Oculus "Rift" : An open-source HMD for Kickstarter

Post by **AngelJ** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:07 pm

chieF wrote:I was so all geared up to get HMD in gaming with the oculus.

Sadly, the first fact that was approvable for us - "the kickstarter date" - was disappointing. Luckey, please don't make up stories to get us reading your posts... Your credibility is not strengthened by naming a few names of the industry, where you got an (i begrudge) appointment. Please give us facts, we don't want to read about another Duke-Nukem-HMD-Myth.

If it turns out to never reach the market, would I stop reading your "blog"? In any case: Don't mind - there are many words to describe internet hypes. Boring isnt one of them

You signed up to make this rude and barely comprehensible post? Ok.

Anyway, I'm excited to hear the good news Palmer!

Post by **Flim** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:11 pm

let see some pics then... I was ready to get the cnc up and running along with chopping up my new motocross googles!

Post by **Bishop51** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:15 pm

chieF wrote:I was so all geared up to get HMD in gaming with the oculus.

Sadly, the first fact that was approvable for us - "the kickstarter date" - was disappointing. Luckey, please don't make up stories to get us reading your posts... Your credibility is not strengthened by naming a few names of the industry, where you got an (i begrudge) appointment. Please give us facts, we don't want to read about another Duke-Nukem-HMD-Myth.

If it turns out to never reach the market, would I stop reading your "blog"? In any case: Don't mind - there are many words to describe internet hypes. Boring isnt one of them

So, which competing VR headmount or glasses based display company do you work for exactly? Troll behavior like this is as transparent as water chieF. Or maybe you're just an impatient 12 year old?

Respective to the Kickstarter delay...seriously people...you either do it right or you don't do it at all. A day or two delay to add polish, to firm things up and to ensure that the Kickstarter launches without a hitch is VITAL. Making a few folk grouchy due to the delay is a small price to pay. Launching when you're not ready to launch is just stupid and it's very difficult to back-paddle away from that if it creates issues which affect paying customers. Delay is often the best course and the most responsible thing to do.

It'll come and when it does, many smiles to be had

Post by **blitter** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:16 pm

Palmer, don't pay attention to the haters-- if the Kickstarter needs more time, it needs more time.

In the meantime, I will sit here waiting with cash in hand, eagerly awaiting the next bit of news.

Viva la Rift!

Post by **3dcoffee** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:24 pm

Thank you for the update, Palmer. Me to was sitting all day at computer, and refreshing Kickstarter's page every 5 minutes (literally). My worry being I could miss the time, and the product will be sold out very quickly.

Delays are no problems, just do what you need, so that you are sure it is as you want it to be. My money is waiting anyway.

The only thing that slightly depresses me, is not knowing in advance at what day/time it will be started. Is it possible to send the info by newsletter, say in 6 hours advance, or some kind of countdown? Because we here, in Europe, go to sleep, when you over there come back home from work.

Is it possible to arrange it somehow that we know in advance, when it is going to go live?

Thank you, and good luck with the Washington thing and everything.

Post by **WiredEarp** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:00 pm

Is it possible to arrange it somehow that we know in advance, when it is going to go live?

I second this, it would be great if we on this forum at least could get told a date/time beforehand, so we can all be lined up to buy and dont miss out

Post by **android78** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:31 pm

@chieF - I see that you are passionate about getting your hands one of these... That's cool! Just remember that this is a project of passion, and not a commercial project, so we should all be grateful to those putting in the hard work to (finally) push the industry to the point we should have been, in my opinion, 10 years ago. I think the amount of information that Palmer has released about this, to the point you could basically make your own kit, shows that he isn't just making stuff up.
I would be quite surprised if we don't see a commercial product that will rip off the designs of the Rift shortly after the kickstarter project is released.
Anyway... Can't wait to see some renders! Also, if the Bioshock Infinite delay can be turned into a positive by including native support for the Rift, that would be great... anyone tried contacting Ken Levine. He seems the kind of guy who might even consider pushing something like this. Come on, let me dream!

Post by **lnrrgb** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:51 pm

ummmmmm.. hint hint.. I live up here in Washington.... and have you seen the cost of shipping these days??? Two birds, one Rift... I'm just saying:)

Post by **omcfadde** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:05 pm

WiredEarp wrote:
Is it possible to arrange it somehow that we know in advance, when it is going to go live?
I second this, it would be great if we on this forum at least could get told a date/time beforehand, so we can all be lined up to buy and dont miss out

I'll third this.

