VR or not to VR that is my question......

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Hi guys & girls

Ive been playing for about 2 months now and am loving it, i haven't bothered gaming regularly in over 15 years but am hooked after my cousin introduced me to this game.

Ive gone from not gaming to this, i was so engrossed that after a few hours i bought a thrustmaster HOTAS and after 4 weeks moved o the Saitek X52pro. I have a multi monitor setup anyways or a 4k 60" screen to play on but being a bit of a tech head anyways i have now turned my gaze towards VR headsets.

I haven't even looked through one yet & i need to upgrade my PC GPU to 1080ti (tomorrow) as i built the PC with a 660ti, (good card but wasn't really intending on gaming again), the rest of the PC kicks A so no issues there.

I'm after opinions of people who actually uses them though. 'Yes do it', 'for god sake stay away', regrets, tech issues Vive or Oculas etc etc

I figure there's no one better to ask then those already using for my intended purpose.

Cheers

Alan (CMDR Mav359)

i have been playing ED in VR since the DK2 was officially supported. there is no other way i would play it now. i have a 70inch gaming TV under my pc, which is largely unused.
PS is the 1080ti out already? i do not follow gpu tech as i used to.

 

[RhymeRhyme]

100% Yes! I play with the RIFT and if moneywise buying a VR set doesn't hurt you ... 100% Yes! Go for it.

It's a game changer. First time I put on my RIFT it was woooooow, then 1st time I played Elite with the RIFT it was just an ultra cool experience. The game is a different game and if you like it already a lot, the RIFT or VIVE is a must have as it literally throws you right into the game. You're not watching the game, you're in the game.

Sometimes I just stay docked at a station and watch the traffic coming in switch to external cam and enjoy the atmosphere. Or I just float outside a station (the ones with the long rotating square pipes) and watch them rotate, coming in, reflecting the sunlight, passing me and disappear in the dark. It's reaaaally cool.

And here's a cool soundtrack as well. If you got your RIFT (or VIVE), switch off the ingame music and start this space music playlist while playing. You will like it! ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bqQy8fusQQ&list=PLmGEbmwqAA4IYqCuH3bHzTVVtdpG6N4IJ&index=9

 

[RhymeRhyme]

Wow thats all very positive....

Do we think its worth waiting for GEN2, anyone know when that might be? I'm still upgrading the GPU anyway but i have found a company that rents them out, might rent a unit to have ago and see if i can't nail down a next gen date, i'll buy it now and then they'll release a new one after Christmas probably

If you love Elite, go for CV1 already and sell it if CV2 is available. I think the biggest step to a new generation will be the resolution enhancement and this can take a while as the market isn't ready yet. People just invested in super PCs and spent a lot of money. Double resolution would mean more or less douple GPU power and I think that not many people are willing to buy a 2 x 1080Ti rig right now. I wouldn't like to spent another 1.000 EUR within the next 12 months.

 

[the100thmonkey]

i have been playing ED in VR since the DK2 was officially supported. there is no other way i would play it now. i have a 70inch gaming TV under my pc, which is largely unused.
PS is the 1080ti out already? i do not follow gpu tech as i used to.

No Ti version yet.

- - - Updated - - -

If you love Elite, go for CV1 already and sell it if CV2 is available. I think the biggest step to a new generation will be the resolution enhancement and this can take a while as the market isn't ready yet. People just invested in super PCs and spent a lot of money. Double resolution would mean more or less douple GPU power and I think that not many people are willing to buy a 2 x 1080Ti rig right now. I wouldn't like to spent another 1.000 EUR within the next 12 months.

The big VR engines don't support SLI right now anyway. Unreal has SLI-VR in the pipeline, but I've not heard anything about it for months.

 

[RhymeRhyme]

Maybe also interesting for you if you think about waiting for the next VR generation. The pic shows 4K in 5 years time frame.

http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadg...ng-und-kuenstliche-intelligenz-a-1128737.html

 

[Exigeous]

I know I'm a bit late to the party here but I'm going to sum up my opinion on VR with Elite in a very simple way. I've had my Rift since launch, was a Kickstarter backer and as such got mine in the first batch. I have over 550 hours of play time in it in Elite alone so probably near 700 total with other games. With Eilte I sum it up to other players like this.

You're playing a great video game with some beautiful scenery and great combat.

I'M FLYING A F'ING SPACE SHIP.

Which would you enjoy more? There's a link in my signature to a guide I wrote about immersion in Elite which obviously includes VR. If you're curious, or just wanna see pretty pictures, give it a click.

~X

 

[the100thmonkey]

Lenovo announced a $400 2880x1440 VR headset at CES yesterday. It weighs 350g and comes with a hinge system for the visor.

