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My Six Month Review of 3D Gaming (PC) and 3D Vision Tips

1-D_FTW

Member
RESOURCES:

http://helixmod.wikispot.org/gamelist

http://helixmod.blogspot.com/

Helix mod is essential for 3D Vision users. If you don't already have it bookmarked, do it immediately. This is where broken 3D games go to be fixed. If it's high profile and broken, the geniuses there have likely fixed it.

The first link is a game list. Unfortunately for convenience, not everything gets listed there. You really have to go to the second link (front page) and view every page to see what the missing games are.

http://3dvision-blog.com/

3D Vision blog used to be my old stand-by for fixes. He occassionally has 3D fixes for games (and in the comments sections) that aren't done at helixmod. Now I mostly keep it RSS'ed for news.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/49/3d-vision/

Yes. After months of being down, the Nvidia forums are back up. Honestly, though, much of the brain power towards user fixes has shifted over to Helix mod. Bookmark Helix mod.

http://www.mtbs3d.com/

For a more general PC 3D site, mtbs3d.com covers all 3D drivers. Not just 3D Vision.

http://www.mtbs3d.com/gg3d/

They keep a user database ranking of all the 3D games and their known issues with each 3D driver.



The Basics:

Depth - If you're new to 3D, it can take a week or so to adjust. Once there, you'll probably crank it to 100 percent (unless it breaks the game).

Convergence - What is convergence? Depth is obvious. That's self-explanatory. But convergence? It sounds sinister. Like it's something that can break your picture. This is a classic mistake. When it comes to 3D, convergence is a man's best friend. Learn it. Love it.
Your instincts are going to be to ignore it out of fear. I did. It took me a week or two to even activate advanced settings. And another couple weeks before I stopped thinking too many button presses would launch nuclear missiles and start WWIII.

Learn to love convergence. Not only will it help you corridors stretch inwards forever, but it'll help you reduce ghosting. Ghosting issues can largely be addressed by getting your convergence correct.*

*A 3D display can cause uncorrectable ghosting, as can certain games, but properly dialing in convergence will reduce it to just those outside influences.

So what's the secret to a lot of depth and no eye fatigue? My motto: the more the merrier. I crank the convergence until either something breaks (ghosting), my body objects (a weird indescribable feeling that something is off), or the image separates. At that tipping point, I'll reduce convergence 2 or 3 clicks. Reduce until you don't have a weird feeling. It's pretty easy to instinctively know what your brain is objecting to (which will cause fatigue with long play sessions). For me: that's usually 2 or 3 clicks before the image separates.

NOTE: Changing your depth settings will require you reacquire the sweet spot for convergence.

Felipepl has an interesting tip regarding convergence:

In my case, usually for third person shooters, I try to adjust the convergence without glasses, trying to align both images to be exactly in the same place when looking at the main character. The trick is to make it (the character) looking just like it would look in 2D, when 3D is activated, without the glasses.

For me, this is almost always the sweet spot for convergence setup.

Resident neogaf 3D guru Bee has multiple tips:


two other things to mention are the depth hack, its just a script that spams the monitorsize registry key before and for 20 seconds or so after the game has launched. you can basically fool the system and allow it to produce 200% depth or whatever you want, just google it you should get great results with it tweaked to your liking. the other would be enabling the advanced settings in the nvidia control panel and setting the games up for high convergence with ctrl + f5/6 and low depth. most games are really just set up for depth but they can actually look better with less depth and more pop out, like torchlight or starcraft 2


couple of other points, if you have a monitor with large amounts of crosstalk in 3D then setting up the game with minimum depth and high convergence will usually completely remove the crosstalk, try it on fallout vegas for instance as that's a game that seems to test monitors quite well (daytime setting)

couple of little guides on the helix site that are super useful, first is to be able to use helix fix and other dll mods together e.g smaa

http://helixmod.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/guidehow-to-install-helixmod-game-fixes.html

also you can use autohotkey to set different convergence levels on the press of a key e.g useful when aiming down the sight in fps games at high depth

http://helixmod.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/how-to-guide-map-right-mouse-click-to.html

there's another way to do this with this file https://s3.amazonaws.com/chiri/NVAPI.rar doesn't work in all games though


It's been pointed out that I should highlight that convergence needs to be unlocked in advanced settings:

FadEU.jpg


I changed it from the default F1, F2 since certain games had vital functions mapped to F1 and it's annoying when you're just trying to up the convergence in a game.


