Must... Have... VR... for AH!

[GScholz]

Slow down everybody.  Slow down.

You can't see your keyboard if you wear one of those things.  Just remember that.  The only way an Oculus Rift will work for AH-2 is if we get interactive instrument panels so you can look at your landing gear lever, and then hit a button on your HOTAS to make it work.

Otherwise it is not going to work as you fumble blindly for your keyboard and somehow hit the G key as you intended.

There is a reason the games shown with the Oculus have used an X-box controller.

I'm good. All I use the keyboard for these days is .radio .squelch .ef

[MarineUS]

I love my X52

[Vulcan]

Slow down everybody.  Slow down.

You can't see your keyboard if you wear one of those things.  Just remember that.  The only way an Oculus Rift will work for AH-2 is if we get interactive instrument panels so you can look at your landing gear lever, and then hit a button on your HOTAS to make it work.

Otherwise it is not going to work as you fumble blindly for your keyboard and somehow hit the G key as you intended.

There is a reason the games shown with the Oculus have used an X-box controller.

Yet I've been using VR with AH for ages no issues.

As posted, a good HOTAS setup works well. You can even type with a decent keyboard - or are you 12 years old and still look at the keys while you type on chat?

[Vulcan]

Flaps Up/Down
Fire
Secondary Fire
WEP
Gear
Throttle
ClipboardEngine on/off
Switch secondary
F3/F1 mode

13 buttons-ish. Pretty much every joystick has at least 10 buttons that are mappable. You can easily play AH without a keyboard.

....and with a VR headset you suddenly gain a bunch of keys from your no longer needed hat views.

[Volron]

You have to look at the keyboard to fly???  Then I've been doing it wrong for so long!   I better start looking at my keyboard all the time now, as it's the only way I'm flying at this moment.


But I did see that X-52 picture...and I am liking what I see.   If I finally decide to get a stick, I'll need to make sure I'm looking at my keyboard as much as possible still.

[Weirdguy]

I use a CH Pro Stick and CH pedals.  I don't have a throttle stick.  I have just four buttons and an 8 way hat switch, and a throttle wheel.  Now I grant that you can use the hat switch for things other than looking around (flaps up and down mapped to hat up and down come to mind), but don't think this will be perfectly useable.

Again, the user interface of choice is to NOT need to use the keyboard at all.  Ever in fact.  It would be better if you had a virtual cockpit with working switches.  You could use your head as your mouse pointer, look directly at the switch you want to push, and then have a button on your stick to activate the instrument panel switch you are looking at.  That might even be MORE fun and than having a HOTAS setup.

Now the other problem with the Oculus rift is that it is stereo 3D, and each eye is a separate view of the environment, just offset a bit from the other so you get depth of field.  The view is also highly distorted (walleye vision like your door peephole), but that is corrected back to normal by the glass lenses inside the goggles.

That means AH-2 has to be able to output video in that mode, and right now it doesn't.  Pyro and HiTech will need to do some coding to enable an Oculus Rift mode.

[Karnak]

That means AH-2 has to be able to output video in that mode, and right now it doesn't.  Pyro and HiTech will need to do some coding to enable an Oculus Rift mode.

I am curious to see if they will.  AH actually seems like a better product for the Oculus Rift than the demoed first person shooters in many ways, particularly if they get the ability to track leaning in the consumer version.

My personal bet is that HiTech will support this based on his decision to support TripleHead2Go and TrackIR.

[Volron]

I am curious to see if they will.  AH actually seems like a better product for the Oculus Rift than the demoed first person shooters in many ways, particularly if they get the ability to track leaning in the consumer version.

My personal bet is that HiTech will support this based on his decision to support TripleHead2Go and TrackIR.

It will probably require some slight coding to be done, but I am sure hoping that if the product is successful, that HTC will support it.

[LLv34_Camouflage]

It will probably require some slight coding to be done, but I am sure hoping that if the product is successful, that HTC will support it.

You don't necessarily need dedicated game support. The Nthusim image wrapping software will do the trick: http://www.nthusim.com/newsletter/announcing-nthusim-hmd-software

Camo

[GScholz]

The fish eye warping can be injected into DirectX without doing anything to the game itself. That's for example how the Steam overlay (shift-TAB) is done.

[Vulcan]

Now the other problem with the Oculus rift is that it is stereo 3D, and each eye is a separate view of the environment, just offset a bit from the other so you get depth of field. 

Why is that a problem. I play AH in Stereo 3D on my VR headset all the time?

[shotgunneeley]

Bump. I saw an article today on BBC News about new oculus rift developments. While they have certainly come a Long way with the visual headset aspect, I can't help but imagine more immerse play to enhance the experience more. It appears that the headset is just the first step in getting gamers interested in VR again, but we will still be using controllers to move and handle objects.

What if they designed special gloves and shoes that would apply pressure to the user allowing him/her to manipulate objects in game. Knowing the position of the headset, hands, and feet would control the position of the user's character (Nintendo Wii). The problem still remains on how the user could walk/run, jump or go prone without bumping into stuff in the real world. For that aspect, and I'm really stretching it on this, they could design some sort of structure to suspend the user in a harness. In game movements could be simulated by shifting the user's weight around a central pivot point. Since the user's feet wont touch the ground while in play, jumping could be made by throwing both hands in the air.

Just some crazy ideas short of an electrode and plug-in jack attached to the back of my head. 

[BluBerry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAC5SeNH8jw

enjoy.

[Vulcan]

Oculus showed off a new prototype at CES, OLED screen with a optical tracking system (6DoF). Apparently it is one of many prototypes they have - i.e. they are testing various techs (screen types tracking types etc) to come up with the best experience. The consumer version will no doubt be incredible, Palmer Luckey is nothing short of the god of VR

My top 2 Rift experiences would be AH and Arma (... Dayz mod with the Rift is stunning).