cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

My Journey Through the Rift v2.0 (DK2 Edition)

Tbone
Protege
My Journey Through the Rift (DK1 Impressions from Last Year in April)

Introduction

It's been over a year since I first was floored by the DK1. Last year in April rmclelland allowed me to come over and try out his DK1. He was in the FIRST batch, so only a handful of people had had a chance to try it. I wrote about my experience over the course of two sessions. Look at the top of my post if you're interested in those impressions.

Once again my good friend has allowed me to come check out his early adopted tech. While I purchased my own DK1 that I used quite a bit, I sold it back in April so that I could pre-order the DK2. It should be arriving sometime this month, and after trying it out for two hours this evening, I can't wait!

Like Seeing An Old Friend

It had been over three months since I had last taken a journey through the Rift. It was a sacrifice I made for the upgrade. The DK1 had enough shortcomings that it was hard for me to use it regularly, so it was a no-brainer move. But it made me anxious to jump back in - and nervous. Had I completely lost my VR legs? Nothing was going to stop me, though. I came prepared. I arrived at rmclelland's place with two cans of gingerale and Sea-bands. You know, just in case.

We chatted a bit about Oculus and the DK2. Then we laughed about how we were basically having the same conversation that we have online when obsessively looking at Oculus news. There was nothing we could tell each other that the other one didn't already know. Perfect - more time to be inside the Rift! I sat down and held the DK2. It felt very familiar - like seeing an old friend again after some time had passed. I recognized it, but it also looked different. He switched out the lenses and began setting up my profile. I asked him about getting demos to work and he said he hadn't really had any major issues. He was using the unofficial service and that seemed to be working well for him.

With the profile set up, the correct lenses in, and the notches extended to the third whatever (recommended to get rid of the black edges of the screen), I jacked in again with a fresh pair of eyes!

Modified Desk Demo - First Impressions

Having read all sorts of impressions, I knew everything to look for. FOV, resolution, low persistence, positional tracking, black smear, chromatic abrasion, color contrast. I was now a seasoned VR vet. Gone were my wet-behind-the-ears days of wonderment. It's time to get critical!

I appear in front of a desk and word Oculus is floating beyond it. Before we start doing anything else, I notice I can read it VERY clearly. Head tracking is working, so I look around the desk. It's been modified. It's covered in comic strips and pictures. I can see everything clearly. I can read everything. Without even leaning in, everything is legible. This alone kinda blew me away. I could never read ANYTHING in the DK1. Everything is crisp and clear. The positional tracking box is active. I try leaning around and it just works. It's completely natural. As soon as it happens, I just think "yeah, this is how it should be". Ok, my mouth has been open for way too long now. Time to put the thing through its paces.

I take note of the resolution. It looks great! The only place I can see the screen door is when I'm looking at the word "Oculus", and even then I have to really focus on it. I have no problems seeing the details of anything. I make note that there's nothing way in the distance in this demo, so I'll have to do more investigating later.

Next, low persistence. I move my head side to side. No motion blur. WOW that makes a difference! Again I think "yeah, it should have always been this way." These are things that consumer VR will take for granted, but it's huge. As I'm focusing on objects as I turn my head, though, I notice they are getting blurry at certain moments. After a little investigating, I determine that looking at the edges of the lenses at an object makes it look blurrier (chromatic abrasion or just focal point). My VR training kicks in and I remember to look with my head more than my eyes. After that moment, the only time I notice it again is if the headset shifts on my face while I'm looking downward.

FOV. With my current setting, I don't see the edges of the screen. My view does seem to be more tall than wide, but it doesn't seem much different than the DK1. It doesn't take me out of any experience. I can see the black sides of the goggles, but with it being at the forefront instead of where I'm focusing, it's not an issue.

Positional tracking. We tried it seated and standing. This was very cool! I can look under the desk. I can look around the playing cards (which had pictures of Palmer and other easter eggs on them..haha). I test the boundaries and they're accurate. Turning 180 will lose your positional tracking. Going too far any one direction will do the same. I am lucky that rmclelland has experimented with it a good bit, so he already had it set up to cover a pretty nice area. For seated and standing I had almost no issues with the positional tracking. The dimming with the warning message when you got close to going out of bounds worked very well!

I spent a long time in that first demo scene just testing everything out. After reading all the mixed bag reviews from others, I went in with reasonable expectations and was blown away already. I just couldn't get over being able to read everything so clearly! The combination of the resolution, positional tracking, and low persistence just put this leaps and bounds over the DK1. But I was just getting started. It's time to check out the actual demos!

Demo-a-thon!

Polyword - rmclelland booted up Polyworld and had me stand up. We're going straight to moving in first person! Ok then! I walked around the world and looked for issues with distance. I couldn't find any. Polyworld is a lower-detail demo, but I had no trouble seeing things crisp and clear even at a moderate distance. I just couldn't get over that aspect of it. I messed around with the positional tracking, taking a step or two in this direction or that. Leaning into things. Yup, still works. But then I got to a fence. I wanted to see what was on the other side. I did what you would naturally do. I stood on my tiptoes to look over it AND IT WORKED. Wow! My height as well as my ability to stand on my toes could affect game play! So cool! There wasn't a whole lot left o look at in Polyworld, so I moved on!

