Need peoples experience with moving from screen/joystick to Vive

Seph79

S
Hey there pilots
I just have a bit of a conundrum of sorts. I've been playing Elite for a short time only (125hours) with mouse, keyboard and Logitech extreme 3d pro. I've been rather happy with this setup and I've finally gotten to the point where I'm confident in my ability to play the game as it is.

However....Just yesterday I managed to get my hands on a consumer edition Vive. First time I've ever experienced VR and I'm completely blown away and excited about how it works. I've only played The Lab but I'm really besides myself with the possibilities. Now, I'm facing the issue of if I make the jump and use the Vive for Elite Dangerous. I'm hearing conflicting stories that it's no good with VR and a wasted opportunity, the other issue is that I'm worried that I'll have to relearn the ship controls/interface with new hand controllers and destroy a bunch of ships and waste credits before I get used to it.

So I'm asking advice from people who have been in the same situation, that have gone from no VR elite to VR elite and if I do try it, how would I mitigate ship loss, try out how it works with elite. I really don't want to ruin my progress.

Thanks everyone for any advice/experience you have.

Seph
 

whothe

W
Not really any ship loss to speak of. It only takes a few hours to start getting used to new control setups in my experience. I wouldnt suggest jumping straight into combat... Flying comes really quickly, its just buttons and bind changes that it takes a bit longer to get used to since you cant see stuff anymore. But it's worth it, doesnt take that long to get used to stuff once you start. The VR experience is just sooo good.
Started with VR+ HOTAS at the same time after playing KBM for a few months. Game changer. VR is amazing. Couple months ago switched to VR+ dual sticks, and it took me a few days to get used to that switch, but its even better than HOTAS was. Especially since I fly FA off. Learning to fly FA off is also worth the time ;)
 

Seph79

S
whothe said:
onths ago switched to VR+ dual sticks, and it took me a few days to get used to that switch, but its even better than HOTAS was. Especially since I fly FA off. Learning to fly FA off is also worth the time
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So I can still use the joystick/mouse/keyboard setup with the headset? Actually just thought about what I typed there and I sound dumb. Trying to hit the right keys on KB would be difficult with the headset, I might need to configure the mouse/hotas a bit better to compensate.
I've never tried flight assist off....I'm a slow learner and paranoid lol. Thank you for your reply!
 

Lord Maniac

Lord Maniac
I have to say, the best thing i did was to switch to a HOTAS. ED is the perfect reason to do so, especially in VR, you really don´t
need anything else to control your ship.
The only thing i still use the mouse for, is mapping systems. All other functions fit in my HOTAS ;)
 

whothe

W
Seph79 said:
So I can still use the joystick/mouse/keyboard setup with the headset? Actually just thought about what I typed there and I sound dumb. Trying to hit the right keys on KB would be difficult with the headset, I might need to configure the mouse/hotas a bit better to compensate.
I've never tried flight assist off....I'm a slow learner and paranoid lol. Thank you for your reply!
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Most the time if I'm winged up, I'm using discord to chat, but even still you can peek through the nose gap to type, its a bit awkward but do-able. I did put some small pieces of duct tape on my 1, w,a,d keys to help, as I can pretty much hit the general area, then feel the keys with the tape on them, but they're mainly just for flipping through station menus. Some keyboard keys area easy to find by feel due to location like the + and Enter on the key pad, space bar, or directional arrows. I still use my mouse for the gal map, but it's right beside my right stick so once again, its easy to find even with the VR on.
The right HOTAS or flight sticks ( some have lots of keys but poor layouts ) do have more than enough buttons to set pretty much every bind you really need, so typing is really only needed to chat with someone outside of discord.
 

Lord Maniac

Lord Maniac
Hard to say, since i alway used a HOTAS. I think a good starter for a smaller Budget would be the Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One. Not perfect, but reliable and cheap.
 

VR CobraCommander

VR CobraCommander
When I got my VR headset (about 3 years + ago) I was a bit concerned about taking one of my ships out as well. So I decided to do the tutorials instead, just to get the feel of it, with no risk if I screwed things up.
At that time I was pleasantly surprised to find there was a specific VR tutorial. Not sure if that is still there, given that there is a whole new tutorial set up.

So that is what I would advise you to do. Play the tutorial. No risk to your ships.

I found VR amazing, with no real issues converting from flat screen to VR. I do have a HOTAS though, with everything mapped to it except typing. I have came across a problem on some main menu screens (eg store) where some HOTAS keys don't work and I have to resort to the mouse, but overall HOTAS is easier. I would imagine using keys on the keyboard would be difficult while in VR though. But if you try VR through the tutorial then you will be able to find out for yourself whether you would need further investment in more peripherals.

Hope that's been helpful.
 

aXeL

A
Seph79 said:
So I'm just wondering, if I configure it right, will my Logitech Extreme 3d Pro cut it?
https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gamepads/extreme-3d-pro-joystick.963290-0403.html

Can't quite invest in another stick right now unfortunately.
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Your joystick will work just fine in VR. If you can spring for a cheap gamepad, they also work well. When I'm mining or in an SRV, sometimes I'll ditch VR to watch TV and I can do everything I need from a handheld controller without looking at any keys.
 

Tenshi

Tenshi
Seph79 said:
Hey there pilots
I just have a bit of a conundrum of sorts. I've been playing Elite for a short time only (125hours) with mouse, keyboard and Logitech extreme 3d pro. I've been rather happy with this setup and I've finally gotten to the point where I'm confident in my ability to play the game as it is.

However....Just yesterday I managed to get my hands on a consumer edition Vive. First time I've ever experienced VR and I'm completely blown away and excited about how it works. I've only played The Lab but I'm really besides myself with the possibilities. Now, I'm facing the issue of if I make the jump and use the Vive for Elite Dangerous. I'm hearing conflicting stories that it's no good with VR and a wasted opportunity, the other issue is that I'm worried that I'll have to relearn the ship controls/interface with new hand controllers and destroy a bunch of ships and waste credits before I get used to it.

So I'm asking advice from people who have been in the same situation, that have gone from no VR elite to VR elite and if I do try it, how would I mitigate ship loss, try out how it works with elite. I really don't want to ruin my progress.

Thanks everyone for any advice/experience you have.

Seph
Click to expand...

I flew around in the tutorials for a long time and did the combat training as I set up the controls for my HOTAS. This allowed me to acclimatise to VR and gain confidence in knowing where each and every function was used on the HOTAS without looking.
CQC when people play in it is also a good way to learn combat in VR. It's fast moving through structures.

Now I use Voice Attack with some HCS Voice Packs (Really cool add on's) to do most of my secondary functions in the ship, like landing gear cargo scoop switching cockpit modes etc. I also use EDDI plugin for it as it keeps track of stuff in my journal and uploads it to INARA and a couple of other sites for market data. Also comes with a cool feature where it tells me what players and npcs are saying in chat, bounties on npcs, along with star map data and expected rewards for exploration data.
 

hypnotribble

H
Late to the chat. The voice control would be nice, but between the animals and the other residents here, ITS DREADFUL!
2x Logitech Extreme 3D sticks is awesome. Enough buttons to map pretty much everything. You pick it up pretty quickly.
 

8ace

8
Go VR (I use a vice pro with joystick, pedals from a steering wheel and keyboard). It's worth the relearning and bind setup effort 👍
 
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