VR - Is it really going to be a success? Or, thanks Time for starting a discussion!

Games
1791

Yeah, that’s the way I feel too. I thought there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a ton of utility, but I really wanted to support the format and didn’t mind being an early adopter. But I just can never really feel comfortable with the clarity other than in the exact center of the lens, the game experiences aren’t addictive and yet are overpriced for the handful of hours they might offer as impulse buys, and while I am happy that Skyrim (and Fallout 4) VR exist, they don’t seem practicable to play in that fashion other than in very small doses.

But probably the number 1 reason for diminished utility/use is what you said - the ridiculous HDR/passthrough design disaster for Sony, which requires messing around with wires (which aren’t that accessible if you have a setup that hides wires behind entertainment unit, etc.) in order to play an HDR game after playing a VR game or vice versa. I’m glad that Sony will fix that for the next iteration, but it’s annoying that they can’t fix existing systems (even if it required an additional purchase). I’d definitely hop into a little more Battlezone or Skyrim VR if it didn’t mean fussing for so long to set/reset it up again.

1792

But playing a non-VR game would mean taking a substantial compromise on image quality and resolution. Maybe it would be fun for an older game that had a low resolution (would be fun to see Freespace 2 or something), but I wouldn’t want to play The Division or something that looks so much better in higher resolution.

1793

I think the main thing for me would be not really being able to see the keyboard even though it is by touch for the most part.

1794

Motion sickness would be a serious bummer. I know @triggercut has had issues with that in that past so I’d want to try it out in advance to be sure before investing.

I also think fiddling with wires on PSVR sounds like a nuisance and a deterrent. Hell, these days, I can’t be bothered to swap out discs.

Absolutely. I know my PC would choke and die trying to render The Division twice, even at low detail. That’s why this works best with indie titles that get their visual appeal primarily from art design rather than hot, hot graphics. Fortunately, there are tons of those on Steam these days. I’m excited to try Cryptark from Tom’s most surprising games of 2017 in VR tonight. I think that title will look and play great in this format.

I’m just hopeful that folks will read my lunatic ramblings and maybe try out a few different games to see if one might click and surprise you at how playable it is. The compromise might not be as substantial as you think if you get comfy in a new position and choose the right game. You give up image quality and resolution but you get enhanced immersion and scale. While lying semi-horizontal. It’s fun for me how my eyeballs have to dance across the image in bigger leaps and bounds.

I’ve found it surprisingly rewarding and I really like how it adds value to my Vive investment. Standing experiences, seated experiences, and 2D experiences. To me, it’s a whole category going unnoticed.

Come to think of it, ‘2D experiences’ doesn’t describe it accurately for some 3D titles. My memory of playing Inside is like peering into a vast, deep, three-dimensional space that curved slightly around me. Playing in Vive actually gave it some of that convincing sensation of presence that you get from VR specific titles. Games like Hyper Light Drifter or Has Been Heroes are just flat, 2D experiences writ large af. Which is pretty darn cool. But I’d say games like Inside excel the most in this format. I picked up Little Nightmares on the Steam winter sale so I’ll try that in VR tonight also.

Yeah, gamepads are preferable for sure. I haven’t done this with any keyboard games. It would probably work with shooters where you don’t need much beyond WASD. But if you’re sitting up and using your keyboard, your face is probably already right in front of the monitor so just take off the damn goggles! :D

1795

Fallout is a funny one. It’s obviously a full-priced lazy port job that doesn’t take complete advantage of the medium (even though development focused on a single platform), and seems designed to be played standing up and moving about physically.

And as someone who’s pretty much ‘too old for that shit’, I find myself limited to quite short sessions even with the decent clarity on the Rift. Because I’m unfit and prefer playing games sitting down. :)

And yet, even with the shortcomings it’s quite amazing to exist and explore in that huge world, if only for brief periods. Fighting the creatures is a whole other heart-palpitating experience to that on the flat screen version.

