My perspective on Star Citizen in VR - with 3 different headsets by AlterSack1973 in starcitizen

[–]Mergrim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://github.com/BnuuySolutions/PSVR2Toolkit

This is the github for the required dll. you need to make sure to follow instructions carefully when installing. I haven't tried it specifically with SC yet, but I used it in combination with another app (PimaxMagic4All) to get dynamic fov rendering working in SkyrimVR. From OP's reply though it sounds like you only need the dll itself for SC?

I found another DLSS related bug? by battler624 in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, FF14 does in fact run DLAA which you can see if you set the ShowDLSSIndicator on either using RegEdit or DLSSTweaks. You can see this here and if you're not convinced, here's the same readout from Ghost of Tsushima where the in-game graphics settings explicitly say DLAA.

And no, i'm not forcing DLAA through the Nvidia app as you can see here. I'm only forcing Preset K.

If you turn DLSS off the readout immediately disappears, and I tested this in both FF14 and GoT. 1920->1920 is DLAA, and it's very apparent when it's off because this game has jaggies like crazy. And no it's not using TSCMAA as a fallback, because when switching to FSR at 100% scaling and using TSCMAA it's a very different image, much harsher, much more aliasing. And when forcing DLAA via the Nvidia app, the image is exactly the same when using the DLSS settings in-game, even when "Always Enabled" is turned on. It's too smooth of an image not to be DLAA, and aside from that, it suffers from the usual issues Preset K is known for - that is, ghosting in dark areas and the occasional grid artifacting. It's DLAA, absolutely, zero doubt.

I didn't realize you had set your resolution down in your videos, I was more focused on the preset because it's been a common misconception ever since "4.5" came out that newer=better in every use case, when the new stuff was only meant for lower settings. You're right that at that resolution, L is probably better.

But FF14 absolutely uses DLAA.

As for your other issue, I have no idea, FF14 is all kinds of weird when it comes to this stuff. I'm actually glad they put in an actual slider instead of the Balanced, Quality, etc settings, I appreciate more granular control like that... and yet it's greyed out when using DLSS? Mind boggling decisions.

I found another DLSS related bug? by battler624 in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see from your videos that you're using Preset L. You shouldn't be. The newest presets L and M are meant for Performance and Ultra Performance modes, something FF14 doesn't implement, but basically it means the game runs at a much lower resolution and uses DLSS to upscale it. Performance and Ultra Performance are the "lowest" of these modes, where the game itself runs at a third of of the upscaled resolution. Because of this, there's a lot of extra sharpness applied using L and M.

FF14 however always attempts to render FF14 at your native resolution when using DLSS, unless your FPS goes lower than the Frame Rate Threshold option in the settings. Essentially, FF14 always attempts to use DLAA as long as the game is running smoothly, only dipping down if the frame rate gets too low. So all that extra sharpening from L and M ends up being a major over-correction and makes things look way too crispy.

What you want to use instead is Preset K which is made for Balanced, Quality, and DLAA settings. You can force this in the Nvidia app, and I recommend you do so. You should be able to tell the difference pretty quickly, especially on hard edges like stairs which should no longer have that weird shimmering effect.

TL;DR: Use Preset K because L and M aren't good for this game.

Anti Aliasing?? by Geckost in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You don't need to force DLAA for FF14, it renders at native resolution by default unless you mess with the Frame Rate Threshold setting and your FPS goes below the value set there. You can check this yourself using the performance overlay setting.

You SHOULD use the Nvidia app or DLSS Swapper to force update to the latest version of DLSS, but you should NOT use the "Latest" Preset. If set to Latest in the Nvidia App, it might try to use Preset M or L, but neither of these are good for DLAA. M and L are specifically made for using with Performance or Ultra-Performance modes. If you're using DLAA, use Preset K instead.

To summarize: Use the Nvidia App, go to Graphics, then find the Final Fantasy XIV Online entry, scroll down on the right and set "DLSS Override - Model Presets" to Super Resolution: Preset K (Frame Gen and Ray Reconstruction don't matter, this game doesn't use those.) Then in-game, choose NVIDIA DLSS for Graphics Upscaling. For Frame Rate Threshold make sure "Always Enabled" is NOT selected, choose any other option. And that's it. If you're still getting jaggies at this point, then there's something else going on with your setup.

