VR the champions of the world?

[Skybird]

^ No game for carnivores! :D

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/Gf5KPKhBfwo?si=8dlTwS2cx5emOaR6

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/PzfnBJLSw6M?si=7pfGP8HnPUTBAxcn

[Skybird]

Te Arai got the putting course as well now.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm7EQO0OTPY

[Skybird]

In recent days, I played Dawn of Jets a very lot. Formally it still is in early access, the only thing that seems to be missing however is MP.
Its an awesome game, not totally arcade, not a total hifi sim, but a superb balance that makes probably most optimal use of the hardware in the Quest3 that is possible, it really is stunning what they squeeze out of it in performance. Mind you, Quest3 is in principle not more than a smartphone, not a PC.
The customer ratings are usually very high, at around 4.85/5.0 It is an awesome lot of fun, I must say, but also: I find it very difficult, not the flying, but the surviving, once the enemy has realised you are there, all gates to hell will open you get fire from all directions, from the groudn, from the air. I find it really difficult, but in a fun-way, but I admit: so far I just get wiped out of the sky after some minutes of combat every time.
It reminds me a lot of a massively beefed up Mig Alley, but being superior in all regards. The dogfighting is excellent, a real vicous brute force ballet in the sky, and when you must watch a couple of Migs plus the gorund and hilly terrain plus Flak form all directions, you get more than just your handful of problems, but you dance with a swarm of devils thermselves. The steering feels quite good, I rest my right hand on a lenght-adjusted real world stick with the lower hand fixed between my feet. It feels like a real stick, almost, and allows remarkable precision and control comfort, I do not oversteer nor do I suffer form lacking reaction - they tuned the steering very nice and really hit the sweet spot.

Can only say positive things about this so far. I think for MP fans it will become something absolutely awesome. One of the absolutely best titles on Quest3, a must-have. Unconditionally recommended.
--------------------------


Some weeks ago, update v72 "bricked" some Quest3 and 3s, apparently this was the case if several of the updates before where not installed. The problem was so severe that the hardware had to be replaced by Meta. After an interruption in their updating, things now seem to have been solved. Neither me nor my Mum were affected.

--------------

Another Quest headset will come, but not, as some rumoured, in 2025. I am absolutely fine with that. We speak of a new version, not of a downgrade for cheaper price like the Quest 3s. Beside more processing power, we can expect face recognition and even better visuals/displays, I am sure. There will be more, no doubt, but I am not well informed on that, and I wonder who already is...

In recent months time and agains oem people tried to annoucne "peak VR" and predicted its gloom. its fall and its fate of now finally - finally! hooray! - failing terribly. All that is totla nonsense. I red an editorial recently that mptivated to google for some more inside business data. While Sony dropped out of VR for its PS5 due to its lack of titles and not overly compoetent managmenet deicisons on its VR having left players unimpressed and customers not buying, many other manufacturers intensify and beef up their development and hardware releases both for independent headsets and for PC. Valve just ointoruced its new - cable free, I think - headset, others build new ones with the now open Meta operation system of the Quest. Hardware sales numbers by Meta constantly grew over the past years, so did the revenues of the Meta software store, with ever more titles coming in. I cannot imagine where these VR doomsday predictions are coming from, but the future looks quite the opposite.

I wonder how my beloved GOLF+ will look in a new headset with even crispier resolutions in 2026 or so. :)

[Skybird]

Elegance and Genius had a baby, and this is it.

https://youtu.be/g9h4C6cJun4?si=jneN9_BBKUXPGgxX

I swear I boiled some brain cells. It looks so harmless, so small and tiny. But these puzzles oh so easily make your brain crack open and melt. Already the first puzzle on "Easy" - on the video - saw me failing to solve it after trying for 20 minutes. :haha: The games contains many hundreds puzzles, sorted in three difficulty levels. This one was the meant to be the simpliest.
The game can also be played in Mixed Reality, making this a very laid-back experience nevertheless, to relax at home.

Usually I am not in to puzzles at all, but this sort of type I love.

Very recommended.

Alternative: the older CUBISM. Looks simplistic and harmless. It isn't. You've been warned. ;) Different to Cube Master, it allows plenty of options to tune the game'S background tech the way you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7x0PoLGXoQ

[Skybird]

I read that Meta decided to discontinue the 128GB version of the Quest 3 back in the autumn, which I think makes sense. So the 128GB models that are still available seem to be a clearance sale, but will not be replenished once they are gone.

