General VR and AR chinwag - The Bear and Badger

Elmlea

Just having a Quest 3 now is getting me tempted to build a decent, VR-capable machine now. Just playing my old favourites like Elite and MSFS in VR would be nice. What's the min spec to get involved with something like this now?

SpaceGazelle

I've upgraded since, but my old Ryzen 5 and 2070 gtx worked fine with a Valve Index. Upping the supersampling makes a real difference tho in VR so I'd get as good as you can afford. Having a good gaming PC is ace anyway now there's raytracing. For this I'd go with Nvidia but there is a markup for team green and the AMD GPUs are probably better value on bang for buck.

SpaceGazelle

Whatever you get make sure it can play Alyx, but it's well optimised and isn't very demanding. Alyx is a real holy fuck VR experience.

SpaceGazelle

Bootstrap looks great. Ta Boris.

Kernowgaz

Yeah I’ve got a new PC but is only mid tier, just waiting for the Steam sale to get Alyx.

Elmlea

Kernowgaz wrote:

Yeah I’ve got a new PC but is only mid tier, just waiting for the Steam sale to get Alyx.

What specs are mid tier? I've looked at 2 sites, looked in the middle of the list, and it was still £1800 so I might be getting myself a bit off track.

Kernowgaz

Elmlea wrote:

Kernowgaz wrote:

Yeah I’ve got a new PC but is only mid tier, just waiting for the Steam sale to get Alyx.

What specs are mid tier? I've looked at 2 sites, looked in the middle of the list, and it was still £1800 so I might be getting myself a bit off track.

I bought this, an HP Omen 25L for £630 from Amazon, the price fluctuates. It’s only a Ryzen 5600G and a Nvidia 3060Ti with 16gb of DDDR ram. Runs Enshrouded and Nightingale quite well and is VR ready.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09HTW75FC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

SpaceGazelle

Elmlea wrote:

Kernowgaz wrote:

Yeah I’ve got a new PC but is only mid tier, just waiting for the Steam sale to get Alyx.

What specs are mid tier? I've looked at 2 sites, looked in the middle of the list, and it was still £1800 so I might be getting myself a bit off track.

Build your own. It's fairly easy, like adult lego.

SpaceGazelle

gtx 4070 can be had for around £500.

https://www.ebuyer.com/1897122-zotac-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-12gb-twin-edge-graphics-card-for-gaming-zt-d40700e-10m?&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1530083092&hsa_cam=20947882996&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2D03BHbJV4A70N8wZTOLCi3s5Tk0gNYHvEjgAhYqhXrR3uJXDdShKsaAmixEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

£200 for a good CPU, £100 for motherboard. Some RAM, an SDD and a PSU and you're good to go.

SpaceGazelle

So Bootstrap Island is stressful. It's gorgeous and the lighting is lovely, but there's very little time to admire it. The days are a little too short and the nights are terrifying.

The physics are great. Kept losing half my precious coconut milk until I figured out how to smash it properly. Loads of little touches like this and it really feels like you're learning to survive by learning skillz. Ripping the husk off is a skill in itself and you quickly learn how to do it faster.

Spent the second day eating crabs and gathering but the walking is slow and you're constantly checking the Sun to see if it's about to get dark. The sunset was so lovely I nearly didn't get the second fire started in time because the crab fire went out.

It's a punishing game although I unlocked a new thing that sounds like it'll make life a bit easier next time. On the 4th day I decided to go exploring a bit - the supplies don't replenish so you're eventually forced to move. Didn't get time to build a proper fire so just sat on the beach and waited to get eaten.

I really hope they tack on an easier mode where the days are much longer. All this beauty and no time to appreciate it.

Elmlea

SpaceGazelle wrote:

gtx 4070 can be had for around £500. https://www.ebuyer.com/1897122-zotac-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-12gb-twin-edge-graphics-card-for-gaming-zt-d40700e-10m?&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1530083092&hsa_cam=20947882996&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2D03BHbJV4A70N8wZTOLCi3s5Tk0gNYHvEjgAhYqhXrR3uJXDdShKsaAmixEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds £200 for a good CPU, £100 for motherboard. Some RAM, an SDD and a PSU and you're good to go.

Slowly buying bits sounds like a good plan

Kernowgaz

@Spacegazelle Do you use Steam VR/Virtual desktop or connect your headset with a cable? If cable, what one do you use?

My routers ok but once the kids start streaming there shit, I imagine streaming will be quite bad.

SpaceGazelle

I've got an Index so it's cable only.

SpaceGazelle

Man, Bootstrap Island is so good. So many nice touches. The physics work exactly as you'd expect, so you can tell if the fire will last until the morning and that kind of thing. Had a moment when I couldn't quite get enough thick bits of wood, so I tried to start the fire as late as possible, when the wolves were sneaking up. The I couldn't get a spark and I was frantically striking the rocks together and managed it with a few meters to spare. It's really tense stuff.

