At the start of 2019, we noticed that many new people got into Virtual Reality!
We could tell by the many photos posted on Social Media.
And by the views that we still get on our older tips and tricks video made almost 2
years ago!
So we thought it was time to make a new one on the Oculus Rift.
The HTC VIVE version will come later.
Chary and I were early adopters of the Oculus Rift, we have been using it for two years
now and based on this experience we have a lot to share!
These are tips for new Oculus Rift owners, but maybe if you’re a VR veteran already,
you might still pick up a tip or two!
We will go through this video in order.
First, we’ll start with the tips that are handy to check before playing, like how to
get the tracking right.
Then we’ll give you tips for during playtime and we’ll end the video with our tips on
how to store your headset safely.
Also, whenever we mention a handy thing in this video, I’ll also link it in the description.
And for those who might prefer it, we also added subtitles in this video.
So sit tight, grab a drink or some popcorn and join us while we tell you what we do to
make our VR experience as fun as possible.
Coming up!
Don’t forget to subscribe if you want to see more VR videos like this one!
Now, let’s start with the tips and tricks pre-games!
Tip Number 1.
To make your game or app as sharp as possible, make sure you use this slider at the bottom
of the Rift to adjust the lenses to your interpupillary distance (or IPD).
Make sure you know your IPD, which is the distance between the centers of the pupils
of the eyes.
If you don’t know this, you can try measuring it at home.
Or go to your local glasses store to get it measured.
Some places do it for free here in The Netherlands.
If you’ve ever had your eyes checked before, then you’ll most likely already have your
IPD in the specifications that they gave you.
Tip Number 2.
Get VR Covers for extra comfort, or style.
We use a black 6 mm leather foam replacement, which adds a little bit more field of view
too!
We also have a red facial interface.
Not only does the leather make the foam easier to clean, I feel the headset looks just a
bit sexier too.
;) This is our personal favorite setup, but if you want something else, there are other
materials and colors to choose from too.
Tip Number 3.
If you wear glasses, you can get prescription lens inserts.
That way you don’t need to try to wiggle yourself in the headset wearing your glasses.
The lens inserts will make your headset more comfortable while still keeping the sharpness.
Good tracking is vital to a good gaming experience.
So, let’s move on to our tips on tracking.
Tip Number 4.
The first tip on tracking that we can give you is to place the sensors up high, facing
down.
If you don’t have a high place to put them on, get light stands with ball heads.
Or these clips with ball heads and hang them on a shelf or something.
Place the first two sensors in front of you, ideally with at least 1 meter of distance.
And make sure you are using USB 3.0 inputs.
For more info, check out Oculus’ in-depth article about setting up a killer VR room.
Tip Number 5.
Get a third sensor.
Yes, the experience will really get that much better if you can play games in full 360 room
scale.
No more artificial snap turning, instead, you can turn around in the game by turning
your real life body.
After we got our third sensor, we were immersed more and we rarely lose tracking anymore.
Make sure to place the third sensor behind you in a corner of your play space.
Pointing inwards towards the center of your play space.
It doesn’t matter which corner, as long as it is right across the other two sensors.
Tip Number 6.
If you have any tracking issues, make sure that you have some curtains for your windows
and close them.
Make sure to remove any reflective surfaces like mirrors.
Because these things can cause tracking issues.
Tip Number 7.
There is also a free app called Sensor Bounds that shows you your sensor coverage in VR
from first person, which can be very helpful if you have any issues.
Tip Number 8.
If you still have tracking issues, make sure you didn’t max out your USB controller’s
bandwidth.
Your PC can only handle a certain amount of USB devices plugged into your USB inputs.
So try putting two sensors in USB 3.0 and one in USB 2.0 to divide this bandwidth.
Be aware that USB hubs do not give you more bandwidth and therefore do not always work.
Tip Number 9.
If you think you do not have enough bandwidth, you can upgrade with USB expansion cards.
Not all cards are compatible with Oculus though, but check our description where I linked are
a card that Oculus themselves recommend.
Tip Number 10.
You do not need to do the Oculus 360 setup perfectly.
If you feel that your setup works, you can just click continue.
Sometimes when you re-enter the setup, it looks like you have to play through the tutorial
game First Contact again.
You don’t.
Just use ALT + F4 to close the window and you will be brought back to the store straight
away.
And while you are watching this video, don’t forget to leave a like, especially if you
want to see more of these types of videos!
Let’s continue…
Tip Number 11.
Get extension cables for your headset.
I’m not sure why, but the Oculus Rift cables that come with it are pretty short.
So getting extension cables are a must if you want more room to move around.
Even in a small playspace, we recommend it.
But be aware!
Not all HDMI cables are compatible.
These cables are the ones that we bought in 2017 and still work perfectly two years later:
This UGREEN HDMI extension cable 6 feet
And this Cable Matters USB to USB Extension Cable, also 6 feet
But you can pick a different size too!
Links are down below.
Tip Number 12.
Some people simulate wireless VR with overhead cable management, a dog leash, and key chains.
If you have a way to stick these on your ceiling, it could be a cheap alternative to getting
a wireless adapter, which goes around for over 300 dollars.
We’ve tried a setup like this at an arcade and it really does feel like you’re playing
wirelessly.
We didn’t do it at our own house, because we move around our headsets way too much for
our videos.
There’s also this innovative solution with an IKEA Regolit lampstand...
And now, we are going to move on to our tips and tricks for during playtime!
Tip Number 13.
The first in-VR tip might not be easy, but when mastered, would make the experience most
fun.
We are talking about motion sickness.
As someone who can get nauseous by playing VR games, I can tell you what I do to prevent
this.
