I have really enjoyed playing around with your game since I got my quest! I am currently in a VR course at my university and our current project is creating our own form of locomotion (i.e. no joystick or wasd to move). Of the options we had, I picked impossible spaces since I have been playing Tea for God recently. I was curious if you had any resources for developing impossible spaces that helped you when creating the game? I haven't found much in the way of explanations or resources about impossible spaces in VR.
There wasn't really too much information about impossible spaces back then. There were a few papers that described the idea (also it's where the term was coined) but I wasn't even aware of them then.
It's better right now as currently there is more information available about rendering portals (using Unreal or Unity or just as general info). There are also two other devs that work on impossible spaces:
The second dev is Triangular Pixels working on Unseen Diplomacy 2 - Unseen Diplomacy was the first actual game, not a research project, that was published that used the impossible spaces. It's worth checking out. It doesn't use portals but that also means that if you're stuck with portals for any reason, you can still do impossible spaces (you just need doors and unloading/loading parts of the level). For Unseen Diplomacy 2 they'll be using portals. John wrote two posts that show the idea: https://unseendiplomacy2.com/tag/portals/
Impossible Robert shows in details how to deal with the most problematic thing with portals - intersecting near plane. My approach is different as instead of using a box around it, I prefer to create a near plane cap. Which comes with its own set of problems but also gives more freedom and allows to place portals anywhere in the world (box approach may require holes behind portals. It might be easier to implement the box approach. The near plane cap requires a little bit of math and depending on the target platform and used libraries, some, uhm, creative solutions.
I use OpenGLES to render stuff and it misses depth clamping. Without it, I have to render very close to the near plane. But in certain situations, intersection of geometry that's right behind the portal and the near plane will make a narrow line visible. To tackle this, I render the world using 99.9% of the depth buffer, leaving that 0.1% purely for the near plane cap.
Dang, thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I will definitely check out those links when I get a moment today. Thank you again for being so willing to help, it means a lot
Unfortunately, I won't be able to support both modes at the same time. At least until the release. I miss some of the mechanics from the previous version, but some would be hard to balance properly - by the time I decided to drop that, there were new mechanics layering on top of the existing ones, trying to balance things - a time limit to prevent from getting lots of energy, negative effects on multiple EXMs installed to prevent from abusive builds that were breaking any need to get new EXMs and so on.
I kind of liked the time-limit but I would change it a bit. I really liked breaking things apart to get parts out of them. I liked transferring weapon parts back to have a better starting weapon. There were no side quests that would give you a massive amount of points which would counter the problem with optimising runs to get as much KP as possible. There are lots of things that could be improved to make it a bit complicated but fun and demanding experience. I'd like to develop the ideas from the previous loop but as either classic mode for TFG or as a completely separate game. If it would be a separate game, I would consider TFG something that introduces some basic concepts and that other game would be completely stripped off of any tutorials and explanations, making discovering things an experience on its own. I'd even consider dropping any words, keeping in just pictures, even abstract ones. Keeping it as DLC would be better as this would be a really niche experience but having it as a part of another game, could make it possible to get to people who would never consider trying it.
Hm. It's me that I already have ideas of what the game would be about and how hiding everything and leaving for the player to discover it, would fit the story.
Not now though. Right now, Tea For God is complicated enough to not be a plain shooter (unless you play with infinite ammo/health) but as easy as you could introduce mechanics in a few sentences (someone at the discord server did that :) ).
one more thing, whenever I try to play the PC version with oculus link it displays an error message saying that the game couldn't find my guardian boundary. is there anything i could try to fix this?
Not really. This has to be some bug in the code that either misreads the play area size or jumps too quickly to a conclusion that it is impossible to read that info.
No worries :) It is possible to kill that turret, it requires lots of shooting though. I will be reducing the amount of health for those turrets, so they're easier to kill. It will be still a waste of energy to do so (unless with infinite energy on, then it will require less time :) ).
Yes, I do. I want to make a proper demo first, fix as many bugs as possible and polish it enough, so it's closer to what I want it to be when it's released.
Dzięki :) Jeszcze trochę do zrobienia, ale w dobrą stronę idzie :)
You can't just drop them. If you want to change the main weapon, grab it from the forearm with your other hand and take a weapon you want to be the main one. You can also use a weapon mixer station (orange room, the device in the middle) and leave a weapon there.
1. There's no such information provided. It could be for some open spaces only. When you're inside, due to the nature of impossible spaces, it is impossible to tell the direction. You can still navigate with the navigator modifier on. But instead of thinking about the absolute direction, you should focus on how doors are connected. At some point, I plan to explain it in the game with a few pictures.
2. It is a map device. If you follow the directions above the door, you should find a device with a map displayed on it and a big green button. If you press it, a portion of the map is going to be revealed to you.
Hey ! I'm not a gamer, just curious about VR. Most of the games/apps on oculus store or sidequest are OK, some of them are really good-looking but yours is HUGE and quite UNIQUE on Quest2! Such a crazy experience. That's the VR i've been waiting for so many years!!! i'll buy it for sure. I just wonder why you develop it alone ? The gameplay is quite perfect but T4G needs to be improved with a clear storyboard and more funny weapons/robots/puzzle/sound tracks. Gathering a small project team would be great! Really want to see it on the Oculus store...in 2021.
There is going to be a story, although I am not going in the "funny" direction. I want to have bits of humour but instead of having a crazy world that makes you burst in laughter, I'd prefer to keep it weird, alien with glimpses of things that may make you smile or feel uncomfortable. That's the plan and we'll see how it goes.
I develop it alone because the game is quite experimental. Having proper, user-friendly tools for a bigger team, is out of the question right now. I want to see how far can I push things. Right now it is not apparent, but I do not do everything myself. Some bits are/will be done entirely by other people (music, voiceovers), some in cooperation (story).
Good vibes! i love corridors design, shape and colors with tiny square on the walls. The textures are just perfect. It helps a lot to walk in a natural way, even running in the right direction as long as u understand the lighted arrows mechanism...would like to see more robots with specific point to shoot like head, heart or fragile legs.
Should work fine. I used Oculus Rift for a long time as the main headset for development. Although a year ago I switched to RiftS and most of the playtests I do with Quest.
Played this for the first time on my Quest 2. It is astounding how much fun this game is with even just a small space to play(my living room, with a couch all around me and a TV in front, basically a 9x8 play space). Even without alot of space it really does feel like you are moving through a maze, not just walking around in circles.
Please keep up the great work! I plan to continue playing and look forward to the full release.
Very fun game. I didn't check if there was any instructions for playing, but I think I managed to figure pretty much everything out after about 4-5 rounds of the game.
The only thing I'm kind of missing in the game is with the (I'm assuming procedurally generated) shape of the rooms, it would be nice if it would somehow design itself in a way that allows the cable to be untangled. I realize this might not be possible depending on when in the game you handle the generation, but I managed to disconnect my HMD once while playing from the tension of the cable being so twisted.
I bet this game would really be amazing with a wireless headset, as just walking around already adds a lot immersion.
I’m also really loving the vibe of this game. You’ve created something amazing, and I can’t wait for more gameplay content!
I do struggle sometimes with the floor height. The recently-added height setting helps, but for some reason, sometimes the game thinks the floor is about 6” below my actual floor, which means anything on the ground is inaccessible, and the doorframes are too low. (Yes, I tried resetting the floor height in Oculus.) If there were an in-game floor height setting, this would help a lot!