The Quest 3 512 GB model of course continues to be available, beside the Quest 3S.

I would always recommend to go with the full Quest 3 version, it simply has the better displays and lenses and better mixed reality mode, i read. Have not tried the 3S myself, however, so i just parrot what I have red. :)

[Skybird]

AppLab is where you sometimes can dig out true hidden gems nobody so far has ever heard of or took note of. In examples like this game, this unthankful fate is undeserved. "Wallball" is a straight, no nonsense, undistracted and Spartan designed racket&ball sort of sports game that can be described as Squash and Pong having a baby. It reminds me a bit of an old Amiga game, "Zero Gravity".The speeds can become frenzy and a true test of reflexes as if trading fast volleys inside Pickleball's kitchen. There are fourty bot opponents of increasing ability and speed, you also can finetune (in skills) your own one. Sooner or later the action starts to turn into a real workout. You need 2x1.5m of space.


One of the best of its kind I know, its brilliant! Just discovered it yeszterday, I fell in love after tne seconds of gameplay. You launch it, you click an opponent, you play - straight and direct deal. The simple visual design is fully functional, do not be fooled by it. It really does not need more than just this. It does not get any more direct than this.



A mixed reality mode would be nice, however. But the author has not worked on this game since two years or so.



Very good, one of the very best in the category "racket&ball".



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLvDCiyzYdk


The old Amiga game I mentioned.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOp_Ptku3BA

[Skybird]

A new headframe for the Quest 3 has been released by Meta, and like all addon hardware by Meta it is overpriced, yes, but take into account that the headset itself gets priced as a loss for Meta, the selling price of the Quest 3 is deficitary for Meta (they make their money from the software environment).

This frame looks counterintuitive and immersion-breaking at first, but could be the solution to one big problem you face with all these headsets of today if you use them for sports games or worse: giving yourself a real cardio workout that gets your sweat pumping, and thus give you a wet face - which leads to fogging of the lenses, also your glasses, if you wear one under the headset. Very annoying, and the reason why I must make regular breaks to dry the lenses and the inside rubbercoating of the mask when smashing those balls over the net or trading blows with that sparring partner even when I stand in front of a ventilator. Therefore, I bit into the soar fruit and just ordered it. I will report the experience woth it.



https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/elementpath/media/?media_id=900815198552973&version=1726491482&transcode_extension=webp&cb=1
A thin plastic frame. Really, Meta, the price policy is ridiculous... You could at leats have added a silicon lip for the cloth on the frame. I can understand that everybody not being as enthusiastic as I am refuses to buy this. At least as long as he sees no need due to the problem I mentioned above: fogging, sweating.

[Skybird]

German Amazon offers the 512GB Quest 3 for the former price of the 128 GB version, €550.

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/2D_RFgyz_nI?si=a2s3zf60EDjcnYRK

[Catfish]

Does the meta quest3 work in all vr sims?
No experience with vr yet but I am planning a new pc and some vr gear, if not necessarily the meta headset.
Seems this meta horizon thing is pretty crappy, along with Suckerberg's 'metaverse'

[Skybird]

You can use the Quest3 in two ways, either as a device running software from the Metastore, or as PC-connected device like any cable-bound PC headset, running PC games from Steam, for example. So, your initial question's answer is Yes.

When linking to the PC for a Steam game, you have the option to use Meta's own Airlink app, which Meta recommends not to use :) , they recommend to use Steamlink. You just click open the app in the Quest, and thats it (has to be initialised once when connecting for first time ever). Steam on your PC will automatically detect it and do the rest. You can also link up via cable.

Some VR games exist in Steam PC and in Quest versions. Usually the Quest version is better suited.

Two notes.

The Quest 3 is "best of its generation" not because it is outstanding best of the best in this or that category, but because it is the - by far - best bang for the buck ratio while offering very good - not outstanding but really very very good - visual quality and very good, again not outstanding but very very good scores in all other techncial categories. Its the complete package compared to the low (for Meta even deficitary) price tag which makes the Quest the current king on the hill. No other headset is even close to offering this much for this "low" price.

