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mahler
Up and Coming
August 4, 2013

Flashing a warning when refresh-rate falls below 60FPS

When using the Rift and running new demos, I'm still get sick once in a while. Some demos are worse than others and it's hard to see what the actual reason for this is, but in most situations I suspect it's the FPS below a certain threshold. I'm not always sure which detail- & resolution settings are best for my machine and it's not very convenient trying to keep track of the framerate in these games when you just want to play them.

I thought it would be very very helpful if there was a convention to display a warning sign to the user if the framerate drops below a certain level. Similar how Quake used to display a network socket when the connection timed-out. This could perhaps be set customizable for the user or as a quality standard by Oculus VR.



If UDK, Unity and others would implement this, I'm sure that developers would pay more attention to this and it could help a lot of people avoid getting sick.

Curious about your thoughts....

    7 replies

    DROIDdoesVR
    Participant
    August 4, 2013
    Im running a program that overlays a box that shows FPS. Its called FRAPS and is free.
    mahlerAuthor
    Up and Coming
    August 4, 2013
    "DROIDdoesVR" wrote:
    Im running a program that overlays a box that shows FPS. Its called FRAPS and is free.


    I'm talking about taking away the need for the player to concern himself with the frame-rate unless it's absolutely necessary. And then only the fact that it's below a certain threshold. The exact number wouldn't even matter... all you're trying to convey to the user is that he or she is in danger of getting sick.
    marcosource
    Up and Coming
    August 6, 2013
    IMO, this would be a good thing.
    Only thing to figure out would be how to warn the user without it being to sudden resulting in a scared user :?
    Would sort of be bad if the user jumps every time the fps drops :(
    usb420
    Up and Coming
    August 6, 2013
    I like the network socket idea. Just subtle flashing would be enough. It May help if you dont play for too long with fps dips
    marcosource
    Up and Coming
    August 6, 2013
    "usb420" wrote:
    I like the network socket idea. Just subtle flashing would be enough. It May help if you dont play for too long with fps dips


    True.
    But how hard would it be to make sure it's just off the top if your fov to not be directly in the way but still viewable :S
    Dave
    Participant
    August 7, 2013
    "mahler" wrote:

    I thought it would be very very helpful if there was a convention to display a warning sign to the user if the framerate drops below a certain level. Similar how Quake used to display a network socket when the connection timed-out.

    Or, you know, kinda like the turtle warning icon that Quake would pop up when your frame rate dropped below 10 FPS. ;)
    mahlerAuthor
    Up and Coming
    August 12, 2013
    "Dave" wrote:
    Or, you know, kinda like the turtle warning icon that Quake would pop up when your frame rate dropped below 10 FPS. ;)

    Haha, I didn't even know that!
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