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Cymatic
Up and Coming
April 1, 2013

UDK + Razer Hydra

Hey VR Heads!

Just a general heads up, I am documenting my progress developing with UDK, including adding support for the Razer Hydra:

http://cymaticsoftware.wordpress.com/

You can follow my blog posts to get the gist of it, but I plan to make proper tutorial pages that are a bit more readable.

Information about adding Hydra support to UDK is a bit sparse and spread across several forums, so I am trying to gather all that info in one place and present it in a way that is beginner-friendly. Hopefully my efforts will make it easier for others in the future.

So far, I have basic Hydra functionality: Pawn movement, actions bound to buttons (Jump, fire, crouch), and mouse look tied to controller position. I am currently working on getting the controller position tied to the skeletal mesh, specifically the arms and hands.

Let's learn together!

--Bruce

    12 replies

    CCP4
    New Participant
    April 1, 2013
    I'm tempted to pick up the Hydra.

    How have you found Rift + Hydra compared to Rift + keyboard?
    CymaticAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 1, 2013
    Haven't got a chance to try the Rift yet, I expect my dev kit to arrive in the next batch. I will definitely post comparisons between Hydra, controller, and keyboard once my kit comes in.

    I can say that using the Hydra is very comfortable, and the positioning data is incredibly accurate, barring interference. I played through the entire special edition of Portal 2 with the Hydra, and was very pleased.

    I believe Hydra + Rift will be superior to keyboard if implemented correctly. Sixense (developers of the Hydra) made a Rift demo that they will be releasing soon, and word has it that if feels incredibly natural. Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07IwxUD8N8E
    Dev Relations @ AltSpaceVR - VC Funded VR Startup. Now Hiring! Co-organizer, Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) - Monthly meetups, SVVR Expo. Contributor, Road To VR - #1 VR News Site. VR Evangelist - VR Impressions & discussions.
    defactoman
    Participant
    April 1, 2013
    I have the Hydra and had been struggling a little bit with the UDK implementation. I really appreciate your documentation/work in progress.
    BlackFang
    Up and Coming
    April 1, 2013
    I haven't got my Rift in yet, but I have put up a decent amount of code for integrating Hydras into UDK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73v1YczSZdk
    http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/937 ... o-go/page2
    The Hydras are uber-superior to mouse/keyboard as long as you can devise an input configuration that suits the situation. My code is free for anyone to use. I look forward to participating in the forums more once I get my Rift. If you don't have Hydras, you can find them on Ebay for about $60 now, also on Amazon if you have Prime.
    I complain a lot. Just think of me as a squeaky wheel lol. Youtube channel -> https://www.youtube.com/user/xblBlackFang/videos
    CymaticAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 1, 2013
    "BlackFang" wrote:
    I haven't got my Rift in yet, but I have put up a decent amount of code for integrating Hydras into UDK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73v1YczSZdk
    http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/937 ... o-go/page2
    The Hydras are uber-superior to mouse/keyboard as long as you can devise an input configuration that suits the situation. My code is free for anyone to use. I look forward to participating in the forums more once I get my Rift. If you don't have Hydras, you can find them on Ebay for about $60 now, also on Amazon if you have Prime.


    Yeah BlackFang!! I can't appreciate you enough! You are awesome!

    I'm subscribed to your YouTube, just downloaded that dual aiming action you put up. I will be checking it out soon, for sure. Glad to see you in the Rift community!
    Dev Relations @ AltSpaceVR - VC Funded VR Startup. Now Hiring! Co-organizer, Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) - Monthly meetups, SVVR Expo. Contributor, Road To VR - #1 VR News Site. VR Evangelist - VR Impressions & discussions.
    cybereality
    Inspiring
    April 5, 2013
    Nice man! I really love the Hydra. I think it's making a comeback.
    AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | MSI X370 Titanium | G.Skill 16GB DDR4 3200 | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 | Corsair Hydro H110i Gigabyte RX Vega 64 x2 | Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB | Seagate FireCuda SSHD 2TB | Phanteks ENTHOO EVOLV
    BlackFang
    Up and Coming
    April 5, 2013
    Yeah, Sixense is now working on a modelling app designed for them, so an increase in Hydra exclusive software will help to get people to adopt them. Make sure you guys check my Youtube / UDK forums every now and then. I have made some more changes to the code and will upload a new version soon. Still excitedly awaiting my Rift.
    I complain a lot. Just think of me as a squeaky wheel lol. Youtube channel -> https://www.youtube.com/user/xblBlackFang/videos
    AgentElrond
    Participant
    April 5, 2013
    Thanks for the blog link! I just received my Hydra this morning, and downloaded the Oculus UDK version yesterday, so hopefully we can get Hydra integration working.
    BlackFang
    Up and Coming
    April 7, 2013
    I just posted a little touch-up to some of the motion recognition functions, like if you wanted to bind an action to a downward flick. It makes a guess every tick then goes with the one that appears most often out of the last 20. Very stable.
    I complain a lot. Just think of me as a squeaky wheel lol. Youtube channel -> https://www.youtube.com/user/xblBlackFang/videos
    Taedalus
    New Participant
    April 9, 2013
    Thank you Bruce and BlackFang!

    Two fellow students and me chipped in together to buy the Rift/Hydra and we're in the (slow) process of building a little game using the combination of those and the UDK.

    Even with a bit of prior experience in IT, it's not that easy to pick up the knowledge required for this kind of project. Your work here is really appreciated :)

    Cheers,
    Felix
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