Why isn't anyone here talking about virtual reality?

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, if you're seeking a decent pair of budget-priced wired IEMs that won't break the bank, Linsoul 7Hz Salnotes Zero IEMs with an upgraded Tripowin Zonie detachable cable -- available from Amazon for around $38.68 -- provide great bang for your buck. If that's too pricey, you can instead purchase the 7Hz Salnotes Zero IEMs alone, sans upgraded cable for around $20 from Amazon after applying a coupon (caveat emptor, though; the included default cable is quite naff in comparison).



If you can afford to stretch your budget a wee bit more, Truthear X Crinacle Zero IEMs provide superior imaging, making it very easy to distinguish sounds like footsteps and far away gunshots even while you have an abundance of action going on. They're available from Amazon for $49.99 in purple or $54.99 in red. For well under $100, they're a terrific bargain for wired IEMs specifically intended for gaming.

Thanks. I'll look at a few reviews (and not be able to understand a single one of them), but I need to come up with something.

[Skinypupy]

I’ve now had about a month with VR and my prevailing opinion is that it’s…fine.

Now that the initial shock and awe of the whole VR experience has worn off (which was honestly worth the price of admission by itself), I find myself kinda underwhelmed with the actual games. The biggest problem is that I’ve never been a much of a fan of first-person games to begin with, and those are - out of necessity - the vast majority of what’s available for VR. Different flavors (sci-fi, fantasy, realistic, silly, etc) of the same basic formula isn’t likely to stay interesting for me. Kinda reminds me of the iTunes App Store in that there’s a hundred copies or variations of the same games that we’ve seen a hundred times before. YMMV.

The standout for me has definitely been Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge. There is something really neat about physically stepping into and running around in that world. Even so, it gets a bit repetitive pretty quickly, even with the xpac. In 6’ish hours, I think I’ve only seen 4-5 types of enemies, for example.

Asgard’s Wrath 2 is an VERY impressive game, but I’m finding that I don’t particularly enjoy flailing my arms around trying to attack something.

I love the idea of Demeo and interacting with the virtual game board is amazing, but the actual game is so insanely difficult that it ends up not being very much fun to actually play. If it was less punishing, I’d be spending a ton of time with it. As it is, meh.

The mixed reality stuff is very cool the first time you see it, but there’s not really much game there.

I am having loads of fun with the rhythm games (Beat Saber and Ragnarock) and those will definitely keep me coming back for more.

The kids are really enjoying VR and play every day. They love Gorilla Tag (which I don’t get at all) as well as a fishing game they got (Bait, I think).

I certainly don’t regret the purchase, but VR won’t be taking over as my primary gaming platform.

[AjD]

If you haven't tried it yet, my favorite VR game is definitely No Man's Sky. It's the complete game in VR, not just a VR-enhanced section of it, and I'd say it's the best way to play the game. Even some of those plain vanilla planets that previously seemed repetitive now seem majestic and jaw-dropping to me.

Of course it is first-person, but that works well for the game design. Especially when flying your space ship. A tip, if you try it out - find a space ship with wide panoramic windows (most explorer-types, for example). The view while flying planet-side is just heart-stoppingly cool.

[soup]

Elite Dangerous is also an amazing VR experience if you're into some more spaceships.

[YellowKing]

I’ve now had about a month with VR and my prevailing opinion is that it’s…fine.

Same. My kids play it a LOT, so that's all that matters. My son is also heavily into Gorilla Tag, and at least it gets him up and moving.

I've only played it once since Christmas (demo of the Vampire: The Masquerade game), and while it's neat, it's just not comfortable enough for me. I'm left with a pounding headache after a few minutes. I think buying a comfort head strap with the counterweight would help a ton with this, but I haven't been willing to plunk down the money for one.

There's still some stuff I want to experiment with like watching 3D movies and connecting to Steam, but I haven't had the motivation yet.

[Skinypupy]

I think buying a comfort head strap with the counterweight would help a ton with this, but I haven't been willing to plunk down the money for one.

