Virtual Reality

General Discussions
#21

I’m investing in VR, but realistically will only have all the bits and pieces by christmas (I still need the GPU, and headset of course). That’s enough time to see if it is taking root or not. If it is flopping then I will buy a bigger telescope instead. In that case I will only have overspent on my GPU by a hundred euros or so, so not a big financial loss.

Also I am hoping OSVR will become the dominant VR standard. I want to buy a VR headset in the same way I buy a monitor - just imagine if some games were “exclusive” to Samsung monitors, or would only work with Razr gaming mice… Closed systems like Vive or Oculus will hopefully die out.

#22

I’ve had the DK2 for about a year now. It’s basically the same version they’re selling now except a bit lesser resolution. Which is not good. It’s still a gimmicky piece that needs fiddling to get it just right - even on games with rift support. It needs to double the resolution it currently has at the very least.

It’s obviously a hobbyist piece of kit and will be for probably at least 3 years still. The same people into racing and flying sims will benefit the most. And for them it’s absolutely worth it (with double the current resolution). VR, especially on sims, is mesmerizingly impressive.

FPS games can work, but it will require a special UI from the game to be usable.

Another thing is Augmented Reality, which I think can be much more useful and much more widespread - when and if they get it right.

They’re coming but it’ll probably take a decade still.

#23

VR is gonna change everything… from education to sharing vacation ‘photos’

Gaming will be changed but especially in the beginning it will be hard to convey gaming experiences, it will be totally different anyway.
I also predict that HL3 will come specifically made for the Vive, and this is coming from someone who though that game wont come ever until recently.
But yes traditional gaming will be completely parallel to this and largely unaffected apart from VR shovelware.

When exactly will what exactly happen? Well thats tough. But I think HL3 will be one of the first killer apps and I think within 3 years.

#24

I am at a loss to work out how it is possible to make VR shovelware given that the barrier to entry is so incredibly high for both consumers and producers.

Cas :slight_smile:

#25

We have a Vive at work which we’ve prototyped a few different games with. I think it’s true to say that first person is the most reasonable POV for VR but I don’t think there are going to be a lot of FPSs. One of the major issues is that people don’t think you should move the camera and without motion, a modern FPS isn’t possible. I think you will find a few strategy games with the God-view and a few first person games where you interact with a environment rather than enemies. But the thing that REALLY bothers me is this idea of not moving the camera. If people can’t get over that, I doubt how varied VR experiences are going to be. No variety == no market.

#26

I don’t think so. Sim gamers spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars into improving the experience. A flightstick alone will net you 200$ or 400$ for a good one - same goes for racing wheels. Beyond that, above the hobbyist level you get embedded chair systems for a few thousand. Even if it’s niche there’ll definitely be a market for it.

#27

I played around with my friend’s VR yesterday, played the Zelda (I think it was Zelda) platform game, and I have to say it was kind of weird. Without being able to move the camera it was hard to figure out how far you had to jump at times, especially when jumping away or towards you. I was also surprised at how pixelated it looked. Overall, I didn’t really like the 3rd person perspective, and would like to see what a FPS would be like.

#28

VR on desktop has a high barrier for consumers, but mobile VR does not.
I don’t know about wherever you live, but here some cereal companies have instructions on how to cut up their boxes and provide a pair of lenses to make a Google Cardboard type thing for your phone.

And VR development is pretty easy to get into with Unity/CryEngine/Unreal/etc.

#29

Well you can always make a shitty unoptimized port of your FPS game that you released on PC anyway, and similarly you can just release your VR game with FPS controls on PC.
Cheap and easy, we’ll see a lot of those.

#30

My understanding is that the resolution with the dev kits were due to them using shitty lenses, which the CV1 doesn’t use, so I imagine the resolution appears to be significantly better (as well as Oculus solving things such as screen door effect, etc). However, I agree that the first thing I noticed when I put on the DK2 and GearVR was the resolution. However, when I used the DK2, I stopped noticing the resolution after a while. Can’t say the same about the GearVR, it was always kind of annoying for me.

The other thing about the resolution is that you need to adjust the thing for your eyes, which I didn’t get to on either device as I only used demo gear, so it would’ve appeared worse for me than it does you.

EDIT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjE6qXd6Itw&feature=youtu.be looks neat.

#31

Off-topic: You do professional game dev in NZ? Where do you work?

On-topic: There are confirmed to be ~60 games utilising roomscale at launch for the Vive.

For those not in the know, roomscale is the ability to move throughout the game world by moving through the real world, and is being heavily pushed by Valve through the HTC Vive.

#32

To be honest, I think that AAA industry will be one of first to use VR on the bigger scale, just like in case of 3d which is put into most of movies and TV’s nowadays, but (especially in case of TV) almost not used at all (although I know only few cinemas with 3d as well). The same with VR, people either don’t want, need or cannot afford it.

#33

Semi relevant to VR adoption: my local museum is now using VR in its exhibits.

#34

ontopic

P8D3eoMII-w

#35

The Rift is shipping today!

#36

I don’t think i have ever disagreed with Princec. But this time i will. VR is in the early adoption phase and is niche. But give it 2 more years and it will be a fairly common “screen configuration” for both consoles and PCs. Of course this means no rush on supporting it yet.

#37

Yeah, while 3DTV, MS Kinect and other “fad” tech came and went pretty quickly, VR has the difference of being created out of people’s wants (see: $2+ million Rift kickstarter). Other tech is used invented by a company to try promote themselves for a while to try force it upon people.

#38

I dunno if it’s really a case of agreeing or disagreeing, more of a “Place Bets Now!” My money’s on VR failing as a games tech but making it big in other industries and probably more in the form of AR.

Cas :slight_smile:

#39

I’m really looking forward to Eve Valkyrie and mountain climbing. But the screen door effect is just nasty. I want the VR experience to look like the trailers…

#40

Screen door on the Rift CV1 is gone and on the Vive is negligible.