cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Elite Dangerous in VR needs a good round of polishing (link from FD Forum)

Anonymous
Not applicable
This is long overdue! Link post provided by CMDR Vithigar which I have said for ages also...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/410731-Elite-Dangerous-in-VR-needs-a-good-round-of-poli...
There are a few things that I think are straight-up broken. By this I mean that you cannot safely assume that a new player with minimal knowledge would be able to resolve them alone, and they directly impact the game experience:

  • Lack of automatic audio switching to the VR headset on all platforms
  • Lack of automatic centring on loading into main menu
  • Lack of useful galaxy map default control bindings for navigation in VR without a mouse (edit: missing bindings is possibly just an issue with my setup based on comments here and elsewhere, but there are enough threads elsewhere complaining about the galaxy map in VR that something should probably be done to improve it.)
  • Lack of ability to effectively even use the galaxy or system maps with a mouse in VR




Beyond these are issues that I simply consider inconvenient or aggravating. They won't (usually) impact a person's ability to play the game, but they're small annoyances which impede enjoyment of the game regardless.

  • Starting Elite Dangerous in VR immediately overrides your screen resolution and fullscreen/window settings, forcing you to manually reset them if you switch between playing in VR and on a monitor.
  • Manually recentred headset position is not remembered between game launches.
  • Elite Dangerous doesn't seem to reliably take window focus when starting, requiring users to manually click on or tab to the window before it will accept input. If you're already wearing a headset when you launch the game, this is awkward.
  • No native way to input system names on the galaxy map. Not everyone keeps a keyboard in arms reach of their cockpit setup, and not everyone can take advantage of the Rift's Dash popup keyboard.
  • HUD elements being rendered at a distance further from the viewer than objects outside your cockpit is uncomfortable and disconcerting when an outside object that's visually closer overlaps a distant element.

20 REPLIES 20

Anonymous
Not applicable
Also...The HUD still does need a clean up! I am seriously annoyed it still does not use the left info box which has Station & System for added "known data" rather than the upper right info box. We get the name of the System in 3 (three) places at the same time when jumping!
It is horrible in VR to constantly have "Fuel Scooping", "Slow Down", "Frameshift charging" etc. written in BIG on our HUD in the way of other things we need to be focused on!

Besides, when info IS KNOWN it seriously should NOT say UNKNOWN whilst we jump. Plus this loading screen should NOT disable ALL THE PANELS!!! We need this time to prepare our next action especially if we want to access System/Gal Maps to either run away fast or find our target destination on the fly e.g. a Station to Repair/Refuel/Re-arm whilst being chased!

Cardnim
Explorer
I have to say that I disagree with almost all of the above..... with the exception of the Galaxy Map which, while definitely still usable with VR and mouse, is far from ideal.
Im wondering if its your settings or some other parameter that is negatively affecting the game play?

I love ED with my Oculus and its one of the nicest VR experiences I can have with menus, HUDs and information laid out in pretty much the way I would want it.

I hope you can get things sorted out soon as Im pretty confident that ED in VR should be a really good experience for you.
Good luck! 🙂

bigmike20vt
Visionary
I think the thing OP is not considering is that ED is a flat screen game with superb "optional" VR support.  It is imo still the shining example of how VR can transform a game, but at the end of the day it isnt a VR game... and so improvments to its VR are low down on the list of priorities.

there are 100s of improvements that ED desperately needs, however imo all of the ones in the OP are very minor, and actually non existant to the majority of the playerbase..... get as angry as you like but sadly it wont get it any higher up on the "to do" list.

imo the galmap works just fine in VR IF you spend the time to set it up right.... i agree off the bat it is less than ideal but one just needs to spend 10mins to get it sorted.....  however it would be nice of our settings did not randomly get wiped after an update!.
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

Anonymous
Not applicable
The GalMap I use Thrustmaster. I must always centre my Hotas throttle as I use this for Y-Axis (you got to bind them all some ways), and this makes the Selection of Route, Waypoint, System, Trade Data & Planet a random lucky dip! If it fails to focus on these switches then you end up having to go between screens to reset it properly. I find the method to move the pointer best by using the left Panel to Select Station/Bases much more persistent and instant but this can also mess up!
Using the Debug Tool is a major incredible VR experience now with PixelDensity=2. For me it used to struggle but now it's almost like real and not much aliasing. Surface textures are so smooth. This should be within the game by now as its a dogs dinner with PD=1.

Once they fix the Rift Firmware/Drivers again to rid the judder it will be heaven 😉
(only get that Market on a Curved Screen guys)

bigmike20vt
Visionary
i dont use my throttle in the map..... i use my stick to strafe forwards/bacwards, left and right, then i use the yaw axis to spin...  then i use 2 other analogue axis which i am lucky as the x56 has tons of em, to use zoom and up/down plain... but if i didnt, i would set up my xbox pad to take the slack, which is at hand anyway as i use it for the srv.

plenty of ways to skin a cat, it is just a matter of finding out what works for you.
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

Chazmeister
Rising Star
I just use my Thrustmaster HOTAS for the Gal map. Once you bind a reasonable setup and get used to using it, then the map is pretty much OK in VR. I can't imagine it'd be that much more harder to find a good setup on a pad either. The scroll speed in the system map is still way too slow though. A virtual keyboard would be nice though, as obviously you still need to use your real one for system searches.

The only problem I've started encountering after the last patch, is that when I get in my SRV now, the seating position is now too far forward. Get back in your ship and it's back to normal. So somehow they've gone and offset the SRV seating position in VR. Put in a bug report a while back about, so it may get fixed sometime this year.

JohnnyDioxin
Expert Trustee
Yes - I agree. I used to get very irritated with the map and trying to not just find systems, but select them as well. Then I spent some time  thinking a bout it, testing, and then found a way to use it all which enables me to get around without clenching my teeth.

I have a few of my HOTAS axes set to move the map around and two dial-sliders on the X56 throttle control the cursor. But the only way I can do that is to first turn the map "flat" (using my stick Y axis to do that) so that I'm looking at it from directly above or directly below - then it's really easy.

I use an axis on the stick ministick for zooming in and out and the twist stick for yawing the map round. It all works very well.
The only thing that still could do with some work imho is entering system names. I generally use copy and paste for that (Ctrl-C and -V not the mouse) and either copy the name from a website or type the system out in notepad and copy it to the clipboard before I go into the map, then paste it in the box. My keyboard is quite old and a lot of the letters are worn away, so trying to type in VR can be doubly taxing.

I have no issues with just moving my Rift up onto my forehead and referring to system info on the net - or EDDB etc, I do it all the time and I liken it to pulling over to look at the map 🙂

i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo
Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2

Anonymous
Not applicable
So to improve maps for VR I suggest: -
System Map: the joystick speed is improved to be quicker to move around thus use the dynamic speed within the movement of the stick as easy to lock on. The area of magnetic lock on should be bigger to help this.
Galaxy Map: for Mouse it's easy to find the Target Circle but in VR & Hotas it should not be a flat circle to require that one plane to view it. So make the Target a 3D Sphere and also bigger.
Perhaps I need to setup a Deadzone to enable the Throttle for Z-Axis to not get stuck but at least the tilt won't need to be used only to simply enable seeing your Target View so it may not be a problem once we get a Target Sphere.
Pixel Density & AWS Settings in game also.

Luciferous
Consultant
I think ED made a great start with VR which has since stagnated. Overall the game has been slow to bring anything new to the table since launch.