The VR Conundrum

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there's a frog in my snake oil
Hey, @Golgot ! Wanted you to know that, although I don't really post in this thread, I'm reading it. I'm still just wading very slowly into VR with my Oculus Rift. Just haven't had time to really delve in. It's not like regular PC gaming where I can dip a toe in for a a few spare minutes here or there. I seem to need to wait till I have enough time to really get into it... which happens too rarely. I'm going to try to be better about *making* time to explore the VR stuff I already have.

But in the meantime, I enjoy your posts and hope I can enjoy my VR as much as you are already!
Cool, glad the thread's useful

Yeah VR does feel like it needs at least a half hour session to warrant shoving stuff out the way. On the plus side I find a half hour session is normally more intriguing / impactful than a flat-screen one, so it's kinda working well with my squeezed parenting schedule

It def helps if you can get your gamespace hassle-free. I pretty much just have to move a chair depending on the game type now. And sticking the headset on just becomes like flipping a cap on and off
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



there's a frog in my snake oil
Indie-schism

I've been struggling uphill a bit with my latest indie purchases. In ways that are kinda telling about the VR game-o-sphere...

Vector 36

I knew this sim was going to have a heavy learning curve. That's why I held off buying it. And dear lord have I slammed belly first into its perpendicular planes.

I'm still kinda liking it, but it's the type of liking that requires concerted sweaty effort to gain the fleeting refreshing breezes of success. As you approach the next giant wall at speed...

A good example would be that time I bought some cooling fins:



I could afford them. They were flimsier but way better. I used the pod-building garage to slap them in the only slots they'd fit, way back on its spine. I flew my ship. It could boost for ages! While spinning in lazy concentric circles...

And this is all good. I should have noticed those fins were much longer, and that they dangled well over the back of the ship. I started to notice. I tilted them into new and pleasing shapes...

I raced. I raced better. In that I no-longer flew only in circles. I had essentially destroyed the handling of my ship with my new toys, making it oversteer like a bastard, but eager boosting was keeping me just about on track. Until my boost over-heated, and I realised my ship preferred to fly down at a 30 degree angle when not encouraged onwards by rocket fuel...

Back to the drawing board. Where I moved some more weight to the centre. Adjusted the back jet for more lift. Got it to shudder with something closer to very-noisy-grace over the surface of Mars. Hit a pillar at high speed. Lost all my money...

As someone with an instinctive ability to 'detune' cars when given the opportunity, I knew all of this would happen. Essentially I've managed to make my pimped-out starter chariot a fair bit worse than the starter build. But I think I know where I went wrong. And I'm still game to try more...

It's just I suspect, long-term, it's not going to be quite my game. And I only chose to jet up this hill because more ditzy options weren't available :/

---

The Spy Who Shrunk Me



This cartoon stealther is daft broad-brush fun . It doesn't feel like it's going to broaden its gameplay palette hugely, or stack its surprises, but something about scampering between chair legs and teleporting onto table-tops is still cute and amusing with the 'realistic' VR scaling.

It's still fun to find out that a tiny miniaturised banana will trip up a giant security guard. Slightly more worrisome to find that picking up a tiny security guard while miniaturised yourself turns him into a giant spaghettified mess. Which then explodes. (Possibly the cheekiest example of 'bug as feature' that I've seen )

Unfortunately I've just hit a level where I've fallen through gaps in the scenery, and out of the world, 4 times now. While otherwise nailing a perfect run. (Or in one case, nailing 'running away screaming from a hail of bullets'...)

Meh. And it's out of early access and everything



there's a frog in my snake oil
I've got my Vector on.

Started from scratch, stuck some stubby, sturdy heat sinks next to the existing ones, and now I can boost for ages without barrel-rolling madly. I still plummet like a giant iron duck whenever the boost finally maxes out, but I can use the emergency cushioning jets and still brute-force myself back into the game.

It's not graceful, but it's working

---

Also the steam sale is evil and I've bought yet more indie offerings. Despite having a massive back-catalogue of ported walking sims that I'm sitting on. (Partially waiting for the devs to improve the VR controls, as they all tend to promise...)

* Downward Spiral (space stations antics)
* Fisherman's Tale (self-puppetry puzzler)



The Adventure Starts Here!
I've got my Vector on.

Started from scratch, stuck some stubby, sturdy heat sinks next to the existing ones, and now I can boost for ages without barrel-rolling madly. I still plummet like a giant iron duck whenever the boost finally maxes out, but I can use the emergency cushioning jets and still brute-force myself back into the game.

It's not graceful, but it's working

---

Also the steam sale is evil and I've bought yet more indie offerings. Despite having a massive back-catalogue of ported walking sims that I'm sitting on. (Partially waiting for the devs to improve the VR controls, as they all tend to promise...)

* Downward Spiral (space stations antics)
* Fisherman's Tale (self-puppetry puzzler)
I've had Fisherman's Tale on my wishlist for a little while. Let me know how it is.



there's a frog in my snake oil
I've had Fisherman's Tale on my wishlist for a little while. Let me know how it is.
Cool will do!

