Question The Vive Question of VR Gaming in 2019

[Zyperspace]

Greetings all who visit this thread!
For years I've yearned to acquire a VR headset for myself but I've yet to fully decide on which to buy. Perhaps someone out there may be willing to share their thoughts and/or experiences?

Standalone headsets are not what I'm looking for - It needs to be hooked up to a PC.

Oculus is out of the question - I don't trust Facebook.

Mixed Reality headsets are a little unknown for me - Can someone tell me just how compatible with SteamVR games they are?

HTC Vive is what my current goal is... - But is it a good purchase in 2019?

Or maybe the Vive Index is worth the wait and larger price tag?

Thanks for visiting, I enjoy a healthy conversation. Have a wonderful day!

I've got an i5-4690 and a 1060 6GB, so please do notify me if I need more power for a specific headset

 

[Wolfshadw]

The problem I see with VR Headsets is going to be support. I'm thinking it will be a lot like laptops. Once sufficiently newer versions are released, support for the older hardware goes away. I found out that my Lenovo WMR headset had been out a couple years when I purchased it. Lenovo doesn't even sell them anymore. I'm sure that support will disappear shortly in favor of their Daydream stand-alone.

For this reason, you really want to go with the latest version of which-ever manufacturer offers (VIVE Cosmos/Valve Index). I would stick with actual VR headsets and not the Windows Mixed Reality headsets. If you want to check compatibility with VR games, go to the Steam VR Store and under Browse VR Categories, select Windows Mixed Reality to see what titles are offered.

I would note that even if a game/app does not appear as supported by WMR, there may be some work arounds. I've found the Google Earth VR (not WMR supported) does actually work (about 80% functionality).

-Wolf sends

 

[digitalgriffin]

Greetings all who visit this thread!
For years I've yearned to acquire a VR headset for myself but I've yet to fully decide on which to buy. Perhaps someone out there may be willing to share their thoughts and/or experiences?

Standalone headsets are not what I'm looking for - It needs to be hooked up to a PC.

Oculus is out of the question - I don't trust Facebook.

Mixed Reality headsets are a little unknown for me - Can someone tell me just how compatible with SteamVR games they are?

HTC Vive is what my current goal is... - But is it a good purchase in 2019?

Or maybe the Vive Index is worth the wait and larger price tag?

Thanks for visiting, I enjoy a healthy conversation. Have a wonderful day!

I've got an i5-4690 and a 1060 6GB, so please do notify me if I need more power for a specific headset

Mixed reality (MR) is where a lot of people think all headsets are heading. And there are some pretty cool things you can only do with Mixed Reality. HOWEVER Mixed reality has a very limited Field Of View (FOV) compared to Virtual Reality (VR). So it's not as all enveloping. Wide FOV's are very engrossing when it comes to immersion factor.

I think in the future what will happen is cameras stuck to the front of VR headsets will allow for Mixed Reality with a wide Field Of View.

For MR, the Samsung has good reviews.

There are 3 high end headsets right now. Each has their pros and cons.

The Pimax 5K has the widest field of view leading to better immersion. (200 degrees). It also comes with some pretty awesome hi-res panels. Problem is it takes a tremendous amount of horsepower to drive those panels. That means lowering details, or decrease the rendering FOV. Also most only youtube reviews LOVE the Pimax. However there are comments of "Beta" feel and "compatibility issues". You also need to buy all the other accessories to make it work (ie: Controllers and SteamVR tracking)

The HTC Vive Pro is excellent and eliminates the screen door effect the original HTC Vive had. But it is likely the priciest of the options based on what they are giving you. As it's been out the longest it has the most games specifically designed to work with it.

The Valve Index in the new comer. It's back ordered for months and there's a lot of excitement about it. Most early reviews on youtube are favorable. A lot of people are excited about the knuckles controller which allows the games to track individual finger movements. The screens are also quite good and people like the pupil, FOV adjustment, and sound quality. It is still dependent on light house tracking like the other two.

So all and all they end up costing the same and each have their pros and cons.

About game compatibility:
There are standard VR API's and features (ie: TimeWarp) which all VR headsets can use. Problem is the game has to support these standard API's. There are a couple competing standards, but I believe SteamVR will win out. (Similar to how DX won out over OpenGL) This is just my personal opinion.

There are also game exclusives which will ONLY work on an intended specific headset model (I HATE THAT) But I believe with time, most developers will release their games to operate on all headsets to maximize their profit margin. (If I was a game developer, even if facebook was offering me a wad of cash for exclusivity rights, I would put a drop dead date in the contract for universal support past X/Y/Z date.) As a game developer, there's no point of shooting yourself by limiting your target audience. Game studios gain reputations. But if game exposure is limited to a specific platform, then reputation can't be gained.

Case in point: Double Fine Entertainment. They make some awesome games but I wouldn't have had a clue about them if they weren't available on the most common platforms.