Please convince me....

[RiftFlyer]

You mean the same extended mode that has already been dropped by Oculus?

Yes. Extended mode will also be dropped by steamVR. The latest steamVR builds already include direct mode rendering. Extended mode will be abandoned at some stage in the future. I can't say when though. At that stage the assumption is Elite Dangerous will also cease to work on Vive unless they sort their engine out.

 

[vulkman]

Read my post above showing how much fun SRV is in VR!

I can assure you: Mileage varies! I have a buddy who can't even drive in the SRV using his big screen TV let alone in VR, some people are more prone of simulation sickness than others, so my message is: Buying a € 900 VR headset and maybe a € 300 graphics card on top for just one game without ever having tried this game for a significant amount of time in VR is a huge risk.

 

[VR StarLightPL]

IMHO as with all new bleeding edge tech, it has to settle down. I tried the DK2 and while it was amazing in tech demos, I felt Elite was a bit lacking due to low res and some display quality problems (blurry text, some old-cabinet-CRT-like effects). Yes the immersion is massive, but a similar (not perfect, mind you) effect I can get with my 3d glasses and a panasonic plasma tv running elite in stereo. That said if you have that kind of cash to just throw away and your credit card doesn't care - by all means do it

I myself am very excited for the tech along with my wife (she tried it with me and was totally amazed), however I think VR needs a year or two on the market to mature. We need to see which solution fares better, there is also an OpenVR initiative... And the second reason is - right now it cost an insane amount of money for a toy with uncertain future

 

[Soda Popinski]

It's a game changer, alright. It changes the galaxy map from "quite ok to navigate" to "virtually unusable" and it makes driving on planet surfaces a nauseating mess. I have a DK2 and yes, the first time you do something in VR it's quite exciting, but to me the drawbacks of the abysmal resolution and the simulation sickness in the SRV caused me to stop using it after a few hours.

First time I was in an SRV, I did get motion sick. Didn't help that I tumbled down a canyon. You actually get used to it. Been driving around a lot the last couple of days, and not getting sick anymore. I tend to drive a bit slower to make sure I don't take much damage (I'm currently out of the bubble, so no easy repairs). Also, I only play for an hour or two at a time.

 

[Tiny_Rick]

First time I was in an SRV, I did get motion sick. Didn't help that I tumbled down a canyon. You actually get used to it. Been driving around a lot the last couple of days, and not getting sick anymore. I tend to drive a bit slower to make sure I don't take much damage (I'm currently out of the bubble, so no easy repairs). Also, I only play for an hour or two at a time.

I have to ask, being that' I'm currently on Xbox; do any pilots go canyon racing in SRV's?

 

[Avictus]

The system map is a bit of a pain, going from one planet to the next in the system map is really slow for some reason.

You just need to zoom out. The further out you zoom, the faster it moves. I found this out on accident

 

[Mazhurg]

I am thinking of pre ordering the Vive anytime soon. How much better is ED with VR? Is VR a game changer? Please convince me!

To answer your question,here's what changes:

First, stop thinking that you will look at a screen when you put on the headset as you will not see a screen. You will be sitting in the ship, with everything around you to scale. It is also the hardest part of a user that has never used an HDM to grasp. Another way of thinking of it, if you ever used binoculars, think same but with a much wider field of view, or think swimming goggles. There is no screen to look at, there is only what you see, just like in real life.

That in and of itself is the game changer.

Having said the above, instead of looking at a hint of scale and grandness on a screen (monitor), your reality is actually transposed into the game with all it entice: Vertigo, scale, speed (or lack of) visibility - you can look for what you want to see instead of limiting yourself to controllers (or buttons) movements.

The drawback (with the DK2 but to some extend also the newer devices) is that you do lose some of the resolution that you get into a monitor, so while grand the picture is not perfect, but most people soon forget this as the rest of the experience is overpowering.

