So, Graev got an HTC Vive.
He was kind enough to let me spend some time playing around with it and enjoying my first real dedicated time spent with VR tech. I’ve always had a less-than-accepting attitude toward new tech. Most are always gimmicks. That has been my opinion of VR as well, but did my time spent with the HTC Vive change how I feel?
HTC Vive Room Setup
I had no idea that VR required this kind of setup. I assumed it must require some sort of spacial configuration, but it’s no joke. You need to set up sensors around your “play area” that are spaced out to define your area.
Your play area can be pretty small and even oddly shaped. Graev’s setup leaves him a playable area that resembles an amoeba rather than a square or rectangle.
These sensors must be mounted, clipped, or otherwise positioned in opposite corners. That was the obnoxious part. They must be plugged in, so finding defined corners with plugs wasn’t easy.
You also have to do all of this within reasonable reach of your PC. Speaking of PC, Graev has the Nvidia 1070 which has 1 HDMI port. The headset takes up that spot meaning you can’t use a monitor unless you have a second HDMI port or a display port. So we went and bought an HDMI to Display Port adapter which actually worked flawlessly.
Configuring the HTC Vive
We ran into a few snags with configuring and calibrating the HTC Vive to work properly. We don’t know if it was a problem with the wand or the headsets, but occasionally they somewhat desync and there’s problems. We think we ironed out most of those.
We had to run the setup a few times to get the headset to visualize the playable space properly as well. That process involves standing in the room jumping through the hoops of aiming the hand devices, looking around, etc.
The HTC Vive Hardware
Spending $800, these things should feel amazing. Good news: They do. The controllers look a little weird, but are nicely balanced and ergonomic.
The headset is a little more hit or miss for us. Both of us wear glasses, and although they claim the HTC Vive works with glasses… we beg to differ. I actually had to take mine off to get the headset to fit well. Graev is truly blind without his glasses and has to wear the headset with less comfort to accommodate them.
The HTC Vive headset is heavy. After only 30 minutes of wearing it, I felt like my head was floating when I took it off — that same feeling you get when picking up your phone after lifting weights where you almost throw the thing because you don’t realize your own strength.
Both of us also complain about how the HTC Vive headset picture is grainy. After looking this up, that seems to be just how it is — it’s apparently even better now than it used to be. Some people like Graev say the image looks blurry, but I didn’t see that.
After playing for 10 minutes, I was at least happy that the graininess became less noticeable because my eyes adjusted.
There are a lot of tweaks and adjustments that can be done with nobs and things on the headset to adjust FoV. Graev is still looking for a way to adjust pupil distance.
The VR Experience
Playing with the “games” (Tech Demos) that come with it provides a glimpse at the Vive’s (and all VR’s) potential. The drawing thing was cool, but what sold me was this Star Wars experience…
I watched as the Millennium Falcon landed on top of me! R2 gave me a lightsaber and I deflected blaster shots back at storm troopers. Holy crap that was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. But then it was over. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes and it was done.
I think that’s going to be the story of VR, at least for now. Very little of the full “walk around the room” VR experiences will be true fully-fleshed-out games. As I initially though when trying out and commenting on VR, it’s going to mostly be about “experiences” that are limited to small areas.
The biggest reason is room size. That’s the hardest part about Star Trek’s holodeck… creating infinite space out of a finite area. You walk 3 feet and you smack into a wall (or in the HTC Vive’s case your headset tether reaches its limit).
But dang… if that’s not the coolest thing to experience, even if it’s limited to “games” that feel more like tech demos.
Games where you can sit or use the “Standing Room Only” feature are much more realistic. VR in general is definitely not for sitting. Even the “looking around” loses so much value if you can’t TURN AROUND and have the full 360′ experience.
To VR or not to VR
Graev’s HTC Vive has me tempted to pull the trigger. That initial “Woah cool” factor is strong…
I’m going to research the games out there with multiplayer, and look more into true “GAMES” that offer an experience beyond bite-sized experiences designed to feature VR. They may not exist yet, and that may mean I wait a bit before jumping fully onto the VR wagon.
I havent heard a peep about anything VR since the initial release. I feel like its still ahuge fad.
