Oculus Quest

[Lord Thag]

Anyone else get one of these?

I've been waiting for awhile for a VR device that had sufficient power to provide a good game/app experience, 6 degrees of freedom motion, and not have any cords or tethers or require a high end gaming PC. This... is finally it. It's pretty game changing, and I've been underwhelmed with VR previously.

It allows you to 'draw' your free room space on the floor when you start it up, which prevents you from moving outside of your open space while playing (a holodeck-like grid will appear and then turn red as you get closer to the edge). This is a really neat feature, as it allows you to custom-define any space you may be using it in, and once you do, you can stop worrying about collisions. It works very well, allowing you to actually move around, dodge bullets etc. while playing games.

The experience is pretty amazing. Tilt Brush, google's 3d drawing app is one of those things you experience and think 'this... changes everything'. You basically walk around in a space an draw with your hands in the air, creating incredible 3D art you literally walk in and around. Without a tether, it's a whole different experience. Want to draw a camp fire? Kneel down on the ground and draw one. I've never experienced creativity in an open space like this. Games like Super Hot are also just nuts, the experience of 'actually being there' creates a visceral experience I have not had duplicated anywhere else.

We've had a lot of crappy VR solutions over the years. This isn't one of them. Don't think I'll even use a gym again either. Some of the games are fantastic workouts you can't put down.

Anyone else take the plunge? This thing is a direct competitor to my xbox and switch now.

[Austin]

Is Robo Recall on Quest? Freaking love that game on my Rift and it's one of the reasons I leave it hooked up.

 

A lot of what you are talking about is normal based on my experience with the Rift (like the grid that comes up when you get close to your boundries). The big change is it being an all-enclosed device, no longer tethered. And not even that, but having a device capable enough of providing visually appealing experiences at high framerates.

 

Based on the few videos I have seen, the Quest is a great start for people wanting to get into VR without having a dedicated setup for it (a powerful PC, space for all the wires, etc).

[zzip]

Everytime I consider it, I remember how much Facebook sucks as a company and it kills my interest.

[Lord Thag]

Yeah, Robo Recall is on it, it's on my list to get once I'm done with Superhot and Beat Saber. Does it have a lot of replay-ability?

I actually much prefer this headset to the Rift/PSVR/Vive. I've used the others, but the high end PC requirements(Rift/Vive), Crappy controllers (PSVR) and more importantly huge wire tethers (all) really doesn't make me want to come back much. Being able to jump around, dodge, duck etc. with full 6dof without worry or tether may make you look like an idiot to an observer, but man, is it ever fun. It gives you this sensation of actually being in a virtual space. It's game changing, or at least, it is for me.

As to Facebook... yeah I hear that. However, Oculus, while owned by Facebook is extremely transparent about their privacy policy and information usage. It's all up front when you set up the headset.

[spacecadet]

I love the idea of not being wired to another device, but the problem is this is basically a whole separate platform. I'm not going to buy into it until I'm convinced it's going to be well supported, which it probably won't be. The other systems all run games developers are for the most part going to release anyway, *or* they're large enough platforms to get their own dedicated ports. The Quest is starting from scratch, and I doubt it's going to have the sales numbers to justify much development on it.

 

I think the real solution to the wire problem is probably going to be wireless streaming from a PC/game console to the headset, maybe combined with some local processing to keep lag unnoticeable. But I don't think any VR platform is going to succeed right now as a standalone thing. That's not to say I doubt it's fun - I'm sure it is. I just personally won't buy into it when I doubt it's got much of a future, even by the low standards VR has set for platform support to this point.

[Lord Thag]

I love the idea of not being wired to another device, but the problem is this is basically a whole separate platform. I'm not going to buy into it until I'm convinced it's going to be well supported, which it probably won't be. The other systems all run games developers are for the most part going to release anyway, *or* they're large enough platforms to get their own dedicated ports. The Quest is starting from scratch, and I doubt it's going to have the sales numbers to justify much development on it.

 

I think the real solution to the wire problem is probably going to be wireless streaming from a PC/game console to the headset, maybe combined with some local processing to keep lag unnoticeable. But I don't think any VR platform is going to succeed right now as a standalone thing. That's not to say I doubt it's fun - I'm sure it is. I just personally won't buy into it when I doubt it's got much of a future, even by the low standards VR has set for platform support to this point.

Certainly valid concerns, but just for reference the Quest is sold out everywhere, and the devs of Super Hot have stated that sales of that game are up 300% from the Rift launch.

