Oculus Rift & Arma 3?

[jumpinghubert 49]

Asynchronous Timewarp is a new feature of vorpX, if all what I read is true it seems to push the framerates with good results in project cars for example :).

[kremator 1065]

Nope Asynchronous TimeWarp is part of the built-in Oculus runtime 1.3, so it comes as standard :)

[jumpinghubert 49]

Sry for spreading wrong information...awkward... :803:

[Chris Lenga 0]

UI is a total mess, otherwise not too bad!

[kremator 1065]

Well wraparound is nice, but it is like sticking your head VERY close to te monitor.  You do get quite a zoomed in view (but no collimated optics - as it isn't full 3D).  The only solution to full 3D is for devs to implement it (side by side would be fine), or use a hack like VorpX or DreamSwift.

 

However in HUGE screen mode it seems really smooth on Rift even when flying a fast jet in nape of Earth flying (view distance 8k)

[andersson 285]

Ok, I will wait then until it's properly supported. The day I can use the sights as I do in real life it will be an instant buy :)

 

Do you guys think it's difficult for BI to implement full 3D support?

[kremator 1065]

I hope they do.  It would really set Arma3 ahead of any of hte competition!

[Incontinentia 339]

Kremator, I really think you should give Vorpx a go. When I was using Arma with my DK2, virtual desktop was like sitting really close to a huge low-res monitor and not really that great an improvement above just using a regular monitor and TrackIR. In fact, I definitely preferred a regular monitor. With Vorpx and Opentrack, it was one of the best Rift experiences I had. Probably one of the best gaming experiences I've had to be honest. You are completely inside the world and can look around independently of your weapon etc. Unfortunately you can't quite natively look through your sights as you don't have motion tracking on your arm, but you can raise your weapon and look down your sights from there. It really is a completely different experience to playing using a monitor. Flying a helicopter is especially fun but infantry (heli inserts, parachuting, intense firefights etc) are all awesome too. I'll dig up some instructions on how to do it if you want? 

[jumpinghubert 49]

wut?? To play arma3 on the final rift on a virtual monitor instead of vorpx-mode is really cryptic.....sorry.

[Gruman 123]

How well does the CV1 works in A3 at the current state? I assume VorpX is still recommended/required?

I'm only able to find videos of the DK2 version who play Arma 3 and those are more like "I normaly don't play Arma 3, but here is a showcase scenario" (if you know what I mean... :) )

 

My focus is 99% helicopters, so I don't mind it beeing problematic when on foot.

 

Thanks

[Incontinentia 339]

How well does the CV1 works in A3 at the current state? I assume VorpX is still recommended/required?

I'm only able to find videos of the DK2 version who play Arma 3 and those are more like "I normaly don't play Arma 3, but here is a showcase scenario" (if you know what I mean... :) )

 

My focus is 99% helicopters, so I don't mind it beeing problematic when on foot.

 

Thanks

I get mine in a couple of weeks so I'll let you know if nobody else does!

[sqb-sma 66]

I'll save you the effort, we still don't have headtracking support (opentrack). It's a priority feature for the opentrack dev however he's busy at the moment and so an update including it has not been released.

 

Without headtracking it's not playable (as a VR game, you can still play it like you have a giant 3D low-res imax screen but eh...)

 

So no, no Arma 3 VR currently.

[Incontinentia 339]

I'll save you the effort, we still don't have headtracking support (opentrack). It's a priority feature for the opentrack dev however he's busy at the moment and so an update including it has not been released.

 

Without headtracking it's not playable (as a VR game, you can still play it like you have a giant 3D low-res imax screen but eh...)

 

So no, no Arma 3 VR currently.

Have you tried Opentrack with LibOVRWrapper? Apparently it works with the latest runtime (although I've only got one source for this). 

[sqb-sma 66]

Have you tried Opentrack with LibOVRWrapper? Apparently it works with the latest runtime (although I've only got one source for this). 

 

Not sure if it works for 1.4, and I'm not quite sure how I would even go about integration of the wrapper and opentrack TBH. Any link to source?

 

[Incontinentia 339]

It was a post on the Oculus subreddit but I've since lost it. I'm pretty sure it was by kremator so I'll PM him. 

[Incontinentia 339]

Right dudes, I have Arma 3 working in the Oculus Rift CV1 and it is absolutely awesome... with a couple of caveats.

 

First, the resolution is still too low for long range engagements without a scope. This, I'd say, is a mission design issue rather than a game-breaking one. I've just been playing it on a custom ALiVE mission I built specifically for iron sight engagements and the immersion is absolutely phenomenal. Just had one of my best Arma moments gunning down fake Daesh before being overrun by tanks. In the Oculus, it's a whole new level of real. Needed to change my undies after that one. But there's still an element of pixel hunt. 

 

Second, the game stability is absolutely awful. I'm one of the lucky few who has a fairly crash-free time of Arma usually. Not so with the Oculus going. This might just be unique to my system but access violation errors are getting to the point that they make me want to find small furry things and hurt them. I suspect it's something to do with memory management as by using the new xtbbmalloc by blub (released recently) it gave me an extra 15 minutes before a crash. And to be fair, that's on multiplayer with a shit ton of mods and running my own dedicated server on my system, so not exactly a sterile environment. With this malloc, I've not had a crash in SP yet but not extensively tested. 

 

Third, you still need Vorpx, which doesn't work with Battleye just yet. If you have an Oculus though and you are interested in trying regular games in VR, not buying Vorpx is like refusing to pay for the front door on your new house. Just get on and be done with it. 

