HTC Vive resolution and focus

Heavenly-Hammer · May 28, 2016

vizvayu said:
You should leave the fan in auto mode. It will regulate speed as needed, so your card won't overheat (unless you have no ventilation at all inside the case) and won't make any more noise than needed.
If the card was overheating with the fan in auto mode, you should check the temperature inside your case because that may be the source of the problem.

This is generally bad advice. Fans on GPUs are designed to keep the system QUIET, not to maximize performance. What happens is a GPU will throttle down clocks to keep a temprature rather than increasing fan speed to compensate for the power performance target.

The right way to do it is to set a proper custom fan that keeps the temperature below 83C on modern GPUs, as that is the point where they begin to throttle. On the default fan curve, it will throttle on a regular basis. Especially running supersampling.

vizvayu · May 29, 2016

Heavenly-Hammer said:
This is generally bad advice. Fans on GPUs are designed to keep the system QUIET, not to maximize performance. What happens is a GPU will throttle down clocks to keep a temprature rather than increasing fan speed to compensate for the power performance target.

The right way to do it is to set a proper custom fan that keeps the temperature below 83C on modern GPUs, as that is the point where they begin to throttle. On the default fan curve, it will throttle on a regular basis. Especially running supersampling.

First of all, sorry everyone for the offtopic. I promise this is the last one

Not according to NVIDIA: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-980/specifications
Look at "Thermal and Power Specifications" at the bottom of that page.
Just today I've been running Elite for about 6 hours straight, settings as high as they'll go with my 980 and Vive, room temperature at 25c (heater is on) and the temperature of the card was 77c. I could barely hear the fans, because they don't even start below 60c (I have a Strix 980). So either you have a defective card, or you never tested really this yourself. My card is overclocked, and I did benchmars for hours and it never throttled because of temperature. During the OC process, sometimes throttled because the power target was too low, but not because of temperature and anyway that wouldn't happen to a non-overclocked card... oc by the user, obviously, a card with a higher frequency from the factory doesn't have this kind of issues. So if the card reaches that kind of temperature to make it throttle, either is defective or there's a big problem with cooling of the case.

Gazwarke · May 29, 2016

Thanks to both u guys for response, I also apologise if this is off topic but I have been following this thread from the beginning due to the elite/vive troubles I was having. Until last week I was using a 970 and this thread persuaded me to upgrade to 980ti which I bought of ebay. I'm now a bit concerned that my card might be defective but it runs every other game fine on auto fan (witcher 3, rise of tomb raider, star citizen etc.). Only elite/vive seems to cause my overheating problem. Is there any harm in running fan on higher speed? Doesn't it just help with case cooling?

Koreldan · May 29, 2016

on HTC Vive to improve a little more the stuttering... Turn Off GUI Effects.

I don't know why, but setting that option that way reduce to me a lot the stuttering on SuperSampling x2.0 with a GTX 970

rauwman · May 29, 2016

Yosharian said:
Ok guys it appears that the flickering lights at the periphery problem is caused by the latest NVidia drivers, execute a rollback to the previous version and the problem should disappear.

Hi,
which one is needed? Actualy i have the 368.22

MaxwellSloan · May 29, 2016

Disabling GUI effects actually seems to work. With Vive and GTX 970 I was able raise SS to 1.5 with no stuttering and it looks at least a bit better now. Still some problems with the text but better...

Magic Man · May 30, 2016

So, in summary, latest update still hasn't brought Vive display to the same level as Rift?

vizvayu · May 30, 2016

Magic Man said:
So, in summary, latest update still hasn't brought Vive display to the same level as Rift?

I don't know about the Rift, but the Vive related changes in 2.1 are minimal. Just a font change to "improve" readability and not much more. I'm also seeing less stuttering when on or near planets as well.

Magic Man · May 30, 2016

Thanks.

Toumal · May 30, 2016

Stuttering near planets can be reduced significantly by lowering the "Terrain Work" slider in the options. I did that on my 970 and it helped immensely, turning the game from a jarring experience on planets to something that's almost (but not perfectly) smooth.

Mike Kangaroo · May 30, 2016

Magic Man said:
So, in summary, latest update still hasn't brought Vive display to the same level as Rift?

No, I saw no graphical difference other than a slight change to the font in the cockpit which didn't improve its legibility much.

