Monthly Archives: October 2018

Blaze Rush for Gear VR and Oculus Rift

Posted by on October 28, 2018 No comments

If you like racing micro-machines around tracks at blazingly-fast speeds, try out Blaze Rush for Gear VR and Oculus Rift!

You will definitely want to use a Bluetooth controller with this. I tried with the Gear VR controller and it wasn’t fun, but with a BT controller, there’s TONS of fun to be had!

Pick your car and race around tracks. It’s on Windows and Mac OS as well on Steam, but to get the best experience out of it you’ll want to try in VR!

Once you’ve played a couple of tracks, you get upgrades for your vehicle. Randomly, turbo boost packs will drop onto the track. Pick one up and hit the BOOOOOST to zoom ahead.. just watch those sharp corners! There’s also rail-guns which drop from the sky. Pick one up and blast the leader off the track and take his place!

It has multiplayer so you can play with up to 8 opponents on the internet or play on your LAN. Get awarded medals for tricks and antics. Get the highest score, but still come last to gain one medal. Take out the leader and have the most points when you cross the line first for another medal. It sure is fast-paced heart-racing fun!

Land’s End for Gear VR

Posted by on October 21, 2018 No comments

Have you ever played the PC game MYST and are dying for something like this for your Gear VR? Well, try out Land’s End! It’s made by the same crew who made Monument Valley.

In this experience, you move around a strange land, solving puzzles and working out how to awaken a lost civilization. There’s no enemies. It’s all about using your noggin to figure out what the game needs.

I wouldn’t say it’s a complicated game, but it sure is a fun experience you need to try out for yourself.

Oculus Rift tip

Posted by on October 20, 2018 No comments

I tried playing Vendetta Online with my Oculus Rift but when it launched I only got the error “Failed to create eye texture”.

I also tried playing A Township Tale and all I saw was a box with the game’s Title screen and “Loading…”.

I popped into the Township Discord channel and chatted to a couple guys there. They didn’t know what was up but suggested unplugging and replugging the Rift. That didn’t work, but it gave me an idea which DID.

My setup was as follows:

Oculus Rift –plugged into–> nVidia 1070ti card. Windows desktop LCD monitors –plugged into–> Builtin Intel graphics card.

I changed it to:

Oculus Rift AND Windows Monitor #1 –plugged into–> nVidia card. Other LCD monitor –plugged into–> Builtin Intel graphics card.

Now when I launch these games, they successfully launch in the Rift headset.

All of the Oculus Store games worked fine in the original setup. It was only when I played these other VR games which were built for Windows and when they launch they connect to the Oculus Rift.

Vendetta Online looks mad cool on the Rift, but the tutorial doesn’t know the difference so it says “Press X to..” and “Press … to …”. Of course none of the controls are mapped to the Rift Touch controllers which you can use, but you point to a ship/asteroid to interact with it. Sadly, it does not have speech-to-text like the Gear VR so I have to use the virtual keyboard to type — which is a pain. Windows can do some speech-to-text so it’d be handy if they’d incorporate that. I can also always use my Steelseries Stratus XL gamepad to play VO as I’ve now paired it with my Windows 10 desktop using the motherboard’s builtin Bluetooth chip.

Poker VR for Oculus Rift

Posted by on October 14, 2018 No comments

Now, I haven’t played Poker VR on the Rift yet as I’ve only just ordered mine, but I have been playing it on the Gear VR and it’s a lot of fun. You create your own avatar and play online.

It’s great to take on other players around the world. It activates your microphone when you log on so you can talk to the other players at the table. Have no fear, though! You can MUTE anyone you don’t want to hear from and it puts duct tape across their mouth in-game! 😀 They don’t know it but it shows on your screen so you know who is muted.

I haven’t had any problems with players. They all seem quite friendly to play against (with?) and you get people from all walks of life. Some try to be funny and others just sit quietly, while others might talk about what’s going on in their country at the time.

You can add players as friends so you’ll know when they’re on and jump on the same table to play along.

The controls work very well with the default Gear VR controller. Just point to your stack of chips and pull the trigger when it’s at the amount you want to raise or just click the CALL or FOLD buttons on the screen.

You can buy gifts for other players. These are often little animated characters in-game such as a spaceship which flies around the table or an animal or a fish swimming around the table, etc.

If you like Texas Hold’em Poker and want some friends to play with in VR, this is the way to go! You might even get to play against Phil Hellmuth!

Poker VR is free to play, although you can play cash games if you want.

(Update 20/10/2018) I’ve now played Poker VR a few times on the Oculus Rift and it’s way cooler than on the Gear VR! You clench into a fist and double-knock on the table to check, you pick up the cards and toss them into the center of the table to fold, etc. It’s a much better experience! 🙂

Vendetta Online for Gear VR and Oculus Rift

Posted by on October 9, 2018 No comments

I haven’t done any podcasts in a while so I thought I’d talk a bit about some games I’ve been playing on Gear VR.

The first one is called “Vendetta Online“. It’s an MMO set in space. The game launches with a tutorial which teaches you how to fly your space ship. You start with a small, basic ship with a basic battery and weapon and are directed to fly it around and attack some drones. After time, you are let out of the tutorial area and set free into the universe.

This game is fully cross-platform and has been on many other devices before they brought it to VR. At the start, you have a free account and can play it with others, but you get more benefits after subscribing.

Below is a video discussing Vendetta Online:

I found it amazingly expansive and immersive. You should buy a Bluetooth controller to play it, for the best results. I had already bought a Steelseries Stratus XL controller and it works really well:

Steelseries Stratus XL

It will be worthwhile for many VR games, so you may as well get it! 🙂

You can fly around with this controller but when you turn your head with your Gear VR headset on you can look around outside the cockpit where you sit and see asteroids floating around as well as other ships and docking places.

I’ve only played it once last night and got through the tutorial and am really enjoying it so far. I could not believe how cool it looked to be flying in space.