Is VR dead?

[mechsicko]

This guy just went EA. No idea how good or bad it is but looks like Wipeout clone.

Z-Race on Steam

Z-Race is a fun arcade hand-racing VR game. Control futuristic ships designed in the style of your favourite VR creators with their voice acting. Fly at super-fast speeds on chic sci-fi tracks, collecting nitro boosts and coins, avoiding energy traps and obstacles to become the first!

store.steampowered.com

I've been looking at it trying to figure out if it's 3rd person only or not, do you know?

 

[Slapped]

This guy just went EA. No idea how good or bad it is but looks like Wipeout clone.

Z-Race on Steam

Z-Race is a fun arcade hand-racing VR game. Control futuristic ships designed in the style of your favourite VR creators with their voice acting. Fly at super-fast speeds on chic sci-fi tracks, collecting nitro boosts and coins, avoiding energy traps and obstacles to become the first!

store.steampowered.com

I've been looking at it trying to figure out if it's 3rd person only or not, do you know?

I was looking at this earlier today. Apparently it's 3rd person only, which is irritating. It's supposed to have a unique control method which makes 1st person impractical.

I don't know for sure, but this is what I came up with when doing a bit of googling, so for the moment I'm on the fence, otherwise I'd have been all over this.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This guy just went EA. No idea how good or bad it is but looks like Wipeout clone.

Z-Race on Steam

Z-Race is a fun arcade hand-racing VR game. Control futuristic ships designed in the style of your favourite VR creators with their voice acting. Fly at super-fast speeds on chic sci-fi tracks, collecting nitro boosts and coins, avoiding energy traps and obstacles to become the first!

store.steampowered.com

Do you mean that he now works for EA or that EA purchased the rights to this title?

Hell, it's $15, I'll give it a shot, why not?

 

[Slapped]

Do you mean that he now works for EA or that EA purchased the rights to this title?

I'm pretty sure that "guy" was an autocorrect failure for "game" and that EA does not mean "Electronic Arts", but "Early Access".

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Early Access, yes, and I use "guy" for inanimate objects. Hope that doesn't offend anyone.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Well I just purchase that guy and am downloading now.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Well I just purchase that guy and am downloading now.

Please share impressions. I've found this so far.

Z-Race: IMPRESIONES

Nos subimos a las naves de Z-Race para experimentar nuevas carreras futuristas en gravedad cero, con un sistema de control novedoso que probablemente dará que h

www.realovirtual.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

Just played and won my first multiplayer game.

Your flying car is an extension of your hand/controller that you bank to move up down left right. Your Trigger is the gas. I never used brakes. Two buttons on your controllers do a couple things. There are things that you avoid that will slow you down and there are coins. They play music while you maneuver around things pass other players all over the world until you reach a checkered flag that crosses your entire path.

You basically bank the car with your hand in the direction you want it to move.

Once you earn enough points you unlock faster ships and new courses.

I'll have to see what the game progression is. Not saying I love or hate it. I seemed pretty cool at first glance, but I need to see if it gets harder.

So if you don't like hand controllers or don't have hand controllers, this game isn't for you.

 

[mechsicko]

I was looking at this earlier today. Apparently it's 3rd person only, which is irritating. It's supposed to have a unique control method which makes 1st person impractical.

I don't know for sure, but this is what I came up with when doing a bit of googling, so for the moment I'm on the fence, otherwise I'd have been all over this.

Yeah that's what I gathered as well which is a dealbreaker for me personally. Wonder what the control method is.. my guess something like VRacer Hoverbike (super fun game btw) where you lean your head to steer while using motion controllers for throttle/brake.

Scratching the need for speed outside simracing I'm getting into a game called Vecror36 that's a lot of fun albiet a bit rough on the edges. Think Pod Racing with Kerbal style building/customization and Dirt Rally's physics/damage model. You play with HOTAS or controller (maybe wheel/pedals haven't tried) and it's refreshingly challenging

Vector 36 on Steam

Race across the terraformed surface of Mars in your Skimmer, a completely customizable hover racing vehicle. Piloting skill and engineering make the difference between winning and losing in Vector 36, a Physics-Based Racer. Available with and without VR or HOTAS.

store.steampowered.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

Yeah that's what I gathered as well which is a dealbreaker for me personally. Wonder what the control method is.. my guess something like VRacer Hoverbike (super fun game btw) where you lean your head to steer while using motion controllers for throttle/brake.

That's not it. Your headset has no effect other than the direction you are looking.

It is entirely hand controller based. Think of the car as small extension of your wrist and you flex your wrist up,down, left right to go up,down,left right and the car banks in that direction.

The scale of the car in VR is smallish. Most of the screen is the track you are on, other players which you can not hit, and coins, Turbo boosts, and obstacles that slow you down.

You have to place in the top 3 to advance to the next level. You take your winnings to upgrade your car.

I've had about 12 races so far. They are only a few minutes long.

 

[mechsicko]

That's not it. Your headset has no effect other than the direction you are looking.

It is entirely hand controller based. Think of the car as small extension of your wrist and you flex your wrist up,down, left right to go up,down,left right and the car banks in that direction.

The scale of the car in VR is smallish. Most of the screen is the track you are on, other players which you can not hit, and coins, Turbo boosts, and obstacles that slow you down.

You have to place in the top 3 to advance to the next level. You take your winnings to upgrade your car.

I've had about 12 races so far. They are only a few minutes long.

Thanks for the clarification, sadly sounds more and more like a game I won't be playing though I've had my eye on it for a while.. put me IN the cockpit and at allow me to bind my own controls even if motion controllers are supported and I'm all over it but 3rd person only makes controls nuances a moot point for me.

