Steam Bucks - Buy Index or wait?

aeonrevolution

aeonrevolution

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Aug 30, 2004
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So, I have over a grand in CSGO skins that I've been sitting on for prolly damn near a decade. I'm liquidating all of them at the moment through the Steam Market.....yes I know I could do it by other means, but I've gotten scammed in the past and don't trust the outside websites anymore.

I'm curious what you guys think I should do though. Grab the $1k VR Kit from Valve, or sit on the Steam Currency for a new VR hardware release that might be on the radar.

I don't particularly keep up with VR news, but it would be pretty cool to play all my racing sims with one!

Thanks
 
I wouldn't buy the Index now. It's too expensive for what it is. And if you are only going to be Sim Racing, then, it's an even bigger waste of money as you won't be making much use of the controllers.

However, if you can only buy from Steam, then I am not sure you have any other options. There are rumours of Valve working on another headset. But, so far there is nothing concrete. Only a patent release in June. We nothing else after that. You might be sitting on that currency for a long time if you are going to wait.

My suggestion is wait until September to see if there are any further developments. And if there isn't consider buying another headset, like the Pico Neo 4(which is due out then and will be really good for sim racing) Use your currency to buy games.
 
I had my Index packed away for a year, mainly because I was traveling. I just built a new rig and got my VR space set back up; I didn't know how much I missed having it until I had it back. I was originally planning to get a new monitor to accompany the new rig, but it's now apparent that would have been almost pointless.

If a gremlin trashed my Index today, I'd be buying a new one before sunrise.

If you've played some VR and know you'll be into it, get the Index. If you're not sure, I'd suggest finding a way to dip your toe in the water, to help you make an informed decision. Everyone projects their personal perspective into their recommendations. You can't really know until you try it for yourself.
 
ProfessorUtopia said:
I had my Index packed away for a year, mainly because I was traveling. I just built a new rig and got my VR space set back up; I didn't know how much I missed having it until I had it back. I was originally planning to get a new monitor to accompany the new rig, but it's now apparent that would have been almost pointless.

If a gremlin trashed my Index today, I'd be buying a new one before sunrise.

If you've played some VR and know you'll be into it, get the Index. If you're not sure, I'd suggest finding a way to dip your toe in the water, to help you make an informed decision. Everyone projects their personal perspective into their recommendations. You can't really know until you try it for yourself.
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Agreed with the above - as an overall premium VR package, I don't think the Index can be beat. But it is spendy, for sure.
 
Thanks for the thoughts guys. Went with the Index now instead of waiting.

I ended up with quite a bit extra...blows my mind that people pay this much for video game skins that I got for probably a dollar ages ago lol.

Pick these up to start with...
Alien: Isolation
Ayahuasca
Dagon
Skyrim VR
F1 22
Fisherman's Tale
Gadgeteer
Kayak VR
Myst
Red Matter 2
theBlue
Star Wars Squadrons
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

I'm not super interested in the action/fighting stuff. Just never felt like VR's strong suite yet from the Quest 2 I've played on.
 
aeonrevolution said:
Thanks for the thoughts guys. Went with the Index now instead of waiting.

I ended up with quite a bit extra...blows my mind that people pay this much for video game skins that I got for probably a dollar ages ago lol.

Pick these up to start with...
Alien: Isolation
Ayahuasca
Dagon
Skyrim VR
F1 22
Fisherman's Tale
Gadgeteer
Kayak VR
Myst
Red Matter 2
theBlue
Star Wars Squadrons
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

I'm not super interested in the action/fighting stuff. Just never felt like VR's strong suite yet from the Quest 2 I've played on.
Click to expand...

I would highly recommend Hotdogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades if you have any interest in a shooting range type game. It's constantly receiving free updates and the developer is awesome.
 
Also highly recommend VTOL VR - my personal "desert island" VR title - like if I could only play one VR title till the end of time - and I'm not a flight sim guy, but this game is just fun, and replayability is immense with Steam Workshop support. Do the first 5-10 training missions and see if you aren't hooked to the feeling and sensation of flight and "being there". Yes, Microsoft Flight Sim in VR is pretty, but eventually gets a bit boring and I just don't have the time. VTOL VR lets you just jump in and blow shit up once you learn a few basics, but without being a completely casual experience.

