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Forums - Sony Discussion - Skyrim VR is my Game of the Year

VAMatt said:

I must confess that I have no played Skyrim VR. So, I can't speak to that game specifically.  But, I have been playing around with VR since Rift DK2, and have used every major system since.  For me, resolution is the biggest problem, or possibly tied for biggest with the lack of wireless connectivity.  Its what makes VR a novelty in my house.  

Aside from gaming, I think a great use of VR will be watching live sporting events.  I watched a live boxing match a couple of years ago on Gear VR.  It was by far the best VR experience I've had.  But, even with something like boxing, which takes place in a small ring, the resolution was a big drawback.  I watched live golf a while later, and the resolution ruined it - couldn't follow the ball.  These were both Gear VR experiences, which are not on the same level as those that the more advanced system can provide.  But, to my eyes, even the Vive and Rift don't have what it takes to make VR an everyday use technology just yet.  

With all of that said, I am glad that some of the big boys are still spending on development.  Hopefully VR will be where I want it to be within the next decade.  

Gaming doesn't need as high a resolution as for sports, although sports worked fine before on 14" sd tvs. Heck I found an old vhs tape with a boxing match on it half a year ago, 240i, still perfectly watchable! Watching video on a VR headset is a huge step back anyway. The only recording that is somewhat watchable is the Joshua Bell VR experience that goes the extra mile by simulating a 3D environment made with a whole bunch of HD video streams mixed together. The standard so called 4K 360 videos just look bad. 4K over 360 degrees only leaves half HD in your fov at any time. 8K 360 video start to fully use the headset resolution and can still be improved with down sampling.

PSVR is much better than DK2 and Gear VR, but yes the effective resolution more resembles 480p when spread over 110 fov. It's a big step back after getting used to 1080p and 4K. Yet Xenoblade on the Wii worked fine not that long ago!

It depends on the game ofcourse. The resolution is perfectly fine for SuperHot VR and RE7 where the action is mostly close quarters. Skyrim VR in towns and dungeons is no problem. Outdoors you notice how muddy it is when you look in the distance. Probably for the better with all the pop up. Better hardware and foveated rendering will fix that.

I will keep watching tv on tv, yet have been playing mostly in VR since the psvr launch. I was just playing some more SMO on tv and I keep getting annoyed with how limited the fov and depth perception are and the constant struggle with the camera because of that. Windlands is far superior as a platformer, the expert challenges were a ton of fun to beat. I'm not looking forward to any hard platforming sequences in SMO.



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habam said:

 

 

Playing this game full in VR is amazing. Its basically the best gaming expierence ive had so far. I hope future installments in the series can also be played in VR. 

Sorry Zelda BOTW and Mario Odyssey, but you are rank #2 and #3 now. Still had a blast playing you on my switch. But just watching your game worlds through a tiny window (even if that is portable) doesnt compete to havin such a holo deck expierence with skyrim.

Motion Controls are awesome as well, better then in Skyward Sword in my expierence (though I dont hate motion controlls in general like some people do). Bow aiming is very, very satisfying

 

Have you tried playing with the DS4 in the left and Move in the right hand yet?! I’ve read it’s the best way to play the game. I’d really like to know more from first hand experience.



Well, glad to hear you're enjoying it. It's crazy how much more mileage Bethesda's been getting out of this game recently. 



I'm morbidly curious about it. I'll rent it if i ever get the PSVR.



"Trick shot? The trick is NOT to get shot." - Lucian



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Errorist76 said:
habam said:

 

 

Playing this game full in VR is amazing. Its basically the best gaming expierence ive had so far. I hope future installments in the series can also be played in VR. 

Sorry Zelda BOTW and Mario Odyssey, but you are rank #2 and #3 now. Still had a blast playing you on my switch. But just watching your game worlds through a tiny window (even if that is portable) doesnt compete to havin such a holo deck expierence with skyrim.

Motion Controls are awesome as well, better then in Skyward Sword in my expierence (though I dont hate motion controlls in general like some people do). Bow aiming is very, very satisfying

 

Have you tried playing with the DS4 in the left and Move in the right hand yet?! I’ve read it’s the best way to play the game. I’d really like to know more from first hand experience.

That's not possible. You have to back out to the main menu to switch control methods. I haven't tried it though, I'll turn on the ds4 next time, see if the game responds to it like in the solus project.

It is the best method in The Solus Project. There you can have the DS4 in your right hand for smooth turning at any speed, with move in your left hand to interact with the environemnt. The PDA thing is still tied to the right move which you can put next to you so it is in view when you need it.

