Motion Sickness/how to edit steam settings to prevent this

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TheInvisibleExpert Feb 10, 2018 @ 7:49pm

Hello there.
I am a frequent steam user/gamer, but I've been experiencing a lot of motion sickness recently, particularly with FPS games, or anything really directed from first-person. I.E. If I play something like Left For Dead, I will physically become ill, which makes me sad because I love that game. However, this is not the only game that does this. This is a VERY frequent problem, and I find myself growing frustrated by this. However, I don't want to give up my hobby of gaming.

Any tips or ideas on how to remedy this? Any settings I can tweak (in steam perhaps?) to avoid the nausea/urge to ralph? I would greatly appreciate the feedback as I really enjoy gaming a ton! Thank you!

Last edited by TheInvisibleExpert; Feb 10, 2018 @ 7:50pm

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Showing 1-15 of 16 comments

S33KNDESTR0Y Feb 10, 2018 @ 7:56pm

Probably not ;/

WobblyFella Feb 10, 2018 @ 8:13pm

I'm probably not the most reliable source of advice, but I'd take a tylenol and an ibuprofen and see how the game treats you after that. Or just stay hydrated, that's usually a gamer problem. Drink some water.

TheInvisibleExpert Feb 16, 2018 @ 3:41pm

Originally posted by EmoCatPerson:
I'm probably not the most reliable source of advice, but I'd take a tylenol and an ibuprofen and see how the game treats you after that. Or just stay hydrated, that's usually a gamer problem. Drink some water.

I'm willing to try that, as I am a repeat offender with not drinking enough water, but mostly just concerned because sometimes it will get bad enough to where I actually will vomit, but might not be much I can do about it. :/

Still, I appreciate you guys getting back to me. Thanks so much!

Viper Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:20pm

This kind of motion sicness is caused because your eyes think your moving. But your body says no I am defintelly not moving ( liquid in inner ear also detects motion ). SO the disconnect causes you to become sick. Try to focus on something that is onscreen that is not moving...a stationary object. Don't play in a dark room. The more light around you the better so the screen is not the only thing you are seeing. Sit a little further from the screen also. You have to make your eyes not be fooled.

Last edited by Viper; Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:24pm

StickyPawz Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:25pm

Try sitting farther away from your monitor, or pushing it farther back on your desk.

Toxic waste Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:25pm

try to play without a headset that way you feel more out of the game

Toxic waste Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:26pm

take frequent stretch breaks,take 10-15min breaks and do some pushups, get the blood pumping

wuddih Feb 16, 2018 @ 4:42pm

cranking up the fov(field of view) will generally make it way better (if the game has it)

there is no general setting in Steam, this depends always on the game. l4d does not allow to change it.

Zekiran Feb 16, 2018 @ 5:10pm

If there was a setting in a distribution client like Steam, to disable motion blur in all games, I would use it in a second.

Unfortunately there is not.

I'd suggest in addition to the lighting, stretching, distance from monitor, and fov settings, search online for the games you're having problems fixing, and see if there are any .ini or config file alterations that you can safely use to change those settings manually. Some games you can, some you just cannot. Right now, I'm being annoyed by how much headbob there is in Far Cry 4's crouch mode... *blarg*

Mikasa Ackerman Feb 16, 2018 @ 5:45pm

increase the fov , maybe lower the sensitivity so you cant move the camera around to fast ( mine usually is a fairy go round or fast rollercoaster , i bet most would get motion sick with my dpi and other speed settings )

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Hannibal Feb 16, 2018 @ 9:09pm

Like stated, most games now have fov slider. Increase it. I used to suffer from the same thing.

#11

TheInvisibleExpert Feb 17, 2018 @ 12:28pm

Wow thanks so much everyone! I didn't expect this much feedback! All excellent suggestions and stuff I had not considered! :) Very much appreciated!

#12

Hannibal Feb 17, 2018 @ 2:12pm

Originally posted by The Invisible Expert:
Wow thanks so much everyone! I didn't expect this much feedback! All excellent suggestions and stuff I had not considered! :) Very much appreciated!

Your welcome. If that doesn't work I found that one of my eyes had double vision that I didn't notice. That could also be a cause so a visit to an eye doctor might help. But for most people its the fov. Watching a scene in too narrow a view can cause nausea. It's like if your a passenger in a car and you look through a tube or open box, you'll end up car sick.

#13