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[moniker]

Wasn't that related to nvidia drivers?

Maybe? Would that mean I could get true blacks in direct mode by trying an older (buggy?) driver?

I have little understanding how this works, but maybe someone more knowledgable about graphics rendering and drivers etc (cue paging Durante meme) would be able to answer how/where the output levels are set. SteamVR, the driver, VRWorks? I hope someone is looking into this because I guess it could maybe open up others possibilities of injectors in direct mode (like SweetFX etc).

 

[Zalusithix]

Maybe? Would that mean I could get true blacks in direct mode by trying an older (buggy?) driver?

Pretty sure it was Valve that fixed the issue by updating OpenVR, not something that was fixed by a newer driver.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

For gamepad games, like GCN games, I've just been using my PS4 controller with XInput or KeyPadder custom configs. You have to configure it in Dolphin VR itself but it's not hard, esp for more traditional-controlled games.



Every game needs a lot of settings tweaking. Probably 15-20 mins fiddling per game. You need to fiddle with timewarp, frampacing, etc, etc, for every game, which all have their own requirements. You can google each game and 'Dolphin VR configs' to help you. You also need to go into each game's "command" settings and turn off stuff that makes it worse (in terms of gameplay or performance). For instance, in Wind Waker you have to turn off object culling otherwise the world is empty around you until you point Link at where you're looking.

But when you get it right? It is fucking brilliant. Wind Waker in VR is phenomenal. I almost had Eternal Darkness and Resi 4 working, too. That was insane. The sense of place in Eternal Darkness - being INSIDE a Resi-style mansion with her, was just crazy. Like looking around at walls and architecture and objects. And Resident Evil was genuinely too terrifying to play. I couldn't handle it. I turned it off when a Ganado snuck up on me from behind.

I wish they'd add per-game 'profiles' or just 'profiles' in general (maybe they have this and I never noticed it.)



Honestly, one of the most amazing things.

I'm weary as I get bad motion sickness from 3rd-person games and games with a "walk" button (non-teleport). I will likely hold off for now. It does sound really cool though.

 

[kinggroin]

Is there any way to get better black levels in direct mode on the Vive? I'm reading through some old posts on Reddit, and it looks like there was a period last year where where this was possible, but they upped the black levels to combat black smear. I think the current implementation really kills low light stuff like Luminous Abyss in theBlu, or darker parts of The Gallery. It's even worse since the mura correction noise is very distracting in dark places.

I looks like it's possible when using Vive in extended mode, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

Maybe the black smear looks worse, but it'd be nice to at least have the option. Would it be theoretically possible for a modder to hook into SteamVR output and alter the black levels for example?

Buddy I can't tell you how much I've wanted this to return.

Smear or no smear, having true black levels made a profound difference in the effective experience of many games.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I'm hardly the first person to discover this (I mean, I got the idea from other Vive users on reddit), but tension poles are a really great no-hole-in-wall solution for Vive lighthouses. Got my pole from Amazon last night and it works beautifully.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Is there any way to get better black levels in direct mode on the Vive? I'm reading through some old posts on Reddit, and it looks like there was a period last year where where this was possible, but they upped the black levels to combat black smear. I think the current implementation really kills low light stuff like Luminous Abyss in theBlu, or darker parts of The Gallery. It's even worse since the mura correction noise is very distracting in dark places.

I looks like it's possible when using Vive in extended mode, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

Maybe the black smear looks worse, but it'd be nice to at least have the option. Would it be theoretically possible for a modder to hook into SteamVR output and alter the black levels for example?

I saved the version that is supposed to have perfect black levels, but for some reason it never actually worked for me (ie, blacks were the same as always). If you're interested in giving it a try, I put it on Amazon Cloud Drive: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/s...iKV8YIaXuITbJRJbWS?ref_=cd_ph_share_link_copy

 

[kungfuian]

Did you find a tutorial to set it up? I tried it with bad results from the initial installation.

