Hi All,
I am starting with VR develop with Unity and I am a little confused myself.
I read in some places that VR is better for mobile than PC. I also read that GearVR is a better experience than Oculus DK2.
I am interested in making a game for PC but I have a doubt about my game develop now ( PC or Mobile)
Hopefully that the new Oculus on Q1 2016 was better than DK2,for it. Do you think that VR for mobile is the best option or should I wait to the Oculus DK3 review and then I can choose my best option?
Please let me know your opinion about this topic.
Thanks in advance
Alejandro Castan
VR on mobile, especially Google Cardboard, will most likely have a wider audience because of the lower price tag. However, the quality of PC games will be much, much higher, simply because there’s a massive tower powering the visuals, instead of a tiny handheld.
You’ll have to choose if you want to go for high graphic fidelity with better head and positional tracking, or a larger potential customer base. The good thing about Unity is that you can very easily test on all platforms, if you find yourself to be indecisive at first.
People say the GearVR is a better experience than the DK2 simply because the DK2 still has a very low resolution screen; this won’t be the case much longer. Also, FYI, there’s not going to be an Oculus DK3 - the next release will be the first consumer model.
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Hi Thomas,
First thanks for your advice.
On the other hand, my project is focussed for PC for it, my best option is VR for this platform.
So, What VR device should I buy? The new Oculus DK3 or HTC Vive? Are there any other PC VR device option?
Thanks again
Does Oculus DK3 even exists?
I did not think so. I mean when it is available.
That I cannot answer - I have not seen the consumer grade Vive or Oculus, so I can’t compare the two. There will be a plethora of reviews and comparisons once both are available to the public however, so you’ll definitely get plenty of advice on the internet.
There’s quite a few more VR headsets in development, most of them lesser known. Each has their own strong points - a wider FOV, eye tracking, etc. I don’t doubt that Unity will support each of them when the time comes.
Which brings me to my next point: unless you develop especially with a unique feature in mind (like the Vive’s “room scale” VR), Unity will allow you to build for all available headsets without having to change any code or assets. This opens up your game to many more people, instead of just Oculus owners, for instance. And if you are developing for the different headsets, you will have to purchase each of them so you can test your game on them. So the answer to your question would be: all of the above. If you’re just doing the project in your spare time, start out with the one you like the best and move on from there.
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Hi Thomas Mountainborn,
First, thanks for your advice.
On the other hand and since I am new in VR assets develop and my english is little, you told me about the following
unless you develop especially with a unique feature in mind (like the Vive’s “room scale” VR)
For it, my question was How I could make Vive’s “room scale” VR? With 3D Max or Maya?
Finally and if I understood well, Did you tell me that if I make VR assets like Vive’s “room scale” VR, and then I use them in Unity, they are compatible with all VR headsets?
Thanks for your support… it is very important for me, to take my best choices…
Alejandro
Another interesting way could be to run the game on a pc and stream it to the mobile…
Needs very fast WLAN or USB tethering.
I’ll explain in some more detail. I meant to say that some VR headsets offer more features than others. The Oculus for instance is meant to be used while sitting down only. With the Vive on the other hand, you can walk around in an entire room while wearing the headset, in such a way that it looks to you like you are actually walking in the game world. This is what the HTC marketing department calls “room scale VR”, because it takes place in a room instead of on a chair. Other headsets, like the FOVE, track the user’s eyes, so you can create games based around this feature.
So it comes down to this: Unity supports (or will support) many different VR headsets, and if you don’t use a feature that only works for a specific headset, you can build your game for all headsets without changing anything, opening your game up for many people. But ultimately the decision should be made on what best suits your vision, your idea for a game, not on the potential market.
I’m sure Oculus (what with the GearVR) and the other companies also considered this, and if you Google around a bit you will find existing apps, but none that meet the required FPS and visual fidelity for a properly good experience as far as I can make out.
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My 2 cents (somehow half of this post got erased):
Each format (PC/high-end vs. mobile/low-end) have their benefits and drawbacks:
- PC - such as Oculus (or Console, via Sony/Morpheus) gets hardcore gamers excited, because it is obviously going to have better graphics due to better CPU and GPU power. HOWEVER, despite the superior graphics, I don’t think it necessarily translates to a better overall VR experience. Graphics aren’t everything (consider the success of Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and Minecraft)
A problem is that the Oculus is tethered to the computer with a wire; in other words, you can’t just get up and walk around. So it basically keeps the same old paradigm of “seated gameplay”… some people get excited about running around an FPS in VR but it’s really not a very enjoyable experience, when you are controlling your movement via mouse or controller… it is very unnatural, and causes vertigo/nausea. On the other hand, it is a great system for things where you are going to remain seated in the VR world, such as piloting a vehicle – spacecraft, racecar, flight sim, etc.
