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Scawen
Up and Coming
January 13, 2016

A couple of questions to help developers

Dear Oculus,

Many of the developers are missing some vital information right now. This could be solved by you answering a couple of questions.

I am talking about developers who have invested in a Development Kit and put many months into supporting the Rift.

The problem now is that you are withholding access to the latest SDK, so we don't know when we will be able to develop for the consumer Rift.

Questions :

1) Will the SDK 1.0 work properly with the DK2? This would allow us to develop for the CV1, using our DK2, as long as we don't require the extra functions on the CV1. Obviously, this is why we bought a Development Kit. The only answer we have for this question is a single tweet by Tom Forsyth "Nope, 1.0 supports DK2." https://twitter.com/tom_forsyth/status/ ... 4237106176 If you think about it, this is not really the professional way to keep your developers informed, and we would be grateful for a proper comment on this.

2) Approximately when will the SDK 1.0 be released for developers? I know it is available to selected developers under NDA but that's not what I am talking about. When will it be publicly available? A ballpark date would be fine.

3) If you can't give a rough date for the 1.0 SDK release, can you at least confirm that it will be released before the CV1 is shipped to customers? This is an important question and after investing many months of development into supporting the Rift, I think it is not unreasonable to expect an answer to this question, if you know it.

Thanks.

    7 replies

    Rydier
    Participant
    January 13, 2016
    "scawen" wrote:

    1) Will the SDK 1.0 work properly with the DK2? This would allow us to develop for the CV1, using our DK2, as long as we don't require the extra functions on the CV1. Obviously, this is why we bought a Development Kit. The only answer we have for this question is a single tweet by Tom Forsyth "Nope, 1.0 supports DK2." https://twitter.com/tom_forsyth/status/ ... 4237106176 If you think about it, this is not really the professional way to keep your developers informed, and we would be grateful for a proper comment on this.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ ... ?context=3
    "When CV1 is out, what happens to DK1 & DK2 compatibility? are they phased out immediately or will the SDK allow seemless support for them for games and experiences? is this all on the developers themselves? Will the introduction of Touch phase out DK2 completely when it comes to games with "Touch required"?
    palmerluckey: We want to make sure that developers with DK1 and DK2 can continue developing for Rift. We’ll have more news on DK1 and DK2 compatibility over the next few months."
    "scawen" wrote:

    2) Approximately when will the SDK 1.0 be released for developers? I know it is available to selected developers under NDA but that's not what I am talking about. When will it be publicly available? A ballpark date would be fine.

    3) If you can't give a rough date for the 1.0 SDK release, can you at least confirm that it will be released before the CV1 is shipped to customers? This is an important question and after investing many months of development into supporting the Rift, I think it is not unreasonable to expect an answer to this question, if you know it.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ ... ?context=3
    "When will the 1.0 Rift SDK be made available to all developers?
    palmerluckey: At launch."
    ScawenAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 13, 2016
    Thank you for the help, Rydier.

    The answers you quote are relevant but they are not satisfactory.

    We really need official and definite answers instead of these vague comments from deep in reddit.

    It doesn't seem as if Oculus are treating developers with much respect.
    Live for Speed - www.lfs.net
    jherico
    Inspiring
    January 14, 2016
    "scawen" wrote:
    We really need official and definite answers instead of these vague comments from deep in reddit.


    Those were both responses directly from Palmer Luckey from his Reddit AMA. That's not random or 'vague'. That's the company founder explicitly saying something. Is it going to be somehow more official if he or Cyber comes and says it here? No, not really.
    Brad Davis - Developer for High Fidelity Co-author of Oculus Rift in Action
    ScawenAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 14, 2016
    jherico you are wrong, and you know it. Don't pretend to be so thick.

    Thousands of people bought a Development Kit and they are now being denied access to the SDK. That should obviously be explained in a proper way here on the site. In a blog, announcement, FAQ or something.

    Leaving it as nothing more than a conversation buried deep in reddit, just a couple of comments written by Zuckerberg's puppet on the same day as trying to defend the price of the Rift, is totally unprofessional.

    Also, those responses are not clear.

    "We want to make sure..." is hardly reassuring to the developers who have supported the project up to now.

    "At launch" is really insufficient information. What does it really mean?
    Live for Speed - www.lfs.net
    GoesTo11
    Up and Coming
    January 14, 2016
    Scawen, don't you have access to 1.0? I would have thought that they would have given access to developers who already have released games especially to ones that have games that work really well with VR (like yours).
    ScawenAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 14, 2016
    No, I submitted it before Christmas but have got no reply. It's still "Under Review".

    Oculus don't seem to show much interest in simulators, even though they are one of the best uses of VR.
    Live for Speed - www.lfs.net
    jherico
    Inspiring
    January 14, 2016
    "scawen" wrote:
    jherico you are wrong, and you know it. Don't pretend to be so thick.


    Smooth.


    "scawen" wrote:
    now being denied access to the SDK. That should obviously be explained in a proper way here on the site. In a blog, announcement, FAQ or something.


    Like this one?

    "scawen" wrote:
    "At launch" is really insufficient information. What does it really mean?


    I'll grant you that 'at launch' might be confusing since the pre-orders opening could be considered a kind of launch. However, since he said "at launch" and not "now", I think it's safe to assume he meant when consumer hardware starts actually shipping. Besides, what does it matter? You can't both disparage information because it's 'buried in a comment on Reddit' and obsess over the wording of that information. Pick a tinfoil hat and stick with it.

    And chill. I'm completely confident that the DK2 works with the 1.0 runtime, even for apps built against the 0.8 SDK. I just have that feeling somehow.
    Brad Davis - Developer for High Fidelity Co-author of Oculus Rift in Action
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