Virtual Reality Thread - Like The Lawnmower Man but with less 90s CG

[alex_theman]

(Good OP coming Soon™)
This thread is so you can discuss VR stuff (headsets, games/experiences, etc) with other Kiwis.

 

[millais]

I bought one of those cheapo $5 stereoscopic lens headsets that you can attach to your phone, but it turns out my phone only has accelerometers and gyros in two axes, so in those VR demo apps, I can't move my POV in the horizontal axis at all. Also almost certainly due to my phone's screen resolution, but being able to see the individual pixels certainly ruins the effect. There is some sense of depth of field, but no more than those old fashioned stereoscopic Viewmaster slides.

 

[c-no]

I honestly wouldn't mind playing VR games but the headsets are too expensive (especially when more important things like car repairs and college related things like fees and books are there). I wouldn't mind buying one to play VR games, especially since the GPU I got (RX 480 8GB) can handle VR.

 

[alex_theman]

I honestly wouldn't mind playing VR games but the headsets are too expensive (especially when more important things like car repairs and college related things like fees and books are there). I wouldn't mind buying one to play VR games, especially since the GPU I got (RX 480 8GB) can handle VR.

You can use your phone, a mobile VR headset (Gear VR, Google Cardboard) and software like Riftcat to play PC VR stuff. Mind you, you have to bring your own tracking solution if you want to play anything that requires tracking (a majority of VR games and experiences), which means either somewhat screwy DIY solutions that use stuff like PS Move controllers, or products like Nolo VR that are somewhat pricey (150$), and aren't out yet.

Also a bit late and sorry for the double post, but the vive is $100 off today (April 5) and Steam is having a VR sale to celebrate the vive's 1st anniversary.

 

[Quijibo69]

Bought a PS VR back in October and it's dying after having it for 5 months. The garbage headset turns itself off after 10 to 30 mins for no reason. At least I got to play RE7 on it. Please for the love of god don't buy this thing.

 

[P.A]

I'm still waiting to see whether this will become a mainstay for the industry or go the way of FMV and motion controls. Most VR stuff banks on how you feel playing it, which makes me wonder how long the market can sustain itself on just that. Not to mention that they still need to work out the kinks of some people vomiting their guts out after half an hour of playing at best, which is a far more limiting factor than epilepsy is for 'standard' video games.

 

[alex_theman]

Bought a PS VR back in October and it's dying after having it for 5 months. The garbage headset turns itself off after 10 to 30 mins for no reason. At least I got to play RE7 on it. Please for the love of god don't buy this thing.

You should theoretically be able to send it in for warranty repair by sony if it wasn't caused by physical damage (dropping or breaking the headset) and it is in the warranty period.

 

[GeorgeDaMoose]

Got the Rift as a gift.
I really like it. The applications/games available for the Rift are all really neat. Robo Recall is probably the best game I've played so far. It is a legitimately FANTASTIC shooter that gets super hectic. AltspaceVR is a neat small look into the potential of VR for socialization. Bigscreen Beta is a neat way to use your desktop in your headset. Super comfy and super useful. Google Earth is insanely creepy. Objects aren't very detailed, but are detailed enough to make out what's what. Like I was in someone else's backyard and could recognize certain shit as being obvious chairs, recliners, an umbrella, etc. Pretty unsettling, especially when you consider the idea that this might be improved so scans are higher quality.

 

[Sergeant Politeness]

VR is dumb. I've been saying this for a while now, but everything needs a killer app to really sell it. What sold the Apple II? VisiCalc, mostly. What sold the Atari? Space Invaders. What sold the Game Boy? Tetris, and later, Pokémon Red and Blue. I've yet to see a game so necessary that it sells any of these ridiculous virtual reality headsets. Add to that the nausea aspect and I just don't understand how Valve or anyone in the industry could push them so hard. Other than "immersion" (which games never had an issue with anyway), what do they add that I couldn't get in regular gameplay?

 

[GeorgeDaMoose]

VR is dumb. I've been saying this for a while now, but everything needs a killer app to really sell it. What sold the Apple II? VisiCalc, mostly. What sold the Atari? Space Invaders. What sold the Game Boy? Tetris, and later, Pokémon Red and Blue. I've yet to see a game so necessary that it sells any of these ridiculous virtual reality headsets. Add to that the nausea aspect and I just don't understand how Valve or anyone in the industry could push them so hard. Other than "immersion" (which games never had an issue with anyway), what do they add that I couldn't get in regular gameplay?

I've had VR sessions for over 3 hours and I have yet to experience any of the nausea or motion sickness others keep complaining about. Just played Superhot VR which is a fantastic game for about an hour and the thing I felt was really sweaty after dodging bullets like crazy.
I can't say I really care about killer apps anymore. I'm not going to cough over a bunch of money to buy a PS4 for Bloodborne or an Xbox for Halo. Really retarded way of making purchases in my opinion. I saw a bunch of neat uses for VR like watching movies in 3D, the shooter games, some extremely basic exercise while playing, and the social aspect. I also got a chance to try out VR before making my purchase so there's that too. It's really not for everyone, but I feel that VR definitely has the potential to improve so it does become a thing for everyone.

 

[Sergeant Politeness]

I can't say I really care about killer apps anymore. I'm not going to cough over a bunch of money to buy a PS4 for Bloodborne or an Xbox for Halo. Really exceptional way of making purchases in my opinion.

No game has ever sold me (or most people honestly) on VR as a worthy buy. Take any other peripheral for a computer like, say, a mouse. The mouse had major implications on the way we interact with software and games. Quake or Photoshop simply wouldn't be possible with just a keyboard (or would be far less efficient). You could claim that it's less a revolution and more an enhancement, but so's surround sound. 5.1 is still a very niche thing, despite being included on DVDs and Blu-Rays for over a decade.

The other thing about VR is that you're still bound to the physical constraints of the world around you. If an explosion happens in Half-Life 2, you don't feel that. You're not disoriented, your ears don't really ring (sound effects aside), and you don't feel pain. You're not wearing Gordon Freeman's hazard suit. You don't feel the sun or smell the salt of the coastal levels. You've engaged one of the five senses only. And if you engaged all five, that just sounds fucking unpleasant.

I mean, people thought motion controls would be the next big thing in immersion, and for the specifically tuned software it was designed with, it was fun. But as it turns out, they looked fucking exceptional and died out. VR is the same deal. Anything with this much hype never succeeds.

 

[AnOminous]

VR is currently a lot like 3D in movies. It's rarely actually necessary to the movie and when it's the only thing a movie has going for it, the movie is generally shit. Plus, they can both give you a headache, which is the last thing I want when I want to have fun.

 

[BanyaHat]

Necropost, but this thread could use a revival with 3+ years of stuff released.

I've noticed VR apps have come a lot farther than games by this point. Google TiltBrush is still one of the neatest things they've released for VR systems, where games are still at the Beat Saber level.

The price turned a lot of people away from the hardware, but the mobile VR market kinda dried up, taking away the ONE affordable option we had. PSVR is a nice balance between price and quality, but not enough people are actively using it.

 

[ZMOT]

there's a more active VR thread over here: https://kiwifarms.net/threads/the-vr-thread.59818/page-3
prolly better to keep using that one.