Why I had to order the Rift

[yautjacetanu]

Hi all,

I finally ordered the rift after reading about cyberreality's driver. I feel terrible as both Carmack and Palmer kept saying that consumers shouldn't order it and this is for developers. But the more they described what they meant by a developer (enthusiast, early adopter, tinkerer who mods their case), the more I felt I needed to have it. I mean having John Carmack tell me over and over again not to buy it made it really difficult not to buy it! Its a shame palmer is not making more of a profit from it because it would have been a genius marketing tool and i would definitely paid at least $100 more.

In fact that is my main worry about this whole thing. I hope they get their business model right. With the original dream being an "open source" and palmer putting so much on the forums there is a worry that someone like Sony would just swoop in and build it themselves without the attention to detail Palmer (and Carmack) seems to have, killing off Occulus as a viable business but also killing off consumer confidence in VR. I'm guessing with the massive amount of geeks (such as the reddit community) on Palmer's side it would be quite difficult for a corporate feeling company to get in though.

I dunno if I count as a developer (I build web applications but do everything that isn't programming!) but one of the most fun gaming experiences I ever had was being involved with the Star Wars Galaxies discussion forums and then the beta. I learnt about online communities and how to write forum posts in a busy environment and for that game I built my first database driven website. From that experience one thing lead directly to another that meant I could almost start the company I'm in today (first thing we did is do a cool multi-site mod for phpbb3, so I'm loving posting on a phpbb forum again after my move to Drupal ) So I'm looking forward to being at the start of something new. Even though SWG didn't go as I expected it was still an awesome experience. I'm kind of looking forward to something that isn't a fully polished consumer kit. I'm most looking forward to inviting people round and showing people VR I really feel that this may bring in a new resurgence of non-gamers (So many non-gamers would get well into skyrim or dear esther imo)

So looking forward to it!

[cybereality]

Awesome man! Thanks.

I think Palmer was mainly pushing it as a developer's kit probably mostly to avoid a backlash from console gamers that weren't familiar with VR. I doubt all 10K kits are going to devs. I bet a lot of consumers wanted to get in on the action to. Just know you are not getting a finished product, especially in terms of software support. As of right now the only game with support is DOOM 3 : BFG, and it hasn't even been updated yet for the new tracker. Other games are coming, but its not a whole lot at this point.

Otherwise you could use something like the DDD driver, but the aspect ratio is wrong, however it does support a ton of games. I also have my driver which I will be releasing soon. That adds support for a few more games, but its not a whole lot really. Not compared to something like the DDD or Nvidia drivers. But its something, and I hope people will have fun with it.

[yautjacetanu]

To be honest I'd pay $300 just for the chance to have an excuse to replay Doom3...
I'd also pay $300 for a VR skyrim... I mean that is unbelievably cool!
I'd pay $300 for a VR Fallout 3
And then mirror's edge is just one of the most beautiful things ever

So getting it all together is really exciting Quite looking forward to being able to get involved with another hacker community too, that fact that it is not a finished product is makes the whole thing more fun So thats Cyberreality!

[danielbln]

Are you me?

[wavefunction]

I'm with the OP on this. I'm also ordering the Dev Kit for all the same reasons plus I'm learning Unity 3D, and I intend to do whatever it takes to get it to work with some of my favourite games.

I don't expect a consumer product though. I would've paid $300+ just to borrow one for a week

[PasticheDonkey]

i'm in because it might not take off as something that can support a business. this could mean that the only chances to have a reasonably priced decent VR headset could be only now or in generation 2 or 3. i'm wary of being able to ride the wave of 5 to 7 inch screens after a certain point, when they make no sense for tablets. but if the hardware's out there then i know there will still be people who will hack together support together as much as they can. and adding legitimate support could be worth it for developers own benefits.

[Okta]

Awesome man! Thanks.

Otherwise you could use something like the DDD driver, but the aspect ratio is wrong, however it does support a ton of games. I also have my driver which I will be releasing soon. That adds support for a few more games, but its not a whole lot really. Not compared to something like the DDD or Nvidia drivers. But its something, and I hope people will have fun with it.

Can DDD support the Rift at all? Is there enough separation adjustment to offset the views?

[cybereality]

Can DDD support the Rift at all? Is there enough separation adjustment to offset the views?

It might work OK right now, but its probably not the best experience. Hopefully there will be enough interest from DDD to make a proper Rift mode. We will see.

