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The Big VR Thread

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3 hours ago, Kolzig said:

There's something about this Duck Hunt Season VR horror game that makes me wish I had a VR set.

 

 

 

Yeah that's a great trailer. It does look like the actual gameplay will be a Five Nights At Freddy-esque jump-scare-fest tho, and I'm really not into that kind of thing.

 

Speaking of jump scares I just finished Edge of Nowhere and it has plenty of them. Besides the jump scares tho, it's a very enjoyable 3rd person action adventure with a Lovecraftian story. The gameplay is reminiscent of Uncharted/Tomb Raider with plenty of climbing, sneaking, shooting, and set-pieces.

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I tried HTC Vive for the first time yesterday, they had it at some escape room place with hourly pricing. We took one hour with a friend and tried some game where monsters were coming at you from all directions, then The Lab, and Raw Data. Pretty fun, I'm impressed with the precision of everything, including the head tracking and the controllers. Also with the Vive price decrease, I'm now very tempted to get it, but don't have that much spare money at the moment.

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I wish there was somewhere near me doing that. I've only ever tried VR out once for about five minutes on some pretty vanilla tech demos a few years ago.

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I bought an Oculus a few weeks ago as it was going for £350 on Amazon, which was low enough to make me finally bite. There's some great experiences with it and a lot of really mediocre stuff as well and I think it's still not quite wide consumer ready in the current state.

 

Software

The main problem for me isn't the hardware, it's the software. The Oculus Launcher thing can be incredibly sluggish and unresponsive to your actions e.g. launching a game, quitting a game, opening a menu, there can be seconds before it responds to what you've picked and it's just frustrating. Then there's games crashing when loading but only displaying an error message on your monitor, so you've got the headset on and you're wondering why it's taking so long so you have to take it off and have a look at the screen. Also the fact that the software crashes enough that this is a problem. I've had a few weird rendering errors in games where I was getting a bizarre ghosting going on at times which made things totally unplayable. Overall as with anything in its early days there's plenty of teething issues.

 

Controls

Aside from those more technical imperfections, the controls are another area where developers still have a ways to go. So I'm not using room scale, I simply don't have the space for it(and I think a lot of people will be in the same situation as me) and a lot of games claim to work OK in non- room scale but they simply don't. Take Rick & Morty VR as an example, you need to turn in 360 degrees but without a third camera the Oculus can't track that very well, with the controller signal being blocked. This makes trying certain things basically impossible. A really simple solution is to allow you to rotate with the analogue stick in 90 degree increments but R&M like many other games don't implement this. Another issues I've encountered a lot is the floor being calibrated incorrectly, basically when I crouch to pick something off the floor my hand is hitting the floor in real life but the object in the game world is about 6 inches lower so I can't pick it up. Many games have lots of little issues like this, I'm sure things will improve over time. Some stand out games in terms of controls are Robo Recall which does teleportation very well and Arizona Sunshine which has direct movement via the analogue stick implemented in a way that doesn't give me motion sickness! It's very impressive and some of the levels make great use of you having your two hands moving freely, like exploring a mine using a torch. I tried Alien Isolation with the MotherVR mod and it's incredibly immersive but made me feel very sick. I'll try again, maybe I've built up some immunity now.

 

Overall

If you're a tech geek go for it, as far as I can tell unless you have a 16ft * 16ft area for room scale the Oculus is the better option because it's about half the price. If you're expecting something that's polished with some proper games, you'll be disappointed because most of the games are still very short and some are pretty much just fucking about(Rick & Morty, Job Simulator, Accounting) rather than a proper interesting challenge.

 

I've still got a bunch more games to play, Raw Data looks great as does LA Noire(which keeps crashing despite me meeting the requirements :(). I'm hoping it continues to improve because it's a really neat technology and it can be incredibly immersive.

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Started 2018 by completing a couple VR games.

 

Arizona Sunshine

Very satisfying zombie-shootin' and a decent narrative props up this somewhat generic and occasionally clunky shooter. 8/10

 

 

Scanner Sombre

Got this in a bundle and wasn't really expecting much from it, but I got hooked right away. The sense of scale VR provides works great with the caverns you'll be exploring, and it's ocassionally a very beautiful game. I could've done without the horror stuff though. 7/10

 

 

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This year's CES has announced multiple 180 3D consumer video cameras. This is exicting imo.

