General VR discussion thread

[Crono]

Downloaded it and fired it up. Pretty awesome. Flew down into NYC and walked around like it's a scale mode. It's a little like being Godzilla, but without the carnage 😀. It's the same ability set you have in regular Google Earth - can't remember if you can change day and night in Google Earth, though - but the perspective you get and being able to crouch down and look at something from above, or to actually walk through different environments is much more immersive in VR.

There's this other sword-slashing game that I saw on there (and purchased), which I've heard is actually better than Fruit Ninja. I forget what it's called though... I haven't turned on my Vive PC since July. 😱

Let me know if you remember. I bought Fruit Ninja and it is loads of fun. Just as good a fruit slicing frenzy as the 2D, but of course a lot more physical. I need more practice bouncing stuff off with the flat of my blade. 😛 Added an archery game (Holopoint) to my Steam wishlist (up to 12 VR games I want, and counting) and it looks similarly fun. I'm going to be playing a lot of Fruit Ninja, though, I love sword games.

 

[Linux23]

Downloaded it and fired it up. Pretty awesome. Flew down into NYC and walked around like it's a scale mode. It's a little like being Godzilla, but without the carnage 😀. It's the same ability set you have in regular Google Earth - can't remember if you can change day and night in Google Earth, though - but the perspective you get and being able to crouch down and look at something from above, or to actually walk through different environments is much more immersive in VR.



Let me know if you remember. I bought Fruit Ninja and it is loads of fun. Just as good a fruit slicing frenzy as the 2D, but of course a lot more physical. I need more practice bouncing stuff off with the flat of my blade. 😛 Added an archery game (Holopoint) to my Steam wishlist (up to 12 VR games I want, and counting) and it looks similarly fun. I'm going to be playing a lot of Fruit Ninja, though, I love sword games.

try QuiVR. It's a great game.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I unplug sensors after each use and have never had to re-calibrate. You do want to make sure the stem is tightened down and it is all securely attached to the wall.

Also you can "aim" them up or down a bit if you aren't getting full coverage. I read they are 120 degrees.

Yeah I am going to play with the position and the alignment of the sensors this weekend when I have some time. I think the problem isn't just that I have a low ceiling, but because I have a low ceiling AND I am tall. I am 6' 2" and the ceiling in my office is only 7' 2" high. The sensors hang down a bit, so they are level at about 6' 10" from the floor. That means when I stand up, there is only 1' of clearance between my head and the ceiling, and less between my head and the sensor level. I'm going to re-position the sensors lower on the wall and aim them up and see if the tracking improves (and also whether it will avoid my need to recal all the time). If it does - its a no brainer that I will be keeping the Vive as I spent less money for it than then Oculus (I snagged it used for $500) and, more importantly, it doesn't make me feel nearly as motion sick as the Oculus.

Its a bit frustrating that there are so many differences between the Oculus and Vive, and that they are strong in different areas. Generally - Oculus is a bit easier to use, its easier (for me) to keep the headset positioned where the screen is in focus, its a better fit for my room, and (to me) the touch controllers feel more natural. On the other hand the Vive has a much bigger catalog of software, a better FOV, doesn't make me as motion sick as the Oculus, and is already feature complete (i.e., I already have the Vive controllers, whereas I would need (and want) to buy the Oculus touch controllers.

Ultimately I would like to keep both, but its pretty hard at the moment to justify doing so.

 

[Mutilator]

Also keep in mind the only real reason to have the lighthouses up so high is so they can see each other without you (or someone else) walking between them. I've had my lighthouses at chest height and had them work fine, on tripods at head height, and of course mounted up high on the wall like they are now. Even having them on the floor pointed up will probably work fine until something blocks their line of sight.

The bigger issue in my experience with tracking issues has been reflective surfaces so now I have towels thrown over my mirrors and TV while I Vive lol. It drove me nuts because it was fine for a month with the lighthouses in 2 corners of the room temporarily (say left front & right rear), when I mounted them in the other 2 corners of the room (right front, left rear) is when issues popped up - all because of the way the lasers were reflecting. I also initially had issues with the floor height occasionally losing calibration but that was fixed in a software update weeks ago, never had a problem with the room size setup.

If you keep having issues make sure you get up and look at your lighthouse while it's on - or take a pic with your cell phone - you should see the circle of lights as well as a light to the side of them and below them:
Good Lighthouse
Bad Lighthouse

 

[sxr7171]

im not saying it is all that hard, especially if you are a giant conglomeration with over 50 years of consumer production manufacturing history and access to the optics experts at sony cameras/lenses.
it is just plastic. but for the purposes of vr hmd, flat fresnel lenses are cheap and easy to make with the only real down side being the haze/glow from bleed around the ridges. its part of the tradeoffs and prioritization hierarchy. some people may be bothered more than others, if the glow isnt an issue for most then you can save money, weight, and thickness with the fresnel solution. fresnel lets rift adjust to more ranges of people's vision.
hmds place a tft at close distance to your eyes to fill the fov. the closer it is the wider fov you get. at that small of a distance the optics you need in order to distort the view correctly means the lens needs to refract significantly in unusual ways. when you add in things like vive having multiple focal ranges thru the vertical, it is much simpler to use fresnel ridges to bend the light rather than doing the math/manufacturing to mass produce a solid lens. it is unlikely sony has the multiple focal ranges with its solid lens.

like i said it is somewhat moot, one or two generations from now lens optics will likely be obsolete and not worth worrying about.

It wasn't a problem when I believed it was necessary but after I tried the PS VR I saw how unnecessary that was. Also the pixels are just so close on the PS VR. No doubt about from the headset itself PS VR is weak in everything else.

 

[flexy]

Here is a little revelation: (At least for me it was)

The Rift is entirely capable of "Room Scale", there are even videos out there of people demonstrating room scale with a Vanilla rift and ONE CAMERA.

I did a bit more reading on this, and it almost seems to me that Oculus for what reason had been (and still is) cautious "promoting" room scale, possibly because of that "room scale" doesn't make too much sense without touch (??), and/or even that there are "political reasons" behind this like the potential of people falling over and hurting themselves because of USB cables or walls (???) or whatever other reasons I don't understand. Fact is people without problems walk around and are properly tracked in 10ft areas (as said with only ONE camera!) and it seems to me it's really only a matter of placing the camera optimally. I am honestly baffled since there seems to be a perception that "Vive does room scale" but "Rift does not respective only with 2 or 3 cameras", which absolutely doesn't seem the case.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/4fbhj2/the_definitive_rift_room_scale_post/

Correction, addition: It really looks as that the deliberate cautiousness by Oculus NOT promoting RS too much is because they don't have chaperone (the "safety mechanism" that Vive has which shows you your walls so you don't run into them). However, chaperone CAN run on Rift with Touch. The above reddit link has everything about Room Scale on the Rift.


"The biggest differentiator between the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR headsets seems to be the Vive's ability to allow gamers to walk around inside an entire room as they play." <--- taken from a large review site and also the general notion most people have. Except that it's wrong, sort of. It probably comes down to this expression "entire room" , where it's likely that Oculus needs Touch/2nd camera to cover and track an "entire room". Except that a lot of people probably don't even "need to" or want to track an "entire room", most people have some dedicated playing areas where they play and move, say, 10ft or so and it works flawlessly from what I can see. (In videos)

 

[ImpulsE69]

that's been covered in this thread before. Oculus can do some room scale and will be better with 2-3 cameras. Really most stuff is standing room only with very little actual movement, but some of the really cool stuff does require a large play space. Definitely the controllers are the biggest challenge with Rift vs Vive. Completely different immersion depending on what you are doing.

PSA: another awesome find and available for both Vive and Rift. VRideo is a virtual video place. It is free, and it has some kinda cool stuff. However, I HIGHLY recommend you go check it out and watch the Star Wars Rogue One 360 VR experience. IT IS AMAZING. It is short..about a minute and a half or so, but..it almost brought a tear to my eye it was so stunning. A note though, as of yet, not sure how to download the video to local (many you can), and so you have to stream it. The default settings aren't that great, so once you start the video, you have to bring up the video options and turn it to 2k or 4k if you can handle them. Once you do this, it will stay.

 

[Sabrewings]

Yes, the Rift headset only can do room scale with one camera. You cannot expect good results out of Touch and room scale with one camera due to occlusion issues. The precision of the Rift's tracking at distance does drop off some too and there have been reports of increased jitter with one camera.

In order to avoid occlusion with handheld controllers you need two opposing references for line of sight, hence why the Vive has two base stations. It is incredibly difficult to occlude your controllers with them setup that way. You do get a second camera with Touch, but the recommended installation is near the first but lower to counter occlusion in 180 degree standing games.

