We see it again and again in VR threads. "Game looks like a vomitfest" or "Looks great but not sure I can handle VR" or "I tried VR and it made me dizzy". A dismissal of vr based on reasons ranging from spurious to entirely legitimate and sometimes rooted in experience. With PSVR2 on the near horizon and people constantly buying Quest 2 headsets I thought this guide could help those about to jump into VR for the first time.
Why do some people get motion sick in VR?
First of all, let's take a look at why some people experience motion sickness in VR. What it really boils down to is a disconnect between what your eyes are seeing and what your body is feeling. The best example is probably rollercoaster rides.
When the rollercoaster does a sharp turn in the real world, you feel the g-force pulling on you and your brain compensates to protect you. In VR there is no physical "input" the brain can match up with what the eyes are telling it is happening. You are still sitting in your comfy and completely stationary sofa. Motion sickness in real world car rides is the same kind of thing, just reversed. Many people can't handle reading a book while on a car because they get the physical stimuli (the car turning) but not the visual one because they aren't looking out the windows. Remember when you were a kid and the ones who easily got car sick had to sit in the front seats on the bus? That was because they needed to see the road turns.
Almost no one – even those of us with good "VR legs" – are able to handle an aggressive rollercoaster in VR. But that's not to say that games with fast movement and hectic action is a no go. Far from it. But don't expect what you can handle in flat games to translate into what you can handle in VR from the get go. I remember what the reaction to Doom was back in the day – no, not the one from 2016. I'm talking about this Doom:
"It's too fast. It makes me feel nauseous", "it will never catch on". That's what a lot of people said back then. Why? Because this was a brand new thing for most people. They weren't used to games this fast or even games where you played from a first person viewpoint. Most people went from games like this:
To this:
And they could not handle it. You might now be thinking "but I have played FPS games for years! Surely I should be able to handle an FPS in VR, right?"
Maybe, but it's not a given.
Your experience with flat games does not mean you automatically are ready to dive in at the deep end when it comes to a VR game. Watching a trailer for a VR FPS, it looks pretty much like playing a flat FPS but actually doing it in VR is nothing like what you are seeing in that trailer. The immersion, the feeling of "being there", the sense of scale and above all, it being your entire world means that it's not really comparable. You could have the worst sense of balance in the world and play Titanfall with no issue on your TV. But in VR that sense of balance matters a lot, because it's not just your thumbs you are moving to adjust your view – it's your actual head. When you play an FPS on your TV, you are constantly seeing the world around the tv in most of your vision. One could say it "grounds" you in the real world. When playing VR, the game is the only visual input you are getting.
So what's the solution? To ease you in. To learn. Practically no one goes directly from this:
To this:
You need the steps in-between first. The SNES controller had four face buttons and shoulder buttons. The PS1 controller added extra shoulder buttons. The N64 controller had a thumbstick. Then we got two sticks. Then we got gyro etc.
So what, I need to play simple games for years before playing Resident Evil 8 in VR??
No, not at all. Getting your VR legs does not need to take long and almost everyone should be able to do it. You just need to pace yourself in the beginning. Get used to playing in VR before jumping in to hardcore VR. You might be able to go straight to a fast-paced game but if your first experience is a bad one and you don't stop in time because you think you can power through it, when/if you get motion sickness your brain will associate VR with motion sickness from that point, and it becomes much more difficult to learn to handle VR later on. You will in a sense pollute your future VR prospects. And that's a real shame because VR can provide gaming experiences that flat games can't get near.
So here are the recommendations for newcomers to VR.
Start with something without locomotion or at least very limited/slow locomotion. A puzzle game. A lightgun style game. A table tennis game. Get used to being in a VR space. Get used to doing stuff in a VR space. Moving the controller around and seeing it translate to virtual hand movements, swords swinging, guns aiming, moving objects around etc. Then play something where you are moving around in the world. Preferably with a not-too-speedy pace. If there is the option to control how fast you move, try starting out slow for a while and when you feel good about that, go a bit faster until you are used to the full speed.
And don't be afraid to use comfort options. Almost every VR game has some sort of comfort options and they can be very useful until you are used to VR. Here are some of the most typical.
The Comfort options - your best friends in VR:
Locomotion:
Teleport or smooth. Teleport has you pointing to the location you want to go and then pressing (or releasing) a button to go there. Some games have you teleporting instantly while others do a splitsecond movement (meaning: You move REALLY fast). Smooth refers to using the stick to move like ordinary console games or in the case of PSVR1 (which has no sticks) you hold down a button and point in the direction you want to walk/run. Some games also let you adjust the maximum speed of smooth locomotion.
