'Experimental' VR branch for Odyssey launch

Well, I did some and I'm really NOT impressed.

Some of you wre urging me to try VR before knocking it, well, I suppose you were right, a few days ago I had my mate build me a new PC and while there I tried out his VR, first off to ease me into it I was given a Room, That was realy an eye opener (excuse the pun there) it was actually like being in a VR room, one of the most awkward things was my mate talking to me from almost touching distance but simply nobody being there... weird, but really cool, then we did Elite Dangerous, really unimpressed, I found that the space was kinda flat as was the planet we landed on, and the HUD was blurry and had the colours running into each other and trying to read stuff wasn't something I'd want to do often, yeah I got to look behind me but how many times am I going to want to do that?
Skyrim VR was next up and hell... dude it's like standing on a tea tray and being pulled round on the ice, jeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz, some things are simply best left alone, I suppose it might be ok were I to live in a massive loft apartment with sponge walls but, nah, it's not for me!

PS: nah, I didn't feel pukey.
It sounds to me as if your HMD was not fitted and configured correctly. You are also failing to mention which HMD you tried. It can make a huge difference.
 
I imagine projecting a 2D screen in a VR space would be the 'easiest' method to implement as it is currently used when loading the VR version of Elite, though obviously I can't comment on what the challenge to incorporate that into the main game seamlessly is


I’d forgotten about the 2D intro screen 😄

Yep hopefully it would be relatively easy to do (and so not a horrible use of resources, as it should ultimately be placeholder work).

Given that games like Minecraft can do live transitions between full VR & 2D screen I’d hope it’s technically feasible.

I found that the space was kinda flat as was the planet we landed on


Sounds like something may have been off with the set up here. Possibly your IPD is very different to the headset owner’s?
 
The thread passed a fun milestone recently :)

Sorting by 'first message reaction score' this suggestion is now the third most upvoted on record :). (Records go back to 2014 etc).



Hopefully that's been enough to at least get it discussed by management. If it keeps accruing support it could also keep the topic on the table in this final 6 month run in.

Of course a popular suggestion thread doesn’t mean action is likely. The top voted suggestion is an Open Letter about Galnet support, which went nowhere ;). (Although it did at least get a detailed CM response eventually).

The second example there was in fact resolved, if via a distinct solution to the one suggested.

Not bad outcomes all told.

(I'm guessing that a suggestion which could improve veteran uptake for a paid DLC might cause more waves than average. But I guess we’ll see ;))
 
same here. We’re playing the wrong game though. This lot are hopeless @ development.


Please save the motivational dev speeches for Dangerous Discussion. Thank you kindly.

(I’d prefer this to be a thread they can visit for specific / constructive feedback about the topic, where possible).
 
OA actually endorsed this thread in that video and pinned my post linking to it. So regarding this proposal, I'd say he raised awareness of it rather than buried it.

He's also has no more influence over FDev's chosen direction than we do. I'd agree that he was discussing an overly high bar by referencing Alyx & Lone Echo. (EDO would have a lot more constraints than those titles as a flatscreen-first, multiplayer open world). But it's not like he'll have actually changed anything behind the scenes with that vid.

We can worry about aspects like an experimental branch either being discontinued or becoming an MVP end point in itself...if it ever actually happens ;)

Maybe chill a touch in the meantime?
 
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Truthfully Golgot, I'm beyond caring, 'Ant's been getting on my nerves for a while now, complaining about supercruise travel times, to which I say:
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. "
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Back to our Plight, on one hand you have the uninformed masses ignorantly proclaiming that Elite Odyssey VR would take eleventen years to realise and such a delay would kill the game. Then there is a certain "black stone insect" influenza proclaiming that if Odyssey VR isn't on par with or better than the current holy grail VR titles (Alyx / Bonweorks) it ain't worth doing, and achieving anything less than ALys / Boneworks level of VR nirvana perfect implementation isn't worth doing and coming short of that standard would damage the company's reputation. And that's not to mention him citing some of our proposed medium grounds as primitive and unacceptable solutions for a VR game in 2020.

Sure, your thread got a tacit nudge and wink in the last 30 seconds couterpoint nararive used to balance his pre-emptive lambast of anything less than Elite:Alyx, but if you can't see past the "oh look we referenced the other side, albeit in the last few words of this article, but we are now fair and balanced press coverage" - enjoy the moment. I hope you enjoy your praise from blackstone insect, but I personally thin that his last video did Odyssey VR's chances of coming to fruition at least one order or magnitude more harm than they did good or "any favours to".

