Virtual Reality

[ArtMediocre]

20 hours ago, bob said:

Played and completed Superhot, which I really enjoyed. I basically played the whole game stationary, since my playspace isn't very big. I'd be interested in playing it with more ability to move around, since I feel that would add a bit to it. Still, good game, with a bit more replayability than Vader Immortal. It's very satisfying to clear out a level quickly with a few practised movements.

Thanks for the good review! I've finally cleared up some space at home, so now I think I'm ready to start playing the game. I've only heard good things about it, but I've not had the space to play it until now. Gonna download it and try it out soon. Time to go all matrix out on this game! 

Btw, has any of you heard about Boneworks? It looks bonkers! Probably the closest thing we'll get to Half Life VR/3  

 I don't have the knuckle controllers, but still with the Rift touch controllers it should be an enjoyable experience. Looking forward to seeing more from Stress Level Zero

[bob]

Found a free alternative to Beat Sabre. It's a browser based game called Moon Rider that uses all the mapping from Beat Sabre (apparently with their consent?) but has loads of songs not available in BS without sideload etc.

The tracking apparently isn't as good, but hey, it's free!

[Hero-of-Time]

The free update for Moss arrives today. It adds a new area to the game for players to explore. I loved the base game so i'll definitely be giving this a go at some point.

[Hero-of-Time]

Spider-Man: Far From Home VR Experience is available to download for free on all VR devices.

Quote

Your time to swing through New York like Spider-Man™ has finally arrived! 
In breathtaking virtual reality, you’ll finally have the chance to scale and swing from the highest towers in Manhattan. Just pick one of four Spider-Man suits and you’ll be launched into the clouds… but keep your eyes and ears peeled, a colossal and dangerous enemy is waiting. Only you have the power to find and confront New York’s latest attacker in this thrilling, swinging adventure. 

Based on the new film coming to theatres, the Spider-Man: Far From Home VR Experience is a fast-swinging, thrill ride through the eyes of your favorite neighborhood Spider-Man.

 

[bob]

The Oculus Summer Sale is on!

Unfortunately only for Rift and Go titles, but 'I Expect You To Die' is cross-buy, so although it doesn't show up as being on sale, I bought it anyway, and got it on the Quest at sale price.

[bob]

Played a few more games/experiences on my Quest recently - thought i'd give a lowdown on some of them:


I Expect You To Die: A very well presented puzzle game in the style of a 1960's Bond spoof. It starts with a fantastic homage to the early Bond film opening sequences, complete with a great theme song, only the twist is that because it is VR you are 'inside' the graphics as they fold out around you. The game itself is fun, and quite rewarding. it's kind of like an escape room game, in that you are surrounded by a load of equipment that you have to work out how to use in the right sequence to solve the level. I've only done two levels out of five so far, but they are challenging enough that it takes you a few tries. I guess the game could be considered a bit short seeing as there are only five levels (with more to come via free DLC), but there is a bit of replayability with the trophies that you have to try and get with each level (doing it within a certain time, and using certain hidden methods etc).


Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes: Bought this when it was on sale (I think it cost me about £4?), and it is definitely worth that imo. I played it with my wife, and we had loads of fun with it (the first time we did it, we disarmed the bomb with 1 sec to spare!). One person puts on the headset and has to disarm the bomb (but doesn't have the instructions), the other person or people have to read out the instructions and direct them how to disarm the bomb (but they can't see the bomb). You can change the difficulty by increasing the number of 'modules' needed to disarm and decreasing the amount of time to do it, which help the longevity of the game, but after a while you get pretty good at knowing how to do each type of module, and generally get quicker at solving it. Not sure at the longevity of the game, but it looks like it would be great at parties, and seems to be the actual only true 'multiplayer' game that doesn't require a second headset or a lot of standing around watching someone else.


