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I want to develop a VR video game

Jonny Blaze

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I have a great concept for a virtual reality video game that I really want to create. However, I understand that learning the software for VR (Unity + other programs) is rigorous and would take a lot of time. I would much rather our source this idea to a free lance game developer. I can't seem to find much information online about something like this. Does anyone on here have any experience with this industry, anything I should avoid?
All help is appreciated, thank you.
 
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lowtek

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To clarify, there are a number of problems that I see right off the bat.

1) You're asking a beginner level question. It suggests, though this may not necessarily be the case, that you're a beginner in software development. Being a beginner is fine, but it compounds all other difficulties - since everything is significantly harder the first time you do it.

2) The VR market is incredibly small. Less than a couple million units out in the wild, this makes your potential market quite small, and hence caps your potential profits. You'd almost be better off going after the Switch market.

3) Since the market is small, the consequences of making a mediocre product are significantly larger. Word travels fast and bad reviews on steam can pile up quickly.

4) If you've never managed a team of programmers, it can be like herding cats. Even worse, if you've never done programming, it can be difficult to separate the liars from the talented.

5) There's more to it than programming. You need artists to create the assets, you need sound people to come up with the sound effects and score, and you need dedicated testers to make sure it runs with several different configurations of PC hardware. You can get around the artists and sound engineers by using pre-existing assets, but this runs the risk of quickly becoming shovelware.

Nothing wrong with being ambitious, but one should know the dangers of the path they're choosing first. If you want to put your stack into developing a game, then that's fine and dandy - just go in with some awareness. The way you posed the question makes me think that YOU think hiring a team is a simple affair, and that the game will take care of itself.

Best advice is to find a community of indy game programmers and hang out with them to get a feel for what is required. See if you can find some folks with talent and get them to make it for a not too outrageous fee.
 

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2) The VR market is incredibly small. Less than a couple million units out in the wild, this makes your potential market quite small, and hence caps your potential profits. You'd almost be better off going after the Switch market.
And more difficult to scale out too. Pretty costly.
You don't see mainstream tech companies like Apple churning out VR products as their main meat, but 'old fashioned' smartphones, PCs and laptops.
Costs are still high, and the present pool of VR developers aren't that significantly large enough to get things going.
But I hope we can find a way to drop costs for VR production...that would make scale a lot more smoother.
 

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Good luck. It will cost you a ton of money or a ton of time. I spent every waking minute of my time as a teenager learning to design video games from 2007 to 2014. I work at a game studio as my day job and I STILL have far too much to learn about this industry and the technology behind it. My software company is based around tools for artists and it takes an incredible amount of time to hone your skills for this. Especially with VR being so new, there are a ton of new techniques that make designing games for it that much harder. I've done VR consulting and I charged a ton of money for it.
 

Jonny Blaze

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To clarify, there are a number of problems that I see right off the bat.

1) You're asking a beginner level question. It suggests, though this may not necessarily be the case, that you're a beginner in software development. Being a beginner is fine, but it compounds all other difficulties - since everything is significantly harder the first time you do it.

2) The VR market is incredibly small. Less than a couple million units out in the wild, this makes your potential market quite small, and hence caps your potential profits. You'd almost be better off going after the Switch market.

3) Since the market is small, the consequences of making a mediocre product are significantly larger. Word travels fast and bad reviews on steam can pile up quickly.

4) If you've never managed a team of programmers, it can be like herding cats. Even worse, if you've never done programming, it can be difficult to separate the liars from the talented.

5) There's more to it than programming. You need artists to create the assets, you need sound people to come up with the sound effects and score, and you need dedicated testers to make sure it runs with several different configurations of PC hardware. You can get around the artists and sound engineers by using pre-existing assets, but this runs the risk of quickly becoming shovelware.

Nothing wrong with being ambitious, but one should know the dangers of the path they're choosing first. If you want to put your stack into developing a game, then that's fine and dandy - just go in with some awareness. The way you posed the question makes me think that YOU think hiring a team is a simple affair, and that the game will take care of itself.

Best advice is to find a community of indy game programmers and hang out with them to get a feel for what is required. See if you can find some folks with talent and get them to make it for a not too outrageous fee.

Thanks a bunch, this was huge help. Definitely going to reach out to some locals interested in it.
 
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Jonny Blaze

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Good luck. It will cost you a ton of money or a ton of time. I spent every waking minute of my time as a teenager learning to design video games from 2007 to 2014. I work at a game studio as my day job and I STILL have far too much to learn about this industry and the technology behind it. My software company is based around tools for artists and it takes an incredible amount of time to hone your skills for this. Especially with VR being so new, there are a ton of new techniques that make designing games for it that much harder. I've done VR consulting and I charged a ton of money for it.

How do you feel about the future of what VR developing will be? Do you think those types of developers are going to be in high demand? Sorry if I sound clueless, I truly do not know anything about game development or VR development. Just have played a few VR games on the VIVE and after taking off the goggles I realized this was the future
 

luniac

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i hear AR is the real next big thing
 
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luniac

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im interested in acting in VR porn, anyone got advice to get started?
 

