With new devices such as Windows Mixed Reality headsets and with new standards being developed, such as OpenXR, could we expect to see more emphasis for VR in Beam in the future? I ask this because many VR threads I have read are now getting a little out of date, and I feel we need an update. This is NOT something I would expect to happen now, but with more widespread adoption of VR, could we expect it at all in the future?
Well, the issue is that based on what I've read in older threads, it's very difficult to implement VR because it essentially requires a rework of the entire game engine. Split screen is even worse because I haven't found a single person or Torque3D game that supports proper split screen due to complications with the game engine. It's not impossible, but would require a lot of manpower to implement.
right rendering multiple full camera views is the problem rendering multiple camera views at all is a problem if mirrors can't even work well, split screen and VR sure won't
I just finished conducting some tests to see if the rasterization (in pixels per second) was feasible. Assuming that the vr is 2880x1440 @ 90 fps, I was able to find that there were 373.248 megapixels rendered per second! To put that into perspective, 1080p @ 60 fps is 124.416 megapixels per second. So to match my monitors resolution to the PPS of vr, I used the equation (W x H) x F = PPS, (where W=width, H=height, F=frame rate target, and PPS=pixels per second). My monitor is 2560x1080, so I have a 135 fps target. And with a mildly overclocked RX 470 4GB I was able to use a mix of low and lowest settings, and all other graphics options turned off to achieve a consistent frame rate near 125 fps, this disparity from the equation could be down to a number of factors including the API and CPU utilization. This, based on trends in the computer graphics industry, could mean that in the next 2-3 years we could see low end hardware meeting the minimum requirements for VR. As I said earlier, with new standards and more widespread adoption of VR there's more reason for the developers to support its implementation. If I'm honest, I would rather a developer use their time to implement a feature right than to waste it half baking it for a couple niche users. I see a future for VR in Beam, but it's gonna take some serious work, and more importantly, time for the VR industry to mature. --- Post updated --- Yes, this is a problem that I observed in a forum post when I was doing research into split screen render, but that's not really what I'm trying to cover here, though; I'm trying to cover VR. BTW, split screen and VR are entirely different, and have different inherent difficulties to implement. So it might not be harmful for you to create a new "split screen" thread in the Ideas and Suggestions section of the forum. VR was implemented at one time, for Oculus, if I'm not mistaken, but it is no longer supported due to game engine updates.
well i dont think its a must need at this time because for real, how many ppl have vr set?, it was really imformative all what you sayd but i dont think they will implant vr, if splitscreen mp or online mp is not planned in near futur i dont think vr will
Well... at one time or another several years ago, there was a picture floating around of someone that got it to work on an oculus rift. I don't remember if it was the devs or just some really ambitious person, but I know I saw it somewhere. So it is possible to do. How well it worked I have no idea, but it did exist at some point, I can tell you that. Edit: Found it http://blog.beamng.com/Oculus-Rift-Support/ Edit 2: After more digging I rescind my original answer. It appears that was done when Oculus Rift was still compatible with DX9 games and when BeamNG was still using DX9. Oculus moved on and dropped DX9 support and it got removed in BeamNG for that reason. Granted BeamNG uses DX11 now, but I do not know how that would affect running in VR and what kind of code implementation would be required.
Yes, this is a problem that I observed in a forum post when I was doing research into split screen render, but that's not really what I'm trying to cover here, though; I'm trying to cover VR. So it might not be harmful forto create a new "split screen" thread in the Ideas and Suggestions section of the forum. But make sure to check to make sure there's nothing still relevant about the topic already. Oculus was supported by Torque3D, which is the game engine that BeamNG is based on. But I don't know why they dropped support for it. You may be right about DX9 no longer being supported. The real difficulty in supporting VR in any game right now is that there are no real standards regulating how games and VR capable devices interact, so there are a number of different proprietary APIs making it very hard to get widespread support. OpenXR should help with this, but we won't really see much of it till mid-2018. I have hopes that in one to three years when much of the career mode and in game content have been developed, then they may look into implementing more complex features like VR and split screen, and maybe even an online multiplayer, though online multiplayer would be a stretch.
Well, I mentioned this. It's not something I would expect to see now, but maybe in the next couple of years. I mean, since 2012 the price of entry to VR has gone from $700 to now it's just $200. Considering that BeamNG is a game exclusive to the PC, it makes sense that there would be more people adopting the technology on this platform. HTC and Oculus are not the only options today, we have Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Samsung and many more making headsets in the $200-300 range, all with their own inherent advantages and disadvantages. And the cost of the HTC has adjusted to just $400, which is still high, but it's much cheaper than the $700 price tag it launched with initially. I don't expect anything with VR now in Beam, quite the contrary, but there might be more reason to support it in the upcoming years.
well that something i didnt know but where i live, all i can see is oculust and vive i cant find anything else under 500$:/
but I'm talking from a purely graphical implementationed point of view two cameras looking at the same thing but side by side and two cameras looking at different things and not being shitty like the mirrors it's basically the same thing
