Half Life - Alyx

My Reverb G2 came in on Friday. i've been stuck on windows 1809 so it technically isn't supported on my build (something is preventing windows version updates, but not feature updates on my computer and i didn't feel like messing with it yet). i manually installed a bunch of the newer WMR drivers and the hp motion controller drivers and have it up and working except one flaw. the G2 controllers won't show up in Steam VR. they work great in the WMR cliff house, then when i launch Steam VR they disappear in the Steam VR cliff house, all the buttons besides the WMR menu button stop working, and only the headset shows connected in the Steam VR headset/controller status window. they show back up in Steam VR if i press the WMR for Steam VR menu screen button and pull up that menu screen in Steam VR, but disappear again when you close the menu. Steam VR won't let me connect the controllers while i'm in Steam Vr either. i'm sure its a compatibility issue with my older windows version and getting the windows to the supported version will probably fix the controller support files.

luckily my previous head set was a Samsung Odyssey WMR and those controllers work fine with the G2. so i can still use it fine with those controllers.

compared to my Samsung Odyssey the visuals are crystal clear, everything looks great. i can't really see any SDE. or i could say it's to the point where i can't remember if i have seen any or not. it just doesn't enter your mind with the G2. the smaller FOV than my Odyssey was instantly noticeable, but i got used to it in a few hours and stopped noticing it as much. the Odyssey actually has a pretty wide FOV so people coming from other headsets might not notice it as much. if you take the face plate off the FOV improves drastically and i think a new face plate that is probably 2cm or a little more thinner would fix the FOV to be closer to the Odyssey. i'm sure some VR mod company will make one to sell eventually. i have a 9900k, rtx 2080, and 32gb ram and it runs just as smooth as my Odyssey did. controllers track just fine. honestly similar to the Odyssey tracking with just better tracking near the head and side of the head. tapping the side of your helmet to turn the flashlight on in lone echo used to be a pain with the Odyssey as well as throwing grenades in Contractors. that is all fixed. i'm sure people used to using light houses for tracking might scoff at the tracking, but being a WMR user it is actually an improvement for me.

it is like seeing some games for the first time again. floating in space in Lone Echo is amazing with the crystal clear visuals.

i played to the first 2 save points on Half Life Alyx with my Odyssey before, but i stopped playing it and was saving the rest of my playthrough for when the Reverb G2 came in.

 

Too bad about the controllers I heard they take 2 batteries and only last about 4 hours which is awful but the main thing is the display and I heard it really is a marvel to see first hand people seem to be raving about it and its lack of screen door effect. I think the best of both worlds would be index controllers and g2 HMD

 

WMR controllers were always not the best on batteries. the controllers i have for my Samsung Odyssey and G2 are pretty much the same way with normal voltage batteries. the batteries that come with the G2 suck and that is why people are saying 4 hours. normal batteries last like 8-10 hours. the pkcell 1.5v rechargeable batteries i use last a lot longer than normal batteries. similar to how long my Xbox Elite controller lasts on a charge.

i may try the index controller route eventually though. not enough games use the multi finger tracking yet and i don't use VR chat so i'm holding off on that yet. maybe by the time games use more finger tracking WMR might have a better controller option than now.

to be honest i like the button layout on the Odyssey controllers more than the G2. having both a joy stick and a track pad with capacitive touch sensors and 4 way d-pad type input instead of a joy stick and 2 buttons means the Samsung controllers have a lot more button options. just sucks the Odyssey controllers are way bigger and the joy stick isn't as nice feeling as the G2. the grab button is a lot easier to use on the Odyssey controllers though.

 

Interesting! I've never seen the Odyssey controllers. It really looks like HP did not put too much effort in designing the G2 controllers. A bit of copy/paste, some resize, some more buttons and done
The grab button on the Vive controllers worked better for me but who knows, I may get used to these.

Using Index controllers with the G2, while it would work and probably improve the overall experience, I'm not sure it's worth the investment for now. I think the controllers only are $250 and a pair of base stations are also around $200. I may be wrong.

Most likely better and better headsets will start coming out and one of them is bound nail everything on a set.

Speaking of the batteries, I've also read these need quite a lot of power and that regular AAs are not the way to go. I've ordered these, should arrive tomorrow:

 

yeah Iv'e never seen batteries like that thats pretty sweet....might pick some up tomorrow..need them for my quest controllers.

also one quick question are there any free ways to play vr videos I have a few vr videos I want to check out but they are on my laptop..also have you guys tried virtual desktop with your g2?

How does the text look expereince ecetera

 

I was just planning on trying it out with some videos today. Download took a bit longer Will let you know. Haven't tested yet but search for DeoVR on Steam. It's a free 360 video player.

Haven't done any more testing, got a little annoyed last night as I couldn't get Boneworks started. The default controller mapping in Boneworks for the G2 is messed up and I couldn't even press the start button in the game's first room. Couldn't figure out how to set the controller mapping correctly and I just stopped... will try again.

Text looks good, even if I try to look at small details, I still can't see pixels. The screens really are good. One caveat here, you really need to have the headset in the correct position on your head. If it's a little high or a little low, things start to get blurry. The sweetspot is not too too small but careful initial headstrap adjustment is needed.

 

should i get a tv or the g2 thoughts? i know its subjective but i have no tv...but think the vr hmd would be the better choice

 

quick question...im thinking of using a 50 dollar gift card my dad sent for amazon...does a occulus link cable vs regular usb to usb c cable offer better iq and what do i search for to find those batteries

 

No idea about the cables. For the batts, I just went on Amazon and looked for 1.5v usb aa batteries

 

This headset is truly awesome. I've managed to set the correct controller profile and got in Boneworks last night. The image is very clear, text is easy to read and the fit is very comfortable. Once the straps are set, there's no fiddling, it just works whenever you put it on. Also, most likely because of the high resolution and high refresh rate, I feel I can play much longer with smooth motion and I have no signs of getting sick. With the Vive I had to keep my Boneworks sessions pretty short while last night, even after months of break, I had no problems even after an hour or so.

I love the audio setup too, it really helps there isn't something sitting and warming your ears too, less likely to cause fogging issues.

I'm really mad at HP for cheaping out with the controllers. The really would've been the ideal set at the moment. I have no tracking issues, I know the limitations but for normal gameplay, it works fine. My problem is they just don't feel natural, the button/trigger placement is bad and overall they just feel cheap. My only reference, as I said, are the old Vive controllers which I have to admit, felt awesome as soon as I fired up VR for the first time.

In the mean time I've bought what looks like a cool VR game (early build). Take a quick look at "Low-Fi". Going to try it later today.