I can’t seem to figure out the weapons (except basic shooting) and items, so I look forward to new tutorials, either in-game or online.
I discovered a cargo train passing by in one room (wish I could ride it!), and the sliding elevator system, which is brilliant! Are there other non-hallway areas to discover yet?
I'll think about adding the floor offset. Just as an information, the game uses the data that is provided by the system, but doesn't update it when it's already running and you would reset the settings. Right now you would have to close the game, redo guardian and open the game again.Hm, if I'd store the floor offset for a particular play area size, when it gets updated, I could automatically reset the floor offset. This should work I guess :)
I am thinking about either adding (optional) numbers popping from enemies on every damage done or a combat log. I will need to think about the best way to introduce EXMs and weapons. I am the explorer kind of a player and while I'm happy to learn the gameplay mechanics on my own, I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. That's why there are going to be tutorials - they won't be explaining all types of EXMs and items, but the weapons - some of them require an additional explanation (especially the drain damage mechanism).
There's one area that requires tile count to be at least 5x5 (check options/play area and if you have at least 3x3m try changing preferred tile size setting). Besides that, other open space areas are right now just small balconies (tower, well) or other kinds of short walking spaces (towers). I plan to add more areas that go beyond that, but some of them may require larger play areas - either actual size or tile count.
And as for the cargo train. What you see in the currently available version is going to be a level that leads to a train station. And it shouldn't surprise you that the train ride won't be a smooth one ;)
I walked over 5 miles yesterday after setting up my quest 2 in my garage. I was literally running through hallways!
I realize this game is still in pre-alpha so there are some parts that may be missing. I just wanted to see if there is a way to “beat” the game yet. After walking 5 miles and filling up a good portion of the map I realized that new parts of the map generate near the edges on the left or right. Does the world go on forever? Is there a place I’m trying to reach?
I love the lonely wanderer vibe and planning my routes to keep my power levels up. After playing for a while though and exploring every icon I’m left feeling like there is no goal. I’m planning to add some modifiers to make it harder because I truly want to spend hours in this world, I’m just wondering if I’m missing something. Is there an end goal yet? Or will it be added? what are some goals I can imagine to keep entering this world! I love using it as a creative way to exercise in my garage! I can’t wait for more updates and for the full release!
To be honest, when I heard about the people playing Tea For God in larger spaces and telling that it is a different experience, I didn't believe it. I mean, it was just a bit bigger, right? And then I played it and I understood. That's why I want to add more zones that are focused on larger play areas. Some of them will work with mid-sized (although it sometimes may depend on the tile count, let's say that the smallest acceptable is 3x3m with the tile count 5x5).
There's now no way to beat the game. Actually, what you're playing right now is going to be a part of the game. I will be adding soon a way to finish it and then adding some narrative elements to give it a context.
If you open a map (assuming you're not playing with Navigator modifier) you will see your current location marked with a red diamond/square. In this particular place, there are three exits. Left, right, down.
If you look above each door (again, assuming you're not playing with Navigator modifier), you will find small displays with various icons flashing. Those icons tell towards which exit or device you will go to if you take this door. So if there's an arrow right, you will move right on the map. If there's blue lightning, you will get to an ammo energy dispenser. If there's an icon that looks like three yellow "i"s, you will get to a room with an upgrade machine. The purple icon takes you to "workshop" where you can mix weapons, buy permanent upgrades, reinstall unlocked upgrades.
If you're playing with Navigator modifier, you lack the information where you are and icons above doors. But even then the navigation is possible. Each part of the map is carefully generated in such a way, that if you have three doors in a room if you take the door on your right, you will turn right on the map. Assuming you know/track where you are and from which direction are you coming. Also when you get outside, looking at other buildings, structures may help you orientate where you are.
While the non-navigator map will be explained in the game, I am not sure about navigator mode. It really screams for a whiteboard with pictures.
I cannot stress enough how great this game is. Kudos for the mad person developing it.
Playing on Quest 2 it really addresses all my expectations for rouge game and exceeds the experience by being highly immersive. Do not let the screenshots fool you - the modest art style only contributes to the experience making it really clear for a player to read any room or other space that they will find themselves in.
Seriously, consider downloading it and paying the devs now if you like it and buying it again when it will be released in the full version - it is that kind of a great game for VR.
Okay, so I will say something negative to make it sound honest - the game has some bugs, most of them are not critical, I did stumble on 2 or 3 crashes that occurred on game boot. Then I simply started game again and it worked perfectly. If you are looking for super polished experience I would say that you can wait couple of months at least. But! if you are looking for really well executed VR experience and not the one that could induce any vr-sickness + you like exploration and shooting wait no more and download the Tea for God now, seriously.
Worth adding is that while I primarily develop Tea For God as a rogue game (with an optional persistent layer, currently there isn't any), I plan to have some more traditional way of experiencing it as well (simple checkpoint / save only in particular places). With both modes having an option for a linear map - I love the open world as it is right now, especially with Navigator modifier that requires you to follow the map but I know lots of people who would like just to go forward, shoot and experience the story (that is coming soonish).
And that bug during start, I think that I fixed it yesterday and I will be creating a minor patch before Christmas.
Very cerebral! This is one of my favorite things i've discovered thus far in VR (fairly new to it.) What a fantastic way of making a limited space feel endless, I'm super impressed. Looking forward to wandering around in it some more! :) THANKS!
An incredibly good game, even though I have little idea what I'm doing. Super fun to actually be walking around with my body with the Quest 2.
The only bug I've encountered is when playing for 30~ minutes, eventually I'll move into a room and the game with hang for a bit and freeze. It only happens on moving into a new part of the map (when the red icon on the map moves to display what part you're in). It'll stutter in and out here and there but eventually just completely stop without crashing. Although the one run I didn't have this problem with was with a bigger guardian.
Look into _logs subfolder for a file named "output.log" and send it to contact@voidroom.com . In the log file I may find a bit more info about the problem which may make it possible to fix it.
Just started playing this game today on my Quest 2 (via. SideQuest) and have tried it in the limited space available in my own bedroom. Really incredible what you've done. I wish I was playing in a space slightly less-crammed- I push my Guardian boundary close to the extreme limits of my space, which means potentially hitting walls or sitting objects while I move around- but I've been very careful thus far and have avoided all but a few extremely minor injuries. Want to try it in my garage next, with a lot more space to move freely.
As it stands, I have two questions:
Are there more complicated "tiles" available to players with larger spaces? In my bedroom I have a roughly... b-shaped space, and i primarily experience a lot of "what feels like" 1x1 corridor tiles and a few 2x2 rooms here and there. T-shapes too. I imagine if you want everyone to have a similar experience regardless of their playspace, it might go against that principle, but obviously I don't know what you have in mind.
When it comes to the story and narrative later down the line, do you plan to include voice-acting? If there are, I'd love to send in an audition or few for consideration when the time is right. :>
Can't wait to play some more- everyone has said it before, but it really is incredible being able to walk around everywhere myself- and I wish you the very best!
At the moment all zones are created in the most generic way to be compatible with anything that goes. Although right now the game supports only rectangular shapes of play area. I'd love to change that at some point. In this week I plan to create the first zone that requires a larger play area. I have plenty of other ideas how to use the larger space and will be trying them out.
BTW in the options, you can adjust settings for play area, like horizontal scaling. This may make the world appear to be a bit larger. Up to 15-20% upscale should not induce motion sickness. If it does, try a lower setting. There are people who are fine with 100% - not me, though :( First I feel like skating, then it goes downhill. But the world appears much larger.
