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Kiero [developer] 25 Oct, 2024 @ 8:36am

POOLS VR open beta testing

VR Open Beta is now available!

VR mode is now available for testing. The beta version includes the first chapter of the game and is available in the Windows version for all owners of the full game on Steam.

The beta will also be available for the Demo version of the game later today or tomorrow so everyone interested has an opportunity to dive in. We’ll post an update and edit this post when the Open Beta can be accessed through the Demo version.

How to access the VR beta in Steam

1. Right click the game in Steam and open the Properties window
2. Open Betas-tab
3. Type "poolsvrpublicbeta" without the quotes into the text field and click the button next to it
4. Click “opt into vr-beta-public”
5. Steam should then download the VR beta build of the game for you
6. You can opt in & out of the beta version from the “Beta participation” drop down menu whenever you like

Note: VR is only available for Windows version at the moment. Unfortunately Unity game engine doesn't support building with OpenXR on Linux.

VR Beta feedback, discussion and bug reports

Feel free to have VR mode related discussion, feedback and thoughts on this thread.

If you wish to leave feedback anonymously, we’ve created a Google form where you can give your thoughts about the VR mode:
https://forms.gle/WcfSpDjy2AEq3XcUA

You can also always contact us at our Discord-server https://discord.gg/pools-1151072381478125628 or via e-mail at support(at)tensori.fi

We're especially looking for feedback on how the VR mode works with different types of VR devices, such as Valve Index or Pico VR headsets. We’ve developed and tested the game using Meta Quest 2, 3 and a PlayStation VR2 headset on PC, so any comments about the play experience and SteamVR input rebind tool on different devices is incredibly helpful.

The VR mode has a suite of comfort and accessibility settings. We’d love to hear if you are able to find a combination of these settings that allows for a comfortable VR experience. If you’d like to see a new setting added to the VR mode, please let us know about it on this thread, feedback form, Discord-server, or e-mail.

Have fun!
-Tensori

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Showing 1-15 of 92 comments

Hiro_

26 Oct, 2024 @ 11:52am

It was great! I feel like the hands could be better tho

Fox Mulder has POOLS

26 Oct, 2024 @ 11:56am

Loving it so far

Michelangelo has POOLS

26 Oct, 2024 @ 6:12pm

Thank you !
I´m seriously interested on VR gameplay.
and I want to buy the game as well !

Can you explain if VR MODE will be added to POOLS game, or this is just a test before launching POOLS VR as a separate game?

so I know which Version to buy to play in VR :)

Thanks so much for the VR support, it creates a radical new type of experience

Last edited by Michelangelo; 26 Oct, 2024 @ 6:13pm

Rob

27 Oct, 2024 @ 6:06am

Sooooooo, finally got to play through the available chapter.

I did not encounter any game breaking stuff.

The first thing i noticed tho was the rough performance (everything maxed out DLSS quality) and it was almost a slideshow (RTX 4080 - Quest 3) i either had to turn DLSS to balanced or reduce the settings back to high.

Aliasing was a huge problem for me, TAA offered the best picture for me but it was still a mess as you can see it at all times flickering.

Some reflections had a weird effect at certain points, as if they were not 3D and gave you a cross eyed like effect if you know what i mean.

And is eye adaptation enabled for each eye seperately, this sometimes made certain shadows/reflections look funky for like 0.1 seconds.

You are able to see farther into the shadows if you look away and turn very fast, for example where the ladder gets pulled up or where the screams come out of near the clock (which did not move by the way).

Sitting in the chair felt a little weird (standing mode) it was to low, as if i was sitting on my chest so to speak.

Apart from that it worked great.

capn_happy 27 Oct, 2024 @ 7:29am

Demo tested on Quest 1 with RTX 3080

Best visual bang for buck for me was TAA, Lighting Max (anything else other than off looked glitchy), Reflections off

, DLSS performance.

Atmosphere was great. Hands responded to analogue buttons, ladder climbing was flawless.

Tunnels very spooky with OLED

LFW John Crichton 27 Oct, 2024 @ 10:06am

Using Pico 4 I try to activate VR in the menu buy when I press the button, the game says there are no VR headsets detected.

I'm running the game direct from desktop, via steam, via steam VR and via Pico 4 wired connection and nothing works - game works fine just no VR?

Jank

28 Oct, 2024 @ 11:50am

this is a really fun game but to me it feels like it loses some of its magic with VR. in VR it just feels like a bland maze game, maybe i just need to play it at night to feel the spooky. i was really looking forward to this port to vr and now its an odd feeling being able to just look over your shoulder when youre scared takes alot out of the experience.

neodigitalis has POOLS

28 Oct, 2024 @ 2:51pm

Out of curiosity, I tested the beta for a few minutes with a Pimax Crystal and an RTX 3090. I've liked it so far. Also that it's possible to walk and teleport without having to change anything.

