In a very barren period for PCVR launches, this is one I'm looking forward to...
Source: https://youtu.be/fqIWSIcW6Sg
Releasing a “Half-Like” shortly after the excellent VR port of Half-Life 2 has been released
I’ve recently (finally) finished Blue Shift + Op Force on the Quest 2-native version of HL, so I’m a bit Half-Liked out at the moment. Next up for me will be the Episodes for HL2VR.
Looks like a passion project by the dev though, so I’ll look forward to your thoughts on it
———
I’m currently playing the Q2 native version of Jedi Outcast - beta release requiring a Patreon sub - and it is fantastic
(Just over twenty years ago I bought a laptop with much talk about needing one for work and requiring the portability because I was in the Navy etc etc - and off I went to the shop till with a copy of JO clutched in my other hand 
Amazing to be playing “in” the game now.) Next up for the Team Beef lot is a port of Quake 4 - can’t wait to see what that scene goes like!Also about to start Red Matter 2 - looks very pretty for a stand-alone game.
Cyberpunk 2077 continues to eat most of my VR time - the recent DLSS3 update broke the VR mod but it has now been updated; unfortunately it looks like DLSS3 won’t be able to be leveraged by the mod so me and my new 4070ti are having a bit of a sulk about that (even though I’ve already got great performance
) so we’ll have to see what AER2 can bring to the table in the next month or so.
Quest 2 - 128 GB or 256 GB? Or is storing games on Quest 2 not neccesary?
I've been fine with 128gb, but I mainly use it tethered to PC. If you're planning on playing native games you may want more.
Is it because there are games that need more than 128 gb space, or just to add more games? Cause i am fine with just playing one game at a time, i do it on PC all the time, helps focus on finishing one game, instead of abandoning it half way.
I can't think of one that's that big. It's mainly to have more games on rotation I believe, yeah.
Oh hey A, sorry missed this at the time!
Yeah, the first installment was very much a quirky treat. Thoroughly recommend for the absurd storytelling and enormous boss battles
Oh that looks grand. (And like something my SW-addicted kid would absolutely lap up)
Cool glad that worked out for you! Definitely a crazy world to charge around in
(The meta hacky-VR-in-hacky-VR moments are fun too)
Looks like a passion project by the dev though, so I’ll look forward to your thoughts on it
Yeah, the first installment was very much a quirky treat. Thoroughly recommend for the absurd storytelling and enormous boss battles
I’m currently playing the Q2 native version of Jedi Outcast - beta release requiring a Patreon sub - and it is fantastic
Oh that looks grand. (And like something my SW-addicted kid would absolutely lap up
)Cool glad that worked out for you! Definitely a crazy world to charge around in
(The meta hacky-VR-in-hacky-VR moments are fun too
)I’m still on my 64GB Quest 2 and there’s only one game I can think of (Medal of Honor: Above & Beyond) which has a massive install size - 44GB in its case.
Most stand-alone games are a lot less - the largest I’ve had was for Resident Evil 4 at just under 8GB.
Fingers crossed for more Brain Dances in the expansion packThe meta hacky-VR-in-hacky-VR moments are fun too
Just in for Cyberpunk 2077 - the VR mod has been updated to AER2.
The stutter-lag style visual effect on moving objects looks to have gone, as long as you’re using a higher headset framerate than 72Hz (at that level the effect was very much like a blocky version of ASW) - at 90Hz it was imperceptible. The “halo” surrounding objects and characters still remains but is greatly reduced by not using DLSS (I think it’s a side effect of using TAA) but if I switch off DLSS I get a white flash in alternate eyes every few seconds.
Also I’m getting a graphical corruption strip across the top of my view every so often, like a grid of multicoloured blocks. Not sure if it’s the mod or something on my side, but LR is usually swift in bringing out fixes if it’s the mod’s fault.
The stutter-lag style visual effect on moving objects looks to have gone, as long as you’re using a higher headset framerate than 72Hz (at that level the effect was very much like a blocky version of ASW) - at 90Hz it was imperceptible. The “halo” surrounding objects and characters still remains but is greatly reduced by not using DLSS (I think it’s a side effect of using TAA) but if I switch off DLSS I get a white flash in alternate eyes every few seconds.
Also I’m getting a graphical corruption strip across the top of my view every so often, like a grid of multicoloured blocks. Not sure if it’s the mod or something on my side, but LR is usually swift in bringing out fixes if it’s the mod’s fault.
I’ve finally got around to installing X-Wing Alliance along with its VR mod - it was a bit of a faff* but I’ve finally got my HOTAS + pedals working along with VR. There’s still elements of jankiness around (the skybox in hangar scenes moves with head motion, for example) and not every ship has got the full make-over treatment, but it’s definitely worth the effort to get working!