 

Time will tell of course, but it's off to a very good start. And I don't feel the need for a pc connection either. The quest VR experience is pretty great out of the box.

 

That said, I agree that software support will make or break this thing. Still... Oculus is owned by Facebook. We may all hate them, but that's a lot of marketing power behind this thing.

[Flojomojo]

I was kinda-sorta tempted by the "low" (not that low) price and the promise of episodic Star Wars games.

 

This Digitiser 2000 review aligns with my views. I'm not particularly interested in VR, and I have enough trouble finding time to myself to play conventional games, let alone helmet-dancey stuff.

 

As VR gimmicks go, this standalone, wireless approach is way more appealing to me than something tethered like Rift or PSVR, but I'd still rather just play games on my phone.

[spacecadet]

That said, I agree that software support will make or break this thing. Still... Oculus is owned by Facebook. We may all hate them, but that's a lot of marketing power behind this thing.

 

Well, the Rift is also owned by Facebook. So they're going to go whichever way the market goes. They've hedged their bets.

 

If this thing does take off and I see a lot of developers continuing to support it, I'll definitely buy one. I love VR and one of my only pet peeves is the wires. I just don't want to buy into yet another headset (I have both a PSVR and Rift) unless I'm reasonably sure there will be some games for it down the line.

[Flojomojo]

I got to try one of these the other day, and think it's really cool. I'm tempted but the fact that the promotion for the free Darth Vader game *just* ended is a buzzkill. 
 

Also I'm not sure how much uninterrupted game time I would get to enjoy it. I hardly play regular console games anymore for that reason as it is. 
 

Also, it's $500. 

[toneinblack]

Weve had one for few months now, its a Great device , you can also load sidequest and download free games to it , 

Also if you browse to https://webvr.directory on the browser in the quest then there is a load of free games to play in the browser, save it as a bookmark 

We haven't touched the xbox360,xbox1,switch wii u and dare I say it atari ( I still look at the tacos ? ) if you do go for 1 , then try get the 128 gig rather then the 64 gig,

The hand tracling works well and hopefully few games will come out that uses it , 

My fave games so far are pavlov, box vr, beat sabre and thrill of the fight.

Edited February 3, 2020 by toneinblack

[toneinblack]

Sidequest page , 

 

https://sidequestvr.com/#/webvr

[Flojomojo]

17 minutes ago, toneinblack said:

if you do go for 1 , then try get the 128 gig rather then the 64 gig,

If I were to jump in, I would definitely get the big capacity, because I hate running out of space. That makes it $500 instead of "just" $400. I'm still daydreaming about it, but finding the time for this is my limiting factor. 

 

I just googled Vader Immortal and see that the first chapter is almost 3GB. Have you run into space issues with all your sideloading? 

[toneinblack]

48 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

If I were to jump in, I would definitely get the big capacity, because I hate running out of space. That makes it $500 instead of "just" $400. I'm still daydreaming about it, but finding the time for this is my limiting factor. 

 

I just googled Vader Immortal and see that the first chapter is almost 3GB. Have you run into space issues with all your sideloading? 

We dont have Vader,  it was given out free (  3 Vader episodes ) from just before xmas to end of January,  ,  you can always delete games and reinstall when you want to play them again but you lose any saves , we haven't had space issues tho , and any films (3d) we stream from our laptop using an app called skybox or you can watch what other people are showing in an app called big screen.

[Flojomojo]

so when you say "we," how do you share this very personal gadget with more than one person?

[toneinblack]

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

so when you say "we," how do you share this very personal gadget with more than one person?

Myself,my daughter,and wife , the wife likes wander ,which is something like google earth, and watching the films , daughter likes the games . Just recently oculus released a cable so you could if you wanted to , connect it to a gaming pc for other games but then the headset is tethered , the cable is called link and there are other cheaper cables but I dont have a fast pc so haven't gone this route, also just recently somebody has posted on facebook groups how to have more then one user on a quest  rather then just the 1 account being shared amongst families.

[Agamon]

I'm really enjoying mine that I got a few weeks ago, but while I've tried a few different things, it's a Beat Saber device right now. Vader Immortal is very cool, but incredibly short, so make sure you get it on sale if you weren't able to get it free. I'm looking at other rhythm and fitness games like Audica, BoxVR, Pistol Whip, Dance Central, etc, but I always like to wait for the inevitable sales.

