Can't Make the Helicopter Take Off -   No matter how fast I pedal or what buttons I press, I'm grounded!  Although sometimes when firing a missile I'll get a very small, brief lift.. but then it's right back down.  I tried restarting, exiting to the menu and then launching River Run again,  no luck.

We're going to be updating Play and Explorer a lot to deserve your VZfit hardware license!

Our dev team has a history of making ambitious videogames with "agile" methods, which means we plan and execute over short periods of time, then release and repeat based on feedback and new developments. Typically those periods are 3 weeks, but they have ranged from 2 weeks to 2 months.  

For each release we consider our heading with the project, your usage behavior, and your ideas on this forum. Then we decide the things that can make a cohesive improvement to the game, and pick a target release date. In the past our goals have included chasing VR platforms and adapting our games to different environments and customers, but that has all converged with VZfit so now the focus is keeping you riding!

We want to share our plans for each release so you can anticipate what's coming when.  The next one should be in 3-4 weeks and will give you the tools to provide great new rides to each other, so at the end of your current ride there will always be another great place to go. That includes

- An expanded definition of rides with navigation to endpoints
- Easier creation of rides, with voice and prep you can do on vzfit.com
- Sharing rides and see how much they are ridden
- Finding rides by newness, popularity, and recommendations
- Tracking and promoting your fitness accomplishments

We also plan smaller improvements like HUD height adjustment, workout goals on the HUD not just trainer, new VO for when the trainer wants you to push, and some tips you've suggested.

We'll be using these tools ourselves to suggest rides continuously, but the world is a huge place and we hope you will share the places that only you know about. And remember this is only the first release plan of many to come.

EDIT: You can now see all update notes at virzoom.com/updates

Obviously not asking for myself, since I'm enjoying the privilege of a lifetime Hardware License.   But I'm curious, and this would be good to know when promoting VirZoom to friends.

Question 1:  Will there be any kind of discounted Full-Year subscription plans for the hardware license?  The option to save money with a long-term commitment might be attractive to some people, and ensure they keep getting back on those bikes, to get the most out of their subscription.  On a single-month subscription, someone might be tempted to take time off between subscription periods.  Presumably the reason a lot of streaming video services started offering longer-term plans,  but with exercise it might be harder to get back into once someone has decided to stop.

Question 2:  When someone buys a new VZ Sensor Kit, does it come with any sort of Trial Period,  IE a free month or so of hardware license?   I think that even a single free month would improve the perceived value (Or rather, NOT having a free trial period raises the perceived initial cost of the product to $115.  Probably not a big deal, but consumers can be real finicky when it comes to perceived value).   It would definitely put the purchaser's mind at ease, knowing they have a period to see if they like using VZ Fit before they commit to a subscription.   Might also make people slightly more inclined to buy the kits new rather than second-hand, when available.

You state that the original VIRzoom bike can be used with some of the VZfit apps but I can find no help on how to set it up.
I see an instruction manual for the kit but nothing for the original bike.

I cannot even find the apps when searching for them in the oculus store.

If someone could point me to a setup page or provide a post here in this forum on how to set it up I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Losing speed when drafting:    I remember this bug from the last time I played, back on VirZoom Arcade.   Sometimes when drafting another rider, my speed slows down to a maximum of ~64, regardless of how fast I pedal  (and with the RPMs clearly visible in the overhead menu, I know my pedaling speed is being tracked correctly).   As soon as I break out of the draft, my speed rockets up to the appropriate level for how I'm pedaling.

Overhead Menu Disappears when Emoting:  After sending an emote or a speech blurb, the overhead menu disappears for a while. I assume this is so that you can see your own emote / blurb when it goes up into the air, but I couldn't see them anyways.  Either way, the menu could stand to reappear a bit sooner.

Speech Blurbs Mirrored in Menu:  !olleH  !tsud ym taE   !tuo kooL   ...  *ahem* All the text is mirrored horizontally in the speech-blurb menu. 

When you go off course, you REALLY go off course:   Just to see if it was the same as in VirZoom Arcade, I tried biking off-road.  Sure enough, after a few seconds the view faded out and it reset me (and all the NPC bikers in front of me) ... but instead of being placed gently back on the road, it put me and the NPCs slightly UNDER the map, lol.  After that point we were stuck in an endless cycle of falling for a few seconds, getting reset back to the same point underneath the map, and repeating.   Pretty funny, actually, but not very conducive to finishing the race. 

Just fired up the new VZ Fit Play app for the first time,  and my classic VirZoom bike was detected.. but now it just says "Activate your bike ( [code] ) at VZfit.com/account"

But I don't see a place on my account page to do that? 

We'll be live-streaming with the Oculus Go on VirZOOM's Facebook Page, to commemorate the VZfit Sensor Kit launch.

Hope you can join us, and afterward that will be the place to see footage of VZfit Play and Explorer and the things you can do with them!

Spring seems right around the corner here in New England, so we're celebrating with a VZfit Play Event called "Pedalsephone".  Persephone was the goddess of spring, who our lead artist Pete Mac has envisioned riding VirZOOM on our Events Page.

Events are global leaderboards for all VZfit riders around a certain game, time period, and scoring method.  This event is for Le Tour, goes until the end of April, and is based on game score (pure spins and time are the other options).

Tips on scoring in Le Tour:
1. You get coins for going through each gate in the time alloted, which you can see ticking down on your handlebars. 
2. Each gate also has a bonus challenge such as passing a number of riders, hitting a top speed, or holding a speed.

We don't factor in your bike resistance or difficulty.  What's most important is that you get a workout, so if you make those too easy you're only cheating yourself  

We're awarding a $100 gift certificate to the rider with the most accumulated score at the end, so get out there!

Let us know what you've done with the VZfit SDK here!

It's the same core code used by VZfit Play and Explorer, so we're happy to describe how those work.

I decided to try the Explorer again.  This time I increased the difficulty to deal with my motion distress (as was suggested--thank you) and also changed the view so that I was above the rider and both of these helped greatly.  (so far unable to recreate sinkhole reported before)

I had a few issues with one of the suggested rides and tried to get a picture on the Oculus Go, but I can’t seem to switch controllers and get the app resumed and centered before the time limit for the photo.   A feature to snap a photo within the app would help.  When I take the Oculus off to try to write down where I am, the thing often sleeps or closes the app.  (I am a newbie, so I am open to tips here.)

I started the Localita Pian da Lago ride in Italy with a female trainer and changed to the view looking down on a female cyclist.  We crossed a few intersections where the white dots led in more than one direction and each time I picked the road where the trainer went.

The location where I stopped was 46.50935, 12.15117.  Right before this (near the end of the car park), my trainer appeared to be leading me off a cliff.  Right as we went over the edge, pavement appeared below us and a narrow road just ahead of us (rendering delay?).  Phew!  However, now my trainer was embedded in a rock retaining wall, but what a trooper!  She kept pedaling.  ;-) Forward motion for both of us ceased.  I could move left and right by tilting, but not forward by pedaling.

I paused and resumed, changed the views to get my trainer back and she was now no longer in the wall and was able to move out ahead of me, but I was still unable to move forward.  I closed and restarted the app and the issue persisted. Restarted the Oculus and the issue persisted.