The Flat Earth Society
Other Discussion Boards => Technology & Information => Topic started by: Rushy on March 03, 2015, 03:25:49 AM
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Virtual Reality is hitting a popularity streak once again, with the most recent burst of news coming out of the Gaming Developer's Conference. As you may or may not know, the leading (and only) contender for VR headsets was Oculus with the Oculus Rift. After some time of gaining popularity Oculus was bought by Facebook. This was seen as a Very Bad Thing by most of the VR community at the time. However, after the acquisition much of the community conceded that since Oculus was the only modern VR company, they would have no choice but to buy the Oculus, Facebook or no.
Then, GDC 2015 comes along, and HTC announces a VR headset in collaboration with Valve. Valve originally worked with Oculus for quite some time and stopped when Oculus was acquired by Facebook. This is probably because Valve and Facebook are both major social platforms which are, at some level, competing with each other. Knowing that Facebook may very well build an ecosystem around the Oculus Rift that locks Valve's Steam gaming platform out of the loop, Valve hooked up with HTC to create their own VR headset.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/1/8127445/htc-vive-valve-vr-headset
Clearly, Valve and HTC knew what they were doing. The headset has better tracking, resolution, refresh rate, and many other attributes. All of this combined with HTC's holiday 2015 release schedule was a devastating announcement to Oculus. Rumors abound as to whether Valve will announce Half-Life 3 at their GDC presentation tomorrow, which is scheduled at 3:00 P.M. local time on March 3. 3/3 at 3. Sort of assholes for doing that. Probably think it's funny.
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I don't think VR is going to take off. Especially Oculus after Facebook acquiring it.
I am very interested in this claim that Valve is going to announce Half-Life 3 tomorrow. That game is practically mythical at this point. I hope they're not going to make it exclusive for their new VR platform, although that might be a smart business move. I would not be pleased however.
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I don't think VR is going to take off.
It quite literally already has. Samsung, HTC/Valve, Facebook, all making VR headsets. Although I have never used one myself, the people that have demo'd them or that have the dev kits swear by it and people already throw quite a lot of monies at acquiring one. I'm looking forward to trying it and I'm pretty much already sold on the Vive.
I am very interested in this claim that Valve is going to announce Half-Life 3 tomorrow. That game is practically mythical at this point. I hope they're not going to make it exclusive for their new VR platform, although that might be a smart business move. I would not be pleased however.
I doubt it will be "VR only" but Valve has always talked about waiting for a new technology to showcase the next installment of Half-Life. It's been 8 years since the last release, some kind of Source 3 engine and Half-Life 3 existing aren't impossible, just unlikely. Valve was able to come out of left field and smash Facebook in the Face with the Vive announcement, I don't doubt their ability to keep Half-Life 3 under wraps for years and years.
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Oh, in addition I neglected to mention that Nvidia is also revealing a headset at GDC.
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Add Microsoft to the pile.
www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
I personally don't like VR headsets. The thought of being deaf and blind to the outside world is scary. Just think how much easier it would be to sneak up on someone who can't see or hear anything around them.
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I don't feel like VR is as big as you make it seem, Rushy. VR is certainly not a mainstream hit yet, and I feel like companies are banking on it being just that with no real factual basis. It's 3D movies all over again. Sure, it will crop up from time to time, but it won't stay in the public consciousness long enough to become anything more than a niche gaming accessory.
It's somewhat expensive and aimed at the PC gaming market right now. Once it reaches a console I'm sure it will become a more serious contender (Project Morpheus doesn't count because lolsony), but right now it is just an expensive toy for PC enthusiasts who want to play Half-Life 2 wearing La Forge's visor curled up in the corner of their basements. With absolutely no contact from the outside world it is essentially the ultimate escapist fantasy, but it's also an unholy abomination that will rot the human condition.
I am vehemently opposed to VR.
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technological advancement is bad
ok
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I already use stuff like trackIR with Arma, gaming doesn't get much more immersive than that. This will be the next big step up, and all of the possibilities are exciting. Stop being a luddite, Vauxy.
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Also, it isn't just aimed at pc gamers. Samsung's GearVR is aimed at mobile apps and movie watching on the go.
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All of this combined with HTC's holiday 2015 release schedule was a devastating announcement to Oculus.
Don't you know that release schedules are one of the industry's great lies?
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HTC isn't in the industry of blowing smoke. When a mobile company says X product is releasing in Y amount of time, they mean it.
Also I'm still really surprised at vauxy's staunch anti-vr stance.
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The big thing with VR is presence, and from what I've seen of Oculus Rift (I have no experience with The Vive) it just doesn't deliver presence. Granted, I've never personally used one, but I've read a lot about them on the internet so I'm basically an expert. You feel like you're kinda there, in the game world, but that's about it. You can't realistically move and traverse the gameworld with natural body movements. You're still limited by the game's engine, and things can start to feel odd and unnatural because of that. Most people think that it's going to be some Star Trek holodeck experience, but it's really not. You get a visual and that's it. It neglects several human senses that would make VR something really special, like touch and smell.
