henke on 9/1/2024 at 13:38
Naah, even the basic Walkabout courses are fun. Speaking of which, I just played a round with my newly-restored Valve Index. Base station broke again a while ago! It's been 3 years since I bought it so warranty was up, but Valve still sent me a free replacement unit. Nice! :)
edit: just fired up HL Alyx for the first time in over a year and could NOT for the life of me figure out how to equip weapons. So in the first firefight I ran into I spent the whole time just grabbing grenades that the enemies threw at me and throwing them back. Was surprisingly effective.
vurt on 9/1/2024 at 17:31
Quote Posted by Thirith
I like the
Myst DLC, which adds some light puzzling; then there's
Meow Wolf, which is pretty wild; and I've heard good things about the
Labyrinth DLC.
Cool. i will check these out in more detail, thanks!
Aja on 10/1/2024 at 05:10
I don’t really like mini golf in real life and I hear Walkabout is best played with online friends, which I don’t have, so I’m not too fussed about the game, but holy cow that Meow Wolf course looks amazing. Next time the game goes on sale I might pick up the base version just for that. It might even be cross play, so maybe we could get another TTLG match going.
Anyway, I’ve been playing Resident Evil 4 Remake, and it’s pretty incredible. So far Capcom are almost the only ones who’ve really made what feel like next-gen VR games on PSVR2, and they’re both Resident Evils, but I’m not complaining. I’m also not at all against stylized, simplified VR graphics, but when you see the light glistening on the edges of a cave opening into the moonlight over a bay, it’s kind of breathtaking.
Mechanically it’s simplified from Village, with lots of actions happening via button presses and interesting 3D cutscenes where you leave Leon’s body and observe him like a spirit, but it actually works really well and helps keep the action moving briskly. And this game is just one interesting scenario after another. Guns feel great, reloading is fun (cue Revolver Ocelot), and the positional audio is eerily accurate. If VR had more experiences like this, I think it would be more popular.
Got a few more smaller games to talk about, but I think I’ll save that for another time.
Thirith on 10/1/2024 at 07:48
@Aja: Walkabout Mini Golf is crossplay between all platforms (though it's no longer being updated for Quest 1, which excludes Q1 users from multiplayer with others who are fully updated and from using the latest DLCs).
Thirith on 29/1/2024 at 08:24
I'm enjoying The Last Clockwinder, though to some extent it's the concept and the vibes of the game that I enjoy more so than playing it. It's easy enough to create machines that allow you to move on to the next challenge, but I've got the problem that mentally I'd know how to construct better machines but I'm simply not good enough at throwing to put these into practice. That's less the game than it is me: The Last Clockwinder implements throwing much better than practically any other VR game I've played, but I still miss much of the time - and if I'm then supposed to catch two fruit and get them both into a container or another machine, it takes me forever to get this right, if indeed I manage at all, since I don't throw well with my right hand and I utterly suck at throwing with my left. Most of the time I just give up and go for the easy, obvious solution.
At the same time, though, the game is definitely clever and well designed, it never gets old to watch a machine made up of robotic clones executing your own movements, and I like how everything looks and feels. It's a good game, I'm just not good enough at the things it asks me to do, and always just muddling through does get a bit frustrating if in my head I know what I'd have to do in order to do better.
Renault on 1/2/2024 at 21:27
This could be fun:
[video=youtube;984iLrRYHtQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=984iLrRYHtQ&t=92s[/video]
Aja on 12/2/2024 at 17:43
There's been a lot of buzz in the VR community about Legendary Tales, a dungeon-crawler which just released out of early access on Steam and on PSVR2 (they also showed it at the last Sony event).
[video=youtube;1cQfkQ2vLx0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cQfkQ2vLx0[/video]
It looked kind of awful in the trailer: PS3-era graphics, an endlessly brown world, only a few enemy types, and some potentially janky VR sword combat. Also, it's $70CAD. Oof. But the reviews were surprisingly positive, people seemed excited, and I was intrigued, so what the hell. I bought it.
And, uh, I love it? I always thought I hated VR melee combat because of the way Saints and Sinners does it, disregarding the speed of your swing and instead tying the hit to whether you make a pretermined arc shape with your hands. I imagine they do this to prevent people injuring themselves swinging too hard or smashing their furniture, but the result is that many times what feels like a strong swing glances off an enemy, frustratingly.
