Will the performance ever improve for games on Go?

UBSERD

 I noticed that out of the 25 to 30 games I own 75% of them are not fully smooth.  This was the big reason why I bought Go because I always thought that it was my computers that were causing these problems with performance. Now that we are on an all included device I expected there to be no issues with performance at all.

Every game has some flicker or stutter that happens occasionally. I know that this is mobile VR but I feel that the performance should come before graphical textures being really high resolution and such. Don’t give me wrong I love some of these games still even with the kinks, but it would be fantastic to have a fully smooth experience even at the cost of some graphical fidelity. In VR immersion is king, and graphics are secondary.

 I know some of this comes down to the developer updating the games but if these games are on the store they should really push these developers to make them run really smoothly on Go. 

I am also wondering if this is just because this is just the first few oculus updates and they may figure out tricks like asynchronous space warp for mobile?

AnnoyedDragon

Maybe I don't notice performance issues because I'm not 'in tune' with VR quirks, but the only slight judder I've experienced thus far was from the Darkness rollercoaster app; which I put down to porting. Drifting has been a far bigger issue for me and that's usually resolved by rebooting the device when on a flat surface, at least for me. There is also the odd crash to desktop, but that's usually caused by pressing the home button at a awkward moment.

We have to remember, pretty much all the content in store right now is a port from Gear VR. There is very little, if any, content that was designed for the Go from the ground up. Possibly the Oculus games but everything else is copied over, it's going to take time for things to settle down and we really start seeing native content.

cybereality

The games should be smooth. Can you name a few games that you think aren't running well?

UBSERD

I own two Go’s and they both have slight hangups in the same games I own for both. 
You name the game and more than likely there is some type of issue that I’ve noticed.

There are some that are more high offenders than others. I mean I can’t be the only person especially with so many artists on this site that hasn’t noticed millisecond hangups and millisecond stuttering and sometimes crippling performance like when you get to the end of a level in baskhead. Even Anshar Online struggles a little but not bad enough for me to complain too much.

 When games load it struggles in the beginning. Whenever something loads it struggles. When I get further in levels it’s struggles. It is not a constant thing though.
It goes from being really smooth to slight hangups to being really smooth again. It happens in just about every game and I bought most of the high profile ones. Even the Oculus studio games stutter sometimes and have reprojection when things pass by. For instance in mission ISS the beginning intro is a lag fest. You see reprojection everywhere and being that this is an all included device this should not be happening. There’s no variables it should be solid through and through.

UBSERD

 Don’t get me wrong this is a $200 device and I am happy with it. I’m just curious if anyone else has noticed these little issues being that I’m coming from the Rift and have never owned a gear VR. Maybe this is to be expected?

UBSERD

 I have a very sensitive eye for detail.  Maybe most other people don’t notice these things like I do.

LZoltowski

Verry odd so far I have no issues, can you give me a game example so I can compare it on my GO? Im a stickler for detail too so would be good to experience the issue you are having so an example of a Game ould be great

UBSERD

 I will go do some testing and get back to you as soon as I make a list. I will try to break down what’s happening in what game.   Thanks for the response man. 

LZoltowski

UBSERD said:

 I will go do some testing and get back to you as soon as I make a list. I will try to break down what’s happening in what game.   Thanks for the response man. 

 Thanks for posting and thank you for making an effort for a list, would be great to compare etc and try to get to the bottom of the issue, we shall then go bearing torches to the devs of the games

UBSERD

 Smash Hit -  during gameplay it starts pretty smooth and as soon as I get to the first door way to go into the next area I’m getting hard stuttering that lasted for 1 second then back to smooth. 

 VR Karts -  in the tutorial level I’m getting slight hesitation in the background while making turns. This is pretty consistent but not fully noticeable to most people I’m sure. When playing with bots this gets increased exponentially. 

VR Sports Challenge - I played one game only and that was the football grabbing game. I saw several hard hitches when the balls were heading my way, and a lot of stuttering hands when moving your cursor about. 

End Space -  Initial load ends up struggling. Once in the game there are micro stutters that happen occasionally. This is just in the tutorial with out any ships present other than mine of course.

Racket Fury -  When starting a game there is a bit of initial hitching.  During gameplay you can see the robot drops in frames in front of you. It’s very subtle but it’s there.  Very playable though.

