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HTC Vive Launch Thread -- Computer, activate holodeck

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SmiteOfHand

Member
This may or may not be helpful to some, but took me long enough to figure out that I might as well share.

I was running into a tracking problem where suddenly tracking would drop and the whole room would shift and jumble around. Almost like someone was grabbing a base station and moving it around. After a few seconds it would go back and be fine like nothing happened. Give it a few minutes and it would happen again.

This would happen very rarely (maybe once in a dozen play sessions) and was infrequent enough that I wasn't extremely bothered by it, but annoying enough when it did happen that I wanted to get to the bottom of it. It was infuriating because it didn't seem consistent at all, would just suddenly happen. Stop playing. Try again a few hours later making no changes? Everything is fine.

I checked everything I could think of checking.

Maybe weird light stuff is bouncing from outside? Close all blinds. No.
I've heard mirrors are a big problem. No mirrors anywhere in the room.
Maybe some weird software is running devouring my memory at random or something? Checked everything, no.
Maybe the mount I have the base stations on is slightly loose causing just enough of a wiggle? Nope.
Maybe one of the sensors is smudged up causing some weird interference? Super cleaned. Nope.
M..maybe the cat? Nope.
Maybe my clothing is reflective in some strange way? Nope.

You get the idea. I was trying everything I could possibly think, reading up on everything I could find. Could not seem to find the culprit.

Then I realized it. Down the hall and in another room... crazy as it seemed, the angles were just right and the distance was far but maybe not too far (talking like 20ft, give or take). My TV was lined up so that when the lighting conditions were right, and the TV was turned off, it basically acts as a giant mirror. When it is on it seems to block noise out, making it even harder to find because of course sometimes the TV was on or off while playing.

I threw a blanket over it the last several sessions and have not had a single problem since. I am pretty sure I can move the base station a bit to eliminate it entirely, but I wanted to make sure it was the problem.


TL;DR: my TV in another room had just the right angle to bounce one of the base stations to cause seemingly very random interference. Threw a blanket over the TV. Rock solid now. Small adjustment to base station should fix it permanently.

Don't take any reflections for granted!
 
C

cakefoo

Member
SmiteOfHand said:
TL;DR: my TV in another room had just the right angle to bounce one of the base stations to cause seemingly very random interference. Threw a blanket over the TV. Rock solid now. Small adjustment to base station should fix it permanently.

Don't take any reflections for granted!
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Nice! Hopefully the next iteration will have a way to detect stray reflections.
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
cakefoo said:
Nice! Hopefully the next iteration will have a way to detect stray reflections.
Click to expand...

There's no reason that would have to wait for the next generation. Reflection rejection would be a matter of the headset's firmware detecting and compensating for it. The firmware in the headset (and everything else for the Vive) can be updated.
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
I'm still looking for a good roller coaster simulator for my Vive. Any you can recommend? :p

(I don't get motion sick)
Click to expand...

Tried Chunks?

Edit: I should mention that I can't really vouch for the "good" part one way or another. I've got like ten minutes on record from the first day, and haven't touched it since. It also hasn't exactly seen many updates for an EA title. Just the same, it's the only roller coaster type game for VR that I know of that makes use of roomscale and tracked controllers for creation. Everything else seems to be a regular game that had VR tacked on after.
 
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cakefoo

Member
Are there any games with voice controls? I only know of Spell Fighter. Imagine commanding your crew on a pirate ship, or yelling orders to a platoon, or advancing through a dialog tree in an RPG.
 
P

Prime crotch

Banned
Been trying my new vive for a while, still don't got the right setup for it, but it's ok, I gotta use contact lenses though, can never get them comfy enough with my glasses on.
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
Spiral Insanity said:
Just needed to share this here.. a Horse Shoes trick video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z96TwW1NSUI&feature=youtu.be
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It's kind of amusing to me because I didn't even think this stuff was possible until recently. I wanted to chamber a round into the bolt action (with a full magazine) without letting the gun go and without loose rounds around so I decided to pop a round out of a magazine held over the rifle and the round just fell into place. I didn't expect it to work, as I figured it would have to be held to trigger the action, but apparently proximity is enough.

aaaaa0 said:
OMG, I have trouble just reloading the guns. o_O
Click to expand...

Pistols in particular became a lot easier to reload with the new option to allow magazine clipping.
 