Legendary Tales, on the other hand, requires you to swing hard and fast. If you want to pierce an enemy with your sword, you'd better imagine how much force it would take to actually thrust a blade into someone because that's what you're gonna have to do. My furniture is at risk, but it feels so much more intuitive and natural. You can also parry with anything, so if a swarm of skeletons is attacking me, I can bash one of them with my shield while simultaneously slashing at the other. Hit detection isn't perfect, but it feels accurate enough, and it's especially satisfying when you get a perfect parry and the enemy is staggered.
The other really interesting VR aspect is that you can grip your weapons with both hands (or either hand) wherever you want, which changes the leverage you get as well as the type of damage. So, for instance, you can stab with your spear for pierce damage but also swing it for blunt damage. You can even hold your sword backwards and bludgeon enemies with the hilt. And unlike Saints and Sinners, if you're using a two-handed weapon, you don't have to swing both hands in tandem; you can keep one hand as a pivot and swing with the other, which feels so much better.
All that being said, there a lot of issues. The world is kind of boring and brown although there have been enough unique elements to keep my interest piqued. The user interface is hilariously clumsy, so you'll spend a fair amount of time reading the extensive in-game manual to figure out exactly how to do pretty much anything. I'm okay with this, though; I just treat it like it's an old game, that doesn't hold your hand. There's no real story, and what writing is in the game is terribly translated (One poster at the start reads: "Missing: mystical crystal and kings hot daughter" and another tells you about the "medium-height performer and his cowboy behatted puppet") Also, there does seem to be a dearth of enemy types or at least enemy models, but fighting a skeleton with a sword and shield feels a lot different than a skeleton with a dagger, so it's not boring.
And that's kind of the overall theme of this game for me: there are some big problems that are vastly overshadowed by the engaging combat and deep RPG elements. It feels almost contradictory. I keep thinking that I shouldn't like this game, but I put five hours in it this weekend, and I'm sitting here at work wishing I was back in the headset. Maybe the thrill will wear off before I reach the end of its supposedly lengthy campaign. By then I suspect I'll have at least gotten my money's worth. So anyway, yes, highly recommended, especially if you're patient and enjoy Diablo/Demon's Souls kinda games.
Thirith on 21/2/2024 at 07:26
I'm currently playing more VR than non-VR games, and one of the things I'm playing is Moss: Book II. One of the things I like about the Moss games is that while you're controlling the main character (a heroic mouse), you aren't meant to be the mouse: you're a distinct being that's aiding the protagonist, and the mouse is aware of you. Which leads to nice little moments, such as when you get the hero killed several times in a row, and when the game fades back in, you might find the mouse looking at you with a sarcastic smile and giving you a slow clap: well done, player! So glad you're the one controlling me. (No voice, just animation.) It's a small thing, but it works so well in VR, where characters can look at you - rather than just out of the screen, which never feels as real - and relate to you.
Komag on 21/3/2024 at 20:19
WARNING - BIG POST!
TLDR: I got my first VR headset, a Meta Quest 2 for $250, love it, and have so far just played modded Subnautica which is great.
META QUEST 2
So I bought a Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus) last month, since it's so cheap ($250) after they released the Quest 3 (which is $500). (It looks like the 2 just got lowered to $200 for anyone considering.) I mainly bought it because I had a massive itch to play Subnautica again, and I heard good things about experiencing it in VR.
The Quest 2 is great! I don't have any other VR experience to compare it to, so take that as you will. But as a long-time gamer who likes graphics/performance/etc, I'm very happy with it. It's an entirely standalone VR system, so you can play Quest games (or Rift games) from its own ecosystem store. Or you can connect to a PC and play more demanding stuff (which is what I'm doing). You can play with a cable (a fancy USB C cable, can get cheaper compatible ones on Amazon), or can do wireless "air link".
CONNECTION
At first I messed around setting up a system with a 15ft cable that I ran directly above my head to cable hooks in the ceiling, over to the wall, down to the PC, so that I could turn around a few times freely. I figured as I play Subnautica, spinning around in an office chair to swim around in the game, I'll probably spin one way, then the other, randomly, probably never more than two or three times around in a single direction before "unwinding" back again. I found that was generally true, but once in a while I'd feel the cable twist against my face or head when it had gotten a bit taut, and I would need to take the Quest 2 off and unwind back to neutral, then continue.
