Rift / Vive / VR General

[Dexter]

I know it's a while off, but I just want a jurassic park VR game with elements of trespasser and alien isolation.

I just bought this by CryTek, since it's 70% Off, not sure if it's any good though:



Also 70% Off:

 

[Dexter]

I know it's a while off, but I just want a jurassic park VR game with elements of trespasser and alien isolation.

I just bought this by CryTek, since it's 70% Off, not sure if it's any good though:

Can recommend for the price after playing through it (might have even paid more) if anyone is looking for a dinosaur game. No idea what the negative Steam reviews are about, it's one of the better and more elaborate VR games I played.

Although it's not a shooter, but an exploration game featuring dinosaurs and ample platforming and there are some growing pains in the first hour. The main areas are a big Tar Pit with herbivore dinos with long necks and a Jungle with vertical exploration featuring raptors and pterodactyls flying around. There's also a few smaller areas like the pod landing place where the player lands and a "farm" that doesn't necessarily look like one. The game is relatively open world with the player being able to choose in which of the three main areas to go and explore/progress with a more linear path and some sneaking closer to the end, there's also secrets and Easter eggs.

Gameplay mechanics mainly feature a Multitool that can:
1) Point and interact with stuff as a "laser pointer";
2) Pick up and telekinetically move around objects, as well as throw them;
3) Scan wildlife for entry into Codex and information via hovering over blue dots while avoiding red ones (think Beyond Good & Evil photography).
Other than that the main gameplay is solving puzzles (usually involving physics) and climbing/platforming sections.

You also have a pet T-Rex named Laika throughout the game that you can order around via simple commands like "Go here", "Sit here", "Roar at thing", "Fetch that" etc. while pointing at stuff and a talkative flying drone mimicking the Portal "Personality Cores" that provides commentary and can be interacted with for simplistic electricity puzzles where you have to activate and deactivate pathways so that neither too much nor too little electricity makes it to the end point.

It's also not an exceptionally short game considering, probably 4-5 hours for the main content and 8-10 hours if you wanna do and find everything.

 

[Dexter]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/859340/Seeking_Dawn/


This is on Sale bundled with two other interesting looking (Non-VR) games at a much cheaper price, although I heard it's not-as-much an actual VR game as it is a "The Last Express" type running narrative that you can observe by being in certain places at a certain time, anyway the guy who wrote the story seems to work for Valve (presumably on VR stuff) now: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/7044/Tequila_Works_Bundle/


Also, Kona finally got its long-expected VR Mode a week ago:

 

[Dexter]

 

[Shackleton]

I must say, after owning a Rift for 6 weeks or so, I still think it's a gimmick rather than 'THE FUTURE OF GAMING!' Yes, it's extremely immersive and provides something new for the jaded gamer, but the disadvantages like comfort and the total exclusion of the outside world still mean it's a supplement to flat screen gaming rather than a replacement.

I'm sure there are hardcore VR heads out there who proudly proclaim they play nothing else, but imo the headsets are just too unpleasant to wear for extended periods to make VR a truly comfortable long term. I'm only talking from experience of the Rift, but I gather that's the most comfortable one. One hour at a time is about all I can take before wanting to take it off and get some air, plus give my back a rest if I'm playing something standing up.

Not to say there's not some very enjoyable and impressive games, there are. I've just been a bit surprised how many times I've not wanted to faff about with the headset and just fire up some Grim Dawn or Bayonetta.

 

[Dexter]

Video from DisplayWeek on how Oculus Research arrived/developed the Varifocal Display and some of the other stuff they've been working on on the research side:

I must say, after owning a Rift for 6 weeks or so, I still think it's a gimmick rather than 'THE FUTURE OF GAMING!' Yes, it's extremely immersive and provides something new for the jaded gamer, but the disadvantages like comfort and the total exclusion of the outside world still mean it's a supplement to flat screen gaming rather than a replacement.