If however you plan to mainly use your headset for cockpit sims on PC (flight sims, racing sims), and you prioritize the maximum possible crispy graphics to read dials even better (and you can do that already very well in the Quest), then you may want to check out a cable-bound PC headset like one of the Pimax models or the Bigscreen model, YT has plenty of tests and reviews. But I have no own experience with these, cannot help you there.

Do not consider the Quest 3s, its cheaper, but the visual quality also is visibly inferior. You get less of what you pay less for. :)

What sort of sims or games do you plan to play in VR, or is it travelling experiences and moviewatching?

I can only recommend to never underestimate the high relevance of not being bound by cable connection to PC anymore. Standalone headsets give you a degree of freedom that I did not correctly anticipate before I got the Quest 3, but when I used it, I turned into a believer within a few minutes. No way I could ever go back to cable-bound.

Note that you can also play 2D, non VR games in a headset and benefit from that, though it is not a good experince with each and every game: you could enter a virtual cinema and then play your game in 2D on the monumental movie screen in there. Size matters! LOL . Its trial and error, some games get received by your senses well this way, others not. Wreckfest for example is a complete new ball game this way. FPS like Fallout or TheHunter on the other handI could not stand, it melts my brain, namely the bopping of the head when moving.

The Meta store has been turned into a mess, crap is seated beside outstanding benchmark titles, and there are now hundreds of games available - or half-finished products that do not get worked on anymore. They really messed this one up, and intentionally so, as the video above explains. One needs time to do good scanning of the market - or a compass and a map. If you tell me what kind of games or software you are interested in, I could help you with some recommendations.

I always will and do recommend to not just look at games, but also check movie watching in virtual cinemas, and educational software. For example I frequently use my 3D VR anatomy atlas program. It teaches you awe, you feel humbled at times. Also, a lot of travelling - both Google Earth and Google Streetview is full worthily accessible now in the Quest 3 for the first time ever in standalone VR headsets (or you mirror PC Google into the mask). Nerxt, city tours in High Res travel videos on YT, or in 180° and 360° videos. I did sightseeing via bus tours in 90 minztes trips to new York, London, Berlin... Its fantastic.

[Skybird]

Oh, and yes - Meta Horizon Worlds are somethign I am completely desinterested in, too. While me and my Mom, getting 77 soon! , sometimes meet in a cozy lobby place in BigScreen, we mostly socialise when playing minigolf (ideal), Golf (also ideal ), a bit of table tennis or Pickleball. Play while chatting, so to speak. In this regard VR can be a really socialising experience. You soon slide so naturally into your avatar that you take the avatar of your partner(s) as natural as well and people even usually start to gesture as if they were face-to-face in reality. You even look the other into his comic avatar eyes as if they wer real, the brain simply tricks you into forgetting the difference.

A relaxed game like minigolf or so is really perfect for socialising and chatting with close friends and family members. I do not necessarily need it with foreigners, and so I dont do it. But with my Mum - we both maybe even prefer it to video-calls.

[Catfish]

Hey, danke for this extensive info!
I would primarily try it with 'Flying circus', Microsoft's and other flight sims, Wolfpack, racing sims and maybe later virtually explore landscapes and cities. I am trying to avoid steam though despite it has its merits..
Will also look for 'pimax' and others, there is also Google and this oculus rift, but no idea about prices.

[Skybird]

Oculus = Meta. They bought them.

Rift is a model series that is gone since long. I had the Rift 1 from autumn 2017 on until three years ago. I then got the HP G2 Reverb. The g2 meanwhile was decommissioned, too

Beware remaining stocks of Windows Mixed Reality headsets that still may be around. Windows Mixed Reality has been actuvely switched off and removed from Windows 11. Its dead.

You said race and flight sims. Indeed check out the Pimax model line then, I read much good, but also some controversial opions about it. I have nio experience with Pimax myself, however. Its cable bound, if you ever find that against your expectation you learned to appreciate sports or racket&ball games, you will regret the cable. And dont rule out prematurely you could learn to like these sports games, or other games where cable-free is a benefit. You wouldn'T be the first to be taught for the better...

