I had to share this because no one else in my life will listen.
If you play racing games in first person, you’ll know that you have a head-on view of what’s directly in front of you. Maybe you can look left and right outside your windows with the right thumbstick. Maybe not.
This works and is how almost everyone plays racing games. If you swerve around a corner and your car is sideways, it’s hard to know if you’re making that corner or if you’re about to spin out and crash into a wall.
In comes VR. You’re directly inside the car. When you lean forward, you actually lean forward. You can glance up to check your mirrors, and most importantly - you can turn your head to look out the left and right window!!!
All of a sudden my drifts through tight corners are perfectly in control. I look out the right window as I swerve sideways through a left turn to see if my car is still driving in the middle of the road.
I went from 4-5 crashes on my rally course to 1 just by using vr. The stereoscopic 3D of a lens per eye lets me judge speed better. Looking out of the windows ensures I don’t crash.
New life has been breathed into my racing setup. I play with an Xbox one controller and it’s still great.
If you’ve got a vr headset or can find a used one for cheap and can plug it into your computer, it’s a must. I can’t race in 2D anymore. I highly recommend.
I strongly recommend V-Racer Hoverbike
I felt exactly the same way with (combat) flight sims.
Without VR, a lot of it was practicing maneuvers and attitudes as the target or the airfield would be out of my view most of the time. With VR, it just feels right, you can just keep the target in sight and move yourself into position. Your sense of distance and attitude is also 100% better. I can fly altitudes better, dogfight much better and so on.
You also get a much better sense of the whole plane, how big it is, how it moves around, and it also is tons more immersive. I can do 2 hour flights without getting bored easy in VR - not that you don’t get hella tired from that.
I used TrackIR back in the day but haven’t touched VR yet. TrackIR was awesome in Wings of Prey. Can’t remember if I played a car racing game with it
I had to share this because no one else in my life will listen.
I’m listening, but more importantly, I completely understand 😭
Also, if you think this setup (with the Xbox controller) is great, wait until the Steam Frame comes out with the new Steam Controller integration (it has IR LEDs on the front of it so you can see a virtual representation of it in the menus). You also won’t need to plug it into your PC as the Steam Frame itself is basically a full PC.
I’m so hyped about it! Finally, a real Linux OS we can customize TF out of instead of locked-down versions of Android that look like they are designed for toddlers.
Very hyped for the steam frame but not optimistic with the ram prices and subsequent shortage of every other pc part due to AI.
I wonder how powerful the Steam Frame will be. I’ve got a steam deck and I understand it will probably be similar in power. Wonder how it will handle pc racing games.
The Steam Frame is mainly aimed at displaying games running on your PC, it’s specs won’t be as good as the Steam Deck.
Ya I can’t imagine an ARM processors going to push that much power. I’m surprised with the meta quest 3s though. That’s what I’m currently using
I’ve got a steam deck and I understand it will probably be similar in power
Not even close. Steam Frame has basically a phone processor in it. It’s a “streaming-first” device.
Ya so I’d need to use my desktop for any vr games
I mean it’s no less powerful than the Meta Quest.
I agree, sadly racing games are the worst for vr motion sickness for me. Wish there was a way around it.
If you think it’s worth the investment you could keep on trying. It does get better over time. What helped for me initially was only turning my head on straights, and keeping it straight ahead on turns. I’m guessing because then you’re not mixing real and fake acceleration. It defeats the purpose a little, but might be worth it. Oh and also what other people said: quit while you’re ahead. Recovery can take hours if you really push it, similar to seasickness. Oh and don’t do accidental donuts in your Ariel Atom all the time. That was fun until it wasn’t 🤢 😉, back with Driveclub on the PSVR 1.
Ive got pretty decent vr legs and I experienced some nausea after about 30km of rally racing (around a half hour). Went away after a few minutes. I’ve got a very strong pc so there was zero lag and it was buttery smooth but the nausea still happened 🥴
Most can get past the simulation sickness with time. The key is to never let it get so bad that you get sick or experience pain. Only do small sessions of activity that slightly push the envelope, and be patient.
I don’t recommend racing games to anyone new to VR.
The PS5 lets me play Gran Turismo with VR. and turn by using the gyro function on the controller, effectively mimicking a dedicated steering wheel by turning the controller itself rather than stick steering. I could use a wheel, but without a dedicated space to keep the wheel, setting it up and packing it down is just too much of an issue. Gyro steering gives me much of the same control as a wheel does, but without the hassle.
So gyro steering and VR together was a game changer for me. They were so amazing that I can’t play racing games any other way now…
But VR on the PS5 is basically dead in the water, so hardly any games support it, and gyro steering is basically unheard of in most racing games. So it’s pretty much Gran Turismo…
In theory it’s technically possible to use the PS VR headset on my PC, and configure gyro steering, but so far, the combination of getting them all working and configured correctly AND finding a game that supports it all has defeated me…
I’d recommend saving for a second hand G29 wheel 😊. Be warned: you’ll never want to go back though, and it is more stuff, taking up space.
I’ve got one already, with pedals. But I don’t have dedicated space to use it, so it never comes out :\
What racing games are you playing?
Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally 2, Assetto Corsa Rally as well
Have you tried flying games? I’d imagine that would feel really cool in VR.
If you want to test your vr legs or puke on your legs, try GRIP: Combat Racing
Oof I played that in 2D and it was bonkers. There’s no way I’m trying it in vr haha
I recommend trying Automobilista 2! It has decent VR support and decent VR performance compared to most sims, and makes it hard to race elsewhere for me.
I’ll have to check it out! I’ve seen it around but haven’t heard much about it :)
Welcome to 2016. Sorry :[]
Haha I got my Oculus Rift CV1 in 2016. It absolutely blew my mind in Elite Dangerous, when all the building sized ships ACTUALLY were building sized.
VR has come a long way since then.
You’re right. But the kind of immersion, the turning of the head stuff was the same back then. Elite: Dangerous is a good example for it.
Or go the much cheaper way of standard rig + head tracking.
You’d still need to keep your eyes locked dead centre of the screen while you move for that. To each their own though. Natural movement and tracking is a game changer
