woah on 28/8/2023 at 12:17
HL2VR has to be the best VR mod out there by far. The weapon handling was done surprisingly well, as well as the accommodations for the intense movement of things like the airboat and buggy (at least the best that they could). And it's definitely always cool to see an old game from a different perspective, simultaneously nostalgic as well as an odd "huh, I didn't remember it looking like that" feeling.
However, I do get a little confused when people say it's a "better VR game than HLA". I mean as a game in general I'd probably agree (I probably even enjoy HL1 more than HL2), but as a VR game it doesn't really play to many of VR's strengths: low environmental density that you race through at superhuman speeds, janky/unstable physics (good enough for point and click, but they quickly become a jittery mess with motion controller manipulations), very limited VR hand presence and interaction, clumsy "highlight and grab", very limited VR graphics and audio, etc etc. Granted, as a mod of an old game, all of these things are entirely expected and reasonable, but if one is going to say it's a "better VR game" then they need to be compared apples to apples.
Interestingly though, if most people actually do find that it's a better VR game, then I'd say it's time to reduce the focus on "VR optimized" games and just start making ports of flat games with basic VR accommodations. And I'm not even necessarily against this if it's actually what people want, though personally it's not really what motivates me to put on a VR headset.
Thirith on 31/8/2023 at 06:04
What do you mean by "very limited VR graphics and audio"?
woah on 31/8/2023 at 12:22
Just in the sense that the rendering and 3d audio techniques employed aren't really tailored to VR. Again, it's entirely expected/reasonable, but it's nonetheless a significant advantage for HLA with respect to things like immersion/presence, which are super important for VR
Renault on 31/8/2023 at 16:53
I'm a bit disappointed that Starfield won't have VR support from the start. Bethesda obviously has the resources and the experience from previous titles to make it happen, but they chose not to. Probably because they want us to buy the flat version first, and then 6 months later shell out again for the VR version. I can only imagine how much they'll try to gouge the consumer for this the way they did Skyrim. Oh well, welcome to capitalism. I guess being able to play it first for (sort of) free on Gamepass helps, but it would've been great to play it in VR on day one.
Thirith on 31/8/2023 at 21:09
I'm not sure. Their earlier VR efforts were flawed and not particularly well supported, and they were based on games that were already a few years old. Starfield would probably have to be redesigned a fair bit to work in VR, and it would definitely have to be stripped of its bells and whistles to run well. I'm not sure it's worth it for Bethesda, at least financially.
Aja on 31/8/2023 at 21:50
I've been playing Cosmodread, a Rogue-like space horror game I see has been mentioned a few times in this thread. I completed a run after a couple evenings. I doubt I'll hundred-percent it, but for 20 bucks it felt worth it. Great atmosphere and sound, and intuitive controls.
I've also been playing Synapse, which is a much hyped PSVR2 exclusive Rogue-like (guess all VR games are Rogue-likes now). It has stylized black and white graphics with splashes of vibrant colour, and Solid Snake is in it! Well, David Hayter is, and Jennifer Heil. The best part is telekinesis, which uses eye tracking to select what you want to grab, and then you squeeze the trigger to pick it up. And if you squeeze hard enough, you can explode barrels or grenades. It also has an interesting cover system where pressing either grip button near a wall or object will stick your hand to it, and then you can push or pull yourself in and out of cover or climb over things. So gameplaywise it's pretty solid, but it suffers a bit from lack of enemy and environment variety. It's fun! It's also clearly a case of a talented dev studio that didn't have enough resources to make something truly great.
Overall I'm still loving this headset. I've started sitting down more to play, and I've found that it improves tracking, since I can position myself away from dead spots like blank walls, and I get less fatigued. Not that VR is super strenuous, but I've noticed that have a front-weighted object on my face for long periods of time makes me tend to look downward, and eventually my back starts to hurt. Maybe it's posture related. I also bought a comfort kit that includes a headstrap and some counterweights, and those have pretty much solved any comfort issues although I'm hoping that as I get more used to the headset I'll be able to use it without any accessories. Motion sickness is basically gone, thankfully.
Aja on 1/9/2023 at 18:56
Also, Light Brigade just got a big content update, and the best part is that you can smoke cigars!
[video=youtube_share;-yXKcvZQY6A]https://youtu.be/-yXKcvZQY6A?si=ED3OfdyiU22cMyGh[/video]
Thirith on 18/9/2023 at 12:19
As it's cooled down a fair bit, I've gone back to VR, playing half an hour of I Expect You to Die 2 in the evenings (via PCVR using Virtual Desktop). These games are just so much fun and so well designed - they're basically escape rooms in seated position, but that setup is really well suited to VR, without feeling restrictive. While I've only played the first level of the sequel, if it's anything like the first I Expect You to Die it'll also offer different approaches and solutions to many of the puzzles, which is also pretty cool.
Once I'm done with this, I'll finally want to play Lone Echo 2, seeing how the first game also uses VR tremendously well. I'd almost forgotten how much fun VR can be.
Thirith on 24/9/2023 at 21:38
[video=youtube;xRJOovfQsLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRJOovfQsLc[/video]
I'm not a big fan of Far Cry, but this looks like it could be fun.
Renault on 29/9/2023 at 15:38
Well I went ahead and pre-ordered a Quest 3. The only thing that bums me out is that (I'm guessing) all of the Quest 2 peripherals I bought over the past year or two will be useless (stuff like the elite strap and my charging station). I'm assuming my pricey link cable will be OK, but who knows.
