Head Mounted Destinations: Recent Episodes
Carlos Gutierrez and Matt Levonian
Two developers talking about Virtual Reality. What's fun about it? How does it work? What can we learn from it? What will it learn from us? Expect design insights, technical breakdowns, and hot takes that are sure to get angry comments!
News roundup for February 2022!
VR Game Discoverability - https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/the-state-of-vr-games-in-2022-survey
PSVR2 Details Revealed - https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/21437559/sony-playstation-vr2-psvr-announcement-design-reveal
HTC’s Viverse - https://uploadvr.com/htc-viverse-backlash/
Steam Deck and Standalone VR - https://uploadvr.com/valve-steam-deck-stepping-stone-standalone-vr/
Today we discuss Shadow Point, a VR puzzle game with more to offer than initially meets the eye.
Shadow Point (Oculus link)
Today we discuss The Room VR: A Dark Matter, a VR puzzle game based on a mobile puzzle game.
The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Oculus link)
The Room VR: A Dark Matter (Steam link)
It’s that time of year again! For new VR players (and experienced players looking for new destinations), we give our top suggestions for games to try.
Today’s episode was recorded IN PERSON! We react to the strange feeling of recording face to face and chat about the removal of self-harm from SUPERHOT. Get ready to get close, personal, and candid.
STRIDE is a high-octane VR parkour game. Slide into your seat as we discuss this glass shattering, wall jumping, rope swinging spectacle of human momentum!
STRIDE on Steam
WE'VE MADE IT! One year and loving it! This week we're having a casual conversation full of reflection and excitement for the future.
Today is a very special INTERVIEW episode. We talk with two designers from Cloudhead Games, makers of Pistol Whip:
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Antony Stevens (Writer / Designer)
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Daniel Taylor (Lead Level Designer)
What is it like to be a designer for a best-selling VR game? What’s the process behind designing a Pistol Whip level? We get into the nitty gritty details of VR game development with our guests.
Timestamps
1:00 - Antony and Daniel's Journey to Cloudhead
9:17 - Cloudhead on the Cutting Edge
17:18 - The Origin of Pistol Whip
31:00 - Changing plans for Pistol Whip after launch
40:07 - What it's like inside the development of Pistol Whip
1:15:45 - The Future of Cloudhead
Links
Pistol Whip
Cloudhead Discord
This week Matt recounts a party where someone was introduced to VR for the first time. We discuss how VR could better fit in social gatherings.
This week we dive deep into the compelling design behind Pistol Whip’s latest update: Smoke & Thunder.
Pistol Whip
LEAK! Take a look at these new Oculus Touch controllers. No tracking ring? Camera?! Let’s dig into the details and somehow end up talking about Facebook, Oculus, and advertising in VR.
Original Reddit Post
Yo, today we’re talking about what keeps games fresh! That’s right bruh, we got words about progression, cosmetic unlocks, and battle passes. We revisit Demeo from Resolution Games and see how well it keeps players coming back.
Sometimes a game has all the elements of a smash hit but ends up flopping on arrival. It’s not the ingredients but how you combine and cook them. We explore this idea while discussing our experience playing the demo for Into The Darkness VR.
Demos allow players to try games before they buy; but they can be hard to create during development. We look at two demos from Steam Next Fest, AGAINST and Detour Bus, and analyze how they succeed as demos. We praise their successful moments, and suggest some paths for improvement.
7:18 - AGAINST
19:48 - Detour Bus
Blaston’s new update brings multiplayer lounge spaces and a single player campaign. Massively expanding a game isn’t easy. We walk through the new content, then talk through the new opportunities and issues for Blaston’s future.
Legendary developer John Carmack is back to publishing VR app reviews, this time for the Oculus Quest platform. His nuanced approach abandons stars and numbers for more insightful commentary and suggestions for improvement. We also compare his stringent quality bar with the quality bar of the Oculus store.
We unleash our inner karate kids this week with Path of the Warrior; a VR love letter to old-school Beat-Em-Up arcade games. Goons get punched, food gets munched, and ultimately things get underwhelming as we discuss the highs and lows of these rage filled streets.
