The VR Thread - We all know what you really use it for.

[David Brown]

VR is awesome. I bought a Vive and some index controllers a couple years ago and had some fun with Pavlov VR and Blade and Sorcery and recently cleared out some space and dug up my old headset. I have been playing again the past few weeks and it's only gotten better. I've been loving Thrill of the Fight, a boxing game which is a real workout (not really like actual boxing but close enough). VR is still mostly just arcade games though, which I think is holding it back. Every time I play it I always imagine how great it would be to play Fallout New Vegas or Stalker in VR. Sadly, I don't think that will happen. Full fledged RPGs and single player shooter campaigns are sorely needed. If Fallout 4 VR ever goes on sale I might try it with the VR Essentials mod list but Fallout 4 is such a trash game that being in VR might not be enough to help it along.

Valve apparently gave me Half-Life Alyx for free for some reason and I tried it but it's total trash too. It looks kinda pretty but suffers from the typical Valve syndrome of being braindead stupid. Movement is agonizingly slow to the point that it's faster to just use the faggy teleport movement over and over to skip through the bland environment to get to the next boring cutscene. It's so on rails it just feels like I get to move around a little bit and touch some items while waiting for cutscenes to finish, or just walking around shooting extremely slow moving zombies that are not any threat at all. It's pretty much a VR movie which some people like but it's trash as a video game.

I've tried Tales of Glory 1 and 2. Tales of Glory 1 is like Mount and Blade in VR, but it's extremely low quality and janky as shit, basically unfinished and absolutely not worth the money, even though it is kinda fun to mess around with. Tales of Glory 2 is kind of like Call of Duty, set in modern times as a shooter, and is slightly better but again is a janky, low quality experience compared to Pavlov or Hot Dogs, Horse Shoes, and Hand Grenades. Edit: I have refunded both games. They were neat for about half an hour but overall are just garbage.

Overall, the titles available now that I think are worth the money are:
Thrill of the Fight
Beat Saber
Pavlov VR
Hot Dogs, Horse Shoes, and Hand Grenades
Blade and Sorcery

VR is still really lacking the killer apps, but things are getting better. It's interesting that most of the VR titles are essentially AA studios or lower or even indie studios. Big AAA studios aren't willing to take risks with it yet. Like I said, even Half Life Alyx is extremely bland trash that won't attract anybody that's not already bought in as a VR user. Hopefully the Oculus Quest will attract enough normalfags to get an infusion of interest so we can get some truly really cool experiences.

 

[Rungle]

I expect you to die 2 is an absolute KINO experience with great voice acting and probably the only good escape room game for VR at the moment.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Did something happen in VR news? VR came up a couple of times recently, something I chalked up to coincidence. Then a YouTuber mentioned that lots of people were getting into VR right now, but the only big news I could find was some headset that got kickstarted and Half-Life 2 VR mod was revived.

 

[Polyboros2]

I expect you to die 2 is an absolute KINO experience with great voice acting and probably the only good escape room game for VR at the moment.

It's good but I'd wait for it on sale, it's a little bit of a let down from the first, feels easier and less creative than the initial outing.

 

[DamnWolves!]

I'm curious how VR is holding up. Do you still play VR, or is it gathering dust along with the Wii and the Christmas decorations?

Gathering dust. It's fun at first and it's really cool, but it just doesn't hold up right now. I think that because the frame rate needs to be so high, and the resolution for each eye is like running two, full HD monitors at once, the games have to compensate and they all look they were made in 2003. This can work for some things, like Superhot VR (which is legitimately cool, although it's a stationary experience), but for a lot of things they just don't feel like actual games. Shooters are cool, but if you think about it, aiming down your sights in VR presents a tiny little point of aim that takes up a tiny little portion of the screen, just like aiming at something in real life only takes up a tiny amount of your vision. The net result is that trying to shoot things accurately is incredibly blurry and headache inducing. This is fundamentally different from shooting dudes on a flat screen (normal) game, because there the screen zooms in and re-renders your sight picture in full resolution, even when you're just using iron sights. In VR, it's more like just zooming in on your screen with a magnifying glass because people expect to maintain their full peripheral vision in VR. If VR worked like a normal game, you'd feel like you zoomed forward every time you went to aim, which would make you sick. The one exception is with guns that have true scopes, but they're finicky because you don't have the tactile cues and the weight of a real rifle.

