News Half-Life: Alyx - Releasing March 23, 2020 on SteamVR
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Alextended do you know if it is usable with glasses? I'm not going to use contact lenses just because of a headset.
It's a pretty decent HMD if your IPD is close to what it is built for (since it's not adjustable).
If you have an IPD that's either significantly smaller or larger than the average, then I wouldn't suggest it, so check that first!
As for whether it makes sense to buy over the Index, well, if you are budget-conscious then clearly the Index is a hard sell.
In the US I might tell people to buy the Samsung WMR HMD instead, but in Europe there aren't really many better options in that price range as far as I am aware.
You might be able to get a HP or Lenovo WMR HMD for <=300€ so that could be an option too.
These should be on par with the Rift S in visuals, with slightly higher refresh rate, and slightly worse tracking and controllers.
How do I wear glasses with my Oculus Rift S?
Basically you don't want your glasses to scratch the S lens.
To me WMR makes no sense, tracking is sub par according to every informed review comparing different sets out there (vs just trying and hyping any single set on its own with no real background in virtual reality experiences) and Microsoft appears to have abandoned the project for now, if we had a generation 2 of WMR with better tracking/more cameras to match Rift S I'd say they're definitely a good option but now Rift S is basically the true form of WMR's intent.
It also makes zero sense to suggest the HP/Lenovo HMDs with that small a price difference to the Rift S, only Samsung's have the hardware IPD adjustment after all and were a good deal for their screen quality when they so heavily discounted them in the USA, from the original 600+ to half price or less real fast. Also the better lenses on the S mean the visual quality is better than in comparable resolution WMR sets (but not better than the premium Samsung stuff, indeed).
Microsoft dropped the ball, it would have been an amazing initiative if they stuck with it and we could get Rift S-like products sooner for even lower prices depending on the concessions each person was willing to decide on but now it's just an experiment you can only get the formerly premium offerings of cheap while stock of unsold hardware lasts in the USA. IPD stuff and more details in my linked post there at the top of the page, yes you need to do some research.
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I agree that the platform is pretty dead, but I don't really think it matters if you are buying a HMD to use with Steam -- WMR on Steam is more-or-less native.
Tracking is worse, but then again, Rift S tracking is worse than Vive/Index, so it's more a question of where you draw the line.
If your glasses aren't within spec various companies sell thin frame glasses and other stuff like actual prescription lens covers for VR comfort.How do I wear glasses with my Oculus Rift S?
support.oculus.com
Basically you don't want your glasses to scratch the S lens.
To me WMR makes no sense, tracking is sub par according to every single review out there and platform has clearly abandoned the project.
Thank you both!
IPD for me seems to be 67.5mm, which is a fair bit bigger than the 64mm rift s is set to. But maybe close enough?
Glases seem to be in spec.
I tend to get the rift S, because of the "better" controllers. Naturally I'm worried about the 80Hz and motion sickness.
But Vive Pro is 1700€ and Infinity 1100€. That's not something I feel comfortable spending.
I'll maybe give it a try. Europe has rather good return policies for online purchases.
According to Oculus, S is "best for users between 61.5 and 65.5mm" so you should be alright, others with larger difference (~70) have said it was still fine.
The software has adjustment settings ranging from 58mm to 72mm but it's probably far from great on either extreme end.
And yes, controllers and tracking are the be all end all in VR imo so there's no reason to go for anything less than "second best" for minor price differences.
When thinking Vive has as good tracking as Index but way worse controllers than anything else and WMR worse tracking than S.
S was already better than WMR before last year's update, the difference isn't negligible according to most (while 10hz difference is most definitely so).
