So you just got a new headset and you’re ready to dive into the world of virtual reality for the first time. That’s cool! We are here to help you make the most of your headset with some solid beginner VR tips.
The is the ultimate guide for getting started in virtual reality.
There are currently 103 VR tips in this guide. We have over 7500 words worth of VR tips to check out in a bunch of categories:
- improving game quality
- reducing motion sickness
- tuning your gaming PC better
- finding the best VR games
- must-have accessories
- tips for specific virtual reality games
- VR tips for developing your own games
- lots more!
If you have any other VR tips to add into this guide, make sure to comment down at the bottom of this guide with your advice!
IF YOU KNOW WHAT PRODUCT HUNT IS, please click the badge below.
Let’s get started.
Beginner VR Tips You Should Know
First off, here are some general beginner VR tips you should get to know first. After that, we will show you some specific hardware and software VR tips.
Do you own an Oculus Quest? We have a special section below for Oculus Quest tips so that you can make the best out of the #1 wireless VR headset.
Have anything to add? Comment down at the bottom with some beginner VR tips you wish you knew the first time you put on your VR headset.
Read VR tips, headset instructions and safety warnings
Even if you don’t read instructions on anything else, ensure you read or scan through the instructions that come with the VR headset. Why? For one, you want to make sure you get the most out of your headset. Secondly, it will help you prevent injuries and adverse effects like nausea and dizziness.
You’ll pick up the controls as you play, but a quick glance in the manual can give you a step ahead when you begin. This VR tips guide is also a great resource for helping you feel comfortable before you pick up your headset and play.
Prevent Sweat From Getting on Your Headset
If you plan on playing any VR fitness games or you sweat a lot, you need a nice sweat-proof cover. Any friends you plan on having over to play VR games with will thank you as well. We recommend any of the covers from VR Cover. They are cheap, lightweight, and comfortable. Plus, they are available for any VR headset.
Don’t expose your headset to direct sunlight
Much like magnifying glasses, the lenses in VR headsets shouldn’t be exposed to direct sunlight. Exposing the lenses to direct sunlight will destroy your headset and burn up the display.
Play in a lit space
If the room is too dark, the background noise in the cameras will increase. This can make detection harder and can cause your headset to lose track of your guardian boundary. Use bright lights so that your VR tracking stays accurate.
Sit down
It’s tempting to try to take in the entire experience standing up. Just sit your ass down! Even if the virtual experience is stationary, it can screw with your brain’s ability to distinguish if your body is in motion. Sitting will help you not to fall in real life and damage your headset. A lot of games are actually made for sitting down so that you can play more casually.
Remove Reflective or Busy Objects From Your Area
Your VR tracking cameras (either inside out or outside in) work best when they have a clear vision of your entire space. If you have any reflective objects or busy patterns, your trackers might have increase noise in their vision. If you find that you are having trouble with accuracy, try to remove these items and turn up the light in your room.
Use Your Wrist Straps
All VR controllers come with wrist straps that you can use to secure them in place. You might not think that they are necessary, but the first time you swing and throw a controller through some drywall you will thank us. The wrist straps give you peace of mind to play virtual reality to the fullest is one of the top VR tips most people recommend.
Check For Free Games & Bundles
If you haven’t ordered your VR headset yet, have a quick look to see if there are any game bundle deals. You can get a free game or two with the purchase of your headset to sweeten the pot. HTC regularly offers a 3-month trial to their Viveport service and have been giving Half Life: Alyx for free with some headsets too.
There is also a really popular 5-game Playstation VR bundle that is highly rated.
Buy VR Games Deals
VR games regularly go on sale for discounted and bundle prices. Before you go and buy something, have a quick look and see if you can get it for cheaper.
We have a full VR deals guide that we updated daily to make things easier for you!
Some virtual reality sales are through Humble Bundle or Green Man Gaming. These are online game retailers that offers discounts on popular games. They are both work checking out for deals. Always nice when VR tips save you money!
