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HTC Vive Launch Thread -- Computer, activate holodeck

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King_Moc

Banned
You guys (and HTC!) should've told me I needed two video output ports.. I have only one HDMI on my 970 so I went into full panic mode when I discovered that the only way I could proceed with the setup was by acquiring a displayport to minidisplayport cable.. I made it to the only store in town with this cable just before they closed for the night..

I was kinda tired of hearing and seeing about Budget Cuts.., but man what a nice experience. It works so well.

Wait, what video outputs do I need for this thing? I have a hdmi and displayport, and use displayport for my primary monitor and hdmi for secondary. Can Vive just use the one hdmi, or does it need something more?
 

Cimarron

Member
You're talking like it's broken, it's just something the game is not made for. It would be a new gameplay feature not tied to VR.

It's still my favorite game. It's fugly though on Vive. PLEASE FIX THIS FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS!!!! This is the game that got me onto the VR hype train in the first place!!!
 
Wait, what video outputs do I need for this thing? I have a hdmi and displayport, and use displayport for my primary monitor and hdmi for secondary. Can Vive just use the one hdmi, or does it need something more?

You'll be fine with one HDMI for the Vive and your displayport for your monitor. I have HDMI going to the Vive and a DVI->HDMI going to a nearby TV as a monitor.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
I dunno if this is exactly what's being discussed, but when I tried to play the Adventure Time game last night I just put a chair in the middle of the play space, and sat there before starting the game.

That goes without saying, you can just sit in the middle of the room-scale space without any issue. The discussion was about sitting at the desk that's at the edge of the room-scale space.
 
It's still my favorite game. It's fugly though on Vive. PLEASE FIX THIS FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS!!!! This is the game that got me onto the VR hype train in the first place!!!

Aww I was hearing things about issues with image quality for Elite with the Vive. Damn it. I hope they take care of it. I still have both ordered but it's looking like my Vive will get to me before the Oculus. I wanted to cancel the Oculus order but Elite is my main draw for VR at the moment.
 

Zalusithix

Member
That goes without saying, you can just sit in the middle of the room-scale space without any issue. The discussion was about sitting at the desk that's at the edge of the room-scale space.

Particularly important because the best seated experiences are going to be cockpit games with realistic controls - wheels/HOTAS/etc. They need to be mounted, and the mounting setups people have aren't always mobile.
 
This will be my room:

FrLEyAd.png

I'm worried now that one of the lighthouses will be behind me as I'm sat down and the back of my chair is high and will totally obscure it. The one light house that does see me will be looking down at my head from the left.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
This will be my room:



I'm worried now that one of the lighthouses will be behind me as I'm sat down and the back of my chair is high and will totally obscure it. The one light house that does see me will be looking down at my head from the left.

You should be fine as long as the lighthouse above your head has an unobstructed view of the HMD. I assume you don't want to use the Vive controllers in the position.
 

Schryver

Member
Yeah I'd like a UK number I can call too. If they don't retry and take my money soon, Oculus will beat them to it.

Someone in chat is getting them to call me back but no number given. I'm guessing they don't want anyone to have the support escalation phone number?
 
You should be fine as long as the lighthouse above your head has an unobstructed view of the HMD. I assume you don't want to use the Vive controllers in the position.

No, that is purely for seated. I have cleared out the entire room except my corner desk and PC for standing stuff.
 
Aww I was hearing things about issues with image quality for Elite with the Vive. Damn it. I hope they take care of it. I still have both ordered but it's looking like my Vive will get to me before the Oculus. I wanted to cancel the Oculus order but Elite is my main draw for VR at the moment.

Played Elite for the first time today. Lasted 20 mins.
Some cool things:
Looking left or right to bring up menus.
Being IN a cockpit of a spacecraft.
The sense of scale is immense.
HOTAS lines up nicely with in game hands if you make the effort.

Crap stuff:
Everything else.
Had to keep removing my headset to read the writing on the mirrored screen.
Graphics are ps1 quality in stations it seems.
I'm rocking a 970 and I was only getting 30 fps, which was a bit barftastic.

Hoping a patch, and a pascal card is gonna sort this out.
 