Looks like it's a pretty short one, kinda a £4 an hour job. (I'd avoid the trailers too, as they seem a bit spoilery to me, if the content is that light).



there's a frog in my snake oil
First impressions are good Aus

I'd say if you'd pay £9 for a short but slick puzzle game normally, then go for it.

Here's a very quick vibe take. One game mechanism shown but wouldn't really call it spoilery.



Loving the general tactile physics, and the trippy inter-scale flips. The puzzles have been easy to date (turn off hints, the V/O will give you plenty of pointers anyway), but still strangely satisfying.

It kinda makes a rod for its own back in that you expect to be able to solve puzzles with any object, if used cunningly enough, even though it's much more prescribed than that. But trying can be kinda amusing anyway



there's a frog in my snake oil
Oh sweet, the 15 year old kid who made a great budget-HL2 oddity adventure, and then disappeared into the bowels of Valve, is making a sequel...



I kinda doubt that it can capture the sheer effervescent silly-seriousness of the original, but reckon I'm gonna find out



there's a frog in my snake oil
Gah, more Steam temptation. Still sticking to the indie end of the scale:



Transpose looks a bit rough, but I'm liking the core game conceit. Chain 'recordings' of yourself to pass the cube to its destination, as gravity goes increasingly wonky

Also snagged the budget online shooter Pavlov, because I've learned they've implemented a locomotion system I can get along with, and it's known for having a big population. Plus they've instigated the ludicrous game-mode from Garrys Mod called 'Trouble in Terrorist Town' (which is as much a psychological, playful troll-fest as it is a shooter).

Doubt I'll get much chatty-time to actually play it in my little living room, but it's good to know there's a multiplayer I can drop into for bursts




EDIT: Gah ok, one more. It seems £9 is my threshhold for short AAA offerings



The Gallery - Ep 2. More like 4 hours gameplay here hopefully. I did enjoy the prior one.

EDITEDIT:

Gah ok, apparently £13.49 for a full game port is my new threshold



Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is 3rd person, so I've resisted buying it for ages as it's not my preferred VR format. Full-game, psychological-cinematics had been gnawing at me for a while as plus points though. And for some reason this was the bit that tipped me over:

That experimental thing (where you can scale down the whole world from options) is amazing,
basically you get 2 VR games in one ( in this mode Senua turns into Alice from Wonderland).
It probably shouldn't be a selling point, and will just be a novelty aspect, but seeing 'living dioramas' in VR can be pretty cool.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Well, damn, be warned Aus. I got through Fisherman's Tale in an hour and a half. It feels worth the outlay, because it was very slickly done for what it was. But definitely on the 'experience' end of things over the 'puzzle game' end ultimately. Some nice little narrative dabs towards the end too, even if it was mainly about figuring out the set-pieces.

Will write up a proper review at some point.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Messed around with the experimental view modes in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice...



The 'Tabletop' view really has that diorama vibe, with the main character almost looking like a figurine. Not so sold on 'Giant' view, and the standard view is probably the best way to experience the narrative (being down low in the water in the last bit of footage was pretty cool). But think I'll def mess around with the more distanced tabletop take too.

An added point in favour of the default view is that the story kinda casts you as one of the voices that hang around her generally (and the illusion is aided by some audio-positioning tricks, which VR games should def use more )



The Adventure Starts Here!
Well, damn, be warned Aus. I got through Fisherman's Tale in an hour and a half. It feels worth the outlay, because it was very slickly done for what it was. But definitely on the 'experience' end of things over the 'puzzle game' end ultimately. Some nice little narrative dabs towards the end too, even if it was mainly about figuring out the set-pieces.

Will write up a proper review at some point.
It's on sale at Steam for under ten bucks, so I grabbed it. The Oculus site doesn't have it on sale--I would have preferred buying it directly from Oculus. I seem to have fewer load issues/glitches if I open a game directly through the Oculus site app. But I'll deal with any issues to save five bucks.



there's a frog in my snake oil
It's on sale at Steam for under ten bucks, so I grabbed it. The Oculus site doesn't have it on sale--I would have preferred buying it directly from Oculus. I seem to have fewer load issues/glitches if I open a game directly through the Oculus site app. But I'll deal with any issues to save five bucks.
Yeah the performance can vary widely via Steam. Essentially if the game's launching SteamVR as well as the Oculus App then you're gonna take a performance hit. Devs are getting better at auto-supporting the right launcher now though, and if there's a Rift symbol on the Steam page you're normally good to go. (There are some workarounds for older games). Some games like Skyrim / FO4 are a pain to sort out though.

I still prefer to buy from them in general though because it's definitely DRM free and a purchase for life, whereas Oculus lean much more towards exclusivity. Plus they do more sales



there's a frog in my snake oil
I do like The Spy Who Shrunk Me, but damn if it isn't riddled by indie bugs.

I managed to ace the section where I kept falling through the map by freezing time and running full-size up the problematic stairs and halls.

