elite dangerous VIVE reviews please!!!!

SlackR

Banned
SlackR
For those lucky enough to be able to FINALLY test ED with the VIVE, please write up a review for those of us who wish to salivate from afar! :p


Ps. I bloody knew Braben had a VIVE...

Some things id like to know...

What GPU are they using?
Can you stand up and move around? (I doubt theyll let you but I bet someones tested it!)
What kind of range do you get with just one "camera"?
How pixellated is it in comparison to DK2 Elite experience?
what in game graphics settings are they using?
Screen door?
Stutter?
Can someone PLEASE ask the guys running the booth to put the ingame supersamping to x1.5 and report back
Why did I take the missus on holiday to Sri Lanka instead of EGX?!?!?! :p
 
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madmossy

M
Went to EGX on Thursday,

Had a go on ED with the Vive, my first play with modern VR (last experience was 1993 on an Amiga 4000 based VR sim which was poor).

It was great and certainly adds another dimension to gaming, the whole experience was great and it has spoiled the game for me now, I can't seem to play it at all after using the Vive. Visually it looked fine to me, not as clear or crisp as my 1440p monitor but to be honest you really don't notice that, soon as you put it on, you get sucked into the game and forget about everything else. Performance wise it was great, the monitor showing the Vive output showed a constant 90fps from what we could gather it was running on a Titan X although no one could give exact specifications.

As for standing, while I never considered that for the ED demo, I did try Crystal Rift at EGX as well, which was a standing experience and that was fine, although character movement was handled by an xbox controller and moving forward/backward with a joypad made me feel a little off. Basically my body wanted to move when ever I walked forward in the game which is an odd sensation (think of a treadmill when you get off after a while)
 
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SlackR

Banned
SlackR
madmossy said:
Went to EGX on Thursday,

Had a go on ED with the Vive, my first play with modern VR (last experience was 1993 on an Amiga 4000 based VR sim which was poor).

It was great and certainly adds another dimension to gaming, the whole experience was great and it has spoiled the game for me now, I can't seem to play it at all after using the Vive. Visually it looked fine to me, not as clear or crisp as my 1440p monitor but to be honest you really don't notice that, soon as you put it on, you get sucked into the game and forget about everything else. Performance wise it was great, the monitor showing the Vive output showed a constant 90fps from what we could gather it was running on a Titan X although no one could give exact specifications.

As for standing, while I never considered that for the ED demo, I did try Crystal Rift at EGX as well, which was a standing experience and that was fine, although character movement was handled by an xbox controller and moving forward/backward with a joypad made me feel a little off. Basically my body wanted to move when ever I walked forward in the game which is an odd sensation (think of a treadmill when you get off after a while)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post... I cant believe your first VR experience was Elite Dangerous in the VIVE! Lol
Thats like losing your virginity to a supermodel! :p
 
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madmossy

M
SlackR said:
Thanks for the post... I cant believe your first VR experience was Elite Dangerous in the VIVE! Lol
Thats like losing your virginity to a supermodel! :p
Click to expand...

Wasn't technically my first, tried VR many times in the 90's and also have a google cardboard and xgvr headset but neither are remotely close to what the Rift or Vive offer.
 

VR Dextrovix

VR Dextrovix
I already own a DK2, and tried the Vive at EGX on Thursday in the HTC booth rooms (so not the Frontier ones)- I was hoping to see a different demo for the HTC one and then try the Frontier one later, but ED was really being pushed as the premier experience (no bad thing of course), but I was hoping to see something like the Portal 2 Vive demo for this to see something brighter for comparison, but hay-ho.

So, I met a chap called Aaron (I think) from Frontier, but time was really limited so I only got five minutes to try things. There was actually a small technical issue at the time- the headset needed calibrating "again" (so he said) as I noticed a blue box sitting above me whilst I was flying around- apparently this is the grid you'd see when you reach the limits of room you're in. I had to therefore ignore this floating blue box (think Star Trek holodeck) as time was pressing for others outside (it was busy!). I found it odd that this had happened at all- this was obviously a sitting experience, as I got to see in the blacked out room the two units that are set up to map the room out, and I had to sit down on a seat with an X52 Pro in front (so no moving around for this sadly!).

