HTC Vive in-depth experience video

[CominAtcha]

I might be having a shufty on a Vive this weekend. A mate of mine has had his delivered and is paying me a visit. Just need to convince him to drive up from London rather than catching the train!

[CzarJunkie]

Is that for the Vive or the Rift ?? Review please :-)

A Vive. It's being delivered today but I'm on my way to London for a trade show and not back until Friday, fuckers. I'll report back after the weekend.

[CzarJunkie]

Ok, so I finally got the Vive set up last night and managed to spend a couple of hours using it.

First impressions are very positive. I don't generally do hysteria, and after reading some of the reddit reviews I was sceptical, just because I know Americans can over egg the pudding a little. But after 5 minutes in set up app, I was grinning from ear to ear like a fool. I haven't felt that excitement you get when you are a kid for a very long time, but the immersion is such that your brain quickly forgets any notion you are standing in your living room with a headset on. There is a slight screen door effect if you look for it and a blurrinesses around the edges of your vision if you are not looking directly ahead. But you quickly forget that when you start interacting in the virtual space or with virtual objects.

I didn't have time to try out all the software I've d/l, in fact we spent the majority of our time in Audioshield (any fat fuckers take note, this game will get you fit and you'll love every minute of it). Here's a few words about each title I tried:

The Blu
Not a game as such, more an experience with 3 different scenarios. The best one has you stood on the deck of a sunken ship with fish swimming all around you, then some huge fucking whale pitches up. The immersion and sense of scale is breathtaking.

Audioshield
The stand out experience so far. Well worth the £15 and I'd buy the Vive just to play this game. It's difficult to explain the game, other than to say you have to hit blobs coming at you with shields in time to music. I didn't do a great job of selling that, but it is heaps of fucking fun.

I plan on spending more time in it tonight and over the coming days, so I'll post again with more feedback on games/apps.

[Ganty]

Cunt. I'm looking for just ONE negative review to persuade myself not to buy it.

[CzarJunkie]

I've played a few more games now and it's gets better and better, just having a break to watch the footy.

Anyone who thinks this is another 3D needs to try it. I think it's a paradigm shift, not just another gimmick.

In The Lab, which comes free and showcases some of the demos Valve put together for the launch, there's a number of games/experiences. In one you are on top of a castle turret with a bow and arrow. In the distance maurading invaders come running down the hills to try and invade the castle and you have to stop them before they get through the gate. It genuinely feels like you are firing a bow. The immersion and action of pulling back the bow string with the Vive controllers is so visceral. I don't know whether it's the haptic feedback, and I know it's impossible, but the brain makes it feel as though there's actually tension in the bow string. Presumably because it's expecting it.

Realities.io is another experience I tried. This uses photogrammetry to create virtual replicas of real places. It's really impressive and I can see this being huge for travel experiences. Just the act of looking round corners in such realistic representations of real buildings warps the mind.

I think the room scale experience of the Vive makes a lot of difference, you simply wouldn't have the same experience seated with the Rift. So I'm glad I cancelled that pre-order and went with the Vive instead.

[CominAtcha]

I ended up having a few hours with it last weekend. But I was hungover to fuck, so my views are probably a little tainted. I also only got to play the tutorial, The Lab and Space Pirate Trainer. So not a lot.

From the little I played, I think this kind of experience is a little early doors (no shit Sherlock!). As once the initial wow factor subsides, you're left with very little to actually do. Again, I haven't played much, but I would have liked more to actually play. There's only so much fun to be had by bobbing balloons about or moving around set points on a mountain top. Reminded me of when I first bought a Wii and all I had to load up was Wii Play.

It is impressive though and once that 'killer app/game' is released, then this COULD be a game changer. But for now, I really can only see it gathering dust by your PC once you've played through the very few experiences and early access games available on Steam.

I found the headset to quite hefty on the face after a while and making sure you stepped over the fairly bulky set of wires attached to it, kinda took you out of the experience as well.

My advice to anyone considering spending 700 notes, would be to hold off for now and wait till there's more stuff to do. It is a great bit of kit, but not worth it for the cash......yet.

