GearVR, Oculus Rift etc.

[Steve Green]

Anyone had a play with the VR products that are starting to surface?

I bought a GearVR and Samsung S6 over Christmas, and although the games I've played so far are pretty lightweight mobile ones (obviously), it's interesting to see where it goes.

There are still issues with comfort, sharpness of the screen etc, but the head tracking works really well.

Also I've managed to get stills and animations from our Stront short onto it - very cool to have a virtual Doghouse in stereo 360, with a life-size Johnny Alpha standing there.

[ThryllSeekyr]

I once sent out for the earliest build of the Occulus Rift and found it very hard to use. needed up selling the bloody thing for one quarter of what Paid for it. One quarter of the four hundred dollars I paid for it.

[Steve Green]

Well, that would have been the developer's kit, which is aimed at developers.

So not really aimed at end users/consumers.

[Banners]

The Oculus Rift seems a fair price, but after using their compatibility tool it seems I'd have to get a new GFX card and CPU, so not sure I could justify it—even as a business expense(!)

[ThryllSeekyr]

why I sold it really, and if I wasn't so desperate to get rid of the thing. I would have taken it somewhere else.

Bloody Cash Converters in town are a bunch of pirates.

The reason I brought it at that time was that I wanted to test the earlier build of Elite Dangerous using one of those things.

[Steve Green]

Not tried the compatibility thing yet - sure my PC would be OK, but would need a new graphics card - still, 3D is my work so it's easily a business expense.

Still only using it for pre-rendered stills/video of my own content anyway, so the samsung is fine - plus it's portable if I want to take it to a convention at the Planet Replicas stand - had the Mekon at life size on it, which was pretty nice.

[Pyroxian]

Bloody Cash Converters in town are a bunch of pirates.

Cash Converters everywhere are a complete rip-off. Esp. now that E-bay considerably eats into their profit margin. They were probably selling it that same day for the $400 you paid for it.

I had a quick play on Elite Dangerous on a DK1, and was very impressed - the sense of scale you get in VR is utterly amazing (That space station is HUGE). Sadly, also can't justify the £500 quid to upgrade my PC and then the OR on top of that

[Steve Green]

Yeah, I think the Rift is a hard sell for the masses - I'm not sure how Sony's offering compares, which is what Rebellion is developing Battlezone for I believe.

The Vive seems like a lot of grief - setting up sensors and clearing space.

The GearVR is relatively low-powered, but it's a lot less hassle - just sit on a swivel chair at most.

[Banners]

I once sent out for the earliest build of the Occulus Rift and found it very hard to use...

Given that we're still looking at the scrolling wonderment that is "GIFMaker.me" on all your posts, maybe it's not surprising that the Rift proved tricky. ;-)

[ThryllSeekyr]

I once sent out for the earliest build of the Occulus Rift and found it very hard to use...

Given that we're still looking at the scrolling wonderment that is "GIFMaker.me" on all your posts, maybe it's not surprising that the Rift proved tricky. ;-)

I thought it was because Gif-Maker is free.....

[JayzusB.Christ]

Necropost I'm afraid (Thryllseekyr - now there's a blast from the past), but I've just tried the Oculus for the first time.  A couple of minutes of a horror game had me literally yelping in fear and ripping off the headset with a pounding heart - me, a jaded horror fan who hasn't been scared by a movie in years.

I didn't fare much better in a little demo called Face Your Fears where a huge robot rips up the very high building I'm in and picks me up in its claw.  For a man with vertigo, looking down at the city below is a truly blood-curdling experience.  I didn't last long there either.

[Steve Green]

I know what you mean.

I got a little more used to it over time, but the combination of lack of peripheral vision and things getting up in your face is pretty unnerving even with relatively crude graphics.

There's a Face Your Fears which is pretty much the Birds with zombie crows attacking you in a phone box, that's pretty intense.

[Woolly]

Got an HTC Vive myself, and yeah the cables and suchlike are a bit of a nuisance. BUT...

...it's fucking amazing!
I'm currently enjoying The Lab from Valve - as with most of the best VR it's essentially a bunch of tech demos, but bloody good ones. Very much recommended.

Moss is a beautiful platformer that has been developed just for VR, where you control a mouse who has a sword. Very much recommended.

Google Earth goes without saying. Not brilliant, but bloody good.

And the Nvidia Funhouse is OK too, but again is essentially a tech demo.

Things that you think would work perfectly, like Skyrim and Fallout, actually tend to be a bit shonky IMO.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Hmmmm. I might just buy one for myself.