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PC VR - Hardware, Software, Recommendations & Discussion Thread

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Again, some of the neat recent updates to kick off the new page (but there' so much and I don't necessarily put the biggest - like in this case the Half-Life: Alyx announcement or the launch of the Oculus Quest Link beta that makes it work as a PC VR set, as they have other threads too, so always read past pages)!


 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!

We hope you enjoy our announcement trailer. Keep in mind all of the footage you're seeing is work in progress. Lonn is an action-adventure story based VR game set in a dystopian cyberpunk city. You play as Lonn the protagonist; a conflicted Bounty Hunter who is trying to make a living and experiences a life defining moment in which human society is under urgent threat.
 
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Time to play some VR boys and girls as I have neglected it for months. Tonight? Stormlands and maybe Vader Immortal. I haven't played either before and will have to use Revive to get them to work. Wish me luck!
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Gluck! Might wanna wait a month on that Stormland, heard there are rendering issues and stuff and the main revive dev is away for a while. Dunno about Vader (but personally I didn't like the first too much, it's not as polished a Lone Echo that's for sure, I'll get all 3 on some bundle sale maybe).
 
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gifgaf

Member
Gluck! Might wanna wait a month on that Stormland, heard there are rendering issues and stuff and the main revive dev is away for a while. Dunno about Vader (but personally I didn't like the first too much, it's not as polished a Lone Echo that's for sure, I'll get all 3 on some bundle sale maybe).
Have to agree with you on Vader immortal, that game does not help the "VR games are not tech demos" argument. Overated imo.
 
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Gluck! Might wanna wait a month on that Stormland, heard there are rendering issues and stuff and the main revive dev is away for a while. Dunno about Vader (but personally I didn't like the first too much, it's not as polished a Lone Echo that's for sure, I'll get all 3 on some bundle sale maybe).

I think the rendering issues have been fixed? See here - https://github.com/fholger/Revive/releases

If runs really badly I think I can always get a refund?
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Have to agree with you on Vader immortal, that game does not help the "VR games are not tech demos" argument. Overated imo.
Well, they have it under "experiences" or something on the store, not games, and the studio that made it also did location VR stuff which also aren't quite home experiences when they're something meant to be enjoyed for an hour or whatever entry fee, but yeah.

I think the rendering issues have been fixed? See here - https://github.com/fholger/Revive/releases

If runs really badly I think I can always get a refund?
Yeah they're good with refunds, actual money, not Oculus wallet or whatever stuff, though it takes manual check when you apply for it. Make sure you play less than 2 hours of course. I enjoyed Stormland, despite having complaints for tons of bits and pieces I played 3 hour sessions every time.
 
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gifgaf

Member
Well, they have it under "experiences" or something on the store, not games, and the studio that made it also did location VR stuff which also aren't quite home experiences when they're something meant to be enjoyed for an hour or whatever entry fee, but yeah.
Fair enough, that makes more sense. I still feel the first one at least is dissapointing. I haven't tried the newest one.
 
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First impressions of Stormlands are good. Do not play with reprojection off though as you will get constant judder, the game just won't cope well with it if you are below your target fps. Despite having a 2700x and a 1080ti I have had to go with 80hz and dial back quite a few settings. This is getting me almost constantly at 80fps though and the game still looks good.
 

Romulus

Member
Time to play some VR boys and girls as I have neglected it for months. Tonight? Stormlands and maybe Vader Immortal. I haven't played either before and will have to use Revive to get them to work. Wish me luck!

I strongly recommend asgard's wrath. It's new and very well received.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!

I was hyped for this game on announcement but seeing more of it and what it turned out to be, not so much any more. I'll wait for all episodes to be out (and on PC as the first is coming) to see if it's worth it to me then.
And it's out.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Obviously we have a thread for this but, gotta add it here too.


I have to say that to me it looks exactly as I expected it to. By that I mean there's nothing super surprising about the mechanics shown or anything else. It's very much like Half-Life 2 with improved graphics and all the great VR mechanics already seen in other games. I'm sure it will be a revelation for VR newcomers when they experience it but for me it's a little less than that, an amazing game that I knew bigger developers could make when they came in to VR after all the smaller developers and indies and smaller productions have shown us already that the medium can do. I can't wait!

Edit: super important!
A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game’s virtual reality gameplay tools and components.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!