[Okta]

I just fired up Portal 2 with DDD looking at it SBS on my monitor and played with the settings and none of them seem to shift the cross hairs, just very slight adjustments to the scene. Unless one of the DIYers with a 7 inch can confirm otherwise i would say DDD is out until they incorporate full support.

[Sartor]

Don't get me wrong.. I cant wait to play games on the rift, but I'm nearly as much looking forwared to inviting my friends, colleagues and even my mom, to come try out the the Rift. They are surely going to be tired of me talking about it, way before i get it in march, but when it comes, they can finaly see why this have been my dream of mine for so many years.

I KNOW they are going to be like...

[Okta]

Don't get me wrong.. I cant wait to play games on the rift, but I'm nearly as much looking forwared to inviting my friends, colleagues and even my mom, to come try out the the Rift. They are surely going to be tired of me talking about it, way before i get it in march, but when it comes, they can finaly see why this have been my dream of mine for so many years.

I KNOW they are going to be like...

Be careful not to get too excited. I have been thinking on this a little. I noticed watching the demo videos that the reviewers stay composed mostly with the Rift on their face and don't give that jaw dropping WOW you might expect.
Just an observation that helps balance expectations.

[Sartor]

Be careful not to get too excited. I have been thinking on this a little. I noticed watching the demo videos that the reviewers stay composed mostly with the Rift on their face and don't give that jaw dropping WOW you might expect.
Just an observation that helps balance expectations.

I know, showing it to my mom was an over-statement

On the other hand. I have only seen one video, where the "wow effect" was missing, and that was the old Carmack beta from PAX or Quakecon.. below is the "normal reaction", trying out the Rift.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJo12Hz_BVI

[NikoKun]

I'm in a similar boat to the OP. Other than the time I've spent over the last couple months learning Unity, and planning with a group of friends over potential game idea, I'm still mostly just a hobbiest/tinkerer and VR lover. lol
Not only do I want to use it as an indi dev platform, but also to be part of VR history.

I was originally gonna wait, I heard about the Rift, wasn't sure about it, and planned to wait for a consumer version. I couldn't bring myself to drop 300 for something I couldn't be sure about. But then CES 2013 happened. And after only the first day or 2 of Rift news/videos came out, I couldn't resist anymore, and so I ordered a Dev Kit immediately.
Knowing it'd be here in April or May, really was the last nail in the coffin for me to order it. AND I finally had the money to spend. The stars aligned, so to say.

This has really motivated me to learn more about Unity, vr game design, and give it a serious go. I have some great ideas, just wish I was a little more artistically creative. heh

At this point, I'm spending these last few months, worried to the point of going insane, that something will prevent me from getting a Rift this spring. =/ I'm worried about the order numbers, if they'll be able to get the orders placed around CES out, without months of delay, since that obviously increased their order numbers beyond 10,000. I'd probably feel a lot better if Palmer updated us about this issue.. Whether orders placed after the 10,000 mark will still make it out in april/may.. They're being a little too quiet about things, now that we're getting so close. =/

Also a little worried why they're not demoing the 7inch screen.. heh

[3dRat]

after the tonight's show there will be a stampede of orders!! I think is almost too late for me to order now... my dev kit will be ready by October..

Maybe it's time Oculus stops taking devkit orders... and focus 500% in creating the final customer device that they should delivering by the end of the year...

anyway if they keep taking devkit order I will be ordering mine by next month...

[cerulianbaloo]

Nah I think hindering devkit sales would hurt more than anything. There may be that one odd dev out who hasn't ordered one yet, and that one dev may be the one to deliver the Rift's killer app that could potentially propel it into the stratosphere sales-wise once the consumer version launches. Granted they could probably get one on ebay but still, why make it more difficult for them to get ahold of it?

My guess is once the manufacturing kinks are completely ironed out the factory will be carrying the bulk of the workload anyway giving Oculus way more time to focus on everything consumer version, and of course providing support to devs. I'm sure they're already doing plenty of strategizing and discussing multiple avenues for potential displays, materials etc. Maybe I'm too much of a fanboy but I've got faith in them. They've got some powerful people working there that have brought along some pretty awesome resources and contacts with them.

[KBK]

I'm in on this, as it is my self appointed and self built 'job' to be the '3M' of some areas of technology. To take that which is known, and make it better. To be on the formation of the edge of the wave. To do my best, and take things beyond.

Which, BTW, is usually so far out in space, that no one knows or understands that one exists... and the pay is terrible, if not non-existent. Being in the fringe would be nice, at least it has a few words in the public realm. Although, not existing... has it's advantages.