Mission: ISS: Quest: A free experience that i only found out about yesterday. You get to move around and explore a CGI version of the International Space Station. You can watch videos of astronauts describing how they go about their day-to-day life, and play around with things. I believe there are also missions for you to do, but i didn't get a chance to do any. Moving around the ISS is quite fun (you can grab hold of any surface and just launch yourself across the station), and the views you get out of the windows (ports?) are incredible. Not bad for a free app.


Tea for God: This is a demo app that I sideloaded as I had heard good things about how it dealt with small playspaces. So it's basically a simple shooter where you wander around a maze and shoot at robots. However, it's how it creates these mazes that is impressive. It creates continuously evolving corridors which basically just keep looping around your playspace, using lifts, sliding doors and corners to trick you into thinking you are moving around, but in actuality are just moving in circle around your room. I think it would be almost imperceptible in a larger playspace, but in my tiny living room, it was quite obvious that I was just walking around in a square. However, it was still cool to actually be moving around a level while staying within my tiny room in real life. I would love to try this in a bigger area to see how well it works as intended.

[bob]

Oculus have just announced hand tracking!

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/status/1176906799166959618

And the ability to hardwire your Quest to your PC and play any PCVR game!

[Ronnie]

Wow, as if it wasn't tempting enough!

I wish Playstation would hurry t f up and release a wireless PSVR model.

[S.C.G]

I still wouldn't have a VR headset if you paid me, I just don't get it at all and would rather play games on a TV or portable screen.

These advancements are good news for anyone going down the VR route though, I just can't justify it myself.

I get that it has always been sold as "the future" since... decades ago but the more I see of it, the more disinterested I become in it with each new advancement.

At this point I can definitely say that it's not for me and I'm fine with that.

Besides, even though it's not about the cost really, how much are all these future headsets going to cost and how many times will people need to upgrade their VR tech before it reaches a level where everyone using it, is actually completely satisfied with it as a platform which can really offer just another option to enjoy games seamlessly with no drawbacks?

For me, there are just too many drawbacks to it, the same with mobile gaming... too much compromise, which doesn't gain you much overall.

I think that's why I enjoy the Switch so much, the compromise with it is obvious but what you gain from it is huge, games on the go or on the big screen with few drawbacks.

[bob]

I still wouldn't have a VR headset if you paid me, I just don't get it at all and would rather play games on a TV or portable screen.
These advancements are good news for anyone going down the VR route though, I just can't justify it myself.
I get that it has always been sold as "the future" since... decades ago but the more I see of it, the more disinterested I become in it with each new advancement.
At this point I can definitely say that it's not for me and I'm fine with that.
Besides, even though it's not about the cost really, how much are all these future headsets going to cost and how many times will people need to upgrade their VR tech before it reaches a level where everyone using it, is actually completely satisfied with it as a platform which can really offer just another option to enjoy games seamlessly with no drawbacks?
For me, there are just too many drawbacks to it, the same with mobile gaming... too much compromise, which doesn't gain you much overall.
I think that's why I enjoy the Switch so much, the compromise with it is obvious but what you gain from it is huge, games on the go or on the big screen with few drawbacks.

What drawbacks are there for you? Other than the cost you didn't really specify.

I don't think VR will ever replace traditional gaming, but I think it does add something completely different to games that you get on the Switch or traditional PS4 - the sense of presence, the interactivity, as well as the fun of being able to reach out and grab items and chuck them about. For example, the game I've been playing recently "I expect you to die" is basically an old fashioned point and click game where you have to use various items with each other to solve puzzles. As a point and click, it would be fairly boring, but the ability to reach out and grab the items and play around them makes the whole game far more exciting and fun.

[Happenstance]

9 hours ago, S.C.G said:

I still wouldn't have a VR headset if you paid me, I just don't get it at all and would rather play games on a TV or portable screen.

These advancements are good news for anyone going down the VR route though, I just can't justify it myself.

I get that it has always been sold as "the future" since... decades ago but the more I see of it, the more disinterested I become in it with each new advancement.

At this point I can definitely say that it's not for me and I'm fine with that.

