[VR] Beat Saber

[Blackhawk]

Alright, there's no reason that every VR game needs to be dumped into the "VR Randomness" thread (sorry, I mean the 'why isn't anyone talking...' thread.) I'll be nice an add a [VR] tag to VR games to let ignore them who want to.

So, I've been playing Beat Saber. The game tricks you. It's a ton of fun, but it's also a fairly solid workout. The research I've found suggests it's comparable to tennis. For those who haven't played, it's a rhythm game (like Guitar Hero or any of the others), but while I didn't enjoy those (or any rhythm games I've tried - I genuinely dis-enjoy them), I like this a lot. The gameplay is that you're standing still while blocks fly at you. You hold two light sabers, one blue, one red. You have to cut the red blocks with the red saber and the blue with the blue. Arrows specify which direction the swing has to come from to count. Other than a few tweaks (like walls you sometimes have to dodge), that's it. Here's a segment of somebody playing it on easy:



I'm not very good. I'm still working my way through the campaign, usually four or five songs at a time before I need a breather. I really like that I can hop in as a warm up, play for four minutes, and quit. I don't have to devote an afternoon to it (and couldn't if I wanted to - it's a workout, remember?) That's the insidious thing about this. You play, and it's fun, but it wears you out. But you want to play some more. You really want to play some more. So you push yourself, and as you get better at playing, you also get in better shape, able to play for longer. Gaming is tricking me into exercising.

Anyway, I found that there is a place out there that makes a handle for the controllers that, essentially, turns it into a dual-bladed lightsaber. Played with the right modifiers (it would be impossible with the arrows on), it actually looks pretty cool - at least to watch other people do. I have no desire to try it myself, but it's fun to watch a pro:

[sgoldj]

Really enjoy the game on the PSVR. The only thing is that the music is not as available. The go to workout song for me is “Fitrave”. I think that is the name.

[Blackhawk]

Really enjoy the game on the PSVR. The only thing is that the music is not as available. The go to workout song for me is “Fitrave”. I think that is the name.

I just went and tried that one, and yeah - whiplash. Then I did it a second time.

[Blackhawk]

From the general VR thread:

Beatsaber can wear you out and is great for cardio.

Beastsaber https://bsaber.com/ is great for getting custom songs. My favorites: Take on Me, Blue by Eiffel 65, Koto by Clozee, Gangnam Style. Tons more.

Get ModAssistant and read up at https://bsmg.wiki/pc-modding.html

Updates break the mods all the time, but they are normally fixed within a few days.

That turned out to be surprisingly easy. Just run the ModAssistant, turn on one-click, and click the songs you want. Of course, a lot of the songs are for expert or expert+, which I'm nowhere close to. Right now I'm just going over maps trying to get my speed up. Once I get my reaction and ability to read the blocks down better I'll head back to the campaign, where I'm currently stuck on the second 'disappearing arrows' level. It is nice that I'm starting to see some friends' scores on the board.

I did find that I'm having trouble with red blocks high on the left side, mostly due to my paralyzed trapezius. I just can't get my arm up there at the right angle fast enough. Crossovers (the right block high on the right side) are a problem, too. I'm trying a couple of different grips to compensate. The claw grip seems to be helping, as it lets me do it more with my wrist than my arm. I've pretty much just been typing and/or painting with that arm since the surgery, so I'm hoping that continuing to use it will build up some other muscles to help compensate. I may even look into a set of wrap-on wrist weights for it.

/edit - the grips:

[Blackhawk]

So, I discovered that one of the controller settings adjusts the angle of the blade relative to the controller. I now have mine set up at close to right angles, similar to a fencer's pistol grip. I'll see if that makes a difference. I may also experiment with it at a slighter angle, more like a French grip.

I'm finding that my favorite practice songs right now, working my way from normal toward hard, are Mr. Blue Sky and Shia LaBeouf on normal. Both are challenging on normal, and both use the kinds of cuts that give me trouble on other maps.

[Blackhawk]

[Blackhawk]

I'm at the point now where I've completed all of the official maps (non-DLC) on hard, and was able to take the high score on most of them from the few players on my Steam friends list. Except for my new arch-nemesis, Chesspieceface. I'm coming for you, pawn boy!

[Butterknife]

I still play this game regularly, at least a couple of times a week. That's saying something for a game I purchased several years ago! But I enjoy it because I really hate exercising, and playing this is a way that I can exercise without it feeling like exercise.

I bought the Imagine Dragons song pack, but otherwise I pretty much only play modded songs. Without the mods this game would never have done as well as it did -- there just isn't enough music content to keep it interesting for long. With mods though you can play many songs. I'm pretty much an expert-level player. Any time I try expert+ I can't finish the song, and hard mode is too easy for me now. I'll play for 20-30 minutes, until I work up a sweat, then stop. Just due to how much value I've gotten from this game over the years I'd say it is the best VR game, but make sure to mod it or otherwise it would just be top 10.

[Blackhawk]

I'm getting close to the point where I'm going to start working on the transition from hard to expert, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm still having trouble with left hand blocks on the sides at the top on either side (my shoulder doesn't move that way anymore), but I'm getting better with them.

So far I'm only running a few interface mods (one that gives you a play history, one that adds a song timer in-game.) I have quite a few custom songs from BeastSaber and BeatSync (favorite them on BeastSaber and BeatSync downloads them.) What I really need to figure out how to do is manage playlists. I downloaded a couple of playlists and installed them with the Mod Assistant, but it just dumps them all into my custom songs list with no way to see what's in what playlist, and completely burying my actual custom songs.

[Blackhawk]

Good timing, by the way. I was going to check into worthwhile mods, then they updated. I think I'll need to give it a week or two.

[Butterknife]

I just finished playing for a half-hour because we were talking about it. I noticed the update and felt my stomach drop, but when I got into the game all of my custom songs were still there! So that was good news.

Also, I seriously rock when I play. I'm sure I look like a spastic middle-aged man being attacked by bees, but I feel like a jedi master with serious rhythm.

[Blackhawk]

I just push the earbuds in far enough that I can't hear my family laughing at me.

[Daveman]

I just finished playing for a half-hour because we were talking about it. I noticed the update and felt my stomach drop, but when I got into the game all of my custom songs were still there! So that was good news.

Also, I seriously rock when I play. I'm sure I look like a spastic middle-aged man being attacked by bees, but I feel like a jedi master with serious rythmm.[/q]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/comments/ ... rce=share

[Blackhawk]

I've hit every member of my family at least once. They always make the same mistake: they wait for me to focus on one side then try to slide by on the other. But after you get a series of blocks on the left, you're about to get a bunch on the right.

[stessier]

I'm still having trouble with left hand blocks on the sides at the top on either side (my shoulder doesn't move that way anymore), but I'm getting better with them.

You could always try the one-handed mode.

[Blackhawk]

I have, although most of the maps that support it are either Expert or Expert+. As a matter of fact, I'm stuck on the one-handed campaign mission right now.

[Blackhawk]

They released an update today with a free 'volume 4' of four new songs. They're not quite as good as some of the better custom songs out there, but they'll be a welcome addition to those who can't use custom songs.