Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
- I recognise the great work in ED:H.
- Frontier has done great work.
- I am a big fan.
- It looks like I will be buying every season.
- I'm already sold
- I look forward to seeing the Scout cockpit. (Send me VR shots if you like)
So now that we are past the Frontier love. Lets talk about VR.
I do not feel that the ED cockpits (at least in the modules up to Cobra) bear up under VR as well as they could. If I hadn't spent so much time with DCS VR maybe I would not know any better ... BUT I have seen how VR benefits when things which are close to you get the right level of detail. Detailed and close adds a ridiculous amount of immersion. The thing with VR is that you can move your head around and look right at things and you notice details a LOT.
I think the ED throttle and stick in the entry level ships look really bad in VR and I think the main problem is their low geometric detail and their heavy reliance on normal maps to give flat surfaces details and shape. A "basic" normal map effect only works well in 2D. In VR these surfaces are FLAT and I notice it.
IMO the throttle and stick could look a lot better if
- polygons were used instead of using normal maps for geometric detail. Buttons, panel-edges and recessed elements should have more geometry.
- normal maps can still be used but more for surface effects and micro-surfaces ... texture, scratches and weathering. This smaller detailing DOES look good in VR.
- higher resolution textures if you can move your head closer to something. You move your head to get a closer look a and it get blurrier - not a good effect.
Screenshots simply can't show what something looks like in VR ... but I will add some shots anyway.
Detail levels for the throttle mech ... the 'free' su-25T module in DCS vs 'entry level' in ED.
This is not something that is going to ruin my game. I just think that playing in VR is so different to playing on a monitor that certain things stand out.
