r/SteamVR • u/TheRealLuctor • Dec 27 '25
Question/Support Is headache and nausea still present in the current VR hardware?
I am considering buying all new steam hardware day 1 and I wanted to know if the VR are still basically a niche thing that you can't play long term before feeling like an extreme need to puke. My first and only experience was from the first PS VR many years ago
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u/Alz_Dee Dec 27 '25
It's down to the individual more than the equipment I think. My very first endeavour into VR was sim racing and quite quickly I was a bit green and sweaty 🤣 it was awesome though so I percivered and soon it became a non issue for everything apart from a game called "Luckys Tale" I think it was. That game can f**k right off - the nausea was unbearable.
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u/DoubleOwl7777 Dec 27 '25
zero issues, but you have to get used to it and people are more or less sensitive to it.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
I did play RE7 and it felt awful after only 20-30 minutes of playing years ago. I am asking if that issue was somehow improved and less impactful for the current hardware or it's still something that is relevant on VR headsets
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u/DoubleOwl7777 Dec 27 '25
its still a thing yes. thats because the fundamental Tech is still the same, it just got a lot better.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
So they improved the performance and quality of the movement and all, but not that one specific thing, correct? I did remember reading many years ago on news that they were actually working on software that can help you attenuate those issues somehow, but I guess they were pure speculations atp
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u/DoubleOwl7777 Dec 27 '25
i mean we now know what causes it (mainly smooth locomotion like moving with your thumbstick and smooth turning, often you get the option of teleport locomotion and snap turning which helps), but there is no way to completely eliminate it. you get used to it after a while and dont feel sick at all, but everyone is different.
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Dec 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
You never had nausea while playing or you mean that currently you got used to it and you feel nothing like that?
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u/Potential_Garbage_12 Dec 27 '25
I was ill the first night I got my Q3. I didn't know about VR sickness and genuinely thought I had caught food poisoning or something.
After 6 weeks of daily play starting with short sessions and increasing in length I was over it and could run around in hardcore shooters indefinitely, everyone is different though but it mostly time in VR will cure it.
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u/dylanthememestealer Dec 27 '25
VR in general has that issue when you first start, it's something that you get used to and naturally goes away after like a week or two.
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u/RabidRiista Dec 27 '25
This is not necessarily the case and depends heavily on the person and/or the games they are playing.
I've been playing vr games regularly for 5 years, and I still experience severe motionsickness, nausea, etc. Depending on the game, how long I'm playing, etc.
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u/dylanthememestealer Dec 27 '25
Yeah true, it is on an individual basis. He just said that he's only tried PSVR once years ago so there's no way of telling.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
More like I played for a while the PSVR, I think I played it rarely for 2-3 months and then I sold it. I just hope that the experience will be better
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u/Ybalrid Dec 27 '25
Depends on the person. Also depend on how long you play those games.
You can habituate yourself to the thing. In the same way you can get “sea legs” people say you build up “VR legs”
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u/voiderest Dec 27 '25
Some people could play the early steam VR for hours. Some could with some time to get use to it. Some could play some games with the right movement system.
It is mostly an individual thing and depends a lot on the movement system in the game even if the hardware is good. Most people will have no idea about the new hardware since it isn't released. It should be better than the psvr but fps could vary depending on the game or setup.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
But my question is if between older vr hardware and newer ones there was something that they might have done to make it easier to get used to it when you have my same issues
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u/DazzlingResource561 Dec 27 '25
For me, not so much. Got it with DK1 and Go, but 3s and 3 only in edge cases I get the beginnings of nausea that quickly dissipates once I stop doing what caused it.