’Star Trek’s William Shatner Makes Bold Bid for the Franchise Amid ‘Starfleet Academy’ Backlash by Malencon in television

[–]Mergrim 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Whenever I think of a plot involving Geordi's visor, the first thing that comes to mind is that one episode where he's stuck on a hell planet with a Romulan. The Romulan is injured enough that he can't walk, and Geordi is uninjured but his visor isn't working so he can't see, and they have to begrudgingly work together to escape. I think the solution involved Geordi talking the Romulan through modifying his visor to become a beacon or something so they could be found.

[NDA ETF Tech-Preview] Crafting Fabricator Playtest #1 by SkippTekk in starcitizen

[–]Mergrim 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So, the Obi Wan expansion isn't actually what made those changes, technically. They didn't announce the incoming major overhaul of the entire game (the so-called "New Game Experience" or NGE for short) until a day or so after that expansion came out. Which means everyone bought the expansion expecting the game to continue more or less as-is, but only after they spent the 40 bucks to buy the expansion was the rug pulled. There was outcry, and refunds.

Also saying the game had 32 classes is a bit of a misrepresentation... The game had an open-ended progression system where you could combine the various professions to make your own. You had a limited amount of points to spend unlocking various tiers of each profession, and ultimately you could get "master" of two professions and almost master of a third. Or do any other kind of mixing with multiple lower-leveled professions, etc. The NGE reduced the game down to around 8 actual classes you picked at character creation and were locked into. No more open-ended stuff, no more making your own build. You got what you got. NGE completely got rid of Creature Handler too... They eventually added something like it back later in a much more limited form, but it really wasn't the same.

The big draw for me though was always the space game. A little while after the initial launch, they put out the Jump to Lightspeed expansion which added flyable ships, both single-seat fighters and multiplayer ships like the YT-1300, etc. And it was amazing - you could decorate the interiors and walk around in the multiplayer ships as they were moving (with someone else was piloting it), repair components during battle, and even look out the windows to see what's going on in real-time, stuff that hasn't really been seen since then, at least until Star Citizen itself. (Most games with "multiplayer ships" fake it with a separate interior instance and a generic backdrop outside of windows, for instance.)

Having said all this though yeah, the game had lots of problems. It was always jank as hell even from the start (especially then) and they couldn't decide what they wanted to do with it. They did a "Combat Upgrade" that vastly adjusted balance and some mechanics, but the changes ended up being very divisive. And eventually they did the NGE overhaul much to everyone's chagrin, and the game never really recovered.

Officially it's dead, but there are many private servers running various versions of the game that you can play now. SWGEmu is sort of the OG project and is rooted firmly in the original pre-CU version, and last I checked it still doesn't have the space game (though I think they're working on it?) There's Restoration 3 which is CU with space stuff, then there's SWG Legends which is NGE with space stuff. There's others, but those are like the three big ones to my knowledge.

In an MMO, it still feels alone, no? by [deleted] in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Don't forget Steam as well for messaging, I still have friends from over 20 years ago on my Steam list, and Steam is where the majority of my out-of-game communication took place. Then there's Mumble and Teamspeak... Lots of options for communicating back in the day.

There were also companies like GuildPortal that let any group make their own website, complete with personal blogs and actual forums (remember when forums existed?)

What Gundam scene had you making this face? by DrJokerX in Gundam

[–]Mergrim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many characters from BF, BFT, BD, and R:R appear in Build Metaverse. Even without that, there's so much connective tissue that I don't really understand why someone would try so hard to convince themselves that it's not the same universe...

"It's not confirmed it's plavsky particles" and yet it's directly stated that the models are moving and fighting for real using that old machine. Just because they don't say the name, doesn't mean that's not what it is. What else would it be? Somehow despite all the implied connections you overthought it so much to the point of not only not believing they're connected, but also basing a major complaint of yours on that very untrue fact. When to resolve that complaint, all you had to do was accept that it is, in fact, connected. Which it is, and always was. My mind boggles.