I decided to try for a wireless setup. I was afraid of lag or worse performance, so I researched, and with a slightly older router I wasn't using, I set up a dedicated 5G access point that I use ONLY for this purpose. The Quest 2 wirelessly connects to the 5G network I set up on that router, and that router is wired with a network cable into the PC, and also has a network cable connection to my main router. It works flawlessly. I don't notice any lag or worse performance, so if there is any, I don't care, it's worth it to be FREE. I'll never go back to a wired connection on the Quest 2.
BATTERY LIFE
The Quest 2 battery life seems to be around 2-3 hours of playing, which is decent for taking a break, letting it charge up a few hours, and playing more in the evening or the next day. But when I want to play longer, I stick a battery pack (the kind you use to recharge your phone) in my pocket with a normal USB-C 3 ft cable going from it to the Quest 2 on my head, and I still get full freedom of motion, and can play for around 6 hours straight, draining both the external battery and the Quest 2 internal battery. (I'm grateful for the convenient battery warnings it gives you.) You can buy custom head straps for the Quest 2 which contain a battery for this same purpose, but I had already bought a $20 3rd party comfortable padded head-strap with a larger back to support better (which I strongly recommend doing), so using the external battery pack works well.
GAMING PC SETUP
My PC was a decent build from 2019, core i7 2600, AMD R9 Fury, but it was getting kinda old and I wasn't sure if it would work well enough or at all! It did work, and after modding Subnautica with "submersedVR" (not too hard to set up), I was in the game and LOVING IT!!! The depth and reality of it all was soooooooo fun and impressive! I could catch a fish, and twist it around in my hand and look up close at it! The textures were pretty good for this, to my pleasant surprise. Looking at my tools from all angles was nice, sometimes seeing the front of them for the first time if I twisted my wrist around. The environments were soo IMMERSIVE (literally). Even the shallow sections of the game seem so DEEP! The fish were large and meaty, the caves so...CAVERNOUS!
But after a few hours (over a few days) I began to realize how poor the performance really was. Quick turns especially would make everything tear and rip all over the place, all gobbly gook for a moment, not long, but still not pretty. I decided I needed to up the ante. It was time for a new PC.
I Googled "cheap budget gaming PC", because as far as researching all the hardware and what works with what, aint nobody got time fo dat. I found this article:
(
https://www.tomshardware.com/best-picks/best-pc-builds-gaming)
It gave builds which ranged from $500 up to "expensive". I went for the $1000 build, and ordered everything on Amazon. (The MB and case were listed only from NewEgg, so I substituted for ones on Amazon that seemed similar, crossing my fingers about the MB mainly, but it worked out). Interestingly, I also bought a legit Windows 10 Pro (because Win 11 stinks!) key at (
https://digitalchillmart.com/) for $20, I researched it enough to believe it's for reals, and it's working fine.
Here's the system:
GPU RTX 4060 Ti $369
CPU Intel Core i5-14400F $209
Motherboard ASRock B760M-HDV $89
RAM Crucial RAM 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR4 3200 $73
Storage WD Black SN770 $133
Case Fractal Design Pop Air $59
PSU Corsair CX750M $89
Total: $1,021
After building the system (which took me back to my younger days!), everything worked great (no magic smoke!), I installed Windows, got everything up and running (man this thing boots up super fast!), and installed some games and Quest 2 stuff. I fired up Subnautica, and WOW, TONS smoother, running way better, higher framerate for sure, almost no tearing ever, in-game PDA clearly sharper, things feel even more solid and real, very nice!!! Best $1000 I ever spent, haha! I "sold" my old system to my 14 yr old son for $100 and he's ecstatic, since he had been playing modded Minecraft, Terraria, and other stuff on my wife's old non-gaming laptop.
SUBNAUTICA VR
How does Subnautica play in VR? Well, it's not a VR designed game originally. So you don't reach out your hand and pick up items or fish. Rather you point at them and press a button. I'm fine with that. The pointing is based on your tool hand pointing, not where you're looking, so it feels pretty good/natural, and there's a little VR pointer line to help (which I keep on). Using your PDA to manage inventory and info works really well too, right in your "real" hands, nice. For movement, you look around, 360 degrees, and where you're looking is the direction you swim when you press forward on the Quest controller. It can be a little janky to use the seaglide and point it some other direction, only to move forward based on your view, but oh well. (You can also swim directly UP or DOWN with two other buttons, the secondary triggers). For example, if you want to keep swimming North while looking east, just shift the joystick around left while you're looking east, same as you're used to doing in flat games, no problem.
