SteamVR Setup
So we have had a look at the hardware, now let’s take a look at the software, namely the SteamVR and SteamOS design. We love Steam, we need to say that up front. Steam has been a constant money blackhole over the years and we do not hold that against them, though please release Half Life 3 this century please.
For us, the tie up with Steam was an absolute stroke of genius. Steam would provide the gamers view, something that HTC could not claim to have much experience with. So with HTC looking after the hardware mostly, and Steam mostly looking after the user interface and release titles, the HTC Vive lines up to knock the Oculus Rift back six months. We always thought it would take Oculus six months at least to come back from the Steam set back. Anyway, we’ll run through the set up with some screenshots.
We were not disappointed with the SteamVR experience, and yes we are big Steam fans, it’s not hard to be. There are two set ups, standing only and a full room setup, the following is the room setup.
The SteamVR room setup is beautiful in form and function, with most of the pop ups animated. You cannot really go wrong with the basic tutorial it provides.
It’s not too long and has live device positioning, room scale and some calibration all involved.
Room scale is dealt with my moving around your room space with a Vive controller to mark out the boundaries of your play space. The tutorial advises a clear space, and to move anything that can interfere or cause harm if you trip over it, all with animated pictures.
HTC Vive Virtual Reality Headset Review
Package - 9
Performance - 6.5
Price - 5
Consumer Experience - 5
6.4
As diehard VR fans we were left as disappointed with the HTC Vive as we were the Oculus DK2. Though these should be a generation apart in development, and we appreciate they are from different companies, using the Vive hardware with the types of games we like, and not bespoke to the Vive, it still felt like a beta product.