Destinations & Dota VR Hub are now available on Linux

@Liam - If you have occasion to go to any gaming convention near your region, it may be the best way to try them out - hell, with you being an owner of a probably most well-known Linux gaming site, you could talk with developers about supporting Linux and write up a few articles from it - I'd be looking forward to it ;).

I don't know where you're living, Liam, but maybe you could visit a game developer to give it a try?

[...]However I did not get to see a significant different between HTC Vive, Oculus and even Samsung's Gear VR. [...]

I agree completely with you in regards to the visual fidelity. I've only tried the Vive for about 15 minutes and I have a Gear VR at home, so I can't compare to Oculus Rift (which I don't care about either due to their shady business practices and dropping of Linux support), but if you just stand still and look around, the Vive and the Gear VR are almost identical. However, once you take that first step wearing the Vive and start exploring the space around you, kneeling down to look at details, moving your body to avoid projectiles, moving your hands around and seeing a representation of them in the virtual world, that's where the Vive takes it to a whole different level :D

I like to think of it as the Gear VR being a good example of what VR looks like and the Vive is what VR feels like. Once the Linux support is stable, I think I'll be getting one ;)

I tried Occulus and Vive. The experience is unbelievable, so good. But I had headache, needed to rest. Is strange for the mind. I hope we have software/hardware improvements instead of making the user adapt to the technology.

My experience makes me stop each 20-30'. Same for my girlfriend. She was VERY impressed, "all was VERY beautiful", but she needed to remove glasses, take some water, relax.

Any of you played for several hours?

By the way, great news to have this on Linux.

Cheers.

Not easy to find someone to donate ~1000$, but if we can get 5 or 6 persons to donate 150$ each specifically for the VR we can get GOL a Vive. I'm ready to put 150$ myself. Anyone else?

I tried Occulus and Vive. The experience is unbelievable, so good. But I had headache, needed to rest. Is strange for the mind. I hope we have software/hardware improvements instead of making the user adapt to the technology.

My experience makes me stop each 20-30'. Same for my girlfriend. She was VERY impressed, "all was VERY beautiful", but she needed to remove glasses, take some water, relax.

Any of you played for several hours?

By the way, great news to have this on Linux.

Cheers.

I've played Serious Sam: The First Encounter for quite a few hours. I've also watched Titanic, Avatar, Amazing Spiderman, I Frankenstein in 3D / VR in the Vive. What was the hardware you were playing on, dropped frames maybe? I know if I get something that freezes for even a few seconds it's extremely disorienting.

Also, I ended up getting a 6mm VR Cover, and got custom lenses (I wear glasses normally) and it seems like I can stay in VR much longer.

I've played Serious Sam: The First Encounter for quite a few hours. I've also watched Titanic, Avatar, Amazing Spiderman, I Frankenstein in 3D / VR in the Vive. What was the hardware you were playing on, dropped frames maybe? I know if I get something that freezes for even a few seconds it's extremely disorienting.

I think it depends on the person and the actual game - and that movies are probably the least disturbing thing to consume with VR. A German games journalist and youtuber had 2 hours of shivering after a certain game (can't remember which one)...

Also, I ended up getting a 6mm VR Cover, and got custom lenses (I wear glasses normally) and it seems like I can stay in VR much longer.

I wasn't aware of VR covers. Something like like this one?


Last edited by Eike on 23 February 2017 at 6:39 am UTC

I used to own a playstation VR. The immersion was incredible but the games were mainly elaborate demos, except for Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, that was awesome.

There were several reasons that I decided to sell though.

1. Hardware glitch with PS4 pro. Kept on blanking the screen for a few seconds
2. Motion sickness - its a shame but I found any games with sideways strafing (battle zone in particular) made me feel sick, and I'm not a person that gets motions sickness otherwise.
3. Low resolution, close to your face, granted the vive has more resolution but still its poor when you are used to 4k!
4. Eye strain, you are staring at a screen a few centimetres from your face yet your eyes are trying to look into the distance, it does strain them.
5. No killer games

But the trick of immersion and the feeling of being in the games is absolute.

Personally I feel that the current VR hardware is too limited and too expensive, its a start but the next generation is when I will buy back in (on linux hopefully).


Last edited by nattydread on 23 February 2017 at 2:48 pm UTC

I would suggest trying out the Vive vs the PS4. Full on room scale has just that much more immersion, which I think helps a lot with motion sickness. Though I'll be honest and say I sit down for Windlands... pretty sure that game would make me fall over.

It's not the fact that it's VR, but having something like that strapped to your face for a long time and the games themselves, that's what I'm keen to put some time and thoughts into.

I'm curious about how the headsets interact with glasses, personally. I have trouble even wearing headphones, since they crush the posts against my head, so the idea of an obviously much heavier piece of hardware that needs to have room for the lenses themselves (unless they've got SERIOUSLY adjustable focus to compensate I guess) is hard to wrap my head around, so to speak.

It's not the fact that it's VR, but having something like that strapped to your face for a long time and the games themselves, that's what I'm keen to put some time and thoughts into.

I'm curious about how the headsets interact with glasses, personally. I have trouble even wearing headphones, since they crush the posts against my head, so the idea of an obviously much heavier piece of hardware that needs to have room for the lenses themselves (unless they've got SERIOUSLY adjustable focus to compensate I guess) is hard to wrap my head around, so to speak.

As someone who wears glasses too, this is also something I'm keen to know.

It's not the fact that it's VR, but having something like that strapped to your face for a long time and the games themselves, that's what I'm keen to put some time and thoughts into.

I'm curious about how the headsets interact with glasses, personally. I have trouble even wearing headphones, since they crush the posts against my head, so the idea of an obviously much heavier piece of hardware that needs to have room for the lenses themselves (unless they've got SERIOUSLY adjustable focus to compensate I guess) is hard to wrap my head around, so to speak.

As someone who wears glasses too, this is also something I'm keen to know.

They're definitely usable but not particularly well suited for people with glasses. Glasses are a *very* tight fit with the Oculus Rift and you might not be able to fit your particular frames at all or they can be uncomfortable inside it. The Vive is a little bit more forgiving but still by no means ideal with them. You also have a higher risk of scratching the lenses with glasses on.

Depending on your vision you might not need your glasses with the Vive though (or even the Rift but I think that is less likely). One solution is getting custom fit prescription lenses just for the HMD from a company like VR Lens Lab. I wish Vive/Rift had the kind of focus adjustment the GearVR has which enables even more people with glasses to use it without wearing them out of the box.

I can't speak for the Rift personally, since I have the vive, but as stated before, depending on your glasses, you do have the possibility of scratching the lenses, but you can move the Vive outward from your face to prevent that.

Funny thing is, the GearVR has an adjustable focus, so I can wear them with or without glasses. The focal point in the Vive (and from what I've read the Rift as well) is fixed, so you'll basically be as blind in real life as you are in VR. So I went with the custom lenses on my Vive.

BUT (and this is a big one) I didn't NEED to get the lenses, I simply did it for convenience and because I wanted a slightly larger FOV. Basically I got the 6mm VRCover replacement, and lenses (because with the VRCover it lacks the slots for fitting glasses in). Since I'm pretty much the only one who uses my headset, I went that route, and it's REALLY comfortable, though since it doesn't hold the sweat in, be warned that one guy on Reddit just oozed forth enough sweat that he shorted out the screen (it was enough that it left a puddle on his floor...) So keep that in mind when you try out the sponge that it comes with...

Mind you, I've spent hours watching movies in mine, and when I'm not playing a game, it's inactive use so no sweat. On the other hand, SSVR: The First Encounter made me sweat quite a bit, even though I was just spinning around in my chair.

Maybe if I can get mine working in Linux, I'll see what games work in it and will post some reviews or something.

The focal point in the Vive (and from what I've read the Rift as well) is fixed, so you'll basically be as blind in real life as you are in VR.

Now, this is what I call virtual reality!

SCNR

Funny thing is, the GearVR has an adjustable focus, so I can wear them with or without glasses. The focal point in the Vive (and from what I've read the Rift as well) is fixed, so you'll basically be as blind in real life as you are in VR. So I went with the custom lenses on my Vive.

As far as I can tell, it depends on how well you can see to that focus distance so it's not quite the same as your vision in reality. The Vive has a shorter focus distance than the Rift so you can get away with some nearsightedness with it. I need to use glasses to see much otherwise but I'm pretty close to seeing sharply in the Vive while I can't see much in the Rift.