Besides, even though it's not about the cost really, how much are all these future headsets going to cost and how many times will people need to upgrade their VR tech before it reaches a level where everyone using it, is actually completely satisfied with it as a platform which can really offer just another option to enjoy games seamlessly with no drawbacks?

For me, there are just too many drawbacks to it, the same with mobile gaming... too much compromise, which doesn't gain you much overall.

I think that's why I enjoy the Switch so much, the compromise with it is obvious but what you gain from it is huge, games on the go or on the big screen with few drawbacks.

Have you had a chance to try VR at all?

[S.C.G]

3 hours ago, bob said:

What drawbacks are there for you? Other than the cost you didn't really specify.

I don't think VR will ever replace traditional gaming, but I think it does add something completely different to games that you get on the Switch or traditional PS4 - the sense of presence, the interactivity, as well as the fun of being able to reach out and grab items and chuck them about. For example, the game I've been playing recently "I expect you to die" is basically an old fashioned point and click game where you have to use various items with each other to solve puzzles. As a point and click, it would be fairly boring, but the ability to reach out and grab the items and play around them makes the whole game far more exciting and fun.

There are plenty of drawbacks to VR for me personally and I realise that I'm likely to be in the minority when it comes to it but this doesn't bother me.

Many things which a lot of people see as plus point for VR, I tend to see as negative, for instance...

VR is immersive - but it's a compromise, as with everything, you're immersed but at what cost? I don't tend to play with headphones or headsets as it is because I prefer basic surround sound and I don't like being totally taken out of my surroundings, at least on a more traditional gaming setup you can just pause it and walk away easily if you need to.

VR makes games which weren't possible on conventional setups - this might be true to a limited degree but mostly you can still make the same games on a standard setup, so I see this as more of an alternative but mostly a gimmick... I bought in to things like Kinect and PS Move but they never really offered anything that brilliant at all and I don't see why VR would be any different for me; yes I can remember experiencing the 3DS in the early days, that was fun but the 3D proved to be a gimmick as well, it offered extra depth in some games but it wasn't necessary.

VR is becoming more affordable - gradually yes but it's not about the cost for me, even if I had money to spend on it, I wouldn't because I don't believe it has anything to offer me, the PS4 is a great system but when I first saw the PSVR being brought out at more than the cost of the console and all the hassle of hooking it up it just made me glad that I didn't want it. Obviously I'm still happy for anyone who enjoys VR but I recognise that I'm just not the target audience for it as I've been gradually moving away from more mainstream games and just falling back on the niche but established stuff that I never got a chance to play years ago; a lot of VR games to me have seemed to be mostly mainstream but worse in a way because they've been restricted in some way (story or otherwise) in order to just bring about that proof of concept and then the cost usually overrides it all because it's not just the hardware but the cost of the software too.

I could go on but I don't know if my thoughts on VR would be of that much value or maybe they would but its just that I've accepted that it's not for me and I understand that many people get a lot of value out of it so I don't want to seem completely down on it just because but I don't like the deeper agenda behind why we've been "sold" VR so heavilly not just over the decades which have passed but in particular, right now more than ever and it's not just because we have the technology to do it either, I firmly believe that if they had wanted to bring out advanced VR it could have been done long ago, it's just that now really seems to suit a larger agenda behind it; of course not every game will be going along to support this but I think as time goes on, there is a good chance that all these companies invested in VR will be finding ways to extract the data within a seemingly innocent VR experience in order to teach A.I to further a larger agenda and I really don't want any part of that but this is just my opinion and I'd urge everyone to just do their own research and come to their own conclusions on the subject.

Then there's the whole other issue of wanting to eliminate wireless signals where possible because they can have a negative impact on us over time, not everyone is susceptible to it but I've noticed over the years that I am, so that's why I like to have everything wired where I can but VR will go wireless in a matter of a single generation of consoles or less, so it will be ruled out for me by default and I don't like having those screens too close to my eyes, not to mention those VR Goggles which require you to strap a modern mobile phone to your face, to me that is just plain dangerous.

