Thirith on 23/7/2019 at 15:04
I'm afraid I won't be able to help you with that. It's just too damn hot for Rifting these days. I'd always spend 15-20 minutes just trying to defog the lenses.
Jeshibu on 23/7/2019 at 16:22
Fair. I got them both anyway because I'm a consumer whore like that.
Thirith on 23/7/2019 at 16:59
Hah! You total corporate slut! I only got the one!
... because I already have the other. Never played it.
Thirith on 26/7/2019 at 06:22
Have any of my fellow goggleheads here played Everspace in VR? It looks gorgeous, but I'm not sure whether its roguelite (is that the right term?) gameplay would keep me hooked for more than a couple of hours. Also, I'm wondering what control scheme works best, since I've read that the developers recommend KBAM, which isn't exactly my favourite control scheme for VR.
Thirith on 3/11/2019 at 16:47
I'm not a huge fan of 360° video in VR, as it always makes my eyes hurt a bit, probably because it's not really 3D, so whenever you move your head there are things that don't tally: when you move forward, the image stays at the same distance, and what your left eye sees and what your right eye sees doesn't work to form an image the way it would if there was an actual person or object in front of you.
Nonetheless, I was impressed by the VR short "Traveling While Black", which takes the Green Book that told African Americans where it was safe for them to stay and eat while travelling as its starting point. It's more focused on individual experiences and on putting this in a wider, more present-day context than I expected, but this works really well. It also shows how the medium of VR could be used to give people more immersive glimpses into the lives of others. There's a sequence where you're in a diner, sitting next to a couple of guys talking about what it was like for them in the '60s, travelling by bus, and if you turn around you see that the mirrored wall next to you is actually the view from the window of the bus and you see yourself reflected, except the reflection is of a young black man. You could easily miss the moment if you just look at the old guy sitting next to you talking about his life and his experiences, so the film is quite restrained in how it uses the medium. For anyone who's interested in how VR is being used for documentaries, I can definitely recommend this one.
henke on 19/11/2019 at 16:57
I'm sorry to say, but I've barely bought or played any VR games this year. Only bought Derail Valley, plus a few in the summer sale. And the ones I've played have mostly been old faves Beat Saber and Elite Dangerous. But I did picked up Stormland when it came out on Thursday.
Here's some gameplay:
[video=youtube;Btu-b0Npevo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btu-b0Npevo[/video]
It's by Insomniac, they who did the PS4 Spider-Man game, plus VR titles Edge of Nowhere and Unspoken. It's an open-world FPS. There's a bit of stealth involved, but mostly just in how you can sneak up and stake out enemy camps before springing into action. The movement modes include climbing, gliding, and cloudsurfing, and are all good stuff. You can upgrade your abilities and guns as it goes. The story is so-so and the mission-design is mainly just "go here, kill baddies". It's a good thing the core gameplay systems are strong enough to carry it. Like all VR games with smooth locomotion, I do get a bit queasy playing it, so I'm limiting my sessions to 30-45min.
It's got co-op, so if anyone wants to team up, lemme know!
Thirith on 21/11/2019 at 05:39
I'm totally up for that some time once I'm back from my hols.
henke on 1/12/2019 at 12:17
Still playing Stormland in bits and pieces, but I also picked up Pistol Whip yesterday and I've already played through all the songs on Easy. It is so good.
Here's some of those lovely mixed reality videos.
[video=youtube;RhPisjxYupE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhPisjxYupE[/video]
Folks are getting ambitious with these!
[video=youtube;WCFcF_dTdSI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCFcF_dTdSI[/video]
The soundtrack is bangin' too, "The Grave" is my fave.
Thirith on 2/12/2019 at 05:34
I played a couple of songs in Pistol Whip yesterday but it didn't immediately grab me. Perhaps my problem is that I expected it to be something of a mix of Beat Saber (for the rhythmy part) and Superhot (for the stylish shootery), but at least on easy it didn't feel like the shooting was particularly tied to the rhythm of the song, added to which it really bothered me that I only had to do the vaguest, least motivated attempt of aiming and I'd still hit the enemies.
Did it click for you pretty much immediately, henke?
I also got started on Stormland, though my first impression was also a bit meh. Most likely it's because I was very tired after a 36-hour return trip, but I felt that some of the things Stormland does (mainly giving you a body and the whole inverse kinematics thing) it does less well than Lone Echo, so my first impression was more janky than I'd hoped. I will return to it next weekend, though, hopefully after having had some more sleep.
henke on 2/12/2019 at 06:17
Yeah I liked Pistol Whip right away. The shooting isn't timed automatically to the music or anything, you gotta time it yourself. Your beat score determines how in sync you are. Might help if you're into the style of music as well.
Let's try some Stormland co-op next weekend!