[CzarJunkie]

I ended up having a few hours with it last weekend. But I was hungover to fuck, so my views are probably a little tainted. I also only got to play the tutorial, The Lab and Space Pirate Trainer. So not a lot.

From the little I played, I think this kind of experience is a little early doors (no shit Sherlock!). As once the initial wow factor subsides, you're left with very little to actually do. Again, I haven't played much, but I would have liked more to actually play. There's only so much fun to be had by bobbing balloons about or moving around set points on a mountain top. Reminded me of when I first bought a Wii and all I had to load up was Wii Play.

It is impressive though and once that 'killer app/game' is released, then this COULD be a game changer. But for now, I really can only see it gathering dust by your PC once you've played through the very few experiences and early access games available on Steam.

I found the headset to quite hefty on the face after a while and making sure you stepped over the fairly bulky set of wires attached to it, kinda took you out of the experience as well.

My advice to anyone considering spending 700 notes, would be to hold off for now and wait till there's more stuff to do. It is a great bit of kit, but not worth it for the cash......yet.

There are plenty of titles on Steam already and more being added every day and that's before any of the big studios get involved. I've only just scratched the surface so I totally disagree with the statement about not having much to do. Some stand out games that I've discovered so far are:

Holoball
Holopoint
Hover Junkers
Space Pirate Trainer
Final Approach
Zombie training Simulator

I haven't been a serious gamer for years and thought I'd outgrown it. But with the Vive I have that itch to get back to it whenever I have the time. I haven't had that itch for about 20 years. There are some seriously good games out already and I think it's clear what a game changer this technology is going to be.

[oE]

How much room do you actually need to use this effectively. I would love to get this but my space is limited in my house :-(

oE.

[CzarJunkie]

How much room do you actually need to use this effectively. I would love to get this but my space is limited in my house :-(

oE.

I have it setup in a space 2m x 2m and that's fine. Some of the games only require 2m x 1.5m and I think that's the minimum. The chaperone system works a treat and once you get familiar with the space and games, you can switch it to developer mode so you only see the outline on the floor.

[CzarJunkie]

A quick update. Project Cars now has support for the Vive and its amazing. I'd never really been a huge fan of driving games in the past, in fact the last one I played at any length was Project Gotham Racing on the original Xbox. But this with the Vive has me hooked, even using the keyboard for controls. So I've just ordered a playseat evolution and a Logitech G920, and I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas.

A few weeks in with Vive now and it still gets a good workout every day. And now with AAA games adding support, it's only getting better. Unreal 4.12 has added support too, and I was messing about creating my own worlds in that over the weekend. It's crazy.

[CzarJunkie]

Installed the GTA Vive mod yesterday. Then spent nearly all day playing GTA V in VR. What a fucking blast, quite literally. Standing outside the Cop Shop blasting it with the rocket launcher made for quite an afternoon of entertainment. Although sometimes the experience was too visceral...........but fuck it, it's not real, right?

[Ganty]

Installed the GTA Vive mod yesterday. Then spent nearly all day playing GTA V in VR. What a fucking blast, quite literally. Standing outside the Cop Shop blasting it with the rocket launcher made for quite an afternoon of entertainment. Although sometimes the experience was too visceral...........but fuck it, it's not real, right?

I had concerns with a number of AAA devs stating they'd release VR support for previuosly released games (GTA V, Fallout 4...) but this sounds promising. I'd assumed for a true experience a game would have to be built from the ground up with VR in mind. Glad that isn't the case, for GTA at least.

[CzarJunkie]

I had concerns with a number of AAA devs stating they'd release VR support for previuosly released games (GTA V, Fallout 4...) but this sounds promising. I'd assumed for a true experience a game would have to be built from the ground up with VR in mind. Glad that isn't the case, for GTA at least.

Bethesda have just announced official versions of both Doom and Fallout 4 for the Vive next year, so sounds like they are going to recode them specifically for VR. Also, everyone is expecting Valve to do something big with their involvement with the Vive, rumours are that it could be HL3 built from the ground up with VR in mind.

