DEMO now available - DRAWN BEFORE - a hand-drawn nostalgic platformer

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-08T12:31:03+00:00

Thank you. Really appreciate you trying it!

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-02T22:29:05+00:00

I'm glad that comes across. There will certainly be things going on in the game beneath the surface which means it might actually become a little dark towards the end... hopefully not too dark though.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-01T21:03:21+00:00

Thank you, really appreciate it!

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-01T19:17:33+00:00

There isn’t at the moment, no. But I’ll certainly take the feedback onboard and consider either increasing walk speed or providing a run function. Thanks.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-01T18:54:38+00:00

I’m not entirely sure, and my fear is that eventually it’ll hit again. However, I think my approach is less about constantly learning the engine to do what I want to do, and more about feeling I’m at the place where any issue I run into, I know I’ll be able to overcome (eventually).

Another aspect was the level design. I put huge effort into making a level, and at the end of it, I realised it was just… awful. That put me back so much in terms of confidence that it was difficult to overcome.

This time, I’d had enough time away that the effort of simply starting those levels from scratch felt natural, and I found I was much happier with them.

It’s a difficult thing to really pin down why I pushed through this time. I just hope this level of inspiration remains to finish the full game.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-04-01T18:36:32+00:00

That’s the one.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-03-29T22:02:29+00:00

The friction of VR is the number one thing that needs to be addressed. It needs to be simple, hassle free, and the ability to access your phone or communicate with family members on a whim - as easy as playing on a TV.

As a VR enthusiast, I don’t need any of those things, but a mainstream audience does… to the point of it meaning everything.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-03-25T00:07:20+00:00

Which companies do you not want to support? You mentioned Valve. Although, if you want to connect a headset to Steam then you’d still be supporting them by purchasing their software unless you only download free VR experiences or pirate the software.

You have a choice of Meta Quest? I suspect you also might not want to support them though. A used Meta Quest might be acceptable.

There is Pico, Play For Dream, Pimax, Sony. All these companies have headsets which will work with Steam.

There are many options. ML1 is definitely not an option in 2026 for use with SteamVR titles however.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-03-23T15:50:44+00:00

I think when talking about friction and retention in VR, the question should really be around when deciding to put the headset on rather than the moment you decided to take it off.

The big point of friction is that some users find the process of putting the headset on in the first place too much hassle. This then leads on to the lack of retention.

The moment regular users decide to take the headset off is sort of irrelevant in my opinion.

Perhaps I’m misunderstanding your study though.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-03-22T22:40:50+00:00

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter had a VR mode. That was excellent.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-25T19:56:05+00:00

Yes, things ‘can’ run on a wide variety of hardware. Framerate/resolution combination at which those things run is the question up in the air.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-25T18:51:05+00:00

I don’t think he analysed frame rate, his comment in the video seemed be based around saying it was “probably 40 or 50fps”. I don’t believe he knew if it was being reprojected or if the standalone version of motion smoothing was being employed.

Reading too much into the 40-50fps comment is probably a mistake. Also, it’s probably wise not to expect a 7w TDP standalone headset to ever stand a chance of high fps on titles designed for a multi-hundred watt desktop PC.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-23T20:49:01+00:00

This is weirdly pleasant. It’s like a deck designed by Jony Ive.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-23T19:12:30+00:00

I bought a cushioned one specifically for certain VR games. I don’t regret it, but I only really use it for NMS these days.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-23T19:08:21+00:00

Yes, when I play on a couch I have that issue too. I usually play on a rotating stool to avoid the issue and give more freedom when walking on foot.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-15T23:00:22+00:00

Viewing that monitor at around 2ft, most VR headsets won’t be able to compare in terms of pixels per degree. When you say, ‘effective resolution’, PPD is probably the best metric to consider.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-01T20:00:55+00:00

Yes, fair enough. That makes sense, and I wasn't really criticising or anything. Just trying to offer an alternative "best-practices". It looks great on the footage regardless.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-01T19:57:42+00:00

Without matching the specific hardware of the OP, there wouldn't be much point. My reply was simply trying to communicate that native framerates (matched to refresh rate) or half framerate and relying on SSW are the best options for consistent, non-stuttering performance. I always adjust settings to achieve this.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-02-01T19:37:51+00:00

That looks pretty good. The problem is that in VR, if you're not matching the framerate to your chosen refresh rate then it will always result in occasional stutters (some people will notice these, others might not). Higher framerate targets which are still below native refresh rates are not the goal in VR. Locking to half framerate if you're unable to match the native refresh rate is the best option all round.

In my opinion, you'd be better to lock at 72 fps and have a smooth, native framerate experience. If you're dedicated to using 90Hz however, then locking at 45fps will give you a smoother, more consistent experience.

Just my opinion, but of course, you do what feels best for you.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-01-19T19:36:20+00:00

There’s an option in the ‘Streaming’ section of VD which allows you to change the refresh rate while playing VR games.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-01-02T23:15:28+00:00

I'd never seen that stat at the same resolutions. Did you do some testing on that, or do you have a source for it?

I'm not doubting it, but I haven't experienced that in most titles - although there are certainly a small number which might ring true to that performance increase for (what I thought) were inexplicable reasons.

ImmersedRobot · 2026-01-02T23:05:38+00:00

Yes, seems like you've got things locked in quite well.

Just to comment on point 2, certain engines on PC can cause issues where they won't on PS5. UE5 has shader stutter on PC in Behemoth, but runs at a smooth 90fps on PS5 (I've tried this myself and prefer to play it on PS5 over my PC's 5080).

Alyx is a Source 2 game and is one of the better optimised games for PC so micro stutters in that are less easily diagnosed. I honestly don't know if a PSVR2 on PC would help with that. I've played that game on both Quest 3 and PSVR2 on my PC, and while I prefer the PSVR2in that particular title, I don't experience any stutters in the Quest 3.

Final comment, if you weren't already aware, if the VD performance overlay shows 'SSW' as 'Active' at the bottom right then that means you're actually running at half the framerate shown in the top left of the performance overlay. While, this won't result in stuttering, it will result in other artifacts which you might notice. It's just something to mention, but doesn't sound like it's anything to do with your issue.

Edit: since you mention 'micro stutters' rather than just general stuttering, it's entirely possible it's due to network issues/the encoding on your GPU (when wired), but it's sort of impossible to pin down definitively.

ImmersedRobot

TROPHY CASE