Well I've tried the Rift in Elite now for a few days.. (Vive owner comparison)

[shreddog]

Vive owner for 2 years now. Never liked playing Elite in VR. It always was cumbersome and made me sick.
Bought the Rift on sale about 2 months ago, to play their exclusive titles, but really haven't got around to use it very much(not at all with Elite), before now.

And I have to say I am absolutely shocked and appaled... I am actually enjoying Elite in VR with this thing! Infact it is awesome. WTH is going on?

-I've had no VR sickness, even when playing for hours.
-The headset is so light and comfortable I barely notice having it on. The Vive is a facehugger compared to it.
-I can now use System map and Galaxy map without any issues. Those 2 made me sick pretty fast before.
-The screen quality is superb. I don't even have to use any supersampling. It looks great.
-The built in audio pads really is convenient instead of fumbling with ear plugs. And it sounds allot better, especially the bass.
-The feeling of immersion/being in a spaceship is actually there now.


Could the Vive have been that bad?! So I checked. I disconnected the Rift and booted up SteamVR, launched Elite and strapped that now heavy Vive to my face. Wat?! [where is it] It looked horrid! The worst wasn't the obvious increased pixellation, but it was the lighting and shadows.. Where as the Rift had smooth shadows and realistic lighting, I now looked to have stepped into a overly lit scene with contrast boosted beyond any sane levels. It was like stepping back a generation in graphics. Things also seemed a bit more flat(I think). Also the galaxy backdrop, distant nebulaes and stars did not look anything near as good as in the Rift.
I double checked graphic settings, and gamma to make sure that wasn't causing the huge differences. Same settings on both headsets(default gamma and Ultra graphics), but huge differences in game. The Rift is simply that much better.

No wonder people have been recommending the Rift for Elite. I should have listened. Night and day difference!

I would be highly skeptical on buying a Vive Pro if you have a Rift already..

 

[Filmgeek47]

I agree with everything you said till you got to the vive pro.

The night and day experience you're having going from the og vive to the rift is multiplied over again moving to the pro. Ergonomics are amazing, resolution increase is fantastic.

The issue with the OG vive is primarily that the effective pixel density is lower, on account of having the same number of pixels spread over a wider FOV. Also, I think frontier dropped the ball optimizing for the og vive, whereas with the pro you've got enough extra pixels that it just looks awesome, regardless of optimization.

Either way, the rift is heads and shoulders above the og vive!

 

[TheHavoc]

Vive owner for 2 years now. Never liked playing Elite in VR. It always was cumbersome and made me sick.
Bought the Rift on sale about 2 months ago, to play their exclusive titles, but really haven't got around to use it very much(not at all with Elite), before now.

And I have to say I am absolutely shocked and appaled... I am actually enjoying Elite in VR with this thing! Infact it is awesome. WTH is going on?

-I've had no VR sickness, even when playing for hours.
-The headset is so light and comfortable I barely notice having it on. The Vive is a facehugger compared to it.
-I can now use System map and Galaxy map without any issues. Those 2 made me sick pretty fast before.
-The screen quality is superb. I don't even have to use any supersampling. It looks great.
-The built in audio pads really is convenient instead of fumbling with ear plugs. And it sounds allot better, especially the bass.
-The feeling of immersion/being in a spaceship is actually there now.


Could the Vive have been that bad?! So I checked. I disconnected the Rift and booted up SteamVR, launched Elite and strapped that now heavy Vive to my face. Wat?! [where is it] It looked horrid! The worst wasn't the obvious increased pixellation, but it was the lighting and shadows.. Where as the Rift had smooth shadows and realistic lighting, I now looked to have stepped into a overly lit scene with contrast boosted beyond any sane levels. It was like stepping back a generation in graphics. Things also seemed a bit more flat(I think). Also the galaxy backdrop, distant nebulaes and stars did not look anything near as good as in the Rift.
I double checked graphic settings, and gamma to make sure that wasn't causing the huge differences. Same settings on both headsets(default gamma and Ultra graphics), but huge differences in game. The Rift is simply that much better.

No wonder people have been recommending the Rift for Elite. I should have listened. Night and day difference!

I would be highly skeptical on buying a Vive Pro if you have a Rift already..

And THIS ! I experienced exactly the same, so I do not understand at all why the Vive shall play the same league as the Oculus does. Last one is better in every aspect: brighter/better colours, much less screendoor, lighter weight, and, what is the biggest advantage, ASW. ASW allows you to run a lower/"weaker" hardware configuration as it would be required for the Vive but even then with a better performance.

@ Vive Pro: check the many storms on many forums, of course it is now better then the Oculus (no wonder as it has been developed later when first industrial experience were made with DV1, DV2, Oculus CV1 and Vive), but the price is completely through the roof and not justified at all.

