In the last decade, the game industry has seen a rise in popularity of VR, or virtual reality, games. It seems like everyone wants to try their hand at creating their own virtual worlds, and there are many game studios looking to help them bring their ideas to life with a team of talented developers. One of these studios is Next Door Studios, and in this interview, we’ll discuss their groundbreaking work, as well as what the future of VR gaming might look like.
Creating Reality
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a developer yourself or someone who knows one; if you’re not, you might want to consider this another reason to dive into VR development. It’s fairly simple to grasp the concept behind VR, it’s taking gaming from the screen and putting it in your own head, so you can actually feel like you’re there. The first step is to get a VR headset, such as the Oculus Rift, and a PlayStation VR to accompany it — you don’t need a special device to develop for VR, any decent gaming laptop will be more than capable of handling it (albeit a bit slower than necessary).
VR is a relatively new concept, and it still has a way to go before it’s accepted as a regular part of gaming; in fact, it’s still often considered a gimmick. It isn’t supposed to replace reality, it’s meant to enhance it. If you’ve ever tried VR, you’ll know that there’s a certain level of disorientation that comes with it. It takes a while for your eyes and mind to get used to the shift in perspective and the lack of real-world sensory feedback. Once you do, though, you’ll wonder why you ever played regular video games on a screen in the first place.
Making Games For VR
While VR is a fairly new concept, there have been a number of indie games that have pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in a mobile or desktop VR experience; the genre that these games fall into is known as “VR games.” These are typically games that are designed to be played within VR using a device such as the Oculus Rift. They usually feature some form of interaction between the player and the game itself, which is a departure from the traditional single-player, menu-based gameplay one might expect from a regular video game.
This content is usually interactive, using things such as motion controllers, trackpads, or even just your fingers to move things around in the virtual world. When playing these types of games, you’ll often find yourself using different muscles in your arms and legs than you would normally, just to keep track of where you’re going in the 3D environment. It takes a lot of practice to get used to, but once you do, it’s more than worth it.
The Future Of VR Gaming
While there are still plenty of kinks that need to be worked out of VR, game development for the platform is definitely on the right track. It’s encouraging to see large game studios taking the plunge and creating original content for VR, especially since it still feels like a fairly small niche at the moment. In the future, we could see more and more games being made for VR, and it won’t be limited to just gaming either; films and TV shows could also be adapted for virtual reality, something that has the potential to change the way we watch content.
On the subject of films and TV shows, since it’s still relatively uncommon to see characters interact with each other in VR, there is definitely potential for these types of stories to be told purely within VR, with characters appearing next to you rather than on a screen.
With enough time, effort, and investment, anyone could probably create a working VR development environment in their home. For now, though, it still feels like a bit of a chore to set up, and it requires a certain level of technical expertise to build and maintain. If you’re a gamer looking for a new challenge, VR is definitely a place to look out for.