Oculus Quest (Santa Cruz)

Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
You just missed the Humble Racing bundle which had the two best VR racing games - Project Cars 2 and Asseto Corsa. Best VR flight games are DCS World and IL2 Sturmovik, but they're pretty hardcore.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
Just thought I'd try the latest beta version of Virtual Desktop on the Quest with Alyx, just to test it, and ended up playing until my battery ran out!

It's improved even over the last version, and that was pretty good.

Now I'm playing in front of my router so I'm not getting the benefit of proper roomscale, but the framerate was very solid with few frame drops, and on top of that the tracking was almost flawless.

Now there's no comparison with the clarity, framerate, FOV and audio when playing on my Index, (you especially notice the lower refresh rate) but this was surprisingly good. I think I'll have to have another try downstairs in the living room, where I have more room to move, but where the wifi signal isn't as strong.

Of course several things where the Quest scores over the index are wireless (which makes a huge difference - the Index cord is thick and heavy), the lenses have much less glare, and the OLED display, though less sharp, has much better colours and black levels. Oh and the button layout and thumbsticks are so much better than the Index controllers. Amazing that controllers which cost twice as much have worse thumbsticks.

I also need to try Alyx with my AMVR grips. I don't have them installed all the time because they stop the controllers fitting in my case.
 
Associate
Joined
22 Jan 2006
Posts
1,423
My god, I got a Quest on Monday and I’m just absolutely blown away. The fact this can be used stand alone or with virtual desktop and steam means it’s just far more powerful than other systems. I can play steam where I have space in the house and not be tethered to the PC. Virtual desktop works flawlessly for me, I played through The Lab last night and there was no noticeable lag. This makes me confident ALEX will work fine. Just waiting for it to come down in price, there are plenty other budget experience to try before I go for the AAA stuff.

What driving and flight games have people had good experiences with on steam?

Oh and the new v15 layout absolutely sucks. If Oculus force us to use this I will be furious.


Can I ask what guides etc you used to set everything up? My Quest and accessories arrived today!
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2006
Posts
8,337
Can I ask what guides etc you used to set everything up? My Quest and accessories arrived today!

Download the oculus app for your phone or tablet
Install the oculus app on your PC
Go to the side quest website and read their guide and follow all their steps.
Buy virtual desktop from the oculus store
Install the side quest version of virtual desktop
Install virtual desktop client on your PC

There are loads of good guides on YouTube. But that is plenty to get started.

Setting up custom beat Saber songs has be an interesting learning experience, well worth doing.
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2007
Posts
13,624
Location
The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
Just thought I'd try the latest beta version of Virtual Desktop on the Quest with Alyx, just to test it, and ended up playing until my battery ran out!

It's improved even over the last version, and that was pretty good.
Now I'm playing in front of my router so I'm not getting the benefit of proper roomscale, but the framerate was very solid with few frame drops, and on top of that the tracking was almost flawless.

Think about getting a WIFI Extender that would help. My router is downstairs so if I play in the kitchen or living room I`m getting 566Mbps but move upstairs and it switches to 2.4ghz so its less.
If I put a WIFI Extender in the conservatory I get a really good signal for using the Quest outside.

Download the oculus app for your phone or tablet
Install the oculus app on your PC
Go to the side quest website and read their guide and follow all their steps.
Buy virtual desktop from the oculus store
Install the side quest version of virtual desktop
Install virtual desktop client on your PC

There are loads of good guides on YouTube. But that is plenty to get started.

Setting up custom beat Saber songs has be an interesting learning experience, well worth doing.

VD 1.12.1 now available on Sidequest
*Buying Virtual Desktop on the Oculus store gives you the full licence (do not install it though install the Sidequest one)
*Install SteamVR too.
*Launch Virtual Desktop Streaming Client First
*Launch Virtual Desktop on Quest.

Its a little annoying when BS has an update as you need to reinstall your custom song config but its easy to do with BSFS app on the Quest.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
I get too much jittering and lag if I use Virtual Desktop downstairs in the living room - the router is in my attic, so two floors up.

A 5Ghz repeater might work (I've got a 2.4ghz one for video streaming, etc.), but it does add lag and halves the bandwidth.
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2016
Posts
2,915
I get too much jittering and lag if I use Virtual Desktop downstairs in the living room - the router is in my attic, so two floors up.

A 5Ghz repeater might work (I've got a 2.4ghz one for video streaming, etc.), but it does add lag and halves the bandwidth.

No chance of running ethernet down and then a dedicated access point?
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2007
Posts
13,624
Location
The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
What speed is your wifi showing on the Quest ? Upstairs I get 360Mbps to 520Mbps and downstairs I get around 800Mbps. It needs a decent WIFI connection as Beat Saber is super smooth. I think I must be blessed with a decent WIFI and I've only got BT Smart Hub 2. Loosecannon have you tinkered with the Virtual Desktop settings to improve performance ?
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
No chance of running ethernet down and then a dedicated access point?

I actually have powerline adaptors, so I could try adding a dedicated access point to the one in the lounge. More expense though!

I've played Lone Echo and Alyx via virtual desktop most of this evening, next to my router, and the performance has been excellent. The only thing I would say is both games look pretty soft & blurry in the distance.

Ironically Lone Echo works better across wi-fi in terms of a consistent frame rate than on my Index when using Revive. Nowhere near as sharp, but it's actually playable and the OLED displays do much more justice to dark areas.
 
Associate
Joined
22 Jan 2006
Posts
1,423
What speed is your wifi showing on the Quest ? Upstairs I get 360Mbps to 520Mbps and downstairs I get around 800Mbps. It needs a decent WIFI connection as Beat Saber is super smooth. I think I must be blessed with a decent WIFI and I've only got BT Smart Hub 2. Loosecannon have you tinkered with the Virtual Desktop settings to improve performance ?

5G wifi and PC connected to router Ethernet?

How do you check all the speeds etc? Wired connection to the router used, and 5g WiFi. Still not sure how best to tweak virtual desktop either!
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2007
Posts
13,624
Location
The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
On quest go to wifi and click on your connected SSID and it shows the WIFI speed. I took a screenshot of my Virtual Desktop settings last night but not yet figured out how to transfer to my PC as when you do the Oculus Instructions to transfer pictures both my Pictures and DCIM folder are empty.

Check your Ethernet is 1gb and not 100Mbps.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
FYI, using a Wifi signal app on my phone I get 488mps next to the router, but only 90-130mbps down in the living room, which explains why I can't use Virtual Desktop there.
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2007
Posts
13,624
Location
The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
FYI, using a Wifi signal app on my phone I get 488mps next to the router, but only 90-130mbps down in the living room, which explains why I can't use Virtual Desktop there.
Sounds like your 5ghz connection has a limited range but you need to check the speed on the Quest as it will have better WiFi than your phone. Same room as my router my work laptop gets 866Mbps and the Quest 812Mbps. Possibly need a better WiFi / router.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2010
Posts
5,956
Its Marketing blurb to try and convince you that an £80 odd cable is better than a £10 one off Amazon.

It actually is better because it's an active fibre-optic cable which means it's far lighter and longer than normally supported USB3 lengths.

£80 is a bit steep though (but to be fair, active fiber optic cables are normally expensive).
 
Back
Top Bottom