Framerate - I'm someone who values framerate and appreciates 60fps gameplay. As much as I whore 60fps in 2D, I find it essential in 3D. If a 3D game can't hold 60fps (or at least come close), the incredible animation and illusion falls apart for me. The animation because very synthetic looking. It's my opinion that great 3D lusts for a high framerate. It's what turns your 3D world into something that's alive and magical. 3D animation loves it some 60fps. 1080P 3D @ 60fps is my Next Gen. It's that good.


The Games:

If you're an Nvidia user, you can get a pretty good idea of how a game plays by looking in your Nvidia control panel. NOTE: Many games (especially recently) ship broken. Nvidia can list a game as broken and HELIX MOD may have fixed all the issue. VISIT HELIX MOD.

But back to the Nvidia control panel, if you sort by compatibility, you're pretty much guaranteed a good 3D experience if you stick to Excellent - 3D Vision. A game listed as good can still be very good. And often games aren't listed at all. But this is a rough guide to start from:

dYX5w.jpg


NOTE: Sometimes they are overly generous with their rankings towards big publishers. Crysis 2 has pretty lousy 3D, but since it has no rendering issues, it gets an "excellent" rating. Same with Square's Sleeping Dogs and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The developers have chosen to integrate 3D. And unfortunately, it kinda sucks. Good 3D has an almost unlimited depth. The above games have that awful cardboard look with layers. Maybe it's easier to render and less resource intensive, but it looks like shit. If that was what typical 3D games looked like, my 3D glasses would be in the garbage can.


IMPRESSSIONS:

I've had it only 6 months, but these are the games I've personally played (at least partway) and would absolutely recommend their 3D (at least with 3D Vision):


The Showcase Games (You have one game to turn a skeptic into a believer):

Trine 1 & 2 - A demented fairy tale brought to life. If you can play these games in 3D and not be impressed, 3D is not for you.

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- Might need to install some mods to fix the sky, but I'd assume these fixes are available for all 3D drivers. Open world games with unlimited depth are just jaw droppers in 3D.

Just Cause 2 - Whether zipping around on cars or flying in the air, you can't believe what you're seeing. Bonus points when you're in the air and flak is exploding around you.

Mafia 2 - If you thought the winter segments oozed atmosphere before, your eyes will bug out the first time you're driving in snow.

Batman: Arkham Asylum + City

Metro 2033 - Need to turn the settings down quite a bit (don't even try DX 11), but it's a showcase for 3D if you can keep the framerate up. On record as not being the biggest fan of this game, but the 3D is spectacular.

F1 Race Stars
- The second Codemasters' racing game with good 3D. Only have the demo, but it's a showcase for 3D. The art style comes alive in 3D. Gameplay impressions seems mixed at best.

Hard Reset - Don't really like the game, but it is beautiful in 3D. Think the demo might be broken with 3D Vision, but somewhere along the line they patched the full game into a 3D showcase.

Darksiders - Awesome with stock settings.

Darksiders 2 - Broken with stock settings. With the Helix mod, every bit as good as the original. Not sure how other versions are.

Dead Space 1 & 2 - Broken with the default 3D Vision profile. Fantastic with the Helix mod. Think the 3D Vision version was always the black sheep version until Helix went and fixed everything.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - Glorious top down 3D with stock settings.

The Witcher 2 - The second is considered one of the 3D Vision showcase games, but even the first game is damn good.

Renegade Ops - Like Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, a showcase if you like top down games.


Wouldn't be your first choice to convert somebody, but damn fine 3D:


Dear Esther - Not perfect and has some minor issues here and there, but usually incredibly beautiful.

Portal 1 & 2 - Fantastic 3D. Some of the scenes where you're whisked around in tubes are especially fun.

Dungeon Siege III - Like a lot of top down games, the 3D shines in this game.

Sid Meier's Civ V - A board game brought to life.

Sonic Generations
- The 2.5 and 3D sections are equally great in 3D.

Audiosurf - I'm a heathen who doesn't really care for the game, but the 3D toyificaation was good enough to almost make me give it a second chance.

Alice: Madness Returns - Really good 3D with 3D Vision, but requires the Helix mod to fix the 2D crosshair. Not sure if all version have fixes and it's difficult to aim without the crosshair at proper depth. So the fix is a must.

Bang Bang Racing - Top down arcade racing. Nice 3D. Can't recommend enough if it's on sale and you like old-school racers from the top down. I've demo'd quite a few top down racers, and this is my favorite in 3D.

Dirt 3
- Probably the best looking arcade/sim 3D racer. Most Codemasters games are borked in 3D. Excellent 3D is the only reason to recommend Dirt 3 over 2.

Inversion - I'd put it a step below showcase, but still really good.

Mirror's Edge - Broken with 3D Vision, but with the Helix mod, pretty awesome.

Nimbus - Enhances a fun little game.

OutRun 2006 - No longer available on Steam, but really nice looking if you have it.

Sonic and Sega All Star Racing - At least with 3D Vision, beautiful Sega arcade racing in 3D.

Tomb Raider Anniversary - Really good 3D. Brings the tombs alive and helps with spatial awareness when solving puzzles. Own Legend and Underworld, but haven't played yet. Supposed to be just as good.

Rayman Origins - Only rated a good by Nvidia, but play the demo. A sight to see.


Enhances gameplay, but probably too hardcore for most of GAF:


Racing Sims - rFactor, rFactor 2, iRacing, Race 07, Power & Glory 3.0 (GTR 2)

Most of the hardcore race sims take pride in rendering properly and having really good 3D. Why? Because 3D is more than just pretty eye candy (although it most certainly is candy and makes a lot of these rather modest games look much better than they should).

Having natural depth in the distance allows you to more naturally attack corners. It removes some of the alien qualities if you're used to driving in real life. In real life, I'm always focused on the horizon up ahead. In sims, I had a tendency to stare just in front of me (which I'd never do in real life). With 3D, I'm now focused on the distance like I should be.

Demoes that have impressed enough to move them up my Steam Wishlist in anticipation of the Winter sale:


Pid - Not perfect, but definitely enhanced the demo considerably. 2.5D games are a sweet tooth of mine.

Unmechanical - Wasn't expecting much considering it's an Unreal game without 3D mods, but it looks GREAT in 3D. Turns a rather ugly game into an animated beauty. Plus I love 2.5D games with physics.

Ys Origin - Didn't even realize there was a demo until today. And totally shocked that it actually significantly enhances the graphics. You wouldn't think a 3D world with 2D characters would work, but it's more than playable.

Special mention to 3 games sitting on my wishlist for the winter sale, but which look absolutely fantastic with Helix Mod fixes (watch some videos):

Dark Souls - Think gaf likes this game.

Sine Mora - The depth in the background is incredible. Really was stunned by how pretty it is.

I Am Alive - An under the radar game that absolutely loves the 3rd dimension.


So that's it. There are a ton more great looking 3D games. I just wanted to give 3D recommendations on titles I've personally played. Follow the above links and you'll find hundreds more that look great. Old games especially are rendered properly. There's no cheating being done that needs elaborate shader fixes. And let's face it, older games can be kind of bland. So the third dimension gives them a much needed shot in the arm visually.
 

Afrikan

Member
have you tried Just Cause 2 in first person mode? with the SuperMan MOD and just flying around?

MIND BLOWING!

I have an ATI GPU so no 3D for me...but I used my Sony HMZ head set with it and just WOW. I can only imagine how it is with real 3D.
 

Router

Hopsiah the Kanga-Jew
Finally got to try some decent 3D on a friends rig. It broke my brain more than 3D movies do but I got used to it after a while.

Its damn nice once you get to that sweet spot.

I hope a decent 3D option gets pushed with the next gen consoles. Apart from that, I really need to build a new rig.
 

Trakdown

Member
Really appreciate the link to Helix Mod; I've got quite a few of these games and hadn't played in 3D yet. Good thing I caught this before I jumped in.

Not a HMZ user, but I have a 3D Projector and a 100" screen that I've been in love with, so I'm hoping all these fixes still help.
 

FGMPR

Banned
Another game that looks amazing in 3D is Killing Floor. Games with long, dark hallways usually give a stunning "holy shit I think I can reach into the screen" effect.
 

Nymerio

Member
Thanks, great thread! I can confirm that Trine 2 looks absolutely jaw dropping. I did not expect it to be this good. Unfortunately I don't have a 3D Vision monitor but a Samsung screen with some other tech. I'll have to look into how to get everything running, but Trine 2 really makes me want to try other games.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Well damn, what kind of rig are you using?

Nothing exotic. Wasn't sure I was really going to be sold on the shutter glasses, so I kept holding off. When Amazon had the Asus VG236H (with 3D Vision) for 265 dollars, I figured there was nothing to lose.