And one thing, if you never have experienced VR before, then you do not know how prone you are to "VR sickness". Most people, if they initially are vulnerable, can train their brain and over time become more tolerant and finally even fully adapted. The brain can get trained, by using shorter sessions and slow moving titles that do not include plenty of fast, hectic movement or flying experiences. Many games also are rated for "comfort levels", the higher the rating, the more invulnerability to VR sickness is reocmmended ot play them. Good to get into VR are stationary things, even board games at first, stuff that can be played while being seated, and so forth, then gradually increase session length and "movement hectic". However a low percentage of people never get used to it, namely older people. If then you have spend an awsome lot of money on VR hardware, your loss is bigger than if you went for a more economic bang-for-the-buck solution.

My Mum, now 77, initially was horrified when meeting VR the first time , she could not get along with the different handlign ergonoimcs of Meta OS, and the 3D effect. But I did not let her run away and made her using it ever again, and she slowly adapted to it, Today she can play Golf or Tennis for one hour, standing freely, and navigates the OS and software like a pro. She loves the Golf. So, if the first experience is not that good: wirf nicht sofort die Flinte ins Korn!

[Skybird]

There is a Subsim General Topics app :D :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxELdbumGQQ

[Skybird]

Hoppla...! Civilization VII goes Quest 3 and 3s !


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwiq199u9jU

[Skybird]

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2943156&postcount=509
Wowh, I didn't expect that - small change, huge impact: I'm thrilled!

https://i.postimg.cc/pVq02Gh3/20250211-124824.jpg (https://postimg.cc/t7ndkzzz)

The new frame really is nothing less than a game changer, at least if you have problems with fogging on your lenses and/or play a lot of sweaty sports games. I can clearly feel the airflow from the fan on my face, around my eyes and over the bridge of my nose, my face is cooled very well, sweat doesn't form and therefore no condensation forms on the lenses or inside the mask. This is of course of the utmost interest for titles such as Thrill of the Fight and Beat-the-beats workouts, which can be really medium and hard cardio training. I sometimes look as if I just have left the swimming pool...

But even in summer, when the room temperature was generally high, I had problems with my face sweating, even with quiet titles, simply because I was so heated up by the summer temperatures. That should also be a thing of the past.

https://i.postimg.cc/jSVyKPXG/20250211-124427.jpg (https://postimg.cc/svcM4Bbc)

Finally, there is an amazing visual effect that I immediately learnt to appreciate. What is perceived as a black frame around the field of vision in a closed mask is now suddenly accessible to the eye perception of the peripheral field of vision. In mixed reality mode, the field of vision of the lenses merges seamlessly into the peripheral field of vision of the eyes. This results in a completely new, airier, more natural perception of the surroundings with the mask when it is in MR mode. It's as if the FOV suddenly expands massively in all directions. It almost feels like wearing augmented reality glasses.

Super gadget...!!!

There is also a small disadvantage, the fit of the soft attachments (one thick and one thin frame, both very well covered with textile) is not as perfect as it could have been. The old original frame rested on both cheekbones, with a clear weight load in the vertical, this frame now shifts this axis to the horizontal, with the contact pressure point mainly in the area of the forehead between the eyes. The mask therefore tends not to sit quite as stably as the original frame. If the old geometry had been retained, there would have been greater pressure loads where the cut-outs on the sides are now, which this thinner frame might not have been able to cope with, I could imagine that this is why they changed it.

The silicone lip that I use on the pads of the old frame also fits on this new frame.

In some games and applications, some people may find the immersion reduced. This can be changed quickly with a flick of the wrist, changing the frames is really not a big deal and can be done quickly, in ten seconds.

Thumbs up from me! I can only recommend it.

[Catfish]

Now if this is the quest3 the picture quality is 'good enough' for me..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pzo2C_4a9Kg&pp=ygULRGNzIHdpdGggdnI%3D

Just.. wow.

[Skybird]

Oh-oh - do NOT take such videos as indicative for the exact resolution you see inside any headset!


But first, yes, thats a Quest 3 he is wearing.


Videos on games for VR illustrate the PC's video card that the video was edited and cut on. These video captures are passing either through the PC video card and get transformed into PC monitor compliant formats/resolutionsions, or the Quest 3 does it when recording directly with it and copying the video file then to PC (thats how I do it).


You would need to put the camera you film with directly, physically, on the lenses of the headset, to get the real image form inside the headset. Which may be possible, but is an optical, technical nightmare to realise due to the distortions.