Vignette:
This one is a bit controversial since it can have the opposite effect and increase discomfort. What it does is to block out your peripheral vision when moving. Basically, you are getting a limited view of the world unless you stand still.
Some games let you adjust the level of vignetting. Others just do on/off. There is no doubt that the more aggressive the vignette is, the less immersive the experience will be since you are losing out on some of the image. But for some it can be a necessary evil. I would recommend trying every other comfort option first to see if you even need vignetting. Also, some people actually become motion sick when using it rather than it helping.
Turning:
Click-turning/Snap turning or smooth turning. How do you want to turn around? Smooth turning is using the sticks to turn like you are used to. Click-turning has you turning in increments (which often can be preset) of typically 30-45 degrees. Just like the 180 degree turn in a Resident Evil game just… fewer degrees :-D.
Using smooth turning is NOT recommended for VR beginners. Even those of us with VR legs rarely use it. I myself prefer click-turning. Your view turning slowly without your body turning feels very unnatural which is why click-turning is more comfortable for most. It resembles teleport. Which brings me to a hot tip: Only use controller-based turning when you need to. If you are playing standing up, just turn your actual body. It's much more immersive and it feels completely natural. Which brings me to.
Sitting or standing:
Ok, for cockpit-based games, there is no question that you should sit down. But for first person games where the player character is walking around, then you highten immersion by standing up and it helps drastically with reducing motion sickness. Simply because that is what fits with what your eyes are telling your brain. On the other hand, standing up in the game, but your legs and butt are telling you that you are sitting down: Disconnect -> Discomfort.
Here's the part where someone chimes in with "I don't want to stand up when playing! I want to relax!". And I get it. I used to be the same way. That's not why I game, I thought. But then I started doing it more and more (some games lend themselves more to standing than others) and… yes, it is less relaxing, but it makes the games so much more fun. Not only because it feels more natural (= combats motion sickness) but you also feel a lot less limited in performing the gameplay tasks. It's easier to quickly look at stuff around you, easier to aim at something on a lower elevation, easier to lean around virtual objects. Most games will have a seated option but it's often less fun to play like that unless you are also seated in the virtual world. Even though you don't have a lot of space to move around, standing can still make the experience much more immersive and downright practical. Ducking under something is also quite a lot easier.
Also, it's good for the body to stand up! You burn calories and without breaking a sweat (unless it's a fitness game) you sleep better after a gaming session in the evening than playing sitting down. Try it out. Cured me of hemorrhoids (no joke).
Head or hand movement orientation: When moving in the VR world using a thumbstick, you move in the direction you push the stick. But what if you want to look in another direction than the one you are moving? Or rather, do you want your legs to be independent of your head? Let's say you press the stick forward. You are now moving forward but turning your head will make what you are seeing the new forward if you are using Head Movement. With Hand Movement, the direction you are holding the controller determines what direction forward is.
It's very individual what people prefer. Experiment and find the one that suits you.
Screen shake:
We established earlier that seeing something your body doesn't feel can induce motion sickness. Having the screen shake when you hit another car in a flat driving game is unpleasant to some people. Imagine that in VR. Your whole world is shaking according to your eyes but you don't feel it. Turning off screenshake can help if you find it uncomfortable. But that can also feel even more unnatural to some because your eyes are telling your brain "something happened and I SHOULD be shaken. I hit a bloody car!". In some games you can even turn off seeing anything during a crash. The screen will fade to black in stead of you being in the crash. Visuals come back after the car is stationary again.
With PSVR2 I do see the potential for a remedy for this. The rumble in the headset would be perfect to accompany screenshake. It could be enough for the visual shake to feel natural because of that little bit of actual feedback.
Don't worry – be excited
If you are new to VR, everything above might sound like a lot but don't worry about it. Most games will have presets for beginners, intermediates and experienced users where it automatically sets these options for you. If you are a beginner, do NOT treat this as difficulty options. It's there to make your experience comfortable – not easier. Start out gently and work your way up. You might be strafing around enemies and running full speed after playing for a week. Or shorter. Or longer. Start small and then add on options until you find what works for you.
Also worth noting, back when VR was new, it was the wild west. A lot of comfort options did not exist. Best practices for what works in VR, what is comfortable etc. was not entirely known. Modern games are starting to standardize things. If you tried VR in 2016 and found it uncomfortable, it might just have been a case of bad design or you going too far too fast.
It bears hammering it home: Don't try to power through discomfort.
That's like someone who gets easily car sick asking the driver to drive faster through the turns. Take a break. Come back and try again – maybe after changing some options. Or trying another game. And suddenly you will be marvelling at something that made you queasy earlier on being completely comfortable to you now. And then you'll be able to play everything. Imagine that - you have broadened the types of games you are able to play. Games. That's why we are here on Era. To play.
