I HATE my Rift and I'm both confused and disappointed

[Exigeous]

First let me say I don't mean this to be a rant post but rather more of a gut check - in many ways I want to make sure that there isn't something wrong with either me gear (CV1), myself (physically?) or simply my expectations (likely). So let me explain as briefly as I can as I really do want some feedback and input from you guys.

First a bit about me and my system.  I've worked in IT for 20+ years, mostly networking and management.  I've been a gamer since I was about 8, my parents literally had the first consumer Pong game then quickly Atari 2400.  I've been through all the consoles but have mostly been a PC gamer since my 20's with periods of heavy gaming (20+ hours a week) or little gaming (1 hour per 20 weeks).  Currently I have an extremely high end cockpit based sim racing system.  3 27" 4K monitors, 2 Titan Z cards, 6770k, 32GB Ram, RAID0 250GB SSD, etc. etc.  Pretty much spared no expense.  a 5 way ButtKicker vibration system and multiple high end wheels/joysticks from Thrustmaster, Fanatac, etc. etc. (way too much to list).  I'm mostly a sim racer (real racing instructor in real life, race a Lotus Exige) so my entire system is based around racing, mostly Project Cars, iRacing and Dirt Rally.  I do play some flight sims like Elite Dangerous so I was pretty psyched with Eve: Valkerie.

Ok, now that we have that out of the way - don't at all want to seem like a douche/ass/prick, but also want to show that I do know what I'm talking about and am not some total newbie idiot.  I've been sold on VR for a long time, in concept anyway and believe that 20+ years from now we'll look back on it as the 2nd big shift in computing, after the IBM Jr. / Home PC.  I haven't used DK2 in a very long time as when I did it was far too low quality for me with the SDE (screen door effect) way too intense.  I'm somewhat overly sensitive to that as I'm also a home theatre buff and had one of the early home theatre projectors back in the mid-90's, a Sharp HomeVision that was something like 640x480 so at 100" HUGE SDE.  I knew that was a small issue still with most reviews saying it went away almost instantly as everything else is so good and intense.  Ok, let's get started with my issues.

The SDE is HUGE.  As in I can't stand it HUGE.  It's an issue everywhere.  It doesn't go away and I can never stop seeing it.  Even in a dark game like Eve I see it constantly and can't stop letting it drive me crazy.  It's like it's just constantly ruining everything for me.  Next I'm constantly seeing a blur from the lenses to my eyes.  I think it's something to do with the moisture that develops on my cheeks almost instantly.  I keep 3 fans pointed at my face with one pointing up from underneath to get some airflow into the headset and while that helps it doesn't eliminate the sweat.  I'm seated (in my Obutto Ozone cockpit) in a basement room that's very cool compared to the house (probably 65 at the highest) so not a hot room.  After 20+ minutes of time I have to take the headset off for a few minutes to cool my face off and let all the sweat dry enough to get another 10-20 minutes.

When I play Project Cars my thoughts are "this looks horrible, the graphics quality is awful and the SDE is HUGE".  The reviews I read are exactly the opposite, they talk about how amazing it looks, they can't believe their eyes, they are "driving a car" not playing a game.  For me I couldn't feel more the opposite.  When I play my 3 27" setup, on full Ultra at 90+ FPS it looks STUNNING.  Everyone that plays it can't believe how real and amazing it looks.  I put on the headset and it's like I've stepped back 10 years in quality.  It's blurry (as previously noted) and again the SDE is huge.  I swear I keep thinking they put DK2 screens in my CV1 headset.

So, ok, that's enough for now.  I have many other complaints, in fact the only thing I can say good about it is the head tracking is incredibly perfect and smooth.  I am pretty blown away they can do that so perfectly without it ever once jumping or glitching, it really is impressive.  Everything else to my eyes, well, sucks.  I just read someone's first impression of the Dinosaur that attacks you in the theatre and how incredible it was.  My first impression of that was "are you kidding, this looks AWFUL."

