Oculus Rift

[Sn8ke]

Thinking about buying it. Yay or nay? I'm currently flying on a 4K screen. How does it look, and how does it change the overall experience?

[boedha68]

I absolutly knows that it not flies like a 4k screen. Drop it back to lower then HD. I know they say that VR has a long way to go. sorry. I hope someone responds with a OR.

[Nooch]

I've talked to a fellow simmer today who had the chance to try an oculus and he said he was disappointed by the resolution, coming from a 4k monitor also.

[hansangb]

Of course it's a disappointment when compared to 4K. But I tried 4K DCS. And it *PALES* in comparison to VR. Because of the immersion. If beautiful (2D) pictures are your primary motivation, don't jump into VR.

 

If *flying* is the primary concern (the sense of flight, the sense of motion, the sense of speed, the sense of altitude, the situational awareness), I would recommend VR. The immersion is something that cannot be adequately explained with words. There's a thread on it.

[Sn8ke]

I've heard the OR displays 1080P, but could have sworn someone described it adds a degree of immersion at the cost of grainy resolution, which not justify a $600 purchase in my opinion.

[hansangb]

Just don't try it; because if you do, you'll see what everyone is clamoring about. Clearly, it makes no difference if you buy it or not (to me). I'm not a fanboy of Rift (I bought a Vive too), but I am a fan of VR.

 

Having you been playing flight sim's for a while? Or other games? I can draw parallels, but it won't mean anything if you never played the games.

[Sn8ke]

Just don't try it; because if you do, you'll see what everyone is clamoring about. Clearly, it makes no difference if you buy it or not (to me). I'm not a fanboy of Rift (I bought a Vive too), but I am a fan of VR.

 

Having you been playing flight sim's for a while? Or other games? I can draw parallels, but it won't mean anything if you never played the games.

 

Been flying sims for two decades, and FPS games.

[Tricky11]

I have been gaming for years. Now I got a oculus rift I will not play a game that does not support VR. Nuff said

[Goblin]

I have been a flightsimmer since the -80ies and the Commodore 64.

VR is the single most important invention in flightsimming, ever.

 

That's the short version.

 

The long version is of course more complicated.

 

Even if todays VR HMD's have better than HD resolution, your eyes are so close to the displays that you can see the void between the pixels. This produces a grid, commonly known as 'the screen door effect'. This, of course, means that you will see the pixels as well. Sitting 3 ft away from your 4K screen can not be compared to VR. It just can't. Not if you're interested in picture perfection and clarity. In addition, your PC has to produce two separate display feeds for VR. One for each eye. That's not something a PC does without breaking a sweat.

So, you may have been spoilt by great FPS in ultra high graphics settings, on a 4K screen, like I was. Ok, I had a curved UWD screen but anyway... I got a Oculus Rift CV1, and I can't fly on a 2D screen any more... The perfect view tracking and the 3D vision, with depth perception, is so close to reality (yes, I fly real aircraft for a living) that a 2D screen and TrackIR just won't cut it any more.

Turning my head 90 degrees to my side to see the the side view, and the fact that if I focus on the wing everything beyond that will become out of focus, just like in the real world, makes my simple mind believe that there actually is a wing and a world out there, inside my VR HMD.

I don't care that it's not 4K resolution. I get so bloody immersed in the experience that I try to lift my hand to shield my eyes from the sun, or reach for the canopy handle...

 

VR isn't about screen resolution, although advances in technological hardware will improve upon this as well. Once we enjoyed sims at 640x480, or even lower resolutions. Advancing technology have increased the resolution, and we all reap the benefits of that. But that doesn't mean we weren't having fun at lower resolutions...

Edited November 9, 2016 by Goblin

[Sn8ke]

Thanks for your inputs. I'm convinced I should make the purchase

[squid509]

Thanks for your inputs. I'm convinced I should make the purchase

 

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

 

every thing that was said here is true could not agree more

 

now after talking to some of my buddies who tried my rift CV1. one of the less PC savvy one went straight out a bought one with out checking to see if his PC can run it. since your running 4k you should be good. but I would run the SteamVR Performance Test or there is a new free version of VRmark and you will need 2 USB 3 ports available

[NeilWillis]

It's amazing that people who have obviously not got a Rift are giving advice about buying one! How do you have the nerve to suggest what other people do when you clearly have no experience of the items in question?

