VR First person shooter

[vality1]

i try the sony head mount at ces 2011 and the vertual reality is fully imersive ther was this in side the car video n i felt like i was inside the car its crazy disturbing but hey some people like it i didn't personally cause after a while it traumatize me i couldn't imaging playin video game on it i would probly freak its like a dream thats how i can describe it n its 720 3d its vertual reality so i dnt understand the 3d

[deepfreeze202]

This kind of setup could see the return of the arcade. Imagine if there were a place you could go with several of these rooms.

[TeslaNick2]

I'm so jealous dude, that's a pretty serious setup. What people are not realising is that you are in an actual stereo, 3D enviroment there with 4 walls and a floor of projection screens. I have dreamed of this setup since the release of the Barco Galaxy series....

How many pc's does it take to run this rig ?

[okreylos]

@TeslaNick2 4 Linux PCs with Nvidia Quadro FX 5800 graphics cards to run the display (one each per wall and floor), 1 Linux PC to run 3D audio, and a sixth one tying it all together and acting as the console where people log in to start applications, and as file server (just upgraded to 6 TB storage, since the 2 TB RAID was overflowing). Gigabit Ethernet to connect the cluster. The PCs all have Intel Core i7 CPUs and between 6 and 8 GB RAM each.

The projectors are Christie Mirages.

[TeslaNick2]

@okreylos

Dude, that is an outrageous setup, where in the world is this setup ?

So the whole room is on a rig to suspend it above a projector ?

I'm guessing you chose Descent as it not taxing on the system, or it's old and royalty free ?

What I really want to say is 'Can I have a go ?' :)

[okreylos]

@TeslaNick2 KeckCAVES, UC Davis. The floor is front-projected, with the projector hanging above. The setup fits into a slightly above-average sized room.

I chose Descent because I always loved the game, six years ago when I did this, and still today. And since I had to reimplement the whole thing from scratch to make it work properly in VR, having something comparatively simple didn't hurt either.

It's not royalty-free; I bought a copy of the game fair and square (in 1997).

[CatXFlash]

awesome!!!!! 

[wariofan279]

The Technology is Too Early,But Soon we will be Transported into the World of Crysis,Holding a Real-Virtual Gun and Killing Other people in Multiplayer =).

Imagine you Actually having "Maximum Speed" =O

[MarshallMoose]

Ah, well nice work then. I'm starting a two year computer engineering technology course in nait in a month then in the second year, I'll be taking a part time evening video game development course. Can't wait to start making shit like this. When I do, I'll show you a click of the beta in action. =)

[33vortex]

You couldn't do it with a more advanced game than Descent 1? It's from 1997 iirc.

[okreylos]

@33vortex Age didn't blunt the game's kick-assity.

[RaykoDrg]

looks complicated to play, and slow, but I would try it with that control.

[spelunkerucd]

@RaykoDrg It only looks like that due to the way the video was shot.

[okreylos]

@RaykoDrg Not that complicated. Pick up gun, aim, squeeze trigger, things go kablooey. Nothing more to it.

[LarkSS]

where can I download one of these

[MasterGSX]

Please check out my channel for my Quake 4 Demo using the Vuzix iWear VR920 HMD!

[MarshallMoose]

did you modify the game at all?

or does the game already have a crosshair that is independent from the movement?

[spelunkerucd]

@MarshallMoose This doesn't use any code from the game at all (only the map and model data); it's a re-implementation from scratch. I'm pretty sure the actual game code doesn't have support for separate movement and aiming.

[MGMan37]

@spelunkerucd Maybe not movement but the game source DOES have (commented out) code for head-tracking. There is a port (DXX-Rebirth) working on adding it back in. Would take a lot more than head-tracking to pull this off, though.

[RSmith1982]

I remember this game. It's descent. I wish they continued the legacy after Descent 3 and made an arcade with full 3d

[homersparents]

like a super wii

i want doom3 on wii

dark mod

[Incognito1986]

I remember there used to be VR simulators back at Dave and Buster around 1998. Those were fun. Ah the times to be alive. Too bad the VR craze died.

