X Rebirth Virtual Reality Edition - Early Access FAQ

[X2-Illuminatus]

Below you find answers to common questions about the X Rebirth Virtual Reality Edition.



0. What if the game does not start?

If the game does not start, crashes or stops before even getting into the first 3D scene there is a good chance that you have problems with your 3D driver. Our game requires a Vulkan compatible driver. Always install the latest driver and if problems persist do a clean install (user defined install and delete all settings!



1. When will XR VR be released?

We have now entered the Early Access phase on Steam as well as in the Oculus store. The game will be properly released on both platforms as soon as we end the Early Access phase. We expect Early Access to take between one and three months.



2. On which platforms will XR VR be released?

The XR VR Edition will only be released on Steam and in the Oculus store.



3. Which VR headsets and controllers are supported?

The Steam version of the XR VR Edition supports the HTC Vive (headset and controllers). The Oculus version Oculus Rift and Touch.



4. What are the System requirements?

Minimum:

OS: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 8 (64-bit), Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)*
Processor: Intel i5-4590 or AMD equivalent
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 970 or AMD equivalent
Storage: 8 GB available space
VR systems supported: Oculus Rift or HTC Vive

Recommended:

OS: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 8 (64-bit), Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)*
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD equivalent
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1070 or AMD equivalent
Storage: 12 GB available space
VR systems supported: Oculus Rift or HTC Vive

(* Windows 7 is only supported by the Vive version.)

Please note that due to the nature of the game, it is not possible to guarantee a minimum framerate, nor is it possible to guarantee that there will be no in-game circumstances in which the framerate will be slowed.



5. What is the price of the XR VR Edition?

During early access the XR VR Edition will be available for the reduced price of 39,99€ / 39,99 USD.

If you own X Rebirth on Steam already, you will get an additional 30 % discount. If you bought X Rebirth elsewhere or would like to buy the XR VR Edition from the Oculus Store*, please get in contact with us via email at info@egosoft.com (providing your Community Key) and we will try to find a solution.

* We are looking into providing native Oculus support on Steam too (see also the Technical FAQ), however due to technical issues this is not trivial, stay tuned.



6. Why do you release the XR VR Edition as an Early Access title?

We want to bring X Rebirth VR Edition to VR enthusiasts as soon as possible and get your opinion about our vision of a space game in VR. There are mainly two big focus areas during Early Access:

• The VR controller based UI: XR VR Edition has an exciting new method to control the game. The HTC Vive controller can be used to point at UI elements and interact directly with the cockpit. We are looking forward to receive feedback by customers on the quality of this experience and improve it further before the official public release.
  
• The new Vulkan-based high performance graphics engine is still relatively early in development. This engine is designed particularly for our next big project: X4. The Early Access phase of XR VR Edition allows us to test this new technology on a wide range of different hardware.

7. Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

Between one and three months.



8. How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
In addition to the two main areas of focus (VR user experience and Vulkan-based rendering engine), we are also finalising some other areas of the game which are currently in Beta. For example:

• Completing localisation to all supported languages
  
• Improving tutorial missions

9. What is the current state of the Early Access version?

The game is already very robust and well tested. We intend to keep savegames compatible beyond the duration of Early Access.



10. Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

We plan to raise the price when leaving Early Access.



11. Is Modding supported in XR VR?

Yes, it is. However, there are subtle differences to XR, which may require adjustments to make modifications for XR compatible to XR VR.



12. Will XR VR support the Steam Workshop?

Adding support for the Steam Workshop is on our to-do list during the Early Access Phase.



13. How are you planning on involving the Community in the development process?

To participate in the development process of VR Edition please visit the X Rebirth VR Edition Early Access forum. This will be the place to report bugs, make suggestions for the game and get updates about our future plans.

We will also try to post on the Steam forums, but can not provide the same level of service there.




14. What game content is in XR VR Edition?

XR VR Edition is based on Home of Light and also includes all gameplay features from The Teladi Outpost. So most features from the very latest X Rebirth should also be included in XR VR Edition. However, the game is designed to take full advantage of Virtual Reality and this means that we had to make a lot of changes also to gameplay elements. Here is a quick list of some of the more obvious differences:
- The universe was modified. This affects the density of stations, the highways and many other things.
- There is no external camera: XR VR Edition is always played from cockpit perspective or 1st person on platforms.
- Platform gameplay is reduced: While you can still leave your ship and walk around stations, the need for this is much reduced.
- New missions and tutorial

Most importantly of course the whole UI is changed. As the videos show, the game can be controlled in a very unique way with VR controllers.




15. How does switching between 2D and 3D work?

XR VR Edition can be played entirely in VR and 3D. Since X games are often played for many hours in a row and allow for thousands of hours of total game time, it was a priority for us to allow quick switching between VR and non VR gameplay. The moment you take of your headset, the game will switch into a 2D mode and can be played almost like normal X Rebirth (e.g with mouse and keyboard or with the same gamepad as in VR, but not with the VR controllers anymore).




16. How do VR controller work for playing XR?

The two supported controllers are slightly different:

The Oculus Touch controller first has controls similar to a gamepad, thanks to the two analog sticks. Then however, it also has gesture steering the moment you rest your thumb on away from the right steering stick. With gesture steering the ship rotates with the rotation of your right hand by default.

The biggest advantage of VR controller however is how they work as pointer devices for the computer screens as well as the HUD rectangles. Everything you see you can interact with by simply pointing at it.

With the Oculus Touch, pointing is activated by just pointing with your index finger.

The Vive "wand" controller works a bit differently. You can use the two trackpads both as analog sticks and buttons and one of the two controller is permanently set to "point" mode. To click on objects you would use your right thumb on the trackpad by default.

The Vive controller currently does not support gesture steering yet. We are investigating if this can be added during early access or not.



17. What kind of controls / combinations are supported?

In addition to playing with the mentioned VR controller you can also play with a gamepad or joystick. Both work fine in VR. These also work in 2D mode in addition to keyboard and mouse of course.

[big_bad_lynx]

apologies if in the wrong place but you and others may find it useful. I already own XR on steam and looking toward the discount of XRVR but have the Rift. Recent beta update to Oculus Home and the soon to be a future will let you add non-home versions of games. Please check this for details
https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-1-17-update-will-let-launch-steamvr-apps-Oculus-home/
I just wonder if in this way the Rifts owners will gain access to touch controllers and not being tied to Oculus version of the game.
many Thanks