General VR discussion thread

[ImpulsE69]

My Vive should be here in the next week or so. At this point, I don't like Oculus as a company so I am most likely to cancel my Rift order. I don't think I want to give them money, or contribute to what is seeming more and more like anti-consumer ways. The general outlook on the future for them doesn't look good compared to the history. They either don't learn from their mistakes, or with the FB buyout, simply don't care what anyone thinks. There are just too many red flags currently.

I think the biggest issue I have for the reasons to worry about retail is they barely have any for it either? Joe Blow off the street playing a demo then told "oh they are backordered for 6 months" is just going to move on to the next great thing. They aren't going to gain any sales from it and also screw over their hardcore supporters at the same time.

 

[Aikouka]

Got my Vive yesterday. Had never used any VR platform before firing up the Vive last night. It is definitely far from perfect, but man, it's incredible. Once you put on the head set, you pretty much stop thinking about the technology and just become immersed. Can't really say that about any other tech purchase I've made in the last decade.

What software/games did you try out? There are a few that I've still been meaning to look at given how many good things I've heard (e.g. theBlu).

 

[SexyK]

What software/games did you try out? There are a few that I've still been meaning to look at given how many good things I've heard (e.g. theBlu).

theBlu, while not a "game," is pretty phenomenal. I played with the Valve content first and was impressed with the immersion, but then when I fired up theBlu, it was kinda a "holy sh*t" moment. Wasn't sure what to expect but they did an amazing job creating very convincing environments. Not a ton of content but wow, very cool.

Also tried out SPT. Wasn't expecting much given the simplistic game play but ended up getting way more into it than I thought I would.

Budget Cuts was fun but still just a demo so not much content. I will say I was surprised by how intense my reaction was the first time one of the robots locked on to me and walked up to me with his gun drawn. No traditional game has given me a legit physical reaction like that in ages.

I haven't gotten my codes yet for the free TiltBrush, Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraptions. Looking forward to trying those. I'm a bit hesitant to jump on a bunch of other stuff right now given the relatively high prices, but I'm open to suggestions!

 

[Aikouka]

theBlu, while not a "game," is pretty phenomenal. I played with the Valve content first and was impressed with the immersion, but then when I fired up theBlu, it was kinda a "holy sh*t" moment. Wasn't sure what to expect but they did an amazing job creating very convincing environments. Not a ton of content but wow, very cool.

That's kind of what makes me cringe a bit when it comes to buying VR "games". In some cases, they're (as you mentioned) experiences, and in other cases, they may be a game, but there's not much content. For example, Job Simulator has objectives and stuff, but it's really more about a game where you just mess around. While I think it's pretty polished, it's $30 (originally $40 prior to their price drop), which is pretty high for a game about goofing off at zany versions of a job.

I haven't gotten my codes yet for the free TiltBrush, Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraptions. Looking forward to trying those. I'm a bit hesitant to jump on a bunch of other stuff right now given the relatively high prices, but I'm open to suggestions!

If you're looking for a fun, cheap game, I would say Holoball is a good choice. I haven't looked lately, but it was on sale when I bought it this past weekend. It's a simple game, but it was only $6. That's the thing for me... $5-15 feels like the price range for an indie game with low expectations. TiltBrush is fun to mess around in (even if you aren't an artist), but it's also pretty expensive for a 3D version of Microsoft Paint. I think it's something like $30-40.

 

[Sabrewings]

Are they not giving away TiltBrush, Fantastic Contraption, and Job Simulator with Vive orders anymore?

 

[Sabrewings]

My phone can barely play Bejeweled.

Then get a VR headset for your computer and play something like this:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/329190/

When they add motion support and first person, I'll be all over that.

 

[HeXen]

Then get a VR headset for your computer and play something like this:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/329190/

When they add motion support and first person, I'll be all over that.

lol, I am. Still on backorder of course. And no, that game looks like it sucks with some rather bland environments. Maybe if it ever makes it out of early release, it'll look better but I already bought my last early release game back in 2012 and it's still in early release to this day...fuck that.

 

[Subyman]

Just canceled my Oculus. They don't even make that easy. I have to submit a support ticket to cancel... Wonder when my cancellation window will be...

 

[Kaido]

Just canceled my Oculus. They don't even make that easy. I have to submit a support ticket to cancel... Wonder when my cancellation window will be...

They responded to me same-day for my cancellation.