As for which HMD, well it all depends on what you want to do. If only Elite, then either will do. If you want to experience stand up and move games, initially it will be the Vive as the controllers are superior to an Xbox gamepad. The Vive also probably has a better way of defining and tracking larger volumes. Once the Oculus touch is out then that may change. In any case, neither devices have faced the perils of mass production and uses yet so there also may be issues with the products quality themselves in the future that no one has found yet.

Since you have not yet ordered a Vive or an Oculus, I'd suggest you wait as by now it will probably be June before you can get one and the backorder will only diminish as we move forward and the companies ramp up production.

So, VR = Great, HMD = verdict still out.

 

[gamer101]

Think of watching the superbowl, or being at the superbowl, in the crowd.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

I can assure you: Mileage varies! I have a buddy who can't even drive in the SRV using his big screen TV let alone in VR, some people are more prone of simulation sickness than others, so my message is: Buying a € 900 VR headset and maybe a € 300 graphics card on top for just one game without ever having tried this game for a significant amount of time in VR is a huge risk.

Why when he will be able to resell and get his money back on the HMD, while the card will give him a few years of service.

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I tried the DK2 and while it was amazing in tech demos, I felt Elite was a bit lacking due to low res and some display quality problems (blurry text, some old-cabinet-CRT-like effects).

All that stuff can be minimised or dialled out completely with the correct settings in place.

 

[AdioKIP]

Wow this sounds like quite a setup you have. You should post a pic

Snapped a quick pic, sorry its so Junkie looking but its kinda crammed into the corner of my office for now. Basically I have an Obutto Revolution Gaming Seat, Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas, CH Combat Pedals, Logitech G13 Gaming Keyboard (Great for the galaxy map while in VR), Logitech G35 headphones (thought about getting the wireless version but didnt like the reviews), Logitech G700s mouse, a butt kicker mounted under the seat,and of course my DK2. The rig powering it is an I7-6600k water cooled, 980ti, 16 Gigs of DDR 3200, Samsung 951 M2 drive, Asus Z170 Deluxe Motherboard.

 

[gamer101]

It's a risk buying a Vive now just for elite. They have promised support but it's uncertain when that support will be fully implemented. The extended mode it currently uses will soon be dropped by steamVR. Then Vive may have the same problems that rift has with ED. I believe it's because frontier can't do direct mode rendering in the current game engine.

If you want to experience a revolution in gaming and don't mind the uncertainty regarding this particular game then go for it. You will never game on a monitor again.

Hopefully the reported delays in releasing further updates will allow rework of the foundation of the engine to support VR properly.

It's commercially very tempting for FD to just let SteamVR be the middleware compatibility layer (even with the performance hit like we see with the SteamVR/Rift SDK0.8 implemention). ED already supports the Vive as we see from the demo videos.

 

[RiftFlyer]

It's commercially very tempting for FD to just let SteamVR be the middleware compatibility layer (even with the performance hit like we see with the SteamVR/Rift SDK0.8 implemention). ED already supports the Vive as we see from the demo videos.

The demo videos which have been shown for several months pre date the latest steamVR versions which have started to include 'direct mode'. I have not seen any information stating that Elite Dangerous has been able to run on Vive in Direct Mode. That is why my concern remains. Without official word from FDEV then of course it's speculation. Valve began work in January to move all external devs over to direct mode rendering. They have stated they want direct mode rendering to be the default option. We again have no word from FDEV regarding their success with this process (kinda important given that it was the same issue which halted compatability with the latest Oculus runtimes). VR is a moving target (rift worked at one stage but not anymore, at least not how it's intended to work). Until there is official confirmation from FDEV I think the OP should be cautious.

We have just seen Vive Pre is presenting issues for some when trying to play elite dangerous. Valves SteamVR is still evolving. Just like Oculus Riuntime evolved and we know what happened ED there!

 

[gamer101]

Point taken.

I can run ED via SteamVR and the DK2's direct mode SDK0.8 now, and Vive should be able to do the same (with some appropriate driver code). The same goes for CV1.

I reckon they will move Heaven and Earth to get this working right as ED is one of the flagships for VR and many of ED's future sales could be dependant on it..