I didn’t play much of the original when it came out - I think the scan-the-cargo missions put me off - but I’m more relaxed about such things these days, and I think playing in VR with a HOTAS setup makes fairly mundane activities fun to do.
I’ve done a few story missions and a number of skirmishes, and I think it holds up well compared to its modern cousin, Star Wars Squadrons.
Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NtHGgAs33Iw&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fxwaupgrade.com%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt
…and there’s the Tie Fighter total conversion for it as well!
*install the mega update and +2 patches from https://xwaupgrade.com/ then download & run XWA Hooks Setup, then run BabuFrik’s Configurator and find the VR toggle, then muddle through the joystick setup program that wanted to map everything onto my throttle
I didn’t play much of the original when it came out - I think the scan-the-cargo missions put me off - but I’m more relaxed about such things these days, and I think playing in VR with a HOTAS setup makes fairly mundane activities fun to do.
I’ve done a few story missions and a number of skirmishes, and I think it holds up well compared to its modern cousin, Star Wars Squadrons.
…and there’s the Tie Fighter total conversion for it as well!
*install the mega update and +2 patches from https://xwaupgrade.com/ then download & run XWA Hooks Setup, then run BabuFrik’s Configurator and find the VR toggle, then muddle through the joystick setup program that wanted to map everything onto my throttle
They also lower the price for Quest 2 to 299$ and 349$
Just flagging this!
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj7PoLn5VU
(Portal 2 currently 85p on Steam if you don't have it, so it's good news all round)
(Portal 2 currently 85p on Steam if you don't have it, so it's good news all round
)I’ve just taken delivery of my shiny new Quest 3 and first impressions are excellent - the colour pass-through view is slightly grainy but I was able to use my tablet without removing the headset, and the Mixed Reality demo that comes bundled has immediately sold me on the concept: called First Encounters, the game first scans your surroundings before a mini space ship broke through my ceiling and landed on my sofa
It then provided me with a brace of pistols before trumble-like aliens started breaking my walls down and I had to zap the little swines while muttering “this is for the c64, alien scum!”
Tracking was rock solid with the creatures moving over my furniture and even hiding behind things - and my blaster shots left marks on my surroundings and also blew parts of my walls away revealing an alien vista! There was a bit of an “aha!” moment when I realised I could easily move around my room with the new pass-though view - it was a bit like when I first experienced wireless VR and realised I could turn freely; now I feel like I’m not tethered to the spot. I can’t wait to try out Espire 2’s MR missions which look like Metal Gear Solid in your home.
The new pancake lenses are edge-to-edge clarity, the dual screens are sharper and have a better IPD adjustment, the FOV is slightly wider (I no longer see flat edges as with the Q2), and the sound is a bit more meatier too.
I’ll be trying Elite out in a bit, but I have high hopes for the visuals
It then provided me with a brace of pistols before trumble-like aliens started breaking my walls down and I had to zap the little swines while muttering “this is for the c64, alien scum!”
Tracking was rock solid with the creatures moving over my furniture and even hiding behind things - and my blaster shots left marks on my surroundings and also blew parts of my walls away revealing an alien vista! There was a bit of an “aha!” moment when I realised I could easily move around my room with the new pass-though view - it was a bit like when I first experienced wireless VR and realised I could turn freely; now I feel like I’m not tethered to the spot. I can’t wait to try out Espire 2’s MR missions which look like Metal Gear Solid in your home.
The new pancake lenses are edge-to-edge clarity, the dual screens are sharper and have a better IPD adjustment, the FOV is slightly wider (I no longer see flat edges as with the Q2), and the sound is a bit more meatier too.
I’ll be trying Elite out in a bit, but I have high hopes for the visuals
I’ve just taken delivery of my shiny new Quest 3 and first impressions are excellent - the colour pass-through view is slightly grainy but I was able to use my tablet without removing the headset, and the Mixed Reality demo that comes bundled has immediately sold me on the concept: called First Encounters, the game first scans your surroundings before a mini space ship broke through my ceiling and landed on my sofa
It then provided me with a brace of pistols before trumble-like aliens started breaking my walls down and I had to zap the little swines while muttering “this is for the c64, alien scum!”
Tracking was rock solid with the creatures moving over my furniture and even hiding behind things - and my blaster shots left marks on my surroundings and also blew parts of my walls away revealing an alien vista! There was a bit of an “aha!” moment when I realised I could easily move around my room with the new pass-though view - it was a bit like when I first experienced wireless VR and realised I could turn freely; now I feel like I’m not tethered to the spot. I can’t wait to try out Espire 2’s MR missions which look like Metal Gear Solid in your home.
The new pancake lenses are edge-to-edge clarity, the dual screens are sharper and have a better IPD adjustment, the FOV is slightly wider (I no longer see flat edges as with the Q2), and the sound is a bit more meatier too.