[cruxbucket]

whats with all the people like OMFG gimme better graphics? fuck off graphic nubs.

[warlockboyburns]

this is the ultimate virtual reality... and if you add 3d vision glasses... that would be wicked crazy mind blowing

[spelunkerucd]

Actually, those are 3D vision glasses.

[dgk990]

man where is the PS3 graphics?!

[th3planetsghost]

gun con anyone?

[warlockboyburns]

that's groovy

[mattmun12]

OMFG! NOW DO IT WITH CRYSIS!!!!

[DarkShadow859]

This is how games should have been all along. Using joystick controllers with buttons is actually not a natural thing. Ever notice how weird it looks to watch your control while you play Gears of War. Its because the actions taken look so much different than what is generated on the screen. That's what makes virtual reality so appealing. It is also why games are harder to pick up and play; we have to adapt to the developers' set of rules instead of using natural instinct.

[SourRevenge]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Metalflamer]

thts soo cool

[kirkgunx]

nice game!

[Dhragonfly]

that's cool. is that game quake or doom?

[spelunkerucd]

Well, as the description there ---> says, and as everyone else already commented on, this is Descent, as far as I know the first full six-degree-of-freedom game for PCs, and now available in your CAVE at home. :)

[samibagpulacanuvrea]

Descent II very good game for that time, I remember playing this game ...very good game

[CrimsonJem]

this is descent 1 2nd level or 3nd. i cant remember which. but i just wanted to point that out

[PaddyMacNasty]

3nd? Do you pronounce that Thirnd?

[idaho777]

DESCENT!!!

[131T3M3]

WOW-thats soo cool, how do u control wich way to go? is it that thing in ur hand? So that virtual reality helmet/glasses thingy let u see wat virtually is around u...fkin awesome. Mayby i can buy 1 in the future lmao

[spelunkerucd]

The control is based on "leaning." There is a bull's eye on the floor; if you step outside the inner circle, you walk in that direction. If you look around, the world rotates around you. The wand (the game controller-looking thing I hold in my hand) is tracked by the computer and lets me aim at things in this game. It's kind of what the Wiimote was supposed to be, but isn't.

[spesio8]

AWESOME soooo cool i whant a game like that

[PlaystationLounge]

Wow. You have a CAVE at home? Cool.

Got a VR HMD the other week. Still calibrating it, so still get a bit dizzy after a while!

[spelunkerucd]

I wish. This is the KeckCAVES lab at University of California, Davis.

[1TheBlueWii1]

Descent was one of my first games i played in my life. It was fun too, but this looks awesome!

[ScrunchedUpSleeves]

I still have Descent in my drawer, with box and instruction manual and all

[Kl4pp5tuhl]

I so want to play System Shock on that thing.

[ActionWaction]

omfg, i played this game long time ago ... But i don't know the name

[DJKuromi]

It's an old PC game called "Decent"

[ActionWaction]

yep, it was that game :) Thx for telling me the name :)

[spelunkerucd]

"Descent" by Parallax Software, released in 1995. What's running in the video is a reimplementation of some of Descent's rendering algorithms using only published or reverse-engineered file format specifications, using none of the original code.

And the user interface is very different because it is written for a virtual reality environment. But it's still sort of the same game, in a way.

[AstralxSymphony]

How much do these cost to build, and have you tried any modern games? I would love to have something like this for The Elder Scrolls III or IV, or Fallout 3 for the ultimate immersive roleplaying experience!

[Da1337ed]

woah that is so cool. looks like it feels a lot better than classic wii shooting

[molerat233]

dudue no sound

[James100111100]

Would be interesting to rig a motion simulator up to play descent. good old Pyro GX

[Luky1Jay]

Good ol' decent.

