What’s keeping VR video games from being graphically indistinguishable from real life?
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Am I the only one who plays VR here? Even the steam VR demo they pack with the index has some scenes that look photorealistic with 3D scans, and it does feel pretty real. Half-life Alyx is probably one of the most realistic looking VR games on there, and I’ve never felt more immersed in a game before. Even VRChat has worlds that feel and look real.
I think part of the reason there’s this misconception that VR can’t do realism is that most big studios still consider it a gimmick, taking into consideration very few gamers have VR compared to just a PC, you mostly have indie studios making VR games and they’re not always realistic looking, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The most used VR headset is the Quest, probably because it’s one of the cheapest. That means if a studio wants to make a VR game, they’re most likely gonna try and make it compatible for the Quest to get the most amount of customers, which means it needs to run on hardware equivalent to a phone, which doesn’t really mesh well with realistic graphics.
Yes, there are still limitations to VR with glare and screen door and FOV and all that, but after a while in VR, you get used to it.
Am I the only one who plays VR here? Even the steam VR demo they pack with the index has some scenes that look photorealistic with 3D scans, and it does feel pretty real. Half-life Alyx is probably one of the most realistic looking VR games on there, and I’ve never felt more immersed in a game before. Even VRChat has worlds that feel and look real.
I think part of the reason there’s this misconception that VR can’t do realism is that most big studios still consider it a gimmick, taking into consideration very few gamers have VR compared to just a PC, you mostly have indie studios making VR games and they’re not always realistic looking, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The most used VR headset is the Quest, probably because it’s one of the cheapest. That means if a studio wants to make a VR game, they’re most likely gonna try and make it compatible for the Quest to get the most amount of customers, which means it needs to run on hardware equivalent to a phone, which doesn’t really mesh well with realistic graphics.
Yes, there are still limitations to VR with glare and screen door and FOV and all that, but after a while in VR, you get used to it.
What folks have already said, but I’d like to add:
All of the structure of a computer’s computing power is based on the idea you Render something once because you’ll display it on one screen. But in VR you have to Render everything twice – basically one ‘screen’ for each eyeball.
We keep making computers better at Rendering once, when we really need to be making computers better at Rendering twice.
What folks have already said, but I’d like to add:
All of the structure of a computer’s computing power is based on the idea you Render something once because you’ll display it on one screen. But in VR you have to Render everything twice – basically one ‘screen’ for each eyeball.
We keep making computers better at Rendering once, when we really need to be making computers better at Rendering twice.
My experience in VR gaming tells me you don’t have to be photo realistic to be “real”.
Once you get into it, your brain really does start to ignore a lot of things. I nearly face planted trying to grab on to the back of a car I was hiding behind in Superhot and the graphics in that game are about as far from “real” as you can get. Half-life Alyx is so immersive you just flat forget that your playing a game at all. The controls are so natural, it just works.
My experience in VR gaming tells me you don’t have to be photo realistic to be “real”.
Once you get into it, your brain really does start to ignore a lot of things. I nearly face planted trying to grab on to the back of a car I was hiding behind in Superhot and the graphics in that game are about as far from “real” as you can get. Half-life Alyx is so immersive you just flat forget that your playing a game at all. The controls are so natural, it just works.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about how rendering in a lot of games actually works. When you’re playing a game, the video game will [Unrender](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/7v95as/how_games_render_as_you_move_the_camera/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) all of the textures you can’t see. This cuts down on the work your hardware has to do ALOT, which allows the hardware to render more higher quality and more photorealistic environments.
I’m not a developer, but I remember reading that due to the nature of VR, and the player’s ability to look around the environment in more dynamic ways, it’s very difficult to make this unrendering process work, which means you’re taxing the hardware by having the entire environment rendered at the same time.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about how rendering in a lot of games actually works. When you’re playing a game, the video game will [Unrender](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/7v95as/how_games_render_as_you_move_the_camera/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) all of the textures you can’t see. This cuts down on the work your hardware has to do ALOT, which allows the hardware to render more higher quality and more photorealistic environments.
I’m not a developer, but I remember reading that due to the nature of VR, and the player’s ability to look around the environment in more dynamic ways, it’s very difficult to make this unrendering process work, which means you’re taxing the hardware by having the entire environment rendered at the same time.
Photorealism is extremely difficult to achieve in any medium, from pencils to paint to computers. Those that do are considered masters of their craft.
On top of this, modern VR systems have a hard enough time rendering games in a manner that isn’t uncomfortable for the player. You have to balance system power/capability with:
Weight — players are wearing your system on their heads.
Screen quality — too slow, bright, low resolution, etc., and you give your players headaches among other issues (RE: the Virtual Boy).
Safety — don’t want players tripping over furniture, each other, expensive electronics, their children and pets… .
And price — being good or even great means little if no one can/will buy your system (RE: the NeoGeo).
Mind boggling graphics just aren’t viable right now, though that’ll probably change in the coming decades. Maybe ten years for computers and dedicated systems (the Quest 5 or whatever it’ll be called), and fifteen or twenty for mobile devices, barring remote play.
Photorealism is extremely difficult to achieve in any medium, from pencils to paint to computers. Those that do are considered masters of their craft.
On top of this, modern VR systems have a hard enough time rendering games in a manner that isn’t uncomfortable for the player. You have to balance system power/capability with:
Weight — players are wearing your system on their heads.
Screen quality — too slow, bright, low resolution, etc., and you give your players headaches among other issues (RE: the Virtual Boy).
Safety — don’t want players tripping over furniture, each other, expensive electronics, their children and pets… .
And price — being good or even great means little if no one can/will buy your system (RE: the NeoGeo).
Mind boggling graphics just aren’t viable right now, though that’ll probably change in the coming decades. Maybe ten years for computers and dedicated systems (the Quest 5 or whatever it’ll be called), and fifteen or twenty for mobile devices, barring remote play.
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