As for the narrative, yes I do plan to include voice-acting :) Send me an e-mail at contact@voidroom.com and we'll discuss things there. Is it ok? :)
This is an amazing game. I've been playing it for about a week now on my original Quest and it's surprisingly immersive. One thing I would think would be really interesting as a feature in the full release would be some type of story mode, since it's current endless shooter game mechanic feels a bit arcadey, and there really isn't anything to work towards besides getting better weapons. It would still be procedural, but there would be a goal, and end to the game. Maybe some bosses as well. This is just an idea that I think the game might benefit from, but if you feel like it wouldn't stay true to the original game idea, that's fine. I would still love to play this. I just think it would be cool to see something like that.
Edit: Did you remove the tutorial in the latest update, since I can't seem to find any tutorials and I'm really confused at what all of the new things are and how to use them, like that minimap thing.
There is going to be a story. Currently, I am still changing the basics of gameplay to get the thing to be fun. Right now I am not quite happy with the encounters (the most basic level) as they seem too binary (either "everyone's after you" or "there's no one here"). At a bit hither level there are a few things missing - like reinstalling unlocked EXMs, better weapons and mixing them. I should get it right soonish and then I will start to work on the story.
Yes, the tutorials are gone. They were explaining lots of things that have either changed or are no longer a part of the game. I do not plan to reintroduce them in their form but to incorporate them into the story/narrative.
I've noticed on my original Quest I always get a distance of 0.0 m. I like seeing the distance I traveled. :) Also is this the best place to report bugs?
Been playing on the Quest 2, and really enjoying it! However, the game crashes if I attempt to put 2 items in a pocket at once (maybe coincidence), and sometimes breaks (completely black screen, sometimes need to reboot headset) if I walk through a wall. Maybe I just got lost? If that's the case, it could be fixed maybe by marking the place on the inside of the wall where the player walks through. Otherwise, it's really great! Keep up the good work!
Haven't tried putting two things into one pocket. Gonna test it. I got plenty of crash logs (which is bad that there are so many but good that I have them) and the bugs are going to be fixed.
As for walking through walls - there's not system implemented to fight/prevent that. There will be.
Is there any end to the game or do you just continue till you die i played for around an hour and a half on the quest 2 and my run only ended because my headset died.
Just did a short run last night on my Quest. The simplified gameplay is very welcome. Focus on the fun parts. Great job! I actually did some melee fighting when my guns ran out of energy which I always really avoided before and it's pretty satisfying (though I wish I could make a fist to punch with rather than arming the guns).
I'm looking forward to seeing some tutorials though because I'm still a bit confused by the energy points.
To make a fist, hold grab first, don't press trigger. The game does not check that - but maybe I should change it, so if you use your fists, you do more damage. BTW killing an enemy with melee gives you some energy for weapons.
By "energy points" do you mean just energy management or how to get energy?
Things are going to be explained in the game but not yet - as some of them may still change - and right now I want to focus on finishing the gameplay loop and then iterate.
Holding grab without the trigger I thought makes you extend your index finger? I'll play with it.
re: energy management there were some points in the middle of the level where big white arrows and the energy symbol appeared on the wall and I couldn't figure out how to interact with it at all. I assumed it allows me to exchange the energy between my health/weapons etc. I think there's a similar thing when picking EXMs at the beginning of the run but again I haven't figured it out fully. Part of that may just be that I haven't given it enough time. I totally understand not wanting to make a bunch of tuts while it's still being developed.
If you straighten your index finger then yes, if you hold it close, you make a fist
Those big white arrows mean that you moved between "cells" on the map. Initially I wanted to display coordinates as well which would make it clearer but they didn't look good. They are just an information.
Device to exchange weapon is indicated by two arrows (blue and red). Upgrade machine looks like three yellow "i"s. The map is never explained at the moment but will be.
ok I figured out the fist thing. I guess just my natural response when going to hit someone is to squeeze the controller pressing the trigger all the way down which arms the guns. For myself I'd make it so that the guns are only deployed if the grip buttons are still held when the trigger is released. So squeeze everything: fist. Hold grip & release trigger: arm guns. Release everything open hand.
Also I ran into a minor bug where I was in the bottom of a U-shaped corridor under some heavy attack. I put my back to the wall and was just firing at the bots coming through both doors. I cleared them out and waited a second to see if any more would come when suddenly an enemy spawned behind my back! It was exciting, but a bit immersion breaking to have it come from nowhere.
It actually shouldn't happen, spawning behind back as right when an enemy is to be placed, the game checks if the room is visible or not. I will be modifying spawning again as I want to have more directed experience. Currently it is a bit wave based but really random.
As for fists, pressing grip and putting thumb on the controller should be enough to make a fist.
I want to avoid situations in which same controls do different things. And have it as simple as it is. Holding grip is also used to grab objects and makes the whole thing context dependent. It is impossible to avoid such situations but having as little as possible should help. Although I wonder if grip only deploy/holster could work better with fast reload EXM. Worth trying out.
Thanks :) I am about to upload a new build (just need to test it) which should fix the crashes. Hopefully! I couldn't get them after quite long autotest.
I will be trying how far can I push graphics on Q2. I am surprised how powerful it is when compared to Q1.
It's a bug with generation of corridors. The game goes literally into circles, creating an endless corridor. If you'd wait long enough, it would crash. One of top priorities bug right now.
Should be working fine. Haven't tested it personally as I don't have neither valve index nor knuckles (I have prototype knuckles but they're a bit different) but heard from index's owners it works.
I played it on Quest 2 after the fix was released today. It worked pretty much flawlessly except for two things.
1: When I deployed more than 4 of the spider bombs the game became unbearably laggy until I either picked up or deactivated the 5th spider bomb.
2: I became trapped, because there were doors that were locked closed that lead outside of the current location I was in. This includes the original entrance that I used to enter the location. Is this a game mechanic of some sort?
1. This is a very good description of the bug. I run once into it (although I did it with robodogs) and thought it was related to something else. There's no strict limit to how many robots can be on your side, so I kind of expect it's their AI code fighting for something under the hood.
2. This one is known to me :( It's related to how corridors connecting two rooms are generated. There are certain situations in which the game code ends up in creating an endless corridor, resulting in generation of the level to seemingly stop. There are lots of other problems with corridors (they're too long ending up going in circles) that I will be soon fixing, so the bug should get fixed along the way.
Is there any news on this getting patched for quest 2? I get flashing/glitching objects. Got excited when someone said it was working on quest 2 on sidequest but I reinstalled and still no luck.
thanks for replying! I never played it on my first quest and even with graphics not working I am blown away by what you have done with the game. Can't wait to play it without the glitching!
I was naively assuming that every graphic card and driver is faithful to opengl ES specificiations. Adreno 650 isn't. It does not allow for indexing of matrices 4x4 (mat4) arrays by variable. Workaround is to use array of vectors 4 (vec4) and building matrices out of them. There were also a few other minor things related to that. There are some good reasons for that I suppose and it's not a big deal but makes you remember to always check things on actual hardware.
I have no idea how to play this game and the tutorials aren't helping. When I die the game is like "Oh you didn't use X inventory management mechanic!" and I'm like "ok but I've yet to come across another one of the blue things you stick your hand inside of to use your inventory". Also the guns are tilted too far up on Index controllers so my aim gets thrown off. Every pickup is a glowing orb. It doesn't even tell me what I've got when I pick it up.
