a\u00a0small experimental survival game\u00a0that we have mentioned before<\/a>\u00a0by estonian developer\u00a0Filipp Keks<\/strong>, meant to achieve the feeling of natural movement with minimal hardware. This means in-game movement without the use of a gamepad\/keyboard\/treadmill, using simply the Oculus hardware and clever software. Since my first\u00a0encounter with the game fell short due to the long que of people wanting to try the demo and me being able to get stuck in a\u00a0virtual wall, I was exited to fire the game up at home.<\/p>\n

Setup:<\/strong> as the readme file suggests, I put the Oculus IR camera about eye level on a tripod and stood (yes, this game is meant to be played while standing) about 1 meters away. I also had a small carpet on the floor to give me some feedback as to where I was located in reality (pro tip for playing alone). There is a need to press the spacebar key multiple times in the beginning. Make sure you press it until you see\u00a0\u201cRUN!\u201d, otherwise you false-start and miss half the fun (the EvilMech part).[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”0″ bottom_padding=”0″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” class=”l-img-r-text” color_overlay=”#ffffff” color_overlay_2=”#ffffff” overlay_strength=”1″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” css=”.vc_custom_1604503679579{margin-top: 15px !important;}” max_width=”500″]Experience:<\/strong> Two players tried the game, me and the wife.\u00a0Neither of us\u00a0fell over, but having your feet wide apart is definitely a smart choice. Some funky graphical glitches aside (water splashes in the ceiling), the experience was quite impressive workout-wise. Quote from one of us: \u201cHow am I out of breath in my living room!?\u201d.\u00a0The main selling point,\u00a0step detection, worked very well, but of course one could also cheat by just bobbing the head up and down. There was a huge difference in playing styles however \u2013 while I managed to stay on the tiny carpet without problems, my other half took a much broader approach and constantly actually ran off in different directions. So, just in case you don\u2019t want to yank your computer off the table, find a running partner to hold you back:)<\/p>\n

I also caught up with Filipp Keks (\u201chopscotch\u201d in estonian, quite approprietly)\u00a0for some background info.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” top_margin_phone=”10%” bottom_margin_phone=”20%” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” el_class=”right-blog-image” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][image_with_animation image_url=”2534″ animation=”None” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”0″ bottom_padding=”0″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” class=”l-img-r-text” color_overlay=”#ffffff” color_overlay_2=”#ffffff” overlay_strength=”1″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/6″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”2\/3″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” css=”.vc_custom_1604503708070{margin-top: 15px !important;}”]Where did you get the idea for this kind of solution?<\/strong>
\nThe idea came to my head the first day I received my DK2 back in\u00a0August. After trying first couple of demos I noticed that the motion\u00a0tracker range is capable of much more then just \u201cpeering around\u00a0corners\u201d as it was announced. In almost any demo you can actually walk\u00a0a couple of meters from the initial point. At the same time solutions\u00a0like [Virtuix] Omni and Cyberith seemed a bit too over-engineered. I also tried\u00a0to mix gameplay with a standard treadmill, but it limits you by speed and direction, so I rejected the idea and stuck\u00a0with simple\u00a0jogging in place. According to some fitness and medical sites I found, jogging in place is also quite healthy and beneficial \ud83d\ude42\u00a0The disadvantage of my solution is that you can not turn back as you\u00a0would block the tracker camera view. I worked around this problem by\u00a0making the game forward running, so the player never have to turn back.\u00a0Later it came out that Oculus developers are moving the same direction\u00a0as they made the new Crescent Bay prototype with IR\u00a0sensors visible\u00a0from behind.<\/p>\n

How easy was this approach\u00a0to implement?<\/strong>
\nIt took me one weekend. Most of the time I spent rewriting a part of\u00a0the Oculus Unity driver. Version 0.4.2 was quite a mess, now 0.4.3\u00a0came out and it looks much nicer and logical. Currently I\u2019ve rewritten the\u00a0code for the latest SDK. I plan to release my code as open source so\u00a0others could make more demos with the same type of gameplay.<\/p>\n

Will\u00a0this kind of movement control catch on?<\/strong>
\nMaybe not exactly\u00a0\u2013\u00a0DK2 wasn\u2019t designed for it after all \ud83d\ude42\u00a0But this is definitely the direction where VR will be moving in the near\u00a0future. Oculus newest Crescent Bay prototype has a wider\u00a0position tracker range and IR\u00a0sensors on the back which perfectly\u00a0suits my idea of gameplay.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/6″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”column_reverse” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”0″ bottom_padding=”0″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” class=”l-img-r-text” color_overlay=”#ffffff” color_overlay_2=”#ffffff” overlay_strength=”1″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” el_class=”left-blog-image” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LALSXmYQxe0&feature=emb_title” el_aspect=”43″][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”top-bottom” top_margin_phone=”10%” bottom_margin_phone=”20%” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” css=”.vc_custom_1604503730133{margin-top: 15px !important;}” max_width=”500″]Lastly, what are your next plans?<\/strong>
\nI have plans to experiment with full body motion tracking using\u00a0something like a Kinect. I also have a couple of ideas how to make the\u00a0gameplay more interesting and unsusual, so stay tuned.
\nEEVR will keep a close eye on Filipp! If some of the readers are unable or simply lack the stamina to try EvilMech Runner, here\u2019s the official gameplay clip[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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