My computer is a 660ti GPU and an i3 2120 CPU (CPU was meant to be a stopgap CPU until Ivy Bridge came out, but it was much better than I expected). Local Compusa has some good BF deals on the 3570k and 3770k, though, so I'll probably pull the trigger since a couple games (not many) give it issues. Really motivated by the knowledge Assetto Corsa is going to need a better CPU.

Another game that looks amazing in 3D is Killing Floor. Games with long, dark hallways usually give a stunning "holy shit I think I can reach into the screen" effect.

Definitely one of the things I love so much. It's why even The Witcher 1 looked so good to me. Because when you're in those dungeons and the long hallways just extend forever, game looks so much better than it should.

have you tried Just Cause 2 in first person mode? with the SuperMan MOD and just flying around?

MIND BLOWING!

I have an ATI GPU so no 3D for me...but I used my Sony HMZ head set with it and just WOW. I can only imagine how it is with real 3D.

JC 2 is actually the game I'm playing right now. Only about 5 hours into it. Think I want to play it straight for a while before I mess around too much. But I can see why it'll be awesome.

Really appreciate the link to Helix Mod; I've got quite a few of these games and hadn't played in 3D yet. Good thing I caught this before I jumped in.

Not a HMZ user, but I have a 3D Projector and a 100" screen that I've been in love with, so I'm hoping all these fixes still help.

I only had an HMZ for about 2 weeks. Fixes are meant for all displays.
 

wiggleb0t

Banned
Great read thanks :)
Do you know how performance is with SLI when it comes to 3D? Like if it has a good sli profile all is good?
Considering going with a 3d monitor and adding 2nd 670 but don't like the added problems in some cases with sli or in recent memory ati 5xxx series. Hmmmmm or wait 6 months(?) for 7xxx series? :-S

Edit: Any ideas on how Prototype 2, battlefield 3, cod series and the Latest Spiderman game feel/look?
 

UrbanRats

Member
I bought a 3d monitor some time ago, and was not impressed with Uncharted 3 on ps3 (cool, but not mindblowing).
Being an nvidia 3d vision 2 monitor, i hooked it up with my PC, and tried a couple of games:
The first one was Just Cause 2 and let me tell you, with depth cranked up to max it was FUCKIJNG MINDBLOWING, flying around, or simply walking around the forests.

Never before i had got a sense of vertigo looking down a mountain or a skyscraper.

Other titles that impressed me:

Just Cause 2.
Trine 2 (seriously amazing diorama-style)
Batman Arkham City (probably the best one, as i couldn't find a single element that wasn't in its place in 3d)
Max Payne 3 (with tassellation, this is seriously stunning in 3d).
Red Faction Guerrilla (the vehicles are lovely)
SLeeping Dogs (pretty nice 3d)


I've played several other good titles in 3d, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Assassin's Creed 2/Broohood, and many others.

On my part though, Tomb Raider Guardians of Light doesn't work with 3d, what's up with that, OP? I'm really interested in playing that in 3d.


One thing that i will say though, low poly games in 3d suffer a bit, and everything feels like it's built out of milk cartons, notable examples of this:
GTA4 and Assassin's Creed.
All the effects that normal maps can shell out in 2d, do not work as great in 3d and the difference is obvious.

EDIT: Also i don't it works with Dark Souls, not with the DSfix anyway, i started it and it simply wasn't in 3d at all (no split image) and though i'm playing it in windowed mode, i have the 3d set up to work with every 3d application, not only fullscreen.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Great read thanks :)
Do you know how performance is with SLI when it comes to 3D? Like if it has a good sli profile all is good?
Considering going with a 3d monitor and adding 2nd 670 but don't like the added problems in some cases with sli or in recent memory ati 5xxx series. Hmmmmm or wait 6 months(?) for 7xxx series? :-S

Edit: Any ideas on how Prototype 2, battlefield 3, cod series and the Latest Spiderman game feel/look?

Like I said in the OP, if you're unsure of a game, check the compatability ratings in the Nvidia control panel. Haven't played them since I bought my 3D monitor, but Battlefield 3 and BC2 are both rated 3D Vision. So they should be excellent. CoD varies between good and excellent for ratings. Prototype is fair - good. That's why the Nvidia control panel is a good first stop, and then if it has issues, see if Helix has a mod fix (either somewhere on the first page or his separate page).