S

Sleeping Lesson

Member
WBz9vX3.jpg
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Played some Out of Ammo and Onward using my rifle stock. Few quick impressions:

- First, Out of Ammo needs to adjust their weapon aiming so it's not like pointing a magic wand. Gun grips should line up with the Vive controller grip, period.

- The stock ab-so-lutely improves stability and accuracy.

- I'll probably never use the forward grip with the left controller locked in. It's just not compatible with games.

-Onward can be weird because of its forward grip mechanics. Some weapons like the M16A4 can work because the forward grip position lines up reasonably well. The M14 doesn't at all because it's too far forward.

-Sights like the 4x are problematic if they mount too far forward on the weapon.

-The cheek rest gets in the way more than it helps. I took it off and will probably keep it off.

I'll have more thoughts when I use it a bit more. Feel free to ask questions if you're curious.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
Sleeping Lesson said:
Played some Out of Ammo and Onward using my rifle stock. Few quick impressions:

- First, Out of Ammo needs to adjust their weapon aiming so it's not like pointing a magic wand. Gun grips should line up with the Vive controller grip, period.

- The stock ab-so-lutely improves stability and accuracy.

- I'll probably never use the forward grip with the left controller locked in. It's just not compatible with games.

-Onward can be weird because of its forward grip mechanics. Some weapons like the M16A4 can work because the forward grip position lines up reasonably well. The M14 doesn't at all because it's too far forward.

-Sights like the 4x are problematic if they mount too far forward on the weapon.

-The cheek rest gets in the way more than it helps. I took it off and will probably keep it off.

I'll have more thoughts when I use it a bit more. Feel free to ask questions if you're curious.
Click to expand...

I should have mine tomorrow, what I'd like to know is...

I shoot left eyed/handed, so keep that in mind, but my plan was for playing Onward, to have one controller locked in, and one controller free/resting. So if I'm doing a bolt action rifle, my firing/left hand would be free, and the right/front hand would be locked in, but if I'm focusing on an assault rifle, having the primary hand locked in and the secondary hand free.

Now, this creates an issue for onward -- you have to reload with your secondary hand, even with a bolt action. Which means that when reloading, I would need to free my primary firing/left hand from the controller, but then manuever the secondary hand (with the stock attached) to actually be pulling the magazine. I'm wondering if this will be a huge issue.
 
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Sleeping Lesson

Member
I think that will absolutely be an issue. While the forward hand can be used "free", the trigger hand probably can't with Onward. It's too finicky getting the controller in place, and it isn't secure at all unless locked down.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
I'm just really hoping someone comes out with a quality gunstock soon that includes a system for quick removal of the controllers. I think that MagHack gun I posted a while ago is the closest I've seen, but I have no clue when that's supposed to come out. Ever since Onward came out, the subreddit has been flooded with custom gun stocks so there's definitely a market for it.
 
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Sleeping Lesson

Member
GuitarAtomik said:
I'm just really hoping someone comes out with a quality gunstock soon that includes a system for quick removal of the controllers. I think that MagHack gun I posted a while ago is the closest I've seen, but I have no clue when that's supposed to come out. Ever since Onward came out, the subreddit has been flooded with custom gun stocks so there's definitely a market for it.
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Yep. I'm hoping some fully-tracked third party accessories show up soon.
H3XAntiStyle said:
Ooof. Might need to be stuck with reloading with offhand. Blech.
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Maybe you can make it work? Like I said, I've only messed around with it for an hour so far.
 
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Tain

Member
Got a 1080 today and got a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM in the mail. Exciting times! Raw Data is pretty smooth now even on my ancient CPU!
 
T

Tain

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
...wait, didn't you say in the previous sentence that you just got a new CPU?
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Nah, I've been on a i7 2600k since 2011. The GTX 980 to 1080 GPU jump was less necessary but, eh, VR mania.

edit: oh I might see the confusion. I got the GTX 1080 physically today, so I put it in my current machine, and the new CPU isn't here yet.
 
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Tain

Member
The new Space Pirate Trainer update is really good. I was hoping the new enemy types would have more visual variety, but maybe I haven't seen 'em all yet. Either way, the new weapons, powerups, and difficulty level is awesome, and the visual options are much appreciated.
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
Tain said:
The new Space Pirate Trainer update is really good. I was hoping the new enemy types would have more visual variety, but maybe I haven't seen 'em all yet. Either way, the new weapons, powerups, and difficulty level is awesome, and the visual options are much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the power-ups don't seem to consider what you're using at the time. Did some dual melee runs for the hell of it and sometimes would get a gun power-up which would require a complete change-up on playstyle to use. Likewise there's no power-up that augments the shield or baton. I mean, there's the two that do similar things on a larger scale, but that's different from the gun which gets dedicated power-up modes. For the sake of variety they should add a melee power-up or two and then skew what you get to what you're primarily using.