The videos I saw earlier this year showed Touch working on one camera but the controllers had worse jitter than the headset at distance. Two cameras should help.

So, yes it is technically capable but it isn't ideally setup without opposing lines of sight from the cameras. Each camera you add is also additional overhead processing another HD video stream in real time.

 

[Aikouka]

Let me know if you remember. I bought Fruit Ninja and it is loads of fun. Just as good a fruit slicing frenzy as the 2D, but of course a lot more physical. I need more practice bouncing stuff off with the flat of my blade. 😛 Added an archery game (Holopoint) to my Steam wishlist (up to 12 VR games I want, and counting) and it looks similarly fun. I'm going to be playing a lot of Fruit Ninja, though, I love sword games.

It's called ZenBlade. The only bad thing is that it's still in Early Access, so you won't know what you'll get when it's done (or if it finishes). Maybe wait for the upcoming Christmas sale to pick it up if you aren't sure.

 

[HeXen]

VR still a thing? I haven't seen anything I'd care much to play on it still, just a monthly trickling of mediocre games with 4 hrs worth of gameplay. I did check out Google's Earth at my friends after seeing so many positive reviews and....meh. Really?

You can't fly, you just zoom, pan and rotate and not at the same time either.
When you get close to the streets, all the polygons are way screwed up. I saw giant polygonal protrusions in the middle of streets and other oddities. Trees look wacked, like looking at Mario 64's trees on an Commadore 64.
Only a few areas are 3D modeled, the rest is a 2d flat texture that's really blurry up close so you can't really explore or venture out much less you like the blurry colors green and blue.
Go too high and it's really hazy, too low and it's a blur fest. There's just not much to see imo.

Went to Paris Eiffel Tower...it looked utterly horrid. The tops of buildings were all jaggy and how all the polygons change shape as you move around is worse than the pop in on Oblivion.

Seriously, where is all this excitement people are having for this thing in the reviews? Is everyone just clicking on the touring mode and looking at the views from it's most ideal vantage point? Those cherry spots don't look bad by any means but I look around and in like 20 seconds..yep, ready to see something else. Other than that, it's Google Earth's regular app minus the airplane simulation mode and no street views.

 

[ImpulsE69]

VR still a thing? I haven't seen anything I'd care much to play on it still, just a monthly trickling of mediocre games with 4 hrs worth of gameplay. I did check out Google's Earth at my friends after seeing so many positive reviews and....meh. Really?

You can't fly, you just zoom, pan and rotate and not at the same time either.
When you get close to the streets, all the polygons are way screwed up. I saw giant polygonal protrusions in the middle of streets and other oddities. Trees look wacked, like looking at Mario 64's trees on an Commadore 64.
Only a few areas are 3D modeled, the rest is a 2d flat texture that's really blurry up close so you can't really explore or venture out much less you like the blurry colors green and blue.
Go too high and it's really hazy, too low and it's a blur fest. There's just not much to see imo.

Went to Paris Eiffel Tower...it looked utterly horrid. The tops of buildings were all jaggy and how all the polygons change shape as you move around is worse than the pop in on Oblivion.

Seriously, where is all this excitement people are having for this thing in the reviews? Is everyone just clicking on the touring mode and looking at the views from it's most ideal vantage point? Those cherry spots don't look bad by any means but I look around and in like 20 seconds..yep, ready to see something else. Other than that, it's Google Earth's regular app minus the airplane simulation mode and no street views.

Oh ye of little foresight...be glad it's still a 'thing'. VR is just starting.

I get the impression you think someone goes in and textures every single thing. There is a reason Google Earth VR looks like it does, and there are plenty of articles explaining it so I'm not going to go into it here. Also, this isn't some video game so quit trying to compare it to it. I don't believe all the data is local, I think it downloads it (or calculates it) as you look which is why all the pop ins. This is a classic case of me wanting to say "you just don't get it" but there is no point. You either like it or you don't. I'm not going to try to convince you, but I feel many of your comments are based on a misconception of what it is and can be answered by a search engine.

As for VR in general, yes it is pretty sparse, but there are awe inspiring things, it varies which it is for people. My wife isn't nearly as impressed by most of it as I am, but even she has been like "wow" on a few things. It's a new technology, and it will only get better. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to fork over the money for it right now.

 

[flexy]

Someone somewhere commented that he's a little disappointed with VR, basically saying that many games are shallow and lack replay value once the initial excitement about VR subsides. I tend to agree, simply because:

If a game is bad, boring, non-creative etc., even VR doesn't make it "better".