Sitting in a swivel office chair with plenty of free spinning room works PERFECTLY for this setup, very comfortable and natural feeling. You CAN use the other joystick to turn your view horizontally, but I try to avoid doing that. When in a vehicle, however, you control more traditionally, and looking around is separate from directional controls (like you would expect when in a vehicle cockpit). This causes me to get a bit dizzy, but not too bad, and I have never gotten motion sickness in the past month, just a little dizzy feeling after a lot of driving the SeaMoth or PRAWN suit (mech). I try to keep my vehicle turning motions more smooth and slower to feel more comfortable, and I'm happy with it. Gotta say, first time climbing in to a Seamoth (tiny one-man submarine), and seeing the whole cockpit around me in VR was AMAZING! Also - repeat - none of the vehicle controls are truly VR - you don't reach out and manipulate the steering yoke you can see in the game. (Although sometimes I would pretend to, just for fun, by placing my VR hands in the correct position, while controlling the actual movement with the joysticks.)
I finished Subnautica and immediately installed and modded Subnautica Below Zero. The version of submersedVR here was slightly upgraded, with a few more options, but nearly identical, and works great. There are "experimental" options, such as wearing the oxygen/food/water meters on your virtual wrist (both games offer this), which I LOVE! I got in the very real habit of quickly checking my wrist meters to see how much air I had left while laser cutting a hatch open or some other activity, looking around for bad guys at the same time, all felt super natural and immersive. There is a new option to see a full body (the first game is only head and hands, which is funny when you see your shadow), and I'm playing with this on, although it's a bit buggy in certain scenarios, and I'll never quite get used to looking down and seeing a female form there! Below Zero also offers some added VR controls for the vehicles, which I tried for the SeaTruck, and didn't like. You move your hands near the visible control joysticks in the truck cabin, and pull the second triggers on the Quest 2 controllers to "latch on", then move your hands around to manipulate the "real" joysticks. It sorta works, but without an actual haptic connection I found I couldn't control it well enough to feel good. Plus you lose the option to move the SeaTruck directly UP or DOWN, since those two controls are now used for latching on and off the driving controls. So I don't use that, and don't miss it. I haven't finished Below Zero yet, and am very much enjoying the experience of rediscovering all my favorite locales in all their larger-than-life VR glory, SOO CYUUUWL!
OTHER GAMES
I haven't tried much else yet. I played Moss for a few minutes and found it quite charming, with the little VR world right in your lap! I'll definitely play it more later. I had fun with Google Earth, flying around Boston in VR, finding my sister's house in Michigan, etc. I've bought a few other games and wish-listed more beyond. I recently picked up:
- Skyrim ($15)
- Hellblade (Senua) ($3)
- HL Alex ($20)
- Red Matter 1 ($12)
- Fallout 4 ($15)
I know I'll have to mod the heck out of those aging Bethesda titles, but I'm prepared to deal with it. I haven't tried any of these yet, generally preferring to focus on one or two things at a time, but I'll try to report back when I do.
Current VR wishlists:
Steam:
- No Man's Sky VR
- Song in the Smoke
- Ancient Dungeon (I don't like to play early access games, prefer to wait till they're done)
- The Light Brigade
- Red Matter 2
- CyubeVR (also early access, will wait)
- Walkabout Mini Golf VR
- Kayak VR Mirage
Meta:
- Assassin's Creed Nexus
- In Death: Unchained
Weasel on 22/3/2024 at 22:38
Big post indeed!
I have a few more game recommendations for you...
Alien Isolation - Like Subnautica, it had some abandoned VR functionality and it was enhanced with a mod. Lots of stealth.
Into the Radius - Immersive simmy with some sneaking potential. It's a bit like Stalker.
Shadowpoint - A very clever puzzle game that really wouldn't be the same outside of VR for subtle reasons (mostly manipulation of objects in 3D space).
The Room VR: A Dark Matter - If you happen to like the games in this series, this is one of the best ones.