Jams775

Member
Played Elite for the first time today. Lasted 20 mins.
Some cool things:
Looking left or right to bring up menus.
Being IN a cockpit of a spacecraft.
The sense of scale is immense.
HOTAS lines up nicely with in game hands if you make the effort.

Crap stuff:
Everything else.
Had to keep removing my headset to read the writing on the mirrored screen.
Graphics are ps1 quality in stations it seems.
I'm rocking a 970 and I was only getting 30 fps, which was a bit barftastic.

Hoping a patch, and a pascal card is gonna sort this out.

Same as you. I think it's either a bug or they've been neglecting VR support. I've heard that the Rift doesn't have the quality issues we do. Also for what it's worth, if you haven't yet, go back into the graphical settins and try the VR presets. It's like VR Low and VR High. That helped with some stuttering issues I had mostly. It won't solve the eligibility issues with the text though. That's a patching issue.
 
Same as you. I think it's either a bug or they've been neglecting VR support. I've heard that the Rift doesn't have the quality issues we do. Also for what it's worth, if you haven't yet, go back into the graphical settins and try the VR presets. It's like VR Low and VR High. That helped with some stuttering issues I had mostly. It won't solve the eligibility issues with the text though. That's a patching issue.

Haven't tried the VR presets. Thanks.
Think I'll wait for the text patch though :)

Quite happy to go back to Holopoint...spending too much time in that dojo!
Made 161st today....sweating like a pig.

Can i wash the foam face plate?
 

UnrealEck

Member
On the findmyorder site, there used to be a button I could click at the bottom letting my change my payment method or details. That button is now gone and there's only one for cancel and one for viewing the invoice.
Does this mean my payment has been athorised or even charged?
 

Jams775

Member
Haven't tried the VR presets. Thanks.
Think I'll wait for the text patch though :)

Quite happy to go back to Holopoint...spending too much time in that dojo!
Made 161st today....sweating like a pig.

Can i wash the foam face plate?

I think somebody posted a link on here that led to a guide on how to clean them. Though it sounded like you can't really do much other than maybe dab them with a wet cloth and let them air dry? I don't remember.
 

JackHerer

Member
Got my shipping confirmation today and I was slated for May initially. Was very pleasantly surprised to see that notification pop-up on my phone today while I was at work. Wasn't expecting to get it until a couple weeks into May.

So excited to get to play with room-scale and motion tracking in VR. I've only gotten to try the Vive a few times but I've had a DK2 for a while.
 
I replaced the default foam with the foam from my Gear VR, and it's made an astounding difference. The FOV is drastically increased, everything is incredibly clear and the sweet spot for said clarity is much larger. Honestly it feels like an entirely different experience.

I kind of stumbled across this while switching between the included foam pieces (there's a "narrow" one in the Vive box). I tried the Vive without any foam at all the the difference was so crazy that I started trying to figure out how to cushion that slightly, but not lose the distance. The Gear VR foam is perfect, as it's super, super thin and also secures with velcro. No modification required, you just slap it on.
 

Starviper

Member
I replaced the default foam with the foam from my Gear VR, and it's made an astounding difference. The FOV is drastically increased, everything is incredibly clear and the sweet spot for said clarity is much larger. Honestly it feels like an entirely different experience.

I kind of stumbled across this while switching between the included foam pieces (there's a "narrow" one in the Vive box). I tried the Vive without any foam at all the the difference was so crazy that I started trying to figure out how to cushion that slightly, but not lose the distance. The Gear VR foam is perfect, as it's super, super thin and also secures with velcro. No modification required, you just slap it on.

That's interesting.. Any idea if the foam can be ordered separately?
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Just tried this at MS Store Yorkdale mall, it was pretty dope. This was my first vive experience.
 
That's interesting.. Any idea if the foam can be ordered separately?

I contacted Samsung to see if this was something their customer support would be able to sell, but otherwise I haven't been able to find a replacement. Some third party sites offer their own version of it, but their foam looks noticeably thicker/more plush than what comes with the Gear VR, which kind of negates the replacement.
 

Kysen

Member
Long post incoming. Just spent 4hrs in VR(seated) and the only point of reference I had before now was Google cardboard. WOW, this is definitely the future of gaming.