Can't help you with SLI. Never went that way. A single 670 should power you through most games, however.

I bought a 3d monitor some time ago, and was not impressed with Uncharted 3 on ps3 (cool, but not mindblowing).
Being an nvidia 3d vision 2 monitor, i hooked it up with my PC, and tried a couple of games:
The first one was Just Cause 2 and let me tell you, with depth cranked up to max it was FUCKIJNG MINDBLOWING, flying around, or simply walking around the forests.

Never before i had got a sense of vertigo looking down a mountain or a skyscraper.

Other titles that impressed me:

Just Cause 2.
Trine 2 (seriously amazing diorama-style)
Batman Arkham City (probably the best one, as i couldn't find a single element that wasn't in its place in 3d)
Max Payne 3 (with tassellation, this is seriously stunning in 3d).
Red Faction Guerrilla (the vehicles are lovely)
SLeeping Dogs (pretty nice 3d)


I've played several other good titles in 3d, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Assassin's Creed 2/Broohood, and many others.

On my part though, Tomb Raider Guardians of Light doesn't work with 3d, what's up with that, OP? I'm really interested in playing that in 3d.



One thing that i will say though, low poly games in 3d suffer a bit, and everything feels like it's built out of milk cartons, notable examples of this:
GTA4 and Assassin's Creed.
All the effects that normal maps can shell out in 2d, do not work as great in 3d and the difference is obvious.

Should have worked. I know Helix has a fix for that, but I never installed it. His fix was for issues when playing with a mouse. If you use a 360 controller, shouldn't be an issue. Although I semi-remember adjusting the convergence a lot with that game. Maybe one of those 2 things were the problem?

EDIT: Did you read the comments sections for the Dark Souls entry? There's a good chance the answer is there. Or you could post your problem and someone will probably help you.
 
This is awesome, thanks for making this thread. Subscribing.

I'm surprised you say Deus Ex: HR has shitty 3D... I remember someone in the HMZ-T1 thread raving about the 3D in it, and I've been keeping that mental note in my head ever since.

I have yet to experience 3D gaming on PC, since I'm GPU-less and broke at the moment. But I'll make it happen one day.
 
This sounds really fun. I would love to try 3D gaming on my PC but I'm planning on upgrading to a 27-30" IPS monitor on two PCs and can't justify buying 3D monitors on top of that. Maybe if a good deal pops up on black friday or cyber monday...
 

1-D_FTW

Member
This is awesome, thanks for making this thread. Subscribing.

I'm surprised you say Deus Ex: HR has shitty 3D... I remember someone in the HMZ-T1 thread raving about the 3D in it, and I've been keeping that mental note in my head ever since.

I have yet to experience 3D gaming on PC, since I'm GPU-less and broke at the moment. But I'll make it happen one day.

I didn't try it on my HMZ when I had it. I think because 3D is subtle on the HMZ, it kind of benefited it. From what I can see (and remember), it's almost like the gun is rendered in 3D and the backgrounds are flat. I can see where this technique would create more pop on the HMZ (either that or it's a game that just looks better on AMD hardware). My disappointment is because I want corridors to have a lot of depth. And Deux EX: HR just doesn't have that.
 

UrbanRats

Member
If you can, I really suggest trying 3D vision on a projector. It's amazing.


http://helixmod.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/dark-souls-prepare-to-die-edition-3d.html

I've given up on new TVs not sucking. The day someone releases a 1080p projector that can do 60fps 3D, I'm in.*

*Consumer grade. I don't have 20,000 grand.

Yup, i had the Helixmod tab open as i typed that post, but had to quickly close FireFox and forgot to check it back, when i went for the edit.
Never heard of it before (as my use of 3d was pretty casual) i'll check it out immediately.
 
Half-Life Source has a few issues in 3D (which Helix mod mostly fixes), but it is an amazing experience. I played it on my Optoma 3D-XL projector, and in 3D you can pretty much sit 4 feet away from the screen and adjust the convergence to mainline the thing straight into your eyeballs. *ducks flying headcrab*

Main problem is the guns are rendered at the wrong depth (source engine issue?), so the effect does wierd things to your brain when you go up against a wall/door etc.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Ok, so i tried to follow these instructions (basically: unpack the zip in DATA folder and that's it) and still no 3d. :\
I don't know what i'm missing, but one of the top comments says that i have to rename the .dll to make it work with the resolution mod (which i assume is the DSfix) though the DSfix doesn't have a d3d9.dll to rename, just a DINPUT8.dll, so i don't know if they're talking about the same mod.
I'm using DSfix 1.9, btw.
Oh this makes me wonder --

Any decent 3D games for PS3 or 360? I've got a Sammy plasma with decent 3D.
Uncharted 3 was pretty nice (although not mindblowing, imo) i also tried SotC HD, but didn't like it, it's just too tame and it comes off as cardboard sheets, instead of full 3d objects.

