Update! Things I’ve done since the last post:

• The project got split into two ‘modes’ called Lumpy and Smooth.
  • Lumpy is more like classic Katamari, where objects impede your motion and such.
  • Smooth mode is basically like the preivous post, but with the addition of 'stickers’ that get put onto the surface of your sphere.
• Made some 3D models.
• Got other 3D models from Unity’s asset store.
• Spent 2 weeks locked out of my Unity dev account doing nothing related to the game except going through support to get my Unity account back.
• Upgraded from a GTX770 to a GTX1080, which means I can actually play VR games that aren’t just a minimal amount of basic shapes moving around!

So the main purpose of this was to see if having a Lumpy ball – one that doesn’t react smoothly in a 1:1 with the user’s controls – would cause nausea. It so far has not for me or anyone who’s tried it, but it has caused me a great deal of frustration. It also caused my arms to get tired over the 6.5 minute-ish game session that I used for footage for the above video.

I’m probably going to spend a bit trying to improve the control scheme to make the Lumpy ball handle better, and also try to fix the bootstrapping problem, which allows players to just pick up their sphere and fly away. I have my suspicions that once I get that working smoothly, you’ll see nausea go up, however.

We shall see!

So! I’ve applied my playing with game mechanics to toying with VR locomotion methods. Specifically, hamster balls, which seemed to have a surprisingly good reception on Reddit. The two loudest responses were “Katamari!”, “Super Monkey Ball!”, and “American Gladiator!” followed closely by “Dude just watching this makes me motion sick” and “Huh, the demo didn’t make me motion sick.”

I decided to listen to the people who wanted something Katamari-esque.

“Enough! Where can I try this out for myself?”

Here: [CLICKY]!

You can also try the first, basic Hamster Ball test build here: [CLICKY].

“Before I try it: Will it make me sick?”

Maybe. Still haven’t gotten motion sick from this version yet! Please try it and tell me if you did or did not feel nausea from it.

“But wait! When a Katamari touches something, it sticks to it. It doesn’t disappear!”

You’re right! But:

• Having a lumpy ball like in Katamari would make the rolling uneven, and bumping up and down like that would probably make for a very nauseating ride.
• More importantly: That’d take more time and work to code.

“What’s next?”

Well, I’m not sure. From how I see it, I have a few options:

• I flesh this out a bit more. Maybe release it under a stupid pun name like “Abzorbtion.” (Get it? Because Zorbing and… yeah ok.)
• I move on to playing with other locomotion methods, such as Pan-and-Zoom, or Rowboat, or Cabbage Patching (which is really just Pan-And-Zoom, but you perform the motions entirely through a stupid 80s dance move).
• I take a step back, and try a different ‘game’ with a hamster ball to try to push the limits of motion sickness. Put you in a pinball or pachinko machine or something.
• I stop with this VR thing before I embarrass myself further or feel guilty for getting someone to vomit.

Note/question for anyone else developing for VR

Apparently if you make the player bigger by adjusting the local scale of the VR game object (or the scale of the parent) you can end up dropping frames. Therefore, you should not try to smoothly scale/lerp the VR object. You’ll lose a huge amount of frames on weaker hardware like mine, and give the player a headache. It’s best to just make the change once and be done with it. Or maybe there’s a way to make the player 'bigger’ without messing with the scale in a way that won’t drop frames.

Anyone know of such a method?