The text is much clearer than the DK2, although it still is pixelated a little. The headset felt a little lighter and certainly fitted to the face was more comfortable than the Rift, although obviously nobody has tried any release products to make a fair comparison!

So, certainly no real screen door, and no stutter although as I suspected it would be, this was just the Training Scenarios we've all got already. My personal opinion on the stuttering is network latency to the Amazon servers, so the fact I experienced none was to be expected, but I reckon that probably hadn't gone away for us completely.

I asked about the hardware specs and he wasn't sure (some equipment is loaned by EGX so I'd been told later), and I asked about whether SteamVR required the game to be running under Steam at the time and he'd already left the room whilst I was playing, and I wished I could have had more time to probe further! The thing is, both my friend and myself got separate booths to try things out, and time meant we couldn't have a good look around the menus or change any options- the demo person also had a screen and were controlling the menus to get us in and out of those scenarios.

Personally, I prefer the Vive, but who knows how the Oculus CV1 will compare. However, I will buy one of these anyway, as I can't see SteamVR integration from failing to produce some great titles. Oculus seem to be standing still- HTC Vive was all over the place at EGX!
 
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SlackR

Banned
SlackR
dextrovix said:
I already own a DK2, and tried the Vive at EGX on Thursday in the HTC booth rooms (so not the Frontier ones)- I was hoping to see a different demo for the HTC one and then try the Frontier one later, but ED was really being pushed as the premier experience (no bad thing of course), but I was hoping to see something like the Portal 2 Vive demo for this to see something brighter for comparison, but hay-ho.

So, I met a chap called Aaron (I think) from Frontier, but time was really limited so I only got five minutes to try things. There was actually a small technical issue at the time- the headset needed calibrating "again" (so he said) as I noticed a blue box sitting above me whilst I was flying around- apparently this is the grid you'd see when you reach the limits of room you're in. I had to therefore ignore this floating blue box (think Star Trek holodeck) as time was pressing for others outside (it was busy!). I found it odd that this had happened at all- this was obviously a sitting experience, as I got to see in the blacked out room the two units that are set up to map the room out, and I had to sit down on a seat with an X52 Pro in front (so no moving around for this sadly!).

The text is much clearer than the DK2, although it still is pixelated a little. The headset felt a little lighter and certainly fitted to the face was more comfortable than the Rift, although obviously nobody has tried any release products to make a fair comparison!

So, certainly no real screen door, and no stutter although as I suspected it would be, this was just the Training Scenarios we've all got already. My personal opinion on the stuttering is network latency to the Amazon servers, so the fact I experienced none was to be expected, but I reckon that probably hadn't gone away for us completely.

I asked about the hardware specs and he wasn't sure (some equipment is loaned by EGX so I'd been told later), and I asked about whether SteamVR required the game to be running under Steam at the time and he'd already left the room whilst I was playing, and I wished I could have had more time to probe further! The thing is, both my friend and myself got separate booths to try things out, and time meant we couldn't have a good look around the menus or change any options- the demo person also had a screen and were controlling the menus to get us in and out of those scenarios.

Personally, I prefer the Vive, but who knows how the Oculus CV1 will compare. However, I will buy one of these anyway, as I can't see SteamVR integration from failing to produce some great titles. Oculus seem to be standing still- HTC Vive was all over the place at EGX!
Click to expand...

A great write up thanks. Ive tried both the VIVE and RIFT CV1 and spec wise I dont think theres much between them... I imagine once the VIVE is streamlined a little more it will come down to the software rather than the hardware.
 

VR Dextrovix

VR Dextrovix
SlackR said:
A great write up thanks. Ive tried both the VIVE and RIFT CV1 and spec wise I dont think theres much between them... I imagine once the VIVE is streamlined a little more it will come down to the software rather than the hardware.
Click to expand...

