Topic: The VR/AR Revolution

[Titi Camara]

4k per eyeball? That'd probably cost you about 4k.

And about another £4k for a machine to run it!

[iSmiff]

spent about 3 hours today with an Oculus

lucky's tale is amazing, i genuinely think it's the future of Mario-esque games
it feels more real somehow, probably the perfect 3d

virtual desktop is pretty cool for the movie theatres but i do have an issue with video, the pixels are way more noticeable in films than they are in games, in games i could not notice them for long periods of time but with film i found it very noticeable, obviously in later higher res models this won't as much of an issue

the dinosaur thingie in dreamworld(dream something) was freaky as fuck

[Schmidt]

spent about 3 hours today with an Oculus

lucky's tale is amazing, i genuinely think it's the future of Mario-esque games
it feels more real somehow, probably the perfect 3d

virtual desktop is pretty cool for the movie theatres but i do have an issue with video, the pixels are way more noticeable in films than they are in games, in games i could not notice them for long periods of time but with film i found it very noticeable, obviously in later higher res models this won't as much of an issue

the dinosaur thingie in dreamworld(dream something) was freaky as fuck

The more cartoony games almost feel like toys in VR, I bet the Lego games would look great. I was on a chair with wheels when I played it and the camera movement made it feel like the chair was moving me around, it was a little weird.

[Macphisto80]

spent about 3 hours today with an Oculus

lucky's tale is amazing, i genuinely think it's the future of Mario-esque games
it feels more real somehow, probably the perfect 3d

virtual desktop is pretty cool for the movie theatres but i do have an issue with video, the pixels are way more noticeable in films than they are in games, in games i could not notice them for long periods of time but with film i found it very noticeable, obviously in later higher res models this won't as much of an issue

the dinosaur thingie in dreamworld(dream something) was freaky as fuck

Yeah, I found video to be the most problematic when it came to resolution myself. I don't think that has anything to do with the hardware. I think it's just the video itself, whether it's been captured using true 4k, and then there's compression and buffering issues that might cause it to be more pixelated than games, seeing games just render images directly to the screen in native resolution from the GPU. It's still very cool, though, and had the desired effect. I think in a few years we might be seeing native 4k, and above, curved displays for a wider FOV being used in these things, though I think that depends more on the development of optics technology than the actual screens.

[Macphisto80]

Because if it can show games I've already got in true 3d and as if you're watching on a mega-big screen then what's not to like?

Also, you can get hold of good VR games as they come out as well.

But it would annoy me not being able to play plenty of excellent games on whatever rig I went for.

I see what you mean. The same can be said for 3d films. I'd like to see how they translate into a VR headset. Playing a game like that isn't cheap, though. It's taxing on the hardware. More taxing than just playing the game directly through the headset. So far I think there are only 2d game examples of this running, though they say that 3d games are possible, but as I said, demanding hardware wise.

[Packalacky]

Are there any proper games out for it rather than just demos. I mean games that can keep you engaged for 30+ hours like the Witcher 3 or GTA.

[iSmiff]

there's a few proper games out for the Rift, the Vive seems to be mostly a lot of tech demos

[Haemoglobin]

Would people recommend saving up the pennies and getting a premium VR setup for well over a grand down the line, or just diving in with a few ton soon as?


Despite how much I've been posting in this thread, I'm a pure VR virgin - never tried a headset on in my life, not even for a demo. I can easily see myself getting jealous when fuckloads more people start using it later this year, but I suppose I've managed to survive this long without it, it might be best to simply wow my cock off with something top of the range, rather than buy a cheaper one that I'd probably soon start wanting to upgrade on.

And anyway, do we reckon a Skylake Quad Core i5 (in mine currently) could handle it to a decent level? I know for a fact my GPU won't pass muster. How about a 450W power supply, is that enough? 'Cause if I needed to basically overhaul everything, I might as well just get the Playstation VR and wait till I need to upgrade my PC for more than just this stuff.

[Macphisto80]

Are there any proper games out for it rather than just demos. I mean games that can keep you engaged for 30+ hours like the Witcher 3 or GTA.

Mostly demos.

The whole development of VR games reminds me of the infancy of gaming, back when developers were making these little simple demos that actually turned out to be proper arcade games that didn't have a lot too them, but they worked and they were fun. Back then developers were still working out what actually worked. They were discovering it as they went along, and VR is exactly the same. That's promising, because we'll now be in a sort of golden era again where things will come along that will constantly surprise and innovate as the technology improves. It's exactly what needed to happen to the industry.

I've a funny feeling that Valve are developing HL3 with VR elements in mind. There's no proper killer app for it yet. That could be it.

