VR / AR Gaming Headset FAQ (Virtual Reality Gaming)

its basically the lamborgini of VR. huge FOV 1440p or 5k to the eye, its a beast

Yea I'm looking at it right now. Looks like its an IMAX product, basically IMAX in a headset. Looks ferocious bro but whats the pricetag on that bad boy going to be?
 
Yea I'm looking at it right now. Looks like its an IMAX product, basically IMAX in a headset. Looks ferocious bro but whats the pricetag on that bad boy going to be?


i think it only entered mass production rescently. no word on price
 
i think it only entered mass production rescently. no word on price

Alright, I've found what I can on it and I have to admit it looks pretty damn sweet but that's not fair. I can't fairly judge hot computer technology. Its like showing a souped up 58 Chevy to a motorhead. I'm skeptical of the price point (My best guess is they want it under $1000 so I'll say $999 lol) and I would like to see some reviews and be reassured of its reliability and compatibility. At first, games were either Oculus, or Vive, but not both. Now they are moving to make Vive games and Oculus games available for both platforms so I would have to make sure the compatibility for games would be good for the StarVR.

But yea, it looks amazing. What can I say.

150528_STAR-VR_Reveal_Teaser-806x300.jpg
 
Sorry @Madmick I didn't see this thread or I would have posted some stuff here as well. I do run the HTC Vive set up and if anyone wants to talk about the software, hardware, games, set up, pro's, con's, or whatever, let me know.
Don't sweat that. If I didn't like it in the other thread, I have the power to move the post, not merely copy it. I didn't see any issue with it being in both threads, so I copied.
 
My oculus has been in its box for at least 5 months, collecting dust. Are there even any great games out for it currently? To be honest, Edge of nowhere and Dirt Rally were the only two I owned that didnt feel like glorified tech demos.

I guess I also disliked the uncomfortableness of the headset and cord and the super noticeable screendoor effect. I regret hypi g myself up for VR. Playing on a large projection screen is really where it is at.
 
Ok, this thread actually made me pursue the latest oculus catalog and I said fuck it and pulled the trigger on the oculus touch controllers a few days ago.

I set them up last night and I take back what I said i the previous post. VR with tracked controllers is fucking sick. The whole seated experience with an xbox controller is what threw me off.

The FOV and graphics still suck but the shooting games are so fucking sick. Standing and moving your arms brings an awesomeness to the experience that I was missing before.

Plus the soundtrack for robo recall is fucking insane. I love the part that sounds like the track from Big Trouble in Little China.

 
The AMD Radeon RX480 has a HDMI port just for VR.
Are there VR systems for PC ?

I don't know anything about it and I understand most
sytems on the market like Occ R are stand alone systems ?
 
The AMD Radeon RX480 has a HDMI port just for VR.
Are there VR systems for PC ?

I don't know anything about it and I understand most
sytems on the market like Occ R are stand alone systems ?


HTC, facebook VR and the StarVR which is gonna be the big dick verison
 
The AMD Radeon RX480 has a HDMI port just for VR.
Are there VR systems for PC ?

I don't know anything about it and I understand most
sytems on the market like Occ R are stand alone systems ?
Yes. Sort of. You're reaching for something right in front of your nose.

HTC Steam and Oculus Rift are the PC options. You need an incredibly powerful PC to motor their engines. For that reason nobody considers them "standalone systems". If they were standalone, then the necessary processors to power software sold on those platforms would be supplied in the platforms themselves. For the same reason, I wouldn't consider the PSVR a "standalone system". You need a PS4 to run it-- preferably a PS4 Pro.

Oculus Rift, because Zuckerberg bought it, and because something like 80% of his business exists on smartphones, I'm sure is keen to adapt their platform to smartphones include iPhones and Androids that use xARM processors, not Intel or AMD processors. He also has a dozen operating system to encounter. He is cross-platform, so that is his nightmare. I imagine HTC is more streamlined and focused on the PC market and Windows (for now) in their approach.

Furthermore, to speak of the devil, I think this is an opportunity for every gamer to read the writing on the wall. The HTC Vive is alternatively known as the "SteamVR headset" because Valve is the co-developer of that product, and yet 2016 ended with no Linux support for the Vive. They just launched SteamVR beta support in February for developers to implement at their behest. This is the company that created the SteamVR operating system, and even they don't give a shit about Linux. I feel like we learned this lesson, powerfully, with the Steambox fiasco, but if you needed a reminder, this is it.

Stick to Windows, kids.
 
I've only tried the ps4 vr and its actually much better than I expected. graphics aren't great but the immersion works really well.

now if only there were some actual games....

can't believe they expect this to be a success with nothing but puzzle games and tech demos.
 
Ok, this thread actually made me pursue the latest oculus catalog and I said fuck it and pulled the trigger on the oculus touch controllers a few days ago.

I set them up last night and I take back what I said i the previous post. VR with tracked controllers is fucking sick. The whole seated experience with an xbox controller is what threw me off.

The FOV and graphics still suck but the shooting games are so fucking sick. Standing and moving your arms brings an awesomeness to the experience that I was missing before.

Plus the soundtrack for robo recall is fucking insane. I love the part that sounds like the track from Big Trouble in Little China.


Yeah, the tracked controllers make all the difference in the world. Check out Sportsbar VR if you enjoy pool, it's great.
Also the Dota 2 VR spectate client is a fantastic way to watch dota.
 
Yes. Sort of. You're reaching for something right in front of your nose.

HTC Steam and Oculus Rift are the PC options. You need an incredibly powerful PC to motor their engines. For that reason nobody considers them "standalone systems". If they were standalone, then the necessary processors to power software sold on those platforms would be supplied in the platforms themselves. For the same reason, I wouldn't consider the PSVR a "standalone system". You need a PS4 to run it-- preferably a PS4 Pro.