Couch Knights - Next rmclelland wanted to show me his most immersive seated experience, and he loaded up Couch Knights. Wow! I had looked at this demo on my computer to make sure it was working and I was, despite knowing this is how it is, floored at the difference being in the Rift makes. rmclelland instructed me to hold the controller like my avatar and BAM, it clicked that I was there on the couch. Again the details and colors were so crisp and clear. I could see myself spending hours playing Super Smash Bros. on the coffee table. Out of all the demos, I was also the most immersed in this one. Knowing I had a duty to get details, though, I started looking for resolution flaws. Everything around me and on the coffee table looked great! Super detailed and clear! Looking at the couch on the other side of the table, it also looked great! It wasn't until I looked all the way at the door leading out of the room that I noticed I couldn't see as much detail. To put that in perspective, though, I felt I could drive safely with the level of detail I was getting. I could still read things just fine. Just amazing! I really liked Couch Knights, but I had no one to play with and I wanted to get through all the demos, so we moved on!

Tuscany RELOADED - I decided to revisit a familiar place to have a point of comparison. Whaaaaat! Tuscany, you look so crisp and clear! I don't even have to walk all around you to inspect everything! As other people reported, it's kind of funny because things are crisp enough that you can see their flaws. I laughed at the cheesy background images in the distance. Tuscany is also where I really noticed the black smearing. It just looks like a lighting issue or odd shadow distortion. It's not, obviously, but it doesn't present itself as a blur. For this reason, it's more of a minor inconvenience than an "issue". It was super easy to ignore. It can't be there for the consumer version (developers would have to develop around it if that were the case), but for a dev kit, whatever. It doesn't make me sick, so it's cool!

Chilling Space - Hahahahaha what! This was pretty nuts! I thought for sure a space demo would show a flaw in the resolution, but this demo looked great! The asteroids looked awesome. The earth felt huge in the distance. This was just so much fun. Honestly I liked this much more than I ever liked Titans of Space. I'm anxious to see what Titans of Space looks like in the DK2 so I can compare! I told rmclelland that it just looks great. The resolution made everything playable and was well within acceptable standards. I commented that DK1 was like the N64 and DK2 is like the PS3. It felt like that kind of leap. But would the resolution hold up in media viewing?

Infinity Drive-In/Whirligig - I jacked into the drive-in to see how watching a movie would fare. First I had to drive up to the ticket booth and buy a ticket. Wait, there's a line in VR? WE CAN DO VR BUT WE CAN'T ELIMINATE WAITING IN A LINE??? Some things shouldn't mirror reality...heh. rmclelland was one step ahead of me, though, and spawned a girl in the passenger seat to keep me company. I used positional tracking to check her out and had a "OH OF COURSE" moment with what positional tracking will mostly be used for. Welcome to the future! I drove around and found a spot - it all felt very realistic. This cinema was showing old commercials before the movie, so I couldn't get a good gauge for the quality. When it was time for the movie to begin, it didn't load. All that waiting and driving for nothing! No problem! We switched to Whirligig and loaded up Planes in 3D

Huh. The movie looks great. I can read the text on the screen. Everything is clear. It's definitely sharper than me watching my monitor from my bed. It's not as sharp as my 720p TV, but it's much larger. I commented that I could definitely watch an entire movie without feeling like I was losing out due to the quality. Unfortunately he didn't have Gravity loaded, so I'll have to save that for when my DK2 comes in!

He's a Machine... - At this point I wanted to try as many demos as I could, so we started flying through experiences. Lava Inc Rollercoaster had a pretty cool mechanic with leaning to control the speed. I ran through it twice before feeling a third time probably wasn't smart. Good VR doesn't solve natural motion sickness...haha. OceanRift had great detail on the ocean floor! Wow! But the water itself was murky. In the DK1, this was an advantage and made OceanRift a stand out demo! In the DK2, though, it created muddiness where I was looking for clarity. You can clean those waters up now! I believe Spirited Away, Vanguard V, and First Law had a weird V-sync line that we tried to troubleshoot for bit with no luck. I mentioned that V-sync probably needed to be turned off (or on), but we didn't toggle it. First Law was a lot of fun! It was one of my first experiences in the DK1 and it was amazing to see what an upgrade it is in the DK2! The cockpit looked amazing - I could read everything! I could track hostiles much easier! This, of course, whetted my appetite for...

Elite Dangerous - Yup, he had it. Yup, I was trying it. I heard great things. His computer was straining to keep it going, but I found that if I kept in motion, the frame rate stayed up (oddly enough). The cockpit was incredible! As I've stated a million times, I could read EVERYTHING! I assumed I'd have to lean in to really read things, but it isn't the case. It's all just crystal clear. It didn't take me long to figure out how to fly around. rmclelland commented that he could imagine people getting lost for hours in that ship and really forgetting that they weren't really piloting it. It even had a virtual lunch packed for me! It does make you desire a HOTUS, since placing your hands in the correct position really ups immersion.

