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Virtual Reality

Started by castro diaz, May 16, 2019, 04:31:12 PM

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Blue Jam

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on September 03, 2021, 01:04:24 PM
Great isn't it! Have watched quite a few of my favourite films that I never got a chance to see at the cinema and it's a damn good replication. The main environment I use has an exit door to the left and I sometimes find myself glancing over at it, stupidly thinking someone is going to walk in. It does feel a bit eerie sitting in an empty theatre.

I have the opposite problem with Amazon VR's cinema environment. It has no doors at all, and looking for an exit made me a bit claustrophobic.

QuoteI found that a bit annoying. The FPS scene definitely has a lot of individuals I don't want to spend time in VR with (sometimes because they're kids, other times just because they're just really shouty anti-social freaks). Onward is a very similar game that has a single player/campaign element.

I was put off Onward after reading a review saying players keep drawing spunking cocks on the map. I really don't like being reminded how juvenile my hobby is, guys.

Ferris

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on September 03, 2021, 01:04:24 PM
I found that a bit annoying. The FPS scene definitely has a lot of individuals I don't want to spend time in VR with (sometimes because they're kids, other times just because they're just really shouty anti-social freaks). Onward is a very similar game that has a single player/campaign element.

If I could turn that off I'd probably be more interested. Downloaded it for now (it's free so why not) but not sure how much time I'll actually spend playing it.

nugget

The VR cinema (Bigscreen) is surprisingly useful. I think the image quality is slightly compromised by the resolution of the display, but it still looks pretty good. The best thing about it, for me, is that it completely isolates you from outside distractions, and I feel less compelled to do habitual things like constantly check my phone. I normally struggle to watch anything that goes on longer than 1 hour these days, and the Quest helps a lot with that. With a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, you can totally block out the outside world and just concentrate on whatever you're watching. I'd really like to take it next time I have to fly long haul, but I think I'd feel a bit daft sitting in economy with a VR headset strapped to my face.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: nugget on September 03, 2021, 02:03:28 PM
The VR cinema (Bigscreen) is surprisingly useful. I think the image quality is slightly compromised by the resolution of the display, but it still looks pretty good. The best thing about it, for me, is that it completely isolates you from outside distractions, and I feel less compelled to do habitual things like constantly check my phone. I normally struggle to watch anything that goes on longer than 1 hour these days, and the Quest helps a lot with that. With a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, you can totally block out the outside world and just concentrate on whatever you're watching. I'd really like to take it next time I have to fly long haul, but I think I'd feel a bit daft sitting in economy with a VR headset strapped to my face.

Yeah I get distracted a lot (mostly "what have I seen them in", "I wonder where this was filmed" searches on my phone) but not with the VR headset on. The resolution on the Quest 2 is almost 4k, so if you have a 4k output from your PC/laptop or enough room to fit a 4k file on the headset itself you can get better quality, although I find that 1080p still looks great. I use the Virtual Desktop environments generally over Bigscreen as I find the latter a bit cartoony. But they're all good and Bigscreen does have more options for customization.

Ferris

I've tried to watch a few things on my Quest and it's not for me - I find it very isolating. Managed about 5 minutes next to my wife on the sofa before feeling absurd and switching it off.

I bet it's good if you're really into a film or something though.

Blue Jam

Oh gawd I wouldn't watch a film in VR with anyone else present. I get self-consciousness enough wearing the Quest 2 when I'm all on my Bill.

El Unicornio, I can relate to absolutely all of that. One reason I love video games so much is that I'm not a casual gamer and it feels like a session focusing on some immersive role-playing FPS does my shot-to-fuck attention span some good. I don't get that watching films on a proper telly, especially on Amazon Prime where you can answer the question of "Ooooh, what else have I seen him in? Who is that?" just by pressing pause.

Shame so many films are three fucking hours long these days though, VR and my eyes and brain are not built for that.

buntyman

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on September 03, 2021, 02:28:36 PM
Yeah I get distracted a lot (mostly "what have I seen them in", "I wonder where this was filmed" searches on my phone) but not with the VR headset on. The resolution on the Quest 2 is almost 4k, so if you have a 4k output from your PC/laptop or enough room to fit a 4k file on the headset itself you can get better quality, although I find that 1080p still looks great. I use the Virtual Desktop environments generally over Bigscreen as I find the latter a bit cartoony. But they're all good and Bigscreen does have more options for customization.

I didn't know the Quest 2's resolution was that good. I have a Quest 1 and find that the resolution isn't all that great for watching films. It's also a bit uncomfortable to sit in a stationary position to watch something for more than half an hour. I like it to watch short episodes of things or things where picture quality isn't all that important. I really enjoyed watching some of the National Theatre shows (in a couple of sittings) that they put on Youtube last year as well as a couple of the Daniel Kitson Vimeo stage shows. Also, if you haven't tried watching a 3D film on your Quest, I'd strongly recommend downloading one and trying it out. Dredd and the Kraftwerk concert film are worth a try for starters.