[Macphisto80]

Would people recommend saving up the pennies and getting a premium VR setup for well over a grand down the line, or just diving in with a few ton soon as?


Despite how much I've been posting in this thread, I'm a pure VR virgin - never tried a headset on in my life, not even for a demo. I can easily see myself getting jealous when fuckloads more people start using it later this year, but I suppose I've managed to survive this long without it, it might be best to simply wow my cock off with something top of the range, rather than buy a cheaper one that I'd probably soon start wanting to upgrade on.

And anyway, do we reckon a Skylake Quad Core i5 (in mine currently) could handle it to a decent level? I know for a fact my GPU won't pass muster. How about a 450W power supply, is that enough? 'Cause if I needed to basically overhaul everything, I might as well just get the Playstation VR and wait till I need to upgrade my PC for more than just this stuff.

I'd wait, personally. It won't be long until PSVR is out, plus if you look around, you might be able to find a shop that will allow you to try one out. By all accounts, PSVR is pretty decent, despite the hardware it's running off. Sony might even be releasing a new Playstation for it, so wait until E3. As for your CPU, that's fine. It's really the GPU you need to be concerned about. From what I've gathered so far, developers are treating the VR as a closed platform, meaning that most games don't even have graphics settings. They hit the base target hardware and optimise for it, just like a console, which is how it should be. Performance is king, not graphics.

[Haemoglobin]

^ Ah cheers, I probably will wait then. I'm just getting itchy is all.

I'm looking forward to playing homegrown VR demos and games, 'cause like you say, it feels like a burgeoning new era. I remember the brilliant stoner stuff that came out of the Amiga demoscene, trying out brand new graphical capabilities, so I'll bet some bedroom geniuses will produce something astonishing in no time.

I also think VR can breathe new life into much-maligned genres such as 'walking simulators'. Being inside such beautifully-crafted landscapes will make all the difference.

[Schmidt]

I'd wait, personally. It won't be long until PSVR is out, plus if you look around, you might be able to find a shop that will allow you to try one out. By all accounts, PSVR is pretty decent, despite the hardware it's running off. Sony might even be releasing a new Playstation for it, so wait until E3. As for your CPU, that's fine. It's really the GPU you need to be concerned about. From what I've gathered so far, developers are treating the VR as a closed platform, meaning that most games don't even have graphics settings. They hit the base target hardware and optimise for it, just like a console, which is how it should be. Performance is king, not graphics.

Yeah the GPU is most important, and it doesn't hurt to go higher than the minimum spec (except for your wallet) as stutters and frame-rate drops really don't feel nice in VR. Personally I'll be waiting a while before picking one up, though I have access to them at work so I'm past that initial curiosity.

There's talk of when AAA games will start appearing in higher numbers but I'm more excited about the indie offerings, smaller developers will take bigger risks and with Unity 3D and UE4 both offering great support for VR it's pretty easy to make games for these headsets. When developers have had some more time with the controllers I think we'll see plenty of fun little games popping up.

[iSmiff]

The GPU is important, also important is the ports you have on your GPU and monitor.

These headsets all run off HDMI 2.0, a lot of cards only have one HDMI port on them these days, my 980 Ti only has one, it has 3 display ports and DVI
So if your monitor doesn't support display port you'll be unplugging the HDMI lead all the time.

[Schmidt]

The GPU is important, also important is the ports you have on your GPU and monitor.

These headsets all run off HDMI 2.0, a lot of cards only have one HDMI port on them these days, my 980 Ti only has one, it has 3 display ports and DVI
So if your monitor doesn't support display port you'll be unplugging the HDMI lead all the time.

Display port to HDMI adapters are dirt cheap.

[iSmiff]

fair enough, you'll hardly quibble over a few quid for one after dropping about 2k to put together the system to run VR

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Yay-hay! This is what I was after - on Steam too - lovely and you can add third party games into Steam (Obviously) - so you can play any game with it

http://www.roadtovr.com/valve-is-bringing-the-entire-steam-library-into-vr-with-steamvr-desktop-theater-mode/

[Titi Camara]

WTF! Just went to order a Vive and the P&P is almost £60!

"Estimated Shipping with Tax:  £57.60"

Am I doing summit wrong? Surely that can't be right?

[Macphisto80]

WTF! Just went to order a Vive and the P&P is almost £60!

"Estimated Shipping with Tax:  £57.60"

Am I doing summit wrong? Surely that can't be right?

It's probably right.

For some reason, regardless of what it is you are buying, shipping costs from the States is fucking ridiculous. In some cases, you actually pay more for the shipping than the actual item. It's a joke.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

WTF! Just went to order a Vive and the P&P is almost £60!

"Estimated Shipping with Tax:  £57.60"

Am I doing summit wrong? Surely that can't be right?

