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Elite Dangerous and DK2 is one of the craziest things I've ever experinced!

W

wwm0nkey

Member
I've been pretty excited to get my DK2 for awhile now after hearing all the great things about the Rift I got my DK2 in the other day and started trying it out with demos I've been downloading for it over the weak and using it with my 5.1 headset w/ rumble.

While I thought it was really amazing most of the demos weren't really games persay, which is fine because VR isn't only about video games. So I see a lot of people say how good Elite Dangerous is and I saw that it had DK2 support, $75 was a bit steep and I wasn't sure my 750 Ti would run it on the rift. I've never been so happy to be wrong.

I turned my volume on max and turned my audio rumble on and started the game in the online mode (probably a mistake) and loaded into my ship in this MASSIVE docking bay!
Screenshot_0027.jpg

Seeing this on the Rift alone was a game changer
Click to expand...


Then I use my 360 controller to start heading out and thanks to the vibration of my headsets I can feel the ship humming a little, as I started moving forward near the exit I just look up and go "HOLY SHIT!" looking around at this city I'm about to leave. I finally exit the dock after some...difficulty in driving and I head into space. I turned around to see the city I left and again just went holy shit.

I start moving forward getting used to the controls and adjusting to the cockpit, then I found out looking at objects in the ship with the DK2 triggers their menu to come up instantly which was a cool almost Iron Man like moment. Due to some screen door effect its a bit hard to read but thanks to the DK2 position tracking I can just move a bit closer and see clearly what it says :)
Elite-Dangerous-2.jpg

(example of the menus)
Click to expand...


So while I'm adjusting to the menus I start getting attacked and I hear/feel the lasers hitting my ship. I look up and see someone dive bombing me so I try and speed the hell out of there but got caught in a dog fight in space. Dodging lasers, shooting, going backwards at 200km/s and pulling off cool maneuvers felt soooo good. I can confidently say I have never really had an experience like that before in a game, even though I've done things like that in games the Rift and natural head movement just added a layer that has been missing and makes things feel truly epic. Anyways I get my ass handed to me and blow up :(

So I respawn and noticed that I could do hyper speed jumps into other systems, so I open up the galaxy map to set a location, this was another holy shit moment but not because of the rift, it was because there were A LOT of places to choose from.
Screenshot-2014-05-15-22.53.54.jpg
Click to expand...

I finally choose a place and make the jump, it felt like the intro to Doctor Who, which I was totally fine with, it was a really cool effect but when I got out of my jump I got my first experience of real presence. As soon as I entered the system I was greeted with a big ass son. The scale of it just made my jaw drop and realize the true scope of this game. Its not something I am going to forget for a long time.

While I was already a believer in the VR future without even trying it, Elite Dangerous showed me it was much more than I thought it was.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
I haven't really been following the Oculus story much... I didn't really pay much attention to the Edge cover story. But I'm starting to get excited for this thing. It's still going to be pretty expensive but it seems like it will be totally unique.

PC probably won't be able to handle much.
 
V

Vuze

Member
I hope you haven't spilled your beer :)

It's always great to read reaction posts like this. I still have to wait a few weeks (hopefully just weeks... ordered March 24th) until I get my DK2 - so excited to experience VR for the first time. Thanks for sharing! I might look into Elite Dangerous even tho I'm not into space games.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Serrato said:
Elite Dangerous is awesome. And i'm jealous of you, you and your DK2.

I should get one too!
Click to expand...

If you don't mind the screen door effect and know what you're getting into, I say go for it. But remember CV1 will hit in 2015 so you may want to wait too since that will have improved resolution which means less of a screen door effect.
 
S

Serrato

Member
wwm0nkey said:
If you don't mind the screen door effect and know what you're getting into, I say go for it. But remember CV1 will hit in 2015 so you may want to wait too since that will have improved resolution which means less of a screen door effect.
Click to expand...

