On to the second test system and Project Cars. We used the SteamVR interface to launch Project Cars, anything that wasn’t compatible with the Vive would offer a cinema style of VR gameplay which didn’t really merit having a Virtual Reality headset on and we used mainly for browsing if required.
So, back to Project Cars and we need to point out we are avid simulation gamers, including flight and driving sims. We have iRacing, all the Race series, Assetto Corsa (and its predecessor), rFactor 1&2, the list goes on. We are accustomed to setting up an in-depth experience or just having a quick game for the fun of it, and the latter was chosen for the HTC Vive tests.
We chose a number of cars, tracks and conditions. We have all the driver aids off, though auto-clutch is on, mixed class AI at 100% and a mix of five to twenty-six cars on track. First up is the BMW V12 at Monza we then move to the Oreca 03 Nissan. We included the full HUD for the first session, something we cut down quickly as it was a distraction.
We chose the settings shown above, a mix of performance and quality where appropriate. As stated before, all driver settings are default, however Project Cars had some headroom thanks to the GTX 980 Ti we used. This is the very first drive of Project Cars with the Vive with no setup to the game other than launching in VR mode.
What did we think? It is a case of chalk and cheese between the SteamVR experience with titles like The Lab and Audioshield. With a lot of seat positioning issues, which can be overcome by using a reset seat key binding, the experience out of the box is a little frustrating. You don’t seem to get going with a non-VR-title despite having support for both the Oculus and the Vive.
HTC Vive Virtual Reality Headset Review
Package - 9
Performance - 6.5
Price - 5
Consumer Experience - 5
6.4
As diehard VR fans we were left as disappointed with the HTC Vive as we were the Oculus DK2. Though these should be a generation apart in development, and we appreciate they are from different companies, using the Vive hardware with the types of games we like, and not bespoke to the Vive, it still felt like a beta product.