Virtual Reality

[huxley]

Well they added eye tracking as an option and it is indeed heavier, 1 gram! How did they do that.
As I have an order in for BSB1 I get the new base version as a free upgrade. From what support have said I will need to pay for the eye tracking upgrade. About £90 but I’m fine with that.
Also has new smaller lenses with a wider fov (116). Brighter panels, new strap options and colour options.
and overall it’s now 20 grams lighter.

Announcement -

https://youtu.be/QBQzViR4xU4?feature=shared

Looks like some reviews are out

https://youtu.be/gbFU6KoEASU?feature=shared

[Asura]

Latest in the multi-year edging sesh that is The Valve Deckard is to expect a Q3 announcement and release.

[Neon Ignition]

I kind of like that Valve is in a position where it can do this stuff and literally not care that it will probably lose them money. There really doesn't seem to be much point to Deckard but if it will get us Alyx 2 it's worth it


EDIT - I say that... meaning as long as they don't mandate non-starter stuff like eye-tracking in it

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.roadtovr.com/vivo-vision-mr-headset-copy-apple-vision-pro/

https://www.roadtovr.com/shooter-sandbox-hard-bullet-ques-3-release-date/

[Dogg Thang]

Just a heads up, if anyone has VR Myst, the Rime age has been added in a new update. It's nice.

[Asura]

I kind of like that Valve is in a position where it can do this stuff and literally not care that it will probably lose them money. There really doesn't seem to be much point to Deckard but if it will get us Alyx 2 it's worth it


EDIT - I say that... meaning as long as they don't mandate non-starter stuff like eye-tracking in it

Eye-tracking is definitely going to be a part of it. I'd be shocked if not. Any new headset for PCVR needs it, for the same reason the Bigscreen Beyond 2 has it (dynamic foveated rendering), plus it does make a huge difference in multiplayer VR games (the first time I played a game online with someone using a Quest Pro and they were able to properly look me in the eye while talking to me; man, talk about visually arresting, it was something else).

The current rumour is that Deckard is going to marketed more as something that can run games on a comparable level to Steam Deck, but obviously, in the Deckard you'd see those games on a cinema screen (maybe with stereo 3D). That's why the "Roy" controllers, unlike the Quest controllers and their imitators, have the necessary buttons to act like a split Xbox controller.

Then developers can port their Quest games to Steam (those who don't already have them on the store) or can try to optimise their PCVR games for Deckard in a similar way to how they managed for Steam Deck, so you'd get Quest-like functionality too.

[Asura]

Just a heads up, if anyone has VR Myst, the Rime age has been added in a new update. It's nice.

Ooooh, will have to try it. I'd heard the game had a visual upgrade for the Quest 3, does that look good?

[Dogg Thang]

Ooooh, will have to try it. I'd heard the game had a visual upgrade for the Quest 3, does that look good?

I think I wouldn't have noticed had I not compared directly. As it happens, I thought I had upgraded it but hadn't, leading to a "where's my Rime age?!" moment. But that did give me a direct comparison, playing a certain part of it twice (because I think the new update requires all new saves, unfortunately). Where I really noticed it was the D'ni part at the end and the big difference was that, pre-update, when you walk towards something there are several noticeable pops as it upgrades model and textures closer up. Those are gone post-update, with it looking pretty good at any distance.

Other than that, the upgrade isn't huge and I'm not sure if you'd notice if you haven't just played the pre-update version. For example, in the main library room, it pretty much looks the same but the bookshelf has been amended, being seemingly larger and with new textures. Again on D'ni, there is a candle and I noticed just under the flame, it used to just look like a basic flat shape and now that has been fixed to more of a gas lamp top - a tiny difference but it's nice. Small tweaks but it works.

[Neon Ignition]

[Asura]

This looks great!

But it's also one of the games which makes me wonder if there really is something to the Valve Deckard. This, Arken Age and Alien Rogue Incursion are all high budget VR titles which, given the state of the market, were unlikely to make their money back just with the platforms that exist. I wonder if their publishers know they're going to have that Valve platform to relaunch on.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm not sure Deckard will help that, most will have already played the games with their existing headsets and Deckard isn't going to sell that many units. Valve hardware is something people hear a lot about but the sales figures are miniscule like the Deck being constantly the benchmark people refer to for modern handhelds but its sales figures are shy of a third of that of the WiiU.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-24/meta-lays-off-more-than-100-staff-across-reality-labs-unit

[Asura]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...lity-labs-unit

Yeah; sucks to be them. Genuine sympathy.

I hope Valve release something soon.

[MartyG]

Almost as much as paywalled links.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.roadtovr.com/this-free-gta-mod-brings-san-andreas-definitive-edition-to-pc-vr-headsets/

Meta Shares the 50 Best-selling Quest Games of All Time