Needed another wireless kb/mouse combo.

Another LFS DK2 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLNO0Q7F0so

Everyone is really impressed.

Quote from Scawen :

When you say "blur fix" is that the same as what I have heard named as "low persistence implementation" ? I don't know what that is. Can I switch off pixels faster?

It basically eliminates almost all "ghosting" when you're moving your head around.

If you want to test it yourself, download this Tuscany demo (this one actually worked for me unlike the official SDK Tuscany version) and you can toggle low persistence mode on/off with the F1 key.

I had to create a shortcut for the TuscanyDK2.exe with an -adapter 1 flag and run it with ctrl+enter to turn off windowed mode, fired up after that in extended desktop mode.

Quote from Alric :

People talk as though a developer can basically turn it on or off in their coding but I thought as long as you were above 75fps low persistence worked.

It definitely has to be implemented separately, as you can toggle low persistence mode on/off in the above demo even when running constant 75 FPS.

It would be nice to also have a toggle for the driving UI to be hidden automatically after starting a race, or alternatively making the shift+F shortcut stick after pressing it. It's pretty much the only thing I need to reach my keyboard for now after I switch cars or tracks, everything else can be done with mouse.

I also hope you'll try to get low persistence support in at some point, it makes a really big difference to VR comfort when moving your head around quickly.

Not sure would "Timewarp" be needed, the latency feels extremely low as it is.

Uhh, okay. Was recording a video of the dual monitor issue, but now the menus worked. I guess a PC restart fixed whatever was wrong with the resolution and mouse.

LFS still started on my secondary monitor after turning off the Rift, but now I could go in to the graphics options and choose my main monitor from the adapters to get it where it should be.

It would still be preferrable for LFS to go back to the monitor it was running on before turning on Rift support from the options, to avoid making the user take extra steps through the second monitor.

Here's a video of the what happens on my setup.

I'm not surprised honestly, Rift implementation in LFS is that brilliant. I can't really praise it enough even in this early test stage.

I don't know what kind of magic Scawen has performed with the graphics engine, but somehow the Rifts resolution just looks sharper in LFS than in any other game or demo.

If anyone has a chance to try out DK2 with LFS at a friends place or anywhere, just do it. No better game to lose your VRginity with!

Quote from Scawen :

It's hard to know what to do about that! There is an adapter selector near the bottom of Graphics options screen. Maybe that is the solution?

After turning off the Rift (and enabling my second monitor) it looks like LFS keeps wanting to use the Rift even though it's not connected anymore. Maybe running some kind of check to see if the Rift is not present, in which case LFS would revert back to rendering on the primary monitor would be an idea?

Unfortunately I can't reach the adapter selector in the graphics option screen after this happens, as the mouse cursor doesn't obey its visualized location on the second monitor. I'll grab a video of this happening in the morning for you, it's kinda hard to explain.

Drove a bit more with my wheel, had to stop as my Rift was turning in to an aquarium... bloody heat wave.

I have to say the VR implementation feels so damn good when driving with a wheel and using headphones. Presence or "I'm in another world" feeling is the strongest I've felt so far with the DK2. That combined with the perfectly nailed VR friendly UI deserves a big thumbs up.

Once chromatic aberration corrections and low persistence are enabled, I suspect LFS will be the go-to demo for VR conventions. It really is that good.

Ran in to a bit of an issue. After doing my first test and turning off my Rift, I started LFS to check something and it now starts on my secondary monitor in full screen at 1024x768. Trying to change it back to windowed mode gives an "Can't go to window - not using the primary adapter" error message. Trying to click the UI buttons also minimizes LFS.

Deleting/editing cfg.txt is a quick fix for this, but might be something to look in to. Edit: Temporarily disabling secondary monitor and running LFS again works aswell.

I also noticed that LFS automatically disables Windows Aero while running now, I think it would be preferrable to have a toggle for that in the options if possible. Edit: Didn't happen anymore after deleting cfg.txt

Last edited by Matrixi, Wed, 6 Aug 2014 20:50.