The first tip is to never ever try to fight through it.
If you feel sick…
If you start to feel warm or sweats coming up.
Do not continue playing.
Take off the headset and take a break.
I got better at it over time, so you can as well.
If you don’t, you might be lying in bed for hours feeling sick and it’s not a nice
feeling.
Another tip is to make sure your game is running at 90 frames per second (or FPS).
If it’s running lower, you might get sick more often.
Sometimes setting the in-game graphics lower could help with this.
Also, stay tuned for Tip Number 19 where I’ll tell you how to get an FPS counter overlay
in-game.
Tip Number 14.
Before buying a game, check the game’s comfort level.
The Oculus Store shows you whether the game is comfortable to play or not.
Also, always check the settings of a game to see if the developers added different VR
locomotion options, so you can pick what suits you best.
For example, I’m much better with snap turning, than smooth turning, so I always turn off
smooth turning or just turn around in real life.
Tip Number 15.
Get a floor mat under your feet and turn off the guardian walls.
We love playing VR games without any borders showing up because it just gives us an extra
feeling of being there.
But if you don’t want to hurt yourself by hitting a wall, then getting a floor mat under
your feet could really help out.
We are using the Proximat.
It has these knobs on it that can tell us where our front is (handy for front facing
setups).
And it is small enough to make sure that if I extend my arms I won’t hit a wall as long
as I stay on the mat.
You can also just use any floor mat you have lying around and trim it so it fits your playspace
size.
Or use pillows, lots of pillows.
That’s actually what we did before.
Tip Number 16.
Ensure you download the freebies that come with your Oculus Touch controllers.
Once you have gone through the Touch setup and tutorial, you can get Robo Recall, Dead
and Buried, Lucky’s Tale, Oculus Medium, Oculus Quill, Toybox, Farlands, Henry, and
Echo Arena.
They are all very polished games that you definitely should not miss.
Especially Robo Recall…
Oh, how we love smashing those robots.
Tip Number 17.
As a gamer before VR, we used to only play RPG games, because that’s what we like!
However, in VR we decided to try different genres and honestly, we found that every game
genre is more fun in VR.
So don’t be reluctant to try out different genres, even though you might not like the
flat games in that genre.
Plus, if you really don’t enjoy the game, you can refund it.
Be aware of the conditions though.
Tip Number 18.
If you find a game that is only playable in multiplayer, so does not have a single player
mode.
Then make sure to check its playerbase.
VR is still a pretty new platform and sometimes multiplayer-only games do not have enough
people playing it.
Some do, like Rec Room, but others you might need to check before buying and getting disappointed.
Tip Number 19.
Get the free Oculus Tray Tool for an easy way to customize your VR experience.
With this tool, you can experiment with different options to get the best graphics while keeping
your FPS high with your gaming setup.
For example, with this tool you can easily set a SuperSampling modifier for your games,
making your games look extra crisp.
What’s also very handy is that you can add Visual HUD overlays, like a performance overlay
where you can see at what FPS your game is running.
You always want to make sure your games are running around 90 FPS for the best comfort.
Tip Number 20.
Link SteamVR on Oculus Home so you do not need to take off your headset to turn on a
SteamVR game.
There are a couple of handy guides online that tells you how to do this with the Oculus
Tray Tool.
I’ll link one down below.
Tip Number 21.
You may also be running into USB power management issues.
Your laptop could put your USBs into lower power mode to reduce heat, which can cause
disconnects and therefore bad tracking.
To solve this, you can, again, use the Oculus Tray Tool and easily turn off the USB power
management options.
Tip Number 22.
Sometimes when you are playing a game, it’s nice to be able to view a desktop window while
you are playing the game.
Maybe you are trying to solve a very difficult puzzle and you need a walkthrough?
Or you are drawing something in VR and would like an example image to show up in your view?
You can do that with the Oculus Home integrated Virtual Desktop.
You have to turn on this option though by going to Settings in Oculus Home > Experiments
> Turn on Virtual Desktop Panel Pullout.
Now to pin a window into your game view, you go to Virtual Desktop > Now you can drag the
window out of the monitor by pressing both the Trigger and Grip buttons.
Hold both buttons down while you drag the window > Resize it if needed > Press this
pin button.
And voila.
Now if you close the Oculus menu, you have a sticky window showing up in your game!
This is also handy if you want to watch a YouTube video while playing a game.
Tip Number 23.
Decorate your Oculus Home and make this a public space so that people can visit your
home and look at your achievements and trophies, which you unlock by playing games.
It’s a lot of fun doing the decorating.
If you’d rather only have friends visit your home, you can also set that in your privacy
settings.
And yes, Chary and I spend a couple of hours on ours and its set to public, so come visit
our homes if you have the time!
Tip Number 24.
Be mindful on how to store your VR headset.
Never, ever let direct sunlight hit the lenses directly.
Direct sunlight can get focused and damage the screens.
Tip Number 25.
The last, but not least on the list.
Get a VR stand to store your headset on.
We have these stands for example.
It’s very handy to have a place to store your headset on, plus we feel it looks good!
Are there any useful tips that we may have missed?
Please comment them down below so that everyone can read them and us as well.
And who knows maybe its a tip that is so helpful that we will use it every day.
Let us know down below.
So this is the end of this video.
A special thanks goes to artArmin.
Our Right Hand Patreon Champ.
Thank you so much for your support.
Check out his Patreon page as well if you have the chance.
And as always.
VR on!
...we have a lot to share...
Why do I keep forgetting my sentences?
Ok.. again.
Chary and I have been using the Oculus Rift.
Two years now.
Blep.
We have a lot to share.
Blaaaeae
VR on...
VR on