Baskhead -  Starts really smooth in the beginning but by the end of the level the frames go down into the single digits when the balls start coming really fast. 

Drop Dead -  there is a lot of reprojection when zombies are moving especially from left to right,  and the cinematic in the beginning where you meet your team for the first time has a lot of reprojection.  Like a doubled image.

Ocean Rift -  The frame rate is not solid. Sometimes it’s smooth but sometimes it hitches. 

Anshar Online -  The initial load has hard hitching.  Occasional frame drops while flying around. This game is pretty smooth for the most part though but still it shouldn’t be doing this. 

Dead Secret Circle - Starts smooth but then as soon as an event happens, I get a slight hang up. Like when you first start playing the game and you’re walking into the house when the door opens for the first time it pauses for a split second. The doors in the game also have reprojection when opening them.


 These are just some of the experiences I’m having issues with. Maybe I’m being too nitpicky and should just except that this is a $200 piece of hardware and I can’t expect it to hit its frame rate all the time. It’s still fantastic none the less. But it would be nice to have rock solid frames all the time.

LZoltowski

UBSERD said:

 Smash Hit -  during gameplay it starts pretty smooth and as soon as I get to the first door way to go into the next area I’m getting hard stuttering that lasted for 1 second then back to smooth. 

 VR Karts -  in the tutorial level I’m getting slight hesitation in the background while making turns. This is pretty consistent but not fully noticeable to most people I’m sure. When playing with bots this gets increased exponentially. 

VR Sports Challenge - I played one game only and that was the football grabbing game. I saw several hard hitches when the balls were heading my way, and a lot of stuttering hands when moving your cursor about. 

End Space -  Initial load ends up struggling. Once in the game there are micro stutters that happen occasionally. This is just in the tutorial with out any ships present other than mine of course.

Racket Fury -  When starting a game there is a bit of initial hitching.  During gameplay you can see the robot drops in frames in front of you. It’s very subtle but it’s there.  Very playable though.

Baskhead -  Starts really smooth in the beginning but by the end of the level the frames go down into the single digits when the balls start coming really fast. 

Drop Dead -  there is a lot of reprojection win zombies are moving especially from left to right,  and the cinematic in the beginning where you meet your team for the first time has a lot of reprojection.  Like a doubled image.

Ocean Rift -  The frame rate is not solid. Sometimes it’s smooth but sometimes it hitches. 

Anshar Online -  The initial load has hard hitching.  Occasional frame drops while flying around. This game is pretty smooth for the most part though but still it shouldn’t be doing this. 

Dead Secret Circle - Starts smooth but then as soon as an event happens, I get a slight hang up. Like when you first start playing the game and you’re walking into the house when the door opens for the first time it pauses for a split second. The doors in the game also have reprojection one opening them.


 These are just some of the experiences I’m having issues with. Maybe I’m being too nitpicky and should just except that this is a $200 piece of hardware and I can’t expect it to hit its frame rate all the time. It’s still fantastic none the less. But it would be nice to have rock solid frames all the time.

Awesome, thanks for compiling the list! Will have a "GO" at these tomorrow and let you know how I get on. Bed time for me now!

UBSERD

 Awesome man thanks for getting back to me. I’m hoping this can help to notice these very minor, but distracting anomalies.

Have a “GO”. The puns are impeccable my good friend.

UBSERD

Thanks again!

cybereality

Thanks for making a list. I'd like to test some of these out as well.

UBSERD

cybereality said:

Thanks for making a list. I'd like to test some of these out as well.

No problem Cyber. Hopefully this will help make everything even better than it already is.

UBSERD

@LZoltowski hey man. Seeing if you had a chance to review the games I listed.

One I didn’t mention that has horrendous reprojection is Republique VR. It’s a great game but every time the characters move there is a severe doubled image that makes it hard to fully get immersed.  

If someone owns any of these games please let me know if they see the same things as I do. This happens on both of my Oculus Go’s so I doubt it’s my hardware. Thanks!

L.E.D.BLUE

I see this also. One off the top of my head is Cloudlands Golf. I might have to return it because of how much the sky flickers. My first thought was that it would be updated for Go.
The loading screen for Bigscreen is as a coworker put it "shimmery".

