Community The MetaVerse VR thread (hardware/software/etc, all platforms)

PossiblyPudding

sometimes a doctor of rhythm
Apr 17, 2019
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Is there not a monster hunter thread/community?
Edit: Got it cleared up and MonthOLDpickle has offered to create a Monster Hunter thread. Sorry for the derail.

Also I can't delete this post for some reason? That's why it's an edit instead. :disappointed-face:
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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Seems good but way too short. Maybe after all the episodes are out it'll be worth checking out in a bundle as long as pricing is okay (this first ep is $10).

The lightsaber training mode seems pretty neat. Also like it takes advantage of the 360 freedom of the Quest/S well. I hope it translates well to front facing Rift.
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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Wasn't it rumored that Borderlands 2 VR will arrive in May 2019 on PC? I would totally play that.
Exclusivity ends by this month or June, yeah, if it will come, it's still unknown.

edit: Yeah, it should be coming to PC in 32 days.
 
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derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
Apr 17, 2019
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Neat, thanks! Hopefully they really do release it on Steam and don't do another exclusivity with Oculus or something...

 
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EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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I haven't had a chance to speak to my housemate yet but i finally got around to setting up my PSVR in the front room so he could give GTS VR a go. I'd forgotten how simple PSVR is to set up and get going, he was tearing around a track within 5 minutes and i think he put in a good 2-3 hours. I'm going to try to get them to try some of the other PSVR stuff but i'm doubtful they'll bother.

No Sim-Sickness reported but they did say that about 10 minutes after stopping the session they started to feel a bit disjointed but that it soon went away.
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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Stress testing the Oculus Quest tracking in a field.

This might be good for some arcadey alien bug blasting.

This reminds me of Flotilla.

I had no idea Echo Combat (paid DLC for the free Echo VR) had payload mode. Echo games rock.

Just a random tuber showing off the Oculus Quest home/dash/menu/firmware/whatever. It's slick!

What this says:
 
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derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
Apr 17, 2019
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Got my optical lenses for my Vive from vroptician yesterday and it really adds to the convenient level. One small thing is that you can't get really close with the fov slider anymore but I guess that holds true with glasses as well.
So this is a really great alternative to contacts if you can't or don't want to use them.

Pretty sure I will get them for the Index as well then.
 
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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I recently added a stereo overlap calculation to my HMD spreadsheet here:

The original Vive really has a massive stereo overlap compared to most current HMDs.

Is anyone in this thread getting a Rift S? I'd love to add it to this table.
 
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Durante

Durante

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There's been a SteamVR update today: SteamVR :: SteamVR Beta - 1.4.10

SteamVR:
Updated default skybox
Deleted unused preferences
Fixed old Mr Hat controllers not opening the controller half of the device.

SteamVR Home:
Improved performance for users with large friends lists.

OpenVR:
Inverted the Prop_ImuToHeadTransform_Matrix34. It is now actually “IMU to head” instead of “head to IMU”.

Index Controller Firmware
Adjusted finger tracking to better accommodate small hands.
Fixed an issue where the track button would track incorrectly when powered on with the sensor covered.
Improved trigger and thumbstick deadzones.
I've confirmed that the bolded fixes the friends-list-querying-related SteamVR home stutter which has been an issue for over a year for those of us with huge friend lists ;)

Finally!
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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Beat Saber coming out of early access soon with a level editor and price hike (so buy now!) to mark the occasion and more stuff coming in the future.

Walking Dead VR game teaser.


Cool looking sword action game.

What this says:
 
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fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
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I really need news on Lone Echo 2. My favorite VR game so far (yes, better than Astrobot which is amazing too).
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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Follia – Dear Father is a stealth survival horror that captures the genre’s essence in the halls and rooms of a university campus.

This looks super promising, like RE7 caliber stuff with actual full VR controls (?), I hope it delivers, holy cow. Very Silent Hill-esque gore.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
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No mention of VR on its Steam page. The trailer is the same. I found an old cheesy "demo reactions" video and they were using a gamepad (in VR). I guess it will be like RE7 without full VR interactions after all. That sucks. I'd probably play this out of VR if it only does headtracking (and if it's still good). Oh well.
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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There's a Swords of Gargantua beta on the Oculus Store (the game has a Steam page too though).

