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PlayStation VR Thread 2: Reloaded

wondermega

Member
Is no one else having the black screen issue? Would really appreciate more PSVR owners giving their experiences.

Feel like I did a little bit, happened maybe 5 times, but that's been several months ago now without any further hiccups. I haven't changed any settings, figured they patched it or something.
 

Grinchy

Banned
Is no one else having the black screen issue? Would really appreciate more PSVR owners giving their experiences.

My roommate's Pro does this all the time. I played Persona 5 on his setup and just about every single time I booted it up, I got the blackout within the first 5 minutes or so. Sometimes it'd happen twice.

I've experienced the blackouts on my own non-Pro setup as well as audio cutouts, but it's way more rare. I'm personally betting on this being an issue with the breakout box itself. Some people claim it's the cables, and say you have to use 3 foot high speed cables. I'm not sure if I buy into that yet.
 
My roommate's Pro does this all the time. I played Persona 5 on his setup and just about every single time I booted it up, I got the blackout within the first 5 minutes or so. Sometimes it'd happen twice.

I've experienced the blackouts on my own non-Pro setup as well as audio cutouts, but it's way more rare. I'm personally betting on this being an issue with the breakout box itself. Some people claim it's the cables, and say you have to use 3 foot high speed cables. I'm not sure if I buy into that yet.

Since it only happens once or twice in the first 10 minutes, and then never again, I don't think the cables are part of the problem.
 

Grinchy

Banned
I did some random tracking testing tonight because things just haven't been all that solid lately for me. After a ton of lighting scenarios, camera heights distances, ect, I found that my best results came when I placed a single lamp behind the camera while it was the only light turned on in the room.

I've never bothered to try that before, but now I feel like even if a light source is out of view and off to one side, it causes major world shifting for me. With a single light source behind the camera, the world shift I could replicate every time before went completely away.
 
Is no one else having the black screen issue? Would really appreciate more PSVR owners giving their experiences.

What works for me is to reboot the PS4 Pro before using VR, start the VR headset once the PS4 has booted fully (you'll probably notice your telly goes black for a second or too), wait till all the microphone etc messages have gone then turn off the headset. Fire the headset up again once the messages have gone (notice the TV doesn't black out this time) and voila, no more black screen cutouts. Before I sussed that out I would get the black screen thing about 1 in 3 sessions (usually at a crucial bend in DCVR or when a spider alien was leaping at me in Farpoint!).
 

gmoran

Member
I did some random tracking testing tonight because things just haven't been all that solid lately for me. After a ton of lighting scenarios, camera heights distances, ect, I found that my best results came when I placed a single lamp behind the camera while it was the only light turned on in the room.

I've never bothered to try that before, but now I feel like even if a light source is out of view and off to one side, it causes major world shifting for me. With a single light source behind the camera, the world shift I could replicate every time before went completely away.

Useful info, though I'm not sure what you mean by world shifting? Do you mean positional parallax errors e.g. move forward and some objects also move to the side slightly?
 
What works for me is to reboot the PS4 Pro before using VR, start the VR headset once the PS4 has booted fully (you'll probably notice your telly goes black for a second or too), wait till all the microphone etc messages have gone then turn off the headset. Fire the headset up again once the messages have gone (notice the TV doesn't black out this time) and voila, no more black screen cutouts. Before I sussed that out I would get the black screen thing about 1 in 3 sessions (usually at a crucial bend in DCVR or when a spider alien was leaping at me in Farpoint!).

Nothing better than a blackout in a race!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfeS6lRyt38&t=60s
 

Grinchy

Banned
Useful info, though I'm not sure what you mean by world shifting? Do you mean positional parallax errors e.g. move forward and some objects also move to the side slightly?

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. I have been having that problem really bad lately no matter how I was setting things up until I moved my standing lamp to the other side of the room to test things out. It was making any standing game unplayable for me.

Now, I might just buy a second standing lamp that's always plugged in near where my camera will be when I play VR so I can just flip its switch and it'll be convenient.
 

Bluecondor

Member
Sony’s London Studio Doubles Down With VR as Its Top Priority: https://www.roadtovr.com/sony-london-studio-doubles-down-psvr-playstation-vr/

"Though Oates wasn’t ready to talk about what comes next, with VR Worlds under its belt and Blood & Truth on the horizon, he was bullish about the studio’s commitment to VR, calling it London Studio’s “primary focus.”"