UBSERD

HavokzProdigy said:

I see this also. One off the top of my head is Cloudlands Golf. I might have to return it because of how much the sky flickers. My first thought was that it would be updated for Go.
The loading screen for Bigscreen is as a coworker put it "shimmery".

 Thanks for the reply @HavokzProdigy.  I haven’t tried bigscreen yet but Cloudland didn’t really seem too bad from my experience although I didn’t really look at the sky too much.  I will go back and test it and let you know.

Do you own Repubique VR by chance?  I’m just curious if the doubled image on all moving objects including the main character  is consistent throughout all Oculus Go’s and if so how can this be acceptable performance?

L.E.D.BLUE

UBSERD said:

HavokzProdigy said:

I see this also. One off the top of my head is Cloudlands Golf. I might have to return it because of how much the sky flickers. My first thought was that it would be updated for Go.
The loading screen for Bigscreen is as a coworker put it "shimmery".

 Thanks for the reply @HavokzProdigy.  I haven’t tried bigscreen yet but Cloudland didn’t really seem too bad from my experience although I didn’t really look at the sky too much.  I will go back and test it and let you know.

Do you own Repubique VR by chance?  I’m just curious if the doubled image on all moving objects including the main character  is consistent throughout all Oculus Go’s and if so how can this be acceptable performance?

I do not own Repubique yet. I don't get sick in VR but the flashing in cloudlands was testing that limit. I am also sensitive to low quality florescent lighting that flickers so that may have something to do with it.

UBSERD

 I do recommend picking it up because it is a really good game. I’m just hoping that they can help with the reprojection because it just destroys the immersion in the experience. 

UBSERD

 I also notice that if you look at the lenses from a distance with your finger over the sensor you can see the lenses flash rapidly like a strobe light. I wonder if this is causing your discomfort issues?  You don’t get any of that as far as I could ever tell in the Rift. 

UBSERD

I guess everyone else is totally 100% loving the performance in some of these games on Go? The majority of the bigger games at that.

Just checking because I find it strange that out of the 200+ views only 3 people chimed in regarding this. 

I’d accept that this is as good as it will get because of limitations and I’ll get used to it and deal, but to say the all the experiences are smooth is a falsehood I’m sorry. 

Framerate > Graphics/Resolution = Better VR

UBSERD

I tried a third Go and the same hitches, loading lag and the like.

UBSERD

@AnnoyedDragon very true that most of these games are just ports from Gear, and that puts things in more perspective and I appreciate your answer. I feel things will improve as time progresses like you mentioned and I can put up with these little issues until then. Thank you again for taking the time my friend! Cheers!!

UBSERD

Make the best of it for now anyone who feels the same about these older games. It will get better. It still would be nice to get these devs to improve these games since they will be making a lot more sales

firagabird

Based on your anecdotes & examples, I would guess that you're at the upper bound of the population that is highly sensitive to frame rate variations. You seem to be able to detect & get bothered by any form of reprojection, whether steady or brief. What I'm wondering is, does it bother you to the point that you can no longer enjoy any of the games you listed?

The thing is, the short answer to your question is: yes, of course performance will "ever" improve for games. There's always room for optimization in a title. The only question is whether the dev can afford to spend the time to do so. In practice, the vast majority of Go users are ultimately not bothered enough by occasional reprojection in games that their enjoyment is marred. Optimization is a process with diminishing returns, so devs won't work past that point. It's not ideal, but that's how you make a living in game development.

A great anecdote relevant to the question I posed to you at the start has to do with John Carmack (creator of Doom, currently Oculus CTO) and Minecraft for Gear VR (Go's smartphone-based predecessor). If anyone embodies the importance of maximizing the image quality in mobile VR, it's John. Graphically, Minecraft is not a perfect game. In its early versions, it broke basically every guideline that John set: it was horribly aliased, and stuttered occasionally, among others. Despite that, John found while he was testing it that he could set aside his many justified issues with the game and enjoy the immersion that playing Minecraft in VR provided.

I'm in a similar boat. I'm sensitive to technical imperfections in the experience of playing in VR. Whether it's noticing aliased textures or stuttering or blurry text, I'll notice it. Over time though, I've learned that these issues can be set aside if the game I'm playing is fundamentally engaging. I believe you can, too. If not, then unfortunately Oculus Go will not be a satisfactory VR experience for you. Your alternative though will be to return to PC VR & Rift, which is the only platform right now with ASW.