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steve310002

Took the Plunge...Expectations Far Exceeded

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After much internal debate, I decided whilst on holidays in Las Vegas to take advantage of purchasing the Oculus Rift bundle at Best Buy (far easier and cheaper to get a hold of than here in Europe). And Holy Smokes...was it a good idea.

Like many, I was on the fence about VR wondering if it is just 'another' gimic or fad that we see every few years. And for some it may be a fad but for flight simmers, gamers, and technology enthusiasts, it is mind blowing. My biggest fear was the resolution question which some have complained about in terms of reading text/dials etc. As far as the graphics go the resolution is not an issue. Everything looks awesome at least if you have a decent rig. For reading text on instruments, it is mostly fine assuming you have good enough eyesight. The beauty of VR is that you can move forward to look at dials closer for those ones that are not easily read just as you would in real life.

For the sense of immersion you get, it is like being there. No kidding. You literally feel the speed of the aircraft while you gaze in awe at how awesome your cockpit looks in 3D. You simply cannot understand or appreciate what this is like without trying it. No video on youtube will do it justice. Last night, I opened the door of my Cessna at 5,000 feet and leaned out over the edge. I literally felt like I could fall out. This is an absolute game changer. I had seen so many videos showing what VR can do etc. but I did not for a moment expect the technology to be that precise and immersive. And this is not to mention all the other applications you get for free either with it or available on the Oculus and Steam stores. I tried Google Earth VR and all I can say is...wow! It is mind blowing what they have achieved. I retraced my South-West USA roadtrip from the last couple of weeks and was literally back in the towns and national parks I visited, many of which have been recreated with real 3D models. You can literally stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and feel a sense of really being there. It surprises be now that several posters have dismissed VR for various reasons. Whilst I fully respect their opinion, I do not see how for 400 dollars, one would not jump at the chance to experience this. It's the closest thing to matrix you can expect. If you are on the fence like I was, I suggest that you buy it whilst its on sale. Don't worry about the resolution, it really is not bad at all. The experience more than compensates for any concerns relating to this. And this is coming from someone used to simming on a 55 inch 4K TV. Now I only hope that they make FSW VR compatible :tongue:

Hope my mini review helps.

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What a great mini review which very well captures what many of us already discovered.

Like I said in an earlier post on the same topic I never before during my 20+ years of simming invested in something that increased the immersion more.

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Richard Åsberg

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I love mine as well but disagree about the resolution, it is far, very far from 4k which is what I use on my monitor. Everything is a bit fuzzy and gets worse with distance. 

Now it did bother me a lot a first but after a week of use I am finding the immersion to offset the rez liability a bit. 

The thing I notice most about VR in flighsims is how small the cockpits look now. I jumped into the A2A Connie last night and was amazed to see this wide large cockpit I see on my monitor is, in reality, small and cramped. 

I flew the Connie from Pago Pago to one of the  small islands and the sense of really being there and doing it was beyond anything I have experienced in 20 or so years of flightsimming. 

Don't expect to know VR from YouTube videos, those are all taken from the monitor during VR play and look sharp and beautiful and are still really just a flat picture. You can only judge VR by personal use of at least a week so that is why I bought mine at Best Buy with the 14 day return policy - but they are not getting this toy back, no way :)

If your ever in eastern Iowa look me up or pm me and I will let  you try out this amazing gadget for yourself. 


Paul Grubich 2017 - Professional texture artist painting virtual aircraft I love.
Be sure to check out my aged cockpits for the A2A B-377, B-17 and Connie at Flightsim.com and Avsim library

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How do you tolerate the frame rate and low resolution(reading dials, text)? After using 4k's sharpness, I can't imagine anything less.

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Like I said, try it and see if you can tolerate it but give it a week, not just 15 minutes. 

I was upset about the rez at first but not so much anymore. The frame rates will be taken care when Flyinside puts out their P3Dv4 edition. I have that software for XPlane 11 and while showing only 16 fps it is still smooth and flyable because Flyinside does some trick to make it all work. 