Speaking of sick, the motion sickness is real. I tried a 90 second VR rollercoaster because I thought that would be cool and I felt sick for like an hour after. Less of a problem with games where you walk, but in my opinion, it won't go mainstream until they truly solve the locomotion problem. VR is immersive but only for one sense, and you don't know how much you rely on the others (touch, proprioception, inner ears detecting movement) until they're gone.

 

[Rungle]

Did something happen in VR news? VR came up a couple of times recently, something I chalked up to coincidence. Then a YouTuber mentioned that lots of people were getting into VR right now, but the only big news I could find was some headset that got kickstarted and Half-Life 2 VR mod was revived.

Resident evil 4 VR is coming out as an oculus exclusive.
A VR MMO called ZENITH gets a fuck ton of funding from investors.
They are trying to make affordable VR threadmills like in ready player one.
Tokyo gameshow did their first VR videogame expo.
Valheim now has a VR mod.
Skyrim VR now got some great VR mods that fixes alot of issues

 

[Judge Dredd]

it won't go mainstream until they truly solve the locomotion problem.

I thought they already had? I remember hearing Fallout 4 was the first VR game with smooth locomotion that didn't make people sick. I haven't heard of motion sickness when it comes to VR for a while unless the game is especially bad.

I've heard the term "VR legs" to describe getting used to VR locomotion. Like how people used to get motion sick playing Doom, or how PC Master Race people claim to get motion sick if a game doesn't have a FoV slider.

 

[DamnWolves!]

I thought they already had? I remember hearing Fallout 4 was the first VR game with smooth locomotion that didn't make people sick. I haven't heard of motion sickness when it comes to VR for a while unless the game is especially bad.

That maybe mitigates the motion sickness problem, but I'm talking about the intuition problem. It feels weird to be standing in one place while your eyes think you're moving. Your brain gets confused, especially while you're doing other stuff like shooting. You'll see what I mean if you play a game where you're supposed to be standing in one place and just manipulating the local space around you (crouching, leaning, jumping) vs. a game with full freedom of movement. The former feels a lot more intuitive.

The full movement is also usually quite slow, presumably because of the motion sickness. You do get used to it, but it feels kinda off, regardless. I'd like to go to one of those VR arcades with the omnitreadmills to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Uncle June]

Wouldn't mind getting into VR. I'm a massive Microsoft Flight Simulator sperg and really need a VR to complete complete experience.

Only problem is that, unless I want to sell my soul to Zuck, I need to get an Index, which after two years is still $1000+ which is nonsense.

I just don't think VR is at the point where it has the support necessary to be worth the investment.

 

[ZMOT]

Wouldn't mind getting into VR. I'm a massive Microsoft Flight Simulator sperg and really need a VR to complete complete experience.

Only problem is that, unless I want to sell my soul to Zuck, I need to get an Index, which after two years is still $1000+ which is nonsense.

I just don't think VR is at the point where it has the support necessary to be worth the investment.

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-reverb-g2-virtual-reality-headset
there's even a sale atm.

when you already use windows for ms flight sim might as well go with WMR, and since you probably use a proper flightstick already you don't have to worry about the controllers either.
if you don't want to spend that much you might be able to find an older WMR headset, you could get certain models for like 250 bucks new at some point (when you buy them used check for dead pixels and if the controllers act up after someone through them into a wall etc, and probably want a new pad as well).

