We are stopping VR development. Here is why

KrillBite:

"You would think a first person horror game would be perfect for Virtual Reality. We thought so too, but in the last two years we have learned otherwise. Virtual Reality is wonderful, it’s immersive, engaging and powerful. But you really need to design your game for VR from the ground up, not the other way around."

[Thatguy-310]

"Virtual Reality is wonderful, it’s immersive, engaging and powerful. But you really need to design your game for VR from the ground up, not the other way around."

That's one thing these developers need to realize. If you are going to make a game for VR make sure it's in mind from the get go and not just half as a patch at a future time. VR is a new platform that shouldn't be an after thought when making games. Yea it's an add on but it needs to be treated seriously in order for it to take off.

[Sir_Simba]

Devs that will shoehorn VR in their games might ruin it for everyone and right now VR is very fragile.

[GribbleGrunger]

Ok, can we please stop rewriting headlines. Here's the actual headline for the article:

'We learned a lot about VR, so here is why we are rethinking Among the Sleep'

They're talking about a specific game, not VR in general. You people are turning N4Gs into a circus.

[DragonDDark]

I hate when Articles like this get approved. Clickbaity stuff.

[wannabe gamer]

When has it not been a circus here. then again its just a site for people too lazy to look up their own info so what can we expect

[MyDietEqualsGames]

Ive been around a long time. This compared to years before, is nothing. You should have been here during the open zone. That wasnt a circus though... It was a mad house and hilarious to the max. I think they removed the open zone because it was taking away from from the nomal discussion. I say because even legit and sensible posters started posting there. Lol.

[GribbleGrunger]

@MyDietEqualsGames:

I was here when the open zone existed but under another name. The only problem is it was someone elses computer and I was using his account. Then his brother decided to use it too ... Embarrassment ensued.

I actually preferred it because at least there was a place to get away from all the nonsense. All you saw was 'Open Zone ->' and the problem was solved.

[UKmilitia]

haha thats some headline swap innit!!!!

why do these articles get approved.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed. Junk like this really need to pulled.

[Automatic79]

VR seems premature at this point. In my opinion if the games are gimmicky I rather have a company put there resources into console games not VR.

[frostypants]

No. It was premature in the 1990s. Now is the time to push for it.

[boodi]

@frosty
if VR now is a bulky helmet ..and nothing other then stereovisioni ..inside it .. then the time to push for it is not now again ..
VR should have body / movement support to begin with
to be VR

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

Boodi, really not as bad as it seems with weight, although I doubt you've tried it.

Also you're rather ignorant to the fact that vive has room tracking, which is why I'm going to be an early adopter, that's a true feeling of presence right there.

I'll still buy PSVR later for playing PS4 games on it but you want movement support? Vives got it

[boodi]

@peace love
I did not try vive , i tried stereo headsets though .

will see if it lives up to what i've read . I have very hard time with lags usually ( tracking lag as well as motion lags)

[zugdar]

It did not work for the Wii (besides hardware limitations) and VR should be no different.

[Rearden]

You don't necessarily need to "design your game for VR from ground up". I tried Alien Isolation on Oculus Rift and it was the most intense gaming experience I've ever had.

[sorceror171]

Yeah, but there were still definite issues. Like climbing ladders steals control from the player - no big deal with a monitor, really disorienting in VR. Menus need to be redesigned, etc. How do you transition to and from cutscenes?

Don't get me wrong, A:I is really close, like 80%. The core gameplay is there - but getting that last 20% of polish takes another 80% of the development effort.

[kenwonobi]

Cant get there without jumping into the development of games, playing them, buying them. Either everyone buys in or it goes away forever perhaps. Only so many times people gonna try to bring it back. This might be the last chance.

[ginsunuva]

Or Mirror's Edge 1.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

That's what I first played on, "unwanted" head tilts included from the cutscenes. Still the greatest gaming experience I've had.

These devs say it "breaks trust with the player", well that's just hogwash not sure why they would claim that, immersion breaking yes but not trust breaking.

I don't trust EA for other reasons ;)

[bunt-custardly]

Hmmm, VR worked just fine for Alien Isolation and that game wasn't designed as a VR title primarily.

[nitus10]

Virtual Reality headsets would probably work quite well for games that use a first person perspective. As an example a FPS game could benefit however too much requirement on moving the head may result in a neck injury.

For games that use a third person perspective the VR headset would work best as just a glorified TV in that the screen being so close to your eyes would appear huge.

When designing games for a VR headset or games in general you have to take into account the limitations of the human body and it's speed in reacting to events.

[TheLoCoRaven]

I wanna believe! But this developer made this sound like a nail in the coffin. If developers really think they need to make VR-only games, then there won't be many games to sell the VR.

If anyone can do it I think Sony can just because a lot more people have a ps4 than a PC capable for VR. Having a lower barrier to entry will help.

[Taero]

Here's the thing though, VR can't just be another way of displaying a visual image in front of you, or replacing the mouse to look/analogue stick with a turn of the head. It has to be done for a purpose and the way you control the game naturally changes.

