Built Game PC; Makes Me Ill

[VirusType2]

Well, I stopped playing video games for a year or two and now I'm not used to this. I keep getting sick.

: The accepted term for that particular variety of motion sickness has been called “simulator sickness,” and despite a few studies to determine its cause, nobody is quite sure why it happens.

It doesn't affect just video-game players. A 1995 report by the U.S. Army Research Institute found that almost half the military pilots who used flight simulators developed aftereffects — and 10 percent of those respondents had symptoms lasting more than 4 hours.

Like motion sickness brought on by planes and boats, simulator sickness seems to occur when there is a disagreement in the brain between what you're seeing and what your inner ear reports is actually happening. One theory about motion sickness posits that it occurs because the area postrema portion of the brain associates the visual/balance discrepancy with hallucination. Since seeing things that aren't there is often a sign of poison in the body, the brain tells the body to purge, unleashing the hot dogs.

How can you fix it? You might try sitting farther away from the screen so that it doesn't fill your field of vision. Also, experience often helps you get over it. It seems that after enough exposure to dizzying graphics, your brain learns that you don't die from poison every time you play a first-person shooter, and it lets you enjoy your fun.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how_to/4219424.html

Lol, ****.

 

[the cow says moo]

That blows, dude. I can't imagine getting sick whenever I play a video game.

EDIT: actually, how long afterwards do you start to feel sick? Sometimes after staying up late playing games, the next day I'll get bad migraines, barf, and sleep for the next few hours. I always associated it with lack of sleep, but am now reconsidering. Also, before my migraines, I'll get an aura in my vision that's pretty much a giant blind-spot.

 

[VirusType2]

I basically get dizzy, my stomach gets upset, and I feel tired. Sometimes I think I'm going to vomit. I thought I was fighting a virus and just was suffering from lack of sleep, but then I realized, I get sick while I'm playing. Even the audio seems to make me ill. I stopped playing almost an hour ago and still feel a little dizzy.

simulator sickness seems to occur when there is a disagreement in the brain between what you're seeing and what your inner ear reports is actually happening. One theory about motion sickness posits that it occurs because the area postrema portion of the brain associates the visual/balance discrepancy with hallucination. Since seeing things that aren't there is often a sign of poison in the body, the brain tells the body to purge, unleashing the hot dogs.

I don't remember having this problem before, so like the article says, I guess you get used to it. I'm getting pretty addicted to playing games, in the mean time.

 

[Tacoeaterguy]

Oh dear god that is horrible. Is there a way that you can get used to it so it doesn't happen?

 

[VirusType2]

I feel pretty much all better now (so now I can play again! ). It seems if I play for a couple hours, I get ill for a couple of hours. You must get used to it, because I don't remember having this problem when I used to play all the time.

It also suggests sitting further back from the monitor. I am sitting pretty close, but I need to reach my kb/mouse. I'll try moving the monitor back a little.

 

[the cow says moo]

This may sound a little radical, but perhaps you should use a controller so you can sit back a few feet.

 

[VirusType2]

Radical is right - actually more like lunacy. Controllers.. Heh, I use a controller for resident evil and racing games, and I still have the problem, but I don't really sit back to be honest. I'll try just moving the monitor back so it works with all games.

I have to wait until it's cool, because it's a CRT. They can get that rainbow effect, or the reddish color on one of the corners of the screen if you bump them when they are on. I'll move it before I turn it on tomorrow morning.

 

[Quixoticism]

I've known a couple people who get motion sickness from watching FPS games from behind. I've never felt it myself. Maybe it's your monitor? It's a bummer and I feel bad for you.

 

[Ravioli]

I only feel sick when playing on Consoles, because the screen is too far away (no matter how big it is, i need it atleast 30 cm infront of my face). The controls are very disorienting and the whole thing just ends up with me passing the controller to the guy beside me because im getting too nauseous.

Seriously, how the hell do you console gamers play? To me the screen just looks like a blurry slideshow of textures and odd shapes.


EDIT:

This drawing i just made illustrates my case:

 

[Ennui]

I get sick when I'm not playing videogames. Overly hyperdefinitive ultrareal antialiased dizzying graphics plz.