Yeah it takes a bit of work to get it running (at least it did for me), but the wikis, reddit, and other articles are easy enough to find. IMO it's well worth the effort!

 

[kungfuian]

Does this require any Wii hardware? I gave mine away last year.

You should own the actual disks from an ethical stand point (most cube games are cheap and easy to get copies of). Also I personally found the best set up control wise (at least for Cube games) is the official WiiU adapter and Official Cube controllers (not after market!), but others seem able to get the dual shock working. Installing the driver for this was super easy. There are several options for Wii games but I'm just using the vive controllers for now.

 

[kungfuian]

Can you do any GC game in VR and is it easy to set up?

Many games work but only a few work really well. Fortunately some of the best Nintendo games work great! There is a full list of supported games.

Edit- How do I quote and respond to multiple people in a single post? Just a lowly Junior member over here so...

 

[Veritigo_X]

Lucid Trips has hit early access: http://store.steampowered.com/app/389260/

I've heard a couple people here mention the demo on the dev's website but haven't checked it out yet. I'll download it this weekend and see what it's about.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Many games work but only a few work really well. Fortunately some of the best Nintendo games work great! There is a full list of supported games.

Edit- How do I quote and respond to multiple people in a single post? Just a lowly Junior member over here so...

You can either quote and copy each one in to one reply, or use that plus sign next to quote, then hit quote when you're ready.

Lucid Trips has hit early access: http://store.steampowered.com/app/389260/

I've heard a couple people here mention the demo on the dev's website but haven't checked it out yet. I'll download it this weekend and see what it's about.

I messed around with it in the beta and it's pretty surreal. Locomotion was pretty fun and unique. I'm really curious how the game ends up.

The game is pretty as hell too:

 

[lyrick]

Does this require any Wii hardware? I gave mine away last year.

If you need any games ripped I have an old Pentium 3 desktop with the LG disc drive that can read and dump games. I guess I could sacrifice my shelved wii to custom firmware and rip some that way too. If you have any games you want to try shoot me a PM or stop by (we live in the same town).

 

[SomTervo]

I'm weary as I get bad motion sickness from 3rd-person games and games with a "walk" button (non-teleport). I will likely hold off for now. It does sound really cool though.

Yeah fair enough, maybe wait until usability is improved a bit. Apparently Metroid P is amazing re sickness because it's first person. If you're only downloading it for one title, that may be worthwhile.

FYI Resident Evil 4 was fine sickness-wise because there's a floating HUD as a reference point and also Leon is ALWAYS in the center of the screen so he's your "lock" point.

But yeah, cutscenes in any game will fuck you up, and worse, in many games I could never get the inventory/menus to work well. It was always super close or super weird and glitchy. Lots of 'layers'.

You can either quote and copy each one in to one reply, or use that plus sign next to quote, then hit quote when you're ready.

Oh my god. Been a member for two years and I didn't know about the plus sign thing.

Oh my god.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Oh my god. Been a member for two years and I didn't know about the plus sign thing.

Oh my god.

Lol. Took me a long while (as in years) to realize what that was too.

 

[kungfuian]

You can either quote and copy each one in to one reply, or use that plus sign next to quote, then hit quote when you're ready.:

Thank You

 

[Durante]

I often endorse VR games in this thread, because really, there are a whole lot of them on Steam, and the majority have a 0 USD marketing budget.
But now, for the first time I think, I'll discourage you from buying a game: The Cabin.

It's an escape room game, and I actually enjoy those in VR. I even enjoy escape room games made on a shoestring budget by a single individual (e.g. Vacate the Room). But The Cabin is just not worth it.

The graphics are muddy and all over the place, with the developers seemingly taking no care at all to make sure that their LoDs make sense in VR, or that their materials are suitable. I'm not expecting miracles or a high budget here, just some understanding of what does and doesn't work in the medium. Oh, and while they suck they are also inexplicably demanding, causing frequent framedrops on my OC'd 1080.

