VR Hardware/Software General Discussion (Oculus Rift/ HTC Vive)

This is a general discussion thread for the growing community of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive owners. Let's work together to sort through the bugs, to prevent each other from impulse buying every $9 piece of trash, and to share our perspectives on the VR experience. And as always, beware the Lawnmower Man.

I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of their hardware, but first things first... tell me about dem games.

Chronos has been my favorite game on the Rift so far. It's one of those perspectives I didn't think would work well with VR that ended up surprising me. Using your head as the otherwise stationary camera worked better than I thought and left me hopeful about the future of chair-bound VR. Elite Dangerous has been my second favorite in that category, and with a HOTAS setup it's like owning my own spaceship. Crazy.

I've only spent a day on the Vive but I'm way more excited than I ever thought I'd be about the possibilities of room scale VR. Even the initial Vive controller demo had be giggling like a kid. I bought more games tonight than I'd like to admit, but at least I'll be able to report on some of them tomorrow.

Job Simulator - Fun little sandbox of a VR showcase game. Fun as a freebie that comes with the Vive but probably not enough play/replay value to warrant the full price tag, although the price just dropped recently.

Adr1ft - Fun VR game but not enough game to support playing outside of VR.

Rooms - Fun puzzle game but not much VR value. Originally a non-VR game.

Fated - Mediocre story driven walking simulator. Episodic. Light on content for the $20 price tag.

Chronos - Decent but somewhat simplistic "Souls" type 3rd person unforgiving hack and slash.

Lucky's Tale - Mediocre but entertaining platformer. Not bad for a free title but nowhere near a Mario 64 type game.

Fly To Kuma - Lemmings in VR.

VR Tennis Online - Okay arcade style Tennis game with online multiplayer.

Omega Agent - Jetpack based exploration game with simple mission objectives. Decent VR showcase.

Proton Pulse - VR 3D version of Breakout where the paddle is controlled by your view.

Dreadhalls - FREAKY VR horror game that's been out in various versions as a free download on Oculus share for over a year. Excellent scary VR game.

Technolust - "Walking simulator" game with simple puzzles but really nails the look and feel of a William Gibson-style cyberpunk adventure. Started as a Kickstarter. Only complaint is the game is a bit short but what's there is great.

Eve Valkyrie - Probably the best VR game out today. AAA quality online multiplayer space combat game with some single player content. Biggest complaint is lack of official HOTAS support (xInput works, though) and not a ton of game modes (2 at the moment) but more content and modes are planned.

The Climb - Cry-Engine based rock climbing game. Still not totally sold on whether it's worth the $50 price tag.

Firma - Similar to Omega Agent but a bit more like a fully featured game. Currently in Early Access.

Windlands - Swinging exploration game that can be a bit nausea inducing. Currently Early Access and lacking in content a bit. I recommend playing seated. I tried to play standing and I nearly tipped over when turning.

Eve Gunjack - Simple turret game in VR. Pretty fun but not super deep.

Audioshield - The most fun VR game out currently. Block beats created from your music collection. Absolute blast to play.

Budget Cuts - Simple room space demo of a stealth based infiltration game. Step around corners to avoid detection, throw knives using your controllers, etc. Really fun.

The Brookhaven Experiment - Currently only a demo but what a cool demo. Room space defense game in which you shoot incoming zombies. Great atmosphere and creepy as hell.

Ethan Carter - EXCELLENT game and even better in VR.

Vanishing Realms - The most fully featured room space game I have played so far. Dungeon exploration, "real movement combat", etc. Only the first two chapters are out right now but otherwise great.

Space Pirate Trainer - Room space shooting game. Pretty fun. Round based.

I'll post more later.

-Byshop

Wow, thanks for all of that info. That's fantastic!

I forgot all about Ethan Carter being available for VR. I played though once but it's well deserving of a second play through, especially with the VR treatment. And you're so right about Windlands. That's the only game I've played so far that almost had me on my ass.

Interestingly, I played The Lab today and it was the first time I experienced a little VR nausea. Not sure if it was actually The Lab or the fact that I'd been playing in VR for a couple of hours.

Games where your only movement is via actual movement in "room space" and/or teleportation tend to not be that hard on people because real motion is the same as motion in VR. Motion sickness occurs when there's a disagreement between your inner ear and your eyes. When one says you've moving but the other does not, that's what does people in. If my inner ear says I'm moving but my eyes do not that causes issues for me. This happens when you're a passenger in a vehicle or on a boat. The reverse is what makes people sick in VR (eyes say moving, ear does not like you get in "shaky cam movies") and that type doesn't cause me much problem usually but Windlands can give me a bit of nausea. Eve Valkyrie can too if I spin too much during a dogfight. That's not really a problem with VR, so much as VR doing it's job of convincing you of motion. Some games are just going to be rougher than others. At the moment I have most of the Oculus store and 55 VR games on Steam. I'll post more as I experiment with more of them. Here are some more results:

The Lab - Fun showcase but not a real game. More of a cool VR demo.