Conclusion

And then I was done. "Wait, how long was I in there?" Two hours. I hadn't even opened my gingerale. I didn't put my Sea-bands on at all. Wow, I went two hours straight having not done VR in over three months and didn't even have to take a breather? Wow. I went in with realistic expectations and, as a result, came out extremely impressed. I really thought I'd see more of the flaws of the device, but I just couldn't get over how well it worked compared to the DK1.

Pros - Resolution is great. I didn't think 1080p would make as big a difference as it did, but the smaller screen (even if OLED) combined with the other improvements really makes the perceived difference HUGE! Low persistence and positional tracking are amazing! Colors are bright! Comfort while using it, especially while seated, is a big improvement. I feel you could actually game on this device instead of just imagining how great gaming will be on it one day.

Cons - I think a wider FOV would be the biggest "wow" thing they could still do for me at this time (other than the obvious ones like full body tracking). It isn't noticeably worse, but with everything else getting improved, it makes you yearn for more. Black smearing needs to be fixed. Usability is the biggest issue. rmclelland vented that it's frustrating to try and be 5 feet from the camera and hit "R" on the keyboard to re-center. That just doesn't work. I was lucky enough to have him running the show for me, so I didn't have to worry about it, but I'm already thinking of solutions (binding R to my wireless headset). The software in general needs a lot. Some things run in extended. Some in direct. Some should use V-sync. Some shouldn't. Low persistence didn't seem to be working in one demo. It'll be great when things are consistent. The consumer product will need to be lighter. I spent two hours with no discomfort, but leaning down and around caused me to be more aware that I was wearing a headset that needed to be carefully tightened in an almost perfect manner.

I mentioned in my impressions of the DK1 that it felt like a lucid hazy dream. You feel like you're there, but the details are pretty fuzzy. With the DK2, it felt more like a reality than a dream. The haze has been lifted. No longer are you walking through a fog. It really did feel like the generation leap of going from something like the N64 to the PS3. Having now tried it, I'm very impatient for my own DK2 to arrive! I built a new computer just for the occasion, and I'm anxious to put it through the ropes! I still feel that Oculus has something internally that blows the DK2 out of the water, which is pretty crazy to think about.

Right before I left, I pondered how different my point of view is from someone who never tried the DK1. Knowing about the previous iteration's shortcomings, I was floored with the improvements. But the improvements themselves were so natural that someone who didn't know any better would probably take them for granted. Perhaps that's an advantage to being an early adopter. We can recognize and appreciate every advancement made!

N64 (DK1)


PS3 (DK2)
The Furious Angels - an Oculus Rift Online Gaming Community!
11 REPLIES 11

Tbone
Protege
"tbhausen" wrote:
Very nice write-up. It's hard to imagine someone writing a better review after two hours' time with DK2. I hope you don't mind if I credit you and copy and post it in the iRacing forums (since both here and there are private).

Thanks! Sure, go ahead!

"equusvenustas" wrote:
Nice review, the first thing i tried apart from the desk demo and the oculus demo was chillspace and it was mind blowing and relaxing, the Carl Sagan spech/music top it off. Have you tried lava inc? is really awesome i recommend it.

Yeah, I didn't even bother with the gun in Chilling Space. If it had blown up the asteroids, maybe that would have been fun, but I was perfectly fine with just floating around!

I did try Lava Inc. I found it hard to look around much since I was trying to control my speed with how far I was leaning.

"cerulianbaloo" wrote:
You're not helping the wait till I get mine next week! Really though glad to hear it was such a positive experience for you. Some of my hype was deflating a bit with all the ho hum impressions on reddit and those were from dk1 users too. Your post has restored a bit of faith good sir 😄

I think going in with realistic expectations and a point of reference (the DK1) helped me appreciate it more. I started out really hyped for it, but just like you got a little cautious with the ho-hum impressions from some. It all depends on the fidelity you're used to. If you're used to the DK1, the DK2 will be a huge breath of fresh air. If you have no point of reference with VR, then you should still be blown away by the same things that blew me away with the DK1, but the flaws that still exist will probably be a bigger deal for you.
The Furious Angels - an Oculus Rift Online Gaming Community!

Gypsy816
Expert Protege
And then I was done. "Wait, how long was I in there?" Two hours. I hadn't even opened my gingerale. I didn't put my Sea-bands on at all. Wow, I went two hours straight having not done VR in over three months and didn't even have to take a breather? Wow. I went in with realistic expectations and, as a result, came out extremely impressed. I really thought I'd see more of the flaws of the device, but I just couldn't get over how well it worked compared to the DK1.


You know you've been through something special when you don't even get to the snack items! :lol:
Oculus Community Manager - kweh!