That maybe mitigates the motion sickness problem, but I'm talking about the intuition problem. It feels weird to be standing in one place while your eyes think you're moving. Your brain gets confused, especially while you're doing other stuff like shooting. You'll see what I mean if you play a game where you're supposed to be standing in one place and just manipulating the local space around you (crouching, leaning, jumping) vs. a game with full freedom of movement. The former feels a lot more intuitive.

one theory is that it's a natural reflex to combat poisons - if the brain gets conflicting inputs better get rid of anything you might have ingested, just in case.

as for gathering dust, even if there were thousand games it's still not on the level that I'd want to wear that thing for hours each day. it's a niche accessory for enthusiasts (for now), that's just part of the deal.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I was hoping the prices of graphics cards would go down a bit by the end of November, but it's looking like the current prices are going to be normal until the end of 2022, assuming they fall at all. It's strange that the end of PC gaming might not be a universal console or the end of Moore's law, but scalpers hoarding GPUs to try and scam crypto miners.


What do you guys think of Into The Darkness? It seems to be similar to Boneworks judging from the trailer.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

I'm kind of interested in Skyrim VR and VR in general but don't really know of any standout games worth buying an Index for besides Half Life Alyx. I own Elite Dangerous as well, although I've not touched it much since I never got around to buying a flight stick.

Should I just hold off? Or am I just not paying enough attention to know of any more fun games?

 

[ZMOT]

I'm kind of interested in Skyrim VR and VR in general but don't really know of any standout games worth buying an Index for besides Half Life Alyx. I own Elite Dangerous as well, although I've not touched it much since I never got around to buying a flight stick.

Should I just hold off? Or am I just not paying enough attention to know of any more fun games?

two words: vr porn

but seriously, there are a few games, but index is a bit to overpriced if you just wanna dabble in vr (imo gayben will forever be an incredible idiot for pricing himself out of the casual market). as mentioned above look for a used index or vive (meh), or check out a reverb g2. only other option is getting zucced by buying an oculus, but tbh I'd rather pay the 200 bucks more and chain myself to windows with a reverb than doing that, no matter the exclusives (which you can run apparently anyway).
however be aware that it's still a niche enthusiast accessory, even if you got one you won't use it 24/7 from now on (and you need to get used to it to as well which takes a bit of time).

ED is pretty breathtaking at first, but it's kinda like euro truck simulator in space, now imagine having to sit dedicated exclusively in it the whole time, no external monitor or anything to keep you distracted. also without stick kinda meh. if you want space shenanigans I'd say even x rebirth vr is a better fit since vr is better integrated than just "ED but with 3d screen!". star trek bridge crew is great, but needs the right people since it's coop (edit: honorable mention: no man's sky. unironically one of the best implementations I've seen so far, came a long way since it's meme launch and no extra costs in form of microtransactions or other shit required. definitely worth the price if you're into that kind of survival game, even more if you can find it on sale).
boneworks gets mentioned a lot, but never played it. beat saber is nice for a bit of a workout. those are just the few from the top of my head that get mentioned the most.
skyrim vr is like ED, stunning in vr but you can actually properly utilize it.

I was hoping the prices of graphics cards would go down a bit by the end of November, but it's looking like the current prices are going to be normal until the end of 2022, assuming they fall at all. It's strange that the end of PC gaming might not be a universal console or the end of Moore's law, but scalpers hoarding GPUs to try and scam crypto miners.

it's just a phase, if you've seen the prices in the 90's, this is nothing. all it means is people will hold onto their stuff longer instead of chasing the latest meme feature that only really exist to generate more sales. it's not like the games require it and the graphical leap isn't that impressive.

What do you guys think of Into The Darkness? It seems to be similar to Boneworks judging from the trailer.

never heard of it, but I don't really follow new games in general anymore (unless they show up at a steam fest). plus it's VR so I'd definitely want to give it a try first, to many shitty implementations out there, which means without a demo no buy - unless it becomes part of a bundle at some point or something.

 

[Toolbox]

How do you guys think Facebook is going to screw Oculus even more with their Meta rebrand into some shitty VR secondlife?

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

How do you guys think Facebook is going to screw Oculus even more with their Meta rebrand into some shitty VR secondlife?

Stupid guesses but spyware/intentional bugs.

