Guest Blog - Demoing VR Guide

We’ve been working with the Oculus VR headset since receiving our Kickstarter backer edition of the first dev kit, the DK1, through DK2 and the commercial version CV1, the fully labelled Oculus Rift. As such, over the past few years we’ve done more public demos of VR than we can remember but each and every time, we have seen someone do something new or unexpected. So here’s a handy guide to demoing VR to the general public, or [potential] clients to ensure they have the best first time VR experience and aren’t put off for life!

Prepare for queues - there will be queues of people waiting to play. We find that 9/10 people at events haven’t tried VR and so, it will be a big draw for crowds. Queues are good though as you have a steady stream of people eager to play and willing to listen to you whilst they wait, so prepare some queue chat subjects. So where possible, have as many demo stations as people / space / budget allows, remembering to allocate one person per booth with floaters for queue management and breaks.

People are less likely to want to try a headset sat there unused - we haven’t worked out why but if it’s just there as a weird looking bit of tech, people will be more hesitant to be the first to have a go. So if quiet (which is unlikely) have someone on the team play and have fun doing it. 

Seating for safety - unless you are demoing HTC Vive and using room-scale to full effect, ensure you have a seat available for people to park on so that they are less likely to feel nauseous, fall over or stumble about. First timers tend to over-react to the motion sensation and will throw themselves around!

Regular wiping - be prepared to clean the headset and lenses regularly; headset foam with natural baby wipes and lenses with a good cloth. Try to avoid alcohol-based anti-bacterial wipes unless you can make sure it’s dry without any residue before the next user, otherwise it might react with contact lens fluids and give people a nasty reaction (have seen this happen!) After doing events for many years, this is why we have a set of headsets that are only used by us for development, without x,000 human skin cells embedded in the foam.

Set defaults - most VR headsets and software offer options to tailor specific dimensions of the user for the optimum visual experience. However this is time-consuming and requires an understanding of how VR works and the technology, which when dealing with high volumes of people (see point 1.) you aren’t going to have time to tweak settings for each and every person. If you set to default average settings, you can still give a great experience and any comments about blurriness can be overcome with a request to “find the sweet spot”.

So that’s the basics for demoing VR to the public. The obvious point is to make sure everything works every time without any stutter or jitter at a stable framerate. If demoing to clients (to try and win work) you have to setup and ensure your introduction to VR is as smooth and simple as possible to ensure they are not distracted or put off by the amount of cables or technology involved. Good luck!

Sam Watts has been involved in interactive, immersive content production for 15 years, from learning development and simulation to AAA and casual games. Currently employed as Operations Lead for Make REAL and Game Producer for Tammeka, he keeps busy by evangelising the possibilities and real world benefits of immersive technologies like VR and AR to anyone who will listen. Tammeka’s first VR game Radial-G : Racing Revolved launched alongside the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive earlier in 2016.

GUEST BLOG: The Ugly Side of Freemium

I'm a big supporter of the freemium business model. The removal of the initial financial barrier to entry, alongside the simplicity of many freemium titles has opened the door for masses of new consumers to get into playing games; something which is undoubtedly a fantastic thing for our industry.

If we look back to the 80s, there are parallels we can draw.

Lots of relatively small indie games were released which are comparable to the level of simplicity we see in many mobile titles today; as technology and gamers desire for more complex experiences grew, so did the games produced, ultimately leading to the more mature console gaming demographic we have today - something I very much hope will be repeated in the mobile arena. Which is precisely why, when I see implementations of freemium mechanics such as those presented in Dungeon Keeper, I get quite infuriated.

Back then we also had a comparable level of saturated content as we’re now seeing in the mobile space. Many publishers were pushing out poor quality titles and failing to respect their consumers, which ultimately led to the game industry crash of 1983.

And in 2014, my big worry is that we're at risk of repeating that very same mistake.

