Blueplanet VR Reviews

[h1]Experienced on Windows Mixed Reality[/h1] I played the demo. I decided to buy the game. If you enjoy educational / museum / tourist / sightseeing apps in VR, then this is a must buy. It's running on the Unity Engine. It currently has 52 scenes. There's ongoing plans for a future volume of scenes as well. There is only teleportation currently, no smooth or snap turning. Most interactions are point and click or very basic. There's some breath-taking scenes, I especially like the hang gliding scenes (you glide in the air on a hang glider while viewing some gorgeous locations). You can view my demo play (after which I decided to purchase) here: https://youtu.be/RF_c3-NQk1E

Well, I spent 30min here and 30min with the (excellent) demo. I am still on the fence here ... the program is well done and very immersive (my biggest complain is that there is no snap turn, so you can get entangled in the index cable when navigating). But there is a clear abundance of North American destinations, and no blueprint what I will get later. I'd like to support the developer, and I will spend more time in the BluePlanat VR world, but usd30,- is steep. But I'd gladly pay if I get to know the future destinations. Meanwhile, I give it the benefit of the doubt and a thumps up.

Large VR locations that you can walk around in and enjoy as a virtual tourist. While a bit expensive, I think it is worth the money if you enjoy nature and 'going' places you never could in real life. Note for Oculus Rift users, after using Oculus Tray Tool and setting default super sampling to 1.9 as recommended elsewhere the graphics improved and most stuttering went away. Your experiance may vary of course.

This is great, but get it on sale. There is only 70 - 80 minutes of stuff here. Spectacular, but also spectacularly expensive for what it is.

For my full review with pictures, visit: https://jamespwmartin.com/2020/07/26/review-blueplanetvr/ Blueplanet VR has no relation to the BBC production, Blue Planet, however it does feature some pretty astounding sights. Though most scenes struggle from bouts of low resolution textures and ugly shrubbery, each scene has at least one convincing view that justifies the scene. The most stunning scene is of Antelope Canyon, which exhibits some of the finest modeling and texture work in the whole game. Looking up through the walls of the cavern, it appears so photorealistic, I feel like I can reach out and touch the rocks. Gentle music, sound effects and particle effects add a nice touch to the experience. Blueplanet VR’s biggest strength is its ability to completely immerse you in stunning detail, giving the feeling of actually being there. There are also fly-over scenes that give you the reins to soar over recreated landscapes. One that stands out in particular is that of a glacier. The texturing and modeling of the cracked landscape is so precise, flying over it feels astounding. Most scenes give you at least one view that is worth your time, for example, in a cave scene, the textures and lighting work together to create a single view that is pretty incredible. However, if you turn around, the immersion in the scene is broken by sloppy textures and jagged edges. There is a degree to how bad some of the textures are, but some of them are really bad, irreparably breaking the immersion. Pockmarks of flat textures, as well as some incomplete geometry, kill the immersion that is so meticulously created throughout other parts of the scene. For example, a path along some ruins has clear geometry errors as a result of how the photogeometry is captured, resulting in jagged edges and missing geometry. In general, the textures are not a high enough resolution to closely inspect. Blueplanet VR looks its best when viewed from a distance. For example, in this stunning scene against a watery backdrop, the textures and modeling look immaculate. However, upon closer inspection, the textures start to pixelate and blur. These lower resolution textures are typically not a big deal, as you get a sense of where your attention should be focused based on how focused the textures are. Avoid looking too closely. However, there are some areas where the lower resolution quality is definitely an immersion-killer. For example, one scene presents a beautiful tree, meticulously modeled and detailed; but if you happen to look at the ground, you see a jumble of undefined, blotchy, and pixelated textures. It’s really hard to feel immersed in a scene when there is such a variation in texture quality. Enough poor-quality textures make some of the scenes really underwhelming; for example, this scene with a bell. The texture of the bell looks flat, the letters aren’t three-dimensional, and the colors look patchy and blurred. It doesn’t actually feel like I’m looking at the real bell, even at more of a distance. It also doesn’t help that the surrounding pillars have errors in their geometry. Too many immersion-killers puts the bell scene on the list of scenes that I will never visit again — and there are a few. For instance, there are panoramic shots of abandoned warehouses, power plants, and other industrial buildings, which have far less appeal than the natural wonders, and are generally uninteresting. There is also an abandoned shed that can be explored, but again, why would you want to? One of the biggest immersion-killers for me personally was the shrubbery and vegetation, which, as a result of how the image is captured, appear blocky, with jagged edges, blotchy textures, and a lack of transparency. Many beautiful scenes are ruined by bulging green abominations made of jagged geometry. There was a moment I thought I was going to fall into the Grand Canyon, but then I saw the plants and the illusion was destroyed. Pretty much anytime shrubbery or vegetation is too close to the camera, it’s going to be a problem. There is something about looking out to a beautiful waterfront view and realizing that none of the trees are blowing in the wind, the clouds aren’t moving, and there are no waves in the water. Many of the scenes really leave a craving for something more, perhaps that is the desire to actually visit some of these locations; but more so, it is a vision for where this technology could move in the future. If video VR technology could add wind to the branches and leaves and rippling waves to the water, the immersion would easily be doubled in certain scenes. Pretty much every scene with water struggles to look realistic. They add some steam effects to waterfalls to make it look like water is moving, but you’re going to have to use your imagination to imagine the water is moving. Water and vegetation are the two biggest immersion-killers throughout the experience. Despite its flaws, Blueplanet VR is still worth your time, granted the spectacular views it has to offer. However, the price point does seem a bit steep. For the $30 asking price, I would expect some of the geometry to be cleaned up, especially in regards to vegetation. For instance, the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone uses image data from Google Earth to create the scene. Especially when it comes to vegetation, the Google Earth data does not always translate so well and certainly could use some clean up. This exact same location within Google Earth VR has sharper textures and more defined geometry for the surrounding vegetation — and Google Earth VR is completely free. It just seems that with a $30 price point, details like that could be cleaned up, especially when the image data is coming directly from Google Earth. For the content available, $20 seems like a more appropriate asking price, and even then, I would probably recommend buying Blueplanet VR on sale. Luckily, the developers have more content packages planned for the future, so you can expect more scenes to be added over time. The ability to snap-turn within scenes is also still being added in, as of review, so there is potential for additional features to be added in the future. It would be easier to recommend at it’s current price point if I had a better understanding of where the development was going over time and how many more scenes would be added. I would also be very pleased if currently-released scenes had more work done to them to sharpen their textures and geometry. Ultimately, Blueplanet VR is a staple for any VR library, especially given the competition. I used to keep The Lab installed, specifically so I could introduce new VR users to the experience of being atop a mountain range, to see themselves in a beautiful environment. Now, I’ve uninstalled The Lab and I keep Blueplanet VR installed and I show them some of my favorite scenes, and there are plenty to choose from. I may even come back here by myself just to relax and enjoy the view. Reviewed on: Valve Index RTX 2070 SUPER Intel i9-9900k 64 GB RAM