I would be interested to hear your experiences using the Vive as just a monitor alternative. The only downside seems to be resolution being limited – well what resolution were these demos run in? If you could run 2D pc desktop games in 1080p I’d never buy a monitor again.
I’ve heard Elite Dangerous is phenomenal on both Vive and Oculus
After trying out the Gear VR, I think VR’s definitely better for short burst “experiences” right now, but dang, as you say, are those some really good compressed experiences for immersion-seekers that are searching for the holy grail of presence or being fully “in” an environment.
A number of factors limit long term play, imo. As you mention, the weight of the headset, and eventually the heat generated by the view screen (certainly much faster when you’ve got a phone strapped to your eyes like the Gear VR does) makes one sweat buckets and fog up said viewscreen (and glasses if you’re wearing them.) The work involved in trying to rectify the issues kinda takes away from the desire for a seamless immersive experience.
The screen door effect is still a minor visual problem not yet solved by current hardware. Might be a matter of time though.
And some people are still going to be more prone to motion sickness in a too-real virtual setting or discomfort or eyestrain caused by not ideal focal lengths or pupil distances, and have to play in short bursts.
It’s too bad Dreadhalls isn’t available for the HTC Vive right now, because it gave me a crazy dungeon-crawling shiver in a good way. I still haven’t gotten beyond the first couple rooms because I’m too freaked out by what could possibly lie beyond.
Reviews for The Gallery: Call of the Star Seed seem positive, was something I was eyeing if I ever got a HTC Vive, might be worth a look for you.
@Wonderwyrm: I think in many ways it -IS- a fad. This level of tech is not yet at mainstream adoption. The tether, spacial limitations, and inability to construct games around those limitations will keep it niche and even perhaps temporary.
@Copptertopper: I used the monitor alternative feature for a bit. I browsed the internet, utilized Steam’s interface, etc. I think it LOOKS cool, but I struggled with using the controllers to aim at things. Maybe my hands shake bad or something, but aiming the wand at the system tray and navigating the smaller details was very difficult.
@Kaybek: Graev has heard the same thing. We’re definitely looking into it.
@Jeromai: Thanks for the recommendations! I did notice a tiny bit of heat coming from the viewport, but in one of my 30 minute sessions it wasn’t enough to make me consider taking it off. My biggest issue was definitely the weight.
Wait so he bought $800 hardware and not a single game for it?
Good review though, very interesting. Certainly as the tech improves, it will be like cellphones, we will go from bricks to paper-thin devices. Hopefully that happens with VR soon enough that it really picks up steam and moves beyond a niche offering.
I spent a few weekends playing it at a friends’ house. I strongly advise do *not* run out and buy one yourself despite the extremely positive first reaction almost everyone has to playing with it. I know I was tempted, but now after having spent five more hours with it or so (again, over the course of several weeks using someone else’s occasionally) I start to perceive how very, very shallow the library of games is for it. It is best to pull out as a party game, especially for a group with people who haven’t used this type of VR before, but there’s no gaming experience a core gamer would be satisfied with for any great length of time. yet.
@SynCaine: Rereading my post I guess it seems like he didn’t purchase games for it. He has a few already. We’re looking for games that we can play together though, if I were to get one. I’m struggling with the price point.
@keen try Elite: Dangerous!
That’s what I would recommend, probably the only full game that’s VR
I have had a Vive since release and I still really enjoy it BUT I have always been an early adopter of technology so a lot of peoples complaints do not bother me as much. There is always a lack of content when a new format launches, it will come. Most of the current stuff is in fact pretty shallow but I did not buy a Vive for vast AAA games, I bought it because I think it truly is a new type of gaming that will only grow with time as developers figure out how to best use the technology.
My favorite games/experiences so far have been:
-Chair in a Room. Easily the best fully fleshed out game on the vive at the moment. It is basically a first person story game. Very creepy and very immersive. This is a great example of content that I think will really get better with time.
-Zombie Training Simulator. Fun little shooter. Yes it is just another arcade wave style game but I really enjoy it and while some people have taken issue with the graphics I like the cartoon style.