I just tried it in solo for a bit. It has a good combat system and nice dark soulsy but less gritty aesthetics. Still, it's just a wave shooter with melee combat. The inventory feels very limited unlike Blade & Sorcery's ways to hold different gear at once but combat feels solid and fun without being fully physics driven but rather gamey. It should be really fun in coop when you mind so you don't get each other surrounded like it's easy to happen in solo. I guess they plan for cosmetic unlocks a la Warframe with armors and helmets, that seems like a no brainer for the game. Hopefully you also get to expand your inventory cos when you sheathe your weapon to repair its durability it really sucks. You can pick up weapons from the arena and also have some throwing daggers on your arms to grab but yeah. I like the enemy types, they have cool animations and tells, kick you away if you get in their face, you even get staggered by strong attacks without it being jarring, it pops to 3rd person view for that (and for getting knocked down/dying). It's still a shame it's just arenas (and plain arenas at that, I didn't see anything complex - yet - like for example Raw Data's multi-path and level areas) rather than a seamless world to explore.

Anyway, parrying hits and striking back in sequence feels pretty badass. The dodge dash also seems useful but I didn't get the hang of it just yet. Oh and you can even lock-on enemies Zelda style, that also feels pretty good weirdly enough, I'd think it could get jarring but nope, it feels natural and simple enough.
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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I am very, very close to taking the plunge on the Oculus Rift S. I have PSVR and, some tracking issues aside, I really enjoy VR. I can't afford a Valve Index, and I think the Rift S might be good enough for me for the time being.

Someone talk me into or out of this!
 
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Durante

Durante

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I am very, very close to taking the plunge on the Oculus Rift S. I have PSVR and, some tracking issues aside, I really enjoy VR. I can't afford a Valve Index, and I think the Rift S might be good enough for me for the time being.

Someone talk me into or out of this!
Buy one so that you can run a program for me to help me add more data to my FoV table! ;)

But seriously, while I'm not at all a fan of how Facebook handles the software side, I don't think the Rift S is a bad entry point into PC VR. Although at its current price it's perhaps not clear if its tracking improvements compared to Windows MR HMDs merit the increased cost.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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What's up with the software on Oculus Rift? Is it the exclusives on their store that's the issue, or something else?

I plan on using Steam VR for pretty much everything. Will that be an issue on Rift S?
 
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Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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What I was referring to is hardware-locking their store, and having anti-competitive (in my opinion) clauses in the agreements to their developer materials. Nothing that would affect you as a user, especially if you don't use their platform.

The technical quality of their software is good.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Ah, well, I’m not too interested in using their store, so I doubt that’s an issue. For me it’s entirely about having hardware that works with Steam VR.

I may take the plunge. It’s annual bonus month on my payday in less than two weeks, so I can afford to treat myself.
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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This looks potentially fun.

Search youtube for gameplay vids, though most seem to be from early stages without action, just exploring the environment with badly translated dialogue.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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This could be neat. I thought the kayak would be a set piece thing but from the game description I guess you're in it the whole game through, haha.

It should make for interesting locomotion and level design at least, giving it a plausible reason for the limitations, hopefully it's gonna be good :)

Visually it reminds me of last gen's Goldeneye, maybe more the Wii release than the later PS360 upgrade, at least in this Oculus Quest footage.
 
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Kuro

"Oh yeah? Aren't you gonna punish me?"
Dec 22, 2018
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Got lucky and received Project LUX 75% off coupon when crafting a badge, so couldn't resist that and picked it up.
Will be giving it a go later, looking forward to it, been sitting on my wishlist for year(s).
 
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derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
Apr 17, 2019
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Hmm still debating if I should get Beat Saber. I mean it looks ok but not sure what it does better than other rhytmic VR games.
The hype is still something I do not understand for that game - I tried it at my company on a gaming event once and... yeah it is one of those but nothing more?
 

Arulan

Lizardman
Dec 7, 2018
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I'm curious, how does everyone have their chaperone borders setup? Which mode to you use (Intermediate, Squares, etc.)? What color do you use? How far away from a real wall is the border?
 