Great!

I would love to see them develop the shark encounter experience from VR Worlds into a game.

I'm imagining various scenarios in which you try and explore various ocean/water locations to find lost treasure or lost pieces of a puzzle or weapon, etc. and various water/sea creatures are in these locations with you - threatening to attack at any moment:

- Barricuda
- Great White Sharks
- Piranhas
- Electric Eels
- Crocodiles

The jump scares would be amazing, as you would be caught up in searching the environment for the piece/treasure and often wouldn't know about a threat until it is too late. You would have to take various risks in order to get the pieces/treasure.

For example - in the Great White Shark location, you would drop down in a diving cage to the general area where the treasure should be located. Then, you would have to open the cage and swim out to search for and actually secure the piece/treasure and return to your cage. All the while, a Great White Shark would be lurking nearby and could attack at any moment. The shark could also attack your cage as you ascend like in VR Worlds (only this time it could actually destroy the cage).

Then - imagine swimming/searching in a river basin that has piranha nearby. Getting swarmed by piranha underwater would be terrifying. Being stalked by a huge crocodile would be intense, as would an electric eel shock. And, in one location, you would have to swim near barracuda that could attack viciously if you make too many sudden movements near them.

I don't know if a game like this exists on Oculus, etc., but I would love to see the makers of VR Worlds take a shot at something like this for PSVR.
 

philm87

Member
Playstation uploaded a few new VR tutorial videos to their Youtube channel a few days ago, useful if you're new to it. ^^^Mentions on there about not placing lamps behind where you sit.

Is there any issue with placing the camera nice and high? There's a shelf above my TV (approx. 6ft high) that I think would be ideal for the camera and would have good line of site to all the tracking nodes. Can't clip it to the top of my TV and I think it would obstruct the screen a bit if I placed it below the screen (not purchased the PSVR yet, just trying to work out my set up for when I do).
 

Grinchy

Banned
Playstation uploaded a few new VR tutorial videos to their Youtube channel a few days ago, useful if you're new to it. ^^^Mentions on there about not placing lamps behind where you sit.

Is there any issue with placing the camera nice and high? There's a shelf above my TV (approx. 6ft high) that I think would be ideal for the camera and would have good line of site to all the tracking nodes. Can't clip it to the top of my TV and I think it would obstruct the screen a bit if I placed it below the screen (not purchased the PSVR yet, just trying to work out my set up for when I do).

6 feet high is great for standing games. It's less ideal for sitting games. That's one of the big headaches is that it feels like certain games like certain setups more than others.

PSVR2 is going to be so great when it can get away from the colored light tracking.
 

philm87

Member
6 feet high is great for standing games. It's less ideal for sitting games. That's one of the big headaches is that it feels like certain games like certain setups more than others.

PSVR2 is going to be so great when it can get away from the colored light tracking.

Ok cool, thanks. Think there might be a bit of trial and error in there when I get it. got a shelf below the tv but that may well be too low, even for sitting games. Or I maybe wouldn't be against standing even for the games that you usually sit on.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
6 feet high is great for standing games. It's less ideal for sitting games. That's one of the big headaches is that it feels like certain games like certain setups more than others.

PSVR2 is going to be so great when it can get away from the colored light tracking.

You think they will go away from the colored lights?
 

Grinchy

Banned
You think they will go away from the colored lights?

Oh God yeah, that's what I'm assuming. I think they only went with this solution because they already had the technology owned and ready to go and wanted to keep R&D costs on their VR venture low. But they know how limited it is as a tracking mechanism.
 
Sony’s London Studio Doubles Down With VR as Its Top Priority: https://www.roadtovr.com/sony-london-studio-doubles-down-psvr-playstation-vr/

"Though Oates wasn’t ready to talk about what comes next, with VR Worlds under its belt and Blood & Truth on the horizon, he was bullish about the studio’s commitment to VR, calling it London Studio’s “primary focus.”"