So those are my main reasons, I think it's good to have an alternative view on the subject even if it's largely dismissed as "an irrational fear of technology" or whatever, at least you have my view on it and I just hope that anyone investing in VR makes it worthwhile for them but I feel like I have to say something at this point, because if it ever gets to the point where certain aspects of VR are affecting peoples health in a negative way due to the further advancing technology, that's when I think it's at the very least worth taking a step back to assess what's going on; I'm sure many of you have already done your own research before buying into VR and probably won't have any problems with it, I don't want to ruin anyones fun I just thought it was worth providing a little more information on why I don't like the idea behind it even though the core concept looks quite appealing from the outset.

1 hour ago, Happenstance said:

Have you had a chance to try VR at all?

No I haven't and I really don't think I'm likely to, mostly for the reasons I've gone into above and it's not a case of knocking it without trying it as there are loads of things I would never try because sometimes you just know instinctively that they aren't for you and that's OK... so I just tend to trust my instincts a little more these days after buying into similar things and then getting burned by them though I do admit it does probably come across as a bit "well that's just just your pre-conceived view on how you think VR is, you can't possibly know without trying it" but really, truly it's something I've been sure of for a while now and I don't mind that at all.

In an attempt to try and bring something a bit more balanced to this discussion I will ask this question though...

What is the one VR title or tech demo which has sold the technology to you just on its own? Or is it really just another way to experience all games later on down the line?

That's the key question for me when evaluating it as a product, assuming that there are no health drawbacks to using it or otherwise, just like when buying a conventional console, there's usually a reason that people will buy into the technology, so I'm interested to hear what has made people so ready to get into VR at this point.

[Grazza]

I'm really excited by VR, but I see it as a "screen" technology rather than a "game" technology (which I realise is ignorant of all the control innovations).  I just think it will take off when people are happy to use it as a screen for various things as much as they are happy to use an HDTV.

 

Like @S.C.G I do prefer to keep everything wired, and it does bother me that a lot of VR will be done via streaming, but those things are two of my wider technological grumbles.  If I had my way it'd still be the 1990s and I'd be going to buy VR experiences on disc from Virgin Megastores.

 

But the reality is it just couldn't be done well then.  Like I always say, I believe VR needs even bigger leaps than it's had.  I've only tried the 1080p PSVR, but I'd be really interested to know how much more realistic 8k could take it, with a wider field-of-view as well.  VR is not for me yet, but I'm really pleased there are companies making progress with it.

[ArtMediocre]

On 9/26/2019 at 12:24 PM, S.C.G said:

 

Quote

Have you had a chance to try VR at all?

No I haven't and I really don't think I'm likely to.

Wait what? That's too bad that you won't even give it a chance of trying it either, seeing as something that really sells VR and convinces people is when they actually try it out. This was kinda like reading about a review of an expensive wine, but then finding out that the reviewer didn't even taste the wine. If you ever get the chance to try it, at a friend, an expo or a store or whatever, I urge you to try it at least once, just so you know what the fuss is about. If not, that's cool too :).

On 9/26/2019 at 12:24 PM, S.C.G said:

What is the one VR title or tech demo which has sold the technology to you just on its own? Or is it really just another way to experience all games later on down the line?

Ow, for me it was Elite Dangerous by far! VR brings a whole new element to racing-, flight- and space-sims by letting you actually turn your head and look around. The first time I sat down with a HOTAS and the Oculus Rift DK 2 and started to fly around an asteroid field, I was sold. Can't be beat. That shit is magical, and I do hope everyone gets to try it out some time. It's the first time I've ever felt like "Holy hell, I'm actually in a freakin spaceship!?", and I've been hooked on VR ever since. 

You speak about there being a lot of hassle for VR by setting it up and having to spend a lot of time with it. I've set up my Oculus Rift CV1 Once, and now it's always ready if I just wanna have a quick go in VR Chat or Pavlov, or if I wanna do some longer sessions in Robo Recall or Lone Echo. So the tech is as easy as putting on some ski googles and you're ready to go. It is actually that easy.

