The Big VR Thread

[Cordeos]

Vanishing Realms is a good little dungeon crawler. Its fun to block, swing a sword and shoot a bow in it.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/5/11367332/vanishing-realms-scary

[Erkki]

Got my Vive set up on saturday and am loving it. But just wanted to let people know that there is a really solid user mod for Minecraft that makes it playable with the vive. Highly recommended https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4f5upo/minecraft_for_vive_in_vr_is_our_first_aaa_title/

How well does it work? Doesn't it feel weird when your character is constantly moving but you aren't?

[Cordeos]

How well does it work? Doesn't it feel weird when your character is constantly moving but you aren't?

Movement is a mix of teleporting and room scale walking, riding in minecarts is a bit disconcerting but overall not too weird. You can't use ladders. I want to try starting a new survival game and seeing how it goes. I would also love to explore the Game of Thrones server, but I don't think you can do online or download that particular world. Maybe the LoTR one is available.

[Dinosaursssssss]

I don't really like the teleporty movement in Minecraft (or anywhere else). I'm sure it feels less awkward than moving with an analog stick, but it just ends up feeling fiddly and unnatural to me. That said, it did feel really good to get to the top of a mountain in mc and just look around and soak in the world.

[clyde]

Sketchfab now has webvr support.

https://blog.sketchfab.com/announcing-sketchfab-vr-apps-webvr-support/

I haven't tried it out yet, but this seems like it will be really convenient.

[I_smell]

Here's a funny clip of me juggling in the Steam VR demo, and very obviously dropping things.

Then I play fetch with a virtual dog.

 

 

I enjoyed playing the Steam VR example games for a bit. The catapult one is very fun, and has a lot of Portal humor and writing in it.

Am I bad at archery, or is this game not calibrated right? I will never know.

I was impressed with how well the technology works, but people can still mess with me in real-space. I can still clip a 3D cup through a 3D desk and watch it glitch around when I let go. The space we had to allocate was larger than the available space in any of our living rooms. The stuff is still too damn expensive.

 

The Ikea VR Experience was very promising. There are only a couple choices, to change the colours of my cabinets and walk around, but I was still excited just to do that and judge my virtual kitchen. I think Ikea should definitely put a small team on developing their kitchen viewer app.

 

 

Seeing this app was also exciting. People who don't know how to use 3D modelling software (which is arguably quite hard) can sketch out levels, prototypes, living rooms in a physical and accurate way. I always think of

, but there are probably more relevant examples out there. I wonder if the convenience will ever out-weigh the massive barrier to entry, though.

[Erkki]

What's this StarVR thing? There was a press release about it today about a partnership of IMAX and Starbreeze Studios. It was so long that I didn't bother to read it, but seems like this VR system has a much wider FOV than others. Anyone know how it will compare to HTC Vive overall?

[Dewar]

The Starbreeze VR thing was announced last year with very little details. This is the first I've heard of it since, so it's likely that you know as much as anyone from the press release you've seen.

[thainatos]

http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11713498/google-daydream-mobile-vr-virtual-reality-cardboard

Google announced a new VR thing. Only works with phones that are coming out in the fall. Just in time for an upgrade for me.

[Cordeos]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160523/05163534520/oculus-is-hurting-vrs-development-supporting-walled-gardens-closed-ecosystems.shtml

Interesting discussion on the state of Oculus, I am glad there is so much bad press since headset lock in feels like the biggest danger to VR growth.

[Dewar]

As much as I love being an early adopter, I'm beginning to think that I'm lucky that that the Oculus price was too high for me.

[Dinosaursssssss]

Wanna get those pesky headset wires out of the way? Spend a couple grand on a backpack PC! http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/27/vr-backpacks-are-now-a-real-thing/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

This seems absolutely insane to me, prooobably a little cheaper to just put a hook on the ceiling.

[clyde]

How are y'all enjoying your headsets lately? What applications or games do you find yourself enjoying?

[Cordeos]

How are y'all enjoying your headsets lately? What applications or games do you find yourself enjoying?