Red Matter is a great example of where VR can take players when you rely on grounded principles and wide usage of solid interactions...then why have we barely heard about it!? Today we’re exploring that question and more! Join us for insightful discussion on the mechanics, storytelling, and performance of this eerie adventure title.
The Climb 2 got new levels! In them, Carlos found an experience closer to Tomb Raider than The Climb. This week we discuss: How does the DLC improve on the base game? What future do we see for The Climb after playing the DLC? And could The Climb deliver on a Tomb Raider experience for VR?
The Climb 2
Timestamps:
1:30 - The Climb 2 vs Tomb Raider
7:29 - The Climb 2 DLC
20:35 - Where could The Climb go next? (Mechanics)
28:15 - Opportunities for Next-gen Tech
30:28 - Opportunities for better feedback to player
35:42 - Where could The Climb go next? (Game Modes)
Other Things We Mention:
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Man falls down playing The Climb
The Climb 1
CryEngine
Adaptive Triggers
Beat Saber
Over 40% of VR players only use their headset once a month or less. Why is this? Using Demeo as an example, we explore the reasons for this retention fall-off.
Demeo
Timestamps:
0:58 - Comment Callout
3:25 - Funks and TIDI
9:42 - Demeo
13:06 - Tiredness
20:37 - Inertia
28:07 - Discomfort
32:13 - Indecision
Games We Mention:
Pistol Whip
Racoon Lagoon
POPULATION: ONE
Beat Saber
Waltz of the Wizard
Path of the Warrior
The VR games market is evolving. Pistol Whip - and its latest “2089” update - is the perfect lens for examining the changing expectations for VR games. Will all VR games be expected to provide free updates? What impact does this have on game design? Listen in for these answers and more!
Timestamps:
0:50 - Pistol Whip
3:41 - Gameplay Modifiers and Haptics
9:21 - Content Updates and 2089
23:21 - Cloudhead Games and the VR market
27:07 - Games as a Service
31:05 - Modularity
35:20 - Final Thoughts
Games We Mention:
Pistol Whip
Beat Saber
Titanfall 2
Half-Life 2
Fortnite
Apex Legends
Population: One
Walkabout Mini Golf
Asgard's Wrath
We look at the new PSVR 2 controllers, compare the pros and cons of different VR hardware platforms, and peek into the future of VR hardware.
Timestamps:
1:45 - Introduction
2:50 - VR Controller Standard
6:20 - Vive Wands and PS Move
10:28 - Dualshock and PSVR
15:15 - Inside-out Tracking
17:37 - Wired vs Wireless
21:15 - What does the next 5 years look like?
27:54 - PSVR2 Tracking Ring
30:44 - The "Face Factor"
33:30 - Outro
Games We Mention:
SUPERHOT
Blood & Truth
Gun Club VR
Battlewake
Half-Life: Alyx
Big STRIDEs being made today. Just kidding! We chat for a few minutes about a parkour game.
Swarm is a new fast-paced, arcade-style grapple shooter, and we think it’s going to perform pretty well. But why do we think that, and what do the developers need to do to ensure it? This week, listen to us inspect (and recommend) the game from a developer’s perspective.
Timestamps:
1:23 - Swarm
7:40 - Grappling Hook Mechanic
13:26 - Motion Sickness
15:27 - Combat Loop Rhythm
22:21 - Juice
25:45 - Post-Launch Expansion
28:40 - FTUE
30:58 - Marketing
34:30 - Final Thoughts
Other Games We Mention:
SairentoVR
Robo Recall
Windlands
Jet Island
Amazing Spiderman 2
“The designer doesn’t come in the box.” It’s easy for designers to forget that players don’t initially know how to play their games, and adding tutorials too late in production can lead to bad first time user experiences (FTUE). As always, VR only complicates the problem. This week, we discuss all these issues and more. How exactly do you train your player to play your game?
