VR Gaming | GTAMotorcycle.com

VR Gaming

JZ67

JZ67

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I'm not a gamer but this VR **** looks like fun. Do consoles, if they are called that, have proprietary games like the set top boxes? Are these units as fun as they look are more of a thing that you get bored of real quick?

If they are indeed fun (subjective) what units are decent and reliable with game options?
 
I've tried a bit of the Oculus that came out a while ago. It was fun...but got boring fast.

I wouldn't mind actually trying out the PS4 VR set and some of the games. Where's our resident gamer? Haven't seen him in a while, I'm sure he's got some good input.

WFH is no longer an issue...now that you can work at the office with OFFICE SIMULATOR!

 
VR systems are still pretty expensive, probably a lot more than a casual gamer would be willing to pay for. Maybe start with seeing what specific games you think you'd enjoy playing, and then work backwards to see what hardware supports those games. The two that I'd like to try are Half-Life: Alyx, and Blade & Sorcery. It's a little bit weird, but these days you can just watch people playing games - check out twitch.tv to find someone who streams VR stuff. You can usually tell within 10 or 20 minutes if a game is something you might enjoy.

Ideally, it would be best to find someone or somewhere that is willing to let you try the actual hardware. Motion sickness is a very real thing. There are a bunch of techniques to try to mitigate it, like literally running in place to trick your brain when you move in the game. It would really suck to spend a couple thousand dollars on hardware to find that you can't play for more than 15 minutes without ralfing into your headset.
 
I'd highly recommend going to one of those VR arcades before you go too deep into it.

I wanted one for sim racing, but after using it for 2hrs at a VR arcade place in Waterloo, I happily stuck with my triple monitor set up.
 
I rented an Oculus Rift rig a few years ago and loved it.

I'm not your typical VR gamer though. My favorite game was "Fantastic Contraption" where you build a life-sized device that you turn on and automatically moves around an obstacle course.


I am actually in the market for a VR rig, but I keep waiting for the next gen rigs to come out. Specifically for the XBOX Series X platform which I just bought, but Microsoft says they have no plans for XBOX VR. :(
 
Ash said:
VR systems are still pretty expensive, probably a lot more than a casual gamer would be willing to pay for.
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Since the screens in a VR goggle are really close to your eyes, the resolution needs to be high, and its rendered twice (once for each eye). If the refresh rate and frame rate are too low, that's instant nausea. This all just goes to say you need the fastest video card out there, something you'll have to fight for with all the bitcoin miners, video card resellers and those with excess pocket change from not traveling.
 
About 5 years ago I took my lunch after making a delivery at a place in Whitby that repairs electronics for big manufacturers. They have a small retail outlet out front where they sell some of the repaired/refurbished stuff. They had a PS3 (I think?) with the VR goggles and I dove right in.

There was some racing game running on the system. I got seriously into it, trying different cars and generally having an absolute riot. I was blown away by how real it all looked (even by 5 year ago standards) and the fact that I could turn my head and look at cars beside me, or into the back seat, or at the floor....etc etc.

I was having a great time.

Until I wasn't.

I spun the car out on a tight corner and it was at that moment that my brain decided that it had quite enough of my eyes seeing things that my body wasn't actually experiencing. And then the nausea set in. HARD and FAST..

I broke out into a full sweat suddenly. I pulled off the headset and put everything down and slinked out of there very, very slowly, worried I was going to chuck.

I got out to the parking lot and did manage to keep my lunch down but had to literally lay in the shade under my trailer on my back for another 30 minutes until I felt well enough to force myself to get back to work, and I really still felt unwell for at least an hour after that yet.

I've never done anything VR related since despite how much fun I had.
 
PrivatePilot said:
About 5 years ago I took my lunch after making a delivery at a place in Whitby that repairs electronics for big manufacturers. They have a small retail outlet out front where they sell some of the repaired/refurbished stuff. They had a PS3 (I think?) with the VR goggles and I dove right in.