@Palmer It'd be great to make an announcement here, in this thread, say 1 day before the Kickstarter will go live. e.g. "Kickstarter going live at 13:00 GMT+N tomorrow, happy hacking!"

Something along those lines. Otherwise, well, I'll keep checking it during work hours.

Post by **rajveer** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:45 pm

omcfadde wrote:I'll third this.

Fourth'd (in the hopes that you realise how important this is for overseas guys

)

Also, I won't be happy unless the new design has some duct tape slapped onto it somewhere, that's one of the awesome things about Carmack's images :p

Post by **sambeckett** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:54 pm

I'm guessing from all the chatter the kickstarter project is supposed to start today!
Can't wait!

Also if we need to buy some duck tape, you can buy some Super Mario duck tape @ target

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR7NziFmKfc

Post by **zalo** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:32 pm

It was supposed to start today, but got delayed again in the face of some more (good (mystery (possibly valve-related))) developments.

That said, to people like cheiF, Palmer owes no one anything. It's not like people have money invested in him (unless you do (in which case the kickstarter doesn't even matter to you)) that makes him have to cater to all of our fan whims. He's under no binding obligation to use to even do a kickstarter, so he can delay it as much as he wants. He can just release it to Valve and Epic and Carmack and vanish from the face of the earth, and all the harm that will come of it is a few hurt feelings (and hopefully refunds). The point is, it's a cardinal no-no to get angry at someone for not volunteering to slave away for hours and hours just so you can get a "product" that doesn't even exist yet (disregarding prototypes).

So simmer down and let Palmer do whatever he likes.

Besides, it's good news in the long run.

Post by **DragonM** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:45 pm

rajveer wrote:Also, I won't be happy unless the new design has some duct tape slapped onto it somewhere, that's one of the awesome things about Carmack's images :p

It IS a hacker/hobby project. You are encouraged to get creative with the application of duct tape to your own Rift and post pictures.

DM

Post by **howsTricks** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:46 pm

zalo wrote:It was supposed to start today, but got delayed again in the face of some more (good (mystery (possibly valve-related))) developments.

That said, to people like cheiF, Palmer owes no one anything. It's not like people have money invested in him (unless you do (in which case the kickstarter doesn't even matter to you)) that makes him have to cater to all of our fan whims. He's under no binding obligation to use to even do a kickstarter, so he can delay it as much as he wants. He can just release it to Valve and Epic and Carmack and vanish from the face of the earth, and all the harm that will come of it is a few hurt feelings (and hopefully refunds). The point is, it's a cardinal no-no to get angry at someone for not volunteering to slave away for hours and hours just so you can get a "product" that doesn't even exist yet (disregarding prototypes).

So simmer down and let Palmer do whatever he likes.

Besides, it's good news in the long run.

To contrast this, in my mind his behavior basically nullifies any thought of me *pre-kickstartering* this project (not to mention he's requesting that people use the *gift* paypal method, something that negates any refund ability on the part of paypal). Hell, it makes me reconsider even investing at all. $500 isn't really chump change for most people and in light of many kickstarter projects of similar pedigree (ie. Some random dude in his basement) ala http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zio ... lasses-for how it's been handled so far doesn't really boost confidence.

All I'm saying is so far any dates mentioned so far have not been hit and those have just been to release info! What makes anybody so sure he can even deliver on a physical product? A physical product we've barely seen, and has only been shown to a select few. All I'm saying is one should be cautious of this whole project. I'm incredibly excited for what this represents but I'm just as wary.

Post by **jimbo2go** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:21 pm

howsTricks wrote:
zalo wrote:It was supposed to start today, but got delayed again in the face of some more (good (mystery (possibly valve-related))) developments.

That said, to people like cheiF, Palmer owes no one anything. It's not like people have money invested in him (unless you do (in which case the kickstarter doesn't even matter to you)) that makes him have to cater to all of our fan whims. He's under no binding obligation to use to even do a kickstarter, so he can delay it as much as he wants. He can just release it to Valve and Epic and Carmack and vanish from the face of the earth, and all the harm that will come of it is a few hurt feelings (and hopefully refunds). The point is, it's a cardinal no-no to get angry at someone for not volunteering to slave away for hours and hours just so you can get a "product" that doesn't even exist yet (disregarding prototypes).

So simmer down and let Palmer do whatever he likes.