Yes CV1 is really the "second best" for tracking in that case but for most people the cables/trackers are too much hassle, S requires none of it, just the HMD and controllers and you're good to go. I already set my CV1 up so I don't mind and prefer the external tracking coverage but I wouldn't recommend it for most people. It's all abandoned hardware as well, I dread the day something in my Rift breaks, by then I won't even be able to find new controllers, only used stuff. While S uses the same controllers as Quest, there will be plenty out there for a long time I'm sure. So hopefully nothing on my set breaks before the next 5 years or so where by then maybe a good, budget conscious upgrade path will be available (S isn't a big enough upgrade, more of a sidegrade for new users).
To me the choice is obvious, Index if you can afford it, S if you can't, anything else only if there are physical reasons you can't use S (ie, extremely differing IPD).
Edit: apparently the Oculus Go has the same IPD stuff as the S so maybe you can find one of those somewhere in the wild to try (only for the IPD, nothing else).
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I'd say it's borderline. Might have to try.
As I said in another thread, you might also wait for more impressions on Oculus Quest with link, might be an option too.
Honestly neither of those makes any sense compared to Index.
Yeah sorry, meant Index not Infinity. Reading too many reviews at once, my brain is a bit confused.
Half-Life: Alyx Announced
VALVE, NEVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE!!! I must have put thousands of hours into HL1 across the single and multiplayer, and that's just the base game. That doesn't even include all the total mods such as They Hunger, Action Half-Life, Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, etc, etc. GOAT.
www.resetera.com
Could be true, or not. But my interest just rose, a lot.Finally I can talk about this
First had the privilege of playing and working on it a bit over 2 years ago during my time at Valve. It was honestly already a crazy amazing experience back then, Valve has poured so much love, care, and though into the next story in the Half-Life universe. I can’t even imagine how much they’ve polished it these last two years.
If the direction is still the same as it was some time ago, there’s another huge announcement tied to this that’ll likely happen simultaneously or soon after, which nobody has heard or mentioned anything of. That could mean it was scrapped or is under particularly tight wraps. I’m hoping for the latter
My god, i'd be a vomit fountain if i played Portal in VR! It'd be a cross between the Family Guy Epicac scene and The Exorcist.
Some general tips for you and others:
It had some software issues at launch, but from my observations it's should be mostly fixed now.
The biggest cons with the Rift S is no hardware IPD, but a software one. Hardware IPD basically means that you can physically get the lenses closer to your eyes to make what you see less blurry, but it has a software one which is not as good. You should try and find out what your IPD is and Google if it will work with the Rift S. The VIVE, OG Rift (I own this), Vive Pro, Index and Quest has hardware IPD, Rift S does not.
Another con is that the implemented sound on the Rift S is not good, but pretty much anyone just uses headphones with it.
This is Rift S software IPD:
The slide left on the Index in this pic is the Index's hardware IPD:
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Here is the Hardware IPD on the OG Rift (the sldie on the corner below):
Also, if you get a Oculus headset (Quest, OG Rift, Rift S), Oculus requires you to have the Oculus Client open when you use SteamVR, not a big of a deal at all , but it would be nice if you could remove it when usign SteamVR. Have tried some "hacks", but none of them worked.
Also, the Index, Vive and Vive Pro requires base stations to operate that you setup in the corners of your room. If you find an OG Rift, you will pretty much need to get a 3rd sensor (can be bought on Oculus.com/rift, the Rift comes with 2 sensors) that you need to setup in your room. Sensors requires to be connected to PC via USB (2 sensors use USB 3, 1 sensor can use USB 2 if you have 3 sensors like me). Base stations does not use USB connection to your PC, they only require you to connect them to a socket.
Quest, Rift S and the new Vive Cosmos (stay away from this, the game support and tracking is pretty crap, but HTC says they are trying to update the trackign with updates) does not require any sensors or base stations as they use cameras to track your headset and controllers.
fantomena Thank you.
I found an article mentioning that Oculus Quest (OLED Display, 1440x1600 per eye) will become PC compatible this year. Oculus S is supposed to go obsolet. OLED Display and better resolution is a strong argument imo, but I suppose it would just connect over USB instead of DP and it is just a 72hz display. Mot much of a difference to 80hz, but still better?