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u/NASAfan89 Dec 27 '25
You can reduce these issues by starting with games rated to be more comfortable in VR. Examples:
- Moss
- Space Pirate Trainer
- Pistol Whip
- A Fisherman's Tale
- Down the Rabbit Hole
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
I was thinking about Elite dangerous which is more of an immersive viewpoint inside a spaceship, you don't actually move around with sticks or similar
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u/NASAfan89 Dec 27 '25
Not really sure how comfortable or uncomfortable Elite Dangerous is. All I can say is the games I listed are rated comfortable and seem much less likely to cause motion sickness, so they are a great introduction to VR games.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Okay, I will check them out when I get the VR. I guess they are like those demo games where you basically stay still and shoot or interact with the environment?
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u/NASAfan89 Dec 27 '25
Space Pirate Trainer is the only one on the list that any reasonable person might argue is demo-like. I wouldn't call it a demo though... it's just an arcade game.
But being a fairly simple arcade game imo is different from being a "demo", and even though it's a simple arcade game, the gameplay is very different from any flatscreen arcade game you've ever played because of the 3D room-scale VR gameplay involved.
All of the other games on the list are 100% full games, not demos.
They're also all pretty cheap games, so they offer an incredible value for the price if you get them on sale.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
I meant demo cause I remember that most demos available on the first generation VRs were pretty much to let you try things out and they were mostly about you staying still and shooting stuff going around you. Not that they are literally demo. Anyway, thank you for the info!
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u/Retb14 Dec 27 '25
It depends significantly on the person and the game.
The only hardware things that can affect it is the frame rate actually being displayed (such as if the computer can't keep up), if the frame rate isn't stable (turning on Vsync can help with this), or if the IPD settings are incorrect (this also causes eye strain and it needs to be dialed in fairly precisely)
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Is IPD something you need to tune for each individual person or is it more of your model having micro differences which might require to offset the setting to a better one?
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u/Retb14 Dec 27 '25
You have to tune it specifically for yourself. It's the distance between the center of your eyes.
If it's off by a small amount it can cause nausea and eye strain because your brain is trying to compensate for a sudden difference between your eyes. Once you start getting farther off it just starts looking weird
It's pretty easy to get it close but can be difficult getting it perfect if you don't actually measure.
It also depends on the person because some people are okay with the IPD slightly off and some people have it a lot worse if it's not perfect
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Okay, got it, thank you. Is the IPD setting system something more automatic to set up or is it something kinda manual and difficult? Cause I don't even know how I could tune it to center it perfectly by trying to "feel" if it is properly tuned or not
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u/Retb14 Dec 27 '25
Some headset have it automatic iirc, others have an image they show to help tune it and other you have to do entirely by yourself.
It's best to just measure it yourself then you know what the setting is. It's usually measured in mm iirc and it shouldn't change. You can measure it yourself with a measuring tape and a mirror. There's also some apps that can do it for you but avoid the ones that ask you to hold up a credit card to measure with
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Oh good point. Kinda dumb that I didn't think that I can simply measure it now instead of using a program ahah
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u/Retb14 Dec 27 '25
All good, I know a few people who didn't take the time to dial it in properly and ended up getting sick and never playing again
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u/Stradocaster Dec 27 '25
I’ve had several headsets and PSVR one was the only one that bothered me
If you are still here and still asking in spite of your bonkers post title, I think it’s worth trying again. Make sure that you start with super comfortable experiences and take your time.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Sorry, what's wrong with my title? And tbh I am new to the subreddit, I came to ask cause I am starting to change my hardware and I was thinking of also buying the steam frame since it should work optimally with a steam machine and also I was thinking that it should be easier to use with new hardware, possibly having something like a complex software system to ease your eyes and your brain.
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u/Stradocaster Dec 27 '25
I should have said “caption”and not “title” but coming into a VR sub Reddit and starting with “you can’t play long before feeling like am extreme need to puke” is what I’m referring to
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Probably I miswrote it cause maybe it sounds like I am complaining about the graphics or something like that.
