Oculus Rift - Dev Kit Discussion [Orders Arriving]

Took the Rift to the office today and it was a big hit. About a dozen people tried it, all of them positive. Some of them that came over I didn't think they would go for this type of thing. Average age is like around 45 in this office.

One person did get moderate motion sickness, but everyone else was fine. There was a 70 yr old woman wearing glasses who was amazed at what she saw. Out of that dozen only 2 were casual gamers, the rest were non gamers.

The first demo people saw was Tuscany, then Blue Marble. Usually that was enough for most.

One person liked the rollercoaster more than anything, I was really surprised because I didn't think much of it personally.


There was one coworker that went further than the rest and I didn't expect it. She asked if I had any games that used it and I showed her Proton Pulse and she liked that one but she really loved HL2. We played the beginning and got a little past the rooftop chase. She was actually really good at orienting herself moving left or right and accommodating for the Rift's cable. I don't know if she plays games though, she didn't know what Half Life was but she did mention her little brothers play a lot.
 
So i don't know if this has been discussed before. i'm not reading everything in there so i don't depress too much :p

I'm still playing with the nexus7 to have some ideas of how things work, in term of scale (that's what interests me the most really). There are cool things, even a guy doing gopro vids with the oculus format (not sure that works but hey..).

(By the way do you know if there is a way to see youtube 3D vids with the crosseye option on nexus7 ? cause the youtube app don't let you choose...).

Anyway what i wanted to say. I think, from what i can try, and the HMZ i tried before, that using the Rift without the head tracking isn't that horrible. I think you just use yourself to it pretty fast. Hell i personally never felt any problem when using the HMZ with KillZone in 3D.

I've nothing against head tracking of course. if i'm talking about that, it's cause the Rift has incredible potential to me, and shouldn't be limited by its possibilities. I mean by that, that it can be friggin amazing to use for lots of thing EVEN if you cannot move your head. Just playing an emulator with it would be a unique and amazing experience, EVEN without modding the game to add head control OR making everything first person.

What i can experience through the Tablet trick, is that if you compare it to the HMZ, the scale changes everything, EVEN if you're just watching at a non interactive, cut 3D vidéo. I'm even wondering now if the Cinema VR thing (i tried a video to and indeed it could be incredible cause the scale of the theater and screen are really credible) is needed, as just seeing directly a 3D video with an insane FOV IS something just amazing. I've seen the Crysis III trailer for exemple (and i steal mean by putting my nose to my Nexus7 :p) and honestly, the helicopter scene, with the big buildings around.. I've never felt that sense of spectacle before in my life. Also this short movie has a freaky scale sense to it. And i couldn't look at other movie trailers cause of the youtube android thing but i can say : Just seeing a direct feed 3D video with this kind of FOV is unreal and changes everything!

That's why playing dolphin or even Project64 with the Oculus would be memorable i think. And the idea of digging into a childhood game like you're into it is pretty glorious...

Now i guess there would have some FOV ergonomic problems of course, like maybe the infos on screen not visible on the side or something, but i would still want to enjoy it!
 
There was someone from reddit on a tour in Valve, posted pics etc. And than someone asked if he saw a oculus rift and thats the answer



And about resolution. He does not used Rift before i think and if the res. was good enough for him maybe it´s already higher in the newer Version.


http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1feqgi/i_had_the_opportunity_to_visit_valve_for_2/ca9kj6a

Here are his nice pics from Valve http://imgur.com/a/mQMdi

So the thing I bought is already obsolete? VIDEOOOOOO GAMESSSSSSSSSSSS!

Edit: Valve modded a Rift. Crisis averted.
 
I looked around and I didn't see this mentioned anywhere.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- The pedestrian who was struck and killed during a police chase in Santa Ana was identified Friday as 33-year-old Andrew Scott Reisse. Coworkers described him as a "brilliant mind."

Reisse, a Santa Ana resident, was walking in a crosswalk when he was struck and killed at the end of a police chase Thursday.

Reisse's father, who lives in Virginia, said his son moved to Southern California about a year ago. Reisse co-founded Oculus VR in Irvine, a company known for its virtual reality headsets for immersive gaming.

"Andrew was a brilliant computer graphics engineer, an avid photographer and hiker who loved nature, a true loyal friend, and a founding member of our close-knit Oculus family," the company said in a statement.