 

[Toumal]

I run the vive with slight oversampling, which brings the visual quality up to a level where multiple people including myself have said they can't distinguish any differences. Using default settings I agree and it's actually an Elite Dangerous problem rather than a Vive issue. It looks like a resolution mismatch, and the result is excessive aliasing that spans multiple pixels on the vive.

On the other hand, I found the motion tracking on the Oculus to be limited. Roomscale is a huge investment and depending on your room setup you may never get even close to how well it works on the Vive.

If you know you just want to play sitting games like ED, then the Oculus is absolutely hands down the better purchase. If you also want to play things like serious sam, Payday 2 etc. then the Vive is the way to go. Using supersampling you can at least get the graphics up to a comparable level, but you need a beefy GPU.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

I run the vive with slight oversampling, which brings the visual quality up to a level where multiple people including myself have said they can't distinguish any differences. Using default settings I agree and it's actually an Elite Dangerous problem rather than a Vive issue. It looks like a resolution mismatch, and the result is excessive aliasing that spans multiple pixels on the vive.

On the other hand, I found the motion tracking on the Oculus to be limited. Roomscale is a huge investment and depending on your room setup you may never get even close to how well it works on the Vive.

If you know you just want to play sitting games like ED, then the Oculus is absolutely hands down the better purchase. If you also want to play things like serious sam, Payday 2 etc. then the Vive is the way to go. Using supersampling you can at least get the graphics up to a comparable level, but you need a beefy GPU.

Still. No matter of supersampling will sort the fact that the first gen vive was barely a devkit in concerns of comfort.

And the lenses themselves has such a tiny field of focus you have to move and physically look directly at something clearly where as in the rift.
You can barely make out the entire sensor screen without having to move your head.
No such problem in the rift.

There is a reason why my vive has spent most of its time in the box.

 

[popuptoaster]

I wouldn't say room scale is that much of an investment? I bought a third camera for my OR for about £50 so i have full 360 movement if I want it but it also seems to improve the tracking when facing forwards as well. I think because i have mine up at ceiling level even facing forwards all three sensors can see the headset, it certainly feels very steady and responsive now anyway.

 

[ZeroAi]

Vive owner for 2 years now. Never liked playing Elite in VR. It always was cumbersome and made me sick.
Bought the Rift on sale about 2 months ago, to play their exclusive titles, but really haven't got around to use it very much(not at all with Elite), before now.

And I have to say I am absolutely shocked and appaled... I am actually enjoying Elite in VR with this thing! Infact it is awesome. WTH is going on?

-I've had no VR sickness, even when playing for hours.
-The headset is so light and comfortable I barely notice having it on. The Vive is a facehugger compared to it.
-I can now use System map and Galaxy map without any issues. Those 2 made me sick pretty fast before.
-The screen quality is superb. I don't even have to use any supersampling. It looks great.
-The built in audio pads really is convenient instead of fumbling with ear plugs. And it sounds allot better, especially the bass.
-The feeling of immersion/being in a spaceship is actually there now.


Could the Vive have been that bad?! So I checked. I disconnected the Rift and booted up SteamVR, launched Elite and strapped that now heavy Vive to my face. Wat?! [where is it] It looked horrid! The worst wasn't the obvious increased pixellation, but it was the lighting and shadows.. Where as the Rift had smooth shadows and realistic lighting, I now looked to have stepped into a overly lit scene with contrast boosted beyond any sane levels. It was like stepping back a generation in graphics. Things also seemed a bit more flat(I think). Also the galaxy backdrop, distant nebulaes and stars did not look anything near as good as in the Rift.
I double checked graphic settings, and gamma to make sure that wasn't causing the huge differences. Same settings on both headsets(default gamma and Ultra graphics), but huge differences in game. The Rift is simply that much better.

No wonder people have been recommending the Rift for Elite. I should have listened. Night and day difference!

I would be highly skeptical on buying a Vive Pro if you have a Rift already..

+Rep

Thanks for sharing - when I got my first VR headset most said Elite worked better with Rift so I went that route.

I wouldn't say room scale is that much of an investment? I bought a third camera for my OR for about £50 so i have full 360 movement if I want it but it also seems to improve the tracking when facing forwards as well. I think because i have mine up at ceiling level even facing forwards all three sensors can see the headset, it certainly feels very steady and responsive now anyway.

I also purchased a third camera and enjoy roomscale games on my Rift now too

 

[TorTorden_VR]

I wouldn't say room scale is that much of an investment? I bought a third camera for my OR for about £50 so i have full 360 movement if I want it but it also seems to improve the tracking when facing forwards as well. I think because i have mine up at ceiling level even facing forwards all three sensors can see the headset, it certainly feels very steady and responsive now anyway.