 

Now for the good news. Opentrack works fine with runtime 1.4. You just need to install this and Opentrack will recognise CV1: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4h08da/oculus_sdk_08_13_wrapper_release/

 

This makes Arma one of the best first-person games in VR because of the lack of gunface. You can look around completely independently of your weapon / walking direction. This (for me) completely eliminates all VR sickness. 

 

Also, CV1 resolution is improved massively compared to DK2. It's not quite enough yet, but with a game like Arma you'll need 4k per eye probably to get up to monitor standards which isn't going to happen for a while. So pick your missions and equipment with that in mind. 

 

Async timewarp means that FPS isn't an issue down to probably as low as 30 and most people will be bottlenecked by their CPU in Arma at this framerate anyway so you don't lose any FPS by playing in your Oculus. In short, if it's smooth on your monitor and you've got a VR-ready graphics card, you'll be fine. That said, multiplayer missions with thousands of AI on struggling servers will make you sing the multicolour opera. 

 

The edge-peek feature of Vorpx makes the HUD pretty easily accessible so no worries there. 

 

Finally, mentioned this earlier, but the main point here is this: fuck me is it immersive. You see the world in 3D in every direction you look. You can look over your shoulder at the guy firing next to you and hear his weapon in 3D too thanks to the Oculus virtual surround sound. You can see dust flying up from rounds landing nearby. And with something like JSRS running, when you are getting suppressed, you actually feel suppressed. You don't want to pop your head up and carry on shooting, you want to get behind hard cover and stay there and maybe do a little bit of wee while you're at it. Looking up and seeing tracers streaming from a Commanche while it engages a tank is a pant-dropping moment in VR. Watching UGL rounds explode nearby was plain erotic. I could go on... the point is that when you're on a monitor, you're looking at the battle through a feed. It's there, you see it, but you're not connected to it. In VR, it's all around you. Look down, there's your legs. Move up a bit, and you can see your arms holding your weapon. The dude in front of you is there, in 3D space, shooting at lunatics. The tank rumbling towards you is actually coming to kill you. Think flying a drone versus being a pilot. 

 

I'd post a tutorial to getting it set up but it's near enough identical to the DK2 tutorial earlier in this thread except that you want to change the resolution to something like 1920 x 1440 and install the LibOVR Wrapper linked earlier in my post (and maybe use a custom malloc if you're getting instability). I can post it again with the necessary changes if there's any interest in this thread. 

 

Anyway, just thought I'd update you guys as promised. 

 

In the meantime, stay classy. 

[kremator 1065]

This is excellent news! I'll have to try OpenTrack but I didn't want to shell out for Vorpx. VR is the next logical step for gaming and I'm loving it!

[Gruman 123]

@Incontinentia

Thanks for the SITREP.

My rift shipping is still TBA... :( Any chance of some gameplay footage?

 

Thanks

[lexx 1388]

You people really make it hard for me not to buy this thing.

[Incontinentia 339]

@Incontinentia

Thanks for the SITREP.

My rift shipping is still TBA... :( Any chance of some gameplay footage?

 

Thanks

I will try, if I can get it stable enough. Not much of a Youtuber to be honest. 

[EDcase 87]

I really hope that ARMA becomes more compatible with future VR headsets without all the faf.

 

Not quite on the same level of immersion but an in-between is what I've been using for a couple of years...

TrackIR and a Samsung 3d TV.

 

Head tracking works great with TrackIR and the Samsung does a 2d->3d conversion which is fake but still works well enough to be convincing.  (I still don't know how it does it)

 

This means playing at full 1080p and an added benefit of this method is that ARMA runs at normal fps.

 

(I think other manufacturers of 3d TVs like LG have this 2d->3d option as well)

[Incontinentia 339]

This is excellent news! I'll have to try OpenTrack but I didn't want to shell out for Vorpx. VR is the next logical step for gaming and I'm loving it!

It is awesome, and thanks for your encouragement a few weeks back, Elite was as good as promised!

 

Edit: Also, with the latest performance binaries, stability seems a lot better. 

[Gruman 123]

Yesterday I received my confirmation and the UPS estimates tomorrow as a delivery date... Will be a long, sleepless and frustrating, but still very mindblowing weekend I assume... :)

 

So I need:
- VorpX

- Opentrack

- Performance Binaries

 

Correct? Anything else I would need to get this thing going?

 

Best regards

[kremator 1065]

Yesterday I received my confirmation and the UPS estimates tomorrow as a delivery date... Will be a long, sleepless and frustrating, but still very mindblowing weekend I assume... :)

 

So I need:

- VorpX

- Opentrack

- Performance Binaries

 

Correct? Anything else I would need to get this thing going?

 

Best regards

Take time to play the demos/games that you get with the Rift first of all.  There is a good couple of weeks just doing that!

[Incontinentia 339]

Yesterday I received my confirmation and the UPS estimates tomorrow as a delivery date... Will be a long, sleepless and frustrating, but still very mindblowing weekend I assume... :)

 

So I need:

- VorpX

- Opentrack

- Performance Binaries

 

Correct? Anything else I would need to get this thing going?

 

Best regards

 

You'll also need to install this wrapper for Opentrack to work with the latest Oculus software: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4h08da/oculus_sdk_08_13_wrapper_release/

 

Also for me, stability was improved with the xtbbmalloc by Blub. 

 

Performance binaries may be unnecessary as Apex is on the cusp of being released. Let us know how you get on with it!