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[ephemeral garbage]

So it looks like he pushed a beta to Steam with some changes that may help:

For the people who get motion sickness in The Witness, and who are on Steam, I just pushed an update to the beta 'future' that may help.

It is a simple update and does not comprise everything we may do for this:

To try this out, opt into the beta 'future' on Steam. (There is no password). Let me know if it helps!

A caveat, though: I haven't tested the full game with these changes, so I don't know if this breaks anything. (Seems unlikely, but in a game this interconnected it really is possible.)

If you are on the PS4, it will take us a while to put out a patch. In the meantime it might help just to sit further from the TV.

https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/status/693509990020067328

 

[louiedog]

If you're still getting motion sickness with the game opt into the future beta channel on Steam. An update was just pushed out that should help.

I tried this out and it actually brought back a bit of my motion sickness which I haven't had since changing the FOV to 59 manually a few days ago.

 

[-MD-]

Anyone else feeling physically sick from the Witness?

Luckily I've never gotten sick from a video game before, I wish I could tone down the bloom in the game though because it is blinding at times, not a huge issue though.

 

[generic_username]

I have stopped playing. I cannot play this game without feeling pukish. I cant even sell it now. Digital sucks.

 

[Weetrick]

I tried this out and it actually brought back a bit of my motion sickness which I haven't had since changing the FOV to 59 manually a few days ago.

What's the default FOV?

 

[norog]

I'd heard this mentioned before, and scoffed, since I haven't had motion sickness in a game since Descent (not counting VR) but wowzers, my stomach is flipping and flopping like crazy after an hour. Really a shame, I was having a good time otherwise.

 

[mugoldeneagle03]

Weird that my girlfriend mentioned this last night after she got done playing for a few hours. Now I'm feeling queasy tonight.

Any quick fix for PS4?

 

[Falk]

Update: I'm outright nauseous now.

For a game that proudly proclaims "This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious." I found the walking speed wa-a-a-ay too slow.

Refund time, I guess. If it gets fixed, I'll repurchase. Can't deal with having to jump through hoops to simply not be nauseous, only to walk around just about as slow as the non-action scenes in Homefront.

VOTE WITH WALLET ETC.

I AM sprinting.

WAS*

edit: Not trying to be an elitist here. Obviously the game is doing really well from both numbers and 9/10 Steam (regardless of Jon's piracy tweets), and like I said, if it gets fixed I'm right back in. It's just really, really hard for me to play this, and the walking speed, especially coming right off Talos Principle, is annoying but I'd put up with it if I wasn't literally trying to eject my stomach through my pie-hole.

It's not like I'm singling out the game either - I put Type-0 down till the motion blur patch.

Apologies for train-quoting myself, but for anyone wondering (all 1 of you) I re-bought this. Latest patch has some experimentation with tweaks to improve this, so even if it's not working right away, at least there's effort being made to an acknowledged issue, and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is and grab it again.

Spoiler

one day my refund rights on Steam are gonna get revoked ehehehe

 

[LightofRohan]

It is because there is no cursor to keep your bearings, I thought this was a known thing. That's why Mirrors Edge has one.

 

[Falk]

It is because there is no cursor to keep your bearings, I thought this was a known thing. That's why Mirrors Edge has one.

Yes and no.

As a kid I played Quake nonstop for way longer periods than any kid should be allowed to play a computer game, before I even figured out how to bring up the console and type "crosshair 1". (Believe it or not, the grandfather of polygonal 3D FPS didn't have a crosshair by default)

It's one of a multitude of reasons.

 

[NoHeDidn't]

Only a few games have done this to me mainly Bethesda games well certain ones.I only played an hour of ES Oblivion and now sadly I only made it to the first villiage in Fallout 4.

Its just odd since Fallout 4 has first and third person but no matter what i get nausea and it sucks sooo bad since i finished fallout 3 and Skyrim.Guess I'll pass on Witness then since im sure ill get sick too.

Also guys don't fight through it it just gets worse and can last for hours till its gone if you must get your money's short bursts.

 

[HoodWinked]

Yes and no.