The interactions with objects (a central point in an escape the room type game) are extremely rudimentary, fiddly, and prone to bugging out for no discernible reason. Finally, the puzzles (the other central component) are extremely simplistic and occasionally buggy.

I couldn't complete the game due to a bug (after already working around another one) and refunded it -- and I usually never refund games.

 

[Zalusithix]

Oh my god. Been a member for two years and I didn't know about the plus sign thing.

Oh my god.

Lol. Took me a long while (as in years) to realize what that was too.

Multi-quote: Apparently more mind-blowing than VR.

Spoiler

There's a tool tip that says what its function is. =P

I often endorse VR games in this thread, because really, there are a whole lot of them on Steam, and the majority have a 0 USD marketing budget.

To heck with marketing, I'd say many have a $0 development budget. Not that they can't be good in spite of that.

 

[kinggroin]

how do we revert to an old version of steamvr?

 

[Wowfunhappy]

How much of a downgrade will going from a 1070 -> 980ti be, for the Vive specifically?

Basically, the 1070 I've been using since June doesn't work with Hackintosh, and so I've been using integrated graphics whenever I boot OS X, which is my primary OS for non-gaming tasks. I really need to get a gpu that's compatible, which means almost any AMD card or any pre-Pascal nVidia card.

I think the 980 Ti is the obvious choice, is there anything else? Should I wait for Vega?

 

[Zalusithix]

How much of a downgrade will going from a 1070 -> 908ti be, for the Vive specifically?

Basically, the 1070 I've been using since June doesn't work with Hackintosh, and so I've been using integrated graphics whenever I boot OS X, which is my primary OS for non-gaming tasks. I really need to get a gpu that's compatible, which means any* AMD card or any pre-Pascal nVidia card.

I think the 980 Ti is the obvious choice, is there anything else? Should I wait for Vega?

*there's a few AMD cards that won't work, but almost all will.

There isn't much in the lines of VR benchmarks, but what we do have aligns rather well with relative non-VR performance.

You won't see much, if any reduction in performance.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

how do we revert to an old version of steamvr?

So, I try to avoid mentioning this here because it's a rabbit hole, but suffice to say I have a really weird setup where I download games in a VM and don't actually have Steam installed on my computer. As a result, I don't know exactly how things will work on a computer that actually has Steam.

That said: you should be able to start that download I posted outside of Steam. There's a .bat file I made in the root folder. I assume if you use that file, and then start a game, you'll be using the old version of Steam VR.

In the event that doesn't work, you should be able to just replace the files in the default SteamVR install directory.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Made a thread for some GDC 2017 survey results about VR.

 

[Auto-Reply]

I'm an idiot, found out why updating the Open VR Advanced Settings didn't work for me. Doubt anyone will have the same problem but I had "autostart" marked in the settings, had to uncheck that and then I was able to update

 

[Padinn]

I got an extra key. Enjoy!!

Instructions for participants:
I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.
Want to make your own ModBot giveaway? Click here for a quick tutorial thread. Please give generously.

ModBot Basics:
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- I really appreciate thank you messages, but please send them to me (Padinn, not ModBot!) via PM instead of in thread.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker--if you have both fewer than five posts in this thread--you are not eligible for this giveaway.
- This giveaway is a raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 24 hours after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.


Zombie Training Simulator and Call of the Starseed -- MB-EFFDEAC035A7AA8C - Taken by Durante. 1 entrants total.

 

[cakefoo]

VRSailing (free)

Tested's VR Minute - more real talk about the TPCAST, tracker puck, and deluxe audio strap.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

If you need any games ripped I have an old Pentium 3 desktop with the LG disc drive that can read and dump games. I guess I could sacrifice my shelved wii to custom firmware and rip some that way too. If you have any games you want to try shoot me a PM or stop by (we live in the same town).

