Virtual Reality? advice and info requested

[ralphwiggum]

I'm starting to come to the realization that I have more games left than years, and I could just just stop buying games now and never run out.

This is so depressing, and so true. The real depressing part is when I want to revisit some of the classics from my youth, and then a few hours in I wonder what pct of my life I want to spend rehashing a video game experience I've already had..

It could be worse.... I always get stuck in an infinite sports loop. I will play dynasties on Madden, MLB the Show, and NBA 2k.... same game, different team, infinite quest for stats.... WTF? I have been playing Madden since 95, and still buy it every year. Before kids, I was playing competitively for a bit winning and losing a couple of grand here and there..... Its just weird looking at what I spend my time playing.

[DeaconBlooze]

Oh, I've done that too. Or at least used to. Brian and I used to go through a season of Madden 06 (the best madden, passer vision was key) in 2 days quite often.

After the removal of passer vision, playing as a DB is no fun for me. I have EA pass, and figure I wont get through the 10 hour madden 19 trial before it's free. If they released it for the switch I'd be all over it, though.

[Hilton]

thanks for all the info everyone!

Very excited to check it out this weekend.

Eric > i will likely also be trying to hit up your place sometime to check out your system.

[ralphwiggum]

Oh, I've done that too. Or at least used to. Brian and I used to go through a season of Madden 06 (the best madden, passer vision was key) in 2 days quite often.

After the removal of passer vision, playing as a DB is no fun for me. I have EA pass, and figure I wont get through the 10 hour madden 19 trial before it's free. If they released it for the switch I'd be all over it, though.

I was playing competitively when passer vision came out. It was a slick feature. Ironically, I was usually rolled with the Falcons and Vick, and rarely took advantage of it. It so crazy the strategies you use when playing competitively. It becomes more fun and less fun all at the same time. Like pinball, you find yourself playing a completely different way.

[Chris K]

I escaped Madden back on the Xbox when one day I played so many seasons that I gave myself a migraine that lasted two days just from looking at the grid of numbers. I swore it off after that.

I still find myself in the same loop with RPGs... I chase stats. The grind becomes building the best character+items and making the biggest numbers. I played Baldur's Gate 1&2 on the PC repeatedly for years, and eventually ended up playing with one character (you usually play with six), and could end even the toughest fights before an enemy got an attack off by the time my sorcerer gained access to spells to stop time and create clones of himself.

It's funny how pinball and early arcade machines are all about chasing scores, but as video gaming progressed it eschewed "score" as a metaphor, many of us still try to find the numbers behind the game so we can still get "high scores".

I try my best to play for the experience now, and games like Breath of the Wild that are good at hiding their systems are a good salve for my stat junkie nature.

Buuuuut, I'm far afield of VR now! Hilton, if/when you pick a platform, hit the group up for game recommendations!

I'll start off with one fun, approachable flight game. Ultrawings is available on Steam and PSVR. You are given a simple ultralight and a set of challenges, and as you beat the challenges you unlock more areas of the game world and new types of aircraft. The challenges are things like flying through a hoop course, or make it around the island in a set time, or land in a tricky place. It has a very simple flight model that anyone can pickup in a few minutes, and the VR effect of flying through canyons and such is lots of fun.

I won't spoil the aircraft you get as rewards for a job well done, but it's not just five different ultralights; you end up with completely different classes of flying machines.

I was a big flight sim nerd as a kid, and I haven't found any good realistic military flight sims yet, but this game is a fun "screw around in the sky" game, which works WAY better in VR than not in VR.

[1337atreyu]

Whichever platform you choose, play the aforementioned SuperHot VR, I Expect You to Die, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and Beat Saber. I've heard that Tetris Effect is awesome as well.

On PSVR, AstroBot is supposed to be awesome.

Other PC stuff like Robo Recall and Raw Data are super cool. If you're into competitive shooters, Onward is super cool. It's essentially CounterStrike, but in VR. Cool weapon physics and good feeling overall.

Oh, and Batman: Arkham VR. Definite recommendation.

Man, now I have to get back into VR. It's been a while...

[Chris K]

The exact moment in Arkham VR where you put on the Batman suit was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had in a video game. Incredible.

The rest of the game was a bit of a VR demo than much of a game, but it looks gorgeous.

Yes on Robo Recall. Excellent use of hand controls.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is great inside or outside of VR. Anyone who likes party games should get it for whatever platform they own.

[epthegeek]

The game I keep stumping for and am having a hard time getting anybody to give it a go is "In Death". It's an archery based roguelike with procedurally generated castles. It's out on Steam and PSVR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtzREFsXAvY

Otherwise I'm constantly trying to find full room scale experiences like "Unseen Diplomacy" - which isn't a fantastic game. It's pretty basic and doesn't have a lot to it, but the 'redirected walking' movement mechanic is awesome.