If your game character is reliant an moves that a real person could not reasonably be expected to complete with their body then you're in trouble. Have to turn the camera fast to aim/see something? Unless it feels natural to turn that fast/sharply in real life a person is going to be disoriented, on a monitor that doesn't really matter as you have a frame of reference that doesn't move around it.

Juts an example (because I've been playing it again). Can you imagine Destiny in VR? It would be a total shit show. There is fast spinning, lunging when melee hitting, super jumping/gliding, explosions that rocket you away. You would probably be motion sick within a minute as soon as a battle starts. That's what the developer means about having to have VR in mind from the start.

Until we hit the physical bypass level of VR where the signals go straight to our brain and are returned to the device ignoring how our body feels/thinks it feels then its nowhere near as simple as dropping in a person cam and calling it a day.

[fishy1]

The short answer, they dont have talent on their team. And of course the headline is a bunch of crap. Horror, can and will be insainly good in VR. These idiots just dont have enough imagination to creat the right atmosphere. So thankfully are just giving up instead of making crap. Leave it to the crative people out there that will show this group how its done...

[Dragonopolis]

Calm down fishy1... They are not idiots, the Tech is not quite there yet and even if it was it would be too expensive (at least for the console crowd but also for many PC fans).

There are people like me who like to have friends over, have kids, Multitask that requires all senses to be present. VR literally takes you out of the real world and can cause safety even security issues, and is less engaging with your REAL friends and family (not virtual friends and family). Some people will not like having to wear a bulky device on their face.

I believe VR will have a following but will always be a niche in gaming and will never be main stream device/peripheral (at the very least until the Tech is better and price become reasonable)....

[kenwonobi]

You sound new to this more than him. VR tech is nearly 30 years old.

[AizenSosuke]

Short answer we couldn't adapted to the technology as hard as we tried.

[kenwonobi]

Yes. They probably gonna use it one day. This game when they tried it didn't play well in a virtual world. Most first person games should translate well. Especially horror. They just felt thiers did not.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

Yeah, I can see how the baby head bobbing would be bad but alien Isolation sprinting was nothing, being ripped apart but the alien I wasn't thinking "ohh my head moved without me doing it I don't trust you anymore developers" I was thinking "HOLY F*** S*** AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

[nitus10]

The human body and it's senses have limitations and game designers have to take those into account when designing a game.

The only way around those limitations is to tap directly into the brain. However taping into the brain has limitations as well compared to the processing speed of a computer.

[kenwonobi]

Funny thing is it's not new technology. Its just advanced. It involves a new way of receiving human input to gaming itself. You are literally in the game. So that is very different than playing from a tv screen perspective. What I think they mean is their one game in particular probably doesn't translate in virtual environment as much as they originally thought it would. Which is understandable.

[frostypants]

Well said. Bubs. It's as much an interface challenge as a technical one.

[kenwonobi]

Thanks.

[bligmerk]

No, there is a lot of new technology, the big ones being head tracking and controller coupled interaction. Yes, individual parts were around years ago, like 2-inch tube CRT displays vs OLED displays, but their cost and bulkiness made them research projects. One thing people aren't seeing is the importance of the controller interface to the VR world. The Move sticks are the best interface for VR right now. If the PS VR launches early next year with OLED displays, a lot of the initial geek doubt is going to fade.

[weap0nx]

One name John Carmack is the reason for the delay

[alabtrosMyster]

This is a general truth about every media... content has to be made for it.

[Tzuno]

Next gen will be all VR bullshit you will see.

[nitus10]

No it won't. Only games that are suitable for VR will be made, such as some puzzle and first person perspective games. Most of the games that will be made will work on a VR headset which will effectively make it look like you are playing using a massive screen.

Having head tracking for VR is important however if you are playing a game or even passively watching a TV program or a movie were the screen should remain fixed then head tracking is definitely not wanted.

[Sly-Lupin]

Doubt it. Next gen will find its own gimmick, just like how last gen was all about Motion Controls at first, and then 3D gaming towards the end.

Sony in particular likes to use its gaming division to prop up its electronics division, so it's likely the next big gimmick for gaming will be whatever the next big thing is for TVs. 4k resolutions maybe? 60 fps? Panoramic displays? Who knows.

[Tzuno]

4k would be too expensive, maybe 2k and a lot of hype.

[Maxor]

Some games can have VR patched in. Cockpit games and sims is where VR really shine. FPS or TPS will need to be completely redesigned for the VR experience to work. For example when Crytek was asked if they plan to port Crysis 3 to the OR the developer promptly shot the idea down. His main concern isn't mechanics or gameplay, but rather liability. According to him, to avoid law suits from sick gamers they will need to frame lock Crysis 3 at 90 FPS!!

[Sly-Lupin]

Cockpit-based games are kind of a dead genre, though, so the easiest is probably third-person games, simply because the third-person perspective already has a very wide field of view.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

Space Sims seem to be on their way back in.

Battlefield is great with vorpx, no "reworking" required, and you can be sure as all h*** I'm going to play battlefront dogfighting in VR

[IamTylerDurden1]

This article was utter clickbait due to the user rewriting the title and putting a picture of Oculus up. This is the second article today where this has been done.

Among the Sleep sounds interesting, i feel bad for the backers who were looking forward to VR. They should make a small VR dlc and give it to those backers for free.