First VR Experience with HTC Vive and Elite Dangerous

[CMDR FlashPan]

Hi All,

When I first got the Vive, I avoided Elite Dangerous because apparently there are a lot of problems with it. But today I thought I'd give it a whirl.

OMG!!!!!!!!! It's        g amazing!

The cockpits are so 'real', it feels like you are looking through a glass canopy out to the beyond. The level of immersion is just off the scale!

Without an Oculus Rift to compare my experiences too, I'm finding the whole thing to be superb, easily one of the best VR titles out there.

Flying amongst the rocks and asteroids brings a whole new meaning to scale and grandeur - those things look HUGE!

I have to tip my hat to FD, they have done an excellent job here. I guess it is now time to say farewell to real life!

Here is a link to a u-tube video of my first flight. By the way if anyone knows how to disable chaperone when seated I'm all ears, as my seat is just on the edge of my play area.

https://youtu.be/SvpA44p6Y9s

Laters
RobP

 

[shadragon]

Have you caught yourself wondering why your legs are straight in game while they were crossed under your desk yet? LOL

The Vive is a phenomenal experience you simply cannot describe to anyone who has not tried it.

BTW, chaperone for me turns off when I'm in cockpit. At least, I don't see it when flying.

 

[Vadian]

As for the chaperone, I haven't had that issue. I don't see it at all in game, but I don't launch through steam (even though I bought it through steam and steam is running, steamVR is not). My seated position is completely outside my play area.

 

[Mike Kangaroo]

Congrats on getting your Vive, we've had it for about a week and its been amazing, and Elite is just the best experience with it. My wife and I actually took turns walking around the bridge of my Anaconda just checking stuff out (its larger than our lounge room though! lol ), then I switched over to my Courier and did some rezzing. that is mad fun!

 

[Skaldy]

Great post. I'm finally getting some time now to play Elite in the Vive and yes, it's pretty amazing. It's very impressive for a first iteration in VR. Remember the first mobile phones - there is a lot of improvement yet to come.

I was struggling a bit with the graphics settings until I saw people mention the 'VR High' preset. That gives me a really good result. Text is readable and there is no stuttering.

Re: Chaperone, have you left your hand controllers near the edge of the room? That may be causing it. As long as your head is a couple of feet from a wall you should be okay. It should fade unless your are next to the edge.

 

[Heavenly-Hammer]

Have you caught yourself wondering why your legs are straight in game while they were crossed under your desk yet? LOL

The Vive is a phenomenal experience you simply cannot describe to anyone who has not tried it.

BTW, chaperone for me turns off when I'm in cockpit. At least, I don't see it when flying.

Funny thing: did humans become midgets in the future? When I look at my limbs, they appear to belong to someone the size of a 4' person.

 

[Lupin]

I think the best thing about VR in ED is sense of scale now right. Just wish Vive was clearer with text.
As for disabling chaperone, in VR press menu button (One under pad) go to setting you have 4 levels of chaperone switch to highest to reduce them, not sure if you can turn them off.

 

[CMDR FlashPan]

Yes, it's the sense of scale - it makes a huge difference. When I first got in my ASP I could see how high off the ground the cockpit is, and looking around the cockpit the whole thing feels huge. Elite Dangerous is a whole new ball game with VR!

Thanks Skaldy, you are right, I had left one of the controllers near the boundary. For the next one, I think I'll just move my seat further into the playzone too

 

[grammatonfeather]

Have you caught yourself wondering why your legs are straight in game while they were crossed under your desk yet? LOL

The Vive is a phenomenal experience you simply cannot describe to anyone who has not tried it.

BTW, chaperone for me turns off when I'm in cockpit. At least, I don't see it when flying.

Chaperone settings are down to the User.

You can have it stay on, turn off, disable it or change the style in any number of ways.

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I think the best thing about VR in ED is sense of scale now right. Just wish Vive was clearer with text.
As for disabling chaperone, in VR press menu button (One under pad) go to setting you have 4 levels of chaperone switch to highest to reduce them, not sure if you can turn them off.

The vive is clearer with text. If you had been using ED with Oculus DK2 like I have since last year... switching to Vive the text is noticeably clearer. You should never ever compare current gen HMD to a desktop monitor. That's a noob move. With a desktop monitor you're getting a miniature representation of the world. The image is compressed and tiny.

 

[N0speed]

Chaperone settings are down to the User.

You can have it stay on, turn off, disable it or change the style in any number of ways.

This is correct for room scale but you can't change chaperone settings for seated/standing setup, do you?