The hardware setup:
Frankly it's a mess, way too many cables and plugs. Why does each wand need its own USB cable and plug? HTC could have easily created their own custom power extension which had a Y shaped USB cable providing power to both wands at the same time from one plug. Also having this same power extension powering the headset breakout box could have made the setup much quicker.

Contrary to many videos on the net you don't need your base stations pointing down at you from the wall or on tripods. I had both of mine on a 2m diagonal one on my PC desk and another on the counter behind me and had no issues with tracking. The tracking itself is incredible, I'd say down to the nearest millimeter. I was able to trace out the text on the Steam VR hud with the pointer with no issues.

Observations on the hardware:
-The headset itself gives off a lot of heat on the front (far enough away from the skin).
-Images are too blurry when focus is right at the front edge of the visor and when looking at the edges of the screen. There is sort of a disconnect with your brain when you look down without tilting your head and its a haze.
-The screen door effect looks like everything is made of fabric and becomes more severe the further out you look.
-God rays didn't seem to be an issue at all.
-The squeezing buttons suck, it is not comfortable to press these regularly while holding the wand. So many false inputs, leads to a lot of frustration.
-Haptic feedback, I had no idea it was there. I almost dropped the wand when I fired the laser in the tutorial. Its pretty strong and its used all over the place to give good feedback.

Observations on software:
-Steam VR lets you do everything inside the headset but when I tried to buy something and had to enter my Paypal password no keyboard input registered.
-Nausea is real. The moment I pressed the forward button in Windlands and saw my character accelerate forward I could feel the nausea instantly. Luckily for me it went away after a while. Strangely it was only occurring when moving on the ground, while swinging/jumping I felt nothing. This is good for me as I was not looking forward to having to design every game with a teleport mechanic.

I'm glad I went with the Vive, the awe from 3D perspective and scale didn't last long. Within the hour it just felt like I was in the world and interacting with it was what kept my attention. The bow and arrow mini game in The Lab had me grinning from ear to ear. Lining up head shots and having the arrows going exactly where you were aiming is just so much better than an analogue stick.

Improvements needed:
-Better screen
-Less cabling
-Less weight
-Get rid of the squeeze buttons.
 
That's interesting.. Any idea if the foam can be ordered separately?

I contacted Samsung to see if this was something their customer support would be able to sell, but otherwise I haven't been able to find a replacement. Some third party sites offer their own version of it, but their foam looks noticeably thicker/more plush than what comes with the Gear VR, which kind of negates the replacement.

You could always try what I did. It works so well I can't go back to the stock foam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4gezog/8_sleep_mask_mod_worked_better_than_expected_and/?

I kept the eye cutouts and cut them in half horizontally to create "inserts" for more padding wherever I needed and stuffed them under the foam mask mod at my cheeks and forehead. Works perfectly and they don't fall out due to the Velcro. It's actually really nice this way because it is really easy to adjust for your facial structure by moving the "inserts" wherever you need them. No glue required.

Edit: Crud I meant to put the other guys quote in there too, lol. Fixed
 
Long post incoming. Just spent 4hrs in VR(seated) and the only point of reference I had before now was Google cardboard. WOW, this is definitely the future of gaming.

The hardware setup:
Frankly it's a mess, way too many cables and plugs. Why does each wand need its own USB cable and plug? HTC could have easily created their own custom power extension which had a Y shaped USB cable providing power to both wands at the same time from one plug. Also having this same power extension powering the headset breakout box could have made the setup much quicker.

I don't want to sound confrontational, and it seems like you really enjoyed the rest of your experience so this obviously wasn't a big deal for you, but I don't entirely understand this criticism. After reading a the reviews at launch, and some GAFfer impressions, I really expected the setup process to be a nightmare. I was more thanpleasantly surprised by my setup experience, however. The packaging is beautifully thought out, and probably the nicest unboxing experience I've had since my last Apple purchase. It looks and feels great, and everything is neatly compartmentalized.