I'm an odd man out in that I don't care at all for multiplayer shooter stuff. Pavlov and Onward and whatever else that are constantly at the top of the 'what's being played' charts don't interest me. I don't mind shooters, I just have zero interest in playing with random assholes on the internet.

Edit: Just adding on that Super. Hot. and Beat Saber are also fantastic, but everybody recommends those so they're hard to miss. But if you try Beat Saber and really like it you HAVE to get a PC set up to play it. Custom songs and better tracking are all the difference in that game. Sure you can "do it" on PSVR, but it's just not as good. Period.

[Chris K]

Ditto for the shooters. I played them from the beginning, but when Counterstrike attracted a bunch of a-hole teenagers, I bowed out in favor of the less "cool kid" games. Those a-hole teenagers grew up into a-hole adults and continued into the Battlefield and Call of Duty (and now PUBG) games of today, and I find that wonderful, because they all flock to the latest make-your-head-explode-and-teabag-your-body games, and leave almost the entire remainder of the game market for us normal people.

Multiplayer isn't as bad if you avoid the "cool kid" games, to be honest, but I generally avoid online games because I like immersion, and nothing breaks immersion like 20 gnomes hopping in circles screaming "LFG!"

[DeaconBlooze]

I was pretty big into FPS shooters when I was younger. I played Counter-Strike when it was first released. It was great, but that's not a game I'm interested in revisiting, especially since it seems like everything is done on only a couple of different maps now.

I played Onward and Pavlov in VR. Neither feels great, mostly because with long guns there's nothing holding your hands in proper position. So now your lead hand swings independent of your rear to get your barrel in position. There are some 3rd party attachments that have found some clever ways to get around that, but the cheap ones don't account for the fact that you need to pull a clip from your waistband with the controller, and the expensive ones are a decent amount of money for a niche game.


I'm really interested in an omnidirectional treadmill. If they ever get a good consumer model for a reasonable price, I'd consider one of those if the games support it well.

[u2sean]

I finally decided to get a PSVR hookup this Christmas since there was a super cheap bundle for the console and VR unit - plus it came with 3 games including AstroBot and Moss for the PSVR. I realize the tech is a few years old at this point, but for the price and plug-and-play nature it was a win for me. Didn't feel like dropping thousands on a "real" VR system, so for less than $450 out the door I couldn't complain.

AstroBot is awesome! Think of it like Super Mario Bros but VR style. Moss is pretty cool, and Tetris Effect is alright. That being said I've only played about 30 minutes of that one so far. Next title I want to get is Gran Turismo Sport even though I've read meh reviews for it on the PS4.

I've checked out a handful of PC based VR systems and they've been incredible, but that's a lot of setup time and monkeying around that I just don't want to deal with. If you want to ever check out PSVR let me know.

- Sean

[Hilton]

just wanted to say thanks again for all the info/advice/ and even the sharing this past weekend!

I really appreciate the knowledge and insight form all of you!

I have more research to do. I definately need to check out the vive and PSVR (eric and Sean I will be hitting you up sometime )
Also, sounds like it may be worth it to hold tight till the spring realse of quest to see if that is of interest.

So far I am amazed and happy to have something that may turn me back on to video games.

[Chris K]

It'll be interesting to see how Quest goes for gaming. Even current high-end PCs struggle with the computing power to pull off VR, and they suck down 300W+ on AC. I think there are a lot of compelling VR experiences to be had with minimal computing power (reference: all the VR demos from the early Oculus days, and many of the games today, like Beat Saber). But I think we're quite a few years off from a truly high-end detached VR system.

I think most of us who jumped into VR early did so assuming that it would fall on its face cause the market wouldn't wrap its head around how cool VR is before funding ran out for Oculus. We're really lucky that a few years later we have a very healthy ecosystem for VR.

For me, I want to get to a point where the resolution on the headsets is high enough (and the weight low enough) that I'd rather strap a VR headset on my face than watch my TV. At that point, we can all get together and watch King of Kong on the Moon, and take an intermission to play some VR pinball. Hook it up to PayPal and we've got dollar games.

[Hilton]

curious if anyone more tech savvy would be willing to build out a list (or share what you have already compiled on part picker) of your nice/desired VR specific desktop?

I built my very first compact desktop with a friend a few months ago and it was fun. Pretty sure I am now comfortable assembling a second largely on my own. It really is just legos for adults

However, I am not sure exactly what I would put into it for components and that is all VERY overwhelming as I try to learn and read all the conflicting views/sales online.

I guess in short, has anyone laid out your dream machine for dedicated VR in a site like part picker or something similar?
Care to share?

[ralphwiggum]

Occulus has a section for computers that are VR ready-
https://www.oculus.com/rift/oculus-ready-pcs/#pc-offers

I am not saying to buy one of those, but you can click on each one to see the specs of what it is running, and then start piecing together what you want to build for your setup.