I hope some of you will find this helpful.
Why do some people get motion sick in VR?
First of all, let's take a look at why some people experience motion sickness in VR. What it really boils down to is a disconnect between what your eyes are seeing and what your body is feeling. The best example is probably rollercoaster rides.
When the rollercoaster does a sharp turn in the real world, you feel the g-force pulling on you and your brain compensates to protect you. In VR there is no physical "input" the brain can match up with what the eyes are telling it is happening. You are still sitting in your comfy and completely stationary sofa. Motion sickness in real world car rides is the same kind of thing, just reversed. Many people can't handle reading a book while on a car because they get the physical stimuli (the car turning) but not the visual one because they aren't looking out the windows. Remember when you were a kid and the ones who easily got car sick had to sit in the front seats on the bus? That was because they needed to see the road turns.
Almost no one – even those of us with good "VR legs" – are able to handle an aggressive rollercoaster in VR. But that's not to say that games with fast movement and hectic action is a no go. Far from it. But don't expect what you can handle in flat games to translate into what you can handle in VR from the get go. I remember what the reaction to Doom was back in the day – no, not the one from 2016. I'm talking about this Doom:
"It's too fast. It makes me feel nauseous", "it will never catch on". That's what a lot of people said back then. Why? Because this was a brand new thing for most people. They weren't used to games this fast or even games where you played from a first person viewpoint. Most people went from games like this:
To this:
And they could not handle it. You might now be thinking "but I have played FPS games for years! Surely I should be able to handle an FPS in VR, right?"
Maybe, but it's not a given.
Your experience with flat games does not mean you automatically are ready to dive in at the deep end when it comes to a VR game. Watching a trailer for a VR FPS, it looks pretty much like playing a flat FPS but actually doing it in VR is nothing like what you are seeing in that trailer. The immersion, the feeling of "being there", the sense of scale and above all, it being your entire world means that it's not really comparable. You could have the worst sense of balance in the world and play Titanfall with no issue on your TV. But in VR that sense of balance matters a lot, because it's not just your thumbs you are moving to adjust your view – it's your actual head. When you play an FPS on your TV, you are constantly seeing the world around the tv in most of your vision. One could say it "grounds" you in the real world. When playing VR, the game is the only visual input you are getting.
So what's the solution? To ease you in. To learn. Practically no one goes directly from this:
To this:
You need the steps in-between first. The SNES controller had four face buttons and shoulder buttons. The PS1 controller added extra shoulder buttons. The N64 controller had a thumbstick. Then we got two sticks. Then we got gyro etc.
So what, I need to play simple games for years before playing Resident Evil 8 in VR??
No, not at all. Getting your VR legs does not need to take long and almost everyone should be able to do it. You just need to pace yourself in the beginning. Get used to playing in VR before jumping in to hardcore VR. You might be able to go straight to a fast-paced game but if your first experience is a bad one and you don't stop in time because you think you can power through it, when/if you get motion sickness your brain will associate VR with motion sickness from that point, and it becomes much more difficult to learn to handle VR later on. You will in a sense pollute your future VR prospects. And that's a real shame because VR can provide gaming experiences that flat games can't get near.
So here are the recommendations for newcomers to VR.
Start with something without locomotion or at least very limited/slow locomotion. A puzzle game. A lightgun style game. A table tennis game. Get used to being in a VR space. Get used to doing stuff in a VR space. Moving the controller around and seeing it translate to virtual hand movements, swords swinging, guns aiming, moving objects around etc. Then play something where you are moving around in the world. Preferably with a not-too-speedy pace. If there is the option to control how fast you move, try starting out slow for a while and when you feel good about that, go a bit faster until you are used to the full speed.
And don't be afraid to use comfort options. Almost every VR game has some sort of comfort options and they can be very useful until you are used to VR. Here are some of the most typical.
The Comfort options - your best friends in VR:
Locomotion:
Teleport or smooth. Teleport has you pointing to the location you want to go and then pressing (or releasing) a button to go there. Some games have you teleporting instantly while others do a splitsecond movement (meaning: You move REALLY fast). Smooth refers to using the stick to move like ordinary console games or in the case of PSVR1 (which has no sticks) you hold down a button and point in the direction you want to walk/run. Some games also let you adjust the maximum speed of smooth locomotion.
Vignette:
This one is a bit controversial since it can have the opposite effect and increase discomfort. What it does is to block out your peripheral vision when moving. Basically, you are getting a limited view of the world unless you stand still.