Try and change it so you wait a bit.. Maybe express?

[Titi Camara]

And so the wait begins.....

[Titi Camara]

Still not arrived.....I wonder what the hold up is

[Macphisto80]

Still not arrived.....I wonder what the hold up is

Did you order a VR headset? Which one?

[Titi Camara]

Vive.....£60 delivery and I have to wait till fucking May for it to arrive. The want is tortuous and it's only been a day!

[Macphisto80]

Vive.....£60 delivery and I have to wait till fucking May for it to arrive. The want is tortuous and it's only been a day!

Must feel like a kid again waiting for Christmas. It's a good thing to feel excited waiting for it.

[Titi Camara]

Must feel like a kid again waiting for Christmas. It's a good thing to feel excited waiting for it.

Haha spot on, so excited to play Adr1ft on it!

Delivery just said May so it could be 3 weeks or it could be 7!

[paul211b]

Think the price needs to come down on these before I get one.  Would have to get a new PC too.   So over £1000 ouch!

[Haemoglobin]

Think the price needs to come down on these before I get one.  Would have to get a new PC too.   So over £1000 ouch!

We'll have to wait and see, but PSVR on the new PS4 model might be your (and my) best way in. Hopefully looking at ~£800 maybe or under for the whole setup, compared to literally £2k+ in most cases if you want to build a highly capable VR station PC from scratch.

The ones which use new smartphones as the screens are interesting, but I'm not sure how they'll pan out in comparison with the big names. If you're gona spend upwards of 6 ton on something, you obviously want to get the most out of it for years to come.

[aceface9]

We'll have to wait and see, but PSVR on the new PS4 model might be your (and my) best way in. Hopefully looking at ~£800 maybe or under for the whole setup, compared to literally £2k+ in most cases if you want to build a highly capable VR station PC from scratch.

My wallet dictates that this is my plan as well.

[BER]

I have FOMO, but then YOLO.

[Macphisto80]

We'll have to wait and see, but PSVR on the new PS4 model might be your (and my) best way in. Hopefully looking at ~£800 maybe or under for the whole setup, compared to literally £2k+ in most cases if you want to build a highly capable VR station PC from scratch.

The ones which use new smartphones as the screens are interesting, but I'm not sure how they'll pan out in comparison with the big names. If you're gona spend upwards of 6 ton on something, you obviously want to get the most out of it for years to come.

Well, the smartphone headsets like the Gear VR are more or less being put out there as an accessory, and a bit of a flyer to introduce VR to the mainstream. It's a smart move for Samsung and Oculus. Buy, or get a new model S7 on contract, and you get the bonus of the VR headset bundled with it. It's not essential to the phone, but it greatly enhances the experience to such an extent that it'll be hard to imagine buying a smart phone in the near future without getting one of these to use with it. To think when mobile phones first came out not that long ago, all you could do was make a phone call and play Snake on it on a green dot matrix LCD screen, if you were lucky. Now they transport you into a 3d dimension. It's crazy how far mobile technology has progressed.

[Titi Camara]

Still not here...I wonder if I have upset someone's karma

[Chakan]

Still not here...I wonder if I have upset someone's karma

Got delivered to me instead. You're missing out...

[Titi Camara]

Got delivered to me instead. You're missing out...

Boo! What you playing on it?

I've just bought The Gallery - EP1: Call of the Starseed    & Vanishing Realms, just need the fucking hardware now

[Chakan]

Boo! What you playing on it?

I've just bought The Gallery - EP1: Call of the Starseed    & Vanishing Realms, just need the fucking hardware now

Whatever you bought i'm playing, they thought I was you.

[Titi Camara]

Whatever you bought i'm playing, they thought I was you.

[Chakan]

I think I have to wait till the PS4 version of VR comes out to play anything anyway.

[Titi Camara]

Just phoned again; the guy said they haven't even completed the orders of the original pre-order customers. Looks like I better put the kettle on, this could be some fucking wait!

[Macphisto80]

Early adopter hick ups.

Oculus is going through the same problems. I'm sure everything will be grand, though.

[iSmiff]

The story is that the Oculus delay is being caused by a lack of Wireless Dongle's for the Xbox Controller.
MS simply didn't have enough of them even though they said they would.

This is backed up by some evidence from various sources. Nothing i'd called definitive but when several different reliable sources all tell the same story it's usually true

[Titi Camara]

Early adopter hick ups.

Oculus is going through the same problems. I'm sure everything will be grand, though.

Yeah man, sure I read they got 3 times the orders they were expecting on the Vive.

It they just said......31st May or whatever, at least if they gave me a date then I could try and temper my excitement/anticipation.

As it is, it's the not knowing that fucking kills ya!