henke on 20/3/2019 at 19:06
[video=youtube;3vPz9KFXWTk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vPz9KFXWTk[/video]
[video=youtube;2vtryRHVg_I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vtryRHVg_I[/video]
Quote:
Pricing: $399
Availability: Spring 2019
Weight: A little more than Rift
Display:
Resolution: 1,280 × 1,440 per eye (2,560 × 1,440 total)
Type: Single fast-switch LCD
Refresh Rate: 80Hz
Field of View: ‘Slightly larger than Rift’
IPD Adjustment: Software only
Tracking:
Type: ‘Insight’ inside out – five cameras
Capabilities: Supports 6 degrees of freedom head and controller tracking
Recommended Environments: It should work in almost any lit indoor environment.
Recommended Playspace: Oculus Rift S works with your environment, so you can play standing or sitting, in spaces big or small.
Tether:
Length: 5 meter
Connections: DisplayPort 1.2 & USB
Passthrough:
Passthrough+: Low latency stereo-correct passthrough video
Guardian: Boundaries traced from inside headset using passthrough
Recommended PC Specs: Same as Rift except need DisplayPort 1.2 or later and just one USB 3.0 port instead of three
(
https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-s-specs-release-date-announcement-gdc-2019/)
Hmm! Inside-out tracking is nice, but to get me to upgrade I'd want it to be wireless and have an even higher resolution, so I think I'll wait for a proper Rift 2.
Thirith on 21/3/2019 at 07:14
I'm thinking about getting one, but I do wish it was a bit more of an upgrade. To be honest, I'd be more interested in HP's new offering, Reverb, which looks like a nice step up - but I think it only has two cameras for inside-out tracking, and I definitely see that being a problem when it comes to tracking the controllers. Oculus Rift S's five cameras together with the software being pretty good at extrapolation seem to do a good job so that in most cases you can grab stuff from your back or look behind you while interacting with something and it works. Same thing with two front-facing cameras? Unlikely.
I'm curious to hear more about Quest as well - not even so much for me as for my wife and for friends and family. Not needing a hefty PC in the living room and just being able to put the thing on and play half an hour of Beat Saber sounds pretty nifty to me. What I really like is the notion of being able to take it to a larger space and just being able to walk around, since there are no cables and no exterior sensors. For some reason, the idea of being able to walk more than 1-2 metres while in VR without bumping into a wall really excites me - even though I'd probably not actually find any such space where I could do so on a regular basis.
henke on 26/3/2019 at 06:20
Usually when games add VR support later it's a bit half-assed, but it looks like they're going all-out here, virtual flight controls and all.
I did play a bit of NMS on PS4 half a year after it came out, but revisiting after later patches the whole thing has started to feel too complex to casually dip in and out of. Still, not ruling out picking up a PC copy in a sale just to try the VR mode.
twisty on 30/3/2019 at 02:55
Valve has just announced that they will release their own VR headset on the 1st of May. While not much is known about the (
https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/29/virtual-reality-index-valve/) Index at this stage, they also have three VR titles in the works that they may release around the same time. I'm yet to jump on the VR bandwagon so am interested to see how this will perform, let alone cost.
Thirith on 3/4/2019 at 08:17
There've been a few hands-on previews of the VR implementation of No Man's Sky, and they sounds pretty damn good.
Having enjoyed quite a bit of Skyrim VR lately, I'm thinking that the people who've been clamouring for 'proper' games in VR (as opposed to one-hour 'experiences') have it half right. I've greatly enjoyed a number of shorter games, from Superhot to Red Matter, but for longer-form VR gaming, I think the best fit might be games that are relatively shallow but that can excel at making you feel like you're actually there. Skyrim, Elite: Dangerous, No Man's Sky - none of these are particularly deep as games, but they let you inhabit worlds, and VR can amplify that particular effect. The VR implementation of Skyrim isn't even that great, but for me it makes a huge difference.
Thirith on 23/4/2019 at 06:27
Due to getting a new computer, I decided to check out how the VR version of IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad runs on the new machine. It runs well. :D More specifically, though, it's just so cool sitting in one of those WW2 crates looking at the detailed cockpit - and it's cool to get a sense of how tight they were and how little space they left for the pilot. Also cool: outside VR (and without some sort of headtracking) I found it almost impossible to stay on the runway when trying to take off; due to torque (I think), the planes drift so much, and most planes' noses are so high that you simply don't see the runway in front of you. However, if you can just turn your head and look to the side, you get much more of a sense of how much the plane is drifting, which in turn makes it easier to stay on track.
I don't think I'll ever be particularly good at IL2: BoS, and most likely I won't play it all that much, but it does feel great just to take off, fly and (crash-)land every now and then.
Thirith on 28/4/2019 at 17:04
I've played some Doom 3 with a VR mod and it works surprisingly well. (Note that there's an installer version of the mod that is more advanced than the standalone mod files I've found on GitHub - though I have to say that I always find GitHub somewhat difficult to navigate, so perhaps I just downloaded the wrong version.) It's also the things that made Doom 3 such a departure from the earlier games - the slower pace, the relatively low number of enemies at a time - that make it work well in VR.
I've also checked out Minecraft in VR again, originally having found the game one of the only ones to make me feel queasy in VR. Turns out that a year or two of VR practice have made me immune to those problems; while the glidey locomotion is probably not ideal, it doesn't bother me any more, and it's quite cool being in those blocky worlds. If any of the TTLG gang ever feel like a Minecraft session for a change, I'd probably try to join in VR. It should be possible for VR and non-VR clients to play together.
Jeshibu on 30/4/2019 at 05:59
For me the problem with minecraft didn't feel like movement but some sort of perspective distortion, which I doubt I could get used to. Kind of like a bigger viewing angle than should be there was forced into the headset.
henke on 30/4/2019 at 16:31
Smooth locomotion always makes me queasy, and it was the same with Minecraft. Would absolutely be up for co-op at some point tho!