A grief counselor was available for coworkers, as they learned of Reisse's death. Some of the coworkers said they have known Reisse since college and have worked with him at multiple companies.

"Andrew's contributions span far and wide in the video game industry. His code is embedded in thousands of games played by millions of people around the world," the statement said. "Words can not express how sorely he will be missed or how deeply our sympathy runs for his family."

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999
 
Released my demo Ocean Rift if anyone wants to try it out!

YouTube video.

P4m1ka7.png
 
my wife has been eagerly awaiting this ever since I told her that the first thing you said about it was that it has a megalodon in it. We have watched Shark Attack 3 Megalodon more times than is sane.

A man after my own heart!

I wrote a Syfy Original a few years back... so I too have an appreciation for garbage cinema. ;-)
 
A man after my own heart!

I wrote a Syfy Original a few years back... so I too have an appreciation for garbage cinema. ;-)

which one did you write? out of interest.

edit: HOLY SHIT.

I just tried the Ocean Rift demo. Gremlin, you did a great job. I'd like if the bubbles were spheres rather than circles, and I'd love a body of some kind, but holy shit.

I went and found the Megalodon and it ate me, as expected. The second time I played it I jumped into the vent to look at the particle effects and the Meg ate me from behind. I screamed out loud for the first time in years. Even though it had already eaten me once. Even though I knew it was down there.

So awesome :)
 
which one did you write? out of interest.

edit: HOLY SHIT.

I just tried the Ocean Rift demo. Gremlin, you did a great job. I'd like if the bubbles were spheres rather than circles, and I'd love a body of some kind, but holy shit.

I went and found the Megalodon and it ate me, as expected. The second time I played it I jumped into the vent to look at the particle effects and the Meg ate me from behind. I screamed out loud for the first time in years. Even though it had already eaten me once. Even though I knew it was down there.

So awesome :)


I'll never tell, as I've done my best to distance myself from it... It makes a fun talking-point, but is a terrible implication on one's record. That said... its apparently really popular in Germany... go figure. :-p
 
which one did you write? out of interest.

edit: HOLY SHIT.

I just tried the Ocean Rift demo. Gremlin, you did a great job. I'd like if the bubbles were spheres rather than circles, and I'd love a body of some kind, but holy shit.

I went and found the Megalodon and it ate me, as expected. The second time I played it I jumped into the vent to look at the particle effects and the Meg ate me from behind. I screamed out loud for the first time in years. Even though it had already eaten me once. Even though I knew it was down there.

So awesome :)

That sounds awesome. I rarely flinch or gasp in a game, but on the rare occasions I do, I always mark it as a memorable game.
 
Sea Rift, Shark Rift, Megalodon Rift I went with boring old Ocean Rift in the end. It's very rough around the edges (it's a week old today) but I'm glad it made you scream plagiarize. I'll be moving on to a spiders demo when I have some spare time again (Spiders in the Rift).

There was a bug in an early version where a Megalodon attack launched you and itself out of the water and into the air in a very Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus kind of way. I almost went down that route but got bogged down in boids algorithms.
 
Sea Rift, Shark Rift, Megalodon Rift I went with boring old Ocean Rift in the end. It's very rough around the edges (it's a week old today) but I'm glad it made you scream plagiarize. I'll be moving on to a spiders demo when I have some spare time again (Spiders in the Rift).

There was a bug in an early version where a Megalodon attack launched you and itself out of the water and into the air in a very Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus kind of way. I almost went down that route but got bogged down in boids algorithms.

kill it with fire!

Loved the demo. Second time through I noticed the whale swimming overhead, and I just watched it as a shark swam under it. Then I followed it and if I jumped it felt as though I was close enough to reach out and touch it, a great feeling.

And then I got eaten by a massive shark :)

Turning the lights out helps I find - I thought the rift goggles would block the light out but they don't - at least for me I can see my keyboard through the nose space (which can be handy on occasion)
 
It was a fun demo, but it feels more like being on a moonscape that happens to have water than it does a diving simulator type thing right now. Swimming would probably feel more natural than walking, but either way, there needs to be some sense of water moving around the player. I don't know how to implement that, because I'm not a dev.

It's awesome for a week old demo though. I couldn't go to "the depths" due to...well...it scares me, so nope nope nope :P

kill it with fire!