Indeed I concur that software is going to be more of the decider, and I guess time will tell whether the (more mature?) OR runtime performs better than SteamVR. It's possible they'll be a "killer app" (other than ED now supporting both HMDs) situation develop, and my bet of the two would be Vive with Steam being so dominant.
 
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blastard

blastard
Hello Commanders.
I've just got back from EGX and queued for a couple of hours today to try out the HTC Vive with ED on the ED stand. As I have been using the Rift DK2 since March I too was keen to see how well the tracking and resolution compared. My own rig is an AMD 8350 4Ghz 8-core cpu (all unparked), 16 Gb ram and NVidia 970 (running settings on ultra) - hooked up to said DK2.

I asked the guy running my ED/Vive demo to load up an asteroid field scenario rather than the 'standard combat demo' - so as to load up the graphics a bit.
I have to say - I was quite stunned by the overall experience. There was no stutter whatsoever. My neck is aching now as I did as much looking around as possible, even panning my head quickly and everything was rock-steady (although the earphones fell off my head!). I even looked behind. Moving my head side to side whilst seated (by at least 3ft) showed good lateral tracking. I didn't get to walk around (the booth was not large) so can't comment on how good the tracking is over a larger area - but I suspect it would cope well. They had the two 'lighthouse' cameras about 4-5ft in front, spaced about 5ft apart and about 6ft above floor level.
The resolution is, as expected, better than my DK2 and I had to concentrate to see the pixels (which were barely noticable). I was easily able to read the text on my HUD and the asteroids etc were very clear and well defined. My 10 minute slot was over all to quickly and I was smiling as I left the stand. The wait was worth it - and I did had a couple of hours chatting to fellow commanders in the queue!

Now, I haven't tried a CV1 so am unable to compare - but I will very likely be ordering a Vive when they become available based on my experiences today, and especially as ED has indicated its Vive support.

Fly safe!
CMDR Blastard
 
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ranix

ranix
Awesome blastard, that sounds like exactly what we're all waiting for. Man I can't wait for the Vive and Horizons, we're gonna be able to go out with multiple commanders in one ship...

We're REALLY going to have to do that huge VR wing exploration mission or something when that comes out, no more procrastination allowed!
 

gary.brain

G
blastard said:
. I was easily able to read the text on my HUD and the asteroids etc were very clear and well defined.
Click to expand...

That for me is key, I tried the DK2 but without being able to read the text easily it put me off. But reading the above it sounds like with time it will be as good as a monitor.

:)
 

Bevz

B
blastard said:
Hello Commanders.
I've just got back from EGX and queued for a couple of hours today to try out the HTC Vive with ED on the ED stand. As I have been using the Rift DK2 since March I too was keen to see how well the tracking and resolution compared. My own rig is an AMD 8350 4Ghz 8-core cpu (all unparked), 16 Gb ram and NVidia 970 (running settings on ultra) - hooked up to said DK2.

I asked the guy running my ED/Vive demo to load up an asteroid field scenario rather than the 'standard combat demo' - so as to load up the graphics a bit.
I have to say - I was quite stunned by the overall experience. There was no stutter whatsoever. My neck is aching now as I did as much looking around as possible, even panning my head quickly and everything was rock-steady (although the earphones fell off my head!). I even looked behind. Moving my head side to side whilst seated (by at least 3ft) showed good lateral tracking. I didn't get to walk around (the booth was not large) so can't comment on how good the tracking is over a larger area - but I suspect it would cope well. They had the two 'lighthouse' cameras about 4-5ft in front, spaced about 5ft apart and about 6ft above floor level.
The resolution is, as expected, better than my DK2 and I had to concentrate to see the pixels (which were barely noticable). I was easily able to read the text on my HUD and the asteroids etc were very clear and well defined. My 10 minute slot was over all to quickly and I was smiling as I left the stand. The wait was worth it - and I did had a couple of hours chatting to fellow commanders in the queue!