There was some racing game running on the system. I got seriously into it, trying different cars and generally having an absolute riot. I was blown away by how real it all looked (even by 5 year ago standards) and the fact that I could turn my head and look at cars beside me, or into the back seat, or at the floor....etc etc.

I was having a great time.

Until I wasn't. I spun the car out on a tight corner and it was at that moment that my brain decided that it had quite enough of my eyes seeing things that my body wasn't actually experiencing. And then the nausea set in. HARD and FAST..

I broke out into a full sweat suddenly. I pulled off the headset and put everything down and slinked out of there very, very slowly, worried I was going to chuck.

I got out to the parking lot and did manage to keep my lunch down but had to literally lay in the shade under my trailer on my back for another 30 minutes until I felt well enough to force myself to get back to work.

I've never done anything VR related since.
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Just replace every instance of "VR" with "tequila" and the above pretty much describes my very last experience with the Devil's firewater...
 
When I was in the composites game we'd go to Florida every December for the ITSEC show. Basically a trade show where the military goes to view/buy simulation. They had a lot of cool stuff including VR you could play with. I ended up shooting the hostage.
 
Lightcycle said:
Just replace every instance of "VR" with "tequila" and the above pretty much describes my very last experience with the Devil's firewater...
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Been there as well. Woke up in a ditch in front of a church. Cant even stand the smell of it to this day.
 
Lightcycle said:
Wow. Which game were you playing?
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Maybe Drunken Bar Fight?

This is an actual VR game, and it's enough to drag me back into VR I think as it looks bloody hilarious.

 
PrivatePilot said:
Maybe Drunken Bar Fight?

This is an actual VR game, and it's enough to drag me back into VR I think as it looks bloody hilarious.

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Yeah... where I live, that's a bit too close to real life for me to want to recreate it in a video game...

Your VR racing story reminded me of the time me and buddy went to one of the VR arcades with the full racing rig, steering wheel, racing seat with 5 point harness and everything. You put the googles on and suddenly your gloved hands appear in front of you attached to the steering wheel. If you moved the steering wheel right, your hands moved right. Move the steering wheel left, your hands moved left. The illusion of reality was pretty complete.

So we're in the middle of a race and my buddy says, "Hey, wanna see something freaky? Take your hands off the wheel!"

So I lift both hands off the steering wheel, and in my VR headset, my gloved hands remained on the steering wheel.

What a totally trippy disconnect! It's as if you're watching yourself detach from your own body, like an astral projection or something.

So weird!!!

I didn't throw up though. That was the tequila we drank later on...
 
Lightcycle said:
I didn't throw up though
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I'm pretty sure I'd be ok in one of the full simulators where things are physically indeed moving around as your brain expects it to be.

What threw me over the edge with the racing game was my eyeballs seeing my car spinning out, but my body not physically feeling it whatsoever.
 
Your brain likes predictability. I remember when I was a kid my “friend” said “bet you can’t ride a bike with your hands crossed over the bars“. He was right. That fall hurt.

Theres a rare side effect of some viral diseases (not COVID) where your eyes become unyoked. One eye can move independent of the other. Apparently it’s about as nauseating as you think it might be and a constant vomit session when your eyes are open.
 
jc100 said:
Your brain likes predictability. I remember when I was a kid my “friend” said “bet you can’t ride a bike with your hands crossed over the bars“. He was right. That fall hurt.

Theres a rare side effect of some viral diseases (not COVID) where your eyes become unyoked. One eye can move independent of the other. Apparently it’s about as nauseating as you think it might be and a constant vomit session when your eyes are open.
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A friends kid has an eye that goes on its own adventure. They are working hard to get it back in the game as apparently the brain gets annoyed if you feed it too much garbage data and turns off the feed from that optic nerve. Once that happens, it's all over and they don't know how to turn it back on.
 
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