There are a few devices in the works to remedy this movement problem, but they're all cumbersome and will probably be very expensive for the average consumer. The best attempt I've seen at this is some sort of treadmill (http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/3/4489456/minecraft-with-oculus-rift-and-virtuix-omni-treadmill-unleashes-open) that you stand in the middle of with tethers strapped to your body to prevent you from falling over. Do you honestly think most people will want to buy something like this for a more ideal VR experience? It looks like something you'd put a mental patient in, or a test subject in a lab. Not to mention you need a pretty powerful PC to even run VR games, which is another reason it will not take off.
Plus, if we look at the games, most are old games with compatibility built in via drivers or whatever. There are very few games that were built around this technology. This is because developers want a guaranteed payoff; spending potentially millions of dollars developing a VR game and trying to sell it when there is a very small demand and low install base is just a stupid idea.
Also, how can you say VR has already taken off when most VR headsets are being sold as development kits? Is there even one out yet for the basic consumer?? Just because companies are making something doesn't mean it has taken off. The important part is having a successful product, and VR looks like it's just setting itself up for failure.
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It sounds more like you're the one who set your expectations too high and are now bitterly disappointed.
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It sounds more like you're the one who set your expectations too high and are now bitterly disappointed.
I had no expectations. I have been vehemently opposed to VR since the Oculus debacle.
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It is still strange to me that you are "vehemently opposed" to something you have never even used and to top it off, you're completely sure this thing you've never tried is not good.
And to go into the whole "live in your basement in a virtual world" I would like to point out humans have been addicted to reality escaping fantasy for quite some time. Books, movies, paintings, video games. Humans who want to stay wrapped in a fantasy world have done so for hundreds of years before the Oculus was even a science fiction idea.
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Videogames are for children.
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It is still strange to me that you are "vehemently opposed" to something you have never even used and to top it off, you're completely sure this thing you've never tried is not good.
And to go into the whole "live in your basement in a virtual world" I would like to point out humans have been addicted to reality escaping fantasy for quite some time. Books, movies, paintings, video games. Humans who want to stay wrapped in a fantasy world have done so for hundreds of years before the Oculus was even a science fiction idea.
Have you ever used one?
I am more so vehemently opposed to what VR is now. It's turning into a 3D movie situation, and it amuses me that people think this is going to be the next big thing when really it's just a TV wrapped around your head with some headphones built in. It's not VR at all. That's my biggest issue with it. Once there is a virtual reality set that uses all the senses, then maybe I'll give it a chance... but right now it's just a silly expensive gimmick that adds nothing new to gaming except sensory deprivation.
and still no Half-Life 3 >:(
Has the expo/conference already happened?
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Have you ever used one?
Read the thread.
I am more so vehemently opposed to what VR is now. It's turning into a 3D movie situation, and it amuses me that people think this is going to be the next big thing when really it's just a TV wrapped around your head with some headphones built in. It's not VR at all. That's my biggest issue with it. Once there is a virtual reality set that uses all the senses, then maybe I'll give it a chance... but right now it's just a silly expensive gimmick that adds nothing new to gaming except sensory deprivation.
You have no idea what it's like though. It makes no sense for you to have an opinion on this subject that equates to " vehemently opposed "
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Have you ever used one?
Read the thread.
I am more so vehemently opposed to what VR is now. It's turning into a 3D movie situation, and it amuses me that people think this is going to be the next big thing when really it's just a TV wrapped around your head with some headphones built in. It's not VR at all. That's my biggest issue with it. Once there is a virtual reality set that uses all the senses, then maybe I'll give it a chance... but right now it's just a silly expensive gimmick that adds nothing new to gaming except sensory deprivation.
You have no idea what it's like though. It makes no sense for you to have an opinion on this subject that equates to " vehemently opposed "
I know the materials, the components, and function. What else do I need to know? Do you not agree that it is basically a high resolution screen wrapped around your head?
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I'm saying I wish I had the magical ability to know what something is like without ever having tried it.
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I'm saying I wish I had the magical ability to know what something is like without ever having tried it.
Welcome to the internet, Rushy.
This is a product that is not available to most of the public yet. We only know specifics from those who have tried it and reported about it, and the components used. My opinion was formed from this information. I am excited to try it, but I don't see how its going to be much different from well documented accounts and demos of it all over the internet.
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No, this isn't welcome to the Internet, this is welcome to Thork. You are being Thork right now.
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I'm just lonely.
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Sony has announced their headset prototype which is 1080p at 120hz with a 100 FOV. Not quite as technically good as Oculus or the Vive but I imagine it will be cheaper. Also has the console advantage. (I don't know how a PS4 will run 1080p games at 120 FPS?)