There are no job descriptions for this sort of area or level of expertise and experience, it is off the known paths.

I currently specialize in all aspects of video technology, down to the fundamentals of molecular considerations and human integration of the fundamental levels. All components and integrations. All.

[yuriythebest]

Palmer mentioned in the Karmack panel that he guessed maybe like several hundred people who ordered this were actually devs.

also the list of supported games is growing quickly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Rift

0x10c Planned[21] In Game Pre-Alpha
Doom 3: BFG Edition Confirmed[22] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Ready iD Tech 4 10/16/2012 FPS, Horror
Doom 4 Planned[23] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Alpha iD Tech 5 TBD FPS, Horror
Dream Planned[24] In Game Unknown Alpha Unreal Engine 3 Q2/2013 First Person Adventure
FRACT OSC Planned[25] In Game Alpha Unknown First Person Music Puzzle
Hawken Confirmed[26] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Ready Unreal Engine 3 TBD [27] FPS, Mech
Kairo Planned[25] In Game Alpha post-launch First Person Puzzle
Miner Wars 2081 Confimed[28] In Game Unknown Ready Vrage Dec 2012
Minecraft Planned[21] In Game Unknown Alpha Unknown TBD
Montague's Mount Planned[29] In Game Alpha Unknown TBD First Person Adventure
Montas Planned[30] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Alpha Unknown
Outerra Tech Demo Planned Game Engine 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Alpha Outerra December 2012
Positron Planned Game Engine Unknown Alpha Unknown TBD
Project Cars Planned[31] In-Game Unknown Beta Madness TBD Racing
Rawbots Planned[32] Game Engine Unknown Alpha Unknown TBD
Receiver Planned[33] Game Engine Unknown * Alpha Unity 3.5 TBD FPS Pending support in Unity Engine
Routine Planned[34] Game Engine Unknown Alpha Unreal Engine 3 Q1 2013
Star Citizen Confirmed[35] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Pre-Alpha CryEngine 3— est. Nov 2014 Space Simulation
Strike Suit Zero Confirmed [36] Unknown 3D/FOV Pre-Alpha Xed January 2013 Space Flight Combat
Sinful Robot Confirmed [37] Porn, First Person Simulator
Team Fortress 2 Confirmed?[38] In Game 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Demonstration at GDC Source Engine GDC, March 2013 Multiplayer FPS
Unnamed Game by Xiphos Studios Planned[39] Game Engine 3D/FOV/Warp/Tracking Pre-Alpha Unreal Engine 3 TBD First Person RPG
Wishful Lie Planned[40] In Game Alpha Unknown Unknown First Person Horror
ZED Absolution Planned[41] In Game Alpha Unknown Unknown Arcade Shooter

Certain titles will also be playable on the Rift via the Vireio Perception driver.[42] Games currently with full or partial Vireio Perception support:

Left 4 Dead, Half-Life 2, Portal 2, Skyrim, Mirror's Edge, AaaaAAAAA!!!!!!!!, Unreal Tournament 3, Dear Esther and DiRT 2.

[Tacklebait]

I pulled the trigger as well. After watching it for months and seeing all the reactions of the lucky people that got to try this out. I had to get it.

It was a comment on this forum that made me jump on it. Someone had mentioned that after tonight, there will be a rush of orders on the developer kit after its showing on jimmy fallon and they made take a long time to fill. Any excuse I could get. Also grabbin a Sapphire 7970.

Lets just say its been an expensive day.

I hope there is plenty of opportunity to test, try out what you guys are working on. I remember trying the virtual boy on when I was a kid and always wondering why no one ever released anything else with virtual reality.

I am incredibly excited about this technology and its future.

As well I really enjoy palmers story. I'm very excited for him.

[Linkage1992]

I'm in the same boat, OP. I was extremely excited about the Rift when I saw the Kickstarter campaign and even contributed a small amount of money, but had never planned on getting the dev kit since I had minimal game development experience. But gradually the excitement started building up even more and so I started playing around with Unity3d. Soon after I ordered the kit.
The prospect of creating the game experiences I'd always wanted coupled with the fact that I'd be able to actually step into them with the Rift was too enticing a prospect to pass up. Not to mention the fact that I'd be participating in the cutting edge of VR.

[squibbfire]

I want to order one now after seeing the new dev kit photos.

[pAnatiC]

-pls delete-