Live data from Hacker News

Steam Frame

store.steampowered.com

431–440 of 717 posts

Re: Steam Frame

#431
post #425
post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe something like this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuality_(product) I think I played with the 1000CS or similar in a bar or arcade at some point in early 90's

Yes! The booth depicted on the 1000CS image looks exactly how I recall it, and the screenshot looks very similar to how I remember the game (minus dragon, and mine was fully wireframe), but the map layout looks very similar. It has this Q3DM17 vibe I was talking about. Isn't this crazy, that we had this tech in ~'91 and it's still not just there yet? On similar note - around that time, mid 90s, my father also took my…

> Isn't this crazy, that we had this tech in ~'91 and it's still not just there yet?

Not really, because feeding us ads and AI slop attracted all the talent.

Re: Steam Frame

#432

The only really incredible VR experience I have had so far was Half-life Alyx. Is there anything that tier or even better these days?

I wish the answer was Thief: Legacy of Shadow but considering the war crime that was Eidos Montreal's previous outing on the franchise, I doubt it.

Re: Steam Frame

#433

Brilliant, I'm anxiously awaiting Australian pricing details (and release dates...) but could definitely seeing myself getting one of these as my first VR device, and the controller looks great too. Being able to run games on device (and on ARM) is very cool, but I wonder if there is a cheaper/lighter/longer-battery-life version of this that is stream only? That's probably a better fit for me personally, I can't imag…

I really hope it's not going to take years to be sold in Australia, like the Steam Deck took.

Re: Steam Frame

#434
post #137
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 1.5V AA li-ion batteries on the market. I bought a few to power children's toys and they have comparable capacity to alkaline batteries. At high currents they actually perform better. Cost is about 10x that of their non-rechargeable brethren, but obviously there's return on that investment.

I wasn't denying their existence. I was comparing the process of opening your device, taking out the batteries, finding their proprietary charger or hooking each individual battery up to a USB cable depending on the specific variety of battery, and them putting them back into your device is more annoying than just plugging the device into one of the half dozen USB-C chargers we all have scattered around our homes. I…

Why would I want to go the route of having to plug in the controllers and not be able to use them while I charge them versus just swapping in a set of spare, charged batteries? Rechargeable AAs have been around for decades! It's the same setup my quest 1 and 2 have, and it has never failed me, I got 4 batteries total, 2 in the charger, 2 in the headset, I swap them around when they eventually (after a looooong time) run out.

Re: Steam Frame

#435
post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Foveated streaming! That's a great idea. Back when I was in Uni, so late 80s or early 90s, my dad was Project Manager on an Air Force project for a new F-111 flight simulator, when Australia upgraded the avionics on their F-111 fighter/bombers. The sim cockpit had a spherical dome screen and a pair of Silicon Graphics Reality Engines. One of them projected an image across the entire screen at a relatively low resol…

I'll share a childhood story as well. Somewhere between '93 and '95 my father took me abroad to Germany and we visited a gaming venue. It was packed with typical arcade machines, games where you sit in a cart holding a pistol and you shoot things on the screen while cart was moving all over the place simulating bumpy ride, etc. But the highlight was a full 3D experience shooter. You got yourself into a tiny ring, 3D…

[flagged]

Re: Steam Frame

#436

The only really incredible VR experience I have had so far was Half-life Alyx. Is there anything that tier or even better these days?

Driving sims with the right setup are truly breathtaking gaming experiences. For driving, especially, even things like the weight of a headset almost add to the experience since in the real thing you are wearing a helmet. But it is a way to have a legit, e-sports level gaming experience with real-to-life controls with total VR immersion.

I once played a custom Japanese Highway map in Assetto Corsa made for nighttime cruising and was a little high and I forgot what reality was.

I used to do a lot of GoKarting at a local course before the Pandemic, and VR racing is the single most immersive video game experience that you can have. The only thing you are missing is the physical exertion and G-Forces. Even the feel of the helmet and reduced field of view is emulated by the headset. Even cheap wheels have force feedback, and you can feel the weight shifting around. You can intuitively glance around for situational awareness. If you have experience, you will naturally fall into the look at where you want to go style of skid recovery, and you will feel the tires about to skid and feel in the wheel when they line back up with your vector of motion. It all transfers so well, even real race car drivers enjoy it.

You can feel your body freak out when you hit a wall at 200mph because you misjudged the distance because you're not a real racecar driver.

Driving an open cockpit car like an old F1 car is insane. You feel like you are just hanging out in the open air. I guess we didn't have survival instincts back then.

If you have a few thousand extra dollars, you can even fix the lack of physical exertion and G-Forces!

Shooting games are super fun too because it feels rewarding to be good at actually aiming, rather than stupid mouse twitches I have never been that good at. Also because Pavlov VR mods let me play Halo 1 Blood Gulch for real and that's magic.

VR Chat is also a pretty incredible experience. When the pandemic first hit, I actually spent several weekends clubbing in VR Chat clubs.

Re: Steam Frame

#437

The only really incredible VR experience I have had so far was Half-life Alyx. Is there anything that tier or even better these days?

Driving sims with the right setup are truly breathtaking gaming experiences. For driving, especially, even things like the weight of a headset almost add to the experience since in the real thing you are wearing a helmet. But it is a way to have a legit, e-sports level gaming experience with real-to-life controls with total VR immersion.

Agreed, if you have all the sim racing equipment already adding in VR brings you basically "there". The sim rig is a rabbit hole of immersive technologies of its own, but even just a basic wheel and pedal plus a headset will get you an incredible experience.

I believe sim flight people would have the same opinions on that side of simming too. It's a uniquely ideal situation for VR. Seated with full tactile controls.

Re: Steam Frame

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving sims with the right setup are truly breathtaking gaming experiences. For driving, especially, even things like the weight of a headset almost add to the experience since in the real thing you are wearing a helmet. But it is a way to have a legit, e-sports level gaming experience with real-to-life controls with total VR immersion.

I once played a custom Japanese Highway map in Assetto Corsa made for nighttime cruising and was a little high and I forgot what reality was. I used to do a lot of GoKarting at a local course before the Pandemic, and VR racing is the single most immersive video game experience that you can have. The only thing you are missing is the physical exertion and G-Forces. Even the feel of the helmet and reduced field of view…

I have driven on tracks in real life and then the same track in VR, and all the spatial cues map perfectly. It's so close to "the same thing" that I really don't mind driving in VR more and then only paying for the occasional real life track day.

My partner also likes that I can't actually die in VR, though sometimes I still close my eyes just before an impact.

Re: Steam Frame

#439
It was so thoughtful of them to use IR tracking. Bed time gaming becomes much easier. I wonder if there was a choice between color passthrough and IR tracking and they chose the latter. Good choice!

Re: Steam Frame

#440

The only really incredible VR experience I have had so far was Half-life Alyx. Is there anything that tier or even better these days?

I totally agree with you, I'm actually doing another Alyx run after only playing it on my Index. It actually please extremely well on the Quest 3 with the Steam Link app. Seamless. This guy on X gave me some suggestions of top tier VR games: Hubris, Into The Radius, Wanderer, Blade & Sorcery, RE4 Remake, Modded Skyrim VR, Modded Minecraft, Vertigo 2, Arken Age, Half Life 1 & 2 VR, UNDERDOGS, Hitman VR, Pixel Ripped S…

Hitman is amazing insofar as the worlds are so well realised and the gameplay is excellent. But the controls are a bit pants, and I had an issue on Quest three where it was applying a foveated rendering but the mask was off (and the quest 3 doesn't have eye tracking). So it was blurry within my field of view, and sharp just next to it.
Post reply on HN