To bad its got a slow reaction time, and its not as accurate. I saw you shoot the bad guy right on the target, but the bullets missed. :/

[magpiethief]

looks pretty weak

[jaywbe]

i don't know why people keep comparing VR CAVE's to wii's. bloody hell, step into a CAVE, and you cannot say "uh get a wii init". VR is the next level stuff, and this is the beginning of it

[spelunkerucd]

Well, to appreciate a CAVE you have to have stepped into one; otherwise, you'd not really understand the difference. So I know where these comments are coming from.

It makes it harder for us, though. ;)

[gLiTcH213]

i dont get it why do video games always have to be first person shooter it doesnt make sense at all

[monkeyfuckingtweetle]

OMG gLiTcH213 I loathe you!

FPS FTW!

[gLiTcH213]

? monkey wut r u saying r u saying im spreading gossip?

[monkeyfuckingtweetle]

No... I'm saying that I love FPS games :D

[gLiTcH213]

okayyyy kool

[crim3cost]

Maybe you could use something similar to a seagway to move around more intuitively.

[ijspriem]

Nice!

[stijn748]

so nice,

unbeleavenle

[stickguy5000]

woah man this is wild

[rzarecheta]

this is the begining of something great! i now i sound like a nerd now:P but remember how games ware in the 80?

[DjFreshAire]

wii sucks

[Zenchell]

this aint wii

[0Sims0]

wii60 is awsome

[ValiskofDarkness]

1st: wii doesnt suck and 2nd: wii is the first step towards VR gaming; so there!

[kitethefallenangel]

Y'know, to replace the step panels there should be some special board under the floor which moves in the opposite way you are moving. That way, you are actually running around in the game. (I know it doesn't make sense but it might if you take a think about it.)

[MattFenner23]

like a treadmill kinda thing?

[Cranorangegrap7934]

i know wahtcha mean ive had the same idea one time except mine was like the ball inside a mouse for a computer

[StickmanEMK]

search omni-directional treadmill. Its just like you said

[StickmanEMK]

reply to

kitethefallenangel

[foxsound]

buy timecrisis a sofa to hide bihind there u go =D

[LinkOwns25]

ITS LIKE Wii!!!!

[Thedoctor19000]

Oh, now I get it. He moves the screen with the movement of his head. They should have done that with red steel, the turning speed was awful.

[lawnmower425]

Hi, I already thought about that cave being that expensive. I suppose it could be improvised with beamers, projection panes and an adjustment of the software to their angles. I am very sorry that VR technologies like the VFX-1 (in the 90s) did not approve on the market. This is very interesting

[OMGNOMOREUSERNAMES]

very cool.

[RobertDV]

Thats awesome!!! But it would be even cooler (and more fitting) to be in a flight simulator and play Descent.

[spelunkerucd]

I agree. But as you know, you go to play with the hardware you have, and not necessarily the hardware you want. :) Descent in the way it was intended is not a perfect match for a walk-in environment. The reason I used Descent is that it was insanely impressive back in the day, and well-enough documented to reimplement now. Check out our Quake 3 Arena viewer for a game that fits the environment better, even though our port is not actually a game yet.

[RobertDV]

Wouldn't it be kick ass if people could rent Air Force quality flight simulators and have a huge Descent LAN party?

[lawnmower425]

How do you move the character and what display is used? Is the view a projection of a VR-Helmet or do you 'just' play it on-screen?

[spelunkerucd]

The in-game character is moved based on the real-world movements of the user. There's a circle on the floor: if the user steps forward out of the circle, the in-game character moves forward, etc.

The display system is a 4-sided CAVE (3 walls, 1 floor), and the graphics in the video were taped directly from the screens -- no video editing. So, in a way, the game is just played on-screen. For the user, however, the effect is pretty much the same as wearing a head-mounted display ("VR helmet").

[lawnmower425]

Okay, how much would this cost as a released product?

[spelunkerucd]

Well, a CAVE such as the one we have costs about $500,000, a retail version of Descent probably costs around $5 on eBay, and the virtual reality software to run the latter in the former is free.

You don't necessarily need a CAVE, though. Low-cost VR is one of my research interests; I'm going to upload another video showing how that works as soon as I get it done.

[TigerRaptorFX]

Interesting.