But here is the point, this is just me personally: I am actually not even looking forward to "games" that much. That's not to say that I wouldn't play a good VR game (I am not even that excited about the upcoming games for the Rift w/ Touch), but I see VR as a way to "experience" things in new ways, and I think Google Earth VR, Apollo 11 experience and similar are good examples what I mean with that.

There is also stuff out there where there would be no way I'd even take a look at them otherwise, like those that would fall under "art", or things like virtual travel, or say, an "experience" that allows you to fly, or to climb mountains or have you experience how it would be if you're on a space station in weightlessness. Things which IMO are already transcending what one considers "games" in a traditional sense. (Not even mentioning creativity etc.)

You just asked whether VR is "still" a thing...and I had to chuckle. You seem to have no idea what's cooking there. Every major company is working on VR as it seems to me, Google, Microsoft, just out of my head. There will be an update in Win10 in Spring which will give Win10 VR support out of the box. There are countless companies who are already working on next gen, this means new tech and improved in any way, wireless, bigger resolutions etc. and cheaper. Even VR porn seems to be a really big upcoming thing, so is VR "social media" and whatnot. I don't have time to read too much about it but I do on occasion, and it's just crazy what's going on in this sector right now.

 

[HeXen]

Someone somewhere commented that he's a little disappointed with VR, basically saying that many games are shallow and lack replay value once the initial excitement about VR subsides. I tend to agree, simply because:

If a game is bad, boring, non-creative etc., even VR doesn't make it "better".

But here is the point, this is just me personally: I am actually not even looking forward to "games" that much. That's not to say that I wouldn't play a good VR game (I am not even that excited about the upcoming games for the Rift w/ Touch), but I see VR as a way to "experience" things in new ways, and I think Google Earth VR, Apollo 11 experience and similar are good examples what I mean with that.

There is also stuff out there where there would be no way I'd even take a look at them otherwise, like those that would fall under "art", or things like virtual travel, or say, an "experience" that allows you to fly, or to climb mountains or have you experience how it would be if you're on a space station in weightlessness. Things which IMO are already transcending what one considers "games" in a traditional sense. (Not even mentioning creativity etc.)

You just asked whether VR is "still" a thing...and I had to chuckle. You seem to have no idea what's cooking there. Every major company is working on VR as it seems to me, Google, Microsoft, just out of my head. There will be an update in Win10 in Spring which will give Win10 VR support out of the box. There are countless companies who are already working on next gen, this means new tech and improved in any way, wireless, bigger resolutions etc. and cheaper. Even VR porn seems to be a really big upcoming thing, so is VR "social media" and whatnot. I don't have time to read too much about it but I do on occasion, and it's just crazy what's going on in this sector right now.

Looking at VR games releasing in 2017...yeah, I do have an idea of what's cooking. RE7 on PSVR is certainly amongst a few select others but for the most part, they all look much the same as what's been coming out lately. The other AA and AAA titles such as Star Citizen and Police 10-13 are a long ways off still so no point in even discussing nor are the early access titles since we all know how those can turn out, especially when so many highly anticipated games turn out to be a wash *cough NMS* And VR porn hasn't changed, it has it's market certainly but 180 degree videos are not exactly taking people by storm ya know and in case you weren't aware, most of them are not done properly such as distorted field of view above your head which looks really messed up when a girl is riding on top or is cut off completely from view. Color fading, double vision are problems that some have as well...apparently they have not yet mastered the camera techniques but even if they do, it's not creating mass adoption for VR anymore so than it already is.
You mention wireless...funny because 1.5 hrs of battery power is hardly worth $220. Sure it'll get better but who cares because gaming is all about the now. It's Xmas season and Vive titles are still trickling out these demo like games. Rift at least has Obduction and a few others but many don't do well with Revive either from what I'm told.

Meanwhile, the majority of games releasing like Dishonored 2..etc has no VR option. That being the contention of my original and continued disappointment that you recalled. Look at all the Vive VR games that have mostly negative reviews. MS's entry is just that...a vague article saying they have partners but little else and certainly no games on display. These 'countless' companies you mentioned are countable btw, as there are sites that dedicate to news of every VR title currently in development. But having a couple or three really good games per year and a bunch of indie titles does not justify $800 to some people if most of their gaming still takes place on the TV.