Is it me???  If so please help me fix me??  Do I just have far too high expectations??  Help me please?!?!?!  🙂

-Ross

[Luciferous]

Looking at your set up as nice as it is, I am not sure how you fool yourself into believing you are actually in the car, regardless of resolution.

I am pretty sure at some point you just got into it and now do notice that you have three massive monitors with big gaps and you are sitting in a purple room with beige carpet.

If I were to try you set up for the first time, I could probably list a lot more reasons your current set up spoils the immersion than you listed for the headset. 

In a similar way you are comparing the current VR headset I could suggest you get an actual car body frame and build the monitors into the windows. 

I am however not a fan of car simulations and I guess that's why your mind makes the leap. I have project cars and if you got it for car simulators only can understand your points on resolution. Distance is still quite low resolution but for me the feeling of being there out weighs this. 

[Hanover]

I think CV1 Let's Plays are responsible for creating a lot of unreasonable expectations.  They need a way to simulate what the user is seeing instead of recording the screen grabs from the high-resolution mirrored window.

Even though I had a Gear VR before, for a good couple of hours I felt let down by what I was seeing in the Oculus Rift.  I chalk it up to binging on CV1 YouTube videos while I was waiting for it to arrive.  Once I could do an A->B test between the Gear VR and the Rift, I felt a little better.

[Luciferous]

With regard to FOV even up to me getting my headset on the 12 April, I found it amazing nobody could confirm the FOV on either vive or the Rift. I put it on and thought its about the same as the DK2 and yet this was shrouded in mystery before launch of either product. The FOV is the biggest let down for CV1 but we are were we are and for valid reasons. 

[RedRizla]

At the end of the day it comes down to how immersed you want to feel in a game, which the Oculus Rift does a great job of doing. Sat in front of some monitors in a room can't do that for me, because I can see the room around me. Looking at the tripple monitor would also put me of because of the thick black sides on the monitors.

[Lemming1970]

blanes said:

Handbags at Twenty Paces ... who will flinch first !!!???   This is riveting stuff ladies  😛

I'd prefer a rail gun if it's all the same with you 😉
 

[weasel47]

To the OP, I think the only way you'll enjoy VR is if you use it for things other than racing Sims (and maybe not flying Sims either). It just can't compare to the set-up you have already.

Have you tried Lucky's Tale? That's a game where the low resolution doesn't matter as much. Two more experiences where I don't notice the resolution at all when I'm playing: Windlands and Ocean's Rift.

If you don't have time to bother with other game genres, it may not be worth it anyway.

[flyingsaucers]

Just started playing around with my Rift last night and I had the exact same reaction as OP,  minus the capital HATE. I still think it's really cool as a first gen proof of concept, but this isn't what consumer VR should look like.

The SDE is completely immersion breaking (isn't immersion the point of VR?). The narrow FOV makes it feel like I'm looking through binoculars which are pointed at a screen door. Also, it's painfully clear that the Rift wasn't made for glasses wearers. 

Someone said it earlier in this thread - the screenshots on let's play & review sites really need to show the games as they appear in the Rift, i.e., pixelated. I was expecting a drop in quality from 4k, but not this big of a drop.

The porn is really good, though. 

[osyres]

the res goes from 1920 * 1080 dk2 to 2400*1080 cv1 on 100 fov vr headset and what the hell are guys thinking that this will fix the sde ??? i mean comon u had a dk 2 so don t act like u would buy a 8k vr headset.

[RedRizla]

osyres said:

the res goes from 1920 * 1080 dk2 to 2400*1080 cv1 on 100 fov vr headset and what the hell are guys thinking that this will fix the sde ??? i mean comon u had a dk 2 so don t act like u would buy a 8k vr headset.

CV1, isn't 2400 x 1080, it's 2160 x 1200. 

[obzen]

You won't replace your triple monitor Sim Rig with a Rift, not until we hit 4K, or even 4K per eye. 

So, see ya in a few years.