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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

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
I was able to speak to a healthy amount of people about VR. There were so many VR newbies at this event. Can anyone guess as to the Number 1 piece of Feedback I received after people were done trying both the Rift and Vive??

Luciferous
Consultant
Now as you mentioned the Vive, I bet it was how good the touch controllers were in comparison to the Vive wands.

RuneSR2
Grand Champion


Now as you mentioned the Vive, I bet it was how good the touch controllers were in comparison to the Vive wands.


That would be one of my guesses too. Next would be how comfortable the Rift HMD was compared to the Vive. As someone wrote: "The RIFT is like a putting pillow on your face compared to the skull crushing, swamp-ass-face VIVE."  😄 

Ok - I'll vote for the HMD comfort!  o:)




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
Actually, both of those are true! Anyone I met who had tried both Vive and Rift did very much mention the difference between the hand-controllers and overall comfort of the Rift HMD. In fact, one person went as far as to feel that the Rift's visuals were better than the Vive Pro - not because of clarity or resolution - but because of the distance the lenses are from your face. The Vive feels extended out a bit far, compared to the Rift which feels like it is pressed up right against your face. This draws you in more with the Rift, whereas the Vive Pro feel like you are looking through a small tunnel. That was one users experience at the event.

Everyone loved the Rift's comfort, and the Touch controllers were highly praised compared to those Wands. Probably why the Vive station was so empty so often (see my pic in the original post).

However, the most common piece of feedback I heard was... Motion Sickness!

So many VR Newbies would get motion sick after Stormland and Population:One, and even Space Pirate Trainer (on the Vive).

The VR game that people enjoyed the most, even VR newbies susceptible to motion sickness, was Beat Saber. probably because you get to just look straight the whole time lol.

Anonymous
Not applicable
That wasn't a zombie scene, you crazy fool. This is what happens to VR gamers if they play too many flat games. Good job you didn't play too much of these flat games otherwise you'd end up biting people on the way home. 😮 😄

Luciferous
Consultant
Not surprised about the motion sickness. Some of my friends got it when playing Wolfenstein 3D way back in the Mists of time. I guess it is easy to forget how overwhelming to the senses VR can be for newcomers.

I didn't mention headset, I guess that is more subjective. There is not much in it specs wise with the standard Vive but I presume people who wear glasses would get on better with the Vive design. If I am honest never even tried one on.

PS Zenbane thanks for the ongoing enthusiastic contribution to this forum. The effort you put in is greatly appreciated I am sure by many.


Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary

RuneSR2 said:
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 sexy ladies patrons...



Everything else you wrote was just noise.

 😉 






System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

RuneSR2
Grand Champion


Not surprised about the motion sickness. Some of my friends who got it when playing Wolfenstein 3D way back in the Mists of time. I guess it is easy to forget how overwhelming to the senses VR can be for newcomers.


 
If you're trying VR for the first time or close, Defector may be the very last thing to recommend  😄 

Beat Saber sounds much better, but it's of course much more boring visually. The more I think about it, it's quite hard to find great apps to really show off VR potentials while being nice to newcomers' stomachs... And at PAX you want to show new stuff - not First Contact  😄  

I've never been to PAX, looks like an awesome show - although my social phobia sense is slightly tingling  B)

i9gtrgo3n978.jpg

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


PS Zenbane thanks for the ongoing enthusiastic contribution to this forum. The effort you put in is greatly appreciated I am sure by many.



Hey thanks for the shoutout, buddy. It's such an exciting thing to be alive; between Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality as powerful tech entering people's homes globally... I feel like a kid in a candy store.



Everything else you wrote was just noise.



ooh, that is a different kinda candy you're looking at there, Mr. Naughty pants. I can concur that there was some very tasty looking cosplay patrons in attendance.
😉

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

RuneSR2 said:

i9gtrgo3n978.jpg



Thanks so much for posting this image! I honestly was pissed at myself for leaving without going up to the second floor and taking a similar pic. This area was so vast and intriguing. You could easily spend one entire day just in this part. I spent most of my time in entirely different areas of the building, where the Tournaments and VR setups were located. Such a huge and well structured event.