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[Hellshadow]

HTC posted setup videos for the Vive on youtube:

Vive headset setup

Base Station setup and mounting

SteamVR Room setup

Pretty good, other than the hilariously bad sound quality for official videos

Do the base stations have to be way up high like that or is eye level ok?

 

[Monger]

Quite odd. Some limitation in Digital River perhaps? Wouldn't surprise me.

Edit: A bug eh? Definitely sounds like a DR thing lol.

For whatever crazy reason they can't update billing information in their system. HTC found a workaround where they cancel your order and create a new one while keeping your place in the queue.

For the first couple of weeks they were just saying you're out of luck and the regular customer service still isn't particularly helpful. You have to ask for HTC e commerce with the 866 number I posted and they can get it fixed in a few minutes typically.

 

[Waikis]

For whatever crazy reason they can't update billing information in their system. HTC found a workaround where they cancel your order and create a new one while keeping your place in the queue.

For the first couple of weeks they were just saying you're out of luck and the regular customer service still isn't particularly helpful. You have to talk to HTC e commerce with the number I posted above and they can get it fixed in a few minutes.

Phew, I had to cancel my order as well this morning and I thought I was being conned by HTC since I didn't really believe that their system can handle that sort of thing.

 

[Zalusithix]

I tried to resist but ultimately, I need to be a part of what I consider to be the biggest gaming paradigm shift since, well, since the first home video gaming device. I started with a Grandstand 38 years ago, I consider myself fortunate to have been around since home video gaming begun, there's no-way I can miss this. I want to be able to say I was there when VR became a reality.

Just pre-ordered. It say "We will start shipping May 2016" (I'm in the UK) but I guess that's way too optimistic and I'll be waiting a while longer....

While there's always a chance things could take longer, I wouldn't count on the estimate being overly optimistic. HTC is a phone manufacturer and is quite used to creating consumer hardware to be sold worldwide at extremely high volumes. Facebook, on the other hand, has zero experience in it. Money can buy a lot of things, but some things just come down to experience and having the groundwork already laid. It's entirely feasible that HTC will meet their projected dates. Hell, they might even beat them (but don't get your hopes up).

 

[bigwinnerx]

I really like the pole solution, but, I think I'm going to use mounts in my office during home use and I got a couple 9 foot tripods for if I take the Vive out of the house. The couple places I can see taking it, work and back home, tripods will be fine.

But the poles are rad.

 

[chubigans]

More importantly, Cook, Serve, VR when?

When I get my own studio and have a dedicated VR team.

Seriously, that's my dream right now. Someday I'll achieve it!

 

[ChainsawFilms]

While there's always a chance things could take longer, I wouldn't count on the estimate being overly optimistic. HTC is a phone manufacturer and is quite used to creating consumer hardware to be sold worldwide at extremely high volumes. Facebook, on the other hand, has zero experience in it. Money can buy a lot of things, but some things just come down to experience and having the groundwork already laid. It's entirely feasible that HTC will meet their projected dates. Hell, they might even beat them (but don't get your hopes up).

I had not considered that. Thanks for the insight. I'll let the bank know tomorrow that a strange payment could come out at any time

 

[Compsiox]

Should be receiving a Vive as part of wave 1 next week. I bought myself a couple of telescopic supporters with attachable mounts for my Lighthouse units. Seems like a popular solution:

Dude the pipe part goes to the ceiling. That is if you want the pipe grips to work correctly. I guess it really doesn't matter.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Should be receiving a Vive as part of wave 1 next week. I bought myself a couple of telescopic supporters with attachable mounts for my Lighthouse units. Seems like a popular solution:

Are those just from the Home Depot or something? My landlord would appreciate me using those rather than drilling holes in the wall lol.

When I get my own studio and have a dedicated VR team.

Seriously, that's my dream right now. Someday I'll achieve it!

Didn't you go pretty far down the X-Wing rabbit hole? I mean... a VR version of that would be the most ridiculously awesome thing ever. Taking licensed work must have a certain appeal to it?

 

[Krejlooc]

Should be receiving a Vive as part of wave 1 next week. I bought myself a couple of telescopic supporters with attachable mounts for my Lighthouse units. Seems like a popular solution:

Where did you order these? Price? I'm looking for a solution.

 

[Geedorah]

Pretty sure one is set up and locked, and the other one is just leaning against the wall to be re-positioned later.

Dude the pipe part goes to the ceiling. That is if you want the pipe grips to work correctly. I guess it really doesn't matter.

Misread, I see - yeah, you want to flip the pole around. It is upsides-down.

Nah lol I meant the encased pipe part but again I guess it doesn't really matter.

