Just some warning for the rift, all future Oculus devices will require a Facebook account now. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up covering current devices too, sooner or later.

>>27582
>partially as a way of getting cardio in in a more fun and less COVID-getting way than going to the gym

Zwift or FullGaz and a stationary bike..

>>27583
It will, but I have a second Facebook account in my name which I use for professional applications which has fuck all to track on it, so I'll use that. Plus, hopefully there'll be an XDA-Style jailbreaking community for them at some point.

>>27584
The variety of experiences isn't as good, you can't play VR games on a virtual bike, and also space.

>>27582
Things are clearly getting better but I still don't see it as more than a novelty. It's like Alyx came along and everyone went 'oh VR is worth it now'. No, it's not. I'm waiting for the treadmills at least.

>>27583

>I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up covering current devices too, sooner or later.

I believe they did announce this already, something like by 2022 you'll need facebook to access even the old kits.

Mind you it's not that hard to have a facebook account that is entirely useless for data harvesting.

I'm a huge fan of VR. It's a fundamentally different experience to gaming or watching video on a flat display, which has really been highlighted by lockdown. If I spend an hour in VR, I feel mentally refreshed like I've been out and had a change of scenery.

The Rift S is a good option and absolutely trounces anything from HTC in terms of value, but if you're interested in fitness I'd suggest looking at the Quest (if you can find one). The lack of wires makes a big difference in a lot of games. I own a Valve Index, but I use the Quest more because it's so easy to dip in for a quick session. Quest has a tethered link mode that works with any PCVR game, although the visual quality and latency is very slightly worse than the Rift S.

A 3600X and RTX 2060 is comfortably above the recommended spec and will run all VR games just fine. Ideally you need at least a two metre by two metre space that's clear of obstructions and bigger is definitely better, but you can usually get away with something slightly smaller if you're careful.

VR doesn't have a lot of experiences that compare to AAA gaming, but I think that's almost besides the point. VR really is a different medium, because of how quickly your brain accepts the idea that you're in the virtual space and doing the thing in the game. A game like Eleven Table Tennis looks shit on a flat screen, but in VR it just feels like having a ping pong table in your house - you're not playing a computer game, you're playing table tennis. Beat Saber looks like the most rudimentary kind of rhythm game, but it feels like dancing.

If nothing else, it's a total game-changer for porn. Oh lawd that is some next-level wanking.

Don't waste your money. You don't need a VR set-up to play HeroQuest.

>>27589

What was that?

I've convinced myself to go for the used Rift S at my local CEX for £340. I'll eventually got a FFB steering wheel and I know I can at least use it in Assetto Corsa if nothing else.

>>27586
Yes, this is what I'm worried about - is it really just an expensive tech demo still?

>>27588
>Quest
It seems that the Quest has lower specs though - from what I've seen having a higher res and refresh rate MASSIVELY improves the immersion so I'll probably stick with the S just because it's so much cheaper as well.

>2x2m
I have about 1.5x1.5, which with some furniture jiggling I could probably get to 1.5x2. I'm also definitely going to get one of those weightlifting foam mats so I don't piss the downstairs flat off with endless stamping out.

>adult entertainment
I hadn't even thought of that. Hm.

>>27589
Sorry lad, I'm afraid that reference has gone over the top of my head.

>>27591

The Rift S and the 64GB Quest are the same price, although it can be hard to find the Quest in stock. The Quest has a slightly higher-resolution screen running at a slightly lower refresh rate, but there's not a big difference in optical quality either way.

In stand-alone mode the Quest has far more rudimentary graphics than a PC VR setup because it's running from an on-board smartphone SoC, but you can tether it to your PC with a USB 3.0 cable for the full PC VR experience - it works practically identically to the Rift S when it's plugged in.

Quest isn't quite as good as the Rift S for PC VR, but the option of using it untethered is a big deal for fitness use. Being tethered with a cable total non-issue if you're sat down and playing a flight sim or something, but it's a pain in the arse if you're playing something more active - the cable always seems to be in the wrong place and there's the constant threat of tripping over it.

The Rift S isn't a bad headset by any means, it's possibly a better option if you're absolutely sure that you'll be using it next to your PC, but the Quest is just much more versatile. Quest is nearly as good as the Rift S in every respect, but it also does a whole bunch of stuff that the Rift S can't.

>>27592
I have 3m USB3 and DP extension cables to hand - my idea was to play with a lot of slack in the cables, but I have had someone else say maybe go for the Quest instead.

It'd be a good £50 over the S, looking at CeX prices. Would it mean that I have to buy beat saber on Steam to play over the link cable and then again on Oculus Store to play wirelessly?