Either way, I did not obtain a new experience with Google Earth VR. I'm not sure how anyone could consider that a new experience per say, I certainly imagined much more based on the pictures. Now if they added the flight simulator like they have for the regular Earth app, then that would be more appealing for sure, maybe an option for SS since it certainly could use it but no doubt Flight Simulator X has mods with better looking world map.

No one has to agree with me as I certainly don't give a crap what you guys think nor anyone's need to justify their VR but games are what sells platforms and half a dozen games out of 572 titles in a library is pretty lame. That's why I'm surprised anyone still consider's it a thing, most people don't even talk about it anymore.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Looking at VR games releasing in 2017...yeah,

There's a reason flight probably isn't an option and the same reason most of the games are similar unfortunately. Movement sickness. Until this has been figured out, many things we 'want' to do in VR won't be liked by the majority of people. Moving around in GoogleVR for a long period of time, even with the tunnel vision option still makes me queasy. It is NOT the same thing as looking at a phone screen or monitor.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

VR still a thing? I haven't seen anything I'd care much to play on it still, just a monthly trickling of mediocre games with 4 hrs worth of gameplay. I did check out Google's Earth at my friends after seeing so many positive reviews and....meh. Really?

You can't fly, you just zoom, pan and rotate and not at the same time either.
When you get close to the streets, all the polygons are way screwed up. I saw giant polygonal protrusions in the middle of streets and other oddities. Trees look wacked, like looking at Mario 64's trees on an Commadore 64.
Only a few areas are 3D modeled, the rest is a 2d flat texture that's really blurry up close so you can't really explore or venture out much less you like the blurry colors green and blue.
Go too high and it's really hazy, too low and it's a blur fest. There's just not much to see imo.

Went to Paris Eiffel Tower...it looked utterly horrid. The tops of buildings were all jaggy and how all the polygons change shape as you move around is worse than the pop in on Oblivion.

Seriously, where is all this excitement people are having for this thing in the reviews? Is everyone just clicking on the touring mode and looking at the views from it's most ideal vantage point? Those cherry spots don't look bad by any means but I look around and in like 20 seconds..yep, ready to see something else. Other than that, it's Google Earth's regular app minus the airplane simulation mode and no street views.

I love this comment: Thank you!

What did you think of the game play for portal stories, a chair in a room, and mine craft VR?

 

[flexy]

Guys, I *finally* got my Rift today and already "played" up and down demos and stuff from Oculus Store and Steam
Allow me a "review" from someone who never have a VR experience before, maybe it helps someone 🙂

* Setup was retarded easy and quick, unbelievable.
Also no problems with my "not so extremely powerful" PC with an overclocked 4770K and only a GTX 970.
Performance wise I don't feel I'd need anything faster at this point, although of course I hadn't have a chance to try everything out there.

I downloaded/tested Dreamdeck and several other free demos/experiences and also some rollercoasters

* My impression overall is somewhere between "WHOAW!" and "slight disappointment".

* Screen door effect is definitely there, and there is lots of "rays" and "flares" etc. which I think is normal, so this is a slight pain in things like menus etc. It is definitely at first a shock when you're used to playing on a highres monitor. SDE and resolution etc. is also highly depending on experience, in some it's less noticeable. Same with flares/rays, it always depends. Just don't expect clarity like from a monitor.

* FOV is definitely "limited", and the comparison with a diving mask I think fits perfectly. But actually I don't think the limited FOV is such a problem at this point considering the other things.

* Despite the shortcomings, some things blew me away, and my absolute favorite is this "Senza Peso" "short opera" experience, it's incredible and for me totally symbolizes what VR is about and the potential it has.

* Dreamdeck, Dinosaurs etc, "nice" but didn't blow me off my feet, neither did the "Showdown" demo. It really didn't impress me as much as some people say it impressed them.

* Then it was time for my first rollercoaster and other similar experiences, and I LOVE them although you can get dizzy if you do stupid things like riding a roller coaster and then move your head around because you WILL get dizzy. There was one demo where you ride a broom stick through a house which is really pushing it because there are no tracks, so you have no idea where the broom goes. I mean you REALLY feel it in your "stomach". Same effect with that scene in dreamdeck where you look down the skyscraper. Holy crap, MONEY WELL SPENT 🙂 You really get scared you might fall down, awesome. Or the sense of size of a planet or whatever large thing.... just awesome.So this stuff comes across well even with the "diver mask FOV". I also experienced for the first time ever the notion that I could be genuinely "scared" playing a game and then facing an enemy/boss etc....some things just appear so *real*, this absolutely would give horror etc games an entire new dimension.

