Can't Read PDA on Oculus Rift
CyborgMaster
Join Date: 2016-06-22 Member: 218898Members
Join Date: 2016-06-22 Member: 218898Members
Last week I finally got my Oculus Rift CV1 that I pre-ordered in January. I've been excited to try SubNautica because it looks awesome, but I have been waiting until the Oculus comes so I can get the most immersive experience possible.
I bought the game from the Oculus Store yesterday and tried it, and it is AMAZING. It's one of the most immersive experiences I've tried yet, and it's beautiful. Well Done!
However, I can't read the PDA.
First off, I read the "HOW-TO REPORT GAMEPLAY BUGS!" thread and I know it asks me to post the version, but I don't know how to find it on the Oculus. It says that I should be able to see it in the top right of the screen, but the Oculus doesn't really have an absolute top right, I can't see it on the screen, and I can't find it anywhere in the menu. It is up to date from the Oculus store as of right now, if that helps you figure out the version. If I'm missing the correct way to determine my version, let me know and I'll be happy to get it.
The main problem is that the text on the PDA is much too small to read on the Oculus Rift. The text ends up being only a few pixels tall (~5). I can mostly make it out if I try really hard, but that's only because I'm guessing at the letters based on the context. It makes it very exhausting. The per eye resolution is 1080x1200, but that is spread out across a much larger field of vision, so the pixels per degree is more comparable to a 720p or lower resolution normal monitor. I would recommend at least doubling the size of the text / pda, even if I have to move my head to read all of it, it would be better than the extremely small text that I can't read now.
Secondly, it comes up much too close to my face, and therefore makes it very difficult to focus on. The Oculus causes everything to be viewed at about a 4 foot focal distance (as in your eyes have to focus the same way that they do for things ~4 feet away in real life), so anything closer than that tricks your eyes into trying to focus closer because you're brain thinks it is closer, which means your eyes are now forcing the image to be out of focus. This in turn makes me squint, which makes it even harder to read the small text. I would recommend rendering the PDA at about a 4 foot distance, which due to the focal distance makes for the most comfortable reading in the Oculus, instead of the ~1.5 feet it is at right now. Most of the demos and made for Oculus games have their detail text at that 4 foot distance, and their "title" text at about 6 feet (see the Oculus Home app). If you did move the PDA further away, that would require making it even physically larger to make the text match the pixel size you need, so I would recommend between 4-8x physically larger than it currently is. That, of course, would make it a little ridiculous to try and pass off as a PDA in someone's hand, so maybe you could have the guy pull it out and then project a larger image of the screen floating in space to make it legible. This would break realism just a bit, but you might be able to do it in such a way that makes it obvious that this is just a convenience projection in order to make it easier to read. Or, maybe you could make it super futuristic and have the PDA be a holo-emitter instead of a flat screen.
So that's my 2 cents. Let me know what you guys think and what can be done. I'd LOVE to play more subnautica, but seeing that the PDA is used for most information gathering and crafting, it makes it almost unplayable as it is right now.
Thanks!
I bought the game from the Oculus Store yesterday and tried it, and it is AMAZING. It's one of the most immersive experiences I've tried yet, and it's beautiful. Well Done!
However, I can't read the PDA.
First off, I read the "HOW-TO REPORT GAMEPLAY BUGS!" thread and I know it asks me to post the version, but I don't know how to find it on the Oculus. It says that I should be able to see it in the top right of the screen, but the Oculus doesn't really have an absolute top right, I can't see it on the screen, and I can't find it anywhere in the menu. It is up to date from the Oculus store as of right now, if that helps you figure out the version. If I'm missing the correct way to determine my version, let me know and I'll be happy to get it.
The main problem is that the text on the PDA is much too small to read on the Oculus Rift. The text ends up being only a few pixels tall (~5). I can mostly make it out if I try really hard, but that's only because I'm guessing at the letters based on the context. It makes it very exhausting. The per eye resolution is 1080x1200, but that is spread out across a much larger field of vision, so the pixels per degree is more comparable to a 720p or lower resolution normal monitor. I would recommend at least doubling the size of the text / pda, even if I have to move my head to read all of it, it would be better than the extremely small text that I can't read now.
Secondly, it comes up much too close to my face, and therefore makes it very difficult to focus on. The Oculus causes everything to be viewed at about a 4 foot focal distance (as in your eyes have to focus the same way that they do for things ~4 feet away in real life), so anything closer than that tricks your eyes into trying to focus closer because you're brain thinks it is closer, which means your eyes are now forcing the image to be out of focus. This in turn makes me squint, which makes it even harder to read the small text. I would recommend rendering the PDA at about a 4 foot distance, which due to the focal distance makes for the most comfortable reading in the Oculus, instead of the ~1.5 feet it is at right now. Most of the demos and made for Oculus games have their detail text at that 4 foot distance, and their "title" text at about 6 feet (see the Oculus Home app). If you did move the PDA further away, that would require making it even physically larger to make the text match the pixel size you need, so I would recommend between 4-8x physically larger than it currently is. That, of course, would make it a little ridiculous to try and pass off as a PDA in someone's hand, so maybe you could have the guy pull it out and then project a larger image of the screen floating in space to make it legible. This would break realism just a bit, but you might be able to do it in such a way that makes it obvious that this is just a convenience projection in order to make it easier to read. Or, maybe you could make it super futuristic and have the PDA be a holo-emitter instead of a flat screen.
So that's my 2 cents. Let me know what you guys think and what can be done. I'd LOVE to play more subnautica, but seeing that the PDA is used for most information gathering and crafting, it makes it almost unplayable as it is right now.
Thanks!
Comments
More to the point of the thread, I have to completely agree with CyborgMaster though. The PDA is barely usable in the Rift and it's not a pleasant experience to do so. I want to play this game and experience more but don't want to ruin my eyesight doing so
From what you've said elsewhere you are already working on changing the introduction movie to work in VR without making the user ill, so I'm sure the vastly more important PDA interface is on your list. But ... sooner rather than later? ... pretty please? There's whipped cream and a cherry on top in it for you if it's soon
Again thanks for making such an amazing game. I will be following it with much interest