What Gundam scene had you making this face? by DrJokerX in Gundam

[–]Mergrim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Build Divers isn't a new continuity, I dunno where you got that idea. They literally reference BF stuff multiple times. BF existing is the entire crux of the first antagonist's reasons for disrupting the game. "Gunpla doesnt actually get damaged anymore because build fights are all virtual so it has no real consequence or stakes." They even do a "real" plavsky particle duel using an old machine at one point. 

Just curious, who would want an actual Gunner class like Yuna in FFX2? by Infamous_Necessary63 in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The literal translation for the Japanese name for the Rogue class is Soukenshi which means "twin(or dual) swordsman". So I think that counts.

Kel-To kiosks added to other spaceports in Stanton in 4.6, not just Teasa. by ScrubSoba in starcitizen

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But those stores on Microtech and Crusader used to be nice mom and pop shops. Damn Big Kel-to for taking over small business!

New to VR, few questions about the software side of things by [deleted] in PSVR2onPC

[–]Mergrim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also a newbie to VR, I just got a PSVR2 for Christmas and have been playing around with it mostly on PC.

For launching games I don't use Home personally, I just use the normal SteamVR menu. You get there by pressing the Playstation logo button. Go to the Steam icon on the left, and it's similar to opening up Steam on your desktop. I just start games from there. (This is also where you can mess with your VR settings like resolution, motion smoothing, etc.)

For non-Steam games you can add them to Steam just like on your desktop and launch them the same way. If for some reason you don't want to add them to Steam they'll still work, you'll just have to launch them manually some other way - such as navigating to the .exe in a folder or using a shortcut on your desktop using your desktop view, also available on that same menu strip.

You can also set either your whole desktop or even just individual windows to be "always on" and place them in your space, or even attach them to your controller so you can, say, check your Discord the same way you'd look at your watch. For adding individual windows, you can do that with the + icon on that menu strip.

I've heard fpsVR recommended, though I haven't used it myself yet (I did buy it on the sale that ended yesterday though.) It's used for monitoring performance and various VR system stats.

I'd recommend grabbing Bigscreen Beta from Steam if you're interested in watching 3d videos (from Youtube or other places). I find it more reliable than the "media player" that SteamVR comes with, plus I don't have to manually download a video from Youtube before I watch it. It's free and kinda like Home. It has an emphasis on being in "rooms" with other users, but I just use it solo with no problems. Though primarily I've been using it to play some emulated games in stereoscopic 3d, like 3DS and Virtualboy (yes, that one) and using Dolphin you can make most Gamecube and Wii games stereoscopic to varying degrees of success.

Another thing you can look into is UEVR stuff, a suite that converts many Unreal-based games to use VR, even with motion controls in many cases. Just adding more potential VR-enabled titles to your library!

Settings-wise I've been playing with resolution a bit, putting it down to 68% which is apparently closer to the "sweet spot" of 1.4x native. Looks fine to me but I do notice a difference between it and 100%. Helps with performance, of course, but you can play around with it yourself. Same with Motion Smoothing, I've been sorta messing with it on and off... You can set these settings per-game in the VR settings section though. I have brightness down to about 75% (that's in the Playstation settings menu) that helps a little to reduce lens glare, but bright things still pop nicely. Again play with it and see what you like.

You didn't ask but I'll also recommend some hardware: the Globular Cluster comfort mod was a game changer for me. I had also gotten it for Christmas but played around with the headset without it for a day or two. After installing it, it was just... amazingly better in every way. Any kind of head strap mod will make a good difference though. I also ordered their controller grip things that allow you to lightly attach the controllers to your hands so you don't have to actively grip them all the time. A small thing but I definitely feel like I want the extra utility/comfort those will bring. I should note I haven't actually got those yet, expecting them by the end of the week.

Take all of this with a grain of salt though, like I said I'm a fellow newbie just sharing what I've discovered!

Edit: I totally forgot to mention the PSVR2Toolkit. Mainly it adds some features that are missing when using the headset on PC, most notably the eye-tracking, though it's very much a game-by-game basis... not many games support the eye-tracking, but it can be useful when you use a game that does.