I got one of these and it’s been great. Very comfortable and doubles the battery life.

[YellowKing]

I got one of these and it’s been great. Very comfortable and doubles the battery life.

Ooh, nice, thanks for the recommendation. Think I'm going to go ahead and order that.

[Blackhawk]

I’ve now had about a month with VR and my prevailing opinion is that it’s…fine.

Same. My kids play it a LOT, so that's all that matters. My son is also heavily into Gorilla Tag, and at least it gets him up and moving.

I've only played it once since Christmas (demo of the Vampire: The Masquerade game), and while it's neat, it's just not comfortable enough for me. I'm left with a pounding headache after a few minutes. I think buying a comfort head strap with the counterweight would help a ton with this, but I haven't been willing to plunk down the money for one.

There's still some stuff I want to experiment with like watching 3D movies and connecting to Steam, but I haven't had the motivation yet.

The default headstrap works by simply squeezing it to your skull, like you've wrapped a come-along around your head and cranked it tight. It's painful after a while.

Most other straps support the weight on top of your head instead, which relieves that pressure. I use the Kiwi, and I like it quite a bit, but I use my own battery which gives me... I don't know. I've never actually run it down to the point that it was draining the main battery. I'd guess more than 12 hours. If you want a strap with the battery built in, the #1 recommendation I see is the BoboVR M3 Pro, which has hot-swappable batteries. That means that you can run it until the strap battery is dry, then simply pull out that battery and snap in a fresh one while the first charges. I haven't used it myself so I can't actually vouch for it, but it is the most recommended battery strap I've seen.

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, none of the battery straps I've seen reviewed can actually keep the Q3's built-in battery from discharging while in use (and this includes the official Meta battery strap.) They can slow down how fast it discharges, but they can't keep it at 100% - which means that it will still run down eventually, even if the battery pack still has a charge. At this point, the best you can do with the built-ins is just that - slow down the discharge.

That's part of why I went with the external battery similar to what I did with the Q2.

[Punisher]

I dont think abything can actually stop it from draing.
I mostlt (99%) use it ditting down now.
I've plugged it in to a high speed power cable and it only slowed it down.
Hopefully someone at leadt comes up with a plugged in way to play forever.
My way did sliw it down a lot. But when i was done after a couple of hours it was down to 65% i think.

[Blackhawk]

I dont think abything can actually stop it from draing.
I mostlt (99%) use it ditting down now.
I've plugged it in to a high speed power cable and it only slowed it down.
Hopefully someone at leadt comes up with a plugged in way to play forever.
My way did sliw it down a lot. But when i was done after a couple of hours it was down to 65% i think.

Mine doesn't drain. You need a combination of a battery with a high enough output and a cable with a high enough throughput. If you're curious, I use this cable along with this battery. I'm using this head strap, so I mount the battery with this holder on the top of the rear head ring (it sits right where it says "Kiwi" on the picture of the head strap.)

Before anyone follows my lead, be warned: The battery is heavy, considerably heavier than the one that comes with the charging straps.

[Punisher]

Ill look into those but so far I've tried with the official quest usb cable plugged into a powered usb hub which is connected to my pc.and also plugged into a gast charging plug plugged into my power outlet.
Ive also tried the sane thing with a fast charge usb cable.

[Blackhawk]

The absolute lowest that any of the components in the chain is 18 watts according to Meta, but people testing have shown that, under load, it draws as much 27 watts. The battery I linked is 20w with USB-C, and the cable is 60w, and both are fast charge compatible. Most chargers - even dedicated charging ports - normally don't exceed 18w, and many offer less. Also note that charging through a dongle (like for wireless earbuds) also slows down the juice.

If you're sitting and don't want to mess with a battery, get a high-wattage wall plug and a high-wattage cable, and plug it directly into an outlet.

Keep in mind that Meta isn't telling anyone the real numbers, and that this is all still being figured out by users.