Oh and I am a massive first person shooter fan, and I'm currently hooked on Pavlov VR. It brings something completly different to the table. Sure, you could play BF and run around just like we've done since Goldeneye in 1995, or you could put on a headset and actually get good at aiming, doing the entire reload procedure and being more aware of your surroundings. You might call it a gimmick, I call it improvement. 

Tl;dr I hope you can convince yourself to atleast try it once, seeing as it is a brand new way of playing games, and experiencing game worlds. I've had some incredible moments in VR, and I really do wish everyone else get to experience it themselves.

Edited October 1, 2019 by ArtMediocre
English. Hard.

[Hero-of-Time]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:24 AM, S.C.G said:

What is the one VR title or tech demo which has sold the technology to you just on its own? 

Astro Bot alone was enough to justify my purchase of PSVR. Easily one of the best gaming experiences I have had in years.

[bob]

What is the one VR title or tech demo which has sold the technology to you just on its own?

Probably the Oculus First Steps tech demo that you play when you first fire up the Quest. It's just you interacting with a little robot, together with a few toys and objects to play with, but the moment I picked up the table tennis bat and started bouncing a virtual ball off it, I knew that VR was something special.

[dan-likes-trees]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:24 AM, S.C.G said:

 

What is the one VR title or tech demo which has sold the technology to you just on its own? Or is it really just another way to experience all games later on down the line?

That's the key question for me when evaluating it as a product, assuming that there are no health drawbacks to using it or otherwise, just like when buying a conventional console, there's usually a reason that people will buy into the technology, so I'm interested to hear what has made people so ready to get into VR at this point.

Hard to pick just one but it would have to be Superhot VR - Just en insane and unique experience, literally dodging out the way of bullets, plucking them from the air, spinning around and throwing shit at enemies. The stylized look looks great in VR (compared to more realistic games which look a bit janky) and the way enemies crumble when you hit them.. love it. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Iron Man VR arriving in February.

 

[bob]

Is that PSVR only?

Sent from my motorola one action using Tapatalk

[Happenstance]

Yeah it's exclusive.

[Hero-of-Time]

I played through the Concrete Genie VR section this morning.

Spoiler

It was quite a laid back and short experience. The game has you just fulfilling various requests from a genie. After you do that a free play VR mode opens up for you. The game does look stunning in VR. When I finished my final creation I had fireworks going off, stars shining in the sky and various plants scattered around the place, all of which were lit up. Looking at it through the VR headset was quite breathtaking.

With me playing around with the PSVR, I figured it would be a good time to play through the free Moss DLC that arrived earlier in the year.

Spoiler

I honestly forgot how amazing this game was. Running around the world as Quill was as amazing now as it was back when I played through the game at the start of the year. The DLC was a bit of a hassle to get to though. You had to access 3 different portals that were hidden in the main levels of the game. If you were just starting the game then this would be fine but for those who have already completed it this meant you had to play through a few sections of the game all over again. It didn't matter to me too much but I would have preferred an option to jump straight into the DLC.

The DLC took a couple of hours to finish, which was quite meaty for a free bit of content. Some of the puzzles were quite fun to figure out and Quill was given a couple of new moves to play around with. Well worth downloading and playing if you already have the base game.

[Hero-of-Time]

I finished Blood & Truth yesterday.

I was surprised just how long this game was. Most VR games are only a few hours long but this was around the 7-8 hour mark. I guess this is why it took so long for the game to be released. It's a massive setup from The Heist missions in VR worlds, in both gameplay and story.

The story revolves around a solider who goes back home to London due to the death of his father. After the funeral, a rival mob of the family breaks into your home and decides that they want to take over the business now that your dad is dead. It's from here where all of the action kicks in and it's you and your family against the mob. This adventure spans across 19 missions.