Most of those issues won't be no longer relevant with the next update (the gameplay got simplified a lot, no orb pickups etc, no tutorials and so on), so it should be easier to get into the game and have fun.
Yeah, it was overcomplicated but I want to fix it. In a two week time the new update should be available. Give it a try then :)
Eventually, yes. For time being it works like a pre production demo. When I get the feeling of the game right (which I'm currently getting closer to), I will release free demo and focus on making the actual game. I consider releasing small playable snippets during the production.
Gonna add my take on the quest 2 version just so you have a bit of information before you get your headset to start developing it. Firstly I love the game and it's incredible the experience that you can have in a small room walking around in endless environements and i can't wait to play it without getting tangled u in cables.
With the quest 2. Sometimes my left eye will just freeze... thats it. right eye will be perfectly fine and i can look around but the left eye will freeze, other times it is fine. When loading into the start area with the first door the hands / arms are there but they are like a transparent thing like they arent being rendered on the correct layer or something, same with some door objects and enemies.
I am also using Quest 2 and have the same transparency issues as well. elevators, enemy's, and my guns did not render correctly and often are invisible or blinking in and out.
As someone else said, launching the game on Quest 2 lead me to a blank room with crosses and dots, like a loading room but nothing happens. Maybe not linked to the Quest 2 since I saw that Power Maker was able to play it...
I really hope it becomes apparent when you get one. It's strange. The grey space it takes you to specifically is the one you see when you hold the power button where it displays the Restart/Turn off menu, but no menus or information. It may also be the same background used for the permission request screens.
After watching the video a few times, my rough guess is that it's either skinning shader or skinning meshes' data that are bugged. At least, when you get it running, blank room with crosses and dots might be something different.
I have a very rough idea it is related to skinning (bugged hand tracking hands confirm that) although I have no idea what can be wrong there, is it layout of vertex data, shader itself (but then it would not compile, would just crash). I have to wait for have Quest 2 on my desk to fix this :(
I just tried installing this on my Quest 2, but I get a lot of weird artifacts. Do you also experience these? If yes is it going to be fixed in the next update?
Thanks. Seems that some of the things are not rendered properly, although it's really weird, seems a bit like clipping issues, a bit like depth buffer.
Ah, I need to clear one thing. I will get Quest 2 but I still have to wait for it for arrive. While I am waiting, I shall continue with the new core gameplay loop changes.
i also tried to play on my just some hours ago arrived quest2 and if i start i have a blank room with crosses and dots, like a loading room but nothing happens
this game is amazing I tried it but I am trying to be cautious because I don't want to use sidequest but with it wired I can get my cords twisted up and broken otherwise a great game
You don't need Sidequest to install *.apk programs on Oculus.
Since Oculus is just an Android device, you can use adb (tool provided by Google, used by Android developers, see some more at https://developer.android.com/studio/run/device). It requires some setup the first time you use it (you need to put your device in developer mode, install adb, and either install the right drivers if you are on Windows or setup udev rule if you are on Linux), but once you have that, you just need to connect the device via USB, and call ` adb -s <device_name> install <apk_name>.apk`
I just came across this great game. I actually created a similar experience using the OuterBoundary input and wrote an article about it, mentioning your game as a pioneer in procedural generation in VR.
Take a look and tell me what you think :) and DM me if you want to collaborate somehow
Good stuff. I love things that use boundary or play area in a creative way. One of the problems is that you have to either stay in one place or if moving from one to another, limit/alter boundary, so each place does not look exactly the same when it comes to the size. Hm. Even putting a door in the middle could work.
Do you have any ideas or plans what to do with it? I'd love to see more :)
Right now I'm working on a "whac-a-mole" concept within the polygon. Letting players run around from place to place to smash things with their hands sounds like a good idea to me. I have countless amount of idea for arcade games that can be ported to VR.
Otherwise I want to explore more strategy-oriented ideas (tower defense is my top candidate), and maybe some action game (the thing you said about the door made me think - you could divide the polygon to two halves, each is a different world, and you need to move between them all the time). Anyway, there's SO much potential there IMO
Just to make it worse, the ideas may keep coming! ;)
Another one! A platformer that is happening on a level in your play area. So you have little guys running on walls but also bridges and other structures in the middle, spanning from a wall to wall. With small doors that if the guy moves through, gets to another play area.
Today I discovered Tea For God! No game on the quest quite got me this involved as this one did. I was literally crawling with delight under heavy fire and squishing my pet, which decided it was a good time to show some love!! Well done sir! I am slowly learning but wondered is there a YT? Tutorial on different aspects of game play eg: weapons upgrade/creating weapons? Look forward to updates! Thanks for making an amazing game.
Thanks :) Don't worry about the stuff being complicated. The gameplay is going to be changed a lot in a few weeks (I'm about to start doing it, just after I finish the initial pass on open-world).
Fantastic job! This is exactly the kind of game I was hoping for when I bought the Rift...love the real space exploration, the manipulation of the environment, the heart-thumping combat! Trying to figure out how to turn the machines against themselves? brilliant! I've barely touched the upgrade potential in game, and can't wait to really delve into that. Crafting and upgrading gear/stats is always a big selling point for me in games. The game seems complex, way beyond the surface of the boxy graphics. Which, by the way, I think is absolutely great as is. The weirdness of the seemingly innocuous bots that we do battle with just adds to the eeriness factor. Some ominous music at key points could enhance the experience, but that's a minor point. I would gladly pay for this game and hope to see more. Great work!
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hi void room!
I have really enjoyed playing around with your game since I got my quest! I am currently in a VR course at my university and our current project is creating our own form of locomotion (i.e. no joystick or wasd to move). Of the options we had, I picked impossible spaces since I have been playing Tea for God recently. I was curious if you had any resources for developing impossible spaces that helped you when creating the game? I haven't found much in the way of explanations or resources about impossible spaces in VR.
Thanks!
Hi hunterbooth,
There wasn't really too much information about impossible spaces back then. There were a few papers that described the idea (also it's where the term was coined) but I wasn't even aware of them then.
It's better right now as currently there is more information available about rendering portals (using Unreal or Unity or just as general info). There are also two other devs that work on impossible spaces:
One is Impossible Robert working on TraVRsal (). He wrote a post about portals: https://blog.wetzold.com/2020/01/04/non-euclidean-stencil-portals-in-virtual-rea...
The second dev is Triangular Pixels working on Unseen Diplomacy 2 - Unseen Diplomacy was the first actual game, not a research project, that was published that used the impossible spaces. It's worth checking out. It doesn't use portals but that also means that if you're stuck with portals for any reason, you can still do impossible spaces (you just need doors and unloading/loading parts of the level). For Unseen Diplomacy 2 they'll be using portals. John wrote two posts that show the idea: https://unseendiplomacy2.com/tag/portals/
Impossible Robert shows in details how to deal with the most problematic thing with portals - intersecting near plane. My approach is different as instead of using a box around it, I prefer to create a near plane cap. Which comes with its own set of problems but also gives more freedom and allows to place portals anywhere in the world (box approach may require holes behind portals. It might be easier to implement the box approach. The near plane cap requires a little bit of math and depending on the target platform and used libraries, some, uhm, creative solutions.
I use OpenGLES to render stuff and it misses depth clamping. Without it, I have to render very close to the near plane. But in certain situations, intersection of geometry that's right behind the portal and the near plane will make a narrow line visible. To tackle this, I render the world using 99.9% of the depth buffer, leaving that 0.1% purely for the near plane cap.