As a kid I played Quake nonstop for way longer periods than any kid should be allowed to play a computer game, before I even figured out how to bring up the console and type "crosshair 1". (Believe it or not, the grandfather of polygonal 3D FPS didn't have a crosshair by default)

It's one of a multitude of reasons.

quake has that gun in the center bottom which is even better than a cursor since its like the bridge of your nose. this principle has even been effective in reducing vr motion sickness.

 

[Falk]

So, messed around some with the beta patch.

Tweaks definitely help a lot as far as I'm concerned. Instead of feeling sick within 10 minutes, things were okay for a while. Got really into the game.

Couple of hours later, started feeling queasy. I went on anyway and body turned queasiness into outright a churning stomach. I took a break and lo and behold, diarrhea. (Pretty sure it wasn't what I ate, heh) Took pictures of some of the puzzles I was stuck on with phone, to ponder over them while on the potty. This game, heh.

I wonder if Jon Blow would appreciate me taking a picture of said diarrhea and tweeting him "Here is something I made, while finishing The Witness".

 

[ekim]

I tried the Beta patch and additionally popped a little square of a semi-transparent post-it
as a reticle/crosshair on my TV. I cut one of these:

I was able to play the game for hours without any feeling of sickness. <3

 

[345triangle]

There's a sprint button.

the sprint button is actually what makes me feel sick, and i've never once got this feeling from any other game before. walking is fine!

 

[Houndi101]

Daamn, wanna buy this but I used to get motion sick with Doom etc.
Thank god Steam has the refund program now but still..
How come there's no easy FOV fix?

Played like 7 hours of it, no problems since you usually don't move around for a long periods of time.
Maybe got a bit dizzy

Spoiler

running around full speed on the platforms in the treehouse area

 

[lazygecko]

Only a few games have done this to me mainly Bethesda games well certain ones.I only played an hour of ES Oblivion and now sadly I only made it to the first villiage in Fallout 4.

Its just odd since Fallout 4 has first and third person but no matter what i get nausea and it sucks sooo bad since i finished fallout 3 and Skyrim.Guess I'll pass on Witness then since im sure ill get sick too.

Also guys don't fight through it it just gets worse and can last for hours till its gone if you must get your money's short bursts.

Bethesda's games always gave me motion sickness and I could not figure out why until I learned about FoV. The fact that they to this day don't give any actual persistent options for it is infuriating. And it's even more infuriating that people like TB are actually ridiculed for always bringing it up.

Help spread awareness.

 

[Betta Lines]

I still think there is a weird acceleration on both the walk and the run in the beta. Particularly when using WASD to move, it feels like I should be more instantaneously up to speed.

 

[Jimrpg]

So, messed around some with the beta patch.

Tweaks definitely help a lot as far as I'm concerned. Instead of feeling sick within 10 minutes, things were okay for a while. Got really into the game.

Couple of hours later, started feeling queasy. I went on anyway and body turned queasiness into outright a churning stomach. I took a break and lo and behold, diarrhea. (Pretty sure it wasn't what I ate, heh) Took pictures of some of the puzzles I was stuck on with phone, to ponder over them while on the potty. This game, heh.

I wonder if Jon Blow would appreciate me taking a picture of said diarrhea and tweeting him "Here is something I made, while finishing The Witness".

Falk, set your FOV to 100 (play in a window too).

That's what I did and I get sick in every FPS. I didn't on the first day (default=59?) and was sick after 30 mins.

Changed the FOV and played two 3 hr sessions and haven't felt too bad.

 

[Birgitte2004]

I was totally getting queasy until I tweaked the FOV.

I went with vertical FOV 90 and I've played for about 6 hours since with no issues.

 

[sandkiller]

Yes, can't play it without feeling really sick and i can't remember the last time it happened in more than 20 years of gaming :/

 

[toddhunter]

Do people getting sick generally play a lot of fps games?

I don't really play any and I've played several hours of The Witness with no issue at all besides a constant urge to jump over stuff.

 

[Betta Lines]

Do people getting sick generally play a lot of fps games?

I don't really play any and I've played several hours of The Witness with no issue at all besides a constant urge to jump over stuff.