For anyone who has a sense of wanderlust, this is for you. I can't wait for the additional scenes, and I appreciate the effort it takes to capture phototelemetry of this quality. 40 scenes to take you away, mediate, sit back and relax, explore and learn. It's what I wish would happen when Google Earth goes to street view, it would load up scenes these guys would do. Woudln't that be something. I can't wait for additional content. At 29, some people might find it steep, but if you're into this sort of VR vacations - this is for you. Would love to see more locations outside the US, US heavy it seems, but I suppose that's because there is a whole world to explore. Excellent worth, works great on Index, and really cool concept. Why aren't there more things like this??

The idea of this VR App is something I love and really want. I would pay quite a bit for one that is executed properly. The visuals and ability to move around the environment are very poor. You don't get to visit much or explore. It's just executed in as basic a way as it possibly could be.

Way overpriced for the content given. I'm a huge fan of the BBC Planet Earth series and was very disappointed in the content. It was buggy, clunky, most of the places you could visit are super pixelated, and there is no sound or music to immerse yourself in the "VR" experience. Might as well download Google Earth VR for free which is a hundred times more intuitive and visually impressive.

Amazing, Viewed with a HTC Vive Headset, WOW, There is so much to see. It has given me the chance to visit places I will never get to see in my lifetime. It is limited as to where you can teleport but that is not really an issue. Also love the way it is made as to how you chose to visit each location, Very creative. Created with future content in mind as well. Plan to spend a good deal of time exploring. There is so much to see. I love everything about it. Thank you 😎👋😁

Quality and craftsmanship is very high. I was really doubtful at the price as well. However, the app delivered a really nice experience. It ran flawless on Quest with VD. The only personal preference I would like to see is the ability for free movement (at least within the vicinity of a teleport point). I also thought the teleport markers could be made much smaller (or toggle on and off???), they stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise beautiful landscape (kinda broke immersion) to be honest.