Am I a Masochist? I love FPSs... but they make me sick.

Anyone else manage to enjoy First Person Shooters but still end up feeling queezy and sick after playing for an hour or two?

I used to play COD and COD2 competitively. I went to COD5 (strange I know) but never managed to complete the campaign (it was just too boring). I went out and picked COD4 MW GoTY edition just to play through the campaign and see if I want to get COD6 MW2....

But yea, after years of FPS playing and feeling like throwing up afterwards, I wonder how I could still have fun? Maybe I should look into some OTC medication for this...

Anyone else an FPS Masochist?

 

Motion sickness or not heeding the epilepsy warnings?

Other than eye-strain, your problem isn't exactly a condition shared by the majority of users.

 

I dont sit and play all day like most. I tend to play one round and browes the net for 15-20 minutes between rounds. Im actually doing that now, just finished a round of COD4.

 

Motion sickness... It's fairly widespread, but not terribly common. I think it has to do with the sensitivity of the eyes (my brain is not fooled by the "fake" motions) and inner ears. FPSs are the only thing in the world that do this to me... not boats, planes, cars, buses, or trucks (I love riding/driving in them all).

 

You're not masochist. It's not the nausea that you enjoy, it's the game. You enjoy fps so much that you are willing to cope with motion sickness. That's pretty hardcore.

However, me enjoying physical labor for long hours while sleep deprived (which is true), is probably masochism.

 

It probably has something to do with certain FPS' FOV (Field of Vision). I know in Borderlands and MW2, the FOV is set to a consoles, at 65, and this causes me to get a headache after a while of playing. Most games though have the ability to change the FOV to a higher number, and most people that using 16:10 LCD/monitors should use 90 or higher to curb the "fish eye" affect.

 

No game has given me motion sickness yet. But I'm deathly afraid of heights, so when I'm walking along an edge in a video game, I get butterflies in my stomach.

 

I remember far cry 2 gave me splitting headaches, i dont know why, i do fine on other shooters like tf2 and cod series

 

Occasionally when I play a PC game I get the same feeling of nausea and headaches. But this doesn't happen to me often.

 

no. but im odd in the way i dont have any little quirks (odd fears, odd sicknesses, ect). i havent even thrown up since i was 6....omg...im a robot!

 

play mirror's edge

 

that. game. is. AWESOME.

 

Haven't yet.

The last time I got the butterflies were when I was playing FEAR single player. there was a level where you walked outside along the window ledge and those flying robots shoot lasers at you. Looking down from the ledge gave me butterflies.

 

I just love blowing head off in FPS.

 

I was/still am the same way with FPS games. I have gradually gotten better (though I'm not a big FPS fan). Have had no issues with Fallout 3 or Metroid Prime in first person. I think the motion in the games combined with the usual high pace is what gets you a bit weary.

 

I've never had anything bad happen to me in playing videogames except for losing sleep.

I am also deathly afraid of heights but have never had an issue playing games with that as a factor.

 

Lol, I'm the same as you, but I'm not afraid of heights in a game. In fact, it's hard for me to judge distance in a video game, I feel like everything is so small/short when it turns out it's a lot larger.

 

I used to have this issue when I started about 10 years ago. Played the original CS till I threw up. Yes, I threw up. Usually after about 45 minutes to an hour. I would clean up and go back playing again. I got gradually immune to it, but stopped playing FPSes for several years. The "immunity" has begun to wear off. Nowadays, I do get a little nauseous at times playing FPSes, but nowhere as bad as it used to.

Me too. Assassin's creed would make my palms sweat.

 

Well I certainly hope you a forcing v sync in all games.

I used to feel sick while playing cod 4, then one of my friends pointed out the horrible tearing that was occuring, so I enabled v sync in all games and no longer have any issues at all.

To force v sync go to 3d settings in the nvidida control panel browse for the executable for the game and then select force v sync for the game. This will ensure the game does not display more frames than the monitor can handle and can reduce motion sickness in games.

I'd also adjust the digital vibrance setting in the nvidia control panel as apparently this can reduce eye strain.

 

Anything from the half-life series makes me giddy after around an hour of playing. But strangely, the mods does not. (DOD, CS etc.). I'm also fine with any other fps.

 

I have the same problem. When I played COD4 I had major motion sickness and I think I know what the problem is.

I have never had problems playing older FPSs, but with this new generation of ultra realistic FPS games such as Modern Warfare2, the visuals trick your mind that you're moving when you are actually sitting still.

For me, I get motion sickness from ultra realistic games, I'm not sure if thats the same for you.

 

I think it also depends on the way our LCD's settings are configured. When my new lcd came I was like " ". I couldnt even browse web pages for more than 30-60minutes without my eyes getting watery and having a headache.

After a point i couldnt take it any more since I do all the work on my computer and play games which both take like 12+ hours a day... So i started playing with my CCC settings (ATI's), gamma, bridgtness and contrast mostly till i reached the optimal settings. Ive been using the same LCD for almost a year now without those issues.

So if you dont have the same issue with other screens or in general, play a bit with the settings to make them less stressing for your eyes.

ps. Also as many others already said FOV plays a part as well in FPS.

 

I remember particularly of the game "Penumbra" that used to give me some crazy headaches after playing only ten minutes.

 

You should also disable headbobbing/swaying.. i once had a terrible headache and nausiness because of headbob in Jedi Knight:Academy, later I disabled it and everything was fine

If that doesn't help try disabling motion blur

If you're playing a vampire in Oblivion, DON'T EVER go outside at noon with HDR enabled!!

 

You'll rarely see these problems on a console. People naturally sit farther back from a TV compared to a Computer monitor.

 

Left 4 Dead used to give me a headache after playing for more than an hour, but that was probably because of the tension and loud noises from my headphone.

 

hahaha been there, done that. My butt hurts after playing like.. 5 hours non-stop. Doing yoga seems to help.