I haven't played an FPS for a while, but I've played many over the years and not a single one has been a problem, including the ones that have unusual movement, like Half-Life and Mirror's Edge.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Do people getting sick generally play a lot of fps games?

I don't really play any and I've played several hours of The Witness with no issue at all besides a constant urge to jump over stuff.

I have played a lot of FPS games over the years; this is the first one to ever make me feel queasy.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Motion blur and FOV are the top most sickness inducing factors for me, but I haven't had much issues with The Witness as of yet (5 hours)

I was totally getting queasy until I tweaked the FOV.

I went with vertical FOV 90 and I've played for about 6 hours since with no issues.

90 VFOV like 160 degress horizontal on 16:9 screen?

 

[Haunted]

So it looks like he pushed a beta to Steam with some changes that may help:



https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Blow/status/693509990020067328

Seems good.

 

[Yrael]

Okay, I've tested it out now on PS4...I'm finding that I don't actually feel sick from playing it, whereas I did when I watched the Giant Bomb quick look. I think the difference is that I'm sitting several metres away from the TV screen, and also that I'm controlling the camera rather than being a passive observer.

 

[DeviantBoi]

My refund from PlayStation came through.

I tried playing some more this past weekend. Still got sick after a few minutes. I was in the quarry and all that going up and down the stairs and turning one way and the other... just thinking about it and picturing it in my head is enough to make me dizzy.

Hopefully he solves this problem. I already have one trophy and I would like to keep going, but not in short bursts.

By the way, I still have access to the game. I guess it'll only get blocked if I choose to renew licenses.

 

[hampig]

I haven't felt it, but have only been playing around 30 mins at a time max.

 

[UncleSporky]

It is because there is no cursor to keep your bearings, I thought this was a known thing. That's why Mirrors Edge has one.

Ark Survival Evolved doesn't have one (or at least the server I play on has it disabled) and it doesn't make me sick at all, but even watching Giant Bomb's Quick Look of The Witness made me queasy, and I tend to get sick at certain games or even car sick on occasion.

It's got to be the FOV and way the player moves, not the lack of a cursor.

 

[Betta Lines]

Ark Survival Evolved doesn't have one (or at least the server I play on has it disabled) and it doesn't make me sick at all, but even watching Giant Bomb's Quick Look of The Witness made me queasy, and I tend to get sick at certain games or even car sick on occasion.

It's got to be the FOV and way the player moves, not the lack of a cursor.

For you perhaps, but not everyone has the same reaction. Adding a dot makes a big difference for some people, myself included.

 

[mattp]

yeah i think there's many things can can and do cause motion sickness, and just tossing in options for all those things is the best solution.

i really hope he tries putting a 30fps limit in there, because like i said earlier, it TOTALLY makes a difference for me when playing on my vita

it's weird because, if the framerate were TOO low, it'd give me a headache. we've all had that happen
but i never thought about how having "too much" framerate could just amplify the motion sickness effects


like, i can play a 3rd person action game just fine. and if it's 60fps is just that much better

but maybe since being in first person already makes me feel a bit off, having double the visual information being blasted into my head only makes the effects stronger. thus limiting to 30 makes me bearable for me?

 

[Nabs]

Ark Survival Evolved doesn't have one (or at least the server I play on has it disabled) and it doesn't make me sick at all, but even watching Giant Bomb's Quick Look of The Witness made me queasy, and I tend to get sick at certain games or even car sick on occasion.

It's got to be the FOV and way the player moves, not the lack of a cursor.

I added a cursor and it feels much better. I don't seem to have an issue with the default FOV.

 

[Birgitte2004]

90 VFOV like 160 degress horizontal on 16:9 screen?

I have no idea actually, I just saw instructions on Steam how to do so and a recommendation to use 90 or 100. What you said would make sense.

 

[BluePigGanon]

In trying to explain this whole thing to my non-gamer gf, it's interesting how poorly understood this is. That nobody knows exactly what might make you motion sick in a game or not, or why.

 

[lazygecko]

In trying to explain this whole thing to my non-gamer gf, it's interesting how poorly understood this is. That nobody knows exactly what might make you motion sick in a game or not, or why.

