VR Headset - Which one is the best ?
interpolator
so there's a lot of VR headsets out there, but which package is actually the best ? and what about the upcoming ones like the htc cosmos ?
anything you could recommend ? i am mainly interested in sets that are compatible with a pc, no consoles or mobile only.
Replies
However - I would suggest an inside-out tracking solution bc it frees you from a big source of frustration: setting up the outside-in cameras).
The Oculus Rift S is quite good but the oculus software is not my taste (imo unnecessary bloated, annoyingly designed, unresponsive, etc.)
The head mount design from Sony (which the Oculus Rift S uses too) is imo the best solution yet as you don't have to press the headset against your face.
But as I said I would just wait a bit longer. The technology is good but it needs to become still lighter and more comfortable (e.g. less hot).
At least in my opinion
From most reviews I've seen everyone agrees what the Valve index gives the best overall experience.
But it is also very costly and uses lighthouse tracking (2.0) which you don't like.
Check some comparison charts and decide what works for you.
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/best-vr-headset/
https://www.cnet.com/news/best-vr-headsets-for-2019/
And you get room scale "for free".
And with Oculus you get nice camera-footage overlay when leaving the room "area"
However the simple fact that the inside-out can way more easily find the "out" then the outside-in can find the "in" (==the headset) makes it a more robust approach.
All in all I think the cosmos will jump on the same train as the Rift S, with a similar head-mount, controllers, etc. But just being able to skip the Oculus software makes it superior in my opinion
Hopefully I can get a Rift S for testing anytime soon. Will let you know.
will PM you
FWIW WMR inside out tracking has more latency and isn't as good as the rift S.
Interestingly enough, a good VR experience doesn't necessarily need to be first person with motion control shooting to be begin with - 3D platformers and thirdperson shooters are actually fantastic in VR.
I guess what I am getting at is ... even if there is still no absolutely flawless solution for first person movement and shooting, VR is imho perfectly mature for other types of gameplay. Playing Mario Galaxy in VR is nothing short of mindblowing really.
The Serious Sam VR ports are also very playable and offer a lot of options to tweak the experience to ones liking (teleporting VS gamepad style movement, and many other little tweaks - some of which going against the assumed "good VR practices" but working surprisingly well). A much better experience overall than the teleport-centric VR port of the recent Doom game for instance.
First person flying can work very well too (IronMan style). But then there's no way to hold/aim a gun since the hands are used for thrusting ...
Budget Cuts works around the teleporting issue very cleverly too, and it fits the stealth gameplay perfectly.
As for recommendations : I am personally perfectly happy with a first gen HTC Vive, but that's probably a case of blissful ignorance since I haven't tried anything newer than that. Works perfectly well though, and the fact that the base stations are passive (no need to be plugged into the computer since the headset tracks them) makes it the second best solution - not as good as a fully standalone setup, but not that inconvenient either.
A while back i did some tests with the camera in the head of a full body rig and drove all movement controls through realistic animation, just as you would in a 3rd person game, and it was actually much better for comfort. Obviously caused problems for gameplay though, it’s difficult to present what you need when you’re not ‘gliding’.
Floating is also much better for movement, especially when you can put the view inside some kind of helmet or cockpit that lags a bit behind your head. A combination of obscuring peripheral vision on turns and working ease-in-out into the control scheme works wonders.
Teleporting is fine to me when it’s thematic, sci-fi and fantasy, where you get the magical blips and associated fx. No problems with something like Robo recall for example. It does tend to break the immersion in a realistic presentation though
I think teleporting will be the standard navigation for a bit longer, plus limited movement within your physical space.
When moving freely in 1st person, even if you don't suffer from motion sickness or got used to it, it is still very tiring.
The delicious irony of Onward is that the devs ignored everything that was considered "VR-safe" at the time and threw it all out of the window to make their own thing aimed at people with solid VR legs - and they ended up defining one of the later accepted standards, at least for hardcore VR enthusiasts. Very interesting stuff.
Now actually developing for it is a whole other thing. You've got an incredibly tight drawcall budget, only 2gb of ram (practically though more like 1.5 before you start crashing) so you need to work with it like you would a galaxy S8. There's also the issue of store curation which means you'l have to be pre aproved by oculus before you can use their platform tools or publish on the store unless you go the route of sideloading.
My game was a launch title for quest and in the 5 months or so since release its become our #1 platform so i'm certain this kind of format is where things will be headed from here on out.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/10/20907998/vive-cosmos-vr-headset-review-price-specs-features-test
Unfortuenately the Vive support only comes up with "disable anti-virus and firewall", while handing me from one service staff to the next...
The Vive Pro runs on Steam without Viveport, but that doesn't work with the Cosmos.
I didn't have much time to test yet, my first impression.
I like the device itself.
Pros
- image quality is really good
- screendoor effect is nearly gone
- smooth image
- tracking works well (might depend strongly on environment and lighting)
- comfortable to wear
- being able tilt up the display is great
Cons
- Viveport software
- Controllers feel cheap
- uses AA batteries, I prefer USB rechargeable fixed batteries (like Vive Pro controller)
- lots of LED tribal lights, but might be used for tracking?!
We just use one VR application which is working fine, therefore I cannot commend on any compatibility issues.