The Vive attempts to eliminate this a bit by having room-movement capabilities, but I still think this is limited, because (a) not everybody will have a designated space to use for this purpose, and (b) it only works well for certain types of games. Again, you can’t go running around an expansive world; you are confined to moving in a small space. It is more like the VR version of a Wii or Kinect – good for games like dancing and kickboxing, perhaps skiing simulators, etc.
But in any case, I believe this VR market is going to be harder to penetrate, and less marketable. Although hardcore gamers will spend a lot of money on their rigs, there are a lot fewer of them – they do not represent the majority of people. And that’s who’s going to be willing to go for this experience, when it costs $1000 or so for the basic desktop PC you need, plus $400 (?) for the VR headset…
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On the other end of the spectrum you’ve got Google Cardboard, which has a lot of buzz and hype simply because it’s so cheap and accessible, being only like $5 (really more like $20 if you want to get a comfortable one with straps and molded plastic) and working on just about any smartphone, which most people have. But, you get what you pay for. Cardboard is a “neat trick” – it’s amazing what you can do with $5 worth of cardboard and a phone, so it has “bang for the buck” value… but it is not a true VR experience. There are a few reasons for this: (a) Cardboard relies on the phone’s built-in sensors. This eats up processor, as well as causing lag/latency, which is jarring, uncomfortable, and sometimes nauseating; and (b) since it works on just about any phone, you have to design for the “lowest common denominator”, which means ie. you have to make the graphics pretty basic and bad.
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The Samsung/Oculus Gear VR, on the other hand, is a halfway point between these two. The official consumer release is only $99 – about $80 more than Cardboard, but hundreds less than Oculus Rift (even more when you factor in the computer price.) At that price, you also get a built-in touchpad controller and, more importantly, built-in dedicated sensors so that it doesn’t rely on the phone’s built-in one… this essentially eliminates lag and make the experience way more smooth and seamless. And, since it’s restricted to only newest-gen Samsung phones, this ensures better processing and resolution specs (allowing for better graphics than Cardboard)
And, of course, get the untethered mobility like Cardboard (this also frees up ability to interact with games by turning your body, and possibly even using wearable. Hint: I’m almost finished developing a cool one right now)
The bottom line is that, in my opinion, it is the best of both worlds. The drawback? It only works on newest-gen Samsung phones… this, again, limits your audience (but I believe it is still a much larger market than hardcore expensive-machine PC gamers; of course, it eliminates iPhone users, but they get what they bargained for because they chose style over substance)
Moral of the story: I am developing for all of the above, and find the Gear VR style solution to be the best of both worlds; graphics aren’t as good as PC, but graphics aren’t the whole story when it comes to VR… if you have great graphics but have to use a controller to run around some FPS (which, in turn, causes vertigo and nausea), it defeats the purpose.
I think, in the long run, mobile VR is going to be the winning platform, from a business perspective.
Of course, it would get even better if iPhone users could be brought on-board, but knowing Apple’s closed-system, proprietary approach to things, they will only do that via their own “Apple VR” system at some point, which they will market as “Revolutionary” and “Magical”, and it will only cause even more fragmentation in the market, and more difficulty for developers…
In the meantime… I personally plan to develop for all of the above, but with more of a focus on mobile, and with a consideration (and warning sticker) that, right now, Gear VR users will get a much better version of the experience than Cardboard ones will (but I am still going to release low-spec versions for Cardboard, to get the broadest user base possible)
So, if your question is about which device/platform? I say mobile will end up winning for sheer number of users.
If your question is about IDE… well, I say Unity, because it’s so easy to cross-platform. I know a lot of people are buying into Unreal, and it’s true it has some great graphics capabilities in certain ways… but I would really only look into that for PC/console development; I simply don’t think mobile’s going to be able to handle it (not right now, anyway); plus, there’s a pretty great assortment of ready-made assets that are available for Unity at reasonable prices, whereas there are very few in Unreal (and they tend to significantly more expensive)
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PS. I bought Gear VR first, thinking I could use it to do dev. You can, theoretically, but it’s a pain.