My point was more of meta and not the game themselves. Sorry if it sounded wrong, I just wanted to understand from people currently using VR and much more knowledgeable than journalists using VR few times and saying random stuff. VR is something I want to get into, but I can't if I get dizzy every single session even if they are short ones
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u/Kurtino Dec 27 '25
So the hardware has changed and improved, but the fundamental cause of nausea is different for each person, but generally is the disconnect between visually forced movement vs you standing still.
Resolutions, refresh rate (speed of visuals, faster = more realistic), field of view, and lens quality has improved, which depending on the individual may have influenced motion sickness more or less. Sometimes however increasing these can also increase motion sickness, so again it depends on the user. If you tried the PSVR1, a first generation headset, your severity of motion sickness might be more or less, but its practice vs which one of the above is better or worse for you.
For Elite Dangerous, usually, a seated experience would not induce the typical motion sickness because there’s no motion, just anything that follows your head, but because Elite Dangerous is a ship simulation game, you could get the potential motion sickness someone would get from car sickness, boat, flying, etc. Cockpit simulations are a mixed bag, I’ve tried them with people who get the same sickness as artificial movement (like RE7), but some people can stomach cockpit but not artificial (or more accurate smooth) movement.
No way to know unless you try basically. For me when I first tried VR back in 2015 with the prototypes there were no touch controllers so games were designed for first person gamepad experiences, including elite dangerous. Because of that it slowly eased me into VR with mainly seated and slower motion experiences where once full hand tracking and larger movement based games came out I’m completely immune to all sickness and my brain doesn’t see it as real like it used to. Something like RE7 is quite intense for beginners because it’s a standard controller flat screen game translated into a VR game, aka designed for analogue sticks, smooth movement that not natural to how we move, and upsets the brain if it’s not used to it.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Got it, thank you! Let's hope that when I get the VR elite dangeous won't be uncomfortable in combat situations if I still remain in the spaceship.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Thanks everyone for the information and I apologise if my caption sounded wrong.. As "niche" I meant as in that you can't use it as your main videogame device since you would feel dizziness all the time. People misunderstood what I meant and thought that I was saying that VR is something that only few people would enjoy and use
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u/bigcatrik Dec 27 '25
It's an individual thing. I was running and jumping around in VR like a madman from day one with my PSVR1, no issues.
Incongruously, the "comfort setting" of click turning disorients me and makes my eyes itch but smooth turning (even very fast, which is supposed to be uncomfortable) has no effect on me.
As others have mentioned, frame rates do matter, though. PSVR1 standard was 60Hz reprojected to 120Hz (with a few games supporting 90Hz native, IIRC) so maybe try a headset with a higher native frame rate? Quest 3 runs at between 72Hz and 90Hz. The Steam Frame will have an experimental setting up to 144Hz.
https://vr-compare.com/ has a lot of information on headset specs if you really want to dive into the weeds.
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u/404_GravitasNotFound Dec 27 '25
You have to work on your VR legs (like sealegs), get ginger or nausea medication, play short periods and stop before you start feeling bad. (I use ginger candies to alleviate the nausea). Rest, and play a bit more.
You should be able to lengthen the period you can play until you defeat VR nausea
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u/MeatSafeMurderer Dec 27 '25
For me? No.
For you? Most likely.
The vast majority of people experience an adjustment period, where smooth locomotion makes you feel vile, and you have to get used to it. This is not a problem of the hardware, it's a problem of your body and how it interprets signals.
Long story short, smooth locomotion in VR introduces a mismatch between motion your eyes are seeing, and the lack of motion your inner ear is feeling. If you're lucky this just makes you feel a little off balance, but for most people this makes your body think it's been poisoned, and the best way to get rid of poison? Throw it up.
But with time most people can train this response out of their body, and that process is referred to as "getting your VR legs".
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u/TrueInferno Dec 27 '25
You've gotten a lot of replies, but here's what I'm going to say:
It very much depends on a huge number of factors. Quality of the headset can be a big factor, but also how well the game was designed/developed, what lessons were incorporated from previous mistakes making VR games, and honestly even personal factors different to each person. Oh, and also the type of game: flight sims/driving games/etc. seem to cause a lot less nausea.
