General VR Catch-All

I would put far more faith in people's accounts of their experiences with Facebook than I'd put in Facebook's statements about what they do.

It sucks that the device that delivers the best VR experience is linked to such a crappy business model. Is anyone aware of any competitors on the horizon developing a standalone device to compete?

I'm just hoping that all this negative press will make the Facebook part optional again. Even if it's there by default but you can opt out similar to Microsoft and Apple accounts on computers.

Picked up a few games from the current Steam Halloween sale.

Vox Machinae - Wow I am impressed. I can't believe I slept on this game. Downside is barely anyone is playing it so matches look sparse. I've only played with bots so far and it's still been well worth the $13.74 it's currently going for. This game has full touch controls and it works amazingly well. Apparently you can play without VR also. I don't know how this game hasn't taken off, it's so good.

X Rebirth VR - Interesting what they did with touch controls. I like the touch control scheme but if you don't it also supports mouse/keyboard, HOTAS, and gamepad. Word is that it's a stripped down content version vs. the flat game, but there are apparently instructions on the official forums to add the full flat campaign back in. Looks great, sounds great, I'll get way more than my $11.99 entry price out this one for sure. Should note that while there are tutorials, this series will leave you wondering how to do things to the point of frustration if you don't look them up.

Overload - I don't know why I slept on this one either, especially since I was a HUGE Descent fan back in the day. Pretty awesome in VR so far, also playable without. It has multiple control options. Have not played much as this one made me feel a bit green after a half hour, and I'm pretty resistant to that typically.

Overall, an awesome pull for 40 bucks total. Has anyone else picked up anything they're enjoying during this current sale?

ToxicWaltz wrote:

Overload - I don't know why I slept on this one either, especially since I was a HUGE Descent fan back in the day. Pretty awesome in VR so far, also playable without. It has multiple control options. Have not played much as this one made me feel a bit green after a half hour, and I'm pretty resistant to that typically.

Overall, an awesome pull for 40 bucks total. Has anyone else picked up anything they're enjoying during this current sale?

Yeah, I couldn't play Overload in VR for more than 5 minutes. I even went to the trouble of picking up an old OG Sidewinder off Craigslist so I could turn my HOTAS into a HOSAS and have full twin stick controls. Which was BRILLIANT until I wanted to immediately chunder.

I picked up Windlands 2 in the last sale (currently $14.99 at Steam), and that's fun, if a touch pukey -you're Tarzan'ing around a dayglo landscape, and it entirely works and is super great, but I'm not sure if I can overcome the bleurgh, though I think I can mess with the comfort settings a bit and make it better.

VTOL VR is a but rough around the edges, but works as a functional, if basic, flight sim with touch controls.

Synth Riders is my new love, now that I've finally started to get to the bottom of the barrel with Beat Saber. It's very much in the same vein, hit stuff that's flying at you, but it feels far closer to dancing than BS's freneticism at the higher difficulty levels.

Hot Squat 2 is my latest VR indie gem. It's stupid and I love it. You do squats. Lots and lots of squats. Until you're hot. That's the game. You won't be playing it for long, but it's a brilliant thing to throw into the mix when you're using VR for fitness.

Oh Shape is another good one to check out for fitness. It's the game version of that TV show where a wall with a hole cut out is moving towards you and you have to get your body into that shape so the wall doesn't splat you. It's surprisingly hard work.

I've been waiting for Vox Machinae to get out of Early Access before I bit on it. Maybe that'll be an uptick in player count?

The Room VR is pretty good. Its on sale for $20. If you've played The Room its more of the same, only using your hands. Its very short, maybe 2 hours if you don't use hints, but its a fun experience for that much.

Cool. A few more added to my list, if not now then next sale, thanks.

I've now logged 3 online matches with real folks in Vox Machinae and I'm hooked. The matches fill in with bots if there's not enough players. I'm gushing over this game at the moment. I played a lot of Mechwarrior in the 90's so I don't know if being a fan of mech sims is a prerequisite.

I nabbed a few during this steam sale, including MFing Half Life: Alyx! I had a chance to try Dreadhalls also: not really sure what to say on this one. Very, very unsettling and scary. My adrenaline was spiking like crazy and yet, I don't really like it that much. Unusual sensation to be both scared and bored at the same time.

Part of me thinks Half-Life: Alyx should be an insta-buy for VR, but another much larger part recognizes that my tolerance for Horror games is absolutely zero at this point and that I'm too easily unnerved and made anxious by them. I want to experience VR done well, but I don't want to play a game with moaning zombies and shrieking creatures trying to murder me in gruesome detail. I don't want to be in a recognizable dystopia for fun in VR.

