Hello everybody,

I have some simple but nice (I think, so far) game ideas to develop for the Oculus Rift (non 3D by the way), which I believe will be the next big thing in this gaming industry.

Researching on the net I found out that there is almost no information about its development. This is quite obvious because is a new hardware that it even has being released yet.

I saw that the main development language is C++, something I feel is very appropriate, since is one of the most robust one used in the industry.

With this in mind, have someone started to do something on it? If so, how did you start? Any good tutorials? And more than tutorials, a good explanation of how the harware/software technology works?

Any information will be highly appreciated.

Thanks everybody.

Well, a good start would be to get your hands on a dev-kit Everything else would be pointless (to develop a game for a specialized tool without testing it on the tool itself).

Well, a good start would be to get your hands on a dev-kit

Thanks for the suggestion, you are completely right. I downloaded the dev-kit but to be honest, I haven't put my hands on. Something that I didn't see was a simulator, does it has one? how could you check your work done?

A little off topic, but I checked your game and looks great! Looking forward to following it.

It's basically just a fancy monitor, not a device by itself, so no simulator is required. You can output the signal to a regular monitor to see if everything's working.

You really will need to order a dev-kit (the actual headset) though to do any proper development for it. Guessing how VR will "feel" without a VR headset isn't likely to work out very well

Developing for it is like developing any other game. You can either use a game engine like Unity (as long as it supports the Oculus), or you can download their SDK in order to add support to your own game. This will involve drawing your scene twice, using two different projection-matrices and then using a post-processing filter to perform the lens-correction. The SDK also provides you with the orientation and position of the user's head, which you can add directly to your camera's view-matrix.

I downloaded the dev-kit

You must've downloaded the SDK, which you can use to add support to your game engine as mentioned above... If you're using an engine like Unity though, then you don't need the SDK at all.

You will need an actual dev-kit to test anything though!

This is the original DK1 dev-kit, which most people got by being a kickstarter backer. Maybe you can find one on ebay or something?


You can pre-order the new DK2 here, which will ship later this year:
https://www.oculusvr.com/order/

You can output the signal to a regular monitor to see if everything's working.

Guessing how VR will "feel" without a VR headset isn't likely to work out very well

This will involve drawing your scene twice, using two different projection-matrices and then using a post-processing filter to perform the lens-correction

This means that, (sorry for Noobness) with the SDK, and not using Unity or Unreal engines (I know there is an integration plugin for them) I can use it, for example, to develop games using Haxe or MS Express 2013? Because, at the end, for Haxe and in MS you can use C++, and it's the main language to develop on it. I think you can, but maybe still not right now?

Maybe you can find one on ebay or something?

Also, I saw your sites and your vehicles look pretty awesome! I am working right now at DSK in India. One of our academic careers is Industrial Design http://www.dsksic.com/industrial_design The kids do some really good stuff.

Keep having a good one mate, and thanks so much for your support.

This means that, (sorry for Noobness) with the SDK, and not using Unity or Unreal engines (I know there is an integration plugin for them) I can use it, for example, to develop games using Haxe or MS Express 2013? Because, at the end, for Haxe and in MS you can use C++, and it's the main language to develop on it. I think you can, but maybe still not right now?

Yeah, so I'm writing my own game in C++ and D3D (in MS Visual Studio), and the Oculus SDK allows me to generate the right kind of output images, and to receive the head-tracking data to control my camera. To take this path though, you should worry first about making games in C++, and then worry about adding Oculus support -- no point trying to get VR to work if you don't first have a working game!

By the way, do you know how the selling is going to be? like, if there is a waiting line or something?

With the DK1, they shipped them from the factory in to people, in the order that they were purchased. If you paid first, you got the first dev-kit.
I assume they'll be doing a similar thing with the DK2. They will start shipping them in September, and the people who ordered first will get them first.

I heard that they are banning people for selling them on Ebay:

Yeah that's for DK2 orders. Everyone already has their DK1 (they're not making any more), so it should be safe to sell old DK1 units.
Once the DK2 starts shipping, there will probably be a lot of people who will want to sell their old DK1.

(Sorry guys for my late response, I moved to India and now I'm working as project manager and game programmer)

You should worry first about making games in C++, and then worry about adding Oculus support -- no point trying to get VR to work if you don't first have a working game!

This is just a fantastic tip! Actually this is somehow, something I wanted to hear.

I'm very happy that you are already working on your (first?) OR game. Do you have a blog or images that you can share with me?

Keep having a good one guys. Thanks so much for your support!

I actually integrated Rift support into Hieroglyph 3. It wasn't too difficult, and took about two days worth of work. I utilized their documentation and their sample programs to see how to interact with the SDK. Admittedly, the documentation isn't fully descriptive, but there is enough content to get the idea.

I actually integrated Rift support into Hieroglyph 3.

Hey Jason, thanks so much for your response.

Actually looks interesting, I will dig more on this engine, I believe I will find the answers I need.

Keep having a good one mate!