I'm sure there are hardcore VR heads out there who proudly proclaim they play nothing else, but imo the headsets are just too unpleasant to wear for extended periods to make VR a truly comfortable long term. I'm only talking from experience of the Rift, but I gather that's the most comfortable one. One hour at a time is about all I can take before wanting to take it off and get some air, plus give my back a rest if I'm playing something standing up.

What exactly are the issues you have with it that make you say it's uncomfortable? I've been using it for hours on end to play through stuff (albeit with some breaks every now and then) and can't say I have big issues with comfort specifically. Are you wearing glasses? Also what makes you think that Gen2 HMDs will not be a lot more comfortable after years of testing and product design, aswell as feedback?

Beyond that, I wouldn't call "exclusion of the outside world" a disadvantage, since that is basically the point and main goal of VR, to create a perfect illusion. The better it is, the more you forget you are wearing something on your head and experiencing an imaginary world and doing something in it, although I can't really say they're there yet aside from very few select moments since it's still missing FOV and due to the open headphone design you always hear if someone talks to you or anything is happening around you (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
And why does it have to "replace flat screen gaming" for you to consider it "THE FUTURE OF GAMING"? I don't really get this mindset and never did, not back when they said PC Gaming was dead because of consoles, not when they said consoles are dead because of mobile and not when they said the desktop PC is dead because of tablets (shortly before some of the respective markets came crashing down, since there wasn't any exponential growth to be had anymore). Why can't all of these things exist alongside one another depending on what kind of use-cases and experiences one desires at any particular moment, with the emphasis shifting on which is more popular?

 

[Shackleton]

Video from DisplayWeek on how Oculus Research arrived/developed the Varifocal Display and some of the other stuff they've been working on on the research side:

I must say, after owning a Rift for 6 weeks or so, I still think it's a gimmick rather than 'THE FUTURE OF GAMING!' Yes, it's extremely immersive and provides something new for the jaded gamer, but the disadvantages like comfort and the total exclusion of the outside world still mean it's a supplement to flat screen gaming rather than a replacement.

I'm sure there are hardcore VR heads out there who proudly proclaim they play nothing else, but imo the headsets are just too unpleasant to wear for extended periods to make VR a truly comfortable long term. I'm only talking from experience of the Rift, but I gather that's the most comfortable one. One hour at a time is about all I can take before wanting to take it off and get some air, plus give my back a rest if I'm playing something standing up.

What exactly are the issues you have with it that make you say it's uncomfortable? I've been using it for hours on end to play through stuff (albeit with some breaks every now and then) and can't say I have big issues with comfort specifically. Are you wearing glasses? Also what makes you think that Gen2 HMDs will not be a lot more comfortable after years of testing and product design, aswell as feedback?

Beyond that, I wouldn't call "exclusion of the outside world" a disadvantage, since that is basically the point and main goal of VR, to create a perfect illusion. The better it is, the more you forget you are wearing something on your head and experiencing an imaginary world and doing something in it, although I can't really say they're there yet aside from very few select moments since it's still missing FOV and due to the open headphone design you always hear if someone talks to you or anything is happening around you (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
And why does it have to "replace flat screen gaming" for you to consider it "THE FUTURE OF GAMING"? I don't really get this mindset and never did, not back when they said PC Gaming was dead because of consoles, not when they said consoles are dead because of mobile and not when they said the desktop PC is dead because of tablets (shortly before some of the respective markets came crashing down, since there wasn't any exponential growth to be had anymore). Why can't all of these things exist alongside one another depending on what kind of use-cases and experiences one desires at any particular moment, with the emphasis shifting on which is more popular?

The discomfort comes from three things- the heat, the pressure and my back. The heat isn't helped by it being 30 degrees in the UK at the minute, but the headset itself generates no small amount that after an hour is noticeably uncomfortable. I've helped this slightly by taking off the integrated Rift headphones and using my own as I'd read that made a difference and it does. I know it's not just me due to the amount of posts on VR forums talking about sweating and extra covers for hygiene.