Rob

28 Oct, 2024 @ 7:24pm

I dont know if this is a coincidence or just NVIDIA doing its thing but i cant seem to get RTX HDR to work anymore since the little update for VR.

Tensori_Sami [developer] 29 Oct, 2024 @ 3:08pm

Originally posted by Michelangelo:
Thank you !
I´m seriously interested on VR gameplay.
and I want to buy the game as well !

Can you explain if VR MODE will be added to POOLS game, or this is just a test before launching POOLS VR as a separate game?

so I know which Version to buy to play in VR :)

Thanks so much for the VR support, it creates a radical new type of experience :enteringsteamvr:

Hi! VR support will be a free update to the main game (flatscreen version) for all owners. The demo will also have VR support so people can sample it before buying.

#10

Tensori_Sami [developer] 29 Oct, 2024 @ 3:12pm

Originally posted by LFW John Crichton:
Using Pico 4 I try to activate VR in the menu buy when I press the button, the game says there are no VR headsets detected.

I'm running the game direct from desktop, via steam, via steam VR and via Pico 4 wired connection and nothing works - game works fine just no VR?

That's too bad... We have now received multiple reports that the VR mode doesn't work when using a Pico 4 device. I hope we'll be able to acquire one for testing purposes and resolve this issue before the full VR mode is released. Thank you for your time and for reporting back here!

#11

Tensori_Sami [developer] 29 Oct, 2024 @ 3:22pm

Originally posted by Yarzin:
Bought game today because of VR support (saw your post on r/virtualreality awhile back and wishlisted the game). Tested on Bigscreen Beyond with 7900 XTX/7800X3D. Finished first chapter. Had to turn resolution/settings way down with FSR 1.0 enabled to maintain somewhat stable 75fps. Still looked good and quite spooky. Not sure how hard it would be to implement a newer version of FSR.

Played standing with smooth turning. I like the default setting of trigger to sprint (I assume there's no weapons or objects to pick up or hold down the line) rather than click thumbstick. Didn't trying rebinding anything yet.

Looking forward to playing the rest of the game. :happyray:

Thanks for the feedback!

So far we've been using only the tools and features that the Unity engine provides out of the box. Unfortunately the engine hasn't implemented newer versions of FSR beyond 1.0 so that's what we have available. We could try to add a more advanced version of FSR by purchasing a third party solution. I've made a note of this for the team. Good suggestion.

We are now working on improving performance, and we've already found a few low hanging fruits when it comes to possible optimizations. The next update to the VR beta (and eventually the full release) will have improved performance by default.

#12

Elevna

29 Oct, 2024 @ 5:47pm

The optimisation is, honestly awful in it's current state. When I first opened the game it was so stuttery and jittery that it made me feel sick. Setting everything to the lowest and FSR resolution to like 0.4 made it run smooth, but I have a 4080, it should have no problem running higher than that. Turning on reflections even the minimal caused it to go sick mode.

The height is also off... I play in seated mode exclusively and even set to seated with the height at the lowest, I was still like 8 foot tall.

#13

Tensori_Sami [developer] 30 Oct, 2024 @ 2:53am

Originally posted by Elevna:
The optimisation is, honestly awful in it's current state. When I first opened the game it was so stuttery and jittery that it made me feel sick. Setting everything to the lowest and FSR resolution to like 0.4 made it run smooth, but I have a 4080, it should have no problem running higher than that. Turning on reflections even the minimal caused it to go sick mode.

The height is also off... I play in seated mode exclusively and even set to seated with the height at the lowest, I was still like 8 foot tall.

That's true about the performance. We are working on it.

Did you try re-centering your headset in-game to fix the problem with VR height?

#14

Elevna

30 Oct, 2024 @ 8:00am

Originally posted by Tensori_Sami:
Originally posted by Elevna:
The optimisation is, honestly awful in it's current state. When I first opened the game it was so stuttery and jittery that it made me feel sick. Setting everything to the lowest and FSR resolution to like 0.4 made it run smooth, but I have a 4080, it should have no problem running higher than that. Turning on reflections even the minimal caused it to go sick mode.

The height is also off... I play in seated mode exclusively and even set to seated with the height at the lowest, I was still like 8 foot tall.

That's true about the performance. We are working on it.

Did you try re-centering your headset in-game to fix the problem with VR height?

Yes, though I doubt it's caused by the game, my quest 3 is generally very buggy and weird. I hate the damn thing. Can't wait for Valve to announce their new one so I can sell this POS

#15

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POOLS > General Discussions > Topic Details

Date Posted: 25 Oct, 2024 @ 8:36am

Posts: 92