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05-01-2019, 06:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-01-2019, 06:34 PM by emalafeew.)
We love Keep Flying too, but it feels a bit weird without all the trees (which we haven't been able to afford so far on the Go) to give each apple and gem a visual base. They provide a sort of "game reason" for the apples and gems to be there, and also help orient you to capture them--the airborne gems in Gem Hunt have always been a bit harder to capture without that base.
Adding a dogfighting capability to Pegasus as another level would definitely cost less, and would be the first place we'd start. I didn't say much when the idea first came up, but have concerns from having spent a couple years experience making cockpit jet trainers. One is that dogfighting at high speeds means that everyone is the size of a dot except for the 2 seconds when they rush past you, and then everyone is turning as hard as they can to try to get on someone's tail, which is a recipe for VR discomfort. At slower speeds it can be great in VR, as Elite: Dangerous shows, but the acceleration and turning rate in that game is still way less than Keep Flying. I think we'd prop up an initial prototype using Pegasus to see how everyone feels about it.
Regarding cost and time, on average it took us 2-3 months to develop each game level of the original VirZOOM Arcade, depending on how much iteration and new features it had. It then took us more time to port to other platforms (which won't be an issue going forward) and a one-time redesign of all the games for the new VZfit flow. We don't expect more payment than everyone's monthly or yearly subscription to make new games, but definitely like hearing what people want most, and also want to make games that appeal to new VZfit users!
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I should mention another "group sports" idea we've had, which is basically Rocket League with Tanks. RL itself is way too fast for first-person VR, but using Tanks to shoot a ball around and through goalposts with teams of players worked great in a prototype we tried.
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05-03-2019, 10:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-03-2019, 10:30 AM by emalafeew.)
We also made a standalone Tank battle game for Six Flags on the GearVR, that could be updated to the VZfit platform. It supported up to 4 players in match mode, like head-to-head in VZfit, not drop-in/drop-out like VirZOOM Arcade. The first player in was leader that waited for up to 3 more players and started everyone when ready. Tank is our most popular multiplayer game, and we could probably add modes like Rocket League ball scoring to that quicker than anything else.
*Note the Go has a bit more power than our GearVR baseline, and should be able to support more players.
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Color me intrigued! I'm curious how this "Rocket League with Tanks" worked, exactly?
Was it like, you drive into the ball to "pick it up", and then launch it when you hit the fire button? And like, if someone on the opposing team shoots you, you get stunned and also drop the ball?
Or was it like, you shoot at the ball itself, and your shots knock it around? With the angle you hit it at determining what direction it goes, kinda like pool / billiards, if you played with a gun instead of a cue?
... Either sounds like a lot of fun, honestly.
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05-03-2019, 11:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-03-2019, 11:03 PM by emalafeew.)
We tried it the first way, but think the second way might have more action and be the best blend of motion/aiming/scoring for teams. You'd get more oomph from shooting a ball closer to you, and we also thought about letting you exchange pedaling energy to rev up your gun instead of moving.
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Hi. A question, a suggestion and a comment:
As you may recall I am Techno challenged so it's possible this feature exists but I haven't found it.
Q:Is there an easy way to switch from VZPlay to VZExplore? When I finish a game in Play I sometimes want to go for a relaxing countryside ride but the only way I've found to get from one VZ to the other is to totally shut down everything and start fresh. I use Oculus GO if that makes a difference.
Suggestion: I had to change the battery in the sensor and found it a bit of a challenge to get it open. Don't know if there's something else that might work besides those 2 little tabs on the side?
Comment: I've tried all the various motivations to get in the exercise I need - you name it, I've tried it - but yours actually works! I look forward to getting in a ride. It's the first thing I do when I get home after work - hit the bike. Thank you!!!
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05-12-2019, 01:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-12-2019, 01:13 PM by emalafeew.)
(05-11-2019, 04:39 PM)MaryMerry Wrote: Hi. A question, a suggestion and a comment:
As you may recall I am Techno challenged so it's possible this feature exists but I haven't found it.
Q:Is there an easy way to switch from VZPlay to VZExplore? When I finish a game in Play I sometimes want to go for a relaxing countryside ride but the only way I've found to get from one VZ to the other is to totally shut down everything and start fresh. I use Oculus GO if that makes a difference.
Suggestion: I had to change the battery in the sensor and found it a bit of a challenge to get it open. Don't know if there's something else that might work besides those 2 little tabs on the side?
Comment: I've tried all the various motivations to get in the exercise I need - you name it, I've tried it - but yours actually works! I look forward to getting in a ride. It's the first thing I do when I get home after work - hit the bike. Thank you!!!
Hi Mary, it's truly great to hear that!
Regarding switching between Play and Explorer, we don't have that now but it's a great idea. It may not be possible since the GO uses a customized OS but we'll try it. At best it'll be able to launch each app from start, not switch seamlessly between them, because the GO only allows one VR app to be running. That'd still be better than finding the hand controller, pressing its home button, quitting one app and launching another.
Depressing the tabs is the only way to get at the Sensor battery. This design kept it as a thin as possible, to fit on the inside of most stationary bike cranks, but agree it's not the easiest. Our preferred method is to hold the lid between your thumb and middle finger, and press one tab with your pointer finger while pulling up gently. When it's off one tab, just slide it back off the other tab.
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It looks like the heart rate BPM was added back in explorer. Thanks I appreciate it
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(05-12-2019, 01:09 PM)emalafeew Wrote: (05-11-2019, 04:39 PM)MaryMerry Wrote: Q:Is there an easy way to switch from VZPlay to VZExplore? When I finish a game in Play I sometimes want to go for a relaxing countryside ride but the only way I've found to get from one VZ to the other is to totally shut down everything and start fresh. I use Oculus GO if that makes a difference. Regarding switching between Play and Explorer, we don't have that now but it's a great idea. It may not be possible since the GO uses a customized OS but we'll try it. At best it'll be able to launch each app from start, not switch seamlessly between them, because the GO only allows one VR app to be running. That'd still be better than finding the hand controller, pressing its home button, quitting one app and launching another. Looks like there IS an official way to do this between Oculus apps, so we'll add to our next sprint plan!
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(05-12-2019, 08:15 PM)espo Wrote: It looks like the heart rate BPM was added back in explorer. Thanks I appreciate it
You're welcome!
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