I've had my Vive for a few years now and while I don't use it daily anymore I'm far from bored with it. There are a lot of "experiences" like art-project music videos (e.g. "Surge" or "Icarus Six Sixty Six"), VR "films" (e.g. "Allumette", "INVASION!), or gimmicy "games" like "Richie's Plank Experience" which don't really have much long-term appeal but, for me at least, there're are a handful of games I keep coming back to.

"Beat Saber" should be well known to anyone with even passing interest in VR and it never gets old. If you like rythm games, then this a killer app and it gets you moving to boot.

"Sairento VR" is even more exercise and has you ducking and weaving as an integral part of the movement system. I still enjoy it, but it does show its age a bit.

"Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades" is just a sand box with guns that's still getting updates. Every now and then I dig it out again and blow some hot dogs to pieces.

As >>27588 says, it's really quite unlike playing on flat screen. Sometimes it's nice to just find a nice space and look around for a bit like a mini-holiday. And yes, porn is also a thing.

> Also, I have a Ryzen 3600X and RTX 2060, will that be good enough?

If in doubt there are several performance testing tools out there. The "SteamVR Performane Test" is still reasonable and probably the most accessible.

Thanks lads. In a momentary lapse of reason I just bought the Rift S from CEX today.

It is certainly an experience. The screen door effect is more intense than I would like, and in less action packed experiences it's noticable.
One thing that is really getting me is my eyes will try and focus on "close" objects even though they are at infinity thanks to the lenses. There's also an odd few minutes after taking the headset off where it still "feels" like you're in VR. It really shows up just how much our brains are adapted to one set of physical parameters and how it really can't cope when they aren't met.

I'vee got beat saber set up but all the custom songs I have found seem to be ULTRA LEGEND EXPERT++ mode, and I can barely get past normal, so I guess I'll have to stick with the included songs for now. In easy or standard it's not a massively intense workout, but after 20 or so minutes I could definitely feel like I'd done some exercise.

Google Earth VR is amazing, though I instantly regretted turning the "comfort mode" off, I nearly returned my meal deal to the bag I brought it home in.

I've got a shitty non-FFB steering wheel at my parents', so I'll grab that next time I'm there, and I'll do some Euro Trucking.

Annoyingly none of the VR browsers I found allow you to install Chrome extensions - ads aren't really an issue as I have pi-hole, but it'd be nice to install some of the YouTube QoL extensions, and run Ghostery etc.

>>27596

>I'vee got beat saber set up but all the custom songs I have found seem to be ULTRA LEGEND EXPERT++ mode

You can filter custom songs by difficulty level on bsaber.

https://bsaber.com/songs/top/?difficulty=normal

I bought a rift a few years ago but don't really have the space to use it properly.
I remember getting motion sickness when testing out minecraft.
I only use it for VR porn now which is quite the experience but can get a bit much with all the wires and faffing about.

>>27597
I found that, but the number of songs on there with a supposedly easy/standard mode, and then when you download them it's only Expert and Expert+ is frustrating.

There are tons of great demos of VR; but it's a bit like 3D TV, cames back into fashion every 10 - 15 years or so, everyone tries it and goes, "That's cool, but now I feel a bit dizzy" and then goes back to normal interfaces.

>>27600
I wouldn't say it's a novelty, but there aren't that many exciting games for VR and if you look at the Steam hardware survey the GPUs about a quarter of people are using are the 1060, 1050 Ti or a 1050 which means you're going to be turning down some settings on a 1080p 60Hz monitor. Sure, maybe you can run one of those shooting gallery VR games or Beat Saber, but do you really want to spend hundreds of pounds for that when you could put it towards a new GPU and play thousands more games instead?

Maybe you're right though, I noticed that the Subnautica devs aren't bothering with VR for the second game and while I've heard people who play flight sims and driving sims say it's brilliant, the headsets themselves aren't comfortable to wear for long stretches. I don't know, I want to be persauded by VR, but if I have that money to spare and I'm going to spend it on PC hardware, it's going to be a new monitor, video card or commissioning my dream mouse from a local artisan.

I want a VR set specifically for sim racing, and I suppose the occasional jaunt on flight sim. I feel like most "made for VR" games still sort of feel like tech demos, and I'm not super interested in beatsaber and things like that, so it just doesn't feel worth it right now for me. Saying that, I do like the idea of having a virtual desktop, I love having a load of screens for work - though I do not think I would get away with wearing a matrix wanking helmet in work just yet.