One's I've heard of thus far:
-Lenovo Mirage Camera

-Yi Horizon VR180

 

------------

Also I played with King Spray again today to make a graffiti asset for a game. It turned out great and man that app is so much fun to use.

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On 07/01/2018 at 1:56 PM, Henke said:

Started 2018 by completing a couple VR games.

 

Arizona Sunshine

Very satisfying zombie-shootin' and a decent narrative props up this somewhat generic and occasionally clunky shooter. 8/10

 

I got this for free when I bought my computer! Haven't installed it yet but now looking forward to giving it a try. (Although I'm generally not into zombie stuff, though we'll see if this changes that).

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On 12/30/2017 at 5:37 AM, thepaulhoey said:

I bought an Oculus a few weeks ago as it was going for £350 on Amazon, which was low enough to make me finally bite. There's some great experiences with it and a lot of really mediocre stuff as well and I think it's still not quite wide consumer ready in the current state.

 

Software

The main problem for me isn't the hardware, it's the software. The Oculus Launcher thing can be incredibly sluggish and unresponsive to your actions e.g. launching a game, quitting a game, opening a menu, there can be seconds before it responds to what you've picked and it's just frustrating. Then there's games crashing when loading but only displaying an error message on your monitor, so you've got the headset on and you're wondering why it's taking so long so you have to take it off and have a look at the screen. Also the fact that the software crashes enough that this is a problem. I've had a few weird rendering errors in games where I was getting a bizarre ghosting going on at times which made things totally unplayable. Overall as with anything in its early days there's plenty of teething issues.

 

Controls

Aside from those more technical imperfections, the controls are another area where developers still have a ways to go. So I'm not using room scale, I simply don't have the space for it(and I think a lot of people will be in the same situation as me) and a lot of games claim to work OK in non- room scale but they simply don't. Take Rick & Morty VR as an example, you need to turn in 360 degrees but without a third camera the Oculus can't track that very well, with the controller signal being blocked. This makes trying certain things basically impossible. A really simple solution is to allow you to rotate with the analogue stick in 90 degree increments but R&M like many other games don't implement this. Another issues I've encountered a lot is the floor being calibrated incorrectly, basically when I crouch to pick something off the floor my hand is hitting the floor in real life but the object in the game world is about 6 inches lower so I can't pick it up. Many games have lots of little issues like this, I'm sure things will improve over time. Some stand out games in terms of controls are Robo Recall which does teleportation very well and Arizona Sunshine which has direct movement via the analogue stick implemented in a way that doesn't give me motion sickness! It's very impressive and some of the levels make great use of you having your two hands moving freely, like exploring a mine using a torch. I tried Alien Isolation with the MotherVR mod and it's incredibly immersive but made me feel very sick. I'll try again, maybe I've built up some immunity now.

 

Overall

If you're a tech geek go for it, as far as I can tell unless you have a 16ft * 16ft area for room scale the Oculus is the better option because it's about half the price. If you're expecting something that's polished with some proper games, you'll be disappointed because most of the games are still very short and some are pretty much just fucking about(Rick & Morty, Job Simulator, Accounting) rather than a proper interesting challenge.

 

I've still got a bunch more games to play, Raw Data looks great as does LA Noire(which keeps crashing despite me meeting the requirements :(). I'm hoping it continues to improve because it's a really neat technology and it can be incredibly immersive.

 

A few helpful notes on this: You should really treat the Rift as $60 more expensive than it is. While it doesn't NEED a third sensor: it does actually need a third sensor. I don't have a huge space for my main play area, only about two steps forward and back (more to the sides), but "roomscale" makes everything better. You don't have to rely on snap turning to navigate, you don't have to remember where forward is, etc. Perhaps as a result of that, I have also never had any issues with the floor, etc. It also makes it so there are never any jitters, or sketchy tracking. It sucks that they will sell you a mediocre experience, but a great experience is really a small upgrade from that.

 

Raw Data will benefit a thousand times over from a third tracker. LA Noire, unfortunately, runs like garbage on the Rift, as Rockstar has made no effort to make it compatible with the Rift. People have got it working, but it's still a bit of a mess.