--

BTW another amazing one in 3d was The Witcher 2, though it looked like you were controlling a very cool and detailed action figure. :p
 

Peterthumpa

Member
Amazing thread 1-D_FTW.

I'm also a pretty heavy 3D supporter, the technology when it works is amazing.
F1 Race Stars is absolutely stunning in 3D, worth the asked price alone just for that.

And the game gets pretty good once you get used to the driving mechanics.
 

Bread

Banned
i got a 3d monitor this summer and finally got around to setting it up with my pc yesterday, and the nvidia 3d setup doesnt work despite the canirunit thing stating otherwise. i really wanted to play civ5 in 3d too :(
 

Smokey

Member
Great read thanks :)
Do you know how performance is with SLI when it comes to 3D? Like if it has a good sli profile all is good?
Considering going with a 3d monitor and adding 2nd 670 but don't like the added problems in some cases with sli or in recent memory ati 5xxx series. Hmmmmm or wait 6 months(?) for 7xxx series? :-S

Edit: Any ideas on how Prototype 2, battlefield 3, cod series and the Latest Spiderman game feel/look?


I find SLI to be perfect for 3D, especially for the more demanding games. You're able to get a constant 60fps and keep the settings maxed at 1080p. Of course this also requires a working SLI profile for the game :).

I have had a 3D setup for 1.5 years and have used a 580 SLI setup and a GTX 690 on it. Perfect frames. Max settings. Plus 3D monitors are also 120hz monitors. When not playing in 3D, SLI will help you get your frames close to 100+. Anybody who has played on a 120hz screen with the ability to take advantage of it will tell you it is a transformational way to play games.

btw: 3D gaming on PC is the way to go. On console it is horrible IMO and too many sacrifices have to be made with the image quality and framerate. I'm sure it will be much better next gen with better hardware.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
i got a 3d monitor this summer and finally got around to setting it up with my pc yesterday, and the nvidia 3d setup doesnt work despite the canirunit thing stating otherwise. i really wanted to play civ5 in 3d too :(

What kind of monitor is it?
 

Arucardo

Member
Only saw the thread title on the mobile app at work and I already knew it was you :p . Great thread/post 1-D_FTW :).

Recently upgraded to the Asus 27" 3D vision 2 monitor from my 24" Acer (also 3d with the original 3D Vision kit) and the new glasses. The "Light Boost" feature is excellent, from what I understand it's not just a regular brightness boost but the brightness "fluctuates/flickers" in sync with the shutters on the glasses so you end up getting a brighter image without added ghosting. When I first fired up Dark Souls with the new display I thought something was wrong because everything looked so much brighter, heh.

Also, I'd definitely add Dark Souls to the must play list for 3D games. Games with dark art styles like the Batman games and Dark Souls lend themselves well to 3D gaming since the contrast between objects and areas is more subtle (very bright backgrounds with dark objects cause ghosting and vice versa).

Even if you aren't that excited about 3D gaming the difference between "2D" on a 120hz and a 60hz is crazy. I tried to play some CS:GO on a low latency 60hz display a while ago and it was horrible.
 
I think the only game to impress me with 3D so far has been Battlefield 3, but I assume I'm just using the wrong 3D vision settings. I haven't really dug in with it yet
 

Arucardo

Member
For anyone just getting in to this: Don't be alarmed if you get a lot of ghosting at first, some displays need to "warm up" for a bit before it starts displaying the 3D the way it's meant to be. My Acer did it and the new Asus tends to do it too. I looked around in a few places and it's completely normal.
 

Smokey

Member
Even if you aren't that excited about 3D gaming the difference between "2D" on a 120hz and a 60hz is crazy. I tried to play some CS:GO on a low latency 60hz display a while ago and it was horrible.


Eh it's not that bad. I have a Dell U3011 2560x1600 as my main, and an Asus 23'' 120hz monitor as my secondary. It's definitely smoother on the Asus, but they both have their pluses and minuses.
 

barugon

Member
As much as I enjoy my 3d TV, will I be sacrificing much quality to make 3D games playable? I'm running with a 2500k | 560TI build.