I found an article mentioning that Oculus Quest (OLED Display, 1440x1600 per eye) will become PC compatible this year. Oculus S is supposed to go obsolet. OLED Display and better resolution is a strong argument imo, but I suppose it would just connect over USB instead of DP and it is just a 72hz display. Mot much of a difference to 80hz, but still better?
That's actually a good assumption.
Valve is gonna make me get VR...never would have expected that
It actually became PC compatible yesterday.
There's still not enough information out there to be certain on what the quality is like (they have to use some form of compression to get everything over standard USB).
Oculus released a update for the Quest and the Oculus Client that is in beta (not supported by all GPUs, but some have got it working with unsupported GPUs) called Oculus Link. It uses an USB C cable where you connect the Quest to your PC and the Oculus Client registers it as a Rift (well it's called "Quest and Touch" in the client) and it should work with SteamVR.
The main differences between Rift S and the Quest with the link is that Rift S has higher framerate, 5 cameras instead of 4 (Quest) which allows for better tracking, less compromise in graphics and more comfortable.
More here:
Play Rift Content on Quest with Oculus Link, Available Now in Beta!
At OC6, we introduced Oculus Link—a new way to access Rift games and experiences from a gaming PC on Oculus Quest. Today, we’re excited to share that Oculus Link software is rolling out in beta, so you can now enjoy AAA PC VR games like Asgard’s Wrath and Stormland on Quest. Oculus Link lets you...
www.oculus.com
It can be difficulty to choose between them, but I guess it comes down to how much of your gaming will be done thethered to PC or untethered.
Personally, I have no interest in not playing PCVR games, so I don't care for Quest. The dream would be a Index with wireless support.
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It's definitely not in Valve's nature. It'd definitely break the internet thoughDon't do this to yourself. This won't happen.
Also don't do this to me
I mean. It’s really no different than like God of war 2 being locked to PS5 or Gears 6 being locked to NextBox. Some games need new hardware.
I wonder how the relationship will be between sitting, standing and roomscale. It's quite the difference in a game. Roomscale means moving around where you play, crawling, crouching etc. Some VR games require roomscale to play because the game is built arond roomscale.
Roomscale is not supported by PSVR btw, you can pretty much just play in the direction where you face the PS camera.
Beat Saber requires you to stand as you have to move a bit to the left and right to avoid walls.
This is from SteamVR Room Setup that might show it even better:
Roomscale is not supported by PSVR btw, you can pretty much just play in the direction where you face the PS camera.
Beat Saber requires you to stand as you have to move a bit to the left and right to avoid walls.
This is from SteamVR Room Setup that might show it even better:
The only VR game I really played was Star Trek: Bridge Crew on PSVR and that was while sitting (you also sit in the game, so...). And PSVR was a rather blurry experience. Still, it was also awesome. I sound crazy when I talk about Bridge Crew, but I was there, on a Star Trek ship. The best multiplayer experience I ever had. Platinumed the game with friends during a long weekend.
Standing up and doing something with my hands wouldn't be a problem in my "PC room", but running around... not enough free space tbh. That would be a problem for me.
Standing up and doing something with my hands wouldn't be a problem in my "PC room", but running around... not enough free space tbh. That would be a problem for me.
I mention Quest in my first (linked) reply to you, S isn't obsolete with link as it still offers a higher hz display (80 vs 72 doesn't sound like much but 80 is already 10 less than CV1's 90hz so that makes Quest 18hz less than the pre-Index standard which is probably noticeable) and is a native PC VR set while it remains to be seen what kind of potential lag, input lag and visual compression artifacts can be observed once the official 5m+ cable is out and the software is deemed good enough to be out of the beta phase. If all is well enough then it's definitely a good choice as I said before, it costs roughly similar to the S and offers tracking that is roughly on par (still better than WMR), the exact same controllers and the ability to take it on the go for its own games/ports, though it's also not as comfortable and weighted unevenly so if you don't plan to use it stand alone the S might still be better choice if your IPD works fine with it.
