[Motion Sickness] Please let us disable head bob

[Rucola-Joe]

I just had to issue a refund for this game because the constant head bobbing when swimming makes me feel super dizzy. I guess the item bob does add to the problem.

I've never felt this bad from playing a game; Skyrim made me feel dizzy too, but not to this extend. Installing a mod that deactivates head bob solved the problem completely. I also have no problems with super fast games like Titanfall 2 or Doom (2016) nor did I have any problems with the first Destiny on PS4 despite its super low FOV... but head bob really gets me.

I would love to re-buy, support and play this game when this issue has been fixed. But in its current state Subnautica is not enjoyable for me.

Note: I did NOT play the game in VR; I got sick from the "normal" version.

[Lobo'ren]

What head bob?

[Pugwis]

not sure what you are talking about, never felt motion sickness in subnautica, try to disable motion blur, depth of field and this kind of setting that could be disturbing with the blurred effect that they add.

[Reppoc850]

Originally posted by MiddleAgedWerewolf:

What head bob?

I didn't realize there was either so I went back in the game to check. It's very subtle but there is a definite bobbing motion in the game when you're swimming underwater.

It appears the Op is far more sensitive to this than most people and its ruining the game for them. I don't think theres any way to shut it off but lowering the graphics settings might reduce the effect enough to make it bearable

[mouser9169]

Originally posted by MiddleAgedWerewolf:

What head bob?

Head Bob is the effect where everything in the screen moves up and down as you move forward to simulate your head 'bobbing' when you walk, The first game I can think of that really used the effect was Doom, and boy, did we all get motion sickness for a while while playing that. Eventually most of got used to it though (sort of like living on a ship) as we had no other options (not playing Doom was definitely NOT an option).

[cwsumner]

There is some bob motion. The Devs should have a way to turn it off.

In real life, the mind normally compensates for this automatically so that people do not see any bobbing. Like the way electronic stablization in video cameras, works.

But the mind can't do that for watching video, so any bob motion in video is effectivly magnified.

I got used to it, in Subnautica, but I can understand why some people get sick.

[Mortemas]

Riding the elephant in Far Cry 4 is fun, except the bobbing up and down makes me a bit dizzy. Subnautica doesn't bother me unless I'm too close to the TV.

[Fenfen]

The best way I found to lessen the effect is to disable motion blur and remove the mask border, kills a bit of the imersion but saves me from getting headaches. F6 is the button to remove the mask, if you didn't know.

[Rucola-Joe]

Thanks for all the tips! I will try and turn off the mask border and motion blur if I ever revisit this game (without the development adding the option to turn head bob off).

It's really interesting though, how such a subtle effect can cause such heavy issues. As far as I can tell, for me it's really just the head bob that makes experience motion sickness. I usually don't have problems with motion blur, depth of field, low FOV and low fps – though increased FOV and higher fps definitely lessen the effects of motion sickness.

I had problems with both RAGE and Skyrim — until I deactivated head bob via mods. Now I can play them for hours straight without any issues. Also got dizziness from Singularity – couldn't find a way to turn off head bob in this game but increasing the FOV made it so I could enjoy and beat the game.

Putting motion sickness aside: I honestly think head bob makes games look and play worse. It makes the image look bumpy, sharp edges shimmer all over the place (depending on the anti-aliasing-method) and it makes it harder to focus on objects and enemies. Same goes for depth of field: Looks nice on screenshots but when playing it's mostly annoying to me. If I focus on the foreground I don't need the game to blur everything in the back – my eyes can't focus on two spots at the same time anyhow. Ironic: Subnautica actually uses both effects rather sparingly and I think in this case they really add to the immersion – bummer that it makes me feel sick, though...

I really wish developers would put more thought into dealing with motion sickness. There's lots of people who are way more susceptible to motion sickness than me and many games are simply unplayable for them. Especially on consoles adding options to turn off motion blur and to increase FOV would go a long way.

[Patchup]

Even if headbob can be turned off, you may want to explore some videos where people are exploring caves and wreckage. This can be very disorienting, as it is designed to be. This is because Wreckage can be upsidedown or at an angle. So you will often swim through doors and down hallways/rooms at angles or upside down. This is a game in water and that is part of the real experience.

[mranger_orange]

I’m good with the head bob but what gets me are the little probes. I can’t use them because I get nauseous after only 10 or 15 seconds. Not sure why, but I make due without them.