Ravens_Shadow

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How do you feel about the future of what VR developing will be? Do you think those types of developers are going to be in high demand? Sorry if I sound clueless, I truly do not know anything about game development or VR development. Just have played a few VR games on the VIVE and after taking off the goggles I realized this was the future

I definitely think that it will take off eventually as the prices drop for all of the equipment. Currently you need one hell of a PC to run VR hardware. I myself own an oculus rift and it's fantastic.

~3-5 million PC VR headsets out there is plenty as that number grows every day.

VR development may, or may not be an in demand skill. The thing that makes VR development so much harder is that you have to be at 90 fps instead of the typical 30 or 60 target when your game is running. This is very difficult.

As to where the industry is as we speak?

CCP exits the VR business

CCP games had millions and millions of dollars and at least a hundred employees working on a new VR title. They closed that section of the company a couple weeks ago. It's a risk you've gotta take.

If you want to develop on VR and try to pick it up.

Join the "unreal slackers" discord group. Unreal Slackers

Download Unreal Engine 4.

Create a game with their VR template. With this the basics are already coded for you, movement, VR integration, etc.

Then start looking up game tutorials that tell you how to do what it is you want to do.

You most likely will not find anyone to work for free. That time period has long passed. Back in 2009 - 2012, a game I worked on had around 40 people working on it at its peak for free and we scored around 8.5 million downloads.
 
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Dan_Fastlane

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ZF Lee

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VR still doesn't have a highly popular game that makes people buy VR-equipment.

Only people that buy VR are serious game and/or porn addicts.
I'm more interested in communications.
Having a VR office where you can see people as whole entities rather than just a face or a voice, as with your regular Skype or Google Hangouts, would add a better human touch to online communication.

we have always been hyping on human connections, which is so vital for business. VR comms could be a catalyst for a gamechanger here.
Last I heard of this, its still experimental with Sony and other tech companies.

That being said, should you try to pursue the porn route, the research into the industry is going to be kind of dangerous.....if you know what I mean. :arghh::rofl::shit:
 

splok

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I agree with everyone that paying someone to make a game for you is a pretty horrible idea. However, if you dumped a solid week of your time (like a real, 100% effort), into unity or unreal tutorials, you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish. Realize that the hard part of the game industry is NOT in the implementation of design (with some very rare exceptions).

Of course, the chances of you actually making any money doing it yourself are still minuscule (probably higher than paying someone else though, unless you're willing/able to dump a LOT of money into it). However, if someone is going the indie route, I think the VR side isn't a bad way to go. The market is smaller, but quality content is scarce (at least compared to traditional games). So if you make a VR game that's actually fun, almost every active player with a headset will play it.

As an extra bonus for the indies, the general production value in current VR games is very low, because, as mentioned above, 'real' studios avoid it because the market isn't big enough to support AAA budgets. I mean, a few of them have made some efforts, but almost all of them have been experiments. However, that window may be closing as people realize that it's theoretically possible to port their existing AAA games into VR without it being a complete clusterfuck (see Resident Evil, Skyrim, etc.).
 
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jesseissorude

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I'd even back up farther than that in the idea process.

1) What is your "unfair advantage" that other games don't have?

2) How can you test the game idea in the next 2 weeks without spending any money on design or development?

If it were me, I'd write out an overview of the plot and some sketches of any unique mechanics that the game will have (using the VR game "Statik" as an example, I'd draw out one of the first puzzles and put notes on how it works and then put a controller in a friend's hand and literally let them tell you what button they are pressing and YOU tell them what happens on the puzzle).

Basically, test test test your idea before you spend any money on it.

Honestly though, you have a lot stacked against you and you don't even 100% know if your idea/concept is a good one. I've had tons of ideas that sound great, only to realize that they sounded great /to me/. Fortunately I test everything like crazy before

I hate to be discouraging, but one of the things that you are doing absolutely right is reaching out on a forum like this to have people poke holes in your idea. Seriously, kudos... not being patronizing here. Most people just never act on an idea and maintain a fantasy that they have the best idea ever and never act on it for YEARS. Instead you started to ask questions and (in a way) test it out.

Ninja edit: If I were in your shoes, I'd just contact a game dev that I think would actually listen to me, and give them the idea for free. If it's a cool idea, just tell them and say you just want to see it get made so you can play it for yourself :) Who knows, if they liked it and ran with it they could even bring you on as a creative consultant to help bring it to live.
Give the idea away free and just see what happens. Help others and maybe something will happen, maybe it won't
 

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VR as with every other new platform can make you a millionaire overnight if you're lucky, it's growing fast and users demand new games that are not just "experiences".

If you analyze the market you'll notice that every company is just throwing the same type of arcade shooters or horror survival games and people are sick of that.

