Elite in a VR headset
- Thread starter archie456
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Vive, Rift, any of the WMR headsets (Lenovo, Acer, etc.) give it a shot!
Beware, though.
Once you've entered the third dimension, most find it hard to go back!
Once you've entered the third dimension, most find it hard to go back!
I can attest to the fact that it works well on a lower-end machine with a Windows Mixed Reality set. I only have an i5 processor, GTX970 and 16 gigs of ram and it works like a dream...
...once I got it to work.
The one warning I'll give is that getting it to work in the first place might very well be your first hurdle. But once it's running it should be smooth sailing. (I say might because if you have a newer machine it should be easy. Mine was old and with individual parts upgraded along the way, so it was a pain).
Here's the simplest explanation (in my opinion) of the advantages of VR (Oculus, Vive) vs Windows Mixed Reality:
WMR doesn't need any external sensors set up to give you full movement control in your play area - instead, it uses on-board cameras to scan your room and establish that area, as well as the position of your hand controllers. However, because of that camera situation, it won't see your hands much past your actual FOV, which can be annoying in some games where you want to let your unused hand drop out of sight, or if you're trying to use a bow in a quasi realistic fashion. You also need to keep the lights on so the camera can see everything in your room.
So the VR sets with motion sensors have the edge in terms of range of functionality, but aren't as easy to move and setup. Also, if your main goal is to play Elite Dangerous, then that body motion isn't nearly as important.
WMR headsets start at a much cheaper price, and don't require any extra kit. It has an edge in terms of convenience. I mean, if you have a powerful enough laptop you could take it anywhere and instantly set up a new play area wherever you go. It does work really well, as I've stated before, even on a less than stellar machine.
Honestly, I find the WMR headsets to be the ideal compromise between functionality and price.
...once I got it to work.
The one warning I'll give is that getting it to work in the first place might very well be your first hurdle. But once it's running it should be smooth sailing. (I say might because if you have a newer machine it should be easy. Mine was old and with individual parts upgraded along the way, so it was a pain).
Here's the simplest explanation (in my opinion) of the advantages of VR (Oculus, Vive) vs Windows Mixed Reality:
WMR doesn't need any external sensors set up to give you full movement control in your play area - instead, it uses on-board cameras to scan your room and establish that area, as well as the position of your hand controllers. However, because of that camera situation, it won't see your hands much past your actual FOV, which can be annoying in some games where you want to let your unused hand drop out of sight, or if you're trying to use a bow in a quasi realistic fashion. You also need to keep the lights on so the camera can see everything in your room.
So the VR sets with motion sensors have the edge in terms of range of functionality, but aren't as easy to move and setup. Also, if your main goal is to play Elite Dangerous, then that body motion isn't nearly as important.
WMR headsets start at a much cheaper price, and don't require any extra kit. It has an edge in terms of convenience. I mean, if you have a powerful enough laptop you could take it anywhere and instantly set up a new play area wherever you go. It does work really well, as I've stated before, even on a less than stellar machine.
Honestly, I find the WMR headsets to be the ideal compromise between functionality and price.
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The DIY route is apparently viable (see this thread Oculus Thrift). That said, you will more than likely get much better results (easier setup) with a dedicated headset.
What is your budget? Will your existing PC be able to handle VR. If not you'll need to consider upgrading that too. 1080ti's aren't exactly ten a penny these days!
Download and run these performance checker apps to see if your system is VR ready:
Oculus Compatibility Check Tool
SteamVR Performance Test
Windows Mixed Reality PC Check app
What is your budget? Will your existing PC be able to handle VR. If not you'll need to consider upgrading that too. 1080ti's aren't exactly ten a penny these days!
Download and run these performance checker apps to see if your system is VR ready:
Oculus Compatibility Check Tool
SteamVR Performance Test
Windows Mixed Reality PC Check app
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archie,
I've worked with mobile phone set-ups quite a bit with TrinusVR and Moonlight apps, and a Homido VR heatset (which costs about £50). I now have an Oculus Rift and can tell you the difference is substantial. You can see the video I created which takes you through the steps here to get it working on an Android phone:
[video=youtube;ol2WdOKK8Aw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2WdOKK8Aw[/video]
Note I believe you can use the onboard gyroscope so no need to use the Opentrack software.