Get to Know Your Home Environment
Each VR headset has their own home environment that comes up when you first turn your headset on. This main dashboard lets you do a ton of things:
- Launch games and apps
- Launch the web browser
- Adjust settings
- Enable and disable sharing, recording, and other features
Before you jump into playing a game, spend some time in this home environment looking through all of the controls. You’ll find settings you might want to adjust to improve your personal experience.
Read reviews before buying stuff
While there are a lot of good virtual reality games, applications, and headset accessories, there are also a lot of trash as well. So, read reviews and get an expert opinion before making a buying decision. Our home page offers tons of great VR tips and tutorials to get you started.
In the next section, we’ll take a look at the best VR tips for setting up your hardware right. Use the quick jump section below to quickly navigate to a different tips page.
Quick Jump
Quickly move to other sections in this VR tips guide by clicking below
Hardware VR Tips
The following VR tips are for optimizing your VR hardware. From optimizing your headset to considering important accessories to look at, have a read below.
Hold on tight
It’s easy to forget to hold on to your VR controllers while you are lost in the world. Most game require you to swing or flail your arms. One way to put this issue out of mind is to loop that tether around your wrist and then dive into VR. This will save your wall or TV from a crack in the future.
Setup Your Base Stations Right
Your base stations are responsible for keeping track of your location in time and space. They need to be setup at the proper height and distance away from you. They also need to be connected to each other and back to your PC. Check out our base stations guide for VR tips on how to set them up properly.
Use Light Stands For Your Base Stations
Don’t want to drill holes into your drywall in order to mount the base stations on the wall? Consider buying some base station light stands. These elevate your base stations into position quickly and efficiently. Plus, they are moveable, adjustable, and can also help to hide cords in your VR room.
Adjust Your IPD
The interpupillary distance is the number of millimeters between the center of your two eyes. Most VR headsets have the ability to adjust the distance between the two eye lenses to match your IPD. This will give you a clearer picture and reduce eye strain when you play, so make sure it feels comfortable.
Find Your Perfect Fit
It is important that you find a comfortable fit on your head so that you can play virtual reality for extended periods of time. Adjust the top and the side straps and make sure that your headset is centered on your head. If everything feels good, the screen should also be clear in your display too.
Take a Look at Full Body Tracking
Full body tracking is the process of adding new hardware to your body that can be tracked for motion in virtual reality. Some games support full body tracking, which allow you to use your arms, legs, and body in VR like never before. We have a full body tracking VR guide with more information on some cool products you can buy.
Keep Your Lenses Clean
Your VR display lenses will naturally get dirty and fogged up as you play and move around in your headset. It recommended that you use a micro-fiber cloth to clean the lenses off periodically. Some VR headsets even include a cloth in the box for you. It is not recommended that you use paper towel or anything abrasive to clean your lenses because you can permanently scratch them.
Wipe Your Cameras Too
A lot of users remember to wipe their lenses, but don’t forget about any cameras as well. These include cameras on the outside of your headset facing outward and ones on your base stations as well. These cameras keep track of your position and movement. If they are dirty, you can’t be tracked as well.
Accessory VR Tips
The VR tips below are related to accessories and how you can improve your virtual reality experience even more.
Use Rechargeable Batteries
Use rechargeable batteries in your VR controllers so that you don’t have to keep spending money each time they die. With rechargeable batteries, you can charge them when they are down to continue your gameplay. Buy double the amount of batteries that you need so that you always have a backup pair ready to go.
Put a Mat in the Center of Your Space
Placing a yoga mat or equivalent in the middle of your space can help you keep your orientation during heavy movement games. If you move off of the mat, you’ll be consciously aware that you are moving towards the edge of your boundary. This helps you adjust on the fly and get back to center.
Keep your headset in a case when not in use
When you are not using your headset, store it in a case. The casing will protect it from damage or scratches. It also looks much neater or organized when things are wrapped up in a case.
Need to travel with your VR headset? A travel case will keep things secure. You can also buy cases with locks to prevent theft as well.
Put a Fan In Front of You
Set up a fan to blow cool air in your face while you play in virtual reality. A fan reduces nausea while playing and makes playing in VR more immersive. A fan can also help you keep track of your orientation as well because a fan blowing on you means you are facing forwards.