 

[Kaido]

lol, I am. Still on backorder of course. And no, that game looks like it sucks with some rather bland environments. Maybe if it ever makes it out of early release, it'll look better but I already bought my last early release game back in 2012 and it's still in early release to this day

That's one of the difficulties of VR - speed motion. You need objects close by for scale to get any sense of speed. For example, I love love love Mario Kart, but VR Karts for the GearVR is pretty boring because in FPV VR on the headset changes how you feel about speed. It feels pretty slow & boring tbh. You need to add lots of tunnels & objects in or near the road to really get that sensation that you're going fast. This has actually popped up in Minecraft VR...even sprinting, it feels waaaaaay slower than it does on the PC version. PolyRunner kind of has it figured out...I think it just uses procedurally-generated landscapes that make you dart between upward formations, which makes you feel like you're going fast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qEjZi_v2Uc

But it does get pretty boring pretty quick. At least with something like StarFox, you can fly through rings & shoot stuff and whatnot, so you feel like you're moving quickly while also doing something fun. There's a really great game called End Space that makes you feel super immersed due to all of the asteroids flying around you (although you go pretty slow most of the time, at least on the training level), so I think that's one of the big keys - adding items close by & adding tunnels. I bet if they added trees to the wingsuit game that you could fly through, plus some rock formation tunnels, it would really amp up the sensation of fast flight.

 

[Sabrewings]

There's a really great game called End Space that makes you feel super immersed due to all of the asteroids flying around you (although you go pretty slow most of the time, at least on the training level), so I think that's one of the big keys - adding items close by & adding tunnels.

You're on the right rack. Elite is most fun to me dodging around nearby rocks in the rings of planets. The depth perception goes a long way to bringing you into the moment. You can feel the speed as you whiz past them at close range.

 

[Broburger]

After using the rift for about a week now, I decided to just skip this gen of desktop vr and wait for the next gen when the hardware has improved.

 

[Kaido]

After using the rift for about a week now, I decided to just skip this gen of desktop vr and wait for the next gen when the hardware has improved.

Care to expand? What's your experience been like?

 

[pm]

I got my Vive last night. I ordered it April 15th. I did get the software bundle.

I have a below minimum spec computer. I have a i7-4770 (OC'd to 4.5GHz), 16GB RAM, and my slightly below spec Radeon R9 280 (formerly known as the 7950).

The instructions were very clear and it took me less than 10 minutes to get everything setup. One controller had an outdated firmware and I had to update that to get it to connect, but everything powered up smoothly.

From the minute that I put it on, I was totally amazed. I had used the Oculus DK1 and the DK2 and so I'm an experienced VR user but the new Vive is much better that my previous experiences. Just the intro sequence alone was impressive, everything was very smooth, and the graphical image is very crisp (for things directly in my line of sight, a bit blurrier on the edges). The controls are very well done.

I tried Tilt Brush, The Lab, and TheBlu. I had a bit of slower framerates during the loading sequences but the actual apps themselves seemed solidly seamless to me (although theBlu would lag a bit occasionally). They are all very impressive - the whale in theBlu totally freaked my 12 year old daughter out. Overall, I'm excited for the future of VR and I'm extremely impressed with the Vive for everything except how much it costs.

 

[Midwayman]

After using the rift for about a week now, I decided to just skip this gen of desktop vr and wait for the next gen when the hardware has improved.

Yah.... the more I see about it the more I think this is the right answer. Or at least sell the HMD now for a profit and rebuy in 6mo or a year when there is a real library of titles. Its like a console launch right now.

 

[Sabrewings]

Yah.... the more I see about it the more I think this is the right answer. Or at least sell the HMD now for a profit and rebuy in 6mo or a year when there is a real library of titles. Its like a console launch right now.

This doesn't correlate with my experiences at all. I haven't played a single game on a 2D monitor since I got my Vive over two weeks ago. I play a lot of roomscale games, sitting games, and if there is no VR option at all I play them in the Steam theater or Virtual Desktop. I'm so impressed with how everything works that I think next gen might replace my monitor altogether. There are lots who are already making that change, but I'm going to wait for the next step in resolution for reading text in Virtual Desktop.

According to Steam, I've logged 130 hours in Steam since I got my Vive. I'd say I'm getting my use out of it, for sure.

 

[Aikouka]

I got my Vive last night. I ordered it April 15th. I did get the software bundle.