* I also loaded up Google Earth VR and somehow figured out a little how to move around using the tutorials. It is *extremely* well done (actually, mind-blowing) but of course without Touch I think I can't use 70% what it can even do. It was odd however that everything was "miniature" size and you feel like a giant.

* Oculus Home is "nice", this is all I can say. "Nice". I personally like the Steam VR interface A LOT better, a lot cooler with the big screen to the side.

* Lucky's Tale. Absolutely not my type of game but it is extremely well done. I was in awe about this game.

* Sound quality of the headphones? I was at first disappointed since one demo had crappy sound, but then I loaded some others and it turns out it is actually good and can deliver some "oomph" and actually has good bass. Nothing to complain here, and very comfortable.

* Set is very comfortable to wear and very light although it needs some figuring out how to position it on your face for best experience.

* Sensor is even smaller than I figured and goes nicely even on my crammed desk.

* My overall impression is positive, but it's sort of like that you are aware we're at an early stage of things. Like...I'd say it feels it's 65-70% of the potential of stuff in the future. Less Screen door effect, less flares from the lenses, a notch higher FOV. This is what we need. And when we get this, next gen or gen 2, there is SO MUCH potential I shudder just thinking about it. Imagine THIS but with full clarity of a normal monitor and none of the downsides. I can understand those people who say wait for next gen although I don't think I "wasted" money.

Additions:

* I am actually having a hell of a time to get any demos/experiences where you can actually actively move. There are not many that even take advantage of the Xbox controller. It lay on my lap unused most of the time. But I really want the "BARF!" experience just for the lulz.

* I am quite disappointed with the quality of MOST 360 deg "VR movies" out there. I read somewhere that 360 deg movies need insane bandwidth/size...but those in the Oculus store are low resolution and blurry.They even said this. I read somewhere a "proper" 3D movie needs 18K resolution, insane. This coming from the philosophy that a movie always looked better than something *RENDERED* in 3D, and with VR it seems to be the opposite.

 

[ImpulsE69]

There aren't really any for Rift because it wasn't designed to do it. You will need to look to Steam for some of the Vive/Rift crossover stuff for that. Also, the free demo stuff is usually just that, you in the middle watching.

Also for Google Earth, there's an options setting that allows "human" view, that lets you get below the level you are at. Like Hexen mentioned though, don't expect high quality images down there. The models and textures are not hand drawn by artists, it's composites and computer images from sattelites and google cars.

 

[gorobei]

HTC black friday $100 discount on vive bundle
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-vive-black-friday-discounts,33066.html

HTC revealed that it is discounting the Vive bundle by $100 for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You’ll be able to pick up the whole kit, including the headset, motion controls, and two base stations for $699. The discounted bundles include the three software titles that come with all Vive orders. You’ll get The Gallery: Call of The Starseed, Zombie Training Simulator, (tiltbrush cancelled).

 

[Sabrewings]

HTC black friday $100 discount on vive bundle
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-vive-black-friday-discounts,33066.html

Awesome. Best deal in VR right there. Room scale, motion controllers, and two great titles. Sucks Tiltbrush isn't part of the bundle anymore.

 

[pj-]

VR still a thing? I haven't seen anything I'd care much to play on it still, just a monthly trickling of mediocre games with 4 hrs worth of gameplay. I did check out Google's Earth at my friends after seeing so many positive reviews and....meh. Really?

You can't fly, you just zoom, pan and rotate and not at the same time either.
When you get close to the streets, all the polygons are way screwed up. I saw giant polygonal protrusions in the middle of streets and other oddities. Trees look wacked, like looking at Mario 64's trees on an Commadore 64.
Only a few areas are 3D modeled, the rest is a 2d flat texture that's really blurry up close so you can't really explore or venture out much less you like the blurry colors green and blue.
Go too high and it's really hazy, too low and it's a blur fest. There's just not much to see imo.

Went to Paris Eiffel Tower...it looked utterly horrid. The tops of buildings were all jaggy and how all the polygons change shape as you move around is worse than the pop in on Oblivion.

Seriously, where is all this excitement people are having for this thing in the reviews? Is everyone just clicking on the touring mode and looking at the views from it's most ideal vantage point? Those cherry spots don't look bad by any means but I look around and in like 20 seconds..yep, ready to see something else. Other than that, it's Google Earth's regular app minus the airplane simulation mode and no street views.