The screen door effect? While I know what VR is, I didn't really push my research. And ya, I do wait for the CV1. It's soon!
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Hands down, far and away the best VR experience. Bar none. This is the most mind blowing game I've ever experienced. The VR is so amazing, and it results in tangible benefits to the player - VR players are obliterating those without VR because of how much it improves your ability to fly.

I said in another topic - I have a PS4, I have an Xbox One, I have a WiiU - and this is the first thing I could point to and say it truly feels Next-Gen. It's so far beyond anything else I've ever played. I haven't been this wow'd by a game since I got my dreamcast in 1999. This is such a huge step forward.

Docking for my first time in VR is exhilarating. It's so complex, so much stuff to do, and none of it's automated. It feels like you're actually flying this huge craft. Approach the station, signal on a hailing frequency, request permission to dock, fly back out to get a good trajectory to enter the station, rotate your ship to line up, enter the station, find an open dock, hover above it, look over to your right and flip on the landing gear, look down at your radar which now is showing you info on how to land, position yourself over the landing spot with your thrusters. Align... align... slightly rotate and align... now descend. Slowly! Don't crash! Wait for the arm to lock you into place, then marvel as you are pulled down into the hull.

So rewarding, so amazing. The more I play it, the more it becomes my GOTY.

I had already given this a lot of play time with my DK1, but DK2 makes an enormous amount of difference. I wish I could show this game to the nay sayers. It's amazing.
 
iceatcs

iceatcs

Junior Member
Every flight/driving VR games alway the best feeling to me. I think it is because I can't walk move naturally when using VR, just like those games.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Krejlooc said:
Hands down, far and away the best VR experience. Bar none. This is the most mind blowing game I've ever experienced. The VR is so amazing, and it results in tangible benefits to the player - VR players are obliterating those without VR because of how much it improves your ability to fly.

I said in another topic - I have a PS4, I have an Xbox One, I have a WiiU - and this is the first thing I could point to and say it truly feels Next-Gen. It's so far beyond anything else I've ever played. I haven't been this wow'd by a game since I got my dreamcast in 1999. This is such a huge step forward.

Docking for my first time in VR is exhilarating. It's so complex, so much stuff to do, and none of it's automated. It feels like you're actually flying this huge craft. Approach the station, signal on a hailing frequency, request permission to dock, fly back out to get a good trajectory to enter the station, rotate your ship to line up, enter the station, find an open dock, hover above it, look over to your right and flip on the landing gear, look down at your radar which now is showing you info on how to land, position yourself over the landing spot with your thrusters. Align... align... slightly rotate and align... now descend. Slowly! Don't crash! Wait for the arm to lock you into place, then marvel as you are pulled down into the hull.

So rewarding, so amazing. The more I play it, the more it becomes my GOTY.

I had already given this a lot of play time with my DK1, but DK2 makes an enormous amount of difference. I wish I could show this game to the nay sayers. It's amazing.
Click to expand...

Im showing it off to a friend today, can not wait to see his reaction as he is a huge space guy and this is like his dream in game/VR form lol
 
V

VindicatorZ

Member
What makes VR special is the sheer sense of scale . It's like gaming on a massive screen, but even better. It LOOKS real. So all these Elite Dangerous players raving about it, that's because they JUST WENT TO OUTER SPACE. Imagine looking down at the Earth or the Sun from space. Imagine how excited you'd be to go to space ? That's what VR is. And it's amazing.


I also would love to play this with the KOR FX haptic feedback vest that was on Kickstarter. It'd let you feel all the vibrations of the ship and guns. Would be amazing.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
getting all this stuff set up properly is very expensive. between my flight stick throttle rudders and wheel stand pro, along with wood for construction of the cockpit, I've spent about $550 total just on the control. adding a $350 oculus rift, and my $1300 computer build, and you're looking at over two grand in gaming material. the game alone is $75. still if you can get everything together, this is as good as gaming gets right now. the pinnacle of home technology in my opinion.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
VindicatorZ said:
What makes VR special is the sheer sense of scale . It's like gaming on a massive screen, but even better. It LOOKS real. So all these Elite Dangerous players raving about it, that's because they JUST WENT TO OUTER SPACE. Imagine looking down at the Earth or the Sun from space. Imagine how excited you'd be to go to space ? That's what VR is. And it's amazing.