The only option is labelled 'beginner' and allows changing grid opacity and color or am I overseeing s.th.?

To OP:
Oh yes, I was - and still am - so overwhelmed by my first VR impression even with being aware of the issues with resolution, aliasing and readability of UI.
8)

 

[grammatonfeather]

This is correct for room scale but you can't change chaperone settings for seated/standing setup, do you?

The only option is labelled 'beginner' and allows changing grid opacity and color or am I overseeing s.th.?

To OP:
Oh yes, I was - and still am - so overwhelmed by my first VR impression even with being aware of the issues with resolution, aliasing and readability of UI.
8)

When I play seated with ED there is no chaperone grid. When I stand there is.

 

[cygnusa]

I've had my Vive for under a week now myself. Only had a few hours on Elite due to a stupidly busy schedule, but even with the Vive aliasing resolution quirk it all still blows my mind. It'll only be all that more awesome once things are visually sharper. The Anaconda bridge is huge. The whole out of body sensation however took a little bit to acclimate to. I found myself pushing my HOTAS into position to more accurately match where they are positioned in the cockpit. It just felt wrong otherwise. Also a major urge to sit in the same position as the in-game body.

Landing the ship without VR, super straight forward. The ship feels small. But in VR the first time flying through the slot in a Coriolis... the fear of crashing was immense. The ship is huge. The slot is small. I was almost expecting a security ship to fly by and squirt the hull with vaseline to help me land ;P I had a docking computer to help me out on lazy trade runs and quickly utilized it. So far haven't done a full manual landing. The ships nose is huge. I'm really liking it as the sense of scale gives more life to the game.

 

[Mike Kangaroo]

Haha, the bridge of that Anaconda is vast! So much space! . Coming in to landing in that thing, without a landing computer (i've yet to use one) and putting the nose down you get a great sense of just how far away the nose of that beast is from the cockpit

 

[Tinman]

SHUT UP!!!

I can't afford it or the new NVIDIA 1080 yet!

"We need to paint the house!", "We need to remove this window!", "We need money for vacation!"...yeah yeah yeah...well...I NEED to fly in space damit!!!! [mad]

*sulks* [sulk]

 

[Mike Kangaroo]

When I play seated with ED there is no chaperone grid. When I stand there is.

This is what I get, while I am seated, the grid goes away, I'm not sure if it's Valve or FD that has done this, but its quite clever. However, If I stand and I am at the boundries of my play area, I see the chaperone like normal. works great

 

[shadragon]

SHUT UP!!!

I can't afford it or the new NVIDIA 1080 yet!

"We need to paint the house!", "We need to remove this window!", "We need money for vacation!"...yeah yeah yeah...well...I NEED to fly in space damit!!!! [mad]

*sulks* [sulk]

Plays perfectly well on my 980Ti. You don't need the latest and greatest vid card to have VR work brilliantly.

 

[BillD]

SHUT UP!!!

I can't afford it or the new NVIDIA 1080 yet!

"We need to paint the house!", "We need to remove this window!", "We need money for vacation!"...yeah yeah yeah...well...I NEED to fly in space damit!!!! [mad]

*sulks* [sulk]

Removing the windows is easy... I have a hammer
Oh wait... you probably want to put another one in its place Sorry


I have two 980's gonna see if I can sell them cheapish to put money towards getting a 1080

 

[CylonSurfer]

Funny thing: did humans become midgets in the future? When I look at my limbs, they appear to belong to someone the size of a 4' person.

Same here.

 

[Arrichion]

Funny thing: did humans become midgets in the future? When I look at my limbs, they appear to belong to someone the size of a 4' person.

It seems like the IPD of the in-game cameras is a little bit off. I watched a video review comparing the Rift and the Vive and the guy there said the same thing. In the Vive, the sense of scale is slightly off, while in the Rift it is spot-on. Maybe FD can adjust that IPD for us a little.

 

[cygnusa]

It seems like the IPD of the in-game cameras is a little bit off. I watched a video review comparing the Rift and the Vive and the guy there said the same thing. In the Vive, the sense of scale is slightly off, while in the Rift it is spot-on. Maybe FD can adjust that IPD for us a little.

The body does seem just a bit smaller in scale, but it hasn't bothered me. I do find that when I reset the HMD position in-game I need to move the chair physically back a bit, reset HMD position, then physically move my chair forward. Its far more comfortable at that position. If I don't shift the chair forward, it seems to clip into the body.. so when looking around I sometimes look into the neck/shoulders, or the chair. Maybe the default head position should be ever so slightly higher and ever so slightly forward.