Why Sony has not done Sports champions VR and PS4 yet is disappointing. It was a great title for Move/PS3 and fits perfectly as a VR title and would be so much better in VR and on PS4. I know the original studio closed, but they can give it to London Studio or some other studio.
 

tr00per

Member

Thanks for posting! I've got some gift cards recently so the timing is great!

Why Sony has not done Sports champions VR and PS4 yet is disappointing. It was a great title for Move/PS3 and fits perfectly as a VR title and would be so much better in VR and on PS4. I know the original studio closed, but they can give it to London Studio or some other studio.

Agreed! I've wondered this myself

I am jumping in.

Congratulations. Which titles are you going to get?


Side note, I recently tried my dad's psvr and I noticed his seems to fit better somehow. Like the silicone eyepiece seems to conform to the shape of my face better. I can get the display part closer to my face for a bigger FOV. After trying all the adjustments and cleaning and reassembling it, I think I can chalk it up to a manufacturing difference?
 
The Skyrim bundle at $350 is such a crazy deal. It's like the perfect VR package.
Nah, that still goes to the Rift. $400 for the lightest headset, two cameras for better tracking and even rudimentary (lack of a better word) room scale, great controllers, and a suite of interesting applications and games including the excellent Robo Recall is by far the single best package out there. Tastes vary of course, but seeing as I also got an Xbox One controller and PC adapter with mine, I can't ask for much more.
 

j^aws

Member
https://youtu.be/I71Le3-Un_Y#t=11m16s

Doom VR has free movement with AIM?

Please can someone verify that control layout shown at 11min 16sec?

I can see the D-pad assigned to Forward, Left, Right and Backwards Dash. Also, Left, Right and 180 degrees Turn are assigned to the AIM. But I can't quite make out which buttons. The interviewer also mentioned 'free strafe and lateral motion' shortly afterwards.

If free locomotion is there with the AIM, then it's an instant buy from me.
 
https://youtu.be/I71Le3-Un_Y#t=11m16s

Doom VR has free movement with AIM?

Please can someone verify that control layout shown at 11min 16sec?

I can see the D-pad assigned to Forward, Left, Right and Backwards Dash. Also, Left, Right and 180 degrees Turn are assigned to the AIM. But I can't quite make out which buttons. The interviewer also mentioned 'free strafe and lateral motion' shortly afterwards.

If free locomotion is there with the AIM, then it's an instant buy from me.
I think dashes are more instantaneous teleports. I have not heard about free movement in this game at all.
 

Grinchy

Banned
Nah, that still goes to the Rift. $400 for the lightest headset, two cameras for better tracking and even rudimentary (lack of a better word) room scale, great controllers, and a suite of interesting applications and games including the excellent Robo Recall is by far the single best package out there. Tastes vary of course, but seeing as I also got an Xbox One controller and PC adapter with mine, I can't ask for much more.

Yeah I more meant it as the perfect PSVR bundle. Didn't really mean to compare it to PCVR. Obviously PCVR has a way better tracking solution for both of the headsets. I still prefer the PS game lineup overall, but I'd like to own a Vive one of these days.
 
Yeah I more meant it as the perfect PSVR bundle. Didn't really mean to compare it to PCVR. Obviously PCVR has a way better tracking solution for both of the headsets. I still prefer the PS game lineup overall, but I'd like to own a Vive one of these days.
:p

Yeah having both is gonna be awesome. I'm so excited to try new VR. Even though PC VR has a much higher ceiling in tech, the PSVR having Sony bankrolling it is its main draw for me. Much like the console itself.
 

philm87

Member
Anyone know if the Skyrim PSVR bundle is launching in Europe? I can't find it anywhere to pre-order. Hoping it'll be £350 or less in the UK and I'll definitely be getting it.
 
I purchased a headset bundle at launch and decided to return it due to being short on cash at the time. Then things were better this summer so I picked up a new headset again. Seemed to work just fine a few months ago with minor drifting here and there. Haven’t really used it much since then. Been wanting to use it more lately and now noticed the drifting is off the rails. Pressing the options button constantly so the screen centers while in the PS4 menu and also in-game is getting on my nerves. I know both the PS4 (5.00) and the VR headset (3.10) received new firmware updates since I last used it this summer. Could this be the culprit?