I do thoroughly enjoy VRacer Hoverbike with it's head-tilt-to-steer mechanics though it supports gamepads and other peripherals so I'm making a rig for it that will tilt +/-15deg on a spitroast frame with a push/pull loadcell to capture tilt which is also coupled 2:1 to the bars via bellcranks/pushrods (allows you to control turning with weight shifting + arms in any proportion). Even just using my wip static hoverbike rig as a hobbyhorse to sit on while playing is already a kick in the pants

As a heli guy and a simracer you might be into the one I linked above, Vector36.. would be rad as hell with a collective managing the vertical/fwd thrust you have to balance to fly your 'skimmer' plus you have hotas too

 

[RCHeliguy]

Z-Racer is not much about skill at this point. You pretty much just run 100% throttle and hit walls all you want and win. Control means very little. I think I'll lose interest pretty quickly.

VRacer Hoverbike does sound like it might be interesting.

A bit more arcade than a real sim, but more realistic than Z-Racer and it has weapons

 

[Deleted member 197115]

End Space has pretty cool gaze control. Graphics is good, but otherwise it's very simple pew pew space shooter .

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'm actually a bit surprised at this. I don't see the point. I've been working from home for twelve and a half years and don't even use a camera. Screen shares, a chat window to paste things and voice are all that you need to be productive. I don't see how VR would help.

Virtual reality headsets for work ‘could snowball’

Use of the headsets by people working from home could pick up quite rapidly, a business group says.

www.bbc.com

 

[Slapped]

I'm actually a bit surprised at this. I don't see the point. I've been working from home for twelve and a half years and don't even use a camera. Screen shares, a chat window to paste things and voice are all that you need to be productive. I don't see how VR would help.

Virtual reality headsets for work ‘could snowball’

Use of the headsets by people working from home could pick up quite rapidly, a business group says.

www.bbc.com

Oh god, I can see it now.

OK, so we're all here for our first VR meeting, so if anybody has any...... wait, WTF.

Jim, why the hell are you in a gorilla suit? This really isn't appropriate given what we have to discuss today - just put your suit on, and I mean your proper suit.

Bob, I know you're into Sci-Fi, but seriously what was going through your head. At this company we employ humans not Klingons

Andrea, Ok I get it. You've told us all about you're adventures in WoW, but there's no way in hell that skimpy armour is going to protect you from anything.............. No, I don't care what level it is just put on something more.... covering.

Denise, it's wonderful to see that you've chosen proper business attire for our first meeting, but I have to say you're looking rather more... inflated than in real life. Oh hell, I'll let that fly. It might get some clients on board.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Tom's Hardware says the Index is still the best VR experience on a PC.

Best VR Headsets for 2021

The best VR headsets for escaping reality in 2021

www.tomshardware.com

Old news

Facebook to Discontinue Rift Product Line in 2021, Will No Longer Build PC-only VR Headsets

Capping off dwindling interest in the PC side of the VR spectrum, Facebook said today that it will discontinue the Rift product line early 2021 and will no longer build PC-only VR headsets. Though the company says “the Rift platform isn’t going anywhere,” it’s clear the Quest is its primary...

www.roadtovr.com

Recent news

Valve: Steam Saw 1.7 Million New VR Users in 2020, 71% Increase in VR Game Revenue

Valve today shared a handful of new stats revealing the growth of VR on Steam over the course of 2020. In an 2020 year-in-review recap of Steam, Valve took note of SteamVR’s growth over the last year. The company said that Steam saw 1.7 million users experience a VR game for the first time in …

www.roadtovr.com

Still waiting for some kind of bread crumbs about new next gen headsets.

Just saw that a new PS 5 VR system with more resolution and more FOV is coming, but that doesn't affect us.

 

[mechsicko]

Valve's potential moves towards wireless is the only advancement I've seen in a while. Looks like maybe some qol improvements maybe as well but details are pretty thin so far

Newly Published Valve Patent Envisions Wireless & Standalone Versions of Index, New Head-mounts

A newly published patent granted to Valve envisions new Index headsets that could be wireless or standalone, and include new head-mounts for improved ergonomics. Initially filed back in September, 2020, more than a year after the launch of Valve’s Index headset, a patent published today gives us...

www.roadtovr.com

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Hopefully some of this work will trickle to consumer VR as well.

Microsoft lands $21 billion contract to arm US soldiers with futuristic augmented-reality headsets

The Pentagon will pay Microsoft billions of dollars to build augmented-reality headsets for its soldiers. The devices will be backed by the tech firm's Azure cloud computing services, which was compromised by hackers last year.

www.rt.com

 

[mechsicko]

Any Dirt Rally 2.0 VR players here might be interested in the thread I just started in the dirt forum.. solid performance tuning video (not mine) and 2 seriously good mods that fix up codies port and make the game look sharp and free of weird gamma/lighting issues without hurting performance.

DiRT Rally 2.0 - DR2.0 VR performance tuning and visual upgrade mods

DR2 kinda runs like a pig in VR. There's also weirdness with gamma/brightness and things being blurry. Turns out these are largely solved. Between optimizing settings, a mod for brightness and another for sharpness it can look really good in VR and the mods have no noticeable performance hits...

www.racedepartment.com

 

[Deleted member 963434]

Hopefully some of this work will trickle to consumer VR as well.

Microsoft lands $21 billion contract to arm US soldiers with futuristic augmented-reality headsets

The Pentagon will pay Microsoft billions of dollars to build augmented-reality headsets for its soldiers. The devices will be backed by the tech firm's Azure cloud computing services, which was compromised by hackers last year.

www.rt.com

lol its April Fools joke, yes googles like that surely wont shine in sun and reveal them soldiers wearing those positions, also it can measure hearth rate from the distance? even why for , to see how enemy is scared ? xD