Dang, thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I will definitely check out those links when I get a moment today. Thank you again for being so willing to help, it means a lot
If you'd have any questions, feel free to ask :)
thank you so much, I'll let you know!
by the way, the resources you linked have been very helpful so far. I really appreciate it :)
a classic mode would be really cool since i kinda miss the old game mechanics from before 4.13, however complicated they were.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to support both modes at the same time. At least until the release. I miss some of the mechanics from the previous version, but some would be hard to balance properly - by the time I decided to drop that, there were new mechanics layering on top of the existing ones, trying to balance things - a time limit to prevent from getting lots of energy, negative effects on multiple EXMs installed to prevent from abusive builds that were breaking any need to get new EXMs and so on.
I kind of liked the time-limit but I would change it a bit. I really liked breaking things apart to get parts out of them. I liked transferring weapon parts back to have a better starting weapon. There were no side quests that would give you a massive amount of points which would counter the problem with optimising runs to get as much KP as possible. There are lots of things that could be improved to make it a bit complicated but fun and demanding experience. I'd like to develop the ideas from the previous loop but as either classic mode for TFG or as a completely separate game. If it would be a separate game, I would consider TFG something that introduces some basic concepts and that other game would be completely stripped off of any tutorials and explanations, making discovering things an experience on its own. I'd even consider dropping any words, keeping in just pictures, even abstract ones. Keeping it as DLC would be better as this would be a really niche experience but having it as a part of another game, could make it possible to get to people who would never consider trying it.
Hm. It's me that I already have ideas of what the game would be about and how hiding everything and leaving for the player to discover it, would fit the story.
Not now though. Right now, Tea For God is complicated enough to not be a plain shooter (unless you play with infinite ammo/health) but as easy as you could introduce mechanics in a few sentences (someone at the discord server did that :) ).
one more thing, whenever I try to play the PC version with oculus link it displays an error message saying that the game couldn't find my guardian boundary. is there anything i could try to fix this?
Not really. This has to be some bug in the code that either misreads the play area size or jumps too quickly to a conclusion that it is impossible to read that info.
Gonna be fixed.
I hope I'm not annoying you, but this is the last thing I have to ask. Is it possible to kill the turret in the train area?
No worries :) It is possible to kill that turret, it requires lots of shooting though. I will be reducing the amount of health for those turrets, so they're easier to kill. It will be still a waste of energy to do so (unless with infinite energy on, then it will require less time :) ).
Hi! Do you plan on adding your game to oculus applab? I think it would be great to download and update the game directly through headset.
Pozdro! Świetna gra ;)
Yes, I do. I want to make a proper demo first, fix as many bugs as possible and polish it enough, so it's closer to what I want it to be when it's released.
Dzięki :) Jeszcze trochę do zrobienia, ale w dobrą stronę idzie :)
It's a great game but, How do you drop weapons?
You can't just drop them. If you want to change the main weapon, grab it from the forearm with your other hand and take a weapon you want to be the main one. You can also use a weapon mixer station (orange room, the device in the middle) and leave a weapon there.
Thanks
Loving this Game! One of the Best VR titles I've played. I only have 2 Questions about the map.
1.When using the map how do you tell your orientation/which way you are facing.
2. What is this green circle with a green dot inside.
Overall I love this game a lot and am looking forward to what it will become.
Thank you :)
1. There's no such information provided. It could be for some open spaces only. When you're inside, due to the nature of impossible spaces, it is impossible to tell the direction. You can still navigate with the navigator modifier on. But instead of thinking about the absolute direction, you should focus on how doors are connected. At some point, I plan to explain it in the game with a few pictures.
2. It is a map device. If you follow the directions above the door, you should find a device with a map displayed on it and a big green button. If you press it, a portion of the map is going to be revealed to you.
Hey ! I'm not a gamer, just curious about VR. Most of the games/apps on oculus store or sidequest are OK, some of them are really good-looking but yours is HUGE and quite UNIQUE on Quest2! Such a crazy experience. That's the VR i've been waiting for so many years!!! i'll buy it for sure. I just wonder why you develop it alone ? The gameplay is quite perfect but T4G needs to be improved with a clear storyboard and more funny weapons/robots/puzzle/sound tracks. Gathering a small project team would be great! Really want to see it on the Oculus store...in 2021.
Thank you :)
There is going to be a story, although I am not going in the "funny" direction. I want to have bits of humour but instead of having a crazy world that makes you burst in laughter, I'd prefer to keep it weird, alien with glimpses of things that may make you smile or feel uncomfortable. That's the plan and we'll see how it goes.
I develop it alone because the game is quite experimental. Having proper, user-friendly tools for a bigger team, is out of the question right now. I want to see how far can I push things. Right now it is not apparent, but I do not do everything myself. Some bits are/will be done entirely by other people (music, voiceovers), some in cooperation (story).
Good vibes!
i love corridors design, shape and colors with tiny square on the walls. The textures are just perfect. It helps a lot to walk in a natural way, even running in the right direction as long as u understand the lighted arrows mechanism...would like to see more robots with specific point to shoot like head, heart or fragile legs.
This game will be a VRstar, get ready !
"would like to see more robots with specific point to shoot like head, heart or fragile legs."
There will be :) Although I want to avoid having enemies with one good way to wreck them.
does it work properly with a classic Oculus Rift ?
Should work fine. I used Oculus Rift for a long time as the main headset for development. Although a year ago I switched to RiftS and most of the playtests I do with Quest.
If it doesn't, let me know.
Played this for the first time on my Quest 2. It is astounding how much fun this game is with even just a small space to play(my living room, with a couch all around me and a TV in front, basically a 9x8 play space). Even without alot of space it really does feel like you are moving through a maze, not just walking around in circles.
Please keep up the great work! I plan to continue playing and look forward to the full release.
Very fun game. I didn't check if there was any instructions for playing, but I think I managed to figure pretty much everything out after about 4-5 rounds of the game.
The only thing I'm kind of missing in the game is with the (I'm assuming procedurally generated) shape of the rooms, it would be nice if it would somehow design itself in a way that allows the cable to be untangled. I realize this might not be possible depending on when in the game you handle the generation, but I managed to disconnect my HMD once while playing from the tension of the cable being so twisted.
I bet this game would really be amazing with a wireless headset, as just walking around already adds a lot immersion.
It is amazing on a Quest 2. Im tempted to make most of my house a Guardian space just to see how immense this game can feel.
I’m also really loving the vibe of this game. You’ve created something amazing, and I can’t wait for more gameplay content!
I do struggle sometimes with the floor height. The recently-added height setting helps, but for some reason, sometimes the game thinks the floor is about 6” below my actual floor, which means anything on the ground is inaccessible, and the doorframes are too low. (Yes, I tried resetting the floor height in Oculus.) If there were an in-game floor height setting, this would help a lot!
I can’t seem to figure out the weapons (except basic shooting) and items, so I look forward to new tutorials, either in-game or online.
I discovered a cargo train passing by in one room (wish I could ride it!), and the sliding elevator system, which is brilliant! Are there other non-hallway areas to discover yet?
<span class="s1" <thanks="" again="" for="" your="" work="" on="" this.="" i’m="" telling="" every="" oculus="" user="" i="" know="" to="" download="" and="" explore="" this="" game!<="" span=""></span>
Thanks again for your work on this. I’m telling every Oculus user I know to download and explore this game!
