VERY SIMPLE point-and-click game ideas for VR?

[JoeStrout]

I’m planning to teach my younger one some VR development this summer, but I’m still quite new to it myself.

We’ve already got a project we’re working on together (a roguelike dungeon crawler), but that’s complex, and so I have to do most of the heavy lifting. I’d like to queue up some much simpler project ideas that he can learn to do himself.

We’re using an Oculus Go, and so it has 3DOF head tracking, and a 3DOF controller with a trigger. In playing with it for a few days, this appears to be basically the VR equivalent of a mouse: you can use it to point at things and then click.

So. What sort of ultra-super-simple VR games can we make with just simple shapes, pointing, and clicking?

[Doug_B]

@JoeStrout

So. What sort of ultra-super-simple VR games can we make with just simple shapes, pointing, and clicking?

Could you do a “Whack a Mole” type game?

If a red square appears then look at it and click before it disappears - but if it’s a blue square then you must not click on it or you lose points.

[JoeStrout]

That’s a good one.

I could also imagine a sort of swatting mechanic where things fly at you — not directly at you, but at some random point in a circle around you. And you have to hit them with the controller, which means pointing it at the right angle just when they reach the right distance.

Or more generally, I suppose, any sort of shooting-gallery type game would work.

[Martin_H]

@JoeStrout

I’m planning to teach my younger one some VR development this summer, but I’m still quite new to it myself.

We’ve already got a project we’re working on together (a roguelike dungeon crawler), but that’s complex, and so I have to do most of the heavy lifting. I’d like to queue up some much simpler project ideas that he can learn to do himself.

We’re using an Oculus Go, and so it has 3DOF head tracking, and a 3DOF controller with a trigger. In playing with it for a few days, this appears to be basically the VR equivalent of a mouse: you can use it to point at things and then click.

So. What sort of ultra-super-simple VR games can we make with just simple shapes, pointing, and clicking?

A few days ago I was wondering if I should buy an Oculus Go, because it seemed like an interesting platform to develop for, that probably will soon see more widespread adoption than rift and vive. But then I saw that you need a smartphone to configure it, and I don’t have such a thing and neither does my girlfriend. Do you know if it is maybe possible to do the initial setup with another non-phone android device, like a cheap amazon fire 7 tablet? Or is there even a way yet, to set it up from a windows PC (or PS3 or xbox 360)? I have so many things that I don’t use anymore already, it feels really stupid to have to buy an extra android device just to run initial setup for the Oculus Go on it.

How are you liking the device so far? Is there a way to get a rough idea what kind of visual and physics fidelity Unity games on that plattform can reach? I lack the experience with comparable mobile devices. Are PBR shaders and a post processing stack possible, or is this only really suited for very simplistic lowpoly styles?

Are you still working on that archery game by the way?

[JoeStrout]

@Martin_H

I saw that you need a smartphone to configure it, and I don’t have such a thing and neither does my girlfriend. Do you know if it is maybe possible to do the initial setup with another non-phone android device, like a cheap amazon fire 7 tablet?

I suspect so — it’s just connecting to the headset via bluetooth (and to the internets via wifi). I don’t think it actually requires a phone per se; it’s just that they’re assuming their customers are not living in the 20th century.

How are you liking the device so far? Is there a way to get a rough idea what kind of visual and physics fidelity Unity games on that plattform can reach? I lack the experience with comparable mobile devices. Are PBR shaders and a post processing stack possible, or is this only really suited for very simplistic lowpoly styles?

I love it. It’s so frictionless — once over the initial setup (which really does take only a minute if you have a device to do it in), you literally just put the thing on your head, and you’re in. Take it off when you’re done. Getting around between apps, browsing the web, etc., is all done painlessly (except when you have to type something with an onscreen keyboard, of course, but fortunately the need for that is rare).

I don’t know yet about PBR shaders and postprocessing, but I can tell you that it can do better than low-poly. The Oculus Rooms app is very pretty:

As is the Netflix app, for that matter, which puts you in front of a big TV in a mountain lodge.

So, clearly the hardware can do it. It’s just up to the skill of the developers to make it look good.

Are you still working on that archery game by the way?

