Virtual Reality in Gaming

[gkarris]

The thing about Mac laptops, I'm not paying $3000+ for something VR game capable with Mac on the label when I can accomplish the same on Windows PC for one third the price, or even less on a console. I assume with an iMac you'd be still at twice the price or more of the competition.

Supposedly you can get the "next" Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 for the $500 and a Sonnet eGPU unit for $270 plus a GPU for around $300 (when the mining craze is over).

So $1070 for a decent VR computer is about right...

 

[Huntn]

Supposedly you can get the "next" Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 for the $500 and a Sonnet eGPU unit for $270 plus a GPU for around $300 (when the mining craze is over).

So $1070 for a decent VR computer is about right...

I guess I can look this up, but what's the difference between GPU and eGPU, and you need both? I suppose the Minis come with 8 GB RAM...

 

[Raketemensch]

I believe the "e" is for "external." It uses a lightning port, and can be moved between machines.

 

[Huntn]

August 2017- Ok, I took a spin on the Oculus Rift at the local Microsoft Store, here's my report.
25Aug Update: The Xbox 1 controller is no longer included in the latest package and only one sensor vs two. The original package was actually two packages combined, but that is no longer being offered.

• The Ms Store had only one working game, a Spider-Man game which included a tutorial, I did the tutorial. I told the manager, if they wanted to sell these things he needed a flight/space sim like Eve Valkyrie or a survival sandbox, like Subnautica.
• When the Software is cranked up, you find yourself standing in a pleasant environment which is supposed to be your new VR home, first impression it felt more like being at the mall, but I can see this as a cool family room.

This image sharper that what I saw in the OR​

I noticed immediately the resolution was not where I expected to be. I imagine before hand there would be amazingly sharp graphics, but they were not. The VR unit is very sensitive to where it sits on your head. Adjusting that, and adjusting the eye spacing for the lenses, helped but it was still grainy.

• Controllers- I liked the OR hand controllers because I could point my finger and select, or grab something. The hand controllers had two triggers and two buttons, and a hat switch each. I was told the unit includes an Xbox controller which is used in some games. That is probably a great option for many games. I think you need a joystick for a flight dim.
• Mic- Where is it and how is it controlled? I did not get that answered. Is there one?
• The screen- When using the OR, it's not like a 360 degree screen that goes into your peripheral vision. There is a black band around the edge of your field of view, which from a potential nausea issue, I found anchored me, actually that's great news. But if you look behind you, it's like having a 360 degree view, just not all at once.
• VR environment- In the Spider-Man game, I found myself on a rooftop with targets like bottles, and such so I could shoot them with my webs. Behind me was a ledge, and looking over the edge, I could see the street below. That was cool.

This image looks better than what I saw in the OR.​

• Nausea- there are reports of some users getting nauseous. However, when I shot my web at an overhead crane and pulled myself up very fast, the good news is that the motion did not make me nauseous.
• Conclusion, I think I'm going to wait for the next generation of VR. I've watch many trailers for current VR titles, and most don't impress me, and the killer was that I was dissapointed in the resolution. However, I can see why I could fall in love with this. Yes guys, I'd love to try Elite Dangerous with it.

​

Sept 2017- Second try with Occulus Rift
Visiting the Twn Cities of Minneapolis St. Paul dropped into the MS store at the Mall of America because I really want to buy an OR. My report.

• It looks like the $399 sale is over. Maybe I'm destined to wait for Gen 2.
• This time I got to play Robo Recall, a shooter. This game was fun, however I could not determine long term playability. You are on a city street and face waves of rogue robots. There is no cursor, either use the weapon's iron sights or just point. The controllers allowed you to draw guns from your hips or from your shoulder. Of note when you pick up a gun, you have to continuously hold a button to hold the gun. When it's empty, you drop it and draw another. One weapon drawn from your shoulder is a shotgun which works well at close range.
• The image looked a little better but I can still tell it's at a lower resolution than my monitor.

This image looks better than the OR.​

• Movement was via teleportation, hold a joystick button to project a circle and rotate the joystick to the direction you want to face after movement. This eliminates most or all of the motion sickness you might experience.
• The salesperson told me that in Eve Valkarie, I might experience some nausea, but did not get a chance to try it. I did not suffer nausea, but afterwards my eyes seemed to ache a bit. This might also have something to do with a lingering headache I had from caffeine deprivation.
• I was also advised that non VR games can be played within the OR headset and some even offer the stereo 3D view. See this article:
• Two Ways to Play Non-VR Games With the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive This article outlines 4 products.

• 
  
  

  VorpX​

Steam VR, Non VR game​

Conclusion: I'd love to check out Subnautica, Eve Valkyrie, and Elite Dangerous. I own the first and last of these titles and it also looks like Fallout 4 can be played via VorpX, but I have no idea how the controllers fit in.