I started with the lighthouses, cut open the wall mount bag, screwed them onto the wall, and attached the lighthouses. Then I literally ripped open the two power adapter bags, and plugged them into the nearby sockets. Done. Then I plugged everything into the breakout box, plugged that into the back of my PC, and after that all that's left is software. I love that the controllers are charged via micro-USB, as now I can have a dedicated charging area, but I can also plug them into any one of the other 20 micro-usb cables I have lying around my apartment. I definitely agree that the charging solution could be more elegant, and if Apple or Nintendo released a VR system it likely would be. Personally, I feel like some manner of inductive charging would have been the ideal solution. Being able to simply lay the controllers down on a pad on your desk would have been perfect, as I'm sure I'll begin to forget plugging them in just as I do with my dualshocks.


You could always try what I did. It works so well I can't go back to the stock foam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4gezog/8_sleep_mask_mod_worked_better_than_expected_and/?

I kept the eye cutouts and cut them in half horizontally to create "inserts" for more padding wherever I needed and stuffed them under the foam mask mod at my cheeks and forehead. Works perfectly and they don't fall out due to the Velcro. It's actually really nice this way because it is really easy to adjust for your facial structure by moving the "inserts" wherever you need them. No glue required.

This is definitely a solid option. I already own a Gear VR (thus how I stumbled into this) but I might check this out just to see if the material feels better.
 

Lunar FC

Member
Anybody else have issues with their vive turning on randomly? Walked in to my room coming home from dinner and the headset was on, steam nor vive home are even open on my computer and I'm positive it was off when I left.
 

Trojan

Member
Who else has gotten the Micrecraft Vive hack up and running? I just did this and I'm thoroughly impressed. Just walking around that world in VR gives the game new life, and the sheer scale of the world makes exploring feel amazing. Uses all the best qualities of the Vive with room scale and hand gestures.

For those who want to give it a try, this below video explains the install. If you have trouble with the .exe exporting at the end, the guy links to a .zip with his executable that works as an alternative.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2IaPln-ARSQ
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
That goes without saying, you can just sit in the middle of the room-scale space without any issue. The discussion was about sitting at the desk that's at the edge of the room-scale space.

- Sit inside room scale space
- sit outside room scale space but inside the lighthouses
- sit outside the lighthouses but facing one lighthouse (limited to 180 degrees)

All of those should be fine - I use the first and last ones myself. my chair is about 2m outside the tracked area
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Who else has gotten the Micrecraft Vive hack up and running? I just did this and I'm thoroughly impressed. Just walking around that world in VR gives the game new life, and the sheer scale of the world makes exploring feel amazing. Uses all the best qualities of the Vive with room scale and hand gestures.

For those who want to give it a try, this below video explains the install. If you have trouble with the .exe exporting at the end, the guy links to a .zip with his executable that works as an alternative.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2IaPln-ARSQ

Yep, it's amazing. Although I did also use that hack on the rift DK1 and even that was great. I wasn't a fan of teleporting in minecraft, as it could reduce the challenge against enemies, but when you're in the game it can get pretty damn spooky at night (first couple of nights especially) so I'll take that as a trade.

Everything is so big. I know the blocks are supposed to be 1m cubes, but you never really register that in 2D, happily jumping all over them. But in VR they really are up to your waist, it's crazy.
 

Exuro

Member
Man it shipped last night and it's in town now! But because they put that Deliver Weekday special setting I won't be able to grab it until Monday :mad:
 

Arulan

Member
-The squeezing buttons suck, it is not comfortable to press these regularly while holding the wand. So many false inputs, leads to a lot of frustration.

You realize you only have to press down on one of them, not both, right? I can easily "squeeze" it, with my middle-finger on the button, while holding it naturally.
 
Yep, it's amazing. Although I did also use that hack on the rift DK1 and even that was great. I wasn't a fan of teleporting in minecraft, as it could reduce the challenge against enemies, but when you're in the game it can get pretty damn spooky at night (first couple of nights especially) so I'll take that as a trade.

Everything is so big. I know the blocks are supposed to be 1m cubes, but you never really register that in 2D, happily jumping all over them. But in VR they really are up to your waist, it's crazy.

The scale feels super weird, but it definitely makes sense. I've actually been getting into Minecraft with it now, this is legitimately crazy.

