# Valve Index Details Revealed



## Joe88 (May 1, 2019)

​
Valve today revealed details about their upcoming VR headset the Index to consumers. The headset sports a higher FOV, up to 20% compared to the HTC Vive but can vary person to person according to valve. The screens can display up to 144hz compared to the 90hz of the vive. It sports the same 2880×1600 resolution of the Vive Pro. The knuckle controllers now officially named the Index Controllers were shown which can track every fingers movement along with the Index Base Stations. The headset is backwards compatible with the original Vive base stations and controllers. The Index controllers are also backwards compatible with the first generation Vive. The Index base stations are however only backwards compatible with the Vive Pro. The prices were also listed for all different combinations of the new Index products. To get the whole kit it will cost you whopping $999 without including tax. The headset alone will sell for $499 and the Index controllers will sell for $279. You can also purchase a single base station for $149.
Preorders start at 1PM EST May 1st. The Index will ship June 28th.

​Source: https://store.steampowered.com/valveindex


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## Daggot (May 1, 2019)

4K or riot


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## Xzi (May 1, 2019)

Torn between getting the controllers only or getting the HMD too.  I've already got a Pimax 5K+, but I could sell my OG Vive and wand controllers to recoup some of the cost of Index anyway.


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## x65943 (May 1, 2019)

VR prices are going to have to plummet if the platform ever has any hope of going mainstream

Modern vr prices remind me of insanely expensive gaming tech of yesteryear like the 3do and Phillips cdi (which mostly faded into obscurity)


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## Captain_N (May 1, 2019)

Daggot said:


> 4K or riot



lol yep the babies need their 4k or they whine...


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## Xzi (May 1, 2019)

x65943 said:


> VR prices are going to have to plummet if the platform ever has any hope of going mainstream
> 
> Modern vr prices remind me of insanely expensive gaming tech of yesteryear like the 3do and Phillips cdi (which mostly faded into obscurity)


Eh, VR's just like anything else.  You've got the high-end enthusiast market (PC), then you've got mid-range options (console), and finally the low-end (mobile) market.  More importantly, Valve are selling everything separately, so the cost isn't _that_ high for people who already have certain components.

Displays capable of 90Hz or more aren't cheap, after all, and you need two of them, along with high-end lenses, in a VR headset.



Captain_N said:


> lol yep the babies need their 4k or they whine...


I think he was being sarcastic.  Just in case he wasn't though, 4K in VR is not doable with current consumer GPUs.  Even the Pimax 8K, which uses dual 4K panels, uses an input signal of 1440p and just upscales it from there.  The minimum GPU for a decent experience on the 8K is a GTX 1080, and even a 1080Ti can't handle _everything_ without frame rate drops.


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## Joe88 (May 1, 2019)

I just want the controllers but they cost 3/4 of what I paid for the whole vive kit. Not at that price.


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## Xzi (May 1, 2019)

Joe88 said:


> I just want the controllers but they cost 3/4 of what I paid for the whole vive kit. Not at that price.


You could probably make half of it back or more just by selling your wands, though.  Pricing for those has gone down very slowly.


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## Joe88 (May 1, 2019)

They dropped the ball big time when it was revealed the new oculus rift s was $399 yesterday too.

It was also revealed that valve will ship a flagship VR game later this year. It will be compatible with any headset that works with steam vr.
https://uploadvr.com/valve-vr-game/
Signs are pointing it to be a half-life vr game but knowing valve it's going to be left 4 dead 3 VR or something nobody asked for.


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## Hanafuda (May 1, 2019)

I haven't jumped into VR yet and my only interest if I do is for sim racing. But the Valve Index does look like an incremental improvement over other headsets, so I'll be watching for reviews when it rolls out. The extra $100 or so over the other headsets on the market is chump change next to the investment I'll have to make to set up a decent racing rig (wheel, pedals, shifter, cockpit, ungodly powerful dedicated PC).


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## Kioku_Dreams (May 1, 2019)

Joe88 said:


> They dropped the ball big time when it was revealed the new oculus rift s was $399 yesterday too.
> 
> It was also revealed that valve will ship a flagship VR game later this year. It will be compatible with any headset that works with steam vr.
> https://uploadvr.com/valve-vr-game/
> Signs are pointing it to be a half-life vr game but knowing valve it's going to be left 4 dead 3 VR or something nobody asked for.


Wouldn't say they dropped the ball.. People prefer the Vive over the Rift, even though it was noticeably more expensive.. What about the rift would be more enticing over the Index? Price point excluded.


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## nero99 (May 1, 2019)

With this price point, I think I'll stick with my rift and pre order of the oculus quest. Why is all the good stuff so expensive?


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## Xzi (May 1, 2019)

Memoir said:


> Wouldn't say they dropped the ball.. People prefer the Vive over the Rift, even though it was noticeably more expensive.. What about the rift would he more enticing over the Index? Price point excluded.


Yeah, Oculus' "new" offerings are barely any better than the original Rift, specs-wise.  So it's obvious that their focus was on keeping the price down, not on future-proofing the specs or adding interesting features.

If I hadn't backed Pimax 5K+ at a considerably lower price, I'd buy the Index HMD as an upgrade to my OG Vive.  Instead I've just pre-ordered the controllers for now.  Thank god SteamVR is so flexible with its hardware compatibility.


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## Joe88 (May 1, 2019)

Besides being $600 cheaper the other reason is they got rid of the sensors, multiple cameras on the headset track everything.


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## Kioku_Dreams (May 1, 2019)

Joe88 said:


> Besides being $600 cheaper the other reason is they got rid of the sensors, multiple cameras on the headset track everything.