The human senses are really fickle, delicate instruments and vary a lot from person to person. I even had this weird issue where I got motion sickness from wearing a certain brand of headphones. I googled the issue and got very few results but apparently it had something to do with the noise cancellation in them messing with your inner ear balance.

 

[timetokill]

I keep checking this thread hoping it gets solved. In the meantime I guess it gives me a reason to put off my purchase a little longer (I can't afford it anyway)

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Oh, it had View BOB and a narrow FOV? Yeah, that'd get me spinning real quick.
I can't handle Head/View Bobbing, blech, it's about the only thing that will put me right off a game if i can't disable it.

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

I still can hardly believe people release first person view games without FOV sliders. It is worse than locking framerate to 30fps imho.

 

[BluePigGanon]

I'm considering biting the bullet and popping some Dramamine. I'm on the PS4 so who knows if or when there will be a fix.

 

[Houndi101]

Played like 7 hours of it, no problems since you usually don't move around for a long periods of time.
Maybe got a bit dizzy

Spoiler

running around full speed on the platforms in the treehouse area

Alright, 9 hours played and yesterday I got squeemish
Maybe it was because it was the areas that needed alot more moving around than the ones I've done before

Spoiler

orchard and the ruins

 

[thetester77]

1st time I have ever experienced this - but was playing for about 45 mins this morning then had waves of sickness come over me and had to turn off. The only other time I get motion sickness is when trying to read when in a moving car for more than 5 mins.

Have been fine up until now - but the particular puzzle I'm at

Spoiler

is the one in the pyramid type structure and you have to keep moving around to view the shaddows

 

[kaskade]

Yeah, This game definitely makes me feel weird. I play in shortish bursts which is hard with this but I have to. I noticed it seems worse when I'm in close quarters with walls. I tend to get motion sick on rides but a game has never given me an issue. I wonder if it's just a perfect mix of FOV, lack of head bob, lack of reticle. It almost feels too smooth.

I might hold off until we get a PS4 patch so I can really enjoy it.

 

[hesido]

As I mentioned earlier, sitting further away from the TV fixed the problem for me. Although on Vita, with 60fps streaming (unlike the OP's 30fps), it's very hard for me to walk around! Maybe it's because I'm concentrating on the scene in a different way on the handheld. Solving panels is good on Vita, but the chroma compression does make the star shapes with certain colour look like fuzzy circles

 

[sciencerob]

This is the first and only game I have ever gotten sick from. I love puzzles games and hate that this makes me feel this way. I think I'll just wait for an official patch on steam before I play it again. =\

 

[batman2million]

This is the first and only game I have ever gotten sick from. I love puzzles games and hate that this makes me feel this way. I think I'll just wait for an official patch on steam before I play it again. =\

Same here. Played a ton of fps games and this is making my headache. Gonna wait for a patch. sad b/c I was really enjoying this game.

 

[ryanthelion123]

I just played after a week and a half. And just after 20 minutes I had to put the controller down. Weird, it seems to happen faster than before.

I cant believe there isn't a patch for this yet. Any update from the developers?

 

[sciencerob]

Can anyone tell me if this patch has helped at all? I see there is a new patch but I don't want to ruin my day if it turns out to not be true.

 

[Betta Lines]

Can anyone tell me if this patch has helped at all? I see there is a new patch but I don't want to ruin my day if it turns out to not be true.

I've not been following exactly when the changes rolled out, but it sounds like whatever was in the 'Future' beta is now in the normal version. For me, increasing the FOV to 105 and adding the reticule made the difference. I went from feeling sick in 20 mins to being able to play it for hours. No guarantees it will work for you though.

 

[paperspace]

Can anyone tell me if this patch has helped at all? I see there is a new patch but I don't want to ruin my day if it turns out to not be true.

It's very subjective, but I've been following the Steam Forums and Twitter and a lot of people seem to think it's better with the added options and/or various changes.

The changes so far includes:

- FOV adjustment
- added reticle
- vignette setting
- no head bobbing
- increased acceleration while walking
- sensitivity options

If this doesn't help and some people are still experiencing motion sickness (in this game only) I'm very curious as to why that would be the case. Maybe they sprint too often?