It’s been a weekend of upgrading my sanctum in general, and my VR rig in particular.
VR Upgrades:
Treadmill
I pulled my treadmill back out of storage, cleaned it up, and lubricated it. You have to keep the dish low-friction for it to work well, and… let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve tried to use it.
I also implemented the newer plugins from Wizdish. It now registers as a peripheral in Steam VR! The instructions and driver are (mostly) here, though when I contacted them it sounded like they are going to be releasing new instructions soon.
I would like to emphasize that you should read ALL the instructions, and finish implementing them before you think you have issues. I had not doublechecked the audio settings, and in fact had not noticed that specific value ranges were listed as guidelines. I thought that the red lines on the screen for input and output weren’t moving because of some kind of connection issue. It turned out that it was because the sliders were in the wrong positions. Hopefully they’ll make this a bit clearer in the next draft of the instructions.
At any rate,
I CAN FINALLY PLAY FALLOUT 4 VR ON THE TREADMILL!!!!
Right now I’m tweaking settings for the best experience, and I’m hoping to eventually start recording a new playthrough on VR, to give people a better idea of the experience in the game. Buuuut, I may hold off on that part and just play around for a while. I don’t want to keep having barriers between me and playing the game, especially since half the point is for me to be able to jump in easily to get some more physical activity. I just don’t want to wait on teaching myself recording before I start spending more time in VR.
I’ve also managed to verify that I can use the new version to work with VR Chat, and I want to run through checking that these settings work on various other VR games run through Steam as well. I was gonna try using it with the OASIS beta, but I had forgotten that it’s teleport movement only.
Cable Management
I’d decided I was tired of tripping on my headset cables, to the point I was willing to risk the possibility of messing my textured ceiling slightly. I’m using the KIWI design VR cable management system, which I picked up from Amazon here:
They have a newer, quieter version, but apparently I overlooked them when I was searching for these. I think they weren’t out when I’d added them to my Amazon wishlist months ago.
I decided to go with the adhesive patch hooks rather than the screw hooks, in the hopes that I can peel them off later without damage.
I’m using the triple pulley configuration at the point the cable drops down from the ceiling in the center of the play area, in the hopes that it reduces the tension acting on any given pulley, reducing how much force that exerts on the ceiling.
My VR Wiring
3D Printing/Printed Upgrades
Printing Upgrade
I’ve had some occasional issues/worries with power flickers, so I finally decided to put the printer on a battery backup. Now I just have to remember to not switch off the power at the wall switch, or else I’m gonna be hearing some obnoxious beeping. I’m only really worried about flickers or very brief outages, so I think this one will be sufficient.
Practical(ish) 3D Printing
I got tired of using my gorillapod knockoff tripod for my Wyze camera. I came across this stand on Thingiverse, made specifically for this model of camera. It uses the joints in the camera rather than all the unnecessary degrees of freedom of the legs, which is much easier to move around and point precisely.
Simple Tripod Stand on Thingiverse
When that was finished, I got annoyed that I was leaving the print time idle, so I looked around for other improvements I could make. I realized my sonic screwdriver collection looked sloppy just laying there on the shelf, so I looked up some models for stands for them, and printed those out. Right now they are still on top of the shelf-o-games, but at least they aren’t just lying there and getting moved around every time I move other stuff on there. I’m debating putting them on a command strip shelf, whenever I can figure out an appropriate spot for them.
Sonic Screwdriver Stands on Thingiverse
Currently printing:
I’m printing a wireless charging stand for my cell phone. I’ve already got the charger, but it’s somewhat finicky about placement, making it almost worse than a charging cable at the moment. The stand should make precise placement easier and allow me to not have to fiddle with it so much.