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Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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I'm curious, how does everyone have their chaperone borders setup? Which mode to you use (Intermediate, Squares, etc.)? What color do you use? How far away from a real wall is the border?
I'm using the default visibility settings (only a color change) and I have the boundary set up at the exact boundaries of my VR room. (So you can actually "touch" the wall, which is always a fun thing to have people try when showing them VR for the first time)
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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Cool commercial for the Quest. This is the sort of advertising VR needs.
Hmm still debating if I should get Beat Saber. I mean it looks ok but not sure what it does better than other rhytmic VR games.
The hype is still something I do not understand for that game - I tried it at my company on a gaming event once and... yeah it is one of those but nothing more?
I haven't played many but Beat Saber felt like the gameplay was on point with the beat rather than just vaguely affected by it which made a difference.
 

derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
Apr 17, 2019
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I find Audioshield also really lacking in the "on beat" department but I love Soundboxing just because there are so many usermade songs and you can create your own, which will always feel on point for you.

The commercial is a bit Kinect-y but with VR you know it's actual gameplay haha. Good one - the Quest IS tempting.
 
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Durante

Durante

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Since the Rift S is now officially out (I think?) do let me know if anyone gets one, I have a program for you to run ;)
 

SRossi

regretten? rien!
Dec 9, 2018
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Since the Rift S is now officially out (I think?) do let me know if anyone gets one, I have a program for you to run ;)
apparently the audio is really, really bad (and headphones are uncomfortable to wear with it) and the tracking isn't so great as everybody hoped for, i hope everybody who buys it knows what he is in for :p
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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I find Audioshield also really lacking in the "on beat" department but I love Soundboxing just because there are so many usermade songs and you can create your own, which will always feel on point for you.

The commercial is a bit Kinect-y but with VR you know it's actual gameplay haha. Good one - the Quest IS tempting.
I ordered a 3rd Rift sensor and some ceiling cable pulleys, hopefully I can get a good 360 setup going with these things. I really don't want to buy a new VR set until something like Index becomes affordable but at the same time I really wanted to escape my front-facing limitations with 2-sensor Rift. Plus the sensors seem to get increasingly harder to find and more expensive so I ordered one from Amazon USA before that also jumps to the Euro Amazon pricing tier (~2x). I want to sample 360 VR goodness even without the untethered revelation of the Quest (and the super expensive wireless kits for PCVR).
 
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derFeef

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In the long run I will be selling my Vive and keep the Index for high fidelity home VR. But I can see me grab the Quest for using it at my second place where I am just at the weekend sometimes (work related). At least when it will get a bit cheaper.
 

Phoenix RISING

A phoenix always RISES!
Apr 23, 2019
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www.geeksundergrace.com
The games just aren't there yet to spend money on an Index even tough that's the definitive experience.

I like the idea of an Oculus S, but I'm afraid it doesn't have the oomph that a Rift would provide even though I have a cord.

What I need is perhaps an Oculus extension and maybe...MAYBE a third sensor...which would also require an extension.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Decided to hold off on the Rift S for a bit, at least until a few more user impressions are in. I'll see what people think in a few weeks. Hope you find help before then, Durante, but if not then I will definitely run that program for you.

In the meantime I've had a bit of a VR binge today. Grabbed Beat Saber, Statik and Ghost Giant today, along with the Psychonauts VR game (it was only £3-ish). Haven't tried Statik or Psychonauts yet, but Beat Saber and Ghost Giant are both amazing. I'm sure everyone's well aware of how good Beat Saber is, but I was surprised at how good it is at burning calories. My Apple Watch thought I was exercising as I was playing, and in an hour-long session I must've burned about 550-600 calories.

Ghost Giant is a charming little puzzle game. As far as Move controllers go, I haven't had any issues with the tracking, though that was after I adjusted the camera to work in a sitting position. I like that you can grab the roofs off of buildings, lift them up and peek into the houses. The world has a nice toy box feel as far as interactivity goes, and while the puzzles are a little by the numbers, the writing is so far quite solid and the added depth from the 3D makes it feel magical.

I was actually a little bummed on VR recently, because I struggled with Superhot VR on PSVR (the tracking sucked), but I think these games have rekindled the magic for me.
 