So then I bought a DK1, used… why not a DK2? Simple: I didn’t feel like spending $400 when I could get the DK1 for $100 and still be able to test and build my games just fine (yes, the screen door effect and refresh are annoying on the DK1; it’s not a great experience, but for development it works fine, and allows you to tweak the game and experience very easily, as opposed to developing for Cardboard or directly into the Gear VR; you still have to test those in-phone for performance specs and tweaking, but the game basics and user experience can be fixed and adjusted first by testing directly with Oculus)
Vive is probably only worth it if, as mentioned above, you plan on doing something specific to that system (ie. sensing body movements – but then, this type of game won’t translate cross-platform to Oculus or mobile. So, unless you have a truly amazing idea, I’d skip it for now.)
I wouldn’t bother with DK2 at all, considering consumer edition is set for release in just a couple months (Q1 2016) – get a cheap used DK1 off of eBay or something if you are in a rush to do dev, or wait for consumer edition Oculus.
And get the new consumer-edition $99 Gear VR if you can (especially if you have a Samsung Galaxy line phone…)
Plus one of those $20 plastic molded Cardboard headsets (via eBay or AliExpress; some “brands” are Ritech or VRBox)
Then you’re good to go and you can test for both Oculus and mobile, without spending too much money at all… (total cost for all of the above is about $200)
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Hi guru20
Your advice is very useful for me ! Thanks a lot.
On the other hands, I would like to tell you some more about my game project( and my dream). It is an Educational game to learn English. I am working with it since a long time and it is a mix between an Adventure and Real Life game. My idea is that the game simulate the life scenary like if the gamer is into English environment. As example the real like I could say you the Sims 4. (Hope you can understand what I want to say you)
Since it has complex features like Multiplayer, Voice Recognition and commands voice, interactivity with the game objects scene, Simulation scenary, etc. For that reason, I choosed the PC like main platform and also I am thinnking in adding VR features to do more attractive.
I was thinking also use Hololens(AR) to add it to my project but like the game is a Virtual Scenary, I could not find how add this AR feature to my game since that I do not know how mix a game with Real Life scenary.
I am also researching to see if I could make it for mobile devices. I have read that Gear VR is a mix AR/VR experience. Is it true?
For it and if you would have to develop a game similar to my project and if you main objective is building a tool to learn English
1-Would you choose the PC environment to make it or try to make for mobile?
2- Would you add VR features by Oculus, Cardboard headset or Gear VR?
3- If you choosed the PC environment, and you would want give access to many people to use this game,
4- Did you use Cardboard headset to add VR experience? Do you think that this device would add any value to the game or not?
If you have has some other idea, I am willing to hear it.
One more time
Thanks for your help !
Cheers
Alejandro
Ps. Sorry for my little english
I am a teacher (in addition to being developer), so I’m all for educational apps. I actually have one (also related to literacy) in my pipeline, but… one game at a time! 
So, if you are are trying to simulate a real world as realistically as possible, PC will be the way to go. And your game/app would probably be okay as an Oculus experience, although it might benefit from being able to turn around full 360 (not easy to do on PC/Oculus)
Ideally, AR sounds better for what you are trying to do, but it’s not as widespread yet and has a whole different type of programming involved (ie. A lot of real-time image recognition required)
GearVR won’t allow you to have as realistic graphics as PC, but like I said you can turn all the way around any direction easily. Good news is that developing for GearVR in Unity is exactly the same as doing it for Oculus… so you can just develop the app once, but you’ll probably want lower graphics (via lower-poly LODs, lower textures, different compression, fewer light/shadow/particle effects, and probably differenr shaders)
Developing for Cardboard has a few extra steps. You need the lower quality graphical elements, but also have to use special Cardboard scripts and gameobjects to make it work.
On mobile, it won’t be a very realistic view – you’d probably want to go for a more basic stylized or cartoonish effect. On the other hand, you can get a lot of users if you release on Cardboard…
Ps. Gear MIGHT be able to do AR, but isn’t really designed as such. It does have pass-through access to the camera, though… search these forums, somebody else had a thread about it
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Hi guru20,
Thanks for your advice ! They are very useful for me.
According to say me, AR would be usefull for me but there are some features that I would like to make but I cannot do it with AR( for example command voice).
Maybe I could do a mix with AR and VR but to be honest with you, I have not idea if I could do it or until now my best option would it be PC/Oculus.
Thanks one more time and good luck with your educational app develop !
Cheers
Alejandro