The reason I ask is because a friend recently went with a 3D monitor, but his computer (2500k | AMD 7870) was struggling with Guild Wars 2 in 3D mode. Part of me hopes he just didn't troubleshoot it well, but if it's going to push me to build a new box, I'd rather wait.
 

Arucardo

Member
Eh it's not that bad. I have a Dell U3011 2560x1600 as my main, and an Asus 23'' 120hz monitor as my secondary. It's definitely smoother on the Asus, but they both have their pluses and minuses.

Depends on the game I guess, def. not as big of a deal with slower paced stuff like RPG's or strategy games.

With 60hz you'll have to choose between massive tearing or some input lag with triple buffered v-sync. There's very few games with really noticeable tearing on a 120hz display and when you v-sync on it you're only getting half the input lag compared to a 60hz monitor.
 
Oh this makes me wonder --

Any decent 3D games for PS3 or 360? I've got a Sammy plasma with decent 3D.

I play a shit ton of console games in 3D and it is amazing. Black Ops 2 is the latest and is done well enough but has slight ghosting. The second mission in 3D made my wife sick to her stomach with the cliff swinging and flying. Super Stardust HD and Wipeout are both cheap and will make a believer out of anybody. House of the Dead in 3D with Move and Sharpshooters is better than an arcade set up.

Here are some game lists:

http://www.3dtested.com/3d-xbox-360-games-list/

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3D_PlayStation_3_games

Some games play better than others but there are a surprising amount of games available for both systems and many more on the way.


As for PC, has anyone tried 3D gaming on a triple monitor setup?
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Whats your monitor? Will this work on a 3D Plasma tv as my gaming htpc is connected to it.

I have an Asus VG236H.

It'll work on your 3D Plasma with NVidia 3DPlay. Just understand you'll have more 3D ghosting. If you're judging solely by ghosting:

Sony HMZ > DLP > Good 120hz monitor > Best 3D HDTV.

As much as I enjoy my 3d TV, will I be sacrificing much quality to make 3D games playable? I'm running with a 2500k | 560TI build.

The reason I ask is because a friend recently went with a 3D monitor, but his computer (2500k | AMD 7870) was struggling with Guild Wars 2 in 3D mode. Part of me hopes he just didn't troubleshoot it well, but if it's going to push me to build a new box, I'd rather wait.

Depends on the game. Doesn't Guild Wars have a lot of characters on screen? Prior to upgrading to a 660ti, I was running a GTX 460. And for many console ports, even that was robust enough to handle 1080P 3D @60fps. Obviously certain games require more juice. And a select few have special circumstances that no hardware is going to truly satisfy.

EDIT: A 3DTV will require you run at 720P. HDMI limitations limit 1080P 3D @ 24fps.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
I need to get a 3d monitor. I really like playing in 3d but I can only play in 720p on the TV which is a little too much of a sacrifice for me. Active shutter also sucks imo but it's better than nothing
 
Half-Life Source has a few issues in 3D (which Helix mod mostly fixes), but it is an amazing experience. I played it on my Optoma 3D-XL projector, and in 3D you can pretty much sit 4 feet away from the screen and adjust the convergence to mainline the thing straight into your eyeballs. *ducks flying headcrab*

Main problem is the guns are rendered at the wrong depth (source engine issue?), so the effect does wierd things to your brain when you go up against a wall/door etc.

I wonder how Black Mesa runs in 3D... I'm currently playing the game (never played HL before), and I love the atmosphere in it.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Tried again the Helixmod with Dark Souls, but no luck.
Now i have double HUD (a big one and a smaller one) at the same time, but the image still won't split (it's 2d, basically).
Tried pressing CTRL+T to switch 3d on and off, but still no luck.

Read through the comment on the Helixmod page, but nothing of the sort seem to be mentioned.
 

Arucardo

Member
Tried again the Helixmod with Dark Souls, but no luck.
Now i have double HUD (a big one and a smaller one) at the same time, but the image still won't split (it's 2d, basically).
Tried pressing CTRL+T to switch 3d on and off, but still no luck.

Read through the comment on the Helixmod page, but nothing of the sort seem to be mentioned.

Did you do the DSFix ini changes? especially the HUD thing (change enableHudMod to 0 in the dsfix ini)
 

1-D_FTW

Member
What about us AMD users ? How can I play Just Cause 2 or Max Payne 3 in 3D ?

