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Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#51

Post by arielweisberg »

irq wrote: post #48
arielweisberg wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't really had the blocked off issue. With the Rift I can hear things outside the headset and I can pop up one ear to talk more easily. The games are mirrored to our 65" TV so my spouse can see what I see and enjoy games vicariously the way she usually does. They enjoy when I play horror games and let loose with the color commentary. I actually pulled her into the game and play Elite with her now. I'm in VR and…

The HTC Vive has this (instantly available full screen pass through of a camera mounted on the headset).

That's great. Hopefully Oculus moves towards feature parity. Can you activate it using the wands or an Xbox controller? Does it work well if you are in game?

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#52

Post by microman »

Most of the replies here focus on the gaming experience. What about for entertainment (don't mean porn)? I'm unfamiliar with the Vive/Oculus ecosystem but is there not a huge opportunity for live content (concerts, sports etc.)? I'm also a developer and can see a huge amount of potential for all sorts of content-based applications.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#53

Post by lfowles »

arielweisberg wrote: post #51
irq wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The HTC Vive has this (instantly available full screen pass through of a camera mounted on the headset).

That's great. Hopefully Oculus moves towards feature parity. Can you activate it using the wands or an Xbox controller? Does it work well if you are in game?

Wands only (I think it may even be a beta feature or something I had to specifically activate in developer settings). Here are some screenshots of the various front camera uses:

http://media.bestofmicro.com/P/6/571146/original/room-view-c... - This view is overlaid on the game when you doubletap the system button on the wand. Edit: It can also be overlaid automatically when you approach chaperone bounds, but it's incredibly distracting when set up that way.

http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mini-cam... - This view is available when in the "pause menu" when the front camera is enabled. It's a little weird, because the view is attached to the wand but the camera is attached to your head.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#54

Post by irq »

arielweisberg wrote: post #51
irq wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The HTC Vive has this (instantly available full screen pass through of a camera mounted on the headset).

That's great. Hopefully Oculus moves towards feature parity. Can you activate it using the wands or an Xbox controller? Does it work well if you are in game?

I haven't played with an xbox controller on my Vive yet, but yes you can activate it with the wands, you double press the lowest button.

This feature isn't enabled by default though, you have to turn it on in the SteamVR settings (it's easy to find).

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#55

Post by lfowles »

mrfusion wrote: post #34
cven714 wrote: post #7

HTC Vive owner. Mine is mostly on the shelf. I bring it out when new people visit and want to give it a try, but I haven't played otherwise. It's still a good time and the novelty isn't completely worn off...games like Chamber 19 (Xortex from The Lab) or Fantastic Contraption are a lot fun once I get myself to turn it on. But I haven't played a really compelling game--I'm hoping Budget Cuts is as good as it looks. Th…

Yeah plus it seems like a bear to get set up. Plug in base stations. Turn on steamvr wait two minutes for it to detect everything. Move the controllers around so it detects them. Put on the mask. Adjust the straps just right. Wonder if ipd is really correct ...

It's not quite that bad. Assuming base stations are already plugged in, I'm generally up and in Steam in 1 minute. Only step necessary to detect controllers is turning them on. Straps are annoying if you play with others though.

IPD is easy once you know "the trick": close one eye, adjust IPD until lines as viewed straight ahead are sharp.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#56

Post by cgusto »

I play it a few times a week. Project Cars and DiRT are what I spend most of the time with. I'm also enjoying Chronos right now, which is more of a RPG.

Echoing what a few others have said, there are not a lot of great AAA titles for either the Vive or Rift. This will change over time.

Are you excited about VR, or are you looking somewhere just to make money? If you're into this, then yes, I would recommend you learn about developing for VR. No one I know has tried the Rift and just shrugged their shoulders and said "that's kinda cool'. Everyone, even my most techie friends, drop their jaws and lose their minds. That's exciting.

This is a brand new field with tons of potential. That being said, I don't think it will be a very lucrative market to indie devs for sometime.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#57

Post by Artlav »

Not really. I never found anything "playable" for Oculus Rift i bought a year ago.

I use it for VR development and show-offing at various events, which in my case are various experience sims like base jumping from a space elevator or riding a rocket-powered chair.

Doesn't have much of a replay value, especially if you know what is coming.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#58

Post by marssaxman »

Still? God no, that was twenty-five years ago.

Oh wait - Oculus. You're talking about all this new stuff that's coming up and might actually make VR work this time? No, I haven't gotten back into it again, yet. Still waiting to see if it's actually going to take off.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#59

Post by lucb1e »

troymc wrote: post #43
phodo wrote: post #30

Putting this out there: This is one of those threads that would be interesting to go back and read 3 to 5 years from now... at that point we'd have at least one killer app that redefines what VR is, we would have a sense of what the emergent mechanics that resonate with folks are, etc. Similar to reading old mobile threads, before the inflection point hit and we got the killer apps / patterns we have today. Or readin…

It's also possible that there is no killer app, and the whole thing just stays niche, like 3D movies or Second Life.

> niche, like 3D movies

I don't know where you live, but in the Netherlands at least they still advertise with a movie being in 3d and you pay a surcharge for viewing the 3d version, on top of the glasses (one time purchase).

I wouldn't mind so much, preferring 2d anyway, but often the 2d version is not even available...

Re: Ask HN: Do you still play with VR actively?

#60

Post by eddieroger »

lfowles wrote: post #55
mrfusion wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah plus it seems like a bear to get set up. Plug in base stations. Turn on steamvr wait two minutes for it to detect everything. Move the controllers around so it detects them. Put on the mask. Adjust the straps just right. Wonder if ipd is really correct ...

It's not quite that bad. Assuming base stations are already plugged in, I'm generally up and in Steam in 1 minute. Only step necessary to detect controllers is turning them on. Straps are annoying if you play with others though. IPD is easy once you know "the trick": close one eye, adjust IPD until lines as viewed straight ahead are sharp.

Do you let your base stations sleep? I have mine set to (yay moving parts with limited lifespans), and I agree that there's a noticeable delay between when I click the VR button and when I'm ready to put my headset on.

I did not know the IPD trick. I'm tempted to go try that right now. Which kind of aligns me to cven714's point - mine sits there. I have fun when I play, but I just got up off my couch after deciding not to want to go through the full dance of starting VR up. I know I have fun, but I need something enthralling to make me want to play.

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