Dash popup keyboard.
• HUD elements being rendered at a distance further from the viewer than objects outside your cockpit is uncomfortable and disconcerting when an outside object that's visually closer overlaps a distant element.

There are possibly more, but these spring to mind right now as some of the more obvious awkward curveballs that Elite VR throws at you and that prevent you from having a completely smooth experience, and serve to remind you while playing that no, you are not actually in space, you're just some schmuck with a screen strapped to your face.

I really hope that one of the Beyond updates includes some attention to the VR experience, and smoothing out some of these rough edges.

edit: Edit to correct for the forums' overzealous word filter.

 

[Tuuhea Takasumu]

Elite Dangerous doesn't seem to reliably take window focus when starting, requiring users to manually click on or tab to the window before it will accept input. If you're already wearing a headset when you launch the game, this is awkward.

I think this might be something on your end. I've yet to have a window focus problem with Elite's VR.

On the other points I agree and would also like to add the lack of touch controls support for the cockpit displays, maps and menus.

 

[Vithigar]

I think this might be something on your end. I've yet to have a window focus problem with Elite's VR.

I'll certainly accept that as a possibility. It only ever happens when I launch from Oculus Home, and possibly only after I've been doing stuff in Oculus Desktop, which wouldn't surprise me terribly to find messes with how window focus is assigned. I'll have to experiment further.

 

[Vithigar]

On the other points I agree and would also like to add the lack of touch controls support for the cockpit displays, maps and menus.

Oh, and yes, the ability to "grab" the galaxy map and move/manipulate it with a touch controller would be amazing.

 

[mp4x]

Manually recentred headset position is not remembered between game launches.

Your head would have to be in the identical position each time you start, for that to work. It would 'remember' where you sat yesterday, but you'd still need to center it because you'll be centimeters out in one or multiple directions. Auto centering on the start could be worked on, but like many I launch ED in VR with the headset still sitting on my desk... so putting it on requires a recenter anyway

 

[WindWpn]

Not sure why many report issues with the Gal Map in VR. My experience with it is great in VR! Granted I had to learn of the little trick to select a star system, where u need to nav up above the plane where the system sits to select it, but other than that, i have no issues navigating/using the map in VR. Also, I do not use mouse but rather my hotas controls for map navigation. Though, this is ok for me, as I prefer not to take hands off hotas in vr unless necessary (such as typing).

What I like most about the map in VR, is the presence where u are simply in the map. looking around and all... total Star Trek holodeck experience.

Note, system map look great too, and navigation works fine, but is only slow with my set up. I cannot simply move mouse cursor and select, but rather have to move the select icon directly which is slower... however, again the presence within the System Map in VR negates that minor inconvenience.

 

[Alec Turner]

I came in here all ready to leap to the defence of VR ED but I can't really argue against any of the points in the OP. That said, I can't honestly say that any of them bother me particularly either and I still think that ED is one of the best VR titles out there. The thing is, it's a very different beast from Robo Recall or Lone Echo. In Elite you're sat in a pilots chair with your hands on a HOTAS (OK, not everyone has a HOTAS but I think you really need one to get the most out of ED VR), and in Recall and Echo you're a humanoid who needs to use their hands a lot.

As for the galaxy map, on the face of it yes, it _might_ be nice to be able to use the Touch controllers. In practice I'm not convinced. Having to take my hands of the sticks and fumble around in the dark for my Touch controllers would, I suspect, be a bit of a ball ache.

Anyway, for anyone struggling to use the galaxy map in VR I made some notes which might help.

---

Firstly, you almost certainly need to abandon trying to use the mouse to operate the galaxy map in VR so sort out the bindings so you can control it with your HOTAS (you'll need movement in all three X, Y and Z axes, zoom and rotation all configured to bindings that you find natural to operate).

Next, make sure the grid is turned on. Also, when you open the galaxy map the first thing you'll need to do is pitch it down a bit so that you have more of an isometric (i.e. angled) view of the map rather than a horizontal (i.e. straight across) view (I wish FD would fix this so that the galaxy map starts out angled when you open it).