 

[garnerx]

I like Robo Recall, it gets really intense and sweaty. You can use your whole body to weave between bullets and pluck them out of the air with your fingers. It's also possible to grab the robots, tear them limb from limb and use their parts to batter the others, which is so satisfying. I keep hitting the lightshade while I'm flailing around, smashing up robots.

Supposedly you can get the "next" Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 for the $500

Good luck with that!!!

 

[Huntn]

I like Robo Recall, it gets really intense and sweaty. You can use your whole body to weave between bullets and pluck them out of the air with your fingers. It's also possible to grab the robots, tear them limb from limb and use their parts to batter the others, which is so satisfying. I keep hitting the lightshade while I'm flailing around, smashing up robots.


Good luck with that!!!

Wave games whether they are robots or zombies only takes me so far.
[doublepost=1504705995][/doublepost]

Edit: I've been advised that both of theses unit have the same capabilities.

Imo, if you want to move, as devote a room to VR, you want the Vive. If you want to remain more stationary say at your desk, you want Oculus Rift. I've not looked at other products like Play Station VR, and apparently MS is working on a Xbox version.

This article from April 2017- in the works, gloves to replace controllers, eye tracking technology to reduce computational load by only fully rendering what you are looking at to give better visual experience, in combination with focal surface display.

Oculus Rift 2: release date, news and rumors

Focal Surface Display​

 

[garnerx]

Wave games whether they are robots or zombies only takes me so far.
[doublepost=1504705995][/doublepost]Imo, if you want to move, as devote a room to VR, you want the Vive. If you want to remain more stationary say at your desk, you want Oculus Rift.

I've always hated things like the Wii waggle games, but Robo Recall does it really well. There's enough visual / sonic feedback to convince me I'm really pulling the legs off a man-size robot. It doesn't feel like I'm waving a controller around.

At this point Rift and Vive are more or less functionally identical, so I don't think you need to think of them as the sitting / walking VR choices. It used to be the case before they added the extra cameras and touch controllers to Rift but now they're basically the same thing.

edit: doublepost

 

[Huntn]

I've always hated things like the Wii waggle games, but Robo Recall does it really well. There's enough visual / sonic feedback to convince me I'm really pulling the legs off a man-size robot. It doesn't feel like I'm waving a controller around.

At this point Rift and Vive are more or less functionally identical, so I don't think you need to think of them as the sitting / walking VR choices. It used to be the case before they added the extra cameras and touch controllers to Rift but now they're basically the same thing.

edit: doublepost

Thanks for pointing that out. My impression was that the Vive was set up for physical movement because of how it is set up for demo at the MS store, a space of about 6'x8'. Would you say that they are equal regarding technical specs?

 

[garnerx]

Would you say that they are equal regarding technical specs?

As far as I'm aware they're the same resolution, same framerate. Some comparison reviews that I read said the Rift is a bit lighter, the rigid arms make it more comfortable for long sessions and it's less sweaty because you don't need to have it clamped so tightly to your face.

Rift has headphones built in, Vive has a camera so you can see the outside world whenever necessary. Other than that it's just the software. If you want to use Steam VR you can use either headset but the Oculus client only works with the Rift.

 

[Huntn]

As far as I'm aware they're the same resolution, same framerate. Some comparison reviews that I read said the Rift is a bit lighter, the rigid arms make it more comfortable for long sessions and it's less sweaty because you don't need to have it clamped so tightly to your face.

Rift has headphones built in, Vive has a camera so you can see the outside world whenever necessary. Other than that it's just the software. If you want to use Steam VR you can use either headset but the Oculus client only works with the Rift.

I might just give in and get the OR.. Life is short. Thanks!

 

[Huntn]

Pulled the trigger and ordered the Oculus Rift after I read it will be a while before the next generation appears. I missed the sale, but found a new Discover account with a $75 credit that mostly makes up the difference, also found the version that included an Xbox One Controller.

If I have any concern, it's that flight sims will bother me. However, I'm hopeful they won't. Reports to follow!

 

[garnerx]

Finally!

 

[garnerx]

Looks like there's a permanent price cut on Oculus Rift, so it now costs the same as it did during the summer sale. Maybe they'll offer some conciliatory freebies for those who bought during the few weeks it was back at full price.

 

[Huntn]

Looks like there's a permanent price cut on Oculus Rift, so it now costs the same as it did during the summer sale. Maybe they'll offer some conciliatory freebies for those who bought during the few weeks it was back at full price.

Darn it! I did not get the absolute lowest cost!