Perhaps I've got the straps too tight, but I've tried to loosen them and it feels like it's not totally stable if I do. Again, after an hour I can feel the pressure around my cheekbones and when I take it off I have definite marks where it's sunk into the skin. It's certainly not painful but just enough discomfort to make me want to take it off and have a break. My back also doesn't particularly like standing up for ages with it strapped to my face either, not helped by the fact I've not quite got enough space to move around too much in my room so I tend to have to stay fairly stationary if I want to move my arms around a lot.

Like you said, Gen 2 or 3 will be an improvement I'm sure. Wireless and lighter will both increase comfort, things will only get better and I certainly don't regret buying my headset. It's fantastic to put it on and have a race around Silverstone in PC2 or blast robot to bits in slow motion in Robo Recall. I just don't think I could really play a game that lasted 50+ hours or so in it as things stand.

 

[Shackleton]

And to move on from me whinging about my old back and my hot face, I've been quite impressed by Karnage Chronicles.



It's like the Mages Tale, if it wasn't boring. Stick it on Impossible and it's pretty tense. Bit of a cartoony artsyle that'll no doubt put graphicsfags off, but it runs smooth as silk as a result. Explore pretty linear dungeons, fight mobs by shooting your crossbow and swinging your sword with some weight behind it, pick up loot and buy better gear etc. There's wandering monsters that'll ambush you, quite some variety in the creatures and so far it's been pretty decent. Don't play on anything less than impossible though, unless you're under 10- in which case get off your dads VR headset, you'll hurt your eyes.

I kind of wish for snap turning as an option as smooth turning still makes me a bit wobbly in me tummy after a time, but it's not too bad. It's a decent dungeon crawl in VR, never mind the early access.

 

[Dexter]

The discomfort comes from three things- the heat, the pressure and my back. The heat isn't helped by it being 30 degrees in the UK at the minute, but the headset itself generates no small amount that after an hour is noticeably uncomfortable. I've helped this slightly by taking off the integrated Rift headphones and using my own as I'd read that made a difference and it does. I know it's not just me due to the amount of posts on VR forums talking about sweating and extra covers for hygiene

Perhaps I've got the straps too tight, but I've tried to loosen them and it feels like it's not totally stable if I do. Again, after an hour I can feel the pressure around my cheekbones and when I take it off I have definite marks where it's sunk into the skin. It's certainly not painful but just enough discomfort to make me want to take it off and have a break. My back also doesn't particularly like standing up for ages with it strapped to my face either, not helped by the fact I've not quite got enough space to move around too much in my room so I tend to have to stay fairly stationary if I want to move my arms around a lot.

Like you said, Gen 2 or 3 will be an improvement I'm sure. Wireless and lighter will both increase comfort, things will only get better and I certainly don't regret buying my headset. It's fantastic to put it on and have a race around Silverstone in PC2 or blast robot to bits in slow motion in Robo Recall. I just don't think I could really play a game that lasted 50+ hours or so in it as things stand.

I can't say I've ever experienced heat from the HMD, it heats up a bit from the display if you touch it in front but imo that's imperceptible when you wear it and mostly dissipates through the front - not inside since it's on the far outer side and there's a lot of air and the lenses between the display and your head. Other than the display there's nothing that actually does any processing inside the HMD, so it's never going to get hot like a mobile phone does during 3D. Weight is also close to imperceptible while playing or certainly not annoying for me. Obviously if it's hot in your room and outside already and you put what's basically closed-off diving goggles on your face there's likely going to be heat inside too, but the Oculus especially does a good job with breathable material. Never had pressure or back issues either, although people with glasses tend to have issues with them being pressed too tight on their face and there's companies that do prescription lenses so they don't need glasses for VR: https://widmovr.com/ https://vroptician.com/
Maybe you indeed need to undo your straps a bit or try and ask anyone with similar issues how they solved it.

