As this shall be the first of these we've done here I'll start by explaining before I get lazy and simply copy another mod's work.
As some thing are poorly fit to post about in a sub with a focus we've been running a weekly post on some random topics over on Reddit. Since we're here we will be doing the same here.
So this week's topic, Virtual Reality
This week for discussions we are going to talk about VR and what people are doing with it. Playing video games, VR chatting, watching movies, whatever else is done on there.
Personally I've not done anything VR since sometime in the 90's where I played something in a arcade at Cedar Point... so let me ask those who do play with it, is it worth it?
I like how VRchat can be played on pc so vr and nonvr players can interact with each other
A co-worker got the Rift soon after it launched, so I went over to try it out and it was pretty cool, but there were not really any games at that time. The technology seemed really nice, and it was the first time I had done VR since the '90s.
I'll wait for next-gen, or next-next-gen before I consider buying it though.
OG Vive (day 1-ish) user here. Recently got the Valve Knuckles to get the free pre-order Alyx bonus; however, I'm too chicken to play it at the moment.
Any good deals I should be looking at at the current Steam sales?
I took a break from VR for a year or so because of the stale game state.
Been leaning towards Raw Data or Budget cuts, but other games I'd be willing to give a shot. I already have Beat Saber.
(8700k / 2070 Super)
You're too chicken to play the best VR game to date?
Does not compute.
I'll get there one day! Maybe when the summer ends and it isn't so hot.
Okay, the heat I can understand. I had to install a window AC unit in my VR room because otherwise it would be intolerable.
Play it. Alyx is one of the best games (all games, not just VR) I've ever played.
I plan to! I did play a little bit the first day I got it and it was terrific!
I've been in the VR crowd for over four years now and it's definitely worth it. If nothing else, an Oculus Quest. I personally have a Pimax 5K+, which fills up almost my entire field of view and it's incredible. There's nothing more immersive.
I'm writing my own VR software. Working on full-body tracking at the moment.
For VRChat, VR is 100% worth it. But VRChat is really buggy, so I'm working on my own software using a 3D engine I wrote from scratch. (The engine uses C, Vulkan, OpenVR/OpenXR.)
Games like Beat Saber and Half Life: Alyx are really nice, too. I'm not sure just a couple of games justify the price tag of VR hardware, though. The social experience of VRChat, however, completely justifies the price tag.
I only tried modern VR once. It was at a Microsoft Store a few years ago, and they had a Vive hooked up. I played a little bit of The Lab's archery game, and thought it was okay and neat. It was even comfortable with my glasses on. However, I do not see myself buying VR, either as an investment (full PC setup) or as an impulse buy. It never was something I saw as "OMG MUST HAVE".
I’d like to try one but can’t find anywhere that lets you demo the units. I’m not going to just fork over $500 on my best guest of which one I’d like to use best. The fact you have to buy sight unseen leads me to believe they aren’t very good.
If the product was sellable, they’d have it proudly for customers to try. Every store I’ve gone to has denied me the ability to try one.
I would use it mostly for sim racing but even there, people with rigs are going back to using monitor setups.
Each time I get excited and look to buy VR, there’s a lot of negativity around it. The games aren’t that great, the people don’t use them for very long and go back to monitors, and again nobody has a demo setup to try the damn thing before you buy it.
Get a Valve index.
Or, the Occulus Go if you're looking for a price sensitive version
Anything else will just disappoint you, either by being expensive but unimpressive, or so cheap it's insulting.
The Index is the top of the line, the Occulus Go is a good balance between cost and useablility - it also has the added advantage of not needing anything else to work, so you can just put it on a go wherever you are.
I use my Vive daily and am saving towards an Index, as the Vive is just old at this point
The only experience I've had with modern VR tech was a few years ago when I went to PAX Prime... A booth setup there had a VR system setup with a Fruit Ninja-like game. Swinging around a toy sword and slicing virtual fruits coming at me. It was pretty cool!
Aside from that, I haven't bought any commercial VR headset yet. Waiting for the tech to get cheaper and better before I dive in. However, I do think there's promise with VR, and that it isn't just a fad.
Yeah there's promise there... I can't help but think of mechwarrior games, or X-Wing vs Tie Fighter when I think about that potential.
I have a Rift and a Rift S and am pretty big into VR. Really I think playing games is one of the weaker points of the concept, as beyond first person shooters or first person RPGs its hard to make a game that doesn't just feel more cumbersome than a flatscreen one. That doesn't mean there aren't some great VR games out there, Alyx and Boneworks are great, but that style of game really is all you can do with VR. Third person games feel pointless, and first person hack and slash titles lack weight and feel wrong. Adventure games can work well I think, but a lot of the current ones have this problem where the puzzles can be brute forced by just touching everything. Room VR is awful at this, and The Rig isn't much better.
Where VR shines imo is in social and productivity. I can talk naturally to strangers around the world from the comfort of my living room, or I can jump on a late night WebEx meeting on a large virtual monitor while relaxing in a dark forrest. The sense of presence is powerful in VR, and in industry it has a lot of actual power. A great example of this is VR Regatta, which is an "intro to sailing" class in virtual reality. If you're actually into sailing I can't see why you would bother with it as it is pretty basic, but as someone who hasn't touched a sailboat in my life it was fascinating. The game teaches you the basics of driving a sailboat with vocal instructions at your own pace and lets you interact with the rigging and controls. Its a practical and low-cost way of teaching something and after a couple of hours playing I feel quite confident I could pilot a small sailboat IRL.
So in short, I do think VR is the future and I don't regret spending more than $1400 on VR hardware over the years. That said, I don't think VR is the future of video games, and it thats all you're interested in I don't think it is worth your time in its current form.
I own the Rift S, bought it for 400€. Despite the reduced refresh rate of 80Hz (compared to the OG Rift at 90Hz or even 120Hz with image interpolation on the PSVR) I don't suffer from motion sickness, and inside-out tracking is fine.
I mostly use it for Beat Saber and BoxVR. Both are rhythm games but the latter focuses more on fitness. I learned to properly jab, hook and uppercut from MMA fighter Kwonkicker on YT, and putting in the proper motions makes me sweat bullets and drill moves, so that's all benefits to me. Rest assured I have no intent to use those moves in any capacity outside of VR.
I've tried some emulation. High-res Mario Kart 3DS using side-by-side stereoscopic 3D on Virtual Desktop is just a blast! Same with Monster Hunter Generations! That requires powerful hardware however: framerate dips are noticeable as the games' simulations slow down.
Skyrim vr with mods is pretty awesome, holding up a torch in one hand and sword in the other n dunguens is pretty immersive, using quest