Thank you :)
I'll think about adding the floor offset. Just as an information, the game uses the data that is provided by the system, but doesn't update it when it's already running and you would reset the settings. Right now you would have to close the game, redo guardian and open the game again.Hm, if I'd store the floor offset for a particular play area size, when it gets updated, I could automatically reset the floor offset. This should work I guess :)
I am thinking about either adding (optional) numbers popping from enemies on every damage done or a combat log. I will need to think about the best way to introduce EXMs and weapons. I am the explorer kind of a player and while I'm happy to learn the gameplay mechanics on my own, I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. That's why there are going to be tutorials - they won't be explaining all types of EXMs and items, but the weapons - some of them require an additional explanation (especially the drain damage mechanism).
There's one area that requires tile count to be at least 5x5 (check options/play area and if you have at least 3x3m try changing preferred tile size setting). Besides that, other open space areas are right now just small balconies (tower, well) or other kinds of short walking spaces (towers). I plan to add more areas that go beyond that, but some of them may require larger play areas - either actual size or tile count.
And as for the cargo train. What you see in the currently available version is going to be a level that leads to a train station. And it shouldn't surprise you that the train ride won't be a smooth one ;)
Yo! You are amazing! This game is so good!
I walked over 5 miles yesterday after setting up my quest 2 in my garage. I was literally running through hallways!
I realize this game is still in pre-alpha so there are some parts that may be missing. I just wanted to see if there is a way to “beat” the game yet. After walking 5 miles and filling up a good portion of the map I realized that new parts of the map generate near the edges on the left or right. Does the world go on forever? Is there a place I’m trying to reach?
I love the lonely wanderer vibe and planning my routes to keep my power levels up. After playing for a while though and exploring every icon I’m left feeling like there is no goal. I’m planning to add some modifiers to make it harder because I truly want to spend hours in this world, I’m just wondering if I’m missing something. Is there an end goal yet? Or will it be added? what are some goals I can imagine to keep entering this world! I love using it as a creative way to exercise in my garage! I can’t wait for more updates and for the full release!
Hey, thanks :)
To be honest, when I heard about the people playing Tea For God in larger spaces and telling that it is a different experience, I didn't believe it. I mean, it was just a bit bigger, right? And then I played it and I understood. That's why I want to add more zones that are focused on larger play areas. Some of them will work with mid-sized (although it sometimes may depend on the tile count, let's say that the smallest acceptable is 3x3m with the tile count 5x5).
There's now no way to beat the game. Actually, what you're playing right now is going to be a part of the game. I will be adding soon a way to finish it and then adding some narrative elements to give it a context.
Currently having every family member run through in the garage. Everyone is blown away by the fact that they can just walk around normally.
Very excited for updates. Excellent work so far!!
I'm loving this so far.
it's amazing. I'm obsessed. But came here before playing again to ask how the map works.
If you open a map (assuming you're not playing with Navigator modifier) you will see your current location marked with a red diamond/square. In this particular place, there are three exits. Left, right, down.
If you look above each door (again, assuming you're not playing with Navigator modifier), you will find small displays with various icons flashing. Those icons tell towards which exit or device you will go to if you take this door. So if there's an arrow right, you will move right on the map. If there's blue lightning, you will get to an ammo energy dispenser. If there's an icon that looks like three yellow "i"s, you will get to a room with an upgrade machine. The purple icon takes you to "workshop" where you can mix weapons, buy permanent upgrades, reinstall unlocked upgrades.
If you're playing with Navigator modifier, you lack the information where you are and icons above doors. But even then the navigation is possible. Each part of the map is carefully generated in such a way, that if you have three doors in a room if you take the door on your right, you will turn right on the map. Assuming you know/track where you are and from which direction are you coming. Also when you get outside, looking at other buildings, structures may help you orientate where you are.
While the non-navigator map will be explained in the game, I am not sure about navigator mode. It really screams for a whiteboard with pictures.
I cannot stress enough how great this game is. Kudos for the mad person developing it.
Playing on Quest 2 it really addresses all my expectations for rouge game and exceeds the experience by being highly immersive.
Do not let the screenshots fool you - the modest art style only contributes to the experience making it really clear for a player to read any room or other space that they will find themselves in.
Seriously, consider downloading it and paying the devs now if you like it and buying it again when it will be released in the full version - it is that kind of a great game for VR.
Okay, so I will say something negative to make it sound honest - the game has some bugs, most of them are not critical, I did stumble on 2 or 3 crashes that occurred on game boot. Then I simply started game again and it worked perfectly. If you are looking for super polished experience I would say that you can wait couple of months at least.
But! if you are looking for really well executed VR experience and not the one that could induce any vr-sickness + you like exploration and shooting wait no more and download the Tea for God now, seriously.
Thank you :)
Worth adding is that while I primarily develop Tea For God as a rogue game (with an optional persistent layer, currently there isn't any), I plan to have some more traditional way of experiencing it as well (simple checkpoint / save only in particular places). With both modes having an option for a linear map - I love the open world as it is right now, especially with Navigator modifier that requires you to follow the map but I know lots of people who would like just to go forward, shoot and experience the story (that is coming soonish).
And that bug during start, I think that I fixed it yesterday and I will be creating a minor patch before Christmas.
Very cerebral! This is one of my favorite things i've discovered thus far in VR (fairly new to it.) What a fantastic way of making a limited space feel endless, I'm super impressed. Looking forward to wandering around in it some more! :) THANKS!
An incredibly good game, even though I have little idea what I'm doing. Super fun to actually be walking around with my body with the Quest 2.
The only bug I've encountered is when playing for 30~ minutes, eventually I'll move into a room and the game with hang for a bit and freeze. It only happens on moving into a new part of the map (when the red icon on the map moves to display what part you're in). It'll stutter in and out here and there but eventually just completely stop without crashing. Although the one run I didn't have this problem with was with a bigger guardian.
There were a few of those bugs :( I already fixed some of them. Others I plan to catch with a freeze detector I added recently.
Incredibly addicting and immersive game with the most kind-hearted developer! :)
Thank you <3
[ERROR] vr error "VRCompositorError_TextureUsesUnsupportedFormat"
i can see the game on the screen but i don't see it in vr :< please help
Could you send me a log file, please?
Look into _logs subfolder for a file named "output.log" and send it to contact@voidroom.com . In the log file I may find a bit more info about the problem which may make it possible to fix it.
Just started playing this game today on my Quest 2 (via. SideQuest) and have tried it in the limited space available in my own bedroom. Really incredible what you've done. I wish I was playing in a space slightly less-crammed- I push my Guardian boundary close to the extreme limits of my space, which means potentially hitting walls or sitting objects while I move around- but I've been very careful thus far and have avoided all but a few extremely minor injuries. Want to try it in my garage next, with a lot more space to move freely.
As it stands, I have two questions:
Can't wait to play some more- everyone has said it before, but it really is incredible being able to walk around everywhere myself- and I wish you the very best!
At the moment all zones are created in the most generic way to be compatible with anything that goes. Although right now the game supports only rectangular shapes of play area. I'd love to change that at some point. In this week I plan to create the first zone that requires a larger play area. I have plenty of other ideas how to use the larger space and will be trying them out.
BTW in the options, you can adjust settings for play area, like horizontal scaling. This may make the world appear to be a bit larger. Up to 15-20% upscale should not induce motion sickness. If it does, try a lower setting. There are people who are fine with 100% - not me, though :( First I feel like skating, then it goes downhill. But the world appears much larger.
