Research

Focus Group – 3 People

The main movement method will be some sort of smooth movement but we will have an option for teleporting for people who don’t like smooth movement. We’ll have an axe that has different abilities. You will be able to throw and recall the axe, freeze things with the axe to stop things from moving, fire ability to burn things that are blocking your path like vines, earth to make platforms or walls to defend yourself and wind to blow things. Doors will be swing one way and will have a door handle mechanic to open them. Teleport between levels. The hub world will allow you to access the puzzle worlds but will also act like a tutorial world.

Game Analysis – VR Movement – Various Games

_{Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway, Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector, Pistol Whip & UNDERDOGS}

Grand Getaway and Neko Atsume can be played both with controllers and hand tracking for the analysis I looked at hand tracking as that is what I want in my game. The way Grand Getaway handles movement within their game is with specific spots that the play can teleport to this allows the developer controller where the player can be and makes it easier for the developer to manage what the player can do and see. This works with Grand Getaway as its a short story based game with minigames interjected throughout to provide the gameplay. With this limited movement it allows the developer to more easily guide the player through the experience of the game. This makes it easier for player who aren’t too common with games which would be an expected audience for a VR game based in the world of Wallace & Gromit a British stop-motion animated comedy from the late 1980s. Neko Atsume handles movement very similarly with having set spots that the player can teleport to but I don’t think it works as well in Neko Atsume. Neko Atsume is a mobile game adapted into VR where you decorate you house with various cat toys and beds to attract and collect cats. With Neko Atsume I found myself wanting to walk up to the cats but I couldn’t I could only teleport to set spots on the ground. You can have the cats walk up to you but you can only have one are a time and you can’t seem to pick which one comes to you. Grand Getaway and Neko Atsume also go about the action of teleporting in different ways. Grand Getaway has you hold up your hands in front of your face in a circle and look through it which felt weird to do where as Neko Atsume has you simply point to the spot you want to teleport to which felt more comfortable. Though I did find the Grand Getaway teleporting more reliable where as Neko Atsume often struggled to notice I was point and trying to teleport.
Pistol Whip handles movement in a very simple way. You can’t move instead you are stuck on rails and are rolled across the track at a set pace as the level plays out. This works really well for Pistol Whip which is a rhythm game where you have to clear levels by shooting enemies to the beat. But for what I want to make I don’t think it will work.
UNDERDOGS is played with controllers though its movement could be implemented into hand tracking. UNDERDOGS has a very interesting movement system where you grab onto the ground and drag your character across the ground to move. For spinning you can either use the joy stick or you can just turn around in real life which is what the game encourages you to do. Though that does make the movement easier and feel more fluid it does require you to have a big room where you can’t break things. The movement works very well for UNDERDOGS but I don’t think it would work in my game.