Besides, it's good news in the long run.
To contrast this, in my mind his behavior basically nullifies any thought of me *pre-kickstartering* this project (not to mention he's requesting that people use the *gift* paypal method, something that negates any refund ability on the part of paypal). Hell, it makes me reconsider even investing at all. $500 isn't really chump change for most people and in light of many kickstarter projects of similar pedigree (ie. Some random dude in his basement) ala http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zio ... lasses-for how it's been handled so far doesn't really boost confidence.

All I'm saying is so far any dates mentioned so far have not been hit and those have just been to release info! What makes anybody so sure he can even deliver on a physical product? A physical product we've barely seen, and has only been shown to a select few. All I'm saying is one should be cautious of this whole project. I'm incredibly excited for what this represents but I'm just as wary.

Great! Be gone then, don't buy one. That's one more RIFT for the people who know what they're doing. Understandably you might be wary of this as someone coming from the outside, and that's totally fine. Don't bother about it then.

I know for a fact he is delivering this product. As someone who has already used Palmer's equipment on two VR projects, and collaborated at his lab in Los Angeles, there is no doubt in my mind that he's got everything under absolute control. I don't mean to sound harsh, but there's really no point in questioning everything in this forum - feel free to do that on your own blog or something.

Post by **Nick3DvB** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:28 pm

But the man said the toy shop would be open today...

Do yourself a favour and go buy an HMZ-T1.

Post by **cybereality** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:35 pm

Well, like I've said before: I've been sitting here patiently waiting for a real VR setup since the 90's. A few more weeks is nothing.

Post by **howsTricks** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:16 pm

jimbo2go wrote: Great! Be gone then, don't buy one. That's one more RIFT for the people who know what they're doing. Understandably you might be wary of this as someone coming from the outside, and that's totally fine. Don't bother about it then.

I know for a fact he is delivering this product. As someone who has already used Palmer's equipment on two VR projects, and collaborated at his lab in Los Angeles, there is no doubt in my mind that he's got everything under absolute control. I don't mean to sound harsh, but there's really no point in questioning everything in this forum - feel free to do that on your own blog or something.

That's great that you've worked with him and trust him, but I haven't and don't and I thought it was a valid point to bring up. Hell, I'm sure you're never been burned by a close friend before either, right? All I'm saying is that from an outsiders perspective the project isn't exactly showing a strong face. Take from that what you will, but it not like I don't want this project to succeed.

Nick3DvB wrote:But the man said the toy shop would be open today...

Do yourself a favour and go buy an HMZ-T1.

So this isn't a toy to you too? And what makes you think I don't already have an HMZ?

Boy I sure am glad this community is so welcoming, sorry I criticized your golden boy, I'll be leaving now.

Edit: doesn't look like there's a way to delete your account, could a mod please do it?

Post by **MSat** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:46 pm

PalmerTech wrote:I am putting together some teasers for you guys, anyone want to see a render of the new Rift design?

lol.. Did you even need to ask?

Post by **WiredEarp** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:26 pm

there is no doubt in my mind that he's got everything under absolute control. I don't mean to sound harsh, but there's really no point in questioning everything in this forum

PalmerTech has a very good reputation, and I dont believe he would promise something like this and not deliver.

However, having said that, I think the whole point of these forums IS to share information and raising questions is part of that. Lets not start thinking that we somehow have the right to tell others what they can and cannot discuss civilly. I think howsTricks raised a valid point, to someone who has no knowledge of PalmerTech and his reliability, the risk factor will seem higher, than say, buying a ST1080 or HMZ, and it wouldn't be stupid for those people to be cautious since they really have very little information to judge the risk from.

Personally, I'm happy with this, I dont want the Rift to be TOO popular at first, I want a chance to get one

Post by **coresnake** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:32 pm

You guys, quit being buttholes.

Some of us have been waiting for a decent HMD for 20+ years. You seriously can't even wait a few more days??

Post by **WiredEarp** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:43 pm

That's great that you've worked with him and trust him, but I haven't and don't and I thought it was a valid point to bring up. Hell, I'm sure you're never been burned by a close friend before either, right? All I'm saying is that from an outsiders perspective the project isn't exactly showing a strong face. Take from that what you will, but it not like I don't want this project to succeed.

Thats understandable, personally I wouldn't subscribe to the preorder bit if I wasn't aware of PalmerTech's previous work etc. I think you'll find once it goes to Kickstarterm that it will look much more professional and most of your worries will disappear.