Now, does this mean the visual quality is not good? No, it does not mean that. Inside a car or aircraft cockpit, wou will be able to read the dials, and the fine print on gauges, the scratches and fingerprints on glass and so forth. But different to a computer monitor with HD or 4K, you will need to place your advatar eyes closer to these details, for while the so-called screendoor effect has been dramatically reduced in recent years (it means you can see the pixel matrix like a "Fliegengitter" and that in the distance things become blurry), in the distance you still must expect that things are not as crispy and sharp as they are 30cm before your avatar eyes.



I got my first headset, the Rift 1, in autumn 2017. The visual quality, the sharpness in that thing I would compare to the very old TV quality of CRTs from the 70s and 80s when the signal was delivered via antenna, not cable. And that were no sharp images! :03: Watch an old VHS, and you see it immediately. It was very difficult to read gauges in a cockpit, and texts. Cars in a race that were 200m ahead were just a cloud of mishmash pixels. What the headsets of the present can do now maybe compares to one step below HD resolution with graphics from PC as they were common lets say 12 years ago or.



Nevertheless: people who see VR 2024 first time ever today, usually are blown away by it. So, I do not mean to discourage you, NOT AT ALL!, but I want you to have realistic expectations. If you think you get lasersharp graphics like on a PC 4K monitor, then you will get dissapointed. When I play golf, I see the ball, the iron, the vicinity of whwere I stand up to several meters away quite sharp. I cna read the texts on mnuemnts and advertising posters, or memory stones. I can clearly see the hole in the ground, 13m away. But the treeline a hundred meters away, while i still can easily identify details, is a little, a very little bit washed out. Its not dramatic, it does not effect functionality at all - but you will take note of it.



Pixel resolution per eye gives you a hint on what to expect from a headset, but its not the only thing that decides the visual quality. The way the lenses "put together" the visual impression from the separated but neighbouring pixels is as important. The Quest 3 has a very huge advantage here, when its so-called pancake lenses (different to fresnel lenses) were shown, they were superior to anything there was in lenses so far. Brighteness, colour temperature and the "blackness in the blackness" and especially how wide the field of view is (on FOV the Pimax models have huge advantages, I read) also must be taken into account.



Finally, the mixed reality mode. It can be done with texts on a screen beign unreadable. it can be done in grey tone only. It can be done in a screen-blinking fashion. Or with a terrible colour tempertaure. Or with flickering lights in it. Resolution-wise, there are better mixed realities in VR, in the Apple headset for example :D for seven times the money. But I would claim that the MR in the Quest 3 does very, very damn well, taken for itself, so is the hand scanning ( handing all operations just by hand without controllers, nice when playing chess for example, you play naturally and can put the controllers aside). I could read my smartpohone in MR, a whole book page if I want, and the colours of my surroundings and lights are practically identical to what my naked eyes would see. So, in MR the image quality really is very good now. Not perfect, but very good.



Meta has opened its OS to other headset makers if they build Meta OS into them, you could use these headsets for PC via Steamlink or Virtual Desktop, AND for the Metastore. There are some titles, that are Meta exclusively, if you buy a PC headset that has no Meta OS, you would be limited to just PC, and cannot access any Meta titles. That becomes a PITA the moment you find one thing that you really would like to play, but then cannot. So, make this a criterion for your decision on what model to get.



I repeat what I said before: myself, I would never go cable-bound again, is just not imaginable for me anymore. I played racket and ball games with cable bound Rift and G2, and I play the same titles now without cable, and it does not compare. Or I walk through my whole flat without needing to care for anything. Younger players may benefit when still liking action games that turn your whole appartement into the playspace (or battleground...), including the furniture which then becomes part of the game world.



Cable-bound PC headsets can be better suited for specalised needs. But if these needs are not engraved in stone and one is not 100% certain that one will never want to try something beyond that limitation, I would advise against these, even if they may offer a slightly better image quality (or not, i dont know). This sort of hardware is expensive and you can easily spend a second big furtune on hardware and app addons for just the VR headset, so one really should be sure what one pays for, and why. In this regard, the Quest is the by far most superior and most cost-effective offering on the market. And that is my prime argument why I recommend this one before the others.



If you go with the Quest3, make sure you get the 3 and not the 3S, and make sure you get the 512 GB model, not a remaining survivor of the - now discontinued - 128 Gb model. You also should plan with a headstrap replacement with included battery extension, the default one is garbage, nothing else.



And one obvious thing: for a demanding headset that is cable-bound to PC, you need a VERY beefy and thus expensive PC. A quest can run stuff without a PC. and it doe snot limit you to the playing grpund near the PC. I often sat on the balcony when doing something with it, watching a movie or whatever.

[Skybird]

BTW, I used FS2020 with the G2 and the Quest 3. I had to reduce options and such to have my old system maintaing the siom and vR toegther but It worked - unbtil one FS update from a year ago added somethign I dont know but that now has my system crashing, thats why I am out of the FS business currently. I assume they added some performance hungry stuff that my rig - 7.5 years old - cannot handle anymore. But I can confirm that the visual imnmroessionb already in the infeiror G2 was glorious, and that dials and gauges were great to read, even better in the Quest 3.



I hope ypu are aware o fthe many issues with Wiondows 11, Kai. Its the reason why I currently do not plan to ever get another Windows system again. The dangers from prigacy and seucty breahcres inbcluded by design and intentions are very severe, and preventing regular logging off fron Windows online services that yu had to log in with your windows account and pushing known highyl broken updates onto users doe snto make it better. You read that right: if you log into something with your windows aco**** - amandatory now - you can never log out again, even if you logged in from a foreign or public machine - when you leave, you will stay logged in, forever. If this does not alarm people any ring security concerns, beside Recall Total Surveillance and Copilot, then I'm really out of advise.



The machine wants all of you. It does not take No for an answer anymore. The only way to prevent this is to not let it in in the first. Once it is in, you have no more defences.



Believe it or not, that is also a reason why I recommend Quest before PC-bound headsets.

[Skybird]

@Kai,


this guy has done several "through the lenses" videos, check them out to get a realistic idea of what to expect in viosual quality.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9igbEsn51n8

[Skybird]

I think all points he makes are relevant and valid.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Sv3LsXuW8


I did not know that the Pimax uses a paid subscription model. A no go for me. Also its quite expensive for what you get.


Yes, the Valve Index is overpriced and old and outdated. Bad bang for the buck ratio. But said to have best tracking (with external sensors).

Yes, the Pico'S ecopshere is too tiny and not relevant enough.


Yes, the Bigscreen is personalised. I think it also has no sound, you need to link your own soundsystem/headphones. Its, like some of the others, not a good price-value ratio.


Yes, the Quest 3s has the best price-vlaue ration. Ideal for somebody who sitll needs to be cibvicned and doe snit know he would stay with VR. At 300 coins, the cost is managable even if it turns into a loss. For that money you cannto complkain about anything it gives you.


And, no surprise, yes, I still think the Quest 3 is all in all the best package and cost-value ratio. Its tracking is udnerrated, me thinks. I mean I play table tennis in original speed with it - table tennis! That means speed in hand movement, that means precision in tracking hand attitude. More you cannot ask for.

So, I think the author gets all things right.


Samsung and Sony (I think it was Sony) are moving towards the starting block to enter the race with their own headset featuring the Meta Horizon OS. I seem to recall that HP also has something in the making again (they said they would ignore VR after the G2), but I could be wrong there.


Edit. No, not Sony, it was somebody else...

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/r89ws1TjmFo?si=gSsS7jaFl0fByIIh

[Skybird]

Eagle time...! :yeah: Eagle played on the new Te Arai North (New Zealand). Hole no. 14 is a par 5, I made it in 3 strokes. Only my second eagle ever! :Kaleun_Cheers:
Went on with trying the Putting course at Te Arai as well, 18 holes par 3. Ended up with just +1 over par. Not too shabby I would say.


I like the different looks, mood, style and atmospher eof the two Te Arai courses, North and South. By looks they ocmnpare, but the Southern course is more relaxed and the Greens are more forgiving, the Northern is more technical and many of the Greens are really mean.

[Skybird]

https://youtube.com/shorts/_wAMGFeus0c?si=p8R93exMhXT25FfH

Gaming until you fade out...:-?

