Looking to take the VR plunge

[Franc Kaos]

As the Pimax 5k becomes more and more available (thru ebay and so), there is actually no reason to use anything else. Believe me, once you seen the Pimax field of view, anything else is just disappointing

I thought the blacks weren't great with LCD screens (not that they're overly great in the Rift), has this been resolved? Since Facebook has locked me out of the Rift S upgrade (IPD of 74 ish), I need to think what upgrade path to take.

@ the OP, not wanting to start a console war or anything but I believe (think / read / IMHO), that the Rift (original) has slightly better optics than the original Vive when it comes to legible text of which there is plenty of in ED - but it is running down the stock for the Rift S (new version incoming), which is LCD with not great blacks and limited IPD* range.

*interpupillary distance: The distance measured in millimeters between the centers of the pupils of the eyes

 

[Faded Glory]

I have used the Rift for a year or two now. Elite in VR is quite something. I've not tried other HMD's so can't make any comparisons.

You can run ED directly from the launcher, you can download it to your Oculus library and play it from there (you get a key from the Frontier store) and you can play it through steam VR, although I have no experience of that. I play directly from the launcher, and while I did download it to my Oculus library I never play it from there.

You do see your hands (and body) in the cockpit, and to an extent your hands are representational. The game makes the virtual HOTAS (I think it's meant to be a Saitek X52) reflect your movements, so throttle up or down and the cockpit hands and throttle does that, pitch, roll and yaw likewise you will see those actions. But that's it, it doesn't really know what your hands are doing, just reflects the controllers movements. When your hands are idle, the cockpit hands have little movements that they do randomly on their own. These can be disabled in the graphics settings.

You do need to get comfortable with your controller as you will be doing it all from touch. I can't say I found it a problem using the Thrustmaster T16000M HOTAS. As with anything else it's just a matter of getting used to it.

One thing you will likely want to invest in when using VR is VoiceAttack, letting you map keyboard presses to voice commands. It's very useful. You can try it out for free, but the $10 to get a license is well worth it.

 

[labhrainn]

Go for it.
My son visited a few weeks ago and took his VR set with him. I tried it and ended up buying my own set. Not the same as his really expensive one, but he reckoned I got a good deal. I had a few teething problems with it, but it seems things are sorted.
To see my hands I flip the visor, goggles, visor...whatever, up so that I can do what I need to do (copy from EDDB, etc). Don't need to do that with the controllers, I know/feel where the buttons and stuff are. It's a good idea to program your controllers so that the really important functions are easy to find/get to. The stuff you rarely use or that are not time critical can be found by lifting up head set.
Once, on a high G planet, I became a little car sick. So far that has been the only time that happened.
I notice that I take breaks more often now I use VR than before. You have a weight on your head, and I notice my eyes need to rest. I usually play for an hour or two then take a break - cup of tea, go to the loo, check Facebook or something and then go back again

 

[Ziljan]

The game makes the virtual HOTAS (I think it's meant to be a Saitek X52) reflect your movements, so throttle up or down and the cockpit hands and throttle does that, pitch, roll and yaw likewise you will see those actions.

This is why I can't get VR, afaik there is no way to map your movements in VR to alternative joystick mappings. For instance, I have the left/right joystick axis set to yaw (rather than roll). So VR would be too disorienting.

 

[Sysmon]

This is why I can't get VR, afaik there is no way to map your movements in VR to alternative joystick mappings. For instance, I have the left/right joystick axis set to yaw (rather than roll). So VR would be too disorienting.

Never actually paid much attention to my virtual hands. In Kinect, for example, they are doing weird things on their own anyway...

S

 

[Faded Glory]

This is why I can't get VR, afaik there is no way to map your movements in VR to alternative joystick mappings. For instance, I have the left/right joystick axis set to yaw (rather than roll). So VR would be too disorienting.

Yes, I'll agree with Sysmon that I don't often notice my virtual hands. I mainly use that to reference that I have my throttle centered as the T16000 has no center indent.

In fact, while thinking about the subject today, having responded here, I actually looked a bit, enough to notice that the virtual hands seem to try to reflect default inputs on the X52, so when I boosted (I use a voiceattack command for that so no buttons pressed at all) I noticed the virtual left hand thumb press a button on the throttle that I assume is the default for boost. Never noticed it before, so I suspect not too intrusive or off putting.