Boy I sure am glad this community is so welcoming, sorry I criticized your golden boy, I'll be leaving now.

I think your points were valid enough, but you probably received a bit of a knee jerk reaction as most of us are very excited about the Rift and the future possibilities it entails, and we also have a fairly long knowledge of what the product will be, and its previous design iterations (such as the PR series of HMD's that PalmerTech has also created). Those factors, combined with the fact that this is not really meant to be a 'consumer' HMD, means most of us dont really care if it looks dodgy to others or not at present - we just want our high FOV Rift HMDs and are prepared to take PalmerTech at his word.

Post by **LoneCoder** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:47 pm

So right now http://www.oculusvr.com is down and showing a page saying that it was recently transferred to namecheap.com, which means that PalmerTech and the Oculus Rift has probably been acquired.

Welcome! This domain was recently registered at namecheap.com. The domain owner may currently be creating a great site for this domain. Please check back later!

Now I'm worried that Valve owns it and they aren't especially known for moving quickly (Half Life Episode 3).

Post by **coresnake** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:30 am

So right now http://www.oculusvr.com is down and showing a page saying that it was recently transferred to namecheap.com, which means that PalmerTech and the Oculus Rift has probably been acquired.

Why would changing a hosting service have anything to do with him being 'acquired'? If (and I say if, because Palmer himself has already stated that he turned down all such offers), the Rift was being acquired, it would simply mean that there would be a product page created on the site of whoever the purchaser was, be it Sony, Microsoft, or Valve. There is absolutely no reason for Palmer to move his practically empty blog to another hosting service because of that.

This rampant speculation is getting worse than pre-E3 level; you guys need to take a chill pill already.

Post by **Alkapwn** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:53 am

I can understand that if you got in on the preorder why you could be a little concerned. I know I myself was at first. But I did my due diligence in researching everything and those concerns faded away. The fact that this is a somewhat nerdy "product" on the internet and has some huge names attached to it, should ease some doubt as well. The last thing you'd want to do is make a bad rep for yourself on the internet when that's where the majority of your client/fanbase is. So you make off with a few grand and your reputation ruined? Not the best business model.

If you however ARE waiting for the Kickstarter, I really don't understand the complaints. Every "delay" to a non set in stone start date has been explained to you by the person RUNNING the project that it's in the best interest of the customer AND project. Would you rather it went live on July 1st for $500 with NO tracker an possibly no DOOM 3D either? Best case, each delay causes Rift to be cheaper and get more people on board that can actually make playable stuff that's Rift Ready for when you get the Rift. Worse Case he doesn't launch it at all and you have to find something else to complain about.

I do agree however with people in similar circumstances to those overseas or not able to be at a comp all day refreshing to see when it does go live. It would be super sweet if Palmer gave a heads up to launch time when that eventually gets finalized.

Post by **jimbo2go** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:33 am

howsTricks wrote:That's great that you've worked with him and trust him, but I haven't and don't and I thought it was a valid point to bring up. Hell, I'm sure you're never been burned by a close friend before either, right? All I'm saying is that from an outsiders perspective the project isn't exactly showing a strong face. Take from that what you will, but it not like I don't want this project to succeed.

Sorry I busted your balls, its a valid concern to bring up. At first glance it just looked like naysaying - there's been several "competitors" posting in these forums with fake accounts, trying to bash on the Rift and trolling for no reason, so its easy to be a bit defensive on these matters.

Post by **hast** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:15 am

I think it's all just that people are really psyched to get their hands on this. It has been slipping a few times now and it has usually been last minute notice. Which I can certainly understand, because I figure Palmer has quite a lot to do right now.

It would be nice though if there was an update somewhere as soon as it was known that a certain deadline was slipping. (Too be fair I'm not sure how many were actually deadlines which Palmer stated himself. The first few were during interviews with Carmack, and while that came from Palmer I'm guessing it was more a rough estimate than anything else.)

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter to wait a few more days though.

Regarding getting a "pre-notice" about the Kickstarter I was thinking about that before. I think it would probably be best if it's not too far ahead of the scheduled release. The reason is to let people here get in on the early bird offers, but if it has a day or so to spread on the internet before hand there may be a lot more people hearing about it than just the people who are lurking in this forum.

But 6-12 hours or so would be nice because then I don't have to buy a new F5 key quite as soon.