Ikea VR - Don't bother.

Crystal Rift - Rogue-like grid based dungeon crawler. Fun if you like this kind of game. Allows you to create your own dungeons, too.

Fantastic Contraption - Haven't spent a ton of time with but seems pretty fun.

#Selfie Tennis - The game you are most likely to injure yourself while playing. A fun diversion, though.

A Legend of Luca - Dungeon exploration/fighting game but had a serious issue if you didn't have the full 15x15ft space. The game scaled the dungeon to a mini-dungeon to maintain the room scale. Everyone hated this, so the dev changed it to allow teleporting but I haven't tried it since this patch.

Radial-G - Cool racing game kind of like F-Zero but racing on a cylindrical track. Pretty fun.

theBlu - Fun tech demo but not a game.

Surgeon Simulator VR - Fun but not very deep.

Jeeboman - Room scale defense shooter like Space Pirate Trainer but with more depth. Haven't played a ton to see if it's well balanced.

Sisters Demo - Cool demo but interested in the full game. Very short.

Time Machine VR - Played an hour or so. Pretty fun exploration game.

Unseen Diplomacy - Interesting short game but requires a large room space to play. 4m by 3m required or it won't play correctly.

-Byshop

Damn dude, you went balls deep. lol, awesome. That's going to help a lot as I start branching out to other titles.

As for the VR sickness, I think the culprit might have been Holoball as I just tried it again for about 15 minutes and started to feel a little sick. Yesterday it was Holoball I was playing just before switching to The Lab. Not sure why this would be the case but there it is. I might have my wife give Holoball a try just to see if she gets any similar symptoms. Fun game though.

Also, I can't get enough of the Lab's archery mini-game. So much fun. I might have to give Holopoint a try as well. The whole action of drawing and releasing the bow just feels so spot on.

I have both the Oculus and the Vive, so yeah. lol. I already had a DK2 for over a year so I knew how cool VR could be.

I also picked up P.O.L.L.E.N. on Steam for Oculus (beta support) which is a pretty cool story-driven exploration game based on a scientific base established on Titan (a moon of Saturn) in an alternate history 1995 that's pretty cool so far. It has some perf issues but it's an interesting game. I have a number of games that I haven't tried yet but I hope to get some time this weekend (probably tomorrow night).

Archery is pretty fun with Vive and motion controls. I haven't played Holopoint yet but Bowslinger is fun. And yeah, the archery game in The Lab is a blast.

-Byshop

So my In-laws came over last weekend for a little cookout and stuff. They both tried out the Vive and loved it. My Mother In-Law, while playing Job Simulator, face-planted into my window sill because she was trying to lean on the counter to peek over it. She's OK (and so is the Vive!!) so it's all good. It was a scary moment for sure though.

I will be trying The Gallery tonight. Hopefully it meets all the hype.

Cannot get enough of Oculus. I'm wondering, honestly, if I'll ever be able to go back to 2D.

Great bookmarking site for VR content of all kind: http://www.vrfavs.com/

I've been playing Holopoint for the past several days and have been loving it. It's very simple like a lot of these one-trick-pony games, but its still a lot of fun to play and I usually end up breaking a sweat :)

I tried that one and am enjoying it. The archery games in general are all pretty fun just by virtue of the mechanics of actually drawing and firing a bow.

HordeZ is probably my current favorite. It's like Brookhaven but closer to a complete game. You slowly move through a series of environments while being swarmed by zombies from multiple directions and you can fight them off with guns and swords.

Holoball is also pretty fun. It's like a cross between Breakout and racquetball.

-Byshop

I have to give Holopoint one more plug because it is now my official warm up workout. :D

I usually hate warm up exercises. Doesn't matter if its a 10-15 minute jog, cycling, rowing... whatever, it just sucks, probably because I'm not warmed up, lol. So before today's lift and run I decided to give Holopoint a try as a warm-up exercise and it fit the bill perfectly. I went from level 1 to 21 before losing and made a point of dodging projectiles in different ways (leaning right or left, bending forward or backwards, or squatting to duck). Between that and the mild core work you get from constantly swiveling at the waist I felt like I had a great warm-up while still having loads of fun. Also, I felt like a fucking ninja.

Are there any other games out there that inspire that much movement? I've tried Holoball but even after a long session I can't manage to break a sweat.

I also played through Vanishing Realms recently. I enjoyed it, but I put it in the category of VR games that work well as a proof of concept even if they fail to fully deliver on their own. I liked the way the managed the inventory system, they physical act of attacking, blocking, parrying, mining, etc, and I hope to see all of that in a full fledged game down the road. This is also one of those games that has me rethinking the space I use for VR. Walking around the environment feels awesome, teleporting not so much. I don't mind the teleporting as a mechanic and I'm sure it will be a mainstay of many VR experiences, but I'd like to be able to walk around a little more before reaching the grid. I have about a 5'x8' VR space, but I really want the 15'x15'.

