Civ VI in VR?

[UncivilizedGuy]

I thought that I would throw this question out there to see what people think. I know this probably will not happen with Civ VI unless VR becomes a must-have within the next couple of years. I picked up an Oculus Rift recently and it's pretty awesome. Playing Civ VI in virtual reality would be amazing. It's difficult to describe VR to people who have never experienced it. But seeing a game in third person point of view looking down on the world and seeing your units move around like little action figures is pretty awesome. The sense of immersion is unequaled. The world looks like a hologram or like a giant toy set. The leaders would look like they are sitting right in front of you. VR would also open up endless possibilities for the user interface. This is my Christmas wish for this year but it probably will not happen until Civ VII.

This is a game called AirMech Command. It's a real time strategy game that is played in VR. This is the best example that exists right now that might give you a sense of what Civ could look like in VR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOjgmyVesgM

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I have a Samsung Gear VR. It will never be able to run something like Civ because it's just a peripheral for a phone. It's just a novelty at the moment. I think playing Civ on the equivalent of a 20ft 3D monitor would be cool though.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I kinda think that civ would work better with augmented reality like Microsoft's Hololens rather than pure VR. With the Hololens, you still see your surroundings but it can overlay a game on a surface. Microsoft even did a live demo where someone played minecraft on an empty table. So civ could truly look like a board game with the Hololens as you could sit on your couch and see the civ map in 3D on your coffee table.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

I suppose augmented reality would work. But just from my experience in VR I would prefer not to be able to see the outside world. Just adds to the immersion.

The price will need to come down first before using VR with a PC becomes commonplace. Gear VR will probably only work for a game like Civ Rev.

 

[Thormodr]

No thanks. Not at all interested in VR and I'd rather they not devote resources towards it, IMHO.

 

[AriochIV]

No thanks. Not at all interested in VR and I'd rather they not devote resources towards it, IMHO.

VR doesn't make much sense for a game like this which is rather difficult to play when you can't see your mouse or keyboard.

 

[Thormodr]

VR doesn't make much sense for a game like this which is rather difficult to play when you can't see your mouse or keyboard.

I agree with you there.

Would be very cumbersome, I would think.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

You wouldn't use your mouse. You would physically press the icons with your hands. Scroll up and down the menus physically with your hands. Move the units on the map with your hands. Like what you see in science fiction movies. VR will have to be popular with kids when it comes out on consoles first before it catches up to adults and they can see what it can completely do. Interacting with VR is totally different. And it also takes a lot of CPU power. So a game like Civ would definitely take a lot more CPU power.

 

[Thormodr]

You wouldn't use your mouse. You would physically press the icons with your hands. Scroll up and down the menus physically with your hands. Move the units on the map with your hands. Like what you see in science fiction movies. VR will have to be popular with kids when it comes out on consoles first before it catches up to adults and they can see what it can completely do. Interacting with VR is totally different. And it also takes a lot of CPU power. So a game like Civ would definitely take a lot more CPU power.

Sounds like it's quite a ways off, then.

Not a fan of touch screens. Hard to eat pizza and play Civ.

 

[AriochIV]

You wouldn't use your mouse. You would physically press the icons with your hands. Scroll up and down the menus physically with your hands. Move the units on the map with your hands.

Why would that be a good thing? Have you ever tried keeping your hands in the air for several hours on end? I occasionally play those console shooters with the physical gun controller, and after about 30 minutes I can barely lift my arms.

VR is a gimmick. It doesn't add to the gameplay, at least not in a game like Civilization.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

You have a good point. This is a problem I've been trying to tackle myself. Referring to the pizza.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

You wouldn't use your mouse. You would physically press the icons with your hands. Scroll up and down the menus physically with your hands. Move the units on the map with your hands. Like what you see in science fiction movies.

Sorry but that sounds really bad. In VR, you would basically need a virtual hand to press virtual icons. Imagine the lag if your virtual hand does not move as fast as your real hand. Unless you had a super computer, you would get frustrated really fast every time you move your hand and nothing happens.

I think VR is great for first person games that have very immersive 3D environments. Then you can see yourself in a fully immersive and realistic world and it feels like you are there. But for games like civ, it is more trouble than it is worth. Players need something simple and easy so that they can focus on the strategy. A mouse and keyboard are still the most intuitive tools for that.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

Actually in some current games you move the cursor simply by moving your head and looking at icons. Then press a physical button to click. It's pretty easy and takes little effort. Civ would probably use this method.

I thought so too before I played a third person game. It's actually pretty cool. You have to experience it for yourself.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Actually in some current games you move the cursor simply by moving your head and looking at icons. Then press a physical button to click. It's pretty easy and takes little effort. Civ would probably use this method.

Honestly, I think voice commands would work better for civ. The player would just speak commands like "New York build a library" or "unit A attack barbarians". EndWar used voice commands like that a few years ago and it worked pretty well. Today, the tech is even better.

I thought so too before I played a third person game. It's actually pretty cool. You have to experience it for yourself.

I have no doubt that VR is cool. Keep in mind that VR works best when the motions that the players needs to make are the natural motions that the person would make in real life. So for example, VR tennis makes sense because the player simply has to do the same motions that they would already do if they were playing a real tennis game. It's intuitive. This would not be the case for civ.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

Honestly, I think voice commands would work better for civ. The player would just speak commands like "New York build a library" or "unit A attack barbarians". EndWar used voice commands like that a few years ago and it worked pretty well. Today, the tech is even better.



I have no doubt that VR is cool. Keep in mind that VR works best when the motions that the players needs to make are the natural motions that the person would make in real life. So for example, VR tennis makes sense because the player simply has to do the same motions that they would already do if they were playing a real tennis game. It's intuitive. This would not be the case for civ.

Using your head to look at something is the most natural thing you can do. I remember back in the day when the mouse was a new thing and how confused people were when they first used it. I could never get my grandmother to learn how to use the stupid thing. In VR you are using your instinctive motions to make things happen. I agree, voice commands would work great too.

Just from my limited experience with VR I am already looking at flat screens as yesterday's tech like most of us look at tube screen monitors. It's just a matter of time.

 

[nyyfootball]

If Civ becomes a first person game, yes. Otherwise, no.

 

[UncivilizedGuy]

If Civ becomes a first person game, yes. Otherwise, no.

I purchased my VR with the intention of only playing first person games. But after experiencing other points of view I have seen the potential in this technology to play all kinds of games. Like I have already said, it needs to be experienced to be understood.

Using Gear VR and/or Google Cardboard only gives people a taste of what it can do. It truly needs to be experienced with a PC headset (Rift or Vive) before an opinion can be made.

 

[Ezumiyr]

If it only makes the game look better (which I honestly doubt - it's just because it is new that it looks better, but the graphics remain the same) or more immersive (which I doubt too, the most immersive RPGs I played weren't first perso, they were well written) then VR is useless.
It has to be used for gameplay.

Don't be too existed by the taste of novelty. Very good things could be done with that technology, but it cannot be applied to everything like that. Also, it probably costs a lot of money and time to do that, and I don't think it's worth it for a game like Civ6.

 

[Rakshasa72]

I have an HTC Vive. Although it's fun to play games like Minecraft and Space Pirate Trainer in Room Scale. I can't see playing and extended game of civ with it. However one thing that might be worth trying is running the game in desktop mode on a gigantic screen. I think that's possible with CivV right now but, the UI scales poorly. Hopefully they can put some effort into better UI scaling in CivVI because even without VR, Big picture mode is a thing.

 

[bonafide11]

...How would that even work???