The steps you need to do to get it to work:
1) Have decent network setup
2) Set-up TrinusVR / Moonlight to talk to each other and get IP and ports configured
3) Set-up resolutions in all various apps - moon light, in-game and Trinus (make sure all are set for 1080p 60fps, only other option is 4k in moonlight and the tech can't do this yet in terms of bandwidth, and graphics)
4) Apply Reshade mod to Elite to warp the image (and you have to manually delete files when you don't want to use this for normal use)
5) Set in game mode to side-by-side for 3D
The whole process is convoluted and a pain in the **** to set-up, even when you know the steps. The results are good if you've never experienced VR at all, but you don't have 6 degrees of freedom, just 3 way rotation (don't think you can even tilt your head?).
If you only intend to use the headset for Elite or sitting VR experiences mainly (with the occasional standing use) then Oculus Rift is the way to go. It's comfy, has by all accounts less of a screen door effect, build in headphones are so much easier (less wires / steps to getting setup) and the store and controllers work well - it's just a polished experience. Now all I have to do to play Elite in VR is load the game through Steam VR and slip on the headset and I'm good to go.
This is from somone who was adament VR wasn't worth buying into just yet, but trying my friend's CV1 headset convicned me otherwise.
By all means do the home DIY approach, but it's a world away from owning a dedicated headset, maybe not in terms of visual quality, but in ease of use, comfort and degrees of freedom when used.
I've worked with mobile phone set-ups quite a bit with TrinusVR and Moonlight apps, and a Homido VR heatset (which costs about £50). I now have an Oculus Rift and can tell you the difference is substantial. You can see the video I created which takes you through the steps here to get it working on an Android phone:
[video=youtube;ol2WdOKK8Aw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2WdOKK8Aw[/video]
Note I believe you can use the onboard gyroscope so no need to use the Opentrack software.
The steps you need to do to get it to work:
1) Have decent network setup
2) Set-up TrinusVR / Moonlight to talk to each other and get IP and ports configured
3) Set-up resolutions in all various apps - moon light, in-game and Trinus (make sure all are set for 1080p 60fps, only other option is 4k in moonlight and the tech can't do this yet in terms of bandwidth, and graphics)
4) Apply Reshade mod to Elite to warp the image (and you have to manually delete files when you don't want to use this for normal use)
5) Set in game mode to side-by-side for 3D
The whole process is convoluted and a pain in the **** to set-up, even when you know the steps. The results are good if you've never experienced VR at all, but you don't have 6 degrees of freedom, just 3 way rotation (don't think you can even tilt your head?).
If you only intend to use the headset for Elite or sitting VR experiences mainly (with the occasional standing use) then Oculus Rift is the way to go. It's comfy, has by all accounts less of a screen door effect, build in headphones are so much easier (less wires / steps to getting setup) and the store and controllers work well - it's just a polished experience. Now all I have to do to play Elite in VR is load the game through Steam VR and slip on the headset and I'm good to go.
This is from somone who was adament VR wasn't worth buying into just yet, but trying my friend's CV1 headset convicned me otherwise.
By all means do the home DIY approach, but it's a world away from owning a dedicated headset, maybe not in terms of visual quality, but in ease of use, comfort and degrees of freedom when used.
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I did it with a pixel xl.. wanted to see how it would look in vr.
It was horrible. Not even close to what you experience on headset.
It took forever to get it working properly , and the phone got super hot till it just stopped runing vr.
It never ,ever ,looked as good as a vr headset.
you might as well do side by side on your screen and cross you eyes.. ( but the dedicated apps for daydream are not bad)
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Curious why you're still running it through steamvr and not the Oculus Rift version? It's free to download from Oculus if you own it on Steam and I find it runs a lot better directly through Oculus.
Yea... you'll have to do it from Frontiers site directly from their "Partner Keys" section. It's been awhile since I did it but I believe you just punch in your steam key and then they provide the Oculus key for you. All save game data stays the smae too.
Currently (per Steam) Elite is officially supported on the Vive and Rift, however as many of us have tried first hand, Windows Mixer Reality headsets also work:
That said, using any Mobile VR device to play PC VR games is, as was already posted, not easy and not nearly the same experience as using a PC VR headset.
This should not be a surprise since Mobile VR games are also a step down from PC VR games in terms of resolution and features, which is understandable since they are running on a "phone."
So to anyone who is thinking of buying an expensive phone for PC VR, I would suggest you save some money and pickup a proper PC VR headset, most of which are priced under $400 (much less than a high end phone) and come with VR controllers as well.
Of course, before you do that, please download and run the VR headset vendors utility to be sure your PC has enough horsepower ;-) Just because you have a VR headset doesn't mean your PC has a processor and video card with enough power to play the game in VR.
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