Great day to post your press release guys, gg, lol. And more Holoception.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
An Espire 1 review ahead of today's launch (4/5), not that reviews mean anything in today's world.
Espire 1: VR Operative is unquestionably the best expression of the stealth action genre we’ve seen in VR yet. The small touches of polish go a long way towards selling the immersion and opening your mind to the creativity on display to complete missions, while the inventive VR-focused mechanics make it a pleasure to play actively in a roomscale space. While a larger budget, more time, and overall more resources could have elevated Espire 1: VR Operative to the status of being a landmark VR game that pushes the boundaries and redefines the genre even further, it’s still extremely good and certainly worth playing.
 
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D

Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
An Espire 1 review ahead of today's launch (4/5), not that reviews mean anything in today's world.

I'm not seeing an unlock time on Steam? My wife has a work thing tonight so I'm excited to fire something like this up once the kid goes to bed.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I'm not seeing an unlock time on Steam? My wife has a work thing tonight so I'm excited to fire something like this up once the kid goes to bed.
Idk about time, sorry, just today.

This looks pretty neat, though I don't see why it has to be VR only.

 
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Pakoe

Member
Idk about time, sorry, just today.

This looks pretty neat, though I don't see why it has to be VR only.



Hey man, I just wanted to thank you for keeping this thread updated! I don't post often, but keep looking at this thread more than often.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
This game might turn out well, eventually, after a lot of work.


They show some nice art and ideas, it's just too early for in-game implementations. And then there's also this game, lol.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
A launch trailer for today's VR highlight (hopefully a highliight, still not unlocked on Steam/Oculus/etc.).


Lots of tubers and reviewers got it but I don't care to watch/post such stuff usually, just play good stuff.
 
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Stitch

Gold Member
I hope it's good. Bought a cheap key from Gamesrocket :p
It will unlock in 28 minutes.

uhhh the devs said 1 PM EDT but I guess not... still not unlocked

edit again: it's unlocked now
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
I just wanted to say that I've purchased a VR headset. I have ascended.

I am happy to finally be a part of something I've wanted to join for so long. :messenger_heart:

That being said, can any of you recommend some must haves?

Currently eyeing Gorn, Beat Saber, Blade & Sorcery, Drunken Bar Fight, and Arizona Sunshine.
 
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H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
I just wanted to say that I've purchased a VR headset. I have ascended.

I am happy to finally be a part of something I've wanted to join for so long. :messenger_heart:

That being said, can any of you recommend some must haves?

Currently eyeing Gorn, DOOM Beat Saber, Blade & Sorcery, Drunken Bar Fight, and Arizona Sunshine.

1. Superhot VR
2. I expect you to die
3. Assetto Corsa (not the sequel), Dirt Rally 1
4. Elite Dangerous


 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
First dabble in the tutorials and easy to get used to apps like The Lab. You don't want to go too crazy for the first few experiences.

What kind of games do you like to play, that's kinda like asking just any PC game out of the thousands... Single player, co-op, PVP, FPS, action, adventure, puzzle, sports, what.

Vox Machinae is a great multiplayer mech combat game, mostly PVP but also with co-op content in recent updates. The cockpit feel is amazing.

Budget Cuts is a cool stealth action puzzle game with nicely integrated teleport mechanics, the bigger better sequel is coming soon.

Apex Construct is a good sci fi action adventure game with archery systems at its core.

The Thrill of the Fight is a great boxing game, less fancy than Creed and its Rocky license but a really good sim.

Pistol Whip is the new kid on the rhythm game block, I love it and don't even play it as a rhythm game but as some funky cool new Virtua Cop-like (normally it has aim assist so you just dodge bullets and fire on the beat, but you can make it so it requires proper aiming).

In Death is a great archery based rogue-lite I spent many hours in early on, it has cool teleportation methods as well as free locomotion now.

SUPERHOT VR is a great little puzzle action game showing cool interactivity/physics/slow motion mechanics.

Racket Fury is a polished little table tennis game.

Catch & Release is a nifty fishing game.

Red Matter is a very immersing and beautiful and also (to me) challenging pure adventure game with a great setting.

Moss is a fun little third person action adventure, you guide a sword wielding mouse around as if you're looking at a diorama of a fairy tale and occasionally also interact with your hands to clear a path or solve a puzzle.

Space Junkies is a PVP zero gravity arena FPS, like Quake or Unreal in space, good for some instant mindless action. Ubisoft is done with it but it's highly polished anyway.

Ultrawings is a nice flight game, not quite a sim, maybe a bit like pilot wings, goals and stuff to get through.

Windlands 2 is a cool action adventure with not-web swinging and archery. Also co-op capable.

Raw Data is probably the best of the arena/wave type shooter games with different classes, some progression and co-op.

Onward is my favorite "standard" FPS, PVP focused as all but it has co-op I find myself returning to despite dodgy hacky AI. It has the best weapons and gadgets handling in my opinion, if Pavlov is Counter-Strike and Contractors Call of Duty then this is Ghost Recon (the old good ones).

Lone Echo is a must play immersing adventure and so is the free Echo VR/Arena and its $10 Combat DLC which take those zero gravity mechanics to online PVP sports and class based combat modes.

Journey of the Gods is a really nice Zelda-lite (it's small scale, short, linear and segmented in levels - even if it's somewhat disguised - rather than an open seamless adventure but the core systems are fun and the story and setting neat).

VTOL VR is a great simulation style flight game, still light on content and not the most beautiful but with a wonderfully interactive cockpit and deep systems for two different types of (military) aircraft.

Blade & Sorcery has the best physics based melee combat but doesn't yet have progression and upgrades implemented in the current early access release.

There are many great early access games as the two above, I really like where Vengeful Rites is going as a VR RPG action adventure for example.

There's also the free-for-now A Township Tale to try for some online rpging/surviving/crafting shenanigans.

Oh and Espire 1 just released and looks like a fun time as a stealth focused FPS but we'll see if people discover any glaring issues beyond its decidedly low production values and cut corners. Edit: nope, not so good after all, dammit (imo).
 
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Romulus

Member
I just wanted to say that I've purchased a VR headset. I have ascended.

I am happy to finally be a part of something I've wanted to join for so long. :messenger_heart:

That being said, can any of you recommend some must haves?

Currently eyeing Gorn, DOOM Beat Saber, Blade & Sorcery, Drunken Bar Fight, and Arizona Sunshine.


Have you played anything at all yet? If so tell me what you enjoyed and I'll make some recommendations based on that.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Thanks for the recommendations guys! I know it was a pretty vague ask, especially when there's a TON out there, haha.

I'm big into FPS/shooters and action/adventure. Definitely eyeing puzzle and rhythm in the realm of VR as well. Just wanting to experience a little bit of everything.

Have you played anything at all yet? If so tell me what you enjoyed and I'll make some recommendations based on that.
Honestly I've only dipped my toe in. Played Skyrim, Arkham, and Beat Saber on PSVR. Fooled around with one of the earlier Oculus devkits. Messed around with a few demos on the Vive. But that's really it, haha.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Good to see other people beating me to it, VR is spreading :p

Looks so damn explosive and fun, lol.

And so does Boneworks!


Edit: Oh, it's got the price information there too. $30. Nice. $40 for the deluxe edition (with soundtrack).
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
And an update from Nimso, we might get a demo of his self-made Boneworks-like technology soon. Ish.


And he just got hired by a big company to work on a cool VR project! Edit: oh it's Ubisoft! Kinda hype tbh.

Edit: missed posting these too.
 
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Wonko_C

Member
Awww yeah, ready for some sweet 540p VR action: :messenger_tears_of_joy:
X5MfsHJ.png
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
This could be something good eventually, they made good adventure games like Mr. Hack Jack before.


I posted this as a reply to the Espire 1 Road to VR review so I figure I might as well paste it in here. They praised the level design so that's why I started writing with that as a focus but I ended up almost reviewing the whole thing so.
Personally I found the level design bad. The actual encounter design (and the challenge missions) was okay enough but the overarching environments were not only nondescript and boring but also quite confusing with no visual or other indication on where you need to go outside constantly using the magical waypointing from your repair tool/taser (which also refused to work in some areas). It became a real problem once the complexity and rate of backtracking was increased, made worse by the unintuitive checkpointing and sectioning off of areas and how you never could even tell when a mission was going to end as it seemed to randomly cut off. The requirement to complete challenge missions before being allowed to continue the rest of the main campaign was weird too.

Additionally, the game never recognized my "freeze" and "open console" commands, I know my accent isn't the greatest but "freeze" at least is super simple and the testing page didn't respond at all for me to at least know if it listens to me at all to then work on the understanding me part. That probably means i can't even complete the hold up challenge missions,as they don't even seem to have any button command for the robot to say "freeze" in your place even though so many buttons on the controllers are completely unused in the game (there aren't even alternate firing modes on the weapons to switch through with the buttons as you can in other FPS like Onward).

Another annoyance was the melee attack, I started off able to knock out guards with a bop on the head but as I played it became apparent that it was super inconsistent, they often just shrugged it off and then raised the alarm even though I did do as wide/fast/strong swings as I could so I ended up wasting tranquilizers at point blank range to be sure (yeah you can use the taser baton thing too). Well, before I ended up going on killing sprees as with all the backtracking while following the magical waypoints it was easier to just kill everyone because going through the checkpoints/sections if I knocked people out instead they'd get back to normal slowing progress down.

I like the core mechanics, it's just so clunky in so many peripheral but equally important ways that I just don't find it very fun even though I love stealth games. I think the best thing about it is how lethal the guards can be so you really want to be stealthy. At least before you discover you can recover health infinitely after going on a killing spree by just waiting for your energy to refill. Maybe if it had an old school item based health system or if raised alarms had constantly respawning via some of the otherwise inaccessible locked doors reinforcements it'd deter people from doing that as the easier way past the challenges.

With a few different design choices it could have been really good (and with better level/mission design amazing even but patches can't fix that part). Fingers crossed for a sequel I guess (or for Panther VR, they seem to have way more robust design ideas for every little detail of their game but we'll see how they can implement them in practice).
 
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Stitch

Gold Member
Yeah, I like the game but it does have quite a few weird design choices and glitches. They should've released this in early access because it clearly isn't finished. Saying "Freeze" doesn't do anything, getting detected very easily (even if you're very high up), I dropped my gun and it vanished, looked around the corner with my spycam and the guard was missing animations (he was floating around). I would also like to remove the blue lines which are supposed to be my helmet or something like that? And I would like to put the big weapon on my back because no matter how often I recalibrate it's always wrong. It blocks my view, or if I try to grab it I grab the taser.
 
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pr0cs

Member
I might be very late to the party but I picked up No Man's Sky on a early Black Friday sale at GMG yesterday.
I like survival and exploration type games but I never really tried nms in the past I don't really like playing my PS4 so I skipped it all together at launch. After they announced vr support for it a few months back I added it to the wish list since it clearly evolved tons since launch.
Played for about 3 hours yesterday, really enjoying it, feels like it should have been designed to be a vr title from the start. Thankfully it is at least starting out with a tutorial of sorts which can sometimes be the most painful part of exploration type games (not really understanding what to do or how to survive).
The vr integration is really good, motion controls are intuitive for the most part. Locomotion works great with options for teleportation or smooth movements via thumbstick. Prefer teleport for speed but tried the smooth movements for a while and didn't feel the sometimes usual sickness tings that can happen with that movement type, for me anyway.
System reqs are pretty high, I am playing it on basic settings, 2 below max and I still see the occasional hitching and loading. When it settles in it looks and plays great (Haswell 5800k+980gtx).
Anyway, worth your time if you wanted to try something different, no shortage of things to do, deeper than a lot of older VR content.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Yeah, I really don't like NMS in or out of VR but the VR implementation is very solid for a port. I only think it was a mistake to make the gathering of some resources a physical action as you're gonna be doing it a LOT.
 
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pr0cs

Member
Yeah, I really don't like NMS in or out of VR but the VR implementation is very solid for a port. I only think it was a mistake to make the gathering of some resources a physical action as you're gonna be doing it a LOT.
I'm sure it'll wear out its welcome eventually, all survival games do, some quicker than others. Thus far though the sense of immersion is pretty good, piloting your craft the first time leaving the planet felt pretty bloody epic
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I don't like UploadVR any more but they've secured a lot of exclusive stuff for their holiday showcase, like the Budget Cuts 2 launch trailer apparently.


Has anyone tried Quest link yet? I don’t have a cable, but dying to try it alongside the Quest and Pimax.
It appears to work well but you still need to wait for people to test longer/better cables, official or otherwise, to make the best purchase.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Bump, it's almost time for the UploadVR Holiday Showcase with exclusives like above, though they also say the first 15 minutes will all be just PSVR's Firewall Zero Hour upcoming content so, longer for the rest of us.

Edit: brainfart, it's tomorrow...

Some pretty good gameplay from Boiling Steel, coming soon. Spoilers obviously (I don't care for story but cool events and cool sequences you go through).

 
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gifgaf

Member
Facebook acquires the maker of popular ‘Beat Saber’ VR game

RoadtoVR link

We understand and appreciate the value that modding brings to Beat Saber when done so legally and within our policies. We’re going to do our best to preserve the value that mods bring to the Beat Saber player base. As a reminder, our most recent policy updates give more clarity to how developer mode is intended to be used, such as helping developers build their apps or for enthusiasts to explore new concepts. It is not intended for engaging in piracy or illicit modding, including mods that infringe on third-party IP rights or contain malicious code.

Sad day for Beat Saber modding fans.
 
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Windows Mixed Reality being $230 makes decent VR attainable to the average person. People look at the VR exclusives and might find them lack luster but for me the VR ports alone make VR worth it. Playing half-life 1 in VR was an incredible experience and there are thousands of other fine VR ports for past and future games. I play most single player games in VR mode now.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Why's that, did the game stop working? I doubt they'll pull some bs move like make DLC exclusive to the Oculus version. So, either they acquired them for a game they had in the pipeline, which I don't think can be a Beat Saber 2 kinda how we don't have a Minecraft 2, or it was a sort of pointless acquisition since the game's kinda done. Not done in a bad sense, I'm sure dlc and the game itself will keep selling to new VR users forever, but yeah, not much more to it than the expected trajectory it was always going to have, I don't think it can bring anything actually new to the table any more. People will probably blame facebook if they limit modding down the line but that was always gonna happen, you can't sell dlc to people if they already can have all of their favorite songs for free with a few clicks and, again, the game's pretty much done outside that sales model. Just my 2 cents...

Edit: I thought I remembered people clamoring for mod support or patches breaking mods in the past so I did a quick google search it's full of results like this:
So it seems it was always a cat and mouse game, maybe it's been settled for some time or something due to less significant patches (though that article is just a few months old) but if they do such stuff again it's clearly not just facebook's idea.

Edit: and the faq last edited in summer 2018 says this:
Update broke my mods. What should I do?
If you were running mods and are having issues after the update we would like to inform you that all currently available mods are not official (not made by us) so we can't really help you when they stop working and we can't provide much support. It is because every mod right now is more like a hack to the game because Beat Saber never provided a way to be properly moddable like you may know from other games. Please contact authors of your mods to provide the support and please wait until they update them for the current version. We will also try to help with this as much as possible.
 
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pr0cs

Member
Why's that, did the game stop working?
Qft, unless they pull some exclusivity bullshit then I can't see it as a negative. Maybe they'll finally get some Facebook bucks to release actual legitimate tracks and follow rock bands model for dlc.
Considering Facebook's endless chatter the last 2 years about beat saber (including Carmack himself expousing his love for it) I'm surprised it took this long to sign them on
 

gifgaf

Member
Why's that, did the game stop working? I doubt they'll pull some bs move like make DLC exclusive to the Oculus version. So, either they acquired them for a game they had in the pipeline, which I don't think can be a Beat Saber 2 kinda how we don't have a Minecraft 2, or it was a sort of pointless acquisition since the game's kinda done. Not done in a bad sense, I'm sure dlc and the game itself will keep selling to new VR users forever, but yeah, not much more to it than the expected trajectory it was always going to have, I don't think it can bring anything actually new to the table any more. People will probably blame facebook if they limit modding down the line but that was always gonna happen, you can't sell dlc to people if they already can have all of their favorite songs for free with a few clicks and, again, the game's pretty much done outside that sales model. Just my 2 cents...
I guess we agree to disagree. I have loved having access to a free songs, granted they are not all that great but I'm going to miss it if there is going to be a cat and mouse game with modders.

I believe mods made beat saber more popular than without.

Just to be clear its not the buyout but the loss of mods that sucks imo.

So it seems it was always a cat and mouse game, maybe it's been settled for some time or something due to less significant patches (though that article is just a few months old) but if they do such stuff again it's clearly not just facebook's idea.
They haven't intentionally broken mods, updates break mods, it's a fact of development, but this quote feels like they are intentionally going to try and break mods or maybe even ban modders, who knows.

Up until this point beat games tolerated mods. Your last quote even confirms that.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Do you plan to acquire other studios? What else are you doing to accelerate VR?
We’re exploring many ways to accelerate VR, and we think next year is going to be an incredible one of VR game launches and announcements. We are thrilled to have Beat Games join our team. This is just the beginning.

Hope they bring in more great talent and fund more great games like Insomniac's now that Sony took them away from PC VR.
 
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Stitch

Gold Member
What does this mean for the modding community?
We understand and appreciate the value that modding brings to Beat Saber when done so legally and within our policies. We’re going to do our best to preserve the value that mods bring to the Beat Saber player base. As a reminder, our most recent policy updates give more clarity to how developer mode is intended to be used, such as helping developers build their apps or for enthusiasts to explore new concepts. It is not intended for engaging in piracy or illicit modding, including mods that infringe on third-party IP rights or contain malicious code.

Are you going to be slowing down updates for non-Oculus platforms and prioritizing development for Oculus?
No, Beat Games will continue to ship content and updates for Beat Saber at the same time across all currently supported platforms.

Mhh yeah but then Beat Saber 2 Electric Boogaloo will be Oculus Exclusive :p
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!


Also another No Man's Sky update with some VR specific improvements included.
Features have been unified across VR and non-VR. Photo Mode and Creature Riding are now available in all versions of the game.
 
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