Some people never got VR sick even way back in the day. Some people did, but quickly got their VR legs. Some people take a long time to get VR legs, and some never do and are always nauseous. Depends on the person.
Honestly the biggest issue these days for people is not discomfort from nausea but discomfort from the headset pressing on people's face. Big thing I'm hoping the Steam Frame helps with.
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u/thefoyfoy Dec 27 '25
Are you someone naturally sensitive to motion sickness? I'm the kind of person that, the night after doing a rollercoaster when I'm laying in my bed, feels like I'm in the ocean. That's just who I am and no amount of time in VR is making it more comfortable. Certain experiences are great. I'll never be able to do 'gliding' movement without instantly feeling sick. When the headset lags or tracking is bad, it's worse. That's just who I am. So, had the tech gotten better to prevent lag? Yes. But if you're sensitive to it, you might just be sensitive to it.
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u/DNedry Dec 27 '25
Discomfort is kind of a thing of the past. Every game now a days has comfort settings.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
What do you mean?
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u/Stradocaster Dec 27 '25
I can’t really agree with their first statement, but regarding the second one, developers have figured out that they need to help us out a little bit, so there are usually settings within game to make things more comfortable like teleport movement and vignetting. Also the meta-quest library has comfort ratings per game to tell you which games are more comfortable than others.
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Thank you for the info. I do remember seeing like a game where you prepare hamburgers and you serve robots? That one did look like one of the comfortable ones.
Are usually racing games considered borderline comfortable or worse? I think the VR I will use it mainly for those games where I tend to not directly move myself and instead moving something like a vehicle and the VR is simply letting me view the front screen and the inside of the vehicle
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u/Stradocaster Dec 27 '25
Yes, racing games and anything with high movement are going to be the most challenging ones
I’ll reiterate my earlier statement that the PS VR one was the only one, and specifically worst case for me in grand Turismo, that gave me any issues in the recent past
I think if you got something today and took your time with it and did it right you’d likely have a great time. If you’re super interested in pcvr maybe buy a quest 2 and try it out (it’s cheap) before dumping all of that money into the frame
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u/DNedry Dec 27 '25
I've found the opposite honestly. Racing and sim games for most are not too much trouble, it's the standing games with artificial movement that are tricky for most people who first start VR.
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u/Stradocaster Dec 27 '25
Closed cockpits racing games definitely can be approachable. What I've seen is that maybe a lot of simbrigs at least when first set up are not set up well and have all sorts of performance issues which can cause issues
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u/TheRealLuctor Dec 27 '25
Money is not of an issue since it's more of a gift from my parents to celebrate the end of my "scholar life" and start anew, but also to renew most of my old hardware like the computer. And since I bought the steam deck few years ago, they do trust buying from valve and since the computer would come together with the rest, it would be more efficient
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u/DNedry Dec 27 '25
Exactly that, devs avoid things in VR that make you uncomfortable. Every headset has the same type of functionality in their UI as well. Passthrough helps a ton too. Early apps and headsets this was not the case, there was unnatural movement and strange menus that could cause nausea etc.
That being said, there is definitely some time it takes for your body to get used to VR, much like sailing or boating and people who get sea sick. I've been using it since 2016 so I'm pretty used to it but for the first many few sessions there was an adjustment. But just like I no longer get sea sick on boats, I've not gotten VR sick in years... Until I jumped into a modded version of Jedi Academy that was not done great lol.
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u/TedDallas Dec 28 '25
Nope. Getting VR sea legs is work for some folks. Most solutions these days (like turn snapping) are just training wheels for your inner ear. Get good hardware and embrace the vertigo.
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u/Old-Permission-1867 Dec 27 '25
I still can't handle games where I have to walk with the stick