Oh, seems you are correct, just need to turn the ds4 on after starting with move
https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/comments/7dkc68/psa_you_can_use_dualshock_and_move_simultaneously/

I assume you can simply pick up the left move again when needed for the bow or to aim spells. 3 controllers for the win. Gonna try it out tonight!

I actually attached the right move controller under the DS4 in the solus project to have a combined frankenstein controller with all functionality. It worked but gets kinda heavy to hold after a while. I see in that thread somebody suggesting to use your toes on the ds4 analog sticks lol.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 19 November 2017

VAMatt said:
The unfortunate reality is that VR is still not ready for prime time. The resolution is far too low. So, in the case of a game like Skyrim, one must choose between good graphics on the TV, or extreme screen door effect in VR. The capabilities of the head-mounted displays need to step up a couple more levels before VR will become mainstream for gaming, IMO.

the psvr has basically no visible screen door effect.

 

graphics arnt as good as on a television though. It looks like it did on ps3 which was totally fine for 10 mio people some years ago. I dont think its to bad to be honest but will for sure improve over time.

 

VR >>>>> some better graphics in my expierence



Errorist76 said:
habam said:

 

 

Playing this game full in VR is amazing. Its basically the best gaming expierence ive had so far. I hope future installments in the series can also be played in VR. 

Sorry Zelda BOTW and Mario Odyssey, but you are rank #2 and #3 now. Still had a blast playing you on my switch. But just watching your game worlds through a tiny window (even if that is portable) doesnt compete to havin such a holo deck expierence with skyrim.

Motion Controls are awesome as well, better then in Skyward Sword in my expierence (though I dont hate motion controlls in general like some people do). Bow aiming is very, very satisfying

 

Have you tried playing with the DS4 in the left and Move in the right hand yet?! I’ve read it’s the best way to play the game. I’d really like to know more from first hand experience.

nope i havnt but i have no problem with the moves



Errorist76 said:

Have you tried playing with the DS4 in the left and Move in the right hand yet?! I’ve read it’s the best way to play the game. I’d really like to know more from first hand experience.

I've tried it for a bit, it's not for me.

With DS4 in your left hand you get full analog movement on the left stick. With the move in your left hand you have that as well by pointing the move like a compass needle yet you only have on/off movement, no walking speed, and backwards is not as fast as running forwards with move. (People have already suggested to the devs to swap the move button and trigger, trigger for analog movement speed, move button for weapon action)
The other advantage you have with DS4 is better movement in combat as when you block with a shield or draw a bow you can't at the same time point the move in a different direction. However I couldn't figure out how to do that anyway with the ds4 in my left hand, spells just shoot straight out, bow and shield useless. It's only useful for a 2 handed weapon playstyle or when you have a non directional spell in your left hand to for example heal while fighting.

What I hoped was that smooth rotation would work on the right analog stick (simple to swap those in accessibility options so you could have it on the left stick) However all of the settings simply ignore the right analog stick. Turning can still only be done by tapping the x and o buttons on the right move. (A patch is coming to enable continuous turning when pressing x or o)

Anyway I just took down a giant, that can one hit kill me, by making full use of the terrain while slowly wearing him down with arrows and lightning. So movement with move is fine :) It just takes a little bit to get used to, especially how to jump and sprint efficiently. Plus it feels so good to rain down arrows with the move controllers while your companion keeps them busy, or follow two separate targets with beam destruction spells. I'm using the favorites menu now which makes swapping 'tools' in fights a lot easier.



VR is fantastic and in some genres a total game changer, but there are a few issues with it in terms of mass adoption.
In no particular order:
1. Price of admission (not only the VR peripherals, but also the needed computing grunt)
2. Graphics fidelity (low resolution)
3. Comfort (not everyone is up to blocking out your surroundings wearing such a bulky device, let alone for hours on end)

As for 1. and 2. I think there's one thing that can really help there: Eye tracking.
The camera will then know where on the screen you are looking, and the engine can then render that part of the screen in the highest resolution.
Remember that your eyes can only see a few degrees of FoV sharply (like, less than 5 degrees). That, combined with a 4K screen could dramatically increase visual fidelity per TFLOP/dollar (there's already a 4K VR headset that's much cheaper than an Oculus).
No blurry rendering resolutions, no distracting screen-door effect, perhaps even increasing overall FoV while we're at it.

As for 3. that will always remain a thing. But then again, many people (including me) are very much willing to wear a VR headset that blocks out your surroundings, just for the very experience (which is awesome).
VR will never replace traditional gaming because of the nature of the experience, but I do believe it will be an important part of gaming. A bit like TV/Home-Cinema never replaced the Cinema. It's just a different experience.