Buy On-Ear or In-Ear Headphones
VR headsets offer indirect sound around your head when you wear the headset. You can buy attachment headphones that plug into the headset and offer spatial audio and improved sound. You wear these headphones on or in ears for better sound.
Buy grips for your controllers
You can buy grips for your controllers so that they don’t slip out of your hands. These grips offer a more solid feel when you hold them. They slip over top of your controllers and work better in games with a lot of movement.
Use Lens Covers if You Wear Glasses
If you wear prescription glasses, don’t wear them with your headset and risk scratching your display. Instead, take off your glasses and look at buying prescription lens inserts for your VR headset. VR Lens Lab makes these inserts for any headset and they are easy to install and take out.
Buy or Create a Gun Stock
Shooting games are addicting and virtual reality is no different. By default, your hand controllers don’t do a great job of emulating gun motion and control. Luckily, there are a number of pre-made gun stock options available to purchase for any headset. If you are a bit more creative, there are also options for 3D printing a gun stock for VR. Other users on reddit have cut a pool noodle to size as well.
Tie Your Cables to the Ceiling
Tripping over the VR cable connected from your headset to your PC is a giant pain. You are much better to mount your cable through a loop attached to your ceiling. This will make it easier to move around your space freely.
If you want to get more sophisticated, this VR cable pulley system will give you some extra peace of mind.
Still to come, we look at the best VR tips for PC VR, Oculus Quest, and specific games.
Software VR Tips
Below are beginner VR tips for your VR software platform.
Find the Best Games
There are thousands of virtual reality games to check out on your new VR headset. Before you start going crazy spending money, do a little research and find out what you want to play first. The Most Popular sections on Steam or Oculus are good places to start looking for games you’ll enjoy. We also have a bunch of guides on our website to help you out:
- Best VR multiplayer games
- Best VR party games
- Best VR fitness games
- Best SideQuest games (Oculus Quest users)
- New Oculus Quest games
If there are other ‘best of’ VR game guides you would like us to dig into, comment down below so that we can add it into this VR tips guide.
Keep Your Software Up to Date
Virtual reality requires multiple software platforms to work together:
- Operating system of your headset
- Game platforms (SteamVR, Oculus Home, Viveport, etc)
It is important that you always check for updates and keep everything at its latest version. This will get rid of any bugs and make sure that you have maximum compatibility with everything.
Try Different VR Platforms
All PC VR headsets support for the Steam platform, which is the largest app store for VR games available today. If you have an Oculus Rift, you have the additional option of using the Oculus platform. If you have an HTC Vive, you have Viveport at your disposal too.
Have a look at the similarities and differences between SteamVR vs Oculus vs Viveport in our specific VR tips guide to learn more.
Compare Prices on Each Platform
Despite having a lot of the same games, SteamVR, Oculus, and Viveport often have different prices. Plus, each platform has sales throughout the year on games from its store. When you are about to buy a game, compare its price on each platform before making your decision. This is especially true if your VR headset supports multiple platforms.
If you have the Oculus Quest, be aware that games available for both the Quest and Rift S are cross-buy. This means that if you buy a game for one headset, you’ll get it for free on the other.
Cast Your Screen
If you plan on playing VR in front of friends, learn how to cast your VR headset display to a nearby TV. You should be able to hard-wire an HDMI cable from your computer to your TV to make things easy. If you have an airplay or Chromecast compatible device, these wireless solutions can make things easy too.
Mix Up Your Settings
In order to play games optimally, you may need to adjust your visual settings before you play. Get used to what settings your PC offers so that you can play games at their highest quality.
Learn How to Recenter Yourself
Sometimes you will become off-center in your play area while playing in VR. Learn how to recenter yourself back in the middle of your boundary quickly.
On an Oculus headset, hold down the Oculus button on your right hand controller for 3 seconds to make your current position the new center of your play space.
In the SteamVR dashboard, there is a person with a circle around them in the bottom right corner. When you press button, you’ll be given 3 seconds to reorientate yourself.
Enable Unknown Sources
All VR headsets prevent you from installing apps from unknown sources by default. However, this will prevent you from accessing and editing key files on your headset. If you ever want to try out a beta game or anything outside of the official game stores, you’ll be stuck.