 

[Huntn]

Pulled the trigger and ordered the Oculus Rift after I read it will be a while before the next generation appears. I missed the sale, but found a new Discover account with a $75 credit that mostly makes up the difference, also found the version that included an Xbox One Controller.

If I have any concern, it's that flight sims will bother me. However, I'm hopeful they won't. Reports to follow!

Can't get either of my joysticks to be recognized by Eve:Valkyrie. I have a support ticket in.

 

[gkarris]

Can't get either of my joysticks to be recognized by Eve:Valkyrie. I have a support ticket in.

Are you in the right config area? Windows 10?

Mine work just fine...

 

[Huntn]

Are you in the right config area? Windows 10?

Mine work just fine...

I am in the EV settings, go to joysticks and there is nothing their to select along with a message, that no device is discovered (or something like that). And of note I have software installed for both of my sticks and they are recognized by their respective configuring software. Yes, Windows 10.

 

[gkarris]

I am in the EV settings, go to joysticks and there is nothing their to select along with a message, that no device is discovered (or something like that). And of note I have software installed for both of my sticks and they are recognized by their respective configuring software. Yes, Windows 10.

stand by - i will post the screen you should be in when I get home...

 

[gkarris]

I am in the EV settings, go to joysticks and there is nothing their to select along with a message, that no device is discovered (or something like that). And of note I have software installed for both of my sticks and they are recognized by their respective configuring software. Yes, Windows 10.

Quick tutorial here...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/eve-valkyrie-talk.2071523/#post-25246362

 

[gkarris]

Looks like there's a permanent price cut on Oculus Rift, so it now costs the same as it did during the summer sale. Maybe they'll offer some conciliatory freebies for those who bought during the few weeks it was back at full price.

Reason why they did it - most of the newest generation VR headsets come in at $399 with controllers.

I was at the MS Store yesterday and they had all the newest generation VR headsets in from HP, Acer, Lenovo, and Dell. The HP is $449 and all others are $399. They come with the new MS Mixed Reality controllers (in the spirit of XBox, they use AA's and have a "Windows" button to go back to the VR Windows launcher). The Samsung one will be more because of the OLED screens (I was told).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/collections/vrandmixedrealityheadsets

I asked if it works on Steam games and they said they are working with Steam for the headset to be SteamVR compatible. Right now, only games from the MS App Store will work.

I tried the Lenovo one - was the one most comfortable for me. I tried the games demo and there was some Halo Themed shooter on it - was a lot of fun.

These new generation VR headsets have "Mixed Reality" since there are 2 forward facing cameras that can pass through the outside view. Also, no sensors are required because Kinect technology (yes, now used in VR) is used to see where in the room you are pointing (as well as the gyroscopic sensors). It also can tell where the controller are (as well as the gyroscopic sensors in those).

Wow, looks like I'll be getting one over the holidays - I'll bet they'll be part of the made holiday sales for around $350...

Also, for standard VR (not heavy gaming), most lower-end PC's with a discreet GPU's and many laptops can play the VR content.

 

[bhavink]

Hi guys,
We can finally show you our latest VR game demo "Sniper Rust VR" for Oculus Rift VR and Steam. Sniper Rust VR is a hardcore, first-person sniping experience set across an action-packed campaign.

Game Trailer:

Oculus:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1786072758117223/
Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/710740/Sniper_Rust_VR/

Please feel free to check it out and let me know your thoughts.

 

[garnerx]

Please feel free to check it out and let me know your thoughts.

I tried it... Honestly, it's an instant delete from me.

Looking through the scope is sort of okay, but quite shaky. It needs image stabilisation.

The reload mechanic is the worst thing ever. Hold this button, transfer gun to other hand, fumble around with another button.... Should be the same button for all 'grab' interactions, and something as basic as reloading should have a far simpler mechanism.

You only get about four shots, some of which pass straight through the target, then do it all again while annoying music plays. I didn't get past the tutorial.

It's about as good as you'd expect from a game that takes Sniper Elite's logo and calls it Sniper Rust. What does that even mean? At least it's free.

 

[MacAlien]

I want SSX (old ps2 game) vr capable! It was a dizzying game back then, imagining a vr version would make one lose their dinner.

 

[jeanlain]

I'd like to mention that Unreal Engine 4 v 4.18 was released a few days ago, with VR support on the Mac. Now, wether we'll get VR games/demos on macOS is another story. Eve Valkyrie uses UE4. Space Pirate trainer (mentioned at WWDC) uses Unity.

 

[Huntn]

This was posted in Eve:Valkyrie- Warzone, Steam News:
Eve Online developer CCP has pulled out of virtual reality development, a move that affects some 100 or so staff.

See this forum thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/eve-valkyrie-talk.2071523/page-2#post-25423380