Post by **MalDuffin** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 4:30 am

As the KickStarter dates have slipped ( and many an F5 button has been hammered to near death ), a good solution could be for Palmer to say he'll post the KickStarter date 12/24 hours in advance to both this forum and in the mailing list ( or just to the mailing list, I'm sure that any interested parties have already signed up ).

This means that all of the people ( esp non-US ) get a definite day and time where they can then sit and refresh the KickStarter page as much as they like, in order to not miss taking part in this cool project ( and of course putting their money and their trust into it ).

There seems to be a 500 device limit - if there were going to be unlimited devices ( within reason - I have previously KickStarted a Pebble watch http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597 ... nd-android and I believe they had to close early, leaving some people unhappy about not getting ordered ), then the tension for getting into those slots might ease up a bit too.

Of course, KickStarter might go live, and there might only be a few hundred subscribers in the first few days, but if it sells out straight away and some forum members miss out, there could be some severe trolling / flaming / leprechauning going on lol

Post by **EdZ** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:31 am

I'm not sure it's really fair to say 'the kickstarter date has slipped' when no date has been given more specific than 'the kickstarter will be running during quakecon'.

Post by **Endothermic** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:55 am

At the start of the thread there was talk about 2D on the RIFT and needing to do a driver to do the SBS for the 2D etc which is obvious enough but was that explicitly for the Windows Desktop (which is 2D) and 2D applications eg photoshop, office, firefox etc or would the same thing have to be done to display a 3D game (or other 3D virtual world simulation) which are already doing SBS 3D in 2D?

I just reminded myself years ago of some people when the iGlasses-3D came out and they just could not use it, after just a short time of use they would start to feel queezy from the 3D effect and it was from the 3D effect and not from being an HMD or the tracking since they had no trouble at all playing the same game for hours on the 2D version of the iGlasses.

So just wondering if it would be a simple thing to get a 2D image on the RIFT so there is no 3D effect in 3D games (so nothing to do with being able to use the RIFT on the Windows Desktop or with other 2D software) like just displaying the left image on both sides or would you would still need to do a whole new driver or other software solution for it?

Post by **cirk2** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:01 am

All thos bitching arround about "slipped dates":
1. There was no definite date given (only thing I remembre is that the kickstrater will be placed so it spans over gamescom and quakecon)
2. You are not entitled to anything, fix your perspective
3. This was a hobbist project, Palmer himself is propably suprised what a wild ride he began. And there is no telling how deep the rabbid hole goes.

So stay calm and await what's to come.

Post by **brantlew** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:34 am

@Endothermic: The Rift requires a split screen view - even in 2D mode. Bring it up with Emerson and Cyberreality. They are the ones doing the Rift game drivers. You would have to code it per-game just like you do with the 3D driver - the only difference being that the perspective would be the same in each view. But all the FOV/aspect ratio/and dewarping would need to be done just the same.

Post by **space123321** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:33 am

Really looking forward to an update from Palmer today as well as hopefully some new pics!

To those who are complaining about dates being pushed back - there has never been any promised dates... Palmers latest ETA clearly stated "July 19 or so"... these delays are clearly for the momentum that the rift is building. As many on here - I sit with cash in hand waiting patiently for the release however no one has any right to complain or demand anything in terms of pushing the Rift along! Again - I simply want to take a moment and thank everyone who is involved in the project and thank them for making my VR dreams (that started way back in the 90's) closer to a reality!

Cheers!

Post by **lnrrgb** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:40 am

I just listened to an interview with the guy behind Raspberry Pi, and it left me worried for Palmer. The scale of the project may be different, but I bet it is similar in the exponential growth aspect. They were so caught off guard by the demand, and even those around them, who offered to help on ramping up productions, did not seem to have a grasp of what was about to happen. There may not be orders for a million Rifts anytime soon, but the numbers are probably daunting in the very least. I am surprised he has been about to offer any updates (but I like them).

Post by **Endothermic** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:51 am

brantlew wrote:The Rift requires a split screen view - even in 2D mode. Bring it up with Emerson and Cyberreality. They are the ones doing the Rift game drivers. You would have to code it per-game just like you do with the 3D driver - the only difference being that the perspective would be the same in each view. But all the FOV/aspect ratio/and dewarping would need to be done just the same.

Yes I know 2D would still have a 640x800 image for each eye cos of the SBS design of the RIFT, I wasn't implying to use the whole screen for a 1280x800 higher res 2D image.