Drifting on Battlezone is so bad that after a few minutes of playing, I realize the drifting has caused me to turn my body 135 to almost 160 degrees from the direction I started facing just so I can the face in-game cockpit correctly. Also, when using the LittlStar app, the menu screen is constantly bouncing up and down which causes a slight nausea.

Is anyone else suffering the constant drifting? Any way to reset the headset or correct these issues? Maybe the headset is faulty?
 

Jimmy_liv

Member
So tempted to buy skyrim. Really hoping for a demo to push me over the edge.
I can see myself sinking another couple of hundred hours into this.
 

MultiCore

Member
I purchased a headset bundle at launch and decided to return it due to being short on cash at the time. Then things were better this summer so I picked up a new headset again. Seemed to work just fine a few months ago with minor drifting here and there. Haven’t really used it much since then. Been wanting to use it more lately and now noticed the drifting is off the rails. Pressing the options button constantly so the screen centers while in the PS4 menu and also in-game is getting on my nerves. I know both the PS4 (5.00) and the VR headset (3.10) received new firmware updates since I last used it this summer. Could this be the culprit?

Drifting on Battlezone is so bad that after a few minutes of playing, I realize the drifting has caused me to turn my body 135 to almost 160 degrees from the direction I started facing just so I can the face in-game cockpit correctly. Also, when using the LittlStar app, the menu screen is constantly bouncing up and down which causes a slight nausea.

Is anyone else suffering the constant drifting? Any way to reset the headset or correct these issues? Maybe the headset is faulty?

Sleep mode is often cited as the cause of this.

Usually, a cold boot will fix things.

Secondarily, other light sources in the room can be the cause of this. Windows, reflections, ECT.
 

hookurs

Member
SKYRIM AT 350!!!

Will Amazon.com price match? Where in the hell will I find Skyrim @ 350? (that will deliver to Canada I should mention)
 

goonergaz

Member
I purchased a headset bundle at launch and decided to return it due to being short on cash at the time. Then things were better this summer so I picked up a new headset again. Seemed to work just fine a few months ago with minor drifting here and there. Haven’t really used it much since then. Been wanting to use it more lately and now noticed the drifting is off the rails. Pressing the options button constantly so the screen centers while in the PS4 menu and also in-game is getting on my nerves. I know both the PS4 (5.00) and the VR headset (3.10) received new firmware updates since I last used it this summer. Could this be the culprit?

Drifting on Battlezone is so bad that after a few minutes of playing, I realize the drifting has caused me to turn my body 135 to almost 160 degrees from the direction I started facing just so I can the face in-game cockpit correctly. Also, when using the LittlStar app, the menu screen is constantly bouncing up and down which causes a slight nausea.

Is anyone else suffering the constant drifting? Any way to reset the headset or correct these issues? Maybe the headset is faulty?

Apparently having the headset on a flat surface and not moving it when switching on can help - you know, put it on a table - power it up, wait a few seconds and then put it on.
 

Grinchy

Banned
I purchased a headset bundle at launch and decided to return it due to being short on cash at the time. Then things were better this summer so I picked up a new headset again. Seemed to work just fine a few months ago with minor drifting here and there. Haven't really used it much since then. Been wanting to use it more lately and now noticed the drifting is off the rails. Pressing the options button constantly so the screen centers while in the PS4 menu and also in-game is getting on my nerves. I know both the PS4 (5.00) and the VR headset (3.10) received new firmware updates since I last used it this summer. Could this be the culprit?

Drifting on Battlezone is so bad that after a few minutes of playing, I realize the drifting has caused me to turn my body 135 to almost 160 degrees from the direction I started facing just so I can the face in-game cockpit correctly. Also, when using the LittlStar app, the menu screen is constantly bouncing up and down which causes a slight nausea.

Is anyone else suffering the constant drifting? Any way to reset the headset or correct these issues? Maybe the headset is faulty?

The LittlStar app boucning up and down is the interesting point here. The video apps like that one do not use the camera or tracking lights for any kind of positional tracking. You'll notice the front headset lights don't even turn on while you use it. It's only using the internal sensors like the gyros.