On an Oculus headset, enable unknown sources by navigating to Settings > General.
On an HTC headset, allow the ability to install unknown apps by navigating to Settings > Apps > Three Dots > Configure Apps > Special App Access > Install Unknown Apps.
Allowing unknown sources will allow you to implement other VR tips and hacks too.
Install OpenVR Advanced Settings
If you have a PC VR headset, you need to install OpenVR Advanced Settings. This is a snap-on software tool that enables a number of useful tasks without removing your headset:
- Adjust graphics quality
- Move, rotate, and adjust the guardian, play space, and chaperone
- Control media and controls on the fly
Take Advantage of Free Games
No matter what VR headset you end up buying, take advantage of free game opportunities on each platform. These free games can come a few different ways:
- Always-free games like Rec Room, VRChat, Pokerstars, Google Earth
- Beta and early releases of games
- Free games with the purchase of the headset. HTC Vive is offering Half Life: Alyx free with certain headset purchases.
- Free credits towards the purchase of a game. Oculus regularly offers free vouchers to its users towards the purchase of a game.
Learn About Discord
The VR gaming community is awesome and independent developers have released a ton of great VR games to check out. The application of choice for support and discussion with developers is Discord. You’ll often find links to join the Discord servers for some popular independent games. This gives you the chance to provide feedback, offer suggestions, and keep track of new updates. Chatting with the creators are a great way to get immersed in virtual reality.
Explore Youtube
A lot of users don’t know that Youtube is a treasure trove of 180 and 360 degree videos for virtual reality. You can watch documentaries, explore foreign lands, and watch a ton of content in full VR. If you want to brag about virtual reality to a friend who doesn’t play games, Youtube has a ton of content to show off to them. You can also find technical videos about VR tips and how to do other things as well.
Pay Attention to the Comfort Level
Games in the Oculus store have a comfort level rating to them that is either comfortable, moderate, or intense. This rating corresponds to how intense the game is:
- Comfortable games generally avoid camera movement, player motion, or disorienting content and effects.
- Moderate games might incorporate some camera movement, player motion, or occasionally disorienting content and effects.
- Intense games ncorporate significant camera movement, player motion, or disorienting content and effects.
Buy Games From Your Phone (Oculus)
Oculus Rift and Quest users can browse and install games from on their phone. The interface is much easier to navigate with your thumbs verses wearing the headset. When you buy a game, it will queue up and download in your VR headset automatically. Then, it will be there the next time you want to play in virtual reality.
Try a Remote Desktop App
A remote desktop app such as Virtual Desktop or Bigscreen VR lets you mirror your PC inside of your VR headset. This can let you play 2D games in your headset on a giant cinema screen. Bigscreen also includes a bunch of cool social features, like watching media with your friends at the same time. Many users use these apps for productivity, completing work without distraction. Remote desktop apps offer many VR tips to check out.
Use the Refund Policy (Oculus)
If you own an Oculus, you have access to a pretty sweet refund policy. If you purchase a game, you can get a full refund within 14 days as long as you don’t play the game for more than 2 hours. This is plenty of time to try out VR games before you need to commit.
However, be aware that if you try this more than 5 times in one month, you will be denied.
Quick Jump
Quickly move to other sections in this VR tips guide by clicking below
PC VR Tips
Below are some VR tips to consider related to your gaming PC. The computer that powers your headset is the brains behind your entire setup. A good PC will ensure that you can run VR games at full quality.
Consider Building Your Own PC
If you haven’t bought your gaming PC yet, consider building your own from scratch instead of buying one that’s pre-built. Not only can you find deals on parts, you’ll also be more comfortable doing your own upgrades in the future.
We have a full guide on building your own PC to check out.
Build Your PC with Long Term Upgrades in Mind
If you are getting into PC VR gaming, consider how easy your gaming PC is to upgrade in the future. With PC and VR gaming requiring high processing power, you already need high specs. If you want to avoid having to do a full rebuild later, invest in a quality motherboard, CPU, and GPU now.