I would love to hear a dev on this issue, at this point I don't care if it's good or bad news, I just want to know what's going on.

shadragon · May 30, 2016

The only issue that I see is fuzzy text. It has improved dramatically (I've gone back to standard colors for the HUD). Everything else looks pretty damned nice. I don't have a Rift, but I've got at least 50 hours on my Vive so far.

Heavenly-Hammer · May 30, 2016

Magic Man said:
So, in summary, latest update still hasn't brought Vive display to the same level as Rift?

that's correct. When it is you'll know it because a Dev will undoubtedly proudly come into the thread and proclaim it so. If you see radio silence it's because...yea.

grodenglaive · May 31, 2016

Gazwarke said:
Thanks to both u guys for response, I also apologise if this is off topic but I have been following this thread from the beginning due to the elite/vive troubles I was having. Until last week I was using a 970 and this thread persuaded me to upgrade to 980ti which I bought of ebay. I'm now a bit concerned that my card might be defective but it runs every other game fine on auto fan (witcher 3, rise of tomb raider, star citizen etc.). Only elite/vive seems to cause my overheating problem. Is there any harm in running fan on higher speed? Doesn't it just help with case cooling?

no harm in that, just noisy

Getting the heat out of the case aids getting heat out of the gpu as well. Working hard for extended times generates a lot of heat - it needs to go somewhere.

Acteris · May 31, 2016

From my own experience with the Vive since 2.1 I concur with other feedback the text is better and the jitters are gone that I was experiencing while on planet surfaces in SRV (in VRHIGH). However, comparing the graphics quality to other VR games ED is no where near where it should be. I await eagerly on future updates to ED in improving the fuzziness out of cockpit controls, planet approach texture loads (albeit some of it could be to do with my GPU - Titan, waiting on the 1080 and then I can compare).

Kapow · Jun 1, 2016

Are there any news for the Vive users? I just got my Vive yesterday, so I can't compare how it was before 2.1.. Here are my thoughts from a VR newbie (only Gear VR experience prior to Vive)

I love the experience in VR, but Elite Dangerous experience was a bit strange. On one hand - It is amazing in an asteroid field and I was literally breath less.... On the other hand it is ghastly in stations (made me feel like I was playing a game from the 90s considering the jaggered lines and terrible AA... It made it look like pixelated mess). I could read things rather ok and I didn't experience much issues (GTX980ti - SS1.5x and SMAO - VR High) excluding when I arrive to any station or outpost. They just don't look nice...

Also the scale seems a bit off. I'm not a huge guy (182cm in height) but I felt very short and small - like a 14 year old teenager when I looked down at my body in ED... This one is hardest to describe as some things seem large and feel right and some feel small and just plain wrong in their size. Maybe some of you who play in VR for longer can tell me if I'm doing something wrong and any help will be appreciated. I've got the lense distance set for my eyes, so it shouldn't be caused by that...

Also lastly - How does one use the Galaxy map in VR? I had huge troubles selecting systems to visit and had to always end up typing... The box with description of the system (float box) always appears, but does not allign to the system, rather just floats around... Am I doing something wrong?

I'm a huge ED fan and I love the work that has gone into 2.1, but as far as VR goes it is bit underwhelming which is a pity as if the stations looked as well as the asteroids it would be the most amazing gaming experience I had... The detail on the stations and ships is very distorted and after looking forward to flying around the station and seeing it in VR I was a bit disappointed, but if these are bugs and fixes are expected I would be very very happy chappy as excluding the stations and other ships it was amazing.

If the issues are due to something in the settings then please let me know guys so I can amend it.

Now where is the nearest asteroid field to explore

(Horizons 2.1, i7 6cores, GTX 980ti, HTC Vive)

wstephenson · Jun 1, 2016

Kapow said:
Are there any news for the Vive users? I just got my Vive yesterday, so I can't compare how it was before 2.1.. Here are my thoughts from a VR newbie (only Gear VR experience prior to Vive)

I love the experience in VR, but Elite Dangerous experience was a bit strange. On one hand - It is amazing in an asteroid field and I was literally breath less.... On the other hand it is ghastly in stations (made me feel like I was playing a game from the 90s considering the jaggered lines and terrible AA... It made it look like pixelated mess). I could read things rather ok and I didn't experience much issues (GTX980ti - SS1.5x and SMAO - VR High) excluding when I arrive to any station or outpost. They just don't look nice...