Rezzy wrote:

Part of me thinks Half-Life: Alyx should be an insta-buy for VR, but another much larger part recognizes that my tolerance for Horror games is absolutely zero at this point and that I'm too easily unnerved and made anxious by them. I want to experience VR done well, but I don't want to play a game with moaning zombies and shrieking creatures trying to murder me in gruesome detail. I don't want to be in a recognizable dystopia for fun in VR.

HL:A didn't read as horror to me. There's tense action sections but they're (a) broken up with lots of exploration sections and (b) really just shooty-bang action sections rather than horror.

I'd say the one section where they really elevated horror over action was

Spoiler:

Jeff.

I don't want to be in a recognizable dystopia for fun in VR.

That I get, though. If you're not up for arbitrary detentions by paramilitary/police forces then maybe pass on this one for now.

Got my Quest 2 today!

Just played around with the interface and free stuff mostly, but splurged on Rez Infinite as I loved the original on PS2 back in the day.

Still great visuals and audio and feels more natural in VR, even if it is just mostly just some minor head tracking. Pleasantly surprised there was no motion sickness considering the entire game has you zooming through environments.

Anyone try Fallout or Skyrim on the Quest 2?

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Anyone try Fallout or Skyrim on the Quest 2?

I can't speak to those but Half-Life: Alyx looked VERY good. A lot of the issues I had with the first headset were solved. I could actually read the text on everything with the new display.

I was hoping to pick up a HP Reverb G2 through Amazon for Christmas as I have a few hundred dollars worth of gift cards. However it's looking like they won't have any in stock as HP is having supply issues.

Does anyone have/know any non-Oculus alternatives?

Pymax?

Pimax was the sh*t a year+ ago, but headset tech moves fast. FOV aside, I don't know that it can compete with the Reverb. Is Index in stock?

But pretty much every electronics supply chain is screwed right now. c.f. PS5 and graphics cards.

If I was in your shoes, I'd be sitting on those gift cards until Reverb comes back into stock.

Jonman wrote:

Pimax was the sh*t a year+ ago, but headset tech moves fast. FOV aside, I don't know that it can compete with the Reverb. Is Index in stock?

But pretty much every electronics supply chain is screwed right now. c.f. PS5 and graphics cards.

If I was in your shoes, I'd be sitting on those gift cards until Reverb comes back into stock.

I agree. If you can't stomach Oculus (which I totally understand), the Reverb seems to be the best price-to-performance option.

I will say this though, the Oculus Quest 2 is a game changer if you want to play wireless PC VR but I totally understand people's hesitancy with the product.

I ordered a Reverb G2 October 6th. I got a shipping update Nov 18

"Pre-orders placed prior to October 25 will ship in November or December, on a first come, first served basis. New orders are expected to begin shipping in January 2021."

Still not received my Reverb and when I check my order status its "Backordered".

Your guess is as good as mine when it may show up.

I'm a big fan of the Oculus Quest 2. If you can get over concerns with Facebook, and it's completely understandable if you can't, I highly recommend it. An OQ2 wirelessy connected to a PC works fantastic.

Moggy wrote:

I ordered a Reverb G2 October 6th. I got a shipping update Nov 18

"Pre-orders placed prior to October 25 will ship in November or December, on a first come, first served basis. New orders are expected to begin shipping in January 2021."

Still not received my Reverb and when I check my order status its "Backordered".

Your guess is as good as mine when it may show up.

Got another update yesterday:

Connection wrote:

Connection currently receives batches of headsets from HP on a weekly basis, and our warehouse team ships these units immediately.
Pre-orders placed prior to October 25th are scheduled to ship by the end of the year.
Orders placed after October 25th are scheduled to ship in January 2021.

Jonman wrote:

If I was in your shoes, I'd be sitting on those gift cards until Reverb comes back into stock.

Yup. Everything new has stock problems right now, that's just 2020 baby. Demand isn't going to start getting filled until Q1.

Still waiting on my G2 preorder to ship, at least I got in early enough that it's supposed to happen this month (got the same email Moggy pasted above)

Epic has Star Wars: Squadrons for $13 after the $10 holiday coupon. I played through the prologue and it's pretty fun. I couldn't get Oculus Link to work with it but Virtual Desktop worked like a charm. Definitely worth $13 just to sit in an x-wing.

I had a bunch of trouble getting the Link to work with Steam version of the game until I went through in this order

Plug in Oculus Link
Activate the Link in the Quest view
Launch Squadrons in VR from Steam VR Home, never from the desktop

That way it worked every time and I generally had great performance.

polypusher wrote:

I had a bunch of trouble getting the Link to work with Steam version of the game until I went through in this order

Plug in Oculus Link
Activate the Link in the Quest view
Launch Squadrons in VR from Steam VR Home, never from the desktop

That way it worked every time and I generally had great performance.

This is sort of my general MO for all Steam VR games, otherwise I have a bunch of random stuttering and disconnects. But if I do it this way, it works every time*.

