Space Game General All-Platform Thready Discussy Thing :)

Well to my defence… It does have aliens… =)

Edit: They came from space.

And its based on earth, and earth is in space.

I fear you are introducing a metaphysical threat which could destroy this whole thread!

Yeah don’t go there man.

So…Inner Space?

Fucking love that movie.

No, that was really me; just reset the password on my old account, don’t know why I felt that was too difficult, earlier (like, a year and three months ago).

Anyway, just started listening to your podcast more earnestly on my commute to and from work (it’s good stuff!).

I think you are somewhat right to be skeptical of Virtual Reality, by the way. I say that as an enthusiast who has used a Gear VR since August 2016. It’s not that Rift or Vive would be so much better (I am sure they are) or that it’s “only 3DoF”; Gear VR is really pretty good: it even has a higher resolution than Vive or Rift (albeit orientation only):

It’s like… I run across these evangelists who seem to want you to believe (without saying it) that if you purchase Rift or Vive you will somehow really believe you are in a different place. I get moments like that in Gear VR, much more frequently in the beginning, but the novelty does wear off.

It’s great in the beginning. I went on a spree purchasing just about any VR app I could get my hands on that looked even mildly appealing.

To get to what Bruno was saying re: VR; he says experiences should be designed from the ground up for VR. That’s true to an extent (some existing non-VR games are already more conducive to VR than others due to design choices), but the thing I’ve found is that there are a lot of experience which are… shall we say, shallow. They aren’t quite cynical cash grabs (wrong market for that, I guess?), but as a consumer I feel they are… riding on the merits of VR’s novelty. Sometimes their design just feels downright lazy. Maybe the bar is higher with the PC VR market.

I don’t mean to indicate that VR is a “novelty”; it’s new, but I do think it is here to stay. One of the best descriptions I’ve seen of current-gen VR is from an Ars Technica article saying it “simulates an edge-free, spherical screen that surrounds you in 360 degrees up and down and side to side.” It’s that, plus depth-perception.

Maybe that’s enough to sell you on it; for me, it was. That stated, more than a year in it’s not like I really truly believe in my innermost self that I am somewhere else, but some evangelists I hear seem to suggest that that is the experience you will have. You are right to be skeptical. It’s more of a subliminal effect. It is compelling.

Anyhow, I’m kind of glad I’ve “dipped my toes in the water” so to speak with the Gear VR. Worst case scenario I’m out $100 plus whatever I’ve spent on the games. I don’t think the technology will ever take the place of real face-to-face interaction, but it’s worth experiencing.

I am planning to upgrade at some point, whether it’s Oculus Go, whatever the upcoming Santa Cruz prototype turns into, or a tethered rig. However, I really think that Gear VR has allowed me to get a sense of what the tech is all about on a high quality wireless solution without committing thousands of dollars.

Oh, hey, and I’m still Starflightdream. Cool, I guess.

I agree with everything you said, and also thank you for listening to the podcast!

Hi, someone called for a VR evangelist?! :)

plus the following lines from Ars too:

This isn’t the “Oh, neat, I can kind of see into the monitor” depth you might be used to on 3D flat panels; it’s a real, honest-to-goodness, navigable volume that extends from the tip of your nose to the horizon. You can actually lean down and look around any obstruction that’s in the way.

This is what the extra 3 DoF bring. You’re not just looking around inside a virtual 3D spherical screen. You are actually sitting in the cockpit of the spaceship. You can lean forward to get a closer look at something. You can get up and physically walk around inside something that’s not real.

Now you’re rarely going to believe you’re actually there, but you pretty much are. You’re not sitting in front of a screen, you’re in the game world.

The addition of hand-tracking touch controllers is also a bit of a game changer. Being able to reach out, see your hands, and pick things up like you would in reality is compelling.

Ehh… not really. ;)
There’s a lot of shovelware. Lots of shooting galleries and rough ports from existing games. But there are some top notch experiences too, as well as proper long-form games.

If nothing else though there’s now an expectation for cockpit/sims to support VR like they did with TrackIR. Almost inconceivable to play one without, and the experience will only get better as the tech continues to evolve!

I don’t know why Everspace is in my Wishlist and Steam tells me it is on sale now. Worth to play?

Edit: I think it was Scott’s thread and Tom’s stream that convinced me back then

Everspace is on my wishlist too.

Everspace is fantastic.

How is it different with Rebel Galaxy. I enjoyed it but I think it lasted maybe 10 hours before I got bored. Is Everspace like that?

No, it’s basically fast-paced Freelancer style combat with FTL sector jumping. An action flight combat roguelike, if you will.

Rebel Galaxy is much more in the Elite/Privateer vein, and while awesome in it’s own right, Everspace is a fairly different animal.

3D SPAZ, maybe?

No, that’s Space Pirates and Zombies 2. ;)

Well, SPAZ 2 limits you to a 2D plane, despite everything being rendered in 3D, similar to Rebel Galaxy. Everspace has Descent-like 6 degrees of freedom, so you can move up and down, etc.

Oh thaaaaaaaaat 3D. Right.

Meh. How many Ds does one person need?