VR the champions of the world?

[Skybird]

My dad, 79, is angry at me a bit, and my mum keeps surprising me, she is 75: she is completely hooked on Miracle Pool and just called me and told me all about it after yesterday we already played it online and I talked her through the handling and menus. She absolutely loves it. Why my dad is angry? Well, after we stopped playing yesterday at around 1800H via internet link, she ate a bit, watched the TV news, and then started playing it alone: until almost 0500H in the earlymorning, consuming every power bank they have in the household.

She must have played on the pool table around 8 hours in a row. Now she feels slightly dizzy.

Well, after EIGHT hours in VR I would feel dizzy a bit, too.

My family. Full of crazies.

P.S. We still do Wander together, and play Golf+ and Walkabout Minigolf together. All sorts of racket& ball games however are too fast for her.

[Skybird]

And again my Mum (75) surprises me - the past two hours we played Cybrix both in coop and against each other. She loves it! And she drove her fangs deep into it.

Its a mix if Breakout and futuristic squash in a TRON world. The biog pro is that this game is very immune against causing nausea since you usually do not jump, walk or run, but stand still while doing a lot of Tai-Chi and Racket-style movements with both hjands/arms, two rackets held in both hands.

I had this from early time with the Quest 3 on and then forgot about it. She then surprised me with having found out about it herself and asking me whether this would be something for her. - It surely is: we played 2 hours in a row - then my father got a bit angry.

2 SP modes, 4 MP modes, in some modes MR is available. Is often quoted to not cause motion sickness. Like Racket Club VR, this game scores big time with clearly defined limited playing space needs, cooperating with the limited space you usually have in a living room. 1.5x1.5m to 1.5-2.0m or so is enough.



Edit. We get these long battery duration times because we use external 25000 mAh-powerbanks and fast USB cables (must be fast cables, else the battery in the quest drains nevertheless, just slower) to link them to the Quest. In fact, both of us have 2 external such batteries.


Sports games work very well in VR, but especially racket&ball games as a general genre work exceptionally well. A primary use for VR headsets.

[Skybird]

I could not be any less interested.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/02/t...now/index.html

Too expensive. Demand so far is just a fraction compared to other earlier Apple releases. And the idea that people would all working day long run around with these masks on their faces I find amusing, absurd, and misled. Like the Metaverse idea, I find this conception by Apple so far completely unconvincing.

And where are the games? Lets face it, games (and porn) drive the development. Like it was the case with VHS (well, not the games aspect, but the other one).

Possible that Apple took a gamble and will lose big time this time.

Now, all that functionality for that high price in a gadet the size of ordinary sunglasses - that would be something different.

On a sidenote the general development of the VR market is like this: the growth is not as high or fast as they hoped, but: it is a constant growth with a slow rate. I very much like that because it shows a more evolutionary growth instead of a hyped revolution that lives short and then burns out. Thats why I think Apple will fail with this VR mask, it delivers not to the players who want more affordable kit, whilwe the Quest 3 may be technically inferior but nevertheless features a benchmark tech standard that seemsto indicate a breakthrough in customer's perception of critical techn stnadard treshhold. Means: it is affordable, but nevertheless now delivers a resolution, image quality and overal quality that convinces more potential customers than any headset before in the past 6 years. The cable-free feature also adds tremendously.

I think Apple must reduce its price dramatically if it wants this mask to become a success, just selling it to en vogue compoanises who do not really need it, may not be enough. Not above 1000 coins. I am sceptical that Apple will succeed where Zuckerberg so far failed with his Metaverse. In the end, you simply do not need these virtual "universes" for business office work. They are an overpriced computer game only. And as I see them: they even are costly and very boring computer games.

[mapuc]

After having a talk with my local computer salesman I have decided to wait until I have a stronger Gaming computer than the one I have today, before buying a VR set.

I think 6 GB graphic isn't enough and the speed of the motherboard isn't that fast either.

I can't remember all the thing I have in my computer. I do know it does not fulfil the medium req. needed to get something out of playing a VR-game.

In fact I'm on the outlook for a more heavy Gaming computer with at least 12 GB graphic. and more than 3.5 Mhz. cpu.

I WILL buy a VR-set right after I got this new Gaming computer.

Markus

[Skybird]

Thats the charme of the Quest - you do not need a PC for it. But can optionally link it to a PC - now or later.



