So guys... Now that another BIG batch of Gaffers are about the join the club, myself included... can anyone with veteran Oculus Rift experience give us some best practices, collected from your wisdom?
HDMI or DVI, for example? Cloned monitor or extended? I see a lot of debate, but would appreciate anything resembling a collected list of truths people have generally agreed upon. Wading through Mtbs3D is grueling for example, where even a single game through has advice which changes sooooo much over time, but then the original post is never updated to reflect it.
So, do people NOT us TF2 to setup IPD anymore? If I do want to use source games do I need to configure it in some odd resolution? Etc...
Any general us tips would be amazing.
For what its worth, i'm going to make every effort to go in using my glasses. My astigmatism is going to be nightmare fuel if I go in with other lenses, and just roll the dice.
I don't really even know where to start, but here's a few tips:
Use the top strap! At first I was like "meh I don't need it," and I played those first couple of days without it. But slowly I realized I was having to tighten the side straps pretty hard to keep the rift firmly in position while looking around, and I think it was slowly adding to discomfort, headaches, and even nausea on the longer play sessions. I you use the top strap you can leave all the straps a bit looser and still keep it firmly in position. Makes longer sessions much more comfortable.
Stick to demos without tons of fast lateral movement in the beginning. Messing around a few minutes in Tuscany is fine, but on your first day you really want to let your brain get used to the optics and such before trying to tackle games where ur running, strafing, and jumping around. Proton Pulse, Blue Marble, Titans of Space, Super Mega Mega, VR Cinema 3D, Greebles, Riftcoaster, and other demos where there is either no movement or guided movement not controlled directly by the player. Then you can start dabbling in the crazier stuff. As tempting as it may be, don't just jump into TF2, HL2, or Minecrift right out of the gate.
When you do get into the player controlled movement stuff, standing up while playing a game where your character is standing goes a LONG way for immersion.
As for a couple of your questions, personally I use straight DVI and clone instead of extending desktop. My computer automatically sees the Rift as display output 1 and my monitor is 2 tho, so I didn't have to switch priority, it worked automatically and I get no screen tearing or anything.
The TF2 calibration tool is still recommended as far as I know. But when I had my resolution set to 1920x1080 while calibrating it was way off, trying to say my IPD was like 32mm. I switched the game's resolution back down to 1280x800 and then the calibration worked great. I've since switched back to 1920x1080 and don't notice any ill effects. EDIT: This is of course only for use in TF2/HL2 as Plagiarize mentions below.
For the real games with support, RoattoVR and MTBS3D have some good articles and guides(not just forum posts).