Does anyone know if you can run shaders at the same time as well? My previously installed shader pack doesn't work because you have to select VR in forge/the launcher instead. I got a new GPU that could probably handle both and I'd really, really like to try it.
 

bj00rn_

Banned
Is anyone elses Vive warm when it's not used? I feel temperature on the front plate. There is no video, SteamVR is shut down and everything including basestations also shut down.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Alright, sort of a cross post, but now that my Vive has shipped I want to do this right.

Other than these games

Job Simulator
Tilt Brush
Fantastic Contraption
The Lab
Surgeon Simulator Meet The Medic
Budget Cuts Demo
theBlu
Virtual Desktop
Audioshield
Space Pirate Trainer
Elite Dangerous Horizons


what else is a really good VR experience?

I was looking at Subnautica(Just noticed this is OR, Revive?), The Gallery Call of the Starseed, The Legend of Luca, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, etc.


Any advice?
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Is anyone elses Vive warm when it's not used? I feel temperature on the front plate. There is no video, SteamVR is shut down and everything including basestations also shut down.

I just noticed this morning. Think I'm going to unplug it when not in use for a while.


Alright, sort of a cross post, but now that my Vive has shipped I want to do this right.

Other than these games

Job Simulator
Tilt Brush
Fantastic Contraption
The Lab
Surgeon Simulator Meet The Medic
Budget Cuts Demo
theBlu
Virtual Desktop
Audioshield
Space Pirate Trainer
Elite Dangerous Horizons


what else is a really good VR experience?

I was looking at Subnautica(Just noticed this is OR, Revive?), The Gallery Call of the Starseed, The Legend of Luca, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, etc.


Any advice?

I've really enjoyed Minecraft and Bowslinger as games.
For experiences, The Foo Show and the Presenz video demo were interesting for me. Although The Foo Show really needs some mechanism to maintain personal space :)
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Is anyone elses Vive warm when it's not used? I feel temperature on the front plate. There is no video, SteamVR is shut down and everything including basestations also shut down.

Yes. I usually plug it out (the power from the break-out box) over night it when I'm not using it for a longer period.
 

deadfolk

Member
Alright, sort of a cross post, but now that my Vive has shipped I want to do this right.

Other than these games

Job Simulator
Tilt Brush
Fantastic Contraption
The Lab
Surgeon Simulator Meet The Medic
Budget Cuts Demo
theBlu
Virtual Desktop
Audioshield
Space Pirate Trainer
Elite Dangerous Horizons


what else is a really good VR experience?

I was looking at Subnautica(Just noticed this is OR, Revive?), The Gallery Call of the Starseed, The Legend of Luca, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, etc.


Any advice?


Yee, Subnautica is rift only for now, although vive support is on their list. People have reported some success with revive, but for me it hasn't worked too well...flicking to grey constantly. Ymmv. If you have the game already it's worth trying, but based on my experience I would not recommend buying it for vive...although it's a great game even in 2d.


Legend of Luca is not being well received and Ethan Carter and Elite are supposed to look bad on Vive right now, although I haven't tried any of these personally.

Mincraft is good with the vive mod. Also, you can grab a lot if the free rift stuff, such as Lucky's Tale and Henry and they work great with revive.

The gallery is great, but allegedly short...i haven't played to the end, but it's pricey.
Vanishing realms and hover junkers get a lot of love, but I haven't tried them yet myself.
Final Approach is a lot more fun than it looks.
There's a demo of The Brookhaven Experiment if you are up to it. :)
Holopoint is also popular around here, but again, I haven't tried it.

Ive not had my vive a week yet, so I've had limited time, but Audioshield and SPT are the ones which are calling me back so far.
 

Hickee

Member
Can't wait, ended up ordering on 2nd April when my Oculus order got moved to june/july and out of the blue this morning I get shipping confirmation for Tuesday 3rd May!

Mrs ain't happy about me standing couches on end, putting up tripods and covering the mirror in the living room with a bedsheet just after we had the living room redecorated but omg woman VR do you not understand?!
 
Looks like a lot of us are expecting delivery on Tuesday :)

Now to build some kind of protective cover for the TV and hunt down a display port - HDMI adaptor....
 
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