It is your choice, fly with great rez on a flat monitor or put yourself into the cockpit and fly like your in a real plane with VR.

I use both, sometimes VR, sometimes monitor but I will admit the VR times are getting more and the monitor times are getting less as time goes on. 

It is not just flightsims that I use it for, also games and other visual activities such as VR Google Earth and games such as Project Cars and others. There are now hundreds of games and projects you can get for the Rift and more coming as the tech improves. 

Get it now and enjoy it and a year or so from now  sell it and get the next higher rez version that will eventually replace this version.

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Paul Grubich 2017 - Professional texture artist painting virtual aircraft I love.
Be sure to check out my aged cockpits for the A2A B-377, B-17 and Connie at Flightsim.com and Avsim library

i-5vbvgq6-S.png

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8 minutes ago, VeryBumpy said:

How do you tolerate the frame rate and low resolution(reading dials, text)? After using 4k's sharpness, I can't imagine anything less.

3 minutes ago, warbirds said:

I have that software for XPlane 11 and while showing only 16 fps it is still smooth and flyable because Flyinside does some trick to make it all work. 

I am using X-Plane on High settings (HDR) except for reflections turned down to low (which are fairly useless at the moment anyway) and shadows turned off and I am at minimum of 30fps and 50 to 70 at altitude. Of course weather can lower this slightly. Flyinside and Oculus have some kind of technology that makes this all work smoothly so that it looks almost as smooth as if it were reaching the maximum 90fps like the headset is built for. I have not yet felt any motion sickness using X-Plane. Soon enough X-Plane 11 will be natively VR compatible with Laminar aiming for the ideal 45 fps for VR (45 because it uses a complex technology that combined with both eyes make it seem like it were 90fps...something like asynchronous timewarp). The fact that they will implement VR natively will mean they can optimize the code better as well as the functionality as per their recent youtube video showcasing the new VR tech.

38 minutes ago, warbirds said:

I love mine as well but disagree about the resolution, it is far, very far from 4k which is what I use on my monitor. Everything is a bit fuzzy and gets worse with distance. 

Whilst coming from simming on a 4K TV, let's be clear, at no point did I claim the Rift screen was as clear as 4K. It's not as you rightly pointed out. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough on this point. However, as Warbirds pointed out the immersion trumps the lower resolution by far (which is still pretty darn good). And in some weird way in my opinion it looks more real than the 4K 2D version due to the fact that you are literally 'there' and feel 'there', something you will never feel even with an 8K monitor. In fact as a result of the development of such high resolution screen technology, one could argue that VR is the most obvious next evolution for simming, gaming and general immersion. At 16K the human eye can no longer spot the difference between reality and a tv screen except for that fact that well...it's always going to be just that - a 2D TV screen. No matter how good your 4K screen is or your 16K screen in the future you are always going to be limited with the fact that it is 2D. With the continuing advances in VR and you feel already and will more and more feel 'there'. I for one am excited to live for today and be part of this incredible technology which already rocks as it is. Life is too short for fence sitting. Seeing is believing. 

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Yes sitting on that fence can be painful, especially if it is a picket fence, so get off it and get the Rift now. This thing cost much less than my last video card update and does so much more than the card did for immersion.


Paul Grubich 2017 - Professional texture artist painting virtual aircraft I love.
Be sure to check out my aged cockpits for the A2A B-377, B-17 and Connie at Flightsim.com and Avsim library

i-5vbvgq6-S.png

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1 minute ago, warbirds said:

This thing cost much less than my last video card update and does so much more than the card did for immersion.

I did this exact comparison a couple of months back. Fun to see how someone else is thinking the exact same thing :)


Richard Åsberg

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12 minutes ago, WebMaximus said:

I did this exact comparison a couple of months back. Fun to see how someone else is thinking the exact same thing :)

Haha...I think I compared it to just about everything to feel better about parting with my money. Boy, am I glad I did now. The comparison I made was that I saved about 500 on my latest build earlier this year due to a sale been on, and well if I am going to have a decent rig, I may as well make use of it especially for such a relatively low price. And then if I wait 2 years for the next gen version, it will likely be very expensive on launch, probably in short supply for 6 months, and my rig will be out of date by then forcing me to upgrade. Better to get this now and when the next gen version comes out in probably 2 years, I can wait until it falls in price just as the rift has done now. 400 dollars for this is the best value I have seen tech wise in recent years.