[Grifman]

I don’t need no stinking glasses:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... -2024/?amp

[Blackhawk]

I don’t need no stinking glasses:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... -2024/?amp

Alternate link, because I don't need no stinking glasses.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... -ces-2024/

[Moliere]

Yay? I don't know how much money it would take for me to cheer like that.

[em2nought]

Yay? I don't know how much money it would take for me to cheer like that.

George Soros knows.

I wonder if headsets will result in stronger neck muscles much like longbows created stronger/longer arm bones for archers.

[Blackhawk]

Likely not. They don't weigh all that much. The Quest 3 weighs a little over a pound, about the same as a thick hardhat. With a battery strap, it's less than 2 pounds. Even mine with a third-party battery system that lasts me probably 12+ hours (I have never run it low enough to know) that weighs considerably more, only comes in at 2 pounds, 11 ounces. That's considerably less than even a small-sized military helmet (which comes in at a little over 3 pounds.)

And with a proper strap and setup, that weight is distributed all around your head, with the battery on the back acting as a counterweight to the visor on the front. You can look around freely, even turning quickly to glance behind you (much like if you were driving in traffic.) But you can't really jerk your head around quickly enough to really cause you problems. Even with a good-quality strap, doing so is likely to result in dislodging the headset rather than twisting your neck.

Regular users will likely build some neck muscle, but that's about it.

[Kurth]

All the talk about the Apple Vision Pro got me to dust off my old Quest 2. I played around with it for a week or so after I got it (it was a Christmas gift 2 years ago), but then I put it on the shelf. I enjoyed some of the content (Vader Immortal was pretty impressive), but it was too darn uncomfortable. I even bought the Elite Strap, but I never ended up putting it on.

Now, I've installed the Elite Strap, and it makes a huge difference, comfort-wise. Still not exactly comfortable to wear for more than a couple hours, but much better.

I also downloaded the beta version of Microsoft's XCloud Gaming app. I tried that out last night, streaming Starfield on an XL size wrap around screen. Not VR, but still looked very cool. Unfortunately, it was way, way too laggy to play.

Has anyone else tried out XCloud on the Quest? Any better results?

[Hrothgar]

My family surprised me with a Quest 3 for my birthday. It's certainly more impressive than I was expecting. I didn't have any problems that people mentioned on using Steam Link though it has had several updates even since I installed it.

Are the strap recommendations listed above still the best? I'm not looking for marathon sessions. Thanks in advance.

[Blackhawk]

My family surprised me with a Quest 3 for my birthday. It's certainly more impressive than I was expecting. I didn't have any problems that people mentioned on using Steam Link though it has had several updates even since I installed it.

Are the strap recommendations listed above still the best? I'm not looking for marathon sessions. Thanks in advance.

Battery built in? The #1 choice still seems to be the BOBOVR M3 Pro. I don't use a battery strap (I attach a separate battery for longer use), so I haven't tested it myself.

[UsulofDoom]

Mine doesn't drain. You need a combination of a battery with a high enough output and a cable with a high enough throughput. If you're curious, I use this cable along with this battery. I'm using this head strap, so I mount the battery with this holder on the top of the rear head ring (it sits right where it says "Kiwi" on the picture of the head strap.)

Before anyone follows my lead, be warned: The battery is heavy, considerably heavier than the one that comes with the charging straps.

I went with the KIWI design 3 in 1 Fixing Strap Compatible with Quest 3 battery holder asd well ,with a KMASHI 10000mAh Portable Power Bank with Dual USB Ports 3.1A Output I had.

I do get pain after a while above my eye brows. Does anyone use the halo type headsets?

I see Bobovr has a new one coming out that has a fan and 10,000 mah removable battery for $81.
BOBOVR S3 Pro Super Strap

[Kurth]

I tried out the trial version (30 minutes) of Moss last night. I read reviews in advance that talked about how amazing it was, but I didn’t think it would be for me. Sounded a little too cutesy. And, indeed, it is pretty cute. But holy shit is it a cool experience. So much so that I forked over my $19.99 immediately after my trial period was up.