Timestamps:
0:58 - Introduction
4:50 - FTUE
7:56 - "Glimmer Grove" Example
10:45 - Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
17:30 - Limiting The Lessons
21:00 - Avoid Teaching the Wrong Thing (Battlewake)
24:36 - Player Expectations
27:47 - Ongoing Instruction
31:06 - The VR “Wow!” Moment
33:56 - Building Feedback into your Mechanics
35:50 - VR Conventions
39:09 - Wrap-up
Games We Mention:
Fruit Ninja VR
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
Vader Immortal
Battlewake
SUPERHOT VR
Until You Fall
Shadow of War
The Last of Us Part II
Asgard’s Wrath
Stormland
We talk about POPULATION: ONE, the next big VR battle royale. Carlos raves about the game while Matt brings a critical eye to temper the fandom. The marketplace of ideas has now become an arena...and to the victor goes the bananas.
Catch the full show notes here.
Smooth or Teleport? Armswing or Joystick? These are some of the most contentious questions in the VR community, but as developers we have to know how to design content that works for all players. Listen in to hear how game developers think about how you move in VR!
Catch the full show notes here.
Timestamps:
01:09 - Why do we need both Teleport and Smooth Locomotion?
05:26 - Exceptions to the rule
10:20 - Challenges of Teleport Locomotion
13:15 - Feature Idea: Edge-Aligned Teleport
18:10 - Challenges of Smooth Locomotion
30:06 - Designing for Both Methods
Humans need human stories. Lone Echo and Half-Life: Alyx deliver two of the best human stories in VR to date. Where do they excel, and what could be improved? Join us for an exploration of these games and insight into the future of VR storytelling.
Lone Echo
Half-Life: Alyx
Timestamps:
00:51 - Introduction
02:04 - Storytelling Challenges in Games
10:49 - Lone Echo
31:33 - Half-Life: Alyx
41:25 - Larger Takeaways
Did you know there’s a whole other storefront for Quest games? It’s not a black market, it’s not hard to get access to, and lots of the games are free. Come along with us and discover a whole new world of indie games, demos, betas, and experimental experiences!
Timestamps and Links:
1:00 - Intro to SideQuest
10:30 - Virtual Desktop VR Patch
14:30 - Puzzling Places Beta
15:30 - Attack on Quest
17:00 - Crazy Kung Fu
18:20 - Crisis VRigade
20:10 - Hyper Dash
21:00 - Crossplay in VR
24:00 - OPERATION SERPENS
25:30 - Doom3Quest
28:00 - Demos (Racket: NX, Synth Riders), TO THE TOP
29:00 - Wrap-up
Did you recently get an Oculus Quest? Are you “out of games” to play? We give a rundown of our favorite games on the platform, categorized by their appeal and friendliness to new VR users. Look no further for the comprehensive list of Head Mounted Destinations-approved games.
Timestamps and Links:
3:29 - Bait!
4:05 - Virtual Virtual Reality
4:37 - Racket: NX
5:43 - Dance Central
6:33 - Tetris Effect
7:49 - Raccoon Lagoon
9:31 - Shadow Point
9:58 - OhShape, AUDICA
14:18 - Color Space
15:55 - VR Chat
16:25 - Rec Room
17:07 - PokerStars VR
18:12 - Echo Arena
19:45 - Blaston
20:59 - POPULATION: ONE
22:45 - Pistol Whip
24:29 - Phantom: Covert Ops
24:52 - Robo Recall: Unplugged
26:09 - Sairento VR: Untethered
27:18 - Time Stall
28:41 - Gun Club VR
29:57 - Red Matter
30:49 - The Room VR: A Dark Matter
31:08 - Moss, Trover Saves the Universe
Ever wonder what it sounds like when game developers brainstorm game ideas? WONDER NO MORE! In this off-the-clock brainstorm session we discuss a new take on a popular genre.
We take an in-depth look at VR game lobbies -- our experiences with them, their benefits, downsides, and ways to evolve them in the future. Be sure to check out the extra links at the top of the show notes!
Trust Spectrum
Patterns for building relationships
Playground design
Proxemics (See this Owlchemy talk for an example of applying the concept in VR)
Timestamps:
1:05 - Echo Arena and Rec Room
6:42 - Lobby Culture and Demographics
12:00 - Lobby Activities
13:12 - Star Trek Bridge Crew
17:30 - What would be the perfect lobby?