Gave it a quick try on my gamepad, DK2 works and the UI is very user friendly as expected! Implementation feels very good, the VR experience is great as long as vsync is turned off and ingame limiter is set to 76 FPS. Using vsync on @75Hz caused the head tracking to be quite laggy and made me feel dizzy.

I did notice a few things:

• Chromatic aberration at the far edges of the vision seems much stronger than in other DK2 demos I've tried so far, not sure if this is just me?
  
• Low persistence might not be completely working, turning my head around quickly made the environment blur quite a bit, could just be me again...
  

Also, creating a custom 2560x1440x75 resolution for supersampling in Nvidia drivers seemed to make the dashboard gauges easier to read, didn't notice any effect on performance.

Tested on Windows 7 x64, now to do some wheel driving.

Quote from ctuchik :

I did not have to set the rift as main screen for ETS! Having it extended and second monitor worked fine. I've only had one demo refuse to start on the rift as second monitor even with -adapter 1 and in that case I could just use windowed mode and drag it over.

That's interesting, for me it runs on my main monitor only unless I set the Rift as a primary "monitor". Are you on Nvidia/Win7?

*Edit: Scratch that, looks like they've applied a ninja patch through Steam since I last tried it. Loaded up directly to the Rift now!

That sounds very user friendly which is nice, as I've had massive headaches getting some games to work on the DK2. I guess it's partially because of the multimonitor implementation in Windows that doesn't allow mirroring a portrait screen that's been rotated to landscape for some reason.

Euro Truck Sim 2 is a good example of a horrible Rift implementation usability wise. First it requires you to set the Rift as a primary monitor... which moves the taskbar and all windows to the Rift by default (windows key + arrows are great for this) but once you manage to actually start the game, you're greeted by microscopic menus and fonts that are unreadable.

This is something where I feel that LFS can show other developers what proper Rift support really means.

How's the LFS DK2 implementation going?

While testing some things today, I noticed that running anything with direct HMD access results in stuttering with head tracking every few seconds or so, whereas extended mode is constant silky smooth 75 FPS.

Getting Unity demos to run in extended mode seems to be easy by creating a shortcut with an "-adapter 1" command, then starting them with ctrl+enter and unchecking windowed mode.

Quote from Amynue :

but what about the curved screen? I've seen many people suggesting it, but I don't understand what is the benefit of a curved screen. It would allow to make the headset less blocky and more ergonomic I guess...

It would help a lot with the optics, especially at reducing chromatic aberration and making everything in the peripheral vision much sharper as it's better to focus a curved screen on to lenses.

It's also what Carmack really seems to want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaN4wUii0T0#t=7839

Got the device, only tried a handful of demos so far. At first the FOV reduction was pretty noticeable, but after I moved the eye relief back, the experience became much more immersive and I don't feel like it's much of a downgrade from DK1 anymore.

Better resolution, low persistence, positional tracking... all fantastic and the device as a whole is MUCH improved over the DK1. For development and enthusiast purposes, it's great.

That said everyone should keep in mind, that the DK2 was developed and made before the money floodgates from FB opened up, so I think it's safe to say we can expect great things from CV1.

Anxious to give LFS DK2 test patch a go when it's ready.

Quote from Shotglass :

how much smaller in degrees is the fov on the dk2 comapred to dk1?

According to the official specsheet, 110 -> 100 degrees.

However the DK1 screen was slightly overspecced due to its huge size (they had to switch to a larger screen than the lenses were originally designed for in the last minute) so if you put the lenses as close as possible to your eyes, you could actually go beyond the specified FOV a littlebit, achieving something like 115-120 degrees of effective FOV.

My DK2 should be arriving today unless UPS screws something up, will give impressions/comparison on the FOV then.

Thanks for the update, stay persistent!

One way to make the blinkers/swimming goggles effect more bearable, is apparently to set the eye relief almost completely to the far end, 3 clicks from the end seems to be a good setting according to a lot of people. Then the FOV is optics limited, rather than screen limited.

DK1 felt better the closer the lenses were to your eyes, but DK2 seems to be the opposite. Suppose it has something to do with the larger lenses.