 

[Exigeous]

Lenovo announced a $400 2880x1440 VR headset at CES yesterday. It weighs 350g and comes with a hinge system for the visor.

Damn that thing looks pretty fantastic, but knowing Lenovo it won't be on the market until next fall. If they want to hit the $300 price point they've stated with panels that nice and inside-out tracking they're gonna have to wait some until the parts become more comoditized. I do think 1440p might be the sweet spot for VR as right now 4k is just too much for current gen graphics cards to drive, at least at 90-120 hz. When I compare my LG G3 that is 1440p in a nice Google Cardboard headset (knock off Samsung Gear VR device) to my Rift at 1080p the difference is rather huge. As we know there is a great deal of screen door in the Rift but with the G3 at 1440p there is almost no screen door at all, certainly not any that you would notice or complain about. I'm not sure why Oculus and HTC didn't go for 1440p out of the gate as current top end PCs could drive that okay and I can't imagine the panels would have cost that much more. That said they were already priced rather high and perhaps adding both cost and needed PC power they would have risked many of the rather slow sales they've gotten. Slow in terms of the overall gaming market.

 

[mp4x]

Damn that thing looks pretty fantastic, but knowing Lenovo it won't be on the market until next fall. If they want to hit the $300 price point they've stated with panels that nice and inside-out tracking they're gonna have to wait some until the parts become more comoditized. I do think 1440p might be the sweet spot for VR as right now 4k is just too much for current gen graphics cards to drive, at least at 90-120 hz. When I compare my LG G3 that is 1440p in a nice Google Cardboard headset (knock off Samsung Gear VR device) to my Rift at 1080p the difference is rather huge. As we know there is a great deal of screen door in the Rift but with the G3 at 1440p there is almost no screen door at all, certainly not any that you would notice or complain about. I'm not sure why Oculus and HTC didn't go for 1440p out of the gate as current top end PCs could drive that okay and I can't imagine the panels would have cost that much more. That said they were already priced rather high and perhaps adding both cost and needed PC power they would have risked many of the rather slow sales they've gotten. Slow in terms of the overall gaming market.

Also, the increased resolution means increased system requirements, so I think keeping the price down AND system specs down, by way of the sceeens they used, in this first wave of VR was probably a good idea

 

[govny]

Damn that thing looks pretty fantastic, but knowing Lenovo it won't be on the market until next fall. If they want to hit the $300 price point they've stated with panels that nice and inside-out tracking they're gonna have to wait some until the parts become more comoditized. I do think 1440p might be the sweet spot for VR as right now 4k is just too much for current gen graphics cards to drive, at least at 90-120 hz. When I compare my LG G3 that is 1440p in a nice Google Cardboard headset (knock off Samsung Gear VR device) to my Rift at 1080p the difference is rather huge. As we know there is a great deal of screen door in the Rift but with the G3 at 1440p there is almost no screen door at all, certainly not any that you would notice or complain about. I'm not sure why Oculus and HTC didn't go for 1440p out of the gate as current top end PCs could drive that okay and I can't imagine the panels would have cost that much more. That said they were already priced rather high and perhaps adding both cost and needed PC power they would have risked many of the rather slow sales they've gotten. Slow in terms of the overall gaming market.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/05/windows-vr-headsets-dell-hp-acer/

 

[Exigeous]

Also, the increased resolution means increased system requirements, so I think keeping the price down AND system specs down, by way of the sceeens they used, in this first wave of VR was probably a good idea

Absolutely, sorry I didn't mention that or clarify as you are 100% exactly right. While they've been able to lower the requirements to the GTX 960 VR in it's current form is very taxing on a system and already needs a $1k or $1.5k PC to drive it. When I got my Rift I not only spent $600 on it but I spent another $750 to upgrade to the GTX 1080 (when they released a shot time after). For $1350 alone you could build a very good gaming PC and buy 3 27' displays to go with it (not quite but close).

Like all VR pilots I'm looking forward to the hardware in about 2-3 years. 3rd generation VR is going to be incredible, once we can drive dual 4k displays with a 200+ degree FOV and no God-rays the immersion will be near complete. Of the big 3 issues (screen door, God rays, FOV) the one that bugs me the most is the FOV. Feeling like I'm looking at the world in a scuba mask is a major bummer.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/05/windows-vr-headsets-dell-hp-acer/

Saw those as I've been following CES coverage. At a previous job I went every year from 2008-2014 but haven't been since (what a great show for a geek). While it's exciting to see more enter the space as the more VR we get the better I'm doubtful that many of these will actually come to market. It seems to me this is a "me too" reaction by many companies as they don't want to be seen as falling behind in cutting edge technology. I think soon we'll look at headsets the way we look at monitors, just another peripheral. I've always thought it strange that Oculus wants to call the Rift a "platform" - sure that's good for their bottom line but imagine if someone had called 1080p displays a platform when they hit the market. I obviously understand VR is far more complicated than a simple monitor but soon we'll look on it in a far more simple way than today, especially as the tracking moves to the headset with no need for external cameras/etc. In a few short years headsets will drop below $300 with 4k and a huge field of view. I'm greatly looking forward to that day.