The 97% positive Steam rating is no accident, and it's a steal at $29.95, but also never goes on sale. However I just noticed its in a $20 Humble Bundle right now with six other VR titles while doing a price scan: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/valiant-vr

 
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Yeah I did check that one out.... I think I have some $20 Logitech flight stick from 20 years ago lol. Is it worth trying if that is the only flight controller I have? Or do they do everything with the controllers?
 
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aeonrevolution said:
Yeah I did check that one out.... I think I have some $20 Logitech flight stick from 20 years ago lol. Is it worth trying if that is the only flight controller I have? Or do they do everything with the controllers?
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No flight stick needed, nor are they even supported - the game was designed around motion controllers, and once you try it out it will make sense. It's a common question people have before playing the game- "wouldn't this be better with HOTAS" but the motion controller based "stick" is extremely intuitive, and feels more precise than a typical analog flight stick in my experience - there's more "DPI" in the movements of the motion controller.
 
DPI said:
Also highly recommend VTOL VR - my personal "desert island" VR title - like if I could only play one VR title till the end of time - and I'm not a flight sim guy, but this game is just fun, and replayability is immense with Steam Workshop support. Do the first 5-10 training missions and see if you aren't hooked to the feeling and sensation of flight and "being there". Yes, Microsoft Flight Sim in VR is pretty, but eventually gets a bit boring and I just don't have the time. VTOL VR lets you just jump in and blow shit up once you learn a few basics, but without being a completely casual experience.

The 97% positive Steam rating is no accident, and it's a steal at $29.95, but also never goes on sale. However I just noticed its in a $20 Humble Bundle right now with six other VR titles while doing a price scan: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/valiant-vr

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Thanks for mentioning that, I was wondering whether or not to grab that bundle since I already have Contractors and Into the Radius, but for that and Budget Cuts 2 I might pick it up anyway.
 
is valve coming out witha new headset soon? i've been looking at the index purely because i like supporting valve even though it does not have the best lenses. i sure AF will not buy an FB product.
 
cdoublejj said:
is valve coming out witha new headset soon? i've been looking at the index purely because i like supporting valve even though it does not have the best lenses. i sure AF will not buy an FB product.
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They are coming out with a new headset but they haven't even officially announced they are, so who knows how long it will be. Facebook doesn't make headsets anymore, it's Meta now 😏.
 
DPI said:
Also highly recommend VTOL VR - my personal "desert island" VR title - like if I could only play one VR title till the end of time - and I'm not a flight sim guy, but this game is just fun, and replayability is immense with Steam Workshop support. Do the first 5-10 training missions and see if you aren't hooked to the feeling and sensation of flight and "being there". Yes, Microsoft Flight Sim in VR is pretty, but eventually gets a bit boring and I just don't have the time. VTOL VR lets you just jump in and blow shit up once you learn a few basics, but without being a completely casual experience.

The 97% positive Steam rating is no accident, and it's a steal at $29.95, but also never goes on sale. However I just noticed its in a $20 Humble Bundle right now with six other VR titles while doing a price scan: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/valiant-vr

Click to expand...


DCS supports VR and is free with two planes.

DCS World Steam edition.

Every now and then Flaming Cliffs 3 will go on sale for around $20 and includes another 6 or so planes.
 
Flogger23m said:
DCS supports VR and is free with two planes.
DCS World Steam edition.

Every now and then Flaming Cliffs 3 will go on sale for around $20 and includes another 6 or so planes.
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DCS is phenomenal, but the learning curve is massive - it doesn't really start to shine until hundreds of hours of time investment. It can take days of learning a cockpit just to be able to take off, and can take 500+ hours to master a single aircraft. VR was also slapped onto DCS as an afterthought. All the cockpit interaction in VR therefore requires disjointed fiddling with keyboard, mouse, HOTAS/joystick etc.

VTOL was built ground-up for VR, and occupies a sweet-spot between cartooney stuff like SimplePlanesVR, and DCS. All the flight and cockpit interaction is done 100% with the motion controllers, and you can be airborne within 2 minutes of the first tutorial. VTOL has a "fun factor" that doesn't exist in DCS.
 
