General VR Catch-All

WizKid wrote:

Has anyone tried Hitman 3 VR's version?

I played the opening tutorial for 15 minutes. It's pretty solid. A bit of a different game and pretty interesting being "in world". Controls were a
6.5/10, didn't feel the most intuitive but also weren't game breaking

I've only heard complaints from Hitman 3...Cool idea but janky as hell. No personal experience though and it may have been updated since. Would love to play it in VR if it's in a good place now!

And if you don't already watch Habie, let me enlighten you

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In other news, I got a new PC and holy crap VR is so much better now. I'd gotten used to the lower resolution and jitters of my old PC. The SSW on Virtual Desktop definitely helped, but it's sooo much nicer not having to rely on that for smooth frames; it introduces some blurring/ghosting that can be a bit disorienting.

I was speechless when I fired up Half-Life: Alyx on ultra settings and got 100+ FPS. Not to sound overdramatic, but it genuinely feels like being transported into a different world. Amazing.

So excited to play some more VR titles now. It's a shame there's nothing else with the same level as quality as Alyx, but even old favourites are running much smoother now which makes VR feel a lot more natural.

A_Unicycle wrote:

So excited to play some more VR titles now. It's a shame there's nothing else with the same level as quality as Alyx, but even old favourites are running much smoother now which makes VR feel a lot more natural.

Try the VR mod for resident evil 7 and 8. Chance of pooping pants is greater than 0.

My first experience with VR was actually RE7 on PS4! It was an amazing introduction.

I LOVED RE8 and playing it again in VR is a great excuse to go back for more. Sweet! Thanks.

I'd be interested to hear how the RE7 VR mod compares to the PSVR RE7, if anyone has touched both.

JC wrote:
A_Unicycle wrote:

So excited to play some more VR titles now. It's a shame there's nothing else with the same level as quality as Alyx, but even old favourites are running much smoother now which makes VR feel a lot more natural.

Try the VR mod for resident evil 7 and 8. Chance of pooping pants is greater than 0.

Definitely one of my top gaming experiences of all time. I just have never played such a frightening, stressful, game. Its not going to be for everyone because of how intense it is, but as a horror-junky, I needed to play it. It did not disappoint.

ThrillSeeker did a “10 best VR games of the past year” video. Into The Radius was #2. I haven’t bought it yet but I want to based on what I’ve heard from others. I don’t have VR legs at all and that makes me hesitate a lot buying games with lots of moving around and no teleport mode.

Glad to see COMPOUND make the list at #3. I will continue to bang the drum for that one.

That's a great video! I'm going to have to try Cards and Tankards. Text is always a bit blurry for me which made me hesitate before, but the video makes it sound like it's right up my alley.

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Anyone here have opinions on Horseshoes, Hotdogs and Hand Grenades/H3VR?

A friend of mine was raving about how good it is, but he's a big gun nut and has a near-obsessive level of interest in military stuff. Into the Radius is certainly making me appreciate guns a lot more, but I'm not sure if "guns, the game" is enough to keep my interest if there's little more than a sandbox to play with. The community and developer seem very active, there are overwhelmingly positive reviews, and I can tell it's a passion project. But...Idk, I'm not that into guns.

I know from my limited time in Blade and Sorcery that just having a big sandbox isn't quite enough for me to keep returning. Some of the H3VR modes do seem fun though (Take and hold looks good!). Is there enough of a "game" behind it all?

H3 is fine, but its built for gun nuts. The simulation is pretty impressive, and It doesnt really have the inherent toxicity of the culture built into it, and it kind of lampoons gun culture (an oh so tiny bit) but its all about guns. Customizing guns, accurate gun actions, and shooting guns.

I last played it about 3 years ago I think. Maybe they've added more game, but on the trajectory they were on, it was just going to be more of the same general thing.

Windlands 2 with a friend tonight, maybe a top 10 of all time gaming experiences. Highly recommend! I swear I could actually feel wind blowing through my hair as I was spider-manning around the low poly treetops.

I've had a PSVR for a few years now. I like it, but a few things about it bug me and make me use it less than I'd like.
- You're tethered to the camera, and the camera has a stupidly short cord. Plus, it limits your play space.
- The resolution is pretty low and there's lots of screen door.
- The PS4 isn't exactly a power house, so games don't exactly look great.
- Move controllers are okay, but not great.

I happened to get it out the other day and remembered that VR is pretty cool, and the PSVR2 chatter has me looking at VR again. I'd like to upgrade to a better headset, but I don't have a PS5 (and don't know that I'd get the PSVR2 anyway, since it's PS5 only and not backwards compatible with PSVR games).