You get used to it.

Kapow said:
Also the scale seems a bit off. I'm not a huge guy (182cm in height) but I felt very short and small - like a 14 year old teenager when I looked down at my body in ED... This one is hardest to describe as some things seem large and feel right and some feel small
and just plain wrong in their size. Maybe some of you who play in VR for longer can tell me if I'm doing something wrong and any help will be appreciated. I've got the lense distance set for my eyes, so it shouldn't be caused by that...

We suspect the game is setting the in-game IPD distance too close. Unfortunately it can't be changed by us:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=255781

Kapow said:
Also lastly - How does one use the Galaxy map in VR? I had huge troubles selecting systems to visit and had to always end up typing... The box with description of the system (float box) always appears, but does not allign to the
system, rather just floats around... Am I doing something wrong?

No, this is just how it is at the moment. Use your HOTAS for controlling the maps rather than the mouse if you aren't already, and make sure all the navigation options are enabled in the map settings so you have a crosshair to select things with.

Kapow said:
I'm a huge ED fan and I love the work that has gone into 2.1, but as far as VR goes it is bit underwhelming which is a pity as if the stations looked as well as the asteroids it would be the most amazing gaming experience I had... The detail on the stations and ships is very distorted and after looking forward to flying around the station and seeing it in VR I was a bit disappointed, but if these are bugs and fixes are expected I would be very very happy chappy as excluding the stations and other ships it was amazing.

If the issues are due to something in the settings then please let me know guys so I can amend it.

Now where is the nearest asteroid field to explore

(Horizons 2.1, i7 6cores, GTX 980ti, HTC Vive)

The stations use a lot of high frequency detail, which combined with how the game's antialiasing works, leads to flicker and mess. The asteroids are low poly and the textures are smoother so they play to the Vive's strengths. You may find it looks nicer (if not so detailed) with VR Low and cranked up SS and SMAA, but it's a matter of taste really.

Kapow · Jun 1, 2016

wstephenson said:
You get used to it.

We suspect the game is setting the in-game IPD distance too close. Unfortunately it can't be changed by us:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=255781

No, this is just how it is at the moment. Use your HOTAS for controlling the maps rather than the mouse if you aren't already, and make sure all the navigation options are enabled in the map settings so you have a crosshair to select things with.

The stations use a lot of high frequency detail, which combined with how the game's antialiasing works, leads to flicker and mess. The asteroids are low poly and the textures are smoother so they play to the Vive's strengths. You may find it looks nicer (if not so detailed) with VR Low and cranked up SS and SMAA, but it's a matter of taste really.

Awesome tips. Thank you. I'll try them all. Yes I was using Mouse in the galaxy map and it was frustrating. I'll try to set up my hotas and hope for the best

I'll also play with all the other settings you adviced and see how much I get away with SS2x

Kapow · Jun 1, 2016

So following all the advice above I've ended up testing all the different settings in the Graphics. I've tried VR low with SS2x and I've tried VR high with SS1.5 (both of these with SMAO) I had very mixed feelings about all the different settings and in the end I've opted for Everything regarding lighting maxed out (including shadows) but SS at 1x with SMAO on. Stations look like a pixel mess and reading of the text is not the easiest task under the sun, but leaning closer to it fixes most of the text related issues (until they are fixed by FD). It looks like that Exploration will be the route to take for me until FD fixes AA... As during Exploration the lighting is the most important to me in terms of immersion.

Joystick works superb in Galaxy Map - awesome tip

SirLevArris · Jun 2, 2016

Toumal said:
Stuttering near planets can be reduced significantly by lowering the "Terrain Work" slider in the options. I did that on my 970 and it helped immensely, turning the game from a jarring experience on planets to something that's almost (but not perfectly) smooth.

It´s true, optimization on planets is very good. But when go to RES.... fire effects , fog and other things like that produces so much judder even when the gpu it´s at 50 % , with or without steamvr can´t handdle these types of effects, at least for me.

Text menus ..... bah , continues as previous versions or even worst....

Almost any situation the game it´s better, more optimization, more effects , more missions.... more and more.... but now RES it´s full of judder with new effects. ...

Someone has suffered this situation?

My rig... i7 6700K 4,7GHz, 980ti, 32 GB 2400Mhz