
Eve: Valkyrie Alpha – Hands-On with an Oculus Rift app - evo_9
http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/1/18/10776080/eve-valkyrie-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-alpha
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techdmn
I found the bit about looking down at the console in the ship to be
interesting. I had a bit of a similar experience after playing racing games
for years, then finally getting on the track in real life on a motorcycle. In
a racing game you can pretty easily keep an eye on the speedometer to set
corner entry speeds, etc. In real life you simply do not have time to take
your eyes off the track and look down at the speedometer. You have to do it by
feel. It's a very important skill for real life racers, and something you
could never develop to any accuracy from a tv screen - a sense of your actual
speed.

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santaclaus
Presumably these space pilots would have helmets, and if we have spaceships we
would probably have reasonable in-helmet AR technology, thus obviating the
need for a speedometer built into the cockpit...

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dogma1138
Well presumably VR is a better solution for space navigation than having a
windowed cockpit if we're on that subject already :)

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nilkn
Just to add some context (the article was a little misleading about this):

E:V is not strictly speaking a Rift exclusive. It's also coming to PlayStation
VR. Presumably though the Rift together with a qualifying PC will offer an E:V
experience with higher fidelity and detail than PSVR. It's also highly likely
that the Rift will launch before PSVR.

It's also only packaged with Rift pre-orders, not all Rift purchases. Lucky's
Tale is the game which is uniquely packaged with all Rift purchases, including
but not limited to pre-orders. Lucky's Tale is also (to my knowledge) a true
Rift exclusive.

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drewrv
Will E:V come to the HTC Vive?

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dogma1138
Most likely they will be compatible, oculus powers GearVR so that
compatibility is pretty much guaranteed but considering that in all cases the
GPU is still doing most of the work I don't see a reason why there should be
an issue.

Controller specific things might be "exclusive" but those should a) be easily
ported over with user config and b) wouldn't matter much for EVE:V since
you'll be using a HOTAS setup any how the only thing that really needs to work
is the head tracking.

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jbob2000
That was a pretty thin article, I gather there's not too much to say at this
point.

I used to play Eve heavily, but I no longer play because it is too time
consuming alongside a full time job. I'm hoping that Valkyrie will allow me to
get back into that universe without the "wait and grind" that is present in
Eve Online.

The problem that Valkyrie is going to face is that dogfighting in space gets
boring fast. There's a great free-to-play game called Star Conflict that is
pretty much Valkyrie, minus the VR stuff, and I had a great time with it for a
few weeks. But after the initial "lasers and explosions" excitement wore off
and once I got comfortable moving around in 3-space, it became very
repetitive.

I really hope Valkyrie has something more than just VR dogfighting because
flying in circles, playing the "who-can-get-behind-who-first" game gets old
fast.

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ansible
_I really hope Valkyrie has something more than just VR dogfighting because
flying in circles, playing the "who-can-get-behind-who-first" game gets old
fast._

What made the Descent series so much fun was that it took place in an enclosed
environment, with obstacles and other environmental effects to consider.

My ultimate "space sim" would take place in Karl Schroeder's Virga
environment, which is a giant air-filled bubble in zero-g. Speed and sight-
distance can be realistic, air resistance makes maneuvering fun, and you can
have lots of obstacles if desired.

Though I'm hoping that there will be some decent plain old flight simulators
coming out with Rift support. That would be a good reason to upgrade my gaming
system.

~~~
Fuzzwah
Hardwar was kind of like your "ultimate space sim":
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwar_(video_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwar_\(video_game\))

War Thunder has good support for the rift: [https://share.oculus.com/app/war-
thunder](https://share.oculus.com/app/war-thunder)

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marricks
As their first game Eve:Online is a very complicated game it is encouraging to
know they are thinking about casuals from the beginning,

> "We don't yet know who our audience is. It would be crazy to assume everyone
> who buys an Oculus is a hardcore gamer; I don't think that's the truth,"
> Willans said. "We're going to have a really diverse cross section of people
> who are buying the technology."

I am most excited about this game so far and have tried another space sim in
the DK2 and it was COMPLEX (elite dangerous). Not just because of the game but
because moving in 3D space first person is not first nature to many... Even
flying around though, not knowing what I was doing, was one of the most
immersive fun experiences I had.

As long as they have a way to get casuals to know the basics and have fun play
they should be a great start to VR.

~~~
Zikes
Is it really possible to have a casual Oculus Rift gamer, though? The Rift
itself is $600 (which I think is entirely reasonable, by the way) but in order
to drive the Rift properly you also need a computer capable of producing TWO
simultaneous (minimum) 1080p+ 90fps outputs, and even a lot of off-the-shelf
gaming PCs can't really do that without sacrificing a great deal of graphical
quality.

That might be what "casual" means for VR for a while, graphics that hearken
back to the early ages of 3D on consoles.

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VikingCoder
Some people can spend lots of money, but not lots of time. Which makes them a
"casual" player, rather than a "dedicated" player.

I'm in that boat. I can spend $1500 on a Rift... but I might only get to play
with it 7 hours a week, or less.

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mdorazio
I wonder why the dev team opted not to put more information in the HUD and
instead forces players to look at in-cockpit controls. Seems a bit odd since
HUD info has been a part of modern fighter aircraft helmets for years, and
it's even cropping up in cars now.

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dshankar
HUDs (i.e. face-locked user interface elements, as opposed to world-space UI
like on the cockpit surfaces) can cause discomfort in VR. One reason is the
vergence accommodation conflict. Focusing on objects inches away from your
face is also difficult and painful with the current generation of VR headsets
due to the fixed focal plane (1.5m in DK2, infinity in others).

I've played EVE:Valkyrie for a few hours in the Rift, and the cockpit-based UI
is extremely comfortable.

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meeper16
Investing in VR-
[https://gfycat.com/SafeWatchfulAmbushbug](https://gfycat.com/SafeWatchfulAmbushbug)

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noobie
I can't wait for the day I try that!