I also would love to play this with the KOR FX haptic feedback vest that was on Kickstarter. It'd let you feel all the vibrations of the ship and guns. Would be amazing.
Click to expand...

After playing this I am so fucking happy I kickstarted that. Soooo happy lol

But yeah the sense of scale changes everything.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
VindicatorZ said:
What makes VR special is the sheer sense of scale . It's like gaming on a massive screen, but even better. It LOOKS real. So all these Elite Dangerous players raving about it, that's because they JUST WENT TO OUTER SPACE. Imagine looking down at the Earth or the Sun from space. Imagine how excited you'd be to go to space ? That's what VR is. And it's amazing.


I also would love to play this with the KOR FX haptic feedback vest that was on Kickstarter. It'd let you feel all the vibrations of the ship and guns. Would be amazing.
Click to expand...

I'm in the middle of building a chair with a butt kicker for my cockpit. I can't wait for haptic feedback.

you are dead on about the scale. the asteroids and planets and Space Stations are enormous. there is absolutely nothing to compare it to with conventional gaming. it's something entirely different, it can't be understood until experienced.

edit: I backed kor fx too!
 
E

epmode

Member
Elite is currently the defining VR demo. I've played it for an hour and it's legitimately incredible. You have to try it, GAF.
 
E

Evo X

Member
Awesome. I just got my DK2 yesterday and have been trying out a bunch of demos. Might pick up Elite Dangerous based on your impressions.

So everything works fine with an xbox 360 controller? The only reason I didn't pick it up is because I thought it required flight sticks or M/KB.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
epmode said:
Elite is currently the defining VR demo. I've played it for an hour and it's legitimately incredible. You have to try it, GAF.
Click to expand...
the crazy thing is I fully expect for project cars to be similarly as mind blowing. VR is about to get really incredible really fast
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Evo X said:
Awesome. I just got my DK2 yesterday and have been trying out a bunch of demos. Might pick up Elite Dangerous based on your impressions.

So everything works fine with an xbox 360 controller? The only reason I didn't pick it up is because I thought it required flight sticks or M/KB.
Click to expand...

I have had 0 issues with my 360 controller, You will need to use the J key to do your hyper space jumps though but its not even that big of a deal.
 
E

epmode

Member
Evo X said:
Awesome. I just got my DK2 yesterday and have been trying out a bunch of demos. Might pick up Elite Dangerous based on your impressions.

So everything works fine with an xbox 360 controller? The only reason I didn't pick it up is because I thought it required flight sticks or M/KB.
Click to expand...

You're probably going to want more than a 360 pad. Even though it's not anywhere near the complexity of a real flight sim, space sims like Elite still have a LOT of controls that you'll want to use very often. The Rift blocks normal vision so using the keyboard isn't a great option.

But I could be crazy and I'm only trying to justify my $300 HOTAS purchase. WORTH IT IMO
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
epmode said:
You're probably going to want more than a 360 pad. Even though it's not anywhere near the complexity of a real flight sim, space sims like Elite still have a LOT of controls that you'll want to use very often. The Rift blocks normal vision so using the keyboard isn't a great option.
Click to expand...

When I get the cash I'm saving up for the flight sticks that they used in the game, already get a weird sense of presence looking at the arms and I'm sure that will be ampped if I get the right sticks.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Evo X said:
Awesome. I just got my DK2 yesterday and have been trying out a bunch of demos. Might pick up Elite Dangerous based on your impressions.