The GTA mod was created by a hobbyist, and it's an alpha build. So it's not perfect, but it's nearly there. He's going to open source it and I suspect it will improve significantly in short order once that happens.

[piggzy]

Bethesda have just announced official versions of both Doom and Fallout 4 for the Vive next year, so sounds like they are going to recode them specifically for VR.

Not played with any of these VR units but is something like Fallout 4 something that would work/be suited to a VR setup ??? By that I mean is the power there yet?
Fallout 4 immersive must need astonishing hardware.

[CzarJunkie]

Not played with any of these VR units but is something like Fallout 4 something that would work/be suited to a VR setup ??? By that I mean is the power there yet?
Fallout 4 immersive must need astonishing hardware.

I'm sure Bethesda know better than both of us. There's no way they'd be spending millions on recoding these games for a small audience. So I don't have any fears over performance. In GTA with the mod plenty of people are reporting 90fps with mediocre hardware, and that's just a hobbyist's mod. Imagine the performance enhancements a AAA studio could make to their own game.

[piggzy]

Still not sure if this is suited to me. (But as before not tried one)

Is it a seated experience. Or for example does it require effort to lob a grenade. Talking again about Fallout 4, I would love the immersive experience and would love to turn my head to look around.

I love the Far Cry franchise and would still prefer to stab my victim at the push of a button. If you are required to do things like stabbing action I would need a lie down within minutes.

(A bit far fetched but I bet this will happen) --- I am sure this would lead to the next murderer being made a murderer because his Oculus/Vive made him act out a murderous act e.t.c

[CzarJunkie]

Still not sure if this is suited to me. (But as before not tried one)

Is it a seated experience. Or for example does it require effort to lob a grenade. Talking again about Fallout 4, I would love the immersive experience and would love to turn my head to look around.

I love the Far Cry franchise and would still prefer to stab my victim at the push of a button. If you are required to do things like stabbing action I would need a lie down within minutes.

(A bit far fetched but I bet this will happen) --- I am sure this would lead to the next murderer being made a murderer because his Oculus/Vive made him act out a murderous act e.t.c

With the AAA games I suspect they'll make them compatible with both room scale or seated. Some people will prefer the seated experience and use a controller or kb/m, but room scale does increase immersion and it seems to be why early reviews have favoured the Vive over the Rift.

Rift is about to launch their touch controllers, so Rift users will be able to have room scale too, although the jury is still out as regards their tracking and if will be as good as the Vive's lighthouse system. Hopefully it will be as then it will lead more AAA studios to consider adding support for VR, and specifically room scale.

The best seated experience so far for me is Project Cars and Assetto Corsa. It's a different game when you feel like you're in the car. I'd spend the money again just for that.

[piggzy]

With the AAA games I suspect they'll make them compatible with both room scale or seated. Some people will prefer the seated experience and use a controller or kb/m, but room scale does increase immersion and it seems to be why early reviews have favoured the Vive over the Rift.

Rift is about to launch their touch controllers, so Rift users will be able to have room scale too, although the jury is still out as regards their tracking and if will be as good as the Vive's lighthouse system. Hopefully it will be as then it will lead more AAA studios to consider adding support for VR, and specifically room scale.

The best seated experience so far for me is Project Cars and Assetto Corsa. It's a different game when you feel like you're in the car. I'd spend the money again just for that.

I am sure I will get one eventually , I reckon at some point every household in the UK will. Just a wee bit sceptical just yet. Plus a PC upgrade would be in order.
Part of me wants to see what the HoloLens will offer to gaming but on the other hand I am worried it will be a complete let down. I can see the potential but MS seem to have lost direction.

[Gunnzie]

Every household? I would disagree with that. I would never buy one. It's the kind of tech I would try once and then bung in a cupboard never to be seen again. Plus I would never want all those cables trailing all over the place and those cameras up on my wall.

Just my personal opinion.

[Black Oracle]

VR maybe around at the moment, but I think M$ will be one that takes VR to a whole new experience with 'HoloLens'.

This is what I think will be the future...