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(I don't know how a PS4 will run 1080p games at 120 FPS?)
It can't. The only way they would achieve this is if the headset itself upscaled the frame rate.
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Strange, the Valve stuff isn't on the GDC schedule anymore and nothing was revealed. There are still two Valve events listed, but they don't sound very interesting:
2015/03/04 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM | Alex Vlachos (Valve Graphics), Advanced VR Rendering
2015/03/05 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Valve, The Future of High Performance Graphics
They won't let any reviewers talk about the Vive (their personal impressions) until some point Wednesday. I don't see any more HTC/Valve stuff on the schedule than the stuff above. Lame.
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You promised Half-Life 3.
Where is it?
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VR is going to be great for tripping on drugs.
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http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-announces-source-2-steam-link-and-steam-vr/1100-6425674/
Valve announced Steam link (a game streaming box to stream games from your PC to your TV), a new VR controller setup of which I can only find the name for now (Lighthouse), and the Source 2 engine. I don't know where this information is coming from, though. Like I said, Valve wasn't on the schedule for GDC today. Getting real tired of this tiny trickle of information thing they're doing.
There is still a tiny spec of hope for Half-Life 3. :(
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Oculus has announced that their headset is delayed. Wow.
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Oculus has announced that their headset is delayed. Wow.
(http://i.imgur.com/YYOxfTv.jpg)
Excellent.
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It's not like it was expected soon, but someone at oculus must at least be a little concerned about having Valve and HTC reach the market first.
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They probably caught wind of the Vive's specs and realized that it completely outclasses their shitty little bicycle helmet and got scared about releasing an inferior product.
Meanwhile, Nvidia is releasing their own console. Lol. I think we all know how that's going to play out.
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I don't understand why Nvidia is bothering with the console. I don't even know who they're marketing it to. It uses a mobile processor, even.
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I don't understand why Nvidia is bothering with the console. I don't even know who they're marketing it to. It uses a mobile processor, even.
Yeah but it streams hd movies.
They also claim that it can run Crysis 3 at max settings or something. Is that supposed to be impressive?
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Yeah but it streams hd movies.
You mean the same thing a $35 Chromecast can do. Not a big selling point.
They also claim that it can run Crysis 3 at max settings or something. Is that supposed to be impressive?
Maybe a decade ago.
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So apparently all the Half-Life 3 VR rumors were false. HTC and Valve are not working on a VR Half-Life game. :(
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One of the Valve demos was a mini Portal game so now the rumor mill is a new Portal game on the way.
In other news I think Oculus will end up pushing for a holiday release this year because of HTC and Valve.
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I don't want to completely derail this thread, but what is going on with Valve and Half-Life 3? Why don't we have any information on a game that, I feel, has to be in development at this point? Especially since it ended on a fucking cliffhanger. You would figure that they started working on episode 3 immediately after episode 2. Also, what was up with the little tech demo where you roam around that little island (I forget the name). I thought that was to showcase some improvements in the engine that they planned on using for episode 3?
Are they trying to generate buzz ala Duke Nukem Forever? Or is it simply a matter of Valve waiting so that they can blow our minds with a surprise reveal? Maybe they're treating HL3 like their final ace in the hole if they ever start becoming irrelevant or losing money?
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if they ever start becoming irrelevant or losing money?
lol, jokester
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if they ever start becoming irrelevant or losing money?
lol, jokester
Yes, Valve will literally be successful until the end of time.
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The whole HL3 debacle is weird. They never provided an explanation for why they've taken so long, despite confirming (I'm sure Gabe did this at some stage) that HL3 is in development. Sure, Valve are not known for timely releases, but this is a different thing altogether. Now the hype has gotten to the stage where GDC shit posts on 4chan aren't able to be any more over the top. The expectations are too high and Valve have been working on a whole slew of new things, in addition to managing their old games and newer MOBA juggernaught/CS:GO. I'm not convinced we'll ever see HL3, although we will likely see another Half life entry at some stage.
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I feel like the longer they drag it out the more disappointed the masses will be with the final product.
I hope we at least get an Episode 3. If Half-Life 3 does come out, I hope that it doesn't reveal much more about the story either. One the main reasons I like Half-Life is for the bizarre story elements, G-Man, etc. Revealing all those mysteries might ruin the series. Of course, the gameplay is great too, but in the end it's just going to be another first person shooter.
Consider this thread derailed.
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This thread will go back on topic during November when I get the Vive and talk about how enthralling it is and that I can't tell the difference between real life and the game.
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This thread will go back on topic during November when I get the Vive and talk about how enthralling it is and that I can't tell the difference between real life and the game.
Yeah. We'll see...
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It's also when I'll start playing Elite: Dangerous again. Hopefully by then the game might actually have content.
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You promised Half-Life 3.
Where is it?
Obviously they want to build it with Source 2 and integrate VR with it.