But I had to do the last half with giant hands



That lab worker ignores you completely incidentally. Which is by design. They also all push up the glasses on their noses. Even though they don't have glasses....

I'm beginning to think it's a miracle they have noses

---

On the plus side I just beat the next level which was an enormous open-plan faux-Soviet library (complete with propaganda-launching rockets), and enjoyed it a lot

On the down side I couldn't burn some autobiographies as directed, and I have no idea why. And they reallllly need to vary the guard chat. If I hear about their coupons one more time...

Supposedly there are some branching impacts from decisions, so I guess I'll see if anything changes. And if I did right to fire a spy rocket at Washington rather than London...



there's a frog in my snake oil
Since I have a huge VR backlog already, I think I'll wait for a few patches for The Spy Who Shrunk Me, then.
Honestly, I think this might be it for it. The devs have a reputation for hitting their deadline then moving to the next project.

I'm kinda glad they did the port though. It is fun when it works. Just, yeah, rustic when it doesn't...

It's probably one to try once you've got your VR Legs anyway Aus. Although the movement system is a friendly one, the movement itself is on the fast end, which might make you feel a bit 'woo' in the early days.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Downward Spiral: Prologue



Just played this super-cheap intro to the main game. And it was grand . It's yet another 'Abandoned 2001-Style Interiors' space game, but a pretty slick one. Mainly about the lever-pulling 'puzzle' advancement and the vibe. I really appreciated the little touches that accompanied the reveal and feel of the final room, and the switch-flicking finale.

Ultimately it's just a glorified training level, but definitely worth the 63 pence

(Aus if you're tempted by this, I suspect you could get along with the first person locomotion fine, and probably enjoy the vibe. It does require shooting as it progress though.)



there's a frog in my snake oil
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: More Looks



The Pretty:

Damn, I am liking my 1080 right now. This is definitely the prettiest 'classic' game I've played. Think it must be light on the CPU, because that's where I'm weak. Having magical runes float around you in the air, pervaded by purple fogs or what have you, cushioning and heightening tone shifts as you enter different zones, is very cool.




The Ugly:


It's a weird mixed bag. There are some really swish deployments of VR. At one point they had the character, lit up by ethereal light and staring at you like an apparition that's startled her, eye-tracking as you try and duck back and say 'Hey, I'm not the goddess tormenting you...'

For other cut-scenes they transition to a curved screen instead. And I can see why. It's because they used captured actor images for them - and those things just ain't 3D. Those bits still work as narrative sections, but they show the cobbled together, not-made-for-VR aspects.

Another sore point is finding the ideal 'ghostly voice on her shoulder' camera position. Currently I'm having to 45-degree snap-rotate the camera around her. Which would be fine. If I wasn't essentially the camera

The 'tilt shift' style view is still fascinatingly cool. But it does feel to wrong and distancing to use it, given all the other 'on her shoulder' sound effects and environmental jump scares etc.


The Bad:


Ultimately this is still the type of rote 3-button combat storymode gaming that I've never been hugely into . And I'm into gore-leanings even less. Also not hugely sold on the 'spot the environmental rune' puzzle loops already. What's saving it is the narrative, and the use of the schizophrenic soundscape has been kinda decent so far. In a Celtic-guys-relate-Scandie-mythology kinda way




there's a frog in my snake oil
Gah, now the Oculus store sale is on

The first thing kinda tempting me is Chronos. The comparisons to Zelda will do that

A good video here on the pros and cons (NB some swears):



The TLDR would seem to be:

PROS:
  • It's a charming game, in art-style, story and vibe.
  • It's a charming 20-hour long game.
  • The combat is fair, if bedevilled by HP-sponge enemies occasionally

CONS:
  • There's really no reason for it to be in VR, it doesn't exploit VR at all, and if anything you encounter more 'camera issues'. Which is quite a big con.

It sounds in essence like their Oculus Freebie 'Herobound', but with more Zelda-esque loveliness. (I did enjoy Herobound, although the 'VR adds nothing here' frustration was real. I really wanted to be peeking around the 'sets' to solve puzzles, or be involved in some way beyond headlook aiming).

Given that classic 3rd person games still aren't really doing it for me, think I might splurge on... the non-classic 3rd person Moss instead

EDIT:

Damn if there isn't a lot of tat on Oc Store too though . Almost as bad as Steam for creaking early proofs of concepts, pre-emptively launched early access attempts, and just... oddness.

That said Aus I'd reco Deisim on either Steam or Oc. Super cheap, super indie, super not-finished, but super chill with it all. A painless way to get into 'standing in the game' gaming too.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I got Deisim already. I am delighted with how inexpensive many VR games are. I guess I had this impression that they'd be really pricey, for some reason. They're not! Granted, some are kinda silly (see picture below), but I'm still very much in the early learning curve, so at least there are things I can toy around with that don't involve FPS games where people could now sneak up behind me. That will probably never be on my playlist. I can't even handle that stuff on a PC.

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