That said, if you use what most players use for pitch to yaw, the virtual joystick will still reflect your actual hand movement as sensed by the input device, so not sure how disorientating it would be even if you did happen to catch a glance of them.

 

[dtdionne]

This is why I can't get VR, afaik there is no way to map your movements in VR to alternative joystick mappings. For instance, I have the left/right joystick axis set to yaw (rather than roll). So VR would be too disorienting.

Hey, if you haven't tried "Yaw into Roll" with "On Low Roll" at about half sensitivity, you should. It'd let you set that back to roll but still have excellent yaw. Here's what I use...I also use this setting on the playstation. But no worries if it's not for you, to each their own

 

[Lestat]

I don't think you will be able to get Oculus Rift. But sometime this spring. Oculus Rift S should be out. Which should be better than the original Oculus Rift.

 

[jnTracks]

I'm also going to jump in, but I'm waiting for the new Oculus which is set to come out in just weeks. Rift S. Improved all around visual quality and parts while (they say) not requiring bigger hardware to keep up with driving it. It has inside-out spacial orientation so you don't need the external sensors to track your head movement.

 

[VR CMDR Novindus]

OMG is that Gandalf playing a les paul???

I believe that's Saruman.

I have a Rift. My system specs are much lower than yours, but it's still a far better experience than flat. It really is a great all round HMD that works great with Elite.

I've looked into what's known about the Rift S so far, and it doesn't look to be better in all ways, so I'd do some research if I were you, to see what suits you best.

I don't plan to replace my Rift until something significantly better comes out from Oculus, as in a Rift 2, not a Rift S, and I'll have probably purchased a dedicated gaming PC by then, so I don't have to use my iMac workstation.

 

[Ziljan]

Never actually paid much attention to my virtual hands. In Kinect, for example, they are doing weird things on their own anyway...

S

I notice the mismatch in track IR when I use my pedals to roll and my "virtual" hands move instead, and when I yaw and my virtual hands don't move. Pretty sure I'd notice in actual VR, but I guess some people are more prone to immersive dysphoria? Or maybe you're just used to it?

Hey, if you haven't tried "Yaw into Roll" with "On Low Roll" at about half sensitivity, you should. It'd let you set that back to roll but still have excellent yaw. Here's what I use...I also use this setting on the playstation. But no worries if it's not for you, to each their own

View attachment 127518

I have so many hours in Elite, I've burned through 3 different Hotas setups, tried every input style, and high end fight pedals that I use for roll. The yaw-on-roll setup is for users with limited input options and tbh is extremely clumsy and clunky by comparison.

Instead, I would highly recommend that everyone switch their left-right joystick axis to yaw. It makes aiming fixed weapons a breeze. Extremely intuitive, even if you've been flying for ages with the default setup.

 

[B1rdy]

I have 1060 6GB And i5 8400.
BUT Z390 MoBo and 16GB 3200.
Looking to upgrade GPU and CPU near Xmas.

Edit:Yes OP, that's what I'm looking at! Nice.

With regards to ED, the CPU should be sufficient, since GPU will be a bottleneck in ED. If you are going to wait til the end of the year anyway, you might want to wait for Q1 2020, when AMD releases the high end version of their upcoming Navi GPU.

 

[ChrisF0001]

This is why I can't get VR, afaik there is no way to map your movements in VR to alternative joystick mappings. For instance, I have the left/right joystick axis set to yaw (rather than roll). So VR would be too disorienting.

...As do I as well, but I can't say I find it more than very slightly irritating if I happen to look down. Certainly not disorienting. It would be nice to have a feature to change that, though...

 

[Sysmon]

I notice the mismatch in track IR when I use my pedals to roll and my "virtual" hands move instead, and when I yaw and my virtual hands don't move. Pretty sure I'd notice in actual VR, but I guess some people are more prone to immersive dysphoria? Or maybe you're just used to it?

One of my few redeeming qualities is my ability to suspend disbelief.

I'm on my second HOTAS, and am now rolling into yaw due to the usual broken spring in the X55-X56 series. The slider is almost all the way to the left, though, as I only really use yaw for landings.

S

 

[Sysmon]

I don't know how I missed that sub-forum...and I wish i could move this thread. I will biscuit, thx again.

When you hover over my avatar does it show that I've had warnings? I've been cursed with a very thin skin so im no stranger to over reactions....but im just curious, here's what i see

View attachment 127500

Nope, you should be the only one seeing your warnings.

S