 

A wise decision has been made by the OP anyway it seems. There are issues with VR, as it is still in it's infancy. Resolution needs to be increased, and the Oculus Rift could do with some additional interfacing so you can work without the keyboard.

 

The first issue will be resolved when there are PCs powerful enough to cope with the increased graphics loadings, and displays have been developed further.

 

The second issue can already be solved with Voice Attack, or similar voice activated software.

 

That said, the Rift is already a game changer. The immersion factor alone makes it very worth the investment. You sit IN the cockpit rather than looking at one. You get much better depth perception (of course).

 

I would never hesitate in recommending anyone buys it, regardless of the lower resolution. It truly is a game changer.

[Neldrion]

@davidzill

 

Just be sure to keep your expectations low. It's basically comparable to a 1024x768 picture with headtracking and integrated sound.

 

The resolution in the Oculus Rift varries a lot in different situations. It is not a set in stone resolution like we know it from desktop monitors. Movement, focus, sweet spot of the lenses and many things combined define the perceived resolution.

 

That is the technical side, specs and stuff. The other side what you want to do in VR, what aspects apply to you are very subjetive.

 

I have been using the Oculus Rift with DCS for about 4 weeks now. DCS is my #1 application in VR. #2 is racing sims (Project Cars).

 

For DCS I would separate in 2 categories:

1. If you fly an arcraft you already know and your hotas is configured and all the transition to VR is very easy. In this category I can guarantee you that it will be a quite fun experience.

2. If you fly an aircraft you dont know yet and have to learn from scratch is another story beacuse you have to take off the headset very often to read checklists, make settings, get to the windows desktop to configure your hotas settings etc.

 

All in all I can absolutely 100% recommend VR for DCS (and racing/space sims).

For conventional gaming titles it would not recommend it, those are still gimmicky, but DCS is the real deal :)

[huzar]

What others said! After three weeks with Rift I won't be flying on 2D screen any more. Shame as it leaves out BMS and CoD, but there are couple of others simms with VR support. Immersion far outweighs the issues.

 

I was sooo disappointed with the screen quality on the beginning, especially screen door effect was very distracting for me. I have geforce 970 so I can't just max out all settings but finally found ones that works really well. I found that increasing pixel density from 1.5 to 1.7 makes a big difference and combined with MSAA x2 plus some AA the picture is as good as probably it can get, all dials readable and target spotting not much worse than on my 1440 screen. And ASW makes it possible even on my 970.

Coming from 4K you will be disappointed with VR picture but most people think it's worth it. Some don't, others can't get over motion sickness so try it if you can.

[louisv]

I have been gaming for years. Now I got a oculus rift I will not play a game that does not support VR. Nuff said

 

High five !

 

Same here...I haven't played anything in 2D since I got my rift (and 1080).:thumbup:

[DB 605]

I have been a flightsimmer since the -80ies and the Commodore 64.

VR is the single most important invention in flightsimming, ever.

 

That's the short version.

 

The long version is of course more complicated.

 

Even if todays VR HMD's have better than HD resolution, your eyes are so close to the displays that you can see the void between the pixels. This produces a grid, commonly known as 'the screen door effect'. This, of course, means that you will see the pixels as well. Sitting 3 ft away from your 4K screen can not be compared to VR. It just can't. Not if you're interested in picture perfection and clarity. In addition, your PC has to produce two separate display feeds for VR. One for each eye. That's not something a PC does without breaking a sweat.

So, you may have been spoilt by great FPS in ultra high graphics settings, on a 4K screen, like I was. Ok, I had a curved UWD screen but anyway... I got a Oculus Rift CV1, and I can't fly on a 2D screen any more... The perfect view tracking and the 3D vision, with depth perception, is so close to reality (yes, I fly real aircraft for a living) that a 2D screen and TrackIR just won't cut it any more.

Turning my head 90 degrees to my side to see the the side view, and the fact that if I focus on the wing everything beyond that will become out of focus, just like in the real world, makes my simple mind believe that there actually is a wing and a world out there, inside my VR HMD.

