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The Index thread (please keep to subject)

Techy111
MVP
MVP
As per the title, please respect the users who post here and keep it on topic, any nonsense and......grrr
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

2,973 REPLIES 2,973

Yes, with the Index I firmly believe that Alyx - by far - is the greatest computer game experience ever created by humans. Sure Lone Echo is great too, but Alyx looks a lot better - and performs much better too. And you simply can't beat a true and more than full-blooded Half-Life experience. With the big fov and Index controllers, Alyx really does not feel like a game anymore - putting on Knuckles like gloves and wearing the Index helmet, you simply become Alyx and everything feels genuine and real. 

Like I wrote earlier, I like some "gun staring" in Alyx - that is just to sit down and hold my gun close to the hmd to see the incredible amount of details, like micro-scratches on the paint and the very small design parts. It never gets old staring at the guns, lol - especially the yellow machine gun with the alien writings. I think you only get these special skins if you own Index hardware... 

 

My primary reason for RTX 3090 wasn't 120 Hz, it was 144 😉 144 Hz in Alyx just requires a gpu about 60% faster than my GTX 1080, 3090 should be more than perfect for 144 Hz - maybe with low or medium details, if you want very high res levels.  

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"

@Anonymous  with your Index, I'd forget about using SteamVR motion smoothing with your sims because it causes way too many wavy/blobby artifacts, for me anyway.  Now that you have a 'real' SteamVR headset you definitely want to try using the new SteamVR feature framerate throttle option.  You can see this on your SteamVR settings/video menus, at the bottom.  Like all SteamVR video settings you can do this per app.  I set all my flight sims to 45fps fixed throttle framerate with my vive pro and this works great = smooth and stutter-free.  With a resource hog like msfs2020 you may need to drop that to 30fps, lol!  Also, don't bother using 120Hz with your sims.  Stick with 90Hz (maybe even try 80Hz).  I only have a 90Hz refresh option with my VP and often wish I had 80Hz as an option.  No sense using more pc resources than you need to, esp. with flight sims.

 

Aside; today's rechargeable batteries do not have memory issues any more.  That was more with the very old nicads.  However, li=ion batteries like in your Index controllers do not like getting dragged down below 20-30% charge.  If you constantly drag them down below this you will reduce their capacity and useful life.  Fortunately, the early low battery warning seems to take place between 20-30% charge.  If you take care of them, Li-ion's can last a very long time.  Also, I would not worry about leaving them on a 1 amp or less charger since the Index (and Vive) controllers have in-built safety cutoff anyway.  Still not a good idea to leave them plugged in for much longer than necessary though.

i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 32Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks Tom will definitely keep those in mind.

I know with the Reverb G2 I had great luck running DCS and IL-2 at 100% resolution with Motion Smoothing on and forced to 45 fps. I only occasionally saw some odd artifacts but it was the exception rather than the rule. Granted it may be different in the Index, will see tomorrow.

Good to know about the batteries and memory issues not being like it use to be.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Sounds like I need to slow down and look at things more closely like the gun stock in Alyx, thanks for the tip.


@RuneSR2 wrote:

Yes, with the Index I firmly believe that Alyx - by far - is the greatest computer game experience ever created by humans.


Again, as discussed the first time this hyperbolic claim was made, the computer game that has the most Awards ever won in gaming history is Witcher 3. Alyx is far from the "greatest" in gaming history. I think it just tends to "feel" that way when discussing something "made for Index" on an Oculus website.

 

Everything feels better when discussing it in a competitor community. 

 

Getting back to actual facts,

 

Alyx actually lost Award nominations:

"Half-Life: Alyx was also nominated for Best Audio Design, Best Game Direction and Best Action Game. It lost all three – Best Audio Design and Best Game Direction went to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II and Best Action Game to Supergiant’s Hades."

 

Not to mention that Alyx wasn't even nominated for Best Game of the Year:

"No VR games were nominated for the overall Game of the Year award, which went to The Last of Us: Part II."

 

It is hard to sell something as "the best game ever" when it wasn't even nominated as "the best game the year it came out."

https://uploadvr.com/game-awards-2020-winners/

 

I've often mentioned the difference between a VR Enthusiast vs a Video Game Enthusiast.

And Alyx is a great example of that. Alyx is clearly a great game for a Video Game Enthusiast. But Lone Echo is a great VR Experience... for a VR Enthusiast.

 

"It looks like others realize this as well, including this reddit poster:

I'm clearly in the minority but lone echo by a mile. Though it depends what you're looking for really. Alyx is by far the most polished FPS I've played in VR, and the nostalgia factor was great but I never stopped to marvel at the wonders around me in it like I did in Lone Echo. I didn't care about the characters in Alyx like I cared about Olivia, or even Jack (who you play as). The weightless experience is also really something else, I really felt like I was there.

Half Life: Alyx is a hell of a game, Lone Echo is a hell of an experience."

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/gqdiyt/half_life_alyx_or_lone_echo/

 

Alyx will definitely rank higher to gamers. But to VR Enthusiasts... Lone Echo remains above all others.

 

Agreed that motion smoothing might be hit or miss in some games - but seems Valve has come a long way. In Paper Beast I'd swear motion smoothing works just as great as ASW 2.0, turning 45 fps into 90 so perfectly that I don't really notice the difference. Sure perfect 90+ fps are best, but motion smoothing automatically deactivates when you get 1:1 fps/hz. I've left motion smoothing on for many months, haven't noticed any problems. 

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"

Also check that you can read the extremely fine/small print on the back of the multitool - it's a lot of fun 🙂 I'm actually not even joking (guess I just have ... weird ... interests, lol - but some dev spent a lot of time writing the text ;-). 

 

Might need to get back soon, those sweet memories...

 

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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"

@RuneSR2  Once you get your nice new rtx3090 churning away you will never use asw 2.0 (or  SteamVR motion smoothing) ever again for pcvr games imho.  You still may want to try the framerate throttle limit feature though,  I find with some of my games (like HLA that I know I can get 90fps no problem I still find selecting this option and setting it to 90fps seems to help run things a little bit smoother.  Worth trying imho.

 

@Zenbane  Best is kinda always subjective mate.  I always tell my wife that she's the most beautiful girl and I don't need a Trump beauty contest in order to prove this.  Seems to work well for me given how she does not seem to mind all my VR spends.  Plus, I have yet to wake up with a pillow over my head, lol!

i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 32Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

RuneSR2
Grand Champion

Found out I've never written an Alyx review - but there're so many - still now I've finally done it - I'm so proud of myself, better late than never! 

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I guess the next time I become Alyx will be for real - 144 Hz - Hard difficulty. Well, that's Plan A, lol. 

 

I guess returning to Alyx in 144 Hz using hard difficulty might be close to this 

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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"


@TomCgcmfc wrote:

@Zenbane  Best is kinda always subjective mate.  I always tell my wife that she's the most beautiful girl and I don't need a Trump beauty contest in order to prove this.  Seems to work well for me given how she does not seem to mind all my VR spends.  Plus, I have yet to wake up with a pillow over my head, lol!


Sure, but do you go up to other couples and tell them that your wife is the most beautiful woman and their wives are secondary? lol

 

While there's some fun in going to an Oculus community to repeatedly state that Alyx is better than Lone Echo, it's obviously going to generate some feedback. Just like you would get a response if you told another married couple that your wife is more beautiful.

 

Granted, I don't personally understand that behavior. For example, I have never gone to an Index community to brag about how much better Lone Echo is as a VR Experience compared to Alyx as a video game experience. But I'm always happy to have constructive conversation. Even if it's around hyperbolic attention-grabbing soundbites.

😁