I'll admit to being a bit miffed at this. I'm not exactly well heeled and while I COULD get a VR headset if I wanted, video game hardware purchases are somewhere on page 125 of things to spend money on. Yes, its moving the medium forward and anyone deep into the VR scene should be over joyed right now. Hell, I've sampled my friends VR about a dozen times since early 2017 and I can see the potential. In a perfect world, I'd be onboard.
As it is, I'm not exactly pissed, as HL as a franchise died for me sometime around 2012 and the release of black mesa, but I am a bit miffed.
As it is, I'm not exactly pissed, as HL as a franchise died for me sometime around 2012 and the release of black mesa, but I am a bit miffed.
Huh, I didn't know Oculus Quest worked with PC now. My wife was mentioning wanting one for Beat Saber but I didn't want to buy an all in one setup because I figured it'd be outdated sooner than later and wouldn't work with PCVR. But if it can that seems like a best of both worlds situation for us
Just think about it: Google released a new gaming product and everybody is talking about Valve announcing the announcement for a dead franchise on niche hardware.
Tells you a lot about the impact and relevance of valve in PC gaming.
Tells you a lot about the impact and relevance of valve in PC gaming.
Relevant for the Americans. Too bad these prices never translate over here and we end up paying the equivalent of $500 or something like that regardless.
uploadvr.com
Oculus Rift S Priced $349 For Black Friday
Facebook’s wired PC VR headset Oculus Rift S will be discounted to $349 from Nov. 28 through Dec. 2. The deal aimed toward holiday season shoppers represents the lowest price we’ve seen for Facebook’s PC VR headset and Touch controllers since its debut in May. The headset
uploadvr.com
Very exciting news. This game will probably decide if I invest in a VR set.
That dumb Index purchase that I made earlier this year is feeling hella good right now
I mean you're right but I also never believed it because I mean how could anyone believe it? Even if you believed it you didn't actually believe it!it's almost like you knew
Yeah I have kind of hard to believe that it will THAT good that one has to get VR. Or maybe I just don't want to believe just so I don't have to get VR.XD
I hate this announcement because it makes me want to spend money on an Index.
Yep, and I can't justify that kind of expense, especially for one game. Even if that game IS half life related.
Plenty fun VR games to go around, if Half-Life is of interest why aren't other FPS games like Stormland/Boneworks or adventures like Lone Echo? Just saying, obviously you don't have to consider it a good investment for you now or even in 10 years when there are even more but there are more than 1 (or few) games.
And there are cheaper sets that should work fine though I guess we should wait for trailers/info just to make sure of that (I'm already sure tbh but yeah)...
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What I had seen from VR in the past didn't really do anything for me, but also part of that was because I couldn't play them so I ignored most VR titles.
I'm already invested in the Half Life series, so it having a VR entry which is the first entry in over a decade makes me slightly (and a I do mean slightly) more interested in VR than before, but yeah, like you said we have to wait and see more info from the announcement.
Me drinking my morning coffee, in a gaming world where we are about to get a new Half Life game. In VR!
Les than 24 hours now. Getting very excited. I wonder how they will present it. I keep reading stuff about an interview, but also about something on TGA. Maybe trailer tommorrow and gameplay trailer on TGA?
I'm betting on a full reveal tomorrow with pre-order, bundle, accessories if there's something like that and such and at TGA the first episode of ''The Final Hour'', made by Keighley
I hope we get a trailer tomorrow, and not a crappy teaser. I'm not sure I can stomach watching the Keighleys, not after last year's shitshow.
What happened last year? I don't watch the TGA as it is in the middle of the night here.
Personally, I even hope we get a small demo version of the game.
It's not likely, but maybe...