 

I would also recommend launching games from the desktop, rather than the headset launcher, for this very reason you mentioned. Oculus needs to work on their storefront (they are, and have a beta of a new "home" experience, but it's not quite ready yet). 

 

I would also recommend games like Lone Echo (which is, hands down, the best VR game out there, and one of the better games of 2017), Arizona Sunshine (which has a surprisingly good story), I Expect You to Die (an escape room game that's loads of fun, and works with front facing cameras only), Chronos, Edge of Nowhere, Superhot (which is actually a completely different game than the non-vr version, though with reused assets), The Invisible Hours (more of an interactive play than a 'game,' but really excellent--think of it of a game version of sleep no more), Wilson's Heart, Rec Room, Thumper, and Onward.  Avoid the simulator type games (they're cute, but worthless).

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So I just tried virtual reality for the first time in maybe twenty years via the Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire experience which is currently parked in the atrium of the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush. (It is also available at various Disney parks, I think?) This thing is operated by The Void, which is a bespoke multi-room immersive VR system – I think I heard about it previously on a podcast (either Giant Bomb or Idle Thumbs) where they did a production based on Ghostbusters. Basically you are divided into teams of four, and you put on a VR headset which is attached to a little backpack and a haptic vest. You then wander through a series of little rooms which become the VR environments around you, and at various times stuff vibrates and blows hot and cold air at you. At one point you pick up a blaster (which is an actual working prop) and you can blast stormtroopers with it.

 

It's very impressive. That said, I now understand what people talk about when they talk about the 'screen door' effect, and the noticeable limitations of the field of view of these headsets. I had an odd problem throughout with my left eye, which didn't seem to be focussed properly. But the immersion worked in spite of all of that. At one point I was walking along a little bridge over a lake of lava, and I really had that feeling of 'don't fall into that lava!' even though I was only ever blundering around a mostly-empty room in a West London mall. The motion tracking worked pretty much perfectly, aside from a bit of weird dithering when looking at my teammates. And yes, picking up that blaster and actually putting it to my eye and shooting stormtroopers was really fun! Who knew! These are probably old stories for anyone who is into VR at this point. 

 

Judged by the standards of a video game, it would be a pretty terrible game. You're just kind of blundering around a series of small rooms which look out on bigger rooms (which aren't really there, of course). There's not a lot of detail, and the graphics are just about good enough to carry the whole thing. 'Impressive' feels like exactly the right adjective: I wasn't truly engrossed, or awestruck, or fascinated. It was just really fun and kind of silly. I think I would have enjoyed it more had it been a solitary experience. As it was, I had to go in with a couple of strangers who were chatting and chuckling together in French the whole time; but it would have been equally distracting had I gone in with friends, too. I was highly aware throughout of having to keep up with them, not bump into them, etc. But I think what I want from games in general is, essentially, a solitary experience. 

 

Overall I'd recommend it if you have the chance to give it a try, though perhaps moderate your expectations. It left me feeling like VR is certain to become a popular attraction in theme parks and arcades, but also kind of doubtful that it's going to find a wider audience in homes anytime soon. It still feels to me like we're paddling in the shallows of what's possible in terms of VR software. I've looked once or twice at picking up the Playstation VR but the games still seem super limited, the setup seems overly elaborate, and now I'd worry about getting the focus right for my eyes as well. 

 

But I'm still intrigued by VR. I remember being a kid, trying VR rides the first time round, and thinking: this is definitely a thing I want more than pretty much anything else in the world, and it's definitely going to be the future of everything. There's still a bit of me that wants that, but it still feels like there's so much in the way.

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Been doing a little something called "whupping Sakkura's butt on the Sprint Vector leaderboards". B)

 

 

If anyone else here plays Sprint Vector (or just wants another Oculus buddy), add me. I'm LeeMajorz6k.

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Enjoy this Sprint Vector Multiplayer Highlight reel that I made!

 

 

Over the last few weeks this game has risen in my estimation to become one of my all-time VR faves. The multiplayer is ridiculously fun. It is, however, not the easiest game to get into. There's kind of a steep learning curve at the start which means it's not an ideal "showing VR off to friends" game.