I am! But I think I’d better hurry if I want to sell to the mobile VR market, because I think that’s about to tank. When you can plop down $200 and have a much better VR solution with built-in stereo speakers and microphones, consistent image quality, and no need to take your phone out of the @#*! headset every time you want to switch apps or answer a phone call, etc… The appeal of using your phone for VR is very limited.

But, now I’m thinking about making it for Oculus Go! Because why not?

[Martin_H]

@JoeStrout

suspect so — it’s just connecting to the headset via bluetooth (and to the internets via wifi). I don’t think it actually requires a phone per se; it’s just that they’re assuming their customers are not living in the 20th century.

I was just wondering, because all of their official info always says phone, and never iOS device or Android OS device.
Carmack tweeted: “It runs all by itself, you just need to use a companion app on a cell phone to do the initial login and controller pairing setup. In the future we will probably make it possible to do the setup without a phone at all.”
That last sentence makes me hopeful that even dumbphone users like me will be able to use this at some point.

@JoeStrout

So, clearly the hardware can do it. It’s just up to the skill of the developers to make it look good.

Thanks for the examples!

@JoeStrout

I am! But I think I’d better hurry if I want to sell to the mobile VR market, because I think that’s about to tank. When you can plop down $200 and have a much better VR solution with built-in stereo speakers and microphones, consistent image quality, and no need to take your phone out of the @#*! headset every time you want to switch apps or answer a phone call, etc… The appeal of using your phone for VR is very limited.

Shouldn’t it be fairly easy to sell “cross plattform” to both Oculus Go and Gear VR users?

[JoeStrout]

@Martin_H

Shouldn’t it be fairly easy to sell “cross plattform” to both Oculus Go and Gear VR users?

Yes, apparently these are essentially the same thing (except that the Oculus Go is built all-in-one).

[Martin_H]

@JoeStrout

I suspect so — it’s just connecting to the headset via bluetooth (and to the internets via wifi). I don’t think it actually requires a phone per se;

And you were right, thank you very much :). My headset arrived today and: yes, the Oculus Go can be activated without a phone, if you have a tablet with bluetooth 4.0, wifi, and a sufficiently high OS version to run the Oculus app. Wording it like this in hopes it’ll be useful for someone googling for this, because this forum has a crazy high pagerank it seems.

I’m quite happy with most of the usability aspects, except battery chargetime and it rests uncomfortably on my Nose when I wear it. I guess my nose is slightly bigger than the spectrum they’ve designed for. And I get really visible “marks” on my face from using it. Looks like I’ve worn diving goggles for a day straight.

The controller has surprisingly low latency, but the lack of positional tracking, is really obvious to me. I’ve bought “Death Horizon” for it, and so far I’m rather underwhelmed. The aiming feels weirdly disconnected because of the limited tracking capabilities of the controller, and I can’t really get immersed in the experience. Found it rather boring to be honest. Here’s a video from a Gear VR version, so that everone knows what I’m talking about and possibly can recommend something better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEFKK8D9cqk

I was sad to find out, that I seem to have absolutely zero tollerance for “moving camera” of any kind. I had to set that zombie game to teleport.

I started to play a bit of that Mission:ISS experience, but I got sooo nauseous so quickly that I had to stop playing. Sadly that might indicate my plans of making something parcour related are better put on ice. Here’s a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRouYMsbmRU

As far as I understood it’s made by Oculus directly, so I assume this is somewhat “top tier” for the possible visual quality at the moment. Not bad for “phone hardware” I guess, but I had hoped for slightly more.
If someone is interested in these sort of things, I recommend watching videos instead of screenshots, because in videos you will notice more easily if a scene is just a 360° static skybox that is prerendered, or an actual 3D scene. I didn’t check the netflix app yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if all movie players just use these prerendered “skyboxes” for their scenery.

[JoeStrout]

They might get away with a prerendered skybox for a 3DOF headset like the Go — but the illusion would break very quickly with a 6DOF headset like the Mirage Solo, or for that matter Rift and Vive. Or the hopefully-coming-real-soon-now Santa Cruz.