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/8s3a6Sina_k?si=7r25pe1M37DbKeMM

[Skybird]

I missed the release of this game, its already a while ago. It seems to be the upodated bersion of an old version for the Quest 1. Its from the makers of Pickleball One, which I play and like a lot. It looks very good, feels nice, the physics come in three nuanced grades from easy to surprisignly complex (saying "complex" is my way to not reveal how often I shot the ball into the off...), and it all in all is a very round, welldone package. Tjhree opponents, ther simliest ones, and two locations are free to play. When I checked in, 36 players waited in MP, I let them wait further for I prefer SP and AI. Does it hold its ground to First Person Tennis, one of my favourite titles in VR? I must say, it does, it is different both in game organisation, options, and feel, but it is good, and with some more time spent I think I will then conclude that it is as good. Which means there are now TWO good tennis simulations on the Quest 3.

Recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20sFbLQ6Ilw

[Skybird]

They did a rework of their very first golf course ever, Cliffs. I never played it because visually I found it too simplistic and simply unattrative. Well, it was their first one, so: forgiven and forgotten. The rework that they released hours ago looks far more inviting.



Who knows, maybe Alpine follows, what I said about Cliffs is also true for Alpine, their second course from many years ago.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY_j6bPgyho

[Skybird]

Thought I post a bit on Walkabout Minigolf, a game easy to overlook - or to underestimate. Its around since several years, and since then has seen MANY DLCs with new courses. My Mum and I play it a lot together. She loves it even more than I do, although her VR favourite game remains to be Golf+.

Its one of the very best - if not the best - so-called socialising games out there, it is ideal if you want to hang around with up to three friends or family members and talk, chat, spending time together while not being physically together, while walking down the courses and play. You can play competitively, of course, but you absolutely must not, and focus on the social aspect, there is cross platform multiplayer for up to 4 players. I would absolutely say it is a more laid-back socialsing experience than Golf+, although Golf+ also scores strong on this. Also, many courses reward to stroll around and sicover the whole place offside the "greens". There is much to discover, and often it also shows some really queer sense of humour that I like very much. Do yourself a favour - do not warp form one green to the next - WALK!

Technically, Walkabout is almost flawless, its very hard to find something to complain about.

The courses are often themed and have an incredible charm and attention to detail. They are extremely immersive and offer a wonderful, often incredibly emotional atmosphere. I'm thinking in particular of Venice, the Christmas course, Candyland, which create intense immersion and a childlike gratitude through their colorfulness and harmonious atmosphere, and dig deep feelings out of the memory box from your own childhood. At least from mine.

All courses come in two versions, the entry level, which is often at daytime, and the night lievel with increased difficulty and superior light effects from torches lights, candles, etc. The latter must be locked by eithe rpalying the dalyight ocurse at Par or better, or by solving minigames. It took me some time to find out that you can turn playing Walkabout into an artform, you must not limit yourself to just play par, but can aim to virtuosu let the ball reflect 5, 6, 7 time from obstacles or use terrain changes to your advantages, to sink the ball in just one or two. Its here where the unknowing layman player gets separated from the masters! VR allows to alter physics and states of objects like you cannot have it done in reality, and this too can become valid game elements.

One cannot recommend this game loud enough. Its a must have for VR. Even for single players I absolutely reocmmend it. And practically all DLCs, which usually come at a price of 4 Euros per course. There are only one course I regretted to get, and one I so far have been unattracted by.

Enjoy the videos. The first two are the two absolute favourites of mine and my Mum as well, to us these play in another league. That is due to the immersion and emotions they trigger in us. So much flair and love and detail in these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IykqOfTR_ew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBATHNN5Qsc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM-gkwL3Spw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGOHYn2nV0U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b4_EvLr48g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHpJiELww8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBwa72VytoE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkyjBHjGNUA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLGolBQOXcM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUDKf6nVt0s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7h8xyXeLXg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap2ZEkNeUXs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ipy3GDAZQ

[Skybird]

Squash meets Pong, this is the very essence of racket&ball gameplay. You are inside a cube, a wall behind you with a goal you must defend, a wall before you with a goal that you try to score into, and an oppoent paddle that tries to defend its goal while scoring into yours. Period.

The idea is simple, the execution is straight forward and without distraction. I think I posted an introductional video already some weeks ago, but this video is newer and illustrates gameplay better. Mind you, 2D does not compare to stereoscopic 3D.