So everything works fine with an xbox 360 controller? The only reason I didn't pick it up is because I thought it required flight sticks or M/KB.
Click to expand...
Elite uses every button on a flight stick. with a gaming controller you'll need to use a keyboard. that doesn't play very well with vr. I recommend a flight stick.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Rogue_Ledr said:
Why does there seem to be a screen door effect on DK2, but not DK1? Its like the technology degraded in that sense.
Click to expand...
Development Kit one had a much more noticeable screen door effect. the screen door effect has been vastly reduced with development kit 2.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Can someone actually send me a link to the flight sticks they used to model the inside of the ship in this game? Might be selling some stuff to get it sooner lol
 
P

puffyshirt

Banned
I'm going to ask a super noob question here. If I bought an DK2, whether through preorder or another means, do I have absolutely all equipment necessary to hook it up to my PC and being using the Rift? Or is there other stuff I need to buy?
 
F

flyinpiranha

Member
Man, wish the price of entry wasn't so steep. $75 is too rich for my blood especially if I would be a lucky one of the "jutter" bug people.

Great write up though. Wish I knew somebody with an account so I could try it.

Who lives in Portland,OR with access, you come over and install on my machine, you can try it with my Rift! LOL
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
puffyshirt said:
I'm going to ask a super noob question here. If I bought an DK2, whether through preorder or another means, do I have absolutely all equipment necessary to hook it up to my PC and being using the Rift? Or is there other stuff I need to buy?
Click to expand...

You will be all good to go. I recommend a 360 controller too and for this people are recommending a flight stick (I can still use a 360 controller on it though)
 
E

epmode

Member
Krejlooc said:
Development Kit one had a much more noticeable screen door effect. the screen door effect has been vastly reduced with development kit 2.
Click to expand...

Speaking from experience, it's still not enough. Good VR is going to take some serious hardware. ..which isn't diminishing Elite on DK2 or anything! It's just that it can look so much better!

puffyshirt said:
I'm going to ask a super noob question here. If I bought an DK2, whether through preorder or another means, do I have absolutely all equipment necessary to hook it up to my PC and being using the Rift? Or is there other stuff I need to buy?
Click to expand...

Your video card needs to support two screens. Most cards do so you're probably OK. You also need two free USB ports and one regular electrical outlet.
 
R

Rogue_Ledr

Banned
Krejlooc said:
Development Kit one had a much more noticeable screen door effect. the screen door effect has been vastly reduced with development kit 2.
Click to expand...

Ahhh OK, it must just be those pics.

What exactly causes this "screen door" effect?

Is it part of the way the 3D works?

Edit: Ahhhh it seems its the screens themselves. I wasn't aware of this aberration.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Rogue_Ledr said:
Ahhh OK, it must just be those pics.

What exactly causes this "screen door" effect?

Is it part of the way the 3D works?
Click to expand...
the optics so close to your face that the gap between pixels is noticeable. that causes the screen door effect. development it to use a pentile subpixel matrix which has a much better sub pixel scatter that helps reduce the screen door effect in addition to being higher resolution.
 
E

Evo X

Member
Rogue_Ledr said:
Ahhh OK, it must just be those pics.

What exactly causes this "screen door" effect?

Is it part of the way the 3D works?

Edit: Ahhhh it seems its the screens themselves. I wasn't aware of this aberration.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you'll notice it on any screen if you look at it extremely close up like the Rift.
 
S

Stop It

Perfectly able to grasp the inherent value of the fishing game.
My word, seeing this just makes me want Elite now, and a DK2.

I Kickstarted the game but only at the release tier, so need to wait but this is making things painful.

I hope this game is at Eurogamer hooked up to the DK2, I need to experience this.
 
Buggy Loop

Buggy Loop

Member
I tried a DK1 from a friend a while ago and i was impressed with the titans of space demo. Now im playing Elite dangerous since premium beta and have no VR... Im waiting for consumer version but damn, its hard on the soul to read all those impressions. When looking at a planet or a sun, the sense of scale really portraits these huge celestial bodies? Even more than the Titans of space demo?