Yea, I caught myself in edit.

 

[Compsiox]

Where did you order these? Price? I'm looking for a solution.

This is simply the best solution there is:

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5M39AW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CRDD6Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20

How this works is the support rod extends to the ceiling and holds itself in place. Then you put the pipe grips on them. The pipe grips have the threads to hold the lighthouse.

Edit: this is a copy and paste of my old post hence the explanation

 

[Compsiox]

Pretty sure one is set up and locked, and the other one is just leaning against the wall to be re-positioned later.

Nah lol I meant the encased pipe part but again I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

[MaDKaT]

So tempted to order now. Current holdup is racing games (Dirt Rally, Assetto Corsa) will be my priority. Rift has them but the more I read about the Vive tech the more I think it will be the better purchase.

 

[CosmicQueso]

This is simply the best solution there is:

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5M39AW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CRDD6Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20

How this works is the support rod extends to the ceiling and holds itself in place. Then you put the pipe grips on them. The pipe grips have the threads to hold the lighthouse.

Edit: this is a copy and paste of my old post hence the explanation

THANKS

 

[sk3]

This is simply the best solution there is:

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5M39AW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CRDD6Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20

How this works is the support rod extends to the ceiling and holds itself in place. Then you put the pipe grips on them. The pipe grips have the threads to hold the lighthouse.

Edit: this is a copy and paste of my old post hence the explanation

Nice! I went with this slightly more expensive one because of a larger height range:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000067S12/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[KScorp]

This is simply the best solution there is:

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5M39AW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

2 of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CRDD6Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20

How this works is the support rod extends to the ceiling and holds itself in place. Then you put the pipe grips on them. The pipe grips have the threads to hold the lighthouse.

Edit: this is a copy and paste of my old post hence the explanation

Looks great, thanks for the tip! Gotta measure my ceilings to make sure I get the right size though.

 

[metareferential]

Are those just from the Home Depot or something? My landlord would appreciate me using those rather than drilling holes in the wall lol.

I'm Swiss, so I'm going all-Emmenthal on my walls. Fuck the landlord xD

 

[Compsiox]

Nice! I went with this slightly more expensive one because of a larger height range:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000067S12/?tag=neogaf0e-20

No problem! The listing has two types. The shorter one (linked) and the longer one.

 

[valeo]

So tempted to order now. Current holdup is racing games (Dirt Rally, Assetto Corsa) will be my priority. Rift has them but the more I read about the Vive tech the more I think it will be the better purchase.

Does it really matter for racing games, though? Vive's attraction is the room-scale VR.

 

[metareferential]

Does it really matter for racing games, though? Vive's attraction is the room-scale VR.

I'm a huge racing game fan, I have a pretty great setup and I'm already using a DK2... but the hype is all about room-scale.

Some really simple games look incredible with the added immersion of moving around the space.

Something like Budget Cuts is so impressive. Who cares about cars anymore xD

 

[Monger]

Phew, I had to cancel my order as well this morning and I thought I was being conned by HTC since I didn't really believe that their system can handle that sort of thing.

I went through the process last weekend and my card was charged today if that helps.

 

[Wollan]

Where did you order these? Price? I'm looking for a solution.

I found them amazon:
Supporters
Mounts

 

[Nzyme32]

Do the base stations have to be way up high like that or is eye level ok?

They do not have to be high up, however that is the recommend setup as it allows for the lowest possibility of occlusion, largest possible play area between the lighthouses and lowest possibility of lighthouses being knocked - which is an awful experience as the world will go tumbling too.

From my experience with DK1:

• Lighthouses at 5ft high - no issues, I tried hard to oclude the controllers and headset. Although in theory there is an increased risk of occlusion from your body / arms getting in the way of a lighthouse. Increased risk of knocking the lighthouses
  
• Lighthouses not pointed at a downward angle - reduced play area size possibilities due to the housing of the lighthouses and possibly the surface it is on causing occlusion of the floor below them. The higher the lighthouses, the lower the play area if not angled down.
  
• Lighthouses on the floor tilted up - still works fine, but a much larger chance of occlusion of lighthouses by your body. Much larger risk of knocking lighthouses, which is bad.

I could have sworn there was a video that proved this is also true with Vive Pre, but no idea where I saw it

EDIT: Found it - VR Mythbusting: Lighthouse Tracking at Lower Heights

Also - VR Mythbusting: Tracking with only one Lighthouse Base

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Do the base stations have to be way up high like that or is eye level ok?

You have the potential for issues if you do that. If you can obstruct the view of one base station to the other with your body there is the potential for them getting out of sync. You could run the sync cable between the two base stations, but that's just more cables you need to run through your space but it theoretically should be fine in terms of tracking due to the high FOV.