Check Your Ports
As you build or look for your PC, consider what ports are available for you. If you decide to go for a cheaper motherboard, pick one with at least three USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port. A DisplayPort slot is also required for quality VR gaming. Also, check for ports that will accommodate your mouse, keyboard, and anything else you can think of.
Buy an Extra Cooling Fan
PC builders recommend an extra cooling fan when you plan on doing constant high resolution gaming. Virtual reality games can be some of the most intensive games you can play, so play it safe and get some extra cooling power. Keeping the inside of your PC cool will extend the life of your components. Plus, the added cost of a fan is cheap.
Buy a Quality GPU
The graphics processing unit is usually the most expensive part of your PC. However, it’s also the most important part of a virtual reality PC build. A few years ago, the recommended GPU was the NVidia GTX980. In 2020 when Half Life: Alyx was released, the GTX1080 was recommended. Personally, we wouldn’t go less than the GTX1660. Look to spend your PC build money on the GPU to set yourself up for the future.
New in September 2020, Nvidia released the new RTX 3070, 3080, and 3090. These new GPUs offer exponential improvement over the last generation. The 3070 has the same power as the 1660 Ti, but at a fraction of the price. Our RTX 3070 vs 3080 vs 3090 guide has all of the details.
Overclock Your CPU
Overclocking is a term used for increasing a CPU’s frequency in order to drive some extra performance out of it. All AMD processors and all Intel processors with a K on the end of the model number have this ability. Overclocking will increase the amount of heat your CPU gives out, so you must have proper cooling and ventilation in place. However, a lot of VR players love the extra performance they get. This CPU overclocking guide has everything you need to know.
Go Solid State
Solid state hard drives can read and write much quicker than a traditional drive. We recommend installing your operating system and core programs on your solid state drive for maximum performance. A traditional hard drive is much cheaper per gigabyte and is more useful for storing VR games and applications.
Get a BIG Hard Drive
Your hard drive stores all of your VR games and applications on it. And while most virtual reality games are small in size, you need to think about the future. We recommend buying a hard drive that is 1 TB or larger. This will give you enough flexibility to put whatever you want on it.
Another pro tip is to go with dual hard drives. A pricier solid state drive (see above) to store the operating system and a bigger traditional drive for games.
VR Safety Tips
These VR tips are to help you with your personal safety while wearing and using your VR headset. They are designed to help you prevent motion sickness while playing virtual reality.
Take small doses at first
It is normal to feel motion sickness and headaches when you first try virtual reality. As cool as virtual reality is, don’t overdo it. For most people, it will take a couple of sessions to get used to the sensation of the experience. Small doses will help you get used to the feeling and reduce motion sickness.
Take frequent breaks
When playing VR games, it’s beneficial to take frequent breaks to reduce muscle and eye strain. Manufacturers suggest a 10 to 15-minute break for every 30 minutes of VR play. Even if you feel fine, walk around to get some fresh air before you put your headset back on to play again.
Have a friend with you
Your friend is going to be your guide in the real world as you experience the virtual one. They are there to make sure you don’t trip, fall, and crack your head on the wall. You can also cast your VR headset to your TV and help each other navigate the first time you play.
Do not use VR when you’re sick
If you have a health condition that affects your balance, eyes or inner ears, avoid VR! Being sick can impair you while playing virtual reality and disorientate you.
Clear at least four feet of space around you in all directions
For the sake of your body and the place you live, clear at least 4 feet (1.22 m) around you in all direction. This will give you some room to move around in virtual reality without worry of running into your surroundings.
Set Your Guardian Right
Your guardian is the safe space that you draw around your area when you first put on your headset. It might be tempting to set the guardian edge right at the wall of your room, but this is a bad idea. The only time your guardian edge comes into play is when you are doing something fast paced in virtual reality. When you are moving slowly, you’ll have plenty of time to react to your guardian when it appears. A little buffer room between the guardian and the wall will save your knuckles and your controllers.
Look For Safety Settings in Each Game
Games that require fast movements or more intense controls often have settings to make things easier on your stomach and legs. Have a look through the settings of each game to find toggles and adjustments to prevent you from getting motion sickness while playing VR.
Oculus Quest Tips
Below are helpful tips and tricks for the Oculus Quest. These VR tips are specific to the Quest, which is an Android based VR headset that is completely standalone and requires no additional PC.