1796

I’ve used apps on the Oculus that let you play any regular game on a giant VR screen but still rendered in 3D – so it’s also like wearing 3D glasses, or more like a giant VR window.

1797

FWIW, I have seriously terrible motion sickness. I walk up the stairs if it’s the fourth floor or below, and I’m a fatty, because an elevator can ruin my day. I can’t get on a swing. I have to tell my kids to stop pushing on my chair when they’re crowding me in the office because it makes me sick. I’ve played my friend’s Vive for several sessions of around 30 minutes each, and gone on a VR ride in Orlando (Star Wars The Void). The only time I got sick was with the “teleporting” that you do to move around certain games. The dinosaur one in particular. Made me sick after a few minutes. The fantasy one where you fight skeletons or whatever though, that one was fine. But every other experience I’ve had, the ones that match your movement to the camera seamlessly? No motion sickness worth mentioning. Not even close to riding in someone else’s car, for instance. No long-term headache or anything else that makes my life miserable post-ride.

1798

I did some more Virtual Desktop gaming last night to test my hypothesis that it’s a lot more awesome than the doubters might think.

-Cryptark

Hell, no. This game in VR was a total bust. It’s way too twitchy and frantic and dependent on HUD elements like the mini-map. Wearing the goggles sent my situational awareness straight into the toilet and I failed at my objective repeatedly and had my contract revoked three times before quitting in shame and disgust. Looked and sounded really cool but it played just awful. No, no, no.

-Little Nightmares

Now this is more like it. Just like Inside, this game plays like a dream in the goggles. (Kind of literally like a dream.) It thrives on mood and atmosphere and has no interface whatsoever. I maxed out the screen distance, went way up on screen size, and set the curve to 100%. That way, I had to make full use of the range of motion in my neck and head to take in the full environment around me. Running through the darkness with my little yellow raincoat and pool of light, I hear something up above. I literally have to look up to see the wormy slug dangling overhead as it drops down on me. Yuck.

It’s not a first-person game or a VR game but that head movement puts me more in the character’s experience. The darkness is all-encompassing rather than ending at the borders of a monitor. Your gamepad, hands, and body, all gone. This plays beautifully, like a natural continuation of the game’s aesthetic. It looked and felt like a playable version of Alumette.

-Aaero

Another game I picked up from Tom’s year-end lists, Aaero is a hypnotic music experience like Rez or Thumper but it isn’t specifically VR-compatible. Buuut, played on a huge, close-up, curved-around screen in Virtual Desktop, I literally could not tell that it wasn’t technically Vive compatible. It looked and played just like Thumper in VR. Dazzling!

So if you want to try this out, stick with games that have a minimal aesthetic. You’re going to lose the corners of the screen to blurriness or they may be all the way out of sight, so games that require frequent checking of HUD elements around the screen aren’t going to be ideal. But games like Limbo, Inside, and Little Nightmares are perfectly suited to this. Same goes for trippy, on-rails music games, though that’s not as surprising.

I’ll look through my game collection tonight and see if I can find some other titles worth goggling up for. I’m on a mission from God.

1799

Meanwhile, Raw Data has a free weekend on the Oculus Store. High production value SF… wave shooter? Maybe? Coop or SP, seems to have an SP campaign. I played the first mission with my Robo Recall and Arizona Sunshine honed VR shooter skills, and it seems like a nice version of a familiar thing, so far.

1800

Do they have a free weekend every weekend? They’re showing From Other Suns as free to play next weekend.

1801

I had no interest in LA Noire, but after this, I’m reconsidering.

1802

Have any of you guys been able to try The Void? I’m buying tickets to try it in Florida next month. Looks really cool. Initial reviews I heard from Jeff Cannata were very positive - but he likes everything VR.

1803

Not yet, but I too heard that DLC gushing and it turns out there’s one in London. I’m going to have to trek all the way over to Shepherd’s Bush, but if I can persuade a couple mates to join me I definitely will. @Lykurgos?

1804

Oh hey, something I can speak to!