Once you've done that, you need to master the use of pan and zoom. Zoom out so your lateral (X and Y plane) movements are traversing the galaxy at a decent speed and you can easily pan to the rough vicinity of the system you're trying to focus in on. Then what you need to do is, as you start to zoom back in on the target system, try to get a feel for whether that system is above or below the plane of the grid. Don't zoom in too far until you've moved the grid plane down or up in the Y axis so the system is more or less on it. The more you zoom in, the more accurately you'll need to align that Y axis. Once it comes into view the thing you need to focus on is the blue dot which represents your target system on the grid and not the star itself (which will probably still be some way above or below the plane). If the star disappears as you zoom in further then zoom back out, adjust the Y plane height, and zoom back in again. It can also be useful to spin the map around occasionally to make sure your target is roughly centered in the X/Y plane. Another way to do this is to temporarily tilt the map so you're looking directly down on the grid and make sure your target is in the center. Practice makes perfect. If you have a friend marker way off in the distance (e.g. if you're in the bubble and you have a green friend marker out in Colonia) then practice manipulating the map to focus in on their current system.

 

[Dibiase]

Not sure why many report issues with the Gal Map in VR. My experience with it is great in VR! Granted I had to learn of the little trick to select a star system, where u need to nav up above the plane where the system sits to select it, but other than that, i have no issues navigating/using the map in VR. Also, I do not use mouse but rather my hotas controls for map navigation. Though, this is ok for me, as I prefer not to take hands off hotas in vr unless necessary (such as typing).

What I like most about the map in VR, is the presence where u are simply in the map. looking around and all... total Star Trek holodeck experience.

Note, system map look great too, and navigation works fine, but is only slow with my set up. I cannot simply move mouse cursor and select, but rather have to move the select icon directly which is slower... however, again the presence within the System Map in VR negates that minor inconvenience.

I'm with you on the galaxy map. It seems to be one of the most complained about features for VR users. I admit I struggled with it at first, but once I got my HOTAS properly setup for map navigation I find it works better than using the mouse.

 

[Vithigar]

The galaxy map is fine once you have hotas bindings for it, sure. So why not just add default bindings? I'm not expecting any huge overarching changes, just make what's already there a little less arcane for a new user.

 

[UmbraRex]

I will start off by saying that Elite Dangerous in VR is by far my most played VR game. The experience of actually sitting in your cockpit and looking at the world around you is fantastic. That having been said, there are some issues with the game in VR that place it in stark contrast to the more polished VR experiences currently available, such as Lone Echo or Robo Recall. I'm pretty used to dealing with all of them at this point, but that doesn't make them less bothersome, and I shudder to think what a new player who isn't good at troubleshooting would have to go through to get things working "properly."

There are a few things that I think are straight-up broken. By this I mean that you cannot safely assume that a new player with minimal knowledge would be able to resolve them alone, and they directly impact the game experience:

• Lack of automatic audio switching to the VR headset on all platforms
• Lack of automatic centring on loading into main menu
• Lack of useful galaxy map default control bindings for navigation in VR without a mouse
• Lack of ability to effectively even use the galaxy or system maps with a mouse in VR

Beyond these are issues that I simply consider inconvenient or aggravating. They won't (usually) impact a person's ability to play the game, but they're small annoyances which impede enjoyment of the game regardless.

• Starting Elite Dangerous in VR immediately overrides your screen resolution and fullscreen/window settings, forcing you to manually reset them if you switch between playing in VR and on a monitor.
• Manually recentred headset position is not remembered between game launches.
• Elite Dangerous doesn't seem to reliably take window focus when starting, requiring users to manually click on or tab to the window before it will accept input. If you're already wearing a headset when you launch the game, this is awkward.
• No native way to input system names on the galaxy map. Not everyone keeps a keyboard in arms reach of their cockpit setup, and not everyone can take advantage of the Rift's Dash popup keyboard.
• HUD elements being rendered at a distance further from the viewer than objects outside your cockpit is uncomfortable and disconcerting when an outside object that's visually closer overlaps a distant element.

There are possibly more, but these spring to mind right now as some of the more obvious awkward curveballs that Elite VR throws at you and that prevent you from having a completely smooth experience, and serve to remind you while playing that no, you are not actually in space, you're just some schmuck with a screen strapped to your face.

I really hope that one of the Beyond updates includes some attention to the VR experience, and smoothing out some of these rough edges.

edit: Edit to correct for the forums' overzealous word filter.

Game audio switches to the rift, other audio doesn't, unless I open from Oculus home, then it does.

As mentioned already, if you open with the headset sitting on the desk as many probably do it would require a recenter as soon as you put the headset on anyway so...