As for the narrative, yes I do plan to include voice-acting :) Send me an e-mail at contact@voidroom.com and we'll discuss things there. Is it ok? :)
Sent! :>
This is an amazing game. I've been playing it for about a week now on my original Quest and it's surprisingly immersive. One thing I would think would be really interesting as a feature in the full release would be some type of story mode, since it's current endless shooter game mechanic feels a bit arcadey, and there really isn't anything to work towards besides getting better weapons. It would still be procedural, but there would be a goal, and end to the game. Maybe some bosses as well. This is just an idea that I think the game might benefit from, but if you feel like it wouldn't stay true to the original game idea, that's fine. I would still love to play this. I just think it would be cool to see something like that.
Edit: Did you remove the tutorial in the latest update, since I can't seem to find any tutorials and I'm really confused at what all of the new things are and how to use them, like that minimap thing.
There is going to be a story. Currently, I am still changing the basics of gameplay to get the thing to be fun. Right now I am not quite happy with the encounters (the most basic level) as they seem too binary (either "everyone's after you" or "there's no one here"). At a bit hither level there are a few things missing - like reinstalling unlocked EXMs, better weapons and mixing them. I should get it right soonish and then I will start to work on the story.
Yes, the tutorials are gone. They were explaining lots of things that have either changed or are no longer a part of the game. I do not plan to reintroduce them in their form but to incorporate them into the story/narrative.
I've noticed on my original Quest I always get a distance of 0.0 m. I like seeing the distance I traveled. :) Also is this the best place to report bugs?
Through discord. This one I'm aware of, it's not fixed yet, though. But should be fixed soon :)
really good game I enjoyed it so much
Been playing on the Quest 2, and really enjoying it! However, the game crashes if I attempt to put 2 items in a pocket at once (maybe coincidence), and sometimes breaks (completely black screen, sometimes need to reboot headset) if I walk through a wall. Maybe I just got lost? If that's the case, it could be fixed maybe by marking the place on the inside of the wall where the player walks through. Otherwise, it's really great! Keep up the good work!
Haven't tried putting two things into one pocket. Gonna test it. I got plenty of crash logs (which is bad that there are so many but good that I have them) and the bugs are going to be fixed.
As for walking through walls - there's not system implemented to fight/prevent that. There will be.
Is there any end to the game or do you just continue till you die i played for around an hour and a half on the quest 2 and my run only ended because my headset died.
At the moment there is no objective nor end. It's going to be added and what you play right now is going to be just one section of the game.
We need an Amulet of Yendor :)
Just did a short run last night on my Quest. The simplified gameplay is very welcome. Focus on the fun parts. Great job! I actually did some melee fighting when my guns ran out of energy which I always really avoided before and it's pretty satisfying (though I wish I could make a fist to punch with rather than arming the guns).
I'm looking forward to seeing some tutorials though because I'm still a bit confused by the energy points.
To make a fist, hold grab first, don't press trigger. The game does not check that - but maybe I should change it, so if you use your fists, you do more damage. BTW killing an enemy with melee gives you some energy for weapons.
By "energy points" do you mean just energy management or how to get energy?
Things are going to be explained in the game but not yet - as some of them may still change - and right now I want to focus on finishing the gameplay loop and then iterate.
Holding grab without the trigger I thought makes you extend your index finger? I'll play with it.
re: energy management there were some points in the middle of the level where big white arrows and the energy symbol appeared on the wall and I couldn't figure out how to interact with it at all. I assumed it allows me to exchange the energy between my health/weapons etc. I think there's a similar thing when picking EXMs at the beginning of the run but again I haven't figured it out fully. Part of that may just be that I haven't given it enough time. I totally understand not wanting to make a bunch of tuts while it's still being developed.
If you straighten your index finger then yes, if you hold it close, you make a fist
Those big white arrows mean that you moved between "cells" on the map. Initially I wanted to display coordinates as well which would make it clearer but they didn't look good. They are just an information.
Device to exchange weapon is indicated by two arrows (blue and red). Upgrade machine looks like three yellow "i"s. The map is never explained at the moment but will be.
ok I figured out the fist thing. I guess just my natural response when going to hit someone is to squeeze the controller pressing the trigger all the way down which arms the guns. For myself I'd make it so that the guns are only deployed if the grip buttons are still held when the trigger is released. So squeeze everything: fist. Hold grip & release trigger: arm guns. Release everything open hand.
Also I ran into a minor bug where I was in the bottom of a U-shaped corridor under some heavy attack. I put my back to the wall and was just firing at the bots coming through both doors. I cleared them out and waited a second to see if any more would come when suddenly an enemy spawned behind my back! It was exciting, but a bit immersion breaking to have it come from nowhere.
Thanks for the help and explanations!
It actually shouldn't happen, spawning behind back as right when an enemy is to be placed, the game checks if the room is visible or not. I will be modifying spawning again as I want to have more directed experience. Currently it is a bit wave based but really random.
As for fists, pressing grip and putting thumb on the controller should be enough to make a fist.
I want to avoid situations in which same controls do different things. And have it as simple as it is. Holding grip is also used to grab objects and makes the whole thing context dependent. It is impossible to avoid such situations but having as little as possible should help. Although I wonder if grip only deploy/holster could work better with fast reload EXM. Worth trying out.
Thanks :) I am about to upload a new build (just need to test it) which should fix the crashes. Hopefully! I couldn't get them after quite long autotest.
I will be trying how far can I push graphics on Q2. I am surprised how powerful it is when compared to Q1.
Please tell me how the heck do I get passed the locked doors and blocked paths? The map I generated had a blocked path North East and West.
I THOUGHT it would be the sticky bombs. I'm a little sad it wasn't. Destructible environments... that's my only request ~<3
(help plz)
It's a bug with generation of corridors. The game goes literally into circles, creating an endless corridor. If you'd wait long enough, it would crash. One of top priorities bug right now.
works with the valve index and knuckles input?
Should be working fine. Haven't tested it personally as I don't have neither valve index nor knuckles (I have prototype knuckles but they're a bit different) but heard from index's owners it works.
I played it on Quest 2 after the fix was released today. It worked pretty much flawlessly except for two things.
1: When I deployed more than 4 of the spider bombs the game became unbearably laggy until I either picked up or deactivated the 5th spider bomb.
2: I became trapped, because there were doors that were locked closed that lead outside of the current location I was in. This includes the original entrance that I used to enter the location. Is this a game mechanic of some sort?
1. This is a very good description of the bug. I run once into it (although I did it with robodogs) and thought it was related to something else. There's no strict limit to how many robots can be on your side, so I kind of expect it's their AI code fighting for something under the hood.
2. This one is known to me :( It's related to how corridors connecting two rooms are generated. There are certain situations in which the game code ends up in creating an endless corridor, resulting in generation of the level to seemingly stop. There are lots of other problems with corridors (they're too long ending up going in circles) that I will be soon fixing, so the bug should get fixed along the way.
Is there any news on this getting patched for quest 2? I get flashing/glitching objects. Got excited when someone said it was working on quest 2 on sidequest but I reinstalled and still no luck.
Right now I am preparing a build candidate to test it. Uploading it today.
The bug was fixed a few days ago but I wanted to push a few other things and because of that I found a few other bugs that were fixed too.
thanks for replying! I never played it on my first quest and even with graphics not working I am blown away by what you have done with the game. Can't wait to play it without the glitching!
The build with a fix is available :)
Out of interest, what was causing the glitching with the graphics? It was a really weird effect.
