I’m about 4 weeks in with the Oculus Rift, so I thought this may be a good time for an update.
On Motion Sickness
In my ‘First Impressions’ post, I voiced my concerns about motions sickness in the Rift. My first experience wearing the Rift was awesome, but also very nauseating, so I had some real concerns about the technology moving forward. I’m very happy to report that I’m doing much better now, and I can handle longer sessions (1hr+) without feeling too bad. (I followed Valve’s advice of limiting initial sessions to 15-20 min for the first several days, and slowly worked up from there)
My advice for first time users:
- When you first put on the headset, resist the urge to move around in the space. Begin by looking around you, slowly. Remain stationary, and look up, down, left, and right. The first time you put on the headset, you’re going to get that ‘WOW’ moment, and you’ll want to move around, but you need to give your body time to adjust.
- Once you get acclimated to the environment, start with simple, forward movements. Try to avoid motions that feel particularly unnatural – strafing sideways, rotating view with a joystick, etc.
- Don’t try to ‘push through’ motion sickness – it will only get worse if you keep playing. If you start feeling crappy, that is your cue to take a break.
- Stick to the simple, easier demos as you begin working in VR– I recommend trying the Unity Tuscany scene (great for a first experience), then perhaps Titans of Space, Blue Marble, or Ocean Rift. Proton Pulse is a great simple arcade game that is fast paced, but won’t leave you feeling motion sick. The Rift Coaster is a riot, but be sure you have worked up to it, or you might be left feeling queasy!
On Working with the Rift
I am having a blast programming for the Rift! I am working on a simple arcade style concept in Unity, and so far Rift integration has been pretty straightforward. The Oculus guys did a great job setting everything up so you can really hit the ground running. It was as simple as importing an Oculus package into Unity – the package pulled in the necessary cameras, scripts, etc. Everything works right away, so you can really focus on your game content, instead of tinkering with the stereoscopic views and head tracking.
I’m hoping to have a playable Alpha of my game out sometime in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned. The concept is based on a favorite childhood game, and so far it is playing out exactly as I hoped it would in VR. Hell, even my fiancée enjoys playing it, and she isn’t a gamer!
In the meantime, here is a video I shot of one of my co-workers trying the Rift for the first time!