Overall a nice update though. I can actually see myself playing the game from time to time now.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
So uh, tried out Space Pirate Trainer shortly before going to bed, to see how the new update was.

15/10. Ion grenade launcher is the greatest.
 
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SimplexPL

Member
I'm thinkg of using VR as a way to make exercise less pain (I hate exercising). Inspiration comes from this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/52t6al/vr_fitness_50_day_challenge_week_5_checkin/

I am afraid of completely soaking my vive foam with sweat (and fogging lenses). What kind of accessories would you recommend? I think this guy is using some kind of 80s sweatband for the whole forehead - what else? Are any third part vr foam/cover replacements any good? (maybe waterproof?)

Any suggestions appreciated.
 
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Astral/H3X

Member
SimplexPL said:
I'm thinkg of using VR as a way to make exercise less pain (I hate exercising). Inspiration comes from this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/52t6al/vr_fitness_50_day_challenge_week_5_checkin/

I am afraid of completely soaking my vive foam with sweat (and fogging lenses). What kind of accessories would you recommend? I think this guy is using some kind of 80s sweatband for the whole forehead - what else? Are any third part vr foam/cover replacements any good? (maybe waterproof?)

Any suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...

https://vrcover.com/product/htc-vive-foam-replacement-6mm/
 
W

Wowfunhappy

Member
SimplexPL said:
Thanks. I assume glasses are out of the question with this foam?
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Yes. There make a thicker version but in both cases there aren't any slits for glasses so they will be less comfortable.

If you wear glasses and can't see well without them, I highly recommend investing ~$100 into a pair of prescription inserts from VR Lens Lab. They are far from perfect (there is some distortion/warping towards the edge of the image, and there's no way to fix it in software atm even though there should be) but it's a huge improvement over trying to cram glasses into the headset.
 
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SimplexPL

Member
It's expensive as hell, but I am considering it. Are they easily removable and insertable?

Or I could invest in LASIK or something similar :) Any people here considering laser surgery for VR (or had one)? I never minded glasses, but VR is the first thing that made me seriously consider laser surgery.
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
Yes. There make a thicker version but in both cases there aren't any slits for glasses so they will be less comfortable.

If you wear glasses and can't see well without them, I highly recommend investing ~$100 into a pair of prescription inserts from VR Lens Lab. They are far from perfect (there is some distortion/warping towards the edge of the image, and there's no way to fix it in software atm even though there should be) but it's a huge improvement over trying to cram glasses into the headset.
Click to expand...

I don't find I have to "cram" my glasses in. No pressure from the sides at all. The only difference from when I tried the contact route is that I have to put the headset to my face first and then pull the strap down the back of my head. Basically the opposite order of operations. This is to keep from having to pull as much on the elastic to create the requisite space to not have the foam touch the lenses of my glasses (and smudge them).
 
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SimplexPL

Member
The first one is foam replacement. The second one is "add-on" - you put it on the original cover.

Zalusithix said:
I don't find I have to "cram" my glasses in. No pressure from the sides at all. The only difference from when I tried the contact route is that I have to put the headset to my face first and then pull the strap down the back of my head. Basically the opposite order of operations. This is to keep from having to pull as much on the elastic to create the requisite space to not have the foam touch the lenses of my glasses (and smudge them).
Click to expand...



Are you using the 6mm foam replacement?
 
S

SimplexPL

Member
It's not the only thing. My significant other recently had eye surgery and she is very happy. But her sight was much poorer than mine.
I may try the custom lenses first :) Although I am a bit worried about the distortion.

What about contact lenses? Do they make sens with VR?
 
Zalusithix

Zalusithix

Member
SimplexPL said:
Are you using the 6mm foam replacement?
Click to expand...

No, but I didn't take that part of his post as being conditional on the 6mm foam, though it might have been conditional on thicker aftermarket foam. After all, with the thinner foam, you'd be far more concerned with lens contact than general fit.

SimplexPL said:
What about contact lenses? Do they make sens with VR?
Click to expand...
Do you have astigmatism? If so, it might be more of a pain in the ass than it's worth
 
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