Same question here, I would be willing to change 1 monitor but not monitor plus GPU, I already have a 7970.

Best help I can offer is to visit the mtbs links I put in the top resource section.

I wonder how Black Mesa runs in 3D... I'm currently playing the game (never played HL before), and I love the atmosphere in it.

It had some issues initially, but with the Helix Mod fix, the 3D is pretty good. Forgot to mention that because I deleted it from my Steam library.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Did you do the DSFix ini changes? especially the HUD thing (change enableHudMod to 0 in the dsfix ini)

Yup, even because i never had a custom HUD in the first place.
Turns out that having texture overrides (HD text, for example) causes that bug.

Anyway, even having fixed that, still no 3d, and i don't understand why, since i can boot any other game and it plays in 3d, strange.
Also, i don't know if it's worthed to play without custom textures, but i wanted to at least give it a try. :p

--
Tried some SpecOps the line with HElixmod, pretty sweet, though the crosshair when pointing the gun is still somewhat weird for me, and it makes it difficult to aim perfectly.
It has depth, but when aiming at very distant target, it doesn't have enough depth.
 
Any decent 3D games for PS3 or 360? I've got a Sammy plasma with decent 3D.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Super Stardust HD
Gran Turismo 5
Uncharted 3
Shadow of the Colossus
Child of Eden

It'll work on your 3D Plasma with NVidia 3DPlay. Just understand you'll have more 3D ghosting. If you're judging solely by ghosting:

Sony HMZ > DLP > Good 120hz monitor > Best 3D HDTV.

Isn't this more of an issue with Nvidia 3DTV Play itself? On my TV, I can easily turn up depth on PS3 games without noticing any bothersome crosstalk/ghosting, whereas on the PC I can't go much further than the default setting (15% on the Nvidia control panel) without experiencing some annoying ghosting. Perhaps I need to fiddle around with convergence.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Super Stardust HD
Gran Turismo 5
Uncharted 3
Shadow of the Colossus
Child of Eden



Isn't this more of an issue with Nvidia 3DTV Play itself? On my TV, I can easily turn up depth on PS3 games without noticing any bothersome crosstalk/ghosting, whereas on the PC I can't go much further than the default setting (15% on the Nvidia control panel) without experiencing some annoying ghosting. Perhaps I need to fiddle around with convergence.

I don't think it's that simple. I think the best 120hz monitor is the Asus VG278h. Digital Versus measures the ghosting time as an average of 5.5ms. The 2012 Panasonic plasmas (which many would argue are the quickest HDTVs out there) are 6ms in this years review. That's down from the 2011 models which I think measured in at a ghosting time of 8.5ms. I haven't looked around, but if I were betting blind, my chips would be on the Panasonic plasma's being leader of all HDTVs in that category.

I would guess the biggest reason for the difference is console makers know ghosting is an issue and they deliberately lock depth and convergence levels to areas where most people won't be affected. On the PC, you can crank till you please.

EDIT: Those are measuring ghosting times in 2D. But the more a display is ghosting, the more crosstalk there is as a byproduct.

2nd EDIT: Also some games just aren't ideal there. They could be rated poorly to begin with.

And are you using the advanced convergence settings? Because sometimes I can tweak the image ghosting by getting my convergence level in the sweet spot.
 

Arucardo

Member
I bought a used VG278H a few weeks ago for 350e, still had most of the protective plastic on it too so it's good as new (with warranty), really happy with it so far. Haven't had as much time as I'd like to try stuff out in 3D on it yet, but I'm hoping I'll have the time this weekend. Def. need to try Trine 2 on it.

The VG278H also has 3D support over HDMI for bluray players, ps3, etc. I tried Shadow of The Colossus on it (awesome and no trade-offs to be made for 3D either) and Motorstorm apocalypse. There's a downside for using a ps3 on it though, 720p tends to look more blurrier since lcd monitors tend to have bad scaling on non-native res and the ps3 doesn't scale games to 1080p.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
the playstation one

Unfortunately, Sony seems to have pissed in Nvidia's cereal and it's not supported.

If you google, there's a workaround to get it working with the 3DPlay software, but from what I can see, you still need the 3D Vision USB emitter during one of the set-up steps. So you're out of luck if you wanna use 3D Play.

EDIT: Actually if you google around, you'll see some interesting results. I can't link for ToS reasons.
 
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