Small point but you can fly. Hold forward on the trackpad and you can whip around around like superman, pointing the controller where you want to go. The only thing I don't like about that method of movement is that the scale changes as you increase altitude. I assume at some point they will add a "lock player size" option so you can be human scale all the time.

Sucks that you didn't like the experience but to me it was amazing. I landed on top of the WTC and looked around all of manhattan. Then I flew over the brooklyn bridge and landed in an intersection near my apartment. Barclay's Center looked as large as it does in person and I could see the entrance to my local Best Buy. Then I flew over to Central Park and landed on a baseball diamond. After that I moved over to Coney Island and looked at the rides from a height that made them look like toys. I love the perspective it gives you on the layout of a city. It makes it so easy to create a mental map of where things are in relation to each other in a large city like new york. I will definitely use before traveling to any place that is modeled in 3d. It's so much better than the browser version of GE even though the data is exactly the same. Even with the n64 geometry it is weirdly powerful and I think it's going to be even more incredible after an iteration or two on the photogrammetry techniques used to generate the models/textures. That is going to be an ungodly amount of data.

Even the basic landscape 3d created from satellite images can be pretty great. I checked out the glaciers in Iceland which I recently visited in person and it was cool to see the full scale of them and how they flow from the high areas down to sea level.

The dudes on Giantbomb were also pretty impressed with it and they are the jadedest folks around, especially when it comes to VR.

 

[flexy]

Seriously Palmer is an idiot. Rather than giving out free CV1s to all early backers (which he did), he should give everyone free or at least steeply discounted Touches.

 

[Crono]

Small point but you can fly. Hold forward on the trackpad and you can whip around around like superman, pointing the controller where you want to go. The only thing I don't like about that method of movement is that the scale changes as you increase altitude. I assume at some point they will add a "lock player size" option so you can be human scale all the time.

Sucks that you didn't like the experience but to me it was amazing. I landed on top of the WTC and looked around all of manhattan. Then I flew over the brooklyn bridge and landed in an intersection near my apartment. Barclay's Center looked as large as it does in person and I could see the entrance to my local Best Buy. Then I flew over to Central Park and landed on a baseball diamond. After that I moved over to Coney Island and looked at the rides from a height that made them look like toys. I love the perspective it gives you on the layout of a city. It makes it so easy to create a mental map of where things are in relation to each other in a large city like new york. I will definitely use before traveling to any place that is modeled in 3d. It's so much better than the browser version of GE even though the data is exactly the same. Even with the n64 geometry it is weirdly powerful and I think it's going to be even more incredible after an iteration or two on the photogrammetry techniques used to generate the models/textures. That is going to be an ungodly amount of data.

Even the basic landscape 3d created from satellite images can be pretty great. I checked out the glaciers in Iceland which I recently visited in person and it was cool to see the full scale of them and how they flow from the high areas down to sea level.

The dudes on Giantbomb were also pretty impressed with it and they are the jadedest folks around, especially when it comes to VR.

Agree with your sentiments.
I just want to add for anyone who is remarking on the quality that the experience (like for regular Google Earth) depends on your connection. Spotty/poor connections will produce blocky, blurry textures that take longer to load.

 

[flexy]

I am still looking for a super-barf experience, I really enjoy this 🙂
I got me this racing game "redout", not even a hint of motion sickness or anything. I am assuming that motion sickness or dizziness would only come in a game/experience where there is unexpected movement where you don't have any control over.

The BIGGEST barf-factor I discovered actually in Google Earth, when you press TAB which looks the view, and then you physically turn. So basically your body tells you "movement" but your view doesn't.

As for wife, I showed her a view things now, including a couple from Dreamdesk, and the Desert Rollercoaster and some other demo and she likes it...at least she understands now why I wanted the Rift so badly, lol. 🙂

 

[Craig234]

If I'm interested in VR at some point - within a year, say - is Vive the one to get? Is there a 2.0 coming out within a year? Or is the holiday deal the thing to get for the next couple years?

 

[Dr. Zaus]

If I'm interested in VR at some point - within a year, say - is Vive the one to get? Is there a 2.0 coming out within a year? Or is the holiday deal the thing to get for the next couple years?

I can't tell you where prices will go, but thr expectations seem to be "between consoles and phones". I would expect the next headset out around the time of the 1180 series video cards.