Feeling Crappy After Playing SOME Games?

noobert

The title says it all really. I'm a pretty big gamer (like everyone here I'd assume), but after playing a few specific games my eyes feel tired, I have minor headache and just a general feeling of "bleh". The most recent example of this is Call of Duty 4, after 2 rounds (so 30 mins) I normally have to exit the game and do something else for awhile.

It doesn't happen with TF2, It does happen with Halo 3.
GTAIV is fine too.
I remember it did happen with Dawn of War however.

Any ideas on what could be causing this and how to cure it?

bowen

Could be a from of photophobia or Photosensitivity. You play these games with the lights off, right?

It may be a combination of the type of light you're seeing in just one game that sets it off. I know I get some pretty bad headaches if I play games for too long with the lights out. It didn't always happen though.

However, you might want to talk to a doctor about it.

OremLK

May sound weird, but it can also be a stress thing. I find that I get really pissed off in multiplayer games sometimes, and CoD4 was one of those ones that did me in. Anger = stress = stress symptoms (include sore muscles, headaches, etc).

EclecticGroove

Usually winds up being motion sickness for me. Very VERY few games do this to me, tends to have something to do with the framerate and type of movement the game has. Sometimes I can play a game fine too (like the orig doom), but if I watch someone play it? Forget about it. Recent one was the Marathon game on live.. WOW... that one messes me up, too bad since I would have liked to have played it, but I needed to stop doing anything for like 3 hours after my 30 min session with it.

amateurhour

EclecticGroove wrote: »

Usually winds up being motion sickness for me. Very VERY few games do this to me, tends to have something to do with the framerate and type of movement the game has. Sometimes I can play a game fine too (like the orig doom), but if I watch someone play it? Forget about it. Recent one was the Marathon game on live.. WOW... that one messes me up, too bad since I would have liked to have played it, but I needed to stop doing anything for like 3 hours after my 30 min session with it.

I have the same problem, it's just a motion sickness that is affected by certain shades/colors/movements.

I can play video games for eight hours straight, but anything by ID makes me vomit. I can't play castle wolfenstein, quake series, or doom without getting sick.

TychoCelchuuu

Since it happens with Dawn of War I'm dubious that this will work, but try changing the fov from the default of 65 to something like 80 or 75 (cg_fov 80 in console). 75 is what TF2 uses for instance.

GameHat

I used to get hella motion sick from playing Goldeneye.

Strangely, it disappeared after a few months of playing FPSs.

VThornheart

I've heard that it can be caused by the style of "camera" used in the game. Some games have an unusual (i.e. unrealistic) perspective compared to the real world. Slightly skewed, objects trailing away more slowly/quickly than usual, or a semi "rounded" view. Any of these can cause a person to become very sick if they're sensitive to it.

Goldeneye and Turok both had cameras with a slight skew to them from how they'd be represented in the real world... and you can find a lot of people who get motion sickness when they play them. I know I'm among them. You could be experiencing the same problem.

s_86

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Movitz

Back when HL2 was released there was massive reports of people getting headaches and feeling generally sick. IIRC this was because of two different issues.

Headache: The HL2 engine automatically set the refresh rate low (like...50 Hz or something) which made the screen flicker enough for the brain to register it.

Motion Sickness: The engine also had a really wierd perspective, the eyes are not perpendicular to the vertical player body, it is more of a 75° angle. As if Gordon constantly was looking a bit downwards. There are nice drawings to explain this but I can't find any right now. This in combination with the standard FPS FOV supposedly gives motion sickness if you're prone to it.

Your problems might be any of these. Since it happens in RTS games I suggest increasing the refresh rate for starters

Doronron

I'd just say go ahead take a step back from the game for a while. I know that in particularly engrossing ones, I'd find myself spending way too long in front of the screen, and it's really just not necessary. Taking a break lets your eyes readjust, decreases chance of headache, lets the blood in your legs circulate better, helps work out any kinks in the back...

All sorts of useful stuff.