Some games let you adjust the level of vignetting. Others just do on/off. There is no doubt that the more aggressive the vignette is, the less immersive the experience will be since you are losing out on some of the image. But for some it can be a necessary evil. I would recommend trying every other comfort option first to see if you even need vignetting. Also, some people actually become motion sick when using it rather than it helping.
Turning:
Click-turning/Snap turning or smooth turning. How do you want to turn around? Smooth turning is using the sticks to turn like you are used to. Click-turning has you turning in increments (which often can be preset) of typically 30-45 degrees. Just like the 180 degree turn in a Resident Evil game just… fewer degrees :-D.
Using smooth turning is NOT recommended for VR beginners. Even those of us with VR legs rarely use it. I myself prefer click-turning. Your view turning slowly without your body turning feels very unnatural which is why click-turning is more comfortable for most. It resembles teleport. Which brings me to a hot tip: Only use controller-based turning when you need to. If you are playing standing up, just turn your actual body. It's much more immersive and it feels completely natural. Which brings me to.
Sitting or standing:
Ok, for cockpit-based games, there is no question that you should sit down. But for first person games where the player character is walking around, then you highten immersion by standing up and it helps drastically with reducing motion sickness. Simply because that is what fits with what your eyes are telling your brain. On the other hand, standing up in the game, but your legs and butt are telling you that you are sitting down: Disconnect -> Discomfort.
Here's the part where someone chimes in with "I don't want to stand up when playing! I want to relax!". And I get it. I used to be the same way. That's not why I game, I thought. But then I started doing it more and more (some games lend themselves more to standing than others) and… yes, it is less relaxing, but it makes the games so much more fun. Not only because it feels more natural (= combats motion sickness) but you also feel a lot less limited in performing the gameplay tasks. It's easier to quickly look at stuff around you, easier to aim at something on a lower elevation, easier to lean around virtual objects. Most games will have a seated option but it's often less fun to play like that unless you are also seated in the virtual world. Even though you don't have a lot of space to move around, standing can still make the experience much more immersive and downright practical. Ducking under something is also quite a lot easier.
Also, it's good for the body to stand up! You burn calories and without breaking a sweat (unless it's a fitness game) you sleep better after a gaming session in the evening than playing sitting down. Try it out. Cured me of hemorrhoids (no joke).
Head or hand movement orientation: When moving in the VR world using a thumbstick, you move in the direction you push the stick. But what if you want to look in another direction than the one you are moving? Or rather, do you want your legs to be independent of your head? Let's say you press the stick forward. You are now moving forward but turning your head will make what you are seeing the new forward if you are using Head Movement. With Hand Movement, the direction you are holding the controller determines what direction forward is.
It's very individual what people prefer. Experiment and find the one that suits you.
Screen shake:
We established earlier that seeing something your body doesn't feel can induce motion sickness. Having the screen shake when you hit another car in a flat driving game is unpleasant to some people. Imagine that in VR. Your whole world is shaking according to your eyes but you don't feel it. Turning off screenshake can help if you find it uncomfortable. But that can also feel even more unnatural to some because your eyes are telling your brain "something happened and I SHOULD be shaken. I hit a bloody car!". In some games you can even turn off seeing anything during a crash. The screen will fade to black in stead of you being in the crash. Visuals come back after the car is stationary again.
With PSVR2 I do see the potential for a remedy for this. The rumble in the headset would be perfect to accompany screenshake. It could be enough for the visual shake to feel natural because of that little bit of actual feedback.
Don't worry – be excited
If you are new to VR, everything above might sound like a lot but don't worry about it. Most games will have presets for beginners, intermediates and experienced users where it automatically sets these options for you. If you are a beginner, do NOT treat this as difficulty options. It's there to make your experience comfortable – not easier. Start out gently and work your way up. You might be strafing around enemies and running full speed after playing for a week. Or shorter. Or longer. Start small and then add on options until you find what works for you.
Also worth noting, back when VR was new, it was the wild west. A lot of comfort options did not exist. Best practices for what works in VR, what is comfortable etc. was not entirely known. Modern games are starting to standardize things. If you tried VR in 2016 and found it uncomfortable, it might just have been a case of bad design or you going too far too fast.
It bears hammering it home: Don't try to power through discomfort.
That's like someone who gets easily car sick asking the driver to drive faster through the turns. Take a break. Come back and try again – maybe after changing some options. Or trying another game. And suddenly you will be marvelling at something that made you queasy earlier on being completely comfortable to you now. And then you'll be able to play everything. Imagine that - you have broadened the types of games you are able to play. Games. That's why we are here on Era. To play.
I hope some of you will find this helpful.
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