More than any other games, I’m finding VR games to be very difficult to judge based on written or even video reviews. There’s something about the VR environment that you only get from experiencing it. Moss is one of those games that sounded like it couldn’t be further away from my usual gaming interests, but I found the experience to be amazing.

It’s the first Quest game I’ve played designed to be played while sitting, which changes things up. You basically sit in the middle of a diorama-like environment and guide a mouse through obstacles and challenges (and some fights). Again, even as I write that, it doesn’t sound like something I’d ever be interested in. But the experience of sitting in that diorama environment and leaning in and peaking around corners to solve puzzles is so immersive. It’s really different from anything else I’ve ever tried and very enjoyable.

Highly recommended to anyone who hasn’t given it a shot. No risk since you get 30 minutes for free, and that’s more than enough time to figure out if it’s your cup of tea. Also, there’s a highly acclaimed sequel, too.

All this makes me wonder why free trials aren’t the norm in the VR environment. Seems like a natural fit and something that would really boost uptake.

[Blackhawk]

Moss is fantastic. I'd describe it as a cross between Mouse Guard (or Mice and Mystics) and Zelda. The graphics are fantastic as well.

If you like seated games, look at I Expect You to Die. Seated first person adventure inspired by No One Lives Forever and/or Austin Powers.

Both Moss and IEYTD have sequels.

[coopasonic]

Moss is fantastic. I'd describe it as a cross between Mouse Guard (or Mice and Mystics) and Zelda. The graphics are fantastic as well.

If you like seated games, look at I Expect You to Die. Seated first person adventure inspired by No One Lives Forever and/or Austin Powers.

Both Moss and IEYTD have sequels.

First thing in this thread that has me excited to charge the headset up in like years.

[naednek]

So Ethan my son, saved up to buy a meta 2 with the help of birthday money.

He first had some regrets, but that's mainly he only had enough to buy the product, but not enough to buy any games. We let him buy one game which he will pay us back by doing work around the house.

He picked up Job Simulator. I told him, he could do this in real life and make money at the same time... No interest

He had to set it up because the stupid font was way too small for my eyes, and Ethan didn't want to put the eyeglasses adapter because he said it made things blurry.

So he did all that which I was proud.

Last night he did put the eye glass adapter on and said he could see better, so I'm not sure why he was apprehensive about it.

I tried it last night, I really had to adjust the straps alot to get it to fit with my glasses. At first the glasses were digging into my face, but I finally got a good fit. I tried the beat saber demo which was alright, wish there was more choices of songs.
Next I tried some rollercoaster game and man, all you do is stand in one place, but I felt like I was going to fall to my side or fall backwards. When it started to pick up going down a steep rail, I had to turn it off.

Overall, it's impressive, I still think it's gimmicky. I really want to try the half life game.

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, rollercoasters and flying are somewhere around step three or four of getting used to VR. Look for the free tutorials built in to the headset. Take a look at Sidequest, an officially sanctioned sideloader with tons of free stuff.

Also:

[Zarathud]

I remember trying some archery tower defense games and enjoyed them. The kids loved job simulator. BeatSaber was awesome too. Those would be my first 3 games on VR.

[Blackhawk]

I remember trying some archery tower defense games and enjoyed them.

There is one built into The Lab, which is free on Steam (it's made by Valve, and includes Portal cameos.) It's a great set of experiences.

[naednek]

so Half Life Alyx... I looked up how to play it on the meta 2. A video from 3 years ago said I would have to get a bunch of software on the PC and the vr set. SteamVR, and a remote desktop app.

I saw a newer post not talking about a remote desktop app and they seemed to only used steamvr.

Without having to bust out my son's PC to the front room, is there an easy way to play it over wifi without jumping through hoops. SteamVR is fine.

[Punisher]

so Half Life Alyx... I looked up how to play it on the meta 2. A video from 3 years ago said I would have to get a bunch of software on the PC and the vr set. SteamVR, and a remote desktop app.

I saw a newer post not talking about a remote desktop app and they seemed to only used steamvr.