I would try turning the PS4 completely off and unplug the power cable from the breakout box for a few minutes. Plug that back in and boot everything up and try LittlStar again. If it's still doing that, then that does kinda sound like a headset problem. I do get the drifting to the side in that app, but it's not as severe as you're describing with Battlezone and the menu is never bouncing.
 

Humdinger

Member
That Skyrim bundle is too good. $350 for 2 move controllers, the camera, PSVR (new unit), and Skyrim (selling at $60).

Yeah baby. I'm on board the VR bus.
 

MultiCore

Member
Is there anything I need to consider if I buy old/used PS Move and camera? It's the same hardware since the PS3 days, right?
Batteries in the old move controllers have likely degraded, and it'll be a bit of a crap shoot buying new batteries on Amazon. Still cheaper than new ones though.

It's not the old PS3 camera though, just to be clear.
The first gen PS4 camera is completely fine, if lacking the same adjustability.
 

PRiSMiWi

Member
The LittlStar app boucning up and down is the interesting point here. The video apps like that one do not use the camera or tracking lights for any kind of positional tracking. You'll notice the front headset lights don't even turn on while you use it. It's only using the internal sensors like the gyros.

I would try turning the PS4 completely off and unplug the power cable from the breakout box for a few minutes. Plug that back in and boot everything up and try LittlStar again. If it's still doing that, then that does kinda sound like a headset problem. I do get the drifting to the side in that app, but it's not as severe as you're describing with Battlezone and the menu is never bouncing.

This happened to me because I was charging controller with the PlayStation while playing VR. If you want to play in VR just unplug everything in your USB ports (leave only the VR unit :D)
 

Calibos

Member
Finally playing some Resident Evil 7 in VR this week...this really has been the best VR seller so far for me. I liked job simulator and some of the other mini-game style experiences, but this is just on another level. I had previously played through RE 7 standard and the difference in immersion level is the real draw.

Loving it so far after an hour and a half...dreading whats coming as far as spooky encounters go.
 

notacat

Member
I've heard the new PSVR units out now support HDR passthrough.

Will these be available for purchase for us first-gen headset owners, or just for the new ones. Anyone know?
 

philm87

Member
I've heard the new PSVR units out now support HDR passthrough.

Will these be available for purchase for us first-gen headset owners, or just for the new ones. Anyone know?

I believe you can't upgrade the old headsets unfortunately. Would have to buy the new one or find a solution that gets round the issue.
 

gmoran

Member
Yep, that's exactly what I mean. I have been having that problem really bad lately no matter how I was setting things up until I moved my standing lamp to the other side of the room to test things out. It was making any standing game unplayable for me.

Now, I might just buy a second standing lamp that's always plugged in near where my camera will be when I play VR so I can just flip its switch and it'll be convenient.

OK, I've been playing around with this configuration for 5 days now and so far it appears to have cured external tracking rotational drift and positional parallax errors; so I think you might be onto something with this. Not that I had big issues, but there were certain situations that would induce this, e.g. lots of sniper style shots on Farpoint, say against loads of drones, would usually result in either outright rotational drifting of the gun or rotational instability of the gun—to such a degree that in these situations I would take care to keep the gun moving to minimise tracking induced drift—after using your light config this hasn't occurred no matter how I played.

With PSVR its always a bit early to conclude a fix after a few days, but tracking has been as solid as I've ever experienced.
 

Hale-XF11

Member
Been playing the Rec Room beta for the last few days and I've gotta say, I think it's my own personal killer app for PSVR. I love how populated it is at the moment and I hope that continues for the entire lifespan of the PSVR. I've been putting in at least 2-3 hours per session and I couldn't wait to get home from work to go back in and play some more.
 

Grinchy

Banned
OK, I've been playing around with this configuration for 5 days now and so far it appears to have cured external tracking rotational drift and positional parallax errors; so I think you might be onto something with this. Not that I had big issues, but there were certain situations that would induce this, e.g. lots of sniper style shots on Farpoint, say against loads of drones, would usually result in either outright rotational drifting of the gun or rotational instability of the gun—to such a degree that in these situations I would take care to keep the gun moving to minimise tracking induced drift—after using your light config this hasn't occurred no matter how I played.

With PSVR its always a bit early to conclude a fix after a few days, but tracking has been as solid as I've ever experienced.