I was naively assuming that every graphic card and driver is faithful to opengl ES specificiations. Adreno 650 isn't. It does not allow for indexing of matrices 4x4 (mat4) arrays by variable. Workaround is to use array of vectors 4 (vec4) and building matrices out of them. There were also a few other minor things related to that. There are some good reasons for that I suppose and it's not a big deal but makes you remember to always check things on actual hardware.
I have no idea how to play this game and the tutorials aren't helping. When I die the game is like "Oh you didn't use X inventory management mechanic!" and I'm like "ok but I've yet to come across another one of the blue things you stick your hand inside of to use your inventory". Also the guns are tilted too far up on Index controllers so my aim gets thrown off. Every pickup is a glowing orb. It doesn't even tell me what I've got when I pick it up.
Most of those issues won't be no longer relevant with the next update (the gameplay got simplified a lot, no orb pickups etc, no tutorials and so on), so it should be easier to get into the game and have fun.
Yeah, it was overcomplicated but I want to fix it. In a two week time the new update should be available. Give it a try then :)
awesome!
This was an amazing experience. Any plans for charging for this game once it is done?
Eventually, yes. For time being it works like a pre production demo. When I get the feeling of the game right (which I'm currently getting closer to), I will release free demo and focus on making the actual game. I consider releasing small playable snippets during the production.
Very excited! I'll buy it the day it comes out!
Gonna add my take on the quest 2 version just so you have a bit of information before you get your headset to start developing it.
Firstly I love the game and it's incredible the experience that you can have in a small room walking around in endless environements and i can't wait to play it without getting tangled u in cables.
With the quest 2. Sometimes my left eye will just freeze... thats it. right eye will be perfectly fine and i can look around but the left eye will freeze, other times it is fine. When loading into the start area with the first door the hands / arms are there but they are like a transparent thing like they arent being rendered on the correct layer or something, same with some door objects and enemies.
Just thought I might add my take aswell :)
Before I get my Quest, I thought that I may look through the documentation and my code to see if maybe there's something missing.
No way to properly test it on my own, though :)
I am also using Quest 2 and have the same transparency issues as well. elevators, enemy's, and my guns did not render correctly and often are invisible or blinking in and out.
As someone else said, launching the game on Quest 2 lead me to a blank room with crosses and dots, like a loading room but nothing happens. Maybe not linked to the Quest 2 since I saw that Power Maker was able to play it...
Those two things might be related, just appear differently. I should get my Quest 2 my the end of October :/ I have no idea what could be wrong.
I really hope it becomes apparent when you get one. It's strange. The grey space it takes you to specifically is the one you see when you hold the power button where it displays the Restart/Turn off menu, but no menus or information. It may also be the same background used for the permission request screens.
After watching the video a few times, my rough guess is that it's either skinning shader or skinning meshes' data that are bugged. At least, when you get it running, blank room with crosses and dots might be something different.
If it helps anything, hand models in the menu look fine, until I switch to hand tracking, whose models are also bugged.
Also if you have any idea what's wrong I could test the apks for you until your Quest 2 arrives.
I have a very rough idea it is related to skinning (bugged hand tracking hands confirm that) although I have no idea what can be wrong there, is it layout of vertex data, shader itself (but then it would not compile, would just crash). I have to wait for have Quest 2 on my desk to fix this :(
My crosses and dots issue seemed to be caused by me needing to allow access to storage. I have the same visual issues as everyone else though!
I just tried installing this on my Quest 2, but I get a lot of weird artifacts. Do you also experience these? If yes is it going to be fixed in the next update?
I don't have Quest 2 and for a while I am not getting one :(
Would it be possible to send me a screenshot or a video?
Here's a video:
The artifacts look different on both eyes, so it's quite trippy.Thanks. Seems that some of the things are not rendered properly, although it's really weird, seems a bit like clipping issues, a bit like depth buffer.
Ah, I need to clear one thing. I will get Quest 2 but I still have to wait for it for arrive. While I am waiting, I shall continue with the new core gameplay loop changes.
i also tried to play on my just some hours ago arrived quest2 and if i start i have a blank room with crosses and dots, like a loading room but nothing happens
I guess that there are two problems with TFG on Quest 2. It might be one just manifesting differently, though. When I get my Quest 2, I'll fix that.
thank you. Im looking forward
this game is amazing I tried it but I am trying to be cautious because I don't want to use sidequest but with it wired I can get my cords twisted up and broken otherwise a great game
You don't need Sidequest to install *.apk programs on Oculus.
Since Oculus is just an Android device, you can use adb (tool provided by Google, used by Android developers, see some more at https://developer.android.com/studio/run/device). It requires some setup the first time you use it (you need to put your device in developer mode, install adb, and either install the right drivers if you are on Windows or setup udev rule if you are on Linux), but once you have that, you just need to connect the device via USB, and call ` adb -s <device_name> install <apk_name>.apk`
Hey there void room!
I just came across this great game. I actually created a similar experience using the OuterBoundary input and wrote an article about it, mentioning your game as a pioneer in procedural generation in VR.
Take a look and tell me what you think :) and DM me if you want to collaborate somehow
https://medium.com/@thebne/locomotion-in-vr-procedural-generation-of-a-scene-2e1...
https://uxplanet.org/physical-spaces-in-virtual-realities-cf11e9205f20
Hey ;)
Good stuff. I love things that use boundary or play area in a creative way. One of the problems is that you have to either stay in one place or if moving from one to another, limit/alter boundary, so each place does not look exactly the same when it comes to the size. Hm. Even putting a door in the middle could work.
Do you have any ideas or plans what to do with it? I'd love to see more :)
So many!
Right now I'm working on a "whac-a-mole" concept within the polygon. Letting players run around from place to place to smash things with their hands sounds like a good idea to me. I have countless amount of idea for arcade games that can be ported to VR.
Otherwise I want to explore more strategy-oriented ideas (tower defense is my top candidate), and maybe some action game (the thing you said about the door made me think - you could divide the polygon to two halves, each is a different world, and you need to move between them all the time). Anyway, there's SO much potential there IMO
Just to make it worse, the ideas may keep coming! ;)
Another one! A platformer that is happening on a level in your play area. So you have little guys running on walls but also bridges and other structures in the middle, spanning from a wall to wall. With small doors that if the guy moves through, gets to another play area.
Today I discovered Tea For God! No game on the quest quite got me this involved as this one did. I was literally crawling with delight under heavy fire and squishing my pet, which decided it was a good time to show some love!! Well done sir! I am slowly learning but wondered is there a YT? Tutorial on different aspects of game play eg: weapons upgrade/creating weapons? Look forward to updates! Thanks for making an amazing game.
Thanks :) Don't worry about the stuff being complicated. The gameplay is going to be changed a lot in a few weeks (I'm about to start doing it, just after I finish the initial pass on open-world).
I can't wait to get a VR headset so I can try this!
Fantastic job! This is exactly the kind of game I was hoping for when I bought the Rift...love the real space exploration, the manipulation of the environment, the heart-thumping combat! Trying to figure out how to turn the machines against themselves? brilliant! I've barely touched the upgrade potential in game, and can't wait to really delve into that. Crafting and upgrading gear/stats is always a big selling point for me in games. The game seems complex, way beyond the surface of the boxy graphics. Which, by the way, I think is absolutely great as is. The weirdness of the seemingly innocuous bots that we do battle with just adds to the eeriness factor. Some ominous music at key points could enhance the experience, but that's a minor point. I would gladly pay for this game and hope to see more. Great work!