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[WIP] Rocket Falls

HappySlice
Honored Guest
A Jet-Pack Based Multiplayer First-Person Shooter




The concept
There are some good games and experiences for the DK2 and GearVR, but when I first heard of the Oculus Rift, I thought of my favorite genre as a PC gamer, the first-person shooter.
HL2 and TF2 are great for about 15 minutes, but the control schemes are not designed well for VR. No game has really come along to fill the gaping void for this user base of FPS fans. So, I decided to make the game that I would want to play, and I've been more than satisfied with the results.

Rocket Falls borrows from all over. It is inspired by Quake, Tanaurs, and countless Half-Life modifications, but trying to be as objective as I can be, I believe the sum of its parts offers something truly different. And the few VR "LAN parties" I've had the pleasure to have during testing have been the most fun I've had in a long time.

Developing the controls
A lot of the development of this has been creating a control scheme. I had to find a control scheme which worked for both a FPS and for a flight simulation type game. There seems to be a five minute learning curve to flying the jetpack, which is fair, because someone picking up Call of Duty or Halo for the first time has that same curve, plus the precision aiming of the right stick which takes forever to master. Aiming with the HMD lowers the slope of the learning curve to be not as steep, after learning how to use the jetpack.

Forcing the player to use iron-sights to shoot makes aiming feel so fun and intuitive. The iron-sights makes aiming feel like a "cheek weld" instead aiming with your face. Also, the ability to switch eyes makes it comfortable for anyone (I'm in the left-eye dominant minority).

Testing
I am new to any type of multiplayer/network programming, but it has been a fun learning process. My brother and I (and my unity editor as a third client) have tested the code. I really wish there was an easier way to test with many different clients than actually testing with real players.
I would like to have a more robust server implementation in with map rotations, passwords, custom time limits, etc -- but I am not sure if I will have time to do it before the jam is over.

To do list
- A swivel-chair mode. Making sure the default control scheme felt good took enough time. I took a crack at a swivel chair mode, but with aiming and turning in air, I ran into some difficulties. It worked great on the ground, but made flying impossible. I'd need more time to test different implementations. This is a huge priority because I think the GearVR shows how awesome 1:1 turning schemes can be in VR.
- More animations including IK or something to convey aiming direction.
- Lightmapping doesn't work on my machine (the fact that it is a dinosaur from 2007 with only 4GB RAM probably has a part to play in this), but lightmapping would make the levels look so much nicer, and convey better scale from the massive shadows.
- More maps and game modes.
- More robust server browser
- In-room "event messages" ("HappySlice Joined Blue Team", "HappySlice forced eggbert to crater")
- Persistent player stats

I have had a lot of fun making this, and I hope people have as much fun playing it as I have had with the small group of people I've tested with.

Here are some 1v1 gameplay videos recorded a few days ago:










Here is the link to the ChallengePost page http://vrjam.challengepost.com/submissions/36186-rocket-falls

6 REPLIES 6

Gerald
Expert Protege
looks interesting, but the rotating the player looks like it might get you some massive penalty on the comfort rating. I am not even sure I want to try it seeing the video (I am sure some will react the exact opposite!).
check out my Mobile VR Jam 2015 title Guns N' Dragons

HappySlice
Honored Guest
It hasn't bothered the few people I've tested with. The spinning is so exaggerated and crazy that I think it jumps the gap of "is this real?" But I only have a small sample-size of testers.
I'll probably be removing the torque, but I figured I'd go as extreme as possible on the first pass to test the limits.

Gerald
Expert Protege
stuff like that makes me uncomfortable in a few seconds and then I close my eyes and take the headset off. but everyone is different ... I break the rules myself on comfort, so we shall see how they rate it.
check out my Mobile VR Jam 2015 title Guns N' Dragons

spinaljack
Protege
This looks hilarious but I agree that the out of control spinning is probably a bit much.

HappySlice
Honored Guest
"spinaljack" wrote:
This looks hilarious but I agree that the out of control spinning is probably a bit much.


The spinning actually looks worse in the low FPS youtube video than it does through the HMD. That being said, I'll probably just add force to the rigidbody and not force at point (effectively taking away the torque/spinning).

It is my opinion that VR is here to create convincing experiences, not comfortable experiences. Yeah, you have to draw a line so people aren't making software that deliberately makes people feel sick, but I'm going to hazard a guess that flying around in a jetpack is not as comfortable as sitting in a reclining chair playing candy crush.

HomerS66
Expert Protege
Hi, tried to play this game but couldnt get past the start screen. Couldnt select or push a button with the Touchpad nor with the Samsung Gamepad. Did i miss something or is only another gamepad like Moga Pro supported atm?

(Note 4, Kitkat)