*Edit: A discussion with Oculus' chie ... Antonov about the 0.4 SDK

Last edited by Matrixi, Sat, 2 Aug 2014 17:24.

Another World (Amiga)

I'll remember this intro forever from my childhood.

Quote from oleroc :

Ok, I'll spell it out for you.. I configure the motion so that your head does not get yanked around violently. If your head behaves that way in a motion rig, its all wrong...

The overall motion is also dialed down, since you don't want that much motion when you use the OR.

As it is, its absolutely possible to control most aspects of a motion rig, including eliminating unwanted violent shaking..

You are absolutely welcome to stop by and try it out btw. if you happen to be nearby....

In that case all you're doing there, is compromising the motion rigs simulation just to use the Rift. Again my point that Perisoft was also talking about, is if you want a realistic true to life experience (which is what motion rigs are all about) they do not go well with the Rift - atleast until eye tracking is implemented.

My time in the 301 that was fully configured for maximum realism was comparable to the G-force head movements of an F1 driver. The viewpoint shook around, a whole lot. South City with the BF1 was basically undrivable with all the bumps and vibrations that the motion rig was throwing at my body. Street cars are propably a lot more mellow and suitable.

If I'll be visiting Norway, I'd be happy to be proven wrong though!

It's not really a matter of configurations, it's simply how rendering and headtracking works on the Rift.

A simple test that anyone can do and understand: Focus in to any point from 1 meter to infinity, then quickly move your head up and down. You can clearly keep track of the point, because your eyes are tracking it and keeping it in focus while your head is moving up and down.

In virtual reality, your head is being yanked around violently in motion rigs and your whole viewpoint is moving but your eyes cannot track it. You can kind of simulate this in real life by not focusing in to anything, and quickly moving your head around. Everything you see will be nothing but blur.

VR without eyetracking combined with motion rigs is a poor experience. But if you're happy with it, then carry on.

Quote from oleroc :

I'm using DK1 with a motion rig, and its no problem whatsoever.

Quote from oleroc :

The only thing that will throw it off is continues rotation, which indeed throws it off. Tried the Dk1 in an 401cr, and it did not work.

Some contradiction there.

I've used both 301 and a DK1, they do not work together as your head shakes around so much it makes everything a blurry mess. Perisoft himself (creator of Force Dynamics) said on IRC that Rifts won't really work with proper motion rigs at this point if you want a realistic experience.

Quote from oleroc :

It is also true that in DK2 you can mount the camera on the rig, and therefore all movement of the head will be in relation to the rig and correct.

DK2 takes data from both IR and gyro sensors to calculate the tracking. Even if it was purely IR based, the movement of your head would still be completely unrealistic compared to actually driving a car. The effect would be similar to Gran Turismo cockpit shaking at high speed, you just can't see anything.

Rift is no-go on motion rigs, the headtracking would go completely berserk as it combines IR tracking with attitude based gyro tracking.

Some tips here aswell, along with that service manager I linked couple posts up.

Sounds strange, then again it's headaches as usual with a new SDK/driver...

Is your processor SSE 4.1 compatible? Someone on the subreddit said it's required by the new driver, which is propably an oversight to be fixed by Oculus, because it would rule out majority of AMD processors.

I found the software IPD measurement tool to be pretty much useless, atleast with the DK1. I ended up getting better results by eyeballing my IPD manually with a ruler and mirror.

*Edit: This seems to be handy.

Last edited by Matrixi, Thu, 31 Jul 2014 17:50.

W7/W8 only seems to be the case indeed, which isn't great for people on older machines, but I can't say I'm surprised they went with that decision.

With the new drivers, Direct HMD access from apps is a great improvement though. It was always a bit of a hassle to get demos running with the DK1 acting as a secondary/tertiary screen, because display mirroring added unnecessary extra input and processing lag for some reason in Windows.

*Edit: If you feel like testing that devkit with some other games, here seems to be a DK2 compatible demo list that's being updated regularly. Can't wait to hear about your first VR experience!

Last edited by Matrixi, Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:21.