On my T16000M galaxy and system maps had default controls bound and were (for the most part) useful. I've only changed one setting, I moved the zoom from the throttle paddle to the wheel on the left side of the throttle.

I don't think I've ever touched the mouse in VR, so no opinion there.

Probably a function of how the VR screen takes over as your default monitor, annoying, I agree. maybe Display profiles like there are controller profiles? (There is a 3rd party display profile switcher)

As covered before, unless you are in the EXACT same position as before you are going to have to recenter anyway.

Edit: WHoops. missed one. This only happens to me if I open Elite, then EDDI and EDMC. If I open Elite last, then it maintains focus.

Yup, being able to type in the chat box would be nice too.

The HUD element thing I don't think I've ever experienced, can you give a reproducible example?

The thing I find annoying is zoom settings are not saves on a per system basis in the system map view. Or the Galaxy map for that matter, I always have to zom back out every time I open either of them, even if it was seconds ago...

 

[znôrt]

Not sure why many report issues with the Gal Map in VR. My experience with it is great in VR!

it is, but in 'mouse mode' and with some tricky selection that takes a bit to get used to. i think op suggests a more intuitive way to interact with the map, based on what you would expect from a native vr experience: being able to rotate, stretch, pan the map with both hands, picking individual objects with the tip of your finger, etc .... which is the whole point of vr. the galaxy map could be a killer vr app. instead it's only functional in vr once you figured out your way around its quirks, and actually interact with it as you would with a desktop app, just in vr. i'm used to it, but many players have described their experience as awkward.

@op very good points. the focus problem is very likely you inadvertely shifting the focus away during startup.

 

[Happy Shrapnel]

there seems to be an Oculus Touch binding in 3.0. It appears along with Custom, Keyboard & Mouse, X52 in the bindings, found it last night by accident while trying to bind some kinda control for the awful Galaxy/System map controls.

 

[Pville_Piper]

While I agree with most points, they just aren't that big of a deal for me. The gal map took some work, but not much.

 

[Vithigar]

While I agree with most points, they just aren't that big of a deal for me. The gal map took some work, but not much.

I agree that they aren't a huge deal, they're just odd stumbling points in what is otherwise an excellent VR experience. I'll happily keep playing Elite in VR, I just feel that there are much more polished experiences out there, and it would be great for Elite to be shined up a little so that it's not quite as awkward in comparison.

 

[TomT]

I recently stumbled across the Oculus tray tool, which among other things can automatically switch the audio and mic for you when you open/close Oculus Home. Very nice not to have to always set defaults in Windows.

 

[OHMSS]

I recently stumbled across the Oculus tray tool, which among other things can automatically switch the audio and mic for you when you open/close Oculus Home. Very nice not to have to always set defaults in Windows.

Can you tell me more as this is a pain for me as well.

 

[Tross]

Great post by the OP. For me I could have NASA come an install a flight simulator in my room and it wouldn't look as good as this game does in VR. In fact its worth buying a VR headset just to play this game. If you are not using VR and playing ED you are seriously missing out. HOWEVER!

The points that the OP made are really a big hindrance new players. I played ED before and this game sat untouched really because I got discouraged with the setup. People who buy this game from Occulus dash are usually going to be noobs on a couple of levels. First many are new to VR and second many are going to be new to ED. Wich is a pretty big learning curve even being able to pilot a ship or land at a space station. You ask yourself all the noob questions. Am I doing something wrong or is the game messed up? I am making this point because as VR becomes more accessible and cheaper more gamers are going to want to play something better than the cheap knockoff games that are available.

If Frontier Give some nerd 50,000 Euros just to fix the setup and the galaxy map it will be visited back a 100 fold easy. As programming illiterate as I am. I imagine this could be done like THIS AFTERNOON! Probably even by one of your own players since space genre games tend to attract nerds.

 

[FrostByghte]

• Elite Dangerous doesn't seem to reliably take window focus when starting, requiring users to manually click on or tab to the window before it will accept input. If you're already wearing a headset when you launch the game, this is awkward.

I skimmed this thread and didn't see this mentioned (I may have missed it and sorry if I did) but I've been using this for years now. https://github.com/RetroRodent/joyfocus This is a script for AHK that gives ED focus again when you move your flightstick. So if you lose focus...no big deal at all. No more manual click, ALT-TAB or anything else.

 

[Red River]

for me it's the full screen option to actually save...

 

[Y2K]

@OP i think your computer/install could use abit of polishing tbh. Ive none of the issues your reporting