 

Nice to see Harmonix making VR games now that Rock Band isn't a thing anymore.  My love of playing drums on RB certainly translated well to enjoying Beat Saber.

[toneinblack]

Must admit I do like the beat sabre 360 games in easy , I'm terrible at it tho, also I have a few custom songs on it now.

[Atari_Bill]

I got one for Christmas and haven’t had a lot of chance to play yet but from what I’ve seen it’s pretty cool. I got the Vader game and it’s been pretty impressive so far. 

[Flojomojo]

I got one today, I'm a sucker but it seems really well done. I'm still not crazy about shutting out the outside world, but since that's kinda the point, I'll figure it out. Beat Saber is awesome. It came with Vader for free even though I thought the deal was over. 
 

My left controller keeps coming disconnected and says the battery is low. This was expensive and brand new, so that's disconcerting. 

[spacecadet]

I got one for Christmas. I admit I'm a little disappointed with it; my expectations have become higher since owning a couple of other previous VR headsets (the Rift and PSVR). The image quality (meaning the lenses and things like SDE) isn't really any better than the Rift, the graphics are noticeably worse than even the PSVR, and it's *ridiculously* front-heavy. It's very uncomfortable compared to my other two headsets. It's not like I don't know how to wear a VR headset (this is something I've seen others say to people who make this same complaint). It also has no built-in headphones!

 

I'm hoping I can rectify a couple of its issues with add-ons. I know there are various ways to try to balance out the weighting, though they seem to mostly involve adding weight to the back, which is just going to make it heavier in general. I probably will try it, though. There are also different facial interface options for comfort. I'll try a few things, though all of this stuff costs money, which is annoying. It's a bad design and I shouldn't have to pay money to fix it.

 

I also got a cable to try to use the Quest Link thing to make it act like a Rift. My plan is to eventually just sell my Rift, so hopefully this stuff all kind of pays for itself. I haven't tested my cable yet but I plan to in the next couple days. Already I know I'm going to need to get something that can tether the cable to the headset like the Rift has, but also release it when I want to use it standalone. (Maybe just a velcro strap or something.) 

 

And I bought a couple of third party earbuds made just for the Quest (short, individual cords). Haven't tested them either yet, but I'm sure they'll be better than what it comes with (which is nothing).

 

Overall I feel like the concept of a standalone headset is cool, but the implementation is a hot mess. I'm not sure how they could have screwed it up worse, given the experience they already have with the Rift and Rift S, plus just looking at other competitors. The one thing it has is that standalone feature; otherwise it is easily the worst VR headset that I own, and for stupid reasons. But hopefully I can eventually get it to the point where it's acceptably close to the others.

Edited February 4, 2020 by spacecadet

[Flojomojo]

Wow, that's harsh. I was very impressed with it, but I never had a Rift or any of the others besides Cardboard so my expectations were different. The Star Wars game made me forget where I was. I just plugged a set of old phone earbuds into the audio jack for sound, and pulled the back strap over the back of my head for balance/support, and forgot about wearing the gear. 
 

I've got a third party link cable coming today and will check out the PC functions. I just have a 1050ti which is the bare minimum so I'm not expecting much, but if I can experience Polybius, Minotaur Arcade, and Rez as intended, I'll be happy. 
 

Still expensive for what we get but there's a lot of things to play with. 

[toneinblack]

I don't really find the strap too uncomfortable, you have to make sure you pull the one down going across the back of your lower head and then lift it up so the Weight is off the front of your nose using the velcro strap going from front to back of your head , the htc vive deluxe audio strap is the one people use for the frankenquest mod 

Strap and then they use either velcrose to secure it or 3d printed parts which people are selling on ebay .

The Facebook group I'm on is called oculus quest community and they have good good tips,youtube videos on there . 

The sales on the oculus app don't seem as good as the sales for the other oculus devices but people have found out about the crossbuy makes it cheaper but read up about it first .

Edited February 4, 2020 by toneinblack
Spelling edit.

[Flojomojo]

On 2/3/2020 at 10:59 AM, toneinblack said:

Sidequest page , 

 

https://sidequestvr.com/#/webvr

Thanks again for this link, it's awesome. 

[roots.genoa]

21 hours ago, toneinblack said:

watching the films

Is it possible to connect it to a Blu-ray drive for instance, or do you only watch movies on YouTube?

[Flojomojo]

Consensus seems to be that you could watch rips of discs, but you wouldn't want to, because of the downgrade in resolution.