 

Tips for new players:

1. Do all 3 tutorials, even the last one has stuff you pretty much need to know.

2. Then do the Challenge Levels. I know jumping into single or multiplayer races is tempting, but honestly they're so chaotic and messy that you're unlikely to have a good time with them before you have a good grasp on the mechanics.

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Sprint Vector is having a free weekend so I gave it a shot. I can see the appeal, the ski-pole movement is satisfying. But it totally makes me sick.

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BEAT SABER IS AMAZING!

 

 

Picked it up yesterday, of course I'm nowhere near the skill displayed in the video, but I'm having a lot of fun anyways. Unlike Audioshield, it doesn't support auto-generated tracks from your own music library, instead it's more finely-tuned tracks made for a fixed soundtrack. Also unlike Audioshield, you can actually fail in this, a Guitar Hero-style energy-meter needs to stay filled or the track stops.

 

It's good shit. Get in on this!

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On 5/3/2018 at 6:41 AM, Henke said:

 

BEAT SABER IS AMAZING!

 

 

Picked it up yesterday, of course I'm nowhere near the skill displayed in the video, but I'm having a lot of fun anyways. Unlike Audioshield, it doesn't support auto-generated tracks from your own music library, instead it's more finely-tuned tracks made for a fixed soundtrack. Also unlike Audioshield, you can actually fail in this, a Guitar Hero-style energy-meter needs to stay filled or the track stops.

 

It's good shit. Get in on this!

 

Even the 12 "negative" reviews out of 1,373 seem to praise the game except some gripes about expert-mode and there not being enough songs. It's hard to not be curious why everyone seems to like it.

I'm wondering if the planned level-editor will share content between the Steam and Oculus stores.

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I can see why the reviews are like this. 

The game is very simple and really fun.

At its best moments I feel like a taiko drummer.

It's neat to remember that simple can be enough.

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Good stuff! I played Bridge Crew with 3 friends, and while it's fun to coordinate and try to work as a team in tense situations, the actual gameplay was fairly shallow, and the campaign was pitifully short. The Engineer position was also definitely the most boring one, so I'm glad to see they're beefing that up.

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I've been playing some of In Death during the free weekend on the Oculus store.

If you enjoyed the Budget Cuts demo, then this is worth checking out if for nothing more than the ability to compare and contrast the two.

 

There is more to In Death than is immediately available. I haven't played enough to see if there is a lot of depth to the enemy-types that arrive later or tge fiction of the world, but I did see something introduced after a few deaths that I found intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing it again in order to try something on it.

 

A quick summury of the game:

Procedurally generated modular castle where you navigate through with teleportation projectiles while shooting enemies with arrows. It's roguelite with item stores and a meta-progression system based on achievements.

Ultimately it is a shooting-gallery with some stealth. The opportunities for stealth approaches are very lacking though. Still fun and kinda interesting.

 

I think the demo ends tonight at some point.

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Still playing Beat Saber every day. The mod that lets you add custom songs is awesome.

 

Here's some of my faves:

 

As usual with user made tracks, the quality is all over the place, but for anyone looking to get into this I recommend you check out the users Rustic, Freeek, BennyDaBeast and GreatYazer. Their tracks are usually as good as the official tracks.

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Holy shit, that looks amazing and also incredibly difficult!

 

So with the mod you upload a song and create the pattern of target blocks? Or just the pattern and the player has to own the track?

 

Also, does the VR aspect add much to this? Seems like it could be a pretty similar experience with just the controllers and a big telly or monitor...

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There's some sort of track editor where users make the beatmaps, then in-game you can scroll through and download individual tracks.

 

As for if it needs to be VR? It definitely needs motion controls. The head-tracking is only needed for the parts where you have to duck under or sidestep obstacles. If you wanted to make a non-VR version, I suppose a slightly stripped-down version that uses PS Move could work as well.

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Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about the ducking and sidestepping; that seems like it could be a big component if a beatmap creator decides to emphasise them.

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I saw a bit of Ultrawings talk earlier; it is still my favorite VR thing. I borrow a PSVR from the office, and I should play it more than I have.

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I loved Ultrawings! :D Finished it on the Oculus Rift a year ago. A few months ago I had the chance to play a bit of it on the Oculus Go, and even on that stripped-down system it worked quite well.

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