With each reflection contact on the wall the ball looses a very small ammount of energy/speed. There is no gravity, the ball has no ballistics, is made of light like in a TRON gladiator match.

This sort of stuff I could play endlessly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DARRiKKZ2gI

[Skybird]

TRIUMPH...! Champagner for all!! :Kaleun_Cheers: It took me a while, but I finally, finally made it - my first round ever under 80 ! New Cliffs in 76, with 4 Birdies. Three unlucky mishaps, else it would have even even 73. One lucky drive went over 300m... It was a good eve ing, and I was tense from head to toes. New handicap now 8.6.

My previous best round was Jumeirah in 83.

As the graphs show, my previous couple of rounds were all a bit - well, lets call it a plateau, the big breathtaking before the final win... :D Also, I haven't played that much in recent 2-3 months. I had sort of a mini crisis. The many blue bars so high show it.

https://i.postimg.cc/xCsZFp1f/HC220325.png (https://postimages.org/)

[Skybird]

this sim is VERY good.

https://youtu.be/IkbF6rQzs4E?si=sO73rDOWeIlg1Wno

[Skybird]

Not specifically about the VR version, but a supplementing explanation by the dveloper of the above.

Note that it is a - optional!! - subscription feature. 16 bucks per year. I understand the need and I am okay with the price tag. I flew it three times (30 days trial period), and this i one of the very best things that so far has hit the Quest 3. More immersive than just hivering around in Google Earth.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEP872MNuds

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XymBOf_ITFo

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Full video list by the developer.
https://www.youtube.com/@5drealities477/videos

[Skybird]

This is a decent hex-field strategy game for Quest. The choice of strategy games on Quest is narrow, and hex-field strategy even narrower, so this is a nice entry. Its reminds of Total War: Shogun, but is not to be compared with it, its not as huge and not as complex, still I would describe this game as solid and well-executed. I have good fun with it. Got it for 9 Euros. The hexfield battles are done by the good ol' rock-scissors-paper principle. The handling is very good. It seems to base on an older title already five years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOZEJy2_NfE

[Skybird]

One of the visual feasts in Golf+.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbtIRrU-tsE

My running seventh season with 29 courses on table is three quarters over, and I improved in total by only 6 strikes so far, so I think I have found and hit the limit of where I can reach in this game. Handicap fluctuating over time around 8-9 and being stable in that range, it also indicates that I am now as good as I can get. I think more is not in it for me. But hey, handicap 8-9 - who wants to complain, eh?


Fantastic game. There are now around 30+ full 18 holes courses, plus a few putting courses and minor gimmicks, and the Topgolf in Las Vegas.

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/hFAElJTeMUE?si=n6xxPyt_lsCxZs--

[Skybird]

Okay I get it, you can do that - but must we really do that...?

https://youtu.be/5UEOh41iKwY?si=6ccYPWCyDKrCGWpK

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/TshbBHjbamA?si=mk2tpTjTAOxvt4sF

[Skybird]

I checked and tested some things and now successfully established proof of concept that via a so-called HDMI Capture Card I can connect the Quest 3 as screen medium to the Playstation, the TV, the Bluray player directly. Their HDMI connector goes from the TV into the card, and the card via USB-C into the headset. A certain app downloaded launches itself, and then I have the output of the devices on a big home cinema screen. It is not magically turning into stereoscopic 3D of course, this setup is just about replacing a TV screen with the headset screens and then have the movie or game or TV broadcast on a screen that for exmaple is 16 (4x4) or 9 (3x3) times as big as my TV screen. It works, and it works great.


I now must find a solution to feed external power into the Quest 3, it has just one USB-C connector link which is used for the external battery - and now for the HDMI signal, in other words, the external power input is not blocked by the HDMI signal input. There are some sort of Y-links that allow two USB inputs into one connector, one for data, one for power. For a reason unnown to me, the Quest consumes a lot of power with this screen capture card, I assume the card gets its power from the Quest, not from the Bluray or PS4.



Its a fantastic experience to play Hockey or Gran Turismo on the big movie screen! It sucks you into the game to play on such huge screens. The basic setup also is simple and uncomplicated to do. Report back when I have a solution for the power.