 

[Tyguy]

marijuana would fix that quite well next time it happens

 

[Warped]

i got motion sick after 6 days with no games and riding on roller coasters at Cedar Point. when i came back i was dizzy for a month and Rock Band made it much worse then

 

[Paskiewicz]

I never get any sick. I felt funny in my body after using computer or gaming for about three hours, I had to stretch my arms and body after doing my computer again.

My friend was dizzy when he was watching me playing a FPS game.

Lucky.

 

[VirusType2]

I just played DiRT, and I sat further back with my gamepad. No problem this time.

 

[Paskiewicz]

Newer games don't make players feel sick. That's my opinion.

 

[StarBob]

I only feel sick when playing on Consoles, because the screen is too far away (no matter how big it is, i need it atleast 30 cm infront of my face). The controls are very disorienting and the whole thing just ends up with me passing the controller to the guy beside me because im getting too nauseous.

Seriously, how the hell do you console gamers play? To me the screen just looks like a blurry slideshow of textures and odd shapes.


EDIT:

This drawing i just made illustrates my case:

I lol'd at the picture. Why the hell would you sit so close? Right now my monitor is set up at a strange angle that I don't like, but my intent to game is well beyond the inhibiting factor of a mis-positioned monitor.

That being said I've never gotten sick playing any games at all. I don't get motion sickness or air sickness or sea sickness... so maybe that's part of it. Take some dramamine and have at it... lol. It is strange though. I've heard about it happening but never to any extreme. I suppose one day it will be much more prominent when games have a level of realism that is near indistinguishable from reality.

I guess it's called "Simulation Sickness" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness#Simulation_sickness

 

[Laivasse]

I remember seeing a big wave of people complain about motion sickness while gaming just after HL2 came out. A friend of mine fell victim to the problem also, so in order to get him to try HL2 I had to google a load of suggestions for mitigating the effects. By and large they worked, except unfortunately I've forgotten most of them...

What I remember, though, is:
- increase the fov (field of view) to at least 90 in games that support it - mostly for FPS
- increase the refresh rate to the maximum supported by your monitor, and make sure the game runs at that rate (or at at least 60)
- keep a drink of water on hand and have a sip whenever you feel a bit iffy (aside from anything else, I think this just helps break your focus on the screen)

There was some other useful suggestion about light positioning, but I've forgotten it. Something about keeping a source of light in your line of sight, or out of your line of sight, something like that... It might even have been about clocks, not light sources... Nope, it's gone.

 

[VirusType2]

- increase the fov (field of view) to at least 90 in games that support it - mostly for FPS
- increase the refresh rate to the maximum supported by your monitor, and make sure the game runs at that rate (or at at least 60)
- keep a drink of water on hand and have a sip whenever you feel a bit iffy (aside from anything else, I think this just helps break your focus on the screen)

There was some other useful suggestion about light positioning, but I've forgotten it. Something about keeping a source of light in your line of sight, or out of your line of sight, something like that... It might even have been about clocks, not light sources... Nope, it's gone.

Yeah, there's a lot of good information here that would help. I noticed when I feel ill, water seems to help greatly. Also, I've got this lamp that's sorta been bugging me for months, It's like in the corner of my eye - you know when you're a passenger in the car and the light flickers though the trees like crazy, and it makes you ill? Happened to me a few times when I was a kid, and I never forgot it. It's like that.

I moved the monitor back this morning.

FOV seems like it would help.

Yeah, I've lost 1080p @ 85hz refresh rate (which I use for gaming), because ATi Tray Tools doesn't install on Windows 7 without a bunch of hacks. Maybe I should just do it. I was kinda hoping he was going to get the drivers signed ($500), but Ray Adams seems to be sorta not-giving-a-**** about it, and the community hasn't organized a donation system yet.

Anyway, point is, I'm stuck at 60 hz because I don't know a way to change it without Tray Tools.

 

[ríomhaire]

Didn't someone at Valve throw up every time he played the airboat levels?

 

[the cow says moo]

Newer games don't make players feel sick. That's my opinion.

But... you just told us you don't get sick from games... how would you know?

 

[MorganFreeman911]

I get sick when I'm not playing videogames. Overly hyperdefinitive ultrareal antialiased dizzying graphics plz.

This, oh god this.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I only feel sick if I play for too long without a break. Like hours.

 

[VirusType2]

Oh cool. Moving the monitor back about 6 inches did the trick. I just played for about 2 hours and I feel fine.