PC VR tech & games

I don't have much of a "My favorite of 2023" list, since I didn't play that much VR. (All reviewed in this thread and/or the Adventure Games Thread).

Vertigo 2 is/was top of my list.

Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye was in my Favorite Adventure Games of 2023, but this is a cheat. It's still early access and only 1 chapter (get the demo, go play it).

Another Fisherman's Tale was good, but never as mind-bending as the original.

7th Guest had the best presentation.


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Some FYI Steam Sale items (most I've made posts about in this thread):

TEMPUS is $1.30 - indie jank adventure game that I quite enjoyed

A Fisherman's Tale is 3 bucks - at this price, I highly recommend it to anyone that likes narrative/mind-bending-puzzle games

FORM is 3 bucks - my only gripe about this game was the price for this short game. 3 bucks is now a good price

The Secret of Retropolis is 4 bucks - price was my major issue. This 40 minute game is still a bit price for 4 bucks. Play the demo of Retropolis 2 for sure - it's first chapter is long than all of this game.

Maskmaker is 3 bucks - it was good, but not as good as A Fisherman's Tale (same dev). Also, I ran into game breaking bugs in my playthrough at launch.

1967 Back to Midway is 5 buck - it's a shooter/bullet hell game that should have always been 5 bucks. It's jank/buggy, but accessible difficulty.

Abode 2 is 5 bucks - it's a really jank escape room game, but I did enjoy the puzzle design.

Cubism is 6 bucks - a great deal and a long game, but it's just a simple block-puzzle game

The Atlas Mystery is 9 bucks - if it were cheaper, I'd recommend this adventure/escape room game. 9 bucks is what is should be priced normally.

Star Wars Squadrons is 2 bucks - I only played it twice and never played it again. While it was need to be in the cockpit, it's a very involved/difficult game - even on easy.

For 2024 I was really looking at a VR upgrade. My Reverb G2 is pretty long in the tooth, but it still keeps on keeping on. Clarity in the sweet spot isn't easily rivaled even by 2024 HMDs. The question is are the rest of the improvements/tradoffs worth the upgrade price.

- Bigscreen Beyond is probably the most compelling, but still has compromises. Better edge-edge clarity than the G2 and better colors. Some FoV improvement. Massive improvement in fit and comfort. No software. Very expensive and requires buying into Lighthouse tracking. Not shareable.

- Quest 3. Great all-around lens performance and image quality. PC link still seems to leave performance on the table compared to native PCVR. Low cost.

- Varjo Aero. Foviated rendering, high quality construction and lenses. Terrible vFoV. Same cost structure as BsB.

I'm really leaning toward BsB, but I have this bad feeling as soon as I put in an order for it the Valve Index 2 will finally be announced.

Just an FYI update on Steam Link on the Quest 2. I've been using it instead of Virtual Desktop to play flatscreen games. I've been testing Lego Marvel Super Heroes (with a Steam Controller) for a few hours and it's been working very well - very smooth. Steam Link has curve and size for the projected display settings like Virtual Desktop, but Virtual Desktop has better overall options, like depth settings.

NervousEnergy said:

- Quest 3. Great all-around lens performance and image quality. PC link still seems to leave performance on the table compared to native PCVR. Low cost.

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I have found the PC link on the Quest 2 to be comparable to any other headset and also have heard that, with WiFi 6, it even works wonderfully over WiFi on the Quest 3. Honestly, I have heard such good things about the Quest 3 that I am seriously tempted to buy one.

Lt_Storm said:

I have found the PC link on the Quest 2 to be comparable to any other headset and also have heard that, with WiFi 6, it even works wonderfully over WiFi on the Quest 3. Honestly, I have heard such good things about the Quest 3 that I am seriously tempted to buy one.

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I am too, even if it doesn't work out as a simpit replacement for the G2. Note that I'm a bit of a niche player - my HMD is used 80% for simulation play (iRacing, DCS, IL2), and 20% for Beat Saber. Reviews for the Q3 on iRacing and DCS forums are mixed. DCS, admittedly though, really only works acceptably in VR with sets that do foviated rendering like the Aero and Crystal. iRacing is more balanced - WIFI 6 has been a disappointment in terms of artifacting, latency, and stuttering, but a hardcore racing sim is going to have much more exacting requirements here than most others.

It's non-sim utility is so good, though, and the cost so low for what you get that it would probably get a lot of play in games I don't bother with now. Though plug-n-play looks like it still belongs to the BigScreen Beyond. 100% native SteamVR.

It's true enough that eye tracking and foveated rendering are the two big features which VR really needs to have implemented before it really takes off. But the Rift 3 is apparently good enough to convince people where the future lies.... if nothing else, just as a way to have a computer monitor to watch videos while washing the dishes.

Also, if you object to the lag, there is always USB3 for linking it to the PC.

Lt_Storm said:

Also, if you object to the lag, there is always USB3 for linking it to the PC.

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I think I'm going to try it. The forum page at iRacing on configuring the Q3 for no-artifact high quality operation over link is 3 pages long and involves tweaking a ton of controls in the Occulus debug tool, but in the end quite a few folks have gotten linked quality that's as fast and artifact free as the G2 with that excellent edge-to-edge clarity the pancake lenses bring that the G2 most definitely lacks. The BSB seems to have far worse internal glare issues. I really want that physical design, but looks like I'll have to wait for the next iteration. The 'perfect' VR set for me (base on current tech) is BSB style goggles with variable IPD, wider FoV, no internal glare, and keeping the native Steam VR operation. Maybe the Index 2 will bring most of that.

Guess it's going to be another decade at least before I can drop my VR/AR contact lenses in.

I haven’t been following this thread so apologies if it’s been discussed already, but is anyone here looking at the new Apple headset that’s launching next month? Super pricey but looks like a solid effort and there will presumably be games for it in addition to the other VR lures (3D movies, virtual movie theater for 2D content, non-game experience videos in space or on mountains or with sharks, etc).

On a side note, I recently started wearing old man contacts and while I haven’t yet spent much time with them in my Quest2, early indications are that it’s 1000x better than wedging a pair of glasses into the headset for me.

I haven't been following the Vision Pro precisely because of that price tag. I'm very much interested in the tech, but they'll need to drop the cost by a factor of about 10 before I consider buying one.

Re: contacts - I don't wear them, but I finally got clip-on corrective lenses for my headset. Literally a game-changer; makes the whole process way more quick, simple, and comfortable, no risk of damaging the headset or glasses (I managed to damage both a month into the six-year lifespan of my PSVR during a session of Headmaster, a heading-a-soccer-ball game, and had a blurry spot in the center of both my glasses and the PSVR's lenses for years because I'm too cheap to replace either), and there's something profoundly weird about taking off my glasses to use VR. As soon as I got prescription lenses for my PSVR 2 I realized why Apple was making that a default part of the Vision Pro purchase process.

It's that time again, Steam released their "best of" list. "Tab 5" is the VR section.

For "Platinum" top sellers, 3 of the 11 games were released in 2023.

For "Gold" top sellers, 2 of the 11 games were released in 2023. For the 2023 releases, one had mixed reviews (the sloppy Walking Dead release) and the other was the fantastic indie Vertigo 2.

For "Silver", 5 of the 25 games were released in 2023.

There were no "Bronze" items listed, since they didn't have enough games to break the top "51-100" barrier. None of the VR games showed up in any other top lists save for the Early Access category, where Monkey Tag and Labyrinthine appeared. Labyrinthine wasn't in the overall VR list and is no longer in early access ( category states it used pre and post early access sales for the metric). Labyrinthine was also voted for the #1 Steam VR game of 2023 - yet didn't make the general VR list. 4 of the 6 nominees were in the general top VR list. There were is currently early access games in the main VR list, so it's weird that the top voted game with 11K Very Positive reviews isn't on the list.

NervousEnergy said:

... WIFI 6 has been a disappointment in terms of artifacting, latency, and stuttering, but a hardcore racing sim is going to have much more exacting requirements here than most others. ...

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Using a Quest 3 I was shocked to see steam link working so well over wifi. I think overall performance is going to be extremely dependent on home setup. When I first set it up I had some severe artifacting and dropouts roughly every minute. I then set up my second AP and all of those issues went away. Played through 50% of HL Alyx with 0 drops, 0 artifacts, I know it has some extra latency but it was fast enough to not really be perceptible. Being able to do PCVR from another room is huge for me, my PC is not located in a very VR compatible space.

My setup:
PC gigabit wired ->
sw -> router.
Extra AP wired ->

Headset pretty much within LoS of router.

My setup is utterly ideal but I've never got networked game streaming working well for a monitor let alone VR.
Google fiber came with 2x -> https://store.google.com/us/config/...0RmFtaWx5IjoiYm1WemRGOTNhV1pwWDNCeWJ3PT0ifQ==

I think the PC being wired is practically required given what its doing.

Overall I do really like the quest 3, VR tethered to a PC via cable is always going to limit its reach into the market. Big screen beyond looks awesome, but not very compatible with my extreme eye prescription. (~-12 diopter). Quest 3 fits my glasses fine, does onboard games, but also can do wireless PCVR, passthrough to avoid taking headset off to do little things, honestly it's pretty ideal for me.

Jackass JoeJoe said:

Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye was in my Favorite Adventure Games of 2023, but this is a cheat. It's still early access and only 1 chapter (get the demo, go play it).

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FYI, this game is now officially released on Steam (and natively on the Quest 2) and is still one of my favorite adventure games of the past year. If you don't like narrative/puzzle games, this isn't for you. It's a point and click game at heart. The demo is no longer available, so I hoped you played it back then if you are at all interested in the genre.

Some more FYIs

I tried Steam Link again, but this time for a VR demo and the experience was very good. I didn't have any of the stuttering issues and it was a flawless experience. Valves initial releases tend to be rough and the first version of Steam Link on the Quest was no exception. Virtual Desktop still has better options, but the free price of Steam Link will make it "good enough" more a lot of people. You can also manually link non-steam VR games in Steam and click an option to include it in the VR category. This doesn't mean it will work like manually launching a game with Virtual Desktop (it injects controller support into the game), but it might work.

Also, if you're looking for VR demos for the current Next Fest on Steam, there is no main VR category this time. However, if you click a main type like Adventure or Puzzle and scroll down a ways, you'll find the "Virtual Reality" sub-category for most of the main category. I played the DYSCHRONIA: Chronos Alternate demo from the Next Fest (via Steam Link) and didn't enjoy it as much as the previous game. I found it more tedious and it continually takes away the controls from the player. They dialed it back so far to run native on the Quest that it just feels empty and small.

A quick FYI for my fellow WMR users: https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-preview-mixed-reality-useless/

"It's been known for a while that Microsoft is dropping support for Windows Mixed Reality on Windows 11, but with today's build, it's impossible to use Windows Mixed Reality headsets with your PC, even through Steam."

I don't particularly want to want to replace a perfectly good headset just so I can update Windows, so I suppose my gaming PC has seen its last update in a while.

Mhorydyn said:

A quick FYI for my fellow WMR users: https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-preview-mixed-reality-useless/

"It's been known for a while that Microsoft is dropping support for Windows Mixed Reality on Windows 11, but with today's build, it's impossible to use Windows Mixed Reality headsets with your PC, even through Steam."

I don't particularly want to want to replace a perfectly good headset just so I can update Windows, so I suppose my gaming PC has seen its last update in a while.

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I'd be surprised if there wasn't a workaround by the time 24H2 comes out officially later this year. Either a MS store app or an update to SteamVR.

FYI for anyone interested, they released a Vampire: The Masquerade VR game that's supposed to be pretty solid. Sadly, I can't play it until I can find a way to rebuild my VR setup, bit I figure someone here wants to be a vampire:
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2431700/Vampire_The_Masquerade__Justice/

I gave in and got a Quest 3 and it's a surprisingly solid sequel to the Reverb. I do think the G2 had ever so slightly sharper distance image in the sweet spot, but the overall clarity of the Q3 is amazing. It did take a bit of tweaking - the default settings leave much to be desired. Upping the render scale to 1.5 and FPS to 90 made it comparable to the G2 sweet spot, but across the entire lens. That's with a USB3 cable giving me 2.9 Gb/s in the cable test. Still not done tweaking - I think it can get better, but Meta likes to make it hard to really optimize. I can see the point from a support perspective, but it's still annoying.

Tracking doesn't matter for iRacing, but in Beat Saber it's amazing. The Reverb was known for a particularly poor implementation of Outside-In tracking, and now I see what the difference is.

I still think there's a lot of performance being left on the table with a physical link. May try WIFI 6 later this month, though I'm leery of latency.

It's a fun device that works really well, especially for the price. It'll let me be much pickier with future HMDs.

There's a new VR Humble Bundle


Here's my post containing links to my thought/reviews on 4 of the adventure/puzzle games in the bundle (
7th Guest, Firmament, A Fisherman's Tale, Another Fisherman's Tale): reference link

Also, it notably contains 2 Arizona Sunshine games and After the Fall. I've not played these, but I know they're highly rated action games.

I bought a refurb Pimax through their store and it has revitalized VR for me. FPS are amazing with peripheral vision!

Jackass JoeJoe said:

There's a new VR Humble Bundle

Virtual Realities: Mystery & Mayhem

Immerse yourself in stories that will set your imagination free with this bundle of VR masterpieces. Your purchase supports Starlight Foundation & Child’s Play!

www.humblebundle.com

Here's my post containing links to my thought/reviews on 4 of the adventure/puzzle games in the bundle (
7th Guest, Firmament, A Fisherman's Tale, Another Fisherman's Tale): reference link

Also, it notably contains 2 Arizona Sunshine games and After the Fall. I've not played these, but I know they're highly rated action games.

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Thanks for the heads up - bought this yesterday

Does AR fit here?

I got my Tilt Five 2-player pack, because they had a sale (their first, I think).

I had to pay extra to get it through customs, so it was still quite a sizable amount of money (I had some money around that was supposed to be a "gift", I used part of it on this anyway...).


On first impressions, the thing works. It's not awesome, but it is nice to do AR on a pair of glasses so light.

My main gaming PC is temporarily not usable, but hopefully in a few days it will be free to test this properly.

Figured I should mention there are a lot of VR titles for sale in the summer sale, including Vampire, Fallout, and Red Matter. Fallout, being Bethesda game, needs a lot of love in VR, but can be a very interesting way to play the game.