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VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

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Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#11
The secret to Beat Saber is that the player's physical and virtual world are locked together at all times. You're standing on a small platform and can't go anywhere. Thus, it doesn't cause nausea. Or disorientation. Or falls. Even when the player is in very active motion.[1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1sw4lfwFw

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#13

> So if Beat Saber scoring isn’t about timing, then how does it work? The scoring system is actually based on motion. In fact, it’s actually designed to make you move in specific ways if you want the highest score. > The key scoring factors are how broad your swing is and how even your cut is through the center of the block. So Beat Saber throws these cubes at you and challenges you to swing broadly and precisely. Oh…

"Maybe it wouldn't have been if I'd gone through the tutorial instead of picking up from my friend's game save?"

As far as I know this is not explained anywhere in the game itself. Coming from DDR I finally twigged that something was up when I did a full combo and realized I was still light years from the #1 score, and realized there must be more to it than that. Obvious in hindsight, but easy to miss. And I would not have guessed how much it wants your swing to be rather large; scoring [1] is 70 points for a 100 degree approach, 30 points for a 60 degree follow through, and 15 points based on accuracy in hitting the center. Nice in the sense that it creates a lot of headroom for high scores, but most people should not obsess over score too much. The swing sizes it "wants" get absurd pretty quickly as the boxes start coming faster.

[1]: https://bsmg.wiki/ranking-guide.html#scoring

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#14
post #11

The secret to Beat Saber is that the player's physical and virtual world are locked together at all times. You're standing on a small platform and can't go anywhere. Thus, it doesn't cause nausea. Or disorientation. Or falls. Even when the player is in very active motion.[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1sw4lfwFw

Another type of game with this characteristic is Table tennis simulators. Although the reduced field of view is a limitation, it just feels like wearing a strange helmet. Inner ear still matches the visual picture.

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#15
Huh yeah I guess I never thought of it as not a rhythm game. At higher difficulty it’s really more of a DANCING game, if you think about what you’re doing with your body. I think the observation about the scoring system backs this up too, because it’s based on direction and speed of motion, not timing. Of course you need to have some timing mastery to hit the blocks, but the scoring is not based on it.

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#17
post #13

> So if Beat Saber scoring isn’t about timing, then how does it work? The scoring system is actually based on motion. In fact, it’s actually designed to make you move in specific ways if you want the highest score. > The key scoring factors are how broad your swing is and how even your cut is through the center of the block. So Beat Saber throws these cubes at you and challenges you to swing broadly and precisely. Oh…

"Maybe it wouldn't have been if I'd gone through the tutorial instead of picking up from my friend's game save?" As far as I know this is not explained anywhere in the game itself. Coming from DDR I finally twigged that something was up when I did a full combo and realized I was still light years from the #1 score, and realized there must be more to it than that. Obvious in hindsight, but easy to miss. And I would no…

It is literally explained in the first five minutes of the turorial

Or you can intuit from the score displayed after you cut each block

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#18
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone I know playing beatsaber has the modded version :p

Beat Saber and Meta aren't responsible for that. You won't get sued for that just like singing Taylor Swift in the shower is permissible.

I mean they are. They allow hundreds of thousands of players to sideload a modded APK in using their developer mode. This is detectable but they tacitly allow it because it sells a lot of copies of the game and the headset.

And I am thankful they do!

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#19

> So if Beat Saber scoring isn’t about timing, then how does it work? The scoring system is actually based on motion. In fact, it’s actually designed to make you move in specific ways if you want the highest score. > The key scoring factors are how broad your swing is and how even your cut is through the center of the block. So Beat Saber throws these cubes at you and challenges you to swing broadly and precisely. Oh…

Hah I also skipped the tutorial and was lost for a while the first time I played.

Re: VR Design Unpacked: The secret to Beat Saber's fun

#20
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Maybe it wouldn't have been if I'd gone through the tutorial instead of picking up from my friend's game save?" As far as I know this is not explained anywhere in the game itself. Coming from DDR I finally twigged that something was up when I did a full combo and realized I was still light years from the #1 score, and realized there must be more to it than that. Obvious in hindsight, but easy to miss. And I would no…

It is literally explained in the first five minutes of the turorial Or you can intuit from the score displayed after you cut each block

To be fair the tutorial wasn't always there. And when it was added I had no reason to go through it. Not the parent though.
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