The Rift has shipped!

[Cmdr Kharma]

Got this....

maznow.jpg (184.45 KiB) Viewed 1965 times

Waiting for this.....

mazfb.jpg (50.02 KiB) Viewed 1965 times

[TorTorden]

Got this....

maznow.jpg

Waiting for this.....

mazfb.jpg

I'l trade you.

I wish I could even afford a regular practical car let alone those, but since I don't have one I get to do dumb impractical shit like get a rift

[thebs]

Preface: Sorry for the delay. My wife is in the middle of the core of her PhD dissertation, and she had a hard drive crash. Although she has all of her files, and we have a backup system, she needs her notebook for school and presentations. So I was reloading it last night.

So, basic info ...

Performance w/i7-4970K + GTX 980 Ti:

Got a constantly 90fps, until ...

Inside the rings drop down the performance to 75fps+ (minimum framerate)

Mining laser cutting drops it further to 60fps+ (minimum framerate)

Ice mining can be as low as 45fps+ (minimum framerate) with its added effects

Luckily I don't feel dizzy because I'm A) sitting down, and B) not moving much when mining. But still, I notice it ... but only slightly because my LCD was only 60Hz prior. So for all but rings, GTX 980 Ti and GTX 1070 are sufficient. For mining, a GTX 1080 would be better, although I suspect even ice mining might drop under 90fps with a GTX 1080.

Usability w/Prescription Glasses ...

Until the Head Mounted Display (HMD) itself warms up over 30+ minutes, fogging is a real issue. There are solutions for this, and I found Baby Shampoo also works to prevent condensation.

The smaller your prescription glass frames, the better and, surprisingly, even my small lenses have "compatible" FoV. I have small frames and very flat, oval lenses that let me look down, underneath when I read close (nearsighted, but have become more farsighted when I have my glasses on as I age). I say "compatible" because one's FoV is "limited" (but not really v. a TV) in the HMD, because ...

It feels like I'm sitting in front of a 4 meter TV with a 4:3 aspect ratio -- kind likebeing in the sweet, middle spot of a big IMAX (not those "neighborhood baby IMAX") theaters. I do not want to go back to a TV. My prescription glasses end up giving more of a 21:9 (2.35:1) movie screen aspect ratio -- I can see all the way to the left and right, just not all the way up and down. But I don't notice that looking around. I can see everything in my cockpit, total, situational awareness.

Regarding tracking ...

It's 1:1, unlike the more "suggestive" head tracking in front of a TV. Definitely feels 10x more "natural"

NOTE: Might be the 90Hz display that is causing me to feel it more "smoothly" than the 60Hz/16ms TN panel LCD TV. I guess that's why people love 144Hz G-Sync monitors too. I never realized how 90Hz+ makes a difference in the tracking "response" (on-screen), more than the visuals.

Which brings me to ... the coolest things about Elite in VR ...

The 3D sensor display ... it's 10x better in VR! Totally awesome! Clean, clear ... just love it!

Galaxy and System Maps "look" better, more informational, with an "usability" caveat (see "a few gripes")

You are "more aware" of your surroundings, far better than just "head tracking" (which is already better than without) ... mining, stations, combat, etc... It's like the same "jump" from non-head tracking to head tracking on a TV, now again in VR.

The immersion ... just cannot say enough. I guess the best way to put it is this ... if you've ever been in a good planetarium, at the center, elevated, and having that 180 degree, half-sphere view up and down the sides, imagine that both above and below you -- 360 degree spherical -- and then things become 3D. Purposely limited my first 2 hours to goofing around, seeing what it could do. I also got the SRV out and let my wife experience it in a way I didn't have to worry about her killing my progress. Even sitting it the cockpit, looking at your own body and shoulders, rules.

The Oculus Rift resolution and text convergence anti-aliasing is "just perfect." I'm glad I did not get the HTC Vive with the aliasing and other issues in Elite currently. Which brings me too, a few gripes ...

Being in a 4m IMAX aka 360 degree planetarium, you're going to want higher resolution than is feasible today with video cards and displays. The 2160x1080 or whatever it is lets you see the little details. The cockpit is pretty good, but it's clear there's a limit. It's clear you're in a video game. You go from being 1080p or even 1440p in a LCD, and now you feel like you're in 720p by comparison ... not because the fidelity isn't there, but because you're "immersed in the screen" far more and need even greater fidelity.

Picking things with the mousein the Galaxy and System maps suck, absolutely. The Galaxy map I can understand, it's 3D, but the System map is not, it's a fixed, 2D plane (with 3D bodies on it). They need to fix the System map like they did the mouse with head tracking in the station panels a few releases back (was it 2.0 when they fixed it?). I got the joystick + throttle thumb nipple, plus one of the dials on the throttle, in my X55 to be usable in the Galaxy map, but the System map really needs some mouse work as it's just too slow. No reason the mouse cannot work well in that, since everything is in a 2D plane.