Download SideQuest
There is an unofficial VR game store for the Oculus Quest called SideQuest. It contains over 500 games that are not found on the official Oculus store. Check out our SideQuest guide today and explore some awesome content that SideQuest has. Being familiar with SideQuest in addition to the official Oculus store is one of the top VR tips an Oculus Quest can learn.
Increase Graphics Quality
The Oculus Quest has a few hidden settings that allow you to adjust the framerate and the graphics quality. The easiest way to access these settings is by installing SideQuest (see above). Once installed, you can play with these settings in SideQuest. Note that they may introduce some lag into your game play. The good thing is that these settings reset each time you restart your Oculus Quest, so play around a bit and see what works.
Buy an External Battery Pack
The Oculus Quest comes with a default 2 hours of battery life. If you want to play for longer sessions, check out this top rated battery pack and holder clip. Oculus Quest users swear by both products.
As an added bonus, the battery pack placed on the rear of your headset acts as a nice counter-weight.
Take a Look at Hand Tracking
Hand tracking is a cool feature for the Oculus Quest that lets you use your hands to navigate menus and play games. You don’t need to use your VR controllers at all. While the feature is still experimentally and can have bugs, it’s a good way to show off VR technology.
We have a full Oculus Quest hand tracking guide here with more information.
Play SteamVR Games
A lot of new users love that the Oculus Quest is wireless. They are willing to give up the quantity and quality of Steam games in exchange for the flexibility. However, with Oculus Link, you can connect your Quest to your PC and play all of those SteamVR games. Oculus Link transfers the computing power back to your PC and uses the Quest as the display, similar to other VR headsets.
Look at the Rift Store for Cross Buy
Some VR games are available for the Oculus Rift S in addition to the Quest. These games can be purchased in the Rift S store first, which allows you to download them for free from the Quest store. This tactic is called cross-buy. Out of all VR tips in this guide, this one can help you save money buying games. If the Rift store has a good game deal on a cross buy VR game, you can save money and get it for your Quest too.
Enable Passthrough to See Your Surroundings
Oculus Quest has the option to enable passthrough in its settings. This allows you to view the world outside of your headset through the out-facing camera by double tapping the side of your headset. This allows you to view your room without taking your headset off.
Play the Demo Games
The Oculus Quest comes with a few demo games to try out on your headset: Epic Rollercoasters, Creed, Journey of the Gods, and more. Even if these games don’t sound like something you would play on a console, check them out! Playing games in virtual reality is a completely different and you’ll get a good idea of what other VR games you want to play.
Try Out a Wide Open Space
The biggest advantage of the Oculus Quest is that it is completely wireless. Use that to your advantage and try setting up a giant play space like a full garage or backyard (when the sun is down). You’ll have a ton of fun playing virtual reality without any concern for your movement.
Some games for the Oculus Quest are procedural, meaning the size adapts to your guardian size. In a wide open space, this can be really awesome.
Learn Android Debug Bridge (adb)
ADB is a series of commands that lets you read and write files and information to an Android device such as the Oculus Quest. Installing an adb program such as adbLink will let you install your own APKs and files onto your Oculus Quest. This is helpful for installing third party games and moving media files to and from your Oculus Quest when you want.
Next, we’ll look at VR tips for specific games such as Half Life: Alyx, Beat Saber, Echo Arena, and more!
VR Game Tips
The VR tips below are specific to some of the most popular virtual reality games you can play today. They are designed to help you beat each game with helpful pointers. If you want to provide some VR games tips and tricks of your own, comment down at the bottom of this guide!
Half Life: Alyx Tips
Half Life: Alyx is the 2020 virtual reality game of the year. Here are some tips to help you play this adventure horror masterpiece.
- Always be looking for ammo and resin. Ammo for your weapons is key to survival and resin is the in-game currency that you can use to buy upgrades. If you find a room or area that is not part of the game’s main path, it is almost guaranteed that you will find items.
- If you want to manually save your game, open up your menu and you will see an option there. Half Life: Alyx only has automatic save points at certain times, but you don’t want to lose your progress.