>>27602
The resolution simply isn't there for virtual desktops right now. If I have my monitor set so it takes up most of my FoV, the text is only barely readable. You're talking like, 800x600 max.

On the porn front, I don't know if it's just a setting or my weird brain but everything feels... giant? Feels like the people in the video are 30ft tall. I don't have a giant(ess) fetish but if I did this would be perfect.

>>27603

I have tried porn on a GearVR phone thingy and I've noticed the perspective issue too - it very much depends on what format/lens/camera was used to shoot, I am assuming. For some reason some huge companies just don't seem to get the right perspective, whle others do. There's probably ways to sort this, but it's free porn, it's not worth my time.

>>27603

CzechVR and VirtualTaboo are the only companies to have properly sorted out their recording and mastering process. It's a new medium and a lot of people are learning on the job. For best results, download 5k+ HEVC files. GizmoVR has options for tweaking the perspective if it looks off.

>>27604
I'm not an expert in these matters, but isn't this what point-of-view porn is for?

>>27606

Most VR porn is shot in PoV. The difference is that VR porn is 180 degree stereoscopic, meaning a) it fills almost your entire field of view, b) you can move your head to look around and c) everything has 3D depth.

The current technology is far from perfect, some studios are struggling to work it all out and the file sizes for high-quality VR video are absolutely immense, but when it all works the sense of immersion is tremendous.

Euro Truck Sim 2 VR is amazing. It honestly feels like you can reach out and touch the dash controls.

Shame the resolution just isn't there, really - it's playable, but you can't read signs until you're right on top of them.

>>27608

Things like this are why I'm holding out for a second or third VR "generation" before jumping in, and much more beastly computer specs to go with it. As good as VR is getting at solving the early issues, and "real" games like Alyx emerging, I feel like it's definitely still in the early adopter phase.

I feel confident that it's not just a repeat of 3D TVs and movies, at least, but it's got a way to go before it's truly high quality and the value of current kit is going to be next to worthless when it gets there. Even as someone who's probably spent four times the price of a Valve Index on plastic soldiers and plastic soldier painting accessories, I feel like waiting a bit.

>>27609
Aye, as I say, I got it for doing cardio without having to go to the gym, so I can look past this, and it's still fun, but there's just that last leap to make still.

>>27609
>second or third VR "generation"

I would say that we're in about the third generation right now. There were "VR" demos in the Trocadero and arcade games in the early nineties. In the mid nineties came the Nintendo Virtual Boy - I knew some of the people who worked on it.

>>27611
So your uncle worked at Nintendo?

I should have known from how fucking bad the 2D version of SUPER HOT was that the 3D version wouldn't be any better, but I gave it a shot anyway.

Don't, it's bad.

Anyone tried the Walking Dead VR game? Looks decent from what I've seen and heard.

>>27613
You probably have the joints of an 85 year-old seamstress. It's solid.

>>27615
My joints are fucked, but that's beside the point. Apparently you're playing as the king from Katamari Damacy and have a head which is 12 metres wide.

Paradiddle is a VR drumkit which works far better than I expected it to. Gonna get a cheap USB pedal.

Assuming this calorie tracker is anywhere near accurate, it's been a lot more fun than burning 650 kcal at the gym. I'd probably say from feeling wise it's closer to 400, but still not a bad cardio effort.

The drumkit is also a good calorie burner.

>>27618
How long did you spend doing that?

>>27618

An ACTUAL PROFESSOR has done studies on the caloric expenditure of popular VR games.

https://vrhealth.institute/vr-ratings/

>>27619
About 1 hour on drums and 30 mins of Beat Saber.

>>27621
Well, I'm glad it was more fun than an hour of walking.

GTA V VR mod works surprisingly well. It's very fun to explore the world map in full VRw.

However, the mod renders the left and right eye alternately, so each eye is always one frame offset from the other, though this can be disabled at the cost of losing stereoscopic effects (which doesn't affect the game all that much, imo). What it does mean though is that now I've come out of about an hour of playing it, the real world feels very strange indeed.

The game is fully playable though, although the Menyoo's laser sights option is a good one to turn on.

2ish month update:

I'm still using it every day, even if just to crack one out, and the novelty hasn't worn off. Been playing Fallout 4 VR for the past couple of weeks, and despite its many, many problems it's far more engaging in VR than it ever was in 2D. Weirdly it almost feels like the Nuka-World DLC was made for VR but it has never officially been released.

At this point I'd say I've got my money's worth out of it, and think that whilst VR still has a way to go, especially with the Quest 2 launching at £299, it's something that I think is worth looking into for more people.