Again, it's old notions that persists in the community.

The fact that the rift isn't suited for roomscale was true back when the Touch controllers simply did not exist, and the rift package was a single camera and the xbx controller.
Now with touch and two cameras in the package the difference in roomscale play abillity is almost vanishing.
Adding a third would pretty much seal the difference. And it would still be half the price.

Yes, the valve system is more capable if you got the room, but how many have an unfurnished room of 5mx5m to spare ?
I can barely scratch out 1.5mx2m, and the cameras track fine up to almost 3m.
When playing the rift system actually seem slightly more responsive, but that could be me.
So far the only real problem with the rift for roomscale has been the shorter cable, but even that compared to the clunky monstrosity the vive first shipped with..

Also the vive wands are clunky as hell when compared to the touch controllers.
But what else would you expect from a dev-kit that was rushed to production, if you watched the dev commentary for Valve's the Lab they mention the fact that they only got the wands until a few weeks before the vive itself launched, and then they only had one or two pairs between each department.

As far as I am concerned HTC only has done one thing right so far, and that was beating oculus to the punch with a few months, and they have been floating on this notion that "oculus is subpar for roomplay" ever since.

 

[VR Cmdr Paine]

My experience with the vive and rift is totally opposite to yours OP are you sure you spent the time setting the Vive up right? also i'd recommend the DAS (deluxe audio strap) for better comfort.

As someone who owns both the Vive and Oculus CV1, The optics/displays on the CV1 are one of its weakest areas.. it has harsher god rays,fishbowl warping/distortion (maybe thats my ipd 71.4), poor stereo overlap resulting in less 3d depth, boxy FOV which lacks mainly Vertical and some Horizontal FOV but MOST of all a dim washed out screen which has awful black levels and smearing.. The bigger FOV (6mm face pad) and better brightness/contrast and deeper blacks are main reason i use my vive mostly these days, I'm not saying the Vive is perfect with its concentric ring problem (un modded) but with a 6mm Pad and DAS its better for me.

also the touch controllers feel nice and offer better hand presence but the hand pose is almost identical on both rift and vive, IMO its more about where the hand is modeled in game. I can see where sticks have an advantage but also feel old fashioned and out of place in VR, touchpads are far more versatile and current, also the trigger feels cheap compared to Vive and is not two stage, the handle part is too small so tool/gun presence is inferior also the haptic feedback is really weak on touch also I found close interaction occlusion to be worse, So to say touch controllers are flat out better is wrong they both have their strong points.

You really need at least a 980Ti to make ED look good on the Vive (I'm running a 1080ti at 1.5 SS in game) and 1.5 in steam VR also needs a fair bit of tinkering a 6mm pad is a must IMO

PS I've now done the Gear VR lens mod on my Vive and it really is no contest now.. I see virtually no god rays or concentric rings, text is pin sharp over 85% of the screen its looks glorious tbh

 

[Benji85]

My experience with the vive and rift is totally opposite to yours OP are you sure you spent the time setting the Vive up right? also i'd recommend the DAS (deluxe audio strap) for better comfort.

As someone who owns both the Vive and Oculus CV1, The optics/displays on the CV1 are one of its weakest areas.. it has harsher god rays,fishbowl warping/distortion (maybe thats my ipd 71.4), poor stereo overlap resulting in less 3d depth, boxy FOV which lacks mainly Vertical and some Horizontal FOV but MOST of all a dim washed out screen which has awful black levels and smearing.. The bigger FOV (6mm face pad) and better brightness/contrast and deeper blacks are main reason i use my vive mostly these days, I'm not saying the Vive is perfect with its concentric ring problem (un modded) but with a 6mm Pad and DAS its better for me.

also the touch controllers feel nice and offer better hand presence but the hand pose is almost identical on both rift and vive, IMO its more about where the hand is modeled in game. I can see where sticks have an advantage but also feel old fashioned and out of place in VR, touchpads are far more versatile and current, also the trigger feels cheap compared to Vive and is not two stage, the handle part is too small so tool/gun presence is inferior also the haptic feedback is really weak on touch also I found close interaction occlusion to be worse, So to say touch controllers are flat out better is wrong they both have their strong points.