The gameplay in this is fantastic. This is essentially the evolution of the light gun genre and what an evolution it is. In Time Crisis you had to push the peddle or button if you wanted to get behind cover. With this game you lean your body or duck to get behind cover. In the old light gun games you shoot off screen to reload but on this you grab an ammo pack from your belt and insert it into the gun. This is incredibly satisfying, with things like a shotgun and revolver having you flick the Move controller up as if to close the gun up after inserting the bullets. Another thing which is fantastic is the way you carry different guns. You have a holster on either side of you that you can store handguns in and you also have a vest that allows for 2 larger guns, such as machine guns or grenades launchers, to be stored on your back. Switching between the two is an amazing thing to pull off. You can be firing away, holster your handgun and then move the Move controller towards your back and pick up the gun you have stored in your vest. It's feels amazing.

Some of the set pieces that the game has you doing are absolutely crazy and so much fun. At one point you will have to run and jump off a large crane and parachute into a building site. This brought about such a cool feeling while falling before pulling the cord. Another has you clearing out an huge area, only for a crane to come bursting through, destroying the building and then having you sprint out of the it before it falls to the ground. There are a couple of car chase sequence, as well. These are pretty cool and another expansion to what was started with VR Worlds.

The one thing that is a bit of a bummer is that sometimes the story gets in the way of the game. I found the cutscenes, while good, would sometimes go on for far too long and often I would find myself just wanting to get back to the action because it's there where the game really shines.

Well worth playing if you have a PSVR.

 

 

 

[bob]

Tried playing Deism this weekend. As far as i know, it's only a demo/work in progress, so i had to sideload it, but it looked interesting, so i thought i would give it a try.

Its a god simulator similar to AoE and Civ, but pretty bare bones compared to both. You create various biomes and add animals, minerals, trees etc, and people come and settle in your land. You then provide for them, and try and get them to evolve and grow to create bigger and better towns. You can intervene with rain, healing and other 'good' miracles, or chuck fire, lightning etc about like a dick.

It was pretty fun. I was playing in sandbox mode, so i had all the miracles available at the start, and unlimited mana to use them, but i think to play it normally you need to gain believers slowly and get enough mana to use miracles, and earn new miracles by upgrading towns.

The gameplay was pretty simple, but it being in vr and being able to zoom right down and watch the villagers skipping about was cool.

Really made me want to play Age of Empires 2 ultimately - i wish it was available in VR!

[ArtMediocre]

With a lot of new and possibly great VR content coming out (Boneworks, Half Life: Alyx, Medal of Honor), I've bit the bullet and bought a new Oculus Rift S on a black week offer. I'll probably get it in a week or so, and I'm really curious to see how it stacks up to my Oculus Rift CV1. I bought it from a store with a 50 day return policy, so if I can't sell my CV1, it is not really that good of an improvement, or if the Valve Index becomes available, I still have a chance to return it and get my money back. 

I'll give you my impressions when it arrives. I've read a lot about it, but reading can't really give you any impressions when it comes to the VR platform. The only way is to strap it to your head and see it for yourself. (so why would I tell you my impressions? :P)

[ArtMediocre]

Just got my Oculus Rift S, and I have to say... from the first impression, I think I'll be keeping my OG Rift. 

The screen is great! It's really crisp, I can read way more easily with this than the CV1. The colors are good, and I don't think they are washed out at all. And the tracking actually surprised me! It's really impressive work they've put into that!

But to lose the tracking outside of the field of view is a big minus. Same can be said about the sound. Oculus/facebook should be ashamed to release something like that on a PC VR headset that cost over £400. Also, the controllers feel a bit more cheap, and the ring on top is way less ergonomic. The comfort of the headset is okay, but I'm finding it hard to find the sweet spot, and stay there, with the halo band. So it didn't click with me.

Thankfully as I said above, I have a 50 day return policy, so I'll try it a bit more just to be sure. If I end up sending it back, I'll save up my money and buy the Index when/if it becomes available in my country.