I finally got my Oculus Rift and played a few hours last night. I got to admit... I am disappointed. The current resolution of VR HMDs is not up to par. Not enough detail and fidelity in graphics. There is that cheap 3DTV dullness and sheen to the graphics at times. Also, lack of depth and layered/cutout look on certain objects. Transparent objects like windows and fences render awkwardly. Then there is of course the visible pixels/screen door effect. I also find the FOV to be limiting. It feels like I am looking through swimming goggles. Another thing worth mentioning is the struggle trying to wear glasses in the Rift. The HMD is not wide enough to comfortably wear my glasses. Just putting the thing on with the glasses results in my glasses pressing up against my face and getting all oily and smudged. It is frustrating trying to to get the glasses situated in a somewhat comfortable position while trying to avoid smudging them at the same time.

I primarily bought the Rift for use in racing games. I tried it out on Project Cars and oh boy does the low resolution and lack of clarity hurt that game. You can't see clearly ahead of you at the track and cars. The mirrors look like shit and have no depth to them. The game also seems to have some frame pacing issues when played in VR. The head tracking is great and it is awesome to be able to look around, but I would rather play the game with my racing rig in front of my 60" TV.

I did feel a little uncomfortable with some of the games. I heard it takes a while to get your 'VR legs' and this may improve for me. I did have some fun last night. Eve Valkyrie is awesome and an impressive showcase of the potential of VR. I also tried Lucky's Tale which is very cute and fun. However, I am seriously considering getting rid of my Rift if it is not a good option for racing games. I paid $850 CAD for it and I don't see myself using it on a regular basis. I feel like I am wasting money at this point. There isn't really any killer apps for Rift or Vive right now/near future and the tech is not where it needs to be. I still believe in VR, but I am not impressed with the technical shortcomings. I will try out some more VR experiences and I may decide to keep it, but I am now jaded at this point. I am thinking the next generation of VR will probably be a better entry point for me.

HTC Vive is the only choice for VR at the moment.

The ported games like Project Cars are not ready for VR.

There are no games on the Vive that sway me in that direction. The Oculus Touch controllers will be available soon anyway. Besides... my complaints are about the current state of VR in general and apply to both the Rift and the Vive.

It's not the controls but the room scale that is a game changer.

Have you played with the Vive?

I have not tried the Vive, but I know what to expect in terms of room scale and the motion controllers. Again, there are no killer apps for it. So, I know the novelty will wear off quick for me.

@RyviusARC: You don't need as much room as you might think. The Vive has you draw a boarder of your playing area. I am using it in about a 6ft by 6ft area. It works wonderful. Granted the sensors are mounted in the corners, but those are only about 10 away from each other corner to corner

First off, let me say that I would not recommend any cheap VR headset. The lenses will give you severe nausea and a headache. If you're on a tight budget, then buy some nice glass lenses (or get a nice set of used binoculars) and make your own VR headset using either your smart phone or a $75 1440p 6" LCD screen. It'll at least temporarily satisfy your urge for VR. Or, maybe get a cheap headset and replace the lenses, though finding the correct focal length of glass lenses will likely be difficult.

As for the Vive and Rift, I passed up my only chance to try one of them thus far. I went ahead and let all of the kids play with them. And, there aren't many tech savvy people around these parts that own one. I do wonder how the motion blur and smearing blacks are. Does anyone that owns a set care to enlighten me?

I haven't really noticed much motion blur and smearing blacks have not been an issue on the Rift. There is however a distracting glow on the lenses when there are high contrast scenes.

The lack of motion blur and dark smearing is awesome. I built a VR headset for my Note 4, but the OLED screen has a huge problem with blacks smearing across light colors when I turn my head. There aren't any good VR games for Android, anyway. I may still end up ordering a small 1440p screen just to see how the visual quality is for VR. A small (6") 1440p screen with an HDMI input only costs about $75. I worry about AMD and nVidia drivers not having an option for side-by-side 3d that would support a single screen VR headset, but I can always put the screen in one of my larger projectors if I can't use it for VR gaming with my PC.

The glow on the lenses of the Oculus Rift sounds terrible for immersion, though. I won't be building a PC for VR for atleast a few months, so hopefully they can get the issue resolved by then. I'm really not sure which VR headset I'm going to get yet, though. The HTC Vive sounds more immersive, with the body tracking and all, but the Oculus is a good bit cheaper. Hell, if the small 1440p screen doesn't have any issues, and my videocard drivers allow it, I may just use the set that I built. There wouldn't be any head tracking, but I would rather use my mouse for aiming, anyway.