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143

Oh, I am not in the market. I had a Vive (when I had space) and have a Quest 2* that I have out to use and a Quest 1* in the closet. So I am good on VR atm. The thing that might tempt me is if they added PC/Steam support. But, as they say, never buy technology based on what might be added later. Still, if they did I would probably get it without thinking.

Right now the only VR hardware purchase I am even tempted by is getting a set of lighthouses and the Index controllers to use with the Quest 2. While inside out tracking today is very good, there is really no comparison between it and well set up lighthouse tracking. But that would almost $600, so…no

How have things been going with the kitty? As I understand it the PSVR2 doesn’t have autodetection of pets or humans entering the play area, which is sorta scary. Even with it when I had the Vive I still had to banish the animals from the room because otherwise one if us would have eventually died . Sadly, in the intervening years they have passed on from old age and I can now play alone, in peace :cry:

If I can make time this weekend you have inspired me to take a dive into the new Fractal update of No Man’s Sky, that dropped this week. Apparently they completely re-did the VR interface for PSVR2 (which surprised me - the old one was not good, but fine) and it’s amazing! They backported it to PC, so I am excited to try it.

I have been really surprised this week - before it came out no one seemed excited about the PSVR2 (which makes sense with Mark Zuckerberg becoming the face of VR), but now that it’s out it’s all glowing reviews and 45 minute segments on podcasts marveling at how good it is! While I think VR is dumb for anything else, I think there is a lot of interesting, fun and most importantly weird ^ stuff that can be done with it in gaming

*I justify this to myself as follows. Neither has ever been tied to a Facebook ID, just Oculus or Meta (I know, still bad) and I only use them for playing things on SteamVR using a hack that goes straight in without opening the Meta app, though it is still using the libraries and API. I don’t use the headset stand alone or buy anything from the Meta store. Ya makes yer choices and ya takes yer chances

^ the video does not do it justice - it uses viewpoint detection so everything, the dancers, clouds, mountains know when you are looking and will smile, wave, or something, and it’s enveloping. A lotta butts too. It is a strangely joyful experience that I pop on whenever I am feeling blue. Sadly only available on steam still, after like, 6 years, but maybe, someday elsewhere

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144

Another cat poked at me while I was in the Star Wars Cantina with a “Whatcha doing?” poke. Nobody’s gotten in the way during anything with a lot of motion, at least not yet. Some of this stuff can be very intense. Battling a pack of scrappers was a workout.

I think the dog is going to come out of this the most confused. His bed is normally in the middle of the play area, next to the coffee table. He moves it all the time, and we put it back (sometimes while he’s in it). So now when we want to play, we move it to a different spot, closer to one of the places he tends to move it to.

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145

I picked up a PSVR2 too, also my first toe-dip into VR. I just played the first little bit of Horizon Call of the Mountain.

My first impression: I am gobsmacked, just fucking incredible.

The sense of being there, the immersion, is really solid. Gesture movement is intuitive and smooth, I dare not look down. It’s going to take a some getting-used-to hitting buttons I can’t see but I can hardly wait for the controllers to charge up so I can go back in.

Pretty much an instant fan. :slight_smile:

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146

Don’t discount 2D games either. We’re limited to a 42" TV by the entertainment center and have multiple consoles. Now we can use both at the same time, and the person using the PS5 can have a 10’ screen.

Even non-VR games are impressive that way. Currently playing Deliver Us the Moon, not VR, but that in your face it’s pretty close.

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148

Surprisingly, the mid-tier level of the PlayStation Plus service is a pretty good deal. Better if you can get it at a discount, of course. I’ve been on the service for a few weeks now and have found quite a few titles in the game catalog worth playing. Currently on my PS4 are Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and R-Type Final 2. (That last one feels like it needs a subtitle to justify its being a final after a final.)

The monthly Plus game offerings haven’t been quite as stellar as they’ve been in previous years, though. A friend of mine wanted to check out the Evil Dead game, which I hadn’t heard of despite its being years old. Playing through the demo and vs AI match, I ended up likening it to a sloppy version of Left 4 Dead married to Resident Evil: Resistance, the bonus game that came with the Resident Evil 3 remake a few years back. That only intrigued my friend more because he actually worked on Resistance. We need to play it a few more times before we can give a final verdict on it, but I find it hard to navigate and maybe too random regarding where you might find weapons and where deadites (and fricken cars) might spawn out of thin air.

But the catalog I’m having fun with. I just don’t know how long games stay in the catalog, and I hope I don’t lose Miles before I can finish the game.

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149

I think it varies how long something is in the catalog, but they do seem to give better notice than Game Pass. Morales is first party, so hopefully you won’t have to worry about that. It’s not particularly long, especially compared to SpiderMan, so if you hit it regularly, you should be good.

Don’t bother with any Rockstar games, they get pulled quickly from any service, usually 3-4 months.

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150

That’s one thing I really like about the game. Spider-Man was long, and after a while it started feeling like work. I don’t expect this one to overstay its welcome.

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151

It turns out roomscale isn’t that big a deal, but apparently sitting is.

I ended up slugging the cat playing Drums Rock demo, just sitting in my chair :crying_cat_face:

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152

I finally had a chance to play the updated VR version of No Man’s Sky for about an hour.

First thing I learned was that several years after finishing it, and not going back as it was continually updated, I have no idea how to play No Man’s Sky.

I did manage to leave the space station I have been parked in for 3(?) years, fly around some, get in a dog fight and blow up real good.

Pros: It’s beautiful. Everything I was able to see was gorgeously rendered, framerate was good (PC w/3090). Did not make it to the surface of a planet though.