24:10 - Privacy Spectrum
31:30 - Cosmetics and Creating a Home
Things we mention:
Echo Arena
Rec Room
Population One
Fortnite
Star Trek Bridge Crew
Deep Rock Galactic
“Making Games That Stand Out and Survive” GDC talk
Some VR games, like Echo Arena and Blaston, are closer to being sports than they are to being videogames. We feel these ''hypersports'' have the potential to catch on as mainstream sports in a way that e-sports will never be able to. But how do we know if a game is a hypersport? And what is stopping hypersports from going mainstream? Tune in to hear us pick apart these issues.
Timestamps:
1:01 - What is a Hypersport?
4:06 - Why are sports popular?
5:37 - Why aren’t Hypersports catching on?
14:39 - Subculture and MONEY
18:55 - Summary
Things we mention:
Echo Arena
Blaston
Racket: NX
A frustrating attempt to play VR with friends spirals into a discussion of friends lists, rooms, lobbies, and social spaces in this bonus episode. We discuss the issues and possible solutions when you just want to play with your dang friends.
We rave about Until You Fall and investigate why its take on melee combat is so much more compelling than those in Blade and Sorcery and Boneworks. The physics-based simulationism of Boneworks seems super popular on Twitch, Twitter, and Reddit. Why are we championing a cartoony, abstract approach and saying it is more realistic and immersive? Listen to find out!
Timestamps:
0:00 - Topic Introduction
4:07 - Until You Fall overview
19:38 - GORN and Boneworks
23:41 - Pros and Cons to each approach
34:45 - Physics in Combat vs World Interaction
Game Link:
Until You Fall - https://untilyoufall.schellgames.com/
Things we mention:
“Flow” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29
Mike Tyson’s Punchout - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch-Out!!_(NES)
Blade and Sorcery - https://warpfrog.com/
Saints and Sinners - https://vrwalkingdead.com/
GORN - https://store.steampowered.com/app/578620/GORN/
Boneworks - https://store.steampowered.com/app/823500/BONEWORKS/
They Live fight scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-MVMbm6c0k
Half Life: Alyx - https://www.half-life.com/en/alyx
Why do players become immersed in games? And how do developers keep players grounded in completely fake, virtual worlds? We pick apart the mechanics, narrative, and level progression in Phantom: Covert Ops to shed light on how design choices and technical implementations impact player immersion. It’s time to get grounded!
Timestamps:
1:25 - Storytelling
5:45 - Locomotion and Spatial Presence
15:57 - Weapons and Equipment
30:30 - Levels and Progression
36:18 - World Interaction
43:20 - Oculus Quest and Market Analysis
Oculus Store Links:
Phantom: Covert Ops - https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2302118823192509
Other things we mention:
Journey to Elysium - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1036260/Journey_For_Elysium/
MGS V: The Phantom Pain - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_V:_The_Phantom_Pain
James Bond intro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVBRrBl-yc
Metroidvanias - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroidvania
Ghosts n Goblins - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_%27n_Goblins
Castlevania - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania
Assassin's Creed white paint - https://youtu.be/wf245fBGTB4?t=1309
Asgard’s Wrath - https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1180401875303371
We explain who we are and why you can trust our opinions on Virtual Reality. We also wax poetic about the future of VR and the joys of working in the field.
We discuss our experience using Oculus Hand Tracking in the titles Elixir and Waltz of the Wizard. How responsive is it? How well is it utilized in the two titles? How is it used outside of games? We answer these questions and more!
Timestamps:
01:10 - Oculus Quest Hand Tracking Beta Impressions
11:12 - Elixir
23:30 - Waltz of the Wizard
36:09 - Carlos learns to snap
46:40 - What is the future for Hand Tracking?
Oculus Store Links:
Elixir - https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3793077684043441/
Waltz of the Wizard - https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2280285932034855/
Other things we mention:
Microsoft Kinect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinect
Leap Motion - https://www.ultraleap.com/product/leap-motion-controller/
Source for 80ms latency claim - https://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/2020/latency/unity/?open-article-id=11655749
Tracking Confidence Oculus VRC - https://developer.oculus.com/distribute/vrc-quest-input-6/
Pistol Whip - https://cloudheadgames.com/pistol-whip/
Sairento VR - http://www.sairentovr.com/
Beat Saber - https://beatsaber.com/
Oculus Hand Tracking Documentation - https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/native/android/mobile-hand-tracking/?locale=en_US