Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Open Letters to VR Developers (part 3)


VR games that are built from the ground up are usually much better than adaptations of existing games. Skyrim VR--which hits retail on Friday--looks like an exciting and immersive game, and I am looking forward to picking up my pre-ordered copy. I'm glad that Skyrim VR will be one of the first full-length VR games available, because so many of the existing games on the market are short experiences. However, I'm also not expecting Skyrim VR to fully showcase the potential of VR games—already, I've seen previews that show the old menu system is still in place and there are disembodied floating hands instead of a full-body avatar. There are a lot of missed opportunities here, especially for an RPG, which is the genre of game that I think can really make VR shine. Wouldn't it be cool to stand there during character creation and see yourself as a reptilian Argonian, looking into a mirror as you adjusted the features on your own face, turning your head to the right and left as you moved the slide bars to change your appearance? Imagine adjusting your height and seeing yourself lift away from the floor as you “grew” taller? Maybe it's just me, but character creation is my favorite part of any RPG, and doing it in a VR environment would be incredible!


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