I really like mine but have been too busy to play with it much. Looking forward to checking out Starseed and House of the Dying Sun.

 

Best game IMO so far is Vanishing Realms. Its an RPG dungeon crawler. The combat just feels so good. I know Space Pirate Trainer is popular, but I haven't had time to test it out.

[Ben X]

Some people here have Vives, right?

 

A Vive game was made for the Wizard Jam, you should totes play it and leave some feedback!

 

https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/10873-release-now-youre-lets-playing-with-power/

[Cordeos]

Huh

http://www.androidcentral.com/bjork-teams-htc-bring-worlds-first-vr-album-vive
 

"Björk is debuting a unique virtual reality exhibition to kickstart the Björk Digital tour. The experience features four music videos set to tracks from last year's Vulnicura album, which will be showcased on the HTC Vive. The exhibition is kicking off this Friday in Sydney, and will head to other cities — including Tokyo, London, Paris, and Houston — in the coming months.

Attendees to the exhibition will be able to experience the videos through HTC Vive units in a communal viewing room, and the clips will be available for download on the VR headset at a later date. Björk shared a preview on Instagram"

[kickinthehead]

 

Shamelessly plugging this game Cosmic Trip that I made the trailer for!

 

It's an RTS VR game that just came out on early access. Right now the game has only a few things to build and some wave-based combat, but it still feels great to play. I love its juicy UI and the frisbees you throw from your controllers as weapons are a lot of fun to use.

[Cordeos]

Enemy Starfighter/House of the Dying Sun is great in VR. I really like being able to look around in the cockpit and spot bogies

[Cordeos]

Made my first dive in the Revive today. I wanted to get Subnautica's Oculus support working on my Vive, it and somewhat succeeded. Had some weird graphics issues when a lot of loading was happening and the controls are a mess on the gamepad, still a really pretty game. Can't wait for more diving VR games.

 

If you're interested in Revive, it was surprisingly easy to set up.

https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive

[dartmonkey]

Okay, that Star Trek Bridge VR co-op game could be amazing. Meets-Meets= FTL+L4D+Star Trek. That opportunity to interact impresses me more than anything else I've seen for VR.

[Cordeos]

Yes! 

https://www.destructoid.com/serious-sam-devs-turned-down-a-shitton-of-money-from-facebook-and-oculus-368299.phtml

"After a post in the HTC Vive subreddit titled "Fuck Facebook, and fuck Oculus," regarding their propensity to buy exclusives, a Croteam developer for Serious Sam jumped in for comment. "Eagleshadow," who participated in an AMA for the game previously today (and subsequently confirmed his identity), notes that Oculus tried to buy Serious Sam VR, and they turned down a "shitton of money" in the process.

A hatred of exclusives seems to be the reason, though this also technically means that the game is still an HTC Vive exclusive for the time being (since there's only passing mention of Oculus support in logo form, though the trailer only showcases and mentions the Vive). Live and let live I guess.

Serious Sam VR will be out this summer in Early Access form. On the Vive!"

[clyde]

I'm hoping to get another update about what those of you with headsets find yourself valuing most. My rift is still scheduled to arrive early August.

I'm kinda wondering if I should go ahead and get a driving game or Elite Dangerous during this sale.

[Cordeos]

I haven't been using the headset a ton since the weather got nice and I dont like being alone

The little bit of Minecraft and Subnautica I have experienced in the Vive has been amazing, there is a level of immersion and wonder to open world games that is just fantastic. I am really excited for more large scale experiences to be brought to VR, Fallout 4 for example. 

My favorite experiences have been seeing how easily fooled my brain is. It's amazing how fast it buys into the internal logic of the world. I have moved around car doors that were not real and gave myself a feeling of terror by stepping off an illusionary cliff. 

[clyde]

I ordered a rift from BestBuy and canceled my Oculus order. It arrived today. I had previously only used the GearVR. Pinball Fx2 is dope.

[Dewar]

I'm waiting for the touch controllers. I don't have the room for a Vive, but having at least some hand tracking sounds like a pretty big deal.