-Holopoint. What a great game for only $8. The idea to have the targets fire back when they explode makes for great fun and I have actually worked up a sweat playing this game. I do have the benefit of having a rather large play area, a 12×12 room, and that makes for some crazy play.
-Star Wars experience is really cool. Even though flying along the desert of Jakku in the speeder only lasts about a minute it is still a wild ride. I really can see studios taking advantage of this more in the future and creating content for fans to experience in addition to a movie. Basically it can become a new form of marketing.
-Vanishing Realms. Ok, this one is a game that I really thought was cool despite some issues. First, the melee combat is just kind of meh. That being said, as a 40 year old that grew up on pen and paper rpgs this game was so much fun to experience. I loved how I was literally immersed in a dungeon crawl. I mean when I looked down into a pit I actually got a little bit of vertigo (not due to vr but due to not liking heights!) I really can not wait for some sort of rpg style game when you start with a little village and go out and explore random dungeons and use the loot to power up vendors and crafters to get better gear for more difficult dungeons. Vanishing Realms is story driven so replay value at the moment is not very good.
-The demo for Budget Cuts is great and that is going to be a big hit when it comes out.
-Minecraft. This is the game you absolutely MUST try with a Vive. Don’t play the bullshit version for Rift. In the Vive version you are literally in the game and it is mindblowing. I am not a fan of minecraft for the most part, I had my fill of it years ago, but I have spent a lot time in this game just looking at things. You do not really get a feel for how big blocks are in MC until you play it on a Vive and you realize a block is 3mx3m! The first time I spawned into the game I honestly said WHOA! outloud. I walked up to a tree and it was huge. It really is fantastic… try it out as soon as possible.
The important thing I think to remember about the Vive, and VR in general right now, is that it is not so much what it currently is being used for but what developers will do with it as they really start to better understand how to create for it. I bought mine to be in on the ground and to help try out new mechanics. Some people that are not even developers have been creating really interesting experiences for the Vive in unity and just put them up for free to gather feedback, that to me is neat. It feels like the wild wild west of gaming all over again where all the ‘rules’ are tossed out and people are figuring out new ways to do things.
As far as multiplayer goes the only things I have done are Hoover Junkers, which was cool but I sucked at it so I don’t play anymore, AltspaceVR and Tabletopsimulator. Altspace is neat and while it has some gaming in it mostly it is just a social lobby. Hell, I spent an hour one night hanging out in a tavern just talking to other people and tossing mugs around the room. Tabletopsimulator is really cool in VR too, you can even mess with the settings and in some games insert yourself into the board. Pretty cool.
Sorry about the long post, I just really enjoy VR so far 🙂
I have a friend playing No Man’s Sky on the vive. I haven’t gone over to look at it yet
I think we will get there but I might be dead first and it will definitely involve less hanging stuff around a small room and running wires all over.
It seems like basically early adopter gimmick to me now, but probably amazing when you do all that work.
The thing I found most interesting in this post though is how important room size becomes. And how does the industry solve that? I could have a giant room and, eventually, you would still hit a wall. Quite literally.
To extend that thought we probably need you in some kind of crèche. Where you aren’t actually moving it just feels like you are moving. There was a book about this I think. The not really moving people don’t really have to eat much either. Odd, I know. But interesting.
I’ll hold off on jumping on the VR bandwagon until they bypass the eyes completely. I don’t believe any amount of gear can make me feel like I’m NOT wearing a helmet showing me pictures.
Once it just taps right into my brain though…. oh man. I mean really, what could go wrong with that?
repeat the review in 1 week.
i have on my office the HTC, occulus, hololens, google glass, etc.. and all of them suck.
hololens is the less bad of the pack.
they are awesome for a couple hours after of this they are boring and the games suck.
9/10 clients that come to my office are sick when they use them.
Games where you pilot a vehicle will be the best at first. It’s going to be spectacular for people who are into sports, all the american professional leagues have invested hugely in the tech. Then there’s the movie watching experience and of course, pornography.
It’s early but it’s definitely not a fad, it’s going to explode into a few markets right as the price comes down. Video gaming is only one small aspect of it.