The Secrets of Ultimate Immersion using Virtual Reality

Subscribe now for hand-picked best experiences, product discounts, and the latest VR trends, tips and tricks, straight to your inbox.

EmailEnter your email address

Submit

Elite Dangerous is a space flight simulation game that allows you to take the role as a commander of a spaceship. You can explore a vast, open galaxy, engage in combat, trade, mine, research, and more. You can also create your own stories and adventures in the game’s persistent universe, where your actions can affect the outcome of events.

But what if you could experience Elite Dangerous in a whole new way? What if you could feel like you are actually in the cockpit of your ship, flying through space and interacting with the environment? That’s what Elite Dangerous VR offers you. In this article, we will show you how to play Elite Dangerous in VR, how to enhance your VR experience with Elite Dangerous, and what performance issues you might encounter.

How to Play Elite Dangerous in VR

Along with a headset that supports SteamVR or Meta, such as Valve Index, HTC Vive Pro2, Meta Quest 2 or Quest 3, then you can follow these steps to play Elite Dangerous in VR:

1. Install SteamVR or Oculus on your PC.
2. Connect your VR headset to your PC and ensure it is switched on.
3. Launch SteamVR or Oculus and launch Elite Dangerous from your library.
4. You will then see a box giving you the option to launch Elite: Dangerous in SteamVR mode or Oculus mode. Make sure to select this option and then click “Play”.

VR Experience with Elite Dangerous

One of the main reasons to play Elite Dangerous is the VR experience itself. VR adds a whole new dimension to the game, making it more immersive, realistic, and thrilling. Here are some of the benefits of playing Elite Dangerous in VR:

• You can feel like you really are in a space ship: VR gives you a 360-degree view of the game’s environment, allowing you to see the stars, planets, asteroids, and other ships around you. You can also look around your cockpit and see the details of your ship’s interior. You can even get out of your seat and walk around your ship.
• Head tracking: Combat in VR with head tracking is much more natural and immersive. Instead of using a controller stick to look around the cockpit, moving your head around to keep track of enemy ships makes combat a little more easier and a lot more fun, not to mention it adds a level of realism.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons

Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the second season of major gameplay expansions for Elite Dangerous, adding new features and gameplay. One of the most exciting features of Horizons is the ability to land on and explore rocky, metal, ice and rocky/metal planets, which make up 61% of the planet types in Elite Dangerous’ Milky Way. You can also fly around, and drive along planet surfaces in your SRVs.

Once on the surface, you can discover various points of interest, which can be constructed, such as military bases, research establishments, hideouts, starports, mining complexes, or natural, such as shipwrecks, debris, or geological features. The nature of the encounter varies depending on where you are: the planet type and composition, and the local topography affected by geology.

This feature is also available in VR mode, which makes it more immersive and realistic than ever before.

How to Enhance Your Elite Dangerous VR Experience

Playing Elite Dangerous in VR is an amazing experience and one of the best VR simulation games you can play. However, there are some ways to make it even more immersive and enjoyable:

Use a Joystick or HOTAS setup

One of the best features of playing Elite Dangerous in VR is that with a HOTAS, it can make you feel like you are actually controlling your ship. This adds a lot of realism and immersion to the game. These include:

• The Thrustmaster T16000m FCS HOTAS: This is a flight stick controller that mimics the movements of flying a real plane or spaceship. It has 16 action buttons that correspond to different functions on your ship’s dashboard. TWCS Throttle features 14 buttons and one 8-way-PoV hat, with an additional mini stick and toggle rudder
• Logitech X52 Pro: Programmable 3 mode settings, pinkie switch, 3 HATs, mouse micro stick, and 19 LED color buttons with 105+ commands. The official Hotas for Elite Dangerous, thus, looks very similar to the one used in-game, for extra immersion.

Use voice commands

Another way to enhance your VR experience with Elite Dangerous is by using voice commands instead of using buttons on your controller or keyboard. This allows you to control various aspects of your ship without looking at your screen or moving your hands too much. For example, instead of pressing “A” to fire missiles at an enemy ship, you can simply say “Fire missiles”. To use voice commands with most headsets, such as Oculus Quest 2 or Valve Index, all you need is an app called VoiceAttack that lets you customize different voice commands for different functions.

Performance of Elite Dangerous in VR

Playing Elite Dangerous in VR is a demanding task for your PC, as it requires an immense level of processing power, memory, and graphics. Therefore, you might encounter some performance issues, such as low frame rate, stuttering, or lag, while playing the game in VR. These issues can affect your VR experience and cause discomfort, such as nausea, headache, or eye strain. To avoid these issues, you should make sure your PC meets the minimum or recommended system requirements for Elite Dangerous VR, which are:

In addition to meeting the system requirements, you can also optimize the game’s performance for VR by adjusting the game’s settings, such as the graphics quality, the resolution, or the supersampling. You can also use some external tools, such as VRSS, FSR, or FPSVR, to improve the game’s performance and quality. However, keep in mind that these tools might have some trade-offs, such as reducing the clarity, the sharpness, or the field of view of the game.

Conclusion

Elite Dangerous VR is a game that offers you a unique and immersive experience of space simulation. You can explore a vast, open galaxy, engage in various activities, and create your own stories and adventures. You can also enhance your VR experience with Elite Dangerous by using HOTAS controllers or voice commands.

However, you should also be aware of the game’s performance issues and how to optimize them for VR. Elite Dangerous VR is a game that you should not miss if you are a fan of VR and space simulation. If you want to learn more about the game or to buy it, you can visit the official website of Elite Dangerous or the Steam or Oculus Store. Thank you for reading this article and we hope you enjoy playing Elite Dangerous VR.

The Secrets of Ultimate Immersion using Virtual Reality

Subscribe now for hand-picked best experiences, product discounts, and the latest VR trends, tips and tricks, straight to your inbox.

EmailEnter your email address

Submit