Also, the Netflix screenshot above is from a different vantage point than what I’ve experienced (i.e. on the couch). Not sure how they got that, except I suspect that they’re running more or less the same app on all platforms. So, that means it’s not just a skybox.

You should give Pet Lab a try. It is an excellent example of VR game design taking full advantage of the 3DOF controller, in such a way that you hardly even notice the missing 3DOF. It’s also perfectly designed for players who are prone to motion sickness; you never move around except by teleporting through doors. And for some reason, the fact that you’re going through a door to another room feels more natural to me than teleporting from one spot to another in the same room.

[Martin_H]

@JoeStrout

You should give Pet Lab a try.

Will do for sure! I had it downloaded already, but haven’t tried it yet.

I’ve tried another zombie shooting gallery, a range shooting gallery, something that at a glance looks like a rather straight forward vr port of @Billy4184 's space combat kit ( https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/space-combat-kit-108097 ), and some others. Many of which I’ve stopped playing after like 5 seconds, because of instant nausea. And almost all of those were listed in the “comfortable” category. Seems like I can’t rely on those ratings at all.
The space game didn’t trigger it as bad as others, because you have a cockpit around you, that certainly helps. But it was still uncomfortable and I wouldn’t be able to play something like that.

All in all this VR thing really is an interesting learning experience for me as I finally see some of the issues first hand.

What I noticed in VR videos is that properly recorded binaural audio with headphones is scarily real. Like I heard a sound and it felt like someone is in my room. The games didn’t really to make use of that well. I don’t know whether that’s due to a lack of skill or resources, or because the hardware isn’t capable of advanced audio processing. I compose a bit of music every now and then, so I know that advanced audio stuff can really CPU-heavy at times. Don’t know about all the things that would go into realistic game audio though.

And another thing that surprised me is, that imho dark scenes work way better than scenes in bright daylight, because the lack of dynamic range, display flickering and screendoor effect get much more visible when you stare at something white.

If I was gonna make a horror game, I’d focus on audio and keeping many parts of the visual stage pure black, to let the imagination of players run wild.

[BIGTIMEMASTER]

Remake some of the classic kids games from before video games?

Like, don’t touch the lava. Build a fort. Jump over the cracks (in this case, the cracks are actually chasms.)

[Martin_H]

@BIGTIMEMASTER

Remake some of the classic kids games from before video games?

Like, don’t touch the lava. Build a fort. Jump over the cracks (in this case, the cracks are actually chasms.)

Motion sickness concerns aside, I think those are good ideas!

Reminds me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoXpHFd1Ngg

[Martin_H]

@JoeStrout

You should give Pet Lab a try. It is an excellent example of VR game design taking full advantage of the 3DOF controller, in such a way that you hardly even notice the missing 3DOF. It’s also perfectly designed for players who are prone to motion sickness; you never move around except by teleporting through doors. And for some reason, the fact that you’re going through a door to another room feels more natural to me than teleporting from one spot to another in the same room.

I gave it a try and fully agree! Best VR gaming experience I’ve had so far I’d say. Not quite my genre or preferred art style, but it has a good level of polish and attention to detail, works well within the confines of the medium and device, and the conversion funnel for getting people to buy it is quite elegant too imho.

I also started the Netflix app (but didn’t actually watch anything on it. I can confirm it’s actually 3D and not just a static skybox. And I had a very brief moment of real immersion there, when I had tried if the “void theater” would work while lying flat on my back in bed, and switched back to the room, where I now was lying on that virtual couch, I had a reflex to get up and start walking. I didn’t, but for a moment I was really “fully immersed” in being in that virtual room.

Edit:
I don’t wanna make a new post since it’s not that important, but I wanted to add that I’ve found the first game where you actively move through space, and it didn’t make me feel sick immediately:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/1249451151838865/
I think the secret is that acceleration is very slow, and it’s like you don’t roll or rotate ever, and instead you just look around and can apply a forward acceleration force in your look direction if you want. That slow zero-g rigidbody controller with look controls seems to be the best solution for my nausea issues so far.

@JoeStrout Maybe a simple “spacewalk” game based around your High Frontier station would be a good entry-level project that still feels connected to the big one?