 

[Toolbox]

Stupid guesses but spyware/intentional bugs.

Well that's the obvious, but more along the lines of, will they finally completely force oculus users to create a Facebook "META" account? They've been dipping their toes in the water around that nonsense for years.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

Well that's the obvious, but more along the lines of, will they finally completely force oculus users to create a Facebook "META" account? They've been dipping their toes in the water around that nonsense for years.

I think they will force the demographic to do so within a heartbeat.

 

[Judge Dredd]

gayben will forever be an incredible idiot for pricing himself out of the casual market

I disagree. The casual market is crowded with headsets like Oculus Quest and PSVR. While cheap (or at least, cheaper) and easier to use, they are hamstrung by technical limitations. Valve is playing the long game, they don't want VR to be a throwaway fad, and key to that is making something that works reliably and precisely.

How do you guys think Facebook is going to screw Oculus even more with their Meta rebrand into some shitty VR secondlife?

Censorship and ads.

I'm kind of interested in Skyrim VR and VR in general but don't really know of any standout games worth buying an Index for besides Half Life Alyx. I own Elite Dangerous as well, although I've not touched it much since I never got around to buying a flight stick.

Should I just hold off? Or am I just not paying enough attention to know of any more fun games?

I can't say if you should hold off or not, and I can't speak to the quality of the games. What I can do is list the games that interest me. I won't say everything on my wishlist, just the bigger games I think you might want to know about. I don't know if these are all Index games, but most are on steam so I assume they work.

• Saints and Sinners. A zombie game with a focus on looting and melee combat.
• The Room VR. Sequel to the popular puzzle box games. I hear it's short but high quality.
• Budget Cuts 1 and 2. Stealth action games.
• Derail Valley. A train simulator set on a fictional island. You start off with a basic licence and have to work your way up the ranks.
• Boneworks. A physics based FPS. I hear it starts out like Half-Life then goes off the rails.
• Into the Darkness. A physics based FPS similar to Boneworks.
• Into the Radius. VR Stalker/Metro.
• VTOL VR. A flight combat game. I don't know if it's a sim as the store page and videos don't say it is, but it looks more realistic than a typical arcade flying game.
• Ultrawings. A flying game with a laid back feel.
• Hotdogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades (H3VR). FPS where you shoot sausages with autisticly detailed and realistic guns.

I can list more niche games if you want.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

I disagree. The casual market is crowded with headsets like Oculus Quest and PSVR. While cheap (or at least, cheaper) and easier to use, they are hamstrung by technical limitations. Valve is playing the long game, they don't want VR to be a throwaway fad, and key to that is making something that works reliably and precisely.


Censorship and ads.


I can't say if you should hold off or not, and I can't speak to the quality of the games. What I can do is list the games that interest me. I won't say everything on my wishlist, just the bigger games I think you might want to know about. I don't know if these are all Index games, but most are on steam so I assume they work.

• Saints and Sinners. A zombie game with a focus on looting and melee combat.
• The Room VR. Sequel to the popular puzzle box games. I hear it's short but high quality.
• Budget Cuts 1 and 2. Stealth action games.
• Derail Valley. A train simulator set on a fictional island. You start off with a basic licence and have to work your way up the ranks.
• Boneworks. A physics based FPS. I hear it starts out like Half-Life then goes off the rails.
• Into the Darkness. A physics based FPS similar to Boneworks.
• Into the Radius. VR Stalker/Metro.
• VTOL VR. A flight combat game. I don't know if it's a sim as the store page and videos don't say it is, but it looks more realistic than a typical arcade flying game.
• Ultrawings. A flying game with a laid back feel.
• Hotdogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades (H3VR). FPS where you shoot sausages with autisticly detailed and realistic guns.

I can list more niche games if you want.

Feel free, I'll end up looking into all of them to make up my mind on the purchase.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Avoid oculus like the plague.

Literally the hardware is shittier than a mobile. You won't be able to play anything wireless.

The input lag on wireless link is quite awful (for VR at least).

Cables are fragine and expensive.