The video came across to me as "An elite dangerous heavy weight influencer content creator now support Frontiers decision to not include VR in Odyssey because to make it anything like these exceptional flagship MADE EXCLUSIVELT FOR VR titles would be an embarrassment to the company and an insult to the players." It's a poison pill wrapped in a wrapped in a "but I've linked to your campaign in the last six seconds of my video, which I've spend the previous seven minutes riling against your viewpoint" sugar pill, the sweetness of which will presumably mask the taste of the venom.

This thread getting a mention was little more than the "other brands are available" waiver after an infomercial supporting the sponsors product.
 
achieving anything less than ALys / Boneworks level of VR nirvana perfect implementation isn't worth doing


He didn’t go that far. He talked about norms for VR launches in 2020 which were perfectly reasonable more broadly. IE that motion controllers, nausea mitigation, bespoke UI etc are all part of the dev that FDev would likely have to do for an official release, to match those norms.

As much as I agree that the Alyx style comparisons are iffy, he didn’t actually pitch for the 'Alyx or bust' extreme that you’re presenting.

This thread getting a mention was little more than the "other brands are available" waiver after an infomercial supporting the sponsors product.


It was a handy bit of flagging for eyes that hadn’t seen it yet. All good as far as I’m concerned.

Demonstrating community support for the proposal just keeps it floating around as a discussion point for FDev internally, most likely. (And telegraphs discontent amongst VR Cmdrs more broadly). Him discussing the option and picking the link helped with that.


complaining about supercruise travel times


Oh hell, don’t check my attempt to influence that then ;)
 
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I have sympathy for OA for the simple reason that he played Elite so much it would make most people sick. But I disagree his with views on a number of Elite-related things, not just VR, but credits/progression and other stuff.

But to be honest, at this point I gave up on this game, both because of it is falling behind* and because there are just too many great games are coming out.

*It is pretty much the only game abandoning VR amid such high profile releases like MS Flight Sim, SW Squadrons or Hitman.
 
...
He's also has no more influence over FDev's chosen direction than we do.
...
Maybe chill a touch in the meantime?
Obsidian Ant may not have influence on the games direction but we've seen Fdev react very fast to youtubers comments and complaints in the past.
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. "
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
...
The video came across to me as "An elite dangerous heavy weight influencer content creator now support Frontiers decision to not include VR in Odyssey because to make it anything like these exceptional flagship MADE EXCLUSIVELT FOR VR titles would be an embarrassment to the company and an insult to the players."
...
The best quote (Big Love @ Douglas Adams - and I still want to know who came up with Mostly Harmless first; Braben or Adams), and yea, that's what came across to me watching his video.
Jeez, Fdev're talking about no VR and he's declaring if it's not as good as Alyx or Lone Echo then don't bother... WT actual F!!! I mean, I seriously doubt the shooter bits are even going to come close to the mechanics and quality of those titles even in pancake mode, but the VR implementation has to be perfect?
Maybe OA would like to make a statement in this thread because he hasn't helped the cause at all.
 
To be perfectly frank, it would be ludicrous to expect full room scale and motion controller support in a DLC to a game where the main gameplay is a seated cockpit experience most players use different input methods for. Transitioning from seated to roomscale and back while wearing the headset would be a hassle.

Keep it seated, give basic headlook, and let us use K+M -> I would be happy.
 
Obsidian Ant may not have influence on the games direction but we've seen Fdev react very fast to youtubers comments and complaints in the past.


On points of game balance etc, sure. On major financial / strategic decisions for paid launches, less so, I’d say ;)

Maybe OA would like to make a statement in this thread because he hasn't helped the cause at all.


He posted supportively earlier on. Although he said in the video that he wouldn’t play such a build. Which is fair enough.
 
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To be perfectly frank, it would be ludicrous to expect full room scale and motion controller support in a DLC to a game where the main gameplay is a seated cockpit experience most players use different input methods for. Transitioning from seated to roomscale and back while wearing the headset would be a hassle.

Keep it seated, give basic headlook, and let us use K+M -> I would be happy.


Counterpoint:

* Launching without motion controller support for character gameplay would be incredibly retrograde in the current market. Way below industry standards etc. You just need to look at the launches from the last 3 years to confirm this.

* EDO seems to major on character gameplay, going by the press release.

* EDO isn’t a standard DLC. It’s liable to be priced in the AAA full game range as Horizons was (£40 for new players), and includes a whole new gaming genre in Legs.

Beyond those core points, there are arguments that can be made for ED being controller agnostic already (and for a full fat version possibly offering motion controllers as an input method for both flight & foot, to aid transitions, as per NMS).

The core point is though: An official launch with classic control inputs alone is deeply, deeply improbable and impractical in the current market.

This suggestion dodges that issue temporarily by making the launch 'unofficial' ;)
 
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