Loved the demo. Second time through I noticed the whale swimming overhead, and I just watched it as a shark swam under it. Then I followed it and if I jumped it felt as though I was close enough to reach out and touch it, a great feeling.

And then I got eaten by a massive shark :)

Turning the lights out helps I find - I thought the rift goggles would block the light out but they don't - at least for me I can see my keyboard through the nose space (which can be handy on occasion)

I found this really annoying in Blue Marble as well. The air holes also let light in, as does the lack of foam on the nose hole. It's easily remedied though, either by turning lights off or by adding foam in yourself. These are the kinks they'll have to iron out for the consumer version
 
Does anyone know if this thing gives you headaches? Who am I kidding, just a gaming headsets gives me a headache..

Headaches from the pressure of it being against your face, or headaches from looking at the screen? I've felt discomfort around the temple area after an hour or two, but I've yet to have an actual headache. I haven't felt the least bit motion sick so I can't help you there either. I was riding the roller coaster and playing as a scout in TF2 within five minutes of turning the thing on.
 
Why watching porn in a VR Cinema if you could play an interactive, fully immersive porn game with the Rift? :-P

Actually, a startup from California is currently working on such a "simulator" specifically for the Rift, I'm not kidding!
 
Sorry if this has been addressed already but for those who have this, is the sense of scale life-like? When you are walking around does it feel like things are life sized and you are really in the environment?
 
Sorry if this has been addressed already but for those who have this, is the sense of scale life-like? When you are walking around does it feel like things are life sized and you are really in the environment?

If the game is made for the Rift and everything is created with that in mind, yeah, it does feel like you're the proper height relative to everything else in the world. The games with native Rift support certainly feel that way, but it's hit or miss with the third party drivers.

It doesn't really feel like you're in the environment right now for a couple of reasons:

1. There's no positional awareness. You can't move into or back out of the scene, so you're kind of permanently trapped on a neck swivel (although you can tilt your head). It's a bit claustrophobic. If the game takes control away from you (which a lot of games do) it feels very jarring and takes you out of the experience immediately.

2. The low resolution. It's not horrible, but there is a pixel structure over everything.

3. Because of #2, distant objects can't be seen. Look at the other side of whatever room you're in and imagine that everything past the end of your desk (or some other similar metric) is blurred out.

Basically it just can't fool your brain well enough for true immersion yet. It's much better than a 2D monitor though, even at this early stage, due to the natural 3D and the proper scale.

They'll fix all three of those issues for the consumer version. What I'm not sure if they can fix is the sensation that you're looking through swim goggles or binocular's that don't zoom though. Less weight would probably go a long way there.

*Jurassic Park narration voice* "And in this, as with every technology, porn finds a way."

I didn't even realize the VR Cinema could do 3D movies. I popped a SBS one on there and..yep...it's sort of 3D (albeit low res/not quite right separation). There's a future for these goggles as "video goggles" if an app like this can show Netflix content on the virtual screen :P
 
Did you wear a large coat while playing? Now you get to be one of those creeps that jerk off in a cinema.

I've always thought it was odd that people got arrested for beating off in a porno theater. It's like...what else were you supposed to show up for? The story?
 
Edit: Wait, I misunderstood. 3-D Porn on a fake movie screen is whatever. We need perspective stuff. ; )

G-Mod just got Oculus Rift support; Download the Dead or Alive skin pack and go to town.

Yes, you animal you.

"Ten men were caught in a sting at a porno theater this morning. When asked for comment, one of the men was quoted as saying "If you didn't want me to beat off in a porno theater, you shouldn't have let them open a porno theater". The city zoning board couldn't be reached for comment, but the Chief of Police stated that "these sick bastards are tainting the long storied tradition of pornographic cinema with their perversions. More at 11."
 