Now, I haven't tried a CV1 so am unable to compare - but I will very likely be ordering a Vive when they become available based on my experiences today, and especially as ED has indicated its Vive support.

Fly safe!
CMDR Blastard
Click to expand...

Fantastic to read this! Thanks for posting. I have a DK2 so a CV1 was on the cards, but Vive is looking very tempting. Nice to hear that SteamVR seems very capable as i agree with what others have said; this war will be won by software. Fantastic to hear it works so well with FD :)
 

0x666c697473

0x666c697473
I could have done two runs to Hutton Orbital in the time I queued for my five minutes of fun on the Vive.

Totally worth it.

I want to take a moment to thank all the crew and ambassadors on the stand, they were superb. And the bloke on the Vive set up who was so enthusiastic, helpful, and made you feel like your five minutes were the only five minutes that mattered, despite spending so much of his time apologising for the wait (especially when a video crew turned up and took 20 minutes to do their thing while everyone else queued).

Once I was strapped in, the image was grainy and for want of a better term, the ship displays were "fractured". This I put down to not removing my glasses, as my experience doesn't seem to match the story I'm hearing from others.

Looking out at the targets, was a much better experience, they felt like they were real objects, despite the ship displays feeling way to close for me.

hitting boost and seeing the target zoom up at me, while the asteroid field felt like it was hardly moving was a huge departure from the flat experience of a traditional monitor and one I would trade the resolution for in a heartbeat.

being able to physically move and acquire a target by eye, made it much easier to adjust power to the forward thrust and line up and gave the experience of really being there.

Also, I learned a lot from the chair being used for the demo. I'm a tall chap, but I was having to reach for the secondary fire on the x52 because my arms were so straight already, just to get hold of the stick and throttle. Useful to know when I get round to building my own simpit.

Because I didn't take the glasses off, I want to try again and make sure I have some time to adjust the FOV, and take more time to feel the simulation.

All that said, the only decision I am considering making with regards to VR is which system, because despite my experience with the graphics, the feeling of being there was indescribably good.

TL;DR
Three hour wait for five minutes playtime was time well spent.
The depth of vision THE DEPTH!!!
Moving physically to see the space around you brings both a literal and metaphorical new dimension to the game.
Did I mention the depth?
 

blastard

blastard
Hello Commanders - I'm glad you found my feedback useful.
This may come as a surprise but I normally play ED+DK2 in a standing position rather than sitting in a chair (does anyone else stand?). I often have a 'little' walk about my ship whilst in gameplay (glancing closely out of the left, right and upper windows for a better view of ships, stars, planets etc (there is even a floor-window behind the pilots seat in my vulture). I center my DK2 FOV (for height and distance) to suit this style of play. I'm anticipating that as the Vive has twin tracking cameras that my standing/walkabout experience will be even smoother than I currently get on DK2. The centering-of-FOV on the ED stand yesterday was done remotely by the ED crew-member so may not have been 'the best' for everyone (0x666c697473 - this could account for your experience of the 'ship displays feeling way too close').

Something I forgot to add earlier - I was surprised by quite a few people that experienced the Vive yesterday who did not move their head at all during their demo. I'm certain that many people think that DK2/Vive 'immersion' systems are just like watching a 3D movie at the cinema - so look straight ahead. If only they knew what 'we' know.....

take care out there
CMDR Blastard
 

Bam

Bam
I have been holding off getting a VR setup for a while now, it does sound like they are getting better from your report. I think I better start putting some overtime in as I will need a new gfx card too.
Did they say what specs the machines running the demo had, multiple Titan-X maybe, sure hope not.
 

blastard

blastard
Hello Bam,

Nah - wasn't given any specs. I'm keeping my ear to the ground as to what the min. spec requirements are. I'd expect 970/980/Titan-X as a minimum (or maybe even SLI). Time will tell....
 
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