VR Gaming - Oculus Rift, Playstation VR, HTC Vive

Holy shit, 120hz coming to Quest 2! So damn happy with this purchase other than the facebook shit. This kind of headset at $299 ($399 for me with the 256gb model) feels like a damn steal.

Got myself Half Life Alyx and Pavlov yesterday. Damn Half Life Alyx is cool so far. Playing it wirelessly over Virtual Desktop and cannot notice any lag. It's just so polished like Valve games are. Easily the most immersive game I've played so far.

Pavlov is pretty cool as well but you can tell it's not a AAA polished title. Can't wait until someone does release a AAA multiplayer fps. This was the first game that did give me a little nausea that I quickly overcame. The smooth movement and then moving up and down stairs got me a little bit. There is something though about actually holding and aiming your gun though that just revolutionizes FPS for me. Along with actually reloading your guns, chambering a round, pulling a grenade pin, etc. Can't wait to get better at it.

Hey folks, now that I have a new PC I'm looking to get into a higher-end sort of VR experience. I primarily plan on playing games such as Elite Dangerous, MSFS and then some of the more popular VR games (Alyx, BeatSaber, etc). I've done a fair amount of research and I'm leaning towards buying the Valve Index, but I'm wondering if the base stations are necessary or optional (I definitely plan on getting the controllers)? I game in my office which is basically a small square room. Any opinions?

Drajakur said:

Hey folks, now that I have a new PC I'm looking to get into a higher-end sort of VR experience. I primarily plan on playing games such as Elite Dangerous, MSFS and then some of the more popular VR games (Alyx, BeatSaber, etc). I've done a fair amount of research and I'm leaning towards buying the Valve Index, but I'm wondering if the base stations are necessary or optional (I definitely plan on getting the controllers)? I game in my office which is basically a small square room. Any opinions?

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I'm right there with you. I had maybe a year ago? 2 years ago? the PSVR and I thought it was pretty cool, but like many have said just wasn't "quite" there yet. Now I'm reading about wireless capabilities, self-contained system, not needing PC connections, Steam support, side load games from most platforms, and Virtual Desktop to even have a sweet way to play non-VR games? This is like night and day from my previous VR experience and sounds amazing.

I can not speak to what VR used to be or even been in the category that really followed it or cared. I was interested in a VR headset for racing / flight games , but due to Corona wiping out my job, that took a back seat as I could no longer justify buying an Index, wheel / flight stick and 80 / 20 unit.

Having said that, due to not being able to find a ps5, I said fug It and bought the 299 oculus quest for shits and giggles and wasn't expecting much at all.

I was fucking wrong. This thing is bad ass. Even my wife, who hates all things video game related, cant stop playing Beat saber and Top Golf.

I have the Virtual desktop app loaded on it and tried Project Cars 2, but I must be missing some settings because I certainly did not like the results, where others think its amazing...so I'm sure its some sort of user error or settings somewhere.

However, all the apps / games i have tried on the Quest 2 has been nothing short of surreal and thats with us just playing the Quest titles like VRFishing, Walkabout Putt Putt, Beat Saber, and a few others.

I cant imagine a full, working setup for titles like Alyx, sub nautical, DCS,...basically any full scale VR game. I am certainly sold on the tech now.

The Quest 2 is so good to me that I think it will hold over the itch to buy the $1000 index and just wait a few years for the next massive leap in VR tech to come around and then jump full in then.

I dont know what happened to the Odyssey Plus but I love mine. Its one of the few VR sets with AMOLED. Half Life Alyx is amazing and so is Saints and Sinners.

There is also a huge opportunity for "experiences" as the tech grows. They have a few now, like Apollo 11 etc, but they are lack luster overall. I think using 360 video and making it seamlessly interactive is the way to go with the experiences, unless its a fantasy or historical setting.

How long do you guys think the Quest 2 will be around before the Quest 3 is released? Probably a while, since the thing is less than a year old and they are still making improvements like 120hz?

Yes, you can play the Quest or Quest2 wirelessly running off your pc. Alyx works great this way.

