Oculus Store DK2 Rifting

[snappahead]

I couldn't resist. I tried all day to not play any of the stuff I'd downloaded, but I had to check it out. 

Lucky's Tale is freaking amazing. It's beautiful and controls like a dream. It has the polish you hope to see in a flagship title and I can already tell that it's going to be a great experience after just one level. I'm trying not to play it much. I almost feel bad for playing such a beautiful game on the dk2, but it's glorious even still.

Next up was Oculus Dream Deck. I was bursting to try this since it was the much lauded Crescent Bay demo loop that we'd heard so much about. This was a lot of fun. I really liked all the rooms (the cartoon forest was the most "eh" one) and it has a great variety of visuals. The skyscraper rooftop scene..the detail and scope of that scene is incredible. Looking down and seeing the street below with the tiny cars is fantastic. I loved the little paper town one as well. The cool little details and animations are awesome to see when you lean in real close to them and the second dinosaur scene was great too. I was just looking at him calmly as he roared safely from a distance, but when he came charging over me, I admit that I clinched up. It was a great effect.

The films were next. Lost was a little disappointing TBH. I loved the presentation, but the darkness made it hard to see some of the details and the main subject (the robot hand) spent a lot of the time farther away from you, so it lacks a little of that 3D punch. It had a really strong finish though. Invasion was hilarious. Some fantastic animations and some really nice pacing and storytelling made it a lot of fun to watch. The alien faces and expressions really cracked me up for some reason. There's supposedly more coming, so I'm looking forward to it.

Finally, I watched Henry. I debated saving it, but I couldn't resist. It's the one I most wanted to watch and I'd waited so long already. It didn't disappoint. It's possibly the most amazing thing I've seen in VR. The writing and directing are brilliant and the art design is so well done and thought out. Henry is immediately likable and endearing and I felt connecting to him right away. His model and animation are so good that it's honestly hard to believe it's all happening in real time. The music in Henry is first class as well. I really felt like I was watching a huge budget Pixar or Dreamworks production. I sat on the floor like they suggested and I'm glad I did. It really helped sell the experience and connect me to the scene and Henry himself. By the end, I was fighting back tears and surprisingly, losing that fight. I didn't expect that kind of reaction, but it happened. It was wonderful. I don't cry easy, but I guess being in the space with the little guy enabled me to feel a connection that I usually can't with traditional mediums. I only wish it wasn't over already. Henry makes me so hopeful for VR films and what we'll see in the future with storytelling in this new medium. VR really has the ability to raise traditional storytelling to a higher level and in the hands of master artists, I have no doubt that we're going to be treated to the most compelling and engaging stories we've ever experienced in any medium. If VR films are already this good, I can't even imagine what they'll be like in the years to come.

With any luck, I'll have my CV1 by the end of the week and I'll get to try everything else that I'm saving plus see the stuff I've already tried in a much nicer light. No regrets!

If you're still reading, thanks for sticking through my rambling. I had to get it out.

TL;DR The new Oculus content is fantastic even on a dk2 and it gets me even more excited about the CV1.

[snappahead]

crim3 said:

Terrific reading snappahead. I'm missing these enthusiastic reviews that were the norm 3 years ago.

I hear you and agree. Where's the love? I'm sure things will balance out and settle down as the pre-orders start to arrive. This content is too good to be getting such a crumby reception.

[snappahead]

andrewtek said:

I unplugged my DK2 and uninstalled the 0.8 runtime. I know the other developers have spent a lot of time getting things just right for CV1. I don't want to get any bad first impressions by seeing their work at 75hz with potentially incorrect color calibration in the DK2. Hopefully my CV1 ships tomorrow and I can start calibrating my project over the weekend... yeah!

Cheers. You're a stronger man than I heh. I tried to hold out, but the pull was too strong. I know I'll get to enjoy this material all over again when my Rift comes and there are a few things I'm saving for CV1.

[snappahead]

VizionVR said:

Good writeup, Snappahead. Playing Lucky's Tale last night changed my mind about VR platformers. When done right it can be an immersive experience. Well done Oculus!

Totally. I always felt like LT could be great, but it still stunned me once I was playing it..and I'm not even a big fan of these kinds of games!

[ssewell]

whitehexagon said:

Also downloaded Lucky's Tale now and just love the graphics! but cant get past the start screen without a controller 😞 at least that will make me wait for my CV1.  Most the apps seem to accept space bar as a button press, but this is really inconsistent across apps.

The space bar behavior is even more bizarre in Oculus Home. If you launch Oculus home, and don't mouse-click anything, you can don Rift and use space bar to effectively Click within the Rift. However, the moment you mouse-click *anything* in the desktop application, you can no longer use the space bar to click within the Rift. It's like the Rift view is losing focus and there's no way to get it back without relaunching Oculus Home.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully this will get sorted. I know Oculus home is for CV1 which comes with a controller but Oculus know that DK2 users, many without pads will still want to use it. surely keyboard support or joystick mapping wouldn't have been that difficult to support?

[comixcroz]

How long do you expect the DK2 to "work"?  Is this a permanent thing?

[MercsInc]

You can use a Dualshock 3 or 4 if you have a PS3/4 around. Connect it through USB or Bluetooth. Download ds4windows, and your PC should detect it as a xbox gamepad. Oculus stuff has worked flawless for me.

I was on the fence about getting a CV1, but the DK2 has been reinvigorated with the new software, and video drivers. I believe they said the DK2 support will end after this year. Hopefully that means we can still access and use old content, and not be entirely locked out.

If Touch is also able to work with DK2 (I am not up to date if there was an official yes or no yet), I will probably wait for the next model. Either way, I am all in on VR.

[LastBlow]

Can't download Henry and Lucky's Tale at https://share.oculus.com, why??? Was so much looking forward to it!

[crim3]

MercsInc said:
If Touch is also able to work with DK2 (I am not up to date if there was an official yes or no yet), I will probably wait for the next model. Either way, I am all in on VR.

Very unlikely, as it seems the Touch controllers connect to the CV1 via bluetooth instead to the computer.
Maybe with a bluetooth dongle and some hacking...

[weasel47]

@LastBlow you can get them in Oculus Home!