You really want them above you looking down for best results in tracking accuracy. Highly recommended you mount them to the wall if possible or get tripods.

*Edit* Welp, I decided to bite the bullet. Put in my pre-order for the Vive and estimated ship date of May. Still incredibly impressed that HTC has been able to keep their ship dates reasonable and how no-nonsense the Vive shipping has been. Makes me confident that I'll get it in May, though I'd imagine it's going to be at the end of May rather than the beginning.

The problem I need to figure out is how the hell am I going to make space for the Vive... The room where my computer is in has maybe 3 feet x 4 feet if I move my furniture around so the wall and my monitors are still going to be in range of my arms and it's under minimum requirements for the Vive. I have a spare bedroom (same size as my current one) but that would require me to lug my PC back and forth when I want to do the Vive and then sit in a chair (this is my chair so you can see the problem. It's concerning a bit to me because I won't be able to actually extend my arms to aim in games like Space Pirate Trainer or Hover Junkers which I'm super pumped for. I may just end up cancelling which would be really disappointing due to this, but since I have some time I at least wanted to reserve my place in line and think about it. Hopefully I can join you Vive'rs soon.

 

[Yoritomo]

I'm a huge racing game fan, I have a pretty great setup and I'm already using a DK2... but the hype is all about room-scale.

Some really simple games look incredible with the added immersion of moving around the space.

Something like Budget Cuts is so impressive. Who cares about cars anymore xD

I have a full high end fanatec clubsport setup and I still went with the Vive.

The vive will be compatible with the range of current racing sims before the oculus touch is released.

 

[Compsiox]

Here's my roomscale VR space at least for now:

Snapple box for scale

 

[Zalusithix]

Here's my roomscale VR space at least for now:



Snapple box for scale

Needs more lens flare.

 

[Compsiox]

Needs more lens flare.

I agree apologies. Ill be sure to take another during the day with all the curtains up.

 

[metareferential]

Here's my roomscale VR space at least for now:

Not bad.

I should be able to free a space of about 3.5x3.5 meters.

High ceiling.

Should be enough for most experiences.

 

[Onemic]

Man looking at all the purchases Im making in preparation for VR is insane

Vive - $1150
Thrustmaster T300RS wheel - $450
Thrustmaster T3PA Pro pedals - $190
Thrustmaster TH8A gear shifter - $200
Thrustmaster TFlight HOTAS X - $65
New PC - $1250
Kingston HyperX II - $100
980ti *or* Pascal 1080 - $850-1700(might SLI depending on performance gains in VR)

Total - $4255 - $5105

Not even including new steam purchases made mainly because of VR like Dirt Rally and Project Cars

 

[MaDKaT]

Does it really matter for racing games, though? Vive's attraction is the room-scale VR.

Room scale is certainly something I want and I look forward to those experiences
/games, I also now have the room but I also want racing as those are the type of games I play most. My hope is that we will see a VR detectable wheel or some talented dev will figure out how to "see" the position of my wheel and shifter and replicate the position virtually.

 

[Zalusithix]

I agree apologies. Ill be sure to take another during the day with all the curtains up.

I just found it amusing lol. After all the grand "here's my VR area" posts where they're fancy rooms or overlooking nice vistas, it's almost refreshing to see a bog standard room with bad lighting!

Man looking at all the purchases Im making in preparation for VR is insane

Vive - $1150
Thrustmaster T300RS wheel - $450
Thrustmaster T3PA Pro pedals - $190
Thrustmaster TH8A gear shifter - $200
Thrustmaster TFlight HOTAS X - $65
New PC - $1250
Kingston HyperX II - $100
980ti *or* Pascal 1080 - $850-1700(might SLI depending on performance gains in VR)

Total - $4255 - $5105

Not even including new steam purchases made mainly because of VR like Dirt Rally and Project Cars

I'm not sure if I should be saying congratulations or offering my condolences. =P Could be worse though. You could be getting a Fanatec wheel setup instead. The Thrustmaster is a veritable bargain in comparison.

 

[Compsiox]

I just found it amusing lol. After all the grand "here's my VR area" posts where they're fancy rooms or overlooking nice vistas, it's almost refreshing to see a bog standard room with bad lighting!

Gee thanks I love you too

 

[metareferential]

Now that I think about it: I need a HOTAS.

Good thing I already have a full Fanatec setup xD

 

[MyleMan1010]

Now I have an Oculus AND a Vive preorder. I blame you Gaf! I fall for hype real easy......

 

[Sky Chief]

I just found it amusing lol. After all the grand "here's my VR area" posts where they're fancy rooms or overlooking nice vistas, it's almost refreshing to see a bog standard room with bad lighting!