That's interesting to see. Essentially, you ordered it 1.5 months after the pre-orders opened (and 10 days after release), and you still got it within a month. I wonder how long it will take for orders and stock to reach parity?

The instructions were very clear and it took me less than 10 minutes to get everything setup. One controller had an outdated firmware and I had to update that to get it to connect, but everything powered up smoothly.

Did you end up wall-mounting the Lighthouses or did you go with a tripod-style mount? I found the mounting to be the longest part... especially when I thought I'd be in a stud, but ended up just being to the side of one. Their drywall mounts also seem to be different as I'm used to ones that go flush with the wall, but these don't fit flush in the 1/2" holes that they stated to drill. The units still mounted fine and are sturdy, so I'm not too worried.

and the graphical image is very crisp (for things directly in my line of sight, a bit blurrier on the edges).

The blurriness is probably what gets me the most. It isn't a huge deal in games when just looking around, but honestly... it is really bad when you're trying to read text. It's far more natural to move your eyes when the text is in your vision, but the blurriness makes the text unreadable. So, you're pretty much forced to turn your head.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I ordered a Vive sometime after the 17th and got my shipment notice today.

 

[pm]

That's interesting to see. Essentially, you ordered it 1.5 months after the pre-orders opened (and 10 days after release), and you still got it within a month. I wonder how long it will take for orders and stock to reach parity?

Yeah, I was surprised as well. They told me "May" when I ordered it and so I was thinking "end of May" not May 3rd. It does seem like they are getting closer to parity.

Did you end up wall-mounting the Lighthouses or did you go with a tripod-style mount? I found the mounting to be the longest part... especially when I thought I'd be in a stud, but ended up just being to the side of one. Their drywall mounts also seem to be different as I'm used to ones that go flush with the wall, but these don't fit flush in the 1/2" holes that they stated to drill. The units still mounted fine and are sturdy, so I'm not too worried.

My wife did some weird thing in our guest bedroom - which is where I put the system - and mounted these curio-style shelves around the room and stuck stuff like small sketches and ornamental bottles and knick-knacks like that. I just put the lighthouses on them, and routed power down from there. It took me all of 5 minutes - most of which was spent propping them up to get the angle correct, and the rest was wiping off all the dust from the shelves before I put them on there.

The blurriness is probably what gets me the most. It isn't a huge deal in games when just looking around, but honestly... it is really bad when you're trying to read text. It's far more natural to move your eyes when the text is in your vision, but the blurriness makes the text unreadable. So, you're pretty much forced to turn your head.

Agreed. It's not much of a problem, except when you need to read text and yeah, it's a bit unnatural to have to move your head that much to read text. But it's not that big a deal. Just an annoyance. And I have to say that text is much clearer than it used to be on a Oculus DK1 or DK2. It's not perfect, but it used to be almost unreadable... you'd have to move your head to get the pixels to move so that you could actually just read the letters. Now it feels more like a lensing effect than a resolution problem.

 

[Sabrewings]

https://twitter.com/josejonesfilms/status/727987047915364353

 

[sxr7171]

Yeah text is pretty bad but I think something like foveated rendering might help with that. The tech requires you to have your eyes at the center of the lens at all times. The other thing that may need to happen is for some kind of fluid shape shifting lens that tracks your iris.

But apart from text some of the actual environments are unbelievable. The steam vr lab has some really amazing demos.

As for games most of them seem like demos so far. You can nitpick the negatives all day but this isn't your daddy's VR (virtual boy) by a long shot. There are some moments that will have you crying and screaming.

At the end of the day VR without motion controls must be worthless. I haven't tried a rift but I can't imagine this without the motion tracking. It would just be crappy.

Also could we please post about any new software worth trying.

 

[Sabrewings]

You can nitpick the negatives all day but this isn't your daddy's VR (virtual boy) by a long shot. There are some moments that will have you crying and screaming.

https://imgur.com/umYTJP1

 

[sxr7171]

https://imgur.com/umYTJP1

Hahaha!

 

[Kaido]

https://imgur.com/umYTJP1

Haha I just came in to post that. That one comment has a good point - remember what people did with Wii controllers? Things are gonna get a whole lot worse

 

[Sabrewings]

Haha I just came in to post that. That one comment has a good point - remember what people did with Wii controllers? Things are gonna get a whole lot worse

At least the Vive was fine. Quality construction.