I also gave away all my games though so I'd have to swing by a used seller. Shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm likely going to shelve the plans for now though due to motion sickness concerns. Let me know if you try this Dolphin VR stuff and I will swing by your house. Mario Kart in VR looked pretty awesome.

 

[kungfuian]

I also gave away all my games though so I'd have to swing by a used seller. Shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm likely going to shelve the plans for now though due to motion sickness concerns. Let me know if you try this Dolphin VR stuff and I will swing by your house. Mario Kart in VR looked pretty awesome.

I know VR legs and motion sickness vary quite a bit but I honestly had the worst motion issues with games that take the camera away from you. I did not feel this at all with the cube games like Metroid and Zelda because you have control of the camera and the speed at which you move is not too fast. For side to side/rotational motions you need to learn to coordinate where you're looking in vr (head/actual body movement) with the movement of your character (controller). This takes a tiny getting used to but I would say it's similar to the skills required to manually control the camera in most 3d games. As long as you are moving your head in the same direction you are moving your character then motion problems are minimal. I use a swivel chair or stand up but a bar stool might work too.

 

[Arulan]

Tested's VR Minute - more real talk about the TPCAST, tracker puck, and deluxe audio strap.

Regarding the Ossic X:

It sounds like the gimmick I expected it to be. Anatomy-calibration is nice for HRTF technologies, but it's not worth the trade-off in not being able to use a better pair of headphones with regards to audio quality. And of course, positional tracking and binaural audio is already part of the major VR HMDs.

Multiple drivers

In somewhat related news:

Valve acquired 3D and physics-based audio company Impulsonic.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I know VR legs and motion sickness vary quite a bit but I honestly had the worst motion issues with games that take the camera away from you. I did not feel this at all with the cube games like Metroid and Zelda because you have control of the camera and the speed at which you move is not too fast. For side to side/rotational motions you need to learn to coordinate where you're looking in vr (head/actual body movement) with the movement of your character (controller). This takes a tiny getting used to but I would say it's similar to the skills required to manually control the camera in most 3d games. As long as you are moving your head in the same direction you are moving your character then motion problems are minimal. I use a swivel chair or stand up but a bar stool might work too.

Videogames, particularly non-VR fps, give me really bad motion sickness. Lucky's Tale upset my stomach quite a bit. The other games I've played that use a method of movement that is not teleportation also give me motion sickness. I've tried ginger to little avail. I'm always willing to try new games, experiences, etc. but I don't want to spend money on old games until I can verify they won't make me sick. I actually wound up waiting almost a year to buy the Vive & Rift because I wanted to try it in person to see how I would do.

 

[Durante]

In somewhat related news:

Valve acquired 3D and physics-based audio company Impulsonic.

Yeah, I read about this. Interesting, and not really Valve's usual MO.

 

[TheRed]

Watching the Nintendo Switch presentation I really just want to use the joycons with my Vive with lighthouse tracking lol. Not that they'd be way better or anything but they seem neat especially if the haptic feedback is actually as good as what Valve has done with the Steam and Vive controllers.

 

[Arulan]

Watching the Nintendo Switch presentation I really just want to use the joycons with my Vive with lighthouse tracking lol. Not that they'd be way better or anything but they seem neat especially if the haptic feedback is actually as good as what Valve has done with the Steam and Vive controllers.

If anything, watching that presentation only reminded me how motion/tracked controllers while looking at a display generally leads to the highly abstracted controls that put people off to the technology in the first place. It's a little amusing that, after being essentially left for dead for a few years, VR would show the ultimate use-case for the technology.

 

[Zalusithix]

If anything, watching that presentation only reminded me how motion/tracked controllers while looking at a display generally leads to the highly abstracted controls that put people off to the technology in the first place. It's a little amusing that, after being essentially left for dead for a few years, VR would show the ultimate use-case for the technology.

Displays? Pfft. Just look at the other person!