- Explore the game for objects that you can physically place or move onto your body. Remember that you are playing in VR and the developers have done a great job to include glasses and hard hats and other things that you can place on your head for protection. You can also crouch behind objects and peek out with your body.
- All guns are one handed, which means that you can dual-wield or use your second hand for other things as necessary.
Add your VR tips for Half Life: Alyx down at the bottom of this guide and we will add them in here!
Beat Saber Tips
Beat Saber is the number one virtual reality game of 2019. It is available for all VR headsets.
- Install custom songs to Beat Saber! It’s a ton of fun to jam to real world songs that you are familiar with.
- Move your wrists more than your arms. You need to contact the blocks with your saber a lot less than you think you do. If you keep your arms mostly stationary and just swing your wrists, you’ll be able to play much harder levels.
- Try out the 180 and 360 degree songs for a completely different feel. A lot of users don’t realize that there are different maps for each song.
- Always use your wrist straps and grip your sabers tight. You don’t think you will let go until you slide up to expert difficulty and your hands start to sweat.
SUPERHOT VR Tips
SUPERHOT VR is a cult classic virtual reality game. In the game, time doesn’t move unless you do. The object is to kill enemies with any weapons you have nearby. Here are some tips for completing the game:
- Always move slower than you think. Remember. time stays still when you do. Rotate your head and assess the situation before you make any movement.
- When you kill a bad guy with a weapon, that weapon will always come flying to you. Use this to your advantage when you need to throw something at guy with a gun coming towards you.
- After you finish SUPERHOT’s story mode, you unlock an endless game mode that is a lot of fun. Make sure you go and check that out.
Echo Arena Tips
Echo Arena is arguably the number one online multiplayer battle game for virtual reality. Here are some solid Echo Arena tips for the game:
- When you are first starting out, try to move less rather than more and stay in middle height zone. If you get too aggressive, you’ll always be using your boosters to try to jump back in the action.
- To attack, hold your trigger button and punch people in the face to disable them. If you time things right, you can boost of of an enemy player and punch them at the same time.
- Make sure your VR guardian size is as big as possible when playing Echo Arena Oculus Quest. You’ll be able to walk forward in real space to catch objects and opponents. This will give you a big advantage over other players.
Click here to view 17 more Echo Arena tips!
Five Nights at Freddy’s VR Tips
FNAF: Help Wanted is the gold standard for comedy-horror games in virtual reality. The VR game puts you in the action without much of a tutorial, which can be unnerving to some players. Here are some helpful tips to get you started into the game:
- Use your ears more than your hands. Your first instinct might be to constantly flip through rooms, but this will just waste power. Instead, listen as animals approach and learn about each animal’s specific sounds. When needed, turn on the lights or close the door to prevent an attack.
- The exception to the tip above is using the camera’s to track Freddy, who moves slower when he is being watched. Freddy can also bust through your closed door, so keeping him away is a must.
- At the beginning of each level, all of the animals are located on camera 1A. We wasted a lot of power before realizing this by unnecessarily flipping through rooms too early.
No Man’s Sky VR Tips
No Man’s Sky is a popular space exploration game that plays really well in virtual reality. Here are some tips to help you along:
- The game is presented as an open-world experience, but take the time to play through the main quest as well. You’ll unlock new technologies and objects which make exploring fun and interesting.
- If you are having trouble flying, turn down the sensitivity in the settings and rest your VR controller on your need for support. This will reduce the amount of erratic movement in the game.
- For a No Man’s Sky gameplay tip, get to know all of the elements you find. Elements have different rarity levels and can be used to help you out or sold for extra money. Since your inventory is limited, you should be aware of whether a certain element will help you in that moment or not.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Tips
Saints and Sinners is the first full-VR game from The Walking Dead franchise. Here are some helpful tips to know:
- Learn how to use all objects in the game as weapons. you can pick up forks, spoons, bottles, broken guns, and other objects and use them to kill zombies. This is one of the funnest things to do in the game. Also, guns lose their durability as you use them, so get used to melee attacks.
- Despite how fun it is, killing zombies is actually detrimental to your health in this game because you use up health, weapons, and stamina. Install, play a more stealth-based game by focusing on completing missions, looting, and finding items to craft with.