Without having to bust out my son's PC to the front room, is there an easy way to play it over wifi without jumping through hoops. SteamVR is fine.

It depends on how hood of a signal you have with Quest Link.
Try it a bit on games you own first. Still need ot running on the PC but you can play it wirelessly. YMMV though...

[Blackhawk]

so Half Life Alyx... I looked up how to play it on the meta 2. A video from 3 years ago said I would have to get a bunch of software on the PC and the vr set. SteamVR, and a remote desktop app.

I saw a newer post not talking about a remote desktop app and they seemed to only used steamvr.

Without having to bust out my son's PC to the front room, is there an easy way to play it over wifi without jumping through hoops. SteamVR is fine.

SteamVR is just the middleman that lets games run in VR. It's free and straightforward. You install it and pretty much everything happens passively. Think of it like the media player for watching a video, or DirectX for VR. It's almost entirely a behind-the-scenes thing that rarely requires any fiddling.

You also need some way to get the data from your PC to your Quest 2. Think of the headset as a specialized monitor - you need some way to get the signal from the PC to the 'monitor.' There are several options, but see the caveats below.

~Air Link is built into the Quest 2, but you're going to have to jump through a few hoops to get it to work with SteamVR (Meta wants you to play Meta games, so they don't make it straightforward), plus you're going to have to run both Steam and the Oculus/Meta PC app with the game going through both. That can create additional performance issues over running it through something less intrusive than the Meta app.

~You can use a physical cable. This is the same option as Air Link, but tethers you to the PC.

~There is a newer option, Steam Link. It's a relative newcomer, and I don't have much experience with it myself.

My personal preference is Virtual Desktop. It's more or less the gold standard for running PCVR games. If you do, get the version sold on the Meta store rather than the version sold through Steam (they have different functions.) You just install the free Virtual Desktop Streamer app on the PC (it's very lightweight, and not in any way obnoxious or intrusive.)

Here's the normal process for launching Half-Life Alyx with Virtual Desktop:

1. You start the Streamer app and minimize it to the system tray.
2. You put on the Quest 2 and launch Virtual Desktop. It connects to your PC via the Streamer app and shows you your desktop in VR.
3. You then launch Alyx.

That's it. It's not a high-hassle, highly technical process full of batch files or manual configs, etc.

Here's the caveat: You need a good connection. Specifically, you need a good connection between the PC and the router, and between the router and the Quest 2. The general recommendation is that you have the PC connected to the router with a physical cable, not wifi, that you have a solid 5GHz connection to the Quest 2 from the router, and that the router be in the same room and with 20-30 feet of the headset. The reason is that every time you do something - say, fire a gun - your sending a signal from your Q2 controller to the Q2 to the router to the PC, after which the PC processes it and sends the result back via the same route. Multiple wireless connections, especially if they're going a long way/through walls creates lag. And lag in VR is a much bigger problem than it is in normal video games. When you move your hand in real life, and your VR hand moves a third of a second later, it's problematic enough that it can make a game unplayable.

[naednek]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

[Kurth]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

[Skinypupy]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

Do you mean Moss?

[Kurth]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

Do you mean Moss?

[UsulofDoom]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

Do you mean Moss?

I have a Quest 3. Would you get MOSS and or Moss 2.

[Kurth]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

Do you mean Moss?

I have a Quest 3. Would you get MOSS and or Moss 2.

I've only played Moss (on the Quest 2), but when I'm done, I'm going to be getting Moss 2 immediately.

[sgoldj]

Thanks for the write up. The way you listed how you do it is what I read. I also read you can just use steamlink. I think I will just try and then if it doesn't perform well I will return. I'm assuming the steam store has the same policy for VR games for returns.

Just one more plug to try out Mouse! You won’t be disappointed.

Do you mean Moss?

I have a Quest 3. Would you get MOSS and or Moss 2.

I've only played Moss (on the Quest 2), but when I'm done, I'm going to be getting Moss 2 immediately.

Add another vote for both Moss games.