Reddit user also posted raving impressions of Elite + DK2

"TL:DR Dude... dude... I wept over a game. What!? Yes. It happened."
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Michael abrash and Palmer luckey theorized that it would be a space sim that would have the first mainstream appeal for VR. considering the imitators like no man's sky or star citizen that are coming out, I could see the space cinema genre becoming huge suddenly. is well positioned as it has a recognizable legacy behind it. it's a great update for a revolutionary series. I hope this game gets everything it deserves.
 
T

Tain

Member
I've played the prior Elite games a bit but wasn't following Elite Dangerous very closely. My DK2 came in and I wound up picking up the Elite beta while starving for content. I grab my Rift, configure my cheapo flight stick, boot it up, and since then I've been flipping out nonstop. The game itself seems awesome so far, but the Rift is such a central part of the experience. I can't separate the two.

The menus are slick and like butter! The space station is above me and beautiful and real! Motherfucker shattered my canopy glass! My cockpit is freezing! I have to look up or to the sides to properly see targeted entities because of this damage! Death is meaningful! This game rules so much.

I can't imagine this game without SOME form of head tracking, and I don't plan on playing it without the Rift ever.
 
F

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
I have to agree with the OP. I am completely in awe of this game. This is the paradigm shift.

OP, check out DCS as well. It's a free flight simulator on Steam. In the DK2 it is the most thrilling experience I've ever had in a game. It really feels like you're flying.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
this game makes me laugh because it's shatters all the narratives about PC gaming. it's a big budget indie exclusive that is using bleeding edge technology in ways no other game is in an established 3d non first person shooter genre. this game with an oculus rift is everything that is great about PC gaming today.

edit oh yeah it's also not on Steam.
 
C

Conezays

Member
My DK2 should be arriving over the next few weeks. I'm still a bit on the fence about the $75 price tag, but I'm definitely interested.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Conezays said:
My DK2 should be arriving over the next few weeks. I'm still a bit on the fence about the $75 price tag, but I'm definitely interested.
Click to expand...

that's $15 more than a normal game. just consider it a VR tax. you get the full retail version of the elite when it launches as well. I personally paid $150 for it.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Oh also if anyone wants some 5.1 headsets with vibration on it. These are the ones I got and they are at a VERY nice price.

LINK

If you are getting the Rift you NEED headsets, there is no way around that, it just adds a lot to the VR experience.
 
C

Conezays

Member
Krejlooc said:
that's $15 more than a normal game. just consider it a VR tax. you get the full retail version of the elite when it launches as well. I personally paid $150 for it.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it's not worth it, or comparable to a $60 (though, honestly, on PC I rarely ever pay that given discounts, sales, etc), just a bit steep for me at the moment.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Conezays said:
I'm not saying it's not worth it, or comparable to a $60 (though, honestly, on PC I rarely ever pay that given discounts, sales, etc), just a bit steep for me at the moment.
Click to expand...

I normally don't pay more than that as well. I was simply explaining my rationalization for the price. I'm more okay with this and normal because that money also funds development. it's more like an extended Kickstarter with an immediate demo to me.
 
C

Conezays

Member
Krejlooc said:
I normally don't pay more than that as well. I was simply explaining my rationalization for the price. I'm more okay with this and normal because that money also funds development. it's more like an extended Kickstarter with an immediate demo to me.
Click to expand...

Knowing the sparse full-fledged content out just yet, I'm sure I'll give in and bite once the DK2 arrives, Lol.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Conezays said:
Knowing the sparse full-fledged content out just yet, I'm sure I'll give in and bite once the DK2 arrives, Lol.
Click to expand...
if you're dying for content I also recommend playing some game cube and Wii games in vr. they hold up very well. I particularly recommend F Zero GX and Zelda Wind Waker.
 
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