If CIG fails to support Oculus is it Elite Dangerous for everyone?
If ED fails to support oculus is it Star Citizen for everyone?
- Thread starter iced01
- Start date
I don't see Star Citizen as being the obvious VR "poster child" from any evidence we have to date. They bolted on some pretty lackluster DK1 support last year that required some real messing about with the command line to get working (initially) and didn't even have the eyes the correct way round. It didn't get much better after that. Aside from the little evidence that we have of them supporting it there is a stack of reasons to be very skeptical regarding VR challenges concerning Star Citizen.
You need killer frame rates for VR. Star Citizen is about providing high polygon assets and texture eye candy. This idea that they can just "optimize" it all to run smooth enough is seriously optimistic. If you need a GTX 980 to get ED smooth enough for VR I can't see Star Citizen falling into the same benchmark. It's going to rely on Moore's law. If you think you'll be having a decent game of Star Citizen using VR I can almost guarantee you don't currently own the computer you'll be doing it with. I honestly don't even know if the machine capable of it can be put together yet.
ED was developed to work with VR since Alpha 1, everything since has been put in with consideration to a VR player from the cockpit fonts to the sound design with headphone support that alters the direction of the sound based on your head position. Even the galaxy map sort of works in VR. Star Citizen has high definition HUD's designed for very high definition screens. Everything about the way the game currently exists after 3-4 years of development suggests a great monitor experience and doesn't scream VR to me.
I haven't played anything in VR that works well when the players body is not in a static position when you are physically sitting down. Cockpit/Driving games rule for VR. Star Citizen seems to be as much about leaving your ship and seat as anything else. That's become a large part of Robert's philosophy. The current implementation feels sort of like Arma/Operation Flashpoint. There is nothing in the design that shows they have any huge insights about making that work for a VR experience apart from, maybe, the mobi-glass design. It's currently a head-bob fest with exterior views. It's great on a monitor, no way I'd want to play that in VR for anything other than novelty.
If I were to put money on it, I'd say the developer that's already demonstrated the game working well in VR and currently working with Occulus has a much better chance of running with the rift than the developer that hasn't really demonstrated much thought towards it. There is no evidence to suggest RSI can just get everything to work beautifully in the next few months any more than Frontier can (I know people believe SC is all things to all men, but I need to see it delivered). It's great that Robert's is again pushing for VR but I doubt he has any special insights into the realities of delivering it concerning SC and don't forget they are kind of obligated to support the rift because it was a stretch goal.
You need killer frame rates for VR. Star Citizen is about providing high polygon assets and texture eye candy. This idea that they can just "optimize" it all to run smooth enough is seriously optimistic. If you need a GTX 980 to get ED smooth enough for VR I can't see Star Citizen falling into the same benchmark. It's going to rely on Moore's law. If you think you'll be having a decent game of Star Citizen using VR I can almost guarantee you don't currently own the computer you'll be doing it with. I honestly don't even know if the machine capable of it can be put together yet.
ED was developed to work with VR since Alpha 1, everything since has been put in with consideration to a VR player from the cockpit fonts to the sound design with headphone support that alters the direction of the sound based on your head position. Even the galaxy map sort of works in VR. Star Citizen has high definition HUD's designed for very high definition screens. Everything about the way the game currently exists after 3-4 years of development suggests a great monitor experience and doesn't scream VR to me.
I haven't played anything in VR that works well when the players body is not in a static position when you are physically sitting down. Cockpit/Driving games rule for VR. Star Citizen seems to be as much about leaving your ship and seat as anything else. That's become a large part of Robert's philosophy. The current implementation feels sort of like Arma/Operation Flashpoint. There is nothing in the design that shows they have any huge insights about making that work for a VR experience apart from, maybe, the mobi-glass design. It's currently a head-bob fest with exterior views. It's great on a monitor, no way I'd want to play that in VR for anything other than novelty.
If I were to put money on it, I'd say the developer that's already demonstrated the game working well in VR and currently working with Occulus has a much better chance of running with the rift than the developer that hasn't really demonstrated much thought towards it. There is no evidence to suggest RSI can just get everything to work beautifully in the next few months any more than Frontier can (I know people believe SC is all things to all men, but I need to see it delivered). It's great that Robert's is again pushing for VR but I doubt he has any special insights into the realities of delivering it concerning SC and don't forget they are kind of obligated to support the rift because it was a stretch goal.
Frontier aren't dropping Oculus support. Braben has stated that.
It works very well on steamvr now although 501 runtime still has the edge on performance.
It works very well on steamvr now although 501 runtime still has the edge on performance.