Developer advice HTC Vive or Oculus Rift ?

[Gdes]

Hi, I would like create a game on VR, but before start I need a VR "helmet"
But how to choose beyond the 2 actual leaders ?

- Oculus Rift doesn't have frontal camera but its controllers looks for me better (how the stick are positioned etc), BUT there are not yet available, (but will be when I would have economize enough to afford the VR)
- HTC Vive, have a camera, which could improve possibility for the futur development games, but is heavier, doesn't have headset included (which can be a positif or negative point)


By these point, I think maybe Vive could still be better (only because the additional camera) because at the end the price with oculus controllers coming should be the same or around than the Vive.

But now, your advices not really about which could be better than the others.... BUT which one is the most compatible with Unreal Engine, which one is the easier to install and work with, if I spend more time to try to find the problem of why the device is not recognized rather than work on the game development it would be awful !

Could you help me please to determine which I should buy (knowing I haven't really possibility to test it by myself before !)

Cordially !
Sorry when my english is not great, it is not my 1st language !

[SBiegun_PDG]

Both Oculus and Vive are easy to use with UE4. That shouldn't be an issue.

Vive absolutely does include the headset. Oculus has the headset, tracking camera, and remote for $600 USD. Vive has the headset, hand controllers, and 2 lighthouse trackers for $800. Weight is an unnoticeable difference and probably shouldn't be a basis for choosing one product over the other. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been an official announcement about the Oculus Touch controllers, but we can estimate that it'll put the total Oculus cost in the ballpark of Vive's cost.

We've been developing for Vive for several months and will soon also be developing for Oculus. The UE4 community is a great resource if you ever get stuck in your VR development.

[Dannington]

I've got an oculus dk2 and a vive, I chose the vive over the final rift after using the dk2 and realising how important the hand controllers would be, and also - for me anyway - the much larger tracking area. Don't know how well the oculus's hand controllers will work but unless the tracking area compared to the dk2 has been hugely broadened I think they're flogging an expired technology. It's jarring to lean towards your screen and the tracking stops due to being out of bounds. I can't see how the system can accurately track your hands unless the tracking camera is set way back from the monitor's position due to the tracking camera's frustum cutoff. Not that I've got the final rift.

[Gdes]

Thanks for your replies above !

- I read that small spaces could be a trouble with the Hive, I can only create on a small place (very small), and I am afraid that the first Hive calibrating can be a problem, some people having be blocked during this process !
- I am wearing glasses does one of the 2 is better in that way ?

What do you think about the gloveone, could it be a good asset ?

And the un repliable ask, does Hive V2 (if it ever will exist) will add haptic sensors on the head

[Rasped]

Vive has better room for glasses, and you can adjust them to make even more room.
The tracking on the Vive might be better due to the technology, lasers, dual lighthouses, tracking is done by the headset(it is not the headset being tracked as is the case with the oculus).
Also, I suspect that having the LEDs embedded in the headband like on the Rift there could be some problems. It is very well engineered, but only time will tell how well the springs, sliders, connectors(for the headphones) and LEDs will hold up.

This is my gut feeling, I haven't tried the Oculus. But since it has embedded LEDs and a camera is doing the tracking instead of the other way around, I feel it might be a tad less precise. But again, my subjective "feeling".

The Oculus is lighter and easier to put on I believe. It will have the much cooler looking controllers, and it comes bundled with an Xbox controller, which you would need to add to the Vive to make a fair comparison in price.

I'm very happy with my Vive. Flawless tracking, just amazing. Easy to put on and adjust once you get used to it.