cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Stormland, Defector, Population:One (early preview at PAX South)

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
So yes, I was able to attend Pax South. This is my first convention involving VR - so I was pretty excited.

Let me begin by saying that Defector feels like a AAA VR Experience. The combat, mechanics, and overall mission strategies are unlike anything that has been released for VR (PC and otherwise) to-date. I was able to perform the mission where I jumped from one airplane to another, and it felt spectacular. The thing I loved the most is that we have all seen the trailer where we get to do this:

But after actually doing it... wow, just wow. When I landed on the other plane, it took me about 3 tries since I kept dying due to my inability to properly grab a handle on the incoming aircraft. You have to be precise in Defector. Hand-eye coordination in fast-paced scenes is a required skillset. And the airplane fun didn't stop there. I had to climb along the outside until I found an entrance. After I which I latched some belts on to my torso in order to plant myself firmly at the airplanes open hatch, as I proceeded to shoot at combat jets flying through the sky.

I was so upset when my "Rift time" ran out at this event! I anxiously await the release of Defector. And I'm certain that many of you will love this title.

Stormland
While I feel that Defector may have stolen the show, rest assured that Stormland is a masterpiece as well. This title is pure open-world exploration with a healthy those of combat. The world itself is marvelous and highly immersive. I would describe certain scenes as "majestic." Stormland also feels like a very well polished AAA VR Expience, and I can already see myself spending countless hours exploring the world they have created.

Population: One
This multiplayer VR PvP borrows from Fortnight, in that the player can create structures on-the-fly while in combat as heated First Person Shooter combat is in full effect. I think the concept is fantastic and could end up with a great addiction factor for FPS junkies. Personally, this was the least favorite of mine from these 3 titles simply because the world itself didn't seem vast enough, and the overall controls could use some refining. You can do so much all at once while moving in multiple directions (even a form of flight), that the movement can get a bit sloppy and inaccurate, which is a no-no for a pure PvP FPS. That being said, the developers have put a lot of love in to this game so I'm sure we can expect to see plenty of updates as time goes on.

The last thing I will say is that the lines at PAX South were very long. I stood in line for hours just to engage in 10-20 minute VR experiences. However, it didn't bother me one bit since this event really did showcase just how strong a presence both PCVR and the Oculus Rift is making in the entertainment world. I heard people of all ages, even very young children, talking about the Oculus Rift non-stop. And they did have the HTC Vive Pro available but in all sincerity, very few people would try them out. The 1+ hour Rift lines had Vive Pro's set up for anyone who wanted to demo VR without waiting in line for too long. But just about everyone would pass up the opportunity to use the Vive Pro and would instead wait in line for over an hour just to spend 10 minutes in Stormland and Defector.

That is a HUGE testament to how far the both PCVR and the Rift has come. And I assure you that I'm not exaggerating:

w7fk7ppxaymn.jpg


But in all fairness, it was nice to see the HTC Vive participating in the event alongside the Rift. Especially when they had the Jousting Time section going! It made for great entertainment while waiting in line to try the new Rift experiences. Here's a public clip on YouTube of this Jousting experience. And I'm sure you can see why this was so entertaining to watch!

This video clip is taking from PAX East, and it features a Rift Player vs a Vive Player. For some reason this seems like such a great metaphor...
68 REPLIES 68

motorsep
Rising Star

snowdog said:


Techy111 said:

They were all run on a 1050 vr ready laptop silly  😉  



...  I'm buying a Vive.


You are in for a bigger surprise  >:)

Anonymous
Not applicable

Zenbane said:

So yes, I was able to attend Pax South. This is my first convention involving VR - so I was pretty excited.


Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you go to go check it out! Did you get that Pinny Arcade pin while you were there? 

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
They ran out of pins by the time I got there! lol

I believe it though. Those lines were lengthy.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Dear Oculus, you ran out of badges before I got to PAX. Fuck you, I'm going to buy a Vive. 😄 😄 😄

Anonymous
Not applicable

Zenbane said:

They ran out of pins by the time I got there! lol

I believe it though. Those lines were lengthy.


 Bummer! I tried convincing some friends to get me one while they were there, but no dice. I don't blame them; I stay away from long lines at cons too. 

Zenbane
MVP
MVP



Zenbane said:

They ran out of pins by the time I got there! lol

I believe it though. Those lines were lengthy.


 Bummer! I tried convincing some friends to get me one while they were there, but no dice. I don't blame them; I stay away from long lines at cons too. 



I did snap a picture of the Oculus Pin area! Of course, I tried getting the pin at the very last minute; during the last remaining hours of the event.

mq4irwal7b2f.jpg


I really enjoyed my time here. I look forward to any future Facebook/Oculus VR events. And I'll definitely be getting a multi-day pass in the future.

Digikid1
Consultant
oh.  I thought that that was a mistake and they meant PENNY Arcade.  LOL!!!!!!!!

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

Digikid1 said:

oh.  I thought that that was a mistake and they meant PENNY Arcade.  LOL!!!!!!!!




RuneSR2
Grand Champion

Anything else going on at PAX that really impressed you? Other awesome (pancake) games? Hardware?

- And thanks for your elaborate impressions of Defector, Stormland and Population One!

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

RuneSR2 said:

Anything else going on at PAX that really impressed you? Other awesome (pancake) games? Hardware?




Absolutely! I was only there for one day, the final day. But next time I plan to get a multi-day pass because there was just so much goodness:
  • Plenty of cosplay amongst the patrons
  • A wide collection of board games were represented
  • Every major card game was present
  • Multiple AAA console games had massive setups. Such as Resident Evil with an entire Zombie Scene. You stood in line and played their game inside an actual horror house.
  • Tournaments galore! Tournaments for board games, card games, pancake games, and even VR Games. The Rift had Tournaments for The Unspoken and Eagle Flight.
  • Lots of PC Games were on display. I saw people playing horror games that I've never heard of on gaming Desktops and Laptops.
  • There was plenty of hardware being showcased; from gaming rigs, to individual PC parts, to Audio Hardware (Speakers and Headphones for every time of gamer).
  • Magic the Gathering, Magic the Gathering everywhere. MtG was clearly the hottest thing at Pax South. Events centered on this were everywhere and in large demand. People would sit and play MtG while in line for other products and demo's.
  • Theatre presentations were available all day, every day. Some were entertaining, others informative. Such as one that teaches you how to properly Stream as a gamer. And another which teaches you how to become a true PC Gamer and learn Case Modding. And Theatre events diving in franchises like WoW and Zelda.
  • Free give-a-ways at every turn.

My favorite thing is that just about every booth was more than about simply "standing in line to try things out." You also were able to engage with the people running the booth and learn quite a bit about anything related to the subject matter. If you wanted to learn a new card game or board game, just go up and start talking. They will sit you down and take you through all of it.

All that time I spent exploring VR at PAX South was just a small fraction of the offerings!

Here is the full event schedule:
http://south.paxsite.com/schedule#2019-01-18