Extra covers are usually because of hygiene with multiple people using a single HMD (or demoing it to many people), since the thing sits on someone's face and sweat is usually more related to very physically active games like Sprint Vector, Beat Saber, Audioshield or various others where you move around a lot, you shouldn't really sweat while playing normal, not very physically intensive games: https://www.vrfitnessinsider.com/top-15-best-vr-fitness-games-total-body-workout/ http://vrhealth.institute/vr-ratings/

I kind of wish for snap turning as an option as smooth turning still makes me a bit wobbly in me tummy after a time, but it's not too bad. It's a decent dungeon crawl in VR, never mind the early access.

I'm usually the other way around that I want smooth turning (walking around normally with the stick) in everything. I don't think I've ever experienced VR sickness. Just out of personal curiosity, did you play a lot of fast-paced shooters like Quake, Unreal Tournament, Tribes, Jedi Knight, Descent etc. when you were younger? In my anecdotal experience people who did and had no problems with it seem to be mostly immune from any kind of VR sickness.

As for some of these promising games on Steam, I'm usually waiting till they're out of Early Access proper, just in case any of the developers decide it's not worth it and abandon their projects.

 

[Shackleton]

No, I don't wear glasses. Perhaps my face just gives out an inordinate amount of heat! I'll try loosening the straps a bit.

Regarding the motion sickness, it was something I was worried about as I always used to get nausea if I read while travelling and I remember one particularly unpleasant episode when I was younger and tried one of those 'simulator machines' they used to have in shopping centres in the 90's. Happily, as Perkel said, it's something you do get used to and now my vr legs are pretty sturdy. Locomotion is fine, but smooth turning is the one thing that does still make me start to sweat though. To answer your question, although I did play plenty of FPS's when I was younger, it was mainly the slower, more monocled games like SS2 and DX rather than the frantic multiplayer ones.

 

[Dexter]

Moss:

Cute little platformer based on “scenes/rooms” that change after you’ve finished one and walk through the next door/exit. You have a fixed point of view and can look down on what's going on, kind of looks like a collection of Dioramas. Starts off with a cliché “let me tell you a story” thing with a book and you have to turn over pages. You hear a page turning every time you move on from a “scene/room” and return to the storytelling book between chapters for the narrator to continue the story. The mouse is constantly looking up at you and sometimes interacts with you, you can also interact with objects like pull/push boxes in the scene, open doors to help it get somewhere or even help it fight by taking control of enemies or healing it.

You have to lean in to inspect every nook and cranny since there are some collectibles for the “reader” of the story the mouse can collect in almost every room. There's some cute stuff like the mice using squirrels as mounts or how they have churches and statues with stained glass mice or mice heroes on them. Also the mouse can't swim and the player kind of looks like the ghost thingie from Spirited Away.

Final boss fight is kind of lame though, and it ends on a cliffhanger for a potential part 2. It's also really short, can probably speed through it in 2-4 hours at the most depending on whether you want the collectibles. Get it at 50%+ Off if you're interested in this kind of stuff.

Spoiler

 

[Dexter]

Top Selling VR Games of 2018: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/2018_so_far_top_vr_titles/

Spoiler

https://www.roadtovr.com/report-nex...-use-new-connector-to-boost-bandwidth-for-vr/

Report: Next-gen NVIDIA GPUs Will Boost VR Bandwidth With New Connector
By Ben Lang - Jul 2, 2018

A report from Tom’s Hardware states that NVIDIA’s next-generation GeForce GPUs, tentatively being referred to as the GTX 11-series, will include a new connector with enough bandwidth to support future VR headsets much higher resolutions and greater refresh rates.

According to a report by Tom’s Hardware, citing anonymous sources, Nvidia’s next generation of GPUs will be capable of 120Hz output at high resolutions over a single cable thanks to a new connector. The report states it could be a proprietary Nvidia connector, but doesn’t rule out the possibility of the HDMI 2.1 spec given HDMI’s status as a widely acceptable standard.