Drajakur said:

Hey folks, now that I have a new PC I'm looking to get into a higher-end sort of VR experience. I primarily plan on playing games such as Elite Dangerous, MSFS and then some of the more popular VR games (Alyx, BeatSaber, etc). I've done a fair amount of research and I'm leaning towards buying the Valve Index, but I'm wondering if the base stations are necessary or optional (I definitely plan on getting the controllers)? I game in my office which is basically a small square room. Any opinions?

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Base stations are required for Index. It has no inside out tracking capabilities. My play space is just over 8'x8' and I would say it's the minimum you need to be comfortable and take advantage of some movement in VR beyond the controller. I think you could squeek by with 7' if you are disciplined about staying in the middle but it would be tight. There are some advanced settings and third party programs(OVR advanced settings) that you can use to display a permanent outline on your floor of your play space. Some people say it takes away from immersion. I find the confidence it gives me in moving in my space is worth way more so I keep it on. Having to constantly think about where I am in my room/not wanting to punch a wall is way more immersion breaking to me than the floor outline.

I have my 2 base stations mounted 5' and 6' high on opposite corners of the room and they are perfectly adequate at capturing all my movement.

Index has the best refresh rate and field of view. Competitive units have better darks. Controllers are always personal preference but I love that I can have my hands open with the Valve Knuckles. I don't find being tethered interferes at all with my experience, but I've never had a wireless unit to compare it to.

At the end of the day: If you are in a place where you can drop $1000USD on a VR set, the index is still the best experience in my opinion. The Oculus is certainly compelling at its price point though.

Ichu said:

Base stations are required for Index. It has no inside out tracking capabilities. My play space is just over 8'x8' and I would say it's the minimum you need to be comfortable and take advantage of some movement in VR beyond the controller. I think you could squeek by with 7' if you are disciplined about staying in the middle but it would be tight. There are some advanced settings and third party programs(OVR advanced settings) that you can use to display a permanent outline on your floor of your play space. Some people say it takes away from immersion. I find the confidence it gives me in moving in my space is worth way more so I keep it on. Having to constantly think about where I am in my room/not wanting to punch a wall is way more immersion breaking to me than the floor outline.

I have my 2 base stations mounted 5' and 6' high on opposite corners of the room and they are perfectly adequate at capturing all my movement.

Index has the best refresh rate and field of view. Competitive units have better darks. Controllers are always personal preference but I love that I can have my hands open with the Valve Knuckles. I don't find being tethered interferes at all with my experience, but I've never had a wireless unit to compare it to.

At the end of the day: If you are in a place where you can drop $1000USD on a VR set, the index is still the best experience in my opinion. The Oculus is certainly compelling at its price point though.

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That's always been the thing with VR is the space requirements. I remember playing my buddies HTC Vive and he had the floor outline and it was really helpful. Move past that line and I'd kick the couch or something. As an entry point, I think I'm going to grab a Quest 2 and start with that.

Curious for those who own it, how easy is it to adjust the headset? One of the worst things about the PSVR for me, and you don't think about this before buying it is, I have 3 kids, and they all wanted to play. That's great! But they all have different-sized heads and would only play for a few minutes before they would share it with a sibling and we'd have to re-adjust the whole thing over again. On the PSVR this was annoying AF and was a big reason ultimately we ended up returning it.

And from what I can tell the base head straps are fine, but the elite strap is good too? I don't see any negatives from having the elite strap. Probably start with the base straps, and then see if I need something more.

Bandwagon said:

Quest 2 gets here tomorrow. I'm pretty damn excited to play custom songs on beat saber and I'm sure that's going to keep me occupied for awhile.

What's the best choice for something that my woman would enjoy? She's not really a gamer so I'm guessing any song above "easy" on beat saber is going to be too much for her....but I also think this game is one of the least likely things to make her sick. Any other good recommendations for something that's not overwhelming AND easy to setup?

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You better play Alyx or you're dead to me.

F Facebook. I'm never buying a VR headset that requires a facebook account no matter how good they get.