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Quote

 

It was also already said in other threads that you can still increase the Resolution with the oculus tray tool, which makes things much better. For the fps, no Problem at all if you consider that in VR you dont Need (in my opinion) max lod radius or max distance shadow coverage etc..you wouldnt see that far.

To make use of the Technology that smooth out the Display (ASW) you Need Windows 10. I was in Windows 7 until recently and even though the Display was acceptable at fps as low as 30 - 45, the experience in Win10 is much better at low fps. In VR you really Need to have the right Hardware to avoid sickness.

Regards,

JP

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Oculus try tool does not increase resolution it only increases supersampling. It does work sort of giving you a bit clearer picture at the cost of fps. You can do the same thing with the Oculus debug tool (located in your C drive Oculus folder. 

As for sickness  during play that is why you should try it for a time and see. I have one friend come over and try it and he felt a  bit dizzy when looking over the cockpit window at the passing ground. But then again, I have another friend that cannot even look at my flat monitor while I am flying without getting sick..


Paul Grubich 2017 - Professional texture artist painting virtual aircraft I love.
Be sure to check out my aged cockpits for the A2A B-377, B-17 and Connie at Flightsim.com and Avsim library

i-5vbvgq6-S.png

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3 minutes ago, steve310002 said:

Haha...I think I compared it to just about everything to feel better about parting with my money. Boy, am I glad I did now. 400 dollars for this is the best value I have seen tech wise in recent years.

The cool thing about getting now on sale ( hear it will be 100 bucks more soon) is that in a year sell it for three hundred and buy the next generation model that will for sure come out with better rez. 


Paul Grubich 2017 - Professional texture artist painting virtual aircraft I love.
Be sure to check out my aged cockpits for the A2A B-377, B-17 and Connie at Flightsim.com and Avsim library

i-5vbvgq6-S.png

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Right, indeed supersampling, not Resolution. I will add that even with that Option, the experience is smoother than with my dell 34" ultrawide  Monitor (that i find at 30 fps to be still not that smooth).

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Thanks for sharing your experience. I ordered mine through Amazon a while back and it will be in my hands (on my face?) end of September. I'm currently sitting with a GTX 970 4GB GPU but will soon be upgrading to a GTX1070 8GB as that seems to bring the best bang for buck. Do you guys think it will be enough? I've heard of FlyInside and look forward to it being compatible with P3Dv4 in the near future. Hopefully that will provide consistent FPS needed to run the sim in VR. 

The GPU will run alongside an i7 4790K (4.6GHz) and 16GB DDR3 RAM operating Windows 10 Pro.

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1 hour ago, krazyk said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. I ordered mine through Amazon a while back and it will be in my hands (on my face?) end of September. I'm currently sitting with a GTX 970 4GB GPU but will soon be upgrading to a GTX1070 8GB as that seems to bring the best bang for buck. Do you guys think it will be enough? I've heard of FlyInside and look forward to it being compatible with P3Dv4 in the near future. Hopefully that will provide consistent FPS needed to run the sim in VR. 

The GPU will run alongside an i7 4790K (4.6GHz) and 16GB DDR3 RAM operating Windows 10 Pro.

I went from a 970 to a 1080 and found a big difference in X-Plane 11 before I started using VR. I can't comment on how the 970 will function bit I would imagine it would require you to lower settings such as HDR and number of objects to medium. It is also hard to say how much Laminar may optimize X-Plane 11 for VR with the impending update. This may help with older GPUs. I would say though that you can't go wrong with an overclocked 1070 or 1080 to get those valuable extra VR fps if you can spare the cash. 

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