Take Dungeon Keeper for example - without wishing to pick on it - I find that it’s just one of an increasing number of titles whose implementation of freemium mechanics comes across as somewhat dismissive of those unwilling to pay.

While it's apparent that it’s still generating significant revenue (as is clear from the games featuring in the top grossing charts) I worry that it's an example of prioritising short-term gains over long-term benefit for the industry. When it can take up to 24 hours to remove a single 'square' of map, I’d argue that it makes the experience beyond simply an 'inconvenience' for non-paying customers; it makes it largely un-playable.

The undoubtedly high percentage of customers unwilling to pay are ultimately left with a sour taste in their mouth; and for many, it risks degrading their views of freemium titles as a whole. In turn, damaging potential future uptake of games utilising this model.

This becomes all the more apparent when reading some of the games reviews; users are not simply complaining about the game, They’re complaining about the industry, the model and are frequently stating (in no uncertain terms) that it’s putting them off freemium as a whole.

 

Freemium titles should intrinsically be accessible for all consumers – paying or non-paying.

There have been some great examples of freemium done right. Games like League of Legends, where consumers can play frustration-free for as long as they like; but are encouraged to purchase through offering compelling additional content. Users who don't pay are respected, even valued, on account of the competitive, viral and social benefits their involvement brings to the experience for everyone playing.

So, as an industry let’s not allow our desire to make more money in the short term take precedence over the potential alienation of our customers. Paying or otherwise, we must respect our users. If we fail to do so, we run the very real risk of losing them in the long term.

Put simply, we need to learn from our historical mistakes. It is our responsibility to do better.

Adam Green is MD of Assyria Games and chairs the judging panel for the Indie Dev Showcase at the Develop Conference. This year’s Showcase submissions open on 2 April 2014.

THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

Discovery is a big buzzword in the games industry. As the digital marketplace has expanded and platforms have multiplied, the floodgates have opened for developers of all ages and sizes to create relatively cheap games and market them directly to millions of gamers across multiple territories.

That’s the good news. The bad news is this means the volume of games now being released has grown exponentially and the process of discovering them is now a bit like hunting for a needle in a haystack. It’s easy to understand why some developers feel it’s nothing more than chance that seals the fate of one game over another. It’s not.

The onus is on the developer to enable gamers to make these discoveries; in the same way that big budget marketing campaigns could be accessed to enable gamers to discover blockbusters under the old order. Without developers enabling discovery, games won’t make it into the charts, gamers won’t buy them and months, if not years, of hard labour will go to waste.

Developers should also understand they need to do more than just promote their games. They need to start promoting themselves, too.  Developers who are able to get the world to take notice of their talent are doing themselves a big favour when everyone is competing for attention. Developers by nature aren’t extroverts, but more are going to have to go against their instincts and learn to shout from the rooftops. They need to get social – they need to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Vimeo to promote themselves, their talent and their games.

Sitting back and relying on others to talk about their games just doesn’t cut it in this digital marketplace. Why is this so important? Think about any studio with a famous figurehead. Peter Molyneux at 22Cans? Now think how infinitely easier it is for a well-known, media friendly developer to attract that vital first burst of attention to his or her creation. Heard of Curiosity? Exactly. Every snowball has to start somewhere!

The UK has a fantastic pedigree of being at the forefront of innovation and creativity in the games industry. Indie studios are doing some great work but they’re not being recognised for it. They haven’t yet been discovered. It's time they were. It’s time these studios made themselves heard and, in turn, used their voices and talent to energise others within the industry.

A great place to start is Develop’s Indie Dev Marketing conference on 10 July; it launched last year specifically to help indie developers understand – and use – PR and marketing to take their games and their studios to market on limited resources. I’d also encourage all indie studios to enter the Develop Indie Showcase, whose sole aim is to help new studios get discovered. The deadline for entry is 13 May and all of the information can be found at www.developconference.com.

ENDS

Susan Marshall is content director for the Develop in Brighton Conference – 9-11 July, 2013. Speak to her susan@tandemevents.co.uk