Different look on a movement system - Idea

[Memymoi]

Hi Everyone,

Before I begin: I haven't seen or heard of this system in use anywhere before, but if it is, please let me know.

I've been toying with the idea of a movement system that obliges the player to take every single step on her way to where ever in your worlds she was heading. Without worrying about real life boundaries or motion sickness!

As much as  I like the teleoprt system, it has flaws in that it simply won't work with some genres of game, stealth for example (Exluding Budget cuts, because that just looks great). Also I Feel that the teleport system makes the game less room-scale, because what I've noticed is that most players tend to simply teleport rather than take a step, to pick up an object on a meter away. In this case, why use room-scale? 
I am also partial to simple navigation using directional keys, especially since I appear to be the only one immune to the motion sickness! But this creates the same effect in people, where it's easier to push fowards than it is to just take a step, thus lowering immersion, in my eyes at least.

This is why I have come up with the following system, that forces the player to take Every Single Step. Although I have added a run feature, to make those long journeys less tiresome.

 

The idea is more or less that of how we measure distance in swimming pools. Lengths. Basically, you will walk to one side of your "zone", turn, and walk back. Rinse and repeat, as you would if you were to go swimming. You simply walk back and forth from end to end or side to side of your zone (or even corner to end, whatever your preference, or situation). But, when you turn around, your in-game avatar doesn't. Meaning when you walk back across your zone, your avatar is still walking in whatever direction you were, before you turned.
In other words, you walk lengths of your zone, and your character walk in a straight line.

I have already tried this using Unity and have created a working model which play testers have found to be very agreeable and as stated above, if they wanted to get somewhere, they had to take Every Single Step. For long distance travel, I have added a running feature, which can multiply the speed you walk at with seemingly no motion sickness. (My friend who can't even play Hover Junkers without a headache for 2 days was completely fine using this system.)

Were I to player Fallout 4 on VR, I would hope this system were a playable option.

I have created a package that can be imported into unity, with a complete test Scene, and commented scripts for anyone who wants to see this in action or doesn't quite know what I mean. I'm not sure how to post this, but I'll sort something out. I was hoping to put it on the Unity Asset store, but it turns out getting on there as a publisher is very difficult.

I hope this has at least given you guys somehting to think about, please let me know what you think. I also have a movement system that allows the creation of climbing games, I have created a little test game that is simply scaling a large wall avoid falling boulders. Again, the player must do all the work to get anywhere, no teleports or direcitonal controls here.

Thanks!
Memymoi

Edit 3: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b7cjog45f61c7jc/AABOx88ALBpvxFRDIC7rV68Da?dl=0
Link to downlaodabled build. This hsould be the same as in the video. Therefore the same bugs! So if you get stuck in a wall, you know why. This is more about the Movement system anyway.

Edit2: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/50h5m7/different_look_on_a_movement_system_idea_for_htc/

Edit: 

Plase see video for more indepth explanations. Also, see description of video for download link of Demo scene/scripts.

[RealityCheckVR]

I really like that you are working on this issue!) I have been trying out different methods for movement in my game for the last two months and have still not settled on something that I am happy with. I like how your idea allows users to walk the whole distance " have already tried this using Unity and have created a working model which play testers have found to be very agreeable and as stated above" do you have any video links?

 

Basically I have an area about 30' x 30' that I would like people to comfortably walk around without having to teleport. This might be a nice solution!

[Memymoi]

I was planning to make one this weekend, but I wanted to see if there would be any interest. As ther seems to be, I'll create, uplaod and link one.

[Memymoi]

I have added a link into the Original post, pointing to my video explaining this system. There will also be a link in that videos description allowing you to download the scene/scripts.

[dario]

check out a similar solution called "WalkAbout"

[Memymoi]

Yeah.... I was told about this recently (See my reddit post linked above), still, they aren't identical. Thanks for pointing it out though :)

[BDFgames]

Hi there. Mark here from Big Dumb Fun Games. I can't say about how a "walkabout"-style locomotion system might work for your game, but I can share how it went down for our first tests in STRANGE ALLIES.  :)

 

Generally speaking, it worked pretty well, and it definitely reduced simulator sickness issues for some players. Others, though, it didn't seem to help.

 

The bigger problem was the number of stubbed toes we achieved during testing. Much owwies. Not good.

 

The Reddit community seemingly disliked the walkabout-style system in principle, particuarly those who want to see a "hardcore VR" approach dominate, but were broadly supportive that we were trying new things.

 

In the end, we decided to abandon the walkabout-style system for STRANGE ALLIES, but we may come back to it at some point, particularly if we see demand for it from those who don't do well with trackpad walking.

 

Hope this helps.  :)

 

Regards,
Mark