If you want to go with PC-only VR headset, consider one I did not mention before: BigScreen. The makers of the same software are behind it.



Sooner or later I expect that HTC will show a new headset, too, but like with the Valve I think they will add a hefty pricetag to it. The Valve one now is outdated.

[Skybird]

Also, if you ever buy a gaming PC - do buy a BEEFY one. Buy one that gives you performance reserves, even if you do not need them right now.

My rig is from autumn 2017, an i7 8700K, with now 32GB (originally 16 GB) RAM and a GTX 1080TI with 11 or 13 GB, I forgot. That was almost overkill for my software needs back then, and it ran the Oculus Rift 1 fine.

Two years ago I replaced the headset with the HP G2 Reverb. It had four times a higher resolution, and I was not certain the old card and CPU could support that. Showed it can, if I lowered settings just a very little bit, the only exception is MSFS, which originally worked fine, but after one update of theirs started to give me problems. That reserve I had from my PC buying from three years before had paid off in full, I was very happy that I had decided for it. If I had a hardware that just so ran the Rift 1, it would have declared MIA when the G2 arrived - which would have been a costly desaster. The Rift had lost sound, and the display was too obviously outdated, and it was not available anymore in 2020. I HAD to buy another headset with its greater resolution, I had no choice.

The Quest 3 I originally only bought to test whether it would be suitable for my old parents, especially my mother, simple use and app availability and handling, all that on my mind. I then wanted to hand it over to her. But I was knocked out of my shoes and kept it, and ordered a second one for her.

What I sometimes mentioiend but do not do justice to is voirtual travelling. My Mum also loves it, and sometimes we do sightseeing in the world together. Google Eareth needs a PC link to run in the Quest 3, but the streetview part alone without the 3D-,map interface of GE is available via the app Wander, and it is a modern miracle. Also, there is so much video material in 360 and 180° and in 4, 8, 12K documenting other places, city sightseeing and nature, via youtube and other platforms or as dedicated standalone braodcasts, that you can get lost with just this alone already.

If I do not mention a PC-only link, all games of the past months I introduced here, are independent from PC.

As mentioned some time ago, the experience of watching your movies (streaming or from CD/Bluray), from inside a cinemahall, on the big screen, is fully worth it, and quite overwhelming. I do not watch "big movies" any other way anymore.

You do not need a PC anymore for satisfying VR experiences!

Everybody getting a Quest must be aware of that a headtrap replacement is a must, the default one is designed to cause a pain and to force people to go into the money again for replacing it. Does not matter whether the repalcmement is wioth or without battery. The battery of the Quest is its weakness, it does not last long, with a bigger one it would have become heavier. So for longer sessions an external power bank and fast USB cable and for example a trekking belt pouch are highly recommended from my side. - Means, there are some follow-on costs you cannot avoid. My 128 GB Quest if full to three quarters now, there is also a version with 512 GB. Usuzally apps have only 0.5 to 1, sometimes a bit more GB, but new games deliberately developed as "VR operas" like Wrath of Asgard II, can have 30, 40 GB. If such big games are your thing, you better go with the bigger Quest from beginning on.


A silicon rim for the face cover also is recommended. The default one is just cloth. And when you sweat in the face... A vdentilator also is a good idea. A must, if you do virtual workouts, preventing lense fogging.

[mapuc]

Oh I did not know that this Quest 3 was an independent headset. While reading your comments about this VR set I was thinking how much computer power do I need to run best performance.

I made a search and found one for 3600 Danish Kroner(=483 €)It has 128 GB RAM build in.

This is definitely one I'm going to buy very soon.

Markus

[Skybird]

That is cheap, is it really a Quest 3? In Germany the 128GB verisons costs 550, the 512GB costs I think 650.

BTW, rechargable lithium batteries for the controllers are recommended (though normal one-way batteries and normal rechargable metal hydrate batteries work, too). One AA-sized battery is needed per controller. These rechargable lithium batteries need their own special lithium charger. look for a set at amazon that has the charger and 4 such batteries. I use VR a lot, sometimes hours per day, the batteries last around 1 week. One way batteries last less.

Just a reminder: you really want the Quest 3, not the price-reduced Quest 2. Really, you want the 3, not the 2, even if it is much cheaper.