And THAT lighting.

SpaceGazelle

I'm trying to figure out what makes this game so damn immersive. The setting really helps but it's more that you're kept busy all the time. It shares a lot with Alyx in that you're constantly doing stuff with your hands but it's more clever than Alyx. There are a limited set of tools and as you unlock more it's figuring out how to use them. They all work well with each other but you have to experiment. When you figure something out it really feels a personal triumph and you're more optimistic about your chances of survival. It really nails that survival vibe in a beautiful but punishing world.

Kernowgaz

I’ve got a cable to connect my Quest 3 to the PC, as my WiFi connection wasn’t that great with STEAM VR.

Well I’ve tried Flight Simulator and it ran well and looked great apart from this sort of screen tearing effect. Looked into it and I think it had something to do with screen warping, I’ll sort that later.

Tried Half Life Alyx, initially it was stunning over Steam link but the picture got worse. I then connected my headset with the cable but it wouldn’t work with Steam and I got a 215 error code, which was fucking annoying as it looked stunning at first. Hopefully it won’t take long to figure out.

Finally I tried a Lone Echo experience thing from the Oculus store, WOW just fucking WOW the graphics were amazing, it worked perfectly over the Oculus app unlike Alyx.

@Spacegazelle, any ideas what the issue with Steam VR could be?
I guess it still runs in the background even when you’ve got a cable connected to PC and headset?

bad_hair_day

For using Quest 3 to it’s best ability wirelessly, it ideally needs its own 5g router plugged directly into the PC in the same room as you’re playing. Been using an ancient Apple AirStation for years with stellar results.

SpaceGazelle

Kernowgaz wrote:

@Spacegazelle, any ideas what the issue with Steam VR could be? I guess it still runs in the background even when you’ve got a cable connected to PC and headset?

No idea. Steam VR is treated like a game in that when you exit it should shut down, even though regular Steam is still running in the background. You can always contact Valve support. They're usually pretty good but it takes a couple of days for them to get in touch.

Rev

Got a loan of a Meta 2 for the next couple of weeks so wondering if there is anything I should be looking at that is free and fun?

Minnesänger

Rev wrote:

Got a loan of a Meta 2 for the next couple of weeks so wondering if there is anything I should be looking at that is free and fun?

Pistol Whip.

Minnesänger

Also, Pistol Whip.

Kow

Not free, is it?

Minnesänger

Kow wrote:

Not free, is it?

Can you put a price on art? No, art is priceless. Priceless literally means ZERO PRICE, ergo = $0.

Rev

Minnesänger wrote:

Also, Pistol Whip.

Pistol whip is in the library as well as super. hot.
Darth Vader immortal, and a jurassic park game?

Kow

Minnesänger wrote:

Kow wrote:

Not free, is it?

Can you put a price on art? No, art is priceless. Priceless literally means ZERO PRICE, ergo = $0.

As an artistic statement I'm going to bring a price sticker gun to the Prado next time I'm there.

Kow

Also, you can play the Beat Sabre demo for free. I think it's only one tune but it's enough for a taste of it.

bad_hair_day

Rev wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

Also, Pistol Whip.

Pistol whip is in the library as well as super. hot.
Darth Vader immortal, and a jurassic park game?

Not played the JP game but the other three are quite the experience. Best played stood oop.

Minnesänger

Yup, Pistol Whip is best going Full Wally.

Wookienopants

Amen to that.

SpaceGazelle

Kernowgaz wrote:

I’ve got a cable to connect my Quest 3 to the PC, as my WiFi connection wasn’t that great with STEAM VR. Well I’ve tried Flight Simulator and it ran well and looked great apart from this sort of screen tearing effect. Looked into it and I think it had something to do with screen warping, I’ll sort that later. Tried Half Life Alyx, initially it was stunning over Steam link but the picture got worse. I then connected my headset with the cable but it wouldn’t work with Steam and I got a 215 error code, which was fucking annoying as it looked stunning at first. Hopefully it won’t take long to figure out. Finally I tried a Lone Echo experience thing from the Oculus store, WOW just fucking WOW the graphics were amazing, it worked perfectly over the Oculus app unlike Alyx.

When you do get it working I can recommend...

VTOL:

Currently on Sale and built for VR rather than just VR'ing a regular flight sim. Loads of mods and we can do MP if you get it. Dog fighting so much fun in MP, the controls just nail it. The community is great and the mod missions are superb. Dual cockpit training aircraft is the way to go if you want to be taught as it's no arcade shooter.

Bootstrap Island:

Early access but it's already great. As immersive as VR gets.

Elite Dangerous:

Works best with a powerful rig as you want graphics on MAX.

The Lab:

Free Valve game built to show off VR with minigames and other stuff to to.

Plus Alyx obvs. You can also pirate Quest games and use them on PC with extra shinies. Lone Echo 2 with better resolution is a beaut.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories