Long Review after using CV1 for two weeks with Assetto Corsa, project CARS and iRacing

[artvegam3]

Long review, after 2 weeks of using the OR CV1 with Racing
Simulators Assetto Corsa, project CARS and iRacing

If you want the short review, all I can say is WOW, this is
Fantastic… this is definitely the future of Sim Racing and video games and many
other applications of Virtual Reality.

If you want the long review… keep reading. I hope you don’t
fall asleep!

How I got it

I must say that I got the RIFT by being lucky and for having
booked a demo at a local Best Buy in Dallas, TX. I had been ready to click on
the preorder button 3 times in the last couple of months, but first I wanted to
try it. I use reading glasses so that was a major concern for me. My first
impression at the demo was, “hum the screen door effect is there”. After a minute
or two I forgot about that and was completely immersed and enjoying the simple
demos.

Packaging

I loved the box and everything inside. It seems that
everybody learned from Apple about how important is how nicely you package your
products. It’s definitely part of the experience.

Hardware

The headset is lightweight and fits perfectly, the vision is
good, although I wear glasses for reading, I have not needed. Some people leave
them but it is very uncomfortable positions. I would try the prescription
lenses on the kickstarter project that I’ve read about.

The sound coming from the OR headphones is great. In my
Simulator Rig I have 5.1 speakers and 5.1 Tritton headphones, but I have not
felt the need to use either, I get enough sound immersion  and quality from the OR headphones.

I have a triple screen setup and I’m used to run my racing
games at ULTRA / full graphic settings. But as I mentioned at the start, the
immersion factor wins over resolution. I’d love to have natural full HD on the
headset, that would just make it perfect, but I guess that’ll come eventually.

I use an AMD FX 9590 at 4.0 Ghz and a GTX 970 with 16 Gb of
RAM. My MoBo has USB3 and the OR gets recognized fine, but not the sensor. I
tried in all of the 5 USB 3 ports available and is not recognized in any of
them, so I plugged it into a USB 2.0 and it worked. I don’t really know if it
has any impact or not. I haven’t yet felt the need for buying an extra PCIE
card for extra USB 3.0 ports (what if it’s a faulty unit and it doesn’t
recognized with that anyway?). I’m hoping OR can replace it if it’s faulty
though!

The rig is a GT Omega Ultra, which is very good. I like the
seat, very comfortable for hours of racing and all the accessories. Is really
well made. Before this one, I had an Obutto, which was also very solid. The
wheel is a Thrustmaster T500RS.

I also have a Buttkicker under the seat using SimVibe
software, I was only able to get it to work last night (I got confused with the
multiple sound options). So, now being able to drive fully immersed visually
with the OR, the immersive sound, and the seat vibrations, I’m really enjoying
my setup now.

Feeling

It is incredible, the truth is that no video or photos published
so far on the web or youtube can describe what it feels like to be “inside” the
game environment. Whether a simulator car racing or any of the games that have
been launched especially for VR, the feeling of being there, in 3D is truly impressive.

In use with Racing Simulators

With the OR I use Assetto Corsa, Project CARS and iRacing. With
the triple screen I also play rFactor2, Dirt Rally, Race Room (with almost all
their racing options available) and F1 2015. I’m hoping these titles will add
OR support soon. rFactor 2 has already answered me in one of their FB posts
that they will wait and see. Dirt Rally I think is coming with an update soon
to support VR. F1 2016 I hope they will release it with VR support although I
haven’t read anything about that. And RaceRoom I really, really, really want
them to add it, they have the best sounds of all the sims, and with the OR
immersion, that would make it great.

Assetto Corsa

The support is in Alpha mode so there is still much room for
improvement, but it is already great. The feeling of being inside the car is
indescribable. Turning my head around inside the cockpit and see all the
details, dash indicators, fire extinguisher, switches, the passenger seat, etc.
You can even get out of the car and look at it almost like in real size, so
real that makes you want to touch it. I parked the car on a “safe” place and
enjoyed a few minutes just watching the scenery and the cars buzzing by.
Amazing.

After doing some configuration and using the OR debugger
tool to increase the default per pixel amount to 2.00, I took the Nissan GTR to
the Nordschleife. Wow!! I had never enjoyed driving on my favourite track so
much like with the OR.

Some of the first things you do with the OR is to look
around you, inside the car, seeing all the beautifully modeled details inside
and outside the car, but once I got used to that aspect, I feel like I
definitely started racing much more consistently, making less mistakes. With
OR, I can “feel” more the track, I can get a better perspective of being there,
in the car, better perception of space on the track, seeing the apex better,
and also, very important, being able to concentrate more because you are only focused
on what you are seeing, hearing and feeling. With the triple screen I could get
distracted more easily.

In terms of fps (and setting the debugger to 2.0), with a
single car I get 70 fps, and a CPU load of approx. 35%. With 15 cars on track I
get only 45 fps and the cpu goes up to 60% cpu approx.

The sensation is like you are within the car, and your hands
become the ones you see on the headset, and it makes you think you are really
grabbing the wheel you see in the graphics. So if you have a fancy wheel or a
regular one, it won’t matter much anymore, because you will think you’ve got on
your hands the actual wheel of the car you’re driving! The sensation definitely
changes when you move from one open wheel to a touring car. Awesome.

Project Cars

This has been a very innovative game in many ways. It’s the
only one that has actually given me money back, because of the “royalties” I
got from being a junior member since they were developing the game. Their
graphics are quite heavy on the GPU even with the triple screen, so with VR it
hurts too, but oh boy, are they beautiful!! Driving at night or under the rain
are just such great experiences. pCARS is the first racing game to fully
support VR. I had driven the Monaco track many times before in other sims, but
when I got into an F2 for a race with 22 cars in this track and with light rain
during the day…. Oh man oh man! I had never felt the walls so close, or really
felt the change in lighting conditions after you exit the tunnel. I started
driving lap after lap without hitting the walls and I just loved it. I know
that pCARS is not as a simulation as AC or iR are, and pCARS definitely lacks
the wheel feedback you get from the cars you are driving, and that tracks may
not be as accurate as others. Monaco for example doesn’t have that infamous
bump after the turn at the Casino, which all the F1 drivers try to avoid. But
still, one of the best tracks to drive with the OR.

Overall, the truth is that thanks to VR I started using
pCARS much more since I got the OR. Before, it was low on the list. And on the
opposite, some others that I was using constantly before, like rF2, F1 2015 or
Race Room (DTM, WTCC, GTR1, GTR2, GTR3), they are now on the shelf until they
get the OR support or until I get tired of racing the ones that support it.

iRacing

iRacing started supporting OR until just a few days ago with
their latest software realease. Of course I had to try it at Nordschleife
first. I took a BMZ Z4 and off I went. I got steady 89 fps at every part of the
track except for the short downhill after exiting the pits and before turning
to the right with the fence on the left. At that part my fps will drop
significantly, but it’s just for a couple of seconds. The driving here now it
just feels natural. Then I jumped onboard the Mclaren MP4-30 in Montreal, a
track that I know well because I used to live there in the late 90’s and I
walked or roller-bladed that track several times besides attending each F1 race
for 5 consecutive years. Then, with the same car went to the Interlagos track
in Brazil. I had never felt how the track goes up and down so much, until now.
For a simple human like me, this is probably the closest I will ever get to
driving a Formula 1 car on a track like this.

The visuals are great, I can see all the details on my
steering wheel and the details on the track. Racing at night is amazing. The
movement inside the cockpit is still limited, but for racing you don’t need to
be moving around that much anyway. For the coolness factor, I expect them to
fix this with some future software release. But even as it is now, I love it.

In comparison, I use Assetto Corsa the most because of the
racing with AI. I don’t do much online racing because I can’t really commit too
much time for completing races sometimes, so I’ll just play whatever I can late
at nights before I go to sleep. (I’ve been feeling sleepy for the last 2 weeks
thanks to this!). Visuals in AC are not the best of the three but the driving
experience is the best. Then I will go and do some great hot lapping with some
real nice cars on some really detailed tracks in iRacing. iRacing is without a
doubt the most expensive software I’ve invested in. I’ve been with them since I
was a beta tester and I “own” about 60% of their contents, but I hardly have
time to do online racing. Then, project CARS because of all the nice graphics
and effects. Driving is not as immersing as the other two, but heck, I’d jump
in anytime to go race in Monaco with formula cars or in Le Mans with
transitions from day to night and day and weather changes while inside of the
cockpit of an Audi or an Oreca Le Mans Prototype.

Other games/apps

I have tried just a little bit of some games or short films,
they are cool, but not my cup of tea yet. It seems like the Apollo film is
worth it though. The fun game that was included with the OR is fun too, but
like I said, I’d rather spend the little time I get in front of my computer
with racing cars.

Summary

In short: I’ve been using racing simulators for
a long time. I have tried almost all of the software releases that there have
been, and I’ve had many sim rigs, starting with a desk chair and a regular
sized CRT monitor, then a Hyper Stimulator, a couple of home made rigs using a
42” LED HDTV as a monitor, then an Obutto with a triple screen and even a 150”
home theater screen and a LED projector, to now with an Omega GT Ultra with the
Rift. I must say, this is a game changer.  there is no turning back, no longer I feel
like racing using the triple screen setup. For now it’s only 3 racing titles,
but I certainly hope that more titles will support it pretty soon, they are
missing out if they don’t. It may be a niche market, but one that has
tremendous potential to grow. Overall, I’m very, very happy with the experience
of using the Oculus Rift for Racing Sims. I hope you find this long review useful and entertaining!

[Scarrymove]

Excelent review !
The discription of ''the feel'' it's given you gives me the absolute answer ''i have no regret buying this OR'' !!!!
I start using the OR this week and i'm also a race fanatic with Project Cars and Assetto Corsa.
To be inside my favorite car and track ''mclaren c12 gt3 - Nordschleife'' is tremendous.
Getting out and watch from ''outside'' my car for a moment ??
I have no idea how to step out of the car.
But maybe i will discover this :smiley:

Thanks for your review.