Walk right up to a mountain and look up. It's glorious. I've had that sensation in Shadow of the Colossus while looking up at the Shrine of Worship (a huge spiral tower), but that didn't fill my whole FOV and the 3D wasn't perfect due to the shutter glasses. That experience will be common when the consumer version of this is out.

wait wait wait hold the phone... you can play SotC with this? or are you talking about the PS3 collection with 3D?
Cos playing SotC in proper 3D is like a dream of mine
 
If they can get the weight way down and fix the ergonomics a bit, I could definitely see using a consumer version Rift as a movie viewing device (inside a VR cinema). There's something compelling about seeing a movie theater sized screen while actually inside a VR movie theater. I was skeptical, but it really does feel like a huge theater screen.

wait wait wait hold the phone... you can play SotC with this? or are you talking about the PS3 collection with 3D?
Cos playing SotC in proper 3D is like a dream of mine

You can't play SOTC with this. I mean, someone could probably gin something up using SOTC for the PS2 and a PC emulator, but that's unlikely to happen any time soon (though someone is doing an N64 emulator port).

SOTC was actually the best 3D game (other than Uncharted 3) that I tried on my plasma during the brief period where I thought 3D gaming could actually be a thing outside of an HMD. The sense of scale is great, but there is a bit of crosstalk, and it's obviously not going to fill the entire FOV.

if the final version is OLED, then maybe (as far as selling)... but I figured someone might create a MOD by the time an Oculus Rift finally shipped to me. >_<

There's no way to turn an HMZ-T1 into an Oculus Rift. You'd need to come up with an intricate lens system in the same way that traditional VR display designers have for years. It would cost more than the HMZ-T1 itself. There's no reason these demos couldn't work on an HMZ-T1 if they were slightly modified though. Honestly, I don't know why you'd want to try them, because they aren't very compelling without the addition of the huge FOV and head tracking.
 
There's no way to turn an HMZ-T1 into an Oculus Rift. You'd need to come up with an intricate lens system in the same way that traditional VR display designers have for years. It would cost more than the HMZ-T1 itself. There's no reason these demos couldn't work on an HMZ-T1 if they were slightly modified though. Honestly, I don't know why you'd want to try them, because they aren't very compelling without the addition of the huge FOV and head tracking.

I know, :(

was just hoping there might be some type of lenses that could magnify those small OLED screens to increase FOV...haha, just wishful thinking.
 
does anyone think that positional tracking (eg using hydras etc) could be used as a way to move around levels? eg lean forward a little changes your view, lean a little more and you move forwards - lean left/right and strafe?

My biggest problem in the rift so far is sudden movement from a keyboard/mouse/controller when I'm not physically moving - that disconnect gets to me after a while. Having some physical input tied to movement might help avoid that.
 
Released my demo Ocean Rift if anyone wants to try it out!

YouTube video.

P4m1ka7.png
Jesus, man. I sort of have a (mildly) irrational fear of being underwater, and just as I approached the geyser, a fucking GIANT FUCKING SHARK DARTED THROUGH THE STEAM AND FUCKING ATE ME. I don't know whether that was the most terrified I've ever been in gaming, but certainly the most terrified over the age of 20.

Fuck.fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfucknightmares.

awesome
 
does anyone think that positional tracking (eg using hydras etc) could be used as a way to move around levels? eg lean forward a little changes your view, lean a little more and you move forwards - lean left/right and strafe?

My biggest problem in the rift so far is sudden movement from a keyboard/mouse/controller when I'm not physically moving - that disconnect gets to me after a while. Having some physical input tied to movement might help avoid that.


No. If you have positional tracking, you're going to get sick if you use it as a control mechanism.

i.e. Move head forward to inspect something on a table > your character lurches forward when you're just expecting to look at something.
 
Finally got my posting privileges and I wanted my first post to be on this thread! Can't wait to get my Rift. Fingers crossed it will arrive by the end of this month (48XXX in Michigan). I already have an entire folder of demos and Minecraft ready to go :-)
 
Jesus, man. I sort of have a (mildly) irrational fear of being underwater, and just as I approached the geyser, a fucking GIANT FUCKING SHARK DARTED THROUGH THE STEAM AND FUCKING ATE ME. I don't know whether that was the most terrified I've ever been in gaming, but certainly the most terrified over the age of 20.

Fuck.fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfucknightmares.

awesome
lol xD

Damn.the.waiting.game!
 
Some of the demos were kind of terrible and I didn't know why; I hit the spacebar in one of them by accident and saw that I was dipping into the 30's O_O

Framerate really does matter on this thing. Hopefully someone will come out with a nice CPU/Mobo combo deal tomorrow or something (my Microcenter is completely out of 3570K's and 3770K's ><)
 
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