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Watching the Nintendo Switch presentation I really just want to use the joycons with my Vive with lighthouse tracking lol. Not that they'd be way better or anything but they seem neat especially if the haptic feedback is actually as good as what Valve has done with the Steam and Vive controllers.

Watching it mostly made me hope that someone steals the concept for Arms for a VR game.

 

[Zalusithix]

Watching it mostly made me hope that someone steals the concept for Arms for a VR game.

I made a comment during the stream that I fully expect somebody to ape the idea and have a (low budget) VR copycat out on Steam before the Switch even hits store shelves. Probably see some tongue in cheek copies of the 1 2 Switch stuff too.

 

[Makai]

https://twitter.com/Sosowski/status/819176111775039489

 

[metareferential]

VRSailing (free)

Looks cool. And the definition of motion sickness altogether xD

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Hey so, um, maybe everyone else knows this but it was driving me crazy... if your Roomba is suddenly refusing to work, try unplugging the Vive Lighthouses. Mine seemed to think there was a virtual wall all around it.

 

[TharpDaddy]

Hey so, um, maybe everyone else knows this but it was driving me crazy... if your Roomba is suddenly refusing to work, try unplugging the Vive Lighthouses. Mine seemed to think there was a virtual wall all around it.

Someone make sure to catalog this tactic for when the robots rise up against us.

 

[runningjoke]

Hey so, um, maybe everyone else knows this but it was driving me crazy... if your Roomba is suddenly refusing to work, try unplugging the Vive Lighthouses. Mine seemed to think there was a virtual wall all around it.

If the roomba uses IR for tracking this makes sense. I can't use remotes when the base stations are turned on. You can use the auto hybernate option, easier than unplugging them each time.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Does anyone here own Legend of Dungeon? They added VR support. I'm curious for impressions. It's also on sale at Humble Bundle.

 

[Makai]

Does anyone here own Legend of Dungeon? They added VR support. I'm curious for impressions. It's also on sale at Humble Bundle.

I have it. played all of 5 minutes of the original game, though.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

These hooks have proved to be perfect for controller wall mounts.

 

[Zalusithix]

These hooks have proved to be perfect for controller wall mounts.

1. Pull controllers off wall
2. Use controllers
3. Plug controllers in somewhere to charge them
4. Monitor controller charge level
5. Unplug controllers once charged
6. Hang controllers back on wall

vs

1. Pull controllers off chargers
2. Use controllers
3. Replug controllers back at charging location and forget about them

Way too many steps for the wall mounting. =P

Edit: I would at least need something like this to consider wall mounting, and then I'd have to deal with the cables dangling.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

I mean, I'll take the $1 wall mounts over the ones that require a $300 3D printer.

 

[Zalusithix]

I mean, I'll take the $1 wall mounts over the ones that require a $300 3D printer.

In a situation where there's no shelf/counter space available, sure. Else I'd just prefer the $0 option of having them sit on said shelf/counter with the charging cables at the location. Wall mounting electronic devices is a pain from both an aesthetic and practical standpoint.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

For my particular setup, these wall mounts were perfect. Otherwise I just had them sitting on my subwoofer.

 

[Durante]

In a situation where there's no shelf/counter space available, sure.

Shelves/counters? Those just reduce the available VR space

(My HMD and controllers lie on the floor)

 

[RedRum]

Ah man. What to invest in?

The rEvolve Kickstarter or the Deluxe headset?

 

[LamerDeluxe]

To noticeably improve contrast on your HDMI connected Vive and monitors on an NVidia card, download a patcher called: NV_RGBFullRangeToggle.
This will restore the RGB ranges from 32 to 223 to the full 0 to 255 range, so this improves contrast a lot.

I figured this out by myself after wondering if my new GTX1080 would still need this patch (having used this before on my older cards), turns out it did, improving the contrast of my monitors. Then I wondered if the same would apply to the Vive, being connected by a HDMI connection, turns out it had fixed that as well.

Note that you need to execute the patch every time you upgrade your NVidia drivers.