Oculus Rift, because Zuckerberg bought it, and because something like 80% of his business exists on smartphones, I'm sure is keen to adapt their platform to smartphones include iPhones and Androids that use xARM processors, not Intel or AMD processors. He also has a dozen operating system to encounter. He is cross-platform, so that is his nightmare. I imagine HTC is more streamlined and focused on the PC market and Windows (for now) in their approach.

Furthermore, to speak of the devil, I think this is an opportunity for every gamer to read the writing on the wall. The HTC Vive is alternatively known as the "SteamVR headset" because Valve is the co-developer of that product, and yet 2016 ended with no Linux support for the Vive. They just launched SteamVR beta support in February for developers to implement at their behest. This is the company that created the SteamVR operating system, and even they don't give a shit about Linux. I feel like we learned this lesson, powerfully, with the Steambox fiasco, but if you needed a reminder, this is it.

Stick to Windows, kids.

Is there any difference in the games you can play between the HTC and Occulus rift?
 
Is there any difference in the games you can play between the HTC and Occulus rift?
  • The HTC Vive is on the SteamVR platform, but ironically this runs only on Windows, not on SteamOS (Valve's proprietary Linux fork OS developed for their SteamBoxes).
  • Meanwhile, the Oculus Rift runs on its own drivers, instead of the operating systems, so perhaps it will port more easily, which would make sense considering Facebook's universal presence, but for now it is also capable of running on top of only Windows, and MacOS/Linux support are planned for the future.
  • This also makes more sense of why Samsung teamed with the Oculus Rift developers for their GearVR since they would have wanted someone who could protect their joint developed technology as proprietary, but could easily adapt this to another company's operating system (i.e. Android via ABC's Google).
  • Google is itself developing its own Daydream VR on its Android platform for versions 7.0 and later.
  • Sony is developing its own VR technology. Everything required for the PSVR has the Sony brand on it: system and headset.

It's not clear to me how easy it is for developers to port games for one system from another. Perhaps someone like @PEB could explain more about that. He was intensely interested in the VR technology. But since it's all different operating systems and runtime environments, I think you have to assume that a game released for one system is unlikely to be ported to any other. Even the Oculus Rift has forked versions of its VR platform for both Windows and Samsung's Touchwiz variation of Android.

So maybe GearVR games will be more easily ported to the HTC Vive since they share the Oculus Rift as a common denominator; maybe GearVR and DaydreamVR games will see healthier crossover because they share Android as a common denominator; maybe the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift will see healthier crossover because they share Microsoft Windows as a common denominator; maybe PSVR games will see healthier crossover with the Vive and Oculus because AMD is a common denominator.

Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_Oculus_Rift_support
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTC_Vive_games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_VR_games
So far, it appears that the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift have the highest crossover. Many other games are available HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PSVR, and GearVR. Example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Secret

So...tough to answer. Kind of a clusterfuck. Looks like cross-platform development isn't much more of an issue than it is for most other games, surprisingly.
 
Is there any difference in the games you can play between the HTC and Occulus rift?

Vive games run on both headsets since Valve maintains support for oculus in steamVR, so no need to port if you target steamvr.
Oculus store games would run fine in the Vive if Oculus/Facebook decided to support it.
Since they don't, you need https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive to play Oculus exclusive games on the vive.

Personally I refuse to buy games on the oculus store since it's not that long ago they implemented hardware DRM specifically to block vive users from accessing games they bought, which is beyond shitty.
So, basically, only Oculus has exclusives, unless you're willing to buy games from the oculus store you need third party software to use.
 
I read that there is a Star Trek VR multiplayer
bridge commander simulation, sounds cool
 
It's not clear to me how easy it is for developers to port games for one system from another.

Vive / Oculus games use the same development kits / engines. Porting them is as easy as switching the headset on your computer, etc.
 
its basically the lamborgini of VR. huge FOV 1440p or 5k to the eye, its a beast

Sure for browsing the internet, watching videos? It might be better. But no one will be able to run games at 5k per eye / 90hz.
 
Vive / Oculus games use the same development kits / engines. Porting them is as easy as switching the headset on your computer, etc.
Nice, that explains the crossover.
 
Nice, that explains the crossover.

I'm sure someone more educated could provide a better answer, and possibly even an alternative to what I'm saying (some exclusives may use proprietary engines, but even that wouldn't change much, the HMD is just a display).

I got into it with the Croteam developers a year back over their overpriced "ports". They released Serious Sam 1-3 with minor VR functionality (room scale / motion controls). They charged way too much, pretended it was a lot of work (it's not) and started lashing out at the community.

Porting a game to VR is as easy as porting a game to 4k, or Eyefinity / Nvidia Surround. As in there won't be so much of a port at all, rather a discrepancy in the interface or game play that was never intended to be viewed in that capacity. When you add in motion controls and room scale? Sure it gets more complicated, but honestly, not by much.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/vrtk-virtual-reality-toolkit-vr-toolkit-64131



Not to take away from any of the developers porting stuff, but it's practically point and click. You can make any game a VR game with "no" coding experience (see; vorpx), and even getting the mouse / weapons slotted to the motion controls, combined with room scale is as easy as setting properties to an asset.

EDIT:

I'm not sure how many people realize this, but you can play almost anything in VR today.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Metroid Prime 1-3, Mario Kart, Witcher 3, World of Warcraft, etc.

GTA5 has multiple VR mods, some with motion controls (absolutely amazing, like shockingly cool stuff), some with controller support.

Here is a list of nearly perfectly supported non-VR games, in VR.

https://www.vorpx.com/supported-games/

And this list is highly incomplete. I was playing Quake 2 the other day in VR with full motion controls, I beat Half Life (the original) in VR with full motion controls as well.
 
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