Fuck yeah, that's great news. And I am with you on being hesitant about concluding anything about it yet. I haven't been testing/playing enough lately either way.

I also recently picked up a green flood light to test with. That was a big thing on Reddit a while back - the theory that the green light flooding the room will give the camera a better ability to pick up the tracking lights. I don't have any real conclusions about that yet. I'm sure when Skyrim hits, I'll have an opinion one way or the other.
 

philm87

Member
Fuck yeah, that's great news. And I am with you on being hesitant about concluding anything about it yet. I haven't been testing/playing enough lately either way.

I also recently picked up a green flood light to test with. That was a big thing on Reddit a while back - the theory that the green light flooding the room will give the camera a better ability to pick up the tracking lights. I don't have any real conclusions about that yet. I'm sure when Skyrim hits, I'll have an opinion one way or the other.

Reckon setting a Phillips HUE bulb to green would help with tracking then? Would be perfect as I was looking to pick some up on Black Friday at the same time as the PSVR.

Still no news yet on Europe getting the PSVR Skyrim bundle :-(
Think I'd order it right now if I could get it for £350 in the UK
 

gmoran

Member
Fuck yeah, that's great news. And I am with you on being hesitant about concluding anything about it yet. I haven't been testing/playing enough lately either way.

I also recently picked up a green flood light to test with. That was a big thing on Reddit a while back - the theory that the green light flooding the room will give the camera a better ability to pick up the tracking lights. I don't have any real conclusions about that yet. I'm sure when Skyrim hits, I'll have an opinion one way or the other.

Yeah I bought a Philips LED colour changing spotlight (actually Little Mermaid one, much to the amusement of the Mrs, just cus it was cheap) back in June.

In my time with this it doesn't prevent externally tracked drifting issues; or positional parallax errors (which I think is related to rotational drift). It may help with jitter and I think on Reddit this turned out to be the main claim. And all makes sense when you think about the physics involved.

I tried testing Farpoint on the first challenge level (Descent?) because I could see a reasonable amount of jitter on the gun in that level. I tried green, blue yellow and orange and couldn't definitely say there was any improvement, perhaps orange was the best and was the colour I stuck with.

At least part of my problem was that the jitter of the Aim controller is the combined jitter of the HMD and the Aim controller which together uses two sets of differently coloured tracking lights.

Perhaps the best way to implement is to just concentrate on the HMD, perhaps testing with a Diorama style game to better illustrate jitter?

I really wish Sony would release a tracking utility solely for the purpose of helping to refine the tracking environment. Part of the reason we get bogged down in all this setup and test malarky is because its so difficult to objectively verify if one setup is better than another.

One thing I have definitely established for myself is that if you need to cover a mirror use blackout material, normal fabric is not enough. I had a mirror directly behind me that I would cover up with heavy fabric. Then a few months ago I realised I could reverse the mirror without too much hard work, and the difference in precision is substantial.
 

Leviticus

Neo Member
Reckon setting a Phillips HUE bulb to green would help with tracking then? Would be perfect as I was looking to pick some up on Black Friday at the same time as the PSVR.

Still no news yet on Europe getting the PSVR Skyrim bundle :-(
Think I'd order it right now if I could get it for £350 in the UK

I might have bad news coming your way! According to computerbase, which is a German website for tech-geeks, Bethesda has ruled out that a Skyrim-VR bundle will come to the German market before christmas. But it could still happen that retailers will offer discounts when buying a VR headset + SkyrimVR together, but that is not up to Bethesda.

I assume that, if the German market is not receiving this bundle, no one in Europe will.

In Deutschland wird es das Bundle vorerst nicht geben, das hat Bethesda auf Nachfrage erklärt. Nicht ausschließen will das Studio, dass Händler Skyrim VR und PSVR zusammen mit Rabatten verkaufen, das offizielle Paket gibt es im Vorweihnachtsgeschäft im Gegensatz zu den USA aber in keinem Fall. Das Bundle aus PSVR mit zwei Controllern, der Kamera und dem Spiel Grand Turismo GT bleibt damit hierzulande das einzige angebotene.

Source: https://www.computerbase.de/2017-11/psvr-skyrim-vr-bundle-hardware/
 
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