*:

Spoiler:

sh*t why did I write that

My G2 arrived yesterday and I was able to spend sometime after dinner getting it setup. Some initial thoughts:

Very easy setup. Just plug in and play. As I don't have a powered 3.0 USB-C on my current rig, I had to add the 110v power supply, but it sits under the desk with the other wires. No base station, so initial setup was only "Point headset to screen".

Great visuals. No screen door and resolution seemed great. If I focused hard I could see individual pixels, but most of the time fidelity felt great. The only visual ding was when I "side-eyed" everything was a little blurred. So I need to get used to turning my head more than just my eyes.

Controllers feel great. Felt very similar to the Oculus ones, TBH.

Tracking was spot on. Never lost tracking, even when I dropped a controller under the desk. In fact, playing Superhot VR, I had to reach under my desk at one point to pick up a gun. Note to self, just because I can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there! That inside-out tracking works well.

Sound meh. Headset comes with it's own headphones and they sit a good inch of my ears. Sound is OK, but they do let ambient sounds in. While probably a design decision, my 2080 winds up like a gas turbine and was definitely being heard. Can't wait for my upgrade to happen next year just for the sound reduction!

Cool feature: Windows Mixed Reality Portal has a "searchlight" function. It turns each controller into a flashlight that illuminated the real world (in grainy black and white). Very cool sitting in a virtual environment and having two movable circles showing me a glimpse of my office.

Provisional rating - much better than my Oculus CR1.

Now I need to do some serious office tidy-up before I jump into Beat Sabre and Star Wars Squadrons. May even dive back into Elite Dangerous...

Got a Quest 2 for Christmas and I really love it. My only complaint is the battery life, which means I've played it plenty. I've already ordered the Quest 2 strap with the battery. I'm excited to add it to the package. Side note: selling my old CV1 on the trade thread if anyone is interested.

Two things:

1) Who is using Virtual Desktop to stream to regular/desktop VR games their Quest? After finding that my Oculus link cable needed a USB-C to USB-A 3.0 converter and Amazon lacked a teleportation deliver feature, I gave it a shot. It's excellent and I'm stunned how well it works. Playing without wires is where it is at folks. I can spin in Half Life: Alyx all day long. It works well next to my router and in my bigger living room.

Between Virtual Deskop streaming (here are the instructions I used to set it up, BTW) and the link cable (which works via the converter), this now completely replaces my CV1 and is better in every way (the biggest is the lack of external sensors). I'm so stoked to play more.

2) Speaking of playing more, my whole family is digging The Room VR. My son and I already completed it. My wife is about 75% of the way through. I want more games like this and if you know of the great ones, please recommend them. The physical aspect of moving and inspecting things, makes the escape room like thing work in a way in just can't on a computer screen. It's relatively short (probably 4 hours-ish) but I got it on sale and at least three of us will finish it. Good stuff.

The Room VR's the best of the VR puzzle/escape room games that I've played - which is exactly what I'd expect from the developers of the Room games - but past that I had a pretty good week exploring the puzzles in XING: The Land Beyond. NB: it's punctuated by new-agey drivel poems that are precisely designed to set my teeth on edge, but I just ignored them and really enjoyed the puzzles and environments.

STATIK is a seated puzzle game where your hands are enclosed in a series of strange mechanical manacles (you play using a standard controller) and you have to figure out how they work while a fantastically drily-written scientist takes notes on your progress. It's great, and at times mind-numbing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, GNOG is a series of Day-Glo Peter-Max-looking puzzle boxes that's a pure delight. It's not particularly hard, but it's beautiful and the music perfectly synchronizes with the visuals.

I Expect You To Die is a series of "escape rooms" where you're escaping from comically ridiculous James-Bond-villain traps; lots of fun.

Obduction is a pretty terrible-looking VR port (on the PSVR, it may look decent on the Quest 2) of a Myst-style game done by the same people who made the Myst games, so they come by their bona fides honestly. It plays perfectly well, but when I popped out of PSVR and looked at it on a flat screen it was jaw-dropping how much worse it looked. But...the thing that people who haven't done VR can't possibly understand is how simply being in VR can fundamentally change being in the world of a game. I still enjoyed the experience of playing Obduction all the way through, I just tried not to see it outside of VR.

fuzzyslug wrote:

1) Who is using Virtual Desktop to stream to regular/desktop VR games their Quest? After finding that my Oculus link cable needed a USB-C to USB-A 3.0 converter and Amazon lacked a teleportation deliver feature, I gave it a shot. It's excellent and I'm stunned how well it works. Playing without wires is where it is at folks. I can spin in Half Life: Alyx all day long. It works well next to my router and in my bigger living room.

Between Virtual Deskop streaming (here are the instructions I used to set it up, BTW) and the link cable (which works via the converter), this now completely replaces my CV1 and is better in every way (the biggest is the lack of external sensors). I'm so stoked to play more.

Thanks! Gonna give this a try!