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Shooter v Sim VR = nausea v hours of fun

JohnnyDioxin
Expert Trustee
I mostly got my Rift (delivered in June '16) for flight sims, but I use it for motor racing sims and Elite as well. I can pull any kind of stunt in those sims, including aggressive multi-axis swings in Elite, without the slightest discomfort.

The only thing that can make me a little woosy is spinning in a helicopter in DCS World.

Yet as soon as I start playing shooters I start feeling uncomfortable. FPS are worst. I must admit, most of these are older games, with VR mods - Quake 2, for example. Looks great, but makes me feel very, very sick. Subnautica - I can play it for maybe half an hour - but I feel a bit sick all the time.

So howcome? It can't be the movement. Maybe it has to do with light? Elite is dark and all the manoeuvring I do, even though inside a spaceport or over an outpost or planet surface, is done against a dull background.

However, games that were made specifically for VR are usually fine. Dead & Buried, Arizona Sunshine, Hover Junkers etc etc are all fine. It's the ones that have VR as an option that are the culprits.

The sooner the big guns start doing VR only games, the better! Ain't gonna happen before I'm 6ft under, which is a shame - but then, I won't care anyway! Maybe I'll be playing my own "Dead & Buried" - wouldn't that be cool! 😄

i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo
Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2
11 REPLIES 11

MrDood12
Expert Protege
i'm pretty sure it's the locomotion while standing up yourself. it could be the speed maybe? i had this with my favorite game, Onward.

first week was nauseating but i kept on playing untill i broke through and got used to it. i NEVER get any VR sickness now. i would suggest to do the same, keep on playing and i'm sure you'll be fine!

Mot666
Expert Protege
Moving sideways while turning in FPS games can make me a little queezey... sometimes. The most nauseating experience for me is using Virtual Desktop or Bigscreen to browse something like Facebook or a forum and scrolling down the posts. Its like I've had too much to drink the previous night and am about to heave the next day. I may have found a solution tho... PD to 2 in Oculus Debug makes the image much clearer and me much less inclined to puke. I'm fine in ED though - love hooning about in my SRV. 

shiari
Heroic Explorer
Can't recommend that people try to "break through", that'll probably backfire for most people, possibly to the point that your body could even associate putting on the headset with throwing up and you could even suffer other effects day to day (thus without any HMD in sight).

If your body is telling you it isn't right, it might be advisable to listen to that. Instead find a different experience that's less uncomfortable and train yourself on that before moving that step up.

JohnnyDioxin
Expert Trustee
I agree, shiari - after all, I've been using the Rift pretty much every day for 15 months now. If I was going to get used to it, that would have happened long ago.

It's very possible that image clarity has a lot to do with it. I don't agree with the theory that the cartoony appearance that a lot of VR games have is good for preventing sickness, as Ultrawings can make me feel queasy. Though they are good for performance and the image is always clear.

I'm hoping the upcoming Half Life 2 VR mod will be an exception - I really want to experience Ravenholme in VR! So far, anything I have played with VorpX has left me feeling at least uneasy, including HL2.

That's why I'd like to see more top-tier publishers producing dedicated VR games - then I would know for sure if I just have to avoid the FPS genre in VR.

i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo
Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2

falken76
Expert Consultant
I thought FPS would be awesome in VR when I first bought the rift. It turns out that FPS is the absolute worst for me, I will never get used to it so Free Locomotion will always make me sick.  Every single game I've played w/ free locomotion makes me sick.  Like the OP, Sims don't make me feel nearly as sick as an FPS does.  I really want to try Half Life 2 in VR but 100% of FPS games that were not designed from the ground up for VR make me sick, why would HL2 be different?

Wildt
Consultant
@falken76 - seriously the first time I tried free stick locomotion was a little demo on the DK1 - I literally made 2 circles with the movement stick on the gamepad and I had to lie down.

Now I can finish Serious Sam VR with full analogue stick locomotion + rotation.

Keep at it bro :smile:
PCVR: CV1 || 4 sensors || TPcast wireless adapter || MamutVR Gun stock V3
PSVR: PS4 Pro || Move Controllers || Aim controller
WMR: HP Reverb

bobzdar
Protege
Ah, the old DK1 days were full of motion sickness.  Doom3 BFG with vr mod works very well, but because they've adopted the ability to teleport instead of free locomotion.  After having a few experiences with the dk1 and free locomotion, I don't even bother anymore as I know eventually it'll make me sick.

falken76
Expert Consultant

Wildt said:

@falken76 - seriously the first time I tried free stick locomotion was a little demo on the DK1 - I literally made 2 circles with the movement stick on the gamepad and I had to lie down.

Now I can finish Serious Sam VR with full analogue stick locomotion + rotation.

Keep at it bro :smile:



I'm trying to, I've had the headset so long the warranty is expired and I still haven't gotten used to it.  But I rarely play the rift so I probably just don't expose myself to it enough.  I can't "Power through it", if I tried that my brain would associate motion sickness to the rift itself and I know I'd get sick just thinking of VR.  Hell I think it already has, from what I read here many people are using their Rift on a daily basis for the last 15 months whereas mine can sit in one space for 3 months and gather an inch of dust.   Mainly because I will think "I want to play rift"  Then my next thoughts are "Do I have enough weed?" and "Bah, I don't feel like getting sick, what's on Netflix instead"

Wildt
Consultant
@falken76 I can totally relate, and I strongly advice against "powering through" - that'll only make your VR associations even worse.

Pick the game you feel the most comfortable with, and take a small  break very time you feel discomfort. You'll rapidly increase your tolerance this way. You'll start feeling in control, and that will boost your confidence and thus tolerance towards the stress and nausea that comes with it.
PCVR: CV1 || 4 sensors || TPcast wireless adapter || MamutVR Gun stock V3
PSVR: PS4 Pro || Move Controllers || Aim controller
WMR: HP Reverb