But in the case of say D3:BFG which will already work with the RIFT the driver/game is already adjusting the FOV, Aspect ratio, Warping the image to correct for the lenses etc then displaying the Side-By-Side image with a 640x800 image for the left eye and a slightly different perspective 640x800 image for the right eye which gives the 3D effect.

Obviously if you wanted to use photopshop or something else with the RIFT then you would have to write a new driver to get it to warp the image etc then display it SBS since one doesn't exist yet but D3:BFG and other games that people get running on the RIFT in 3D, are already doing everything to display the game in 2D (such as the warping, FOV, rendering it 640x800 and displaying it SBS etc) it's just that in addition to all of that which is required for the image to fit on the display and look flat instead of fisheye they are also rendering a second slightly different image for each side of the screen which gives the 3D effect. So wouldn't it be simple enough to tell it to just not render that second slightly differen't perspective image (or inefficiently, tell it to just ignore the 2nd rendered image) and just display that first rendered image on each side, rather then needing to create a whole new driver to do it?

Now I don't know anything about programming other then some simple VB so maybe there is some technical reason or something else that i'm completely missing but I just don't see why if something is already running in 3D on the RIFT that a whole new driver would have to be written for it to display in 2D instead of 3D since the 3D driver is already doing everything the 2D driver would do just that it is also doing that extra step ontop of that of rendering two different perspective images each time instead of just the one for both sides of the screen.

Post by **brantlew** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:54 am

The "rush" may not be as bad as many people are predicting. This is still a very niche product and with the recent rumblings of a consumer version in the works - that might keep many people on the sidelines. When Palmer offered the pre-release a few weeks ago I was having the same fears. Refreshing like mad with cash in hand to ensure that I got one of those first crucial spots. But three or four days after he announced it, he had gotten only about 20 orders. So the demand was not as high as I let myself believe. I'm sure that all the people that check this site on a daily basis will have enough time to get their order in.

@Endothermic: If a 3D game driver already exists then yes, providing a 2D version is rather trivial. You just skip the viewpoint shifting step. Desktop 2D is a whole different matter entirely however since it's not being modeled and rendered on the video card the same was as a video game. You would probably need to create a Windows display driver to accomplish that. The good news is that a Windows display driver would work in general for all desktop content. No per-application customization necessary.

Post by **TheRealistWord** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:03 am

Even though I'm anxious, I wasn't necessarily disappointed that the kickstarter didn't launch yesterday. If I can remember correctly, he only said around the 19th, not on, so I was under the impression that it'd be maybe a week at most after the 19th. But in either case, delays are to be expected. I'd much rather a product that's delayed for a couple weeks so that it can be further refined and gain more support, rather than something that feels rushed. So take your time Palmer! (but er, not too much time, there's a long line of people waving some cash around!

).

Post by **hast** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:12 am

brantlew wrote:The "rush" may not be as bad as many people are predicting. This is still a very niche product and with the recent rumblings of a consumer version in the works...

Yeah, I bet you're right. Particularly since there has already been a pre-sale as you mentioned. And it is a quite sizable amount of money to put into a Kickstarter if you're not sure it's for you.

I'm sure the biggest surges will come around QuakeCon and such, when it is likely to get out more in media.

And it'll be fun to see what all this extra planning will bring. At the beginning it seemed like just getting involvement from Carmack was really awesome. But it seems like it will be ever better than than.

Post by **Endothermic** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:28 am

I don't think there will be that "big" of a rush for the RIFT if the kickstarter and quakecon etc makes it clear (and the people reading/hearing it actually can actually understand) that it is not a consumer (friendly) product and only a kit/enthusiast product.

I think there will only be a big rush or extremely high demand for the RIFT V1 if there is a swamp of teens pledging for it that don't really know about it and think they will be getting a shiny new 10x better and cheaper HMZ-T1 they can just unbox, stick on their head and then play any game on to be in complete VR heaven.

From the sound of things that could very well happen with the 2013 commercial RIFT though

brantlew wrote:If a 3D game driver already exists then yes, providing a 2D version is rather trivial. You just skip the viewpoint shifting step.

Thats what I figured since it seems only logical as the 3D driver is already doing everything the 2D needs to do just an additional step so shouldn't be too hard to just ignore it but wasn't sure as sometimes simple things can be complicated

Post by **FingerFlinger** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:29 am

As far as the Kickstarter date, we at least know that it will be before Quake Con, so next week seems pretty likely.

In fact, I think Palmer is trying to get more demo units ready by then; between that and meeting with industry big-wigs, he must be SWAMPED.