I hate to be a downer but this game is impossible to play with a HMD.
- Impossible to read UI
- Impossible to see what you're flying towards
- Any sort of lag means a frozen view, which is sudden and vomit-inducing
- Mouse doesn't line up with UI in a number of contexts
- Loading warns you to use extended mode, which is nonsense and totally broken. Only Direct mode works and it's claimed this is a lesser experience.
Are there any improvements planned? I bought this game after how much everyone talked about how great it was in the rift, but so far I'm unimpressed. I'd like to do more than look around the hanger and then fumble around in space. Can't trade if you can't read the screens. Can't fight blurry pixels. I've made suggestions that would immediately improve these issues and make it playable, but I've been completely ignored. I see from a number of other posts that customer support for this game doesn't exist. It's not... looking good. Where are the developers?
First, the Elite producers "added" Oculus Rift support as a new technological innovation and a new exciting way, to experience a space flight game, it's not a main feature of the game - but i'm glad, they've decided to let Dev-Kit-OC owners experience a full working game and AAA title ! Thanks Frontier !
The UI and text is definitely harder or easier to read, depending on the resolution, quality and frame rate in the special Oculus Rift menu settings. But with the DK2 and it's camera you can move towards a hard readable text part to make it clearer.
But that's not the Elite developers fault. The only reason is the still not yet good enough resolution of the DK2 (if someone uses DK1 it's much worse). But therefore the DK2 is what it is - it's a developement kit, not yet ready for market and full gameplay fun. If you've decided, to buy a DK2, then you were willing to test this new technical device, taking into account the known and described flaws, it still has. So you can't ask for a perfect gameplay experience for now, since you are just basicly a hardware tester, simply said ...
But once you will be using the DK2 more often, you will get used to those flaws and your eye sight, brain and so on will try to make the best out of it - your senses just have to get used to them. If you put the DK2 on and are awaiting a perfect clear wonderful visual experience, then you were totally wrong, to buy this Dev-Kit and not waiting for the commercial version.
I've got used to the visual flaws now using it since August 14 - testing it, too, with many other demos, experiences and so on.
Once you are getting used to the less resolution display, your brain will start automatically to fill in some missing info, meaning you will learn to make more out of what you see, then there really is. You have to learn and train your brain and eyes, to "see more".
It depends on, too, on the resolution settings. I play with 1920x1200 or 1920x2000 - the even higher resolution gives me more jitter effects (but mainly being inside a station or hangar, not in the open universe and flight, there it's nice and fast) - the highest setting 2560x1440 i probably could use with a better graphic card to make use of supersampling or downsampling, whatever, i guess a GTX970 would do it, i'm using a GTX770 right now.
The higher you set the resolution in the DK2 setting, the better the downsampled graphics on the DK2 screen resolution will look like, the more details will be seen. Because the internal set highest resolution will give the visualy seen resolution more information and this way more options, to select the best information usable on the lower hardware screen of the DK2.
I play mostly in online mode - and it probably depends on, in what area you are operating inside the game, meaning, the more players are in a star system, the more lag you could experience, if you fly in more remote areas and systems, there should be no problem. I'm right now staying in a more lonely area, not really know by many players and i have a nice smooth running Elite game in online mode, doing mining right now in a ring system of a gas planet and the station to sell my stuff is just a flight minute in super cruise away - making average 150k or more in about 2 hours of mining work - mostly looking (and finding
) silver, palladium, platin, gold (using a Cobra with 24 cargo spots).
And with the DK2 it makes me feel really flying through all those floating, rotating rocks and enjoy the sight of the huge gas planet or the stars and milky way band around ! I play it too on normal 2D screen - and i know it's crisp and clear there, but i look at a monitor and the room around me is always there - i look out of a window to the right and see a garden ... I know i don't have the resolution in the DK2 yet, to compete, but the feeling of being in my spaceship and flying through space is unbeaten.
If the consumer version of the Oculus Rift will be released with good resolution (lots of details, good readable text) and faster framerate settings possible (even smoother, no jitter in stations maybe), then i know already now, that it will be working, because i'm testing right know with the DK2.
You are using the mouse ?? For what reason ? I'm using a Saitek X52 controller system - the immersion with a system like that is just perfect in Elite, because it relates exactly in it's look, feel and positioning to what you see in your cockpit and your virtual pilot body is holding and using. Most of the needed controls can be mapped on those many buttons and coolie hats, and for a easier way of handling i'm using a cheap voice controlling software called "Voice Attack" - it only costs about 8 Euro or Dollars and it's worth more then it costs. It reacts really exact and fast, understands most orders added flawlessly. I use it for instance to raise or lower the gears, open close the cargo scoop, boost control - but i have a setup long order list with many orders setup for voice control, but since i have many on the X52 controller, i only need a few orders to be spoken - even i can give all orders by voice, i find it quicker and easier (for your voice) to use the buttons on the controllers.
So - i never use the mouse at all, when i play Elite with DK2 - only to start the game, yes.
About extended or direct mode, i gave an answer in a post before ...