The latest high-end consumer headsets have displays that run at 90Hz with a resolution of 2,880 × 1,600 across both eyes, like the Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey. Several new displays aimed at future VR headsets push those figures much higher, like the Google & LG display demonstrated earlier this year, which offers 4,800 × 3,840 at 120Hz, a significant jump in the amount of data that needs to not only be generated by the GPU, but then transmitted from the GPU to the headset.

In the past Nvidia has demonstrated strong support for VR and continues deep research in the field, so we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the company is considering the needs of future VR headsets when it comes to its next generation of GPUs.

As for when the GTX 11-series GPUs might actually launch: various rumors suggest the cards would be announced later this Summer, but Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters in June that the launch of the company’s next-gen GeForce cards would be “a long time from now,” but hasn’t given any detail on what a ‘long time’ means to the company.

 

[Dexter]

Getting ported to VR:


Star Trek: Bridge Crew TNG Add-On is out on Steam now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/806190/Star_Trek_Bridge_Crew__The_Next_Generation/





New Steam Controllers again:

 

[Dexter]

Oculus Connect 5 Next Wednesday, focus will likely be on Wireless Santa Cruz and new software/games.

 

[Dexter]

They're calling Santa Cruz the "Oculus Quest", same lenses as the "Oculus Go" and 1600x1440 per eye, using Inside-Out tracking via 4 cameras looking for the Touch-like controllers, coming Early 2019 for $399 using SnapDragon 835 and 4GB RAM since it's a Standalone, supposedly able to play games like Robo Recall, The Climb, Moss:



I'm really not liking where Facebook is trying to take VR, even less now than a few years ago, there was some talk about their next "High-End" VR solution they're calling the "Half-Dome Prototype" though, supposedly with 4K per eye resolution, 140° FoV, varifocal displays to solve the vergence conflict and natural depth of field, Eye Tracking with foveated rendering and deep-learning solutions as used by NVIDIA for their RayTracing to have to render a lot less pixels, the date they mentioned in connection was 2022 though, there was an interesting Michael Abrash keynote about all of it, look out for it when they put it Online.

 

[Dexter]

Here's the Day1 Keynote, Abrash talk was 1h15m in:


Carmack Keynote should start in like 10 minutes:

 

[Jigawatt]

I'm really not liking where Facebook is trying to take VR, even less now than a few years ago

100% percent agree on the commercial front, but sadly they have pretty much all the talent at the moment - look at any of the most interesting research on HMDs at SIGGRAPH, VR, etc and there's bound to be a Facebook affiliation. What a waste

 

[Shackleton]

Must say, I have to take back what I was saying about the uncomfortableness of the Rift. I read a post on the oculus subreddit giving advice on the best way to wear it and it turns out I had the triangle piece at the back much too high up on my head. Loosened the straps and moved it further down and viola, it's much better. Can't remember them saying that in the starter guide, but it's possible I wasn't paying attention in my haste to get going.

Might start using it a bit more now. Just downloaded some £3.99 grid based dungeon crawler called KryptCrawler on sale. Looks like it belongs on a phone, but I'm a sucker for grid based crawls. Been playing the Climb, on and off. Nice looking, but the actual gameplay is hardly riveting.

 

[Dexter]

Might start using it a bit more now. Just downloaded some £3.99 grid based dungeon crawler called KryptCrawler on sale. Looks like it belongs on a phone, but I'm a sucker for grid based crawls.

I remember playing this while it was in Beta on the DK1, it's not exactly a "grid based dungeon crawler", but as far as I can remember it had item puzzles and obstacles, lockpicking and similar to a lot of them, also items and gold you can pick up and use and you got a light source you gotta replenish with oil in one hand and a level map in the other you can look down on. It's more of a horror type gameplay though with monsters with various abilities (for instance there were statues that don't move while you look at them, but if you turn around they might be right behind you) where you have to hide and close doors or open them carefully, look around corners etc. to generally avoid them while you find the exit to the next dungeon level:



Anyone tried these?