I don't care that it's not 4K resolution. I get so bloody immersed in the experience that I try to lift my hand to shield my eyes from the sun, or reach for the canopy handle...

 

VR isn't about screen resolution, although advances in technological hardware will improve upon this as well. Once we enjoyed sims at 640x480, or even lower resolutions. Advancing technology have increased the resolution, and we all reap the benefits of that. But that doesn't mean we weren't having fun at lower resolutions...

 

Totally agreed. I've also played sims since late 80's, there is no way to go back to regular monitors anymore. At first, i was disappointed with resolution but i got over it very soon. Sitting in real life sized cockpit of your favourite fighter is simply mind blowing in first time. :)

[Neldrion]

When I come home I often see the headset sitting besides my desk and I think to myself: wow that little thing has inside it a whole spectrum of aircraft. It is one little helmet that encompasses fighterjets, groundattack aircraft, helicopters... it is so beautiful.

 

You put it on and enter your personal F-15 space. After a few times you get the feeling of returning to your "workplace" cockpit. It has the quality of memory of a specific space you were. That differs a lot from the monitor experience.

 

Many people have described it allready but I will repeat it: Scale is the key here. You look out the canopy of your ground attack aircraft and see the ordnance under your wings and you realize.. oh shit... some of those ground missiles/bombs have the mass of a small car :)

 

The 3D 6DOF cockpits are just beautiful.

 

This is VR Generation 1. It is a very good start. And we as sim enthusiasts are the first to have a 100% compatible full flegded sim aka DCS World. We are lucky.

 

Thinking about Generation 2 of VR is not necessary at this point but I tend to forget that and think ahead and it is glorious :) One thing I think will make it to Generation 2 is: the rift has this black cloth surrounding the lenses on the inside. In Gen 2 they will make it white cloth, put LEDs behind it and they will lighten up depending on the scene like ambient light on TVs. So when they are not illuminated you have black. When the scene has sky around you they are illuminated in sky blue. They dont have pixel information, but you cant see details in your peripheral vision. It expands your FOV artificially. Because FOV cannot get significantly higher in the actual dimensions of headsets. Ok and resolution will increase.

 

Other stuff like foveated rendering, eye tracking, hand tracking will not come for a long time. Gen 4 the earliest.

[metzger]

Same for me. I had Oculus rift DK2 and sold it to buy CV1. In the meantime I just did not play anything it is not the same anymore. If I have to use flat screen again I most probably will stop playing.

 

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[metzger]

In addition as the others have sayd, there are issues, sdh is annoyng(more than the resolution for me) the frame outside the fov, the rift itself is not perfectly comfortable etc.. and the godrays...

 

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[Leader98]

When using a monitor you play a sim game...

When using the Rift you are inside the simulator!

 

No going back to 2D screens here.

[Icebear]

When using a monitor you play a sim game...

When using the Rift you are inside the simulator!

 

No going back to 2D screens here.

 

Exactly my thoughts Leader98!

[Mango]

I'm probably the only one that went back to a monitor, only because my PC can't get the necessary FPS to drive VR. But now that I'm know what I'm missing, it's just not as fun as it used to be. :)

[Sn8ke]

I finally purchased an OR the other day. I may have to do some further setting up; FPS with two 1080 GTX's and a 4.9ghz core i7 wasn't what I expected.

 

Plus: Wow you are fully immersed, as if you got sucked into DCS world...true 3D cockpit, you really feel like you are there...not just looking at a monitor.

 

Negative: FPS needs work, maybe I can do a few things to smooth it out. Resolution was "OK" but bearable...Do I need to change my resolution settings in game options? I cant read any of my displays, etc., I don't know how I'm going to do maverick strikes like that.

 

I know VR in in its early stages, I am not going to walk away from OR, once I get used to it I am sure it will probably use it exclusively in DCS.

[SageOT]

Did you up the Pixel Density in the VR tab? With that set up you should easily be able to go to 2.0. 99% of the gauges should be readable then, and those that are still just a smidge fuzzy can be picked up using the VR zoom.

[hansangb]

Yes, Pixel density, and Async Space Warp which required registry settings or comes default (I'm told) with the latest OR update.

 

Also, use flat shadows. And don't use 1080 in SLI mode. Probably hurting more than helping.