You really need at least a 980Ti to make ED look good on the Vive (I'm running a 1080ti at 1.5 SS in game) and 1.5 in steam VR also needs a fair bit of tinkering a 6mm pad is a must IMO

PS I've now done the Gear VR lens mod on my Vive and it really is no contest now.. I see virtually no god rays or concentric rings, text is pin sharp over 85% of the screen its looks glorious tbh

I stopped reading after you said the Vive had better controllers
And the fact you had to actually remove and change the lenses (voiding warranty I presume) for some oculus gear vr lenses to actually make it half decent says it all

 

[TorTorden_VR]

I stopped reading after you said the Vive had better controllers
And the fact you had to actually remove and change the lenses (voiding warranty I presume) for some oculus gear vr lenses to actually make it half decent says it all

It's HTC.
What warranty?

 

[Benji85]

It's HTC.
What warranty?

Surly it has 1 year at least? :O

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

It's HTC.
What warranty?

Ten years ago I bought myself a brand new just released sim free htc smart phone; 29 days later it died in my pocket on a beautiful summers day - not too hot and sweaty, not rainy or cold, just fresh bright mild. The phone went back for warranty repair, HTC declined the repair, allegedly water damage, and invoiced me £75 for inspecting my phone. Numerous articles on the web about that model HTC Pearl Touch battery / motherboard / charging connector dodgy wiring that makes exactly the symptoms my phone failed with.

Gues who's never getting another penny of mine...

 

[TorTorden_VR]

Ten years ago I bought myself a brand new just released sim free htc smart phone; 29 days later it died in my pocket on a beautiful summers day - not too hot and sweaty, not rainy or cold, just fresh bright mild. The phone went back for warranty repair, HTC declined the repair, allegedly water damage, and invoiced me £75 for inspecting my phone. Numerous articles on the web about that model HTC Pearl Touch battery / motherboard / charging connector dodgy wiring that makes exactly the symptoms my phone failed with.

Gues who's never getting another penny of mine...

I suppose it's what we get for buying electronics assembled by children...

 

[popuptoaster]

I wanted the OR because most of the reviews I could find where they tested both it and the Vive and seemed to be unbiased put the OR just in front of the Vive in most use cases, especially in the seated games such as driving and flying games that i was most likely to want to play, only usually having it drop points due to having no controllers at that time. I was still debating buying when Oculus dropped the price for the kit containing the controllers and two cameras which (along with buying an extra camera) seemed to sort out any of the areas where it had lost out to the Vive so I went for it at that point and have not regretted it.

I owned a Pimax 4K for a while and it had better displays than either Vive or Rift, and for the games I like it did the job very well except that it had serious tracking issues, it would drift badly often depending on the magnetic field where you happened to be!! If they can sort out the position sensors on the new 8k one it might actually be a better bet for this type of game without the ability to get up out of your pilot seat at the moment.

 

[Full_Ninja]

My experience with the vive and rift is totally opposite to yours OP are you sure you spent the time setting the Vive up right? also i'd recommend the DAS (deluxe audio strap) for better comfort.

As someone who owns both the Vive and Oculus CV1, The optics/displays on the CV1 are one of its weakest areas.. it has harsher god rays,fishbowl warping/distortion (maybe thats my ipd 71.4), poor stereo overlap resulting in less 3d depth, boxy FOV which lacks mainly Vertical and some Horizontal FOV but MOST of all a dim washed out screen which has awful black levels and smearing.. The bigger FOV (6mm face pad) and better brightness/contrast and deeper blacks are main reason i use my vive mostly these days, I'm not saying the Vive is perfect with its concentric ring problem (un modded) but with a 6mm Pad and DAS its better for me.

also the touch controllers feel nice and offer better hand presence but the hand pose is almost identical on both rift and vive, IMO its more about where the hand is modeled in game. I can see where sticks have an advantage but also feel old fashioned and out of place in VR, touchpads are far more versatile and current, also the trigger feels cheap compared to Vive and is not two stage, the handle part is too small so tool/gun presence is inferior also the haptic feedback is really weak on touch also I found close interaction occlusion to be worse, So to say touch controllers are flat out better is wrong they both have their strong points.

You really need at least a 980Ti to make ED look good on the Vive (I'm running a 1080ti at 1.5 SS in game) and 1.5 in steam VR also needs a fair bit of tinkering a 6mm pad is a must IMO

PS I've now done the Gear VR lens mod on my Vive and it really is no contest now.. I see virtually no god rays or concentric rings, text is pin sharp over 85% of the screen its looks glorious tbh

Have you tried this with the DAS https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/8aq0pv/new_dasog_frankenmod/ I find it perfect for seated

 

[A D]

Haven't tried the Vive, but happy with the Rift for all the reasons given in this thread.

What I can say is you don't need to be a mind reader to see where this thread is heading - Rift, Rift, Rift. Better headset and costs less than Vive. Personally, I don't have any problem recommending the Rift to new players who are thinking about VR. Would hesitate recommending the Vive based purely on what I have read.