Arulan

Lizardman
Dec 7, 2018
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I'm using the default visibility settings (only a color change) and I have the boundary set up at the exact boundaries of my VR room. (So you can actually "touch" the wall, which is always a fun thing to have people try when showing them VR for the first time)
Do you not find yourself acting overly cautious without a buffer between real walls?
 

derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
Apr 17, 2019
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Ookay I bought Beat Sabre and I quite like it ;) Only problem I have that I did not have with Soundboxing, is that I am overly cautious with the swings because I have a wall to the left of me - need to fix that somehow. And pretty sure my SO will dig it :)

Also need to get into the custom song business since the collection is not really my cup of tea, even if some songs are fun. Any tutorials for that? There seem to be a wide collection of tools and option,

edit: after looking and trying out some mod tools... the user generated content is reeeaaally not very good. Songs are either just very, very hard and made for the lols, or just not good. Plus not really a fan of the stock Songs so I will be sticking to Soundboxing for my YouTube beat/workout thing.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
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I'm wondering if VR might lead to that old school arcade vs home gulf in the experience quality with super high production values for the better VR locations merging VR with physical interactions (with every player physically in the same spot in the same VR world and with actual walls and objects to interact with represented physically and not just in VR)? So a home version of the same game would be lesser in that you'd resort to navigation with an analog stick rather than walk about in the full environment and not represent the objects and walls physically etc. If they even brought the same game to the PC/console VR.

Well, not quite in the same old school way, it's one thing to make an arcade cabinet and another thing to have a full location, with different pricing for the user too given the gulf in demands from the establishment. So location VR experiences probably won't even have much room for failure as you're likely to pay by the experience which might take say an hour or whatever rather than per life. Similar to current escape room venues I suppose.
Ookay I bought Beat Sabre and I quite like it ;) Only problem I have that I did not have with Soundboxing, is that I am overly cautious with the swings because I have a wall to the left of me - need to fix that somehow. And pretty sure my SO will dig it :)

Also need to get into the custom song business since the collection is not really my cup of tea, even if some songs are fun. Any tutorials for that? There seem to be a wide collection of tools and option,

edit: after looking and trying out some mod tools... the user generated content is reeeaaally not very good. Songs are either just very, very hard and made for the lols, or just not good. Plus not really a fan of the stock Songs so I will be sticking to Soundboxing for my YouTube beat/workout thing.
The level editor was only re-introduced after being removed early on with the latest patch afaik so give it some time maybe. I'm sure some users will make quality stuff with it. Even though mods were possibly even without official support it's probably easier now. And as always for user content you'll need to figure out by user interactions what the best stuff are and figure out if something's popular because it's well done or just because it's for a popular song etc.
 
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derFeef

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Good to know! The Soundboxing database is huuuge thanks to youtube access in the game and a "create your beat map by doing the beat map in real time". I think that will not be possible with the BS editor but let's wait and see. I have refunded it for now and will wait for a slight price drop - silly me never bought it during EA. Didn't Audioshield drop Youtube support aswell?
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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I love AudioShield, it's my favourite but yeah there's some technicalities about developer/API access to these music services and i'd imagine it revolves around money.

I never play these games on the hardest modes as they just don't look fun to me at that level, like you said there doesn't seem to be much choreography and flow just flailing around. Highly skilled flailing around that is beyond my abilities but flailing around regardless.

I need to give SoundBoxing another go, i totally forgot i had it and it's supposed to be good.
 
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derFeef

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They also teased another update in march, hopefully it will be soon. I also think the leaderbaord stuff in Soundboxing is really well done and makes you want to beat your friends scores. The website integration with the previews and "beam to game" is neat as well.
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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One of the best bits of AudioShield is the joy of playing something totally different to everyone else and then seeing you're second on the leaderboard out of 5 people around the world playing "16 Horsepower - Black Soul Choir" and then you get a better "Technical" score and smash them.

I'll definitely give SoundBoxing a go this weekend. I need to check and recalibrate my lighthouses anyway.
 

derFeef

Cthulhu dreams.
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WIth Audioshield I never had the feeling I am blocking/hitting on Beat. They never transfered the Audiosurf feeling well to this game I think. So I want Audiosurf in VR :D