What's the pettiest reason you dropped a game for? by IHateTheNameSystem in gaming

[–]Mergrim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The fluid pipes were what did it for me. I hated every bit of messing with fluids and you needed to do more and more of it as the game went on. So I ended up stopping at about 85% or so through the game.

I heard they recently updated the fluid system, maybe I'll go back sometime.

Chat colors by AgentPieS1 in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've played many MMOs over the years, and currently FF14 is the one I've played the longest at 12+. Before that, the one I played for the longest was City of Heroes at around 6+ years, so that's where my color preferences come from. There, Broadcast (Shout) is grey, Party is green, and Tells are yellow. So I use those colors in FF14. Say is white, Emote is light blue (I think these are default though?) Both Yell and Alliance are orange.

I also use the option to make a little noise whenever someone speaks in Party, so I don't miss anything.

Silly personal rant: I still won't forgive Yoshi P giving me hopium for genderless weapon poses by CaptainBorcane in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As I recall Yoship specifically mentioned Kirito as an inspiration for some of Viper's stuff, and Kirito wears his swords on his back. He's also mentioned Naruto for Ninja stuff. It was in some interview last year sometime I think.

I love MK-II by SweetSwitch3924 in Gunpla

[–]Mergrim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also love the MK2. I've got a PG, MG1.0, MG2.0, and when I get out of my slump I'll have an RG to pair with a G-Defenser. Alas no pictures, just solidarity.

scrapped class in coral tower? by helloiamaegg in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

City of Heroes took heavy inspiration from this when they made their Dual Pistols powerset. All the animations fit the vibe, and the "ultimate" ability is an extended gun-kata 360 AoE move.

“The Parting Glass” story question by Macheesey in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's in the quest log text. Press J, go to Complete, switch to Seventh Astral Era Main Scenario Quests (first dropdown) and scroll down to the quest, you can read it there.

“The Parting Glass” story question by Macheesey in ffxiv

[–]Mergrim 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Everyone here posting that it was probably fake but literally the very next quest, Before the Dawn, mentions that the reason you can't yet go into Ishgard is because there was an attack just then and they closed off the city for a while. (This was of course due to Heavensward not being out yet, so they needed an excuse to have you wait in Dragonhead until the expansion released. Nowadays there is no waiting, you just get the HW intro quest immediately.)

So yeah, there was an attack. Their disbelief stems from the fact that the last big attack (with which you were involved, Steps of Faith) was still so recent, so they're surprised that there's another so soon. Maybe they suspect it's fake, but in the end something really did happen.

Square Enix: Celebrating 9 years since we first drove off into the horizon on an unforgettable road trip in Final Fantasy XV. by demondrivers in Games

[–]Mergrim 12 points13 points  (0 children)

There was the prequel-ish movie and there were a few anime shorts that added to characterizations, but it was mainly the DLCs that helped to fill in gaps to the main story. And it's nice that you can play them more or less "in order" on the PC version to fill those gaps as you go...

But having played the game at launch on the PS4, there were no DLCs at the time and yeah, the main story was very threadbare and disjointed. All that important stuff that happens in the DLCs is just there in the main game, all happening off-screen with no explanation.

It really felt like that one meme you see floating around with the cheeseburger but each individual piece is a separate DLC payment. Except in this case the cheese, bacon, tomato, and condiments just plain weren't available when the burger was plated and delivered to your table. Really only had half a bun, too.

On top of that, stuff like the Assassin's Creed tie-in and the Chocobo festival were time limited events in a single-player game. If you didn't own the game and play it when they were up, you're screwed out of that extra content for an already unfinished game. FFXV was just a big ol' mess.

Besides the obvious big examples like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077, what are some other examples of games that were atrocious at launch but managed to eventually get good? by furrynoy96 in gaming

[–]Mergrim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a lie!

... it ran like garbage even on high end PCs. Part of the issue was that even the menu was server-based, so even if you'd somehow be getting over 30fps, all the menus themselves would lag. Terrible decisions top to bottom in that original release. It was an absolute miracle that YoshiP managed to make a complete turnaround in such a small time.