AsparagusTrevor

The Quest 2 resolution is quite an astounding upgrade over the first Quest, it's hard to explain how much sharper it is. I only wish we still had the deep blacks of the first model's OLED screen, that would be perfect.

In other news, they've doubled the storage-size in the base model now which is pretty good, going from 64GB to 128GB but for the same price.

I originally bought the 64GB Q2 on launch and soon regretted not going with the 256GB storage as I found, especially with games such as Walking Dead Saints & Sinners, the storage filled up pretty fast. My wife had been using my old Q1 but decided she wanted an upgrade, so she got my old Q2 as the storage was ample for her usage and I bought the 256GB.

Blue Jam

Oooooh:

https://www.roadtovr.com/resident-evil-4-oculus-quest-2-release-date-trailer/

Played one of the RE games on the Xbone, didn't like it much, but in VR? Now we're talking.

Ferris

Sounds fucking TERRIFYING. It put the wind up be in 2007 in Wii, I bet VR will be another level.

Bring it on.

AsparagusTrevor

RE7 was one of my favourite VR experiences so I'm definitely looking forward to this (very different game styles though)

Ferris

Does it scare the absolute shit out of you though? I'm a wimp when it comes to these things, not sure I'll be able to cope.

AsparagusTrevor

Yeah, but it's scary in the way I imagine roller coasters being for people who aren't massive wusses with rides like I am. With VR you've always got that safety net of reality in the back of your mind so it doesn't get unbearable.

I suppose it's different for everyone but it's horror where VR shines for me. I love all the dark, creepy, dread-inducing and jumpy stuff. I played the Kitchen demo with a massive grin on my face whereas my wife lasted about three seconds before scrambling to take the headset off. But then she'll happily go and speed around on some massive scaffolding at Alton Towers while I wait for her on solid ground. However I do enjoy a VR roller coaster, including the weird stomach feeling.

Ferris

On a spectrum, I suspect I am much closer to the "3 seconds then scramble to take off" end.

If it's cheap I might give it a go after I finish Outer Wilds.

peanutbutter

Tetris Effect on Oculus Quest was bumped up to Tetris Effect Connected for free recently, finally bumped up the resolution for the Quest 2 as well. All in all it's a pretty drastic improvement.


I imagine RE4's commercial performance will have a pretty big impact on future Quest development (unless the game's just a big lazy dud). If it does well whatever remaining PC VR development stuff there is will move over there, if it doesn't it might stunt the whole market for a few years as no one will be able to justify making a high price VR game.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: AsparagusTrevor on October 02, 2021, 07:37:56 PM
With VR you've always got that safety net of reality in the back of your mind so it doesn't get unbearable.



I completely lose sense of reality when I play video games, and in particular VR games, so I think I'll have to give it a miss. I can handle stuff like Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners though

Blue Jam

Imagine Alien: Isolation in VR. Brrrrrrrr.

El Unicornio, mang

I mean it would be amazing, but also I would have to stop after the first few sections. Would play if they modded it to remove the alien...

Blue Jam

Ditto for Subnautica. It would be like a stunningly beautiful waterboarding.

bomb_dog

Gave iVRy a go last week - it's a (comparably) poor-mans oculus in that it streams Steam VR games to a headset with your phone in.

It worked ok, better than expected, but even so, I play American Truck Simulator with three screens and although I could look around the cab and gawp at the scenery by moving my head, it seemed like I was using kids cardboard binoculars to look at anything. Far nicer without and it's put thoughts of the oculus out of my mind for the foreseeable.

Blue Jam

Sorry, but it sounds like the Quest 2 would absolutely piss on that.

Pinball

Hopefully we will eventually get VR headsets with the resolution of this:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/goovis-lite-crystal-clear-personal-3d-cinema

The fresnel lens of VR sets just isn't good enough for big screen movies really, is it?

buntyman

Quote from: peanutbutter on October 02, 2021, 08:24:37 PM
Tetris Effect on Oculus Quest was bumped up to Tetris Effect Connected for free recently, finally bumped up the resolution for the Quest 2 as well. All in all it's a pretty drastic improvement.

I picked this up in the recent sale having recently and it's fantastic isn't it? I only have the quest 1 so the resolution is a bit iffy but better than I expected. The multiplayer modes are especially great although I think I'm at a bit of a disadvantage as I think most people are on consoles and the quest controllers are a bit imprecise. Anyone use a normal Bluetooth controller with their quest?

Ferris


Blue Jam

Yes, I'm eagerly awaiting reports too. It's £30 and while that's not cheap it's probably fair. Might wait until the next discount code is out. Also I'm a wuss and while I love horror games on console, the robots in Robo Recall scare me enough and this might be a bit much for me.

Why aren't trailers in the Oculus store in VR? Bit of a missed trick, no?

Ferris

I've seen a few gameplay trailers and it looks good but terrifying. Waiting for a CaBber to talk me into getting this because I still have a load of games to play through so I'm in no rush.

Pinball

@ Oculus Rift 2 owners.

How annoying is the requirement to sync with Facebook and phone, with all the usual FB surveillance? I think you can only use this if you log in via FB?

How easily can you add 3D movies, and how (via USB/SD possible)? I'm assuming only side-by-side 3D works, and playing 3D BluRays isn't possible.

The price is really good for what it is, so I might buy a Rift 2 imminently, but the walled garden of Facebook seems a bit limiting. I'm a huge 3D fan, so in an ideal world would use this to view 3D content.

I was playing around with the Goovis Lite headset last weekend. Claims to be the best resolution available. Not a VR headset though- for movies etc. I'm curious to compare it with the Rift 2. I was a bit disappointed with it functionally- no built-in headphones, cable too short to connect HDMI (so I got an extender), cannot play 3D BluRays!  Yes, a 3D headset that can't play BluRays... It only plays side-by-side 3D, so you need to torrent those BluRays. 2D is easy though of course. But for watching movies, I think sitting close to a 4K monitor is just as good!

AsparagusTrevor

My neighbour got Resident Evil 4 for the Quest 2 and I gave it a go at the weekend. I only played for about half an hour, from the start up to defeating El Gigante, but it seems brilliant, honestly everything a fan could've hoped for. The gameplay has been translated really well to VR, the controls are smooth and intuitive and I was quite impressed that the graphics actually seemed enhanced form the GC original. The sense of immersion in-game is top notch, and the scale of everything feels spot on. El Gigante feels truly massive! Clue's in the name I suppose.

The only thing I didn't like at all is, most of the cutscenes and QTEs are played out on a flat screen in front of you, like watching on a TV screen. It's fairly jarring sometimes. It's a bit of a weird design, I wish they could've just let them play out in 3D VR. There are parts like when you roundhouse-kick an enemy that switch to a third person camera, but still in 3D and I think the cut-scenes would've played better that way. I can only guess they're still using the old trick of pre-rendered videos that look like they're in-engine.

AsparagusTrevor

Quote from: Pinball on October 22, 2021, 10:14:50 PM
@ Oculus Rift 2 owners.

How annoying is the requirement to sync with Facebook and phone, with all the usual FB surveillance? I think you can only use this if you log in via FB?

How easily can you add 3D movies, and how (via USB/SD possible)? I'm assuming only side-by-side 3D works, and playing 3D BluRays isn't possible.

The price is really good for what it is, so I might buy a Rift 2 imminently, but the walled garden of Facebook seems a bit limiting. I'm a huge 3D fan, so in an ideal world would use this to view 3D content.

Do you mean Quest 2? As far as I know there isn't a Rift 2 and the other Rift was discontinued in favour of the Quest being a jack of all trades. I don't find the Facebook integration too obnoxious myself, I've had a FB account for a while but I hardly use it for anything social, only really use it to log into my Quest now. It's only like using a PSN account or an Xbox account really.

Ripped video files will play great on it, for 3D it supports side-by-side or over-under 3D formats. You can easily copy them directly across to the headset's storage (via a PC, or an OTG cable and USB stick), and watch on one of the video apps (there's a basic built-in one, or several others in the store). You can even make it look like you're watching in a cinema if you want. There's also a free social app called Big Screen where you can join rooms where other users are streaming films and TV shows, and there's also a selection of official movie rentals on there.

It's not a simple task to directly watch 3D blu-rays on the Quest 2, as you'd either have to rip them from disc and encode into a video file or maybe you could hook the Quest up to a PC and watch through a blu-ray app, although I'm not sure what the options are for doing that. Definitely the easiest way to watch 3D blu-rays is probably with a Playstation 4 and PSVR, as you can simply hook the VR up and stick a disc in, but the screen quality isn't great on the PSVR compared to the Quest headsets.

Blue Jam

Quote from: AsparagusTrevor on October 25, 2021, 01:22:26 PM
It's not a simple task to directly watch 3D blu-rays on the Quest 2, as you'd either have to rip them from disc and encode into a video file or maybe you could hook the Quest up to a PC and watch through a blu-ray app, although I'm not sure what the options are for doing that.

Virtual Desktop.