The headset gets linked to your WLAN via app on your tablet or smartphone. I did it with two headsets in two WLANs, and it worked flawless every time.

Via the app you can also manage your Meta account, as if it were from within the headset, check the app store, messages, etc.

Once you get a new PC in the future, nothing speaks against linking the Quest to it then and run VR games from Steam directly, in 3D, as well as running your desktop applications, and if there is enough performance power: any 2D game on a huge virtual screen that mirrors your pc monitor/desktop. Sometimes that works good, and sometimes not (causing nausea). I play Wreckfest on a huge VR screen although that is a 2D game, but The Hunter I play not this way, it makes me motion-sick. Steam has just released its own application for the Quest 3, but Virtual Desktop works like a charm, too, in fact VD for me is the most reliable, easiest and hassle-free solution. Absolutley worth the ten bucks. One can link via cable, or via WLAN (cable-free). If using the Oculus link, the firewall on PC must be deactivated.

For watching movies from disk, you also need an according player software on PC. Streaming movies from online sources, can be done directly inside the headset, does not need a PC.

Maybe we meet on any racket game court in the future, sink some pool balls, or hit some balls around on the golf court? I have most DLCs, only missing two or three that I am not interested in since in computer graphics they look too monotonous. Its enough if the host has the DLC, the guests must not own it to play it during that session. Its like this with many games, like Walkabout Minigolf for exmaple: only the host must own the DLC, the guests then get a free ride.

Imagine this. Sixteen subsim members doing a spontaneous Racketball match frenzy by just walking from the menu "hall" and trainign facilities out into the "free open" park and taking over the courts out there, like in a real place, several single and double matches played simultaneously and them all can be watched simultaneously by just standing inside the club perimeter and turning your head, like in reality. No text-line based lobby. No text interface for organising matches. Just doing exactly like one would do in a real tennis club with several courts, some free, some in use. You watch, you walk around, you play on free court. Its so natural. Their solution works brilliantly. Somebody calls you in voice, invites you, you walk over, step onto the court, and you two or four then play. Thats how lobby match making must be done.

[Skybird]

A feature that was added some weeks ago and that I overlooked until now. Nice for practice and warm-up before a round, additional to the already existing on-course practice modes and the dedicated student hotel. The stands offer a variety of sub-modes/games.



Modelled after the real world location:



And this is a forum conversation from three years ago, it seems Golf+ is not completely new, but a rebranded older lable that already back then had a good reputation: Pro Putt Golf. It meanwhile got licensed by the PGA and now is the official PGA tour game.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/gol...-golf.2387939/


And DeadEye VR released a sweocnd new golf club for the Quest 3, an imrpovement over th eone I have, it is 10cm longer and the weight can be altered within a 100gr limit, the controller also gets additionally secured in its mount with the wriststrap. It still seems to include the quesitonable silicon pads, which for simply do not sta yin palce sicne the glue does not hold. Heck, why did they choose silicon.

[mapuc]

The reason to why this 128 GB VR headset was cheap was because it was a used model-As good as new.

The price range is between 4400 and 5600 Danish kroner. (= 590 and 750 €)
590 for the 128 GB
750 for the 512 GB

Markus

[Skybird]

https://www.amazon.de/Meta-Quest-128...05&sr=8-3&th=1

As a reminder again: the battery is limited, very demanding applications will keep you running 30 minutes and less. You will need a battery extender solution of any kind.

Apps very rarely are even free, or cost mostly between 5 and 25 Euros. Some big new blockbuster releases may cost more. But these are not what I am interested in. The bundled Asgard 2 game for example looks extremely impressive, and it is big - but its not my cup of tea, unfortunately (and blocked one third of the memory), so I deinstalled it again.

[mapuc]

Now that I know I do not need a more powerful computer, I got blooded teeth.

Within the next two month I will have bought a Quest 3 512 GB headset, with a golf-thing and a racket.

Markus

[Skybird]

Tenor

[Skybird]

A completely underrated sikm title, I mentioned it beforek, the game has developed further since then, the physics were altered a lot. Certainly the best dedicated pickleball game so far, and one of the best racket&ball games around. I play it frequently, several times per week.

[mapuc]

You mentioned batteries earlier.

What type of batteries do you use and how many mah. do they have.

The strongest chargeble batteries I found on the web have 5200 mah.
but only 1.2 V.

Markus