This Blog in Review

This blog about virtual reality gaming, focusing on the HTC Vive, was a fun project / experiment that I had to do for one of my classes. The tools that were effective I would say is twitter. I got a tweet liked by the developer of the game I was playing and reviewing, which was awesome. Some ways I would improve my blog is to upload more content, tweet more, basically get my blog out there as much as possible.

This experience could benefit me because I might be making sites of some sort in the future, who knows. I make logos for companies, so sites aren’t that much of a reach. Obviously, the way I would use the tools I learned here is if I ever got a job in social media or any sort of site responsibility. I would know how to promote things via twitter, and know how to edit things on WordPress.

The stats on my site are low, but there. I got one referrer from twitter, which was in February, so the beginning of the semester when I assume everyone was checking out other people’s blogs for ideas. My most popular week however was the week of April 17^th. I assume though it was just my professor checking out the three posts I made. The most popular posts of the year were a 5 way tie of basically all my game reviews.

Game Review: Tabletop Simulator

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This post I’m going to review a game called Tabletop Simulator. This game is basically what the title says. It’s a tabletop simulator that lets you play basically any board game ever made. If the board game you don’t want isn’t there, then you can just add it yourself! There are literally endless possibilities of games to play with the amount of board games the community uploads.

The reason why I’m reviewing this game is because it is virtual reality compatible! With a recent update, you can play with the HTC Vive. The best part of this is that you can play with people that don’t use VR. So, they can see you waving your hands around, moving all the pieces with your hand, and everything else. It’s fantastic.

I would personally give this game a 10/10. It’s that good. I play it almost every day for many hours a day. With the amount of board games available and the amount of people that play it, you can’t go wrong. I’ve made friends that live in Australia and Europe from this game. I’ve played with the people that made a specific board game that we’re playing at the time! So yeah, 10/10, would recommend.

Game Review: NoLimits 2 Roller Coaster Simulation

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This post I’m going to review a game called NoLimits 2 Roller Coaster Simulation. The title is a bit long for this game, but the game itself is very simple. Basically, you pick a level that has been made by the developers or community, and sit back and ride it. Simple.

So, this game is pretty fun. If I would recommend this game to anyone, I would recommend it to roller coaster designers, enthusiasts, or anyone that doesn’t get motion sickness. Unfortunately for me, through this game, I found out that I do get motion sickness. I personally rode about 3 or 4 roller coasters after purchasing this game, and after I was done, I felt sick and had a headache. BUT, if you don’t, then I would highly recommend this game.

Even though I personally can’t play it, I can see the potential. You can literally design any type of roller coaster you want, then upload for the world to see. I would give this game a 6/10, but for me personally, since I get motion sickness, I would give it a 3/10, and not play it again. It is a fun game though.

Game Review: theBlu

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This post I’m going to review a game called theBlu. It’s not necessarily a game, more as an experience. This is the game That you want to show someone that wants to sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds of virtual reality. You literally don’t do anything. You can just have a seat and enjoy, or stand if that’s what you want.

There are 3 distinct encounters that you can experience. One of encounters is called “The Whale Encounter”. This encounter is you standing on a sunken ship, and eventually after some time, you see a enormous whale swim by. The whale gets extremely close to you, and then swims away, almost hitting the whole ship with its’ tail. The next encounter is “Reef Migration”. Basically, you are sitting over a gigantic coral reef. You see coral, turtles, and tropical fish swimming all around you whilst you’re standing over an edge of a beautiful coral reef. That’s basically it for that one.

The last encounter is called “Luminous Abyss”. This is one I personally can’t do because I just get anxious since you’re in the dark. Basically, you are on the sea floor, and around you are whale bones. Every now and then you’ll see an angler fish swim by. There isn’t anything scary about this encounter, and there are no jump scares. It’s just very, very dark. But the best part of this encounter is that after about a minute or two, the whole sea lights up jellyfish, and it’s beautiful.

So those are the three encounters of this game. They say they are going to add more, and hopefully they are as good as these. I would highly recommend this game if you want to experience the graphical prowess of the HTV Vive.

Game Review: Job Simulator

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This post I’m going to review the game Job Simulator. It’s a single player game, as despite the title’s name, it’s a very fun an enjoyable game. I would recommend for any first timers in the virtual reality world. Also, if you want a game to show off the capabilities of the HTC Vive, I would show them this game. It’s a simple game with simple instructions.

There are four different scenarios to choose from. You can be an office worker, a clerk, a chef, or a mechanic. Each job sounds mundane, but the game makes it fun and enjoyable. The idea of the game is that you are a human in the future where robots are everywhere. You head to a museum that has “the jobs of the distant past”, which are the ones that I have listed.

Each scenario has about 12 various levels. Each level comes with instructions, and they are usually very simple. It’s a game that comes with the HTC Vive when you purchase it, so it isn’t too advanced. Just something to get your feet wet in the virtual reality world. Overall, I would highly recommend this game.

How to make sure your Vive Lighthouses are tracking properly via the LED’s on them

When I bought my HTC Vive, one of the lighthouse or base station that came with it didn’t work properly. And I didn’t notice it was an issue until a few months later, and saw online that everyone had perfect tracking, yet I had issues every time I used the Vive. When I would go into VR, one of the lighthouses was positioned in the middle of sky, which I thought was normal until I saw videos online stating the opposite. Basically, they’re supposed to appear where they are in reality. So not in the middle of the sky.

I then looked online and sure enough, one my LED tracking lights was out. Sending the lighthouse back, they repaired it within the week and sent it back. Extremely great customer service! To make sure the lights are working properly, take a picture of your lighthouses with your cell phone.

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When you take a picture with an actual photography camera, it shows up like this…

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When you take it with your cell phone, it shows up like this…

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You need to see that these lights are on. When I purchased the Vive, the bottom one that is circled was out, thus making the tracking wonky…

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So there you have it. Make sure those two lights are on, plus the 15 circle lights in the middle. Check both lighthouses, and you’ll have proper tracking! Hopefully it doesn’t take you as long as me to figure out there was an issue. Just contact the customer service on the Vive page,and they’ll help you out in no time.

What this blog will be about

Who are you?

Hello, my name is Giovanni Rhea, but most people call me Joey. I currently go to Texas State in Round Rock. I am a Junior majoring in General Studies, with minors in Mass Comm, Business, and X. (The X is still being decided)

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Why should I read this blog?

This blog will be about Virtual Reality products and hardware, mostly focusing on the HTC Vive. Why I chose this topic is because I feel that most people don’t have access to any virtual reality equipment, and hopefully I’ll be able to give them a glimpse on what they could possibly get into.

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What can I expect from this blog?

I hope to explore the ins and outs of the HTC Vive and what it has to offer, and what are its’ limitations, including the hardware and the software involved. This blog is geared towards people planning on buying an HTC Vive, already have purchased an HTC Vive, or just want to get to know about what’s up and coming in the Virtual Reality market. In the future, I will probably be using links that are attributed to the Vive website itself, Amazon links for recommendations, and also promoting on Twitter and other social media platforms.