Informal monetary pledges for hardware

[dantman]

TL;DR: If you are interested in pledging money or other support to allow me to buy hardware for development/testing of the overlay, please comment saying how much you're willing to contribute and what hardware you're personally hoping I'll develop/test against.

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Going forward we have a major issue in regards to hardware. I only have a Vive, so I cannot test the overlay with any hardware other than the Vive (i.e. Rift (S), Oculus Touch controllers, Knuckles controllers, WMR controllers, Leap motion, HOTAS, etc) or develop optional features that may require any of that hardware (thumbstick support, #88).

I have requested a dev kit from Oculus, I'm still waiting to find out if they'll accept or not. But there's no guarantee I'll get it and of course pretty much none of the vendors for the other hardware are sending out free dev kits.

A few people have asked why I don't just setup a Pateron or OpenCollective to ask for money to buy all the hardware I need to test/develop against. But I'm not sure there is enough interest to justify it.

So I'd like to gauge interest by asking for informal pledges in this issue. If enough people comment with total amounts that sound like it might be viable to purchase developer hardware with money from pledges, then I might setup an OpenCollective or Pateron. Probably the former because OpenCollective allows for one-time contributions unlike Pateron and also allows this to work Kickstarter style where I don't have to handle the money until there is enough, unlike Patreon where it is essentially treated as part of my monthly income.

[dantman]

I'm going to collapse comments for pledges I've already taken to keep this organized.

[thibaultmol]

Hey, have you considered enabling Github Sponsors, I just want to give a bit of money just to help the project in general https://github.com/sponsors

[dantman]

I've got an old link on http://danf.ca/ that still works.

Enabling GitHub Sponsors feels pretty similar to setting up a Patreon. There's a certain level of obligation tied to enabling it.

[jdawgzim]

Here is some hardware you might want to try.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/ets1hc/index_controller_magnetic_release_flight_stick/
I'm very tempted to build and try this. I play on a recliner so that leg strap thing might be awesome.

[dantman]

I'm aware of it. I might consider printing it if someone sends me a ProTas VR to review and compare the two.

[shiroledat]

Hi Dantman, your work on this VR cockpit is fantastic and allows me to fly anywhere I can bring my laptop with me without having to carry a full HOTAS setup with me. It's just beautifully minimalist and very immersive. Happy to pledge a $50 contribution to you to help pay for continued development/hardware you need (let me know how to send the funds).

[MasterAcer]

Loving this so far. Will totally drop $50 so that other people can enjoy it too!

[Meekohi]

Sent $25 via Paypal for Oculus Quest 2 support. Thanks for your work on this!

[myronwyles]

I'd pitch in $25. I'm having a really good time adjusting to virtual controls (I got a new x52 Pro, but I just can't get used to it!) - my rail cannon game is much improved. The only thing keeping this from being a solid option is the lack of 4-way thumbstick (and Y button) on the left controller. Also, modifiers are necessary with the small number of buttons, and although you can just edit the bindings file, it would be best for low-tech people to allow this via the Elite VR Cockpit config tool.

Example, hold B and press in the thumbstick on the right controller to reset the HMD orientation:
<HMDReset>
<Primary Device="Keyboard" Key="Key_Space" />
<Secondary Device="vJoy" DeviceIndex="0" Key="Joy_4">
<Modifier Device="vJoy" DeviceIndex="0" Key="Joy_3" />
</Secondary>
</HMDReset>