 

[Dexter]

There have been leaks pointing towards Valve planning to release their own ~135° FoV VR HMD, apparently bundled together with their new Knuckles Controllers and Half Life VR (supposedly a Prequel to Half Life 2 made in Source2, and whatever else they're working on, apparently at least 3 major VR titles), this is the Prototype:





https://uploadvr.com/valve-135-vr-headset-half-life/

Sources: Valve Planning 135° VR Headset Bundled With ‘Knuckles’ Controllers And Half-Life VR
by Upload • November 10th, 2018

Images of a prototype VR headset with a Valve logo visible on the circuit board leaked on the image sharing website imgur. Our independent sources tell us these are in fact prototypes for an upcoming Valve HMD.

We’ve also heard the field of view will be 135° with “Vive Pro resolution.” It may also come bundled with ‘Knuckles’ controllers as well as a Half-Life based VR game that could be a prequel rather than the much-anticipated Half-Life 3.

Valve currently does not sell a VR headset. Instead, the company partnered with HTC to release the Vive in 2016, and then HTC released the higher end ‘Vive Pro’ earlier this year. Releasing its own headset would be a major shift in Valve’s strategy for VR, but the company previously shipped the Steam Controller and Steam Link devices — so it wouldn’t be unheard of for the privately held company to build and ship its own hardware.

The leaked Valve headset features what appear to be SteamVR tracking photodiodes under the plastic (similar to how Oculus hides IR LEDs under the Rift). It also has 2 cameras visible and integrated headphones. The padding on the back appears to be similar to the padding on Valve’s Knuckles controllers prototypes.

A 135° field of view with Vive Pro resolution panels should result in roughly the same angular resolution as the current HTC Vive. This may indicate that Valve is betting that increasing field of view is a greater priority than increasing angular resolution. We don’t see any indication these headsets could include eye-tracking, so Valve will have to use methods other than foveated rendering — likely software-based — if the company plans for this headset to work on the same class of PCs as the original Vive.

If this headset comes to market next year, it could be direct competition for the “Rift S” headset Techcrunch reported Oculus is planning. The clock on the monitor in the image suggests these photos are from July, meaning there has likely been progress made since these prototypes.

We’ll keep you updated on any further news of Valve’s VR headset. We also reached out to Valve to see if Gabe Newell might be available to comment on Valve’s direction with PC VR, or if we might be able to test the Knuckles controllers so that we can help communicate with developers and early adopters what the new controllers add to VR input.

That's probably what's taking them so long to release the Knuckles Controllers, they're not gonna outsource it to HTC or LG or whatever but they want to develop and release a HMD + Knuckles Controllers and Bundle it with Top software (maybe something like Orange Box for VR?) that everyone will want to have.

 

[Dexter]

 

[Dexter]

Top Selling VR Games of 2018: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/2018_top_vr/

Spoiler

 

[Metro]

It's utterly laughable how low tech the shit they've come up with is to date. As I said it's going to take a loooooooooooooong time for them to produce something worthwhile.

Yep.

 

[Dexter]

Also now on Steam:

 

[Dexter]

CES is going on.

NVIDIA: 4 million PC VR headsets sold so far:

This is aside from PSVR, that alone sold 3 million units as of 4 months ago: https://www.dualshockers.com/playstation-vr-3-million-sales-worldwide/

Steam Hardware Survey also doubled the amount of VR HMD's from Early 2018, now about the same amount as people using Steam on Linux and slowly climbing towards 1%: https://uploadvr.com/vr-steam-grew-2018/

HTC also announced releasing a new Vive:

They also announced the "Vive Pro Eye", which is supposed to have some sort of Eye-Tracking:

Both are set to release at some point in 2019, although there aren't a lot of Details yet.