Like this?

 

[newsguy]

Needs more lens flare.

He took it with an oculus lens..... ZING

 

[Zalusithix]

Gee thanks I love you too

I don't do flattery, and there's nothing wrong with being average. =P Actually, having a bog standard room works well for VR purposes. Simple floor plan, no expensive things to break, no big shiny surfaces to worry about. Meanwhile the lighting means nothing when you have a headset on!

Like this?

See? Look at all the stuff he gets to trip on. There's probably even a big expensive TV to break on the other wall!

Now that I think about it: I need a HOTAS.

Good thing I already have a full Fanatec setup xD

If you're into that level of gear, you'll probably want to wait for the VKB Gunfighter later this year for a stick. Throttle is a trickier proposition, and there's a number of high end pedal options.

 

[Raticus79]

They should let you do a 3D capture of your room and decorate / graffiti it with Tilt Brush.

 

[Justin]

When I get my own studio and have a dedicated VR team.

Seriously, that's my dream right now. Someday I'll achieve it!

Just imagining a room scale version of Cook Serve Delicious where you physically have to run from station to station frantically grabing and putting together ingredients is making me sweat. Would be quite the workout.

 

[Jimrpg]

Man looking at all the purchases Im making in preparation for VR is insane

Vive - $1150
Thrustmaster T300RS wheel - $450
Thrustmaster T3PA Pro pedals - $190
Thrustmaster TH8A gear shifter - $200
Thrustmaster TFlight HOTAS X - $65
New PC - $1250
Kingston HyperX II - $100
980ti *or* Pascal 1080 - $850-1700(might SLI depending on performance gains in VR)

Total - $4255 - $5105

Not even including new steam purchases made mainly because of VR like Dirt Rally and Project Cars

You could get the Logitech G29 (or G27) and save a bit of money there, not the same I know but still a good wheel. Pascal 1080 might only be $600-800 too. I'd spend more on the PC than the wheel if it were me.

 

[iceatcs]

Game UK just got SKU number: 381706 on the system. Is next step pre-order or surprises launch at retail soon?
No date or price is shown on the system yet but the office has some Vive instore advert banner last time I saw.

 

[MickeyKnox]

Fucking couldn't help myself

Here we go!

 

[Onemic]

You could get the Logitech G29 (or G27) and save a bit of money there, not the same I know but still a good wheel. Pascal 1080 might only be $600-800 too. I'd spend more on the PC than the wheel if it were me.

All the items have already been bought except the GPU since I'm waiting for pascal. I didnt post the exact specs of the PC but here they are:

i5-6600K
Coolermaster 212 evo CPU fan
Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI motherboard
16gb G.Skill 3200 DDR4 RAM
256gb Samsung EVO SSD
2TB seagate HDD
EVGA 1050 watt gold PSU

I heard enough bad things about the G29 peripherals that the thrustmaster made the most sense to me. Not to mention I really dig the ecosystem they have.

 

[Hawk269]

https://twitter.com/htcvive/status/715659763430764544

Head this warning folks...most banks on average allow up to a $700 charge, but anything above it gets flagged and will not go through. Had this happen to me in the past with a big purchase, but usually it was a quick fix since I was in a store, but with this thing because it is an automatic withdraw/charge to your account, you might want to call you banking institution to ensure when it comes through that you have pre-approved the charge.

 

[viveks86]

Anyone charged today got a shipping confirmation email yet?

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Head this warning folks...most banks on average allow up to a $700 charge, but anything above it gets flagged and will not go through. Had this happen to me in the past with a big purchase, but usually it was a quick fix since I was in a store, but with this thing because it is an automatic withdraw/charge to your account, you might want to call you banking institution to ensure when it comes through that you have pre-approved the charge.

Ugh. I called my bank and they put an exemption in for digital river... but they said that it only lasts 24 hours. Thing is, I'm in April wave 2 and don't know when they will be charging for that. Am I really going to have to call my bank every day?

 

[ThatsMytrunks]

Anyone charged today got a shipping confirmation email yet?

They did say it would BEGIN shipping on April 5th. I think they're giving themselves enough time to try orders once or twice before having to cancel.

 

[Zalusithix]

Ugh. I called my bank and they put an exemption in for digital river... but they said that it only lasts 24 hours. Thing is, I'm in April wave 2 and don't know when they will be charging for that. Am I really going to have to call my bank every day?

The system should automatically retry a certain amount of time after a decline. Try -> decline -> card company notifies you of possible fraud -> call card company to correct -> system retries later and it goes through. If you're antsy, then call HTC after calling the card company.