- When crafting, the sheet metal clever is the most cost-efficient weapon for its power. Jambalaya is the most cost-efficient food to make. Sugar is the rarest ingredient in the game so stock pile it when possible.
In the last section, we take a look at VR tips for developing and creating your own games!
Quick Jump
Quickly move to other sections in this VR tips guide by clicking below
Virtual Reality Development: VR Tips for Creating Your Own VR Games
The VR tips below are all reality to developing games in virtual reality. It’s never been easier to create your own virtual reality games and we’ll show you some key tips to learn.
Pick Your Engine and Stay
The game engine you use for development is the backbone of your entire journey. The two most common VR game engines are Unreal Engine and Unity 3D. They each have their advantages and disadvantages, so do a little research. Once you make your pick, stay with it! Both have made some world class VR games and are perfect to learn in.
Start Slow
No matter what programming experience you have in your past, always start slow. Even if the first few examples seem overly based (hello world), follow them all the way through. This will build up your comfort level in the game engine and save you time later. Virtual reality development is slightly different than regular PC development, so even these basic tutorials can be helpful.
Complement Video Guides with Text Tutorials
Youtube is full of great programming tutorials and VR tips for all game engines. There are tutorials for learning the basics, creating full games, advanced concepts, and more. But text tutorials do a good job of explaining things too. We have a VR development section on our site filled with good text tutorials to check out.
Get Beta Testers From the Community
Chances are, you won’t own every VR headset that your game will be developed for (unless you are creating an Oculus Quest exclusive). Find beta testers in the VR community who will play your game on their headset and polish things up ahead of wide release.
Partner With Us!
At AR/VR Tips, we are augmented and virtual reality enthusiasts. We love to promote good content, review games, and talk about VR. If you have an AR or VR game worth sharing, contact us today and we will feature it on the home page. We’ll also chat about some helpful partnership ideas we have to promote your content on the internet.
Design For the Real World
VR development is a bit different from other games because games take place in the real world. Because of this, always design your games to be real life scale. When you see a table or pick up a gun, these objects have to match their real life proportions.
Keep the First Person in Mind
VR games mostly take place in first person. This means that you should avoid sudden and abrupt movements, unless you want the player to feel motion sick. Just as important, you should keep your player’s field of view (FOV) in mind. This is the viewable area that they’ll see through their headset. You can strategically hide nearby options or skew a player’s view if you know what their FOV will be.
Optimize, Optimize, Optimize
VR games rely heavily on CPU and GPU power, so always optimize wherever you can. Bake textures, lighting, and shadows so that they don’t use up as many resources. Restrain scenes from being too large and eating up resources. These VR tips are even more important for the Oculus Quest, which runs on a Snapdragon mobile processor. Always optimize your game wherever you can.
Take Advantage of VR Assets
Unity has the Asset Store and Unreal Engine has the Marketplace, but both provide the same thing. They offer pre-made assets and functions that you can quickly insert into your VR game to speed up development time. Some of the assets you can download include:
- Premade textures for different scenes
- Natural movement and control schemes for guns, weapons, and other common opjects
- Drag and drop editors to decrease the amount of code you need to write
Include a Tutorial
Playing VR games is mostly intuitive, since the controllers mimic your real hand movements. However, a nice tutorial can help ease your players into things, introduce the story, and get them comfortable with all of the controls. It’s also a great way to test and fine tune your controls as you develop the game.
Plan Where to Promote Your Game
When you aren’t writing code, you should be thinking about where you will actually promote your game when it is ready to show off. After all, if you build a VR game but don’t have anybody to play it then what is the point? As we mentioned before, you can contact us to help you promote the game. Websites like Reddit and Medium are good general places to advertise. And don’t forget about social media either. Plant your approach to promotion and you will be rewarded with players from around the world.
And that’s it! Over 100 VR tips and tricks for you to digest. From hardware to software, PC to Quest, we’ve covered all topics.
Add your VR tips below so that new players can learn how to make the most out of their virtual reality headset. For more VR tips, check out our home page for tutorials and guides.