Cons: the controls in your ship map to the controllers, but as objects. You grip the controllers to grip the in-game throttle and thrust-thingee. Which sounds cools, but since they are not fixed in place, it feels mushy, plus your hands, once gripped, stay fixed on the in-game controls while they move all over the place irl, only paying attention to forward/back (thrust) and pitch (joystick), which breaks immersion. Not gonna buy a HOTAS though, which I am sure would be better. Need to check and see if I can just use a gamepad.

I also had a hard time getting the position of the cockpit to line up with my seat position, which was a problem, even constantly resetting the view.

I also had some issues with breaking the sitting position boundaries and dropping to passthrough pretty easily, especially during the dogfight.

Some of the latter issues might come down to my setup, so with PSVR2 or a lighthouse based system they might not be issues.

It was impressive though, even with the issues I ran into. I probably really need to start a new game, get re-tutorialized on the stuff I have forgotten (and tutorialized on the bajillion new things they have added over the years).

If I can play with a gamepad in VR I definitely will give it another shot - that was really the thing that bothered me the most.

Oh, and even with the dogfighting there was no nausea, so that was good. The main reason I had a hard time with it was the mushy controls using the virtual stick. Just not as precise as using a physical stick or thumbstick. That, and I am bad at videogames

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153

I don’t like that it is online. I do like that they talk about bringing table top rpg sensibilities to online play though, and seem to have a lot of respect for that kind of play.

Really though, what I want is “A Blank-Slate-Cypher-Assassin in King Arthur’s Court”.

Put Agent-47 in a suit of armor and let me murder Merlin by dropping a horse on him from the top of a tower, you cowards!

ETA: Don’t worry. Merlin will cushion the horse’s fall, and I will make my escape riding off into the sunset. I am not a monster. Don’t think about the 14 horses I killed before getting everything set up just right

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154

You don’t think Merlin would be tipped off by the splashzone of 14 horses?

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155

Ah, but the castle has 15 towers. He will never see it coming!

As long as he doesn’t look down and see the “X” I drew on the ground (that was the missing step! :man_facepalming:)

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156

That, or getting tipped off by the very angry stable master.

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157

Your write-up of No Man’s Sky got me hankering for some space flight. In the 90’s my fix for this was X-Wing and Tie Fighter, so the last time I felt this way I tried Star Wars: Squadrons. Boy was I disappointed. There’s really nothing I can recommend about the game.

Knowing that I never wanted to go back to Squadrons, I picked up Elite Dangerous to play someday, which ended up being Friday. I’ve been engrossed all weekend. I love how vast the galaxy feels, and how quickly you can hop around it. Combat is fun, although I’m kind of terrible at it. There’s a wide variety of missions, from espionage to playing as a go-fer or a space trucker. You can play online or solo. The ships are very cool. You can fly manually or use automated routes and landing. I just love it.

My main gripe is that sometimes intrastellar flight can take a long time. I’m learning to try to avoid missions that will lead to long routes in one star system, but when I get myself in a 5+ minute flight I just put on the course assist, open up my Kindle, and read while listening to the sounds of space travel. So even that’s not too bad.

The game can be played in VR, too, which has me jelly for those of you with headsets. I can only imagine how cool it would be to look around and feel like I’m really in the cockpit, with the Milky Way spread out around me.

Even though the game is almost 10 years old, the developers and community are active, keeping the galaxy alive and interesting. There are political factions fighting and an alien war going on that I haven’t even dipped my toe in yet. I’m just having fun cruising around, hunting pirates, and shooting lasers at asteroids to collect precious metals. It’s a really great game.

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158

Apparently seen at a street market in Monterey

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I want this so bad. 999 pesos (about $55). A fucking bargain!

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159

After they get a cease & desist from Nintendo of America:

GIF of the Happy Mask Salesman in Majora's Mask with the textbox "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Gotta respect that Great Fairy Mask and Stone Mask on the left, too. Wait… does the mask above the Happy Mask Salesman’s shoulder change to match those two on the right?

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160

So close to being able to snag that QR code. Maybe they would ship it?

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161

Sadly, when the photograph was taken it was already sold

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162

Anyone wishing to install Overwatch on their Steam Deck who is less than optimally competent like… a friend of mine say, might find this video really good.

It’s using Proton GE rather than the installed Proton. For some reason I didn’t want to use Lutris/Bottles but the The videos I had seen for normal Proton were, I believe a touch out of date, he does a lot of bells and whistles on this but he, crucially, actually takes time to do each of the steps. They also assume you are going to be using your SD card which is handy.

I also watched an introductory gaming in Linux that explained the background which I thoroughly recommend watching if I can find it for you. Otherwise the terms and the reasons for them might be lost on, you, yes they might be lost on you. I know totally what I’m talking about.

I’m going to install the Heroic Games Launcher to open up my Epic games library.

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163

I’m done with Spider-Man: Miles Morales, after starting a New Game+ and getting the final suits and upgrades. In the end, I found the game more enjoyable than the original. It’s mostly because I enjoy shorter games. Otherwise the game does everything the original did, save for having multiple boss battles (that I didn’t enjoy anyway).

Now I’ve started Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition and Dead Cells. I’m long overdue for playing FF15 due to my friend’s involvement with the original mobile version. About an hour in and it’s…cute? There’s not enough game play going on for me yet. But maybe that’s not right to change. (I could ask, but I’d rather just experience it for myself first.) Dead Cells is more my speed. Platforming in an ever changing world, combat that includes an effective and hard to master (for me) parry system, and incremental permanent changes that can be made over time? That’s what I want. As much as I might want to complain about long games, I love short games that can last me forever.

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