1. #1

    Motion sickness playing FPS games

    Hello there, well where to start

    I'm having motion sickness playing FPS games since childhood. I remember a few times getting so sick of playing Wolfenstein that I had to throw up.

    Nowadays the latest games of the genre doesn't make me feel that sick due to better engines graphics and I don't know what else.

    However, a few hours ago I had the sudden urge to play Half Life 2 again and the motion sickness was back.

    I remember, when I finished the game from start to end in 2004ish when it was first released I didn't have this issue. Still, I'm sat here feeling terrible and I'm just hoping to get rid of this feeling soon.

    How about you? Has anybody else experience or experienced similar issues while playing FPS games? Do you have any information on why this could be happening?

    Cheers.

  2. #2
    I've had this for quite a while, and there are many great games I simply can't go back and play because they make my head spin (Half-Life 1 for instance). The older the game, the more of a problem I seem to have, though even new games can give me headaches if I'm not careful. If I'm tired and kind of worn out from the day, I find that I am much more prone to the motion sickness.

    I've had a bunch of different groups tell me many different things, but the one I heard that made the most sense was this: The motion sickness happens because your eyes tell your brain you're moving, but your inner ear and other areas for sensing balance/motion tell your brain that you're not moving. The more bobbing or jerky movements the game has, the more out-of-sync the on-screen motion and your real motion (none!) are, and the sicker it can make you. Things like turning on aiming reticules so you can focus on that is supposed to help, as well as playing when you're not exhausted.

    For me, I've just learned that I have to either take the game a lot slower than most people would, or I have to get up every 30-45 minutes and take a break and walk around the house or do something else to get away from the screen. I don't know why older graphics give me more motion sickness than the new games do, and I wish I could play the original Deus Ex, but that's just how it works for me.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Vianae View Post
    I've had this for quite a while, and there are many great games I simply can't go back and play because they make my head spin (Half-Life 1 for instance). The older the game, the more of a problem I seem to have, though even new games can give me headaches if I'm not careful. If I'm tired and kind of worn out from the day, I find that I am much more prone to the motion sickness.

    I've had a bunch of different groups tell me many different things, but the one I heard that made the most sense was this: The motion sickness happens because your eyes tell your brain you're moving, but your inner ear and other areas for sensing balance/motion tell your brain that you're not moving. The more bobbing or jerky movements the game has, the more out-of-sync the on-screen motion and your real motion (none!) are, and the sicker it can make you. Things like turning on aiming reticules so you can focus on that is supposed to help, as well as playing when you're not exhausted.

    For me, I've just learned that I have to either take the game a lot slower than most people would, or I have to get up every 30-45 minutes and take a break and walk around the house or do something else to get away from the screen. I don't know why older graphics give me more motion sickness than the new games do, and I wish I could play the original Deus Ex, but that's just how it works for me.
    Thats odd, makes me wonder why it doesnt happen to me since when im playing im fully immersed like when im on a massively high ledge and look over i get that fient at heart feel from being high up, same with jumping from very high.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    I've heard some people say changing their field of view in the game has helped in preventing motion sickness.

    FoV article on Valves website

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Two Sheds View Post
    I've heard some people say changing their field of view in the game has helped in preventing motion sickness.

    FoV article on Valves website
    Thanks a lot for this article, I'll be giving it a shot once I feel good enough to give HL2 another chance

  6. #6
    I was an avid FPS player in the past (mostly in middle-high school), but recently pretty much ignore them altogether since Im suffer heavily from FPS motion sickness on PC. Still, there were games I just loved to play but couldnt, and it annoyed me so much I researched every possible way to help myself from it. The answer in most case is actually quite simple: narrow FoV. If you somehow can increase FoV (vertical not necessary, horizontal only is fine), the game becomes much easier to endure, and in some cases no sickness at all: most cheap games directly ported from console inherit console's signature narrow FoV as they are meant to be played on huge TV screen meters away from your seat, not smaller sized high resolution PC screen right in front of your keyboard/mouse. Any FPS game on PC that doesnt allow you to change FoV or open console command is a game worth pirating- ignorant developers cant have your hard-earned money (you cant play those games anyway :'P)

    Now if you experience motion sickness on console, sorry I cant help. But I myself never feel any sort of motion sickness while playing FPS games on console, even those I make me sick earlier on PC. And there are rare cases also - HL2 s one. Whatever FoV I tried, I coudlnt force myself playing that game for more than 2 hours without yet another 3 hours resting (ie. lying dead on the bed)
    Last edited by kronpas; 2011-10-03 at 02:33 AM.

  7. #7
    Bloodsail Admiral Brightamethyst's Avatar
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    The only time I've ever had that happen is when playing Portal. The constant and drastic perspective changes get to me after a while so I can only play the game in short bursts.

  8. #8
    I found that as long as I can keep perspective changes down to a minimum I am okay for these games. I learned the hard way where my breaking point was from playing the lego games for the Wii. The constant perspective changes gave me severe migraines and I could only play for 30 minutes at a time.

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