I went to The Void right around Xmas. It was about an hour and a half of waiting for a 15 minute experience. I drove an hour to Orlando and an hour back. The guy working the line said there were issues and usually the wait wasn’t that long.

It was ok. Personally I didn’t find it super worthwhile. The tracking is better in my buddy’s Vive and I can play that longer for free. I wouldn’t do it again now, but I guess if I could “reset” and try it again for the first time I would just because it’s so close to me and easy. I wouldn’t make a trip to Orlando for it if I was out of state, but if you’re already there I suppose it would be fine. The room setup they have does make it feel like you’re in the places that you’re seeing, even if the “tricks” they are using to make it feel bigger than it is are really obvious.

The whole time we were shooting my buddies and I were yelling “pew pew pew” because while we were waiting we noticed how quiet the whole thing was. Just click click click from the guns without any headphones. :)

1805

This thread need more gameplay.

Heres Criken playing what seems a Battlefield 2-ish VR experience.

1806

So I had a bit of a VR weekend and just wanted to put my thoughts out there because they are so important! Okay, just in case anyone was wondering.

First I played GORN and wow, that is a LOT of fun. It seems a bit silly from the videos, but after playing I can say I now understand the visual and animation styles. This is an arena game with weapons. Being VR, you get to flail about to swing weapons, but hitting anybody sends them flying. This seems ridiculous, but actually feels good in VR. Since there is no resistance, it makes sense that when you swing, your weapon sends anything flying and continues its arc. It helps match up the physical motion with the animations available. Even with this cartoony effect, the game can be a challenge. Being aware of the multiple enemies, range of the different weapons, and not smacking your hand on a wall in your gaming space is important. I will definitely be playing this more. The only problem is that with this room scale games I only have so much time before motion sickness sets in so that does limit my playtime while still building my VR legs.

Next I wanted to try some cockpit/sit down style games to see if I could play longer in that type of environment. First thing was I pulled up IL-2. WOW! VR flying is the only way to fly. I have had a TrackIR for awhile, and it was definitely useful, but just looking around and seeing everything was revelatory. While I still need to learn how to fly these beasts, even being shot down (or actually going into an uncontrollable spin) was awesome. I will definitely be playing this more.

I then decided to try some driving. First was Project CARS 2, which was fun. However, the low res of the track made it hard to see the turns in advance. I would love to find away to get the image quality higher for the track and lower most other settings. It was still fun and will play this some more. This would definitely be a reason to get the Vive Pro.

Then I moved onto the Truck Simulators, American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2.. After fits and starts, I still haven’t gotten ATS to work in my Vive and will keep playing with it. However, I did get ETS2 to start up in the Vive without issues. It was great! Pulling up a radio station and just driving through Germany at night was relaxing. This is the experience I am most looking forward to getting back into after work. While most of the other titles had some aspect of competition and such, the meditative abilities of just driving a truck in VR is definitely what I am looking for after a hard day at work. I am keeping my headset by my keyboard at all times.

Also, for the truck driving, I found that using the Saitek Rudder Pedals and an Xbox One gamepad was the perfect mix of realism with minimal to no setup. The pedals aren’t exactly the same motion as gas and brake, but close enough and normally already hooked up to make setup of this game minimal.

1807

Driving and flying is what VR was built for, IMO. Imagine what it will be like in a few more years with higher resolutions and clearer image quality.

1808

Something I noticed playing with Aircar was how much it benefits from being a ‘cockpit’ game where you can more or less look down and see the ground through the see-through nose or whatever, which is a lot more interesting than seeing the floor of your cockpit, or your lap. The hovery flight model also make it easy to observe your surroundings, which helps you enjoy the vr aspects. It’s a nice demo.

1809

I love Gorn, definitely one of my top games so far. I’ve beaten all the champions but haven’t unlocked every weapon yet. Still hoping for a sequel or the next game of its type to hit.

1810

Does Gorn work as a single player game? I got the impression that it was multi player focused.