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crazyflyingdonut

Should I get the upcoming Oculus Rift S?

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For years now, I've always dreamed of being in the world of video games with the characters. Simply staring at a screen and forgetting that you're in a dark room with the only major light coming from the computer isn't enough for me. But, I cannot be in a fictional world because I am in the real world, and I am a real person, and not a fictional character. Thankfully, Virtual Reality tries to emulate that. However, the most popular option, the Oculus Rift, was too expensive for me to afford, until the beginning of this year.

 

For my upcoming 18th birthday (June 11th, 2019) and graduation from high school (May 15th, 2019), I only wanted 1 thing. An Oculus Rift (and a graphics card because according to a software that I used to check if my computer is compatible with Oculus, everything is compatible except my current graphics card). Then all of a sudden, earlier this year, they announced the "Oculus Rift S", which is apparently some sort of updated version? It's apparently compatible with the same hardware and software as the original Rift, and even costs the same.

 

We have saved up a lot of money. Recently, I read a news article online that said that the new Rift isn't worth buying. I'm getting very anxious because I'm worried on whether or not they're right.

 

https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/04/oculus-rift-s-review-vr/

 

What should I do?

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I say test one first. I think the feeling of presence in VR was as big of a shock as the first 3D game I tried, but we are in an early adopter phase where the hardware is costly and experiences are only scratching what's possible. It's a good space to be in if you have the passion, income and why not are experimenting along all these people, but otherwise it's a bit iffy until it becomes ubiquitous and a solid media infrastructure backs it. Weigh in your passion about this field vs your disposable income.

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9 minutes ago, Kira said:

the feeling of presence in VR was a big shock

I remember my first VR experience. I was at a science museum, and there was a spot where apparently you can try out VR. I got all excited and everything, and waited in line to try it. And when I finally got my turn to put on the goggles...

 

IT WAS SO FUCKING AMAZING!!!

 

This event happened either late 2014 or early 2015, but even by that point, I had known about VR and still wanted to own a VR headset. Unfortunately, I can't remember when I first heard about Virtual Reality.

Edited by crazyflyingdonut

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55 minutes ago, crazyflyingdonut said:

Simply staring at a screen and forgetting that you're in a dark room with the only major light coming from the computer isn't enough for me.

Pretty sure it's a fine way to ruin your eyesight though. But don't let me stop you, we'll talk again in 20 years or so, when you're wearing glasses as thick as a magnifying lens. :P

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6 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Pretty sure it's a fine way to ruin your eyesight though. But don't let me stop you, we'll talk again in 20 years or so, when you're wearing glasses as thick as a magnifying lens. :P

That's okay, 20 years from now we'll have bionic Oculus Rift eyes instead.

More seriously yeah don't do that with your screen unless you use blue light filters or something (which make everything look weird). Interestingly HMDs seem to mitigate this issue because the light is well distributed compared to being in front a rectangle in a dark room. I wouldn't keep them for a whole week like some did lately though, for safety's sake.

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32 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Pretty sure it's a fine way to ruin your eyesight though. But don't let me stop you, we'll talk again in 20 years or so, when you're wearing glasses as thick as a magnifying lens. :P

What if he already wears glasses? I guess they'll just be as thick as a school bus then :P

 

Anyways, i'm surprised the specs are so low on this thing, at least CPU wise, despite being somewhat allover the place. Minimum specs are a 6th-gen Intel dual-core or a fairly old FX-4350 or a last gen Ryzen Quadcore? Okay...? The Ryzen and 6th gens support DDR4 so they will definitely benefit from that i guess. Also a GTX 960 at minimum? Hell, i could run this then...but lets be honest here: Who wants to use an Oculus Rift on minimum settings xD.

 

I'd just make sure your PC is up to it. I'm surprised they are still listing 4th gen Intel's up against Ryzen's...i guess AMD will always end up getting shafted (probably why i won't buy another one). You stated that all you need is a new graphics card so that's a good thing. Just make sure that you aren't on some really old hardware. I don't really like the looks of these so called "specs" though. Then again, i haven't been keeping up with the "hardware game" recently and i'm not a big fan of VR to begin with, although some of the games do look sort of interesting.

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1 minute ago, CyberDreams said:

What if he already wears glasses?

I have been staring at bright screens for long periods of time for over 10 years. It's what I've always done when I got home from school. I have never worn glasses in my life, aside from the usual cheap fake sunglasses you can buy at the local gas station.

2 minutes ago, CyberDreams said:

Just make sure that you aren't on some really old hardware.

The graphics card I need is an NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater. The graphics card I currently have is NVIDIA GeForce GT 730.

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I agree with @CyberDreams that verifying your PC specs is important.

 

My other opinions:

 

The original Rift requires fixed sensors to be placed around the room. The headset and controllers emit light that is picked up by the sensors which orients the user in the virtual world. You will need to buy at least one additional sensor in order to point in any direction and remain properly oriented in the virtual world.

 

If the room you plan to use doesn't have convenient points to place or mount sensors, or if the ability to orient yourself however you please is important to you, you may consider the Rift S where this may be simpler to accomplish.

 

And of course, once you get your Rift, be sure to try FishBiter's GZDoom port with Rift support. :)

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5 minutes ago, JadingTsunami said:

And of course, once you get your Rift, be sure to try FishBiter's GZDoom port with Rift support. :)

That was actually one of my plans for the Rift since my plans to get one went forward, earlier this year.

 

There's just one problem. GZ3Doom has not been updated in a while. I also once read a post on ZDoom Forums where someone said it didn't even work on the Rift anymore.

 

EDIT: Oh wait, that's the GitHub page. I don't go on GitHub because most of the software that you can download on said site has not been compiled, and I have no idea how to compile software.

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Just now, crazyflyingdonut said:

There's just one problem. GZ3Doom has not been updated in a while. I also once read a post on ZDoom Forums where someone said it didn't even work on the Rift anymore.

 

They may have been referring to the original GZ3Doom. FishBiter's forked version has expanded support including Touch Controllers and 3D weapon models and had its most recent release a little over a month ago.

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If it's MMO game, it may have paywalls. Also VR can ruin your life if you will get a hook. I would not pay a dime for such nonsense, but i can't stop you.

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From having played with a friend's VR system a bit, it's important to have a decent sized room free of clutter to be able to move around freely. You can sit down for things like flight sims, but VR often is very physical and having that space is as important as the headset and rig to run it.

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