I’ll be trying Elite out in a bit, but I have high hopes for the visuals
Nice!
Passthrough allowing quick screen work in the real world sounds a definite step up. And the robustness of the MR generally.
Aye, I was surprised by how stable it all is - and how cool the mesh generation looked when scanning my room
I’ve just been creeping around my living room dodging laser trip wires to hack a laptop, and raising the armoured shutters on my wall to snipe enemy troops in Espire 2 MR Ops. And shooting Trumbles in the First Encounters demo again
I’m also going to reinstall Doom3 because Team Beef reckon Q3 is powerful enough to have stencil shadows enabled, which will probably give me inadvertent jump scares from my own shadow if my experience in modded Skyrim VR is anything to go by
Still not got around to Linking up yet!
Picks up close-at-hand candelabra and throws it at badd... CRASH
Revisiting Portal 2 in VR was absolutely ace! Things were scaled and positioned for play on screen, sure, and textures do not hold up to close inspection, but the former I, for one, quickly got accustomed to, and things still look fantastic, due to great art direction and light maps...And zero nausea problems, at least for this user, who admittedly has a fair few years of VR under his belt. :7
Found the controller bindings kind of awkward, and kept forgetting the jump bind, trying to stick-up-jump and plunging to my death as that didn't have the effect I am used to, but I assume they are quite deliberately thought out, to keep both portal triggers at immediate disposal on the same hand, without taking the thumb away from other duties...
Curious to read about how the volumetric video NPCs will turn out, when the VR remake of the 7'th Guest releases in a little more than a week. Given the characters are ghosts, I presume they could get away with being somewhat low resolution - especially if coupled with some artistically creative form of blurring... :7
EDIT: Holy heck! I guess the Steam people must have run a massive campaign persuading developers to release demos of their upcoming games (EDIT2: Frontier's Warhammer game included), for their "NextFest" event (...which sounds like it may become recurring); I'm several pages down the listings, and there doesn't seem like there's any end to it... Only seen one title with a VR tag so far, though (EDIT2: up to three, by the time I gave up soon-scrolling -- I don't envy developers the discoverability situation, when there is a seeming infinite stream of new games coming down the firehose all the time)...
Revisiting Portal 2 in VR was absolutely ace! Things were scaled and positioned for play on screen, sure, and textures do not hold up to close inspection, but the former I, for one, quickly got accustomed to, and things still look fantastic, due to great art direction and light maps...And zero nausea problems, at least for this user, who admittedly has a fair few years of VR under his belt. :7
Found the controller bindings kind of awkward, and kept forgetting the jump bind, trying to stick-up-jump and plunging to my death as that didn't have the effect I am used to, but I assume they are quite deliberately thought out, to keep both portal triggers at immediate disposal on the same hand, without taking the thumb away from other duties...
Curious to read about how the volumetric video NPCs will turn out, when the VR remake of the 7'th Guest releases in a little more than a week. Given the characters are ghosts, I presume they could get away with being somewhat low resolution - especially if coupled with some artistically creative form of blurring... :7
EDIT: Holy heck! I guess the Steam people must have run a massive campaign persuading developers to release demos of their upcoming games (EDIT2: Frontier's Warhammer game included), for their "NextFest" event (...which sounds like it may become recurring); I'm several pages down the listings, and there doesn't seem like there's any end to it... Only seen one title with a VR tag so far, though (EDIT2: up to three, by the time I gave up soon-scrolling -- I don't envy developers the discoverability situation, when there is a seeming infinite stream of new games coming down the firehose all the time
)...
Last edited:
Oh damnn, was sorely tempted but figured even an iron stomach might melt in those realms. Intriguing
Elite gets the Quest 3 Link seal of approval!
Edge-to-edge clarity and none of the small god-rays from light sources inherent with Fresnel lenses - the night sky looks superbly sharp. It doesn't have the deep blacks of an OLED screen but it’s not a washed out image by any means.
The increased screen resolution means slightly less aliasing as well which is a nice bonus.
Now if FDev can just get the VR shadows fixed and a few of the other bugs fixed…
Edit: double tapping the headset to go into pass-through is very handy now - no more squinting down the nose gap to see keyboard or tablet!
Edge-to-edge clarity and none of the small god-rays from light sources inherent with Fresnel lenses - the night sky looks superbly sharp. It doesn't have the deep blacks of an OLED screen but it’s not a washed out image by any means.
The increased screen resolution means slightly less aliasing as well which is a nice bonus.
Now if FDev can just get the VR shadows fixed and a few of the other bugs fixed…
Edit: double tapping the headset to go into pass-through is very handy now - no more squinting down the nose gap to see keyboard or tablet!
Last edited: