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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
VR support (just head-tracking)
Owren
Member, Alpha Two
So I just finished playing the VR adaptation of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and it was amazing..
While I was playing it I was thinking it would be so cool to have the same experience in AOC. There are many great VR games out there but the reason I mention this game in particular is because it's a keyboard/mouse game.. not full on standing using VR controllers. When people speak of VR games they are usually thinking of full controller support etc. which is obviously impractical to implement unless designed from the ground up, but sitting games played with the keyboard mouse are great too (and less tiring during long sessions). VR is soooo immersive and it would be awesome if AOC added basic support for it. All they would need to add would be head-tracking.. I heard somewhere that it is pretty straightforward to add VR support with unreal 4 ..
I really hope they add VR support this at some point. I know VR is a "niche" but it is a steadily growing, and for those who do enjoy it they enjoy it a lot..
While I was playing it I was thinking it would be so cool to have the same experience in AOC. There are many great VR games out there but the reason I mention this game in particular is because it's a keyboard/mouse game.. not full on standing using VR controllers. When people speak of VR games they are usually thinking of full controller support etc. which is obviously impractical to implement unless designed from the ground up, but sitting games played with the keyboard mouse are great too (and less tiring during long sessions). VR is soooo immersive and it would be awesome if AOC added basic support for it. All they would need to add would be head-tracking.. I heard somewhere that it is pretty straightforward to add VR support with unreal 4 ..
I really hope they add VR support this at some point. I know VR is a "niche" but it is a steadily growing, and for those who do enjoy it they enjoy it a lot..
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Comments
It works with WOW and FFXIV.
Also do any future potential party members a favor and don't do group content in VR.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Sitting at your desk and using the VR to look around is not that bad, but without them redesigning the UI to be more VR friendly. Just being about to look around might not feel optimized. I mean most MMORPGs are not that great in first person.
I recommended Vorpx because it is realistic to expect most 3D games to work with it. Beyond that I don't imagine many MMORPG developers want to put native VR into their games. It is just extra time and energy to develop and test. Then you have to worry about some people playing in VR while most people play normal. It might not sound like a big deal, but if 10% of the player base is in VR and 90% is not. Problems might arise.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
What do you think would be the potential problems from some people playing in VR and some not? I didn't see any advantage or disadvantage in the gameplay of Hellblade in VR vs. non-VR, nor would I expect to in a game like this.. The only think I can think of would be trying to type, but most people will be on voice-chat anyway..
They may be able to increase their player base if they did add some basic VR support. I can't imagine it would take a huge amount of development time to get the UI working in VR.. although goes without saying it should be something added after release...
A person with a VR headset can't play at their absolute top potential. This won't bother everybody, however it WILL bother guilds who are attempting to progress, take castles, kill world bosses, etc. It's like playing with a controller or a guitar from guitar hero or with your monitor turned off. It's lowering your skill level in the minds of many.
It is not about disadvantage or advantage being added from you playing in VR. It is about inconvenience. Because the game was not designed for VR it is extremely doubtful that someone in VR would be able to keep up with people not in VR. VR players would just hold groups back from reaching their full potential. Many people would find it to be an inconvenience to have to deal with players in VR holding the group back.
It actually is a huge amount of development time to get a proper VR implementation going. I all has to be designed and play tested separately from the base system. You can't just test the UI and camera, you have to do content in VR to fully test it. In the end the DEVs would most likely decide that it does not add enough to the game to officially implement.
I also don't think it would increase the player base. VR is not as big as enthusiasts think it is. I bought the Oculus DK1 from the kickstarted years ago. I was excited when I got it. I thought I was going to play Minecraft for days in VR. It ended up being a sweaty novelty, but it works. I played with it for a few weeks and its sat in its case under my bed for years now. Recently I bought the Quest 2, and had the same level of excitement. The tech it better, but after a week of playing with it VR is still the same novelty is was in the DK1 days. There is a few stand out games like beat saber and alyx, but beyond that VR is just a toy that allows you to have some fun short term experiences. I just don't think the VR crowd would get the most of out Ashes. They would log in and run around for a bit, and then go back to beat saber or super hot. To me it is a waste of everyone involves time.
Not trying to be harsh this is just how I feel as a guy who plays with VR from time to time.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
In your first paragraph (sorry don't know how to do advanced quoting stuff on the forums lol) You state that it's not about having an advantage or disadvantage, then go on to say that people in VR would be holding everyone else back, implying that they would be at a disadvantage.. it seems like you're kind of contradicting yourself there unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying..
You make some good points.. I concede that maybe it wouldn't expand the player-base very much..
Regarding the references to playing VR as a "sweaty novelty" (yes you are correct about that lol) - The whole reason I brought up Hellblade in the first place is because it's a sitting VR game, not a sweaty mess.. a person could actually comfortably play a game like that for many hours.
Anyway I know in a way I'm being selfish because not everyone cares about VR, but with the beautiful world they are creating it'd be an amazing experience. I'd really wish that everyone could have the opportunity to experience that level immersion with a decent rig and headset... I'm sure Verra would be mind-blowing.
In most MMO's, you can spot players that play in first person perspective rather than third person. The first person player is never as aware of their surroundings as the third peraon player.
If you are playing VR in first person, that would only make this worse.
In most MMO's, you can spot players that play in first person perspective rather than third person. The first person player is never as aware of their surroundings as the third peraon player.
If you are playing VR in first person, that would only make this worse.[/quote]
LOL, tell it to @Owren not me...
I totally agree.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Sorry, I was trying to word it with nicely. I have a history of being unnecessarily rude to the point that it takes conversations off track. I just re-read that post and it confused me a little too.
I do mean that the VR player would not gain an advantage, but would put themselves and their group at a disadvantage on average. Could a stand out player be amazing in VR? I would bet so, but I don't think it would be that common. Just like in my experience it is not common for a controller player in a MMO to be a stand out player. I think restricting you POV would be worst than playing with a controller.
That is why I think just you solo questing in vorpx from time to time would be perfectly fine. Sure vorpx is not stellar, but it allows a quick and dirty implementation of VR in most 3d game worlds. Eventually we will see some true VR MMOs, and I will be the first guy lined up to try them. Until then we have Elite Dangerous if you really want to get your VR on in a massively multiplayer game world.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Added two words.
Here is some gameplay footage of Hellblade VR:
Clicked around in the video. Seems more possible than what I was thinking. I wonder if you could do something like that with vorpx? Still not sure the DEVs would go for it, but it defiantly looks better than what I was imagining.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
And to reiterate, I think everyone would agree that it shouldn't be super high on the priority list, but it'd be amazing if it happened at some point..
yeah I would love to see the under relm at night in VR
Ooooooh! Yeah! The minions bones softly glowing.
This is more along the lines of desirable VR integration; something that doesn't force a 1st-person perspective. The more advanced the controllers (eye visors/covers) become, the better your control and use of a UI can become. Yours truly doesn't want anything that close to my eyes, but aye - it'd be a neat option to get coded directly for AoC. Isn't it just use/placement of the options and overlays that's the largest obstacle to full VR interface, anyways?
Anyone can slide a cell phone into a hat built to hold it in-place and just zoom all the way in, if they really want that 1st-person perspective, already. Something like a full visual-field display with easy control of abilities and menus and interactions with sub-games would be awesome. It's something for which yours truly would let the fans figure out the coding and implementation, however.
Ok I'm sold ^^