RIFT DK2 - Worth it now?

Jestahr · 29 Mar 2017 at 02:04

Hey there,

I just picked up a new sealed Oculus Rift DK2 and I'm wondering it was worth the price.

I've used the Vive (but not the CV1) so have a decent idea of what a high end £700+ setup will be like. However this seemed like a good little option to run until the next generation with hopefully wireless and more comfortable headsets.

Basically wanting to work out if there is anything worthwhile and fun still supported with the DK2? I'm hoping any non touch controller games and non room scale games should function? Does SteamVR support DK2 and also does the Occulus store/app?

Cheers

darket · 29 Mar 2017 at 07:53

Dk2 still has plenty of support and and as far as i'm aware works with Occulus home, steam and all vr titles that don't require controllers. As for weather it was worth the money it depends on what you paid. The Dk2 is still a fantastic bit of kit.

Jestahr · 29 Mar 2017 at 08:56

darket said:
Dk2 still has plenty of support and and as far as i'm aware works with Occulus home, steam and all vr titles that don't require controllers. As for weather it was worth the money it depends on what you paid. The Dk2 is still a fantastic bit of kit.

Cheers mate. That all sounds pretty promising! Paid £100 by the way, apparently new and sealed so seemed fair.

ed79 · 29 Mar 2017 at 20:55

I'm in a similar position - got a "new sealed" DK2 a few days ago. I hadn't paid much attention to VR beforehand but I expected it to be like Nvidia 3D vision but of course better.

Problem is I didn't realise that unlike 3D vision you can't just enable it and any old game will suddenly go 3D (to a greater or lesser extent). It seems the Oculus software locks everything down and now with the removal of the extended mode that apparently used to cause the Rift to appear as a second display in windows a load of stuff that used to run in 3D no longer does. I've tried several things I read about on the internet and they all just appear as a side-by-side display on my normal monitor and the headset just sits there doing nothing.

The Oculus software has a Windows 10 feel to it - i.e. a lot of options that used to exist in older versiosn have been removed or hidden. I can't even get the official SDK to set supersampling anymore.

varkanoid · 30 Mar 2017 at 23:23

I think I may have found the same place too as I just picked one up for £99. At that price I thought it was worth a punt at a 2nd go at Vomit Reality.

varkanoid · 4 Apr 2017 at 10:48

My DK2 came yesterday. Brand new. Bargain. This is the price they should be. Judging by the drop in posts in this forum VR is pretty much dead on OCUK or people are too busy in their VR world to post.
Downloading a few free games yesterday and purchased a few mentioned on the VR games thread. Also managed to get latest version of Battle of Endor so when I have some time will give this a whirl. Already got Elite bought it ages ago but didnt get on with it so interesting to try that again.

dazzlaa · 4 Apr 2017 at 12:23

varkanoid said:
My DK2 came yesterday. Brand new. Bargain. This is the price they should be. Judging by the drop in posts in this forum VR is pretty much dead on OCUK or people are too busy in their VR world to post.
Downloading a few free games yesterday and purchased a few mentioned on the VR games thread. Also managed to get latest version of Battle of Endor so when I have some time will give this a whirl. Already got Elite bought it ages ago but didnt get on with it so interesting to try that again.

Where did you get one from at that price? Seems like a right bargain!

RoyMi6 · 4 Apr 2017 at 13:07

ed79 said:
I'm in a similar position - got a "new sealed" DK2 a few days ago. I hadn't paid much attention to VR beforehand but I expected it to be like Nvidia 3D vision but of course better.

Problem is I didn't realise that unlike 3D vision you can't just enable it and any old game will suddenly go 3D (to a greater or lesser extent). It seems the Oculus software locks everything down and now with the removal of the extended mode that apparently used to cause the Rift to appear as a second display in windows a load of stuff that used to run in 3D no longer does. I've tried several things I read about on the internet and they all just appear as a side-by-side display on my normal monitor and the headset just sits there doing nothing.

The Oculus software has a Windows 10 feel to it - i.e. a lot of options that used to exist in older versiosn have been removed or hidden. I can't even get the official SDK to set supersampling anymore.

You appear to have a bit of a misunderstanding of exactly what extended mode did, its purpose or the reason it changed.

Regardless you can download the old runtimes from here: https://developer.oculus.com/downloads/package/oculus-runtime-for-windows/

It's not really true that Oculus left this method behind, it's more the games you're trying to run haven't been updated to work with the latest version of the Oculus software when they moved away from beta version of the software and development kits of the hardware.

Even back when the DK2 was the best you could buy getting a lot of things running was hit or miss and some of the best examples you were compiling from source.

varkanoid · 4 Apr 2017 at 14:05

dazzlaa said:
Where did you get one from at that price? Seems like a right bargain!

I can't really say it will probably be against OCUK rules but if you think about it then you can have a Bargain Hunt.

dazzlaa · 4 Apr 2017 at 16:15

varkanoid said:
I can't really say it will probably be against OCUK rules but if you think about it then you can have a Bargain Hunt.

No worries, could you see if there are any still for sale before I begin my treasure hunt?

varkanoid · 4 Apr 2017 at 20:56

Yes but the price has gone up. I guess you have never watched the programme ?

dazzlaa · 4 Apr 2017 at 21:04

varkanoid said:
Yes but the price has gone up. I guess you have never watched the programme ?

Haha I guess not!

Confused!

dazzlaa · 4 Apr 2017 at 21:34

Uhh I think I know what you mean now! Haha
Anyway, I have prob found the one you are referring to... now £135 but I'm holding out for £100 because I'm tight and not entirely sure I even want one!

varkanoid · 5 Apr 2017 at 00:04

Well just spent last couple of hours trying the DK2. Probably longer than I should. I used the latest Oculus software not the 008 runtime. The setup gets to the part where it only recognises the sensor not the hdmi or USB. I quit out of it there and then it still works okay and I can use the Oculus Home. It can be quite addictive when you first start. I downloaded Ghost in the Shell freebie and its quite stunning looking around. I then tried Battle for Endor (you need the CV1 version with latest Oculus software) and had a big of a blast until I did a barrel roll and nearly threw up.

I then tried a Steam game and Steam VR wouldnt recognise the rift. (I enabled other sources in Oculus settings). Did a bit of a google then found a small set of instructions. Launch Oculus home, turn on Rift, do message pointy setup, start Steam/Steam VR, do message pointy setup and then Steam VR recognised the Rift. Then had to run through the Steam VR room setup. Tried Discovering Space 2 which worked, tried Google VR and that failed with an error. Did a google and downloaded "FakeVIVE.zip" basically a ddraw.dll that you place in the Google Earth VR folder and it bypasses the detection error.

Noticed if you accidentally brush the lenses they get smeared/dirty easily. Also got a problem with vision as I wear glasses. Both my short sighted and long sighted glasses will fit but neither give me proper focus. Currently using the Oculus Lenses A so next time will try the other lenses see if they are any better.

I can now see why people rave about VR but I think I might find the novelty wears off after a while. Need to try more software/games.

GBRusty · 5 Apr 2017 at 09:12

Glad you stuck with it and didn't give up when hitting obstacles. The full priced versions are obviously better suited to drop in and play with no faffing. I can buy a game, download it and jump in with no problems.

I sold my DK2 but would still be using it now if I hadn't replaced it.

Elite is good if you're used to playing it on a flat screen, the sense of scale is staggering but obviously without seeng your real world hands you need a good HOTAS or simialr to play 'blind'.

varkanoid · 5 Apr 2017 at 11:25

The deal breaker whether I keep it for me will be the lenses. Problem I have is my left eye is short sighted but my right eye is long sighted. I tried both sets of my glasses and neither gave a good image. I tried adjusting the side screws but that made it worse. So I will try the B lenses tonight see if that makes any difference. Also wondering whether to try Lense A for right eye and Lense B for left eye. Its definitely not designed for people with an opposite imbalance in your eyes. If all fails then I will just chuck it on the MM to claw back my outlay and it wont have been too bad a waste.

Will try Elite though as I still have my Thrustmaster stick.

varkanoid · 6 Apr 2017 at 09:17

Well the kids love it buy sadly I just can't use it with my old eyes. I have tried combinations of the different lenses and my glasses and its just too blurry for me. In some things like Oculus Home room its just about okay but in others like the control panel in the cockpit of Discovery Space 2 all the lettering is out of focus. I tried Dirt Rally and this is pretty amazing in VR but it was blurred it gave me a headache.

So I put it on the MM last night for sale. Shame.

GBRusty · 6 Apr 2017 at 09:25

Shame indeed.
Silly question but did you try it with your glasses on?

varkanoid · 6 Apr 2017 at 12:36

GBRusty said:
Shame indeed.
Silly question but did you try it with your glasses on?

It does say that at #17

yes it was not good.

Other problem I found was that when wearing glasses it tended to bend them a little too they only just fit under the visor. Not sure whether the retail version is the same but its another limitation if you have larger lenses on your glasses.

GBRusty · 6 Apr 2017 at 12:50

Yet another factor to make the product niche