Feeling nauseated from first-person shooters - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

burning_acid1 · 03-07-2010, 11:03 PM

Is it just me? Or do others of you out there experience nausea when you play first-person shooters? I can only handle playing for one-hour at a time, max before I feel nauseated and need to stop.

Any suggestions?

Cheerio · 03-07-2010, 11:08 PM

Gravol?

browna · 03-07-2010, 11:17 PM

Play on smaller TV? Sit further away?

Used to get that subtely queasy feeling myself in the early GTA days. Don't play very much now anymore, years probably...got the same sensation when watching a video of driving around in a golf cart with a Handy Cam during my buddies stag...in both cases we have a fairly large TV and sit probably closer then we should, and the large TV magnifies the jostling of the camera or spinning of the video game.

Don't get motion sickness in cars or anywhere else, but I assume that's the feeling.

burning_acid1 · 03-07-2010, 11:19 PM

I don't get motion sickness too easily either. Perhaps it's from the large TV? I guess I can try sitting farther back and see what happens.

wooohooo · 03-07-2010, 11:19 PM

I never had a problem with those games oddly enough. Although I started with Counter-strike so I've been well trained. But yeah try what Browna said... worked for my friend. He used to play on his 60", now he just plays on his 30" TV.

TheDragon · 03-07-2010, 11:21 PM

Don't try to focus on everything you see. Train your brain to passively recognize textures and obstacles so that it becomes almost instinct as to how you'll deal with them. Set your focus on trying to find the bad guys rather than taking in everything all at once. I used to get it when I first started playing them as a wee lad.

burning_acid1 · 03-07-2010, 11:22 PM

I don't play video games too often; that might contribute to the problem too.

SebC · 03-07-2010, 11:30 PM

Sometimes... apparently Half-Life 2 uses a weird perspective that affects alot of people. If that's what you're playing, try a different game. I find Portal to be brutal because of all the unnatural, crazy movements far worse than any real shooter.

There was a theory that Avatar was making people sick because they were trying to focus on things that were intentionally out of focus. So if Avatar made you sick too, try turning off Depth of Field. If it's off, you could also try turning it on.

burning_acid1 · 03-07-2010, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SebC

Sometimes... apparently Half-Life 2 uses a weird perspective that affects alot of people. If that's what you're playing, try a different game. I find Portal to be brutal because of all the unnatural, crazy movements far worse than any real shooter.

There was a theory that Avatar was making people sick because they were trying to focus on things that were intentionally out of focus. So if Avatar made you sick too, try turning off Depth of Field. If it's off, you could also try turning it on.

COD: modern warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 have both been making me feel sick.

DownhillGoat · 03-07-2010, 11:56 PM

Smaller TV/sit further back may help.

My pops used to get it quite a bit. The more he plays the better it got. I think it's just a matter of getting more in your peripheral instead of trying to focus on everything, as suggested.

Mythbusters claims that ginger root is one of the best motion sickness meds. You could always try that.

Hack&Lube · 03-08-2010, 12:48 AM

The problem is that many newer games are using a terrible field of view setting that makes it feel like you are walking around looking at the world through binoculars.

This is done to get more performance out of ageing consoles. Unfortunately, this is slipping to the PC side as well with very few games available with an adjustable FOV.

A lot of these games have a 60° field of view which makes me feel ill as well until I force them to goto at least 85-90°

3 Justin 3 · 03-08-2010, 01:41 AM

My friend suffers from the same thing. After playing F.E.A.R. 2 he actually throws up it makes him so ill. haha I always laugh at him for being a puss.

Not sure why though. My eyes get messed up when playing Rockband though, because of the buttons going up the screen, after the song is done my eyes think the entire image on the tv is moving up.

Rathji · 03-08-2010, 06:46 AM

My mom has this same problem.

I tried to get her to play BF2 a few years back and even though I convinced her to give it a try she nearly puked after one map. Last year, she didn't even make it past 1 race in Mario Cart Wii before she bailed.

socktape · 03-08-2010, 07:39 AM

I have a couple of friends that have the same problem. They first noticed it playing quake 2 back in the day. They both just stopped playing FPS video games.

My wife didn't think that she was going to make it through Avatar after the first half hour. All the movement when they're running through the trees was getting to her.

Russic · 03-08-2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

My friend suffers from the same thing. After playing F.E.A.R. 2 he actually throws up it makes him so ill. haha I always laugh at him for being a puss.

Not sure why though. My eyes get messed up when playing Rockband though, because of the buttons going up the screen, after the song is done my eyes think the entire image on the tv is moving up.

This happens to everybody. The same thing can happen if you focus on a waterfall for a while and then look at something stationary. The proper name of the illusion escapes me.

burning_acid1 · 03-08-2010, 10:37 AM

I didn't have a problem with BF2 on PC a few years ago, but COD4: modern warfare on PC and pretty much every shooter after that has made me feel sick. I don't get sick from other games like mario kart.

Bobblehead · 03-08-2010, 10:40 AM

I have noticed the same thing. Quite a few FPS seem to do it, and I only do FPS on the PC. I first encountered it in HL2, specifically the part in the boat. I need to take regular breaks through that portion. The rest didn't bother me. But since that time I've noticed other games where the same nausea occurs.

I'm wondering if the rendering is just getting so good that it is fooling part of your brain and giving the seasick feeling.

Turing on a light to the side of the screen helps somewhat. That seems to minimize the immersion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Not sure why though. My eyes get messed up when playing Rockband though, because of the buttons going up the screen, after the song is done my eyes think the entire image on the tv is moving up.

It is because you are getting accustomed to seeing it go by at a constant speed and are concentrating on it so hard.

One summer job I had was on an assembly line where I would assemble a wiring harness on a jig. The jig would move along, I would work on it while moving sideways doing my job, and when I finished I moved back to the next jig in line. If you were still looking at the jig when the line was turned off it suddenly looked like the jig was moving backwards for a couple seconds.

It is just your brain screwing with you.

burning_acid1 · 03-08-2010, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I have noticed the same thing. Quite a few FPS seem to do it, and I only do FPS on the PC. I first encountered it in HL2, specifically the part in the boat. I need to take regular breaks through that portion. The rest didn't bother me. But since that time I've noticed other games where the same nausea occurs.

I'm wondering if the rendering is just getting so good that it is fooling part of your brain and giving the seasick feeling.

Turing on a light to the side of the screen helps somewhat. That seems to minimize the immersion.

It is because you are getting accustomed to seeing it go by at a constant speed and are concentrating on it so hard.

One summer job I had was on an assembly line where I would assemble a wiring harness on a jig. The jig would move along, I would work on it while moving sideways doing my job, and when I finished I moved back to the next jig in line. If you were still looking at the jig when the line was turned off it suddenly looked like the jig was moving backwards for a couple seconds.

It is just your brain screwing with you.

Yeah it may be that the graphics look better and more realistic, making your mind believe that it's actually you running around, but your vestibular system tells you you're not moving and actually just sitting on the couch. This difference may explain nausea?

Bobblehead · 03-08-2010, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burning_acid1

Yeah it may be that the graphics look better and more realistic, making your mind believe that it's actually you running around, but your vestibular system tells you you're not moving and actually just sitting on the couch. This difference may explain nausea?

I've wondered if that isn't part of it, but I'm no smart brain medicine guy....

Hemi-Cuda · 03-08-2010, 01:43 PM

i've played FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D and never had a problem. the closest thing was when playing Mirror's Edge for the PC and a slight case of vertigo in some areas, but never actually feeling sick. and yet as a kid i got motion sickness all the time when i sat in the back seat of a car