DPI said:
DCS is phenomenal, but the learning curve is massive - it doesn't really start to shine until hundreds of hours of time investment. It can take days of learning a cockpit just to be able to take off, and can take 500+ hours to master a single aircraft. VR was also slapped onto DCS as an afterthought. All the cockpit interaction in VR therefore requires disjointed fiddling with keyboard, mouse, HOTAS/joystick etc.

VTOL was built ground-up for VR, and occupies a sweet-spot between cartooney stuff like SimplePlanesVR, and DCS. All the flight and cockpit interaction is done 100% with the motion controllers, and you can be airborne within 2 minutes of the first tutorial. VTOL has a "fun factor" that doesn't exist in DCS.
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That is why I recommend the Flaming Cliffs module. The planes are much simpler but still offer the same VR experience and realistic flight dynamics. It is also much cheaper per plane, so much better for someone not looking for an extremely realistic thing where you need to memorize every switch location.
 
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Flogger23m said:
That is why I recommend the Flaming Cliffs module. The planes are much simpler but still offer the same VR experience and realistic flight dynamics. It is also much cheaper per plane, so much better for someone not looking for an extremely realistic thing where you need to memorize every switch location.
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No no... I just got the F-16C module and I'm loving it including learning all the tidbits about it... I don't have a VR headset yet. Looking but might be waiting for 2nd Gen Valve Index. I have an inkling it'll come out within two years which is all good with me. But yeah immersive and fun game for sure!


 
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Don't mean to distract the main subject at hand but what stick/throttle combo do you have to play that with?

I had an X52 Pro from Saitek a number of years ago and see that there's a X56 Rhino out now but not sure if my primary use case of Elite Dangerous and/or DCS are a good fit for it.

I got the valve index recently and I love it, I had a Gen 1 Vive when they came out and hated it for a number of reasons.. primarily the lack of audio and at the time I was wearing glasses so use of it sucked, that and one of the light houses randomly bricked itself.
 
rewted said:
Don't mean to distract the main subject at hand but what stick/throttle combo do you have to play that with?

I had an X52 Pro from Saitek a number of years ago and see that there's a X56 Rhino out now but not sure if my primary use case of Elite Dangerous and/or DCS are a good fit for it.

I got the valve index recently and I love it, I had a Gen 1 Vive when they came out and hated it for a number of reasons.. primarily the lack of audio and at the time I was wearing glasses so use of it sucked, that and one of the light houses randomly bricked itself.
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For what its worth, if you want flight sim HOTAS (or in the case of some space combat sims like Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen, HOSAS - two sticks, sometimes one of them with an "omnithrottle" angled mount), then as I understand it the way to go - VR or otherwise is..

Budget = Thrustmaster T16000M sticks and matching throttles ,possibly pedals. Inexpensive but probably best price/performance for getting started if you can get them for MSRP under $100.. I would NOT get Saitek/Logitech hardware at this time given its price point and quality don't quite line up. If you can spend a little bit more by all means get the VKB Gladiator NXT EVO - its easily WAY above the Thrustmaster T16000M . The NXT lineup is the "cheaper but still good" line from VKB

Veteran to high end = A variety of gear from VKB, Virpil, and WinWing depending on what you prefer. WinWing is known for making exact replicas so if you're into DCS and certain airframes, that may be suitable. VKB and Virpil are similarly high end - VKB generally seems to be a bit better quality slightly but takes longer to release new items, whereas Virpil puts out things faster. There are also pedals, collectives, and other forms of input too. A lot of it comes down to what you particularly will want and how you plan to use it.

Ultra high end = Realsimulator force sensing sticks/mods and a handful of other things for extremely advanced and specific needs.

So overall I wouldn't buy a Saitek setup, or Thrustmaster Warthog or a lot of older products now, as there are newer , higher end, and better value flight sim hardware to come with it.
 
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Jon855 said:
No no... I just got the F-16C module and I'm loving it including learning all the tidbits about it... I don't have a VR headset yet. Looking but might be waiting for 2nd Gen Valve Index. I have an inkling it'll come out within two years which is all good with me. But yeah immersive and fun game for sure!


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I wouldn't hold my breath for a Index 2, it could be years or never. Flight Sims in VR are extraordinary and you could get your feet wet for only a few hundred with a Reverb 2 or Quest 2.

And if the Pimax 12K comes out and lives up to the promised specs, it will be the godtier HMD for flight sims due to its very wide FOV - nothing else will come close.
 
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