People want full fledged games. There it is your opportunity. At the same time it makes it many times harder to succeed because you'll need much more talent to deliver a compeling product.

The thing is nothing will tell you how successful you can be better than releasing a prototype and engaging the market actively.

So if you really want it just install Unreal Engine 4 and start making games with their tutorials on Youtube. I suggest going through the Twin Stick Shooter tutorial.

There are a handful of teams already making money with their VR games and without knowing code, and with Steam Direct and itch.io you don't need a publisher and your game can be out almost instantly.

This year we'll see the launch of many stand-alone VR headsets starting with the Oculus Go. They'll need new games on their platforms to sell units, if you manage to be one of their first games you'll make bank (unless your game sucks of course).

Edit: Watch this video:

And check the other GDC VR videos, they're developers sharing solutions for many of the problems VR has so you don't have to solve them.
 

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I currently work at a startup company where we do AR/VR apps.

Not only is the market tiny, I personally feel this technology is still way ahead of its time.

What we're seeing now is similar to those tablets in the 90s and early 2000s. Once in a while back in those days, you would see some article of some company touting about their new tablet device with x and x features, but it never caught on and fizzled out after a while.

They're all ahead of their time until iPad came along and made it widely-accepted and common. I guess sometimes the timing in the market just needs to be right for the product to take off.

TBH, if Zuckerberg launch Facebook in 1997 when the internet was still not mainstream yet and smart phones and 3G/4G do not exist, I've a feeling it would dissolve away quietly.

Also, another main issue with AR/VR is that there isn't really any compelling, ultra-addictive CONTENT that can make the average man on the street go out in droves and buy special VR equipment to jump onto the VR bandwagon.

With AR, at least you've Pokemon Go (but then, where is Pokemon Go now and how many folks are still playing it after the initial craze?)

A lot of the VR companies out there seems to be selling the technology for the sake of the technology (such as this company I'm in), there's no real NEED.
Ok, sure, you sell this VR app that allows people to visualize what their living room would look like with x and x pieces of furniture, but seriously, how many people would pay for this?

If anything, selling AR/VR technology for businesses (B2B) is actually more profitable than doing it for the consumer market (B2C), at least at this point in time. Our B2C VR products never got anywhere but at least our B2B AR/VR products got the company some tiny profits (for military, training purposes).

VR tech is still associated with blocky bulky nerdy-looking VR gear, messy setup for non-geeks, and it's still associated with tech nerds. When you see that 16-year old girl (who's usually into boy bands) get into VR, you know it has gone mainstream (like mobile phones).

start learning some skills on www.chaturbate.com good luck

WTF :rofl:
 
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BrooklynHustle

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I currently work at a startup company where we do AR/VR apps.

Not only is the market tiny, I personally feel this technology is still way ahead of its time.

What we're seeing now is similar to those tablets in the 90s and early 2000s. Once in a while back in those days, you would see some article of some company touting about their new tablet device with x and x features, but it never caught on and fizzled out after a while.

They're all ahead of their time until iPad came along and made it widely-accepted and common. I guess sometimes the timing in the market just needs to be right for the product to take off.

TBH, if Zuckerberg launch Facebook in 1997 when the internet was still not mainstream yet and smart phones and 3G/4G do not exist, I've a feeling it would dissolve away quietly.

Also, another main issue with AR/VR is that there isn't really any compelling, ultra-addictive CONTENT that can make the average man on the street go out in droves and buy special VR equipment to jump onto the VR bandwagon.

With AR, at least you've Pokemon Go (but then, where is Pokemon Go now and how many folks are still playing it after the initial craze?)

A lot of the VR companies out there seems to be selling the technology for the sake of the technology (such as this company I'm in), there's no real NEED.
Ok, sure, you sell this VR app that allows people to visualize what their living room would look like with x and x pieces of furniture, but seriously, how many people would pay for this?

If anything, selling AR/VR technology for businesses (B2B) is actually more profitable than doing it for the consumer market (B2C), at least at this point in time. Our B2C VR products never got anywhere but at least our B2B AR/VR products got the company some tiny profits (for military, training purposes).

VR tech is still associated with blocky bulky nerdy-looking VR gear, messy setup for non-geeks, and it's still associated with tech nerds. When you see that 16-year old girl (who's usually into boy bands) get into VR, you know it has gone mainstream (like mobile phones).



WTF :rofl:
Agreed, it is still very early for VR.....

It's the kind of deal where most people will play 1 or 2 times and say "This is amazing!" and then never touch it again for months

In the current environment, AR is more compelling and a better bet for an immediate win (see Pokemon Go)

Jay Samit, the billionaire author of "Disrupt You" talks about many of the current applications outside of just games if you are interested in learning more:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvhPkgYS68
 

luniac

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maybe VR is too small for a big company, but its great for a small or 1 man team company.

I bought an oculus rift for christmas and it blew my fukin mind. I'm definitely gettin into this.
 

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