Help understanding changes requested by Submissions team

[Fulby]

My game demo for Starfighter Arduxim for the Gear VR has been reviewed by the Oculus Store submissions team who said I need to make changes but I don't understand what they're requiring. I've replied on the support ticket but haven't had a response yet so was hoping someone here could help. Here are the points the submission email listed:

> The app gameplay goes against our best practices by having all elements
locked to head look. This is uncomfortable to users.

I don't understand what they mean by 'all elements'. They can't mean every
object in the game, as these aren't locked to head look. Maybe they mean UI
elements, however the only UI elements locked to head look are:

* Tool tip display. I can make this stationary with
respect to the UI element it's for if that is what this issue is
referring to.

* The radar/scanner on the cockpit of the fighter. This is very
similar to the radar End Space has and to the one in EVE: Valkyrie on
the Rift.

> The game must utilize a user's head movement for directional input

I don't follow what they mean by this - End Space does not
utilize head movement for directional input, and several other games
such as Minecraft and Dreadhalls utilize head movement only for
direction facing, then use a gamepad for directional movement and
optionally for direction facing. My game is an in-cockpit shooter where you look around the cockpit while using a gamepad to steer and control the fighter's speed.

Videos and screenshots are available on the game's website if a demonstration helps.

I don't have a developer relations contact to ask about these - how do I go about getting one?

Thanks,

Fulby

[cybereality]

So, unfortunately, the developer relations team doesn't have to bandwidth to personally work with every single developer. However, I can try to help you here on the forum.

Basically, you should try to tweak your game so that it's closer to the other games that have been already launched on the Oculus Store.

There is also a lot of information in the best practices documentation that may give you some idea on what is expected and what will be comfortable for users. Hope that helps.

https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/intro-vr/latest/concepts/book-bp/

[Fulby]

Thanks for the response @cybereality. My game is an in-cockpit space shooter so similar to End Space on Gear VR or EVE: Valkyrie on Rift. Some differences are:

Speed in Starfighter Arduxim is directly controlled by the user, while End Space has a set speed and boost/slow buttons. Arduxim could be less comfortable (I've tried to limit discomfort by having a fairly enclosed cockpit so the player has a fixed reference point at all times). However I can't see how the submission team's statements could refer to this. I'm not sure how speed works in EVE but I think it's 'traditional' like Arduxim.

Guns are fixed to fire forward in Arduxim but are gaze locked in End Space, though End Space had an option added after release to have them fixed to face forward. In EVE they are fixed to fire forward. The submission team's statements don't seem to apply to this, unless they mean the direction of the guns has to follow head movement?

Head look is used to lock on to targets before firing guided missiles (similar to both End Space and EVE: Valkyrie) if the requirement is "some gameplay mechanism needs to make use of the user's gaze".

I tried to ensure I followed the best practices during development and checked it against my game before submission. My control scheme is the same as what is referred to as 'tank mode' in this page of the best practices, which doesn't mention guns having to be head locked, so should be acceptable?

[kojack]

I just watched the videos... I don't see anything in this game that is different to the way Elite Dangerous works in VR. Looking around a 3d cockpit, flying using some form of controller, shooting forwards (not head aimed). Nothing out of the ordinary there. I'm not sure why it needs changes to be accepted.

Looks cool by the way. 🙂

[Fulby]

Thank kojack. Cyberreality has enabled the test channels for the app so if you want to have a play of the demo (and if you can see the problem, even better) I can add you to the beta channel. If you're interested send me your Oculus account username.

[AJ_Soto]

I'd love to try your game, my username is sotoabraham, I will provide feedback.

[Fulby]

Cheers @sotoabraham, you should be able to see the demo in your oculus app now.

[AJ_Soto]

I downloaded it, after work today I'll play it and then follow up with you with some feedback. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try it out!

[AJ_Soto]

I came home and was super excited to put on my Gear VR today!  I told you I'd follow up and here I am!  First off, what an immersive experience!  Letting me test out my controls, control configuration, a manual, demo explanation, talking guy on my right with the text, cool HUD that drops down from above for time warp.  I was blown away!  Had to check the credits, did you do this all yourself with just the listed assets from the assets store?  Do you have a day job?  How long have you been working on this?!  Great Job! 

Ok.  Here are the things I noticed.  Dramatically varying framerate, some zones felt live! Others felt like they dropped to movies framerates, both occasions playable but may be better to either get lower framerate zones to come up or lock framerates down to the lowest framerate as its just slightly weird feeling.

When you test controls on the ship on the right in the beginning, I flew it and it got stuck behind the menu, not a big deal but thought you should know. 

I remember you saying that Oculus said something was up with head-locking or something? Either way, I experience and awkward "feeling" that might be locking when bumping into enemies, my head feels locked and its like I'm momentarily paralyzed, the feeling is strange, If that what they were referring to, you could address it and maybe you'll be good to go!!

Hope it gets approved next time around, its super awesome, thanks for letting me play!  BTW if you get approved to get keys only, private message me so we can put you on OculusKeys.com

[Fulby]

Thanks for the feedback @sotoabraham. Yes it's just me and the asset store. I've been working on it during evenings and weekends since February.

What phone do you have and what graphics settings did you have enabled?

To be accepted the app needs to run at 60fps consistently, you're not allowed to lock it down to a lower framerate. I have an S6 and checked the game with a built in fps counter so I'm surprised the framerate is varying dramatically. Which areas of the tutorial or missions caused the slow down?

There's a button to reset the position of the ship used for testing controls. It's on the gui panel in front of the ship's default position.

There are freezes during level loads but I haven't noticed any when bumping into enemies. I'll check this tonight.