You are totally dependent on your HOTAS. The keyboard you cannot just "look down towards" (and would be difficult outside my glasses any way).

It's easy to "fidget" with the spacer and fit. Just loosen the sides, then the top, and don't play with it too much. You get used to it.

VR hair is a real problem, along with face creases from the headgear. My wife laughs now when I come out. Understand I have very thick hair, but just cut it for a reason. Not really a big gripe, but I won't play after taking a shower, only at night or before showering before work.

More info, maybe even a few pictures of my glasses and headgear for comparison, when I have time. As far as "other toys" ...

Off Topic

Got this....
maznow.jpg
Waiting for this.....
mazfb.jpg

Whenever I get tired of the Rift, I just recently traded one of these -- which are cheap for us Americans (<<US$50K -- it's not that we don't love Porsches and Ferraris, they are just too expensive in the US for the same handling and performance of a GM) for a '16 Camaro SS (which is just as fast, and handles just as good, despite the height/weight, other than breaking) ...

K-x Test: Florida Home and Car by Bryan Smith, on Flickr

[JustSomeGuy]

You just might need a GTX 1080 for that 90fps.
Just tried a GTX 1070 in an icefield, with fps locked to 60. When firing lasers, on first rock GPU usage was around 75% but on the 2nd rock it was 95% as it was smaller so that I could see much of the field too and not just one big ice cube filling the screen.
This was on 1440p screen with pretty high settings (mostly high quality settings, some on ultra), and I watched the GPU usage with GPU-Z.

I hope this helps.

^Edit: Took one more rock, went really close so there was a lot of particles flying around. Fps dropped to 40 while drilling.

[thebs]

You just might need a GTX 1080 for that 90fps.
Just tried a GTX 1070 in an icefield, with fps locked to 60. When firing lasers, on first rock GPU usage was around 75% but on the 2nd rock it was 95% as it was smaller so that I could see much of the field too and not just one big ice cube filling the screen.
This was on 1440p screen with pretty high settings (mostly high quality settings, some on ultra), and I watched the GPU usage with GPU-Z.

I hope this helps.

^Edit: Took one more rock, went really close so there was a lot of particles flying around. Fps dropped to 40 while drilling.

I've yet to see less than 47fps, that was my lowest ever shown by the nVidia framerate display with the Rift on. That was in a very dense ice field with all sorts of objects. I cannot believe the level of detail in the VR. I almost just want to live in that icefield.

My CPU is the i4-4790K, a previous gen CPU, but 4.0GHz, 4.4GHz Turbo. I was going to play with overclocking the GTX 980 Ti, but since I just dropped $670 + $130 for a new notebook + 2yr accidental package for my wife (her existing 30 month old unit, even repair, is no longer ideal as a primary -- and it's worth saving my time in money to get a new one), I really don't want to buy a GTX 1080 yet, like if I cause issues with my GTX 980 Ti due to permanent damage via transconductance (it's only 3 months old now).

Could I afford one? Yes. No mortgage (own home outright), only 1 car payment (which isn't any daily driver, and already 2/3rds paid off -- largely thanx to my Corvette trade), and only my business revolving debt card has any balance (I try to pay cash for everything). But if I spend $700-800 here, $500-600 there, every 2-3 months, it quickly adds up.

[TorTorden]

I have seen less than 45.
But that was in a full wing on a planet and they where all reporting somewhat "wierd" behaviour.
A restart of the game and everything was honky dory smooth again.

I am not really seeing to much of the god in fact maybe even less than the vive but I suspect my glasses interacted with the lenses there compounding the issue.

http://imgur.com/a/pmQPt

Here's my glasses, the vive has a bit more space to spare. But to me it really isn't much of an issue once either is on.
Taking them on and off though is less than optimal for either.

[thebs]

I have seen less than 45.
But that was in a full wing on a planet and they where all reporting somewhat "wierd" behaviour.
A restart of the game and everything was honky dory smooth again.

I am not really seeing to much of the god in fact maybe even less than the vive but I suspect my glasses interacted with the lenses there compounding the issue.

I just really feel Oculus benefited from the time they spent developing it, even if they had supply and logistical issues that impacted consumers and their brand.

I'm still pro-HTC Vive because of the SteamVR ecosystem. Facebook has some really nasty terms in the Oculus EULA, and Valve is making the SteamVR API consistent across all platforms, including SteamOS (GNU/Linux/GL-AL).

http://imgur.com/a/pmQPt
Here's my glasses, the vive has a bit more space to spare. But to me it really isn't much of an issue once either is on.
Taking them on and off though is less than optimal for either.

Yep, my frame and lenses are very, very similar in size.

[TorTorden]

Yeah it's quite sad though the vive just feel like it could do really well with another year of development.
I am also getting a bit of sticker shock from the titles in the oculus store.
But that is mostly since I have so far gotten use to the prices in the steam vr section.

And that was also during the big summer sale.