Okay, time to go get back in my Asp to get interdicted by another Thargoid. Damn that's an incredible experience in VR!

 

[cheru2016]

I received my HTC yesterday.

The answer is to VR.

Eyyy, congrats mate! Isn't it great when you try it for the first time??
I had my first go at PAX this year and when I returned to Sydney the day after, I literally bought one that very day.

What games do you have your eyes on first?

 

[Greyhawk]

Lack of decent games / software is killing VR at the moment. Apart from a handful of titles, everything else is a converted mobile game, game coded by 3 blokes in a loft or a demo.

Also the price seriously needs to come down and quickly.

 

[mp4x]

And I plan to get every headset on the way there! Screen door doesn't bother me so much, my 50" plasma screen look the same from a meter or so away. I dont WANT it there but it doesn't kill it for me.

Absolutely, sorry I didn't mention that or clarify as you are 100% exactly right. While they've been able to lower the requirements to the GTX 960 VR in it's current form is very taxing on a system and already needs a $1k or $1.5k PC to drive it. When I got my Rift I not only spent $600 on it but I spent another $750 to upgrade to the GTX 1080 (when they released a shot time after). For $1350 alone you could build a very good gaming PC and buy 3 27' displays to go with it (not quite but close).

Like all VR pilots I'm looking forward to the hardware in about 2-3 years. 3rd generation VR is going to be incredible, once we can drive dual 4k displays with a 200+ degree FOV and no God-rays the immersion will be near complete. Of the big 3 issues (screen door, God rays, FOV) the one that bugs me the most is the FOV. Feeling like I'm looking at the world in a scuba mask is a major bummer.

Hah, well I've had it for a little over 3 months now, my Steam library has about 60 titles but ED and ETS2 are my main games, both are part of the reason i got VR in the first place. I play all the usual ones, Onward, AS, *waveshooter, etc as they come out..

Eyyy, congrats mate! Isn't it great when you try it for the first time??
I had my first go at PAX this year and when I returned to Sydney the day after, I literally bought one that very day.

What games do you have your eyes on first?

It's not killing it, at all, but you're right that any joker that does a $100.00 Unity course online calls themself a "VR Dev."

Lack of decent games / software is killing VR at the moment. Apart from a handful of titles, everything else is a converted mobile game, game coded by 3 blokes in a loft or a demo.

Also the price seriously needs to come down and quickly.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I think there is some decent stuff for vr now..

I dont own all of them (but most)

Elite
Assetto corsa
Pcars
War. Thunder
Dcs flight sim
Fsx with mod
Doom 3 bfg with free mod
Arizona sunshine
Brookhaven experiment
Space pirate trainer
Vanishing of ethan carter
Subnautica
Adr1ft
Eleven table tennis
Sport bar vr
Euro trucj sime 2
American truck sim
Fantastic contraption
Job simulator
Dead and buried
Pinball fx 2
Super hot
Serous sam vr
Edge of no where
Luckys tale
The climb
Solus project
Dirt rally
Eve Valkyrie
Oculus sports vr
Minecraft
New retro arcade
No limits 2
The outsider
Defence grid

There are surely more, i could list another 20 but the point is, there shoukd be something for everyone with most genres covered

 

[Asp Explorer]

Obduction is also pretty good in VR, especially if you liked Myst or Riven

 

[cpt course]

If you have the specs for it I would defiantly go for VR, I have the Vive myself but my PC is a bit dated so struggles to keep above 50 fps in stations, I don't use VR when I need the use of another screen, but if I'm just playing the game defiantly VR

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Does elite support asynchronous reprojection on the vive?

Its not magic and it has its limits but ASW on the rift is great for low end rigs

 

[mp4x]

Yes, it does. When they introduced it, we all got a performance boost

Does elite support asynchronous reprojection on the vive?

Its not magic and it has its limits but ASW on the rift is great for low end rigs

 

[kiario]

The only thing that made me to sell my OC rift was the awful field of view. Everyting else I can live with but that fov looks like you play the game through a toilet paper tube.