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.

[Synthetic]

I cant stream any video (oculus video and Jaunt) on my 1.6MBps connection.... looked cool but noone on ADSL2 in australia will be able "gasp"

[whitehexagon]

@snappahead sums it up nicely for me.  I was determined to wait for CV1, but in the end also succumbed to temptation with my DK2.  The world has no idea what is about to hit them!!  Well done Oculus!! 

I just want to show it to as many people as possible now that they finally believe my raving since DK1 launched.  And I'm also annoyed that I dont have my ideas implemented yet, but the lack of OSX support tripped me up.  Anyway I cant wait to get my hands on a CV1, although a bit worried I haven't had the golden ticket email yet, I had a March estimate and was clicking through the site the second pre-orders started.  Is it a country thing again like the DK2s?  The marketing one yesterday got my hopes up, and then dashed them again.  Anyway I'm looking forward to getting back to development and seeing what CV1 can do!

btw what are the keyboard equivalents for xbox controller, or remote controller?  I'm using DK2 with no controller and I got stuck in the calibration screen that would not close even post reboot...

[nalex66]

Did the same last night--downloaded Henry, Farlands, Lucky's Tale, Dream Deck, Jaunt, Lost, and the Oculus photo and video viewers. Everything played well on my DK2, but gave me a bit of a headache after a while, since we can no longer set the IPD through the software (my IPD is around 72, so the default of 64 doesn't work so well for me).

Anyway, it was great to finally see some of this content that I've heard about for a while. Can't wait to get my CV1 some time in April!

[whitehexagon]

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.

[ThreeDeeVision]

Thank you for doing this Snappa!  I held off because I don't want to risk not being able to use my DK2 for everything I currently use it for (mainly Elite and Flyinside FSX).

[crim3]

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

[andrewtek]

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!

[VizionVR]

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!

[snappahead]

ThreeDeeVision said:

Thank you for doing this Snappa!  I held off because I don't want to risk not being able to use my DK2 for everything I currently use it for (mainly Elite and Flyinside FSX).

My pleasure. The negativity has been a real bummer and so undeserved. This content is spectacular and it's a huge event to finally have the Rift launch and have the Store officially open.