Which also may not be as accurate... The rift is a good starter headset, that is literally all I'm finding. The controllers were better than the Vive, but the index is offering something more and seemingly better... If $400-500 was my budget, I'd probably go for the Samsung WMR headset, to be honest.


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## Silent_Gunner (May 1, 2019)

x65943 said:


> VR prices are going to have to plummet if the platform ever has any hope of going mainstream
> 
> Modern vr prices remind me of insanely expensive gaming tech of yesteryear like the 3do and Phillips cdi (which mostly faded into obscurity)



This. In between this and this sexy monitor that's caught my eye after looking at the market for VA monitors, I'd rather go with the monitor!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072C7TNC5/?tag=pcpapi-20&pldnSite=1

It would be the final piece to my HT setup that I'd be happy to upgrade!


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## Tom Bombadildo (May 1, 2019)

And here I sit, happy with my $160 WMR headset that works just fine for nearly all VR games...

;O;

Real talk though it sounds neat and the specs are nice, but still way too expensive for me. Those controllers looking really fucking cool though, 89 sensors for tactile feedback sounds pretty impressive.


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## LightyKD (May 1, 2019)

x65943 said:


> VR prices are going to have to plummet if the platform ever has any hope of going mainstream
> 
> Modern vr prices remind me of insanely expensive gaming tech of yesteryear like the 3do and Phillips cdi (which mostly faded into obscurity)



I agree! Either that or start standardizing the damn controllers. Would it kill these developers to create VR games that use standard controllers?! Sure, we have Star Trek Bridge Crew, Project Cars and I can map the keyboard and mouse to my controller for Honey select but damn! Either make a entry level controller that everyone can agree on or add support for standard controllers!!! There are cheaper headsets like the ones from VR-Tek (remember you get what you pay for lol) and those would be great for entry level VR if the developers could get their acts together.


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## Xzi (May 2, 2019)

Good thing I didn't want the headset, it sold out in about thirty minutes lol.  The controllers and base stations are still available, though.



LightyKD said:


> I agree! Either that or start standardizing the damn controllers. Would it kill these developers to create VR games that use standard controllers?! Sure, we have Star Trek Bridge Crew, Project Cars and I can map the keyboard and mouse to my controller for Honey select but damn! Either make a entry level controller that everyone can agree on or add support for standard controllers!!! There are cheaper headsets like the ones from VR-Tek (remember you get what you pay for lol) and those would be great for entry level VR if the developers could get their acts together.


There are tons of VR games which use standard controllers, mostly cockpit stuff and the like.  As far as motion controllers go, it's not a necessity to have a "standard" because they all work with SteamVR games anyway.


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## LightyKD (May 2, 2019)

Xzi said:


> Good thing I didn't want the headset, it sold out in about thirty minutes lol.  The controllers and base stations are still available, though.
> 
> 
> There are tons of VR games which use standard controllers, mostly cockpit stuff and the like.  As far as motion controllers go, it's not a necessity to have a "standard" because they all work with SteamVR games anyway.



1) Could you post a short list of VR games that use standard controllers?

2) I have to disagree on your statement about needing a standard controller. PSVR works well because Sony has created a standard in which every PS4 owner follows. ON PC there are too many options and some controllers only work with some headsets (from my understanding}. We need ONE controller that is guaranteed to work with every headset. At least this way, no matter how high or low end you go with your headset, you are guaranteed a way to control all of your VR games.


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## Silent_Gunner (May 2, 2019)

Xzi said:


> Good thing I didn't want the headset, it sold out in about thirty minutes lol.  The controllers and base stations are still available, though.
> 
> 
> There are tons of VR games which use standard controllers, mostly cockpit stuff and the like.  As far as motion controllers go, it's not a necessity to have a "standard" because they all work with SteamVR games anyway.



I think the only standard controller that would work for most of the games where VR would be practical would be the Steam Controller. You technically have the toolset in Steam to configure a way to aim, a way to drive, and other functions. Does Steamworks support the gyro and other features in XBone and PS4 (*evil eye at a certain spoiler-ish sequence in Yakuza 6*) controllers? Because if so, then add that and the Switch Pro Controller to that list.


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## Xzi (May 2, 2019)

LightyKD said:


> 1) Could you post a short list of VR games that use standard controllers?


Sure thing.

Everspace
House of the Dying Sun
Thumper
Redout
Sublevel Zero Redux
Lucky's Tale
Rez Infinite
Elite Dangerous
Distance
Battlezone
Skyrim VR
New Retro Arcade: Neon
Ultrawings
Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics

Are just some of the ones I own.  The list goes on and on, and many of these games support motion controllers in addition to standard ones.



LightyKD said:


> 2) I have to disagree on your statement about needing a standard controller. PSVR works well because Sony has created a standard in which every PS4 owner follows. ON PC there are too many options and some controllers only work with some headsets (from my understanding}. We need ONE controller that is guaranteed to work with every headset. At least this way, no matter how high or low end you go with your headset, you are guaranteed a way to control all of your VR games.


The only divide where controllers aren't compatible with headsets is the SteamVR/Oculus divide.  Beyond the fact that you can't mix Vive controllers with an Oculus headset and vice versa, though, everything is compatible with SteamVR.  Including Oculus headsets with Oculus controllers.  So essentially it's only Facebook trying to create a walled garden within the PC VR space.  Everybody else has opened up their hardware and software compatibility for the good of PC VR in general.  

That's why I can mix HTC base stations with Valve knuckles controllers, and the Chinese-branded Pimax 5K+ headset, and it will all work together.


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## kevin corms (Jun 3, 2019)

That price is hard to swallow for something most people arent yet sold on as more than a fad.


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