I've got a beefy gaming PC, so it'd probably make sense to jump to a PC headset. I'd want the ability to either use it on my PC or standalone in different rooms, so I'd probably want inside out tracking, and something that's either standalone or tethered. Value-wise, is the Quest 2 the best option? The price is right, and I think it does the things I'm looking for. I'd probably prefer to buy games via Steam than through the Oculus store. If want to play untethered, I can do that via streaming, right? How good is that in practice?

short answer - yes.

Every "Best Headset 2023" article you'll find will have Quest 2 as their budget pick.

Untethered streaming works well IF you have a beefy enough fairly new wifi router AND strong signal where you're using the headset. You'll want a wired Ethernet connection to the PC you're streaming from too, or you're asking for connectivity issues.

You won't be getting quite as good optics as a high end PCVR headset, but it's plenty good enough.

Speaking of Thrillseeker, these tiny PC VR goggles look amazing. Very expensive though especially considering they are basically just screens.

Regarding streaming, I just use the 5ghz on my router provided by Verizon, and it works fine for me. Others would insist that one of those fancy Wifi6 routers that look like a spider or a spaceship is necessary.

You can stream to Quest 2 using the free, in-build Air Link feature, or you can spend $20 on Virtual Desktop, which does the same thing. Different people have differing experiences with these two programs, so YMMV as to which one is best. (Personally, I find Air Link to be an absolute nightmare to get working with SteamVR games, although the actual stream quality is good once I've rebooted everything a million times and got it to finally connect.)

I've got good signal strength for 5ghz in most spots, and my PC is wired, but my router's on the older side. Maybe that's a good enough excuse to upgrade, which I've been considering anyway.

How much is the HP Reverb G2 these days? That would be a decent pick too.

I was going to say that if you don’t mind being tethered, Reverb G2 is a great pick. I managed to get one during an HP sale for 299 last year which was a good deal. It’s $450 right now. I think $400 or under for the G2 is fair for what you get. Sure, Windows mixed reality isn’t as smooth as valve’s setup but it works just fine with steamVR and openXR.

I was excited about the PSVR2 when it was announced but now that reviews are filtering out I think it’s a dud. Really wish they had incorporated PC support then it would have been a no brainer.

I'd be willing to bet that Sony will launch the PSVR2 as a PC compatible headset within a year or so. It looks too well engineered to be limited to just being an expensive peripheral for the PS5 market.

Weren't there some pretty heavy rumors that HL Alyx was coming to to the PS5/PSVR2? Given Sony's recent forays into launching ports of first party games on Steam, it seems like there could be some corporate synergies in play.

I daresay there'll be homebrew mods to get PSVR2 playing with your PC before long too.

I preordered. Not sure if I will cancel. But I keep hearing that theater mode is pretty cool.

polq37 wrote:

...Weren't there some pretty heavy rumors that HL Alyx was coming to to the PS5/PSVR2? Given Sony's recent forays into launching ports of first party games on Steam, it seems like there could be some corporate synergies in play.

Nothing at all credible, just a lot of people wishing it were true and mistaking that for likelihood. I'd be shocked if Sony didn't engage in some negotiations to get it on their platform, but AFAIK we've never heard anything about that from either Sony or Valve, so who knows what really went down. Honestly, given the flood of games that will be available at launch or within the first month of the PSVR 2, it's fine. Marketing-wise, it might even be better for Sony if Alyx becomes available further down the line when things get a little slack.

I'm still sitting tight, waiting for the Pimax Crystal to release. Hoping to hear good news about its promised WiGig wireless.

Did you see the headset I linked above?
Weighs 120 something grams (so small it fits inside other headsets)
Manufactured to your face and prescription
High rez 90hz pancake lenses

Intriguing but very pricey.

Yes. $1K for no (hand, eye) tracking, no controllers and no wireless sucks. But apparently you can add all that with 3rd party.

I don't know how much the feel of not having a brick strapped to your face is worth? Probably a lot. Its liek 1/6 to 1/8 the weight of traditional headsets.

At least we can hope it pushes tech forward. If it were a good% cheaper, I'd love to use it as a virtual monitor.

Tailored to your face with no IPD adjustment is a dealbreaker for me. My headset is a communal resource.

The IPD is non-adjustable, but the face gasket is swappable for hygiene.

Awww crap. IGN put up a video about GT7 with PSVR2. I'm gonna have to get one plus a racing wheel.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Awww crap. IGN put up a video about GT7 with PSVR2. I'm gonna have to get one plus a racing wheel.

As someone who's been sim racing in VR for several years, let me tell you, it's fricking sublime, man.